Chapter 52
Meanwhile, in the cockpit of the aircraft, trouble was brewing.
Lucas Nolan was in his captain's uniform, and his big hands were focused on maneuvering the plane.
His handsome face was stern and strict, while his gaze was fully focused on the front view of his cockpit.
There was a strong echo displayed on the radar, which appeared as a huge red blip on the large map. Only a small portion of the area on the map was shown in yellow, and there was hardly any area shown in green.
The airborne radar was showing signs of a thunderstorm ahead. In terms of weather variance, a thunderstorm of this magnitude was possibly the most dangerous situation that any pilot could face.
On the radar, the red represented an area affected by a thunderstorm. Yellow indicated an area that one could fly through, albeit cautiously, while green signified a safe zone.
This time, unfortunately, almost all the blips on the radar were displayed in red.
Lucas knew that this approaching thunderstorm covered a very vast area.
"Damn! Captain Nolan, what should we do now?" His co-pilot Fred was feeling nervous. His forehead was drenched with cold sweat.
He had been flying with Lucas for a long time and had never encountered such a situation before.Belongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.
How did Captain Nolan manage to face such dangers without even a change in his expression? One wrong move, one wrong decision, and the entire plane full of passengers would be in great jeopardy! "We must go around!"
Lucas' face was unflinching and solemn, filled with decisive determination.
His gaze was sharp, staring head-on without a trace of panic as though what was in front of him was not a matter of life or death, but rather just another ordinary flight day.
"If we fly around, the rapid airflow outside would be unimaginable! The intense pressure may even damage the plane!" Fred's voice sounded flustered.
"We must chart a course with a wider distance around to avoid the thunderstorm." Lucas scanned the readings on the control screen, for he had turned off the autopilot earlier. Fred calmed his mind and began contacting the air control for permission to fly around. The distance charted would be extremely long, much longer than the normal flight path. Indeed, weather changes were simply too unpredictable.
Furthermore, thunderstorms could cause dangerous air torrents that would cripple an aircraft flying through, especially for airplanes that were already experiencing violent turbulence. Perhaps Lucas' carefully thought-out decision was correct after all.
He began to expand the scope of the radar.
However, at that moment, the air traffic control radioed in and informed them, "Your 558X does not have enough distance and safe clearance to fly around."
Lucas immediately commanded Fred, "Begin the ascent."
The air traffic control echoed his decision, "You may ascent. Please choose your height of ascent."
Lucas' voice was cool and decisive over the radio. "Applying for 2000 feet!"
Upon receiving confirmation from the air control, Lucas guided the plane up for the ascent.
The plane began its detour ascent to avoid the storm. Five minutes later, the turbulence gradually eased. At long last, after the plane had been ascending for ten minutes, the flight became stable with no furthe turbulence.
Fred heaved a sigh of relief, "Captain, I almost peed my pants." All signs of tension seemed to dissipate from his expression.
Just then, a flight attendant entered the cockpit and asked, "Captain Nolan, how's the situation?"
"The plane is now flying normally. Everything is under control." Fred wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead. As they were working hard to get the plane under control, Fred and Captain Nolan hardly paid any heed to the surroundings of the cabin.
Realizing that the stewardess who had entered earlier was not Nancy, he asked, "Where is the chief attendant? How is the situation in the cabin?"
The flight attendant appeared spooked and answered, "Nancy was knocked over by the turbulence and had bumped into a door earlier. She's currently injured."
"She's injured?" Fred stood up with concern. "Let me go over and have a look. The bad turbulence must have caused the passengers to be scared witless as well."
"It was really scary. Even I was frightened. However... Mrs. Nolan managed to make calm of the situation."
As the flight attendant relayed the previous events, her eyes appeared star-struck, as a hint of envy and admiration laced her tone. "You must've been unaware. Mrs. Nolan was so cool earlier! More so than I, who has been an air stewardess for so many years! She was more professional and experienced than anyone else, especially when it came to reassuring the passengers of their safety!"
Lucas' unflinching, good-looking face relaxed upon hearing that.
As his icy demeanor seemed to have melted, Lucas' charmingly baritone voice asked incredulously, " Did you just say... My wife?"
"Yes! Captain Nolan! Why didn't you introduce your outstanding wife to us earlier?" The flight attendant, seeing that the plane was safely on its way, cast aside her worries as she excitedly chattered on. The atmosphere grew lighter and increasingly cheerful.
Right after that, she turned around and left. "I'm going to announce the good news, now that we're safe."
Soon, the voice of the flight attendant reverberated throughout the cabin's intercom.