Clearance Letter - City Of Seattle: Fill & Download for Free

I've been retired from airline flying for over a year now, but I can't remember a version of FMC (Flight Management Computer) in any Boeing that I flew—737–300/500, 757–200, 767–200/300, 777–200, and 747–400—that didn't have at least some tiny programming flaw. Few were consequential and the worst was easy to work around, but programming a perfect system doesn't appear to me to be possible.Consider this: in none of the the airplanes I flew did we need the FMC to continue flying. It was nice to have, but if it failed, meh. And that includes the 777 and 747–400! In either of those jets, if in flight the “box” (or boxes, assuming there were 2 or 3 in every cockpit, mostly independent systems but capable of “cross talk” so they appear as a single system) just magically disappeared, we could continue the flight, enjoy coffee and crewmeal, and land without incident.Over the Pacific or Atlantic oceans, or flying south to South America, if we somehow lost all airplane nav, 95% of the time we'd simply follow other jets to our destination. If we cared, someone would pull out their Android or iPhone, turn on the GPS (these phones are amazing!), and if someone would hold the phone back by the cockpit windows L3 or R3 and give me “directions” (headings), I could go anywhere. Midway island, a tiny spec in a huge ocean? We could do it.If the FMCs only failed to the lowest possible functional level (which has not yet happened in any jet that I know of), we could navigate through the night, across oceans and arctic ice floes, and conduct a CAT III autoland at the destination. We'd be working at it but it was a practiced and tested irregular procedure.One night in 1992, Capt. Bill Records and I were flying a 757–200 at night from Seattle to Boston, a flight of about 5 hours. About an hour after takeoff at FL370 (we were light), our FMCs displayed the message RESYNCING OTHER FMC. Okay, not a problem. Yet. But when both FMCs started alternating flashing the same message, Bill said, “Oooooo. That's not good.” And then with a flicker of light, both FMCs completely failed.What did Bill do? He told a joke about pilots in these situations!Here is what we had left. Two smooth running engines. A warm cockpit with 100% normal electrical power. A working autopilot. Yeah, the autopilot beeped and went into Heading Hold and Altitude Hold modes but that what it's supposed to do when it loses FMC input. We could tune VORs and ILSs manually, just like a 727 if we cared to. We had a good airplane capable of a CAT III autoland so what's to worry?I called ATC, which was still Seattle Center, and explained our degraded navigation to them. Naturally, ATC asked if we needed anything from them. (ATC all over the world is comprised of operators who are spring-loaded to go to heroic lengths to keep “their” aircraft safe.) Bill, in a bit of uncharacteristic humor, said “we'd like to amend our clearance to continue EBS direct Boston.”ATC: “uhhh, okay, you're cleared as requested direct Boston.”Me: “EBS, Bill?”Bill: “Eye Ball System.”So we flew across the country at night, looking out the window and flying by familiar landmarks, all from 37,000 feet. While eating a crewmeal. Drinking coffee. And generally having a good time.We switched frequencies for ATC in the pattern intimately familiar to us all across the country and each sector confirmed our reduced navigational status and our “EBS” clearance to Boston. We “owned the sky,” meaning we were the only airplane flying that route that night. At any time we could have asked for a radar vector but the weather was severe clear to the moon. So eyeballs it was.For the first 3 hours we flew just on the south side of the Canadian border, from Seattle to Chicago. The border is viewed as a bright line because of massive farming development on the American side, accompanied by a lot of lights; the Canadian side is mostly dark. It's like flying down a super highway. From Chicago eastward, the cities are large and distinct by their shapes and from 37,000 feet you can see at least 75 miles. It was a beautiful trip.Then in Boston, we landed. A mechanic was waiting for us with a couple of LRUs (Line Replaceable Units, Boeing speak for avionics boxes), we talked, and then Bill and I went to the hotel to sleep.It didn't quite end there. The next morning at breakfast, one of our passengers recognized me and joined me at my table. He asked about our “C”, and from the context, he was talking about our nav failure the night before. But I had no idea what a “C” (single letter) was. That he knew about our problem was no surprise: United Airlines was and remains the only carrier whose airplanes can send pilot radio conversations back for passengers to listen to. And he was a radio comm aficionado.As we talked, it became clear that he thought we had said to ATC not that our FMC had failed but that our “F-ing C” had failed; f-ing being, in his mind, a polite way to use a bad word on the radio. The misunderstanding reflected his thinking that pilots, confronting a “major emergency” like a computerized, automated navigation system loss, must be concerned. Actually, we weren't really. Life is always good flying a Boeing. (And an Airbus, as I hear from my friends.) We shared another laugh.Oh, and Bill’s joke? When our FMCs blinked and died, he laughed and turned to me and said, “Mark? You know how pilots sound when facing a real emergency? Like engines on fire, wings completely iced up and descending out of control, no pressurization, and every red light in the cockpit flashing? You know how pilots react? Yeah, calm, professional, we get the job done.“But confront a pilot with any minor inconvenience and he sounds like this:(In the high, loud squeaky voice of an annoyed 14 year old girl) : “OH MY GOD!”So, yes. FMCs have bugs. Small, mostly known, not even inconvenient. Very robust systems operationally.

