Flying Mile High Chapter 13
#22 of Flying Mile High
12.00. Perth time: Flight 178 will be arriving in Perth in 33 minutes time.
Janice carried a pitcher of tea as she made her way around the cabin. With the lights dimmed out, most of the passengers were napping with the window shades closed. As she walked slowly through the aisle, she kicked a Teddy bear that was on the floor. Janice looked over at the Labrador puppy who was now sound asleep. She carefully picked up the bear and placed it on the puppy's lap, then gently lifted the child's arm and wrapped it around her prized possession.
Janice noticed that the TV was still running, so she took the remote from the seat rest and ended the cartoon that was playing on the screen. She was redirected to the main menu where she selected the music library. After scrolling through the many inappropriate albums, she found what she was looking for. Playing the first track from the album, she turned off the LCD screen. The Labrador puppy smiled in her sleep and squeezed the Teddy bear tightly in her arms when she heard a recorded music box playing Disney's 'When You Wish Upon a Star'. Once Janice had made sure she was happy, she smiled and carried on offering tea to other passengers.
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14:06. Hobart time:
'The throttle controls the speed. It can be controlled by the levers, not the pedals at your feet'. - First Officer Gwen Miles.
Gwen's words circled through Sarah's head as she took matters into her own hands. Joe and the young first officer were both dead, leaving Sarah with the controls of the jet. Sarah sat herself in the captain's seat and fastened her shoulder harness as the G650 continued to cruise at an altitude of 42000 feet.
Sarah placed her paw on the control column and pulled it back, but she did it a bit too hard, and screamed in fear as the plane's nose rose sharply, triggering a series of master caution alarms. The fly-by-wire system kicked in and maintained the plane at a 30 degree nose up angle while the engines roared back to life at full power. Sarah searched frantically all over the many LCD screens on her dashboard to locate what she has done wrong. She found a warning message on the middle screen which said. 'AP Disconnect'.
The alarm continued to ring as Sarah tried to remember what AP stood for. Sarah suddenly remembered another piece of information Gwen once told her.
'After take-off, the pilots usually hands over the controls to the autopilot'.
"SHIT!". She exclaimed, as she realised she had taken full control of the plane. She found a button which said master caution. Slapping it, it caused the alarms to stop. She was now relieved that she had managed to turn off the alarms.
An alarm started to sound again. Sarah looked at the LCD screen and saw the message. "Cabin Pressure". Little did she know, she'd caused the plane reach an altitude of 54400 feet, way beyond the maximum height the plane could cruise at. Suddenly, the control column of the G6 started vibrating violently. A new warning message appeared on the screen "Low airspeed". This followed to a "Stall" before the final warning message came up. "A/THR disconnect".
Sarah screamed as she felt herself decrease in weight. Eventually she felt like she was going to float but the seatbelt kept her from drifting away. She released the control column and the nose began to drop. The plane was falling straight down towards the earth.
Everything went into slow motion as the alarms rang in her ears, echoing as Sarah felt her adrenaline to build up. Her pupils began to dilate as her heart was about to burst out of her chest. Following her instincts, she pulled back the control column with all her strength, causing the nose to pitch up sharply. The wings couldn't take the stress of the sudden change in G-forces and they snapped off like twigs. The G650 was leaking jet fuel from its fuel tanks into the atmosphere. Eventually the remaining engine began sucking in the jet fuel and igniting it.
The Gulfstream G650 exploded in a big ball of fire, sending shockwaves to the local surroundings. When the fire began to settle, different sections of the fuselage fell back to earth in trails of smoke. Air Tangara Elite flight 50X disappeared off radar, taking 4 innocent souls with it.
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12.00. Hong Kong time: Kyle began to settle into the flight as his plane cruised at an altitude of 39500 feet at a speed of 905 km/h. The interphone began to ring and Captain Rocks picked it up.
"Flight deck, this is Captain Morris Rocks speaking".
"Afternoon Captain Rocks, this is chief purser Anne Tsui. Would you or First Officer Harrison like to have lunch now?".
"Please stand by". Answered Captain Rocks. "Kyle do you want to have lunch now?".
"Sure, do you want to eat first or do you want me to eat first?".
"You've worked hard and had a shit time these two days. You can go first". Picking up the interphone, he tolds Anne to serve Kyle first.
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15.02 Hobart time: Jonathan entered the flight deck of the G6. "You took it quite seriously!". He teased.
Sarah lifted her hands from her eyes. All was still again.
"Jesus fucking Christ!. I forgot we were in a simulator!. I thought I'd just died!". Grumbled Sarah.
"I have a surprise for you, follow me!. But first I have to blindfold you". Smiled the wolf.
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12.10. Hong Kong time: A knock was heard at the door and Kyle turned his head around to check the security camera. Upon realising it was the Chief Flight Attendant, he pushed a button to unlock the door.
A tigress smiled as she entered the cockpit, carrying a big tray of gourmet dishes. Kyle pulled out his tray table and watched her place his lunch on the table. Kyle closed his eyes and took a whiff. 'Mmmmmm it smells good'. He thought to himself.
Kyle slowly opened his eyes and they almost popped out of thier sockets.
"Anne, what is that?".
"It's steamed fish head. In Chinese culture it is only served to the best of the best, such as the emperor. You and Captain Rocks are the most important members of our team. Please enjoy the meal".
Kyle thought for a bit, what could he eat from a fish's head?.
"How do I eat this?". He asked.
"You just eat it!. Everything is edible. The brain, the cheek and my personal favourite, the eye. When you chew on it, it literally pops open in your mouth".
Kyle wasn't completely finished yet, he was wondering about the two side dishes.
"What are those?". He queried again.
"Those are sliced pork kidneys in Sichuan Lao Gan Ma chilli sauce. That dish over there is Feng Zhua, Phoenix claws. A Cantonese delicacy of Chicken feet. Please enjoy your meal".
Anne left the cockpit, leaving Kyle frozen with the plates of posh Chinese food. Captain Rocks pulled his own face as he looked down disgusted at the lunch special.