Latest / Suspense / The Long Night
Transcript
- 0:02Speaker 1: Suspense. And the producer of radio's outstanding theater of thrills,
- 0:08Speaker 1: the master of mystery and adventure, William N. Robeson.
- 0:13Speaker 2: A couple of years ago, we were delighted to chill
- 0:15Speaker 2: our audience with the performance of Frank Lovejoy in a
- 0:19Speaker 2: story of civilian aviation called The Long Night.
- 0:23Speaker 3: Since that time, Mr.
- 0:24Speaker 2: Lovejoy, undaunted by the terrors of his performance, began taking
- 0:28Speaker 2: flying lessons and recently qualified and was licensed.
- 0:32Speaker 3: as a private pilot.
- 0:34Speaker 2: This accomplishment, plus the many requests of air-minded listeners, have
- 0:38Speaker 2: impelled us to repeat the story now, with a deep
- 0:41Speaker 2: bow of appreciation to the unsung heroes of the Civil
- 0:44Speaker 2: Aeronautics Administration, who man the control towers of the nation's
- 0:48Speaker 2: airports all day long and through every long night. Listen,
- 0:53Speaker 2: listen then, as Frank Lovejoy stars in The Long Night,
- 0:57Speaker 2: which begins in just a moment.
- 0:59Speaker 4: Memo on medals. Interesting information about our military awards and decorations.
- 1:06Speaker 4: For almost the first half century of its existence, from
- 1:09Speaker 4: 1862 till 1904, the original design of the Medal of
- 1:14Speaker 4: Honor was identical for both the Army and Navy. A
- 1:18Speaker 4: five-pointed star with a large medallion in the center showing
- 1:21Speaker 4: the goddess of wisdom, Minerva, warding off the figure of discord.
- 1:26Speaker 4: The Navy Medal of Honor hung suspended from its ribbon
- 1:29Speaker 4: by a small anchor. the Army Medal of Honor by
- 1:33Speaker 4: an eagle resting on crossed cannons. Originally, the ribbon was
- 1:37Speaker 4: the same for both branches of service, 13 vertical stripes
- 1:42Speaker 4: of red and white topped with a blue border. In 1904,
- 1:47Speaker 4: the Army changed its medal to the present design, with
- 1:51Speaker 4: just the head profile of Minerva in the center of
- 1:54Speaker 4: a smaller star backed with a green enamel laurel wreath.
- 1:59Speaker 4: In 1913, the Navy changed its Medal of Honor service ribbon,
- 2:03Speaker 4: and 1919 made an additional change, resulting in the present-day design,
- 2:09Speaker 4: five white stars on a field of blue. The Medal
- 2:13Speaker 4: of Honor today, as in the past, remains the highest
- 2:17Speaker 4: military decoration that can be earned by an American serviceman
- 2:22Speaker 4: for devotion and valor above and beyond the call of duties.
- 2:27Speaker 4: It is an inspiring call to great sacrifice and dedication,
- 2:31Speaker 4: undimmed throughout the long years of our history as a
- 2:35Speaker 4: free people.
- 2:37Speaker 1: And now, The Long Night, starring Frank Lovejoy. A tale
- 2:44Speaker 1: well calculated to keep you in suspense.
- 2:50Speaker 3: Rockford Radio, this is Delta 2318, over. Delta 2318, this
- 2:57Speaker 3: is Rockford Radio. Go ahead.
- 2:59Speaker 5: You stand in the airport control tower, 90 feet up
- 3:02Speaker 5: in the sky over Rockford Field, waiting to go on
- 3:04Speaker 5: the night watch. And you listen to the babble of
- 3:08Speaker 5: voices that fill the crowded room in an endless series
- 3:10Speaker 5: of requests. Requests for an altitude change, requests for landing permission,
- 3:16Speaker 5: requests for the weather. Ceiling 2,200 feet and lowering steadily.
- 3:20Speaker 5: Smoke and haze below cloud ceiling.
- 3:23Speaker 3: With fog blowing in from the northeast.
- 3:25Speaker 5: Clouds, smoke, haze, and fog in a ceiling getting lower
- 3:29Speaker 5: every minute. This is going to be a long night. Okay, Charlie,
- 3:33Speaker 5: I'll take it.
- 3:33Speaker 3: Yeah, well, happy landing.
