In the evening at Jianchuan Airport, the fog that had dissipated in the afternoon began to condense again as the temperature dropped. Under the dim light of the setting sun, the entire airport was shrouded in a light yellow fog.
In the cockpit of Spring and Summer Flight 9111, the captain had just returned from circling the plane with some moisture still on his hair. He patted his clothes and entered the cockpit. The co-pilot was testing the GPWS system and when he heard the captain coming, he looked back.
"Can you see clearly outside?"
"I can't even see a ghost. I almost ran into the maintenance staff just now." The captain smoothed his hair, hoping to make it dry faster. Otherwise, it would be half dry and uncomfortable.
The co-pilot adjusted the seat back, put down the armrest, and lay down comfortably: "Is the visibility five meters?"
"About the right." The captain folded his reflective vest and pointed to the right side of the windshield: "Can you see the tower?"
If the visibility was sufficient, the tower should be on the right side of the nose of the plane, but this time the co-pilot looked in the direction indicated, but there was only fog and he could not see anything.
“It’s true that not even a ghost can be seen.”
"If the tower can't see it, then the plane can't land." The captain put the reflective vest into the flight box. "The airport is a hell of a place. Once the fog appears, it won't dissipate. It's ridiculous. When I was on the airport highway just now, the visibility was obviously very good, but after passing the airport toll station, the visibility began to decrease. When I arrived at the airport, it became like this now."
The captain cursed: "All those who did the site selection for the airport should be arrested to see if the money spent on surveying everywhere was spent in the right way."
The co-pilot laughed out loud: "It's been so many years, and you're still not used to it? It's only the end of August now. It's November or December, and that's when the fog is most likely to occur. Wow, we'll have low visibility every day."
Thinking that winter was just a few months away, the captain became angry again and cursed: "These corrupt bastards."
The fog problem at Jianchuan Airport is a long-standing problem, and has been complained about by crews for many years. However, the airport is already here and cannot be moved away, so the crews can only hold back their complaints, which makes them very unhappy.
Turning on the light test switch, the cockpit immediately lit up with red and green lights. The captain leaned back and scanned the various lights in the cockpit to see if any bulb was broken.
As he watched, he asked, "The vertical visibility at this airport is not good now. We need to take off and land at the alternate airport."
"I know that the alternate takeoff and landing airports listed in the clearance are Rongfu and Qianzhou. I just requested the METAR messages for the two airports, and they are both CAVOK. The weather is very good."
An alternate takeoff airport is not mandatory and is generally only used when the current airport does not meet the landing conditions.
The weather conditions for takeoff and landing are different. Sometimes you can take off but not land. If something goes wrong with the plane and it cannot return to the airport due to weather conditions, it will need to take off and land at an alternate airport.
Information about the takeoff alternate airport, en-route alternate airport and destination alternate airport will be marked on the release sheet. Generally, there is only one takeoff alternate airport, but I don't know what Spring Airlines meant by giving two takeoff alternate airports.
The takeoff and alternate landing field cannot be selected randomly with your eyes closed. It is necessary to ensure that the weather at the take-off time and for a period of time thereafter meets the normal landing standards.
The weather at Rongfu Airport and Qianzhou Airport is good now, but there may be a trend of deterioration in both places, so the clearance office simply gave two options, and you can choose the best one when the time comes.
"What bad luck! Rongfu and Qianzhou airports don't have such serious fog problems. How can they still want to be the southwest hub?" The captain began to complain again: "By the way, did you contact the clearance just now?"
The co-pilot seemed to be a thoroughly amusing person, smiling the entire time: “We made contact right away.”
"What does this RVR say?"
In the weather standards for actual aviation operations, visibility VIS and runway visual range RVR are two completely different concepts. Usually, if there is a runway visual range data report, the runway visual range data is used first.
"Can you believe it? The RVR for this game is 350/300/400."
Upon hearing this data, the captain was stunned for a moment and pointed to the foggy scene outside: "Can the TMRVR be so high?"
Just now, the captain was doing a walk-around inspection below the plane. When he walked under the tail, he looked up and could hardly see the horizontal and vertical tail fins clearly. He pondered over them for a long time.
With this visibility, can the average RVR exceed 300?
The captain didn't believe it at all.
The co-pilot smiled and said, "The RVR measuring equipment at this airport is on the side of the runway. They measure the runway visual range on the other side of the runway, not the apron. The fog is very heavy on our apron side, but it may be much better on the runway side."
"It's only a few hundred meters away from the runway, and the visibility is so poor. There's something evil about this airport." The captain went on and on and on and couldn't help cursing again, and the content was naturally about the airport's site selection.
