People’s joy made our efforts worthwhile

Wang Liyong, 40, squadron commander with the People’s Liberation Army Air Force in the Central Theater Command.

After dinner on Dec 5, 2014, my wife dragged me to a shopping mall to buy me a new overcoat — however, while I was trying it on, my base called to alert me about an urgent task. I dropped everything and rushed back.

More than 150,000 people in Male, capital of the Maldives, had been left without drinking water after a fire knocked out their only water treatment plant. Two aircraft from our base had to rush there carrying supplies of water to help tackle the crisis.

I had carried out emergency transportation flights overseas before, but usually I had enough time to prepare. Rough calculations told me that this time I would need to fly over six countries and through seven flight control zones to reach the Maldives.

With route planning, data calculation, flight applications and data preparation, and many other things to be done in a very short time, I felt under more pressure than ever before.

At 4 am the next morning we finalized our fight plan: after departing from Sanya Phoenix International Airport in Hainan province, we would cover more than 4,300 kilometers in six and half hours, and each aircraft would carry 17 metric tons of mineral water.

Although it was winter, the temperature in Sanya was still very high. While we waited for the flight permits, I suggested that we could carry more water if we flew at night because the cooler weather would help us to work the engines harder without them overheating. An extra six tons of water were put on the planes within an hour.

We received the final flight permit on the morning of Dec 7, and left in the evening. Half an hour after taking off, the radar identified a large thunderstorm 70 kilometers ahead. I adjusted our route, and after a detour of nearly 30 km, we left the storm far behind.

However, we knew that if we encountered more bad weather and had to make a long detour, the extra fuel consumption would pose a challenge to our making it to Male.

An hour later, the radar showed another thunderstorm 80 km ahead. By carefully observing the radar signal, I discovered a gap between two storm zones. I flew the plane closer and double-checked the radar. The gap was wide enough for us to pass through.

As we flew through the gap, I looked through the porthole and saw lightning from time to time — it was jagged and hooked, like tree branches.

At 3:16 am on Dec 8, our planes landed. When the local people helped us unload the water, they burst into cheers and laughter. Although I didn’t understand what they were saying, the smiles on their faces meant I understood their excitement and joy.

That made all our hardships worthwhile.

Wang Liyong spoke with Wang Keju.