Rebecca

Airbus A330

Rebecca Broughton
 * I **

I leaned back in the itchy seat. The wool fibers rubbed against my hair and caused it to stick out like I had just had an electric shock. The air had a faint odor of stale pretzels and toilet chemicals. “Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats for takeoff. Place your carry-on luggage in the overhead compartments or under the seat in front of you. Please turn your attention to the flight attendant who will now show you the emergency procedures,” the voice over the intercom droned on. I snuggled under the synthetic blue blanket and buried my head in my mother’s arm. “Ally, get off me. I’m trying to read!” Mom laughed. She gently nudged my head away with a smile. A flight attendant came over and placed a bottle of water under my nose, at my mother’s orders. “You can get so dehydrated on a plane so be sure to drink plenty of water!” She had said just before we had stepped into the jet way. I grabbed the water and mumbled a thank you. The engines roared and I got that ‘Yes we’re finally moving’ feeling. We were on our way to Bali to go to the beach for three whole weeks! I couldn’t wait to relax on the beach, feeling the bright sun on my face and listening to the peaceful rhythm of the waves. I looked at the passengers around me. My mom was tapping her freshly manicured fingernails on the newest issue of Home and Garden, a woman was reapplying her eye shadow, a man was eating a Cinnabon, and a middle-age man was chewing on his fingernails nervously. He had dark lines under his eyes and two days of stubbly growth on his chin. His green polo shirt was wrinkled and had fresh circles of sweat around the neck and armpits. //Maybe he is allergic to peanuts or something,// I thought. My friend had told me that once this guy was allergic to the sandwiches that he ate on a flight, and they had had to make an emergency landing and call an ambulance. I tapped my mother insistently. “Mom, look over there-“ “Gosh! You don’t have to startle me Ally! Just relax and try and go to sleep.” She interrupted with a chuckle as she smoothed her tight chignon, as if speaking to me might have caused some hairs to pop out. I turned back to look at the odd man. He glared at me with intense suspicion, and so I swirled my head around quickly and turned on the mini TV on the seat in front of me. There were 28 movies to choose from! I clicked on my favorite movie of all time, ‘She’s the Man’ and settled down to let the hours pass by. While I was watching my movie I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew someone bashed a bag against my head and woke me up. It hurt like mad. I looked around. The same weird guy was walking back to the bathrooms. He had an enormous duffle bag with him and he was shaking. I lifted an eyebrow. Why is he going to the bathroom with a huge bag? When he reached the bathroom, he tried to walk right in, but the bag couldn’t fit through the small doorway. He tried turning sideways but he still couldn’t fit. Finally, he put the bag in first then followed himself. “Mom, that guy just woke me up,” I pinched my mom’s arm. “Oh, well that’s not nice!” She looked amused. “And he took a big bag into the bathroom with him. Don’t you think it’s weird?” I shrugged. Mom sighed, “Ally, maybe you could go to the drink cart and ask for a juice rather than keep interrupting me while I’m reading.” I reached down and pulled on my purple Converse. Just as I was about to walk down the aisle, I saw the guy returning from the bathroom. The hair that sprouted on the top of his head was greasy and un-combed. His eyes twitched and looked bloodshot. Sweat beads had formed along his upper lip. He was looking from side to side as he marched straight past, almost knocking me back into my seat and continued walking. “Ow!” I exclaimed angrily, turning to mom. “Did you just see that?” “What’s the matter now, honey?” She glanced up annoyed. “That same guy just knocked me over and didn’t say sorry!” I watched as he went all the way up to the front of the plane. Why did he pass his seat? “Now he’s gone straight past his seat!” I shook my mother to get her attention. “Ally! I don’t know whether it’s the caffeine or sugar or whatever, but you’re getting too worked up about nothing. Just relax and stop bothering me!” She exclaimed and threw her magazine onto the tray table in front of her. I began to walk towards the front of the plane. I had a bad feeling about him. To my astonishment, he knocked on the pilot’s door and when it opened, he stepped inside and slammed it shut. “Mom, please just look. A guy just went into the cockpit with his bag!” I insisted as I ran back to my seat. “What?” Mom gave me her full attention this time. “Are you sure? “I’m telling you I saw him myself. He went into the cockpit with his big bag! It was the same guy I told you about before. He has been acting strangely the whole time!” Mom took a big gulp of her brandy and her lip quivered. At that moment the pilot’s shaky voice came over the intercom. It sounded an octave higher than it had when the plane took off. “I’m very sorry for the interruption ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain, Mr. Jones, speaking. We have a, umm… a situation here in the cockpit.” “Mom? What is going on?” I asked, scared. My mom was wiping her mouth with a napkin and looking around. A flight attendant hurried down the aisle, ignoring the worried passengers’ concerns. “Excuse me? Can you tell me what has happened?” My mom called as yet another flight attendant ran past. “One moment. I, uhh…” She bustled off with a frightened look in her eyes. My mom grabbed my hand, and then seeing my bewildered expression, she let go. “I’m sure it’s nothing, Ally. Don’t worry.” She smiled, but her shaky hands and goose-bumps told another story.

