A/N: Thanks to Lexvan for allowing me to incorperate one of his OC's, Angelo Vanders, into this story. He is currently dating Will and is an airline pilot. In this episode of W.I.T.C.H. Survives Disaster, the girls are on a flight that gets hijacked. Fortunately, Will rallies her friends and her fellow passengers to take down the hijackers, restrain them and, with help from the ground, land a 300,000 pound jetliner safely.
WARNING: the medical procedure depicted in this story is inherently risky, and should normally be performed only by a trained professional. Inexperienced people should only attempt it as a last resort.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the storyline. Credit for Angelo Vanders goes to Lexvan.
W.I.T.C.H Gets Hijacked
Saturday, April 23, 2011, 6:00PM
Delta Airlines Flight 1760
Heatherfield International Airport
Heatherfield, California
Will and her friends Irma, Cornelia, Caleb, Taranee, Elyon and Hay Lin were boarding a Delta Airlines Boeing 767-400ER flight to Boston to visit Taranee's cousin.
They sat in Row 19, in the center of the plane. Will was in the aisle seat on the right side, seat 19K, Caleb was in the aisle seat on the right side of the center column of seats, seat 19F.
Cornelia was next to Caleb in seat 19E, Irma was on the other side of Cornelia in seat 19D. Taranee was in the window seat, next to Will, seat 19L.
Elyon was in the aisle seat on the left side of the plane, seat 19B, while Hay Lin was in the window seat next to her, seat 19A.
They sat back, fastened their seat-belts and relaxed as the plane began to taxi. "Your cousin sounds nice." Will said. "Yeah, she typically likes to interact with others." Taranee replied.
"I can't wait to get to Boston and meet Taranee's cousin!" Cornelia said. "Yeah, me too!" Irma replied.
The plane reached the runway and the girls were pressed into their seats as the engines revved up to takeoff thrust. Thirty seconds later, the 767 lifted off the runway and into the sky.
"I'd like to welcome you on board Delta Airlines Flight 1760 bound for Boston, Massachusetts. We have now reached our cruising altitude of thirty-five thousand feet. Thank you for choosing to fly Delta Airlines." the captain said over the intercom as the plane leveled off.
"Ah, check out that aerial sunset." Taranee said. Will looked out the window and saw the spectacular sight of the sun setting above the clouds, turning the tops of the clouds a dull orange.
"Yeah, it's awesome." Will replied.
Meanwhile, a man just a few rows behind the cockpit got up and walked towards the flight attendant that was preparing the meal for the flight crew in the cockpit.
Just as the flight attendant opened the cockpit door, the man shoved her to the floor and forced his way through the open cockpit door, got out a plastic blade, stabbed the pilots and took the controls.
At the same time, another man, wearing a yellow shirt in the same row grabbed a woman, about twenty, and pressed her body against his, wrapping his left arm around her neck.
He got out a handmade nalgene plastic blade and pressed it against the woman's throat. "MOVE TO THE BACK OF THE PLANE!" the man shouted in an Arabic accent.
Every eye in the cabin widened in horror as another man, wearing a gray suit grabbed the flight attendant and also got out a handmade nalgene plastic blade.
"EVERYONE MOVE TO THE BACK OF THE PLANE OR SHE DIES!" the second man shouted, also in an Arabic accent. The passengers started moving towards the back of the cabin.
Will and the others looked on in disbelief as this occurred. "DO YOU WANNA WATCH HER DIE? THEN GET TO THE BACK OF THE PLANE!" the first man shouted.
"DROP YOUR CELL PHONES!" the second man shouted. "TO THE BACK OF THE PLANE, NOW! MOVE IT!" the first hijacker shouted.
The two slowly moved towards the back with the edge of the crowd. Eventually, Will and the others were forced to move back with the crowd.
The two hijackers constantly shouted orders for the passengers to move to the back of the plane. The passengers continued rushing towards the back, some of them screaming.
