Surfing Dude

by Ed Nelson

  The other two first class passengers were doing their best to get totally drunk.

  I asked Susan how she was holding up, she just nodded. She was writing something, I don’t know if it was a journal entry or what. It was probably a publicity blurb about this flight.

  When I returned to the cockpit Ed told me it was time to dump fuel. The plan was for me to put the wing flaps down, which would slow the plane down, so I had to increase thrust; while doing this extend the dump chutes. They knew the dump rate with the chutes wide open so they would time the dump and tell me when to close the chutes.

  With my heart in my mouth I disengaged the autopilot and started to raise the flaps. As I did this the plane started to sink so I increased thrust. First I didn’t increase the thrust enough, and then I slightly overdid it, but finally got us level at FL250 and 220 knots airspeed.

  I then opened the dump chutes. It took longer than I thought but then realized it was like emptying a swimming pool, it took a while. While this was going on I asked for a cup of coffee. Sara had one of the other stewardesses bring it to me. She was a real trooper. There wasn’t much she could do, but she watched me like a hawk on each maneuver. She was ready to question anything I might be doing wrong.

  When we had finished dumping the fuel I took us back up to FL 330 and 474 knots.

  After talking with Ed and how to present it I got on the PA with the passengers. I introduced myself as Richard Jackson a licensed pilot. No sense in worrying them anymore than we had to. I explained the flight crew’s problems. The FAA and one of TWA’s top pilots were helping guide the plane into St. Louis. I explained that while the 707 was new to me, I had some jet hours. I didn’t clarify it was the three hours immediately preceding. If they had any questions please ask their stewardess.

  I could not believe the main question that was asked repeatedly. What connection would they have to Cincinnati or New York and what time would they arrive at their destination? I was worried about living and they were worried about on time.

  Ed explained to me that we would be using an ILS approach on autopilot. That is the Instrument Landing System. This would bring the aircraft to the middle marker where the autopilot would be disengaged and I would then bring the aircraft down. Oh God!

  We reached the final vector or inbound procedure turn. The flaps were set at 14 and the VPROG was +30, all within norms. I selected GS Auto as instructed. We had gone over five times how to do this during the flight. As they were supposed to the annunciator lights displayed /V and G/S, amber colored. The autopilot coupler was now programed for automatic capture of the localizer and glideslope. I wasn’t sure what they were, but that is what Ed told me.

  According to Ed our lateral position or runway alignment was shown by the localizer. The glide slope showed our angle of descent and where we would touch down. Ideally it would be on the touchdown point of the runway. I think he kept explaining these things to me, to give me a feeling that I actually knew what was going on. It also kept me occupied and kept me from going crazy.

  We were doing a Category 1 ILS approach which is the mildest of all. It requires a ceiling of at least 200 feet and visibility of 1800 feet minimum. Since it was a clear day the conditions far exceeded that.

  The intercept angle was 38 degrees which again was within norms. The PDI gauge showing that we were aimed at the runway was within 2 dots so the autopilot captured the localizer and its light turned green. The V/L remained amber.

  Next the PDI glidescope bar centered and the G/S annunciator light turned green. The altitude hold and pitch trim wheels disengaged and the autopilot was now in command of glidescope tracking.

  At one dot below the glidescope I lowered the landing gear. I thought very briefly how those fighter pilots in World War II had to hand-crank their gear down. The flaps had gone to 25 and our VPROG +20. The machinery was doing its job, hope I could do mine.

  As we crossed the outer marker I had a good view of the runway. All of a sudden it seemed like the world was speeding up. We had been flying along serenely for hours, now things were happening in seconds.

  At Ed’s direction I was doing a Flaps 50 landing, this would give the airplane shorter stopping distance. It would be a little more difficult to handle, but Ed thought we had the weight down enough that it wouldn’t be an issue.

  I had the aircraft at a 3 degree slope. The VFT touchdown point was actually 1000 feet before the runway so I had to watch for that. As we crossed the middle marker, I had replayed what I had to do in my head a hundred times, now to just do it.

  I eased off on the elevator back-pressure to lower the nose to try to roll onto the runway. At 50 feet aboveground I shut off the autopilot. This should have scared the devil out of me, but I didn’t have the time. I would love to say we touched down like a feather; instead it was like an elephant jumping off your dining room table. It was one heck of a thump.

  I didn’t have time to care; I was extending the speedbrakes fully and pulled the reverse levers to the interlock. That means the flaps were down completely killing all lift and the engines in reverse. As I felt that we were tracking on the runway I increased the reverse thrust on the engines. At the same time I was trying to push the brakes through the floor. The 11,000 foot runway all of a sudden looked very short.

  All this time the nose wanted to lift back up so I had to keep pushing on the yoke. When we slowed to 80 knots I started reducing engine reverse thrust. By the time we were at 60 knots the engines were idling. I kept the brakes down hard as the airplane rolled to a stop.

  I asked Ed, “What now?”

  “Stay right there, don’t touch anything.” I had no problem with that. That was when I noticed that we had visitors; it looked like every firetruck in the county was out there. The runway was white where it had been foamed down. Being a teenage boy, I thanked the passengers for flying TWA and we hoped to see them on another flight soon.

