FLIGHT 007 - AFTER-SCHOOL LESSONS

It's the last day of July 2020, for the students of Capital All-Girls High School, it's the most awaited last day of the week. But for the teacher's today isn't a good day.

"All teachers submit your Final Exams on or before August 4th, Tuesday!" the headteacher announced.

The faculty is busier than usual, non-specialization teachers are working their heads off preparing their final exams. The following weeks are about to become even worse for the already struggling teachers; the Final Exams will be held after two weeks, followed by the tedious Computation of Grades.

But it's not just the teachers who are having a hard time.

"10 minutes left!"

Most of the classes have their Summative Tests for their Specialization Classes today, 1 - D is no exception.

"The MD-80 is shorter than the Boeing 717? True!" Ayaka shaded the circle of her answer.

The A350 is more efficient compared to 777-200LR? Hmmm ...True? Dang, I reviewed this yesterday!" Karen clenched her pen.

"Which of the following didn't contribute to the crash of Capital North Airlines Flight 255? That will be A," Sayuri confidently answered.

"An A320 taking-off on shorter runways well below the MTOW must have which Flap Configuration. Its Flaps 3!" Erika answered with heavy reliance on her stock knowledge.

Sir Andy stood in front of the room, watching over the class intently as they take their exams. He occasionally checks his watch, and announcing the remaining time left.

"5-minutes!"

Alarmed by the announcement, most of the students began rushing to finish the exams. Various sounds filled the room: pens scribbling, papers were flipped back and forth, and the clock ticking every second.

The remaining time became shorter and shorter, the sound of scribbling became louder and faster. Time passed quickly for those who are still answering.

1-minute left … 30 seconds … 10 seconds … 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!

"Times up, pass your papers, finished or not!"

Everybody laid their pens and pencils down; they passed their papers forward and sighed in relief. Within a few minutes, Andy collected all his student's test questionnaires and answer sheets.

"Sir Andy, the MD-80 takes off with Flaps 10, right?"

"Nope, its 11 degrees. Not 10."

"Sir Andy, Flight 1141 was the 727 right?

"Yup, Flight 1141 was the Boeing 727."

"Sir Andy! Sir Andy!"

"Yes, Ayaka?"

"Uhmm, the 727 takes off with Flaps 15, right?"

"Yeah, that's correct, Ayaka!"

She clenched her fist and smiled, silently cheering inside. Ayaka went back to her seat while the girls crowded over their adviser, bombarding him with numerous questions.

"He sure is popular!" Karen settled in his seat.

The exam exhausted everyone's brain cells. Thankfully, there aren't any more exams for the remainder of their classes, so it's just discussions for the rest of the day.

Sir Andy soon left the room with his hands holding the test papers over his head. Break time passed by quickly, and classes continued until 4:20 PM, including homeroom. Most of the girls immediately left to enjoy end the week with a nice, long rest. But some people like to spend their Friday's differently.

"Ayaka, library day?" Karen strapped on her backpack preparing to leave the room.

"Yeah, I want to enjoy the quiet atmosphere before going home."

The two stepped outside the room and locked the classroom doors.

"Have fun, and take care on your way home!" Karen told Ayaka before running away.

"Ki o tsukete (Take care), Karen-chan!" waved Ayaka.

She made her way to the library on the East Wing. The cool and quiet atmosphere greeted her as soon as she stepped inside. Her mind became at ease as the cold air touched her delicate skin. She took the table across Andy's usual place and sat down on her seat. She was about to bring out her book when he saw a familiar person's back.

"Sir Andy!" she called softly but just loud enough for him to hear.

But he didn't respond. She tried calling again, but his reply was the same. Ayaka walked beside his class adviser and carefully poked his arm.

The aviation teacher removed his earphones and was surprised to see his student, "Ayaka, what's wrong?"

"Ohh, uhm" – her hands clenched onto the hem of her skirt - "I-I j-just happen to see you, so I thought I'll say hi."

"Ohh, I see. I'm not really doing anything in particular, I'm just watching this documentary," he pointed at his cellphone screen, showing an A320 falling from the sky.

"It's an A320?"

"Hm-mm, it's the AirAquila 8501 episode, Deadly Solution."

"Ohhh... what happened, Sir?" Ayaka asked with a puzzled look

"An aerodynamic stall that lead to a deadly crash."

Not wanting to take more of his student's time, Andy decided to redirect the flow of the conversation, "So, what about you, Ayaka-san, what are you doing here?"

"Ahh, I was supposed to read my book, but"- she tried to hide her embarrassed expression, covering her mouth with her hands - "I don't feel like doing it anymore?"

"Why, what's wrong?"