Eventually, all of the passengers were at the back of the plane, the hijackers standing in front of them, one in each aisle. Will and the others ended up two rows from the very back of the cabin.
The second hijacker released the flight attendant, who rushed towards the other passengers. "IF YOU DON'T COOPERATE, YOU WILL ALL DIE!" the first hijacker shouted.
"YOU THINK WE'RE PLAYING AROUND? YOU THINK THIS IS A JOKE?" the first hijacker shouted. To show how serious he was, he then slid his blade across the woman's throat, blood gushing out of the wound.
The other passengers screamed as he did this, the woman's dead body falling to the cabin floor. Will gasped in horror as she saw the woman die.
Elyon started to cry, but fought the tears back. These guys clearly have no value for human life at all, I'll bet they're out to crash this plane into something major! Will thought.
What no one knew was that the hijackers were Al Qaeda terrorists who planned to crash the aircraft into the Sears tower in Chicago and bring it down.
The hijackers slowly walked down their aisles, watching for any signs of potential resistance from the passengers. "DO YOU SEE HOW SERIOUS WE ARE?" The first hijacker shouted.
The passengers sat paralyzed in fear, some of them crying. "SIT DOWN! BE QUIET!" the second hijacker ordered.
That's it, we need to formulate a plan! These guys likely plan on killing us all! Will thought as she assessed the situation.
"If you cooperate, you'll make it off this plane alive! If you don't, we'll bring it down!" the gray-suited hijacker said.
Yep, they did it, they threatened to bring this plane down, they're definitely planning something big! Will thought as she continued to gather intelligence.
Suddenly, a male passenger started moving towards the yellow-shirted hijacker. What he didn't know was that a third man was moving out of his seat, blade in hand.
"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" the passenger shouted as the man plunged the blade into his back. The other passengers shouted and screamed as this occurred.
The man fell into the nearby row, dead. Holy shit, they had a sleeper! "ANY MORE HEROES?" the sleeper shouted, brandishing his blade.
"Two down, you wanna make it three?" the second hijacker asked.
"SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP! SIT DOWN! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" the third hijacker ordered as he moved down the aisle and moved back.
Let's see...they've done nothing to conceal their identities, they already killed two passengers, this has to be a suicide mission of some kind, we need to take action in a coordinated fashion or we'll all die! Will thought.
Suddenly, the hijacker at the controls made a hard left turn, pointing the plane towards Chicago. The passengers braced themselves during the hard turn.
FAA Control Center
7:10PM
Jack Morrison sat bored, staring into the screen of the Southwestern Quadrant flight paths. Slowly scanning his eyes down the circular LCD display, his pupils noticed an odd left-curving flight path, labeled "Flight 1760."
He warily picked up the surface-to-air communicator next to the computer.
"Hello, Flight 1760, do you read?" he said.
"I noticed you've diverged from your planned flight route and
–" A loud, rough, celebratory voice blasted through the earpiece. "Nighty-night America! We're baaack! HAHAHA!"
"Who–who is this? You're not Captain Mason!" Jack asked, shocked beyond belief.
The phone roared back, "Of course not, you stupid infidel, THIS IS AL-QAEDA!" Jack paled, using all his professional control to war with a sick horror settling into his stomach.
"Excuse me?" Instinctive protocol finally burned through his shock, and he began grouping one-handedly for the NORAD contact button.
"Yes, you stupid pig, we have this plane, with which we we plunge your cities into mourning!" the earpiece screamed. You gotta be shittin' me! Jack thought.
The mad ranting continued, "- we will rain Hell from the sky! We will make your streets run red with blood! To your doom tonight, America! Allāhu akbar! Allāhu akbar! Allāhu-" The line cut out abruptly.
Jack slowly removed his headset, stared blankly at it for a few seconds, and placed it gently on the desktop.
His brain felt numb and useless as he stood and walked to a PA mount. His movements did not feel like his own, and he stared down at his feet.
It was as though he were a clay marionette someone had jammed with sticks and was walking about, stiffly.
