“There are only ten passengers here in first-class on this flight; only eight need to move since you and Crutch will stay here for now, and sixteen open seats in coach. We’re fine,” he answered.
“Of course, I’ll do whatever you need me to do. What would you like me to tell them?” Jahnni asked.
Christopher looked at her name on the manifest. “2C... Jahnni? Oh, you’re Jahnni? I didn’t know that was you. My God! Are you escorting this young man then? How did I miss that? I had only glanced at your last name on my list before, but now I... well... now I know.”
“Yes, and yes... but let’s get back to the coach thing. What should I tell them?” she asked with laser attention. That seemed to be her nature when she did anything. Home in and get the job done. Make a decision, then full speed ahead. Don’t confuse me with fear, she ordered him with her mind, trying to remain focused.
“Umm... tell them the captain said he needs them to move for, uh, weight and balance issues. To, um, streamline the payload or something that sounds like airplane talk. Then after they get moved, keep smiling then close the drape between coach and first-class.”
Jahnni saw that Crutch was sleeping, so she left him to sleep and began introducing herself as a First Class Air Supervisor. “I have been asked to move all of us to the coach cabin. The captain says it is important for weight and balance issues,” she fibbed. “Please, leave your items in the overhead bin, but grab your immediate belongings and find a seat anywhere that’s open in coach.”
“My anywhere, is here in first-class. I paid for first-class honey! I’m not moving,” the man refused.
Jahnni said, “I’ll come back to you.” She moved to the next passengers and continued the process to clear the first-class cabin. She returned to the last hold-out. The feisty man in 3A.
“Okay, Here’s the deal. I appreciate the price you paid for your flight. So, to let you know how important it is for you to move back there... rather quickly I might add... I will refund this portion of your flight when we land in San Fran. How’s that?”
“You can do that?” he said eagerly.
“Yes. Yes, I can. What is your name? I’ll mark it on the manifest and before the end of the day, I will have this portion of your trip refunded. No charge for this leg of your journey.”
She waited briefly while he mulled it over. “But you have to start moving in the next five seconds.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” he said as he jumped up with his book in hand.
“Well, actually I did... have to tell you twice. Maybe three times, but who’s counting she said with a friendly smile. Once he found a seat, she left the passengers to Kristy and the other aft FA and closed the curtain, overlapping it to be sure there were not any gaps for people to see forward into the first-class cabin. This curtain is much heavier than I thought. Must be some type of noise reduction curtain, Jahnni noticed.
“Okay... now what else can I do to help?” she asked Christopher.
Jahnni listened carefully as she was told how to lay out the seats. “There’s a latch that the passengers don’t know about. It’s right here,” Christopher said as he grabbed it. “It will lay out the seats in row 1, like an emergency cot.” When the seats were prepared, Christopher handed Jahnni gloves and asked her to help him move the captain out of the lav. He was conscious, but barely had the strength to help hold his head up much less his own weight upright as they guided him to the seat. They laid him down and covered him with blankets.
Then Christopher said, “Now... we have to move the first officer out of the flight deck. He’s sick too.”
“WHAT?” Jahnni said too loudly. Her mind searched for some sort of fact to assure her that she did indeed, hear him incorrectly. “I mean, what? Who’s flying the plane?”
Christopher was ashen. He looked Jahnni straight in the eyes and said, “No one.”
“WHAT? I mean... what?” she asked again. “Is this even possible?” She felt her stomach begin to roll, making gurgling noises and she heard a ping in her ears as they started ringing. She allowed herself a few seconds to feel the balance in the plane which assured her that they were not heading down, sideways, nor up at a fast pitch. Okay, this is not the time to be weak. Take a deep breath. In with your nose, out through your mouth. One thing at a time. Stay focused, she again lectured herself.
“There is no one to fly the plane. It is on auto-pilot. We are winging this as we go,” Christopher slowly explained, enunciating every word.
“WHAT? I mean, okay... I’ll stop saying that. But what are we going to do? We are supposed to be landing in about 35 minutes! Okay... let’s think about this. Do we have any jump-seaters? Or dead-heading crew? Maybe we have a pilot in the bunch heading to another city to work,” she offered as a first thought, or process of elimination.
