Station
51, Move-Up to Athens Greece Station #1 -
Part II
by
As the crew of Staion 51 left
LA Airport on the flight to Chicago, the pilot turned off the fasten seat
belt sign and allowed the folks to move around a bit to stretch out.
Johnny was the first to notice the familiar faces of 2 people a few rows
ahead of them and nudged Roy.
"Hey Roy, that looks like Dr Kell Bracket and Dixie over there."
Roy looked ahead, and replied "you're right junior, it looks like them.
Wonder what they're doing on this flight."
Up ahead, Dixie turned her head to the voices she heard and said to Kelly
Bracket, "Gee Kell, that sounds like Johnny & Roy. Wonder what
those guys are doing?? I thought their faces looked familiar after we boarded."
Kell smiled and said, " who knows?? The chance of them going to the
same place we are pretty slim. Not too many people from LA travel to Europe,
much less to a beautiful country like Greece if they don't have relatives
there already."
"I agre Kell, but it's still a surprise to see them I guess. Look.
Johnny's coming over here." Dixie said.
Johnny walked over to DR. Bracket and Dixie and smiled, "what brings
you 2 on a trip like this??"
"Oh we're talking some time off to visit someplace different, someplace
we've never been to before. We decided to take a trip to Greece and see
the sights." Dixie said.
Johhny showed a look of surprise on his face, "why that's where Roy,
myself and the rest of our crew are going. We're going on a 2 month program
to see their fire dept and maybe set up a exchange program.'"
'Well I'll be" Dr Bracket exclaimed. "that seems like it might
be fun. Do you have any idea where you all will be located at??"
"Not yet, but we should know when we arrive." Roy said as he joined
Johnny.
"Well boys, be careful and have fun there. Maybe we'll meet up one
way or another." Dixie said.
Johnny & Roy agreed and headed back to where the rest of Station 51's
crew was sitting and talking, discussing what they would try and do on arriving
in Athens.
"Man, I know we should try and get to the sights. I've got a book right
here with all the major tourist sites and places to eat and stuff."
Chet said waving the book.
"I agree Chet, and to be sure everyone here gets to see the same book,
I got additional copies for all of us." Hey Roy, Johhny, who were you
guys chatting with up ahead?? They looked familiar." Capt Stanley said.
Johnny answered, "Dr. Brackett and Dixie from Rampart. Seems they're
going the same way we are."
"Wow, that was a surprise." Mike answered with Marco agreeing,
"Did they say where they would be visiting??"
No they didn't, but they were sure we may meet up along the way." Roy
added.
John and Roy returned to their seats and slumped down, to catch a nap.
A Few hours later, as the plane was approaching Chicago's O'hare International
airport, the pilot noticed a fire warning light come on in one of his engines.
Reaching over, he hit the fire extinguisher button to try and extinguish
the fire and made sure his co-pilot checked the window of the 757 to see
if it was working. It wasn't helping much, so he called the Radar Room and,
"Chicago Center, this is National Airlines Flight 229, declaring a
Emergency."
"National 229er, go ahead wih your Emergency, all other aircraft stand
by." The Controller responded quickly
"Center we have a Fire warning light with a actual fire, we hit the
extinguisher and it didn't help much. We'd like to have the equipment sent
out and meet us on the ground."
"Roger 229, we are advising O'hare tower your situation, please state
your souls on board and fuel please."
"130 Souls on board, and 3000 lbs fuel."
"Stand By 229, we are relaying."
In the O'hare Control Tower, the Controller wrote quickly the information
and asked the Radar center to have theaircraft to switch to the tower's
frequency as he handed another controller the information to pass on to
the crews. The second controller, took the info and went to the Red Line
that connected the tower to the airport's 3 rescue stations.
In the alarm room of Station 3, the lieutenant of the Rescue Squad had just
come in and relieved the Engine Officer, when the Tower line rang.
"Alert Alert Runway 27 Left."
As The rescue Squad's lieutenant answered the line, he heard the other 2
answering also.
"Ok, we have a Alert 2 coming, with a enginr fire confirmed, 130 souls
on board and 3000 lbs fuel."
The Lieutenant acknowledged the response and hit the bell one long ring
to clear the house, while the engine lieutenant ran to the engine and opened
the apparatus doors as he went.
The Rescue Squad Lieutenant ran also, and started suiting up in his bunker
gear that they had specifically for aircraft rescue work as they rolled
out the door with the other three rescue stations to the runway with the
battallion chief in command.