  As soon as the stewardess had the doors open the incapacitated flight crew were put into ambulances and taken to a hospital.

  Sara and I stood at the doorway as the passengers deplaned. One gentleman wanted to speak to the pilot and thank him. He appeared to turn green and stuttered, “Thank you,” when I told him I was the pilot.

  They had moved a mobile staircase out to the plane. From there Susan and I got on a bus. When we got on the other passengers applauded. Not knowing what to do, I gave a small wave and sat down in the front row which apparently had been saved for us.

  Chapter 37

  At the terminal we were met by a contingent from TWA. They were taking passengers aside and rerouting them. I was asked to go with a gentleman to an interview room. It was located inside the Ambassador Club, so Susan was allowed to wait there.

  Waiting inside the conference room were several gentlemen in suits. They introduced themselves. The first one was Ed Frankum my hero; he had walked me through the most difficult event of my life. I told him that. He laughed and said he had the easy part; he was on the ground and knew what he was doing.

  The other gentleman was from the FAA. He showed me his credentials but his name didn’t register with me. I think the whole event was starting to catch up with me.

  The guy from the FAA was nice to me, but he debriefed me thoroughly. He took notes and had me write down what had occurred from my point of view. Ed was able to corroborate my statements. It helped that they had a cockpit recording available.

  It took almost two hours to complete the interview, and I felt like a dishrag when it was over. They had brought in coffee and Danish while we were talking, but I was starving hungry.

  Another TWA Executive came in and talked to Ed for a minute. Ed then turned to me.

  “Rick, I apparently haven’t known completely who I was dealing with, I am told you are the actor and a British Knight?”

  I confessed, but didn’t see what it had to do with anything.

  “It explains why we have so many people from the press demanding an interview. We expect it in an e
vent like this, but I guess this is way over the top. Are you willing to give an interview?”

  I didn’t feel like it, but asked to see Susan.

  Susan told me that I might as well get it over with, as they wouldn’t let this big a story go away, besides this was good publicity, not bad. I guess this is why I paid her.

  They had a conference room set up for us. When they told me it was a reporting frenzy they weren’t kidding. There were camera crews and reporters from the three major networks plus a local public channel KETC. The newspapers were well represented. There must have been twenty reporters on scene. I shouldn’t have been surprised as this news had probably broken while we were still in the air.

  The questions were of the caliber I had come to expect.

  “Were you scared?”

  “Extremely, but Ed Frankum of TWA got me through it.”

  “How did it feel facing that flight alone?”

  “I wasn’t alone; I had the Head Stewardess, Sara alongside me the whole way, and Doctor Casey and a Surgeon taking care of the ill crewmembers. There was a team at work.”

  I realized I didn’t even know Sara’s last name.

  “How long have you been a licensed pilot?

  “I’m not; I’m licensed as a student.”

  “What’s the difference between a student pilot and a full pilot?”

  “I’m not allowed to carry passengers on my flight.”

  “Will you get into trouble for this?”

  “I don’t understand the question.”

  “Will you get into trouble for hauling passengers?”

  “I hope not.”

  Cripes I better get that checked out. The guy from the FAA didn’t seem like he was going to press any charges.

  “How much experience have you had on jet planes?”

  “How long was this flight?”

  “Oh.”

  And so it went. The last question floored me.

  “Sir Richard, are you aware that one of the passengers is suing you for reckless endangerment?”

  “I was not aware of that.”

  “What is your response?”

  This is where my studio experience came into play.

  “No comment.”

  “You saved his life, isn’t he being ungrateful?”

  “No comment.”

  I was saved by a TWA executive.

  “We have to end this news conference; Sir Richard has a flight to catch to New York.”

  I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. Susan was waiting on the sidelines.

  “Well done Rick, especially with the no comment on the lawsuit.”

  “Do you think anything will come of it?”

  “It will be thrown out of court and the guy will be a national laughing stock by tomorrow.”

  We were escorted back to the Ambassador Club conference room. The FAA gentleman was still there writing. I took the opportunity to ask him if this would affect my student license. He thought for a moment and told me no, but he would be interested in how my check-ride pilot reading my logbook would react to my hours in a 707.

  Susan told me she had called my parents while I was being interviewed by the FAA earlier, but maybe I should also give them a call. One of the Ambassador Club Hostesses took me to a private office so I could place my call.

  Mum took the call; I think it was one of the few times I ever heard her to be flustered. She didn’t gush or anything, but you could tell she was really glad to hear me say I was okay. She asked me how it was to fly a big jet.

  I don’t think my reply that it was great and I couldn’t wait for us to get our own so I could fly it was the answer she wanted. I talked briefly to Dad. He congratulated me on a job well done. Even he had some stress in his voice.

  Later I learned the news media had broken into their broadcast with excerpts from my radio conversations with Ed Frankum for hours on end. They heard me be walked through landing in real time. Wow, I would have been stressed if I wasn’t too busy at the time.

  The TWA people told Susan and me that we would be going to New York on a 707 which had been down for maintenance and was being flown without passengers to Idlewild airport. There would be some TWA crew deadheading on board. They had moved our luggage over.

