UAAG CH24

Ten days later, Toulouse, France.

This ancient city located in southwestern France is the undisputed aviation center of Europe. Rosy-red bricks adorn the city’s streets and alleys, and the Canal du Midi meanders through the city center, rippling with diamond-like shimmering light.

Toulouse is the headquarters location of Airbus, one of the world’s three major aircraft manufacturers. In addition, the headquarters of ATR is also established here.

After Fu Cheng arrived at Toulouse’s Aerospace Valley by car, he did not go to the headquarters of the city’s most famous Airbus company but instead went to ATR.

ATR-72 was the aircraft flown by Martha 123 this time.

Last week, Fu Cheng and the EASA investigator carefully investigated the weather conditions on the day of the accident and consulted meteorologists. The final conclusion was that thunderclouds twenty kilometers away could absolutely not form a microburst to affect the flight of Martha 123.

Furthermore, according to air traffic controllers, other planes flying from Zurich to Berlin that day also reported good weather and encountered no strong turbulence.

So today, Fu Cheng and Old Joseph came to ATR headquarters.

Led by technicians, they arrived at the simulator facility at ATR headquarters. This was a huge warehouse containing everything from ATR’s most classic ATR-42 aircraft to the subsequent ATR-72 and 82. It wasn’t that there were many aircraft models displayed here, but rather many flight simulators were installed.

A flight simulator is a device used by pilots on the ground to simulate flying.

The entire simulator retains only the cockpit section. After the pilot sits in the driving seat, they use an ultra-wide-angle long-distance large screen to simulate real flight. Through the simulator, one can personally feel the bumps when the plane encounters turbulence, the vibration of the engine, and even the feeling of overweight during inertial takeoff; everything is no different from real flight.

Fu Cheng took the form handed over by the ATR technician, checked the task content ticked on it, and handed it back. He said in English: “Okay, let’s follow the above.”

“OK.”

Fu Cheng and Old Joseph boarded the “plane” together.

The two sat properly in the cockpit seats and fastened their seat belts. The “plane” in the simulator was initially parked at the terminal building, requiring the pilots to taxi and take off themselves.

As if sitting in a real plane, Fu Cheng started the aircraft power system according to standard procedures. His voice was calm as he methodically stated the contents on the flight checklist. On the other side, Old Joseph, sitting in the co-pilot seat, was the First Officer today; he was responsible for confirming procedures and radio contact with the ground.

Fu Cheng: “…Martha Flight 123, requesting takeoff.”

As if someone really responded, after waiting a moment, Fu Cheng looked up at Old Joseph. The two looked at each other and nodded slightly. The next second, Fu Cheng pressed one hand on the throttle lever and pulled it back. The roar of the engine resonated in the small cockpit, and in the huge screen before their eyes, the surrounding buildings and vehicles quickly flew backward.

Upon reaching decision speed, Fu Cheng held the throttle.

“Vroom—”

The nose of the plane lifted sharply, and the scene before their eyes suddenly turned into blue sky and white clouds.

Ten seconds later, Fu Cheng said calmly: “Takeoff successful.”

In the co-pilot seat, Old Joseph flipped through the manual while smiling: “Not a single bump, simply perfect. If every pilot could achieve such a smooth takeoff, I think the number of airsick passengers in the cabin would be reduced by at least half.” Pausing, he looked at Fu Cheng, “Fu, what made you decide to conduct a simulated test flight? My view is the same as Reid’s; the pilots are not the main cause this time.”

Yes, coming specifically to the ATR headquarters in France for a test flight was Fu Cheng’s decision.

After confirming that the weather was not the cause of the crash, Fu Cheng pondered for a long time before proposing the test flight to Zhuo Huan.

At that time, Zhuo Huan was confirming the cargo manifest on the plane with an investigator.

After half a month of careful inspection and sending the charred cargo for testing, the investigation team determined that there were absolutely no flammable or explosive items in these goods, nor had anyone placed a bomb.

Holding a pen and signing the cargo manifest, listening to Fu Cheng’s words, Zhuo Huan looked up. He was somewhat exhausted; work with almost no sleep had left faint dark circles under his eyes. Frowning at Fu Cheng, Zhuo Huan said: “Do you think… the pilots? Have you listened to the cockpit voice recorder?”

