UAAG CH51

Entering April, the weather suddenly became hot. The scorching air tumbled over the Persian Gulf, carrying the salty humidity of the sea, filling this luxurious city of debauchery and splendor.

Four black Mercedes business vans parked neatly in front of the GCAA investigation headquarters. Men in black suits continuously moved cardboard boxes and several metal cases from the vehicles. They walked into the investigation headquarters and delivered the items to the archives room.

Not long after, a tall white man with brown hair got out of a car and walked into the investigation headquarters. As soon as he entered the room, he saw several members of UAAG.

Greeting his old friends, he strode toward the window, his face brimming with an enthusiastic smile. Lawrance spread his arms and said with a laugh, “Hi, Patrick, my friend, we meet again.”

Zhuo Huan was speaking in a low voice with Fu Cheng, discussing possible reasons for the flap fragment falling off in the Emirates 411 case. Hearing the voice, Zhuo Huan looked up. After seeing who it was, he gave a meaningful “Oh”: “You’ve finally been sent to Dubai again.”

Lawrance: “…”

The man had no intention of getting up to hug him, and Lawrance didn’t feel awkward either. He withdrew his hand and said, “Last time we met in Boston, you said I was sent there, which I can understand. But Patrick, how can you say coming to such a great place like Dubai is being sent away? I volunteered to come here.”

Fu Cheng looked up at Lawrance.

Lawrance restrained his smile, looking serious: “The NTSB takes the Emirates 411 case very seriously. Who would have thought that after twenty-three years, this accident would take such a turn. In fact, air crashes with reversed verdicts are not unheard of in our NTSB history, but every time, we treat them with utmost seriousness. Patrick, I came here with absolute solemnity, wanting to solve it with you and unearth the truth again.”

Zhuo Huan gave him a steady look, then turned his head to look at the group of NTSB investigators moving documents behind Lawrance. He asked, “Did you bring anything special?”

Lawrance smiled: “Can’t hide anything from you. Back then, the NTSB did take some special things away and didn’t leave them for the GCAA. I think you’ll definitely be satisfied.”

“What?”

“The culprit that was sucked into the engine tail cone and caused the engine explosion—that fragment of the fan blade.”

Everyone went to the archives room. Lawrance arranged for an investigator to bring over a pitch-black metal box.

It was an unremarkable black iron box, about the size of an ordinary chocolate or cookie tin. The only special thing about it was that its seal was doubly encrypted with a physical lock and a combination lock. Lawrance opened the first lock with a key, then entered the password. He said, “Preserving key evidence of air crash accidents is an NTSB habit, without exception. Actually, the confidentiality level of the Emirates 411 crash within the NTSB isn’t high; truly important evidence wouldn’t be preserved only in this way.”

With a click, the box opened.

Lawrance took out the glass jar placed inside the box: “This is it.”

The moment the glass jar was taken out, Su Fei leaned in, and Lina also looked curiously several times.

Su Fei: “Just this tiny bit?”

Lawrance immediately laughed: “The biggest investigation difficulty of the Emirates 411 crash was the massive explosion after the crash. The entire plane was blown to smithereens. Being able to find these fragments from the mess and confirm through technical analysis that some of its fracture surfaces were caused by mechanical external force rather than the explosion was already our best effort.”

Zhuo Huan: “Explosion, chemical energy converted to mechanical energy. This fan blade was first sucked into the engine, shattered by powerful mechanical external force, and then experienced the explosion… Cool, this shift in thinking is interesting. Who discovered these fragments and conducted the fracture detection?”

Lawrance’ face stiffened abruptly, and he covered it up with a smile: “Haha, this is indeed an extremely ingenious investigative approach, and also the key to finding the truth of the Emirates 411 crash. Patrick, you really asked the right person; I know who came up with the idea.”

“Oh, who?” Old Joseph, once an NTSB investigator himself, was also full of curiosity about this.

Lawrance smiled: “Levi Andrew.”

Zhuo Huan frowned.

