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Gently tapping her fingers on her bag. Lucy hummed the rhythm of her grandma's favorite song. It was a local folktale song about bravery. She needed it at this moment. More tempo and the addition of feet tapping she hummed the song louder.
"7am" she muttered to herself as she read the wall clock.
Her first flight as a co-pilot was by 7:15. She loosened her tie to free her neck from choking. Grabbing her bottle of water she quickly gulped on it. Just then the Captain emerged from the inner room to the lounge where she was seated. Smiling nicely to her he said.
"Heard it is your first time flying?" He asked, dropping his weird looking box on the floor to adjust his trousers and cap.
"Yes sir" she replied, standing immediately. "Professionally sir"
"I was nervous too, in fact more sweaty than you are now but I guess it is okay to be scared. That makes you human. Fighting off the fear makes you victorious." He held her by the shoulder. "So are you ready to be victorious?" he continued.
"I guess so sir"
"Then let us do this" concluding he grabbed his bag and walked ahead of her to the tarmac.
Lucy took a deep breath and ran after the Captain.
Not that she has not flown before but that was back in aviation school during her flight training. She had flown the Cessna Skyhawk also known as the Cessna 172. She emerged the best in her set and had graduated to be employed fully by the aviation authority in her town as a means of acknowledging her efforts and hard work.
And here she was ready to do what she had always longed to do all her life. Although she was a bit jittery which she thought was fine because it was her first time flying people. She was fully ready for the action.
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Now here she was climbing her way up the airplane ladder into the cockpit. Fully settled and making sure the passengers were settled too the pilot announced.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. First I would like to welcome everyone on Royal Flight 86A. We are currently cruising at an altitude of 33,000 feet at an airspeed of 400 miles per hour. The time is 7:25 am. The weather today looks good and with the tailwind on our side we are expecting to land on our destination Chrisville approximately fifteen minutes ahead of schedule.
The weather in Chrisville is clear and sunny, with a high of 25 degrees for this afternoon. If the weather cooperates we should get a great view of the city as we descend. The flight crew will be coming around you in about twenty minutes to offer you some light snacks and beverages, and the inflight movie will shortly begin after that. I will talk to you again before we reach our destination. Until then, sit back, relax and enjoy the rest of the flight.
Thank you for choosing Royal airline, and we hope you enjoy the rest of your — admittedly brief flight." Turning to Lucy he said "prepare for take off"
And with that they hit the runway and within seconds they were in the sky.
Everything went smoothly Just as the pilot had told her until the heard a loud bang. Lucy looked out her window and the right engine was on fire. There were feathers all around. The aircraft must have collided with a swarm of birds
"Captain, our left engine is on fire," she said.
"Turn off the auto throttle, close the thrust lever, shut off the fuel control switch. " The Captain yelled holding steady to the
"Turning off the auto throttle, closing the thrust lever, shutting off the fuel control switch and pulling and turning the left engine fire handle" Lucy replied as she did all that was asked.
"Check the engine again," the captain asked.
"It is off," she replied, relaxing on her chair. Her hands were shaking.
"Relax, it is a Boeing 777. It is certified to fly up to five and a half hours with one engine out." The Captain noticed her shaky hands.
Few hours later they were on the ground. After fully alighting. The pilots made their way out of the tarmac into the airport.
"Sorry you did not quite experience a good first flight. Hopefully I make it up to you sometime." The Captain said as he walked into the airport with Lucy beside him
"It's fine sir" she replied "thank you for having me onboard"
