Air Crash Investigators Chapter 1

LaGuardia Airport, New York.

"boom---"

The heat waves rolled, the air was thick and sticky, and the huge roar of the engine was like a whistle, tearing through the smooth blue sky. A blue and white plane swooped down from the sky, gliding forward for more than 2,000 meters before slowly stabilizing. Airport ground staff and tractors rushed forward, everyone covered in a layer of sticky sweat, and sent the newly landed plane to the terminal.

In the terminal building a kilometer away from the airport runway, a dozen children were lying next to the tall, clear French windows. The children's dark, shiny eyes glowed with passion, their gazes fixed on the plane closest to the terminal, and they chattered non-stop.

"The same plane I came on---"

"so big!"

"Mom, are we going to get on that big plane?"

Ethan Fu dragged his suitcase through the children's excited shouts.

Today is the Independence Day holiday, and New York is full of tourists. The airport traffic is obviously much larger than usual.

As boarding time approached, he quickened his pace and walked towards Gate 67.

"Evan!"

The shout was immediately drowned out by the noisy voices at the airport.

"Evan Fu!"

The leather shoes made an almost inaudible friction sound against the marble floor. Ethan Fu turned his head and saw the blond man walking towards him.

The blond medium-length hair was covered with a thick layer of hairspray and combed back, close to the scalp, appropriately exposing the owner's imperfect hairline. He strode to Ethan Fu and was about to introduce himself when he saw the young man in front of him curl his lips, a spring breeze blowing on his face, and stretched out his hand to him.

"Richard, we met in Newark."

"So you still remember me." Richard showed his white teeth, and he stretched out his hand to shake hands with Ethan Fu. "It's been a few months since we last met, how come you are here? LaGuardia rarely has international flights, which city are you going to?"

Most Chinese people's skin color is not as white as that of Westerners, but the light fell on his face, which was as white as porcelain, outlining a clear and smooth jawline, which made Richard admire in his heart.

"Boston."

Richard's clear voice brought him back to his senses. "Boston? Hey, why did you go through the terminal instead of just finding a crew member to take a ride? Oh, I remember now, you Chinese people always don't like to go through your own backdoor, no matter how common it is. You didn't go through the VIP channel, did you not buy a business class ticket?"

Ethan Fu looked helpless: "During the Independence Day holiday, you know, it's already good to be able to buy an economy class ticket. There are only forty minutes left before boarding."

Richard looked up at the giant LED screen hanging from the top of the airport and found the flight information: "American Airlines Flight 2186? I'll take you to the crew lounge, say hello, and board the plane with the crew."

"How can I be so embarrassed---"

Richard smiled, but before he could say anything, the black-haired young man twisted his hand holding the suitcase, and his thin wrist turned at an imperceptible angle, changing his posture as if he had been following him from the beginning.

"Where is the lounge?"

Richard was stunned for a moment, then laughed.

"Come with me."

The crew lounge was not far from the boarding gate. Ethan Fu pulled the suitcase and followed Richard to the door of the lounge.

A long and quiet corridor separates the lounge from the airport lobby. Halfway through, there is no more noise, only the echo of footsteps. An exquisitely dressed stewardess stands in front of the automatic glass door of the lounge, with blonde hair, blue eyes, and bright red lips, bending over and smiling at the people passing by.

Richard walked over and said, "This is a friend of mine, a fellow traveler. Can you arrange for him to enter the lounge and board the plane with the crew?"

Unexpectedly, the stewardess showed a surprised look. She glanced at Ethan Fu and whispered to Richard: "Captain, there are some problems."

Richard noticed something was wrong with the stewardess's nervous expression. He turned to Ethan Fu and said, "Evan, let me ask what happened first." He walked aside with the stewardess and whispered a few words. Richard came back soon. He sighed and apologized, "I'm sorry, my friend. There is a special guest in the lounge. Several senior executives are also there, as well as several captains. I'm afraid I have to go in and take a look. I can't take you on board. I really don't know what to say."

Ethan Fu felt disappointed, but shook his head and said, "Thank you for your kindness, Richard."

Richard watched the young man disappear at the end of the corridor with his suitcase.

The automatic glass door of the lounge opened to both sides, and Richard strode into the lounge. The elegant symphony slowly flowed out from the high-end audio system, which made him slow down his pace. When he walked past the sofa seat by the window, the uniformed senior executives and captains surrounded the seat in the corner, leaving only a thin gap.

Behind the gap was the busy runway of LaGuardia Airport. Richard vaguely saw a trace of black hair appearing and disappearing in the gap, and it seemed that the person was wearing a white Bluetooth headset, which formed a sharp contrast with the runway behind that was bleached by the sun.

Well, let him see who this special guest is.

***

There were especially many passengers departing from New York to Boston. Ethan Fu was at the end of the economy class queue. Looking forward, he could only see a sea of   heads.

After boarding the plane, he found that the girl sitting next to him was about ten years old.

This is very unusual. Common sense says that parents must sit with their children. If they cannot buy tickets for sitting together, Ethan Fu is happy to exchange seats with the other party. Soon, he understood the reason. A mother brought her two children to New York for a trip. The five-year-old boy was arranged by her side, and the ten-year-old girl could only sit across the aisle.

American Airlines Flight 2186 used an ERJ-190 aircraft, with economy class seats in a row of four, separated by two seats.

At the request of the girl's mother, Ethan Fu agreed to help take care of the little girl.

He looks like the type of guy who would take care of kids?

Children's interest in airplanes will not diminish no matter how many times they have ridden on one, and they will always enjoy it.

The girl didn't calm down until the plane took off, and she stared at the sky and the earth outside the window with her eyes wide open.

