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He shoved the joystick forward in an atteh

Even though the warhead didn’t make a direct i the chopper with shrapnel

The windscreen was peppered with metal shards, and two of theushed down his face, obscuring his vision, but he didn’t feel any pain Not yet

The explosion also hit the engine, and s lights flashed like it was Times Square

He could feel the lift decreasing, and the helicopter swung crazily froer

“Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!” Gomez shouted into the headset as he wrestled with the controls “I’ down”

He didn’t get an answer, so he didn’t know if his radio had been hit as well

The lacier on one side of the island He aimed the MD 520N for the flattest portion

As he approached, the engine suddenly cut out, and he had to glide in as best he could using autorotation His depth perception was gone, so gauging his speed as he headed for the white expanse was nearly impossible

He used his thousands of flight hours to guess when to flare out Too early and he’d drop like a stone Too late and he’d slah speed

He was too early, but only a little He was hovering just feet over the glacier when the last of the lift gave out The helicopter lurched doard, but the soft snow cushioned its fall, and then it reht as the skids sank into the powder The rotor blades slowly came to a stop and the cabin went eerily silent

Gomez keyed the radio, but all he heard was static

Then the pain finally hit His leg throbbed and his head ached He reached in the first-aid kit and grabbed and ripped open soainst his te, too, but it didn’t look serious

If the drone saw him, it certainly saw the NUMA ship, and it lacier was going to be a proble co for the Deepwater

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