Among the major airports in the country, this is the first time that the fog problem is as serious as that at Jianchuan Airport.
"So, I was saying..." The captain was about to complain when the flight attendant leaned in from outside and said, "Captain, there is a crew member."
"Hmm?" The captain turned around and glanced at the mission book at the entrance: "No, there is no crew member in the mission book?"
"He doesn't have a boarding pass, so his name can't be written on it."
The captain frowned and said, "Without a boarding pass, you can't even get through security."
The chief flight attendant probably saw this situation for the first time. "It's like this. He bought an internal standby ticket through the company. But the flight was oversold, so he couldn't get on. However, Mr. Lu, our company's vice president of operations, wrote a permission letter saying that the company's AOC will call you later."
Not long ago, Lu Jinghua was promoted from the general manager of the flight department to the vice president of operations. In terms of status, the vice president of operations is the carrier's representative, which is equivalent to obtaining the carrier's permission.
"Permission, what permission?"
The chief flight attendant said, "Give him permission to enter the cockpit. Isn't there an observer seat behind you?"
"Observe..." The captain was stunned, and then he suddenly realized: "We made such a big circle just to let him come up."
According to the chief flight attendant, since this person does not have a boarding pass, he cannot be considered a true flight crew member, and in principle he cannot enter the cockpit.
However, in some special cases, even non-flight crew members can enter the cockpit, provided that they obtain permission from the company's carrier, that is, the person in charge of the company's flight system, the vice president of operations.
That's why Lu Jinghua gave such permission.
All I can say is that this guy has some strong connections. In order to make the trip happen, he directly asked the vice president of operations to come forward.
The flight attendant showed a trace of doubt: "I don't know him, I've never seen him."
"Isn't he from the company?"
Spring Airlines' fleet is not large, so logically speaking, they should be familiar with most of them.
"He said he was from our company's aviation school." The chief steward muttered, "From the aviation school, does that mean he is a student? Is our company recruiting students from the aviation school?"
"I heard that they recruited a group of students from Phoenix Aviation School." The co-pilot interrupted, "If they are in the aviation school, then they really can't get boarding passes. That makes sense. But which student is so prestigious that he can ask the vice president of operations for help?"
The captain laughed and said, "Which young man is here to experience life?"
Then he turned to the flight attendant and asked, "Where are the people?"
"Over there on the covered bridge. Let him in?"
"Come in, and have a word."
"OK."
The chief flight attendant left the cockpit and soon a man in a white shirt came in. It was Xu Mingjian.
Xu Mingjian seemed a little reserved. He bowed and nodded to the captain and the co-pilot as soon as he entered the cockpit. Although he was the lowest-ranking officer, Xu Mingjian looked the oldest.
After all, he had been doing field work for a long time, which was quite hard.
Seeing Xu Mingjian's dark skin, he looked to be in his thirties, and he didn't seem to be a rich young man. Moreover, this man had a simple temperament and didn't seem to have any background.
Although the captain had heard that Lu Jinghua had a good temper, he was too easy to talk to. Was he so helpful?
"Are you going to Hanjing and home?"
Flight 9111 is from Jianchuan to Hanjing. Previously, there was only one flight a day, which took off in the morning. Now there is a late flight, which takes off in the evening and lands at around 1:00 a.m., which is relatively late.
"No, no, no, I'm going to take the test." Xu Mingjian said quickly, "The ground test for the instrument level cannot be taken here. We can only take it in Hanjing."
"Go to the headquarters?"
"Yes, there is a test center over there."
"Oh, I see." The captain nodded, without asking any more questions, and pointed to the observer's folding chair: "Put it down and sit on it later..."
Then, he patted the co-pilot and said, "Teach him how to put it down and how to use the oxygen mask later."
The observer seat is also equipped with an oxygen mask. This emergency procedure needs to be taught in advance, just like the cabin also needs to demonstrate emergency procedures before takeoff.
The co-pilot smiled and said, "Okay, I'll teach him when the passengers get on board."
Now if the observer's seat is put down, it will serve as the entrance and exit of the cockpit. It will be very troublesome if the captain or co-pilot needs to go out to relieve himself or something.
Therefore, the observer's chair is usually put down only after passengers are boarded and it is confirmed that there is no way out.
Xu Mingjian quickly expressed his gratitude with an extremely sincere attitude, which made the captain and co-pilot feel a little embarrassed.
No matter what, Xu Mingjian must have some connections to get the permission from the Vice President of Operations. But even so, he was still so polite, and this attitude made the captain very satisfied.
