Chapter 97: AIDS
At the parking stand 342 of Jianchuan Airport, Xu Cang dragged his suitcase back to the parking stand 342 immediately after he saw flight 4724. When he got under the plane, Xu Cang even checked the time, which was about five minutes later than the stipulated time.
This short period of time will not affect the flight operation, but you will receive a not-so-small penalty, probably a fine of several hundred yuan.
Although Xu Cang felt very painful, this kind of notification and punishment would not affect the pilot's assessment points. The impact was not that big. It was just that Xu Cang was a money slave now, and it was a bit uncomfortable to lose a few hundred dollars.
When Xu Cang arrived at the apron, the fuel truck had already arrived, so he did not board the plane. He filled up the fuel according to the amount of fuel given by the clearance. He took the fuel bill and carried the box to the jet bridge. At this time, the passengers had not yet been organized to board. Xu Cang planned to lie down in the cabin after putting the box away and resting for a while.
As soon as the suitcase was put away, flight attendant No. 3 came over and asked Xu Cang about lunch.
"Brother, what kind of food did you order for lunch? Normal, Western, or Halal?"
"Should it be normal?" Xu Cang took off his reflective vest and folded it. He was a little surprised. Usually, the flight attendants would not ask about these things. They should have communicated via text message yesterday. So, Xu Cang asked tentatively: "Is there any problem?"
Flight attendant No. 3 apologized, "When I was counting the meals just now, I found that all the food on the plane was Western style. It seems that they were served by mistake. Brother, do you think we should contact the airline to change it?"
"Western style, what's in Western food?" Xu Cang had never eaten Western food before.
Number Three didn't seem to understand either: "It should be bread, desserts, salads, etc. To be honest, I haven't eaten them either. Brother, if you want to change it, you need to hurry up."
"Forget it, no need to go through so much trouble." Xu Cang stuffed the folded reflective vest into the small bag on the side of the flight box: "It's Western style, it's fine with me."
As he spoke, Xu Cang's gaze wandered for a moment on the face of flight attendant No. 3. He felt that her face was a little paler, and he could even faintly see some fine beads of sweat on her forehead.
"Are you okay? You don't look well." Xu Cang asked with concern.
Flight attendant No. 3 wiped the sweat off his forehead awkwardly: "I don't know, maybe he caught a cold, it's nothing serious."
"Oh!" Xu Cang didn't pay much attention to it, but just said: "If you really feel uncomfortable, tell the captain immediately. There is still some time before takeoff, and there is still time to change people. If you do it after takeoff, it will be difficult to deal with it later."
Xu Cang's only worry was that Flight 3 would not be able to hold on during the cruise or the intermediate stop, which would be troublesome. Xu Cang saw that the number of crew members this time was based on the minimum configuration, and if one person was missing, the flight would not be able to fly.
The third flight attendant hummed softly, and said nothing more, and returned to the front cabin workroom silently. But Xu Cang heard that her hum was weak, could it be that something was wrong with her body?
However, Xu Cang is not free enough to manage the crew, so it is better to leave this matter to the chief purser to evaluate. It would be bad if he interferes.
After returning to the cockpit, Xu Cang clipped the fuel slip. The co-pilot had already prepared the cockpit, and he and the captain pulled their chairs back and lay down leisurely, chatting casually.
Hearing Xu Cang coming in, the captain glanced back and casually reminded: "The crew car driver just reported your lateness."
"Oh." Xu Cang didn't have any special reaction. He sat down in the observer's seat and started fiddling with his mobile phone.
This kind of supervision of the crew's arrival at the aircraft is usually done by the driver of the crew car, and occasionally the safety supervision department will personally check on the scene. Therefore, the crew should not even think about taking chances.
The captain looked at Xu Cang's completely nonchalant reaction and didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "This is the first time I've seen a second officer as tough as you. You have a lot of money, right? You're not afraid of being fined."
"I'm definitely afraid of being fined, and I don't have any money." Xu Cang smiled and said, "It's just that something happened suddenly, there's nothing I can do..."
"What's the matter?" The captain was quite curious.
