Water Salute1 Tradition水門禮

景一

Have you ever been in an airport and seen the firefighter truck spraying water on a plane before？ The first time I witnessed2 such， I thought the plane caught fire！ Poor me， little did I know that the plane was being given a Water Salute！

The water salute is a touching airport tradition to honor heroes， foreign leaders， new airline service and so on. Salutes typically involve two fire engines spraying arcs3 of water over an arriving or departing flight. It is a sign of respect， honor and gratitude. Each water salute， which lasts about two minutes， can use as much as 3，000 gallons of water.

An airport should have a necessary number of fire engines available so that they can respond to emergencies that may take place in any other part of the airport.

At an airport， typically an even4 number of fire engines will line up on the sides of the taxiway or apron5， and the plumes of water will form a series of arches. It looks similar to a wedding arch in a bridal party or the saber6 arch at a military ceremony.

Water salutes have been used to mark the retirement of a senior pilot or air traffic controller， the first or last flight of an airline to an airport， the first or last flight of a type of aircraft， or other notable events. When the Concorde7 flew its last flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport， blue， white and red coloured plumes were used.

It is interesting to note that water salute is not unique to airplanes alone.

Water salutes are also used for ships and other watercraft， with water being delivered by fireboats. This is often done for the first or last visit or retirement of a senior captain， the first or last cruise8 of a ship， the visit of a warship， or other ceremonial9 occasions.

No one knows exactly when and where did water salute in airports start. It is well known， though， that back to the days of the ocean liners， it was common for fireboats to spray them with their water cannons when they were leaving or entering a port.

你以前在機(jī)場見過消防車往飛機(jī)上噴水嗎？我第一次看到這樣的情景時(shí)，還以為飛機(jī)著火了！可憐的我，一點(diǎn)也不知道飛機(jī)正在接受“水門禮”！

水門禮是個(gè)感人的機(jī)場傳統(tǒng)，用來向英雄、外國領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人和新航線等致敬，通常是兩個(gè)消防平臺向一個(gè)剛到達(dá)或即將離開的航班上噴灑拱形的水。這是尊重、榮譽(yù)和感激的象征。每一次水門禮大約持續(xù)兩分鐘，能用掉多達(dá)3000加侖（約11000升）的水。

機(jī)場應(yīng)配備足夠數(shù)量的消防車，以便應(yīng)對機(jī)場其他任何地方可能發(fā)生的緊急情況。

在機(jī)場，通常會(huì)有偶數(shù)輛消防車排列在滑行道或停機(jī)坪的兩側(cè)，水柱會(huì)形成一系列拱門，看起來像是婚禮派對里的婚禮拱門，或是在軍事儀式上的軍刀拱門。

水門禮被用來紀(jì)念高級飛行員或空中交通管制員的退休、飛往某個(gè)機(jī)場航線的第一趟或最后一趟航班、某一類型的飛機(jī)第一次或最后一次飛行，或其他重要的事件。當(dāng)協(xié)和式飛機(jī)最后一次從肯尼迪國際機(jī)場起飛時(shí)，使用了藍(lán)色、白色和紅色的水柱。

有趣的是，水門禮不僅是飛機(jī)獨(dú)有的。

水門禮也用于船舶和其他船只，水由消防船運(yùn)送。這通常是為高級船長的第一次或最后一次訪問或退休，船舶的第一次或最后一次航行，軍艦的訪問或其他儀式場合而進(jìn)行的。

沒有人確切地知道機(jī)場的水門禮是從何時(shí)何地開始的。不過，眾所周知，在遠(yuǎn)洋班輪時(shí)代，消防船通常會(huì)在船只出港或進(jìn)港時(shí)用水槍向它們噴水。

【Notes】

1. salute [?????] n. 致敬，歡迎;敬禮 2. witness [?????] vt. 目擊

3. arc [?????] n. 弧;弧形物 ? 4. even [?????] adj. 偶數(shù)的

5. apron [?????] n. 停機(jī)坪 6. saber [?????] n. 軍刀;佩劍;騎兵

7. Concorde [?????] n. 協(xié)和式超音速噴射客機(jī) 8. cruise [?????] n. 乘船游覽;巡航 9. ceremonial [?????] adj. 儀式的;正式的，禮儀的