Running Low On Fuel

Running Low On Fuel

Crossing The Arctic Circle

Alaska

June 2007

 It is around 10PM when we board the plane which will take us across the Arctic Circle. There are six passengers and one pilot.  Glenn, my brother-in-law, sits in the front seat with the pilot.  I sit right behind the pilot. The pilot tells us that he has already put in a long day but he won't finish until 2AM when he brings us back to this airport.  He is jovial and causal as he flies low along the mountain ridge.  Glenn is engaging him in conversation when he notices that the fuel gage indicates  that we are running out of fuel.

"Hey buddy, do you see this?  We are almost out of fuel," Glenn alerts him.

"Oh that, yea, don't worry about it.  That gage is broken and we have a backup tank so we should be OK", he tells us with a tone that is too casual for me. I am not comforted by his reassurance. But we don't crash and I see him checking on the fuel tank with we land and I decide to sit further away from the dashboard on the way back.