Episódio 14: Emergency Landings (Pousos forçados)

Duolingo English for Portuguese Speakers Podcast

Era um dia lindo em Paris, quando Beverley Bass iniciou seu voo de volta pra casa, em Dallas, no estado do Texas, nos Estados Unidos.

Ela pilotava um Boeing 777, um dos maiores aviões comerciais do mundo.

I was training the co-pilot on his first trip in a Boeing 777.

We were flying over the North Atlantic ocean, where contact was limited.

Suddenly, we got a radio call from one of the airplanes flying ahead of us.

That’s when we learned that something terrible happened.

O outro piloto disse pra Beverley que um avião tinha se chocado contra as Torres Gêmeas na cidade de Nova York e que todo o espaço aéreo dos Estados Unidos tava fechado.

Era 11 de setembro de 2001.

We were in shock, and we had so many questions.

Was it a private or commercial plane? Was it our airline? How many people died? We couldn’t get much information, but we knew that we needed to find a place to land — and fast.

Welcome! Esse é o sexto episódio da segunda temporada de “Histórias em Inglês com Duolingo”.

Eu sou Helena Fruet.

Nesse podcast, você vai poder praticar inglês no seu ritmo, ouvindo histórias reais e emocionantes.

Os personagens falam um inglês simples e fácil de entender — perfeito pra quem tá aprendendo.

Eu vou te acompanhar em cada episódio pra ter certeza que você tá entendendo tudo.

Siga nosso podcast no Spotify ou na sua plataforma preferida!

Hoje, duas histórias de norte-americanas que pilotam aviões.

Desde a invenção da primeira máquina voadora pelos irmãos Wright até o desaparecimento de Amelia Earhart, a aviação tem um papel muito importante na história dos Estados Unidos.

Nesse episódio, vamos escutar duas mulheres que pilotam aviões e que enfrentaram crises em pleno voo.

Aos 8 anos de idade, Beverley Bass decidiu que quando crescesse, ia pilotar aviões.

When I was a kid, I asked my family to take me to the airport all the time.

I wanted to watch the planes.

I thought, “Wow, the planes fly in so fast! How do the pilots land them? They must be gods.” That’s when I decided that I wanted to be a pilot.

Beverley cresceu no estado da Flórida, mas a família da sua mãe morava em Nova York, então ela sempre viajava de um lugar pro outro.

Ela era apaixonada por tudo que envolvia voo.

I loved being in the airport terminal.

It was exciting to smell the jet fuel and look out of the plane window, watching all of the houses and swimming pools get smaller.

I loved everything about flying.

Aos 16 anos, a idade em que muitos jovens dos Estados Unidos tiram a carteira de motorista, Beverly pediu aos pais pra fazer aulas de voo no aeródromo, ou airfield, da sua cidade.

Seu pai… disse que não.

I left Florida to go to college in Texas.

When I came home that summer, I drove to the local airfield and signed up for flying lessons.

After my first lesson, I walked into my parents’ house and told them that I wanted to fly for the rest of my life.

Isso foi no começo da década de 70, quando não existiam muitas mulheres que pilotavam aviões.

Principalmente grandes aeronaves comerciais, de passageiros, que era o que Beverly queria fazer.

Ela mesma não conhecia nenhuma mulher nessa profissão.

To get your commercial pilot’s license, you need to fly for many, many hours.

And that costs a lot of money.

So, I planned to get a job flying small planes quickly and fly for many hours.

O primeiro emprego de Beverly foi transportando corpos num pequeno avião.

Depois que ela acumulou horas de voo suficientes, começou a procurar vagas de piloto em companhias aéreas comerciais.

It wasn’t easy to get a job.

Not many commercial pilots were women.

Delta, one of the biggest U.S.

airlines, had height restrictions for pilots.

I wasn’t tall enough.

And I didn’t get other jobs because the companies thought it was a bad idea to hire a female pilot.

Mas Beverly continuou tentando, até que em 1976 ela finalmente conseguiu um trabalho na American Airlines.

