Ashutosh overindulged himself when he had a stopover in Dallas and the Delhi Belly struck him viciously. He called in sick for the early morning flight and this time it was none other than his ex-wife, Margaret who was deputed to replace him.
She was sleeping with Soniya, her daughter from Ashutosh, when she got the sudden call to report for duty. She kissed her sleepy daughter goodbye, and slipped into her uniform quickly. When she came to know whom she was replacing, she cursed under her breath, “Fcuk you, Ash.”
As the flight ascended and steadied at 30000 ft., within 15 minutes the first turbulence struck. A sudden jolt, and the aircraft lost height instantaneously. The left wing engine burst into flames, and then, before the horrified passengers sitting at the nearest windows seats could comprehend, the engine disintegrated, a chunky part flew upwards, and struck the nearest window, fracturing it. The strong suction created, sucked the nearest woman passenger, and she hit her head fiercely against the window, the blood drenching her horrified neighbor. In a daze he tried to grab the oxygen mask, which had descended at that very instant.
As she watched the dials before her go haywire, Margaret panicked. As she tried to steady the aircraft, her old instincts kicked in. She took a deep breath to calm her fluttering heart. She maneuvered the yoke, to first steady the aircraft to fly with a single engine and then maintain the aircraft at an uniform altitude. Then the second turbulence struck causing chaos inside the aircraft. The heads of a few passengers struck the panel above and shrieks and shouts pierced the air. Even the airhostesses panicked but then a calming voice crackled on the speakers, “Ladies and Gentlemen. We are faced with an unprecedented situation on board. But keep faith in God…”, as Margaret gulped a pause and then continued, “…and your Captain, Margaret. It’s my responsibility to land you safely and I have never failed. But you will have to take responsibility not to panic, as in the next few minutes I am going to descend the aircraft, faster than normal landing speeds. It might cause headaches, it might make you breathless, but when we land, you would have had an Rollercoaster experience to ruminate upon.” It certainly helped calm a few nerves within the scared passengers, when the descent hit them hard. Some experienced excruciating pain due to extreme eardrum pressure while others puked on their neighbors.
But when the wheels thudded on the tarmac, the wheels screeched and the aircraft jerked to a halt, a silence descended within the aircraft. Then a small girl started clapping through her tears, and soon the the entire aircraft reverberated with a thunderous applause for their Captain.
It was only later that the world came to know that Margaret was the perfect candidate for facing this daunting, life threatening situation, with her prized 15 year experience of flying military jets in extreme weather and combat conditions.
Turbulence at 30000 ft
