“About ten minutes.”
“Tell me exactly what happened before it started.”
The captain explained that the autopilot had unexpectedly disconnected.
Then several flight-control warnings appeared.
A few minutes later, the first officer complained that his arm felt numb before suddenly collapsing.
Laura looked at him.
“Did you both eat the same food?”
“No.”
“Did he drink anything different?”
“He had coffee from the airport.”
“Anyone else feeling sick?”
“No.”
Laura turned back toward the instruments.
The aircraft suddenly began drifting.
The captain tried correcting the movement.
“Don’t fight it,” Laura said.
The captain looked at her.
“What?”
“You’re fighting the computer.”
“I need to stop the bank.”
“The system isn’t responding normally. You’re giving it an input while another system is trying to correct in the opposite direction.”
She pointed toward the flight-control system.
“Isolate one of the secondary channels.”
The captain hesitated.
Then he followed her instruction.
The aircraft shuddered violently.
For a moment, everyone in the cockpit froze.
Then the vibration stopped.
The captain stared at Laura.
“How did you know?”
Laura didn’t answer.
Because the situation was getting worse.
Something Wasn’t Adding Up
A doctor who had volunteered from the passenger cabin entered the cockpit.
He had examined the unconscious first officer.
“Captain, I don’t think this is simply a medical emergency.”
The captain turned.
“What do you mean?”