**II **  The intercom crackled again and a woman’s voice came on. “Ladies and gentlemen, can I have your attention please. Please stay calm.” As soon as someone in authority tells you to stay calm, it seems your whole body tenses and adrenalin begins to pump through your veins. “The captain has advised us that a gentleman is in the cockpit and he claims that there is a bomb on board that can be detonated by his mobile phone. He is demanding that all the passengers give him 10,000 dollars and he will deactivate the bomb.” A collective gasp went through the passengers, as everyone just grasped this information. My mom started to cry and she grabbed me tightly. “Please do not panic,” the woman continued, “everything is under control. We are going to come through the cabin now with a sack and collect money from each of you. Please ladies and gentlemen, the sooner we can meet this man’s demands, the sooner the situation can be resolved.” I started to sob and my mom squeezed me tighter. “Everything is going to be okay, Ally.” But mom’s voice was faltering and her palms that were holding my hands were sweating. I nodded and glanced at some of the other passengers. The woman with the freshly applied eye shadow was kissing her rosary, muttering a prayer. The Cinnabon-eating man had his wallet in his hand, and in addition to pulling out a wad of bank notes, he un-folded a wrinkled picture of a woman and two infants. He wiped a tear from his eye and clutched the photo lovingly. The flight attendant began making her way through the cabin passing around a garbage sack for everyone to put their money in. My mom sadly pulled out two hundred dollars from an envelope marked ‘Holiday Money’ in my mom’s swirly handwriting. “How do we know he has a bomb?” Mom whispered to the woman holding the sack. “We aren’t sure, but the captain doesn't want to take any chances.” She answered in a soft voice. From the row in front of us, a tall, ripped man jumped up and shouted, “I’m not putting up with this. I’m going to sort this out, who’s with me?” He started to stomp down the aircraft but about three or four air stewardesses stopped him. “I’m afraid you’re not allowed, sir. We have to take every precaution and if this man really does have a bomb, it is best not to anger him. Think of the children on this plane.” The tallest stewardess gestured to where I was huddled against my mother. He lowered his arm and stared at me. I must have triggered a memory or something because tears welled up in his eyes. He sat back down and put his head in his hands. The flight attendants wiped their foreheads. The flight attendant who had been collecting the money was now walking back to the cockpit. I couldn’t believe how full the sack was. I wondered who was going to count the money. With the flight attendant out of sight, chaos broke out again. People started hugging each other. Some passengers just sat quietly in their seats and let tears drop to the ground one by one. Others were loudly wailing and protesting. Others started to get out cell phones to call loved ones. My mom started to talk to me but I couldn’t hear what she was saying because of the loud hum of everyone talking at once. “Please everyone, quiet down! I have very important news… please quiet everyone!” One passenger had jumped up from her seat waving her shiny Motorola SideKick in the air. The buzz of people reduced to a soft murmur and then it muted. “My husband works at an air traffic control tower. He just informed me that the pilot has left on the two-way radio so Air Traffic Control Center can hear every word that is being said in the cockpit.” She paused for a dramatic effect. Whispers went throughout the plane, but they stopped again when she carried on speaking. “They said that this guy has brought a parachute on the plane. He is going to take the money and parachute out when we get over the Island of Borneo.” She snapped the phone shut and grinned. I couldn’t imagine why she was grinning. Either way I felt sure we were going to die. If he parachuted out, then they would have to open the door to the Airbus and we all might suffocate from lack of oxygen. If he didn’t jump out, then he might activate the bomb. I started to cry all over again. Apparently I wasn’t the only one. I could hear sobs from all over the place. The flight attendants had started to make their way through the plane, helping people to put on their life-jackets and making sure their seat belts were securely fastened, preparing for an emergency landing on land or water. “But, mom I can swim. I don’t need a life jacket.” I refused. If I was going to die, I didn’t want to die wearing a gross, smelly, mustard yellow, bulky jacket-thing. “Come on honey. It is for your safety. Please don’t be difficult at a time like this.” My mom pleaded. I had never seen her so upset before. //We must really be going to die//, I thought. I grabbed the life-jacket and pulled it on. “Mom are we going to be okay?” I asked with a wary voice. My mom nodded but looked unsure. “Ladies and gentlemen, the man has received the money and he is satisfied so he says that now he is going to parachute out of the plane. We would appreciate it if you would stay in your seats and remain silent. He is coming down the aisle right now.” The captain’s voice came over the intercom in a reassuring tone, “We are going to lower the plane to 6000ft so that the door to the plane can be opened without a loss of pressure in the main cabin.“ I peered into the aisle to see who the bad guy really was. I didn’t have any doubts that it would turn out to be this same weird guy but I wanted to be 100% positive. Sure enough, it was the sweaty, freaky guy with the huge duffel. He stopped a few seats in front of me with the head flight attendant, Mariah, next to him. He opened his duffel and removed what looked like a large piece of fabric. Enough fabric to make two duvets! Then I realized what it was. It was the parachute and that is what he had hidden in his big bag. I glanced at Mariah. She was shivering nervously and I hoped for the billionth time that everything would turn out okay. The guy, whose name I later found out was Augusto Lakandula, was spreading out the parachute and undoing some knots that had formed in the ropes. The parachute looked homemade. Augusto handed the parachute to Mariah and whispered something too quietly for me to make out. She began to help him to put the parachute on his back and tie it in place. I noticed that there was one rope hanging loosely. It didn’t seem to be firmly attached to the parachute. Had Mariah seen this? I looked closer. One of the flight attendants noticed this too I suppose. She pulled Mariah over to where my row of seats was and she hastily whispered, “That rope isn’t attached properly. If he tries to pull it, the parachute won't open.” She widened her eyes. Mariah replied with a nod. I crinkled my brows in confusion. She must have left it that way purposely. Augusto was fiddling with the hem of his shirt nervously. “The plane has been lowered to a safe altitude. Can a flight attendant please open the rear door of the airbus?” The pilot asked over the intercom. A tall lean flight attendant with black shiny stilettos walked over to the door at the back of the plane, and releasing the safety catch, opened it slowly. I was almost blown away by the gust of wind that swept through the plane like a hurricane. My mom grabbed me and a few other passengers huddled under blankets and sweaters. A Styrofoam cup that still had a few drops of coffee in it was whished down the aisle towards the open door in a flurry of wind together with some loose newspapers. The temperature in the plane immediately dropped and I shivered as a chill ran up and down my spine. Augusto stepped over to the emergency door. I saw the little boy that had been playing with his Nintendo since we first stepped on the plane, was now crying and shivering next to his mother. Augusto glared at him, and his wails became screams. The wind was swirling around and papers were flying everywhere. Some of the money that had been tucked safely in Augusto’s brown sack was now drifting down the aisles. Mariah started to reassure a couple that had a new-born baby in their arms. “He’s only an infant, he’s only an infant…” The mother cried with tears streaming down her face as she wrapped her arms around the baby’s pale face. I turned my attention to my mother. Her face was still white, but instead of fear, she looked… almost sad. I heard a strange sound of something rubbing together. Augusto was making some sort of friction with the ropes that were attached to his crinkled khaki trousers. He stared out into the darkening skies that surrounded the plane like a deep blue ocean. The mood of the plane was frightened and tense. Augusto must have known that he wouldn’t survive the downward drop because he slowly backed away from the door and opened his mouth. The tall flight attendant stiffened. We realized that Augusto had decided not to jump out. “I am not going to jump anymo-“ Augusto started to say, but the rest happened so fast. All I saw was a long, stiletto heel jam into Augusto’s thigh. His lips parted in horror as he fell through the open door and disappeared into the abyss.

