Flight 20-23
What comes around goes around.
It was a time long ago, in a galaxy far, far away. No, wait, somebody has already claimed that phrase…
It was the late sixties and turmoil over the Vietnam war was everywhere, especially on college campuses, right here in our galaxy. We were finishing out a decade in which JFK, RFK, MLK, Malcom X and a few others had been assassinated. Inner cities were, of course, trashed. All the norms were being challenged, some for the better and some for the worse. But which was which?
In that milieu I took a college creative writing class. The assignment was to write a story that was an extended symbol. I wrote the following story, sort of. I had it for years, but lost it. So, I’ve rewritten very faithfully.
As they say, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
FLIGHT 20-23
It was the usual redeye, on a five-hour trek across the county. It was 2:10 am local time, although it was impossible to tell the locality. Outside the windows of the plane, it was pitch black. No moon. Faint stars shone but illuminated nothing. There were no cities down below, no lights at all.
Young Alex, sitting by the window with his mom beside him, looked out into the nothingness. Although there was nothing to see, still he craned his head this way and that, up and down, thinking he might find something out there that showed itself. In a child’s way, that nothingness captivated him.
Mom was engrossed in her iPad, reading a novel that she had downloaded three months ago, and was finally finding a chance to read. Others in the cabin occupied themselves similarly. Some slept, some conversed quietly. Some overhead lights were on, others, off. The flight attendants were making their occasional walk-thru of the cabin to see to passenger’s needs. All was right in this little world, all its own. It was the center of the universe, or the middle of nowhere, depending on how one cared to view it.
Suddenly, the plane pitched down! People gave alarmed looks. Then the plane pitched straight down, in freefall! The attendants became airborne within the cabin, suddenly weightless. Those passengers who weren’t buckled in grabbed the seat back in front of them to keep from flying out of control. But most were buckled in, including Alex and his mom, and they were able to keep their position despite the weightlessness. Various pieces of debris, including the liquid from drinks, floated weightlessly in the free fall.
There were screams, of course. Panic. The flight attendants, trained for any emergency, even when floating in free fall, yelled to people to stay in their seats. Buckle up. Keep your heads down. People did as instructed. One departure from protocol was that the head attendant yelled out the instructions rather than use the intercom. That protocol seemed pointless.
In only a few seconds, people comprehended the new reality and pondered their immediate future. Clearly, this plane needed to right itself, or it was only a matter of time before it crashed to the ground in a fireball. The head attendant, having instructed the other two attendants to see to any immediate needs of passengers, pulled her way, astronaut style, to the front of the plane. She knew the cockpit door would be locked, per regulations, so she used the intercom phone to call the cockpit. No answer. With no other apparent choice, she tried the cockpit door. She was surprised that it opened for her. Looking into the cockpit, she saw no pilots. They just weren’t there! Gone! There was no damage, the multitude of gauges were lit. The only problem was, no pilots!
Back in the cabin, Alex spent some moments looking out the window, trying to see something besides those distant stars. They told him little, but he could at least tell that they weren’t spiraling. In fact, it was only the lack of gravity that told them they were falling. There were no other clues. In the minute or so that had elapsed, various people had grabbed floating objects as they went by, in an effort at some sort of control. In fact, there was control. With the exception that the plane was falling and would eventually crash, everything was in pretty good order.
Alex decided that he wanted to experience the weightlessness. He unfastened his belt before his mom saw him do it, and effortlessly pulled himself into the weightless air. His mom, seeing what he had done, reached, her seatbelt still fastened, to stop him. But he pulled away with an, “Ah, mom”, and she relinquished her grip. What difference did it make if he stayed in his seat? Other kids started to do the same. In fact, some adults also released themselves. However this had happened, weightlessness was fun! But with all these people floating around, there were some inevitable collisions. So, it became accepted that they should all circulate in a clockwise direction. They commented to each other, of course, on the situation and what it all meant. Some spoke of the impending doom, but most did not want to hear about it. Alex, for his part, found that he could experience some interesting perspectives as he looked at women from both the top and the bottom.
