"Ralph ." But all they were met with was silence.
Walter grabbed the mic and without any airwave protocol , he yelled .
"What the hell happened Captain?"
"We hit an airpocket and the plane dropped at least 5oo feet before i could get control back of the plane . " Replied Captain Drake .
"All we heard was a loud bang over Ralph's phone then nothing but silence . We need to know what is going on ." Answered an angry yet worried Walter .
"OK i will send Peter my copilot down to see what as happened ." In the cockpit Captain Drake turned to Peter Askell ,his copilot .
" Can you go down into the belly and check on Ralph and Stuart in double quick time ."
"On my way Captain ."
Back in the control room four very worried people had gathered together brain storming trying to figure what to do next . Happy was the first to speak .
"We are all worried about Ralph, but i am sure he will be fine . So what we should be doing is trying to figure out how to stop the leak , and then think of a substitute to replace the lost fluid ."
"I agree , but until we can find the leak ,we will not know what size the leak is ,or if there is more than one ." Answered Walter at the same time as running numbers through his head , both on finding Ralph safe , and solving the problem with the landing gear .
Paige in the meantime was standing slightly to one side , her eyes closed and her hands pressed together in prayer .
Toby was still keeping very quiet and giving little looks towards Happy , it seemed as if she had warned him not to speak out of turn , at the risk of a wrench being aimed at a rather tender part of his body .
"OK fungus face what do you think ?" Asked Happy in a not to pleasant a voice .
"First i am sure Ralph will be fine although Paige's prayers will not do any harm . As to regards to the main problem of getting the plane down safely . I have no comment ." Replied a very subdued Toby .
After this break in the silence that occupied the control room all went silent again . After five agonizing minutes ,Paige's phone began ringing , her face broke into a smile , but disappeared as she checked the phone and saw unknown number shown on the screen .She swiped the phone to answer . Before she had a chance to speak a voice shouted over the phone .
"Mom."
"Ralph are you alright . What as happened ?" Paige was talking fast at the same time as crying in relief at her son being safe .
"Mom slow down , i am fine . When the plane dropped one of the cages holding luggage broke it's holding lines and smashed into another one and that was the bang . I also dropped my phone which i am still looking for . I am using Pete's phone , while he and Stuart are making the loose cage safe . Can i talk to dad now please ."
" I am just so glad you are safe and unharmed , i love you baby .Hold on and i will pass the phone over to dad ."
"Hello Ralph are you ok ." Asked Walter.
"Yes i am fine . Do you have the information on the pipes we need to check ?" Requested Ralph back in his i got work to do voice .
"I am going to give the phone to Happy as she as checked the plans and worked out which you need ."
"HI, Ralph well if the plans are the same as the actual plane the pipes should be on the port side of the plane . There appears to be ten different pipes running along the wall , can you check that first and then let me know ." Happy said feeling good being involved in a Scorpion type case again .
A few minutes later Ralph was back to talk on the phone ."Hi Happy i have found ten pipes do you know which of the pipes is for the undercarriage ."
"From the top count four down , the fourth one down is the one you are looking for ." Happy replied .
"Ok i will start checking that line of pipes . I will call you back when i find the leak . I do not want the phone to run out of power so i am switching off now ."
"Ok good luck ." Said Happy as she turned to Walter to tell him what Ralph had said . "Well Ralph is beginning to check the pipe , but he as switched the phone off to conserve the battery life ."
"Assuming he was going to find the leak , we need to consider how to stop the leak and maybe more importantly what can we use as a substitute for hydraulic fluid ." Said Walter .
"What sort of liquid can you use that would be carried on a plane ?" Queried Paige .
"Well we used a bottle of soda water on the plane that crashed on the island ." Said Walter .
"At least this time we only have to replace fluid for the undercarriage and not the complete hydraulic fluid ." Answered Happy .
"Could you use water ? " Asked Paige
"At that altitude it could freeze which would cause even more problems ." Answered Happy .
"Well why not first mix alcohol with it , there is usually plenty on board ." Asked Paige
The three geniuses just looked at her in shock .
"What's up geniuses if i suggest anything you always look at me as if i am mad ." Said an angry Paige .
"NO,no that is brilliant ,it is not ideal ,but we will not have much choice . " Replied Walter.
"Maybe we should contact the Captain and get him to arrange for one of the stewards to begin mixing up a 50/50 mix of water and alcohol in containers Ralph will be able to manage . " Suggested Happy.
"Walter to DA564XL come in please ."
