“OK, Hyun Su, what do we have in the area?” The impact had shorted out the primary flight display of the 747 and they were using analog instruments. First Officer Hyun Su Park was searching the area chart for an appropriate place to land. He shook his head worriedly. They had just left the Russian mainland and were headed towards the island of Lyakhovskiye.
He shrugged. “Right now, it’s Yakutsk. Eleven thousand feet: 5 right, 23 left.”
“What? That’s over 800 miles away by my reckoning!”
“Yes, it is Paul, and we are getting further away from it by the moment.”
Walters cursed, taking the crippled aircraft to the left, and setting the autopilot for 31,000 feet. “OK, we’ll try for Yakutsk, have you notified Center?”
“Already done, Paul, how’s the plane look?”
“Pretty hard to say with the EICAS gone. I know that we’ve lost engines two and three, hopefully we still have the main gear, and we are losing fuel. Should be enough to get us there. Let the passengers and crew know.” He paused a moment. “Just tell them where we are going, don’t tell them the severity of the damage. Yet.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is the first officer speaking. I regret to say that your travel plans will be delayed a bit. We are thinking it may have been a rocket that exploded next to us. While we don’t think the damage is too severe, there is no reason to risk it, so we are turning around and landing in the Russian city of Yakutsk. We expect to be on the ground in about an hour and a half.”
Audrey groaned along with most of the passengers in the cabin.
---------------------------------------------------
Andy, Jen and Lisa arrived back home around three in the afternoon. The three girls helped Andy pack, and she was headed back to Manhattan for a week of classes.
“Now, I’ll only be gone for ten days, but you keep me up to date, all right? Andy hugged both Lisa and Jennifer tightly as she said goodbye.
---------------------------------------------------
“You were contacted by the press as well,” asked Lisa with concern.
“Yes,” said Carol. “They have been calling me and both of you for interviews.
Carol had been watching the late night news, with Lisa and Jennifer fast asleep when the anchormen announced that an Air Korea flight enroute to New York had been hit by a missile over Russia and was in the process of an emergency landing.
---------------------------------------------------
“Air Korea 011 Heavy, cleared to land runway 23, good luck. Standing by with emergency equipment.”
Walters replied, “Roger, cleared to land runway 23, Air Korea 011 Heavy.” He turned to Hyun Su, “Emergency landing checklist, please.”
“Roger, emergency landing checklist. Cabin crew alerted. Avionics disabled. Radio set.”
“Flaps”
“30 – 30 and green”
“EICAS”
“Disabled”
“Airspeed”
“Holding at 165 indicated”
“Altimeters”
“QNH, set.”
“Landing gear”
“Nosewheel down and green, three red in the main”
Walters sighed. The 747 was designed to land without incident with two of the five main gear bad, not five, and that’s assuming that the tires were all in good shape.
“Checklist complete.”
“BRACE FOR IMPACT!”
The aircraft settled on the runway, and for an instant, Walters thought it would be a normal landing. Weakened by shrapnel, five of the remaining tires failed on contact and the naked landing strut slashed into the asphalt, shearing it off.
“OH SHIT!!!”
Though he had tried to land the plane as flat as possible, the nose gear never came into play. Without any functioning main gear, the aircraft skidded briefly along the runway, and began to break apart at midsection. Several passengers were killed instantly as the plane broke apart underneath them and momentum cast them and their seats to the asphalt. Most in the tail section were safe, but the forward section slew to the left, snapping off the wing. Flames jumped into the sky as the jet fuel spilled out and ignited. The cockpit section, with Audrey grasping desperately to the seat in front of her, continued tumbling. A sudden jolt, whether from terrain or something else, threw the cockpit into the air causing her to lose her grip. Her head slammed into the bulkhead as it came down again.