As The companies approached the runway, the battallion chief called, "Battallion
12 to main!!"
"Go ahead Battallion 12."
"Give me a Still & Box & a Ems Plan for a aircraft coming in
with a engine on fire, Runway 27 Left"
"Ok Battallion 12, we'll give you a box."
The dispatcher announces the escalation of the response to the airportr
and dispatches additional equipment to the airport along with 2 other ambulances.
Meanwhile, back on the plane, Johnny noticed a problem outside his window
and woke Roy up quickly " Roy! Roy! Wake up Wake up."
"Whaa-" Roy mumbled sleepily.
"Roy, look out the window!!"
"Oh Boy, I hopoe they are ready for us when we get there" Roy
said.
Just then, the pilot came on and told the passengers that there was a mechanical
problem with the plane and that they would have the fire dept waiting with
the mechanics after they landed.
As the plane came in for a landing, the men from Station 51 could see the
fire apparatus lining the runway as they awaited the plane's arrival, each
man said a silent prayer to hope that whatever happened, it happened quickly.
The landed on the runway without any problems and the pilot immediately
reversed the engines as he tried to slow down the aircraft to lessen the
fire's spread and give the fire equipment a chance to help them.
The first crash rig started using foam as soon as it got close and aimed
it right for the engine, quickly knocking down the visible flames as the
aircraft came to a stop. Within moments, the rest of the emergency vehicles
arrived and assisted in the extinguishment.
"Battallion 12 to Main."
"Go ahead Battallion 12."
"The Fire is out, no injuries are found. Strike out the box, and secure
the Ems plan, we'll be returning units shortly."
"Your message is received Battallion 12."
Back on the plane
"Ladies and Gentlemen, please move to the closest emergency exit and
move away from the aircraft and assist those around you that need assistance
in getting off the aircraft."
Man guys that was way too close for comfort. I want to thank those guys
when we get a chance for the good job." Johnny said, as the other guys
rolled their eyes.
As they walked over to the safety zone, wearing their LA County Fire dept
T-Shirts and hats, the grabbed their checked luggage that had been removed
and get on a shuttle bus to the terminal area. Captain Stanley checked his
watch and saw they still had 2 1/2 hours for their flight.
When the shuttle arrived, they got off the bus and walked inside the terminal
area and headed towards the tram to get to the international terminal 2
stops away.
As the tram approached the International Terminal, the guys were admiring
the architectural beauty of it and also went to acting like they would at
work and started mentally figuring out where things were, should there be
a emergency.
As they approached the ticket counter, they checked the departure monitor
and were relieved to see it was ontime still.
The 6 members moved through the check-in lines and got their passports checked
and their bags checked, with a minor delay as Chet and John had to sign
their passports to make them legal.
As they headed to the security area to go on the plane, Chet was the first
to spot the massive food court near the security area and exclaimed, "hey
guys, we got time, lets stop for a bite."
"I'm with him," added Johhny.
"Man, I don't know how you guys can stay so skinny with how much you
2 eat." Capt Stanley said, but agreed that it might be a good idea
to eat something.
They all trooped over to the McDonalds and started ordering various value
meals to satisfy their hunger that the small snack/meal didn't cover. As
they finished eating and got together their boarding passes, they saw Dr.
Brackett & Ms. McCall going through security already.
"Man, looks like Brackett & Dixie are gonna be first at everything
on this trip." Johnny complained as they entered the security area.
"Oh be quiet Gage!! Just try and relax and enjoy the trip or I may
reconsider who gets latrine duty when we get back." Capt Stanley promised.
Johnny said "yes sir" as he sent his items through the x-ray,
and noticed the person in charge of the metal detector was a cute female.
He smiled at her as he walked through and he set off the metal detector.
The security agent point John to the enclosed rope area to await the hand
wand operator to get to him.
"Man Gage, even here you get the full search" Chet yelled as he
entered his metal detector and also got sent to the roped in area, for setting
off the alarm.
Within moments, all 6 members of Station 51 wind up getting a full search
for setting off the metal detector alarms, making all men wind up nearly
without clothes.
As soon as they finished getting dressed, they walked a short distance to
their gate and boarded when their rows were called.
"Hey, what size aircraft is that??" Gage asked.
"A 747, they use them all the time to travel overseas," the beautiful
ticket agent said flirtingly.
"Down Junior, stick with nurses, your luck is better." Roy said.
They found their seats and began their last leg of their journey to Athens
Greece, and whatever may await them as the plane taxied to the runway and
took off.
To Be Continued in Part 3
