Chapter 6 - Touching Down on the Knife's Edge
SCREEECH!
The heavy rubber tires of the left main landing gear struck the wet asphalt of Runway 15 with a concussive plume of vaporized water and burning smoke.
Laura instantly dropped the nose-wheel firmly onto the centerline, holding the control column hard over into the gale-force wind to prevent the damaged right wing from lifting.
BOOM!
The right main landing gear slammed down a second later.
"Deploy manual speedbrakes! Maximum manual braking on the left pedals!" Laura commanded.
First Officer Cross yanked the speedbrake lever, deploying the wing spoilers to dump the lift and plant the full weight of the aircraft onto the wet runway.
The aircraft surged down the runway, hydroplaning through inches of standing water as emergency foam carpets sprayed across the fuselage.
With no right engine reverse thrust, Laura modulated the left mechanical brake line with surgical precision, keeping the giant airliner tracking straight down the center stripe as emergency rescue vehicles with flashing red and blue strobe lights raced along the taxiways beside them.
Two thousand feet remaining.
One thousand feet.
Five hundred feet.
With fifty yards of tarmac to spare before the sea cliff at the end of the runway, the massive Boeing 777 rolled to a complete, gentle stop on the paved overrun pad.
Laura reached up with steady, deliberate fingers and pulled the single engine fuel cutoff switch.
The high-pitched whine of the jet engine died into absolute, profound silence.
In the cockpit, the only sound was the heavy, ragged breathing of three aviators and the patter of rain against the windshield.
Captain Robert Hayes turned his head, looking at the thirty-eight-year-old woman sitting in the right seat, his eyes overflowing with unpayable, sacred tears.
"Commander Vance..." Hayes whispered, his voice trembling with profound reverence. "You just saved two hundred and eighty-eight human lives."
May you like
Laura exhaled a long, slow breath, unbuckling her four-point harness, looking out through the rain-streaked glass at the waiting emergency lights.
"Just doing my job, Captain," Laura said softly.
