Author's Note

For some immersion, I've left some links for you all.

During Aircraft Flight - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t842besvDs
Some Turbulence Sounds - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UO-wYpNN0s

Chapter Two

1st January 2017 11:30AM

Eventually, the shuttle bus that had been carrying us towards the terminal stopped. There was a little jolt to the side of the transport as one side of the shuttle depressurized to make disembarking easier. One by one the crew picked up their luggage and left the bus, I was the last person to leave the bus and on my way out thanked the driver as he wished us a happy new year.

Outside the shuttle bus was a totally different world, there was cars, buses and a massive sea of taxis for as far as the eye could see. Along the line of cars, you could make out various people going about their day as they said goodbye to loved ones and friends.

Besides the tsunami of people, there was a distinctive blend of car exhaust and jet fuel in the air. It was a smell that for different people it meant different things. For some, the smell meant relaxation and holidays and for others, it just meant another day at the office, but for me, it meant home. Flying had pretty much become my second home and the smell gave me a save reassurance whenever I was panicky. Now that I took a moment to think about it I really wouldn't be surprised if I spent more time in the air than I did on the ground.

A small tap on my shoulder brought me out of my little daydream. As I turned around I saw Craig clicking my fingers at me.

"Ah ha the tables have turned," He announced triumphantly.

"Sure whatever you say," I replied not giving it much mind.

Before I could continue the conversation I got another tap on the shoulder. Although much to my surprise it wasn't Charlie playing tricks as I'd first assumed. Instead, standing there was Rose, my head cabin crew.

"I don't mean to interrupt your no doubt fascinating conversation however if you haven't noticed it's freezing out here and I'm standing in a skirt," She said using her hands to show what she meant.

"Okay fair enough," I told her. I turned around to face the rest of the cabin crew who by this point were all shivering with the exception of a few.

"Okay everyone let's head inside and get some heat into us," I announced much to the delight of the shivering cabin crew. As we walked in Rose and Craig both pulled up beside me.

"Honestly Phil I have no idea how you don't notice that it's freezing," She said curiosity mixing with shivers. I simply laughed.

"Ha you know I'm from Scotland this is like an extra summer holiday,"

"Well, it wouldn't hurt to remind yourself every once in a while that the rest of us are not," She replied.

"Fair enough,"

The terminal building was also freshly renovated and had just reopened in the past couple of months. The smell of fresh paint adorned the many walls and new LED TV's were dotted all around the check in area. Touchscreens had become the new keyboards as many checks in staff were now using the devices at their desks. I had no doubt in my mind that the place was also made to be more "energy efficient" as everyone these days had to pretend to save the planet somehow. This truly was a terminal made for the 21st century.

Our group began to make its way over to the designated crew area. As we passed through the airport security we all went through the usual routine making sure to place everything in the tray. The crafty TSA were always on hand to both speed up and slow down our day.

When we finally made it to the crew area everyone got settled in for a bit of wait. It would be another hour or so before we even got out to the aircraft. I, however, wasen't complaining as it gave us time for the weather to get better outside. Most of the crew decided to go and get a fresh round of tea and coffee. Unfortunately, there were no hot cocoa machines in the crew room much to my disappointment. Craig seemed to have noticed my disappointment and decided to speak up.

"Still no hot chocolate?" He asked as he drank his tea.

"Nope, I swear the airport never reads my suggestion cards whenever I submit them," I exclaimed. I wasn't lying every time I would come to Philadelphia the one thing it would lack would be the hot cocoa machine and every time I would submit a staff suggestion card to no avail.

"I'm sure they'll put one in one day,"

"Yeah but by the time they do I'll either be dead, missing or in another universe," I said. I was greatly over exaggerating my issue but the hot cocoa always helps me to focus.

"Yeah probably,"

Just as we finished our mini conversation I heard Rose call over to us giving us a little wave to signal her position.

"Hey we're just going to have our Cabin briefing shouldn't take to long today,"

"Okay thanks for letting us know, I'll give you a little shout when the crew briefings about to start," I replied.

"Gotcha," She said before turning around and walking back to a large room in the back of the staff area.

"We should probably get over to the dispatch counter while we have time," Craig said.

"Lead the way," I said signaling him with the motion of my hand.

We both made our way over to the dispatch counter within the staff area. From there we could review all of our plans for the day in a more controlled environment with more access to different pieces of equipment and charts.

We made a start by looking at the main flight plan for the flight. The plan was very straight forward, once we departed Philadelphia we would fly north towards Canada before flying east across the Atlantic Ocean. All going well the flight should take around six hours to complete.

