Descending from the Skies

Chapter 2 Emergency Call

Chapter 2: Emergency Call

Beijing Daxing International Airport, the Beijing Tower and Control Center. This newly established airport boasts 7 runways, handling an annual flight volume of up to 700,000 movements, with a peak hourly rate of 800 aircraft movements, all managed by a small team of air traffic controllers in the tower. Every minute, these controllers hold the fate of dozens of aircraft in their hands.

The September weather in Beijing was not hot, and the air conditioning in the tower was set quite low, yet Wang Zhibo, a newly graduated air traffic controller, was sweating. He had been transferred from a small airport in Jilin and was still adjusting to the heavy traffic at Beijing's airport. Fridays were the busiest days of the week due to weekend travelers, and the busiest times were the most prone to errors. He remembered his master's teachings and tried his best to issue each command accurately and swiftly. Fortunately, his mentor, Fang Hao, was present today, which made him feel a bit more at ease. The long day shift passed quickly amidst the tension and excitement.

Fang Hao, who looked surprisingly young for his age, was actually 29 years old and a senior air traffic controller at Beijing Daxing Airport. He was one of the first batch of controllers transferred from the Capital Airport to Daxing. Today, he was not on the microphone, but he was supervising Zhibo's work, and his nerves were not relaxed at all.

As the evening flights increased, Wang Zhibo felt a bit overwhelmed. He glanced at Fang Hao with a look of helplessness. Without much exchange, Fang Hao nodded, then slid his chair into Zhibo's position and took the microphone from him.

"White Egret 237, Beijing, radar contact, ETUDE-10 departure, continue to climb to 2200 meters and maintain, correct sea pressure 998."

"Eastern 3488, climb to 3600 and maintain."

"Shenlu 157, contact Beijing 123.5, goodbye."

Just as he sent off two aircraft, incoming planes were also numerous. A Delta Air Lines flight checked in on the frequency: "Beijing Approach, good evening, Delta 230, with you." (Beijing Approach, good evening, Delta 230, under your command.)

Fang Hao responded in English: "Delta 230, radar contact, right turn heading 090 to JVN, descend and maintain at 2400m." (Delta 230, radar contact, right turn heading 090 to JVN, descend and maintain at 2400 meters.)

Delta 230 repeated: "Heading 090 to JVN, descend and maintain at 2400m, Delta 230." (Right turn heading 090 to JVN, descend and maintain at 2400 meters, Delta 230.)

As he finished this long string of instructions, he still didn't forget the aircraft he had just called: "White Egret 237, ascend to 3500."

"Ascending to 3500, White Egret 237."

This small peak passed, and he handed the microphone back to Wang Zhibo, not forgetting to encourage him: "Practice more, and you can do it too." Wang Zhibo nodded vigorously. Fang Hao said, "I'll take a walk around the tower, are you okay?"

Air traffic control is divided into different types of work according to the jurisdictional area, with large airports having area control, approach control, and tower control, each responsible for different airspace. The approach control radius is about 50-100 kilometers from the airport, responsible for arranging the aircraft from the airway to the runway, or guiding from departure to the airway, while the tower control radius is only about 10 kilometers, mainly responsible for commanding the taxiing