Two helicopters are rumbling over a mountain village on the edge of Yulong City. The two helicopters are painted differently, one is red and the other is sky blue.
The reason is that although both helicopters belong to the provincial search and rescue team, the red one is in the provincial fire brigade, while the sky blue one is in the provincial earthquake rescue center. If there is no major public safety incident, the two helicopters will not be dispatched at the same time.
This time, two helicopters came together just for the villagers trapped in the mountain village below. The recent earthquake caused a lot of landslides, blocking the only way out of the mountain village. With the continuous rain, there is a risk of secondary landslides at any time.
Of course, the surrounding mountains are covered with dense vegetation, which has excellent soil-fixing ability, so the possibility of collapse is relatively small. However, just in case, the search and rescue team decided to use a helicopter to pick up the villagers first.
The only thing to be thankful for is that there are not many households in this mountain village, otherwise it would be difficult to handle the situation with only the carrying capacity of two helicopters.
Although these two helicopters usually belong to different organizations, when they need to be coordinated, they have to be divided into upper and lower levels. Otherwise, if something goes wrong, it will be difficult to decide who will obey whom.
After coordination, the red helicopter originally belonging to the provincial fire brigade took over as the leader of this transportation mission. The captain of this helicopter was a middle-aged man in his forties, Chen Huaxin.
Originally, he was still looking for a suitable landing site in the sky, but his superiors issued him a new mission via radio : "Rescue No. 1, change the mission now and go directly to Yulong Airport."
Chen Huaxin was stunned: "Why go to Yulong Airport? I remember that the road leading out of Yulong Airport should be fine. What's wrong with the airport?"
"It's not the airport that has a problem. It's a civilian airliner carrying heavy equipment that is flying to Yulong Airport that may have a problem." The commander said, "You go to Yulong Airport immediately. If the plane lands safely, you can return. If... there is a problem, rescue immediately. Remember, as long as there is only one crew member on the plane, as long as he is still alive, you must bring him back. Do you understand?"
"One person. Aren't large planes usually flown by at least two people?" Chen Huaxin glanced at the villagers gathered in the open space below and couldn't help asking, "What about the current mission?"
The commander was obviously anxious: "Chen Huaxin, follow the order. Let No. 2 do the task here first. Hurry to Yulong Airport. Don't delay for a moment."
Chen Huaxin's co-pilot was a rare female pilot, but she was wearing large sunglasses, so her appearance could not be seen clearly. She heard clearly what Chen Huaxin said to the commander just now.
"Master, what do you say now?" asked the co-pilot.
Chen Huaxin's face was very ugly. He could only grit his teeth and contact another helicopter via radio: "No. 2, the superiors have given me a new mission. Now I have to change the route to Yulong Airport. You take care of this first. Is that okay?"
Soon another helicopter responded: "No problem here, go ahead!"
"Okay!" Chen Huaxin released the communication button and gritted his teeth: "Let's go! Let's go to Yulong and see what kind of immortal has such a big face?"
…
In the cockpit of Blue Sky 9200, before entering the thunderstorm cloud, Xu Cang's mind was full of gratitude.
Such a huge weather system covers an extremely wide range, and it is indeed very oppressive from the outside. If the plane enters the core area, or just approaches the core area, it will be certain death, and even the Great Luo Immortal cannot save it.
There was no need for a violent lightning strike, the extremely terrible airflow alone could disintegrate the plane in an overload. However, Xu Cang did not need to enter the core area, he only needed to turn an arc within the extreme edge.
In the area around this weather system, due to the strong downdrafts radiating from it, Xu Cang was unable to climb higher than the safe altitude. However, Xu Cang was not far from the safe altitude of 5,700 meters, and he only needed to climb a little higher, really just a little.
Under the influence of the downdraft outside, the aircraft could only maintain a climb rate of 200 feet per minute at its best. However, as long as it entered this weather system, even at the edge, the direction of the airflow would change dramatically, from downdraft to updraft.
As long as it rides on this air current, even an unpowered airplane can soar into the sky.
