Fifty-five thousand runners from all over the world are arriving in Chicago for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, which gets underway on Sunday.
But one international race team organizer has faced huge challenges and obstacles just getting to Chicago. She was on a British Airways flight bound for O’Hare International Airport that dropped 27,000 feet in just a few minutes.
Arriving in Chicago was, in a way, Gauri Jayaram’s finish line.
“Wow, what an adventure,” she told NBC Chicago’s Michelle Baik.
Her aunt was especially relieved.
“I’m so happy she’s just home,” said Jayaram’s aunt, Sue. “That’s all I can say.”
Jayaram hopped on a flight Monday at London’s Heathrow Airport. Originally from India, she was traveling to O’Hare to lead a large group of international runners at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon.
“I was actually napping when I felt the sensation,” she recounted.
According to the flight-tracking website FlightAware.com, the plane plunged from 35,000 feet to just 9,000 feet in roughly seven minutes.
“It was not like this sudden drop,” she said. “I mean, it was very rapid, but I think it was deliberate.”
The flight was over Ireland when oxygen masks fell from overhead.
“It was just like, ‘Oh my God,'” Jayaram said. “I’ve been on hundreds of planes, hundreds of rides. This has never happened.
Jayaram recalled a calm that swept over the cabin – from the crews to other passengers and even her, a pilot’s daughter.
“I think for a moment I asked myself, ‘Is this going to be the last flight of my life? And I said, ‘Okay, maybe it is,'” she said.
As for what actually happened, British Airways hasn’t specified the “technical issue” they said they ran into.
For a few hours, the pilot appeared to zig-zag around the area before landing back in London. Nearly 24 hours after Jayaram was supposed to land in Chicago, loved ones at the finish line were at ease.
“Just happy she’s back here,” Aunt Sue said.
Marathon runners are now able to get to their start.
“Now I need to put everything behind me and start getting ready to make sure that people are comfortable…” she said. “it’s not about me, because it’s really about them.”
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