- 3:35Speaker 5: So long, Charlie. Rockford, this is TWA Flight 70, 11,000 feet, Medford, 2100.
- 3:44Speaker 3: TWA 70, acknowledge.
- 3:52Speaker 5: Rockford.
- 3:53Speaker 3: Rockford Tower, this is Beechcraft Bonanza 91457.
- 3:58Speaker 5: Beechcraft 91457, this is Rockford Tower, over. I've been homing.
- 4:02Speaker 3: On your range, and apparently my automatic direction finder isn't
- 4:07Speaker 3: working right.
- 4:09Speaker 5: Seems to be the trouble with your ADF.
- 4:11Speaker 3: I don't know exactly. I've been changing from one range
- 4:15Speaker 3: to another just like I was told to, and I
- 4:17Speaker 3: ought to have been somewhere over Minneapolis long ago. I'm not....
- 4:22Speaker 5: All right, 457, we'll work something out for you. Where
- 4:24Speaker 5: are you flying from?
- 4:25Speaker 3: Indianapolis.
- 4:27Speaker 5: What was your last known position?
- 4:30Speaker 3: Gee, last... Well, I'm trying to think. I guess the
- 4:36Speaker 3: last time I positively knew where I was was when
- 4:39Speaker 3: I departed Indianapolis.
- 4:41Speaker 5: What time was that?
- 4:43Speaker 3: About 5.30, maybe 5.45.
- 4:46Speaker 5: 5.30? Please verify. That would be more than three hours
- 4:51Speaker 5: en route. You should be well out of my range.
- 4:54Speaker 3: Yeah, I know, but I've been circling for more than
- 4:56Speaker 3: an hour trying to make the ADF work and looking
- 4:59Speaker 3: for Rockford.
- 5:00Speaker 5: What's your remaining fuel?
- 5:03Speaker 3: Well, I guess there's no use kidding myself. I think
- 5:06Speaker 3: I've got about 45 minutes. Maybe it's the very best
- 5:09Speaker 3: an hour.
- 5:11Speaker 5: What's your altitude?
- 5:14Speaker 3: I'm at 5,000 indicated, about 1,000 above the clouds.
- 5:20Speaker 5: 457, take a good look around you. Are there any
- 5:23Speaker 5: breaks in that overcast? Do you see any holes, any
- 5:26Speaker 5: thin spots in your area at all?
- 5:29Speaker 3: No. No, no, it's solid. It's a completely solid layer.
- 5:35Speaker 5: Are you an instrument pilot?
- 5:37Speaker 3: What do you mean?
- 5:39Speaker 5: I mean, you checked out on instruments. Do you have
- 5:41Speaker 5: any instrument training?
- 5:42Speaker 3: No, no, no, I've never been.
- 5:49Speaker 1: On instruments in my life.
- 5:52Speaker 5: I'm just lost.
- 5:59Speaker 1: In a moment, we continue with the second act of... Suspense.
- 6:05Speaker 5: Another visit with Joe and Daphne Forsythe. Ooh, ow, ouch.
- 6:12Speaker 5: What's wrong, Joe?
- 6:13Speaker 6: Daphne, have you been using my razor again?
- 6:16Speaker 5: Just a little.
- 6:17Speaker 2: I was peeling peaches.
- 6:19Speaker 1: Oh, fine.
- 6:20Speaker 3: Why didn't you change the blade?
- 6:22Speaker 6: It feels like you've been sharpening pencils with this thing.
- 6:25Speaker 1: Now, just a minute, buddy.
- 6:28Speaker 2: It was you who said we could use more economy
- 6:31Speaker 2: around here.
- 6:32Speaker 5: And I've been shaving wherever I can.
- 6:34Speaker 2: And by shaving the skin off the peaches.
- 6:36Speaker 5: But look at my face. Think how the Red Cross
- 6:39Speaker 5: could have used all this blood.
- 6:42Speaker 1: It's your own fault. You and your economy.
- 6:45Speaker 6: Well, being penny conscious isn't such a bad idea. Not
- 6:49Speaker 6: if you use common sense. Take savings bonds, for instance.
- 6:53Speaker 5: Uh-uh. Here it comes.
- 6:54Speaker 1: Go right ahead and scoff.
- 6:56Speaker 6: But I got eight million Americans who agree with me.
- 6:59Speaker 3: We all buy savings bonds.
- 7:01Speaker 5: On the payroll saving plan.