Out of anxiousness, she looked away from her adviser and nervously asked, "Uhmm, Sir Andy is it okay if I sit beside you?"

"Huh? Hmmm?" – the class adviser fell silent, surprised by his student's request, he's concerned with the rumors about him - "If it's okay with you, then I don't mind."

Ayaka smiled and happily sat beside her adviser, her hands feel fidgety and she had a weird feeling welling up inside her.

"Uhmm, well. I really don't have anyone to talk to about this in class. I'm a bit shy with the other girls so I don't get to talk with them very much," she looked down with a relaxed look on her face.

"What is it you wanna talk about?"

"Ever since I read the Flight 981 book, listening to your lessons, as well as watching the documentaries you showed us during our film viewing, I've become interested in learning more about flying. I began watching the documentary series you showed and," - she looked at Andy with bright shining eyes and clenched her fists - "I learned a lot from it!"

"Is that so, well good for you!"

"But," Ayaka's cheerful expression changed, "I didn't get most of it. I'm sorry for bothering you, but could you tell me more about the accidents I watched?"

Seeing his student have a passionate look on her face as she asks for his help touched Andy's heart.

"Ii yo (It's okay), I don't mind.

Ayaka's face began beaming with joy, she tried her best to keep quiet while containing the happiness in her heart.

"So, which one do you want to learn more about, I'll try my best to explain it to you," offered Andy.

"Uhh, Hai! Uhmm first off... hmmm?" she tried to recall the episodes she watched this past week, but she couldn't make up her mind.

"Uhmm, I don't really know which one to pick?"

"Then why don't you watch this episode, Deadly Solution, I've barely passed the intro so we can watch it from the beginning," Andy suggested.

The idea pleased Ayaka, Andy wiped off his earphone's left earpiece and handed it to Ayaka for her to wear. He replayed the episode all the way from the start, and the two began watching. Andy was overly cautious, the rumors were still abound and he can't risk being caught up in another. He distanced himself from Ayaka, enough so that their earpieces don't fall off.

As the episode progressed, Ayaka began making different expressions. First came sadness and pity, after seeing the death of many people. Then came curiosity, when the investigation part began."

"So, Ayaka, what do you think caused the crash?" Andy paused the episode.

Ayaka thought hard. She scoured the inner depths of her mind looking for an answer, but her speculation was far off course.

"Elevator problem, I mean the plane pitched up, right?"

"Hmmm? Why don't we continue watching to see what happens."

The tone of Andy's voice made Ayaka realize that his answer was wrong.

They listened attentively to the part where the investigators analyzed the Cockpit Voice Recording.

"AirAquila 8501, you are cleared to three-four-zero."

"Okay stop!" the investigator paused the CVR playback, "We know from the controller, that he never heard back from them again. Continue playback!"

A loud beeping sound can be heard, it was the Master Caution alarm, which had already chimed three times for the past few minutes.

"There it is again!"

"ECAM Actions!" the first officer's voice called.

The narrator interrupted the recording with a short sentence, "Then the recording reveals something surprising."

"No, I've got a better idea!"

"The captain appears to have done something different, and then there's a new warning " the narrator explained.

In the background, a loud beeping chime can be heard, different from the alarm from earlier.

"Hold recording! Now the Autopilot has disengaged."

"What was that?" the first officer asked.

The captain replied by telling him, "Okay, let's see what we got. Master Caution?"

And then a new, even louder and more irritating alarm filled the cockpit. It caught the pilots completely by surprise.

"Level ... Level!" the captain commanded.

"STALL WARNING!" the investigator exclaimed.

"Pull, slowly!" the captain commanded.

But the first officer was confused, "What's going on?"

"PULL!"

As the investigation continues, both Andy and Ayaka begin to learn more about the disturbing crash. They listened carefully to what the narrator has to say.

"What does come to light is that when the autopilot disengaged, the rudder moved slightly."

"The plane started to bank. And look at this" - the investigator scribbled a note on a transparent board- "it took them 9 seconds to do anything about the bank.

The episode revealed a plane that encountered a minor technical failure on one of its onboard systems. But what should have been a minor issue that could be resolved by a simple click of two buttons, became worse.

The captain made a deadly error, he pulled two circuit breakers switches instead, shutting down several systems and protections of their plane. Then things began to go haywire in the cockpit.

"The first officer suddenly reacts, pulling hard to the right, then left again. And just as suddenly he starts to pull up."

The first officer became confused and disoriented, he lost his sense of balance and direction. He tried to maneuver the plane back into a safe attitude, but his disorientation got the best of him. But there was something that confused Andy, Ayaka, and the investigators.

