Flight 370
A short by Eduard Joseph
Published by Eduard Joseph
Copyright 2014 Eduard Joseph
Front cover design by Eduard Joseph
Twitter: @TheEduardJoseph
This is a work of fiction. The events and characters described herein are imaginary and are
not intended to refer to specific places or living persons. Any resemblance to any person or
persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
All Rights Reserved
The right of Eduard Joseph to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him under the South African Copyright Act of 1978 (as amended).
PROLOGUE
The Minister of transport stood behind the podium and stared at the sea of faces and flashing cameras that stared back at him in anticipation. Nothing he had ever experienced could prepare him for this. None of his training could have prepared him for this. How do you tell the world that a commercial jetliner has simply vanished into thin air? How do you tell the world that despite the ground breaking technology in aviation you’re unable to locate the so-called vanished jetliner?
He glanced with uncertainty at his security detail to his left, cleared his throat and tapped on the microphone.
“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.” The minister finally said.
The flickering of cameras continued without any sign of ceasing any time soon. The world already knew about the missing airliner and its 240 passengers; what they didn’t know was what happened. People don’t just disappear into thin air. Airplanes don’t just disappear into thin air.
“At about 01h30 this morning,” The minister announced, “Ground control lost contact with Flight 370. There have been unconfirmed reports that the plane has crashed into the ocean, but that is all they are – unconfirmed. We have joined forces with the United States as well as China and a search and rescue mission has begun. The team consisting of ten airplanes and fifteen ships will follow the initial flight path of Flight 370.”
ONE
8 Hours earlier
Amaal Singh was on top of the world. Her agent called and informed her that she was offered a modelling contract in Beijing and they want to set up a meet-and-greet with her. She was barely twenty six and her future seemed bright, but the hardest part of following your dream is letting go of your past. She knew she would miss her family very much, but she wanted to chase her dream of becoming a fashion model. Beijing was not the ideal start, but it was a start nonetheless.
She sat in her seat and stared out through the airplane window as the airplane turned onto the runway. It was the first time in her life that she would leave her home country, and though she appeared calm and cool on the outside, on the inside she was a scared little girl hugging a teddy bear.
The airplane’s speed increased and it ascended towards the night sky. Amaal clenched onto the armrests as the pressure pressed down on her. It was the strangest feeling, and yet a very liberating feeling. The old woman sitting next to her smiled at her and patted her on the hand.
“It’s perfectly normal.” The old woman said.
Amaal smiled nervously and nodded. It might be a normal thing, but to her flying was a first time thing. She wasn’t used to the sound of rushing wind and the sensation of being pushed down in your seat, but before she knew it they reached 35 000 feet and the plane levelled out. She let out a sigh of relief and glanced at the old woman.
“See.” The old woman said, “You’re still alive.”
Amaal smiled, but what she really wanted to say was, people die in air crashes almost every other day. She turned to her left and glanced out through the window. All she could see were dark grey clouds beneath them and stars above them. They were literally between heaven and hell, and she hoped that the clouds were able to keep them afloat in the sea of haze.
“Where are you off to?” the old woman asked.
What a stupid question, Amaal thought to herself, we are both on a plane heading to Beijing and you want to know where I’m off to? She rolled her eyes, turned to the old woman and smiled.
“Beijing.” Amaal said, “For work.”
“Oh that’s nice.” The old woman gasped, “I’m going to visit my grandchildren.”
“Oh, really?” Amaal faked interest.
“Yes.” The old woman said, “It’s my grandson’s tenth birthday.”
The two of them stared at each other in a moment of awkward silence.
“I’m Hajira, by the way.” The old woman said.
“Amaal.” Amaal said, “Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise.” Hajira said, “I guess we’re going to be neighbours for the rest of the flight.”
The old woman chuckled while Amaal tried to hide her discomfort. She wasn’t an extrovert and didn’t like spontaneous conversations with strangers. She smiled at the old woman and turned back to the window. The clouds were mesmerizing almost like being stuck between a dream and being awake. She could stare at the clouds forever.
She thought about her new life in Beijing and wondered whether she made the right decision. She weighed her options over and over and consulted with her parents, but deep down she wondered whether she was cut out for the fashion world. Yes, she was tall, skinny and gorgeous, but she was not vain or self-obsessed like the models she saw on TV. Would she change and become the monsters they are, or would she stay the same?
A faint light flashed outside the window and snapped Amaal back to reality. She leaned back in her seat and noticed that the clouds were gone. She looked at her watch and saw that almost two hours had passed. She had been daydreaming about her future and fell asleep at some point. She glanced out the window again, wondering where they were. She could see nothing except darkness outside. She could no longer see the clouds or the stars. It was almost as if they were utterly alone in the sky.
A stewardess came rushing down the aisle and made her way towards the cockpit at the front. Hajira leaned over her arm rest and glanced down the aisle as the stewardess knocked on the cockpit door.