Ela foi uma das primeiras mulheres que a empresa contratou para pilotar aviões.

It’s a moment I will never forget.

It was a big honor, but it was also difficult.

I was one of the first female pilots for the airline, so I knew a lot of people were watching me — especially during my training.

Everyone knew if I had a good day or if I made a mistake.

It was really stressful.

Dez anos depois, Beverly virou a primeira capitã da companhia.

Em 2001, ela já tava pilotando aviões na American Airlines há 25 anos e já tinha passado por todo tipo de crise durante voos.

Então, a princípio, ela não ficou tão assustada com as informações que chegavam sobre o ataque no dia 11 de setembro.

Because we were in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, we didn’t have a lot of information about the World Trade Center disaster.

First, we thought a small private plane flew into the building.

We never imagined that it was a commercial plane.

But then, while we were eating lunch, we got a second radio call.

Another plane hit the World Trade Center, and they thought it was a terrorist attack.

I couldn’t believe it.

I thought terrorism didn’t happen in the United States.

Depois que o segundo avião se chocou contra as Torres Gêmeas, todo o espaço aéreo dos Estados Unidos foi fechado.

Beverly não podia levar o avião com 156 passageiros até Dallas.

Ela ia precisar pousar em outro lugar.

My co-pilot and I researched the closest cities.

They were all in Canada: Montreal, Toronto, and Calgary.

But then we got a call from air traffic control in Gander, in Canada.

They ordered us to land there.

I had never been there before!

Beverly descobriu rapidamente que Gander ficava na província canadense de Terra Nova, ou Newfoundland.

É uma cidade pequena, de 10 mil habitantes, mas tinha uma pista de aterrissagem grande.

Ela precisava pensar em como ia dizer pros passageiros o que tava acontecendo.

I didn’t know a lot about what happened — only that two planes hit the World Trade Center towers.

I wanted to be honest with my passengers, but I didn’t want them to panic.

I thought carefully about what to say, then I made an announcement.

I said, “Ladies and gentlemen, this is Captain Bass.

There has been a crisis in the United States.

All of the airspace is closed.

We have to land our airplane in Gander, Newfoundland.

I’ll give you more information after we land.”

Beverly tava nervosa, mas os passageiros não entraram em pânico.

O avião dela foi o 36° de um total de 38 que pousaram em Gander naquele dia.

Entre passageiros e tripulantes, 6.579 pessoas desembarcaram na cidade — quase tanta gente quanto a população local.

After landing, we had to stay in our plane for the night.

In 2001, most people didn’t have cell phones.

But I was lucky.

One of my passengers had a phone.

I borrowed it and I called my husband to tell him that I landed safely.

By the next morning, we had been on the plane for 28 hours.

And we still didn’t know what happened — or when we could leave.

Ninguém sabia quando o espaço aéreo dos Estados Unidos ia reabrir.

Enquanto isso, a população de Gander acolheu os recém-chegados.

A tripulação ficou num hotel local e os passageiros, que vinham do mundo todo, ficaram em igrejas, escolas, centros comunitários, até em casas de moradores.

We stayed in Gander for five days.

The people of Gander — or “Ganderites,” as we called them — were incredible! It was a very sad time in history, but the Ganderites helped the passengers a lot.

They took them hunting, fishing, hiking — and to barbecues! The town even organized activities for the kids.

We felt very welcome in their community.

Beverley passou a maior parte do tempo no hotel esperando notícias de quando poderia decolar de novo.

Mas todo dia ela se reunia com os passageiros pra contar as novidades.

The only information we had was from the news on TV, so I didn’t have much to tell the passengers.

Everyone just wanted to go home and see their families.

No dia 15 de setembro, o espaço aéreo dos Estados Unidos reabriu e Beverly finalmente pôde voltar pro Texas.

My crew spent hours getting the plane ready to leave.

We were very worried about security after the terrorist attack.

We had to remove every knife, spoon, and glass — anything that could be dangerous.

It was a very strange experience.

