Special flight to the outbreak "Eye of the Storm"

Special flight to outbreak "Eye of the Storm"

China News Weekly reporter / Yang Zhijie

Issued in China News Weekly, Issue 939, March 20, 2020

When the captain Gu Zhenyu received the flight call notification, he was less than 6 hours before the plane took off.

This is extremely rare in his 27 years of driving experience. He became a flight student in 1993 and was promoted from the co-pilot of Air China (hereinafter referred to as Air China) to captain at the end of 1999. Under normal circumstances, flight missions are delivered 72 hours in advance, which is also limited to familiar airports and familiar routes.

Hanging up, it was more than two o'clock in the afternoon on the third day of the new year, Gu Zhenyu immediately drove to the airport. At 4 pm, the three crew members arrived at the assembly point, changed their uniforms, got their equipment, and measured their temperature. Gu Zhenyu still didn't get a flight plan, which meant: "Which plane to fly? Specific cargo weight? What is the volume? Are unknown. "

The only thing clear is that, more than three hours later, as the captain, Gu Zhenyu is likely to fly an Airbus A330 and transport a 150-person Beijing medical team to Wuhan, where the new crown pneumonia epidemic is most serious. "It is very likely" because there is another aircraft, a crew, and flight attendants, who are making the same preparations as Gu Zhenyu.

This seems to subvert the law of civil aviation-civil aviation flight is strictly in accordance with the plan, airlines will make flight plans for a certain period of time in advance, and organize personnel to implement step by step. Even in the event of rain or snow or large-scale flow control and flight delays, airlines have a specific set of procedures for how to respond.

However, the sudden outbreak of the new crown before the Spring Festival made many civil aviation work unpredictable. On January 23, in order to block the spread of the epidemic, Wuhan closed the city, and the airport, railway station, and other corridors were closed. Subsequently, several countries suspended flights to and from China. Within more than a month, only Air China had canceled more than 3,000 flights involving Wuhan. However, at the same time, medical teams and rescue supplies in various places still need to be continuously imported into Wuhan to ensure the smooth lifeline. In special times, these special flights became one of the few channels leading to the "Eye of the Storm" and played a special role.

6-hour emergency "ready to fly"

"The third batch of medical teams will leave today. The approximate number is 150, and the supplies are unknown." Party Secretary Han Jingyan of Air China Operation Control Center recalled to China News Weekly that starting from New Year's Eve, the National Health and Medical Commission and the Civil Aviation Administration of China increased the number of domestic Airlines issued instructions to carry out emergency medical support charter flights. At 10:35 a.m. on the New Year's Day, just after Air China flight CA041 had transported the second batch of medical teams in Beijing to Wuhan, it didn't take long for Air China Flight Control Center to receive a new mission.

The operation control center is the central department that organizes aircraft operations. Taking into account the uncertainty of medical supplies, the operations control center deployed an Airbus A330 and a Boeing 737 within two hours and stood by at the same time to avoid temporary replacement of the aircraft.

Gu Zhenyu began to fly the Airbus A330 since 2006. This wide-body passenger aircraft has far more capacity to carry passengers and cargo than narrow-body aircraft. It mainly flies the main route between intercontinental routes and the domestic Beishangguang, and rarely implements domestic Flights to Wuhan. "We are continuing to pay attention to the epidemic situation in Wuhan. Medical teams from various places go to Wuhan to support it. From the number of people and medical equipment, we will use a wide-body machine sooner or later." Gu Zhenyu told China News Weekly.

He didn't tell his family to fly to Wuhan, lest they worry, he simply explained, "Normal overtime."

At 4 pm on January 27, four trucks loaded with medical supplies such as masks and protective clothes arrived at the Capital International Airport. The volume of the supplies exceeded the volume of the Boeing 737's cargo hold. As Gu Zhenyu expected, the Airbus A330 entered the battle.

At 5 pm, Captain Gu Zhenyu and the two other crew members boarded the aircraft and conducted a routine inspection of the aircraft. Until this time, they hadn't got the exact number of people boarding and the weight of the supplies-this is the data Gu Zhenyu most desperately wants to know.