Just as he finished speaking, a muffled sound suddenly came from outside, followed by the flight attendant's scream.
The captain was startled, and he straightened and looked back: "What's wrong?"
Xu Cang also got down from his seat and looked outside.
But the chief flight attendant ran into the cockpit in a panic and said anxiously: "Captain, No. 3 fainted."
The captain almost jumped out of his seat: "Huh?"
…
Xu Cang noticed that the No. 3 flight attendant looked unwell, but he never expected that she would faint. Fortunately, the chief flight attendant was right beside the No. 3 flight attendant when she fainted, and she was discovered immediately after she fainted.
When something like this happens, they must call a doctor and notify the company. After the airport emergency department sent someone to check briefly, they didn't seem to understand what happened to flight attendant No. 3. They just briefly checked his vital signs and found that they were normal for the time being. This was the only good news.
He was picked up by medical personnel sent from the airport. The captain also explained the situation to the company. Blue Sky Airlines would need to send someone to accompany him at the airport hospital, notify his family, and send another flight attendant to fill his position.
When flight attendant No. 3 was carried out, she had begun to regain consciousness, but perhaps she was not fully awake yet, and could only make some simple physical responses to other people's questions.
The medical staff said that the vital signs were normal and flight attendant No. 3 woke up quickly. Xu Cang thought that it was probably nothing serious and did not take it too seriously. After the company sent a backup flight attendant, the flight continued.
The fainting of flight attendant No. 3 was just a small episode and did not cause much waves. Subsequent flights were carried out normally.
However, after the flight ended, Lu Jinghua called Xu Cang and asked him to go to his office after leaving. Xu Cang just wanted to find Lu Jinghua, which was a good opportunity.
After returning the documents, Xu Cang went straight upstairs to find Lu Jinghua.
As soon as he entered, Lu Jinghua put down the work in his hands and asked, "Xu Cang, you are very busy now. You are late on the first day of your return to flight. What are you thinking about?"
Xu Cang was stunned: "You knew it so quickly?"
"Is there any difference between fast and slow?" Lu Jinghua looked at Xu Cang speechlessly: "The team said you got off the car halfway through the entrance. Where were you? Why were you so busy?"
"Go see 747!" Xu Cang answered almost immediately.
"Hmm?" Lu Jinghua didn't quite understand: "What did you say? Look at 747? What 747?"
Xu Cang sat down on the sofa without any hesitation: "It's the 747 we rented from Muhua, the one with the number 4724."
"Oh, that one." Lu Jinghua was puzzled: "What's so good about that plane? You're not a child, why would you like to see a big plane?"
Xu Cang's expression gradually became serious: "I'm not interested in the big plane, I'm just interested in its cargo door. I happened to pass by there, it's a rare opportunity, so I can only get off the car and go over there to take a look."
"Cargo door?" Lu Jinghua's face was half squeezed together, and he was extremely confused: "What do you mean, what's so good about the cargo door?"
Xu Cang raised a finger: "You should know that the original design of the Boeing 747 cargo door is to open inwards and be fixed by bolts. However, the cargo door of this 4724 is the opposite, opening outwards, which poses a big problem..."
Lu Jinghua was the general manager of the flight department after all, and he had a wealth of knowledge about airplanes. He asked uncertainly, "Are you talking about the pressure difference?"
"Yes, it's the pressure difference." Xu Cang gave an affirmative answer: "Due to the existence of the aircraft pressurization system, especially in high-altitude environments, the pressure inside the aircraft cabin is much greater than that outside. Since the cargo hold door is designed to open outwards, the pressure difference will naturally cause the cargo hold door to open."
Lu Jinghua could completely understand this. After all, General Xu Cangjiang's content was very simple. However, there was one thing that Lu Jinghua did not understand: "This is a simple thing. Boeing should have considered it when changing the cabin door design. They must have done a good job of fixing the cabin door, right?"
"Yes, when they changed the cabin door design, they also changed the cabin door locking system, abolishing the original simple and reliable bolt fixing method." Xu Cang's face gradually turned cold: "In short, Boeing designed an electric locking system for the cabin door. In principle, after the cabin door is closed, the electric motor will make the C-type door latch buckle the column on the door frame, and there will be an L-shaped retainer as a final guarantee to prevent the C-type door latch from accidentally turning to the open position. Do you understand?"
