Xiao Luo concentrated hard as he gazed through the heavy shroud of mist, and he could already see the two flashing lights that marked the approach-end of the runway. He began his final approach, with the array of lighting systems at the threshold of the runway as his target. Beyond the two flashing lights, there were three lines of white lights on either side of the center that extended for a thousand meters—this was the touchdown zone and where Xiao Luo intended to land.

  The aircraft was equipped with an altitude warning system that automatically activated an aural warning and beep in the cockpit to alert the pilot of his altitude.

  Five hundred meters……

  Three hundred meters……

  Two hundred meters……

  The aircraft shook violently as it began to descend sharply, and the passengers felt a sense of weightlessness. Had they not been buckled down to their seats, they would definitely have been thrown off during the turbulent approach.

  “God bless us, God bless us……”

  Some passengers had shut their eyes tightly and were in desperate prayer.

  “Mr. Xiao, the lights have turned red!” Tan Ningfu, who had been paying close attention to the PAPI lights, suddenly shouted out in alarm.

  Double red lights indicated that the aircraft was coming in too low and would touchdown before the runway threshold.

  “Up!”

  Xiao Luo grunted, as he tightened his grip and forcefully pulled back on the yoke with both hands, lifting the nose of the aircraft marginally.

  BOOM!

  The aircraft hammered into the touchdown zone with an ear-shattering bang as it made contact with the runway.

  The cabin jolted and shook violently as the plane screamed down the runway, making the passengers feel like they were inside a runaway bus. As the aircraft screamed forward swaying, the passengers braced themselves—some of them kept their eyes tightly shut while others muttered silent prayers feeling like they were awaiting a death sentence. The landing was the riskiest phase of a flight, and it was this decisive moment that would determine whether they survive or perish.

  \r \r \r

  “Hold on to the yoke firmly, and don’t let go!” Xiao Luo shouted to Tan Ningfu as he engaged the reverse thrust levers and carefully engaged the brakes.

  Although Tan Ningfu was terrified, she kept her poise and did as she was told, holding on to the control column firmly. Outwardly she possessed a sweet and gentle demeanor, but beneath, she was made of sterner stuff. Not once did she panic or scream like many would.

  As the aircraft surged down the runway, the heated tires groaned and screeched, and sparks flew as the brakes were engaged. The massive airliner roared like a raging beast as smoke billowed from its landing gears, not looking like it could stop before the end of the runway.

  The main reason for the hard landing was that the aircraft had come in too low and had to pull up again before making the touchdown. As its main landing gears slammed heavily onto the runway, it took more effort to keep it rolling down a straight path, causing the aircraft to sway and shake violently. Still, it was an exceptional effort to have performed a night landing without instruments and solely relying on sight and perception.

  Xiao Luo held on firmly to the yoke making every effort to keep the massive aircraft in the middle of the runway. The panicked cries of passengers reverberated from the cabin aft and Xiao Luo could imagine their fears as they stared death in the face. All he could do now was to keep his gaze fixed on the runway.

  It was barely a minute into the landing roll, but it already felt like a century to everyone in the plane.

  Suddenly, the shaking and rumbling ceased and the roar of the engines quietened. The gigantic jumbo jet slowed to about 80 m.p.h. and gently rumbled forward until it finally came to a stop just before the end of the runway.

  “We have landed, we’re safe and sound!”

  The passengers were overcome with joy and disbelief, each one of them crying out in tears and offering prayers of thanks for their deliverance, for they had journeyed to hell and back. As they stared out the windows, they saw fire trucks and the airport rescue crews dashing over urgently.

  “We’re back on the ground!”

  “We……survived, we’re alive!”

  “Great landing, this is just unbelievable……”

  Despite many people throwing up violently, they could hardly conceal their emotions of joy.

  The purser, the crew, and safety officers were dumbfounded. It felt like a bizarre dream—first, the captain was incapacitated by the co-pilot, who was determined to bring the aircraft down and everyone along with it, then he set the plane on a course to nowhere, only for an enigmatic young hero by the surname Xiao, to save the day. The entire experience was surreal, and they couldn’t believe they were still alive to tell the tale.

  Xiao Luo felt a deep sense of relief, he was sweating profusely and leaned back in the pilot’s seat. Had it not been for the genius system, they would have become lost souls roaming the clouds for eternity. And had Zhang Dashan been there, he would not have heard the end of it—all the drama on his very first flight!

  As he was composing himself, he caught a glimpse of Cui Jihou and felt a sudden urge to murder the man had there been no one else around. Cui Jihou had recovered and was conscious when he realized that the aircraft had already landed at Xiahai airport. What were the chances? His face was ashen, and he kept repeating to himself, “How could it be? How could it be……”

  Precisely, how could it be? How could the aircraft possibly have landed safely on the ground?

  The rescue crews had already positioned boarding steps at the open cabin doors, fire trucks surrounded the aircraft, and fire and medical teams were already making their way into the cabin to assist with the evacuation. The airport rescue teams were thoroughly trained in emergency drills and had already anticipated the worst when they observed the forced landing. Noting the Boeing 747’s approach speed and the orientation of its glide path, they knew that they would encounter many injured passengers. When the doors were opened, they were quickly on hand to provide immediate medical treatment to many passengers who suffered lacerations and broken bones to various parts of their bodies.

  The purser and her crew organized the evacuation from the cabin and ensured orderly disembarkation. “Follow the instructions of the flight attendant in front of you. Let the injured passengers off the plane first.”

  Good order was maintained in the cabin, and everyone kept calm. The evacuation was carried out efficiently as the injured were brought out of the plane first to receive medical care.

  Several senior directors of the Airport and Civil Aviation Authorities also rushed over and were briefed on the incident by the purser.

  “Cui Jihou really will pay for this!” One of the directors cursed during the brief.

  The director then smiled and commended the purser and crew, “You have all done a good job under tremendous pressure. To have landed the plane in such conditions and preventing the loss of life and injury is commendable. For this, you all deserve recognition and appreciation, and on behalf of the company, I sincerely thank you.”

  “We were only doing our job, but if it wasn’t for a passenger on board who happened to know how to fly the plane, we wouldn’t have been able to land safely,” the purser said.

  The other crew members nodded in agreement. Xiao Luo was the hero who saved the day, and they would not take any credit away from him.

  The two directors looked at each other and saw the surprise in each other’s eyes.

  “Passenger? What passenger?”

  “Didn’t Old Ma that landed the plane?”

  “No, it wasn’t Old Ma, he had already been incapacitated by Cui Jihou,” the purser said, shaking her head.

  As she spoke, the captain was carried down from the plane on a stretcher, which immediately verified what she had just said.

  “What was going on here?”

  The directors were shocked. How then could the aircraft have landed safely without captain Ma in the flight deck? This was an emergency landing that involved a plane that had experienced catastrophic equipment failure—they had no comms, no navigation, and virtually all the meters had been damaged. The landing was unassisted with no support from ATC, and could only rely on ground visual aids. Even an experienced pilot like Old Ma would have found it extremely challenging. But yet, here it was parked at the end of the runway with barely any structural damage. It was a near-perfect forced landing.

  The directors were still in a daze and could not believe that a passenger had landed the aircraft. How could this be? How could a passenger be more skilled than an experienced and thoroughly trained airline captain?

  “Where is he?” the directors asked.

  “He’s still on board with Little Fu, and he should be coming down soon,” the purser replied.

  The two directors looked toward the cabin door, they were curious to see who he was. Perhaps one of their own men from the civil aviation services? Whoever he was, kudos to him!