METROPOLIS MUNICIPAL AIRPORT - 10:45 A.M / 1645Z
"Everybody all ready to go? Vance asked as he took another
look around the cabin. After receiving the acknowledgement that Sandra and
Jennifer were ready, Vance taxied the C182RG onto the active runway.
Adding power, Vance glanced at all of the engine and navigation
instruments, making sure that all was well. Satisfied, he added full power
and released the brakes. Using only two thousand feet of runway three-six,
the Cessna lifted off of the ground and quickly entered the clouds a few
hundred feet above the airport. Raising the landing gear, Vance entered a
left turn as instructed and pressed the button on the radio panel to
contact Memphis Center.
"Memphis Center...November three six lima delta is airborne
of of Metropolis, climbing through two thousand for six thousand."
Immediately after Vance finished his radio call, the entire
instrument panel went blank.
MEMPHIS AIR ROUTE TRAFFIC CONTROL CENTER - PADUCAH LOW SECTOR
11:28 A.M. / 1728Z
Erin thought she heard the beginning of a radio transmission,
but all she received was static. Looking at her radarscope, Erin briefly
saw a radar target just south of the Metropolis airport. It was just a raw
radar return and didn't display the transponder code assigned to N36LD.
Erin figured that it was one of the many "ghost" radar targets that happen
frequently during IFR weather conditions, when radar beams reflect off of
clouds and water droplets.
Erin looked up at the digital clock to see how long ago she
had given the clearance to N36LD. After checking on the progress of other
aircraft in the sector, and expecting to hear form N36LD soon, Erin looked
in the vicinity of the Metropolis airport, searching for the transponder
target for the aircraft. She was just about to call and see if N36LD was on frequency,
when suddenly, a muffled BOOM! came from behind one of the control room's
walls.