Quando aterrissou nos Estados Unidos, Beverly descobriu que um dos aviões usados no ataque era da American Airlines.

E o capitão… era seu amigo.

I was so angry.

I hated the men who used our planes to kill people.

Three thousand people died.

But I wasn’t going to let the bad guys win.

I called American Airlines the next day and said I was ready to fly again.

Beverly não teve medo.

Ela tava decidida a continuar voando, e foi isso que ela fez.

No aniversário de 10 anos dos ataques de 11 de setembro, ela voltou a Gander.

Lá, teve a oportunidade de se encontrar com dois dramaturgos.

They interviewed me, and it lasted four hours! We talked about everything, like how I got my pilot’s license, my career with American Airlines, and my time in Gander.

After I flew home, I forgot about the interview.

Um tempo depois, em 2015, Beverley recebeu um convite pra estreia mundial do musical “Come From Away”, ou “Vem de longe”.

Era uma peça baseada naqueles cinco dias que ela passou em Gander, e ela era a personagem principal, ou main character!

The producers gave me a seat in the front row.

I didn’t know much about the play.

But when the show started, I quickly realized that I was the main character! I was in shock.

They even wrote a song about my life! I couldn’t believe it.

Desde a noite da estreia, Beverly já viu o musical 158 vezes no mundo todo.

Ela até ficou amiga da atriz que interpretou o papel dela pela primeira vez.

That time in Gander was so special to me.

So, it was a wonderful experience to see the show.

I’m so grateful.

September 11 was a terrible day, but the people of that small, remote town opened their arms and hearts to 7,000 strangers that day.

And I will always remember that generosity.

A maioria dos pilotos nunca vai ter que passar por algo tão extremo como o que aconteceu com Beverly naquele 11 de setembro.

Mas não é raro que enfrentem situações em que manter a calma é fundamental.

E foi isso que Lauren Spohn descobriu no verão passado, quando fazia seu primeiro voo de longa distância pilotando um avião particular.

I was so excited about the flight.

It was just me and my dad in the plane.

I was the pilot, and he was my passenger.

I received my license only two days before the flight, and I wanted to prove that I was a good pilot.

Everything was going well until we were near our final destination: the city of El Paso, in Texas.

That’s when the electrical system of the plane failed.

Lauren sempre foi fascinada por aviões.

Seu pai serviu na Força Aérea dos Estados Unidos quando ela era bem pequena.

I grew up on different military bases all around the United States — in Tennessee, Colorado, Mississippi, and Texas.

I could always hear the sound of planes.

I remember playing on the soccer fields around the base and hearing military jets flying above.

My dream was to become a pilot one day.

Lauren não era a única da sua família que sonhava em voar.

Seu pai também queria ser piloto.

Mas quando era cadete na Academia da Força Aérea, ele descobriu que sua visão não era boa o suficiente pra pilotar.

Aí, em vez disso, ele estudou pra ser médico do exército.

I wanted to go to the Air Force Academy and become a pilot — just like my dad wanted to do.

But then I was accepted to Harvard University.

It’s one of the best schools in the world, so I decided to go there instead of the Air Force Academy.

I stopped thinking about becoming a pilot — until my last semester in college, when the coronavirus pandemic hit.

: “The mysterious coronavirus has sickened dozens of people in Asia…” “…closed university and college campuses, classes have moved online…”

Lauren e seus companheiros de classe tiveram que deixar o campus da universidade de Harvard no começo da pandemia do coronavírus, em março de 2020.

E, assim como outros milhões de estudantes pelo país, ela voltou pra casa da sua família no Texas, pra concluir o último semestre de aulas virtuais.

It was the last semester of my final year of college.

I was ready to have a fun spring with my friends, and then suddenly, I was back with my parents in Texas.

After I graduated, I had a lot of free time.

My dad suggested flying lessons at the local airfield.

It wasn’t flying planes for the military, but I decided to try it.

Os Estados Unidos têm mais de 600 mil pilotos registrados.

