Tuesday, 9th of August, 2016.

At 13:33 PM, a plane falls out of the sky at high speeds, causing severe injuries.  

United States – New York – Queens – JFK

13:22 PM – Delta Airlines Flight 19 is almost finished boarding 324 people. 287 of those are passengers on a flight en route from New York, JFK Airport, to Honolulu, Hawaii. The estimated flight time is about 13 hours and 32 minutes. The first officer-in-command is 72-year-old John Smith. He has accumulated 43,272 flight hours under his belt, including 25,000 flight hours in the 747. He has been flying with the airline for about 63 years, making him the youngest pilot on Delta Airlines. 67-year-old co-pilot Frederick Ahmad, who has been with the airlines for more than 50 years, will be flying this leg of the journey, until they reach mid-way to their destination. Then, Smith will take control. Ahmad has about 30,000 flight hours under his belt, including 7,000 flight hours in the jumbo jet.

The two old men check the exterior and find nothing wrong with the outside of the plane. As people board the flight, they start the ignition process and the takeoff procedure to get the plane off the ground. The flight engineer, Jacob David Mink, has been a flight attendant on Delta Airlines for about 54 years and used to be a pilot. He loves his job. The relief officers are Zane Hamdan and Milo Hamdan. They are brothers that are both interested on airplanes. On the fourth hour of the flight, they will take over the controls of the massive jumbo jet and let the two senior pilots take a rest in their bunks.

But, none of this will happen. The flight will last less than 45 seconds.

Pilot Smith: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen; this is your captain speaking. We’re running on schedule, so we’ll get you up in the air in about five to ten minutes.

13:27pm: Delta Airlines Flight 19 lines up for position on Runway 22R for departure. They request takeoff clearance.

Delta Airlines Flight 19: Control center JFK, this is Delta Flight 19 requesting takeoff clearance 22R.

Control center JFK: Delta Airlines Flight 19 cleared for takeoff 22R.

Delta Airlines Flight 19: Control center JFK, thank you. Is the runway long enough for our departure?

Control center JFK: Yes, it is. It’s about 20,556 feet long. You have plenty of room for your takeoff roll. Fly a heading of 350, turn left over the Atlantic Ocean, and make a final right turn to your destination.

Delta Airlines Flight 19: Have a good day. Thank you.

This is the last transmission heard from Delta Airlines Flight 19.

Captain Smith: Flight attendants, prepare the cabin for departure.

The cabin dims, so the pilots have better radio contact with the control center.

Finally, Captain Smith pushes the four engine throttles all the way up. In ten seconds, the aircraft reaches the maximum takeoff and Captain Smith pulls back on the controls. The nose of the plane points up at an angle of 20 degrees.

10… 9… 8… 7… 6… 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… 0…

Captain Ahmad: V1, Rotate.

With Captain Smith in control, the passengers and the crew members have no idea what trouble they will run into. At about 13:32 PM, with 17 seconds, Delta Airlines Flight 19 powers into the sky with four big engines, about 71,000 pounds of takeoff engine thrust and a speed of 250 knots. Flight 19 leaves right on schedule from New York’s JFK airport. The temperature outside is 29 degrees Celsius (84F).

The takeoff roll is completely normal and no one has the slightest clue that something will go wrong. Among the passengers, Massachusetts native Rachel Platten is on board today’s flight to perform for the beach festival that happens every August.

As the flight climbs to 39,000 through the clear skies, suddenly, something catastrophic occurs. The pilots are startled from a loud bang throughout the cabin and cockpit. It shakes the plane so violently; the pilots cannot get control of their aircraft. The state of the art Boeing 747-400 is in a deadly troubling situation.

Captain Smith: What the hell happened? I have no control of the aircraft. Do you have the controls?

Captain Ahmad: No!!! We are going to crash. We are going to crash!!!

Autopilot off!

Captain Smith: At least we are flying.

Flight Attendant: BRACE! BRACE! BRACE! BRACE! STAY CALM! EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY!

In the cockpit, the pilots are knocked out because the cabin becomes depressurized, and they are completely unaware of the oxygen masks that came out.

The lives of 324 passengers depend on the experienced pilots. The pilots are powerless; the plane erroneously flips over into a 270- degree bank and the aircraft’s speed increases 50 mph per second. The steep bank puts so much stress on the frame of the plane that it completely flips into a full, 360 degree bank and tears all four of the engines off the enormous jet’s wings. The captains face a myriad of problems. Secondly, the plane’s wings fall off and burst into flames. The ailerons are stuck 15 degrees and the right, and left, part of the rudder won’t move.

The plane is dropping 685 feet per second and will soon slam to the ground. The jet is crippled. Thirty-five meters below the crippled jet, people on the ground have no idea what they are about to witness. About five seconds after the death dive and a 360 degree flip, the plane rips apart. Seats eject from the aircraft, and the cockpit’s controls fly out the glass cockpit window, breaking the glass.

Automated System in the cockpit: Terrain! Terrain! Pull Up! Pull Up! Terrain! Terrain! Pull Up! Pull Up!

Finally, the plane suffers a massive, explosive decompression and finally slams to the ground of Astoria Park at a speed 1,052 mph. The passengers onboard survive the plane crash but will face serious injuries that will take years to recover.

Samuel Sklar is the first victim to be hit from the burning, crippling jet that falls from the sky.

Twenty-Four Hours Later – Madison, WI

Bill Nye: So, Samuel, you were on the news yesterday, and I want to interview you on what happened in the Astoria Park Crash.

Samuel: Well Bill Nye, I was in a traumatic state when the aircraft hit me. I was riding down the hill when, suddenly, I felt something very massive hit me, and I fell off the scooter. I tried stopping myself with my feet, but I hit my head on the ground, twisted both my wrists, sprained my ankles, and fractured all 10 of my fingers. Before the aircraft struck me, I heard a loud bang in the sky, but I didn’t have the slightest idea that an airplane was going to crash. When the debris fell on me, my body went into shock. It was completely out of nowhere, and I did not expect what would happen to me on that fateful afternoon of Tuesday, August 9th, 2016. When I fell and injured myself badly, I was sad because it was the day before I went on my trip to Madison. I was also petrified and frightened because I wasn’t with my mom. I was only with my friend’s mom.

Bill Nye: Would you sue Delta Airlines for crashing onto you?

Samuel: I would not sue Delta Airlines for the accident because it would not resolve anything and, second of all, that would be taking things way too far. Third of all, that would be a waste of money for the airline.

Bill Nye: What would be the next step?

Samuel: I think the next step is to have a serious conference with the airline and file a complaint against the Boeing company because the Delta plane that crashed was a Boeing 747-400 and Boeing made the series.

Bill Nye: Well, Samuel, this was a great meeting with you. Get some rest.

THE END