"Now a mask is like a drug dealer. "A freight forwarder who has been busy transporting scarce and precious medical materials from abroad to the mainland for the past more than 20 days is joking with a smile.Overseas has become a key force to fill the material gap caused by the sudden outbreak. For example, the protective clothing produced in the first half of the Spring Festival is 13 thousand times a day for domestic protective clothing production, while the average daily demand in Hubei alone has reached 100 thousand units.According to the data released by the General Administration of Customs in February 12th, the customs and Excise Department issued a total of 870 million pieces of imported epidemic prevention and control materials from January 24, 2020 to February 11th, worth 2 billion 840 million yuan. Among them, there were 730 million respirators, 7 million 410 thousand protective clothing, 1 million 540 thousand pairs of goggles, 1 million 530 thousand pieces of disinfectants, 2 million 220 thousand pieces of medicine and 1 million 340 thousand medical devices.How did huge quantities of materials come to China in such a short time? Since the outbreak of the new pneumonia epidemic, overseas Chinese and groups, domestic enterprises, governments and even individuals have joined the procurement force, almost grabbing the warehouses, shelves and factories of overseas related medical supplies. Then, in the shortest time, these materials will be shipped to China.Yang Fu, chairman of San Fu Lin, bought 5 million 600 thousand pieces of medical supplies. This is an enterprise covering real estate, education and consulting business. There are 9 branches in Pakistan. In January 29th, Xiang Yang raised the first batch of goods - 50 thousand masks. She found DHL, when two American Express Companies FedEx and UPS had suspended flights to China. DHL is not the best choice, because it needs to pick up parts more slowly. These masks were stuck in Hongkong customs for two days, and it took 10 days to reach home.In February 13th, the last box of 2 million 600 thousand 3M surgical masks purchased by San Folin was finally loaded onto the plane. The masks had been trapped in the warehouse for more than 10 days. In January 31st, Pakistan flew to China for a flight. In February 3rd, the airliner resumed its flight, but the export ban on masks also reached all ports. The "human flesh" was impossible to carry. All ports in Pakistan were "moving the truth", except for one's own use. The company tried every means to use the "military, chamber of Commerce, Embassy forces" before taking the approval of the clearance.However, because of the temporary inspection by the government, the masks were eventually dismounted and still lie in the warehouse.Yang has experienced almost everything that overseas Chinese, enterprises and institutions have to rush into China. As a trading power, China's total import and export volume was 31 trillion and 540 billion yuan in 2019, of which 17 trillion and 230 billion yuan was exported and 14 trillion and 310 billion yuan was imported. Behind this is the huge cross-border logistics network, which is just 6.47 enterprises registered by the Ministry of Commerce on record.But the epidemic is a big test for cross-border logistics industry, how to respond in a short time, and how to mobilize global goods, capital and transportation capacity. In the view of CEO, Liu Jun, DHL, KN and DB Schenker have global logistics enterprises that have direct control over the world. They can respond to material demand in time. In China's cross border logistics system, even the largest volume of China and foreign freight (sixth of its revenue ranking) has yet to establish its own global network, which relies on third party freight agents outside China. Of course, this can not be achieved overnight, it will be a long way.The urgency of the outbreak and the slow global logistics of cross-border logistics, the conflict between them, sowing a seed in the days of staying indoors.For mask masksOn ordinary days, masks can't fly. Bai Wei International Logistics Group (hereinafter referred to as "Bai Wei") - an international air freight forwarding company -- CEO Wang Chaofeng told krypton 36, generally speaking, international air transport is only used in two cases of high timeliness and high added value, such as "fast fashion, fresh, mechanical and electrical