"From the perspective of epidemic prevention, the shorter the time we should stay in Wuhan, the better, and the fewer people we contact. The better the requirements for the crew is that the aircraft needs to prepare enough fuel to support the aircraft's return journey. The amount of fuel required for a round-trip flight can be calculated, but the premise is to know the weight of the people and cargo on the plane. If there are fewer oil belts, you must refuel in Wuhan, and if you want to contact people, you will have on-site epidemic prevention. "

As the "brain" of the operation control center, more issues need to be considered. "What to do if the plane flies to Wuhan? If there is a temporary failure? What if the weather in Wuhan is bad and we need to prepare for landing? We all have to formulate a corresponding plan, and it cannot be the same as a normal flight." Kong Jianrong told China News Weekly that they had to prepare other plans. For example, if Wuhan had a sudden rain or snow and the plane could not be landed at the airport in Hubei, it must return to Beijing to ensure timely support.

The transportation of anti-epidemic materials is also different from the past. Air transport has requirements on the weight and volume of the cargo. However, most of the anti-epidemic materials transported this time are protective clothing and masks. The weight is light but the volume is large, and the cargo holds can't fit at all. Han Jingyan said that with the approval of the Civil Aviation Administration, special flights can be operated specially. They bundled materials and fastened them to their seats by using seat belts and other methods.

At more than 8 pm, half an hour before take-off, Gu Zhenyu finally got the aircraft's payload data, including the weight of passengers and supplies, and adjusted the aircraft's fuel accordingly. At 8:47 pm, the flight CA043 carried out by Gu Zhenyu, Wen Jun and Yuan Bin, a large crew of Air China Air Corps, carried 150 medical personnel and more than 13 tons of medical supplies, and took off from Beijing Capital International Airport to Wuhan.

Gu Zhenyu broadcast before the takeoff, feeling: "In special times, I can transport medical personnel and medical supplies to the Wuhan epidemic area, I am very honored to pay you high respect." Not long after, tens of thousands of feet Another sound sounded at high altitude, making Gu Zhenyu feel warm. The tower controller discovered the special flight from the "password" of the flight number. After sending the instruction, he unusually said to CA043, "Tough work." Other planes in the same area also sent greetings to this special flight, "Hard work, come on in Wuhan!"

International routes grabbed in two days

On the afternoon of February 3, Air China Shipping Control Center received a clear notice: Two days later, Air China needed to send a plane to Osaka, Japan, and it would detain 223 Hubei tourists from Japan, as well as nearly 2.5 tons of donations donated by all sectors of Japanese society and overseas Chinese. The epidemic prevention materials were shipped back to Wuhan.

When the notice was received, Air China's Osaka Sales Department was off work, leaving only one day for the airline to prepare. The transportation control center responsible for unified deployment must make flight plans overnight. Han Jingyan said that the transport control center first determined the aircraft type. "It is executed by the A330-300 passenger aircraft. Air China has no capacity in Osaka. It needs to deploy an aircraft from the headquarters to fly from Beijing to Osaka and then to Wuhan."

However, the first question encountered by the operation control center is whether the 2 medical and health care personnel assigned by the aircraft must have a Japanese visa? It will take off in 1 day. It is too late to apply for a temporary visa. The transportation control center finally decided to use charter flights from Beijing to Osaka, and medical personnel will not be involved in the visa issue.

Adding an international flight is not easy. The operation control center must determine the air route as soon as possible, which route is more suitable, and the countries that fly over need to apply for it. Beijing to Osaka will pass South Korea. They must calculate the time and place of entry and exit in South Korea, which route to go, and apply with the Korean Civil Aviation Department one day in advance. These tasks must be completed within one day on the 4th. According to the normal procedure, to add an international flight, the airline needs to apply at least one and a half months in advance, at a specific period.

At 9 am local time on February 4, Bai Ge, the general manager of Air China's Osaka Sales Department, got the flight plan. Within one day, they would apply to Osaka Kansai Airport for flight permission at the time of landing, coordinate airport security with various airport departments, and organize stranded passengers to purchase tickets. In addition, they also need to apply for a flight permit from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. "Several departments are doing it at the same time, everyone is just like fighting."

On the afternoon of the same day, there was only one hour until the South Korean Civil Aviation Department was off work, and Beijing's Transportation Control Center had not yet received approval. Han Jingyan also made emergency contact with South Korea through the local sales department, and finally got a reply half an hour before leaving work, "a stone fell to the ground."

At 11 o'clock on February 5th, Bai Ge came to Osaka Kansai International Airport and found that he was waiting here. In order to completely separate these people from other passengers, the airport placed the flight in a business jet terminal in Terminal T2 and waited separately. This group of tourists comes from Hubei. If the infection occurs during the waiting and flight, it will be another disaster, so they need to be checked strictly. Each passenger needs to take a temperature measurement, and needs to declare whether he / she has left Hubei for more than 14 days, with 14 days as the boundary and placed separately. To avoid the risk of cross-contamination on the plane, all passengers have to eat before boarding.

