Chapter 1 "At Your Command"

Every June, the civil aviation industry enters its darkest thunderstorm season.

Large patches of meteorological color clusters on the radar screen of the Meteorological Center, ranging from green to yellow-red and even purple, mean the severity of the weather.

The Meteorological Observatory issued a warning that from 20:00 tonight, the city will have moderate to heavy showers accompanied by short-term thunderstorms.

In the approach control hall of Hecheng Airport, Meng Liyue was staring at the automated system in front of him, issuing real-time instructions to the aircraft in the sector he was responsible for.

"East 5478, reaching 3600 standard pressure."

"Central South 6943, Hecheng approach radar detected, descend to 2700 and maintain."

"South 8244, cancel altitude restriction, ascend to standard pressure 2100."

"Jixiang 1060, slow down to 180."

He continuously directed several aircraft to go up and down in altitude, and through orderly operations, he sent the aircraft in the airspace covered by bad weather to the appropriate locations. At the other end of the meteorological center, the yellow and red colors displayed by the radar continued to increase.

At this moment, there is a flight in the area calling in the frequency:

"Hecheng approach, northwest 7855, altitude 2400, maintain heading 180 degrees."

Meng Liyue stared at the slowly moving signal of the aircraft marked with the flight number on the system screen and issued an order based on the current situation: "Northwest 7855, Hecheng approach radar sees that the current heading cannot be maintained, turn right to heading 210."

Unlike tower control, approach control is responsible for guiding aircraft within the range of 500 to 6,000 meters above the airport.

There was a thunderstorm tonight and normal routes were restricted, so this Northwest flight 7855 could not fly according to the scheduled route.

However, the other party did not want to follow the order and even questioned via VHF: "Can we only go around from the right? The weather in Guangzhou is not good tonight. The delay has been long enough. Northwest 7855."

He spoke in a complaining tone, and it was obvious that the long delay had made the captain angry and he couldn't help but vent.

Meng Liyue had been on duty for three years and was already a mature approach controller. She was not used to the other party, so she pressed the PTT (push to talk) microphone and directly responded: "Northwest 7855, it's not me who delayed you, continue to fly according to the procedure."

The surveillance colleague on duty next to her gave her a thumbs up.

They are the ones who control the airspace, but sometimes they are helpless. There are so many planes in the airspace, and when it rains, the safety margin is already very small. Everyone wants to fly direct to save time and land earlier. How is that possible?

Meng Liyue was about to issue a new order when a lazy, low voice with a hint of schadenfreude suddenly echoed in the same channel: "You're right."

She immediately looked at the radar screen and saw an extra plane in the sector.

Soon, that lazy and magnetic voice reappeared in her earphones: "Hecheng Jinjin, hello."

Mixed with the noise of the radio waves, his voice is enough to make your ears numb.

At the same time, the man's cold and heroic face also came to mind.

He opened his thin lips and continued speaking heart-stirring words.

"Zhongnan 8966, at your command."

...Central South Airlines?

Meng Liyue was a little surprised. Wasn't he working for a foreign airline?

Most of the flights she flew were overseas routes, and there were very few flights to Hecheng. The few times she flew there were not when she was on duty.

When did you change jobs?

All the unexpected thoughts only lasted for a moment, and Meng Liyue regained his usual calmness and calmness, and gave orders in a calm voice: "Zhongnan 8966, down to 3000 and maintain."

Zhongnan Flight 8966, which flew from Pudong Airport to Hecheng and was preparing to land, was an Airbus A330 wide-body aircraft with three crew members in the cockpit.

The co-pilot couldn't help but shiver when hearing the sweet voice of a girl coming from the intercom: "Brother Zheng, I didn't lie to you, did I? Recently, many crews have come to Hecheng and whenever they meet this female controller, they will find ways to say a few more words to her!"

The observer sitting in the back row smiled and said, "The voice is indeed very sweet."

They were chatting enthusiastically, and the man staring at his watch replied nonchalantly, "Not bad."

"Is this just okay? Have you ever encountered sweeter control than this when you were on foreign flights before?"

Li Fuzheng looked calm and said casually, "I didn't notice."

"You just helped her to confront the captain of the Northwest. I thought you liked her voice, too."

"It's just boring."

He spoke to ATC again on the VHF frequency, and after some instructions, the sweet voice handed him over to the tower control.

Li Fuzheng twisted his neck. The trip was about to end, but landing in a thunderstorm was an absolute test of the captain's flying skills.

Lower the flaps, slow down the aircraft, intercept the glide path, lower the landing gear, reduce the throttle, land at the right time, turn on the aircraft reverse thrust...

This time the plane intentionally landed a little harder, and although the fuselage shook noticeably, it landed steadily on the runway, avoiding any accidents.

"The thunder outside... the passengers must have been scared." The observer looked back and listened carefully, "some people were even clapping."

"I think our flight will land in the next half hour. Luckily, Brother Zheng took us around twice from the south."

After releasing the brake, Li Fuzheng's mouth curled up slightly. He switched to Central China Airlines and became the youngest A330 captain. Many people were paying attention to his performance.

There was pressure, but he never worried.

After the aircraft inspection was completed and the handover with the maintenance personnel in charge of the flight was completed, the crew members got off the plane and left the control area.

As soon as he got into the car at the parking lot, his cell phone rang.

It was a call from home. My mother asked with concern: "The thunder tonight was really terrible. Did you land safely?"

"Well, don't worry."

"That's good..." The fierce mother changed the subject and started urging marriage again, "Even if you find me a blond-haired, blue-eyed daughter-in-law, I will accept her. The key is that you have nothing!"

The rearview mirror reflected the man's fierce features. He leaned back in his chair and said casually, "Don't beat around the bush. Just say it directly."

"My son still understands me! You have a day off tomorrow. I have arranged a blind date for you at the cafe at the intersection of Linyu Road at 2 pm. Let's go meet her?"

Knowing that the consequence of refusing would be continued nagging, Li Fuzheng finally agreed: "I understand."

…

Meng Liyue's job is to work one day and rest two days. During the working hours every day, she commands for two hours and rests for two hours.

It sounds easy, but approach control is very stressful. Sometimes more than a dozen instructions are issued in a short period of just a few dozen seconds, leaving no room for error.

She finished her work yesterday from 9:30 am to 9:30 pm, and the last order she issued was for Central South 8966 to contact the tower.

Go to the expedition.

After waking up from sleep, the voice that belonged to that person in her dream continued to disturb her.

It's been a while since I last thought about him.

She shook her head, had lunch, washed up briefly and went out. Meng Liyue promised her mother that she would go on... a blind date today.

In fact, she just dealt with it, she didn't take it seriously, her face was plain and her clothes were casual.

When she arrived at the place, she walked in with a relaxed mind. When her eyes fell on the figure leaning against the bar drinking coffee leisurely, she froze.