UAAG CH37

“Is there something you need from me?”

Fu Cheng came back to his senses and handed the document folder to Zhuo Huan. “Lina and I have conducted detailed interviews and questioning of Captain Kyle’s family, as well as relevant personnel from the airline and the airport. The final result, I think Teacher Zhuo, you should take a look.”

Zhuo Huan took the thick folder and flipped through it.

Fu Cheng: “Captain Kyle’s personality seems to be extremely dominant and stubborn, and he had disputes with Co-pilot Tim before this. That was an unpleasant experience; according to eyewitnesses, it was almost Kyle unilaterally reprimanding Tim. I think this must have had an impact on the communication between the two pilots.”

Zhuo Huan frowned slightly, his gaze quickly sweeping over the document book. Finally, he looked up at Fu Cheng: “What is your judgment?”

Fu Cheng looked at him with a firm gaze: “Investigate the relationship between the two pilots in detail.”

“Okay.”

Soon, Zhuo Huan convened a meeting, bringing all UAAG and NTSB investigators together. He briefly explained his intention, then said to Lawrence: “Kyle and Tim only flew together three times, but someone saw them arguing during the second time. I highly doubt if this crew could communicate well.”

Lawrence also realized the seriousness of the matter: “Patrick, what do you want to do?”

Zhuo Huan didn’t speak; he looked at Fu Cheng.

Fu Cheng understood and said: “Of course, the third time cannot be verified, but since Kyle and Tim had two previous cooperative experiences, we can start from those two times. I suggest finding all the pilots, flight attendants, and other relevant personnel who have had contact with the two of them, especially all the crew members on board during their first two collaborations. Kyle and Tim can no longer tell us how their relationship was, but someone will know what exactly happened between these two people.”

Without delay, everyone acted immediately.

Kyle Shulman had worked at American Airlines for many years. He knew many pilots, and countless pilots had worked with him. Just finding all the relevant personnel who were familiar with him was an extremely arduous task. Fortunately, the NTSB contacted American Airlines, and American Airlines directly queried relevant personnel internally, greatly reducing the consumption of manpower and material resources at the investigation headquarters.

A week later, all the crew members who had worked with Kyle and Tim were found.

Early that morning, Fu Cheng and Lina flew to Washington. American Airlines gathered the relevant pilots, flight attendants, and ground staff at the American Airlines Washington branch. The two had a whole day to question these people.

First to be questioned was another captain who was on the same flight during Kyle and Tim’s first cooperative flight.

“On March 29, 2020, Mr. Shulman, Tim, and I flew a plane together from New York to the capital of China. This kind of transoceanic flight takes a long time, so there were a total of three pilots on board. Mr. Shulman served as the captain, and Tim and I were co-pilots.”

Fu Cheng asked: “From Washington to the capital of China, it takes about 20 hours of flight time. During such a long time together, I want to ask, do you have any memorable events? Especially regarding Captain Kyle and Tim.”

This pilot thought seriously for a long time before apologizing: “Sorry, it was ten months ago, I really don’t remember. There shouldn’t have been anything particularly memorable along the way; we were just flying the plane normally. If I have to say something, everyone at American Airlines knows that Mr. Shulman’s flying skills were extremely exquisite. Tim and I were both young pilots with little seniority, but with Mr. Shulman there, the whole journey was very safe.”

Fu Cheng: “Did the two of them have any disputes, or any unpleasant experiences?”

“Absolutely not! Mr. Shulman has won multiple Excellent Captain Medals and Blue Sky Medals; we all respect him very much. How could Tim and I have a dispute with Mr. Shulman? That is absolutely impossible.”

The pilot’s vigorous denial made Fu Cheng and Lina look at each other. Lina lowered her head and wrote a comment in the document book.

Kyle and Tim’s second collaboration was a domestic flight in the United States. So unfortunately, that flight only required two pilots. There were always only the two of them in the cockpit, and no one knew what had happened.