Xu Mingjian used to work as a ground attendant, which is also a civil aviation-related job, but unlike the aircraft maintenance staff, they normally cannot enter the aircraft.
Except for occasionally being a passenger, it was the first time for Xu Mingjian to enter the cockpit and observe the instruments of the 737 at such a close distance.
So, as soon as the conversation ended, Xu Mingjian looked at the cockpit curiously, his eyes shining.
The captain noticed Xu Mingjian's expression and said with a smile, "Is this your first time coming in?"
"Yes, Captain. This is my first time here, and I'm a little curious."
Xu Mingjian is indeed like Granny Liu visiting the Grand View Garden, everything is new to him.
The captain had a good impression of Xu Mingjian. He looked at the time and saw that there were still about ten minutes before the passengers boarded the plane, which was plenty of time. So he said to the co-pilot, "Move over and let him come up and sit and feel the plane."
"Okay, I'll sit in the back."
As he spoke, the co-pilot unbuckled his seat belt, opened his seat, and left first to make room for Xu Mingjian.
When he passed Xu Mingjian, he patted him on the shoulder and said, "Come up and sit down, and feel it."
Xu Mingjian was so excited. Although he was still on the ground, being able to sit in the passenger seat was a different feeling.
"Thank you, Captain. Thank you." Xu Mingjian did not object. This kind of opportunity was quite rare, especially considering whether he could complete all the courses in the aviation school.
To be honest, Xu Mingjian was lucky to complete the private pilot course, and he still had a much better chance than others. At Phoenix Aviation School, some students from Spring Airlines have been expelled from training. They only have two chances. If they perform poorly for a long time, they will be evaluated by senior instructors of the aviation school. If the evaluation result is OK, they will get a second chance. If they don't improve in the future, they will be expelled from training.
To be honest, based on Xu Mingjian's performance, it would be enough for him to be withdrawn from training two or three times.
Thanks to more opportunities and better teaching, Xu Mingjian barely passed the private driver's license and entered the instrument grade stage.
However, Xu Mingjian himself was not sure whether he could pass the subsequent instrument level and commercial license stages. Even though Xu Cang had great patience with him, Xu Mingjian knew that if it was really too bad, he might not even be able to accept it.
Moreover, there are already students in the aviation school who are quite dissatisfied with the opportunities Xu Mingjian has obtained. These people will be his colleagues in the future. If he still relies on Xu Cang's relationship to hold on, even if he finally completes his studies and goes to the airline company, he will still be greeted with gossip and criticism.
This is not the kind of career Xu Mingjian wants to see.
He was grateful for everything Xu Cang had done, and when it really reached a certain critical point, he would leave quietly.
Xu Mingjian excitedly sat in the co-pilot's seat. The co-pilot originally planned to sit in the cabin, but after thinking about it, he did not leave. He just sat in the seat behind the captain and looked at Xu Mingjian with interest.
As soon as Xu Mingjian sat down, he immediately became interested in the seat belts.
The pilot's seat belt is different from the passenger's. It is a five-point type, which means there are five straps.
"This is different from the ones in the small plane." Xu Mingjian was very excited as he studied the seat belt. He knew what the passenger seat belts looked like, and they were naturally different. However, this was also different from the ones in the small plane, and was more complicated.
"You get what you pay for." The captain lifted the seat belt around his waist and said, "There are two waist belts, two shoulder belts, and a crotch belt... Try buckling the waist belt first, and insert it from the side of the circle."
The belt is very similar to the seat belts of ordinary passengers. Xu Mingjian fastened the seat belt under the captain's instructions: "So that's how it is."
"Then comes... the crotch strap, the crotch strap is below..." The captain was still talking when he suddenly felt a bright light in the thick fog on his left hand side. The light reflected the fog more clearly.
The light was so strong that the captain couldn't help but squint his eyes: "What's going on? I'm almost blinded."
"Ahead of us are taxiways J and K. It looks like the plane is on K," the co-pilot pondered.
The place where they were staying now was a remote parking position, with the nose of the plane pointing perpendicular to the two taxiways J and K. Of the two taxiways, K was the main taxiway, right next to the runway and as long as the runway.
Only a portion of Taxiway J can be used. The section of Taxiway J that enters the apron is basically not used because there was a design flaw when this parking space was originally designed, which caused the wings of the aircraft taxiing on Taxiway J to hit the aircraft on the apron.
Therefore, only aircraft with a wingspan of less than 30 meters can pass on taxiway J. Now, the wingspan of mainstream large passenger aircraft basically exceeds this value, so naturally they will not use taxiway J.