"Just a little bit!" Xu Cang clenched his right hand so tightly that as long as he could get a little bit of the updraft, the plane would be able to take advantage of the wind and send him soaring into the sky.
However, the downdraft is instantly converted into an extremely strong updraft, and the point of conversion will generate an enormous aerodynamic load on the aircraft's fuselage structure.
If...if the plane didn't survive...
Xu Cang's thoughts only went this far. He would no longer think about what would happen next. He only wanted to complete his final struggle against the storm within this day and night.
The left hand completely relied on the feeling to adjust the aircraft thrust to the recommended thrust for turbulence, thus freeing the left hand. In fact, the turbulence thrust calculated by the computer would be on the climb page of the aircraft CDU. Xu Cang had tried to call up this page, but the rain covered the CDU display screen. Even if Xu Cang erased it, new rain would soon follow. Moreover, the engine display on the upper DU was also covered by rain, making it difficult to distinguish. Even if he knew the appropriate turbulence thrust, Xu Cang could not adjust it accurately, so he chose an approximate 83% N1 speed as the thrust value for the last ditch, and at the same time, he deduced a value that he could not accurately distinguish based on his physical sense alone.
He loosened his left hand and held the plate with both hands, his heart pounding. Although in theory he only needed to stay at the edge of the storm for a very short time, this weather system was too strong, so strong that even the edge of it might not be something Xu Cang could withstand.
However, at this moment, he can only pin everything on this most classic narrow-body aircraft to date!
call!
Xu Cang let out a long breath, and his thoughts seemed to stop for a moment. Then, almost in an instant, the plane that had been suppressed seemed to be hit violently by a huge force and lifted up wildly, climbing at an incredible speed.
When we actually got inside the cloud, the heavy rain disappeared, and all that remained was the plane that was almost out of control.
Xu Cang had been mentally prepared before entering, so he deliberately freed his left hand and held the plate with both hands so that he could control the plane more powerfully. However, when he really faced the power of heaven and earth, Xu Cang realized how ridiculous his idea was.
Almost at the moment when the plane was affected by the updraft, the nose of the plane rose directly from five degrees to more than twenty degrees, and the plane directly entered a complex state.
With just this one move, the plane was almost reaching a safe altitude.
However, Xu Cang had no time to turn the plane out of the storm. He needed to hold the plane down first. The high nose of the plane caused the speed of the plane to drop rapidly. Xu Cang didn't even need to look at the airspeed indicator to know that it was very dangerous. However, he couldn't hold the nose of the plane down at all.
Just when Xu Cang had a dangerous thought, the steering wheel in his hand began to shake wildly.
"The stick is shaking!" Xu Cang immediately understood what was going on. With such a large pitch attitude, stalling and shaking the stick were basically expected.
However, the stall warning sound was accompanied by a beeping warning sound, which could not be covered by even the harsh sound of airflow.
Xu Cang was also quite familiar with this. This was not a stall warning, but an overspeed warning. If Xu Cang had the energy to check the airspeed indicator, he would have seen that the upper and lower red and black speed bands had overlapped, meaning that the aircraft was stalling and overspeeding at the same time.
Perhaps this is an incredible situation, but it can happen under certain extreme conditions.
Xu Cang knew that he had to stop the plane from rising in an extremely exaggerated manner, otherwise, the plane might face the most terrible situation of the nose pointing vertically upward. At that time, the wings of the plane would completely lose lift, and it would fall straight down like a piece of iron, and even the gods would be helpless.
Moreover, the current altitude is still relatively low compared to this weather system. Many weather systems are slightly more stable at low altitudes. At higher altitudes, where convection is strongest, the aircraft's fuselage structure may not be able to withstand it.
However, just when Xu Cang tried to intervene in the plane's state, a flash of lightning flashed by, almost blinding Xu Cang's eyes. But before Xu Cang regained his sight, the plane suddenly turned left. This was not controlled by Xu Cang, but caused by the airflow.
Xu Cang did not wait until he could see the outside objects clearly, but seized the fleeting opportunity. He did not straighten the plane, but followed the airflow to maintain the slope of the plane so that it would not continue to turn left and prevent the plane from rolling over.