products, emergency accessories."But at this very moment, the shortage of protective materials is obviously meaningless if they travel slowly.International flights are divided into airliners and full cargo aircraft, both of which are regular commercial flights. In international air transport, the original cargo plane is the main force, but during the Spring Festival, most of the cargo planes will be grounded. "Because the factories in China are almost shut down, they are all transported." Wang Chaofeng said.Therefore, carrying the cargo in the abdominal compartment of the aircraft (which means transporting goods through the outer space of the abdominal compartment of the aircraft) has become the main way of the early stage of the epidemic. Domestic airlines have opened a green channel for relief supplies. In January 25th, Hainan airlines announced that it was free of air cargo transportation fees for the relief materials. Subsequently, China Southern Airlines, Air China and China Eastern Airlines kept up with each other. The Qatar Air China announced similar policies in February 5th.But the massive influx of goods and the decreasing capacity of international passenger flights obviously can not match. Charter flights are an option: expensive, but ensuring the certainty of flights and shipping spaces. Wang Chaofeng told 36 krypton that the cost of a whole cargo plane was "almost 2 million 500 thousand yuan from Europe to China and 3 million 800 thousand yuan from the United States to China".That means the volume is large enough. For example, an aircraft with a capacity of 100 tons and a cargo capacity exceeding 60 tons is suitable for transporting a plane to the country. Generally, local governments, large group enterprises or subordinate foundations are adopted. In February 7th, 2 million 640 thousand medical masks of the Alibaba public welfare fund arrived at Xiaoshan airport from South Africa by Air China's cargo plane. Charter flights are generally applied by airlines and approved by the civil aviation authority."This civil aviation authority is also very strong, basically approved that day, because we all know that we are too short of supplies." Wang Chaofeng said."A lot of donations from individuals and groups are obviously unable to reach the volume of more than a hundred tons at a time. If the freight forwarding companies spend too much time collecting goods, they will" bunk the warplanes ". Guo Xiancheng told krypton 36 that he was the director of Jiangsu Hongcheng International Logistics Co., Ltd., and also shipping and freight. In this case, the general choice is to pack the cargo compartment of the aircraft, "probably 10 tons of cargo, from Losangeles to China about 250 thousand yuan."There are many materials from all over the world. At that time, it is difficult to carry out such a wide range of collection, transportation and distribution by relying only on sporadic flights and even with any express logistics company. In January 23rd, when Wuhan closed the city, the consumption of medical protection materials was faster than imagination. In January 25th, the early morning of the new year, the rookie management conference decided to make use of its own network advantages to free up the logistics arteries for transporting domestic and foreign relief materials.The first thing a rookie does is to contact express logistics partners who are willing to participate together. Within two hours, 13 domestic and overseas logistics enterprises including China Communications, Debon, AirCity, Maersk Group, 4PX delivery four parties quickly decided to join the list, which quickly expanded to 30. At the same time, the rookie overcame the opening of the donation hotline platform, and the international team contracted the customs clearance task, and coordinated with the courier companies to complete an efficient channel from material scheduling, transportation resource linking and gateway access."In some key areas, we can solve the problem of shortage of aviation resources through the way of cargo collection and charter flights, and can reduce costs appropriately." The rookie told 36 krypton. As of February 15th, they received more than 16 thousand donation hotlines, reaching over 30 million items.Masked immigration after groundedIn February 2nd, singer Hu Haiquan found more than a dozen families in Singapore's Singapore Airport by "brush face", allowing travelers to bring forty boxes of materials to China with a total of 80 thousand masks. He caught up with the last flight to China before an airline grounded. From that day on, the Singapore government banned all visitors who had been to mainland China in the past 14 days, suspended the issuance of visas to visitors from China, and many airlines announced the suspension of China.1 days ago, the WHO announced that it would list the new coronavirus epidemic as a public health emergencies of international concern (PHEIC), the highest level in the emergency response mechanism for WHO infectious diseases, and the sixth in the world. After that, many countries began to adopt entry control measures. Many airlines also chose to suspend flights or reduce flights