UAAG CH17

Half the floor belonged to UAAG. Lina picked up the document folder from Fu Cheng’s desk, walked around the miniature indoor plant fountain, passed through three long metal-framed glass doors, and arrived at the copy room.

Yes, UAAG had only five people in total, yet it possessed a dedicated copy room. Inside were three Brother printers and four Oce copiers—more machines than UAAG members, almost as if the guests had taken over the host’s role.

The only benefit of having too many copiers was probably saving time, allowing multiple documents to be copied simultaneously.

Three minutes later, Lina returned to the office area with five sets of copied documents. She also stopped by the reference room on the way to return the original American Airlines 3157 accident file to its place. The blonde woman wore a form-fitting dress that accentuated her slender figure. She smiled and said, “I think original documents like this should be preserved well and kept in the reference room. What do you think?”

Zhuo Huan didn’t care about such trivial matters. “Whatever you like.”

Everyone picked up the American Airlines 3157 documents and started reading.

When Zhuo Huan asked Fu Cheng earlier if he had seen this document, Fu Cheng replied that he hadn’t. But American Airlines 3157 was quite famous in the aviation industry, and he actually knew about this accident.

On July 13, 1996, US Airways Flight 3157 took off from Seattle, heading for Salt Lake City. At 17:13, the aircraft suddenly dived downwards, plunging headfirst into the Great Salt Lake, 40 kilometers from Salt Lake City. All 135 passengers and 7 crew members on board perished.

The Great Salt Lake covers an area of 3,525 square kilometers, but its average depth is only 4.9 meters. The plane plunged headlong from an altitude of twenty thousand feet; the impact was almost not like hitting water, but more like hitting land.

The crashed aircraft was a Boeing 737 commercial airliner, 11 meters tall. Like an adult stumbling into a children’s pool, the plane was extremely conspicuous on the lake surface, totally out of place. Shortly after rescue personnel arrived at the scene, they found the wreckage via helicopter.

However, it was already late at night, making deeper search operations difficult. By noon the next day, NTSB investigators arrived at the scene. At 14:31, next to a reef in the Great Salt Lake, the black box was fished out.

“This accident is truly memorable.” Old Joseph was filled with emotion. “I hadn’t joined the NTSB as an investigator back then; I happened to be a pilot for US Airways at the time. As soon as this happened, US Airways’ stock plummeted, and the company immediately grounded all Boeing 737 aircraft within the United States. What a pity, I was flying Airbus then; those guys flying 737s got a full two months off.”

Fu Cheng was surprised. “You used to be a pilot for US Airways?”

Old Joseph adjusted the slightly messy top button of his loose shirt, swept back his already sparse hair, and revealed a profound smile. “Don’t I look like one? I only joined the NTSB in ’03 and became an air crash investigator. Oh, Fu, Su, why are you both looking at me with such shocked eyes? Do I really not look like an excellent captain?”

Su Fei blurted out, “You don’t!”

“That really hurts. But I have proof. My resignation from US Airways and transfer to the NTSB wasn’t a whim; there was a reason.” Old Joseph chuckled. He put the file on the table and bent down to roll up his pant leg.

The cold luster of metal suddenly crashed into everyone’s eyes, and there was a moment of silence in the office.

Old Joseph rolled his pant leg back down, smiling amiably. “January 17, 2003, US Airways Flight 384 accident. I was the captain.”

No one said anything more on this topic.

Fu Cheng quickly finished reading the materials for American Airlines 3157. He looked at Zhuo Huan and frowned. “The NTSB stopped investigating this accident twenty-three years ago. Although the black box of 3157 was found quickly, it stopped recording ten minutes before the accident. In other words, the black box couldn’t provide any information about the accident.”

Su Fei quickly interjected, “The black box stopped recording? How? Was it done manually or was it a mechanical failure?”

Old Joseph chuckled. “Are you trying to talk about the legendary Richard Dive?”

Su Fei was stunned, then said, “Holy shit?! This is the legendary Richard Dive?!” He hurriedly flipped the accident file to the crew information page and pointed at the captain’s name: “Richard Laurend… It’s really him, the Richard Dive!”

The Richard Dive is a very famous meme in the aviation industry, its fame comparable to another famous industry accident—the Air France Flight 447 accident. Even outsiders have heard of it.

—American Airlines Richard loves to dive, Air France Bonin knows how to pull up.

The former piloted an American Airlines 737, and in a magical way, pushed the stick hard, diving straight down into the Great Salt Lake.

The latter, over the Atlantic Ocean, inexplicably pulled back on the stick like a god, successfully sending the plane into the vast, boundless ocean.

Regarding this American Airlines accident, the public speculated that the captain had suicidal tendencies due to personal reasons. So he hijacked the plane to commit suicide. Therefore, the black box was manually turned off by him.

