READING An unexpected jou rney

1. Look at the headline . What do you thin k t he story is about ?

A free fli ght to Du bai

A twenty -three-year-old student has e11j oyed a short but unexpected holiday in
Dubai. Mr Frank Vreede, a business student. h ad taken a part-time job at Schiphol
Airport to help pay for lús studies. He work as a ba ggage handlet· and was
responsible for loading the suitcases into the hold of passenger planes.
Last Friday 1úght, after an exhausting day in the uruversity library preparing for
lús final exams, Frank was loading a plane at the airport. He was waiting for the
next baggage tmck to arrive and he felt tired. He decided to have a quick rest, so
he sat down ii1the hold of the plane and shut his eyes -just for a moment .
However, wlúl e he was sleeping, the plane took off. An hour later. Frank woke
up and was horrified to discover that the plane was ii1 the air. l11ere was a
terrible noise from the engines, and he tried not to pa!Ú c. It was dark, uncom fortable
and very, very cold. Frank knew the flight woul d be long because it was an
airline from the Middle East. He also knew he could not survive the freezing
temperatures. lt was ai1 impossible situation.
He decided to make as much noise as possible . He banged on the ceiling of the
baggage hold and houted at the top of his voice. Luckily, a passenger heard the
noise and called a !light attendant, who immedi ately infom1ed the pilot . Once the
captain
\mderstood what was happerung, he ord ered hot air to be pumped into the hold.
When the plane arrived at Dubai lntemational Airport, an ambulance was
waitin g to take a very cold ai1d frightened Mr Vreede to hospital. Doctors
exai1úned him, but he was unhurt and was allowed to leave after a few hours.
News spread quickly about tlús 'stowaway'. The Managing Director of one Dubai's
top hotels offered him a free room for the weekend. ·He must have wanted to come
to Dub ai very much if
he was prepared to travel in the hold!'j oked tlle M D.
·Everyone's been so kind," said Mr Vreede. ' l;m really enjoying my stay in
Dubai and rm getting a lot of rest, so 1won't fa!!asleep on the¡ob again1 ·
When frank returned to Sclúphol Airport 011 M onday, lús frie11ds and
relative. were overjoyed to see lum . ' When he didn't come home after his
evening shift on Friday, 1 called tl1e airport - but nobody had seen lúm for
hours. · bis mother said to reportees. Frank explained that he was very lucky
because it is possible to die of col d in the hold of an aircraft. He apologized to his
boss for sleeping at work instead of working, and promised i t would not happ en
again. 'During the Bight 1was petrified . 1 thought 1 was going to di e!' said Mr
Vreede. ·¡wouldn't want to do it again. Nexst time, 1'11 catch a regular Hight !'