Wang Lulu, a female mechanic with over two decades of experience, has pioneered China's breakthrough in airplane auxiliary power unit (APU) repair, significantly advancing the nation's civil aviation maintenance capabilities.
APU is a key component of an airplane lodged at the rear that provides power to the plane when the main engines are not running, such as before takeoff. Notably, it played a pivotal role in powering the navigation system of the Airbus plane that executed an emergency landing on the Hudson River in 2009.
"Both engines were hit by birds and lost power. At that time, the pilot started APU immediately, and the APU can supply electrical power to the cockpit. So they used the electrical power to do the navigation, so they can [make a] landing on the river and save all the passengers. It's quite a successful case," said Wang, deputy manager of Shenyang Base Accessory Repair Department of China Southern Airlines.
The original equipment manufacturers, or OEMs, for APUs are based in North America. In 2004, Wang was tasked with building up capacity to repair these intricate machines in the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang.
Wang and her team faced daunting challenges. With limited resources and reliance solely on public manuals, they embarked on a journey of self-learning and experimentation, gradually mastering the intricate repair procedures.
"At the beginning, actually there was nothing to rely on except the public manual. But there are limited information in the manual. So we kind of rely on ourselves to read the manual, try to understand the meaning and detailed procedures to build up our own repair capabilities," she said.
From the hardware to the software, they built everything from scratch in just two years.
Under Wang's leadership, the workshop evolved into Asia's sole authorized repair facility by OEM Pratt and Whitney Canada, repairing over 2,000 units of APUs to date. This achievement not only saved costs for their own airline but also generated revenue through servicing other carriers.
The workshop has also been incorporating latest technologies – such as creating a digital twin, applying artificial intelligence in their testing and repair work and constantly improving work procedures.
For her contribution, Wang has received numerous honors over the years, and this year she was awarded the National May 1 Labor Medal, the highest honor for workers in China.
"She turned ordinary and basic tasks into extraordinary achievements. I think it's her persistence and pioneering spirit that have brought her to where she is today step by step," said Zhao Haoyu, deputy director of NO.4 Workshop.
Because of countless workers like Wang Lulu, China's civil aviation industry has been advancing fast over the past decades. Wang said she hopes she will get to repair a "made in China" APU one day.
Female engineer leads China's airplane auxiliary power unit repair