Lu Jinghua half opened his mouth, and when Xu Cang asked a question, he said in a daze: "Do you think I understand?"
He had only flown the 737 so far and had some knowledge of the Airbus 320, but his knowledge of the Boeing 747 was clearly beyond his ability, especially the extremely obscure cabin door locking system.
To be honest, he might not be able to explain the 737 cargo door locking system clearly. After all, pilots are not gods, and they don't need to understand every part of the plane. It's unnecessary and almost impossible.
"Is it hard to understand?" Xu Cang spread his hands. He felt that this kind of thing should be easy to understand: "The cargo door of that plane is controlled by a motor to clamp the C-shaped bolt to the door frame column. This is the first layer of protection. There is also an L-shaped retainer, which will be stuck on the bolt after the C-shaped bolt is locked, preventing it from rotating. It is a double protection!"
"Double protection, that's good." Lu Jinghua could probably figure out how this so-called locking system worked, but it didn't seem to be a problem that he didn't understand the design.
Xu Cang lowered his head: "If everything can work normally, there will be no problem. But the key is that there is a flaw in the working logic of the motor. In principle, after the cabin door is closed, the motor drives the C-type latch to get stuck in the door frame column and the power should be cut off, so that the C-type latch will not rotate again. But in fact, the locking system does not cut off the power supply of the motor after the cabin door is closed, which means that the C-type latch is not stuck. During the flight, as long as there are some power problems on the line, such as a short circuit, the C-type latch may rotate unexpectedly. If it turns to the unlocked position, the latch will fail."
"What did you say?" It was the first time that Lu Jinghua heard such outrageous remarks. He was stunned for several seconds before he was ready to question.
However, before Lu Jinghua could open his mouth, Xu Cang raised his hand to stop Lu Jinghua from speaking: "Let me finish!"
The next moment, Xu Cang continued, "This is just one problem. There is also a problem with the L-shaped fastener. The L-shaped fastener is originally used to prevent the C-shaped bolt from rotating accidentally. However, I checked that the L-shaped fastener of 4724 is made of aluminum alloy. If it is made of aluminum alloy, its strength may not be able to prevent the C-shaped bolt from rotating after the motor is started alone."
Lu Jinghua's eyelids twitched wildly when he heard this: "Xu Cang, what do you mean?"
Xu Cang sighed, revealing a deep worry: "In some extreme cases, the hatch's locking system will fail completely, which means the hatch will... open!"
"The cargo door is open?" Lu Jinghua was terrified when he heard that. There is no doubt that no matter what type of flight it is, the problem of the door being open cannot be tolerated, especially for large passenger aircraft. Once the door is opened, it will not only involve the problem of pressurization, but also whether the door being forced open will cause problems with the fuselage structure.
If it is really as Xu Cang said, the consequences will be catastrophic. But this involves another key issue.
Lu Jinghua tilted his head, looked at Xu Cang intently, and asked the fatal question: "Xu Cang, I admit that you scared me. But the question is, do you have evidence? How do you prove it?"
"What is there to prove? The NTSB has already given its conclusion." In Xu Cang's memory, the accident of Muhua Airlines Flight 7811 occurred abroad, so the foreign NTSB also participated in the investigation.
"NTSB said so?" Lu Jinghua was stunned. "NTSB issued a warning that the Boeing 747's door locking system had defects. How come I didn't know about it?"
Lu Jinghua was quite up to date with the latest news about foreign civil aviation. If an aircraft had structural defects, it would definitely be big news, and Lu Jinghua should not be unaware of it.
"That's for sure! Isn't it just..." Xu Cang was halfway through his words when he suddenly realized that at this time, plane 4724 had not had an accident yet, and there was no NTSB involved in the investigation at all. Naturally, there was no warning about the defects of the Boeing 747-100 aircraft.
"I've lost my mind!" Xu Cang has been thinking about plane 4724 these past two days. He was so distracted that he revealed all the information about the future.
