Now it seems that a forced landing on the water is the only option left. The cabin has fallen into silence, as if everyone understands they have no choice. Shiller glanced again at the economy cabin, realizing that the slain hijackers might not be the key; the one who hadn't shown up was not suddenly cowardly but aiming to act after the forced landing.
A water landing is not easy. Firstly, the landing posture must be extremely stable; any error could turn a forced landing into a dive. Secondly, after landing you can't immediately leave the plane; you still have to wait for rescue as you can't row to find land.
The problem is whether it's the hijackers or rescue that arrives first. In any other sea area, it would likely be the latter. But in the Londi Strait, that's not certain. The rescue operations of the countries in this region are probably not much different from the hijackers.
And if hijackers arrive, there is no escape for the people on the plane. Even if they kill everyone, they can easily disguise it as a rescue mistake. Considering the sea, some dangerous waves are normal, and no sane airline would dare investigate these countries.
Shiller sighed and said, "How much fuel do we have left?"
"Enough for three more hours of flying at most," the purser said.
The cabin buzzed again, because with three hours of flying, they could force land in the Indian Ocean, which is much safer than the Tiran Strait or the Red Sea.
"Head to the Red Sea," Shiller said.
There was an immediate outbreak of disagreement in the cabin, prompting Shiller to explain: "Don't forget, there are still hijackers on the plane. If we divert to the Indian Ocean, they could act in the next moment, either sabotaging the plane or taking hostages. Ultimately, we have to force land in the Red Sea."
This issue is controversial, as the known hijackers are in the economy cabin and could only take hostages from there. People in the business cabin want to stay out of it. But this logic is clearly flawed because the pilots decide the course. If any passenger is hijacked, they must obey the hijackers, regardless of the cabin class.
Finally, the fate of the plane was decided. They had to force land, but not at the Tiran Strait; rather, directly on the Red Sea, which isn't much better, as wherever they land, it's not far from the high-incident area. If anyone intends to act, it's just a few more steps.
Soon, the plane flew over the Red Sea and landed on the sea with an extremely stable posture, proving the pilot's expertise. Shiller backed away to the junction between the business and first class cabins, observing the activities in both cabins.
The crew started to get busy. They needed to lower the evacuation slides and prepare the lifeboats. These were all available on the plane and could accommodate all passengers. However, the lifeboats were unpowered and couldn't be expected to reach the shore, just provide a temporary retreat.
But being able to leave the plane was already a stroke of luck. After the slide was set up, no one hesitated and quickly donned their gear to slide down, praying the hijackers weren't on the same boat.
After all passengers evacuated, the crew also started to leave. The purser glanced back at Shiller, giving him a look, to which Shiller slightly frowned.
He turned to look toward the cockpit, and soon, the three people inside came out.
The leading captain was a tall middle-aged man, with the other two quite young. As he passed Shiller, he glanced at him and made a gesture with his hand behind his back, indicating the number "4".
To avoid misunderstanding, he deliberately shook his finger. This made Shiller clear that he was signaling. What does it mean?
Just after the pilots left the plane, gunfire sounded outside. Shiller squeezed his eyes shut hard. He moved to the side of the aircraft door and peeked out. Due to hearing issues, he couldn't determine by the gunshots whether anyone was hit. But seeing no blood on the nearby sea proved that no one was likely hit.
Then came the sounds of speedboats and ship engines. They sounded blurry. Shiller had to poke his head out again. Several boats were approaching, but they weren't warships. They seemed like pirates or anti-government forces.
Of course, it's them. Those acting aren't dumb; sending their national military would be too obvious. But disguising as pirates makes it easier to shirk responsibility.
The people on the boats were communicating with the crew, but it wasn't going smoothly, and quickly, gun-brandishing individuals forced them onto the boats. Someone asked if there were any remaining people on the plane—Shiller speculated—because he couldn't hear, not due to betrayal. Some passengers had blood on them, or even fragments of hijackers. That was clearly not caused by rifles; anyone could sense something was amiss.
Sure enough, a few gun-toting men, Big Beards, started heading towards the plane. Shiller began contemplating countermeasures. He could fight back, but if they realized they couldn't subdue him, they'd surely take hostages to force him into the open. That would be troubling.
Escaping is the best chance now. But the Red Sea, though not vast, is not swim-able to Egypt. Jumping now is akin to suicide. These people are professionals; the evacuation slides are completely sealed, snatching a boat directly is nearly impossible.
