Legendary Captain

Chapter 126 The Second Test Flight After Twenty Years

On the shuttle bus leaving the venue, Xu Xian was trying to use the skills he had just learned to check Xia Qing's flight schedule when Wu Feng suddenly called out to him.

"Xu Xian, did you forget your tablet in the preparation room when you flew with Captain Fang Ying last time?" Wu Feng asked.

Xu Xian, who had been engrossed in using the cabin crew scheduling tool, stopped what he was doing and asked, somewhat puzzled, "Yeah! How did you know?"

Xu Xian's first time assisting a pilot involved him dropping his tablet in the control room because the captain, Fang Ying, carelessly tossed it around. Being new and inexperienced, Xu Xian also dropped his tablet. However, he remembered that the first officer had spoken with the data center and found the tablet. It should be alright!

However, what Xu Xian was curious about was how Wu Feng knew about this.

"It's all posted on the department's bulletin board. Flight number 6533 is your flight number from that day, right? The first officer is Zhu Jia, and the captain is Fang Ying. Look!" Wu Feng handed his phone to Xu Xian.

Xu Xian took the phone and saw a notice on the screen, which read: "On [date], flight number 6533, Captain Fang Ying (single-pilot captain), First Officer Zhu Jia (Level 4 First Officer), and Second Officer Xu Xian (trainee), during pre-flight preparations, left the flight's tablet in the preparation room. Although the tablet was recovered after some effort, this incident clearly exposed problems with the crew's work style, discipline, and attitude. Therefore, the main person responsible, Zhu Jia, is hereby punished as follows: a public reprimand, a three-month suspension from promotion, and a deduction of 1,000 yuan from his performance-based salary."

"Zhu Jia." Xu Xian handed the phone back to Wu Feng, somewhat confused: "Why Zhu Jia? Isn't this my responsibility?"

Managing items like tablets and other miscellaneous items is the responsibility of the second officer on board, provided there is one. So why does the penalty notice state that Zhu Jia is primarily responsible?

"You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?!" Wu Feng was speechless. "But this matter is indeed strange. Logically speaking, you should take responsibility for this. Giving it to Zhu Jia is a bit unreasonable."

Wu Feng knew Zhu Jia and knew that Zhu Jia was the first co-pilot. It didn't make sense to him that the first co-pilot would be responsible for the lost tablet.

"Why don't you just call Zhu Jia and ask?" Ning Sheng interjected at this point. "However, the result probably can't be changed. It's rare for something to be changed after it's been announced."

Xu Xian remained silent, intending to ask him about it later.

After completing their investigation into the Chimelong 5677 incident, the investigation team was originally scheduled to fly directly back to headquarters to submit their report. However, the team leader made a last-minute decision to change course midway to Tianning to meet with Xu Qing. He needed to understand the relationship between Xu Xian and Xu Qing in order to decide whether Xu Xian would appear in the investigation report.

Before heading to Tianning, the head of the investigation team contacted the headquarters of Qingyuan Group in advance. After the investigation team's plane landed at Tianning Airport, a special vehicle picked up the team members and took them to the headquarters of Qingyuan Group.

VIP reception room at the headquarters of Qingyuan Group.

The investigation team leader took a sip of tea. Xu Qing sat upright with a smile in front of him, which made the team leader feel somewhat uncomfortable.

Even though the head of the investigation team had an official background, Xu Qing, the most prominent figure in China's civil aviation industry in the past two decades, still felt somewhat uncomfortable in front of him.

"Mr. Xu, I'm sorry to bother you, but there are some details about something I need to confirm with you," the investigation team leader said politely.

When he was traveling, every airline employee treated him with utmost respect. So why did he subconsciously feel inferior to everyone here?

Xu Qing smiled and said, "Go ahead!"

"Some time ago, something happened at Chimelong 5677. I'm sure Mr. Xu knows about it, right?" the team leader said.

Xu Qing nodded: "I know that. A few days ago, I was at your base reviewing the investigation data. I wonder if there were any problems?"

"Here's the thing, in this incident, an unnamed person replaced the incapacitated captain. After landing, that person disembarked with the passengers. Recently, we found out that person's identity; he says he's Xu Xian from Xingyou Airlines. We checked Xu Xian's information and found that he had previously conducted local training at Hailing Airport, and your instructor at that time was Mr. Xu..." The team leader paused at the end, wanting Xu Qing to clarify things himself. He noticed that Xu Qing's expression didn't change at all when Xu Xian's name was mentioned, as if he already knew about it.