Old Joseph exclaimed in surprise: “Wow, Deputy Director Andrew? Wait, you mean, Deputy Director Andrew became famous in one fell swoop because of Emirates 411 and gained attention from the higher-ups? Oh, right, otherwise, at only fifty-something, he wouldn’t have become Deputy Director four years ago. I didn’t expect it all started with Emirates 411.”

Lawrance nodded: “Deputy Director Andrew is an excellent investigator.”

Zhuo Huan sneered and turned to leave.

Master Zhuo was always so willful, and everyone was used to him. But Fu Cheng gazed at his retreating figure, lost in thought for a long time.

During lunch, while Zhuo Huan and Lawrance re-examined the fan blade fragments shattered by the explosion, Fu Cheng took a sandwich and sat down next to Old Joseph.

Old Joseph paused, looked up at him, and laughed: “Fu, what’s this? You’re just having a sandwich for lunch? GCAA provided a whole five-star buffet; aren’t you going to eat the buffet?”

Fu Cheng: “I’m not very interested in food.”

Old Joseph said in surprise: “There’s actually someone who isn’t interested in food.”

Fu Cheng gave a soft “Mn” and didn’t answer his question. While tearing open the plastic seal of the sandwich, he asked: “When you mentioned the NTSB Deputy Director this morning, I saw Teacher Zhuo didn’t seem very happy.”

Old Joseph looked at him for a while, smilingly asking back: “When have you ever seen Reid in a good mood? Isn’t he like that every day, looking like ‘the whole world owes me a million’? Oh no, what’s a million? A million is nothing in Reid’s eyes. It’s probably more like ‘the whole world owes me ten billion,’ that’s more accurate.”

Fu Cheng took a bite of the sandwich and chewed twice: “It’s different.”

Old Joseph was silent for a moment, then said: “Alright, you are really sharp. Fu, Levi Andrew indeed has some beef with Reid. Of course, neither of them was wrong in this matter. You know about the Rogue 318 crash five years ago, right? More than 200 people, a suddenly disappeared plane. This crash was no small matter. The NTSB took it seriously immediately and sent their best senior investigator at the time, Levi Andrew, as the person in charge. A few days later, Reid, as the investigation consultant for McFly, also joined the investigation team. And I was initially a member of the investigation team too, so I know about this.”

Fu Cheng: “Did they have a dispute?”

Old Joseph: “Of course not at the beginning. Although Reid has a bad temper, he rarely spoke during that time and didn’t have many chances to offend people. After all, a plane he designed crashed; no one would be in the mood to talk. You know, if Reid doesn’t open his mouth, half the chances of offending people are gone. They worked together quite happily. Until two years later, a disagreement arose between the two.”

“What disagreement?”

Old Joseph sighed: “One side felt we should stop focusing on the plane itself, that is, the McFly F485, and should investigate other crash causes, such as pilot issues or weather issues. The other side held onto the McFly F485 tightly, feeling we shouldn’t so hastily conclude it wasn’t a mechanical problem with the plane itself, or even a design problem. Furthermore, mechanical failure shouldn’t occupy only a dozen pages in the mid-term investigation report.”

Fu Cheng was silent for a long time.

In the cool breeze of the air conditioner, he took a bite of the sandwich. Bread and vegetables were chewed silently in his mouth. Sometimes food is nature’s most beautiful gift, and sometimes it is merely a source to replenish calories and obtain vitality. He ate quietly, soundlessly, and there was no fluctuation on his handsome face.

Swallowing the last dry bite of toast, Fu Cheng crumpled the plastic wrapper into a ball while saying: “Actually, it’s not impossible to understand Teacher Zhuo’s thoughts. In 2016, the Rogue 318 crash happened. Two years later, in 2018, thousands of these planes had been sold globally, and not a single crash caused by mechanical failure or design flaws had occurred. And since then, until now, five years later, the McFly F485 hasn’t had any design issues appear. It is a very perfect aircraft. Facts have proven that Teacher Zhuo’s decision not to let the investigation team focus on the plane itself was correct. This wasn’t selfishness; it was a fact.”

