Turbulent Heart RPG (Private with Abbster)

[AlaskaAirGirl]

Turbulent Heart

Things don't always go to plan. At least, that is how Captain Austin Woods see's it. As he boards his flight from Paris to San Antonio, He does not realize that his life is about to change in a positive way. This is a private RP between myself and Abbster. Please do not comment on the RPG posts. But you are welcome to read it if you want!

[Abbster]

Chloe glanced at her phone. Only 5 mins until she had to board the plane. She sighed. “I love it here” she said with a sigh, grabbing a book from her backpack. Just then the gate agent called over the loud speaker. “Flight to San Antonio is now boarding.” Chloe sighed and out her book away. She got in line and checked onto the plane, finding her seat and getting herself comfortable. She grabbed her book from her bag again and began to read. “Let’s see…where was I….oh yes” she finished reading the chapter just as the plane was getting ready to take off. She turned her phone onto airplane mode and gazed out the window

[AlaskaAirGirl]

Get me out of here, Austin thought in his head as he walked into the Pilot's Lounge in Charles de Gaulle International Airport. He set his bag down next to him on the ground as he checked the gate where his gate was on the computer before him. Gate 12 was where his plane was going to be. It was going to be a 777x-9, one of the longest planes of the 777 family. After checking the time, he picked up his bag and decided to head to the gate as it was almost time for him to board since he had to make sure the pre-flight inspection of the plane was done. Making his way to the gate, Austin looked around at all the passengers who were watching him as he walked confidently down the long hallway. With his four stripes on his shoulders, he confidently gave a nod or a wave to passengers who greeted him. Austin preferred to not wear the uniform jacket this time of year, (only when it was cold) and hat. He loved it when children would stop by to talk to him and gape at him in his uniform. But today, he did not have time. Once at the gate, Austin stopped to talk to the gate attendant for a moment before making his way down the jet bridge to the 777 that was waiting for him.

"You're late, Capitan," Melinda Johnson, the lead flight attendant announced as Austin placed his suitcase in the overhead compartment.

"I know, I got caught up at security. It was a new guy who didn't understand English very well. At least, I thought he didn't. Took him 15 minutes to get me through. How is your daughter," Austin announced as he looked at the woman with silvering blonde hair.

"She is good. She just finished her first year at medical school at Harvard. She is so excited about becoming a doctor that she calls me almost every day about what she did in class that day," Melinda smiled.

"Give her my regards," Austin answered before he moved into the cockpit to greet his first officer.

[Abbster]

Chloe couldn’t wait to see her puppy. Chloe glanced at her phone. She texted one of her best friends. She looked at the pictures of her sweet puppy. She texted her friend saying, how’s ellie? She sent the text and waited for a reply. Twenty minutes later her phone buzzed. She glanced at her phone

Molly- hey clo, ellie missies you but she’s doing great! How was your trip?
Chloe- amazing! I’ve got so many pictures to show you. Thanks for taking care of ellie for me.
Molly- of course! I love her so much, and I’m always willing to help you out, you’re my best friend.
Chloe- awwwww, thanks Molly. Love ya, see you soon.
Molly- love you too Clo, can’t wait!

Chloe sat back and sighed. The service disappeared. This plane ride would be another 8 hours and Chloe had nothing to do. She looked at her phone and went on Netflix, trying to find a show to watch. Then, she scrolled upon one of her favorite shows, Heartland. She had episodes downloaded and started watching 

(When do they meet?)

[AlaskaAirGirl]

Entering the cockpit, Austin met with his first officer that he would be flying with, Mark Kelley. Kelley was a a new pilot with United and had only flew a few overnights as he was just rated for the 777x. He normally flew domestic flights in the Boeing 737-8. But he wanted more fun and longer flights and decided to get his type rating for the 777.

"I didn't think you were going to make it, Captain," Mark said as he shook hands with the Captain. He looked at the two other relief pilots in the jump seats behind him and shook their hands. The other captain, a 25 year veteran of United, Blake Thornton, and another first officer named Cory Fisher.

