<div class="floatright">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/5/57/Veronica-06.jpg)</div><br/><div align="center"><strong><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;">Nadezhda</span></strong></div>It was hard enough leaving Moscow for the first time in my life. But then going to Sydney was even worse. It's the other side of the world. Instead of flying over Russia and Asia, I had decided to stop by at a friend in America so I was flying the other way around. Los Angeles was a nice city but I was happy to leave again. A week in the city is more than enough for a girl who's never left Russia before.<br/><br/>The airport was absolutely amazing. Both Moscow airports are big but they do not even compare to LAX and I had arrived early to explore the airport. By the time United 97 to Sydney was announced for boarding, I was quite tired from the walking and quickly got to the gate. Being a bit of an airplane geek I had selected my own seats and had selected a window seat in the rear of the plane. I just liked to see the engines of the Boeing 777 from behind as they worked their magic in getting the massive airplane airborne and keeping it there.<br/><br/>Take off was smooth and as the airplane settled in for the long crossing of the pacific ocean, I dozed off a little. I was dreaming of the opera house, the harbour bridge and my friend I was going to visit. It was chosen as one of the most pleasant cities to live in along with Melbourne, Zurich and Vancouver. Should be a fun stay.<br/><br/>I woke up from my sleep by a sound. Or rather, a missing sound. Minutes I tried to figure out what it was and when the turbulence hit, I realized what it was. The plane was quiet. Why was the plane quiet? What's that sound I'm not hearing? I looked outside but all I could see was the blackness of the night sky and the water. At least we're not on fire. And with that thought, the penny dropped. The sound I couldn't hear, were the engines. The engines were not running!<br/><br/>"Bliad*."<br/><br/>Instants later I heard a noise, one that I couldn't really identify at first but a glance out of the window gave the answers. We were very, very low over the water and the sound I was hearing was the water hitting the airplane. Pilots are going to ditch the plane! But we're not ready!!<br/><br/>"Pizdet*."<br/><br/>After that, I'm not entirely sure what happened but the plane hit the water with a very high forward speed. The right engine dug into the water first and instantly stopped ripping the rear of the plane off the fuselage as the front and wings spun around into the water. The rear of the plane skipped over the water still at very high speed and the people at the first rows of the broken off tail section were crushed by the immense force of the water. Because I was so far in the back, the forces were much less on me and although I was badly bruised and shaken up, by the time the tail section had stopped, I reached under my seat for my life jacket and put it around my neck. The plane was filling up with water and around me were people. I couldn't tell if they were dead or alive as my mind was in shock and survival mode. The only purpose and goal I had at that time was to get out of the wreckage before it would sink.<br/><br/>When I reached the opening, I pulled the cord which inflated the life jacket and jumped in the water, which was surprisingly warmer than I had expected. Perhaps not all the water is as cold as the Moscow river. I looked around and saw mostly debris. The rear section was still floating but the rest of the plane was nowhere to be seen. All that was left was some floating debris and some bodies.<br/>I held onto a bit of the fuselage and spotted some land in the moon light. Slowly I started paddling there and when I reached the surf, I stumbled out of the water and crashed onto the beach and started crying.<br/><br/><br/><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 6pt;">Bliad=Whore<br/>Pizdet=Fucked up</span>