- 7:03Speaker 6: Because we know that investing in bonds is the best
- 7:06Speaker 6: way to use our money.
- 7:07Speaker 7: We could use some of that money around here.
- 7:09Speaker 5: Well, maybe, or maybe we just think we can.
- 7:12Speaker 6: When we buy bonds, we guarantee we'll have the money
- 7:15Speaker 6: in the future, when we'll certainly need it more.
- 7:18Speaker 1: Stop waving that razor.
- 7:20Speaker 5: You're splattering me with soap.
- 7:22Speaker 6: Well, I don't mean to get excited, but who wouldn't?
- 7:25Speaker 6: Where else can a man make an investment that's guaranteed
- 7:28Speaker 6: to pay off $ 4 for every $ 3?
- 7:30Speaker 5: And guaranteed by the credit of the whole U.S. of A.
- 7:34Speaker 3: So there.
- 7:35Speaker 5: Bravo! Bravo!
- 7:37Speaker 3: All right, all right.
- 7:38Speaker 5: Now let me change the blade and get back to shaving.
- 7:40Speaker 5: I think I'll stay and watch. Why? Because you're so
- 7:43Speaker 5: cute when you cut yourself.
- 7:45Speaker 3: Oh, fine.
- 7:47Speaker 1: And now, starring Frank Lovejoy, Act Two of The Long Night.
- 7:55Speaker 5: You look at the clock, 9.04. You look at the
- 7:59Speaker 5: clock and mentally gift yourself 45 minutes. 45 minutes to
- 8:03Speaker 5: find him, break him in, and get him on the ground.
- 8:07Speaker 5: Your mouth feels dry, you reach for a cigarette, you
- 8:10Speaker 5: do the next thing that must be done. How am I?
- 8:13Speaker 3: Yeah.
- 8:14Speaker 5: ATC emergency.
- 8:15Speaker 3: Roger. This is Rockford Tower.
- 8:19Speaker 5: Emergency to all concerned.
- 8:21Speaker 1: Emergency landing at Rockford Airport.
- 8:23Speaker 5: All aircraft below 8,000 feet within 20 miles of Rockford
- 8:26Speaker 5: radio range leave courses.
- 8:28Speaker 1: Immediately and maintain.
- 8:29Speaker 5: Rockford Tower, Beechcraft, 91457. Command 457. Okay, Rockford. Tell me,
- 8:33Speaker 5: are you familiar with range orientation? No, I don't know
- 8:35Speaker 5: anything about that either. I'm just a businessman with a
- 8:38Speaker 5: new airplane.
- 8:47Speaker 3: I know only enough about the radio to tune in
- 8:50Speaker 3: the station. I know I'm lost, though. I need help.
- 8:54Speaker 3: These gas tanks aren't getting any fuller.
- 8:57Speaker 5: Yes, yes, I know. Now, I'm going to try and
- 9:00Speaker 5: fix on you and bring you in over the Rockford Airport.
- 9:04Speaker 5: I'll tell you what must be done, but you've got
- 9:06Speaker 5: to do it. I can't fly the airplane for you.
- 9:09Speaker 3: Do you understand? Yeah, okay, Rockford. I understand.
- 9:12Speaker 5: I want you to listen very closely to the range signal.
- 9:15Speaker 5: Put everything else out of your mind. Listen and describe
- 9:19Speaker 5: exactly what you hear. Okay.
- 9:21Speaker 3: Hello, Rockford. I hear a code sound. Is that the range?
- 9:27Speaker 5: That's right. Now, what does it sound like?
- 9:29Speaker 3: Well, it goes... Okay, 457. Now, is it loud or soft?
- 9:33Speaker 5: It's pretty loud. Okay, that's the N quadrant. Now, I
- 9:43Speaker 5: want you to tune to the Madison, Wisconsin range and
- 9:46Speaker 5: tell me what you hear.
- 9:47Speaker 3: Okay, wait a minute.
- 9:51Speaker 1: Yes.
- 9:52Speaker 3: Hello, Rockford. I've got the Madison range.
- 9:55Speaker 5: What does that read?
- 9:57Speaker 3: Well, it's just like the other, only backwards. Dish down,
- 10:01Speaker 3: dish down.
- 10:02Speaker 5: That's right.
- 10:03Speaker 3: I can hardly hear it, but it's.
