Author's Note: Prompt inspired by the Rotary Wing Show Podcast.
O is for Overloaded
It was supposed to be a quick trip. Cabbie was going to load up the smokejumpers, drop them off at a nearby ridgeline to let them bushwhack overnight, and then be back snug in his hanger before the storm hit. It was supposed to be a relatively uneventful flight. It was supposed to be a typical takeoff. It was supposed to be a lot of things…but the moment that Cabbie hit the unexpected patch of black ice near the end of the runway, all of the 'supposed to bes' went out the window leaving the Air Attack Team with an emergency they were ill-equipped to deal with.
"Well…it could be worse." Blade muttered the understatement of the year as he came in for a landing after surveying the extent of the damage. "Only one of Cabbie's sets of rear wheels went over the cliff. The other one still has some purchase on the soil. I think that if we can get the second wheel up onto the rock Cabbie might be able to help us pull him out."
"Okay." Maru breathed as he tried to calm his nerves. "As much as I would like to do with the proper equipment. I think we are probably going to have to have Windlifter take a whack at this."
No member of the team was willing to acknowledge what would happen if Windlifter failed. Cabbie's current purchase on the edge of the precipice was precarious at best and untenable at worse. The old plane was barely managing to cling to the cliff edge…and honestly, it was only dumb luck that he had managed to stay put for this long.
If he hadn't managed to successfully get a few of his tires to get purchase on the ground he would gone nose-first over the cliff, precious cargo and all. But one of his tires had caught and not only slowed him but also gave him a bit of a spin. This meant he successfully stopped with both Avalanche and Pinecone both on terra firma instead of hanging in midair like Dynamite, Blackout, and Drip at the back of the plane. It was one of the moments where everyone was incredibly grateful for the weight of the base's two largest smokejumpers, but everyone also fully realized that that gift was about to become a curse.
"Cabbie, you still with us?" Blade asked levelly doing his absolute best to make sure that he didn't allow the panic he was feeling creep into his voice.
"I'm here…" Cabbie allowed one of his eyes to slip open just long enough to look Blade straight in the eye before it squeezed shut again.
"Good, I know that things are looking bad, but Windlifter is currently getting suited up to get you and your crew lifted back onto the runway." The Chief did his best to be an anchor of calm, steady against the terror of the situation. "While we wait, Patch and I are going to add some anchor points to make sure you can't slip any further down the hill."
"Hur…hurry….please…" The plane whispered through gritted teeth. "I…I don't know…how much longer…I can hold…"
"Understood." Blade said with the sharp accent of a command received, he then turned his focused view on the base's dispatcher. "Patch?"
"On it." The tug picked up her acetylene tank and carefully rolled her way towards the largest member of the team. Her eyes scanned the aircraft's body looking for a location where she could make purchase. After locating her first anchor point. She looked up at Cabbie and spoke softly. "I am going to put in a weld point here." She very gently patted the location on the side of Cabbie's head. "I know it is going to hurt, but I am going to do my best to talk you through everything so nothing will startle you."
True to her word, Patch spoke a steady stream of words as she welded anchor points to Cabbie's skin. And though her actions clearly were causing the aircraft plane, Cabbie didn't so much as flitch. He stayed completely still as the lifelines were attached and Blade strapped those lifelines to the largest diameter trees he could reach. But even as they worked the sky continued to darken and windspeeds started to creep out. Time was running out…it was time to act.
"Maru!" Blade barked, not taking his eyes from the trees that were starting to bend in the distance.
"What?" The mechanic replied just as sharply.
"Times up…"
Maru allowed his eyes to follow Blade's gaze and he didn't bother biting back a long string of colorful swear words…but the tug's tines, didn't skip a beat even as his mouth poured out his frustration. Then he paused, placed a tine on Windlifter's strut. "Okay Windy, time to do your magic."
Maru moved quickly away from the helicopter allowing the Skycrane's engines space roar to life. Windlifter moved into a hover, careful to make sure that he didn't tangle himself in the chains that were clipped to his belly band. Then he nudged himself slowly in a position over Cabbie's tail section, knowing that while time was of the essence, the downdraft from his powerful rotors could easily be the force that pushed his colleague over the cliff. Only once he was sure that he was directly over the newly added anchor point did Windlifter kick his engine into full throttle.