"I know. Security problems. I just want to get out of here as fast as I can and not look back," Austin said as he placed his flight bag next to the left seat. The pilots chatted a moment before Austin and Mark got into the pre-flight checklist. It had been decided that Kelley would take-off while Austin would taxi the plane to the runway. His favorite part of flying was the takeoff and landing as he could hear the roar of the two GE9X engines. Once he had placed his headset on and pushback had been cleared with Air Traffic Control (ATC), Austin watched as the 777x-9 slowly pushed back from the gate as he began to turn on the left engine. Once the left engine was going, he then started the right engine as they finished the pushback. It was then that he started his PA announcement to the passengers in the cabin. "Good afternoon passengers of United Airlines flight 140 with service from Paris to San Antonio. My name is Capitan Austin Woods. I have been flying with United Airlines for about 5 years now. And right here in the right seat next to me is First Officer Mark Kelly. He has been flying with us for about a year. Our relief pilots are Capitan Blake Thornton who has worked for us for about 25 years and First Officer Cory Fisher. He was worked with this airline for about 10 years now. A little about this aircraft, we are flying in a Boeing triple 7x-9. She has a wingspan of about 235 feet, 5 inches and a fuselage of about 251 feet and 9 inches. She has been in our fleet for about 2 years. Arrival time in San Antonio is expected to be at 11:45 am. And flight time is around 12 hours. Please, sit back and relax as you enjoy your flight. Flight attendants, please prepare the cabin for takeoff." Once he was done speaking and had returned the handset back to its cradle, he waved to the crew below after they had disconnected the tug from the front landing gear of the plane. Using the tiller next to his left knee, he guided the plane through the taxi way while in contact with ATC. The taxi only took 10 minutes to taxi to the runway as there were a few planes ahead of them waiting to depart. After a few minutes, the other planes took off. He just had to wait for a Cathay Pacific 747-8F to land before they could take off and made sure that the flaps on the wings were at 10 degrees for takeoff. Kelley made sure to do the pre-flight speech to the passengers introducing their crew

"United 140, you are cleared for takeoff on runway two seven left." ATC announced through Austin's headset.

"United 140, cleared for takeoff on runway two seven left," Austin repeated in his Texas accent as he began to enter the runway. Once they were centered, he watched as Mark began to push the throttle forward. The engines roared as they began to speed down the runway. As they moved faster, Austin began to read out the speed. "120....130....145, rotate."

Kelley pulled back slightly on the yoke in front of him as he pulled the nose of the plane up and soon were in the air as the plane gained altitude. Once at about 1000 feet, Austin engaged the autopilot so that the computers could take over the control of the plane. All he had to do was just adjust the autopilot when needed. The other two pilots made their way back to the crew rest for some rest before their shifts to take over for Austin and Cory after a few hours once they were at about 10,000 feet in the air. It was not until a 4 hours in that Austin felt the plane starting to shake as they entered into some unstable air. Austin reached up on the console above him to turn the Fasten Seatbelt sign on for the passengers.

"Darn it...when did these thunderstorms come in!" Austin exclaimed as the plane started to shake as they flew through a microburst, or a column of sinking air in a thunderstorm. "They were not here a few moments ago when I looked at the radar!"

[Abbster]

Chloe took out her head phones and listened to the announcement. It sounded like they were getting ready to take off soon. "Time to go home" Chloe whispered to herself when the pilot had finished speaking. She quickly texted Molly again

Chloe- about to take off, give Ellie a kiss for me
Molly- alr, have a safe flight Clo, we can't wait to see you. - Molly and Ellie
Chloe laughed and hearted the picture. 

Soon, the plane took off and Chloe was getting herself comfortable once again for the long flight home. Then, the bumps started. She glanced out the window and saw gray clouds all around the plane. "Must be going through a storm" she said to the person next to her. "Don't worry, we'll be ok. There's nothing to worry about. The pilot knows what he's doing." she said, reassuring the lady next to her. The lady nodded and went back to watching her movie. Chloe yawned. It was going to be a long night, she mine as well get some sleep. She turned on some music, and leaned back in her chair, closing her eyes and falling asleep

[AlaskaAirGirl]

Austin's eyes looked down at the speed and he could see that it was beginning to increase. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye he saw Mark reach for the throttle to pull it back. "Don't do that!" Austin exclaimed as grabbed onto Mark's arm. "You never pull back on the throttle in a microburst." He then reached for the throttle after taking the plane off autopilot as he fought to keep the nose of the plane up. Pilots knew that if they were to go through a microburst, they needed to increase throttle to maximum power and keep the nose of the plane up. This way, when the stall warning came on, they could recover from the stall as the plane loses flight. After a few moments, the stall warning came on. The sound filled the cockpit as Austin kept the plane's nose up. He fought until he he knew it was the right time and let the plane dip below cruising altitude.

"Capitan, what are you doing?" Kelly asked as he watched the plane drop a bit.