- 10:05Speaker 5: There, all right. Okay, 457. Now, that's the A quadrant. Now,
- 10:10Speaker 5: I want you to try Peoria and then Chicago. Rockford, Madison, Peoria, Chicago.
- 10:19Speaker 5: Four corners to check from. Four radio sounds that you
- 10:24Speaker 5: hope he's reading correctly. You finish the check and he
- 10:27Speaker 5: comes through without a bobble. You know you have him fixed.
- 10:30Speaker 5: You know at least his direction from you. You take
- 10:34Speaker 5: a deep breath and for the first time... you feel
- 10:36Speaker 5: a tiny flicker of hope that you're going to find
- 10:39Speaker 5: your stranger... and get him in all right. But you're
- 10:42Speaker 5: a long way from home. You light another cigarette... and
- 10:45Speaker 5: you push the black microphone button hard. Now listen carefully... 457,
- 10:50Speaker 5: I'm going to run a check procedure on you. I
- 10:53Speaker 5: want you to take up a northeast heading. Turn your
- 10:58Speaker 5: volume down as low as you can and still receive
- 11:01Speaker 5: the rain signal. At the very moment you detect the
- 11:05Speaker 5: change in signal strength, either higher or lower, advise me.
- 11:10Speaker 3: All right, Rockford, I'll do my best. Hello, Rockford. My
- 11:15Speaker 3: gauges indicate empty tanks. There's some gas left, I know,
- 11:19Speaker 3: but I have no idea how much. You know where
- 11:21Speaker 3: I am?
- 11:23Speaker 5: I'm quite sure of your direction from me, and I
- 11:26Speaker 5: believe I know how far you are out within, say,
- 11:29Speaker 5: 20 miles. If what you've told me is correct, I
- 11:32Speaker 5: estimate you have 30 minutes' fuel remaining. I believe your
- 11:35Speaker 5: gauges are indicating normally. Now try to concentrate on doing
- 11:39Speaker 5: what I've told you to do.
- 11:41Speaker 2: Yeah.
- 11:42Speaker 3: Okay, Rockford. I... I don't want you to think I'm ungrateful.
- 11:46Speaker 3: I realize you can't afford mistakes, but I can't last
- 11:52Speaker 3: much longer. I'm not trying to hurry you, but the
- 11:54Speaker 3: gauges say empty and my son is getting sick.
- 11:57Speaker 5: You didn't say anything about having any passengers aboard. How
- 12:01Speaker 5: many are there?
- 12:02Speaker 3: Just my son and me.
- 12:05Speaker 5: Is the air rough? Is there turbulence?
- 12:07Speaker 3: No, the air is smooth.
- 12:09Speaker 5: You said your son is getting sick.
- 12:11Speaker 3: Why, he's scared. That's what's making him think. You see,
- 12:15Speaker 3: he's only nine years old.
- 12:24Speaker 1: In a moment, we continue with the third act of... Suspense.
- 12:31Speaker 7: We have together ample capacity in freedom to defend freedom.
- 12:38Speaker 3: This is NATO.
- 12:40Speaker 7: the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Soviet-dominated nations are held together
- 12:46Speaker 7: only by political and military coercion. The strength and fiber
- 12:50Speaker 7: of NATO lies in the fundamental unity in the face
- 12:53Speaker 7: of dangers which threaten. Thanks to this solid fundamental unity,
- 12:58Speaker 7: NATO nations can overcome difficulties and bring into harmony their
- 13:02Speaker 7: individual points of view. The United States of America is
- 13:06Speaker 7: a part of NATO. You should be aware of and
- 13:09Speaker 7: alert to the objectives and programs of the North Atlantic
- 13:13Speaker 7: Treaty Organization.
- 13:14Speaker 1: And now, starring Frank Lovejoy, Act Three of The Long Night.
- 13:23Speaker 5: You don't say anything for a long minute. You just
- 13:27Speaker 5: stare out into the miserable night and your thoughts are
- 13:29Speaker 5: not nice. You think of your own kid and you
- 13:33Speaker 5: thank God he's home safely in bed. And now you
- 13:38Speaker 5: have an even stronger reason to bring this stranger home.
- 13:43Speaker 5: You reach for the microphone button. Now listen carefully, 457.
- 13:49Speaker 5: You should be approaching my west leg, close into the station.
