"What's up?"
Fu Cheng came back to his senses, and handed the information booklet to Zhuo Huan. "Lina and I have conducted detailed interviews with the family members of Captain Kyle, as well as relevant personnel of the airline and the airport. I think Mr. Zhuo should read the final results."
Zhuo Huan took the thick folder and turned it over.
Fucheng: "The character of the captain Kyle seems to be very strong and stubborn, and he had a dispute with the co-pilot Tim before that. It was an unpleasant experience. According to eyewitnesses, Kyle was almost alone. I reprimanded Tim in a way. I think this will definitely have an impact on the communication between the two pilots."
Zhuo Huan frowned slightly, his eyes quickly scanned the information booklet. Finally, he raised his head and looked at Fu Cheng: "What is your judgment?"
Fucheng looked at him with firm eyes: "Investigate in detail, the relationship between the two pilots."
"it is good."
Soon, Zhuo Huan held a meeting, bringing together all UAAG and NTSB investigators. He briefly explained his intentions, and then said to Lovins: "Kyle and Tim have only flown together three times, but the second time someone saw them, and they had an argument. I doubt whether this crew can communicate well. .”
Lovins also realized the seriousness of the matter: "Patrick, what do you want to do."
Zhuo Huan didn't speak, he looked at Fu Cheng.
Fucheng understood, and said: "Of course the third time cannot be verified, but since Kyle and Tim have had two cooperation experiences, then we can start from the first two. I suggest, find out all the people who have contacted them. The pilots, flight attendants and other related personnel, especially all the crew members on the plane during their first two cooperations. Kyle and Tim can no longer tell us what the relationship between the two of them is, but someone will always know, the two What the hell happened between the individuals."
Without further ado, everyone acted immediately.
Kyle Schulman has worked for American Airlines for many years. He knows a lot of pilots and has worked with countless pilots. Just finding all the relevant personnel who are familiar with him is an extremely laborious task. Fortunately, the NTSB contacted American Airlines, and American Airlines directly searched for relevant personnel from within, which greatly reduced 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 out.
In the early morning of that day, Fucheng and Lina took a plane and flew to Washington. American Airlines gathered the relevant pilots, flight attendants and ground staff at the American Airlines Washington branch, and the two had a whole day to question these people.
The first person to be questioned was the other captain on the same plane when Kyle and Tim flew together for the first time.
"On March 29, 2020, Mr. Schulman, Tim, and I drove a plane from New York to the capital of China. This kind of transoceanic flight takes a long time to fly, so there are a total of Three pilots. Mr. Schulman as captain, Tim and I as co-pilots."
Fu Cheng asked: "It takes about 20 hours of flight time from Washington to the capital of China. During such a long time together, I would like to ask, is there anything impressive about you? Especially about Captain Kyle and Tim's."
The pilot thought about it seriously for a long time, and he apologized: "Sorry, it was ten months ago, I really don't remember. There should be nothing particularly impressive happened along the way, we just Flying the plane normally. I must say, everyone at US Airways knows that Mr. Schulman's piloting skills are very superb. Tim and I are young pilots with very low qualifications, but with Mr. Schulman, along the way All very safe."
Fu Cheng: "Did the two of them have any disputes, or any unpleasant experiences?"
"There is absolutely nothing! Mr. Schulman has won the Outstanding Captain Medal and the Blue Sky Medal many times, and we all respect him. How could Tim and I have a dispute with Mr. Schulman? It is absolutely impossible."
The pilot's rebuttal attitude made Fucheng and Lina look at each other. Lina lowered her head and wrote a comment on the information booklet.
Kyle and Tim's second collaboration, flying domestic flights. So sadly, only two pilots were needed for that flight. They were always alone in the cockpit, and no one knew what had happened.
Fu Cheng frowned: "The second time, it is said that before the flight, Kyle reprimanded Tim. There were only two people in the cockpit... It's a pity."
Lina thought for a moment and said, "There may be no way."
Fucheng looked at her.
Lina smiled slightly. She notified the staff of American Airlines and called the ground staff who was in charge of inspecting the plane that time.
This is a slightly fat middle-aged man. When asked "What special impression do you have about that routine inspection", he hardly thought about it, and said, "I have an impression."
Fu Cheng's eyes lit up: "What happened?"
The man said: "It's like this. At that time, several colleagues and I were responsible for checking the Airbus A390. We calculated the fuel volume based on the flight mileage. Tim and I are very familiar, and he also checked our ground maintenance. After confirming the fuel quantity, I went to report to Captain Shulman. But he came back soon and told me that the fuel quantity should be reduced by one ton.”
In fact, for any aircraft, before each flight, they need to calculate the amount of fuel according to the length of the journey, and then refuel.
An airplane is not a car, and it cannot be "filled up" casually.
Fuel has weight, and every ton of fuel will cause great cost consumption. The fuel of the aircraft is all concentrated in the central fuel tank and the mailboxes on the left and right wings. Every additional ton will add countless flight costs. And in addition, sometimes long-distance flights, even if the fuel tank is fully filled, are not enough to fly. For example, planes flying from New York to Huaguo Shencheng often have to stop in Japan or South Korea halfway, refuel once, and then continue the flight.
Fucheng thought for a while: "Did you count too much oil?"
The ground crew showed a strange expression: "Even if I make a mistake, Tim will not make a mistake together. We did not make a mistake, but we considered that the weather report in Los Angeles said that there may be thunderstorms, so we added more than usual." One ton of fuel. In this way, if the weather is bad and it is not easy to land, it can also ensure that the plane can hover in the air for a period of time, or have enough fuel to fly to other airports to land. This is very common in airlines. But Schulman Mr. said..."
