So... Is This The End?

T104's Down!

"Folks, I don't think we can make it to the terminal." Christina mumbled as she scribbled the numbers onto the log. "We're going down too fast!" Darn, it's like back to the stone ages with the electronics dead! She cursed to herself. With none of the equipment working she had to calculate manually the plane's drop versus the distance covered. Then she gazed down below through the window. Surat city radiated an eerie glow in the twilight.

Yusuf looked over at her. Then he spoke into the mouthpiece. "Officer Vijay?"  

"Yes Captain, here. In that case, I guess, well... we should go for a sideslip." His nervousness echoed through the speakers. 

A side slip, also known as "crossing the controls" is a maneuver in gliders where the pilot turns the plane in one direction but tilts it in the opposite direction, causing the plane to fly sideways. It's more like a "drifting" equivalent of an aircraft. The technique works to maintain the plane's optimum speed the closer it gets to the ground. Thus the pilot achieves a reasonably smooth touchdown. However, it's okay for gliders but extremely dangerous for a commercial airliner this big! 

"You sure about this? This is a 767 for God's sake, not a freaking glider!" Christina wanted to make sure if Vijay really meant it. She eyed Yusuf. He gave her a I-know-what-you-mean look.

"I understand, Officer Christina. Well, right now with both the engines out, technically it is a glider. And if my primary radar's to be trusted, you're way closer than expected, thanks to the crosswinds." Vijay sounded firm now. "As per your calculations, the rate at which you're plummeting, it'll be too risky to attempt a 360 turn to lose the extra height." He paused. 

"Chris, he's right." Yusuf muttered as he tried to focus amid the chaos. His ankles throbbed as he literally fought with the foot pedals that felt heavy and jammed. "And if we make a sudden dip, the fuselage might not withstand the blow on landing, supposing landing gears fail to engage as we're out of power!" He wondered aloud. 

"Exactly!" Vijay started speaking again. "The same thing happened to Flight 143. Its landing gears didn't deploy fully. So if you want to make it to the terminal, you need to cross your controls. And about landing gears..." his voice trailed off, as if he didn't want to say the terrible truth both Yusuf and Christina knew. "We can only hope that gravity drop works." 

"I got visual to the right," Yusuf radioed when he saw the series of tiny yellow lights of the runway.  

Christina immediately got to work. "We've got visual. Requesting ground emergency. Requesting..." Before Christina could finish, a piercing alarm went off. "Damn it, radio's dead!" Now they had no communication with the ATC.

"Okay, I'm going to slip it now." Yusuf breathed in heavily. "Chris, standby for deploying landing gear." 

"Yeah." Christina gasped. "God! Can't imagine standing on the runway and a jumbo passenger flight, flying sideways, falling out of the sky!" She shook her head. 

"We're out of options. Deploy landing gear... now!" 

Christina flicked the switch to engage the landing gears. These are essentially two sets of wheels at the back and one at the front below the cockpit. She had to do a "gravity drop", that is letting the gears slam into place aided by gravity as they were out of power. "Hey! It's jammed. Gravity drop ain't working." Just then the plane lurched forward violently, causing it to nosedive and make a perilous dip. Christina felt as if the ground was bearing up at them with breakneck speed. 

"Crosswinds!" Yusuf yelled, his features taut. "Can't make it to the runway. Lost too much altitude. We might crash before that!" His jaws tightened. "Now there's only one option, we either make it or else..." He shook his head and spoke slowly, convincing himself what he was about to venture. "I've got to slip this, not onto the runway, but the river!" Oh Allah, please keep us all safe!

Christina stared at him, wide-eyed. She nodded. "Let's just hope this works." Then she shifted her gaze towards choppy water of the Tapti river that flows along the length of the Surat airport. Far ahead, the Arabian Sea looked serene yet sinister with its uncanny ochre radiance. 

"Time to tell them." Yusuf looked shaken as he glanced over at Christina.  

