Chapter 1-3 Summary:
1. Thirteen-year-old Brian Robeson sits in a small bush plane, looking out the window into
a blurry green wilderness. The only other person is the plane is the pilot, a quiet middleaged man.
2. he soon becomes distracted thinking about the circumstances that led to the flight. His
thoughts begin with the single word “divorce,” which he reflects on unhappily,
remembering the fights and legal battles that his mother and father have been going
through.
3. When Brian says that it’s his first time in any kind of plane, the pilot encourages him to
take the controls and steer for a few moments. Brian enjoys learning the controls and is
surprised to find that steering is easy. The pilot tells Brian that “all of flying is easy. Just
takes learning. Like everything else.”
4. When Brian didn't answer, his mother presented him with a present for his trip, a
new hatchet with a belt loop. He felt guilty for hurting his mother, so he attached the
hatchet to his belt, even though he thought it looked silly.
5. Brian realizes that the pilot is having a heart attack and watches helplessly as the pilot
thrashes in agony, knocking the plane’s controls as he does so. Brian struggles to
comprehend what he is seeing, watching as the pilot falls still. Frozen with horror, Brian
slowly realizes that the pilot is either dead or in a coma, leaving him alone in a small
plane thousands of feet above the remote northern wilderness.
6. Panicked, Brian, feels the nose of the plane begin to drop and realizes that he will have
to figure out how to fly the plane himself.
7. Looking over the dashboard, Brian remembers the radio and decides to call for
help. Brian turns off the microphone and hears someone faintly answering him, asking
for a location and flight number. Brian attempts to answer and explain his situation, but
the responses are increasingly broken up and are soon gone altogether.
8. Brian realizes that the plane will run out of fuel if he does not land soon. He also
remembers the pilot knocking into the controls and understands that the plane is no
longer on its original course.
9. Brian decides to keep the plane flying until it runs out of fuel. Every ten minutes, he calls
for help, and in between calls he attempts to plan the best way to bring the plane down
when it runs out of fuel. Because landing in the water seems less dangerous than landing
in the trees, Brian decides to aim for a lake when the time comes and try to slow the plane
down as it hits the water.
10. Just in time, he sees the lake again and steers the plane upward. It hits the trees, which
tear its wings off, and the crash throws Brian forward. Then, just before it hits the ground,
the plane rolls through the air and hits the surface of the lake. Brian screams as the
windows break and water floods the plane.
11. He swims toward the surface, certain that he will not make it in time. At the last moment,
he reaches the surface and swims toward the shore, screaming and barely aware of his
surroundings. He makes it to the grassy shore and faints in pain and exhaustion.