Jack lifted the handset and pressed "Loudspeaker All" with his thumb.
"This is controller Jack Morrison." His voice wasn't his own, either. The real Jack wanted to scream "Holy shit! Holy shit!" until his vocal cords gave out.
"This is not a drill. We have a single-plane suicide hijacking. Repeat, this is not a drill. NORAD integration has been activated." He paused for a moment.
"This is condition Baker. Prepare for war." No one on the plane knew it, but to NORAD, the plane has now been classified as a "Target of Interest".
Holloman AFB, New Mexico
5 minutes later
First Lieutanant Martin Tubbs rapped desperately on the metal lip of his bird's cockpit with his knuckles.
"C'mon...! C'mon...!" He leaned over and looked down at the grounds crew frantically cramming fuel and weapons into his jet-black F-22 Raptor. They didn't look up, but the tempo increased yet another notch.
"How you doin', Birdman?"
Martin looked over. His wingman First Lieutenant Nigel Cook wore a similar stricken expression as his crew funneled links of ammunition into his Raptor to feed the M61A2 Vulcan 20mm cannon in the right wing root.
"Getting' there, Gangster! I've got fuel, Guns, two Sidewinders and six AMRAAMs! You?" Martin replied.
"Just fuel and – " He looked down at the head groundsman, who flashed a thumbs-up. " – Guns!" He suddenly went rigid as he heard something come over his headset.
"Shit! Shitshitshitshit..." He broke off to frantically wave away the loader crew, and further distress was inaudible over the crash-start of his engines. His canopy went down, and Martin saw him put his mike to his mouth.
"It's headed northeast, towards Chicago...! I'm going!" Chocks out, the flight crew cleared him with a wave and Martin began his taxi roll.
All the ugly language in the world flashed to Nigel's mind as his canopy also went down and the loaders scattered, but only the animal groan that came out seemed truly adequate.
"Gangster, what're you going up with?" Martin asked. "Just.. just... guns. I'll fly myself into them if it comes to it." Nigel replied.
Martin's twin engines screamed as he cleared the tower, and he fell in just behind his wingman. "I've got a full load of missiles. Let me go in first, bud." Martin said.
They banked tightly and shot southward. Windows broke in the city below as four turbofan engines went to full afterburner.
Delta Airlines Flight 1760
35,000 feet, 10 miles north east of Phoenix, Arizona
7:31PM
Will decided that now was the time to formulate a plan to strike back at the hijackers. She knew that those in her immediate vicinity would be best for coordinating an attack.
"OK, our initial team needs to be four to six people." she whispered to Caleb, who nodded in agreement. She knew that any more then that would just cause them to get in each other's way during the fight.
"We need to work in pairs, double our strength, at least a two-to-one ratio against these guys." she whispered.
Caleb spread the word silently to the others in the row. Cornelia slowly and carefully took off one of her high heel shoes, ready to strike with it.
Irma got out her car keys and placed them in between her knuckles. Elyon got out her hardback book to use as a weapon.
Will now decided to have Caleb set up the diversion. "Do you have your cell phone?" she whispered to him. He nodded.
"Carefully pull it out." she quietly instructed. Caleb got out his phone and opened it.
"OK, now set the alarm for three minutes from now, full volume, and when the hijackers are not looking, I want you to toss it underneath the seat two rows ahead of mine." Will silently instructed.
Caleb set the alarm and tossed the phone as instructed at the first opportunity.
That takes care of the diversion, now we need to be ready for the ambush! Will thought. "OK, another thing, the most effective target to aim for is the throat. If you hit it right, it'll induce unconsciousness. If not, it'll make them panic, leaving them open to further attack." Will whispered.
Caleb nodded in acknowledgment. "One last thing, you will need some kind of shield, a jacket wrapped around your arm, or even a seat cushion will work." Will whispered.
Caleb and the others got out their jackets and wrapped them around their arms. A few other passengers got out seat cushions from empty seats next to them and prepared to join the coming fight.
