FLIGHT 003 - A MEETING IN THE LIBRARY

"Not all takeoffs are normal, sometimes a plane may take off with a heavier weight, or in crosswind conditions, or on a shorter runway. In such situations, the plane's flaps and elevator trim configuration, and takeoff speeds may vary."

Continuing yesterday's lesson on takeoff checklists, Andy's lesson today is situational variations on an A320's takeoff configuration.

"For shorter runways," he drew a pair of parallel lines on the blackboard and pointed on the shorter one - "the aircraft must rotate quicker, therefore it must be able to generate lift quicker as well.

He drew a simple cross-section of a wing to illustrate his point to the students.

"To generate more lift, the plane must either accelerate faster or the wing's curvature must increase. The first option is quite impossible unless you have a headwind, the second option is simpler.

To increase lift on takeoff, pilots extend the Flaps to configuration 2, but in cases where there are shorter runways, pilots extend the Flaps to Flaps 3, increasing the lift and -" he pointed his index finger upwards for emphasis - " reduces the plane's stall speed or speed by which the plane can't fly.

This means that the plane can rotate at a slower speed, with minimal risk of stalling because it generates sufficient lift to maintain stable flight."

He ended his explanation by asking the students for any questions or clarifications. Surprisingly, everybody understood the lesson.

Time passed and Aviation time is over, Sir Andy ended his lesson and left the room. Most of the girls of 1 - D stayed inside, chatting with their classmates or eating snacks.

It's Friday today and not even half of the classes have finished, but most of the students are already deadset for dismissal time, excited for the upcoming weekends.

But for some students, Friday is also a time for relaxation. Normally the school closes at 4: 45 PM, no students are allowed to stay at school beyond that time except for club members. But on Fridays, the school closes at 5:30 PM instead, when teachers leave the school and go home.

Students take this opportunity to stay and wander around the corridors, or watch varsity and club players with their practices. But a certain someone has a different idea.

"Ayakaaa, wanna go home together?" Karen asked her friend.

The cute girl was busy reading her book, she barely noticed her friend until she tapped her shoulder, "Ahh gomen ne (Sorry), Karen-chan. I'll be staying at the library today so I can't go with you."

"Ohh, no problem then."

Karen spun around and scratched her head, "I forgot, every Friday she stays at the library to read, she's a book lover after all."

Surprisingly enough, somebody else had that same idea.

"I have a meeting from 4 to 5 PM. Depending on how it goes, I might have to go home at later than usual. After you're done with your classes, you could go home first."

"Ehhhh, I wanna go home with Aneki!" Andy childishly complained.

Aneko sighed, she knows her brother's attitude too well. If she insists, he might throw a tantrum, just like a kid.

"Alright, you could stay at the library if you want, I'll fetch you there when it's time to go home," she suggested.

Smiling happily, Andy replied with an energetic "HAIII!" then left the headteacher's room looking chipper.

"That brother of mine, he may look mature because of his height, but deep down he's a kid."

Classes progressed onwards; time passed by quickly for everyone, as it's not just the students who are excited for the weekends. Without realizing it, break time soon came, then homeroom, and finally dismissal.

"Take care on your way home, Ayaka!" Karen told her friend before leaving the room.

With the classroom tidied, and their class adviser already away, Ayaka left the room with her book in hand.

The library is in the Main Building, the smell of pleasant citrus from the freshener wafted through the air. The air condition cooled the place, add the peaceful atmosphere and you have the perfect condition for reading.

Ayaka entered and took the seat by the window. She laid her book on the table and flipped through the pages until she reached the bookmark on Chapter 4 – A Full Flight. Reading through the paragraphs, she placed herself in the characters' situation.

…

Berkoz blurted out, "What happened?" - an urgent request for a report from his copilot.

The response from Ulusman was dire. "The cabin blew out!"

A few seconds passed as the pilots frantically interrogated the plane's dials and instrument panel, trying to assess and react to the overwhelming crisis.

"Are you sure?" Berkoz asked, but was unanswered.

16 seconds into the crisis, Captain Berkoz gave his first command, shouting at his copilot: "Bring it up. Pull her nose up!"

Ulusman tried to put their one remaining engine in full reverse thrust in an attempt to slow the dive, but it didn't work.

The hopeless nature of their predicament was becoming clearer and more irrevocable with each passing moment.

"I can't bring her up—she doesn't respond." Ulusman's response was followed by a long moment in which neither man said anything as they continued their losing battle to regain control of a plane that was now descending out of control, picking up speed as it lost altitude

Berköz was running out of time and options. 32 seconds after the blowout—with 45 seconds left before impact— his questions were reduced to one-word queries. "Hydraulics?" he called out, as if the act of asking might change the outcome.

But Ulusman had no change to report, no false hope to offer. "We've lost it," he yelled back.

"It looks like we are going to hit the ground!

It was a declaration of impending doom but one devoid of drama, infused instead with the resignation of a professional pilot who has done everything he can and realizes that it will not be enough.

...

"Speed!" ... "Oops!"

…

Ayaka gasped and clenched on to the pages of her book, producing a soft crumpling noise.

"No way!" tears welled in her eyes, and the book fell of her hands.

Taking in the gravity off what she just read, she can't help but let the tears stream down her cheeks.

"Hey, what's wrong?" a man's voice asked.

She looked beside her and saw a familiar face, a man with neatly fixed, short, black hair wearing spectacles.