“I wonder what’s going on.” Hajira said to herself.
“I can’t see the ocean.” Amaal whispered to her.
Hajira turned to Amaal and asked concerned, “What do you mean?”
“I see nothing except darkness outside the window.” Amaal said, “I don’t see the clouds or stars anymore. And I can’t see the ocean either. I think we somehow steered off course.”
Hajira leaned over Amaal and glanced out the window. All she could see was darkness… nothing else. The darkness was so intense that she could hardly see the wing of the plane.
“Oh my.” Hajira gasped softly.
Hajira sat back in her seat and then glanced down the aisle again. The cockpit door opened and the stewardess entered and then closed the door behind her.
“I think we might be in some kind of trouble.” Hajira said.
“What do you think is going on?” Amaal asked.
“I’m not sure.” Hajira said.
The cockpit door opened and the stewardess motioned for the other two standing at the door to enter. The other two quickly rushed into the cockpit and closed the door.
“Whatever is happening,” Hajira said, “It looks serious.”
Amaal reached into her bag and took out her cell phone.
“What are you doing?” Hajira whispered, “Those things can interfere with the navigation systems or something. You can bring the plane down.”
“You don’t really believe that do you?” Amaal asked cynically.
She unlocked the LCD screen and switched her phone from flight mode to normal. She stared at the phone, waiting for a signal, but her hopes were dashed. The words no signal flashed on the screen. She let a frustrated s
igh and put the phone back into her bag.
“No signal.” She said.
“We’re thousands of feet in the air,” Hajira said, “Of course there won’t be any signal.”
The door of the cockpit opened and one of the stewardesses stepped out. She was pale in her face and seemed to be gasping for air. A moment later the other two stepped out of the cockpit as she leaned up against the lavatory door. Hajira watched as the stewardesses talked amongst each other and then one of them nodded.
“Something’s happening.” Hajira said to Amaal.
Amaal glanced over the seat in front of her and spotted the stewardess picking up the intercom microphone.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” The stewardess said with a shaky voice, “If I could have your attention for a moment.”
The cabin lights flickered and came on. Some of the passengers that were asleep shielded their eyes from the light that drenched them.
“It seems we have somehow steered off course.” The stewardess said.
A sea of gasps rolled over the passengers.
“What do you mean?” Someone called out.
“We are unable to make contact with ground control.” The stewardess said, “We lost contact with them about ten minutes ago.”
“Is it terrorism?” A woman shrieked.
“No.” The stewardess assured her, “It might just be a technical glitch, but we are unable to establish our current location.”
More gasps rose out of the passengers.
“You mean we’re lost?” Someone cried.
“Please.” The stewardess pleaded, “I need everyone to stay calm and stay seated.”
“We’re lost and you want us to stay calm?” Someone called out.
“What if we crash?” A man called out.
“Are you sure it’s not terrorism?” A woman shrieked.
The stewardess should probably not have told the passengers to stay calm. Telling distressed people to stay calm is like throwing oil on a fire to put it out. She slowly lowered the intercom and stared at the passengers before her. They were all restless and panicking. They had every reason to panic… how does a plane get lost?
TWO
It’s near to impossible to get lost in our modern day of GPS and navigation, so to say that a plane was lost was incomprehensible. How could a flying iron giant simply get lost? Surely someone down there would be able to see them, even if they flew over a small island?
The passengers got more restless and got no answers from the flight crew. The stewardesses knew just as little as the passengers. All they knew was that the plane was not on its flight plan. Keeping an entire plane of people calm was daunting and almost near impossible, but eventually after about an hour of repeating the same information, the passengers seemed to calm down. They were still restless and scared, but no longer rowdy.
Amaal stared out through the window and tried not to cry. She was a big girl and big girls don’t cry, but she missed her family and wished she never got on the plane in the first place. What if the plane went down like everyone feared? Sooner or later they would run out of fuel.
She wiped the tears from her eyes, rested her chin on her palm and stared out through the window. All she saw was darkness and the silhouette of the wing. They were utterly alone out there and it seemed nobody would come to their rescue.
The plane shook without warning and everyone started screaming. Just as suddenly as it began, the plane stopped shaking and everyone settled down.
“What was that?” Amaal whimpered.
“Probably just turbulence.” Hajira assured her.
Amaal stared at the other scared faces on the plane and then turned back to the window. The scared passengers confirmed her fears that she was on a flight to hell, while the complete lack of everything outside the window somehow soothed her nerves.
“We will be fine.” Hajira said to her.
Amaal didn’t reply, but softly whimpered and then wiped her eyes again. The darkness outside the plane seemed a little less dense than it was before and she could make out the color paint on the wing of the plane. She leaned up against the window and stared out at the horizon which was slowly lighting up. She smiled and wiped a rogue tear from her left eye.
“Look.” Amaal said relieved, “The sunrise.”
Hajira glanced out through the window like so many other passengers as the dark sky outside colorized in a dark shade of turquoise. Amaal stared down at her watch. It was just after three AM.