“Oh?” Old Joseph smiled. “Then what if I tell you that the person advocating to rule out aircraft failure as the crash cause was Andrew, and the person rejecting his proposal and insisting that aircraft failure cannot be casually ruled out from the investigation points when evidence is unclear was Reid?”

Fu Cheng was suddenly stunned.

Two days later, Rolls-Royce delivered a huge Trent 800 engine.

On the same day, Emirates Airlines also found a Boeing 777 from their maintenance hangar and parked it specially in a warehouse at Dubai International Airport for the investigation team to use.

After Lina contacted Rolls-Royce and explained the reason, just as Zhuo Huan said, the other party agreed immediately and found a Trent 800 engine exactly the same model as the one on Emirates 411 back then with the fastest speed, sending it to Dubai non-stop—

They were even more anxious than the investigation team.

More than twenty years ago, they paid out 350,000 US dollars, which was just a drop in the bucket for an industry giant like Rolls-Royce. However, what truly affected them was the corporate image disparaged by the media and the public for over a year. So suddenly someone told them there was a chance to overturn the case. Rolls-Royce contributed without hesitation and told Lina they were willing to lend their T1 laboratory in the UK, ready for experiments at any time if needed.

On the other hand, when Maha contacted Emirates hoping they would provide a Boeing 777 specifically for the investigation, he himself wasn’t very confident and was very apprehensive. But Emirates agreed very readily. The reason it took two days to deliver the plane was that finding an old Boeing 777 model from twenty-three years ago was extremely difficult for Emirates, which was full of new planes. They would rather contribute a brand new McFly F485 than find a suitable Boeing 777 from a pile of new planes.

After the plane and engine were all delivered, Zhuo Huan assigned tasks very clearly.

The problem GCAA needed to solve was: What exactly was the “fragment” the witness saw, and what could have cut it off?

NTSB focused on the engine.

“What kind of object can pass through the fuel chamber of the Trent 800, bypass the fuel injectors and the high-pressure intermediate stage, and finally cut the low-pressure turbine blades, causing the engine to explode?” The man’s long, slender fingers pressed forcefully on the whiteboard, making thumping sounds.

Fu Cheng asked: “What specific physical properties do we need to find?”

Zhuo Huan looked at him: “Its heat resistance, compression resistance, and basic hardness attributes… At least these three, understand?”

Their eyes met, and Fu Cheng nodded gently: “Mn, understood.”

If Emirates and Rolls-Royce provided experimental materials worth hundreds of millions, GCAA provided an extremely luxurious experimental site.

In the spacious and tall factory building, several precision machines were placed at the edge of the factory, against the walls. Dozens of meters of complex wiring connected these machines to the giant Trent 800 engine located in the center of the factory.

All investigators and experimenters wore strict protective suits and stood at a distance.

Zhuo Huan raised his hand, and the next moment, the NTSB investigator pressed the start button.

Boom!

A deafening roar instantly swept through everyone’s ears. Even through the thick protective suits, the sound was piercing enough to make one’s scalp numb. Following it was a fierce current of hot air; under the high temperature, the air distorted, and the airtight warehouse was baked into an inferno of eighty degrees Celsius.

After each live machine experiment, everyone had to rest for a while to prevent heatstroke.

As early as the first day, Lawrance had suggested: “We can completely skip live machine experiments and directly simulate the high temperature and high pressure of the Trent 800 engine in the laboratory to find physical properties with relative resistance, can’t we?”

Zhuo Huan looked at him mockingly: “Heh, Levi Andrew thought the same way. No need to control variables so strictly, just run experimental simulations… Oh, so in the end he was wrong. It wasn’t as simple as his single-celled brain thought, just a random, unreplicable accidental metal fracture. Tsk, he could even come up with such a retarded reason; did he dream it up?”

Lawrance: “…”

Didn’t you praise his thinking as genius yesterday!

