Dear Garrett..

Chapter 27

Extra Long Day…and Night

I rarely heard why I was transporting a particular prisoner. I could have asked the deputies and guards that handed them over to me if I had wanted to know. It was probably best that I didn’t know because, when I did know, I would think about that person a lot throughout the flight wondering what motivated them to get into the predicaments that earned them their prison sentences.

I’d been flying long enough now where handling an aircraft required minimal effort. Though I could fly and think about other things simultaneously, it was best to keep my mind on the task at hand of piloting the aircraft rather than concerning myself with the cause and nature of the misdeeds of a prisoner I was transporting.

A call came in to fly a prisoner to a correctional facility in Atascadero, California. This prisoner was going up because he murdered his wife! He looked to be around age sixty.  I thought he had to be plenty sick to murder his wife.  He looked spaced out during the flight.  Deputies met me at the San Luis Obispo Airport and assumed control of the prisoner. I removed my handcuffs and waist chain from the prisoner and headed back to Watsonville.

This day was going good! I completed my prisoner run early, had lunch after landing back at Watsonville and got in a training flight. Our 5pm happy hour time at Nate’s Bar was nearing when Freeman stepped out of the hangar.  I could tell something was up when he walked toward me    with a more serious expression than usual on his face. Stopping in front of me he said, “Young man, Santa Cruz County just called. You have a prisoner to pick up at the Orange County Airport.”

I enjoyed the pretty sunset as I departed Watsonville and climbed to my cruising altitude for the three hour flight to southern California. Out in the distance to the west, I could see the coastal fog bank hovering low over the waters of the Pacific Ocean. It would be eight hours later and well after midnight before I’d be returning to Watsonville with my prisoner on board. Beating the coastal fog to the Watsonville Airport was always a concern for me on the night time prisoner transports.

I didn’t see the terrain below me as I crossed over the mountains on the northern side of the Los Angeles basin. A moonless night had completely darkened the mountains below me which I was accustomed to seeing on my day time prison runs into the LA Basin. I was glad when I picked up the runway lights at the LAX Airport. It was comforting to know I had an airport nearby I could land at if my engine mechanically failed which seldom occurs.

This would be my first flight to the Orange County Airport. There were a lot of lights in the LA Basin that needed sorting through to find the right airport for my landing. All of my prisoner transports in and out of the LA Basin to date had been flown during daylight hours. The basin looked a lot different at night without the sunlight to illuminate my navigation ground track.

My approach and landing on a north runway went perfect. The airport was quiet. I was able to enjoy the stillness of the late evening as I walked across the airport ramp area to the FBO. It had already been a long day but I still felt good.

The prisoner was a young male. He looked around age 20, thin with long straight dirty blonde hair and a pimply complexion. I could see he was depressed and resigned to the predicament he found himself in. Sheriff deputies had picked him up in Orange County and learned he had a warrant for his arrest in Santa Cruz County.

After a brief exchange of information, the deputies removed their handcuffs from the prisoner as I secured him with my waist chain and cuffs.  The deputies released the prisoner to me and we left the FBO. Realizing it was in his best interest, the prisoner remained quiet, solemn and alert as I secured him into the right rear seat of the Cherokee 140 where I could keep a continuous watch on him via my peripheral vision during the three hour flight back to Santa Cruz County.

The calm night provided for a smooth takeoff as we departed Orange County for Watsonville. Air traffic was still active below our flight path as we crossed over the LAX Airport at midnight. I’d been at work since early that morning and still had another three hours to go before returning the prisoner to Santa Cruz County.

Deputies picked up the prisoner around 3 am at Watsonville making this my longest work day as a professional pilot to date. The airport felt lonesome as the deputies drove away with the prisoner, not busy with the activity I was used to seeing there in the daytime. There was no one else at the airport, Nate’s Bar was closed, and Jennifer would be asleep by now, not that she would have minded me paying her a visit. She was always eager to see me and I her!  In just a few hours I’d show up to work tired again. But this would probably be the only time I’d show up for work tired for a legitimate business reason during my employment at Watsonville Aviation Service as a Prisoner Transportation Deputy.

“TO BE CONTINUED”