The head attendant pulled away from the cockpit. For all the flights she had been on, she had never experienced a plane with no pilots. As capable as she was in the cabin, she had no idea how to fly the plane. She didn’t even know how to radio for help. She turned and faced the cabin to speak to the passengers. This time, she used the intercom. “Excuse me everyone, could I have your attention. We seem to have no pilots, and that is the reason we are currently in free-fall...”
She was going to continue on, but Mayor Brown, of a small city on the coast, sitting near the attendant in first class, interjected, “That’s absurd. I’ve taken this flight on a number of occasions, and there’s always been pilots. Pilots don’t just go away!”
“Sir,” the attendant said to him directly, not though the intercom, “I assure you I take this flight quite frequently myself, and, yes, there have always been pilots. But this time the pilots are gone. How it was is not how it is.”
The mayor harrumphed at the incompetence. And impertinence. “I’ll file a formal complaint. This just is not right!”
“Sir,” she said. “If we live long enough for you to file a report, I’ll be glad for it.”
More indignity from the mayor. “I don’t like your attitude. I know high executives at this airline, and when I’m through, you won’t be allowed anywhere near a plane.”
“That suits me fine," said the attendant. Looking away from the mayor, and farther into the cabin, she spoke through the intercom. “Is there anyone on board who has any experience as a pilot? If you do, please push the overhead call button, or speak out to the nearest attendant.
There was a short moment of silence, and then a man, floating along with the rest, said to a nearby attendant, “I flew in Iraq. I flew cargo planes, which are a lot like this one. But I’m not sure if I have all the knowledge and experience that it takes to handle this situation.”
“Work your way up to the front and tell the head attendant. She’ll know what to do.”
And the man worked his way to the front, reaching for one seat-back after another. That somewhat disrupted the normal circulation of people, and some complained, but he made it to the front of the plane with few issues. “The attendant back there said I should talk to you. I flew a cargo plane in Iraq, a number of years ago. I think maybe I can handle this plane, but I’ve never flown one exactly like this, and certainly not in this kind of situation.”
“I’d say you’re the best chance we’ve got. Pull yourself into the cockpit and see what you can do.”
He pulled himself in to the cabin and into the pilot’s seat and strapped in. He looked at the controls and instruments. He knew what most of them did, and he felt that he could at least handle the plane, if not fly it expertly. He craned his head back at the attendant. “If you’re ready, I am.”
“Go for it, she said.”
Many of the gauges were pointless, since they weren’t calibrated for freefall. He looked out through the windshield and could see nothing but stars. But he could judge the horizon, because the stars disappeared behind it. He figured they’d been falling for about four minutes, and that probably left about one minute before they crashed. The altimeter showed 7500 feet, which confirmed his estimate. He would need to pull up on the yoke, but not too quickly at first. Pulling too hard could stress the plane to the breaking point. He had no sure way to judge that breaking point, but he pulled as firmly as he felt the plane could handle. The plane responded cleanly, no surprises. He gained confidence, and gradually pulled harder, letting the plane tell him what needed to be done.
As he pulled the plane out of its dive, the passengers started to again feel their weight. Even without knowing exactly why it was happening, they knew to return to their seats and buckle in. Of course, some had never left. It was most of a minute before the plane was level. But the pilot still could see nothing but a horizon that showed itself as darkness below the stars. For all he knew, he could hit an obstacle before he could react. So, gradually, almost imperceptibly to the passengers, he brought the plane to a higher, safer, altitude. It was only a few minutes, and the plane was flying level. By then, all the gauges gave meaningful readings.
The mayor called up to the head attendant, only a few feet away. “Now, that’s the way it’s supposed to be. I guess my warnings about making a report sank in. I hate to have to be that way, but sometimes you just have to lay down the law.” The head attendant looked back at him quizzically, but did not respond.
The new pilot turned his head back to the head attendant. “I think we’re OK. Everything seems normal. But I’ll be glad when we get experienced pilots up here.”
“You are the experienced pilot, “she said. “I’m afraid you’re it, until further notice.”
Alex looked out his window, and in the distance, he thought he saw a light.
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