"DA564XL to Walter .
"Captain can you arrange for one of your steward's to fill some containers with a 50/50 mix of water and alcohol ."
"Any idea how much you will need ?"
"Hold on i need to ask Happy . Happy how much fluid do they need to make up ?"
"i would think 3 liter's should do but if possible have 4 liter's made up ." Answered Happy .
"Captain could you arrange for 4 liter's ,preferably in 1 liter containers or bottles ."
"Ok Walter i will get someone up to the cockpit and get that arranged . I hope this will work ."
"We will do our best Captain , will contact you once Ralph and Pete have found the leak."
BACK ON BOARD THE PLANE
The Captain had arranged four people to make up the 4 liter's of water / alcohol mixture . First they found 4x1 liter bottles of water , emptying half away ,they all began opening up the bottles on the drinks trolley . Within ten minutes all four litres were mixed and ready , one of the stewards went to tell the captain who passed the information on to Walter .In the belly of the plane ,Ralph and Stuart together with Pete were still searching for the leak , difficulties were occurring because a lot of the pipe work was behind the luggage cages which meant releasing the cage moving it and then replacing and securing before moving on to the next one . Pete suddenly yelled .
"Ralph over here the pipes below number 4 have liquid dripping down them ."
"On my way ." Both Ralph and Stuart made their way over to Pete . Ralph studied the pipe for a moment .
"This is certainly hydraulic fluid but the way it is running it means the leak itself is behind the pipe ,which is going to make sealing it difficult . Let me give dad a ring and get some advice off him ." Ralph took the phone and rang his mom's phone .
"Hello Ralph is everything alright ."
"We have located the leak ,, but i need some advice from dad , can you pass the phone to him please ." Paige passed the phone to Walter .
"Hi Ralph any luck ?"
"Yes but it is a problem ,the leak appears to be at the back of the pipe , or even underneath , the pipes are tight against the wall and each of the pipes are tight on top of each other . It means the actual leak is not visible and without doing more damage it does not seem possible to stop the leak ."
"Let me have a quick word with Happy to see if we can sort something out . I will call you back in a few minutes ."
BACK IN THE CONTROL TOWER
Walter walked over to Happy who was still going over the plans .
" Happy , Ralph as found the leak but it would appear to be in a place that cannot be reached ."
" Just were in relation to the area of the plane is it ?" Happy asked .
He did not say were only that it is either at the back or underside of the pipe ." Replied Walter .
"Get him on the phone and see if you can get the exact area of the plane were the leaking pipe is ." Requested Happy .
"Hang on i will call him back and you can speak directly to him ." Walter phoned Ralph .
"Hi Ralph , i am going to put Happy on the phone , she wants to ask you a couple of questions ."
"OK dad ."
Walter passed the phone to Happy .
"Hi Ralph , can you explain were in the plane the leaking pipe is ."
"Let me have a word with Pete , he is the copilot so should know the layout of the plane better than me , just hang on a minute ." Ralph turned to Pete and asked . "Do you know just were this leak is in the plane ,so Happy can find it on the plan ."
"Yes if you look up towards the ceiling ,on the walls are numbers , so if we check the numbers either side of the leak they should also be marked on the plans ."
"Happy are there any numbers marked on the plan above the pipes ?"
"Hang on, yes they appear to be in numerical order ."
"OK hang on . Pete what are the numbers above the pipes ?"
"42 and 43 ." Shouted Pete .
"Happy the numbers are 42 and 43 ."
"OK Ralph , give me a moment ." Happy checked the plans , finding the area she studied for a couple of minutes and then began speaking to Ralph . "Ralph if you look on both sides of the leak , you should see brackets that clamp the pipes to the wall , can you get someone to check ? "
"Hang on ." Ralph turned and spoke to Pete and asked him to look . Pete used his flashlight and found the brackets , they seemed to be held in place with two large bolts one top ,one bottom . He passed the information onto Ralph who informed Happy .
"OK Ralph do you think you will be able to release the bolts and remove the brackets , this may give you enough room to move the pipes and possibly be able to push something like a credit card down the back of the pipe and between the two pipes 4 and 5 , if that works reconnect the brackets to put pressure on the cards to hold it in place ."
"OK Happy I'll see if there are any sort of tool we can use to release the bolts and call you back ."
Walter had been looking to all this going on and checked his watch and noted there was only about 25 minutes left before the fuel ran out . He walked over to Happy and leaning over as if checking the plans whispered into Happy's ear .