Therefore, the co-pilot guessed that the plane coming from the left was on taxiway K.
The captain thought so too, but he still couldn't stop himself from complaining: "It's so bright, did they turn on the landing lights? High beam dogs!"
The co-pilot was very happy to hear this. This captain was a chatterbox and basically never stopped talking.
To be honest, this has both advantages and disadvantages. The captain talks too much and is likely to miss some key information, but the co-pilot prefers it this way because the cockpit isn't too dull and makes communication easier.
"Are the headlights of the 737 so bright?" Xu Mingjian also looked to the left. It was quite bright, but he could only squint his eyes and couldn't look straight at it.
The co-pilot leaned over to look to the left and couldn't help but wonder, "Even if the lights are on full blast, they shouldn't be this bright. How can an airplane's lights be this bright? I remember that taxiway K is still a little distance away from us."
If the plane was on the nearest taxiway J, which was very close, it would be fine if the light was bright enough. But the plane should be on the slightly farther taxiway K, which was a little further away. It was really a bit outrageous that it was still so bright under the cover of thick fog.
Suddenly, the co-pilot said, "Isn't it on taxiway J?"
"No way, there is a large passenger plane with a wingspan of less than 30 meters? The lights of business jets are not so bright, right?" the captain frowned.
The co-pilot looked a little strange: "I mean..."
"Wait a minute." The captain also thought of a possibility and immediately switched the radio transmitter to VHF. Just as he was about to press the send button, he heard the co-pilot stop him: "Wrong, wrong, this is clearance."
"Oh, sorry, what's the ground frequency?"
"128.75."
The captain hummed and hurried to adjust the ground frequency. However, soon, the light became stronger and stronger, like the sun, reflecting off the fog, illuminating almost all of the surroundings.
"No, no, it's too close, too close, definitely not on K." The captain's face changed suddenly. He had just adjusted the ground frequency with his right hand when the light illuminated the entire cockpit.
"It's too late!" The captain realized at this time that it was too late to inform through the ground frequency.
The plane was too close. If I said something without reason, the crew of the approaching plane would probably need some time to react, but that was enough time for a collision.
Not to mention, what if there is no reaction?
"Go!" The captain acted decisively, shouted loudly, and turned on all the lights of his plane in the hope that the other plane would be aware of it and be able to stop.
However, a gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall, and the cockpit must not be kept.
After yelling, the captain immediately wanted to unbuckle his seat belt. However, to be honest, this situation also made the captain a little panicked, and he did not unbuckle his seat belt at the first time.
However, the captain did not spend too much time on the seat belt. He steadied his hands a little and unfastened the belt. Just as he was about to leave, he heard a horrified voice beside him: "Captain, how do you unfasten this?"
The captain was stunned and his hair stood on end. He saw Xu Mingjian pulling at the seat belt and couldn't unfasten it no matter what.
The way to unfasten a pilot's seat belt is different from that of an ordinary passenger. Xu Mingjian was completely unable to unfasten it without knowing the right method. Moreover, Xu Mingjian was aware of the danger and became more and more flustered the more anxious he became.
"Don't move, I'm doing it! Captain, come out!" At this time, the co-pilot stepped forward, asked the captain to come out first, and bent down to Xu Mingjian, wanting to help him unbuckle his seat belt.
However, the Boeing cockpit was still too cramped. The co-pilot didn't even have room to step forward, so in desperation he stepped directly on the center console.
However, the plane on the left was getting closer, illuminating the cockpit so brightly that the co-pilot couldn't open his eyes.
"It's too late! Move back!" The captain was actually ready to leave, but seeing that the co-pilot couldn't unfasten Xu Mingjian's seat belt, he pushed the co-pilot back, then reached out and pressed a small handle under Xu Mingjian's seat, then shouted to Xu Mingjian: "Lean back!"
Xu Mingjian was stunned, but he reacted quickly enough. He leaned back with all his strength, and the back of the chair leaned back all of a sudden, and he was half lying on the seat.
After helping Xu Mingjian, the captain immediately adjusted his seat and lay down.
Almost two seconds after the captain and Xu Mingjian lay down, the wingtip of an airplane hit the windshield of the nose directly, cut in from the left window, stuck to the faces of the captain and Xu Mingjian, and cut out from the right window.
The captain was a little luckier and escaped unharmed, but the broken windshield frame from the wing flew over and hit Xu Mingjian's left eye socket, causing blood to pour out immediately and Xu Mingjian fainted.
…
In Erhai City, on the slope near the Chunxia Aviation Base building, Xu Cang and Lu Jinghua were walking side by side.
"What's going on?"