- 13:53Speaker 5: I want you to listen carefully and describe any change
- 13:56Speaker 5: in your signal. I won't call you. You call me
- 13:59Speaker 5: when you hear anything change.
- 14:02Speaker 3: Okay, Rockford. Hello, Rockford. The signal is much louder now,
- 14:09Speaker 3: and I'm getting more of a continuous tone in my earphones,
- 14:14Speaker 3: although I.
- 14:14Speaker 5: Can still hear that other signal. All right, 457. That's fine.
- 14:17Speaker 5: That's good. Now listen carefully. When you hear nothing but
- 14:21Speaker 5: a tone, when there's nothing but a loud buzz in
- 14:23Speaker 5: your ears, I want you to turn right to 93
- 14:29Speaker 5: degrees on your compass. Do you understand me?
- 14:32Speaker 3: Yeah, I understand. Turn right to 93 degrees on the
- 14:36Speaker 3: compass when I hear a loud tone.
- 14:40Speaker 5: That is correct.
- 14:41Speaker 3: The tone is strong now. I don't hear the other signal,
- 14:44Speaker 3: nothing but the tone, shall I?
- 14:46Speaker 5: Yes, yes. Turn right. Turn to 93 degrees and advise.
- 14:51Speaker 3: Advise?
- 14:52Speaker 5: Advise when on course, when on 93 degrees, advise.
- 14:55Speaker 3: Oh, Roger. Advise when on... Oh, I'm on course now
- 14:59Speaker 3: on 93. Good.
- 15:00Speaker 5: Good. You're approaching the range now, almost over the station.
- 15:05Speaker 5: The range is about two miles from where I'm sitting.
- 15:09Speaker 5: The signal you hear will continue to increase in volume
- 15:12Speaker 5: until you cross the range. At that time, it will
- 15:15Speaker 5: fade out quickly, and for a moment you may hear nothing.
- 15:19Speaker 5: Then it will increase again rapidly. Now, at the very
- 15:23Speaker 5: instant your signal fades, I want you to make an
- 15:26Speaker 5: immediate left turn to a heading of four, five degrees.
- 15:31Speaker 5: You take that heading and advise. Understand?
- 15:34Speaker 3: I understand.
- 15:36Speaker 5: Mike.
- 15:36Speaker 7: Yeah.
- 15:38Speaker 5: Get on the phone and alert the local police and
- 15:40Speaker 5: fire departments. Tell them what we've got.
- 15:42Speaker 3: Roger.
- 15:42Speaker 5: Get all the lights on on the field and the
- 15:44Speaker 5: runway markers. If we get them down through this, he
- 15:47Speaker 5: won't have any time to spend looking for the field.
- 15:49Speaker 3: Yeah, will do.
- 15:51Speaker 5: That is... If we get him down through it.
- 16:02Speaker 3: Rockford, Rockford, I'm over the range. It's running a turn.
- 16:06Speaker 3: It's just like you said.
- 16:08Speaker 5: It's exactly the way you said it would be. Roger, 457.
- 16:11Speaker 5: You're doing fine. Now, come left to 45. Straight and level.
- 16:17Speaker 5: Hold it until I tell you different. I'll call you back.
- 16:20Speaker 5: I think you've got him, Kent. If he's where he
- 16:23Speaker 5: ought to be, we'll hear him in about 20 seconds.
- 16:26Speaker 5: I'm going out on the platform and listen. Let me
- 16:27Speaker 5: know if he calls in.
- 16:29Speaker 3: Okay.
- 16:33Speaker 5: You stand on the steel grating of the tower platform.
- 16:37Speaker 5: You try to hear over the sounds from the field below.
- 16:40Speaker 5: You strain your ears for a sound that should come
- 16:42Speaker 5: to you out of the southwest. You never want to
- 16:46Speaker 5: hear anything so much in your life. You hold your breath.
- 16:49Speaker 5: You stop breathing to hear better. And then it's there,
- 16:54Speaker 5: a single engine singing a quiet, sweet sound and approaching
- 16:58Speaker 5: directly on course. Flick your burning cigarette out into the
- 17:02Speaker 5: black space and stumble back into the tower room and
- 17:05Speaker 5: grab the mic. 457, this is Rockford. You're over the field.
- 17:10Speaker 5: I hear you clearly. Start a 360 immediately and orbit
- 17:15Speaker 5: in your present area.