Fu Cheng naturally knew what he was going to say: “Listened. It’s obvious that before the aircraft system suddenly issued a warning, the pilots did not show any abnormalities; they did not misoperate to cause the flight roll.”

“Oh? So?”

Looking at the man in front of him, Fu Cheng raised his head slightly: “I never said the pilots were the main cause, but Teacher Zhuo, that roll attitude curve is really too strange. I want to know… under what circumstances can a civil airliner perform such a miraculous roll attitude.”

His clear gaze lingered on the young man for a moment before Zhuo Huan looked away: “Suit yourself.”

Thus, there was the scene today where Old Joseph accompanied Fu Cheng to ATR Company for a test flight.

Old Joseph: “What is the first scenario for today’s test flight…” He looked at the test flight form and exclaimed, “Hydraulic system failure? Wow, young people are daring to try. Although this is a simulator, starting with a hydraulic system failure right away… I’m old, I can’t handle it.”

Fu Cheng didn’t respond to this joke: “Altitude?”

Old Joseph immediately straightened his expression: “15,000 feet.”

“Speed?”

“196 knots.”

Fu Cheng looked up at the time, narrowed his eyes slightly, and gripped the rudder tightly with both hands: “Get ready, starting in… 3, 2, 1…”

“Boom—”

The plane suddenly tilted to one side, and a huge sense of weightlessness swept over both of their hearts. The human body told the brain in the first instant that they were weightless! However, in the cockpit, the two excellent pilots seemed not to feel this intense weightlessness. Their bodies were pinned to the seats by seat belts, but both looked composed, showing no fear.

Fu Cheng said sternly: “Speed?”

Old Joseph: “176 knots, dropping fast!”

“Altitude?”

“13,500 feet! Fu, what should I do?”

The plane was still falling. Fu Cheng, controlling the plane, gave orders to his co-pilot in an extremely calm voice: “Completely recreate the crash scene. This plane is now controlled by me. Until the moment before it crashes into the mountain, what you have to do is flip through the manual, tell me what to do in this situation, and report real-time data to me. Finally, when we are about to hit the mountain, you have to start pushing the stick frantically, trying to save it.”

Old Joseph: “Okay!”

“Altitude 9,500 feet, speed 179 knots.”

“5,000 feet, speed 172 knots.”

“2,500 feet, speed 1… Fu, we crashed.”

In the simulator, the plane with hydraulic system failure was still diving headfirst towards the ground. Twenty seconds later, it crashed onto the ground, and the large screen went pitch black. However, in reality, Fu Cheng had already released the rudder.

Old Joseph wiped the cold sweat from his forehead: “It’s really magical; knowing it’s fake, I was still a bit nervous. Probably haven’t flown a plane for too long; encountering such a scene really catches one off guard. We prepared in advance, but even you couldn’t save this plane. It was too fast, the altitude wasn’t high, and the ground was full of mountains; crashing was an inevitable outcome.”

Soon, the simulator door opened, and ATR technicians delivered the flight data report for this session.

On the A4 paper, several data lines reflected the plane’s pitch attitude, roll attitude, etc., after the hydraulic system failure. Fu Cheng sighed and handed the information to Old Joseph.

Five minutes later.

The black-haired young man’s steady voice sounded: “…Martha Airlines 123, cleared for takeoff. Second experiment objective: wing damage.”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Repeating the experiment again and again, Fu Cheng exhausted all the causes of air crashes he could think of for simulated test flights, wanting to obtain a roll attitude curve similar to Martha 123. However, regrettably, he tried seven possible accident causes, and not once did he get a similar result.

Taking off the headphones and unbuckling the seat belts, the two left the simulator.

A whole afternoon of simulated test flights made Old Joseph feel tired. “We have included all possible fault causes as much as possible, but still haven’t gotten satisfactory results. It seems undoubtedly that this wonderful and unreasonable roll attitude is the cause of this plane crash.”

Fu Cheng was checking the data of the last test flight; his gaze lingered for a long time on the curve which, although undulating, was fairly stable.

“Fu? Fu? What’s wrong?”

The next moment, as if waking from a dream, Fu Cheng turned his head sharply to look at Old Joseph. His gaze was burning: “Just now, all our actions recreated the behavior of the two pilots, right, Old Joseph.”