"There is only about 25 minutes of fuel left in the plane . I don't want to worry Paige , but do you think Ralph will be able to get the work done ."
Happy whispered back . "I hope so , this is getting more and more like a lot of our old Scorpion cases , were everything seems to go to the wire , but is always successful . So lets hope it will be the same .
BACK IN THE PLANE
Ralph turned to Stuart and Pete .
"We need something to remove those bolts , and have either of you got any plastic cards , like a credit card ?"
Both said no to plastic cards , but Pete did think there may be something in a locker at the far end of the luggage area . Ralph sent Pete to check the locker , and asked Stuart to check with the passengers to see if any have plastic cards with them , but not credit cards , unless absolutely necessary as they would not be able to return them . Pete was first back , he had found a a spanner , which he handed to Ralph who made his way to the brackets , he reached up and tried the spanner .At first it just spun around the head of the bolt .
"Pete it seems to be to big for the bolt is this the only one you could find ?"
"Yes it was all there is and it was tucked at the back and i almost missed it ."
" Is there other form of tool in there ?"
"Sorry the cupboard is bare ."
"Let me ring Happy she may have an answer ." Ralph pulled the phone from his pocket and rang his mom's phone again .
"Hello Ralph is everything alright ?" Said Paige .
"Yes , but can i speak to Happy , it is urgent ."
" Happy , Ralph needs to speak to you. " Said Paige as she passed the phone to Happy.
"Hi, Ralph .what's up ?"
"We have found one spanner , but it is to big for the bolts , any suggestions ?"
"Try putting a cloth over the bolt head , that may help take up the slack on the bolt head and spanner ."
"Ok hang on Happy and i will try that ." Ralph pulled his t-shirt off and placed part of it over the bolt head then tried the spanner again . This time he got some movement on the bolt .
"it seems to be working , I'll disconnect now and phone you in a short time ."
Ralph began to work on the bolt in a few seconds it had become finger loose .
"Pete , i will loosen the bolts can you start taking them out they should be loose enough to remove them by hand ."
"OK Ralph."
Within Five minutes all bolts and both brackets had been removed . As they were completing this Stuart arrived back with four plastic cards , a mixture of video and store cards . Ralph took the cards from Stuart .
"Ok i will try to get he cards in position , once i get them in place , i will push the pipes back in position in order to keep the cards in place , can you two get the brackets back in place and put the bolts back in as far as you can with your fingers , once the brackets are back in place , Stuart can you come and take over from me so i can tighten up the bolts ."
Both men said yes and set to the task of replacing the brackets . Minutes later Stuart took over from Ralph and Ralph tightened all the bolts on the brackets . Ralph called his mom's phone . " Hi mom, can you put Happy on on please ." Paige immediately passed the phone over to Happy .
"Yes Ralph ?" Said Happy .
""We seem to have stopped the leak , where do we fill the fluid ."
"According to the plan , it is towards the back of the plane , there are three top up points . You need the one in the center , there should be a screw top to remove , put in three liters first to see if that will be sufficient . Once you have put the three liters in , i will get Walter to speak to the Captain and get him to try the hydraulics on the landing gear ."
"OK i will keep Stuart with me and send Pete back to the cockpit in case the Captain needs help ."
"Once you have filled up call me back ." Replied Happy
Ralph and Stuart made their way to the back of the plane . "There they are ." Said Ralph . Moving to the tanks , Ralph removed the cap of the center one and began to pour the contents of the bottle into the tank , turning to Stuart he asked "Can you go back to the leak and see if it is holding ." Ralph poured the other two bottles into the tank and replaced the cap . Stuart shouted back that the leak appeared to have stopped . He took the phone from his pocket and phoned his mom .
BACK IN THE CONTROL TOWER
Walter had begun to pace the room annoyed that he was at that moment incapable of doing anything to save his son Ralph . Paige walked up to him and put her arms around him.
" Calm down baby , we have to trust in Ralph now . We can do no more at the moment ."
" You calm my beating heart , you smooth my working brain , i never want to loose you again . But at this exact moment i am so worried about Ralph ."
"I know i am to but there is nothing we can do ." At that moment Paige's phone rang .
"Mom , can you put Happy on the phone NOW ."
"OK sweetie ,Happy Ralph is on the phone for you ." Happy rushed over and took the phone from Paige .
"Hi Ralph , good , as it stopped the leak, that's good , hold on a moment while i speak to Walter ." Turning to Walter . " Ralph as refilled the hydraulics with the water and alcohol mixture and the leak seems to have stopped and holding . Can we arrange for the plane to be , directed to LAX and then we can check if the undercarriage will work ."