Ethan Fu suddenly said, "Do you see that river?"

The girl nodded excitedly: "That's the Hudson River!"

Ethan Fu's voice was gentle and elegant, like a colorful piper who bewitched a child into walking into a swamp. He turned the LED screen in front of the girl to the music screen and picked up the headphones for her. "I think this song is very suitable for listening to now."

The girl looked at the words on the screen: "This is The Blue Danube, and that's the Hudson River!"

Ethan Fu looked at her seriously: "This plane will take you to the beautiful blue Danube."

The girl looked at the young man's eyes, which were slightly red from staying up late. At this time, Ethan Fu gently put the earphones into her ears. The cold temperature of his fingertips made her skin cool, but her face became hot. The natural shyness towards the opposite S3x with outstanding looks will not change with age. Her heartbeat speed increased a little, and the girl avoided his sight, muttered and nodded, and listened to the song obediently without saying anything.

After staying up all night and flying across the Pacific Ocean from China to the United States, he was almost exhausted.

When the girl calmed down, Ethan Fu closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

The consciousness sinks, and sinks again...

Countless figures swayed before his eyes, cameras clicked, flashes blinded his eyes. The man's voice came through the microphone and out of the speakers. All the sounds around him disappeared in an instant, and he felt like he was falling into an ice cellar. His former obsession and desire suddenly became the coldest piece of ice in the depths of the polar river. He chased after her with all his passion, but in the end he was assimilated into the same indifference.

It was like the voice of that man announcing a death sentence, so ruthless that not a single rise or fall could be heard.

"I hereby declare that all investigations into the June 13, 2019, accident involving Rogge Airlines Flight 318 have been suspended."

"No!"

The blood in his body froze.

He used both hands, like a wild animal, to push away all the reporters and security guards who were blocking his way. His body was empty, his heart was empty, and only the remaining muscles and strong desires supported him to frantically want to see that person's face again.

That's not you...

That's not you!

Excellent...

Zhuo, Zhuo...

"boom---"

A deafening explosion came from outside the cabin. Ethan Fu opened his eyes instantly, his eyes as sharp as an eagle. Almost at the same moment the explosion sounded, he grabbed the girl beside him with his left hand and protected her upper body in his arms.

Screams and cries filled the cabin. One or two luggage racks were knocked open, and the scattered luggage caused people to have bloody heads.

The plane was shaking violently, and the seat belts tied around the waists held everyone tightly, preventing them from being thrown away by the irregular movement of the plane.

The girl in his arms burst into tears out of fear.

"boom---"

There was another explosion, as if the roller coaster had encountered another turn. The plane fell rapidly, and the feeling of weightlessness penetrated from the soles of my feet to my scalp, and the world was spinning.

Hold!

Ethan Fu raised his head and shouted loudly: "Anti-collision posture!"

"Bend over, lower your head, and hug your knees!"

There were no more screams at this time, only the intermittent crying sounds.

The plane was like a high-altitude roller coaster, bouncing up and down, shaking the world in front of us into a series of virtual shadows.

One second seemed incredibly long.

Maybe a minute passed, or maybe a year, before the plane slowly stabilized.

Ethan Fu held the girl in his arms and waited for thirty seconds before raising his head. The first thing he looked at was the left wing. He was sitting on the left side. His eyes widened at a speed visible to the naked eye, and he saw a dark gap across the top of the left wing. The aluminum alloy was cut, and the edge was jagged and rolled outward. Deep in the crack was a dark red flame, like the fire from hell.

The engines are blocked under the wings and cannot be clearly seen from this position.

The passengers were still in shock, their bodies trembling, and as if they were in a crouching city, they raised their heads and looked around.

"boom---"

"Ahhhh, God, God!"

"Am I going to die..."

"Help me, please help me."

The plane shook for another half minute before returning to normal.

Only then did the flight attendants have the opportunity to come out of the preparation room, calm the anxious passengers and teach them how to protect themselves.

The sounds of vomiting and crying were intertwined in the cabin. Ethan Fu gritted his teeth and raised his hand after carefully checking whether the girl's seat belt was fastened.

The stewardess staggered over.

The collision pulled out a few strands of her hair, which should have been meticulous, and fell messily on her cheeks. The wound on her forehead was no longer bleeding, but the horrible blood hole was still terrifying. No one dared to think whether the stewardess was sitting in the chair and fastened her seat belt at the moment of the plane crash.

Despite this, she still managed to force a smile, leaned over and asked, "Sir, what can I do for you?"

Ethan Fu lowered his voice and quietly pointed to the left wing outside the porthole: "There is a crack near the cabin of the left wing, about 30 centimeters, and there is a fire on the left wing. It is suspected that the engine is damaged, and the broken body cut the inside of the wing, causing internal combustion of the engine."

The stewardess's face suddenly changed when she saw the huge gap.

"Thank you, sir. I will report to the cockpit."

"And one more thing."

"gentlemen?"

The black-haired young man had dark eyes, stained with the deep night. But it was not completely dark, but a starry sky shining brightly on the night sky, which contained confidence, tenacity, determination and hope. He spoke word by word with an unquestionable tone, which was deeply convincing.

"Also, tell the captain that there is an active pilot of China East China Airlines on board who is proficient in all types of aircraft currently in service and has the flight qualification license for the ERJ-190---"

"Always available if needed."

The astonishment on the stewardess's face slowly turned into surprise. The despair buried deep in her heart that she dared not think about too much seemed to be infected at this moment. The young man in front of her ignited a light, penetrating the abyss and illuminating her heart that was almost given up.

She bowed deeply.

"Thank you, I'll go right away!"