Old Joseph didn’t understand what he wanted to say: “Ah, yes. The black box recorded the last operations of the two pilots, and the recovered rudder pedals also proved that they both wanted to save the plane. We did it according to their movements, so what?”

Fu Cheng: “The captain was trying hard to push the stick, and the co-pilot joined him in the end. But until the end, their efforts were recorded by the black box, acknowledging that they performed operations that might not have been the best but were definitely not wrong. But now we really followed their operations, the plane would still crash, but it wouldn’t cause such a terrible roll attitude…”

His voice paused, as if seeing a fleeting ray of light in the dark night.

At ATR headquarters, the world’s top pilot took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. In a firm and unquestionable tone, he said: “If a plane, whose pilots made corrective maneuvers, still rolls violently in the air with irresistible force and finally crashes. That can only prove one reason…”

Old Joseph had a flash of insight: “You mean the hydraulic system failed, and the pilots couldn’t control the plane?” Just after speaking, he immediately denied it himself, “Impossible, the data on the black box proves that the hydraulic system definitely did not fail completely.”

“Maybe it’s not a problem with the hydraulic system.”

“Mn?”

“No matter how the pilots improved the flight attitude, it was useless because the terminal of all their measures… the tail, had a problem.”

Old Joseph froze instantly.

Fu Cheng had already taken out his phone and called Zhuo Huan. Strangely, he just dialed the number, and the next second, Zhuo Huan picked up. The man’s slightly hoarse voice came through the sound hole, mixed with a trace of electric static: “Hello.”

Fu Cheng: “Teacher Zhuo, how is the assembly of Martha 123’s tail going? I suggest checking its tail immediately; I suspect there was a problem with the rudder on the tail.”

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.

Fu Cheng felt surprised and was about to speak when he heard Gao Yun’s voice from the other end: “Mr. Zhuo, couldn’t find it. Could it still be on the mountain? The plane smashed too badly; maybe after the tail part smashed, it fell into a ravine or got stuck in some hole; anything is possible.”

His eyes widened slightly, and Fu Cheng’s lips moved. He seemed to hear the man’s exhalation, crossing thousands of miles as if right by his ear.

Zhuo Huan said to Gao Yun: “No need, confirm it is tail failure. Now suspect tail fracture. From Zurich Airport to Schaffhausen, search for the tail along the route immediately.”

Gao Yun: “Yes!”

Zhuo Huan: “Fu Cheng.”

“…Mn?”

Zhuo Huan: “Five minutes ago, after assembling the plane to the tail section, found that no suitable fragments could be found. Perhaps it wasn’t a malfunction of the rudder on the tail, but this plane… its tail fell off.”

Fu Cheng suddenly didn’t know what to say; there was ten seconds of silence on the phone.

“How did you deduce it?”

Fu Cheng was silent for a moment, “That strange roll attitude curve. Any pilot, unless intentionally trying to crash the plane, would absolutely not allow a plane to roll like that in the air, as if the pilot made no effort at all.”

Zhuo Huan was stunned. This answer was something he hadn’t expected; this wasn’t his field.

Almost seeing the dawn of victory, the big stone pressing on his heart disappeared. Fu Cheng and Old Joseph walked out the door together, saying casually: “Maybe it’s… pilot’s intuition?”

On the other side of the phone, Zhuo Huan hooked up the corner of his mouth, said something softly, then hung up the phone.

The phone was suddenly hung up, and Fu Cheng was somewhat surprised, looking at the darkened phone screen.

Old Joseph: “Reid discovered over there that the tail is gone? What kind of thing is this? A month after the accident, we just discovered the tail is gone! If the plane hadn’t smashed too badly, could such an incredibly stupid mistake occur? Suppose a documentary is filmed later, like Air Crash Investigation or something, I don’t want to be interviewed; it’s too embarrassing.”

Fu Cheng gave a soft “Mn.” Remembering something, he looked up and said: “Old Joseph, thanks for your hard work accompanying me here.”

Old Joseph waved his hand and laughed: “I actually think this is much more interesting than putting together a plane.”

Fu Cheng extended his hand: “Good job!”

Old Joseph high-fived him: “Good job!”

On November 19, 2020, after a 21-day carpet search, the search team finally found the broken tail of Martha 123 in a mountain col.

It fell from a height of 15,000 feet, but did not suffer a crushing impact like other parts of the plane, remaining almost intact.