You Teng is the senior manager of Air China's Beijing cabin and participates in the support task of this flight. Before arriving in Osaka, the crew, safety officer and eight flight attendants requested to change into protective clothing. Yu Teng was initially a little worried that this would cause panic to passengers, but did not expect that passengers' awareness of self-prevention would be stronger.

Yu Teng's first group of passengers to board the plane was a family of four, all wearing protective clothing and tightly wrapped. He hesitated for a moment and did not distinguish whether it was a staff member or a passenger. He was very impressed with the situation at the time: "The travelers were divided into two factions, one was very professional and wearing protective clothing; the other was a folk faction, wearing raincoats, swimming goggles, and plastic bags on the soles. So, instead We do n’t wear it, and passengers may question us. "

Tight "command center"

As of March 9th, AVIC has carried out a total of 47 charter flights for rescue transportation, used charter flights to transport 4,546 medical personnel, received 430 compatriots overseas, and transported nearly 404 tons of epidemic prevention materials; and used regular flights and 1,634 flights of cargo aircraft to transport epidemic prevention materials 2457 tons.

After Wuhan is closed, what should we do in the next three days? The number of flights is bound to plummet in the future. Which flights will be affected? The operation control center needs to formulate follow-up treatment methods. Kong Jianrong once experienced the SARS epidemic in 2003, but now many mechanisms and procedures are completely different from those of that year, and the flight volume is not at the same level. He remembers that in 2003, Air China had only about 400 flights a day, and today that number is 1,400.

Han Jingyan said that the epidemic did have a relatively large impact on the aviation industry. "Last Spring Festival Air China had about 53,000 flights. This year, we only had 35,000 flights, a sharp drop of 40%." In addition, according to data provided by Air China, Wuhan closed the city By March 6, Air China canceled 4,010 flights in Hubei, and Wuhan cancelled 3,664 flights.

The number of flights was cancelled, but the workload of the traffic control center was increasing. As the internal coordination and command department of the airline, the operation control center not only needs to grasp the progress of the epidemic, but the coordination department is also far beyond the scope of the past. "Originally we may only communicate with the Civil Aviation Administration, the Air Traffic Management Bureau, and the airport, but now we have to communicate with the Customs Quarantine, Health and Health Commission, and even foreign government departments. These channels were not involved in the past and there is no corresponding process. Do it, and then establish a corresponding system. "Kong Jianrong said.

On February 1, the Vietnam Aviation Authority announced that all routes between Vietnam and China will be closed from 13:00. The news came suddenly and caught many airlines by surprise.

At 16:00 on the same day, an Air China plane was about to fly back from Vietnam, and passengers even arrived at the airport. At 20:00 on the same day, Air China has another flight to return. After receiving the notice, airlines are only allowed to ground in accordance with the rules of the other party, which means that many Air China passengers will be stranded locally.

"Many countries in Southeast Asia can get visas on arrival. Tourists usually come back after only a few days of play. At this time, they can't go without a visa. Where can they go?" Kong Jianrong said frankly. "This is our compatriots." , They are not familiar there. "

The Air China Sales Department immediately negotiated with the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam, and finally found a compromise in disguise. An air plane was used to pick up the passengers to minimize the risk of flight interruption. "There are many such emergencies. Operators also need to keep statistics on which countries have restrictions on flights." Kong Jianrong said that during the epidemic, the entire State Shipping Control Center was always in a state of tension. Sometimes, just after work, there is a temporary need to coordinate things, and then you have to return to work immediately.

"If we only rely on ourselves, we can't coordinate even if we are exhausted. This is the guarantee of the overall system." Kong Jianrong lamented. "This is not the Air China family, but the regional bureaus, air traffic management bureaus and the entire civil aviation bureau. . "

According to the data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China, during the epidemic period, as of March 6, a total of 29 domestic airlines were organized to perform 413 sorties, with 36,700 transport personnel and 2630.7 tons of supplies. Among them, a total of 302 medical teams were transported, and a total of 33,800 medical and other rescue personnel; 13 missions for returning stranded overseas passengers were received, and 1,647 passengers were received; 87 missions for transportation supplies were performed, including 39 overseas flights. These flights became a special "lifeline" during the epidemic.

China News Weekly No. 9 2020

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