"I've flown with Xu Xian before. Is there a problem with that?" Xu Qing asked with a smile.

"No, no! That's no problem." The team leader shook his head vigorously. "It's just that whether or not Xu Xian's name should appear in the investigation report is something we need to hear Mr. Xu's opinion on."

"Why listen to my opinion? If the person doesn't want to disclose it, why force it into the investigation report and expose it?" Xu Qing retorted.

The team leader confirmed, "Mr. Xu means he won't disclose it? But the co-pilot on duty is the son of the vice chairman of Chimelong Airlines, the parent company of Star Travel. In this incident, both the co-pilot and the cabin crew said they didn't know Xu Xian's identity. I feel there's something suspicious about this, and I can't rule out the possibility that Xu Xian was threatened."

"Do you have solid evidence?" Xu Qing asked.

The team leader shook his head: "We conducted a special investigation focusing on the possibility that Xu Xian might be threatened, but we didn't find any substantial evidence. Everything remains speculation."

It must be said that Chen Qi's actions were remarkably clean. Even though the authorities strongly suspected that Xu Xian might have been coerced into concealing his identity, they couldn't find any substantial evidence.

"Fine, let's respect his choice!" Xu Qing sighed.

The team leader could tell that Xu Qing was definitely connected to Xu Xian, and couldn't help but ask, "What if Xu Xian was really threatened?"

The team leader's point was that since Xu Qing and Xu Xian were acquainted, if Xu Xian was really being coerced, wouldn't Xu Qing stand up for him? The son of the vice chairman of Chimelong Airlines could do whatever he wanted to Xu Qing.

"I'm not his father, I can't clean up his messes every time, can I?" Xu Qing rolled his eyes and said.

He didn't feel obligated to protect Xu Xian at all times, and even if Xu Xian suffered some losses, it wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing; children always have to experience the harsh realities of society.

However, he will soon go to Yunnan to attend an airline exchange meeting and take the opportunity to meet with Xu Xian and ask him what he really thinks. If Xu Xian really wants him to seek justice, then he cannot ignore him.

The team leader was a bit confused. Judging from Xu Qing's tone, he must know Xu Xian well, but he was unwilling to stand up for Xu Xian, which was really strange.

"I'm going to submit an investigation report when I get back to headquarters. This report is to define the nature of the incident. If Xu Xian's name isn't added this time, it will be difficult to add it later," the team leader said worriedly.

Xu Qing sneered: "Difficult to add a name? That's only true for you!"

The team leader's eyelids twitched uncontrollably; he really didn't dare to take the bait. However, now that he had figured out Xu Qing's thoughts, the team leader felt he had gained something from this trip and didn't want to stay any longer, so he got up to take his leave.

Xu Qing also stood up and said with a smile, "After you go back, please ask my colleagues at the General Administration of Customs' Airworthiness Department why the approval results for our company's X10 test flight haven't come through yet. We've already contacted all the crew members, but we can't wait any longer."

"I wonder who Mr. Xu contacted? Such a big shot, can't he even wait?" the team leader laughed.

He was just joking, but Xu Qing's expression turned serious: "Han Qi!"

At Chen Qi's villa home.

Chen Qi, who was half asleep, was woken up by a cell phone ringing. He picked up the phone and saw that it seemed to be the company's landline number, so he patiently answered the call.

"Who?" Chen Qi asked irritably.

A woman's voice came from the other end of the phone: "Hello Mr. Chen, this is the company's lost and found department. Have you lost a gold lock-shaped piece of jewelry?"

"Golden Lock? What are you talking about?" Chen Qi asked, puzzled.

The lost and found staff explained, "Our company's maintenance personnel found a gold lock-shaped piece of jewelry on the plane."

"It's not mine!" Upon hearing this, Chen Qi finally understood and immediately interrupted the staff member.

The staff member wanted to ask for more details: "Mr. Chen..."

"Chen what? I already said it's not mine, go find someone else!" Chen Qi slammed down the phone, still cursing, "You're crazy!"

He called early in the morning, disturbing his sweet dreams, only to find out it was some fabricated nonsense, which was really annoying.