After reviewing a couple more items including the weather and NOTAMS for both airports myself and Craig both started to make our way to where the cabin crew was currently meeting. As we approached the door I reached out with my hand to give a clear knock upon the door. A few seconds later the knock was greeted with a.

"Come in,"

As I opened the door I saw the crew many of which were sitting down at a large round table with a couple of the others standing with drinks still in hands. As we walked in we saw Rose who by the looks of things was just finishing up her crew briefing. Their meetings mostly consist of delivering customer service but also focuses on safety for the flight.

"Good you're here just in time," She exclaimed packing most of her sheets into her bag. "We're all finished here so you can have the floor,"

I walked to the middle of the room whilst Craig took a seat next to Rose as the room slowly fell quiet.

"Okay, good morning everyone so let's start our group brief then," I said before setting out a couple of documents out on the table in front of myself. "So just in case your hangovers are causing memory leaks let me just re-introduce myself, I'm Phil and this is my first officer Craig," At the mention of his name Craig gave a little wave.

The briefing continued for a bit mainly focusing on details for the specific flight in question. I noticed that time was running short so I decided to start to wrap things up.

"Please remember you are my eyes and ears down the back so if there's anything that you see that you're not happy with suspicious or abnormal then please don't hesitate to contact the chief or ring any of us up on the flight deck and we will sort it out," I took a breath of air before continuing. "That all being said thank you very much and let's have a good flight,"

As my final remarks showed the end of the briefing the crew who were sitting went to stand up as the already standing crew made their way to the door of the briefing room. Finally, once everyone in the room had left I got up and started to make my way to the gate.

After much walking, we finally arrived at our gate A16. It definitely wasn't the fanciest gate I'd parked at but overall it wasn't terrible. As we approached the entrance to the gate the airport staff recognized us and let us through. As we gave them a little smile and thanks we began to walk towards the aircraft.

G-YMMD was a Boeing 777-200. It was beginning to show its age in someplace, however, the airline kept all of their aircraft nice and shiny. Inside the age of the aircraft disappeared as the cabins had recently been renovated and had been given a much-needed face lift. Old machines in the galleys had been replaced with new ones for the cabin crew to use and new mood lighting had been installed to reduce jet lag.

Finally came the cockpit which was already extremely modern. It still had all the latest bells and whistles and was in of itself a technological marvel. The cockpit contained many in-flight computers that could allow the pilots to stay relatively hands-free for most of the flight. Nice comfy seats were also installed for the pilots which were a godsend for many.

The only downside to this marvel was the price tag that came with it. In order to buy just one of these flying machines, you would need at least $260 Million. Luckily I worked for an airline which had many so I guess that was a plus.

As we entered the cockpit the aircraft was in a turn around state. The ground power unit was still connected and powering most electrical systems within the aircraft. Craig and I took our seats and started to unpack some of the paperwork hidden within the leather bags. Most of it was just sheets regarding the route and the weather, however, there were still some finer details to be worked out now that we were on the flight deck.

The time flew by as we performed checklists after checklists. Eventually, Craig went outside for a walk around of the aircraft which gave me a little bit of time alone in the cockpit. As I read up on a couple of the airports NOTAMS I heard a knock at the cockpit door.

"Yes?" I questioned.

I turned around to see one of the members of the cabin crew standing in the door way.

"Captain, we're all ready down the back are we cleared to board?" She asked.

"Sure, let them in," I replied still flicking through the NOTAMS. The cabin crew just gave a nod of the head and proceeded to walk out of the cockpit. I heard muffled talking from behind the door and a few moments later Craig re entered the cockpit and sat down removing his high visibility vest in the process. As he sat down I turned to him.

"Looks like we are approaching our time I'll give delivery a call,"

"Sounds good boss," He replied going through his own charts.

I moved my eyesight down to the radio panel and started fiddling with the frequency knobs. When the numbers matched the frequency I wanted I hit the enter button and grabbed my headset.

"Philadelphia delivery good day, Speedbird Six Seven Victor with you requesting IFR to London Heathrow as filed," I released my finger off of the transmit button awaiting a response.

"Speedbird Six Seven Victor, Philidelphia Clearance Delivery. Cleared to London Heathrow via the Tbrig One Departure, Ditch Transition, then as filed. Maintain 5000, Expect Flight Level Three Four Zero five minutes after departure. Departure Frequency 124.35, Squawk 7201. Good Morning

"Cleared to Heathrow via the Tbrig One departure, Ditch transition, then as filed. Initial altitude 5000, expecting 340 in 5, departure on 124.35, squawk 7201, Speedbird Six Seven Victor," As I spoke Craig started to enter some of that information into the flight management computer whilst I wrote the information down on a sheet of paper.

"Speedbird Six Seven Victor, Readback Correct"

As the controller finished his speech I started to enter the departure information into the flight management computer as Craig set up the transponder.

