She protected 185 passengers in the sky — and moments later, the F-22 pilots said her call sign out loud… revealing a truth no one expected
«Both engines failed simultaneously,» he said. «We’ve tried everything. They won’t restart. We’re a glider now, and we’re losing altitude fast. We have maybe three minutes before we have to put this bird down somewhere, and there’s nothing but mountains below us.»
Kate leaned between the seats and scanned the instruments. Altitude, airspeed, descent rate, fuel flow, hydraulics. Her mind processed everything in seconds.
«What caused the dual-engine failure?»
The first officer answered without looking up from his controls.
«We don’t know. It happened almost simultaneously. We think maybe contaminated fuel or a fuel system failure that cut flow to both engines.»
Kate thought fast.
«Have you tried cross-feeding from the auxiliary tanks? Sometimes there’s clean fuel there if the main system is contaminated.»
Captain Sullivan looked at her with surprise.
«We haven’t tried that. Tom, reconfigure the fuel system. Try the AUX tanks.»
The first officer’s hands flew over the controls, switching valves, rerouting fuel flow. Seconds ticked by. The altitude counter kept dropping. 8,000 feet. 7,000. 6,000. Mountains were getting very close.
«Come on, come on,» Kate whispered, watching the engine instruments.
Nothing. The engines remained dead. They had tried her idea, and it hadn’t worked. The captain was scanning ahead desperately.
«There. That valley. It’s our only chance. It’s not flat, but it’s flatter than the mountains. I’m lining up for emergency landing.»
Kate looked where he was pointing. It was a narrow mountain valley with a meadow, rocky and uneven but maybe long enough if they were lucky. It was their only option.
«That’s your best bet. Do you want me to handle anything while you focus on flying?»
«Yes. Radio. Tell air traffic control our position and situation. Then get on emergency frequency and broadcast mayday. If we don’t make this landing, at least rescuers will know where to look.»
Kate grabbed the radio. Her voice was calm and clear, falling into the clipped professional tone of military communications.
«Mayday, mayday, mayday. This is commercial flight 831, Boeing 777, dual-engine failure, attempting emergency landing in a mountain valley approximately 40 miles northwest of Denver. On board 197 souls. Emergency crews, please respond to these coordinates.»
She read off their exact position from the GPS.
A voice came back immediately.
«Flight 831, this is Denver center. We copy your mayday. Emergency services are being dispatched. What is your status?»
«We are attempting a deadstick landing in unsuitable terrain. Altitude 2,000 feet and descending. Passengers are braced for impact.»
Then another voice cut in on the emergency frequency. A different voice, military and sharp.
«Flight 831. This is Viper Lead of two F-22 Raptors on a training exercise in your area. We have visual on your aircraft. Say your current situation.»
Kate’s heart jumped. Fighter jets. Her people.
«Viper Lead, this is Flight 831. We have dual-engine failure, no thrust, attempting emergency landing. We are gliding with approximately one minute until touchdown.»
Captain Sullivan was wrestling with the controls, trying to line up on the valley. The plane was descending fast—too fast. They were going to overshoot the meadow or come in too steep. Kate could see it.
She grabbed the captain’s shoulder.
«You’re too high and too fast. You need to increase drag. Full flaps, full spoilers, gear down. Everything you’ve got to slow us down.»
The captain nodded.
«Tom, deploy everything.»
The first officer pulled levers and pushed buttons. Flaps extended. Spoilers rose on the wings. Landing gear dropped down. The plane shuddered as air resistance increased. The descent rate accelerated, but their forward speed decreased. It might be enough.
The F-22 pilot’s voice came back.
«Flight 831. We are following your descent. Be advised, you are approaching mountainous terrain. Recommend immediate—»
He stopped. They could all see it was too late for recommendations. The landing was happening now, whether anyone was ready or not. Kate moved behind the captain’s seat, bracing herself but keeping her eyes on the approaching ground. The valley was rushing up at them. Rocky terrain, scattered trees, uneven ground. This was going to be rough. Really rough.
«Brace! Brace! Brace!» Captain Sullivan shouted into the cabin intercom.
Kate grabbed onto the back of his seat with both hands, her muscles tensed for impact. The wheels hit first, slamming into the rocky ground with tremendous force. The landing gear absorbed some of the shock but immediately collapsed.
The belly of the plane scraped the ground with a horrible screeching sound of metal on rock. The aircraft bounced, hit again, and skidded sideways. Trees appeared ahead, and the wing clipped them, tearing off with an explosion of debris. The plane spun, still sliding forward, throwing up dirt and rocks.
Kate was thrown against the wall, her shoulder hitting hard. Pain shot through her, but she held on. The cockpit was shaking violently. Everything was noise and chaos. The windscreen cracked. Alarms were blaring. The pilots were fighting the controls, but the plane was no longer really flying, just crashing in slow motion.
Finally, after what felt like forever but was probably 15 seconds, the aircraft came to a stop. The horrible screeching sound ended. For a moment, there was just silence and the sound of alarms.