The thunder of Windlifter's mighty engines crescendo until it filled the entire valley…but it still wasn't enough to lift Cabbie from his terrible predicament. Blade took to the air and started to pull with all of his might, but even with the Chief's extra force Cabbie wasn't budging and the sound of the storm rushing towards them informed that their rescue mission might be for not.
Then a terrible streak ripped the air and Windlifter's engines pegged in the red. His engines couldn't function long at this level of power without starting to melt themselves from the inside out…but if there was any moment for taking a drastic measure, it was this one.
Everyone held their breath and hoped…but Cabbie still didn't budge. Then like an avalanche the wind swept in with vengeance. Blade took his eyes off of Cabbie for a moment trying to keep himself stable but expecting to feel the chain hooked to his belly band to feel the strain of Cabbie slipping even further over the cliff. To his surprise, the chain started to go slack instead. Without thinking, Blade pushed himself forward and he felt a weight being dragged forward before him. Only once his chain vibrated with unmoving tension did he turn to see what had happened.
Behind him, Cabbie was sitting on the blast pad of the tarmac. The plane was listing to one side and shaking like a leaf in a hurricane, but he was finally safe. For a few moments Blade couldn't help but wonder what had happened, but then he noticed the angle of his flaps and everything clicked into place. When the wind had it, Cabbie must have forced his wings into a position to give him just enough lift that Windlifter was finally able to dislodge him from the cliff edge. Blade let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding…but Maru didn't waste any time bounding into action.
"WINDLIFTER, ON THE GROUND NOW!" Maru shouted over the growing shriek of that the Skycrane's engines were making. Windlifter complied and allowed his engines to begin whined down. As soon as his rotors had slowed enough to allow Maru to approach, the tug was moving, unhooking his harness and belly band. Then he looked Windlifter straight in the eyes. "Can you make it to my hanger under your own power, or do you need a tow?"
Windlifter's eyes were slightly unfocused, but he gave a sight bob. "Yes, I can move on my own."
"Good." Maru gave a nod then yelled over at the Chief. "Blade, tail him." With that Maru turned his attention to the next most critical patient. The quivering plane on the tarmac had his eyes squeezed shut as he breathed heavily trying to slow the tremors wracking his body.
"Cabbie?" Maru voice could barely be heard over the wind as he pressed a tine gently against the plane's nose. Cabbie opened his eyes and focused them on the mechanic, but his breathing was still ragged. "I need you to open your hatch so we can unload the kids. Then we will get you down on your belly and tied down before the storm gets any worse."
Blade watched as Cabbie's beavertail door came down, as he guided the Skycrane towards the shelter of the mechanic's hanger. They barely made it beneath roofs shelter when the sky opened up and graupel came pouring down as sheets. The sound of the snowlike precipitation was deafening on the metal roof of the hanger and quickly started to turn the runway white. It also dropped visibility to only a few feet.
The two helicopters sat and watched the graupel fall as the adrenaline in their system started to dissipate. For Windlifter this process released competing waves of pain and exhaustion that made it very difficult to focus. For Blade it made him start to mull over the emergency his team had just faced and sink into a sea of anxiety about the condition of his teammates. As time ticked by and the storm worsened, the Chief desperately wanted to head out into it to find out the status of his people. The only reason he didn't was the knowledge that Windlifter was in no condition to be left alone. Eventually, after what felt like an eternity Maru made his way through the whiteout.
"Cabbie…" Blade started to ask, only to have the mechanic finish his question the moment he rolled into the hanger.
"Is in much better shape than this idiot." Maru looked up at the Skycrane with a glare of annoyance which both helped Blade relax and also let him know just how close they had been to disaster. Maru shook a bit of the precipitation from his frame and started to push his tallest ramp over. "Now let's get your cowling taken off, because it sounded like you chewed through at least one set of gears."
With that Maru got to work repairing the damage that had been done.
EndNote: It took a couple of false starts to finally get this chapter written, but I think it finally turned out. I am glad that I was listening to the excellent Rotary Wing Show Podcast while tiling a floor because it provided first-person descriptions of what it is like to try to keep a badly overloaded helicopter in the air during an emergency.As you can probably tell, this is a story that clearly is going to have some aftermath. Luckily you will not have to wait long for that, as this story will be continuing with the letter P.
