Woman pilot of deep-sea submersible shares her story

Scientific researchers of China's deep-sea manned submersible Jiaolong wave hands upon their arrival in Qingdao, East China's Shandong province, March 17, 2015.[Photo/Xinhua]

Tough selection

When recalling how she and five others were finalized as the trainee pilots for Jiaolong from about 100 candidates, Zhang said the selection process was very tough.

"In addition to the high demands on age, height, weight, education background and college major, there are more than 100 standards on physical and mental capabilities, competence, and the job's specialty. You fail one of them and you are out," said Zhang, a postgraduate of Harbin Institute of Technology, majoring in ship and ocean engineering.

A total of four rounds of selection were arranged in eight days, and a certain number of candidates would be eliminated in each round.

Of the tests, the one on psychological performance left Zhang with greatest impression.

During the psychometric test – which is designed to examine how candidates would react to pressure, about every 20 candidates was divided into a team and they were requested to answer yes or no to the 700 questions during one and a half hours.

"To give a quick reply, I didn't move my hands away from the answering device," she said.

For testing purpose, the candidates were also grounded alone in a small and dark room for one hour. They were not allowed to bring anything or take a nap.

Before joining the latest expedition, the six trainee pilots were sent to learn knowledge about Jiaolong and embarked on a scientific expedition between June and August last year to understand how to maintain the vessel.

After that, the group was put under one-month training on physical, mental and other performances at the center responsible for astronauts training, where instructors would share their wisdom on how to deal with pressure and work well in a team.

Talking about her hobbies, Zhang said she loves swimming, singing and dancing, and she once used to jog 5 km every day.

"I never thought I would work as a submersible's pilot," she said. "I thought I would opt for a job I prefer. Most of my classmates work in ship designing or engineering sectors after graduation."