Schaffhausen, at the entrance of the investigation headquarters.

Zhuo Huan led the five UAAG members standing by the Rhine Falls, waiting for the helicopter to deliver the plane’s tail at the fastest speed.

The helicopter’s propeller stirred the air, making a deafening roar. Two steel cables suspended a pitch-black metal box beneath the helicopter, slowly placing it on the ground. The five UAAG members stepped forward while investigators quickly unpacked the box.

Warm winter sunlight reflected on the plane’s tail.

It was white with red patterns, which was the emblem of Martha Airlines.

Old Joseph whistled: “Wow, preserved so intact. This is probably the most complete part of this plane, right?”

Zhuo Huan squatted down, scrutinizing the tail which had developed several cracks due to falling from high altitude. His gaze slid carefully from the tip downwards, finally stopping on a few screws at the tail fracture.

“Looks very old.”

Zhuo Huan raised his eyes to look at the black-haired young man who also squatted down, looking seriously at the tail. He wasn’t intentionally imitating him; he was just really observing the tail very intently. After waiting a long time without an answer from Zhuo Huan, Fu Cheng was somewhat confused and looked up: “Teacher Zhuo?”

The Rhine Falls hid this clear voice in the roaring rapids.

After a long while, Zhuo Huan hooked up the corner of his mouth and smiled sarcastically: “Heh, old? Not just old, the screw model is wrong—small! Go check it.” After speaking, he turned and left, obviously extremely displeased with this result, unwilling to stay even a second longer.

Gao Yun said in disbelief: “Small? This screw does not meet specifications?!” He quickly called over a few investigators and said seriously: “Immediately send the tail to EASA headquarters, focusing especially on checking the screws.”

“Yes!”

“Wait.” Before the investigators took the tail away, Gao Yun couldn’t help calling them to stop. Imitating Zhuo Huan’s manner just now, he squatted down and leaned close to look at those screws: “How can you tell it’s small? Can the naked eye see that the screw specifications are incorrect? Human microscope…”

Hearing his words, Lina burst out laughing, and Old Joseph beside her also laughed heartily.

Su Fei also leaned in: “Let me see, let me see. Eh, how on earth did he see the problem?”

Fu Cheng stood up and said as a matter of course: “Because he is Zhuo Huan.”

Behind him, the man’s steps paused for an instant. Zhuo Huan looked back, his gaze flashing over the young man’s clear and slender back. Staring for a while, he turned back and strode away.

Two days later, the EASA inspection results came out.

“The screws used on the tail of Martha Flight 123 are No. 7 screws, which do not meet specifications. The naked eye can hardly see the difference, but they are one size smaller than the original. It seems undoubtedly that when the plane was climbing in the air, the already undersized screws, due to long-term work, suddenly cracked a few. Consequently, after losing a few screws, the tail could not bear the excessive tension and broke off.” Gao Yun read the inspection report given by EASA. “This is the direct cause of the Martha 123 accident.”

Su Fei raised his hand: “Why were the screws small?”

Old Joseph: “That’s another matter. Ground maintenance personnel took the wrong screws?”

Zhuo Huan: “Then why were they old?”

Fu Cheng looked at Zhuo Huan; he didn’t expect Zhuo Huan to remember the question he casually raised earlier.

Gao Yun scratched his head: “Right, this is also a problem. Even if the maintenance personnel took the wrong screw model and messed up, they should have replaced them with new screws, not a row of such old ones.”

Everyone pondered again.

“What if these screws were removed from another older plane?”

Everyone looked up sharply, looking at Fu Cheng together.

Fu Cheng mused: “A shell company that cooperates with an airline, flies passenger planes during the day and cargo planes at night, trying its best to exploit pilots. Their tickets are sold by Martha Airlines; their airport access qualifications are given by Martha Airlines. You said,” he looked at Zhuo Huan, “this shell company only owns one plane and two pilots. Then they naturally wouldn’t have specialized maintenance personnel.”

Pausing, he gave a conclusion: “Their aircraft maintenance is outsourced to others. Since they have already exploited to this extent, removing screws from a scrapped old plane for waste utilization… seems only natural.”

Zhuo Huan said indifferently: “The tail screws of the ATR-42 are No. 7.”

Fu Cheng looked at him in surprise.

