The day after I was suspended from my position, someone I never expected to see came to me.

It was Yasmin.

She didn't make an appointment; instead, she waited in front of the Federal Aviation Administration building.

"Mr. Lowe, hello," she greeted. "I know nothing about what my dad did. The only thing I know is that my skills are real. I flew every hour myself."

I cast my gaze upon her. "Does he know you're here for me?"

"Nope."

"There was no QAR data corresponding to 120 flight hours in your record."

She seemed baffled and didn't get what I meant. "What?"

"The flight hours were recorded in your file and the airline's system. But there was no record for 120 flight hours in the QAR data folder. The data was uploaded at one go later."

"That's impossible. I flew every—"

"I'm not questioning if you operated the aircraft or not. I'm asking if the record was tampered with."

She clenched her fists. Her lips twitched, but she said nothing.

At last, she turned around and left.

After taking a few steps, she stopped in her tracks. "Mr. Lowe, if you're right, then those 120 hours…"

She left the rest of her words unsaid.

…

When I returned to my office, a document had just been delivered and placed on the desk.

It was a notice from the disciplinary inspection team stating, "A special review meeting will be held in three days to investigate the actions of the chief examiner, Ethan Lowe, during the captain upgrade assessment of Yasmin Sullivan."

The review would be made public. Representatives from all the airlines could attend it.

I pulled out the bottom drawer with the paper bag inside. Then, I kept it in a briefcase.

I kept a small Bluetooth speaker and a USB drive containing documents I had copied in the internal compartment of the briefcase.

There was a restored old recording in the drive.

Three years ago, a retired pilot handed the tape to me with trembling hands. "Ethan, I've been keeping this for 17 years. After giving it to you today, I can finally be at ease."

…

The review meeting was held in the meeting room on the ninth floor of the Federal Aviation Administration building.

Three people from the inspection team sat at the head table with Mike in the middle. The room was crowded with representatives from the authorities and airlines.

Zach Airways had sent seven representatives over.

Jason sat in the front row, and next to him were the general counsel and public relations manager.

Wynnie was there too, seated in a corner at the back. Meanwhile, Zachary sat at the center.

He wore a dark gray suit with Zach Airways' golden wing badge pinned to his chest.

When he saw me coming in, he swept his gaze across me.

Mike read out the items that would be reviewed.

"This meeting is being held to investigate whether the chief examiner, Ethan Lowe, exercised an improper veto and abused his authority during the captain upgrade assessment of Zach Airways' co-pilot, Yasmin Sullivan.

"Ethan Lowe, please state your reasons for rejecting the captain upgrade application."

I opened up the file.

"There was no QAR data corresponding to 120 flight hours in Yasmin's record. After retrieving the airlines' server logs, it was found that the data of these 120 hours was uploaded all at once, 48 hours before the application.

"The IP address indicated that the files were uploaded from Zach Airways' management."

I handed the printed copies of the screenshots to the disciplinary inspection team.

Mike took them, glanced at them, and arched an eyebrow.

Everyone in the room fell silent.

Jason's general counsel was the first person to stand up. "Mr. Lowe, the delay in transferring QAR data is nothing new. System migration and server maintenance could lead to bulk synchronization. You can't confirm that the data was fabricated—"

"I didn't say that the data was fabricated. I simply followed the procedure and didn't sign the record that I found suspicious. This is my right as the chief examiner," I said.

Just then, Zachary stood up.

He walked to the middle aisle, facing the head table. "I'm here today, not as the chairperson of Zach Airways, but as an experienced pilot who has worked for more than 30 years.

"I watched Yasmin grow up. She's always dreamed of becoming a pilot. Her talent, dedication, and piloting skills all stand up to scrutiny.

"But today, someone has stood in her way."

He turned around and finally met my gaze. "That person is Ethan Lowe, and he's my son."

Everyone started whispering.

Zachary continued steadily, "I ended things with his mother 20 years ago. I've never carried out my duty as his father over the past 20 years. It's my fault. But…"

His tone grew slightly serious. "As the chief examiner, he denied Yasmin's upgrade to captain, not because something was wrong with the record, but because of his mother. He's abusing his authority due to a personal grudge."

He emphasized the last few words.

The air in the meeting room went still.

Mike asked in a low voice, "Ethan, would you like to say anything?"

Instead of replying immediately, I gradually opened up the briefcase and took out the brown paper bag.

I took two documents out of it and placed them side by side on the table.

"This is the weather assessment report signed and submitted by you 20 years ago." I tapped on the first document.

The paper had turned yellow, and the words "Not suitable for takeoff" were written on it.

It was signed by Zachary on March 19th, 2005.

"This is from the same day. It is the hourly weather observation report provided by the National Meteorological Department's Southon Observation Station. The visibility was more than six miles, the cloud ceiling was above two miles, and the wind speed was five knots."

I moved on to the second document.

"You said the weather was bad and that the aircraft couldn't take off."

Then, I took out an A3 paper from the briefcase and spread it across the table.

It was a curved flight path, overlapping on the city map.

"This is the flight path of the Cessna with the registration number B-10YZ between 2:00 pm and 4:00 pm on the same day. This aircraft…"

I stared at him. "…is owned by Zach Airways."

A flicker of tension crossed Zachary's face.

Under the light, his face turned as pale as a sheet as he swallowed hard.

Mike fixed his eyes on the two documents for a long time before he gradually raised his head. "Mr. Zachary, this weather report…"

Zachary remained silent.

I reached for the speaker in the briefcase and pressed the play button, and the old recording started playing through the speaker.

It wasn't loud, but every word could be heard clearly.

It was the voice of a young man, and it sounded like he was grinning nonchalantly.

"The weather is bad today. The aircraft can't take off."

There was children's laughter, the sound of propellers winding down, and the soft rustling of petals falling to the ground.

The recording was still playing, and Zachary's hands started shaking.