Free Fall

Sixteen

Manhattan, New York

Logan Dunn studied the website for the Buffalo News on his phone while waiting at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan.

He concentrated on a wire story the News had carried under the headline:

Pilot of Troubled EastCloud Buffalo-to-NYC Flight: Malfunction Puts Passengers at Risk.

He’d read it several times, coming back to the statements by Raymond Matson, the captain:

I don’t know what happened but I know something went wrong. This was a clear flight control computer malfunction.

Damn right something went wrong.

Logan reached up to relieve an itch on his temple, touching the bandages covering the cuts he’d received on the flight. Then he went to the video he’d recorded.

It started with Kayla at her window seat, anxious but winning over her fear of flying, when the jetliner suddenly rolled hard, the right wing tipping toward the ground, passengers screaming for their lives as bodies and items were tossed like they were in a blender. The horror was repeated as the plane suddenly lurched to the left, throwing people to the opposite side as the jet leveled, then took a sudden death dive before the crew regained control.

Somehow, throughout the chaos and panic, Logan had managed to hang on to his phone and keep recording.

In the aftermath, when paramedics had taken him, Kayla and the other passengers to the hospital for observation, he’d alerted Kayla’s parents, and his, that they’d been shaken but not seriously hurt.

Like the other passengers, Logan and Kayla had cooperated with the NTSB and EastCloud Airlines, providing statements. The NTSB and EastCloud wanted him to share his video and not make it public, stating that it would help with the investigation.

But Logan had refused to share it.

He wanted to help but he was hesitant. Word had circulated among the passengers that while many had still pictures and video taken after the incident, Logan was the only person whose footage had captured the entire event as it had happened. He’d called one of his law professors and told him about the flight with Kayla, his video and the circumstances.

The video is essentially your property, the professor had said. I understand you’d want to help investigators because of the safety issues, but you might want to consider making your recording public first before sharing it with the NTSB and the airline. It would strengthen a civil case should you proceed with an action, and I would think you and Kayla have a very strong case.

But that was the problem.

Kayla didn’t want Logan to release the video.

Her reasoning ranged from It’s too frightening, to My screaming is embarrassing, to It could have an impact on my hope of ever getting a job with Maly Kriz-Janda. Her opposition was irrational, but Logan understood. She’d been traumatized by the incident.

He looked down at Kayla now, her head resting on his chest as they waited at the bus terminal. Her chin was bandaged. Bruises dotted her neck and arm. He thought of how much the job at the fashion designer had meant to her, how hard she’d worked in school to pursue her dream. He thought of all she’d done to alleviate her fear of flying-the books, the recordings-and his heart ached for her.

While in the hospital, she’d called Maly Kriz-Janda, told them about the flight and canceled her interview.

I’m okay with it. Really, she’d told him.

But she wasn’t okay. She’d cried in the aftermath. Then the designer called her back and very kindly offered to interview Kayla over the phone, if she was willing.

Kayla had gone ahead with a short, shaky interview in which she’d made it clear that she’d never again get on a plane. The designer had been upbeat, thanked her, called her brave and said they’d get back to her. But Kayla had given up on the job and wanted to get home to Buffalo.

And now here they were, awaiting a nine-hour bus trip across the state.

Logan’s back and shoulders were sore from the items that had crashed into him, and he had to reposition himself on the bench, disturbing Kayla.

“I wasn’t sleeping,” she said. “I saw you looking at the video again.”

“I know this is hard, and you’ve been through a lot, but we should release it. We can’t be selfish about this, Kay. People have to know what happened on that plane.”

“I know,” she said.

“You know?”

She nodded.

“So you’re okay to make it public?”

Tears came to her eyes as she nodded.

“I wouldn’t want anyone else to go through this, and I know we’re so lucky to be alive.”

Tenderly, he pressed her head to his face and kissed her.

“It’s okay. Everything’s going to be okay.”

They sat there for a moment. Then Logan scrolled through the newswire story. It was written by Kate Page. He searched for her email on the bottom then sent her a message.

After checking the time, he looked up Newslead’s telephone number and called it.