The staff at the lost and found were somewhat helpless after Chen Qi hung up on them. They looked at their colleague and said, "Sister, they say it's not his. What do we do now? Everyone says it's not him. What should we do?"

The colleague was also a bit troubled. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Let's save it first, then print out a notice and post it on the first floor of the company to see if anyone comes to claim it. If no one comes to claim it after a long time, we'll figure out what to do next."

Xiangyu Training Center Hotel.

Xu Xian now basically considers the hotel at the Xiangyu Training Center his second home. His father, Xu Jingyang, is still recuperating in the hospital, and his own home would be empty anyway, so staying at the hotel is much more comfortable with food and drinks.

However, Lian Shanxue's holidays have been getting shorter and shorter recently, and the training progress is advancing rapidly. At the current pace, the modification training will probably end much earlier than expected.

Xu Xian initially felt it was a waste of time to cooperate with others' initial modifications, but now he feels that eating and drinking for free isn't so unacceptable.

As expected, Xu Xian, corrupted by sugar-coated bullets, had become utterly rotten in spirit.

After settling into the hotel, Xu Xian thought for a moment and decided to call Zhu Jiaxian to find out what the punishment notice was about.

After dialing Zhu Jia's number, Xu Xian immediately asked, "Brother, it's me, Xu Xian!"

"Xu Xian, what's wrong?"

Xu Xian cut to the chase: "Didn't we leave a tablet in the preparation room on that flight we were working with Captain Fang Ying? Didn't you say it wasn't a big deal? But today I saw a penalty notice about that incident, and why are you the one being punished? Didn't I forget the tablet? If there's any penalty, it should be me!"

Zhu Jia, on the other end of the phone, was silent for a moment before finally saying, "Xu Xian, you don't need to worry about this. This punishment notice was within my expectations and won't affect me much, so don't worry!"

Upon hearing this, Xu Xian knew that Zhu Jia had been hiding the truth from him from the beginning and secretly taking the blame. He immediately became agitated and said, "But this should have been my responsibility in the first place, why should you bear it?"

"Your responsibility?" Zhu Jia scoffed. "Which manual or notice clearly states that the tablet is managed by the second co-pilot? If there's a problem, is the second co-pilot responsible? Xu Xian, I don't want you to have that kind of thinking. We're all co-pilots; if there's a problem, everyone is responsible."

"But you can't take it all on yourself, can you?" Xu Xian said.

Zhu Jia: "Xu Xian, you don't understand. This punishment doesn't affect me much. The public reprimand is just empty talk; I don't need to worry about it. The three-month suspension from promotion doesn't really affect me since I just became a Level 4 co-pilot. The only real punishment is the 1,000 yuan fine. But it hasn't really hurt me yet."

"This punishment won't affect someone of my rank much, but it will affect you a lot. Since someone has to take the blame anyway, I might as well let me. If we have a chance to spend the night together in the future, you can treat me to dinner! Don't take this to heart. There will be many similar things in the future, so you'll get used to it." Zhu Jia was comforting Xu Xian instead.

Xu Xian disagreed: "Brother, we can talk about this later. Anyway, I can't let you carry this burden. I'll talk to the squadron."

"Xu Xian, there's no need for this." Zhu Jia immediately became anxious upon seeing Xu Xian's youthful impetuosity: "It's not a big deal, why make such a fuss?"

"Brother Jia, I appreciate your kindness, but this is a matter of principle. Don't say anything more, I'll talk to the fleet right now." Xu Xian immediately hung up the phone.

Zhu Jia is kind-hearted, but she is too ashamed to let him be a sucker.

Xu Xian found the phone number for the fleet office, answered it, and said, "Hello, this is Xu Xian. There's something I need to tell you."

Fleet staff: "Go ahead!"

"That's right! I saw a penalty notice for flight 6533 today, but that notice is not true," Xu Xian said bluntly.

"Please wait a moment!" The fleet staff pulled up the penalty notice for flight 6533 and asked, "What's wrong with this notice?"

"I was responsible for that incident, not the first co-pilot, Zhu Jia," Xu Xian said, adding, "I was the second co-pilot at the time, Xu Xian."

"This..." The fleet staff member hesitated, "But this penalty notice was signed and confirmed by the person involved, which means that Zhu Jia acknowledges this penalty notice. You suddenly say that you are the person responsible, so I should still report it to you first. I have never encountered this situation before." The fleet staff member was momentarily confused.

