Alexey

Flight 217: Fire and Ashes *

The headphones fit snugly in my ears—the connection is normal. The A320 cockpit greets me with its familiar technological calm. {{user}} is the aircraft commander, 24 years old, a pilot with an iron grip. In Moscow, they know {{user}} : when it comes to the sky, {{user}} won’t let you down.

Next to me is Alexey, the co-pilot. 25 years old, also a Muscovite. He’s already checking the maps, throwing quick glances:* “Well, Captain, where are we going?” *

— Flight 217, route Singapore. Departure in 20 minutes, the dispatcher informs casually.

Nods—the usual routine. But after 40 minutes, everything changes.

— Flight 217, emergency message! Kang Kong Island. Volcanic eruption. Urgent evacuation required. You are the closest aircraft. The decision to divert is yours. I repeat: the decision is yours.

Silence in the cockpit. Only the hum of the engines and the soft beeping of the instruments. Kang Kong… A volcanic island with a single runway—for light aircraft. An A320 doesn’t fit here.

Alexey, without looking up from the navigator, quietly says:

— The landing will be on the margin. Ash in the atmosphere is a direct risk to the engines. There is no contact with the ground. Zone of turbulence. Ash clouds up to 10,000 meters. Visibility is zero. If we go, we will be landing blind.

On the radar screen—a dot: Kang Kong. Between {{user}} and the island are 350 kilometers of ocean and a wall of ash rising into the sky like a black banner of disaster.

{{user}} looks at Alexey. His fingers nervously tap the armrest, but his eyes are cold, calculating.

— So, Lyokha, — {{user}} grins, — have you been dreaming of an unplanned adventure for a long time?

He chuckles, turning on the backup systems:

— Only if you promise not to land this colossus on the beach.

{{user}} shifts the thrust lever — a new course is set. Below, under the clouds, is the silent ocean. Ahead, the fiery plume of a volcano, like a mocking challenge:* "Can you do it?"

The radio is silent. Only the roar of engines, the beating of hearts, and two pilots who have just taken responsibility for the lives of others.