"Ayaka-san, what's wrong?"

"Sir Andy?" uttering her teacher's name and seeing him face-to-face made her flinch.

Her tears immediately stopped, she rubbed her eyes trying to hide her emotions, "What are you doing here, Sir Andy?" she sniffed.

"I was sitting by the adjacent chair," he said while pointing to the chair in front of them, "I was worried, one moment you were reading, and the next thing I saw were tears dropping from your eyes."

"Ohh, it's nothing, Sir.".

Andy sat down and looked at the book laid on the desk. The names Berkoz and Ulusman sounded familiar, and so were the dialogues about hydraulics, speed, and control.

"The Flight 981 Disaster, huh? West Fibernia Airways Flight 981."

"You know about it, Sir?" Ayaka wiped her tears away.

"Here use this," Andy offered Ayaka his handkerchief, the young girl kindly took up his offer and wiped her tears away.

"It was a desperate struggle for control," he narrated, "Berkoz and Ulusman were fighting desperately, pulling the controls as hard as they can and cranking up the engines to try and pick up lift."

He faced down with a faint smile and a painful look in his eyes.

"But they don't have enough time, the plane was falling fast, they have no hydraulics, they were fighting a battle they can't win. The plane crashed, fiery and explosive, and sadly 346 people perished."

"But why?"

Andy looked at Ayaka, surprised. Her face showed interest, curiosity, and grief. Andy was at loss for words, he can't help but tell the rest of the story.

"It'll spoil your book, is that okay?"

With only a nod as her answer, Andy continued.

"Two years before Flight 981, the same thing happened to Etrurian Airlines Flight 96. Although the accident didn't end in disaster, it was supposed to be an eye-opener. But the recommendations for that accident weren't fixed; the design flaw of the DC-10 was never remedied. The cargo door, the vents, the locking mechanism, none of it.

Then 2 years passed, the same problem, without being fixed, struck West Fibernia Airways Flight 981. The situation was worse for them, they lose their rudder and elevator control, they lose their hydraulics, they lose engine 2. They were in a dive with no way to get up. The worse part, they could have climbed back up. Just a few feet from the ground, the plane's nose began pitching up, but it was too late."

He took a deep breath, the gravity of the story took a toll even on the aviation teacher. He sighed once again and calmed himself down before continuing.

"As it turns out, there was a gentleman's agreement between McDonnel Douglas and the EAA, Etrurian Aviation Administration after the Flight 96 accident. Because of this, the fix for the problem with the DC-10 wasn't mandated, there were no Airworthiness Directives issued. The result of that negligence was Flight 981."

Ayaka's tears began to well up again, she grabbed hold of Sir Andy's uniform, trying to hold it back. Andy, not wanting to see her student cry, decided to switch topics.

"Ayaka-san, why did you take Aviation?"

"Huh?" she was caught off guard.

"Just curious."

Ayaka faced down and replied with a soft and gentle voice,

"It was something I got from my father, the thought of flying planes and taking passengers to their destinations, and the thought of traveling to other places, it has always been a dream of mine."

"That's a nice dream," Andy remarked with an impressed tone. "I was the same, I've always wanted to travel to different places. I was actually surprised when I got interested in Aviation back in high school. Soon enough, my interest in grew, and the next thing I know, I'm now a teacher here."

"That's wonderful, Sir Andy! You and I have the same dream."

The two chuckled, after talking about such childish thing; Ayaka's tears slowly faded away.

"By the way, Sir Andy?"

"Hmm-mm, doushite (Why)?"

"How'd you know my name so quickly?"

"Oh that" - he scratched his head, trying to hide the embarrassment from showing on his face - "I was actually memorizing the names of my students along with their faces. I thought I wanted to get along well with my class so the least I could do is recognize them."

"You're a kind and great teacher, Sir Andy!" smiled Ayaka.

"Thank you for that!" he chuckled.

The two seem to be getting along well, but a glance at his watch made Sir Andrei realize something.

"Ohh no, it's 5:20 already!"

He stood up, straightened his back, and stretched his arms.

"I hope you're feeling better now, Ayaka. If you need somebody to talk or ask about Aviation, don't hesitate to call me at the faculty room."

"Hm-mm, thank you very much for today, Sir Andy, I appreciate it."

"Well, take care on your way home!" he waved his goodbye and walked out of the library.

"So that's Aoyama Ayaka, she looks cute," for a while, he felt something that he has never felt in a long time.

"No, don't say that she's your student. Don't feel that way about those girls. Ahhh, well no use thinking about that, I might as well wait for Anek in the faculty."

Inside the library, the teary-eyed Ayaka wiped her tears away. She picked up her book and kept it in her bag. With the grief that was building up inside her all gone, she left the library with a happy look on her face.

"So that's Sir Andy when outside of class. He looks cool," she said to himself while chuckling.

Back in the library, two souls were hiding behind the shelves, watching over the two while having their conversation.

"So that's the new teacher, Sir Andy. What do you think, Prez?" said the girl with short black hair.

"I don't know, but he looks very suspicious. Clearly, he was flirting with Aoyama-chan just now," said the other girl with long hair.

"Neh, Prez, what are you going to do?"

"Clearly he isn't the kind teacher we know. He's gotta have ulterior motives, I think he's after all the girls from our class - no from our school!" the long-haired girl's suspicion was aroused, she was alarmed and afraid.

"I don't really want to do this but, to protect the girls of this school, I think it's best if we do just that."