Two minutes later, the alarm on Caleb's phone started going off. The hijackers immediately went to find the source of the noise.
When they bent down to find the phone, that was the moment to strike.
"NOW!" Will yelled, and all at once, she, Irma, Caleb, Cornelia and Elyon got up and rushed the hijackers, yelling at the top of their lungs as they did so.
Irma hit the yellow-shirted hijacker's throat with a hard right hook punch as Elyon hit him on the head with her book with all her might.
Will grabbed her seat cushion and tackled the sleeper while Cornelia hit him on the head with her shoe, bringing the sleeper to the floor.
After ten seconds, both hijackers were pinned to the floor by other passengers who were inspired to join the fight by Will and her group's actions while Will's group went after the third.
The hijacker started running towards the cockpit, but Caleb grabbed him by the back of the shirt and pulled him to the floor.
As the others got close, Caleb knocked the hijacker out with a single hard punch.
"OK, this guy's out, get him to the back right away!" Caleb ordered as the others proceeded to drag the unconscious hijacker to the back of the plane.
Now, the only one left was the one that was now flying the plane. The hijackers that were still conscious tried to struggle, but to no avail.
Using prisoner-handling techniques that Irma learned from her father, the three groups carried the hijackers to the back.
"Get down on your chest! ON YOUR FUCKING CHEST, NOW!" Will shouted as her group forced the yellow-shirted hijacker to the floor.
"OK, now we need power cords, ties, belts, anything we can use to bind them!" Caleb ordered.
One passenger passed them his tie while another passed them her cell phone charging cord. A third passenger passed them his belt.
Caleb crossed the hijacker's legs and put the belt around the feet while Will tied the power cord around the hijacker's wrists.
"OK, now we need to connect the two." Will said. She put the tie around the arms and legs and brought the two together.
Caleb tied the tie into a solid knot, creating a hogtie and had the group step back, ready to pounce if necessary. The hijacker struggled but couldn't even move an inch.
At the same time, Irma and her group managed to do the same to the sleeper while Elyon's group immobilized the third hijacker.
Other passengers then wrapped ties around the hijackers' eyes and mouths, depriving them of their eyesight and ability to talk.
Meanwhile the two F-22s of the 7th Tactical Fighter Squadron streaked towards the airliner at full military power, making great use of the Raptor's super-cruise ability.
"I hope we get there in time." Martin said over his radio. "Yeah, me too." Nigel replied. Just the, they acquired the plane on their radars.
"Tally ho, bogey at twelve o'clock! Let's go!" Martin said as they closed in.
"OK, here's what we need to do now, you two, go back and find anybody who has any flight experience, ANY flight experience at all. Also, get everyone on their cell phones, get a hold of anybody and tell them that we're going to retake this plane." Will told two of the flight attendants.
As they did, Will got her friends together to organize a plan to retake the cockpit.
"Is there a drink cart up here?" Will asked another flight attendant. "In the galley." the flight attendant replied.
"OK, go up there and fill it with everything, sodas, water, anything that's gonna make it heavy, and bring it back here." Will replied.
"I'll go help her." Irma said as she and the flight attendant went to the galley.
They filled every space on the drink cart with sodas and water bottles and brought it to the front.
"OK, this will make a good battering ram, great work." Will said.
The other two flight attendants came back at that moment. "There's no one back there who has flight experience." one of them said.
"I do." Hay Lin said. "Really?" Will asked. "Yeah, I do have my pilots' license, you know." Hay Lin replied.
"OK, you'll be our pilot, then." Will replied. "What kind of aircraft have you flown?" one passenger asked.
"I've took my initial lessons in a Beechcraft King Air 200 twin turboprop, and I also took some lessons on a Learjet 60 XR twin-jet." Hay Lin replied.
Meanwhile, the F-22s arrived over the 767 and dropped down to form alongside it.
