amaotonovel Chapter 4549 The Day of Brightest Day (8)
Chapter 4549 The Day of Brightest Day (8)
Chapter 4549 The Day of Brightest Light (Part 8)
Now it seemed that only a water landing was left. Silence fell over the cabin; everyone seemed to understand they had no other choice. Schiller glanced around economy class again. He realized that the dead hijackers might not be the key; the hiding man who hadn't yet stepped forward hadn't suddenly chickened out, but rather wanted to wait until after the landing to make his move.
Making an emergency landing on water is not easy. First, the landing attitude must be extremely stable; the slightest mistake could turn a landing into a dive. Second, you cannot immediately leave the aircraft after landing; you cannot row to find land, but must wait for rescue.
The question is whether the arrival of the hijackers or the rescue will come first. In any other sea area, it would almost certainly be the latter. But in the Strait of Tiran, it's not so certain. The rescue efforts from the countries in this area are probably no different from those of the hijackers.
If it were hijackers, the people on the plane would have no way to escape. Even if they killed everyone, they could easily fake it as a rescue failure. After all, it's normal to encounter dangerous waves at sea. No airline with a sound mind would dare to investigate these countries.
Schiller sighed, then asked, "How much fuel is left?"
"It can support up to three hours of flight time," the chief flight attendant said.
The cabin erupted in excitement again, because with three hours of flight time, they could easily make an emergency landing in the Indian Ocean. That was far safer than the Strait of Tiran or the Red Sea.
“To the Red Sea,” Schiller said.
A murmur of discontent immediately arose in the cabin, and Schiller could only explain, "Don't forget, there are still hijackers on board. We're now diverting to the Indian Ocean, and he could strike at any moment. He'll either sabotage the plane or take hostages. In the end, we'll still have to make an emergency landing in the Red Sea."
This issue is somewhat controversial because it's known the hijackers are in economy class, so they can only hijack economy class passengers. Business class passengers might want to remain uninvolved. But this logic clearly doesn't hold water, because the pilots ultimately decide the plane's course. If any passengers are hijacked, they have no choice but to obey the hijackers, regardless of whether they are in economy or business class.
Ultimately, the plane's fate was sealed. They were to make an emergency landing, but not in the Strait of Tiran; instead, they would land directly in the Red Sea. But this wasn't much better, because wherever they landed, it wouldn't be far from accident-prone areas. If someone wanted to take action, it would only be a few extra steps.
Soon, the plane reached the airspace over the Red Sea and landed on the water with remarkable stability, demonstrating the pilot's considerable skill. Schiller retreated backward to the boundary between business and first class, observing the movements of the business and economy classes.
The flight attendants busied themselves. They had to lower the emergency exits and prepare the lifeboats. These were all available on the planes and could accommodate all the passengers. However, the lifeboats were unpowered and couldn't be expected to reach the shore; they could only provide temporary shelter for people.
Being able to leave the plane was already a stroke of luck. Once the passage was set up, no one hesitated; they all quickly put on their gear and slid down, praying that the hijackers wouldn't be on the same boat as them.
After all the passengers had evacuated, the flight attendants also began to leave. The chief flight attendant glanced back at Schiller and gave him a look, causing Schiller to frown slightly.
He turned to look in the direction of the driver's cab, and soon after, the three people inside also came out.
The lead pilot was a tall, middle-aged man, while the other two were very young. As he passed Schiller, he glanced at him and gestured the number "4" with his hand behind his back.
To avoid any misunderstanding, he deliberately wagged his finger. This made it clear to Schiller that he was making a hand gesture. What did that mean?
The pilots had just disembarked when gunfire erupted outside. Schiller squeezed his eyes shut. He walked to the cabin door and peered out. Due to hearing problems, he couldn't determine from the gunfire whether he had been hit. However, the absence of blood on the nearby sea suggested that no one had been struck.
Then came the sounds of speedboats and ship engines. They sounded muffled. Schiller had to peek out again. Several ships were approaching, not warships. They seemed to be pirates or some kind of anti-government force.
Of course it would be them. The people who take action aren't stupid; sending their own country's army would be an open secret, wouldn't it? But if they're disguised as pirates, it'll be easier to shift the blame.
The people on the ship and the flight crew were communicating, but it was clearly not going well. Soon, armed men came down and forced them onto the ship. Then someone asked if there was anyone left on the plane—this was all Schiller's speculation, because he couldn't hear at all—not because someone had betrayed him, but because some passengers had blood on them, even pieces of the hijackers' weapons. That was clearly not something a rifle could produce; even a fool would know something was amiss.
Sure enough, several bearded men carrying guns began walking onto the plane. Schiller began to consider his options. He wasn't incapable of resisting, but if they realized they couldn't subdue him, they would definitely take hostages and force him to show himself. That would be a real problem.