In a storm, don't think about fighting it, that will only make you realize how insignificant you are. Going with the flow is the way to survive.
Unable to see anything, Xu Cang controlled the plane only by feeling. His lips moved slightly: "Take me out!"
… …
In the control room of Yulong Tower, Lu Jinghua leaned on the table and stared blankly at Wang Xuan beside him: "There was a plane that just flew in, right?"
Wang Xuan didn't say anything, but his gloomy expression said it all. To be honest, Wang Xuan was very upset with Xu Cang, but he didn't want Xu Cang to really crash. Because Wang Xuan's interests were tied to Blue Sky Airlines, and a company of Blue Sky Airlines' size couldn't afford a plane crash.
But if you enter such a violent weather system, can you really come back alive?
The tower controller was stunned. He paced back and forth in the control room, showing extreme anxiety. The air in the entire control room seemed to be frozen like a muddy swamp.
In this almost suffocating environment, the phone in the corner of the control room suddenly rang, breaking the suffocating curtain.
All of a sudden, the three people in the control room cast their eyes to the landline in the corner. The controller was the closest, so he immediately ran over, looked at the caller ID, and screamed, "It's a call from Jianchuan!"
Lu Jinghua arrived first and grabbed the microphone: "Hello, can you hear me?"
Before this, they had tried to call Jianchuan many times, but either the call could not be connected or the sound quality was so poor that they could not receive any useful information.
"Lu Jinghua?" The voice from the other end was fairly clear, but it was the voice of Instructor Mo Shangyun: "Why are you the one answering the phone?"
"Teacher...Teacher!" Lu Jinghua held the phone and even cried a little: "Xu Cang's plane just got into the weather!"
"Heaven..." Mo Shangyun's reaction was obvious, and then he quickly became furious: "Are you talking about the weather near Yulong Airport? Xu Cang went in?"
When Lu Jinghua thought of this, he couldn't help but tremble: "Yes, I watched him fly in with my own eyes."
"Lu Jinghua, you are right on the tower, and you can command Xu Cang in!" Mo Shangyun yelled, "What the hell are you doing there?"
Just now, Jianchuan Tower learned from the Provincial Meteorological Observatory that the air mass near Yulong Airport was an extremely strong weather system. It would take more than eight hours to release enough energy, and this was only the most rough and conservative estimate.
Mo Shangyun found it hard to imagine that any plane could return safely after entering this air mass!
"It's not me!" Lu Jinghua was about to make a few words of defense, but suddenly, his sight that was fixed on the dark sky suddenly focused. He saw an imperceptible black dot, like a moth in a flame, directly breaking through the clouds and reappearing in his field of vision.
Lu Jinghua's mouth was half open, and he took a breath of cold air that everyone could hear. He threw the landline microphone directly and pointed at the tower controller next to him: "Do you have any more binoculars?"
The telescope just now has fallen to the ground and broken.
"No...what are you crazy about?" The controller was about to pick up the landline microphone that Lu Jinghua threw down. However, Lu Jinghua raised his right hand, pointed to the sky, and said in disbelief: "Look, what is that?"
In the sky, Xu Cang almost screamed when he broke through the clouds, his whole body filled with ecstasy of surviving the disaster.
Indeed, before entering the air mass, Xu Cang had the idea of ​​using the rising air currents inside the air mass to quickly raise his own altitude. In Xu Cang's mind, if the plan went smoothly, he would only look at the edge of the air mass.
However, every pilot has good meteorological knowledge, and anyone with a normal mind knows that the air mass in front should not be touched under any circumstances.
Even if there is some chance of survival in theory, if there is really no other choice, who would be willing to hand over their life to the so-called uncontrollable probability?
The feeling after entering the storm mass also confirmed Xu Cang's thoughts.
It was too strong. The updraft inside the storm was too strong, completely beyond the ability of Xu Cang as a human to intervene. If it weren't for the last gust of side wind that gave him a little leverage, he might have really been buried in it.
