As a pilot I have landed a plane full of passengers thousands of times - but this one time was different

This may seem like nothing more than a random anecdotal story about my job, but the reason I’m writing it here is because of what happened afterwards. I’m a commercial airline captain with 30 years of experience. I have flown all kinds of aircraft, from Cessna back in training to huge airbuses and meandering 747s. I’ve landed in all kinds of weather and under all sorts of conditions, and I can honestly say I have never had anything out of the ordinary happen. That is, until the flight I’m going to describe. <br><br>It was a pretty standard flight, taking off from Heathrow and heading to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. It was a typical flight with your average passengers; kids going on their first school trip, couples going on the first leg of their honeymoon and generally just a lot of smiling on everyone’s faces. <br><br>Perhaps this makes me a monster, but I often only notice three or four passengers in my entire career over 30 years. I don’t know why, but once you’re in the cabin and you’re soaring through the air at a few thousand feet, everyone seems to look the same - it’s like a collective blob of faces. Maybe it’s the repetition, maybe it’s the sheer amount of people I meet but the point is, the ones I do notice are few and far between. <br><br>On this particular flight, there was a woman sat in first class, she was probably in her mid-twenties but by the way she carried herself and how poised she was, you couldn’t help but notice her. There was something about her, an aura that made you want to get in her good books, to get talking to her for whatever reason. She was very beautiful; long dark hair that fell down her back, big bright piercing blue eyes and a smile that seemed to light up the plane. She was a proper movie star type, the kind you’d see on a red carpet or in a high end fashion magazine. She was smartly dressed in a tailored black pencil dress, a white cardigan over her shoulders and a string of pearls around her neck, she looked out of place amongst the screaming kids and holiday makers. <br><br>I noticed her particularly because she was a very quiet soul, she didn’t look at her phone once and she didn’t slap headphones on like most of first class do. I was intrigued by her because she sat bolt upright the entire flight, her eyes casually scanning the other passengers. She was a bit of a loner, I guess, but it probably didn’t help that she was sat in first class amongst a bunch of families. She did send me a small smile when I stopped by to check on her; to be honest, I don’t normally go around checking on everyone, but she was the only one around my age and she seemed, well, interesting. Not that I really have time to be wandering down the aisles grinning at pretty young ladies. <br><br>Occupied with the controls, I only caught a glimpse of her every now and then when I got up to stretch my legs or the flight attendants came in to let me know everything was going smoothly. She made the occasional phone call and I remember thinking it was a bit odd that she never once asked for a drink or any food. <br><br>Aside from the mysterious woman in first class, the rest of the flight went off without a hitch; we were bang on time and the weather wasn’t terrible. Just your average, everyday flight. I called through the intercom, welcoming everyone to Paris and gave the usual safety demonstrations about seatbelts and electronic devices before starting the descent. I called the flight attendants into the cockpit and gave the thumbs up for them to get the plane ready for landing, the usual drill. <br><br>There was usually a bit of commotion with seatbelt signs and arm rests and seat backs when I gave this announcement. But this time, there wasn’t. <br><br>I craned my neck to look out the window but there was nothing, a sea of endless cloud. I reached for the button above my head to flick on the speaker system to repeat the message but the flight attendants were already lined up behind me. <br><br>“Captain, the plane is empty. Everyone is gone.” <br><br>I leant back in my chair in confusion, trying to remember if we had made an unscheduled stop somewhere along the way but my co-pilot shook his head. <br><br>I stood up and followed them back out into the plane. It was true, there was no-one there. No sign of the mysterious woman, no sign of the screaming children, it was just nothing. The only people on the plane were myself, my co-pilot and the three flight attendants. <br><br>I stormed down the aisle, opening all the overhead lockers but they were empty too. I checked the bathrooms, they were empty as well. There was no sign of life anywhere. It started to get really spooky, I remember getting goosebumps running up and down my spine, it was like something out of a horror movie. <br><br>Finally, I called air traffic control, my hands were shaking as I called through to them to let them know the situation. <br><br>“Where are the passengers, Captain?” The controller replied. <br><br>“I don’t know, I just… I don’t know.” <br><br>There was a long pause. I looked around at my crew who all just shook their heads in confusion. <br><br>“What is your passenger count, Captain?” The pause was finally broken. <br><br>“None.” I replied, trying to keep my voice steady. “Requesting permission to land, we will be making a full report of this incident.” <br><br>“Very well.” The line went dead. There was nothing else they could say to me. <br><br>I was dumbfounded, it was a plane full of passengers and they had all just… Vanished. There was no trace of them, no sign of struggle, no sign of anything. I thought back to the mysterious woman, sat alone in first class. Who was she? Where did she go? I had so many questions, but the biggest question on my mind was, where and who were my passengers?