The Terror At 26000 Feet

The Terror At 4600 Feet

Many years ago there was an airport in the huge metropolis of Danville, Va. called The Danville Airport. Plains could travel to anywhere on the planet which meant from Richmond to Hong Kong, China. The flights had a perfect record far as crashes and high-jackings were concerned. Besides, it was a lot safer, and faster then driving to far-away places. The airline was proud of being in business ever since The Right Brothers had made their first flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The only complaint from people was the cost, nothing else.

Then on January 25th of 1968 something happened which nobody could have ever been prepared for. It all started when a veturin pilot named Franklin Johnson was the pilot of a huge 747 plain flying from the airport in Danville Va. to The Southern Atlanta Airport down in Atlanta, Ga.. It started out a typical flight with no complications whatsoever, but nobody ever suspected that something so horrible would occur on, "the safest way to travel."

A 16 year-old boy named Frank Johnson who was flying alone on his way to be picked up by his grandmother noticed the plane going through an exceptional amount of turbulance. It had been doing that for quite a while. Frank had spilled his drink on the floor, as had several other passengers on the flight. Yet nothing could have ever prepared him for what he was about to see. There, lying on the floor was the pilot, out cold. What was even worse just happened to be the fact that the co-pilot was also unconscious. Frank knew something had to be done immediately. Because he had been a Boy Scout, who's motto is, "Be prepared," he was aware that he had to keep his compo;sure. He also knew if he was to make an announcement to the passengers asking if somebody on board knew how to fly a plane that it would cause all the passengers to panic.

The first thing he did was push the button to contact the airport. The guy who answered asked if he had any flying experience. When he told him he hadn't, and had never even been in an airplane cockpit before, he said under his breath, "Oh boy! This is going to be extremely difficult" Franklin overheard him say that which didn't help his confidence the slightest little bit. Then the dispatcher asked him if he knew anything about flying a plane. Franklin told him he had never even been in a cockpit before. That's when the dispatcher told him how to steer the monstrous 747 which was filled with passengers towards the airport.

Suddenly the plane went through the sound barrier too fast. That caused the window to shatter. Glass flew into his face, cutting out his left eye. Yet he was so fixed on landing that huge bird he didn't even notice. He only figured he had a really severe cut in his eye. The blood pored across his face down into his good eye, thus making it even harder to see what the dispatcher was telling him to do. He had never been to Church because his parents were not Christians so he knew nothing about any overhead Being Who was in charge of everything that went on in the world. All he knew was he had to land that plane and that nobody could help him. Yet he prayed for the first time in his life saying, "Alright, Lord, if You're there, I really do need Your help right now! If You'll help me take care of all these people on board who are Your children, I promise I will find a good Church and go there every time the doors are open! Just help me land this plane successfully and save all these passengers, who are Your children safely! Please!"

As the blood continued to pour out of the eye socket, it ran down into his good eye, making it even more difficult to see anything at all. When the dispatcher asked him if he was alright, since his voice was sounding considerably more des-pirate then any voice he had ever spoken to. Yet he said, "Don't panic. The main thing you need to do right now is keep your composure, kid. Now, I'll walk you through how to land that big bird, but you've got to follow my instructions, son."

As the blood continued to poor into Franklin's only good eye, he wasn't able to do anything to help himself. That was when he tore a strip off the bottom of his brand new shirt that his mom had just spent a lot of money on to buy it for him. That meant he had to steer the plane with his left had while holding the now rag over his right eye, which wasn't even there, even though the pain was definitely secondary compared to what his mission was. All the passengers on that plane were counting on him to land them safely, not to mention their family members and everybody who would ever fly on Piedmont Airlines again. The dispatcher kept telling Franklin to do things he had never even heard of, so he had to keep on asking the guy what he was talking about and where they were located on the control panel. To say that he was scared out of his wits would have been a gross understatement. As the dispatcher told him which buttons to push and which way to use them was mighty frustrating for both of them. That' when Franklin said, "Alright, God, if You are the, I really need Your help now. Please help me land this bucket of bolts! When that happens, I promise I'll believe in You! Please, Lord, not please help me land this bird without any problems!"

The dispatcher finally told Franklin he could see him on the monitor. Yet his directions were really obscure because Franklin, who had never even been in a real airplane cockpit in his life, much less know where any of the buttons were to fly it, much less being able to manage landing it with one hand while his other hand held over his face which was gushing blood all over himself and the keyboard. His adrenaline was pumping full-speed as he listened to every word the frustrated man was trying to explain to him what needed to be done.

That 's when other dispatchers came on the line to try and direct him what to hit, how to hit it and other things that poor boy didn't understand what they meant. All he did know was all the passengers who were on that plane, not to mention all their loved-ones were depending on him to succeed at his task.

Finally the dispatcher said, "There you are! Now we have you on our radar, son! Now, listen, and listen good, because an awful lot of lives need your help!"

As the runway began to get closer and closer, Franklin kept praying and asking the almighty One to help him land that plane because so many live were in his hands. The blood continued to poor into his good eye, which wasn't at all good by that point. When he got about 200 feet from the runway, a man stuck his head in and said, "Hay, kid! What are you doing behind the wheal of this plane?"

"Well, I am trying to save yours, and all these people's lives! Now shut up and go away if you're not going to be of any assistance, sir! I've got a plane to land!"

By then the plane awkordly hit the runway, the wheels landed at different times, making the whole plane wobble like it was about to flip over. All the passengers screamed in terror, as did Franklin. Even those people who were in the airport watching him go through his procedure were all screaming. That really upset Franklin, so he screamed even louder then any of the others. Then he pulled up on the breaks and that sound of retro-rockets flowed throughout the whole plane. Franklin couldn't hear anything the tower was saying to him over the screams from those passengers were making. That was pandimonium.

By then men were running out of the office, expecting to see somebody in the cockpit who was sertified to fly that huge bird, not see a teenager sitting there.

The sound of many ambulances and police sirons filled the whole airport. The men came running the ramp expecting to see a whole bunch of people who were waiting for them to bring up stretchers to carry the wounded out on. Instead they were greeted by a 16 year-old hero who had just saved the lives of many passengers and had saved all their loved-ones a great deal of sorrow.

Franklin was awarded a huge meddle of bravery, in addition to an excessive amount of money. Yet he wouldn't accept it since he said that it would take away part of the blessing that he'd receive from the Lord. Now, that is what's known as a real, true hero in every sense of the word because that's what he was.

With his wide-spread fame, he could chose any college he wanted and so he picked one of the most presteageous collages in the entire country, Lynchburg College. That's where he met the love-of-his-life. After dating a while, he eventually, "popped-it." Naturally, she said, Yeah! Of course, darling!" The year after that they introduced their first small-person into the world, who would also grow up good-looking, really smart and overflowing with pep. So like the best-written stories of all-time by the best authors will officially finish up with,

"THEY ALL LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER!!!!"

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The end. By, Cuz Roye.