Read Online Threnody (Book 1) by Kirk Withrow - Free Book Online

like the one that occurred a couple months earlier.  “Looks like a big one,” he mumbled to himself.  I better check with the tower to ensure it’s been reported .  As he approached the airport from the west, he began his slow descent.
    Though Huntington Airfield was small it recently became tower-controlled during certain times of the day, after a large shipping company began using the field as a regional distribution point, significantly increasing the number of flights per day.  It was 6:31 P.M., and the airport was tower-controlled until 7:00 P.M., at which time it reverted back to non-towered operations.  When he was about five nautical miles out from the airport approaching class D airspace, he tuned his COMM radio to the air traffic control frequency.  “Huntington Tower, Cessna one-two-seven-five Charlie Foxtrot,” called John over the radio.  He waited for the obligatory read back but heard only static in his headset.  He repeated the radio call, and again heard nothing but static.  John considered the possibility of a comm failure, but after rechecking the radio, he found no indication of malfunction.
    “Huntington Tower, Cessna one-two-seven-five Charlie Foxtrot, four miles west, requesting clearance to land.  Do you copy?'  After a pause, only the low hiss of static resonated in his headset once more.  Maybe tower control closed up shop early?   John dismissed this idea when he thought of Fred, who was tower control at Huntington, and who was definitely not a ‘close up early’ kind of guy.
    By now John was nearly over the airfield and saw no other aircraft in the surrounding airspace.  He tuned his transponder to 7600 to indicate a communications failure and decided to circle around the airfield in order to capture the attention of tower control.  After acquiring their attention he would simply line up for the approach and look for the steady green light indicating acknowledgment and clearance to land.  As he flew over the runway and the several associated terminal buildings, John noted the lack of activity on the ground, which was uncharacteristic at this time of day even for this small airport.  The only airplane in sight was a twin-engine Beechcraft Baron idling at the foot of the runway.  John thought it might be old man Hasker’s new plane, an aircraft that was far more plane than the old pilot could handle in his opinion.
    As John lined up the nose of his aircraft on his anticipated approach heading, the fine mist intensified, peppering the cockpit of the single engine plane.  John was nonplussed when he saw no light gun signal coming from the tower.  Where the hell was Fred?   When constructing his flight plan prior to departure, John estimated he had enough fuel in his tanks for his intended flight with little to spare.  Anxious to get home, he decided not to take the extra time to top off his tanks prior to departure.  Now with his fuel level getting low and an apparent radio failure, he cautiously decided to continue his unauthorized approach.
    When he was on his final approach, he tried once more to raise Huntington tower without success.  Additionally, his attempts to contact the Baron also proved fruitless.  The Baron, which was in position on the runway as if waiting for takeoff clearance, was his main concern.
    “The Baron must not be able to raise the tower either,” John muttered to himself.  He heard no radio chatter, and he knew no pilot could wait patiently for that long after run up.  What is going on down there?   The last thing John wanted was a collision with the twin if it was given clearance just as he came in on his unauthorized approach.  As John grew nearer to the runway, he realized the twin did indeed belong to Mr. Hasker, a retired air force pilot and a fixture around the local hangars.  Though John never said anything, he secretly wondered if the senescent old man might have been at Kitty Hawk when the Wright brothers made the first