THE VANISHING  2

As I walked to Delta operations in Dallas I replayed what had happened.  I had just landed Delta Airlines Flight 57. I had left L.A. that morning on the Early Bird flight heading for Atlanta with stops in Las Vegas and Dallas.  The flight to Las Vegas had been routine.  We then took off, climbing to altitude and leveled off above the desert at Flight Level 370 just as the sun rose above the eastern horizon.  It was blinding so I pulled my sunscreen down and closed my eyes.  The sun was warm on my face making me drowsy so I put on my quick doning oxygen mask.  Never the less I must have dozed off.  I awoke with a start and turned to apologize to the other guys and was surprised to see they were asleep as well.   I shook the First Officer and Flight Engineer.  They had difficulty waking up and appeared disoriented.
I called for a flight attendant to get some coffee for us.  No one answered.  I made a PA asking for one to come forward.  No response.  Making sure the aircraft was safely on autopilot, I got out of my seat, walked back to the cockpit door, and opened it.  Everyone appeared asleep.  I went to the A-Line Flight Attendant and tried to wake her up.  She was listless, unable to focus on what I was saying.  All the passengers were either asleep or in a stupor.
I climbed back in my seat and strapped in.  The sky was clear so I could see the desert below and mountains in the distance.   Checking the fuel gauges, I saw they were normal.  Fighting to control myself I squawked 7700, the emergency code on the transponder and called air traffic control center.  While they were searching for me, I checked my VOR to establish my position.  About the same time center found me, I established my position as 50 miles east of Tuba City, Arizona. I declared an emergency and asked center for clearance direct Dallas. They asked me where I had come from as they had no flight plan or previous radar contact with me and also wanted to know the nature of my emergency.  I stammered, "We left Las Vegas at 0530.  I-I don't know what's going on.  Everyone is unconscious.  Have ambulances standing by.  I have 157 passengers and crew on board." They came back with, "Roger, Delta 57, fly heading 095.  Keep us advised."   As I continued the flight to Dallas, playing pilot and flight engineer the co-pilot and engineer slowly came around but remained disoriented.  Back in my Captain zone the flight, approach, and landing were uneventful.
By the time we got to the gate in Dallas, everyone was ambulatory.  Medics escorted them to waiting buses to take them to the hospital.  The station manager was just as shocked as I was.  He had no idea what was going on.  He took me to the pilot lounge to rest while he contacted the company.
I fell asleep immediately and had a dream.  I was sitting in my cockpit seat when suddenly the aircraft was engulfed in what looked like static electricity.
The station manager came in and woke me.  I could tell he was nervous as he told me the company was sending some people out from Atlanta, and in the meantime, they wanted him to take me to the hospital for a check-up.  I thought there may have been some sort of failure in the pressurization system causing us all to blackout so I agreed to go. On the way, the station manager asked me to tell him again when I left L.A.  I told him,  "This morning, we pushed back at four o'clock.  The hour meter on the aircraft should confirm my flight time."  Looking at me with a strange look on his face he said, "Your flight has been missing for nearly a month."

Marshall Kimbrough-Warren