Escaping is the best option now. But while the Red Sea isn't large, it's not a place you can swim directly to Egypt. Jumping into the sea now is practically suicide. These people are also very professional; the lifeboats are completely blocked, and it's unlikely they'll be able to just rush over and seize the boat.
Suddenly, an extremely bold idea popped into Schiller's mind. The captain's hand gesture flashed through his mind.
Without hesitation, Schiller rushed towards the cockpit at top speed. He fired a shot into the air of the preparation area with his revolver. The loud bang not only made Schiller dizzy again but also shocked the hijackers who had just boarded the plane.
They were jolted awake and covered their ears. The gunshot seemed like a signal. The sturdy cockpit door opened. Schiller slipped inside, locked it, and saw an elderly man with gray hair sitting in the cockpit. The man grinned: "I'm the captain."
Schiller understood. He had been suspicious when those three men walked out earlier. Mainly because they were too young and didn't seem like experienced fighter pilots. The leader was too tall to fly a fighter jet, and the other two were too young and inexperienced.
To make such a perfect emergency water landing of such a large aircraft under such circumstances requires absolutely no experience beyond that of a civilian pilot. Those three individuals were not the actual captain; they were likely the co-pilot and a trainee. The real captain never leaves the cockpit.
That's why the middle-aged man in the lead gestured "4" to him. It was to tell Schiller that there were four people in the driver's cab.
Generally, there are three people in the cockpit of a commercial airliner, but this varies depending on the airline. This misled the hijacker hiding among the passengers. He assumed there were only three people in the cockpit and got out. Since Schiller was the only passenger on the plane, he felt comfortable letting the others board.
As expected. Everyone was stunned to find Schiller inside the cockpit. Because of the frequent hijackings, the emergency exit doors on modern passenger planes are extremely thick. They are difficult to open without specialized equipment, and even with specialized equipment, they might not be able to cut them open. Even large-caliber firearms would have difficulty penetrating them. Once inside, it's no different than being in a bank vault.
Of course, this was while the plane was in the air. Because when it's flying, no one can attack a plane from the front; it's impossible to break the windshield. But now they're at sea, and the plane has already made an emergency landing. The hijackers don't need to break through the emergency exits; they can simply attack the cockpit window from the front.
They had clearly thought of this too, and hurriedly ran down. But the white-bearded old captain was obviously a little puzzled, because he had been waiting there for a long time, and the hijackers hadn't climbed up.
Schiller sat in the passenger seat, recovering his strength. He shook the revolver in his hand. The old man raised an eyebrow and said, "So this is how you caused such a commotion?"
Schiller's hearing had deteriorated to its lowest point; he could only make out a few high-pitched words, but he could roughly guess what the captain meant. He nodded.
"Can I take a look?" the captain asked.
Schiller shook his head and said, "This thing is very powerful. If you fire one shot, your entire arm might be ruined."
"Alright, then I'll have to use this." The captain pulled a gun directly from under his seat.
It's normal for some passenger planes to have guns in the cockpit, but they're usually pistols for pilots' self-defense. Some might have rifles, but that's very rare. However, no airline would equip its planes with sniper rifles, especially bolt-action ones. This Super Magnum appears to be from the old man's private collection.
As expected of a captain capable of flying the Egypt route. Schiller turned his head back, breathing softly. Half of his body was numb, and his hearing showed no signs of recovery. If all of this was truly because he had bitten his own tail, he would definitely make someone pay when he returned to the tower.
The plane had begun to sink. The sinking time after a water landing is typically only 90 seconds, but this time it took more than twice as long. This was mainly because the landing was so perfect; it didn't enter the water nose-first or tail-first, but rather landed very evenly on the water's surface. This caused the plane to sink as a whole, and the rate of descent was much slower than usual.
Another crucial reason is that during this gunfight, not a single one of them managed to shoot down the plane. Otherwise, perhaps...
Thinking of this, Schiller suddenly had an idea. He turned to the captain and said, "Put your life jackets on."
The plane's descent began to accelerate. The hijackers dared not climb back up, knowing that one wrong move could send them sinking with the plane. Once submerged, they would be out of control.
It seems that because the plane began to sink, they assumed the people on board wouldn't survive, so they prepared to sail away. After all, such a large object sinking would generate considerable force by stirring up the water, and getting too close wouldn't be beneficial.
As the cockpit gradually sank into the water, they seemed finally relieved. But they waited a little longer, making sure the plane had sunk quite deep, before turning and leaving.
Schiller, whose cockpit had sunk more than ten meters underwater, pulled out his powerful revolver and fired a shot into the cockpit window. The glass shattered instantly, and seawater rushed in. Once the cockpit was completely filled and the water pressure was balanced, Schiller swam out with the captain.