Chapter 4

"Explosion at 30,000 Feet"

By the time we had taken off from Cebu, I was sitting in Seat 33A with Psyduck in Seat 33B preparing my notes for that night's broadcast. To me, this was just an ordinary routine flight back to Tokyo, flying over the South Pacific. The Boeing 747 was full of Japanese citizens, many of whom never even considered themselves as Pokemon trainers. But, they knew of Team Rocket and the dangers they harbored.

"Coffee or juice, miss?" asked the flight attendant.

"Juice, please," I said. "Orange and Psyduck will have orange juice, too."

"Of course."

Once the drinks were served to me and Psyduck, I returned to preparing for my broadcast that night. A few rows up in seat 26K sat Haruki Ikegami, a businessman who specialized not in Pokemon, but in sewing machines. To him, Pokemon would be otherwise just a non-important fad. Little did he know however of the ticking bomb that was sitting right under him.

"Almost home," he thought to himself as he sat back in his seat and went to take a sleep. The time was now 11:40am Eastern Indonesian Time. Why did I say that, you may ask? Well, the timer was ticking down rapidly and Haruki Ikegami had only minutes to live.

11:41am, I was now more than halfway through my notes ahead of my broadcast. Psyduck was finishing up his orange juice and staying low stressed, despite the scrutiny he received back in Cebu.

11:42am, I then began to feel myself needing to use the restroom. So, I prepare to get up from my seat. I undo my seatbelt and was just about to ask my seatmate in the aisle to let me through and then at 11:43am…

BOOM!

I can't tell you how we were all feeling when the explosion occured. People were screaming, people were crying and the plane was starting to get out of control.

"Psyduck, are you okay?!" I screamed as my frightened partner began to shake in fear. Now, there was another issue…trying to keep Psyduck calm. If he got more stressed, the greater the risk of exploding and killing us all. "It's okay, Psyduck! It's okay!"

…

Up in the cockpit, Captain Reyes and his crew were struggling to get the plane under control. The explosion had knocked out several of the critical instruments including the yokes of the Captain and First Officer.

"Damage report!" Captain Reyes cried to Dex, his flight engineer. "Damage report!"

"Hydraulics are shot!" Dex cried back. "We're losing altitude!"

"Shit," Captain Reyes whispered to himself. Now, he knew that he needed to get the plane on the ground and fast. However, since we were over the ocean, that was easier said than done.

…

Back in the cabin, all I could think of was keeping Psyduck calm just as the oxygen masks were deployed, meaning that cabin pressure was lost. I grabbed the mask above Psyduck and attempted to place it around his bill. But the size of his bill made that impossible.

"Just for a few minutes, Psyduck! Just for a few minutes!"

With his mask seemingly on, I placed my mask on while I noticed that in the spot where the explosion occurred, a large hole was in the spot where Haruki once sat. Two of the flight attendants went over to him, but there was nothing that could be done.

"Ladies and gentlemen," I heard the intercom sound. "This is Captain Reyes…we are aware that there was an explosion on board and are trying to find an airport to land at. Please put on your oxygen masks and prepare for a crash landing!"

Now at this point, I was starting to become greatly scared not just for me, but for Psyduck. There was no doubt in my mind that Philippine Airlines Flight 434 was the target of sabotage. However, if I was going to live to tell the tale, I would have to start now.

…

Meanwhile, Captain Reyes and his crew managed to get ahold of a nearby airport, Naha Airport on Okinawa Island in the Okinawa Prefecture.

"Mayday, Mayday!" cried Captain Reyes to the Japanese airport tower. "This is Philippine 434 declaring an emergency!"

However, the Japanese controller at Okinawa was having a hard time understanding the words Captain Reyes was trying to say.

"Okinawa Tower, Philippine 434 declaring an emergency!"

Still, the air traffic controller could not understand the call. Fortunately, at that moment, a nearby US military base was hearing the calls and answered.

"Philippine 434, are you declaring an emergency?" asked the military air traffic controller.

"Affirmative! We are declaring an emergency! We need to land at the nearest airport!"

"What is your status?"

"No hydraulics! We've lost all control in our sticks!"

At that moment, a nearby US Air Force learjet happened to be flying by and proceeded to see a large hole in the fuselage.

"Yeah, he's got a big hole," said the pilot. "Looks like an explosion!"

"An explosion?!" cried Captain Reyes. "Are you sure?"

"Affirmative, Philippine 434."

Now that the pilots knew what was happening, the time had come to make an emergency landing as soon as possible.

But was time going to be on our side? The lives of myself and 291 other souls on board hung in the balance.

…

…