Flight Attendant Struck Black Woman on Plane — Turned Pale When the Pilot Said “That’s Our Boss” / Chapter 41 / 42

Chapter 41 - Touchdown on Black Ice

"Brace! Brace! Brace!" Vance’s roar echoed through the cabin as the Dreamliner skimmed over the freezing waters of the fjord and crossed the rocky shoreline.

The landing gear deployed with a violent shudder, locking into place just seconds before the main wheels slammed into the ice-covered concrete of Bluie West One.

A deafening screech tore through the cabin. The aircraft slid sideways instantly, tires smoking, biting through crusts of black ice. Vance engaged reverse thrusters, but the right engine sucked in blowing ice and flamed out with a concussive bang, yawing the heavy jet dangerously toward the snow-covered embankment.

"Rudder full right! Differential braking!" Vance screamed, his boots dancing on the pedals.

Metal shrieked against rock as the Dreamliner’s right wingtip clipped an ancient abandoned radar tower, shearing off the winglet in an explosion of fiberglass and sparks. But Vance held the center line with superhuman precision.

With one final, bone-jarring skid, the Boeing Dreamliner slid to a complete halt in a towering spray of snow, sitting dead in the center of the frozen arctic runway.

Silence fell over the cabin. Deep, total, breathtaking silence.

Then, the sound of crying, followed by applause, and then gasps of relief from the passengers.

"Evacuation slides! Deploy emergency doors on the port side only!" Vance ordered, slumping forward over the yoke, his hands trembling with exhaustion. "Elena... we made it."

"Not yet," Elena said quietly, looking through the frosted cockpit glass.

The three black armored vehicles had already moved into a blocking formation around the nose of the plane. Men in heavy arctic tactical gear, armed with submachine guns, leaped from the rear doors, setting up an impenetrable perimeter around the Dreamliner.

From the central armored truck, the passenger door swung open.

A tall woman stepped out into the howling blizzard. She wore a long cashmere coat trimmed with silver fox fur, her blonde hair immaculate, a silver-plated walking cane in her gloved right hand.