"OK, here's how it's going to go down: we're going to do a two-man entry, Caleb, you and Cornelia will hurl this thing into the door, right in the middle as hard as we possibly can. Hay Lin and I will be right here to the left, as soon as you bust that door down, pull it out, and Hay Lin and I will go in right at the hijacker." Will said as she explained the plan.
"Hay Lin, you will hop into that empty seat and take the controls. Remember, we have to act fast, once he hears our attempts to get in, he's gonna throw this plane into a death-dive, so as soon as you take over, Hay Lin, pull us up and out of the dive and back level. Any questions?" Will said.
Everyone else acknowledged their part of the plan.
Cornelia and Caleb moved the drink cart into position as Will and Hay Lin took their position to the left of the cockpit door.
"OK...three...two...one...go!" Will said as she gave the signal. Cornelia and Caleb pushed and ran with all their might as they rammed the cart into the door.
The cart hit the door with a loud bang, but didn't get it open. The hijacker at the controls heard the entry attempt and pushed on the yoke as hard as he could, throwing the plane into a deadly dive.
The other passengers were nearly thrown out of their seats.
As Cornelia and Caleb made their second attempt, the cart's mass combined with the new angle of the floor caused it to accelerate even more with each attempt.
"AGAIN!" Will commanded as Cornelia and Caleb set up for a forth attempt. They pushed and used the angle to their advantage as the cart built up speed.
This time, when the cart hit the door, the door flew wide open. Cornelia and Caleb pulled the cart out and Will and Hay Lin rushed into the cockpit.
Will grabbed the hijacker by the neck and pulled him out of the pilot's seat. Once he was out, Hay Lin hopped into the seat and took the controls.
She grabbed the yoke and pulled it towards her with all her might.
"Take him!" Will ordered as Caleb and Cornelia grabbed the hijacker and proceeded to restrain him. "Ease up, ease up!" Will commanded as she jumped into the co-pilot's seat.
Hay Lin kept the yoke against her chest and was relieved to notice that the plane was pitching up. She slowly let the yoke move forward as the nose approached the level position.
After five seconds, the nose was level and Hay Lin kept her hands on the yoke. She then put the headphones on and positioned the mike in front of her mouth.
She could not believe that this was happening; the last aircraft she flew was a business jet used for training and now she was in control of a 300,000-pound Boeing 767-400ER commercial jetliner.
The passengers in the cabin stood up and were relieved to notice that the plane was flying level.
Now the priority was to establish communications and let someone know that the hijackers are no longer in control of the plane.
"OK, now we need to let someone know that we are controlling the plane and not the hijackers. There are F-22s in our airspace, and I have no doubt that they will have clearance to shoot us down soon." Will said.
"OK, I got it." Hay Lin said as she dialed in the emergency frequency, 121.500, on the communications control console.
"Anyone listening on this frequency, Delta 1760 heavy, My name is Hay Lin, I'm a passenger on board the aircraft. We have subdued and restrained the hijackers, they are no longer in control." Hay Lin said over the radio.
At this point, they were over northeastern Arizona, 150 miles northeast of Flagstaff, near the Four Corners area.
"Delta 1760 heavy, Flagstaff Tower, I read you loud and clear, take the yoke, and give it a slow turn to the left, you understand?" the air traffic controller replied.
"Affirmative." Hay Lin replied as she initiated the turn. Eventually, the plane was flying southwest.
Martin watched as the plane turned slowly to the left. He recognized the name and the voice of the person that was now at the controls.
Is that...the Hay Lin I know? Seems like she's putting her newly gained flight skills to good use! Martin thought.
He and Nigel kept in formation with the airliner. They both realized that their mission had just changed from an intercept to an escort.
Taranee looked out the window on the left side and recognized the number on Nigel's plane.
Holy shit! That's Nigel's fighter! My own husband almost shot us down! He's gonna be real surprised when he finds out that me and my friends were on board! Taranee thought.
"That's good, now you need to set the autopilot." the controller said. Hay Lin pressed the button labeled, "AP ENGAGE", activating the autopilot.
