One of Us Is Dead

91 Tuesday 18 October 2022

Glenn Branson and Roy Grace raced from the Sussex Police HQ on blue lights, siren wailing. It was a sixteen-mile drive to the airport, and even at speed it was going to be twenty minutes before they got there. Branson drove, while Grace was on his radio, patched through to Shoreham Air Traffic Control.

A Roads Policing Unit patrol car as well as an officer on a motorbike were already at the scene, at Brighton City airport.

The controller was polite and calm and spoke with a clear voice. ‘Golf Alpha Victor Uniform Zulu, piloted by James Taylor, left Shoreham air space four minutes ago,’ he said.

‘He needs to land at the nearest airport, immediately,’ Grace said. ‘We believe there may be a bomb on board. Can you contact him?’

‘I’m looking at his flight plan, sir. He should currently be in radio comms with London Control. I’ll ask them immediately.’

‘Thank you. What is his destination?’

‘The flight plan we have filed is for Jersey, Channel Islands.’

Grace glanced up, through the windscreen, and wished he hadn’t. They were on the wrong side of the road, hurtling towards the Cuilfail tunnel, and a cement lorry was heading uphill straight at them. Abdicating responsibility for his imminent death or survival to Branson, he looked back down at his radio. As he did so he felt the car swerve violently, the constant wail of the siren making it hard to hear what the man was saying.

‘Jersey, Channel Islands?’ Grace repeated.

‘Yes.’

‘Can you find out from London Control which is the nearest airfield he can put down at?’

‘Looking at his flight plan, it would be the Isle of Wight.’

‘OK, tell London Control to ask him to put down urgently at Bembridge in the Isle of Wight.’

‘Wilco.’

Grace’s brain was racing. From memory, the hovercraft, HoverTravel, was the fastest route from the mainland to the island. But that wasn’t fast enough right now. He radioed to see if the helicopter, shared between Sussex, Surrey and Kent, was available. He was told it would be in fifteen minutes, after dropping off an injured motorcyclist at Guildford Hospital. He put in a request for it to head for the Isle of Wight immediately after.

Then he radioed Shoreham tower again to update the controller.

The controller replied, ‘Golf Alpha Victor Uniform Zulu is not currently responding to London Control, sir, although he did check in a short time ago on the frequency.’