My experience with Saudi customs:

[trof]

Coventina's post reminded me.

It was in the 80s and I was flying for TWA.
We brought a 707 cargo airplane into Jiddah for a layover, continuing to Bombay early the next morning.

Since we were cargo, we were parked out on the ramp and not at a passenger gate. After a fairly long wait a van picked us up and took us to customs.

In most other countries crews just walk through a 'Nothing to Declare' station and we're on our way. Not here.

We'd already been warned not to bring any 'contraband' in. Mainly booze, bibles or Playboys. We were clean.

The customs inspector was flanked by two uniformed armed guards. AK-47s, I think. He went through every inch of our luggage, even unrolling pairs of socks to make sure there was nothing tucked inside. Felt around on the linings of our bags. It was the most thorough customs search I've ever been through, before or since.

He waved us on, but it took a few minutes while we repacked our bags. Halfway down the hall to the main terminal it dawned on me that when we had shut the aircraft down I hadn't turned off the battery switch. Ordinarily we didn't. If the plane was going back out soon, it stayed on. If it was to be parked overnight the mechanics would take care of it. I doubted that our Saudi maintenance would do it.

We had to leave very early the next morning before temperatures got so hot that we couldn't get off with our load of cargo and fuel. I could just see a flat battery, and the time it would take to re-charge it, and then too hot for take-off. And thus another day in Jiddah and an explanation to the company as to why we had been delayed a day. So I turned around and headed back.

The inspector was gone and the door we'd come through was shut. standing in front of it was one of the guards.
"I need to get back to my aircraft."
Nothing
"I have to go back to the ramp."
He shook his head. No English. Crap.

I went to Saudi operations which was staffed almost entirely by Americans and a few Brits. I went to one of the guys at the briefing desk.
"I need to get back to the airplane. Forgot something. It's the TWA cargo that just came in. Can't seem to get out the way I came in."

He laughed and called to the one fellow in native garb.
"Hey Sahid! Guy needs a 'mother-may I?' slip.
Sahid smiled and nodded and rubber-stamped one of a stack of forms on his desk.
"Sahid is our 'official permission' guy. The only English he understands is 'mother-may-I? slip'."

A half hour later another van pulled up and I accomplished my mission.
All's well that ends well.
:-)

[La Lioness Priyanka]

1. my aunt and uncle were in saudi arabia for three years

they hated the experience. they were in trouble with the religious police a few times over seemingly innocuous things. and my aunt watched a woman get molested but there was nothing she or the woman could do about it.

however my aunt hated her texas experience almost as much since someone set fire to her backyard. (interracial couples were frowned upon)


religious fanaticism is ugly, no matter where it is.

[wildhorses]

2. mother may i ---

is that anything like simon sez:P

and booze, bibles and playboys:rofl:

sounds like a southern baptist:rofl:


holy shit!!!

[trof]

3. We even scraped the 'dirties'.

And now I'm letting you in on a deep dark airline pilot secret.
You have to remember this was back in the days of all male cockpits and the atmosphere could be charitably put as 'frat boy/fighter pilot, pre-lib'.

In the cockpit instrument and overhead panels there are 'blank' spaces. A place where some other piece of electronic or radio gear could be installed. But we didn't use or need that whatever-it-is so there's just a little metal plate screwed over the space.
The 'dirties' were glued the back side of these.
Pix of various parts of the female anatomy clipped from Playboy or Hustler or even worse.

Yes it's juvenile and I don't know how it got started.
Maybe to surprise a mechanic who periodically checked these spaces for trash, dirt, etc.
Anyway, we scraped 'em prior to landing in Jiddah.
;-)

[wildhorses]

4. that was smart thinking

ya bunch of frat boys:rofl:

[trof]

5. I'm really kind of embarrassed about that now.

Back then as soon as we got in the cockpit we checked the dirties.
Now that's just so...so...George Bush**.