However, the price paid was extremely tragic. The exposed skin of Xu Cang's right forearm had begun to turn a light purple, and everyone could understand that this was a sign of frostbite. Moreover, Xu Cang's whole body began to tremble uncontrollably, and the shaking was not continuous, but intermittent, that is, it would stop shaking after a period of time. After a period of time, the body began to shake again, and then the previous process was repeated, and the amplitude of the shaking became larger and larger.
Xu Cang knew that he was about to suffer from severe hypothermia. If he didn't restore his body temperature as soon as possible, it would be a nightmare ending. In this cockpit with a broken windshield, it would only cause the remaining core temperature to continue to lose, which had no other positive meaning. Landing as quickly as possible was his only way to survive!
His heart was beating so strongly, so strongly that it was abnormal, as if a dying man was struggling to survive with his last bit of strength.
Moreover, in addition to the physical urgency, just a moment in the storm would cause unimaginable damage to the aircraft. The two on the left, two on the right, and the upper and lower DUs, a total of six integrated display screens, had all gone out, and Xu Cang had thrown away his headphones long ago, as they had lost all their functions after being immersed in water for a long time.
However, the only thing to be thankful for is that the backup instrument can still be used. Although it is a little more difficult to identify than the digital LCD integrated display, at least the basic functions are complete, such as airspeed, altitude, heading, and localizer and glide slope display.
However, compared to these seemingly troublesome but not so fatal problems, the engine problem was even more fatal. After leaving the storm, Xu Cang's tense nerves finally relaxed a little, and he could spare some time to perceive the movements around him, including the continuous thumping sound coming from behind, and the plane would shake as the sound sounded.
This is a very obvious manifestation of engine surge. The engine icing should have been quite serious before passing through the storm air mass. After entering the storm, the airflow was extremely unstable, which could easily cause engine surge.
However, Xu Cang was not surprised by the engine surging. It was because he did not have the help of the upper and lower DUs, and his ears began to tinnitus due to the extreme cold. He could not tell which engine was surging, or whether both engines were surging.
Of course, compared with serious damage or fire, the urgency of engine surge is slightly lower. Only this short period and a little bit of visual circling need to be leveled, and the rest of the stage is descent, so the engine thrust can be limited to a relatively low value. If the engine surge is not too serious, it can even disappear at low thrust.
If the runway at Yulong Airport was intact and usable, Xu Cang would not have to be so cautious. In reality, he could only land from the direction of Runway 21, and there were certain requirements for the touchdown point and touchdown speed, which greatly restricted Xu Cang's freedom of flight and he could not play freely.
Putting aside the messy thoughts in his mind for the time being, Xu Cang readjusted the course on the MCP board. Fortunately, even after such a destruction, the MCP board can still be used, which can only be said to be a miracle. However, when Xu Cang slightly touched the course knob, the MCP board loosened as if it was about to detach at any time, and it seemed to be at the end of its strength.
After adjusting the localizer, Xu Cang touched the navigation panel on the central control console. He just switched the navigation frequency. This was because Xu Cang had a habit, which could not be said to be good or bad, that is, he did not like to adjust all four main and backup frequencies to the same frequency. If it was a dual runway operation, he would adjust the navigation frequencies of both runways, but only use one as the main frequency and the other as a backup.
Yulong Airport only has one runway, so there is nothing to adjust. Xu Cang used the blind landing frequency of the other runway as a backup frequency. It was not because Xu Cang knew that he would need to do a visual circling approach, but simply because he was lucky. Otherwise, Xu Cang would have to spend a lot of effort to adjust the blind landing frequency of Runway 03 in his current physical condition.
As for the minimum descent altitude, Xu Cang was too lazy to adjust it because the PFD was not available. Anyway, Xu Cang only needed to refer to the altimeter, and that was enough.
At this moment, after Xu Cang identified the direction, he knew that he was flying towards the airport, and it seemed that he was right on the fifth side of runway 21. This saved Xu Cang some trouble. Originally, Xu Cang planned to fly to Cangkou, and then join the approach procedure of runway 03 from Cangkou, but now it is not necessary.