"Ladies and gentlemen my name is Rose and I'm your chief flight attendant on today's flight from Philadelphia to London Heathrow. I'd also like to introduce my fellow cabin crew Richard, Yam, Don, Emma, Sam, Ashley, and Eva. It's a pleasure to have you with us today and I'm pleased to see some of our executive club members and frequent flyers on board. Please ensure that your seatbelts are fastened whenever the signs are on and just as a reminder smoking is not allowed during any part of the flight. In our Highlife magazine, you will find various exercises to help you relax during the flight. Regarding service on board, our premium economy and club word passengers are now being served the various beverages found on our list. If there's anything we can do to make your journey more comfortable then please don't hesitate to ask one of our crew members. Thank you for listening we do hope you enjoy your flight to London,"

"Philadelphia ground Speedbird Six Seven Victor requesting taxi to active," I said taking my hand off the mic as a crackled message soon followed.

"Speedbird Six Seven Victor after the American A320 taxi to holding point Sierra 10 via Juliet, Yankee, and Sierra,"

"After the American A320 taxi to Sierra 10 via Juliet, Yankee, and Sierra Speedbird Six Seven Victor," I replied.

As Craig slowly advanced the 777's throttle quadrant I felt the aircraft slowly wake up as we began to roll forward on the taxi-way. After a couple of minutes, we slowly advanced behind a line of traffic a small bing rung throughout the cockpit.

"Cabin secured," I commented as I looked through the taxi charts.

"Before takeoff checklist please," Craig said keeping his hand on the tiller his voice more serious than before.

"Before takeoff checklist," I replied as I pulled up the ECAM display page. "Flaps?" I asked.

"Flaps 15," he replied.

"Before takeoff checklist complete," I said closing down the ECAM display page.

"Speedbird Six Seven Victor line up and wait runway 09 right,"

"Line up and wait 09 right for Speedbird Six Seven Victor," I replied as I turned to look at the overhead panels turning the various landing lights to their on positions.

Slowly the massive flying machine positioned itself on the runway. I switched the radio panels to the PA mode.

"Cabin crew, seats for takeoff please," I switched the radio panels back to the control tower knowing that a transmission was imminent. As if on cue I heard the crackled voice of ATC speak once more.

"Speedbird Six Seven Victor the winds are 90 degrees at 4 knots runway 09 right cleared for takeoff,"

"Cleared for takeoff runway 09 right Speedbird Six Seven Victor," I replied placing my right hand over Craigs. When my hand was in a comfortable position I heard Craig say.

"Takeoff," Both our hands began to advance the throttle forward as Craig said "TOGA," I released my hand from the throttle and held it close by my side like a gunslinger would just in case we needed to stop.

"Thrust set," I called out. After a few seconds, my next robotic comments followed. "80 knots... V1.... Rotate," as I spoke Craig pulled back on the control column of the aircraft as the nose lifted into the air as the miracle of flight took full effect.

"Positive rate," I commented checking that we were in fact now climbing.

"Gear up," Craig answered back.

I pulled the gear lever up as the familiar mechanical noise was heard throughout the aircraft. After a couple of seconds, I heard the familiar locking noise as the ECAM display indicated that the gear was up and locked. "Gear's up lights off,"

1st January 2017 07:47PM

"So we invited her up to the flight deck and tried to tell her that there was something wrong with the undercarriage," Craig started.

"Oh god on her first-day that's cruel," I responded taking another spoonful of my desert.

"Hold on it gets even better we told her that she had to jump up and down in the middle of the cabin section to help lower the landing gear!"

"Mate I'm surprised you're still in a job!" I told him giving a chuckle.

"Well cabins crew's first day plus it's April the 1st so why the hell not,"

"Touche,"

"Seriously though back to what I was saying before we got off topic what do you think happened to those passengers?" Craig questioned me.

"Honestly the most logical thing tells me that they were never on board you know as well as I do that there's..."

"No way off the aircraft, yeah I know but they were on the plane, they posted a photo before they took off it was on the news this morning so your most logical answer is the wrong one," Craig countered.

"Who knows might just be one of those mysteries that are never solved," I said finally finishing my dessert.

As I placed the dessert cup back onto the tray it came in on I noticed an orange flicker on the edge of my navigation screen. "Here we go," I said out loud.

Craig turned to me surprised as he followed my line of sight to the navigation screen as he realized why it just spoke out loud. "The storm starts way out here?" he asked. "It's not supposed to start until we reach Ireland.

"Right well this storm doesn't plan on playing by the rules, inform the cabin crew let them know to secure anything loose down with whatever they can find," Craig nodded in response picking up the phone in the cockpit to contact the cabin crew. I looked outside, however, couldn't see a thing there was no moon light and it was pitch black it was like looking into a deep abyss.

