Legendary Captain

Fire alarms differ from other warnings in that they are accompanied by a rapid and piercing fire alarm bell, making them very easy to identify.

Whether it's an engine fire, an APU fire, or any other type of fire, there's no need to distinguish them carefully. As long as a fire warning appears and the speed is not greater than V1, takeoff is aborted.

Therefore, the decision was obvious and required almost no thought.

And indeed, after only a brief hesitation, Lian Shanxue made the decision to abort takeoff. The decision itself was correct, but her procedure was flawed.

After the fire alarm sounded, Lian Shanxue had less than half a second to react before shouting, "Abort takeoff!"

Before he could finish speaking, Lian Shanxue's left hand was already preparing to press the accelerator lever.

Before her left hand could even grasp the accelerator lever, it was caught in mid-air by Xu Xian, rendering her immobile.

"Is this where you're supposed to be touching it?" Xu Xian pushed Lian Shanxue's left hand away and calmly announced the abort of takeoff. At the same time, his hands continued to work, releasing the throttle, disengaging the auto throttle, raising the speed brakes, and pulling out the twin-engine reverse thrust.

"Take control!" After the aircraft's taxiing direction stabilized, Xu Xian took over the controls and continued to use the manual brakes to gradually reduce speed.

Before 90 knots, the RTO (Responsible Rotation Unit) is not working, meaning the automatic brakes are not activated. At this point, the pilot needs to switch to manual braking.

Soon after the plane's speed dropped below 60 knots, Xu Xian retracted the speed brakes and engine reverse thrust, relying on manual braking to slow down the aircraft.

After the plane came to a complete stop, Xu Xian, suppressing his anger, questioned Lian Shanxue: "Since when did the co-pilot give the order to abort takeoff, and when did he also perform the actions? Once the plane starts moving, who has the authority to control it? Can the co-pilot complete the entire abort takeoff procedure?"

Xu Xian bombarded Lian Shanxue with a barrage of questions. Lian Shanxue remained silent, feeling somewhat aggrieved. After Xu Xian pushed her left hand away, she realized her mistake.

The command to abort takeoff is given by the captain, and the action is performed by the pilot in the left seat. Otherwise, it would be very inconvenient for the pilot in the right seat to pull up the speed brake lever on the left.

During a high-speed abort, the difference in deceleration effect between having speed brakes and not having them is quite significant. This is why the abort takeoff procedure is performed by the left-seat pilot. Only the left-seat pilot can complete the entire operation quickly and smoothly.

Moreover, she just bypassed Xu Xian and announced the order to abort takeoff herself, which is an act of overstepping her bounds.

"It's okay to be a little slow to react, but why should you do something that's not your job? Did you monitor the aircraft's status? Did you report where the fire alarm was? Did you verify that I had completed all the actions? Did you notify the control tower that we aborted takeoff? The RTO doesn't work before 90 knots, didn't you know? Couldn't you remind me to use the manual brakes? What if I forgot and the plane didn't brake and just ran off the runway?" This time, Xu Xian's questions were even more intense, almost one wave after another, overwhelming Lian Shanxue.

Xu Xian had always felt that Lian Shanxue was different from the other trainees, and certainly not the mere pretty face he initially thought she was. However, Lian Shanxue's basic mistake in aborting takeoff just now had quite annoyed Xu Xian.

This isn't a technical problem; it's a problem with our mindset.

"I'm sorry!" Lian Shanxue muttered softly, then didn't say anything more. Her mistake just now was indeed very basic; she had taken over the captain's job while failing to do what she was supposed to do.

Perhaps even the instructors behind him couldn't stand it anymore and spoke up to dissuade him: "Why are you shouting so loudly? You're going to deafen us. Alright, alright, time's up. You've accepted today's training. Let's go!"

The instructor tidied up his things, then turned around and noticed that Xu Xian and Lian Shanxue hadn't moved. He said, "What are you doing? Hogging the toilet, what about the people behind you?"

After saying that, he glanced at Xu Xian and Lian Shanxue, then left, muttering to himself, "Kids these days are really..."

Xu Xian remained seated, and even Shan Xue dared not move, even though she didn't understand why she was afraid of making Xu Xian angry.

"Why did you choose to become a pilot?" Xu Xian suddenly asked Lian Shanxue.

Lian Shanxue answered almost without hesitation: "I love it, because I love flying! My dream is to be a pilot!"

"Then why do you think I want to be a pilot?" Xu Xian looked into Lian Shanxue's eyes. At first, Lian Shanxue was a little flustered, but after a moment, she realized that Xu Xian was not blaming her, but was genuinely asking her a question.

Lian Shanxue pondered for a moment: "Is it... also because I like it?"

"Do you like it?" Xu Xian suddenly laughed, but the bitterness in his smile was undeniable: "Like it? Not really! At most, I was just somewhat interested in it. But now it's become my means of survival. I force myself to read the manual over and over again. How tedious and boring it is, because I don't like this profession now."

"Flying?" Xu Xian sneered, "A job where you can see your retirement the day you start? What's so great about that? But what can I do? I have to live! Even if I don't like this job, I still have to endure it. But you're different; this is your dream. Why can't you put in your utmost effort for your dream? Why are you even less capable than someone like me who endures a difficult life?"

"Xu Xian... what's wrong?" Lian Shanxue noticed that Xu Xian's condition was not right, as if what had just happened had touched some sore spot for him.

Xu Xian's mind was in turmoil, and he didn't want to say anything more. He asked Lian Shanxue to reset the power switch, and then left without saying a word.

During the subsequent debriefing, Xu Xian also appeared dejected. Seeing the somber atmosphere, the instructor hastily announced the end of get out of class as soon as the time was up and made his escape.

Now, only Xu Xian and Lian Shanxue remained in the study room.

Instead of tidying up the things on the table, Lian Shanxue pitifully apologized to Xu Xian, "Don't be angry, I won't do it again."

Xu Xian sighed and said, "You don't need to apologize to me."

"Then you're still angry!"

"I'm not angry," Xu Xian corrected.

Lian Shanxue didn't believe it: "You're not angry yet, it's written all over your face. You were even scarier just now."

To be honest, judging solely from Lian Shanxue's mistake, Xu Xian's reaction just now seemed a bit excessive. Moreover, Xu Xian's sudden shift from anger to depression was truly strange.

"I'm not angry, at least not now!" Xu Xian suddenly felt the sunlight streaming in through the window was a bit dazzling and shielded his eyes with his hand. "I'm jealous! I'm jealous of you!"