Christopher shook his head back and forth, “No, I checked and there aren’t even any crew members flying from another airline as non-revs. Wait. Unless they are flying revenue. We wouldn’t know since they aren’t listed as an airline employee from any airline if they are flying as revenue passenger. They’d have purchased regular tickets. Or maybe we have a plain ol’ private pilot onboard. I’ll have to make an announcement! That might certainly scare the passengers so I need to word it carefully.”
Jahnni said, “We need to get the F/O out here laying down. Unless, can he function at all?”
“No, he is worse than the captain, I think,” Christopher answered solemnly. After he paused to stare at the floor, he continued laying out this portion of his plan. “Okay... Let’s go get him. I’ll call in, you watch the door. When they open the door, Rochelle will come out and we will go in to get him. The doctor is in there too. It’s gonna be a very tight fit.”
Through a lot of maneuvering, they managed to lift the F/O out of his seat and onto the floor in a sitting position. His body lolled to one side or the other, depending on which way was the path of least resistance.
“We have a folding aisle seat in the closet behind first-class. Let’s use that,” Christopher said.
Rochelle had the same idea and had already grabbed the aisle chair, unfolded it and opened the seat belts, pushing it to the open flight deck door. They squatted down, lifted the officer into the aisle chair and wheeled him out of the flight deck and to the folded-out first-class seats, laying him down. They covered him to keep him warm as the doctor continued attending to him. They had already given her their emergency kit and she did what she could to keep the pilots comfortable.
“I’m sorry. My name is Jahnni. I’m a Customer Service Supervisor for First Class Air at PDX. What is your name?”
“I’m Trinity. Doctor Trinity Robinson. I practice in Vancouver and Portland at Legacy.”
“Thank you for helping. Do you know what’s wrong with them? Is it contagious? Should we pass out face masks?”
Dr. Robinson responded quickly, “I could be wrong, I don’t have any way to do a culture to rule out a virus, but I believe they have been poisoned. Either right before they boarded or soon after we took off. I’ll monitor them while you do your jobs.”
Poisoned? How could that even happen? The pilots eat separate meals and not even the same menu item. It’s specifically for this very purpose so no one could know which meal was for who, pilots or passengers. This is not the time to try to figure this out right now. One thing at a time, she reminded herself again.
“Okay. We have pressing issues to tend to, as you’ve probably already noticed. But let us know if you need anything else. There is sealed bottled water in the galley if you need it.” Jahnni turned to Christopher, who was standing in the galley and Dr. Robinson turned to her patients, placing the stethoscope on their chests, one at a time, and checking their pulses again.
“Jahnni? What’s going on?” Crutch said as he blinked and rubbed his eyes, then glanced over the seat in front of him as a delayed understanding started to sink in. “Where is everyone? Why are these guys laying down? What the...! That’s th
e captain!” Then he looked at the other guy laying there, but before he could blurt out the obvious, Jahnni reached for him and held her hand on his mouth so she could say, “shhh,” and place her finger over her lips.
“We have a problem Crutch. Don’t panic, but we need to make an announcement to see if there is a pilot on board. Just stay calm please. We are doing everything we can,” she said in the softest, calmest voice she could muster.
Christopher grabbed the mic and began his announcement, “Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. With the exciting news of flying in our newly acquired Boeing 737-900ER, we would like to know if we have any vacationing pilots on board that would like to come forward for a short video demonstration of our new plane. We can’t help but brag... so ring your call button if you are a pilot.”
Dead silence. No one rang. Jahnni realized she was holding her breath waiting for call buttons to begin ringing all over the plane. She relaxed the muscles that she was tensing in her hands as she stood there making fists, tapping her sides in a soothing rhythmic motion. She calmly let out a slow release of the breath she was holding and opened her eyes to smile at Crutch. Poor baby. Hasn’t he been through enough? she asked the heavens.
