A Short Story B L Dhar |
s the chocks were removed Co-pilot David eased on the control column and nosed out the jet from the parking slot on to the taxiway leading to a line-up on the runway at La’ Guardia airport for the third run of the day to Logan International at Boston. He looked at his commander who was on the radio with the Air Traffic Control receiving instructions for the flight. Peter signaled him to enter the runway as they readied for takeoff. A head count had told the pilot that they were 92 on board including the crew and had all hatches closed. During the taxi for takeoff both pilots jointly read out and verified the pre-flight checks from the manual and were confident all parameters sounded good. The Boeing 737 of Delta Express was in perfect condition and after the third run this morning all crew members were free to take the day off, but the aircraft would make many more runs with other flight crew on this same route in the course of the day before being sent to the maintenance in the evening for a routine check. The flight would have a 55 minutes run on the outbound and the same time on inbound and that left the time slot open for the ground crew at both airports for a quick turnover to maintain the schedule. Both pilots got busy watching the controls as the Boeing raced up to its take-off speed of 140 knots on the runway ensuring a smooth lift-off. As David guided the flight on to a steady course, Peter took the microphone and announced to the passengers that the flight would be perfect as the light drizzle in the morning had abated and the sky was only partly cloudy. He made it clear that they could unfasten the seat belts now but in the interest of passenger safety it was advisable to leave these on. Light refreshments were to be served. He did not specify it would be a measly small pack of Pretzels and a 200 ml can of a carbonated drink.
Sarah was on board with her two kids, daughter Suzanna age six and her boy Kevin age 4. They were on way to meet Sarah’s parents who lived in Marlborough and were unwell for some time. Her husband dropped her at the Delta Airlines Terminal from their home in Long Island before going to his office. On way to the airport the girl Suzanna observed the rainbow in the sky after the morning drizzle and was happy she would see it more closely up in the sky while in flight. She made her wish known to her mother who took the information in stride as a child remark and did not comment. But the girl was adamant and soon was seen confiding to the air-hostess who smiled and said something that Sarah did not hear. The hostess entered the flight deck with the idea to seek permission for the girl’s request to come in and David observed that it may not be possible as FAA did not permit such ingress into the cockpit for anyone and for any reason whatsoever. Peter asked her the age of the child and when she said she was just a kid he looked askance at his first officer and pleasingly told the stewardess, Aah-well let her in Betsy but make sure no one is looking. Take her to the pantry and then sneak her in and while doing this make sure the gully is blocked from view of the other passengers. The hostess went back to the girl and did exactly that. As Suzanna was ushered into the cockpit she was dazzled at the view inside and wondrously looked at the instrument panel, the gadgets displayed and the way these were blinking and a deep throated cry escaped her mouth that signaled to the pilots they had a visitor. The hostess led her to the jump seat and strapped her in. The shoulder straps did not exactly fit her for her size. Peter looked behind and welcomed the visitor with a loving welcome and told her she could enjoy the view and if that was what she wanted to see. The girl gave a courteous nod back and said with confidence that she had come in to request the pilot to find that rainbow she had seen from the ground before take-off and fly close so that she could have a real good look at it. Peter looked out but did not find any trace of it. David instantly located it on his side of the window on the right at almost a 3-O’clock position that Peter could not see and called out to him he had sighted it. The girl was informed and she craned her neck to gain the view. Meantime Peter was busy verifying his cruise speed of Mach.82 and short haul altitude of 25,000 feet with all systems looking good. Early on a private 4-seater Cessna-172 had taken off from a private and unmanned strip at Port Hyannis on way to another at Concord in the state of Massachusetts, making a South to North run that would take about an hour to go. It would cut across the flight path of traffic approaching Logan from the East in the airspace west of the Massachusetts turnpike. Pilots on an unpublished route also file their Flight Plan so that the movement is registered with the ATC that looks after the safety of traffic within the airspace. They have to fly by Visual Flight Rules that makes it mandatory for pilots to look after their safety while flying with visibility parameters just right to conduct the flight. The Cessna was flying at 5000 feet and it posted its position to ATC and also notified that its transponder was non-functional, meaning that its position could not be registered on the Radar Display of the Controller. The Controller would nevertheless compute its position at any given time and avoid any conflict on and around this route under his control with respect to other flights. While instructing any flight inbound from the East for descend, the pilot would be warned to look out for this tiny bird in the sky. Delta Express got clearance from the Air Traffic Control (ATC) for its descent for landing and also the weather parameters like the visibility and wind conditions as they neared the airport. Both pilots being professionals knew the routine well. When the descent was commenced for landing they calculated the position and height where an encounter with the small plane was estimated. For other arriving or departing traffic they knew the ATC would take care to keep them safe and that no collisions hazard would occur. And right now they just could not ignore their guest in the cockpit who had been offered a big bar of chocolate to keep busy while watching the rainbow that seemed to fade away. And since she was busy looking out at the rainbow it was she who spotted it first and shrieked out loud about the plane that was merging into them from the right where the rainbow was. The pilots made a rapid upward left turn to avert a collision that jolted Suzanna out of her seat. But the belt held on to her. Peter and David looked with disbelief at what they were sure was a second’s escape from certain disaster and felt obligated to the girl for that timely warning. A patch of cloud had hidden the small craft from view of their line of sight while being busy monitoring the instrument panels. It was after all the Rainbow that saved the day for them and what a ride for the girl on that blessed rainbow chase. And while submitting the Air-miss incident report to FAA, they would just ignore the mention of an outsider in the cockpit. |
Shri B.L. Dhar was born and brought up at Srinagar. After completing his Master’s Degree in Mathematics he ventured out of the state and found a job in the Civil Aviation Department joining as a Gazetted Officer. His area of activity was at Delhi and Mumbai International airports. He was selected to undergo training at the school of aviation; Luxembourg under the UNDP program and later posted at the Corporate Headquarters in New Delhi. He had in the meantime joined the newly formed PSU, Airports Authority of India, from where he retired as a General Manager in 2000. He has written innumerable articles about aviation that was published in the house magazine. He is now settled in Delhi and keeps his interest alive in writing..
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Dad, Loved to read the latest story - from 8000 miles away. Hope to be back home soon on my own flight.
Added By SANDEEP DHAR
What surprises me is that you effortlessly write about a place that is, as your son writes, 8000 miles away from where you live and it appears you just live in the backyard only. Thanks for a nice story. PN Raina
Added By Prithvinath(PN) Raina
Hello Uncle, this is stunning. It takes the color of your experience. Thank you for a nice story. Gaurav.
Added By Gaurav Gaurav
Thank you Dhar Sahib for this nice story. I am delighted. VK Shroff
Added By VK Shroff