Since there are definitely no obstacles at Yulong Airport, he will fly over the airport and then begin circling and descending to an altitude of 10,300 feet, which is the altitude at which runway 03 intercepts the glide path, slightly lower than runway 21.
After descending to this altitude, he took off from one side of Runway 21, maintained the altitude, and turned 180 degrees directly after reaching the FAF final approach positioning point of Runway 03, so that he could directly join the blind landing of Runway 03.
However, now that the plane's navigation display was off, Xu Cang could rely on the heading to maintain the approximate departure track. However, there was no DME display on the backup instrument, so it was difficult to determine the final approach fix point of Runway 03, and he didn't know when to turn around.
However, Xu Cang had another solution. That was that there was a small lake just below the final approach positioning point of runway 03. The lake was not big, but it was definitely enough for visual reference.
Even at this distance and height, Xu Cang could already see the rippling light reflected from the small lake.
The reason why Xu Cang knew so much was because when he was the chief engineer of the General Administration, he spent most of his energy on the Southwest region. Among the six major administrative regions in China, namely the Central Plains, Northwest, Southwest, East, South, and Northeast, the Southwest region has the most mountainous areas and the most complex terrain. With Xu Cang's personality, he would choose the most difficult one, so the Southwest region is where he put the most effort.
Xu Cang was responsible for approving the first visual circling approach procedure for a complex airport in China, and he also followed up on the visual circling approach procedures for several subsequent complex airports, including Yulong Airport.
Yulong Airport is quite typical, that is, the clearance environment of one side of the runway is relatively good, while the other side is quite bad, and the wind direction of this airport is relatively fixed. If you land on the runway with better clearance, it is easy to exceed the tailwind standard, so you can simply do a visual circle. Approach the runway with good clearance and land on the runway that meets the wind direction and wind speed requirements.
The final descent phase of Runway 03 is not long, about eleven nautical miles. If everything goes well, the plane should be able to land in less than fifteen minutes.
Fifteen minutes. I hope the engine and I can last another fifteen minutes.
At this moment, on the tower, the controller looked up at the sky in confusion: "What is he trying to do? Isn't he going to fly to Cangkou? Why does he seem to be flying to this airport?"
The controller had tried to call several times by radio, but there was no response, so he gave up. However, from visual observation, Xu Cang's flying method seemed to be different from what was predicted before.
"He was about to arrive at the airport, why did he choose to fly to Cangkou?" After all, the controller was not a pilot, so there were some things he couldn't understand, but Lu Jinghua was very clear: "After he arrived at the airport, he circled down and then took off directly from the side of Runway 21, turning 180 at the final approach fix point of Runway 03. This way, there was no terrain threat and it saved time. It seems that he had a clear mind. However, I still don't understand how he flew afterwards, where was the visual circling procedure, and at what altitude did he start turning? And what was behind him?"
"Hmm?" The controller heard Lu Jinghua's words and looked at the sky behind the plane for a long time. He asked uncertainly, "Is that... black smoke?"
From the controller's perspective, there was a faint trail of black smoke behind the plane. However, the background color of the sky was dim at the moment, and the contrast was not obvious. He was not sure if he was seeing things. Moreover, he could not figure out why there was black smoke behind the plane. Shouldn't it be white smoke? It was said that the exhaust of the aircraft engine provided condensation nuclei for the supercooled water droplets in the sky.
"That's right, it's black smoke!" Wang Xuan also squinted his eyes and looked at the sky.
Lu Jinghua couldn't help but frown: "What's going on? Is there a fire?"
Wang Xuan raised his hand and pointed at the faint smoke trail: "You see, this smoke trail is not uniform, but comes in pieces, which means the smoke exhaust of the plane is also discontinuous. If there is a fire, how could the smoke trail be discontinuous?"
Lu Jinghua showed a trace of contemplation, and the controller asked impatiently: "What is the reason?"
Wang Xuan licked his dry lips and said, "I guess it's probably the engine surging, and the black smoke is produced by incomplete combustion in the combustion chamber."
"If it's surge..." Lu Jinghua's face darkened: "Isn't it dangerous?"
