They asked if we would. He turned that over. Tell them I'll call back this week. He said Malcolm. Rachel said, "These are serious operations we're talking about." I know.
He said, "Tell them I'll call back this week." He hung up. He turned back to the aircraft. Inspection teams, federal investigators, new inquiry calls, three new operations asking for something Hayes Arowworks had never officially offered. All of it tracing back to a woman who laughed at an invoice and a key placed on a conference table. He thought about the mechanic who wouldn't sign.
That was his reputation, Gerald had said. Not an insult, just how people knew him. He was beginning to understand what that reputation was actually worth. But the afternoon wasn't done with him yet. At 4:15, Susan Okafor found him in the hangar and said, "Come look at aircraft 6." He followed her.
Aircraft 6 was a midsize Cessna Citation used primarily for domestic routes. Sterling Crown operated it for regional executive travel. It had been in service for 3 years since its last major inspection. On the exterior in the pre-flight visual, it looked exactly right. Inside the left engine NL behind a panel that would not be opened in any standard pre-flight inspection.
Susan's team had found four Apex Vector components in a cluster. But that wasn't what Susan wanted him to see. She pointed to a secondary component mounted adjacent to the Apex Vector cluster, a fuel system shut off valve. She pointed to the installation bracket. Tell me what you see, she said.
Malcolm leaned in. He looked at the bracket. He looked at the mounting hardware. He looked at the clearance between the valve and the adjacent fuel line. He felt his stomach drop.
That valve was installed upside down. He said, "Yes," Susan said. If that valve actuates in flight, it would attempt to shut off the wrong line, she said. Under pressure with the force the system generates, the most probable outcome is a rupture at the connector junction. She paused.
The most probable outcome after that is a fuel-fed engine fire. Malcolm straightened up. He looked at Susan. How many hours does this aircraft have since that inspection? He asked.
214, She said quietly. 214 Hours, probably 40, 50 flights. Executives, staff, people who got on a company jet the way most people get in a car, trusting that the machine was what it was supposed to be. Malcolm stood in that hanger for a long moment. He thought about what Delgato had called it.
Deliberate, not negligence, not corner cutting. Deliberate. How many aircraft have we cleared so far? He asked. three. Susan said six remaining.