CHAPTER 10

Starsky picked up the microphone and pushed in the button…”Hello….can anybody hear me?” He yelled into it.

“No….No…that’s not the way to talk to the tower.” Hutch scolded him as he snatched the device out of his hand.  “Mayday…..Mayday…this is Delta Flight number…..” He looked around frantically trying to find the flight number
somewhere. He had remembered it was six something from the pilots first announcement. He knew it had to be on the plane somewhere. As he riffled through books and tossed things about with one hand …Starsky gently tapped him on the shoulder.

“Not now Starsk…I have to find the Flight number.” He huffed at him as he continued to search.

“Hutch…” He said…calling his name in a commanding tone.

“What?” Hutch yelled in frustration as he finally turned around to face him.

Starsky just looked at him and then lifted his eyes above their heads…where Delta 645 was displayed in large silver letters.

“This is Delta Flight 645…we’re in trouble and in need of assistance from the tower…over.” Hutch spoke loudly into the microphone.

“There’s an understatement.” Starsky said smugly…his pain was evident in his voice and he was having trouble himself…trying to get into a comfortable position in his chair.

“Delta Flight 645…this is Dallas international Airport…What’s your current position?”

“Whhoooo….” Hutch let out a yell like a cowboy at a barn dance. “Are we glad to hear your voice.  I don’t know our current location…I can’t read any of these dials.  Do you think you can talk us down?” Hutch asked in a calm manner…as if he were ordering a pizza.  He had no idea how difficult a task it would be for the man on the radio.

“Hang on…. Hold your course…I’ll get the Flight commander on duty.” He said in a panicked voice …then he dropped his headgear and ran to the edge of the stairwell…knowing that the people in the control room below would be able to hear him.

“Get Commander Thompson…. NOW…we’ve got a live one.” He yelled down to them.

“Roger that.” Came a voice from below and then he ran back to his station and put his headgear back on.

“Flight 645 was taken over almost two hours ago…who am I speaking to?”

“Detective Sergeant Kenneth Hutchinson of the Los Angeles Police…” He stated proudly.  “There is no longer a hostage situation…unfortunately the pilot and co-pilot are both dead…and my partner and I could sure use some help up here.”

“Your partner?” He asked.  “Two cops?”

“Yeah…we’re on vacation…or at least we were?” Hutch told him in a slightly sarcastic tone.

“I can’t talk you down…I’m not qualified…the Flight Commander is on his way…do you see a gauge in front of you with a little airplane on it?” He asked.

“Yeah…” Hutch answered.

“”Just try to keep the little airplane on the line in the middle…keep the wings on the line as well…Don’t let them tilt one way or the other.”

“It’s a little below the line.” Hutch told him.

“Then pull up gently on the wheel…just a little…until you see it on the line.” He instructed.

Hutch was nervous…he pulled up gently on the wheel…and felt the nose lift slightly.  He watched the gauge and held it still when he saw the wings meet the centerline.

“Ok…level …” He said. “Now what?”

“Look for a gauge on your right…the one that shows altitude…it should be a number in the ten thousands…” He said…trying to gain a little information for the Flight Commander.

“Yeah…it says ten thousand five hundred…Hutch told him.

The young man in the tower knew that they were flying way too low for safety…something had made them loose altitude…he knew that he wasn’t qualified to instruct them on how to climb…but somebody had better do it….fast.

“Just hold it steady and Commander Thompson will be right here.” He said with a nervous tone that was very evident in his voice…

“What are you not telling me?” Hutch asked bluntly…he had to know.

“Your flying way too low…you’ll have to climb to a safe altitude…and we’ll have to search for you on our radar…we don’t exactly know your location…but we can make a pretty good guess from the pilots last recorded transmission.” He tried to explain to them…without causing them too much panic.

“Just do me a favor…let me know when you find us will ya?” Hutch said as he laid the microphone back in it’s stand…and looked at Starsky.

“Do you think you can do it?…” Starsky asked as he looked back into Hutch’s pale blue eyes.

“Well…at this point…I really don’t have much of a choice…” Hutch told him.

“I’ll be right here…for whatever it’s worth.” Starsky said as he put his right hand on his partner’s shoulder.  “We’ll do it together.”
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