Wang Xuan whispered: "That depends on how long the engine can last!"
…
At this moment, in the airspace not far from Yulong Airport, a red helicopter was flying towards the airport. Even though there was still some distance between them, the black cloud column that broke into the sky was still so oppressive that Yulong Airport seemed to be swallowed up at any time under the cloud column.
In the helicopter cockpit, the female co-pilot looked at the cloud column in the distance with some fear: "Master, is it really possible to land in this weather?"
"It doesn't matter. This is not something we should be concerned about. We just need to get close to the airport and watch." Captain Chen Huaxin scanned the sky above the airport and soon saw a 737. He pointed at it and said, "Is this the one we were told to watch?"
The co-pilot stretched his neck to look at it for a moment, a little surprised: "It really exists! But why does this plane seem to be flying outward? Is it giving up the approach and going back?"
From the co-pilot's perspective, the 737 was clearly flying away from the airport and did not appear to be approaching.
However, just as the co-pilot was asking the question, the plane, which was originally flying outside, suddenly turned its nose and headed directly towards the airport.
The co-pilot was startled: "We've turned back and are still trying to make an approach! But, I heard that the runway at Yulong Airport is damaged. We can't land on Runway 03, right?"
According to the flight direction of the 737 in front, it was clearly heading for runway 03, which was different from the information she received.
Captain Chen Huaxin did not jump to conclusions, but pointed in a direction: "Approach, and stop descending when the altitude reaches 5,700 meters. Maintain visual distance from the plane."
"Oh, OK!" The co-pilot flew the plane to the airport. Suddenly, she asked, "Master, are you planning to retire?"
Captain Chen Huaxin was stunned for a moment, but did not deny it. He hummed and said, "I have already submitted my report. I will probably leave after this mission is over. I have been doing this for nearly 20 years and have not saved much money. My daughter is grown up and needs money. I can only change jobs."
"So what are your plans?" asked the co-pilot.
Captain Chen Huaxin smiled and said, "I heard there is a tourist helicopter company near Erhai Lake. I will apply for the position and it should be possible. Oh, what are you talking about on a mission? No more, no more!"
The co-pilot was very obedient and didn't say anything.
At this moment, in the cockpit of Blue Sky 9200, Xu Cang was already driving the plane to intercept the localizer of No. 03. In order to ensure that he could intercept the glide path, Xu Cang deliberately flew a little bit further forward to avoid being too high and having difficulty intercepting the glide path.
If the visual conditions at this moment allow him to see the ground, otherwise, he cannot deviate too much.
Turning around, Xu Cang made some adjustments and quickly intercepted the localizer. Then, in less than half a minute, the plane intercepted the glide path. After that, the plane began to descend along the blind landing signal.
To be honest, it's not that Xu Cang is being hypocritical, but he has never experienced the era of mechanical instruments. For example, the older generation of pilots mostly flew 737-300 models, and at that time there were many mechanical instruments, which might have looked better. However, not long , even the more common spare instruments were changed to electronic ones, and he really didn't use mechanical instruments very often.
At this time, the localizer and glide path of the mechanical backup instrument in the cockpit were represented by metal rods, and the metal rods were suspended in the air, so from certain angles, it was difficult for Xu Cang to tell whether the aircraft had any roll or pitch deviations. At the same time, the backup instrument was on the captain's side, so Xu Cang had to look at it at an angle, which was very inconvenient.
At this moment, Xu Cang was still regretting why he didn't switch to the left seat before takeoff. In this way, the broken windshield would not be directly facing him, and it would not be so troublesome to read the instruments.
However, these are minor troubles, and Xu Cang can still overcome them with his ability. As soon as the plane entered the final descent phase, Xu Cang began to lower the flaps and landing gear. However, the flaps could not be fully extended, and could only be lowered to flap 15. After that, flaps 25 and flaps 30 needed to be lowered during the final visual descent phase. In fact, the speed could have been reduced during the level flight phase, but Xu Cang was anxious to land, so he pushed the deceleration time back, which was harmless.
