Published:2011-09-02 19:22
Economic Observer Online
A group of people are lining up for the toilets. One of them is clutching his abdomen and asks the people in front of him if he can go ahead. If his request is denied, if you hear responses such as: "I'm in even more of a hurry than you are," or "Me, I'm going to wet my pants!" then, in all likelihood, you have bumped into Chinese people!
It's not that I'd been feeling particularly down about my fellow countrymen. But I just happen to have read a news item making the rounds these days that sounds strikingly similar. Only this time, it happened in the skies.
.
.
A few days ago, a Qatar Airways flight had only five minutes of fuel remaining*. The air traffic control personnel at Hongqiao Airport, Shanghai, responded by following the emergency landing procedures. Yet the pilot of a flight from the Chinese-run Juneyao Airlines Co, already ahead in the landing queue, refused six times** to follow the give-way instructions. The pilot replied to the controller: "My aircraft has got only four minutes of fuel left."
The Qatari pilot also issued a "Mayday" call.
In the last few days, Chinese bloggers and Internet commentators have sarcastically declared that the Chinese airline has once again "won glory for the country", and "has created yet another hundred-year miracle in the history of aviation".
In my opinion, Juneyao Airlines "dangerous victory" over Qatar Airways, rather than being a "miracle", I'd say it simply accords with "Chinese conditions" .
"National conditions"
are mysterious things. It's one of those terms that can be used to put an end to any argument about all those things that we have difficulty explaining.
For instance, nobody dares to help an old man up when he falls down on the street - this is a Chinese condition.
When deadly earthquakes strike or miners are killed in another accident, the victims' families are always said to be "in steady emotion" - this is also a Chinese condition.
When a person dies in custody with his body covered in wounds, it's because he drank too much water or because he played hide-and-seek with other cellmates and knocked himself out - these are also more examples of Chinese conditions.
So it is only logical when the Juneyao Airline pilot was faced with his decision, he acted in accordance with a core "Chinese condition" – to approach a situation with the attitude of "fighting rather than giving in".
Even if his behaviour is in defiance of international regulations, breaks aviation conventions and goes against the basic professional ethics of any pilot, this pilot was willing to lie about his aircraft's fuel status, even though it might have led to the loss of hundreds of lives.
In fact, the decision to "fight back" rather than "give in" is common practice in the daily life of Chinese people - maybe it's got something to do with the fact that as soon as every Chinese person is born, they have to compete against face hundreds of millions of competitors.
"Lagging behind merits a beating" is a highly held belief in China's teaching circles. The fear of lagging behind is a psychological condition familiar to most Chinese.
When the risks posed by falling behind increases, an individual's is naturally inclined to fighter even harder to be first.
To achieve the goal, universal values like ethics, morality, and a sense of order quickly become secondary concerns.
This is a behavioral logic that can send a chill up one's spine, yet it has been internalized as part of the Chinese people's national character. We are all scrambling along this road.
In an extreme way, the "contest" of Juneyao v. Qatar Airlines reflects the usual chaos in our daily life.
According to the official report into the incident, after both aircraft finally landed and were inspected, the Qatari Airways plane only had fuel left for another 18 minutes of flight, while the Juneyao Airlines aircraft had fuel for at least another 40 minutes. ***
Some Civil aviation experts have offered an even more detailed explanation of what was happening in the cockpit of the Juneyao Airlines plane.
According to what some people say, certain domestic airlines have set up an incentive "bonus" system to encourage pilots to economize on fuel. The bonus is awarded in proportion to how much fuel is left after each flight.
If the Juneyao Airlines pilot gave up his place in the queue to the Qatar flight, he would have risked losing his "fuel bonus."
I don't care if you believe or don't believe it, frankly i find this situation is more than likely.
After all, these kind of arrangements are in keeping with "national conditions."
* According to the official report, when they say the plane only had 5 minutes of fuel left, they mean 5 minutes before it had a critical "30 minutes" of fuel left - that is the plane had 35 min of fuel left in the tank.
** The original commentary said that Juneyao pilot was requested to give way to the Qatar Airlines flight 4 times, according to the official report into the incident by China's General Administration of Civil Aviation, the pilot was actually received 6 requests.
*** The original commentary said that the Qatar Airways flight only had 4 minutes left of fuel left and that the Juneyao plane had over an hour, the translator has updated these figures based on the subsequent release of an official report into the incident by China's General Administration of Civil Aviation. Again both these figures don't count the final 30 minutes of fuel - so the Qatar Airways flight had 48 minutes of fuel left and the Juneya plane had 1 hour and 12 minutes of fuel left.
Links and Sources
Wall Street Journal - China Real Time Report: China Hands Out Punishment After Airlines' Bizarre Mid-Air Stand-Off
http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2011/08/30/china-hands-out-punishment-after-airlines-bizarre-mid-air-stand-off/
CAAC East China Regional Administration(Details of Incident and Punishment Handed down to Pilot and Juneyao Airlines)
http://hd.caac.gov.cn/HDYW/201108/t20110829_42154.html
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