Christopher peeked through the curtains but no one looked the least bit interested in his announcement. “Going once, twice, three times... Sorry then... out of luck. Thank you.”
“That was a really smooth announcement,” Jahnni said. “Did they teach you to say that?”
“Heck no, I made it up as I went. But now what?” Christopher said in between cracking his knuckles and blinking rapidly. “Who’s gonna help us now?”
Chapter 45
No, Really... I Can Do This
Crutch grabbed at Jahnni’s shirt and began tugging it repeatedly. “I can help Jahnni!”
“Yes, you can, sweetie. Just stay calm and put on your seat belt. Rochelle is calling control from the radio in the flight deck. We will know what to do in a few minutes,” Jahnni said out loud, but was thinking in her head, if there is anything we can do. She racked her brain trying to think of a movie, or article that she had read anywhere in her life that had a similar situation. Her brain couldn’t think of anything. She remembered that they could refuel some planes mid-air, but that wouldn’t help to get a pilot inside the plane mid-air. That’s a dumb thought, she scolded herself.
“No, Jahnni... I can help. Let me up there,” Crutch insisted.
“Crutch honey, sit back down and put your seat belt back on, please. Rochelle will let us know.”
“Jahnni! I’m serious. I can help,” he repeated, his voice cracking a bit in frustration.
Christopher looked at Crutch and tried to smile. “Sure buddy. You can help by staying out of the way and letting us do our job. Okay?” he finished in a chipper high pitched voice like he was talking to a 5-year-old.
Crutch tipped his chin down, and glared up at Christopher. “Look, don’t patronize me. I might be thirteen, but I’m not stupid, okay?”
“Crutch! Please, I’m sure he didn’t mean to be curt. We just have an emergency and we are waiting to be told what to do,” Jahnni whispered, hoping that her soft tone would de-escalate the tension.
“That is what I am trying to tell you!” he said, giving a sideways glance at Christopher like his opinion didn’t matter anyway. “I can help. Look, let me in the flight deck. I’ll call the tower in San Fran, and they can page my dad. They can bring him to the tower and he can explain that I know what to do.”
Christopher’s chest was rising out and back faster with every breath he took in. He started to walk away, but stepped back to face Crutch. Jahnni was standing so close that she could hear the air being forced in and out of his nose like a mad bull. He was lowering his hands palm side down emphasizing every stanza of his sentences. “Look kid! I’m stressed out. I am trying to be calm. I’m trying to do my job. You aren’t making it any easier by interrupting us while we think. Please, sit down and put your seatbelt on!”
“NO! I CAN DO THIS! I CAN HELP!” Crutch said to Christopher, emphasizing every sentence he spoke as well. “Call the tower and my dad will tell you I can help! Now!” It appeared that Crutch was not taking no for an answer.
Jahnni was startled at the anger in his voice and wondered where this sudden insistent confidence was coming from. This was a new side of Crutch she had never seen before. Jahnni bent down a little to look Crutch in the eyes. She searched his eyes, trying to understand. “Crutch honey, what are you talking about? Just calm down please, and tell me what you mean. What will your dad tell us?”
Crutch swayed back and forth, looking at the floor before finally looking up to meet Jahnni’s eyes. “Remember when Beau asked me why they call me Crutch? Yesterday? When we were sitting in the bag carts trying to decide what to do? I told him I would tell him when we had more time. But we never had more time. I never had a chance to tell him.”
“Okay,” Jahnni said, I remember.
“It’s because of the cancer. All the times I was in the hospital, I had surgery to remove tumors in my legs too, along with chemo. The last time they had to do radiation... but that’s not the point. The point is, I have been on crutches off and on most of my life since I was five. It is my nickname. The doctors called me that. Look, here’s my boarding pass,” he said as he dug it out of his pocket. “Don’t you remember? My name is Eddie Link... the fifth.”
“Okay... that’s nice honey but I don’t see how that explains anything,” Jahnni said.
“Look,” Crutch said as he looked up at the ceiling of the plane with exasperation in his voice. He looked back at Jahnni, then continued, “I am Eddie Link the fifth. You don’t know who I am? Who my family is?”