According to the procedure that Xu Cang remembered, the plane should start turning at the airport altitude, that is, the AFE altitude of 2,300 feet. Xu Cang made a brief calculation in his mind, and when the corrected sea pressure reached 7,300 feet, Xu Cang stopped descending, turned right at a heading of 45 degrees, and began to deviate from the localizer.
In fact, it would be more appropriate to fly this program using autopilot, but now the autopilot cannot be connected at all, so Xu Cang can only fly it by himself.
After turning right forty-five degrees and starting to level off, Xu Cang silently counted thirty seconds in his mind while maintaining level flight. Thirty seconds later, the plane turned into a downwind heading.
Originally, the timing for releasing flaps to 25 and 30 should be after cutting off the runway threshold and visually sighting the runway, and the timing after cutting off the runway threshold should be corrected according to the height above the ground, which is about 23 seconds.
However, due to good visual conditions, there were only some broken clouds on Xu Cang's right side. As long as Xu Cang maintained the width of the three sides and did not leave the protected area, there should be no terrain impact. However, there were many peaks on Xu Cang's right side, and the height seemed to be very different from Xu Cang's flight altitude.
Xu Cang remembered that when he approved the visual circling approach procedure of Yulong Airport, he wanted to reject it because of the bad flying environment on the third leg. However, the visual circling approach procedure of Yulong Airport happened to be close to the standard, so Xu Cang finally agreed. He only specifically asked Yulong Airport to send relevant reminder notices to all airlines operating at the airport to avoid terrain problems.
When the plane started to turn to the third leg, Xu Cang could clearly feel that the engine surge amplitude was becoming more and more obvious. He didn't know how long the engine could last, so he had to shorten the flight time. It was impossible for him to complete the entire procedure.
The width of the final approach cannot be reduced. If the final approach is too wide, it is easy to deviate from the protection zone. If it is too narrow, it may not be enough for the turning radius of the final approach. Therefore, he can only reduce the time after cutting the runway head. However, if he reduces this time rashly, the arc of the final approach will be too narrow, and it may not be possible to approach at the correct altitude, so he must slow down in advance, that is, release flaps 25 and 30 in advance.
Before cutting off the runway, Xu Cang began to reduce the throttle, slow down and release the flaps at the same time, in order to extend the engine's usable time as much as possible.
After the flaps were extended to 30, Xu Cang slowly increased the throttle to ensure that the plane could fly level. However, just as Xu Cang slowly increased the throttle, the plane suddenly seemed to be affected by an airflow, and the entire plane uncontrollably deviated to the right.
It is easy to have such a phenomenon of drastic changes in wind direction and speed near the storm air mass. If it were normal, the impact would not be so great, but now Xu Cang was circling the edge of the protection area. Blown by the sudden airflow, the plane suddenly deviated from the protection area.
As mentioned before, the margin for the visual circling approach procedure at Yulong Airport is very small. The right side of three sides is full of mountains, and there are terrain hazards as long as you deviate from the protected area.
Sure enough, the moment the plane was blown away from the protected area, a terrain warning sounded.
Xu Cang was the one who reviewed this program back then, so he naturally knew where the risk points of this program were. And at this moment, he just happened to perfectly touch upon the biggest danger point of this program.
Almost instinctively, Xu Cang began the terrain avoidance maneuver. He pushed the throttle to the maximum and tried to turn back to the protected area by pressing the left side of the lever.
In fact, according to normal requirements, he should have made a go-around at this time. However, the engine condition and his own physical condition did not allow him to do it again. He needed to increase the terrain interval as quickly as possible and turn back to the protection area, perhaps he could repair it this way.
However, the engine, which was already at the end of its strength, finally couldn't hold on after Xu Cang suddenly stepped on the accelerator. Engine No. 1 roared and stalled on the spot.
As a result, with the No. 2 engine still working, the plane itself began to deviate to the left, and Xu Cang himself was pressing the plate to the left, which created a very dangerous situation.
As the No. 1 engine suddenly shut down, the aircraft lost power, and the consequence of pulling the stick suddenly under low thrust was a rapid drop in speed. At this moment, the aircraft was already in the landing configuration, and the stall margin was relatively small. With such a sudden and unexpected turn, the aircraft actually stalled directly.