“Don’t you guys finish reading the materials?” Zhuo Huan scoffed. “The Richard Dive is just a joke; no one says it’s the truth. There is another speculation for this accident: it might be a mechanical failure of the rudder.”

Su Fei immediately flipped to the last few pages of the file.

“The rudder’s servo valve had a slight potential for malfunction. Between 1993 and 1996, there were 11 malfunctions…”

Fu Cheng had long finished reading all the materials. He tapped on the desk. “So, the black box could have stopped recording due to a malfunction, or it could have been turned off manually. The plane’s dive and crash could have been intentional, or it could have been a mechanical failure. So why are we bringing this accident up again now?”

Zhuo Huan raised his eyes to glance at him, his hands clasped, and said indifferently, “Boeing 737, I’ve disassembled one.”

Everyone: “…”

Please continue.

After a long pause to appreciate everyone’s mixed expressions, Zhuo Huan hooked the corner of his mouth and continued, “This model of American Airlines Boeing 737 has about six million parts. Fortunately, the Great Salt Lake is indeed very shallow, with the deepest point being only eleven meters, and where 3157 crashed, the water depth was only 4.6 meters, so almost all aircraft parts were salvaged. If there is no black box and no way to prove what happened during the crash, there is still one way…”

Fu Cheng suddenly realized what that way was, but he looked at Zhuo Huan hesitantly, feeling in his heart that it was impossible.

Then he heard this man say, “Inspect all six million parts.”

Everyone: “…”

Su Fei: “Sister Lina, is lunch at 11 o’clock? Are three meals included?”

Old Joseph: “I want a drink. Where’s a good bar?”

Fu Cheng was about to speak but found a certain man staring at him expressionlessly. He had an inexplicable illusion that if he ignored Lord Zhuo along with Su Fei and Old Joseph, some earth-shattering tragedy would definitely occur.

Silent for a moment, Fu Cheng said seriously, “Six million parts—do you think that’s realistic?”

Everyone turned their heads in unison to look at Fu Cheng.

Zhuo Huan stared at him steadily, then smiled. “Who said we have to inspect six million. For JAL JL917, did I ask you to inspect the entire plane when we were in Finland?”

In one month, they only inspected the aircraft’s engines.

Fu Cheng suddenly realized: “You mean…”

Zhuo Huan: “Nothing.” He looked at Lina. “Contact the NTSB. I’m interested in this accident.”

Lina didn’t answer but looked at everyone with a smile.

Zhuo Huan frowned slightly. “Lina?”

Lina: “I suddenly feel like we finally seem to have become a team.”

Zhuo Huan: “Huh?”

Lina smiled slightly. “Nothing. By the way, I moved to a new home recently and want to invite everyone over next weekend to celebrate with a party.”

UAAG is a multinational cooperative aircraft accident investigation organization.

Most of the time, UAAG accepts commissions from various countries to assist in investigating aircraft accidents. But airplanes are the safest mode of transport in the world, and air crashes are rare. When there are no sudden accidents or commissions, UAAG chooses to investigate some unsolved air crash accidents on its own.

For the next week, everyone was reviewing materials related to American Airlines 3157.

Lina had already contacted the NTSB. The other party welcomed UAAG to the US to re-investigate this air crash from twenty-four years ago. Moreover, they had preserved the complete wreckage of the plane. If someone was really foolish enough to want to inspect the entire plane inside and out, top to bottom, the NTSB wouldn’t mind at all, although they needed some time to prepare.

The weekend brought rare good weather, crisp autumn air.

Entering October, during the National Day holiday, the number of tourists visiting Shanghai increased. Fu Cheng hailed a car an hour early, picked up Su Fei and Old Joseph from the residential complex across the street, and the three went to Lina’s new home together.

The car was stuck on the elevated highway for over half an hour, arriving just in time.

Outside Lina’s residential complex was a red brick wall so long you couldn’t see the end. Lush plane trees spread their branches, covering the sky and blocking the sun. A gentle breeze blew, scattering golden leaves all over the ground, like a golden carpet spread on the asphalt road.

The taxi drove over this golden road, crushing the plane tree leaves with a crunching sound.

Cars couldn’t enter, so the three got out and looked for Lina’s house carrying gifts.

After searching for a long time, they finally found Lina’s villa among dozens of others. Su Fei couldn’t wait to ring the doorbell, and the electronic surveillance gate opened in response. The three walked in; Lina had already opened the door and was waiting for them.

“Reid arrived early. I’m making salad. Do you want to come help?”

Fu Cheng raised an eyebrow in surprise: …Salad?

Su Fei exclaimed directly, “Salad?! Wait, for our party today, we’re just eating salad?”

Lina asked in surprise, “I like salad very much. Don’t you like it?”

The three guests standing at the door looked at each other, and finally entered with complicated expressions.

