My one of a kind flight experience on an Indian Air Force aircraft

During take off, all passengers move to the cargo hold and stand against firmly fixed and netted cargo.

BHPian Amrik Singh recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

While we are discussing international and domestic airlines, an exceptional flight taken by me was aboard the Indian Air Force AN32 somewhere in 1987. I was flown from Delhi to an Air Force location near Bhubhaneshwar and returned two weeks later:

• Take off: All passengers move to the cargo hold and stand against firmly fixed and netted cargo. Once airborne, move to the pressurised cabin and lock the cargo hold.
• Seating: Steel bench type seats along the two sides of the plane. Someone sits on steel W/C which has a hanging curtain (missing). Some passengers sitting behind the elevated seats of pilots. Not much of heating.
• Landing: Once descended considerably, open the cargo door, move over there and stand behind the cargo with back to it. After the aircraft has landed and come to a standstill, the cargo ramp is opened. Jump down as it may take a long time for the ramp to be lowered fully for cargo removal.

Incomparable with luxurious commercial flights, but a once in a lifetime experience for civilians.

Here's what BHPian shankar.balan had to say on the matter:

That's a great anecdote.

Here in a lighter vein is a depiction from Tintin, of the old way of travel in those old war surplus DC Dakota Aircraft:

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