**III **  The sun beamed down, warming my hands and feet. The sound of crashing waves was music to my ears. I leaned over and brushed the sand with my finger tips trying to feel for the glossy cover of the weekly magazine I had bought at the Bali Airport. I picked it up by the back page and flopped it down on my lap. Right on the front cover, written in bold letters, was the news I had been looking for.

** Philippines Hijacker Bails Out After Robbing Passengers in Mid-air **


 * The plane landed with the door still open after the hijacker's dramatic exit ||

On May 25 of 2000, a man named Augusto Lakandula boarded a Philippines Air plane from Davao to Bali with 150 passengers aboard. The pilot said that Augusto claimed to have a bomb on board. He ordered the pilot to go to Borneo so he could parachute out. He collected as much as $6,000 from the passengers before leaving the aircraft. The pilot said that he had to lower the plane to an altitude of 6000ft before it was safe for Augusto to parachute out. Airline officials said that none of the passengers were hurt although several were referred for counseling for post traumatic stress syndrome. Later, officials found Augusto’s body on the top of Mount Kinabalu. The cause of death is found to be that his parachute did not open. The head flight attendant, who had helped Augusto put the parachute on and secure it, according to passengers, had no comment regarding its failure to open. The police that discovered Augusto’s body, claim that no money was found in his backpack. Officials also say that the plane was searched after landing and no bomb was ever recovered.

I read the story from top to bottom. I wondered if my mom had read this already. He took our money and he didn’t even have a real bomb-thing! I was just about to get up and order a pineapple smoothie when the chubby woman next to me nudged my shoulder. “Poor folks who were on this plane, huh? Bet they won't ever fly again. At least I sure wouldn’t. Not like I would have given that dude my money, though.” She chuckled and then flipped her magazine over. Clapping her hands together, she exclaimed, “Ooh, goody! With this magazine comes a free coupon to McDonalds!” I let my eyes wander over to the sparkling turquoise sea that gently rolled in and out of the beach. Squishing my toes into the boiling sand, I let out a deep sigh. I turned the page and started to read about Paris Hilton going to jail. Crises were so much easier to read about when they are somebody else’s.

Based on a true story