"Why didn't the captain take the one step that could have saved the lives of everyone on board?" the narrator questioned, "Investigators knew from the recording that the captain was trying to right his plane."

Then the answer was revealed.

"He wants his first officer to stop climbing up and push the nose down, but his command was confusing."

"PULL DOWN!" the captain commanded.

"It's either you pull up or push down!"

But the captain continued shouting, "PULL DOWN!" confusing his first officer even more.

The captain tried to take over control of the plane twice while shouting the wrong "PULL DOWN!" command, but he made another mistake. The narrator explained it with a disheartened tone, all hope to save the aircraft has been lost.

"The data shows that the captain did push the take control button, but only briefly. He didn't push it long enough to take over the plane."

"And in the end, he never took control!" the investigator emphasized with a look of disbelief.

"It meant that both pilots were trying to fly the plane at the same time."

The captain tried to push the nose down, but his inputs were negated by the first officer's pull up command.

"If he'd spoken three simple words, the plane could have been saved. I - HAVE - CONTROL!"

Ayaka gasped, realizing what could have happened if the captain said those words. If he had pushed the button longer, or if he told his first officer 'I have control!', he may have been able to regain control of the plane,

They could've recovered from the stall, and saved everyone on board. But all of those thoughts were only ifs. In the end, the plane plunged towards the sea.

The episode ended and the two have mixed reactions about the accident.

"So, what do you think, Ayaka?"

She bit her lip in frustration, "It was so close! They would have been able to save the plane, if only, if only" - Ayaka's tears began to well up in her eyes, but Andy immediately cut her words and comforted her.

"That's why new pilots are being trained to be more communicative and more disciplined. If the pilots of AirAquila 8501 communicated properly or followed standard procedures, the plane would have landed safely."

Ayaka calmed down, she realized that she was frustrated over an episode of a documentary.

"It's all in the past, Ayaka. Even if we want to change it, even if you think of what could have happened if the pilots did something different, we can't change what has already happened."

The girl sniffed, and wiped her tears away, "Sir Andy's right, we have to learn from the past so we can make the future of air safety better."

Hearing that line touched Andy's heart. He felt happy, no, overjoyed to see his student learn, he patted Ayaka's short and bouncy hair.

"That's right, I'm glad you learned something, Ayaka!"

"Me too, I'm glad I get to spend time with Sir Andy!" she chuckled. "Being with Sir Andy and learning from him, somehow it makes me comfortable, and happy."

Without realizing, her face began to blush, and her heart skipped a beat.

"Me too, Ayaka."

"Huh?"

"I don't really have anyone to talk to about Aviation. I'm more than glad that my student is eager to learn more from me. I feel comfortable around you, Ayaka."

"Sir Andy!" with a weird feeling inside her heart, she suddenly felt happy and energetic that her face blushed pink.

There was something she wanted to tell Andy, but her heart was racing. She mustered her courage and nervously asked her teacher.

"Etooo, I-is it o-okay if e-every Friday, we meet up i-in the li-library."

"Hmmm," Andy had an unsure feeling on Ayaka's request, he thought hard of his reply, taking the rumors into consideration.

"Well, sure, no problem. But let's start maybe after the exams. I'll be busy next week and on the exam week, so focus first on those okay."

Ayaka lost control of her happiness, she smiled brightly with her cheeks blushing.

"HAI! Arigatou, Sir Andy!"

The cute girl's reaction gave Andy the urge to pat her head.

"No problem, you're kinda cute."

A puff of steam burst out of Ayaka; her happiness began to overflow as his face began to turn beet red. But while patting his student's head, Andy noticed something on his hand.

"Ohh no! It's already 5:20!"

He patted Ayaka's head to say goodbye, "Sorry Ayaka, it's getting late I have to go now! Take care on your way home!"

He released her hair and was about to exit the library, whb Ayaka's voice stopped him.

"Hm-mm, ahh, ki o tsukete (Take care)!" she waved to his teacher.

Andy smiled and waved back at the cute girl, before running off to the faculty room.

All alone inside the library, Ayaka tried to calm herself down. She was extremely happy, her heart was racing, she was blushing pink and steam puffed out of her ears. She rested her head on the table to try to sort out her feelings.

"Why? I just wanted to learn from Sir Andy? Why am I, why do I feel so happy!" she grasped her hair and shook her head, trying to hold out the excitement and frustration inside her mind.

But Ayaka wasn't the only one feeling weird.

"Arghh, she's a student of mine, why the heck is my heart racing!"

Andy clenched his hand onto his chest, feeling both frustration and happiness.

"Aoyama Ayaka, huh? I never thought you'll be the one who'll make my heart race. Or maybe it's just … That's all in the past, don't think about her."