É um dos lugares mais populares do mundo pra aviação de modo geral, seja de voos comerciais, particulares ou militares.

As soon as coronavirus restrictions changed, I drove to a small airfield near our house and went on a flight with an instructor in a small plane.

And I fell in love! Flying above the clouds was incredible.

Depois desse primeiro voo, Lauren se apaixonou pela aviação.

Seu pai pediu pra um amigo da família, que tinha sido piloto militar, dar aulas de voo pra ela.

Every morning, I drove to the airfield for lessons.

I learned how to navigate without a GPS and how to fly and land in many types of weather conditions.

Every afternoon, I studied everything I needed to know as a pilot.

Things like aerodynamics, weather, and federal regulations.

My dad was so excited for me.

Every night, we stayed up late talking about flying.

He shared stories about flying in military jets, and I shared stories from my flight training.

We were always very close, but this made us closer.

Em agosto, Lauren tinha sido aprovada em todos os exames de voo e começou a pilotar profissionalmente aviões particulares.

Pra comemorar, ela decidiu levar seu pai no seu primeiro voo longo: um trajeto de 2 mil quilômetros, do leste do Texas até El Paso, oeste do estado.

We started to fly to El Paso two days after I got my pilot’s license.

I operated the flight controls from the left seat, and my dad monitored the GPS from the passenger seat.

We flew at 2,500 meters above the ground.

It was always my dad’s dream to fly.

Then, it became my dream.

Both of our dreams were finally coming true!

A primeira metade do voo foi tranquila.

A cada trecho de algumas centenas de milhas, Lauren pousava pra reabastecer e decolava de novo.

Mas depois de cinco horas de viagem, pouco antes de chegar a El Paso, ela percebeu algo errado.

We were 65 kilometers from El Paso International Airport.

I noticed that there was a problem with one of our flight instruments.

The transponder had failed.

Then, I heard static on the radios.

That’s when I knew something big was wrong: the electrical system of the plane wasn’t working!

O transponder do avião ajuda os controladores de tráfego aéreo a se comunicarem com os pilotos, evitando que os aviões se choquem no ar.

O sistema elétrico é o que controla o transponder, os rádios e os ailerons, ou wing flaps, que mudam o formato das asas pra ajudar o avião a aterrissar.

I tried to talk to the air traffic controllers, but I couldn’t hear anything.

We were ten minutes from El Paso.

There was nowhere else to go, so we had to land at an international airport with no wing flaps and no radios.

And we had to hope that we didn’t hit a huge airline jet!

Lauren tentou reiniciar o sistema elétrico do avião.

Por um segundo, os rádios voltaram a funcionar e ela ouviu os controladores dizendo em que pista, ou runway, ela tinha que pousar.

Mas, logo em seguida, os rádios ficaram mudos de novo.

I took a deep breath and started to land the plane.

I told my dad to help me look for other airplanes.

I prepared to land in the center of the runway, and I tried to make sure we weren’t flying in too slow or too fast.

Eles chegaram sãos e salvos, sem bater em nada.

My adrenaline was high for the rest of the day.

My dad told me I had what military pilots call “the right stuff” — or the ability to be calm in difficult situations.

I learned everything from my dad.

He helped me become the great pilot that we both always wanted to be.

I’m definitely not afraid to fly after that experience.

It made me realize how much I love the challenge of flying.

It’s so exciting.

And I became a more confident pilot after that flight.

And just two days later, I flew the 1,000 kilometers home with no problems.

Lauren Spohn é estudante de pós-graduação na Universidade de Oxford.

Ela continua voando todo final de semana.

Nossa primeira protagonista, Beverley Bass, também continua voando, mas apenas pra clientes particulares.

Sua paixão pelos ares passou pra sua filha Paige, que também pilota.

Recentemente, as duas fizeram uma viagem cruzando o Atlântico, e Paige foi pilotando.

As histórias foram produzidas por Paige Sutherland, jornalista norte-americana que vive em Boston.

Eu sou Helena Fruet.

Thank you for listening!