- 17:17Speaker 3: Beginning a 360. For God's sake, tell.
- 17:24Speaker 5: Me what to do with this engine that's ready to quit.
- 17:27Speaker 5: Have a look at the clock. It's 9.46. Five, maybe
- 17:30Speaker 5: six minutes more if you're lucky. Six minutes at the
- 17:33Speaker 5: outside to get him lined up properly for a straight-in approach.
- 17:36Speaker 5: To talk him down through 4,000 feet of solid cloud.
- 17:41Speaker 5: Six minutes to bring off a miracle. You mash the
- 17:45Speaker 5: microphone button hard and you try to sound calm. Four, five, seven,
- 17:49Speaker 5: I hear you plainly. You're circling the airport. Now, there
- 17:53Speaker 5: isn't time to talk this thing out. You'll have to
- 17:55Speaker 5: do exactly what I tell you to do the first time,
- 17:58Speaker 5: and do it right. There simply isn't enough time.
- 18:01Speaker 3: Wait a minute.
- 18:02Speaker 5: Do you have any parachutes aboard?
- 18:04Speaker 3: No, don't come.
- 18:06Speaker 5: All right, all right, we'll have to do it this way. Now,
- 18:08Speaker 5: listen to what I say. You don't have to talk,
- 18:11Speaker 5: you just listen. Now, come around to a due west heading.
- 18:16Speaker 5: Due west. As you do, start slowing her down. Slow
- 18:20Speaker 5: her down. Trim her up for a power approach. A
- 18:23Speaker 5: normal power approach.
- 18:26Speaker 7: Do you understand?
- 18:26Speaker 3: I understand, Rock.
- 18:29Speaker 5: Don't talk. Don't talk. Just bring her around. Head west.
- 18:34Speaker 5: Power on. Slow her down. Flaps down to approach position.
- 18:39Speaker 5: Trim her up. Make her steady. Advise me when you're
- 18:42Speaker 5: headed west and slow down.
- 18:46Speaker 3: I'm trying to get her steady. I'm trying to.
- 18:50Speaker 5: Do what you told me.
- 18:51Speaker 3: All right, 457.
- 18:52Speaker 5: Don't talk. Advise when on course.
- 18:57Speaker 3: Rockford, I'm on 270 now, slowing down. I don't know.
- 19:03Speaker 3: I just don't know.
- 19:06Speaker 5: I know you don't know. All we can do is try.
- 19:11Speaker 3: I'm down to 80 now. I'll blast down and power on.
- 19:15Speaker 5: Roger. Now, 457. You're going to bring her around very
- 19:20Speaker 5: slowly and precisely to an east heading. You're going to
- 19:26Speaker 5: handle her very gently so she won't fall off on
- 19:29Speaker 5: you flying so slow. Do you hear me?
- 19:31Speaker 3: Yes, I hear you.
- 19:33Speaker 5: Let her continue to settle at 500 feet a minute.
- 19:37Speaker 5: Just bring her around slowly to the east, recover, and
- 19:42Speaker 5: then take your hands off the controls.
- 19:45Speaker 3: She won't fly with my hands off.
- 19:47Speaker 5: She will fly. She'll fly better than you can. Now
- 19:50Speaker 5: listen to me. When you're eastbound, hands off. She'll descend
- 19:56Speaker 5: slowly into the clouds. After you're in those clouds, do
- 20:00Speaker 5: not touch the controls.
- 20:01Speaker 3: I don't think that I can.
- 20:05Speaker 5: Don't think. Do as I tell you. Now, when you
- 20:09Speaker 5: get in the clouds, everything will change for you. You'll
- 20:13Speaker 5: think the airplane is all wrong, that it's doing everything
- 20:15Speaker 5: it shouldn't do. If you leave it alone, it'll start
- 20:18Speaker 5: a slow spiral to the left, but I don't think
- 20:20Speaker 5: it'll be enough to do any harm until you've broken
- 20:22Speaker 5: out under the ceiling. Now, whatever it does, you'll think
- 20:27Speaker 5: it's going to the right or up or down or
- 20:29Speaker 5: even spinning. But it won't be doing any of those
- 20:32Speaker 5: things unless you make it do them. Now, don't touch it.
- 20:38Speaker 5: Are you eastbound?
- 20:39Speaker 3: I'm eastbound, yes.
- 20:42Speaker 5: Now take your hands off the controls.