Fortunately, Lu Jinghua did not dwell too much on the fallacy in Xu Cang's words. However, Xu Cang was embarrassed. Yes, how can this be proved? I can't say that I was reborn from the future and knew that the 4724 plane would have an accident because of the cabin door locking system?
If that's really the case, then Lu Jinghua probably felt that it wasn't the plane 4724 that had an accident, but that there was something wrong with Xu Cang's brain.
Xu Cang thought for a while: "That is... Is there a possibility to let the maintenance staff try it? It's a very simple test, it shouldn't be difficult, right?"
"Just go talk to the maintenance staff." Lu Jinghua rolled his eyes and said calmly.
Xu Cang 's face stifled. Some time ago, he had a disagreement with the maintenance department because of the abnormal rise of plane 1566. As a result, the problem of plane 1566 has not been resolved yet. How can he still give orders to the maintenance department?
"What if we do it ourselves?"
Lu Jinghua's face darkened. "Let's not talk about whether we can do it by ourselves. I'm just asking how to enter the airport control area. If there is no flight mission, a temporary pass is required to enter the airport control area. Just based on your imaginary aircraft defects, do you think the Security Department is willing to believe you and help you apply for a temporary pass? Even if the Security Department is willing to believe you, will the Airport Security Committee believe you and issue us a temporary pass?"
Lu Jinghua's analysis was well-founded. The airport was not a vegetable market where you could come and go as you pleased. Xu Cang had no chance of getting a temporary pass.
This froze him. Xu Cang was speechless. He was just a small pilot, why was he always assigned so many issues that were not his responsibility?
At this time, Xu Cang would rather not know what will happen in the future, out of sight, out of mind, and not have to worry about anything. But when he thought of the tragedy that happened on 4724, how could Xu Cang ignore it?
Suddenly, a figure popped up in Xu Cang's mind. He looked up at Lu Jinghua and said, "Where's the business card of that Boeing guy?"
"Boeing people, what are you talking about?"
Xu Cang slapped his thigh and said, "That's the dinner party you asked me to accompany you to before. You said you were going to meet someone from Boeing. Didn't that person give you a business card? Is it still there?"
"Li Rongcheng?" Lu Jinghua was startled. "Yes, I am. What do you want to do?"
Lu Jinghua was puzzled for only a moment, but he soon realized what Xu Cang wanted to do and exclaimed, "You want to go directly to Boeing?"
"Is the Boeing guy some kind of emperor? We can't even find him." Xu Cang curled his lips and said, "Hurry up and give me your business card."
"You kid, whatever you want!" Lu Jinghua also knew that the business card was earned by Xu Cang, so it was not easy to hide it, so he prepared to get the business card from the drawer. However, just after he took two steps, the phone in his pocket suddenly rang.
He took out his cell phone and saw that it was the chief aviation doctor's call. This was very rare, as the chief aviation doctor rarely called him.
"I'll take a call!" Lu Jinghua said to Xu Cang, and answered the call first: "What's the matter?"
Xu Cang was not in a hurry and leaned back on the sofa. However, he soon discovered that Lu Jinghua's expression became more and more strange, especially when Lu Jinghua started to look at him from behind, the look in his eyes was extremely awkward.
Soon, Lu Jinghua hung up the phone, his face as dark as the bottom of a pot.
Xu Cang asked casually: "What's the matter? Why do you look like that?"
"Xu Cang?" Lu Jinghua suddenly asked, "Did you fly 9123 and 9124 just now?"
"Yes!" Xu Cang nodded: "Didn't he come here just after leaving the stage? What's wrong?"
Instinctively, Xu Cang seemed to smell something unusual.
Lu Jinghua was in a bad mood: "Before the first leg of takeoff, a flight attendant fainted and was carried off."
Xu Cang was a little annoyed: "That's true, no, what is it? Can you tell me all at once?"
Lu Jinghua swallowed his saliva and said, "Just now the chief flight doctor called me and said that the examination report of the flight attendant is out."
Xu Cangyi frowned: "Then what?"
"All her other test items are normal, only one is wrong." Lu Jinghua said solemnly: "Her HIV test is... positive!"