Zhuo Huan: “I didn’t say these screws must have been removed from an ATR-42. It’s just that among the ATR series aircraft, only the 42 still uses No. 7 screws. Mr. Gao, this is what EASA needs to investigate. Check that shell company, find out what exactly it is.”

All fingers pointed to that mysterious shell company. Now the investigation had reached the final stage, with only the last step remaining.

The moon was high in the sky; the rapids rushed over the rocks.

Lina walked out of the candy factory gate and saw her friend standing in front of the Rhine Falls. She walked up, intending to say “Don’t smoke, Reid,” but upon approaching, she was surprised to find that her friend wasn’t smoking!

Zhuo Huan stood with both hands in his trench coat pockets, looking down at the snow-white foam formed by the waterfall crashing down from a height.

“I’ve been feeling much better lately. I think Gerard wouldn’t want his friends to be immersed in painful memories forever.” Lina took a piece of gum from her small bag and handed it over: “But Reid, it’s surprising that you’re not smoking. Want a piece of gum?”

Zhuo Huan reached out and took it: “Thanks.”

“What are you looking at?” Lina looked in the direction of his gaze, but saw only water. “Is there anything special about this waterfall?”

“I’m thinking about something.”

“Mn?”

The air was silent; for a long time, no one spoke.

Lina asked again: “Reid?”

Zhuo Huan chewed gum, his voice indifferent and calm. He blew a gum bubble and slowly chewed it back. Then, in an extremely casual tone, as if speaking offhandedly, he said: “Fu Cheng seems to have a crush on me.”

Lina: “…”

“Pffft hahahaha.”

Zhuo Huan frowned slightly and glanced at his friend.

Funny?

Since losing her best friend two months ago, this was the first time Lina laughed like this. She really couldn’t help it; even her ladylike image was gone. Finally, she trembled with laughter and said: “Reid, don’t tease me. Although I just said I wouldn’t continue to be sad, you don’t have to… don’t have to hahahahahaha…”

Really no need for this.

Zhuo Huan let out a soft scoff.

Lina finally stopped laughing: “You’re serious?”

Lord Zhuo chewed gum, blew a bubble, and ignored her.

Lina tried hard to be serious: “Cough cough, there’s something I have to tell you, Reid. I treat every member of UAAG as family, as my most important partners. Therefore, after you decided on the member list, I quietly investigated each of them. Don’t worry, just a general investigation of some information, not violating any of their privacy rights.”

“So?” Lord Zhuo lifted his eyelids.

“Reasonably speaking, I wouldn’t investigate Fu’s family situation, let alone his romantic relationships. But because he has been a top student since childhood, the only demerit on his file was in high school, so I took a curious look. Do you know the reason for the demerit?”

Lord Zhuo blew a bubble.

“Fu had a romance in his senior year of high school; the object was the school beauty. approaching China’s Gaokao (college entrance exam), he got into a fight with other classmates for his girlfriend, so he got a demerit.” Pausing, Lina suddenly couldn’t bear to strike her friend’s handsome and proud face: “After the Gaokao, the two broke up. As far as I know, he really liked that girl. So…”

“Reid, Fu is not gay.”

“Pop—”

The gum bubble suddenly burst, sticking to his lips.

“Heh.”

Lord Zhuo let out a disdainful scoff from his nasal cavity, chewed the gum, turned around, and walked into the investigation headquarters.

Author’s Note:

Zhuo Rest-in-Peace: What I’m going to say next, you absolutely must not be scared!
Lina: Mr. Zhuo, rest assured, I have received professional training; I will absolutely not be scared.
Zhuo Rest-in-Peace: Fu Cheng has a high probability of having a crush on me! [Fu Chengcheng: Meow meow meow???]
Lina: Pfft.
Zhuo Rest-in-Peace: ? What are you laughing at?
Lina: Mr. Zhuo, I thought of something happy.
Zhuo Rest-in-Peace: What happy thing?
Lina: I have a friend; he is too narcissistic hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha…

For ease of reading, I have assigned air crashes occurring in Europe to EASA, and I won’t write about AAIB or similar organizations to avoid confusing you with various abbreviations. Additionally, this story features a fictional setting with McFly Company, which stands alongside Boeing and Airbus as one of the world’s three major aircraft manufacturers.

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