- 20:45Speaker 3: But I.
- 20:45Speaker 5: Take your hands off now. Okay.
- 20:50Speaker 3: Hands are off.
- 20:52Speaker 5: Now just let her have it. Let her fly herself.
- 20:55Speaker 5: Ceiling's down to 600 feet, Kent. Doesn't give him much
- 21:00Speaker 5: time to recover and get his bearings when he breaks out,
- 21:02Speaker 5: but it's all we can do. It's all anybody can do.
- 21:11Speaker 5: You stand there waiting. You're only too aware of what
- 21:15Speaker 5: can be happening in the cabin of Beechcraft 457. Sweating
- 21:19Speaker 5: out each second of the time with a terrified pilot
- 21:22Speaker 5: and his deathly scared kids. You wonder if this man,
- 21:27Speaker 5: this stranger, and yet no longer a stranger, can keep
- 21:30Speaker 5: his fantasies under control for the long letdown. The lonely,
- 21:35Speaker 5: long letdown through total darkness was nothing but a great
- 21:39Speaker 5: fear for her companion. A minute goes by, another, and then... Rocket! Rocket!
- 21:48Speaker 3: It's turning, Rocket! Turning S-B-5 going higher!
- 21:52Speaker 5: Get off those controls! Cut the throttle!
- 21:56Speaker 3: I've got the throttle closed, but she's slowing down fast!
- 21:59Speaker 5: I can't see, I can't... All right, she's going to stall.
- 22:02Speaker 5: Give her the throttle slowly. Keep your hands off except
- 22:05Speaker 5: the throttle. She'll climb back out on top if you
- 22:09Speaker 5: keep your hands off her. Two minutes wasted. And now
- 22:14Speaker 5: if the teacup of gas still in his tank holds out,
- 22:17Speaker 5: if he gets back on top, you still have to
- 22:20Speaker 5: do it all over again. You begin to feel the
- 22:24Speaker 5: long night closing in on you. He's almost calm when
- 22:29Speaker 5: he calls you back this time. You can almost hear
- 22:32Speaker 5: his sigh of relief.
- 22:34Speaker 3: Hello, Rockford. I'm back on top now.
- 22:38Speaker 5: Good. Now let's try it with the power off this time.
- 22:42Speaker 3: No use, Rockford. It's just no use. I can't do it.
- 22:47Speaker 3: I was fine until I got into those clouds. I
- 22:50Speaker 3: just couldn't sit there and do nothing. I just couldn't.
- 22:56Speaker 3: I know I can't do it again.
- 22:58Speaker 5: Listen, there's time. There's time for another try.
- 23:01Speaker 3: Forget it. The engine just quit. That's it, Rockford.
- 23:06Speaker 5: You can still.
- 23:07Speaker 3: Forget it. You're wasting your time.
- 23:15Speaker 5: I just want to say thanks for trying. Hello, 457. Hello, Beach, 457.
- 23:20Speaker 5: He can't hear you, Ken.
- 23:24Speaker 1: His hands froze to the mic.
- 23:25Speaker 5: Yeah. Yeah.
- 23:35Speaker 1: You'd better hit the crash button.
- 23:38Speaker 3: Roger.
- 23:45Speaker 5: Rockford Tower to all planes awaiting landing instructions.
- 23:50Speaker 1: The emergency is over.
- 23:51Speaker 5: Normal radio procedure.
- 23:53Speaker 1: Is now in effect. Rockford Tower out.
- 24:01Speaker 5: This is United 512 at 12,000 feet, plain view range
- 24:07Speaker 5: at 2151.
- 24:18Speaker 1: Suspense. In which Frank Lovejoy starred in William N. Robeson's
- 24:24Speaker 1: production of The Long Night. Adapted by Sam Pierce from
- 24:28Speaker 1: the story by Lowell D. Blanton. Supporting Frank Lovejoy and
- 24:33Speaker 1: The Long Night were Barney Phillips, Peter Leeds, Sam Pierce,
- 24:37Speaker 1: and Eddie Firestone. Listen.
- 24:41Speaker 3: Listen again next week when we return with It's All
- 24:46Speaker 3: in Your Mind starring Barry Kroger. A tale of telepathy
- 24:51Speaker 3: and terror well calculated to keep you in Suspense.
- 25:06Speaker 5: Is your job at risk to AI?