they tell me the wright brothers flew their first aircraft on this day in 1903.
as they do i remember for some reason an interesting episode on a flight.

Indian Airlines flight from Pune to Bangalore - sometime in 2004...

We are at takeoff (on the runway ready to leave) - flight is ontime
Captain : Crew to takeoff stations.
20 seconds.
Captain : Ladies and gentlemen. we have a technical problem. we are returning to our gate where you will need to get off the plane and wait. inconvenience regretted.
a collective sigh goes through the cabin as we begin taxing back down the runway towards the gate.
10 seconds of taxing - then a sudden acceleration
Captain : the technical problem is corrected - we are taking off. please relax and enjoy the flight.
10 seconds later we are airborne.
Not too many people look 'relaxed'.

i still wonder what the technical problem was - forgot to release hand brake ??