Fu Cheng frowned tightly: “The second time, which is the time Kyle reportedly reprimanded Tim before the flight. Only two people in the cockpit… It’s a pity.”

Lina thought for a moment and said: “There might be a way.”

Fu Cheng looked at her.

Lina smiled slightly. She notified the American Airlines staff to call over the ground crew member responsible for checking the plane that time.

This was a slightly chubby middle-aged man. When asked “Do you have any special impression of that routine check,” he spoke almost without thinking: “I have an impression.”

Fu Cheng’s eyes lit up: “What happened?”

The man said: “It was like this. At that time, several colleagues and I were responsible for checking that Airbus A390. We calculated the fuel amount based on the flight mileage. Tim knew me quite well. He also checked our ground maintenance sheet and confirmed the fuel amount, then went to report to Captain Shulman. But soon he came back and told me to add one ton less fuel.”

In fact, before every flight of any aircraft, the fuel amount needs to be calculated based on the distance, and then refueled.

Planes are not cars; you can’t just casually “fill ‘er up.”

Fuel has weight, and every ton of fuel causes huge cost consumption. The plane’s fuel is all concentrated in the central fuel tank and the tanks in the left and right wings. Every extra ton added increases countless flight costs. Moreover, sometimes for long-haul flights, even if the fuel tanks are completely filled, it is not enough to fly. For example, planes flying from New York to Shencheng, China, often have to stop in Japan or South Korea halfway to refuel once, then continue flying.

Fu Cheng thought for a moment: “You calculated one ton of extra fuel?”

This ground crew member showed a strange expression: “Even if I calculated wrong, Tim wouldn’t calculate wrong with me. We didn’t calculate wrong, but considering the meteorological report for Los Angeles that day said there might be thunderstorms, we added one ton more fuel than usual. This way, if the weather is bad and landing is difficult, it can ensure that the plane can circle in the air for a while, or have enough fuel to fly to other airports to land. This is a very common thing in airlines. But Mr. Shulman said…”

Imitating the tone of the cold captain in his memory, the middle-aged man kept a straight face and sneered: “Idiot, do you not even have the basic skills to land in thunderstorm weather? I am flying the plane this time, I don’t need this extra ton of fuel!”

The hand holding the pen paused slightly. Fu Cheng looked at this ground crew member seriously, his tone stern: “Are you sure these were the captain’s original words? Did Tim tell you?”

“Of course they were the original words, but Tim didn’t say them. When he came to tell me to add one ton less fuel, his face didn’t look very good. So afterwards, after they took off, I went to ask a colleague working in the maintenance room and learned about this. Also, that was Captain Shulman; he had never made a mistake or omission. The planes he flew never had any record of delay!”

Fu Cheng’s voice was low: “Thank you. Do you have anything else to add?”

“Actually… I have one more thing to say. I once heard someone say that Tim always wanted to transfer to a different aircraft type. Although I haven’t heard him say the reason, it must be because he didn’t want to be on duty with Shulman anymore! This gentleman indeed possesses sufficiently exquisite skills, but he is definitely not an excellent captain. Maybe you don’t know, and no one told you, Mr. Shulman has a nickname within American Airlines—”

“The Bismarck of American Airlines!”

“Any pilot who has flown with him, you can go ask. Although they won’t say it, deep down they definitely don’t want to fly with him a second time!”

Hearing this, Fu Cheng’s pupils constricted. He stood up and extended his hand: “Okay, Mr. Nolence, thank you very much for your help.”

Nolence stood up and shook his hand back. He just opened his mouth, but choked up a bit, so he closed his mouth. He sighed deeply and said sadly: “Bismarck, this nickname always reminds people of bad things. It’s not the first time it happened. Why does it happen a second time? Why is it poor Harrison again?”

Fu Cheng caught the keyword. He looked at this ground crew member in shock, some images suddenly flashing through his mind.

Aside, Lina asked keenly: “Wait a moment, I want to ask, what do you mean by the second time? Can you explain in detail?”