Many penalty notices have been issued in the name of the fleet. Every time the person being penalized is encountered, they vehemently defend themselves. How could they possibly take responsibility for themselves? The most crucial point is that someone else has already signed off on taking the blame for them. Under such circumstances, it is simply unheard of for them to take responsibility.

After hanging up the phone, the fleet staff left their seats, took a piece of paper, and walked to a small conference room in the inner part of the fleet office.

At this moment, the small conference room was filled with Cao Jinwen, the squadron leader, and Lu Xinyu and Qin Zongyang, the two deputy general managers of the flight department. They seemed to be having a meeting.

Qin Zongyang was the most emotional: "Recently, safety pressure has increased sharply, and the authorities have urged us to carry out safety rectification. It just so happens that the airline exchange meeting is approaching. Why not hold a safety reflection meeting during the airline exchange meeting, gather all the pilots who have had problems with their conduct, discipline, and work attitude recently, and have each person talk on stage about their experiences and feelings, so as to show Xingyou Airlines' determination to safeguard safety."

Lu Xinyu remained silent, while Cao Jinwen nodded repeatedly. The recent volcanic ash incident at Chimelong Airport (Five Hundred Thousand Meters) has indeed created significant safety pressure. In fact, Qin Zongyang's suggestion of having pilots with recent work style issues give self-reflection speeches at the meeting was nothing but formalism. Moreover, Qin Zongyang deliberately chose to hold it during the airline exchange conference simply to ensure wider visibility.

Lu Xinyu detested formalism, but sometimes it was unavoidable. Ever since being reprimanded by the CEO, Lu Xinyu increasingly felt that he probably needed to compromise with reality more. Therefore, when Qin Zongyang made this highly formalistic suggestion, he did not object.

In the past, he would not only have strongly opposed it, but he would have also made some sarcastic remarks beforehand. However, now Lu Xinyu simply acquiesced to Qin Zongyang's proposal.

Seeing that the two had no objections, Qin Zongyang said with some smugness, "I've already had the fleet draft a list of pilots who have had work misconduct issues in the past month. For example, exceeding the alcohol limit, being late for check-in, arriving late, or not returning to the dormitory on time for overnight stays. You can take a look at the list later and decide whether to add or remove any pilots."

As soon as Qin Zongyang finished speaking, the conference room door opened, and a person walked in—the very staff member who had just answered Xu Xian's call.

The staff member handed Qin Zongyang a paper list and said, "Mr. Qin, this is the list you requested."

Qin Zongyang took the list, glanced at it, and nodded: "Okay, you can go out now!"

After a moment's hesitation, the staff member said, "Mr. Qin, there's a co-pilot named Zhu Jia on this list. There might be a mistake."

"A mistake? What do you mean?" Qin Zongyang asked.

"I just received a call saying there's a problem with the penalty notice for Zhu Jia, the passenger in the front seat. He insists he's the one responsible and it has nothing to do with Zhu Jia."

Qin Zongyang became interested: "A fool who's just asking for trouble? Who is it?"

The staff member said, "A co-pilot named Xu Xian!"

"Xu Xian?" Qin Zongyang was taken aback, his expression immediately becoming quite interesting: "Who did you say?"

Three days later, a radio communication was heard on the Tianning area control frequency.

"Tianning Control, Qingyuan X10 test aircraft, aircraft number 1533, altitude 8900 meters, transponder 4231, has reached the designated location."

"Qingyuan 1533, radar has detected you! The airspace within a 30-nautical-mile radius is currently a free zone for test flights. If you need to breach this test flight zone, please contact us in advance!"

"1533 received!"

Shortly after Qingyuan's reply, Guanzhi added, "Mr. Xu, best of luck!"

Nearly twenty years later, in the same airspace, as if by reincarnation, the X10 has begun another flight!

At this moment, there were three people in the cockpit of the X10 test aircraft, registration number 1533. Seated in the rear observer's seat was Wang Tianliang, Deputy Director of the Aircraft Certification Division of the Civil Aviation Administration of China; in the left captain's seat was Han Qi; and in the right co-pilot's seat was Xu Qing.

Twenty years have passed in the blink of an eye. During the first test flight of the X10 that year, Xu Qing lost his right hearing forever that night, and his right arm was severely frostbitten, with lingering effects to this day.

However, twenty years later, Xu Qing is going to repeat what he did back then!

(End of this chapter)