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An Accident in the Making At fifteen thousand feet, the balky indicator didnt seem like an insurmountable problem to the

cockpit crew but now, on the descent into White Plains, either the goddamn gauge was wrong or there was a pretty serious leak throughout the Boeing 737s hydraulic system. The gauge had been flashing red a few times and then blacked out entirely which could mean hydraulic capability was about to fail or maybe an electrical short in the boards or something even worse. the Tappan Zee Bridge. The resulting possibilities ranged from a minor annoyance to landing the damned thing under Everybody in the cockpit had seen the video of Sullenberger surfing that plane not far from their own flight path and, unlike the general public, the flight crew knew what a miracle of flying skill and plain old good luck that river landing really was. Captain Ken Collins pulled his restraints tighter and nodded; the co-pilot rang for the chief flight attendant two short tones and a long one - the alarm code for the flight crew. The signal got a near-immediate response from the chief. The navigator checked the security lens and let her in. She The knocked on the cabin door: two short and then another knock. chief stood in the small cabin, searching for the problem. Dunlop, the co-pilot spoke to her as the captain ran the gauges once again. Jan, weve got a misread actually, we have no reading on the hydraulic levels. in the lines. The chief took a moment, grasping to understand the meaning of the problem. So we may not be able to steer? We cant get an accurate fix on pressure and, with the gauges out, we may be running only on whats left

If we lose hydraulics, we lose flaps, steering and brakes, the captain said. Janice Page, a veteran of about 6 million air miles, grimaced as it sunk in. to no one in particular. it all. Except this. Other than that, were fine, she said After two decades of flying shed seen Time enough She fought the urge to pee.

for that, she thought, when were in the river. Everyone knew what a massive hydraulic failure meant. Flaps were a problem but they could descend by slowly cutting power to the engines and letting gravity take over. The brakes were the least of their worries they could reverse the engines to slow down and if you made it to the ground under a semblance of control, the rest might take care of itself. meteor. The steering was the real hitch without flaps. At the moment, the flight path took them at an obtuse angle to the airport runway; theyd need to adjust their forward heading at least 7 degrees to line up with a runway. Without the yoke and rudders, theyd have to muscle the columns through sheer strength, veer to port by cutting back on one engine and wobble into the turn through the difference in engine thrust. Collins had simulated it, in training flights about a million years back, and it was hairy even with his trainer on the second stick. If, that is, if they could land resembling something other than a flaming

Well, it didnt matter how tough it was; they were just going to have to get it done. worked. Thats all. If it worked; it If it didnt well, nobody flies forever. Okay?

John, Collins said to his co-pilot, Youre on the stick. Ill work the engines. Affirmative, Cap. You muscle this thing as much as the mechanicals will permit if they let you do anything at all. Collins turned to the navigator. Eduard, you call out the heading in ten second intervals. Let me know if I yaw too much past center. Copy? Copy, Cap, Perez nodded. This is it, kids. The only way were going to get home. So lets do it right, okay? The three crew members replied once again in the affirmative. The captain looked in his mirror, catching the chief in the reflection. Get em ready, Jan. The whole taco. The chief turned and went back into the main cabin where the rest of the attendants were waiting, already white as sheets. The Hilton near the airport is a nice, surprisingly quiet hotel only a block from the runway. This Hilton was a hit with savvy travelers: the food was tolerable, the service decent and you couldnt beat the convenience of rolling out of bed and virtually stepping onto your loading gate. In a comfortable room on the top floor, windows facing the airport, a quiet man sat in an easy chair. of digital binoculars linked to his laptop. Pointing west down He looked up from the approach flight path, the man had positioned a powerful set I need your head up and down, out the window and onto your screen every 5 seconds.

the laptop display to the critical lenses on the binoculars, tracking inbound flights as they lined up in the eastbound landing pattern. White Plains had two main runways for commercial flights so the approaches were from the west or south which made plane spotting simple. Outside the sun was breaking through indifferent clouds that had drizzled a spring morning rain. Concrete around the With the airport was drying in patches of gray and white. miles toward the west.

breakup of the clouds, visibility was increasing to several It was going to be a great afternoon, the man mused, if there were no plane crashes. A tense pilots voice came over a radio scanner behind him. White Plains, United 121. Weve lost a portion of our Without United 121 instrument panel and may be dropping hydraulic fluid. gauges, we cant tell one way or the other. requesting priority The man in the Hilton had to admire the pilots calmness under pressure. At least, so far. White Plains Control, United 121. You have first priority. obtained. The pilot answered. Thank you, Control. traffic in the area. There was a short break over the air. Copy your mayday, United 121. now. Another short pause and then Control returned, their conversation turning personal. Its that bad, United? Collins looked at his blank board again. Repeating mayday aircraft This is mayday, repeat mayday, to all Understand your event. Will acknowledge as clearance is That flier had the whole deal under control.

Ive had better days, Control. 10-4 United. 10-4 Control. Lets get you home. Lets do that.

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