CHAPTER 12

Commander Thompson let go of the mic for a minute and wiped his brow. He was a little relieved to see that Detective Hutchinson could still keep his sense of humor.  Landing a plane even with experience can be dangerous…so many things can go wrong. The chances that he could bring them down in one piece weren’t real promising.  Still if this guy was a cop…he had one thing going for him…he had balls…and he would need them if he was going to get through this.

Hutch let out a long held breath and looked at Starsky…he was pulling tighter on his bandages himself to put more pressure on his wound.  It had started bleeding again.  Cassie was busy trying to pull the bandage in the back to help him.  He let out a cry through gritted teeth as he pulled it harder.  Hutch knew that he needed to get to a doctor as soon as they landed. He had almost forgotten about the pain that his partner must be in because he had been so preoccupied.

“How you doing?” Hutch asked him as he touched his face while keeping his other hand on the yoke.

“I’ll make it…don’t worry about me now…just get us down Huh.” Starsky said to him calmly. “It’s not as bad as it looks.”

He could see the perspiration on his face and he could hear the pain in his voice. He knew he was trying to make light of his condition so Hutch could concentrate on the job at hand.  It was just like Starsky to unselfishly think of others when he was hurting.  Hutch really hadn’t been able to comfort him during this whole ordeal but if he could…at this moment…he’d put
his arms around him. But for now…Starsky settled for a concerned smile.

Cassie sat in the navigator’s chair…not really wanting to go back in the back.  She thought that maybe she might be of some help.  But until she was needed she’d stay out of the way. The bodies of the pilot and copilot lay on the floor as a constant reminder of the past few hours.  She had never seen dead bodies before.  Still the sight of the two men in front of her wasn’t
nearly as frightening as the moment that had been playing over and over in her head for the past couple of hours.  The moment when Joey held her in one hand and pulled the trigger killing the two FBI guys with the other.  It was all her fault…or so it seemed. They gave up their guns for her…and were killed for it.  She wondered if they had families… wives and children who
would miss them.  At any rate she would have to live with it for the rest of her life.  Nobody would understand. Neither Starsky nor Hutch had seen it and she didn’t want them to know. She was feeling guilty for not doing something to prevent it.

Commander Thompson’s voice came back after a few minutes. “You’re getting close enough to make your approach…what’s your airspeed now?”

“180 knots” Hutch told him.

“We’re going to drop altitude slowly…rate of decent is your VSI gauge…ease up a little on the throttle and tell me if it changes.” He instructed.

“Which one is the throttle?” Hutch asked.

“On the panel to your left…the lever with the red knob…push it up slightly and you’ll feel a loss in power…don’t decrease too much…just a little…then tell me what the VSI gauge reads.” He told him.

Hutch pushed up just a little and felt the plane slow down…he could hear it in the engines as well. Then he glanced over at the gauge.

 “Two hundred….it reads two hundred.” He called back.

“Now pull the flaps down to one quarter…the first position.” Commander Thompson instructed.

“Got it…Now reading Three Hundred Fifty.” Hutch told him.

“Good…Good…now bring the nose down slightly…try to get the gauge to read Five Hundred…don’t expect it to move to fast…and don’t drop the nose too much…just below the centerline but no more.” He prompted.

“Dropping…reading Four…Four Fifty…..Five Hundred…..Five Fifty…” Hutch called back.

“You need to pull back just a bit…try to stabilize it at Five Hundred.” He told Hutch. “Then drop the Flaps down to the next notch…and keep the VSI at Five Hundred.”

“Reading Five Hundred…dropping flaps to halfway.” Hutch called again…he was shaking as he tried to keep his hands steady on the yoke.

“What’s your airspeed?”

“One Hundred and twenty knots…” Hutch told him. “Is that alright?”

“Perfect…One Hundred and twenty…right on the mark…your doing very good.” He told him. “Now what’s your altitude?”

“Six thousand feet…and falling.” Hutch said with a lump in his throat. Starsky and Cassie both listened as Hutch and the Flight Commander spoke…both clinging to their seats and praying.

“You’re a little off Course for the runway. You need to make a small turn to the right…turn the wheel slowly and watch the gauge. It won’t react right away so you’ll have to watch the gauge closely till you see the right wing fall just below the centerline. I’ll tell you when to level out again.”

“Turning…” Hutch told him as he moved the wheel slightly and watched the gauge closely. It moved slowly and as it reached the point just below the centerline he held it still. “Ok…it’s just below.”

“Hold till I tell you….Just a few more seconds.” (A brief pause…) “Now…level off.” He told him.

Hutch pulled the wheel back to its original position and watched as the little plane in the gauge went back on the line.  “Ok…Level”

“Can you see the landing strip in front of you?” Commander Thompson asked.

“Yeah…I think so…it’s still far away.” Hutch said.

“Just keep your airspeed at one twenty and your VSI at Five Hundred…What’s your altitude now?”
“Three thousand feet…” Hutch told him.

“Ok…your about seven Hundred feet up…you’ll touch down in a few seconds. Drop your landing gear…and drop the flaps one more notch…keep the plane just below the centerline. Don’t pull back on the yoke till I give the signal…wait for it.” He told him.

“Drop the landing gear…which one is it?” Hutch looked at Starsky.

“This one.” Starsky said as he shoved the lever down. The same one that he had accidentally pushed down earlier.

“Ok Landing gear down …flaps at three quarters…airspeed at One Twenty …VSI at Five Hundred.”  Hutch called back.

“Ok…your coming in. Hold your course and wait for my signal…”

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