Christina shuddered. The thought of it made her sick. She cleared her throat, took a deep breath and spoke into the mouthpiece. "Hello everyone, this is your First Officer Christina. Please fasten your seatbelts and hold yourselves steady. I'm sorry I have some bad news for you," She paused. I'm so so sorry Sarah! She was about to make the announcement no pilot would ever want to do in their lifetime. "Brace for impact!" While addressing all the one hundred and thirty five passengers, she felt as if she was talking only to Sarah. Oh I wish we could at least die in each other's arms! It was all my fault. She quickly wiped away the tears with the back of her hand making it look like she was dabbing at the sweat. She didn't want Yusuf to notice. 

Yusuf crossed the controls, making the aircraft tilt to the left while turning its nose to the right. This was probably the second time in aviation history a "sideslip" was being attempted on a 767, after the Gimli Glider. He felt insanely awkward, flying the plane sideways like a crab. He had to look through his window and not the windshield. Oh God, please let this work! With humongous effort, Yusuf straightened the plane when he felt he had reached the optimal elevation and carefully aligned it over the Tapti. Thankfully there were almost no boats at this time. He gasped as the enormous jet cleared the ONGC Bridge by barely a few meters. He experienced tunnel vision like never before. A few more seconds to impact! 

*** 

"We've lost them, we've lost them!" A Trainee Officer screamed as the radio of Flight T104 went dead. 

"If I'm not wrong," Vijay scratched his chin, "if they don't make it down here..." He frowned, trying to sort out his thoughts. 

"Sir, it's way too dangerous crashing onto solid land!" The Trainee Officer voiced his fear as he handed him a paper where he had calculated the approximate coordinates of Flight T104. 

"Unless... yes! I know it!" Vijay thumped his fist on the desk, setting off a mild rumble because of all the equipment stacked over it. "The river! They might go down into the river!" He held his temples as he stood up. "Alright people, alert the Port Trust immediately. Tell'em to keep an eye peeled for a freaking airplane falling out of the sky! T104's going down!" Damn, I want this day to end! 

***

I might never hear her voice again! Sarah kept thinking about the last three words she had heard Christina speak. Brace for impact! She gripped the seat in front of her and ducked low to avoid banging her head against the window. The cabin got drowned in relentless screams and shrieks. "So this is how it ends." She muttered.

She couldn't cry anymore and felt a bizarre calm as she reflected on her life. It was as if her whole being was gearing up to accept whatever happened. Just then she felt an odd ringing in her ears. Before she could give much thought to it, the plane nosedived making her knees ram hard against her chest. She heard a muffled crack in her sternum. She felt paralyzed in place as the screams around her got softer and more garbled. Then it was all black.

*** 

The battery icon showed 9% remaining as Nasreen typed out the last words of her document. She slowly closed the lid shut. This is probably the last time I'm putting you to sleep! She smirked, despite herself. The Prayer Club sticker on the lid stared back up at her, upside down. I can at least pray, perhaps my last! It's Maghrib anyway. She desperately tried concentrating on the surahs but lost track again and again. All her memories came flooding back to her.

Time seemed to have slowed down to a crawl. She pictured her mother's smiling face. Then she heard a distant voice in her head. Alhamdulillah I'm blessed with you! "Fahim!" She voiced as she closed her eyes. Suddenly she felt a tremendous thud below her feet that ripped her away from her trance. It was unlike any normal touchdown. We've crashed!

Then the plane came to an abrupt halt. The cabin was dead silent. Every second seemed like ages. Nasreen felt the plane bob up and down like a boat. She was transfixed in her spot as she looked out the window to find something dark and murky flowing against the glass. Up ahead in the aisle she heard a splash as the water came gushing in through a fissure caused by the crash. 

"Evacuate! Evacuate!" The crew had to act fast. Any minute the massive 767 could sink, taking with it all the one hundred and thirty five passengers.