We must be in another time zone, Amaal thought to herself.
The plane shook uncontrollably and the oxygen masks dropped scaring half of the passengers. Some of them grabbed the masks and placed it over their mouths while other clung to their seats and screamed. Amaal clung to her arm rests and ground her teeth as the plane rapidly descended. Hajira was one of the passengers who grabbed a mask and placed it over her mouth. Slowly but surely the plane levelled out again and Amaal loosened her grip on the arm rests. She gasped for air and stared out through the window.
“Ladies and gentlemen.” The captain’s voice announced over the intercom, “This is your captain, I’d like to assure you all that everything is perfectly fine. We are flying at an altitude of 25 000 feet… if you need anything, please do not hesitate to call the stewardesses. We will keep you posted of any new developments in our current situation.”
“If we need anything?” Hajira mumbled annoyed.
Hajira fidgeted in her bag and took out a candy. The wrapper crunched as she unwrapped the candy and popped it in her mouth.
“I need to see my grandson.” The candy clinked against her teeth as she moaned.
Amaal turned to the window again and tried to figure out where exactly they were. The night sky was slowly surrendering to the dawn, but she could not really see anything out there. All she could see was purple and blue sky.
“I still can’t see anything out there.” Amaal sighed.
“Maybe there is nothing out there to see.” Hajira said.
Amaal turned to her with intrigue.
“What do you mean?” Amaal said.
The candy rolled around in Hajira’s mouth and clinked against her teeth.
“I read this book once,” Hajira said, “By Stephen Queen about a plane that disappeared. It turned out that the plane never disappeared, but the world as they knew it ceased to exist… and they were the only ones left alive.”
“I thought old people only read romance novels?” Amaal asked confused.
“I might be old, but I’m not boring.” Hajira said, “Life often imitates art. What if we are somehow the only ones left alive and the world we know has ended?”
Amaal tried not to laugh and said, “You’re reading too much Stephen King novels.”
“Stephen Queen.” Hajira corrected her.
“Whatever.” Amaal said and rolled her eyes, “And besides, if the world ended, there would be some kind of sign. There should be wreckages or debris or something… not just nothing.”
“Maybe…” Hajira said, “But the truth is stranger than fiction… and writers gotta get their inspiration somewhere.”
Amaal thought about it for a moment; the idea of the world ending was a scary thought and a relatively possible one. What if they were indeed the only people left alive? She turned to the window again, leaned up against it and tried to get a glimpse of the world below. The sky outside had turned into a bright blue, but still, even with the sunlight she couldn’t see anything except the sky. She could not see clouds or the ground – or ocean for that matter – down below.
“Perhaps you’re right.” Amaal whispered to herself, “Perhaps there is nothing out there to see.”
THREE
The passengers were getting more restless by the minute as they entered the fourth hour of flight. They should have flown over something by now; small islands or something, but still there was nothing outside Amaal’s window. The lack of any recognizable visuals not only made her restless, but everyone else on
the plane had by then discovered that there is nothing to see outside the windows. The stewardesses tried their best to keep everyone calm, but there is only so much three of them can do.
“We’re gonna run out of fuel sooner or later.” Amaal whispered to Hajira.
“I’m afraid of what might happen when the others get to that conclusion.” Hajira whispered back.
Some of the passengers were out of their seats and argued with the stewardesses who tried their best to calm the passengers down.
“Don’t tell me to calm down!” A man yelled somewhere at the back of the plane.
“Mankind is intelligent,” Hajira whispered to Amaal, “But humans are stupid, especially when they are scared. It’s just a matter of time until someone snaps and does something stupid.”
“I have to get out of here!” A man cried and jumped up from his seat.
The stewardess tried to calm him down, but he pushed her aside and rushed over to the door.
“I can’t breathe in here.” The man cried.
“Something stupid like that?” Amaal gasped.
The man reached for the door latch, but one of the other stewardesses jumped him and wrestled him to the floor.
“Help me!” she said to the other stewardesses.
The three stewardesses restrained the passenger with some torn towel shreds they used as rope and returned him to his seat.
“We’re going to die!” The man cried.
“Sir,” The stewardess insisted, “I need you to calm down or I will gag you. You’re upsetting the other passengers.”
“We’re already upset!” Someone called out from the back, “When will you do something?”
“We’re doing the best we can.” The stewardess announced, “But I need your cooperation. I need everyone to stay calm and stay in your seats. It will do you no good to panic. We’re all scared, but I have faith in our pilots. They will land us safely on the ground.”
“How” Someone demanded, “Have you looked out the window lately? There is nothing out there to land on. “
The stewardess was dumbfounded. She knew there was nothing out there, but she couldn’find any comforting words to defuse the upset passengers. The plane jolted and some of the passengers screamed. Amaal stared up at the ceiling of the plane.
“Is it just me or did that sound like something falling onto the plane?” Amaal asked.