Upon entering, they saw a certain lord sitting on the white wool rug, leaning back against the leg of the sofa, holding a controller and lazily playing video games. Hearing Fu Cheng and the others arrive, he didn’t even lift his eyelids but instead rolled up his sleeves and started a new game.

Lina: “Want a tour?”

Su Fei had been peeking around for a long time. Hearing this, he immediately said, “Yes!”

Lina took everyone on a tour. When they returned to the first floor, Fu Cheng saw that the man had put down the controller and was holding his phone, looking at something unknown. He was wearing a white shirt, barefoot on the wool carpet, his hair tied casually in a bun behind his head. He suddenly yawned, then turned to look in their direction.

Fu Cheng quickly withdrew his gaze.

Zhuo Huan didn’t notice his gaze but sneered at Su Fei. “He who asserts must prove.”

Su Fei: “Huh?”

Zhuo Huan picked his ear. “Didn’t you want to eat hot pot? You’ve been chanting about it since you walked in. Then go buy the ingredients and the base. You asserted…” He raised his hand and rubbed his thumb and index finger together. “You buy the groceries.”

Su Fei: “…”

“Buy it then, I’ll buy it!”

Su Fei and Old Joseph had long cast the salad aside, their hearts set only on hot pot. The two indignantly took their phones, rejected Lina’s kind persuasion that “Don’t be angry, Reid didn’t mean that,” and went out noisily. However, as soon as they went out, the two looked at each other…

“Hehehe, we can finally eat hot pot!”

Fu Cheng said meaningfully, “Wish finally fulfilled.”

Lina winked at him, softly “shushed,” and said, “Fu, do you want to make Thousand Island dressing with me?”

Fu Cheng didn’t think he had superb culinary skills, but one thing simpler about Western meals compared to Chinese meals is that their recipes are always written in an easy-to-understand way, hard to mess up. He smiled and said, “With pleasure.” Then he went to the open Western-style kitchen to help Lina make her beloved salad.

The kitchen faced the living room. Fu Cheng looked up slightly and saw the man leaning on the sofa, holding his hands high above his head, looking up at the phone screen. From his angle, he could only see Zhuo Huan’s slightly lowered eyelashes. Suddenly, music rang out.

Zhuo Huan stood up. “I’m going to take a call.”

The man strode out of the living room, walked up the stairs, and soon disappeared around the corner.

Suddenly, everyone had left. In the living room, only the buzzing noise of the blender could be heard.

“I made a bet with Reid before.”

Fu Cheng turned his head to look at Lina.

Lina washed carrots as she spoke. “Because there were no stakes, Reid didn’t want to know the truth, but I quite wanted to know. I’ve known Reid for many years and almost never won against him. In my memory, probably only three times.”

Fu Cheng: “What bet?”

Lina turned off the tap and looked up at Fu Cheng. “The night before we left Finland, we went to a bar together. I told Reid that Old Joseph must be secretly telling you guys that he and I are boyfriend and girlfriend. And that the reason I came to UAAG is because Reid is here.”

Fu Cheng laughed. “Why did you suddenly talk about this?”

Lina: “So I guessed right?”

Fu Cheng spread his hands.

Lina smiled. “See, I beat Reid for the fourth time.”

So you really do have that kind of relationship?

This sentence stuck in his throat for a few seconds, unspoken.

Fu Cheng: “It seems you didn’t come to UAAG because of Teacher Zhuo.”

Lina: “You can’t say that either. Just like how Reid is always particularly interested in accident cases where the black box failed, everyone has their own unique preferences. I’ve loved airplanes since I was little, but it’s a pity I didn’t have the talent for it, so I couldn’t become an aircraft designer. Hearing that Reid established UAAG, I acted on impulse, remembered this simple dream, and came here.”

Hearing the phrase “black box failed,” Fu Cheng’s eyes darkened. But he smiled and said calmly, “I never knew Teacher Zhuo was interested in aircraft accidents where the black box failed.”

Lina didn’t think too much of it. “Didn’t you notice? The one in Finland, JAL JL917, the black box wasn’t fixed until half a year later. And this time with American Airlines 3157, the black box didn’t record any information. Oh right, I remember the Rogue Aviation Flight 318 accident four years ago; the black box has been sunk in the Pacific Ocean and hasn’t been found to this day…”

“That was the first aircraft accident Reid took over; he was extremely interested in that accident too.”

Author’s Note:

The prototype for the American Airlines 3157 accident is the SilkAir Flight 185 accident. That captain wasn’t named Richard either; his surname was Zhu, famously known as the Zhu Dive.
For air crash accidents that can’t be said to have a definitive conclusion like this, I’ll just casually make up a fictional case. After all, without an answer, let’s not wrong anyone.

American Airlines: ??? Wait, why pin it on me?!
Fuwa (Author): It’s your turn to be unlucky (????)??

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