between China and China. For example, "the three major American Airlines", the US airlines, Delta Airlines and United Airlines, cancelled both Chinese and American flights.Obviously, not everyone has the gravitational field of stars. Guo Xiancheng told 36 krypton that a Chinese in Dubai had prepared 2300 masks to donate to the country. But since February 5th, the two Emirates have suspended some routes to China. His search is not smooth. "Many passengers are reluctant to take care of these things, so that people can help themselves with masks, and sometimes they will be exposed to other people's eyes."There used to be airliners from Losangeles to China every day, but maybe only two shifts a week. Guo Xiancheng stares at the Internet every day, for fear that the two remaining classes will be cancelled.In the case of extremely tight aviation resources, with the huge and meticulous "connection network", rookies are likely to find that one percent chance. In the early February, overseas Chinese in Wenzhou raised 1 million 520 thousand masks, protective clothing and other medical supplies, and they were all faced with the problem of not returning home. At that time (February 4th), 46 airlines announced the suspension of China, more than 8000 flights were canceled. Anxious Wenzhou businessmen called the rookie.The rookie arranged the 1 million 520 thousand materials to the warehouse in Madrid, which belongs to the rookie's partner, 4PX, delivering the four party logistics. In 2016, the rookie invested 4PX to deliver the Quartet, which has been undertaking the logistics task of Tmall international cross-border electricity supplier.But the quantity of the cargo is too large, and the flights in Europe and China are cancelled in large areas every day for three or four days. The rookie volunteers sent thousands of messages to communicate and win all possible European accommodation. If it has not been booked, the 1 million 520 thousand pieces of cargo will be pulled to Belgian Liege and returned by charter flights. Liege is one of the six largest e-HUB in the world.But the rookie volunteers' response to the "wide net" communication got a more timely response. After learning about the donated materials, China Eastern Airlines decided to adjust the original transport plan to give support. The first batch of 100 thousand pieces of medical materials were first shipped away. In February 5th, the shipment had reached the epidemic situation in Wenzhou. The remaining 1 million 420 thousand arrived in Hangzhou, Wenzhou, Lishui and other donor locations in February 7th.The price of the airlines from Losangeles to Shanghai was originally equivalent to RMB 6 yuan to 7 yuan per kilogram. With the flight becoming less and less, the price has risen to nearly 30 yuan, nearly 5 times. The freight rate from Europe to China rose to 4-5 euros from 0.4-0.5 euro per kilogram.Guo Xiancheng took part in the volunteer work and used the resources of the company to help the donors to transport the relief materials free of charge. But as the cost rose, he was also considering whether he had to collect the cost.The chance of direct flight is becoming less and less, and the transportation of mask is becoming more and more expensive. Wang Chaofeng provided many alternatives to the shippers. He told 36 krypton that Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hongkong are China's four largest international airports, and there are likely to be flights. There are three free-trade ports in the world -- Dubai, Singapore and Hongkong. This is also the core port of the global airport. The flight is intensive and can be used as a cargo collection center. As long as the world's goods can first be transported to these three ports, the possibility of sending them to the four largest airports in China is relatively high. If we can not wait for the flight, there is a more effective way: first we can ship the goods to Inchon airport in Korea, then airmail to China, or from Inchon airport to Inchon harbor, and then send it to Qingdao, Weihai and Yantai after 34 hours of sea transportation.Take Brazil as an example, in general, transportation routes in South American countries are sent to Miami or Losangeles Airport in the United States via a major airport, and then sent to China. If the US flights are closed, the goods need to be intermodal by air sea: Brazil, Britain, London, France, Paris, Holland, Amsterdam, Germany, Frankfurt - China Hongkong - South Korea Inchon - China, at least 14 days."If we continue to stop flying, we can only go by sea." Guo Xiancheng said that the fastest way from the United States to China is from Seattle to Shanghai, arriving every Monday for about 12 days. With the time of export formalities, it takes about 15 days from the United States to Shanghai by sea, and only 4 days by air. "But now the flight is cancelled in large areas, and some materials plus waiting time will take seven or eight days. The time difference between the two methods will not be great."Ironclad shares CEO Liu Jun tells us that we can also take land transportation: for example, goods in Poland can be pulled into Germany by truck and then