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The Uygur boy who dreamed and reached for the skies

Source: Xinhua | 01:23 UTC+8 May 5, 2020 | Print Edition

AS a Uygur boy, every time Abuduerxiti Abulaiti caught glimpses of eagles soaring high in the sky and over the pastures in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, he always wondered what it would be like to fly.

Decades later, that same kid grew up to be a pilot. Captain Abuduerxiti Abulaiti, as he is called today, now wonders whether there’s a child looking up at his plane, dreaming about flying just like he did.

His work ethic, intelligence and handsome looks earned him the nickname of “Captain Abu” by his colleagues.

“Becoming a pilot was an unrealistic childhood dream. Now it’s a dream come true,” said the 34-year-old.

Abuduerxiti was born in an ordinary family in the city of Yining in the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture. His father worked in road maintenance and his mother was a housewife. Like many children in the remote region, Abuduerxiti never left his hometown, let alone flew.

“I had never seen a plane before high school and never sat on a plane before graduating from college,” he said.

Things drastically changed for the young lad in 2000. China launched the “Xinjiang classes” program in which students from the region were sent to study for free at top schools in more economically developed areas.

Defining moment

Abuduerxiti was one of the lucky few to have been chosen to attend a “Xinjiang class” in Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province.

This was one of the defining moments which led him to attain his pilot wings.

As one of the first graduates of these special classes, he went on to study at a university in Beijing. After graduating, he decided to apply for the Hainan Airlines’ pilot recruitment program instead of getting a job in the capital.

To his surprise, Abuduerxiti passed the rigorous physical tests. He was then selected as a student pilot and was sent to the US to continue his studies.

His pilot career took off in 2010 when he became a co-pilot of a Boeing 737. He became a captain six years later.

He still sees every flight as if it was his first, remembering what his instructor once told him: “It’s not just the steering wheel you are holding in your hands but also the lives of many others.”

There is one frightening experience he can never forget — a flight from Urumqi to Yinchuan on December 15, 2016. His plane climbed to about 30,000 feet and suddenly the flight instruments failed.

“It was like when you drive a car very, very fast and suddenly everything stops working,” he recalled.

At that instant, he felt a rush of panic. Abuduerxiti managed to calm himself in just a matter of seconds. Even though his back was drenched with sweat, the passengers didn’t feel a thing and never knew what had happened.

“When I was a child, I only had a dream of flying over the Tianshan Mountains. But since then I have also crossed the oceans. My reality has surpassed my dreams and sky’s the limit,” he said.

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