  We were taken across Lambert field in a van to a maintenance hangar. There we were welcomed on board by twenty some TWA flight crew of all ranks, stewardess, pilots, copilots, navigators and flight engineers. That was probably the most fun flight I ever had. I was welcome in the cockpit and was able to observe both landing and take-off. In between there were many interesting stories of flights from the past. The entire crew agreed that flights were more fun without passengers on board. That said something about me and Susan.

  I do know if I wanted a Coke I had to get it myself. Their Coke was in the tin cans. I had to hunt all over the galley to find the church key. A stewardess finally took pity on me and loaned me her personal key. She explained they were always walking away as flight souvenirs as they had the TWA logo on them.

  I felt a little guilty about the deck of cards I had snagged. It had a picture of the 707 on it. Not guilty enough to offer them back.

  We arrived at the hangar area of Idlewild and there was a limo waiting for us, it had been arranged by TWA to take us to our hotel.

  Susan and I shared a two bedroom suite. We had a light dinner from room service. I went to bed early, for some reason I was exhausted.

  It was a crisp autumn day in New York City, perfect for a run in Central Park. The hotel was across the street from it. It was neat running past the boat house, strawberry fields and other places I had read about. If I had to come to the city very often I would love to have an apartment or condo here, maybe The Dakota, I had heard it mentioned several times at Hollywood parties I had to attend for my films.

  There were exercise machines at the hotel so I was able to do a full workout. Susan and I met at the hotel restaurant for breakfast. Later after cleaning up and donning one of my London Savile Row suits we were picked up for our ride to near Times Square for the Today Show. We were escorted to the Green Room where they had donuts and coffee waiting. Since I had just eaten breakfast I could only eat three donuts.

  The wait wasn’t that long. When I was asked to appear it was as a general guest to fill the time. Susan and I had discussed the likely topics after yesterday’s events. We were right on. Mr. Garroway was his normal low key nice self. I saw no evidence of his rumored depression. He didn’t mess around. Politely he announced that the NBC Today Show had my first interview after saving a jet plane full of passengers after the crew came down with food poisoning.

  From there he went with the normal, how did it feel, were you scared questions. I tried to divert some of that by giving credit where credit was due. Namely Mr. Ed Frankum of TWA, Dr. Ben Casey, and Head Stewardess Sara (I really had to learn her last name.)

  I learned her name very quickly as Sara Muir, Dr. Casey and Ed Frankum were introduced as they came onto the set. Talk about a setup. It actually worked out well. I think the actual events were portrayed fairly. My part was a key part, but it was obvious, at least to me, that I couldn’t have pulled it off without a lot of help.

  I found out the three members of the flight crew were expected to make a full recovery. Ed Frankum had several announcements. He told the audience that no matter the outcome of the FAA investigation TWA was instituting immediately a policy of the pilot and copilot must eat different meals.

  TWA was also joining a group sponsored by NASA and Pillsbury called HACCP or Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point. It had been started by the new NASA group to prevent the very issue here. It would be a disaster for astronauts to have food poisoning. TWA had the safety of its crews and passengers first and foremost. Good damage control Ed!

  Ed’s second announcement was actually a presentation to me, a set of TWA gold pilot’s wings. He also announced Sara was receiving a bonus for her role.

  After our on air love fest
Susan and I headed to Idlewild in a studio limo to catch TWA flight 159 back to Los Angeles. I was invited once more to spend time up front with the flight crew. I picked up another two hours for my log book.

  Chapter 38

  By the time our driver dropped me off at home I was done for the week. I thought. I still had to recount my adventure to the family. You could see that Mum and Dad had been really concerned. Denny got it. Eddie wanted to know if I was now qualified in jets; and Mary wanted to know when I could fly her to school.

  No I was not qualified in jets, and I would need a helicopter to fly Mary to school. That was probably a mistake as you could see the wheels turning in her head. I was ready to excuse myself when Mrs. Hernandez left the room and returned followed by a maid pushing a cart with a cake on it.

  The cake had writing on it. I felt like a real idiot when I read the, Happy Birthday Rick. It was my birthday and I had never given it a thought. I could now legally drive. Next year I could fly jets, well after a lot of licensing.

  There were presents. Denny, Eddie and Mary chipped in for a custom made surf board from Katin’s. Mum and Dad bought me a Henry lever action rifle, 44 caliber using black powder shells. It was an original according to the accompanying paperwork, it had been a private purchase by a Union soldier and used during the Civil War. I didn’t know if I would ever get the nerve to fire it, even though the barrel had been proofed. I might just use it as a wall hanger.

  Talk about a great birthday and a real surprise party.

  Being sixteen didn’t seem any different than being fifteen years and three hundred and sixty four days. When I was first in my teens, sixteen was the magic birthday. That was the day you could apply for a driver’s license. I had been driving ever since I came to Hollywood, so there was no excitement to be had.

  It seemed strange that I was allowed to fly an aircraft by myself, but not drive a car before I was sixteen.

  Here I was ready to work on a multi-engine endorsement and would be able to take passengers. Oh yeah, I have already done that.