“I am so sorry Crutch, but I don’t really know. You are just Crutch. I just met you yesterday. I don’t know your family.”
Dr. Robinson interrupted, turning from her patients to join the conversation. “I know who the Links are.”
“Will someone please just get to the point!” Christopher shouted in a loud whisper.
“Did you say the fifth, sweetie?” Dr. Robinson asked, looking at Crutch.
“Yes! I am trying to explain that I can help. Why won’t anyone listen me?” Crutch whined in a testy voice.
Dr. Robinson stood and faced Jahnni. “His, what, great? Great-great, grandfather invented the flight simulator.” She turned and looked at Crutch for clarification.
“YES! My entire family does this. They either develop, improve, or build... the flight simulators. Your pilots here trained on the simulators that my dad designs. I can fly all of them.”
“Now, wait a second kid,” Christopher growled louder while rolling his eyes. “If you think I am letting you anywhere NEAR that flight deck, you are completely out of your ever-loving mind!”
Jahnni stared at Christopher, then looked back at Crutch. She looked at Dr. Robinson then again, back at Crutch. “Hold on. You are trying to tell us that you know how to fly this thing?” Jahnni asked, thinking that it was a dumb question anyway. A kid can’t fly this. I’m not even going to entertain this crazy idea, she told herself.
“Jahnni... please... have that lady, the flight attendant, tell the tower that I can help! Tell them my dad’s name and to page him to wherever they can take him to the tower. He will tell you. Jahnni, I have flown this simulator, in fact all the simulators, since I was three!”
“Oh, please kid, tell me another one. Did someone serve this kid alcohol?” he mumbled, snickering and shaking his head back and forth.
Jahnni looked into Crutch’s eyes, trying to understand and hoping for answers. “What do you mean you have flown them all?”
“Okay... I have been sick most of my life. I have been in and out of hospitals most of my life. They had to home-school me and everyone got stuck taking me to work with them. I have been to my dad’s work, and my grandpa’s work, so many times. I have played in the simulators all my life. They are like a game. Like, a, a, a, PS4 game. I have mastered them
like a game. It’s not that hard really. Well, not for me anymore. I NEVER crash.”
“THIS IS NOT A GAME KID!” Christopher announced, his face turning seriously red.
“Okay Crutch. We can at least make the call,” Jahnni said. This is completely nuts and I can’t believe I am even going to talk to Christopher about it. Surely, I’m gonna wake up from this nightmare any minute. Right?
She looked at Christopher and added, “I know, I know! I don’t know what I believe, but we can at least make a call, right? Maybe we can get some answers.”
“If you let me sit in the captain’s chair. I will call them and talk to them. You can wear the F/O’s headset so you can listen,” Crutch instructed.
Silence fell between them and no one spoke. They kept looking back and forth to each other and Jahnni used the time to try to condense what had been said so she could figure things out. Still, she didn’t know what to believe.
“Look, Christopher... there is no one to fly the plane! It is worth at least a conversation,” Jahnni whispered. “I’m out of options, you’re out of options. Basically, the whole plane is out of options!”
“Absofreakingtively not!” Christopher said.
Rochelle came out of the flight deck like she’d seen a ghost. She looked straight at Christopher and said very solemnly, “They are sending two F/18-fighter jets. What are we going to do?”
“They are going to shoot us down while we are still over the water if we don’t land this plane, Jahnni! That is the rule. I know this. I’m telling you the truth! Please! Listen to me! I can do this,” Crutch begged one last time.
Jahnni looked at Christopher and Rochelle. “Guys, you know as well as I do this is protocol for an errant plane. We are dead when they get here if we are out over the water. Let’s just talk to the tower.”
Christopher’s shoulders slumped and he shook his head no, before he answered, “Oh whatever. We are dead anyway, I guess. Hold the door.”
“Okay then. Okay.” Crutch grabbed his backpack, then probably realizing he wouldn’t need it, he set in on the seat. He took a deep breath and walked toward the door. “Jahnni, you can be my F/O.”
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