"Don't worry, this is supposed to happen," Austin assured the first officer. He knew that this was the first time that Kelley had dealt with a microburst. "We will recover from this." He then informed ATC that they would be going off course a little so that they could get away from this storm. He engaged the autopilot and began to turn the knob to the proper heading once they had regained lift. But the plane was still shaking from the turbulence. Hopefully they would be out soon. After what seemed like an eternity to him, the plane finally stopped shaking as they began to turn away from the surprise storm.

"What the Demons was that?" Kelley asked as he leaned back in his seat. Sweat covered his forehead and he looked a little pale.

"That was a microburst. Rule number one, never pull back the throttle if you are in one. Just increase power and, let the nose raise up," Austin announced, having been in one a few years back when he was a first officer. "How about I go back and get us some coffee. Looks like you could use a cup."

"Actually...that would be nice. Might help a bit after that adrenaline rush back there. Cream and two sugars, please," Kelley said with a nod.

"You got control?" Austin asked as he unstrapped his harness and pulled himself out of the left seat.

"I got control, Capitan," Kelley said with a nod.

Austin then opened the cockpit door and entered the cabin. He then noticed that the seatbelt sign was still on and popped his head back into the cockpit. "You might want to turn the fasten seatbelt sign off now. I am sure the passengers are needing to stretch their legs after all that."

"Roger that," Kelley announced as he reached up to the console above him to turn off the fasten seatbelt sign as Austin closed the door.

[Abbster]

Chloe woke up a while later and she gazed at the time on her phone. it was 11:30 pm, she had a whole 12 hours before she saw her puppy and Molly. Chloe bent down and grabbed her water bottle from out of her backpack. Opening it, she drank some of her water and then put it back in the side pocket. She looked out at the isle just as some handsome man started walking past her. She wanted to talk to him, stopping him in his tracks she started making conversation.

"hi" she said. "Was that a microburst we just hit?" Chloe asked, gazing up at the man who seemed to be the pilot. 

Chloe stared at the pilot in awe. She blushed slightly but didn't show it. She looked at her phone again and then back up at the man.

"oh" she said. "I travelled allot when I was a kid. My dad was a retired pilot, so he told me everything I know about planes. What each turbulence bump means, ect." she said. "I don't want to be a pilot myself, but my dad was the best teacher there is." she said

[AlaskaAirGirl]

Austin stopped in his tracks as the woman stopped him in the isle of the plane. Knowing that people were sleeping or at least trying to get some sleep, he answers back in a quiet voice so he did not disturb anyone. "Yeah, it was. But don't worry. We have turned away from the storm and are trying to get around it." He was shocked that a that the woman who stopped him understood what was going on. He wondered if she was possibly a pilot. But when she said she wasn't, he nodded and listened to her tell him about her father. "What airline did he work for?" He sat down in the empty seat in the isle and pressed the call button for the flight attendant. He knew he could not be out of the cockpit for long, but he wanted to see what this woman had to say. She was kinda cute as he sat down in the isle seat.

Andy Carson, one of the new flight attendants came over and noticed the captain and was shocked to see him sitting there. "Captain, what are you doing back here? And why are sitting here?" Andy was about 23 years old and had her brown hair pulled up into a tight bun.

"Oh, I was coming to get some coffee for Kelley and myself, but this passenger stopped me and wanted to see what with the shaking," Austin answered. "I'll take mine with just two packets of sugar and Kelley wants cream and sugar in his."

Andy nodded as she headed back to the aft galley to start making the coffee.

Austin looked back at the woman in the window seat and held out his hand for her to shake. "My name is Austin Woods. And you are?"

[Abbster]

"He mainly flew for the United Airlines." Chloe said in a hushed voice. She looked around, the cabin was dark and the plane was quiet. "I'm Chloe White" she finally said, shaking the pilots hand. "Its really nice to meet you Austin." She said. "so do you live in San Antonia?" she asked, smiling at the flight attendant who had stopped to see what Austin needed. "I grew up in San Antonia and live in an apartment complex with my best friend currently." she said, trying not to make things awkward, which they already were. "So, what has been your favorite place to fly too?" she asked

[AlaskaAirGirl]

I live about an hour away in Fredericksburg. I have a ranch out there that I have when I am not flying," Austin answered as he looked at Chloe. When she said that her father worked for United, his interest had peaked. "What is his name? Maybe I may have flown with him a few times before he retired." He looked at the woman before answering her second question. He had to think a moment. In his five years with United he had flown to many different places. But he sure did have a favorite. "SXM is one of my favorite landing spots." He stopped knowing that she probably did not understand the 3 letter code for the airport. "St. Maarten's Princess Juliana International Airport. It's just amazing to see how close you can get to the people below you as you land over the beach. Great place for aviation photography. Also amazing to see people stand there when a plane takes off to see who can stay there the longest on the fence." He had to chuckle at the image of people hanging on for dear life as the plane's engines began to roar and the jet blast from the engines pushing out so much air.

