Destination
Unknown Otto Herold and
Manfred Pollak (-C)
It
was the 21st of December 1975. Vienna was cold and
covered with snow. Things were bad. The notorious
international terrorist Carlos and his band of German and Palestinian
accomplices had taken over
the OPEC headquarters. And, Sheik Yamane of Saudi Arabia and
other oil ministers were being
held hostage.
And, with 4 policemen dead, the Austrian government was in a
difficult position. And so, the terrorists demands
were agreed to in full.
These
included a message in French to be read out at 2 hourly intervals on
the radio and a plane to take them to freedom. And, Otto Herold, a
young pilot at the time with Austrian Airlines volunteered for the
job. And so, on the morning of the 22nd of December,
1975, Otto Herold and Captain Manfred Pollak took off for destination
unknown with terrorists and hostages on board. And,
all went well. But, there was one small thing that Otto Herold
never forgot.
Otto
Herold had volunteered to serve coffee and everyone was happy. That
is to say, all except one! One of the hostages, an
oil minister, rudely rejected the offer of coffee and
demanded a tea. And,
when Otto Herold went to collect the dirty cups one of the
terrorists stopped him. The now non too happy oil minister was made
to clear up the dirties instead. There were to be no
more passenger complaints.
The
flight then came to an end in Algiers and Carlos and his gang
disappeared.
And, Otto Herold and Captain Manfred Pollak were flown
back to Vienna.
And,
6 months later, Captain Pollak and Otto Herold were decorated
by the Austrian president for their
courage and
bravery. Of course, both continued flying and Otto Herold was
later promoted to captain. And, of course, as every
one knows, captains can never stop flying.
Whilst
happily in retirement, Otto Herold very much enjoyed his fleet
of model planes. But, no models, however impressive, could
ever replace the Viscounts, DC9s and Airbuses which he once flew.
Life, for Otto Herold was high in the sky. And, his flight to
destination unknown will never be forgotten! Captain Otto Herold and
Captain Manfred Pollock were very brave men.
Vocabulary
– Wortschatz
according – laut
accomplice – Komplize
brave – tapfer
consideration – Betrachtung
courage – Mut
decorated – ausgezeichnet
demand – Forderung
destination –
Zielort
difficult
position – Schwere Position
dirties – Schmutzige
Geschirr
except –
außer
experience – erleben
hostage – Geisel
impressive – beeindruckend
notorious – berüchtigt
promoted
(promote/promoted/promoted)– gefordert
retirement – Ruhestand
rudely –
unwirsch
volunteer - Freiwilliger
Questions
Why
were things bad in Vienna in December 1975?
Who
had taken over OPEC?
What
were two of the terrorists' demands?
Where
did the plane take off for?
Where
did the flight end?
Why
were the two pilots decorated?
What
small thing did Otto Herold never forget?