Lu Jinghua said anxiously: "Preliminary investigation shows that the Chengdu Airlines plane took the wrong taxi route due to low visibility. It was originally supposed to be on taxiway K, but ended up taxiing on taxiway J."
"J taxiway? The one with the wingspan restriction?"
"Yes, that's it." Lu Jinghua nodded and said, "The right wing tip of the 320 from Chengdu Airlines directly cut through the upper part of the nose of our plane, and the plane was seriously damaged."
Xu Cang's eyelids jumped: "Where are the personnel? Are there any casualties?"
"There were three people in the cockpit at the time. The captain and co-pilot were both fine, but one crew member was hit by the windshield frame and lost too much blood. He is now receiving emergency treatment at the airport hospital."
Xu Cang paused for a moment: "Rescue? Who?"
Is it possible that I have been in a bloody disaster recently? Why am I always seeing blood around me?
He just came from the Jianchuan Airport Medical Department not long ago, how come someone else was sent in again.
"Xu Mingjian." Lu Jinghua glanced at Xu Cang: "He's the person you asked me to take care of."
Xu Cang took a breath of cold air: "Xu Mingjian!"
Xu Cang's face suddenly changed. This person must not get into trouble. It would involve too many people.
"Let's go to Jianchuan."
"Xu Cang, the visibility in Jianchuan is very poor right now, and the plane can't land."
Xu Cang barely hesitated: "There's fog at Jianchuan Airport, and it won't clear up anytime soon. Since the plane can't land, let's go by land."
"Are you driving at night?" Lu Jinghua frowned and said, "It will be midnight when we get there. Xu Cang, why don't we go tomorrow? The fog should be gone by noon."
"No, I have to go take a look. If everything is ok, I'll be back tomorrow at noon."
"Wouldn't this be too tiring?"
Xu Cang worked almost non-stop, and Lu Jinghua was worried that his body couldn't take it.
"It's okay." Xu Cang waved his hand and quickened his pace: "I'll take a nap in the car. I can't drive, go to the fleet to get a car and find a reliable driver."
Seeing that Xu Cang had made up his mind, Lu Jinghua could no longer persuade him: "I know, I'll do it."
The two of them walked quickly to the company gate. Xu Cang went to change his clothes. He was still wearing formal clothes, which was uncomfortable and not suitable for long-term car rides. He had to change into looser clothes. Anyway, it would take some time for Lu Jinghua to adjust the car.
At the entrance of the base building, the two separated and went about their own business.
However, before Xu Cang had taken a few steps, he suddenly received a call from the reception room: "Mr. Xu, someone is looking for you."
"who?"
"A foreign woman named Louise Hughes."
"Louise Hughes?" Xu Cang thought about it, but he didn't seem to remember this person: "No, I have something urgent to do."
Xu Mingjian’s matter is very important. After all, his son is Xu Cang’s possible successor in the future, and nothing can go wrong.
"Mr. Xu, that woman said she was Dr. Xu Ruxing's subordinate."
"Xu Ruxing!?" Xu Cang stopped in his tracks and narrowed his eyes slightly: "Where is she now?"
…
About five minutes later, Xu Cang saw Louise Hughes in the reception room. She was indeed a blonde beauty with a well-proportioned figure and very tall, taller than Xu Cang, almost the tallest woman Xu Cang had ever seen.
Louise Hughes, wearing a light grey windbreaker, took the initiative to greet Xu Cang after noticing his arrival, and said hello in fluent Chinese: "Mr. Xu Cang, nice to meet you."
Xu Cang didn't say anything polite to her and went straight to the point: "What is your relationship with Doctor Xu Ruxing?"
"Mr. Xu is our top leader, number one."
Xu Cang's expression lightened up a bit. If they were Dr. Xu's men, they should at least not be enemies. "Why did Dr. Xu ask you to come here?"
"Mr. Xu didn't ask me to come here." Louise Hughes raised a smile: "Does that mean you don't know that Mr. Xu is dead?"
"What?" Xu Cang's face changed drastically: "Doctor Xu is dead?"
Louise Hughes shook her head: "You really don't know anything. But it doesn't matter, it's better this way. Knowing too much is not a good thing for you."
After the initial shock, Xu Cang immediately calmed down. Although he didn't understand many things, there was one thing he could feel, that was that the woman in front of him had bad intentions.
"Then why did you come here?" Xu Cang asked coldly.
Louise Hughes nodded slightly and said respectfully, "I am here to offer you an opportunity, under the orders of No. 2."
"What chance?"
Louise Hughes smiled: "A chance to become the richest person in the world!"