transported by air, and within 4 days to the mainland; goods from Central Asia and Russia can be directly entered by truck from Xinjiang's Alashankou, and customs clearance in Urumqi will take 5 days. His company imported at least 3 times the import business during the Spring Festival this year, mainly for transporting medical supplies. Not long ago, ironclad helped a domestic express delivery truck transport goods from Russia to the Alashankou by truck. It took 4 days for a car to rotate with two drivers.Gateway on the roadFor shippers, even if masks are on board, the road is still unknown.The entrepreneur, rosefinch and his friends bought 500 thousand masks from Indonesia to donate to hospitals in Wuhan. They entered the country through the green channel of the airlines and customs (donated goods tax exemption), though they had no freight and customs duties. But in the repeated filing and revision of the tedious documents, the goods were stuck for 200 thousand days because of the 3 days' error in filling the goods.He is just one of the many confusing donors.In January 26th, the General Administration of Customs announced that it would set up a "green channel" for the entry of donated materials to speed up the tax-free entry. If we do not take the green channel, we will pay 19% of the masks according to the general trade import. However, how to make self donation is "donation". Donations should be issued to the provincial and municipal charities or Red Cross Societies, including the letter of intent to donate abroad, the list of donated materials, and the donation agreement between the donor and the donor unit, which will explain information about the donation body, material category, unit price, quantity, total price, contact, donation and so on. After that, the above public welfare agencies provided the unit of collection or custom brokers company (such as the above Jiangsu Hongcheng) to receive the certificate of acceptance of donations from overseas charitable donations and the list of donations for distribution so as to handle the declaration. With these two documents, customs can only be released tax-free.The transportation process of masks can be roughly divided into the steps of inland transportation, warehouse collection, cargo declaration, international customs declaration, international trunk logistics, domestic clearance, warehouse sorting, and delivery, involving invoices, packing lists, air waybill, arrival notice, etc. Guo Xiancheng said to 36 krypton:"Some people say that importing a mask is like selling drugs, which is a bit of an exaggeration. But honestly, every vote we make is really hard. It is possible to make hundreds of calls for one thing." At the busiest time, he basically sleeps 24 hours, contacts with the United States in the evening, and docking with the domestic agencies in the daytime.It's not easy for an individual to send a mask to his country. International Express (such as DHL) is a small amount of material that a person uses for himself. Each country has the relevant stipulation, the personal package can not exceed a certain weight or the value of goods, otherwise need export liscense (export license)."Generally less than 25 kilograms, for example, in the United States, if you exceed this amount, you have to have a trading company in the area and have the EOR customs registration number, otherwise the exporting country (US) will not let it go." According to the donated materials, Guo Xiancheng's Jiangsu Hongcheng will assemble all the goods in the Losangeles warehouse to declare and return to China together.The green free channel of rookies is only targeted at the team, requiring export qualification EOR, a single shipment volume of 100 kg.During the epidemic, Jiangsu Hongcheng donated personal responsibility to communicate with customs and charities, and did all the documents. "Because of the large number of processes and links, and the poor road access to the epidemic areas, the backlog of supplies, many donors have urged us countless times a day. We can only explain it over and over again, sometimes saying the same thing hundreds of times a day." Guo Xiancheng's voice on the phone looked very tired.Others are far beyond the coverage of green corridors. Liu Wuhua, founder of the Internet service platform, took part in the fundraising and raising activities in Senegal, China, raising 89340 N95 medical masks and other materials, weighing up to 1.4 tons. But the Blair Diagne International Airport in the capital Dakar has no green flights to China, and the rookie does not receive materials donated by overseas individuals. He is anxious to write public numbers for help. The team had to raise more than 50 thousand yuan, specialized in logistics fees, and sent home via Emirates.For all domestic cross border logistics enterprises, this is also a big test.Ironclad shares 2 million masks during the epidemic. Because it has a solid logistics network in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Russia, the company is also responsible for sourcing goods for customers. In this case, Liu Jun found that the import of medical materials exposed China's short