The autopilot was now flying the plane, allowing Will to check on the pilots, who were next to the door, unconscious. "IS THERE A FLIGHT ATTENDANT BACK THERE?" Will shouted into the cabin.
A flight attendant ran into the cockpit from within the cabin. "Check these guys out, look for a pulse or see if they're breathing." Will ordered.
The flight attendant checked both pilots out. "The pilot's dead, but the co-pilot has a faint pulse and he seems to be breathing." the flight attendant reported.
"OK, go back and see if there's a doctor on board, or anyone with medical experience." Will commanded.
"There aren't any doctors on this plane!" the flight attendant reported three minutes later. "OK, Hay Lin, I'm going to go help the co-pilot, you got this OK?" Will said.
"Yeah, I'm fine, I can do this." Hay Lin replied confidently. Will helped a few other passengers carry the injured co-pilot into the cabin.
"OK, you, get some oxygen and a first aid kit, bring it here." Will instructed. The flight attendant rushed to get an oxygen bottle and a first-aid kit.
"OK, Cornelia, what do you see there? I do see the bleeding." Will said. "It...it looks like it's bubbling." Cornelia replied.
"OK, that means only one thing: he has a sucking chest wound." Will said.
"OK, I know what we need to do: we basically need to make a one-way valve that will keep the air from going back into his chest cavity." Cornelia said.
The flight attendant put an oxygen mask on the co-pilot's mouth. "OK, I need a piece of plastic about three-by-three., plastic wrap, anything that will work." Will said.
The flight attendant came back with a small plastic wrapper. Using three pieces of tape, Cornelia gently placed the wrap over the wound and taped it in place on three sides, creating a flutter valve.
Cornelia and Will checked the dressing, it was sucking in and letting out, it was working.
"OK, he's stable, but in no state to get behind the controls." Will said as she went back into the cockpit.
"OK, Hay Lin, the pilot's dead and the co-pilot's incapacitated. We're gonna have to land this bird on our own." Will said after she got back into the co-pilot's seat.
"Flagstaff Tower, Delta 1760 heavy, here's the status of both pilots: one dead, one seriously incapacitated, we're gonna need to prep for emergency landing." Hay Lin said over the radio.
"Delta 1760 heavy, Flagstaff Tower, interrogative, is the person at the controls experienced with landing a jet aircraft?" the controller asked.
"Affirmative, I have experience with jets, but none of this size." Hay Lin replied. "Delta 1760 heavy, roger, we're contacting a pilot to guide you in." the controller replied.
After five minutes, a pilot came into the control tower and got on the radio.
"Delta 1760 heavy, this is Captain Angelo Vanders, do you copy?" Angelo said over the radio. Will's eyes widened as she recognized Angelo's voice.
"Angelo? It's Will, I'm in the cockpit with Hay Lin, I'm so glad to hear your voice right now!" she said.
"It's good to hear you too, sweetheart, now, who's actually flying?" Angelo asked.
"Hay Lin is, she's the one at the controls, I'm in the co-pilot's seat." Will replied. "Flagstaff Tower, Delta 1760 heavy, we're ready for a route, over." Hay Lin said.
"OK, let's get it programmed into the flight management computer. Type in the letters KFLG, that's the identifier for this airport. That will allow the autopilot to fly the aircraft directly to us." Angelo said.
Hay Lin inputted the code into the computer, which generated a safe route to the runway.
The plane made a slight left turn as it started to follow the route. The F-22s followed 100 feet above and slightly behind the 767.
"OK, now you have only ten minutes before you start your descent." Angelo said. "I'll be right back, I'm going to prep the cabin in case there's a crash." Will said as she went back to the cabin.
"OK, you and you are gonna control each of the exits, as soon as we come to a stop, I need you to get those doors open and start funneling people off this plane. Everybody else, look around underneath your feet and around you, if there's excessive baggage, purses, anything that could get tripped up on, pass it to the back and secure it in the back lavatory. Also, this stuff, if we impact, could go flying and could hit you in the head." Will instructed.