Walter made his way over to AJ who was talking to a couple of people who were watching the screen , keeping a check on the aircraft . " AJ can you direct the captain to bring the plane in , and at the point he needs to , lower the the undercarriage ."
"We can do that , but will the wheels work?" Asked an anxious AJ .
"All being well , yes ."Replied a confident Walter .
" Control to DA564XL ."
"DA564XL to Control ."
"Control to DA564XL , come out of holding pattern and continue to LAX when in position lower your wheels ."
"DA564XL to tower have they been fixed ?"
"We hope so, God be with you ." Replied AJ.
Happy was back on the phone with Ralph . "Good job kiddo ,now get back up stairs to your seat it might be a bit of a bumpy landing ." "Ok Happy , can i speak to mom please ?" Happy passed the phone to Paige . "Hi mom i love you and dad so much . I hope to see you soon . Everyone has done the best they can , i suppose we are now in the hand of the gods ."
"Sweetie everything is going to be ok , i have trust in everyone who as been involved in all of this . Hang on dad wants to talk to you ."
"Hi Ralph we have done everything we can so good luck . I love you so much . See you soon ." They said their goodbyes and let Ralph go take his seat .
"AJ can i speak to the Captain ?" Asked Walter
" Sure, you have earned the right ."
Walter took the mic . "Control to DA564XL"
"DA564XL to control ."
"Hi Captain it's Walter how long before you can try the wheels and how long before you arrive at LAX ?"
"We should be lowering the wheels in about 15 minutes and hope to land in 20 ."
"Thank you Captain , unless it is necessary we will leave you in the safe hands of the control tower . Good luck." Happy had been listening with interest to the talk and as he finished talking , she approached Walter .
"Walt it might be a good idea to foam the runway they are bringing in the aircraft on. "
Walter looked at her with surprise on his face . "Why foam ?"
"We are trying to land almost 125,000lbs of aircraft hoping water and whisky will work as well as hydraulic fluid , i have faith it will , but as a precaution if we foam the runway, if a wheel or more than one collapses as the plane lands the foam should stop any sparks causing a fire ." Walter stood there running calculations through his head , before turning to Ricky ." Could you arrange for the runway DA564XL will be landing on to be covered in a fire retardant foam . This just in case a wheel collapses and metal on tarmac will create a large amount of sparks the foam hopefully would suppress any flames that could cause damage to the plane ."
Ricky immediately spoke to AJ to check which runway they would be landing the plane on . He then phoned the onsite fire brigade to arrange for them to spread the runway with foam .
Walter , Paige ,Happy and Toby were by now gathered at the window of the control tower looking out in the hope of spotting the plane come into view . The buzz going around tower was growing louder as the minutes passed by . Suddenly Paige yelled "Is that the plane ?" A small dot could be seen approaching the airfield . By this time Ricky had joined the four of them at the window , he leaned over towards the four of them and whispered . "Within five minutes we should know if the fix as worked ."They all waited with baited breath as the seconds seemed minutes and the minutes like a hour . The black dot was getting larger with every passing minute , at last they could make the shape of the airplane out . All had their fingers crossed as the plane got closer . Happy was the first to notice and spoke up loudly . "The wheel flaps have just opened and now the wheels are appearing , but will they lock ? I hope the pressure is high enough ." Over the speakers in the tower they heard ." DA564LX to control , the wheels are down and locked ."A big cheer went up all around the tower . "Lets hope they hold once they touchdown , it's a lot of weight to hold up with water and whisky ." Said Walter as he side hugged Paige and kissed her cheek ." " Touchdown in approximately five minutes ." They all heard AJ say. "Control to DA564 XL , a nice gentle landing if you please Captain ." "DA564 XL to control , i will try my best , but thank you all for the work everyone as done to try and keep us safe ." "Good luck Captain ." The plane was getting lower in the sky , the wheels could now be cleanly seen ." "DA564XL to control , making landing approach now ." "Control to DA564XL , your approach looks good ." The plane glided in and the people in the tower moved to another window which faced the foamed runway . The plane touched down as if it were a feather and continued down the runway . Suddenly Happy shouted "The nose wheel is collapsing !"
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A/N I AM NOT A MECHANICAL ENGINEER NOR DO I KNOW MUCH ABOUT PLANES SO MUCH OF THE DESCRIPTION IS MY IDEA HOW IT MAY OCCUR IN THIS AU
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