[Abbster]

Chloe looked at him, surprised when he asked her fathers name. "Jack." she said. "Jack White" she added his last name even though it would be the same as hers. "Oh thats cool" she said. "I've never been to that airport before. I have been a lot of places, but never to that airport. lets think." she thought for a moment. "Well, I flew to Canada for a cruise in Alaska, then I flew out of an Alaska airport." she told him about all the places she had been. "You should probobly get back to the cockpit." she said after a while. "but hey, if San Antonia is your last stop, I can wait for you outside the gate after the plane lands and we can get our bags together." she suggested, wanting to get to know more of this handsome man

[AlaskaAirGirl]

Austin nodded as he looked at Chloe as she explained who her father was. He had to rack his brain a moment as she spoke to see if he had flown with her father when he was a first officer. But that was a 4 years ago. He had worked so much when he was a first officer that he became one of the youngest Capitan's in the airline within by the time he had been working 5 years. He had flown with so many Capitan's back then. It was possible. "I should be getting back. Kelley is probably wondering what is taking so long. It was nice talking to you." When she asked if she could wait for him, he looked at her. "Well, I have two more flights that I have to fly for until I get back to my base in LA. But you can walk me to my next gate if you want," Austin answered.

"Here you go, Capitan. Fresh coffee for you and Mark. I can take his cup so you can knock on the door to get in," Andy announced as she handed him a cup of coffee as Austin stood from the seat.

Once Andy had walked away towards the front of the plane, Austin turned back to Andy. "I just need to do the pre-flight briefing with the crew and some paperwork after we land and get to the gate. It should only take me half an hour. You can wait for me at the gate if you want," Austin answered with a smile.

[Abbster]

Chloe sighed but nodded. "ok" She really wished he would be getting off at her stop, but nope. It didn't seem like it. Chloe yawned again and reclined her seat a little before she fell asleep. When she woke up, it was about 7:00 am. 4 hours and 30 mins left. She thought with a smile. She couldnt wait to see Molly and tell her what happened on the plane. She would for sure be jealous. Chloe grabbed her book and turned on the overhead light. She read the last few chapters before she took out her phone and watched some tv.

[AlaskaAirGirl]

For a few more hours, Austin stayed in the cockpit until it was time for him to get some rest It had been about 8 hours after the flight started. He reached to the call button for the crew rest to let the Captain and First officer know that it was time to change shifts. It was only 10 minutes before the other pilots came into the cockpit. Austin gave them an overview of what was going on before he found his way to the crew rest above the first few rows of first class. He headed up the small stairs up to the rest area and found an empty bed on the bottom. He pulled off his uniform shirt and hung it up in a small adjacent closet and began to pull out the top part of the blanket and unbuckled the seatbelt that was across from it. He knew that the rest of the flight was going to be alright. But there was still a part of him that said something could go wrong.

As he lay his head down on the pillow, Austin could not fall asleep as he kept thinking about Chloe down in the cabin. He felt bad that he could not stay in San Antonio long. But he had to go back to his crew base in LA before he could fly back to home. But San Antonio was only a connecting airport between hubs. He reached over an pulled the curtain closed so that he could turn off the light and at least get a little sleep. Within 3 and a half hours, Austin heard the sound of the call button being turned on from the cockpit to let him know it was time to get back to the cockpit. Though him and Mark would not be landing the plane, they still needed to report up to the cockpit and sit in the jump seats. Opening the small curtain, his eyes had to adjust to the light as he sat up. Kelley was already getting his shirt on as Austin sat up. "Darn, I don't feel like I got any sleep. He got up and opened the door to the small closet to pull out his shirt that he had hung in there.

"Neither did I. But at least we don't have to land this time. I can at least get a little shut eye down there while Blake and Cory continue to fly. That is, until we get closer to SAT," Mark announced as he made the bed.

Once Austin had himself presentable, he quickly made the bed before putting his shoes back on, then followed Mark down stairs. As he entered the cabin, Austin looked around to see if he could see Chloe down the isle. He could slightly see her as he turned to enter the cockpit. Part of him just wanted to go down there and sit with her. There was something about her that he liked. But he quickly pushed that aside in his mind and shut the door behind him and sat down behind Blake. He reached into his flight bag and pulled out his headset so that he could listen in on both pilots and ATC. As they got closer to SAT, he looked watched as the runway soon came into view.