Suddenly, an extremely bold idea popped into Shiller's mind. The captain's gesture flashed through his mind.
Without further hesitation, Shiller rushed toward the cockpit at the fastest speed. He fired a shot from his revolver into the air of the ready room. A loud "bang" not only made Shiller feel dizzy again but also shocked the hijackers who had just boarded the plane.
They clutched their ears, stunned by the gunshot, which sounded like a secret signal. The sturdy cockpit door unexpectedly opened. Shiller slipped inside, locked the door, and saw an old man with gray hair sitting in the cockpit. The old man grinned, "I am the real captain."
Shiller understood. He had been suspicious when those three people walked out before. Mainly because they were too young and didn't seem like pilots with fighter jet flying experience. The leader was too tall to fit in a fighter jet, and the other two were too young and clearly inexperienced.
Being able to perfectly conduct an emergency water landing with such a large plane in such an urgent situation was absolutely not possible with only commercial flight experience. Those three were not the real pilots; they were probably the first officer and trainees. The real captain had never left the cockpit.
That was why the middle-aged man leading them gave Shiller a "4" gesture. This was to tell Shiller there were four people in the cockpit.
Generally, a commercial airliner cockpit has three people, but it can vary depending on the airline's requirements. This confused the hijackers hidden among the passengers. They thought there were only three people in the cockpit, so they all came down. There was only Shiller on the plane, which gave them the confidence to let others board the plane.
Sure enough, when they realized Shiller had gotten into the cockpit, everyone was stunned. Modern aircraft cockpit security doors are extremely robust due to frequent hijacking incidents. They are difficult to open without specialized equipment, and even with it, it might not be possible. Even large-caliber firearms find it hard to penetrate. Entering there is no different from being in a bank vault.
Of course, that's while flying. Because in the air, no one can attack the plane directly from the front, breaking through the front glass is simply impossible. But now they were over the sea, and the plane had made an emergency landing. The hijackers didn't even need to force the security door; they just had to attack the cockpit glass from the front.
They evidently thought of this too and hurriedly ran down, but the white-bearded old captain seemed a bit puzzled as he waited there for a long time, and the hijackers still hadn't climbed up.
Shiller sat in the co-pilot's seat, recovering his physical strength. He shook the revolver in his hand. The old man raised an eyebrow and said, "You caused such a commotion with that?"
Shiller now had minimal hearing; he could only catch a few high-pitched words, but he could roughly guess the captain's meaning. He nodded.
"Can I take a look?" the captain asked.
Shiller shook his head and said, "This thing is powerful. If you fire a shot, your entire arm might be useless."
"Alright, then I'll use this instead." The captain pulled out a gun from under his seat.
It's normal for some passenger planes to have a gun in the cockpit, usually a handgun for the pilots' self-defense. Some might be equipped with rifles, though very rare. But no airline would equip a plane with a sniper rifle, especially a bolt-action sniper rifle. It seems this Super Magnum was the old man's private collection.
As expected of a captain who can fly the Egypt route. Shiller turned his head back, breathing lightly. Now half his body was numb, and his hearing showed no sign of recovery. If all this was because he bit his own tail, he would make someone look good when he returned to High Tower.
The plane was starting to sink. After a water landing, the sinking time is roughly 90 seconds, but this time they had extended it by more than double. Mainly because this emergency landing was so perfect, neither nose-first nor tail-first but balanced on the water. This led the whole plane to sink slowly; the sinking speed was much slower than before.
Another crucial reason was that in this wave of gunfire, not a single bullet caused a leak in the aircraft. Otherwise, perhaps...
At this thought, Shiller suddenly had an idea. He turned to the captain and said, "Put on a life jacket."
The speed of the plane's sinking started to gradually increase. The hijackers didn't dare come back up; after all, a careless move might cause them to sink with the plane. Once immersed in the water, it's out of their control.
It seemed because the plane was starting to submerge, they thought no one on the plane could survive, so they prepared to sail away. After all, such a large object sinking could churn the water and create formidable forces. Staying too close wouldn't be wise.
As the cockpit also began to submerge underwater, they finally felt relieved. But they waited a while longer, ensuring the plane was deeply sunken before turning to leave.
Having reached more than ten meters underwater with the cockpit, Shiller took out the powerful revolver, aimed at the cockpit glass and fired a "bang." The glass shattered, and seawater gushed in instantly. Once the cockpit was filled, with the internal and external water pressure balanced, Shiller swam out with the captain.