On the other side, Boston Investigation Headquarters.

Zhuo Huan, Lawrence, and Old Joseph were conducting the final inspection of the fly-by-wire system of AA4012. They removed the plane’s digital sensors and connected them to external instruments. After conducting experimental tests, Lawrence sighed and looked at Zhuo Huan: “Patrick, this is the last item. No problems at all. I think we can already announce the answer.”

Zhuo Huan stared intently at the digital sensor in front of him, silent for a long time.

Lawrence also felt very uncomfortable in his heart, but he knew that after nearly two months of investigation, finally discovering that this plane had no mechanical failure, only two causes for the crash remained.

First, pilot error.

Second, a mechanical failure with a minuscule probability that they hadn’t discovered.

Undoubtedly, pilot error was almost certainly the final cause of the crash.

Lawrence cracked a joke to liven up the atmosphere: “It’s really strange. Several air crashes of US Airways over the years seem to always be related to pilot error. For example, AA3157 that crashed headlong into the Great Salt Lake twenty-four years ago, and for example… er, sorry, Old Joseph, I shouldn’t have brought up your sad matter. I just wanted to make a joke.”

Normally, Old Joseph always greeted people with a smile, very kind, and especially liked to joke, so he should have laughed it off. But this time he stared tightly at Lawrence, his stiff lips moving slowly: “Lawrence, this is not a joke.”

“…Sorry.”

Zhuo Huan scoffed: “You should also say sorry to AA3157. Last week you said that accident was very likely a servo valve failure, and now you say it was pilot error.”

Lawrence: “…”

“Sorry, I misspoke, okay? But now there is one thing without doubt, which is that we should determine the cause. Don’t worry about AA3157 twenty-four years ago, nor about your AA384 accident, Old Joseph. The current AA4012, indeed, has not detected any mechanical failure. So… we should determine the cause of the crash for it.”

Zhuo Huan frowned, saying unhappily: “I haven’t determined…”

“Ah!!!”

A sharp scream suddenly interrupted Zhuo Huan’s words. The three turned their heads together to look at the entrance of the investigation headquarters.

Seeing the middle-aged woman standing at the door, Old Joseph’s body froze instantly. That was a haggard and thin woman, with a small ladies’ handbag on her arm. Obviously she had carefully applied makeup, but the exquisite makeup still couldn’t hide her eyes, tired from days of insomnia.

The blood drained from her face in an instant.

Mrs. Harrison’s lips trembled, her eyes widened, staring deathly at the direction of the three. The next moment, she suddenly rushed up, raised her bag in irrepressible rage, like an angry beast, a rumbling roar emitting from her throat, and smashed it fiercely at Old Joseph.

Meanwhile, Washington, American Airlines Branch.

Ground crew member Nolence sighed: “Actually, seventeen years ago, when Shulman hadn’t joined American Airlines yet, there was also a captain nicknamed Bismarck in our company. He also possessed extremely exquisite flying skills, but his temper was like the hardest rock in the depths of hell, unsmiling, always so unapproachable.”

“—Reason, skill, experience. These are the three elements of a pilot. Emotions are just useless burdens. If you don’t even have the courage to face difficulties, then you are not worthy of being a pilot.”

“This was his motto. Many pilots who worked with him dared not resist him at all, because he was always right. The wrong one would only be you, only be the stupid and untalented you.”

Fu Cheng’s lips moved. He already knew the answer, but he didn’t want to say that name.

Lina didn’t know the truth. As she had said before, she respected the privacy of every member. She asked seriously: “May I ask what the name of this pilot you mentioned is?”

“January 17, 2003, AA384 flight accident. Due to poor weather, the co-pilot made an operational error during a visual approach, and the plane crashed on the lawn beside the runway. Co-pilot Michael Harrison died on the spot… which is Tim’s father.”

“And the captain on board at that time, the one known as the Bismarck of American Airlines, was Hader Joseph.”

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