The passengers started moving loose baggage towards the back lavatory, as well as fastening their seat-belts. They then went into the brace position.
After this was done, Will came back into the cockpit.
8,000 feet AGL
8:21PM
At this point, the aircraft was in its descent to Runway 21 at Flagstaff Pulliam Airport. "OK, you're only five minutes from landing. I need you to check the fuel level." Angelo said.
Hay Lin checked the fuel level indication on the engine status display, which showed 65042.7 lbs of fuel.
"It says that we have sixty-five thousand pounds of fuel." Will said. "That is way too much fuel to land safely." Angelo replied.
"Now you're gonna lower the landing gear to create some extra drag and burn off some of that extra fuel." Angelo added.
Hay Lin pulled out the landing gear lever and moved it to the down position. They could almost hear the hydraulic mechanisms engaging as the landing gear extended.
The extra drag created by the landing gear caused the fuel to be burned off an a faster rate.
At this point, the aircraft was in the final approach to the runway and Hay Lin switched off the autopilot and was now manually flying the plane.
On the ground, fire and rescue crews were preparing to rendezvous with the plane on the runway after it comes to a stop.
"OK, Hay Lin, this is it, just stay calm, keep focused, you're doing fine." Will said, trying to keep Hay Lin and herself calm.
Hay Lin lowered the flaps to full and armed the auto-spoilers. She also armed the autobrake and got ready to engage the thrust reversers. "Now we just have to worry about the flare." Will said.
The flare is the last-minute pull-up meant to insure that the main gear and not the nose gear takes the force of the touchdown. It also causes a last-minute reduction in rate of descent that, if done right, further insures a soft landing.
Hay Lin took a deep breath as she slowly pulled the yoke towards her slightly.
The plane slowly pitched nose-up and Hay Lin and Will held their breaths as the main gear touched down on the runway with a screech.
The plane jolted and shuddered with the force of the landing.
As if on her own autopilot, Hay Lin extended the spoilers and engaged the thrust reversers. She also applied the wheel brakes carefully and in a controlled manner.
They heard several loud noises that sounded like pops coming from below them. Will and Hay Lin's eyes widened as they saw the other end of the runway coming up ahead of them.
Hay Lin floored the brakes with all her might. Finally, the plane came to a stop just 50 yards from the end of the runway.
Hay Lin disengaged the thrust reversers and retracted the spoilers.
"OK, let's go!" Will said as she got out of her seat and out of the cockpit, Hay Lin right behind her.
In the cabin, the flight attendants opened the fire exits and activated the escape slides. The fire and rescue squads were already on scene at this point.
One passenger carried the injured co-pilot and Will was right behind them. "Get him right to EMS as soon as you get to the bottom of the ramp, go!" Will commanded before they went down the slide.
The co-pilot was taken straight to waiting paramedics. Cornelia and the others met up with Will and Hay Lin as they went to safety.
"WAY TO GO, HAY LIN!" Elyon shouted as she wrapped Hay Lin in a bear hug. Hay Lin beamed as she realized how many lives she had saved.
"I did it!" she said, her heart swelling with pride.
They then heard a loud noise and looked up to see the F-22s streaking overhead, bright plumes coming from their afterburner nozzles as they streaked back to base.
Angelo went down to the scene and saw Will with her friends. "WILL!" he called out as he ran towards the group.
"ANGELO!" Will called out as she rushed towards him. They wrapped each other in a passionate embrace and kissed.
"Thank God you made it out alive!" Angelo said.
"It wasn't just me, Hay Lin was the one who landed the plane, with your help!" Will replied.
They watched as FBI agents came out of the aircraft down a set of boarding stairs, each pair carrying a handcuffed hijacker towards a waiting paddy wagon.
Everyone knows that a hijacking is one of the most frightening ordeals anyone will ever face. But luckily, in this case, one brave group was prepared. They kept their cool, they worked together as a team, and they survived.
THE END