It started twenty
minutes after flight 435 left the runway, eastbound for Salt Lake City at 13:45.
From a voicemail
sent from one passenger to his mother in New Jersey:
14:05
“Just wanted to
check in with ya, ma, before I lose all bars. We’re in the air. I still don’t
know if this trip’s such a great idea. You know how Uncle Mark overstates
opportunities. Anyway, I think the best—Holy fuck!
“Sorry, ma. This
guy just started smackin’ his window on the plane. Like hard as hell. He’s
still doin’ it. Man, what’s up with this guy?
“The
snack-and-drink people just asked him to settle down. I’m about ready to climb
out of this here seat and calm him down with the back of my hand.
“He’s yelling back
at the snack-and-drink people. It’s all gibberish, though. Another language?
Ma? Can you hear this crazy
mothe—guy?
“Whoa. This other guy
just flashed a badge. Air marshal or something. He’s pulling the crazy guy out
of his seat. The crazy guy’s still
trying to slap his window. Damn! Now the marshal’s puttin’ those plastic ties
on the crazy guy’s wrists.
“Man. This
flight’s off to a fun start.”
From a texted
message between a passenger and her best friend in Portland, Maine:
14:07
“WOW. Crazy drama.
Guywas hitting his window and an AIR MArshAL arrested him!”
14:12
“Crazy about your
boyfriend. I can’;t believe he would even SUGGESt that? I swear, on our
BFF-hood, I NEVeR touched him. Swaer.”
14:16
“OMG! An other
guys hitting his window now! Hes yelling all nonsense and slapping his window.
WTF?”
From a radio
communication between an air marshal and his commanding officer:
14:21
“This is Sergeant
Luis.
“I have three
people in custody aboard flight 435. All three created a gross commotion,
banging on their windows and screaming incoherently.
“The first is a male,
Caucasian, 35.
“The second is
also male, White Hispanic, 54.
“The third, a
female, Asian, 23. She smells of a moderate amount of alcohol.
“Please be advised that I have cuffed and
moved all three towards the back of the plane for criminal process upon
arrival.”
From flight 435’s
black box:
14:29
“This is Captain
Ryanheart aboard flight 435.
“We experienced a serious
commotions. Two children repeatedly and violently slapped the same
window.
“Their parents
cannot seem to control them. The air marshal’s accomplishing what he can.
“We already had three passengers on this flight do the
exact same thing.”
From a radio
communication between and air marshal and his commanding officer:
14:33
“This is Sergeant
Luis.
“I now have three
adults and two children who all required restraining.
“All five refused
to stop slapping the windows and screaming.
“I will now—what
the? Do you hear this? Crap! A bunch of people, at least twenty, they . . . they’re all screaming and punching their windows.
“I’m going to need
more zip ties.”
From a texted
message between a passenger and her best friend:
14:34
“AH. God. They
won’t stop!!! Everyine other person heres hitting their windows puncihing them!
Make them stop make them stop they’re soooo loud. Whattf wtf?”
From flight 435’s
black box:
14:35
“This is Captain
Ryanheart aboard flight 435!
“Several
passengers beat apart their windows! I repeat, we have multiple broken windows!
“Air is rushing
through the cabin. I am attempting to lower altitude. We have
<unintelligible> we need immediate <unintelligible>.
“What the
<unintelligible> that’s not human. Not <unintelligible>”
From a news report
the following day:
Blue Skies
Airlines says that they will do everything in their power to uncover the events
that led to the crash and subsequent deaths of all of flight 435’s passengers.
At this time—”
From a cellphone
call between a passenger aboard flight 672 and his girlfriend in Denver,
Colorado:
10:12
“Don’t worry about
it, Care Bear. We just left the runway. I’ll get there, pay my respects, and return before you know noticed I left. Most of the preparations have already—what the heck?
Hey, buddy! Stop hitting the window. What’s the matter with you?”
Thanks for reading.
Daughters of Darkwana received a sweet, succinct
review, which you can read here, http://www.thebookeaters.co.uk/daughters-of-darkwana-by-martin-wolt-jr/
I
publish my blogs as follows:
Tuesdays:
A look at the politics of the entertainment world at EntertainmentMicroscope.blogspot.com.
Wednesdays:
An inside look at my novels (such as Daughters of Darkwana, which you can now find on Kindle) at Darkwana.blogspot.com
An eerie progression of events. This has a sort of Twilight Zone touch.
ReplyDeleteFollowed you on Twitter and thought I'd check out the blog.
Arlee Bird
A to Z Challenge Co-host
Tossing It Out