Black Aeroplane

By Frederick Forsyth

Frederick Forsyth is a British author known for his gripping thrillers, such as “The Day of the Jackal” and “The Odessa File.” His stories often blend fact with fiction, featuring espionage and political intrigue. However, “Black Aeroplane” is a short story about a pilot flying through a storm, and encountering a mysterious black aeroplane that seemingly guided him to safety. Upon landing, he discovers that the black aeroplane should not have existed, leaving him puzzled about his strange, possibly supernatural experience.

Q: “I will take the risk.” What is the risk? Why does the narrator take it?

Ans. The risk the narrator refers to is flying through a storm despite knowing the possible dangers involved. The narrator takes this risk because he is desperate to reach his home and have breakfast with his family. He prioritizes his desire to be at home with his family over the safety concerns of flying through the storm.

Q: Describe the narrator’s experience as he flew the aeroplane into the storm.

Ans. When the narrator decided to fly into the storm, he was suddenly surrounded by darkness. He experienced severe turbulence and the plane started shaking. All his instruments including the compass and radio stopped working which added to the chaos and disorientation. The narrator felt a mix of fear and determination as he struggled to navigate through the intense and perilous conditions of the storm.

Q: Why does the narrator say, “I landed and not sorry to walk away from the old Dakota… “?

Ans. The narrator says this because he had just gone through an incredibly harrowing and stressful experience flying through the storm. Landing safely brought immense relief, and he felt glad to leave behind the old Dakota, the aircraft that had caused him so much anxiety and danger during the flight.

Q: What made the woman in the control center look at the narrator strangely?

Ans. The woman in the control center looked at the narrator strangely because, according to the radar, there was no other plane in the sky during the time the narrator was flying through the storm. This was puzzling because the narrator mentioned being guided by another mysterious black aeroplane, which did not appear on the radar, making his story seem unbelievable or strange to her.

Q: Who do you think helps the narrator to reach safely? Discuss this among yourselves and give reasons for your answer.

Ans. The mysterious black aeroplane and its pilot are implied to be almost supernatural or imaginary entities that help the narrator. Since no such plane was detected by the control center, it suggests that the help the narrator received might have been a hallucination, a divine intervention, or a product of his own subconscious mind in a desperate situation. This element of mystery adds a supernatural or psychological twist to the story, leaving the true nature of the helper open to interpretation.