Following the tone of the ruthless captain in his memory, the middle-aged man sternly sneered and said, "Idiot, don't you even have the basic skills to land in a thunderstorm? I'm the one to fly the plane this time, I don't need more Count this ton of oil!"
The hand holding the pen paused slightly, and Fucheng looked at the ground crew seriously, with a serious tone: "Are you sure this sentence is the captain's original words? Tim said it to you?"
"Of course it's the exact words, but it's not Tim. When he came to ask me to save a ton of fuel, he didn't look very good. So afterwards, after they took off, I went to ask my colleagues working in the engine room , I learned about it. That’s right, that’s Captain Schulman, he’s never made a mistake, and the plane he’s flying has never had any delay record!”
Fucheng's voice was low: "Thank you, is there anything else you need to add?"
"Actually... I have something else to say. I've heard it said that Tim has been wanting to switch planes. Although I haven't heard him say why, it must be because he doesn't want to be on duty with Schulman anymore. ! This gentleman does have enough superb technology, but he is definitely not an excellent captain. Maybe you don’t know, and no one told you, Mr. Schulman has a nickname within American Airlines—”
"American Airlines' Bismarck!"
"Any pilots who have flown with him, you can ask, although they don't say anything, but deep down in their hearts, they definitely don't want to fly with him for the second time!"
Hearing this, Fu Cheng's eyes narrowed. He stood up and stretched out his hand: "Okay, Mr. Norrance, thank you very much for your help."
Norrance stood up and shook his hand back. He just opened his mouth, but he was a little choked up, so he closed his mouth. With a long sigh, he said sadly: "Bismarck, this nickname always reminds people of bad things. It's not the first time it happened, why would it happen the second time? Why is it so pitiful? Harrison."
Fu Cheng grasped the key words, he looked at the ground crew in shock, and some images suddenly flashed in his mind.
On the side, Lina asked keenly: "Wait a minute, I would like to ask, what is the second time? Can you explain in detail."
On the other side, Boston Investigative Headquarters.
Zhuo Huan, Lovins and Joseph Sr. made the final inspection on the telex system of American Airlines 4012. They removed the aircraft's digital sensors and connected them to external instruments. After conducting the experimental test, Lovins sighed, and looked at Zhuo Huan: "Patrick, this is the last one. There are no questions. I think it's time to announce the answer."
Zhuo Huan stared at the digital sensor in front of him intently, and did not speak for a long time.
Lovins also felt very uncomfortable in his heart, but he knew that when they conducted an investigation for nearly two months and finally found that the plane did not have any mechanical failures, there were only two reasons for the crash.
The first is the pilot's negligence.
The second is a mechanical failure that is extremely unlikely and has not been discovered by them.
There is no doubt that the pilot's negligence, almost certain, was the final cause of the crash.
Lovins made a joke to enliven the atmosphere: "It's really strange that the several air crashes of US Airways over the years always seem to be related to the pilot's negligence. For example, the American Airlines 3157 crashed into the Great Salt Lake 24 years ago, and for example … Well, I'm sorry, old Joseph, I shouldn't bring up your grief. I just wanted to make a joke."
In the past, old Joseph always greeted people with a smile and was very kind. He especially liked to joke, so he should just laugh it off. But this time he stared at Lovins closely, his stiff lips moved slowly: "Lovins, this is not a joke."
"… sorry."
Zhuo Huan snorted: "You should also say sorry to American Airlines 3157. Last week you said that the accident was probably due to a malfunction of the servo valve, and now you say that it was the pilot's negligence."
Lovins: "…"
"I'm sorry, it's okay if I said the wrong thing. But there is no doubt about one thing now, and that is that we should determine the cause. Don't bother with American Airlines 3157 from twenty-four years ago, and don't bother with your old Joseph. That American Airlines 384 accident. American Airlines 4012 today, it actually did not detect any mechanical failures. So ... it is time for us to determine the cause of the crash.”
Zhuo Huan frowned, and said displeasedly: "I'm not sure yet..."
"what!!!"
A sharp scream suddenly interrupted Zhuo Huan's words, and the three turned their heads in unison, looking at the door of the investigation headquarters.
Seeing the middle-aged woman standing at the door, Old Joseph's body froze instantly. It was a haggard and thin woman with a small women's bag in her arm. It was obvious that she had put on makeup carefully, but the exquisite makeup still couldn't conceal her tired eyes from many days of insomnia.
The blood on his face disappeared in an instant.
Mrs. Harrison's lips trembled, her eyes widened, and she stared in the direction of the three of them. The next moment, she rushed up suddenly, raised her bag furiously, like an angry beast, and with a rumbling roar from her throat, she slammed at Old Joseph fiercely.
Meanwhile, in Washington, the American Airlines division.
The ground crew member Nollens sighed: "In fact, seventeen years ago, before Schulman joined American Airlines, there was also a captain nicknamed Bismarck in our company. He also had extremely superb flying skills, but His temper is like the hardest rock in the depths of hell, unsmiling, always so unreasonable."
"—Sense, technology, and 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 is his motto. Many pilots who have worked with him dare not fight against him a little bit, because he is always right. It will only be you who are wrong, and only yourself who is stupid and untalented."
Fu Cheng's lips moved, he already knew the answer, but he didn't want to say that name.
Lina doesn't know the truth, as she once said, she respects each member's privacy. She asked seriously, "May I ask what is the name of the pilot you are talking about?"
"On January 17, 2003, American Airlines flight 384 had an accident. Due to bad weather, the co-pilot made a control error while visually approaching the airport. The plane crashed on the lawn beside the runway. Co-pilot Michael Harrison Died instantly...that is, Tim's father."
"And the captain on the plane at that time was known as American Airlines Bismarck, Hard Joseph."