As if hearing the words in Lawrance’ heart, Zhuo Huan didn’t care and said casually: “If the subject is Levi Andrew, I retract all my previous praise. Mn, he doesn’t deserve it.”

Lawrance: “…”

You are really petty!

Facts proved that Zhuo Huan’s persistence always had its reasons.

Another experiment ended.

Everyone left the factory building and went to the office area to rest. Upon entering the cool investigation headquarters, everyone immediately stripped off their heavy protective suits, found the air conditioning vents, and gasped for breath.

Zhuo Huan stood by the window. He pulled open his collar, and hot beads of sweat flowed down his collarbone.

“Your hair seems to have come loose.”

Zhuo Huan turned his head and saw the handsome and beautiful young man had walked over at some point. He held a bottle of ice water in his hand and handed it over.

Zhuo Huan raised his eyebrows and took the ice water.

Fu Cheng was also soaked in sweat from head to toe. His black shirt stuck completely to his body, and his hair was wet with sweat, falling in strands on both sides of his cheeks. However, he didn’t attend to himself first but walked over and handed over this bottle of water.

Zhuo Huan: “Aren’t you hot?”

Fu Cheng: “I’m not very afraid of heat. Shall I tie your hair for you, Teacher Zhuo? It should be better tied up.”

“Mn.”

Undoing the loose hair tie, the young man’s hands passed through the damp hair. He didn’t mind the sweat being dirty but looked up and combed through the somewhat long hair seriously.

If when he first met Zhuo Huan half a year ago, the man’s hair was long but understandable for a man, then after half a year, Zhuo Huan hadn’t cut his hair once. Thus, such long hair appeared abrupt.

The man was excessively good-looking; his handsome and dazzling face could pull off any hairstyle. Casually tied into a bun at the back of his head, a few strands naturally hung down on both sides of his forehead. However, being able to pull off such long hair didn’t mean that was the reason he kept it long.

Fu Cheng: “Why don’t you cut your hair?”

Zhuo Huan paused in drinking water: “Hmm?”

Fu Cheng opened his lips but didn’t ask a second time.

Turning around, Zhuo Huan looked at the young man’s silent expression. He curled the corner of his mouth, his voice smiling: “Why aren’t you wearing white shirts anymore?”

Fu Cheng: “…”

After a while, Fu Cheng said in a calm voice: “It’s inconvenient.”

“Oh, inconvenient…” The voice dragged on lightly, and Zhuo Huan lowered his head to look at the young man before him. The words tangled ambiguously on the tip of his tongue, and he lowered his voice: “Inconvenient for what?”

Fu Cheng turned expressionlessly to leave.

Zhuo Huan laughed: “Isn’t it funny, this bad joke?”

Fu Cheng stopped. He turned around and looked steadily at the man.

“I heard from Old Joseph that you have some beef with Levi Andrew.”

Zhuo Huan stopped smiling. He frowned and tutted: “Why does Old Joseph blab everything?”

Fu Cheng stared at him fixedly: “Why?”

Zhuo Huan: “Hmm?”

Fu Cheng tightened his fingers and took a step closer: “I asked, why… As the chief designer of the McFly F485, you should be the one who hopes most that it has no problems. So why did you reject the NTSB Deputy Director’s suggestion and insist on continuing the investigation into aircraft failure?”

Zhuo Huan picked his ear and said lazily: “There’s something you need to be clear about. I never said it must be aircraft failure, only that this possibility cannot be ruled out. Didn’t Old Joseph explain it clearly to you?”

Fu Cheng: “So why?”

Zhuo Huan’s eyes gradually darkened as he looked at the young man in front of him.

In those clear and bright eyes, there was a firm and solemn light. As if entrusting his life, he pierced through half the universe, stubbornly looking at him, unwilling to move.

After a long time, Zhuo Huan said: “Then you tell me first why you don’t wear white shirts anymore, and I’ll tell you.”