board -- the lack of local global logistics network such as DHL, KN and DB Schenker."If we control the logistics network, all the points are your own, there are tentacles reaching the locals to find the source of goods and take no detours," Liu Jun told krypton 36. "We can also request the qualitative response of China's epidemic in its own network, requiring global response, procurement and logistics priority to ensure that the transport is in place in the first place."For example, the allocation of shipping space and the allocation of transport capacity are all based on disaster relief materials, and do not have to be controlled by others.Today, the biggest weakness is money mobilization. When the company needs to pay in advance, the overseas branch is not enough cash, and during the Spring Festival, the banking system is still on vacation, so he has to transfer from Hongkong to spend more than two or three days."Assuming that I have a large network, local companies can fully mobilize local resources, including capital and credit, and things are much simpler. Quick payment, quick delivery, and quickly shipped back to the country.Liu Jun's idea obviously needs a much longer time than the recovery of the epidemic.Closing mask window periodWhen the work is resumed, the respirator is hard to find. The rosefinch helped a friend sell a mask circle of friends, collecting seventy thousand or eighty thousand demand in about 10 minutes.The purchasing leader of the rosefinch team is looking for third masks in Indonesia. After hesitating for a few times, the mask was twenty or thirty off by the opponent. As early as the evening of the second day of the second year, the rosefinch team had decided that the country could not find the right goods, and turned its attention overseas.Many respondents said that a lot of goods seen overseas were actually "Made in China", and recently there was basically no one million yuan of goods abroad, indicating that most of the masks stock had been moved or returned to China. It is not surprising that China's mask production capacity accounts for more than 50% of the world's total.In Europe, the price of N95 masks has been fired from the earliest 1.5 euros to 5 euros, and it is not always possible to buy goods. The factory order has been scheduled for June.With the stock coming to the bottom, there are almost all the materials management and control at the same time. In January 31st, India issued measures to restrict the export of medical supplies such as masks and protective clothing. Wang Chaofeng estimated that more than $50 million of medical supplies were trapped in India, and "I know clearly that the figures are almost over 35 million dollars." Since then, the ban has been shaken. Disposable masks, ordinary gloves and ordinary protective agents can be exported, but medical grade N95 masks and protective clothing are still limited.In Pakistan, because of the new ban, the mask export needs special approval, and the merchants who get the approval will start selling the "ticket" in private, that is, the price of the flight. "It is equivalent to bidding, who will pay more for the qualification to whom." At present, the price of "sailing" is 40 rupees per masks, equivalent to 1 yuan, while the mask itself costs only 20 Fen.At present, the list of countries issuing control and notification is India, the United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Thailand, Singapore, Nepal, Iran, Indonesia, Kenya and so on.Across the sea, bullets wait for loading. The battle ahead is still being fought. In February 12th, 870 million pieces of imported epidemic prevention and control materials, including 730 million masks, were issued jointly with the customs. The data released on the same day were released by the fire god mountain hospital, which received information on donations from social donations and a large number of protection resources in Wuhan central hospital.According to the information accumulated by the Wuhan Red Cross (http://wuhanrc.org.cn), they issued 2 million 60 thousand and 860 masks in February 12th, accounting for less than 12% of the masks received. Only about 20% of them were distributed to hospitals, and 80% out of hospitals.Even if we consider that 730 million masks that float across the sea are not all sent to Wuhan and Hubei, the proportion of the issued masks is still worrying. How can such a large amount of masks enter the people who need them most quickly after entering China? This is another not easy journey.One good news is that domestic mask companies are returning to work. According to the relevant information released by the Information Office of the State Council, by the end of February 11th, the rate of resumption of masks processing plants in China has reached 76%, and the utilization rate of masks in China has reached 94%, while the utilization rate of medical N95 respirators has reached 128%. In recent days, business change information has been checked. Recently, 3000 enterprises have added "mask, protective clothing" and other businesses in the scope of experience, including 700 technology companies.Source: 36 krypton Author: Tan Wenqi