Whilst Craig was talking to the cabin crew I prepared a little speech of my own.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen and I hope your journey with us has been pleasant so far. We are a couple hours away from London and we should be getting there on time. You'll notice that I've turned the seatbelt signs on as you are probably aware that there are severe storms around London. Fortunately, there is nothing to worry about as these storms are routine and will not endanger the aircraft in any way. We are just about to enter the storm area so please take this opportunity to stow any of your belongings now. Once again I'd like to thank you on behalf of British Airways for flying with us today. I'll inform you when we begin our decent thank you,"

"Speedbird Six Seven Victor descend to flight level seven zero,"

"Down to flight level seven zero for Speedbird Six Seven Victor," Craig responded as he turned the altitude knob anticlockwise.

The aircraft was being blown about by the storm as gasps and the occasional shout could be heard from the back of the cabin.

Not a very good day for bad flyers I thought to myself as myself and Craig bumped up and down within the cockpit.

Now storms weren't unusual as I'd been through many but this particular storm was by far the most violent and the most persistent.

"Well Phil you got your work cut out for you," Craig said running through his memory items turning the landing lights back on.

"I know but I'll have us on the ground safe and sound so you don't need to worry," I said in a sort of mocking tone.

"Who said I was worried I've been through much worse," Craig countered his ego growing with each word.

"Yeah, sure you have," I said. I wasn't convinced this storm was horrible the whole navigation screen was just pink the fact that the airport was even still open was a miracle but I suppose money talks.

"Speedbird Six Seven Victor descend to 2500 feet your number 3,"

"Cleared down to 2500 feet for Speedbird Six Seven Victor," Craig responded.

As the aircraft descended further the storm got more intense. Lightning strikes were visible for a microsecond as they flashed through the far off clouds. The aircraft's speed was erratic increasing and decreasing every second and yet on the flight deck, it was business as usual.

"Speedbird Six Seven Victor you're cleared for ILS approach for runway 09 left once established contact Heathrow tower on 118.5 goodbye,"

"Cleared ILS approach for 09 left and we'll contact tower once established for Speedbird Six Seven Victor,"

For the first time in what seemed like forever, the aircraft finally burst through the thick layers of cloud that had been encompassing all of southern Britain. The aircraft was now descending on the glide path and was inching ever closer to the runway all the while being thrown about like a ball.

I could see Craig fiddling with the radio knobs as he tuned the tower's frequency.

"Tower good evening Speedbird Six Seven Victor with you fully established ILS 09 left," Craig said awaiting a reply.

"Speedbird Six Seven Victor good evening continue approach your number 2,"

"Continue approach number two Speedbird Six Seven Victor,"

"Gear down please," I said firmly.

Craig pulled the lever downwards before bring his hand backward. "Gear down," he confirmed.

The mechanical noise of the gears returned once more along with the flaps and slats that were now extending downwards.

The storm was becoming very distracting as the plane rocked like a baby in a cradle moving from side to side as the strong wind battered against the shell of the aircraft. It almost felt like we were in an action movie however the need to land the plane brought me back to my senses.

"Speedbird Six Seven Victor the winds are 102 degrees at 29 knots cleared to land 09 left, be advised the last arrival reported severe winds on final,"

The wind reading did not settle my agitated mind but I was pulled out of thought by Craig's reply.

"Cleared to land 09 left for Speedbird Six Seven Victor and thanks for the heads up,"

With that statement, I knew it was time I flexed my fingers and placed them on the control column. "Autopilot off," I ordered.

"Autopilot off," came the reply along with an alarm indicating that I now had control. The sudden weight of the four silver bars on my shoulder now weighed more than ever as I used the rudder and alerions to battle the winds. The ground warning alarms started to play indicating our distance from the ground.

500..... 400.... 300.... 200... MINIMUMS

"Continue," I replied.

The plane responded with a large thud from the side and a loud bang struck throughout the aircraft. I responded with a kick of the rudder to bring the aircraft back onto the center line.

"What the hell!" I heard Craig say. Out of the corner of my eye, a bright light was starting to engulf the side windows. shards of what could only be hail of some sort started to pelt the windows with intense force.

100 ABOVE

The runway was now just inches away but a sudden jolt sealed the fate of the aircraft. As if by magic a huge force pulled at the aircraft as light engulfed the front windows.

"ABORT!" I shouted but it was too late. I felt my body being lifted up and thrown forward into the controls. I could hear screaming from passengers in the back it was horrific.

I can't die I don't want to

Suddenly I felt my body make contact with a solid surface and all went dark.