Fu Cheng: “…You clearly know the reason. Many investigators don’t wear them anymore; even Su Fei doesn’t wear white T-shirts anymore.”

Zhuo Huan gave a soft “Oh”: “But I want to hear you say it yourself.”

After a long silence, Fu Cheng said in a calm voice: “Because after white clothes get wet with sweat, it’s like wearing nothing; it’s a bit awkward.”

Zhuo Huan: “In Helsinki, you said something to me.”

Fu Cheng looked up at him, revealing a blank expression.

He had said many things; he had no idea which sentence Zhuo Huan was referring to now.

Zhuo Huan tilted his head and looked at him with a smile: “You said, you felt… it was its fault.”

His eyes widened abruptly, and Fu Cheng looked at the man in front of him in astonishment.

Half a year ago, Finland, Helsinki.

JAL JL917 crashed next to Vantaa Airport. That day, he came to the lawn where the plane crashed. The wind came from afar, and he stroked the scorched black ground. The wind whispered in his ear; somehow, he seemed to hear the wind speaking.

That was an intuition from the depths of his soul.

As a top pilot, he clearly felt that this wasn’t entirely the pilot’s fault.

Therefore, this plane was not so innocent.

And now, Zhuo Huan told him that regarding the Rogue 318 crash, he felt it was the plane’s fault.

In his lungs, all the air was snatched away in an instant. Fu Cheng asked him almost impatiently: “So you think Rogue 318 was an aircraft failure? You know the cause of its crash?”

Zhuo Huan raised an eyebrow slightly: “Did I say that?”

Fu Cheng was stunned.

The next moment, just as he was about to speak, a commotion suddenly came from outside.

Lawrance’ loud voice could be heard even outside the door. He roared in a shocked voice: “Media? Of course we didn’t leak it to the media. It’s your GCAA’s doing, right! Shit! What is this! We NTSB also wanted to keep it secret, otherwise why do you think I’m here? Before the investigation is clear, no information can be made public, okay! This was the guarantee you made to the NTSB before we came. Now, I ask you to immediately find out what’s going on and block the information!”

Both Fu Cheng and Zhuo Huan frowned.

The two walked out and saw chaos outside. The investigators who were leisurely enjoying the air conditioning and drinking ice water stood up one by one. Lawrance and Maha stood facing each other, both looking terrible. Lawrance waved his hand angrily: “Fuck, what does this mean? It’s just made public like this?”

Maha also had a cold face: “Mr. Lawrance, I have to suspect you. NTSB just arrived the day before yesterday, and today the information is public.”

“What? You suspect me?” Lawrance laughed incredulously. “Please believe me, I want to keep this secret more than you do. I hope more than you that there is no reversal in the investigation of the Emirates 411 crash! Before going to bed every night, I pray that this is just an irrelevant misunderstanding!”

Hearing this, Fu Cheng was somewhat stunned, but he immediately understood.

…Could it be that Lawrance has some special relationship with NTSB Deputy Director Andrew?

Zhuo Huan sneered. He found Lina, his expression very foul: “What’s going on.”

The beautiful French woman blinked innocently and smiled: “Reid, this has nothing to do with me. How would I know that at noon today, several major media outlets in the UAE suddenly released news online saying that there was a turn in the Emirates 411 crash from twenty-three years ago, and that the investigation back then was very likely wrong.”

Old Joseph: “Could it be Rolls-Royce who leaked the news?”

Lina: “Of course not. I didn’t tell Rolls-Royce that the sudden reopening of the Emirates 411 crash investigation was because of a new witness. Rolls-Royce only knew there was a turn of events, but not about the new witness. So only NTSB, GCAA, and Emirates Airlines itself… could have leaked the news to the media.”

—

Author’s Note:
Zhuo RIP: [Unhappy face] Huh? Why is every single one of you telling Fu Cheng my business? Did I give my permission?
Old Joseph: ??? If I didn’t f*cking wingman for you time and time again, could you have landed Fu Cheng? Would you have kissed him twice by now?!
Lina: +1 ^_^

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