The plane stalled and began to plunge uncontrollably to the left. Under the influence of these two factors, Xu Cang's mind went blank and it went into a spiral!
At such an altitude, the plane went into a spin, which almost meant that the landing had failed, and it was even doubtful whether the plane could survive. Moreover, after the No. 1 engine was shut down, the No. 2 engine also began to surge under the thrust and was about to shut down.
With both engines shut down, there was no possibility of a go-around, which meant Xu Cang had lost his chance to try again.
In this situation, if any other pilot were in this situation, it would be a dead end, a hopeless situation with no chance of survival.
However, at this critical moment, Xu Cang's heart was beating like thunder, and he could even hear the sound of his surging heartbeat. His muscles instantly tensed up, his body temperature began to rise, and even a faint mist rose from his wet clothes.
This isn't because Xu Cang has any superpowers, but rather it's his body's last burst of energy due to the surge of adrenaline. He's going to make one last fight for his survival!
If the shutdown of both engines of Feiyu reflected Xu Cang's precise control of the aircraft and the emergency landing in Tianshan showed Xu Cang's sudden insight, the 9811 incident reflected his terrifying mental arithmetic ability like a computer.
At that moment, during the most intense time of Xu Cang's life, when his energy and spirit were at their peak, driven by his overwhelming desire to survive, the function of every muscle and every nerve of Xu Cang was rising rapidly.
At this moment, Xu Cang will reach a peak that he will never be able to surpass in his life. He must seize a glimmer of hope in this fatal situation.
After realizing the threat of escaping from the terrain, Xu Cang pushed the steering wheel to the bottom. In order to get out of the spin, he first had to get out of the stall, and then use the rudder to stop the plane from spinning.
During this period, the throttle must be fully closed. Otherwise, if the throttle is held and the stick is pushed, the speed of the aircraft will increase at an incredible speed. During the spiral process, the gravitational potential energy of the aircraft is already converted into kinetic energy, causing the speed to increase rapidly. If the throttle is still held, the speed increase will be difficult to control.
However, Xu Cang did not immediately reduce the throttle, but kept the No. 2 engine in a dying state. Because of the stick, the plane's angle of attack decreased rapidly, and while maintaining power, the speed increased like the Milky Way pouring down from the sky. Before two seconds had passed, the plane went from stalling to overspeeding.
However, Xu Cang didn't care at all! He even didn't use the rudder to stop the plane from spinning immediately after recovering from the stall.
Because he knew that even if he corrected the spin, he would not have another chance without power. So, even in the spin, he had to land the plane.
If other pilots heard his idea, they would definitely laugh at him for having wild ideas. But Xu Cang was determined to do this heaven-defying thing.
Just after the first turn, the No. 2 engine, which was already unable to sustain, shut down. After one round of acceleration, the aircraft speed exceeded 180 knots, and the flaps were unloaded to the actual 25 position. Moreover, the airspeed continued to increase, but Xu Cang ignored it.
He is waiting! Waiting for a moment of life!
After the plane made its second turn, the speed had increased to 230 knots. At this moment, the huge wind pressure had damaged the flap structure, causing a crackling sound.
Just as the plane passed the second circle, Xu Cang finally moved!
He stepped on the right rudder to stop the plane's left spin, and then began to pull the stick violently. Xu Cang's movements were so rough that the vertical tail almost began to deform at a huge speed. The flaps were already overwhelmed, and Xu Cang pulled the stick so violently that the flaps bore even greater loads. The left flap even began to disintegrate, but due to the structural connection, it did not fly away immediately.
However, the noise of the flap disintegrating was so loud that the entire aircraft was vibrating, and Xu Cang could feel it clearly.
However, Xu Cang's rough and fierce operation was not without reason. His advance calculations were so accurate that he only had the last half turn to stop the plane's spiral. At the moment the spiral stopped, the plane was exactly aligned with the runway.
So, to outsiders, the plane looked like a racing car, turning from a spiral to a final approach in an incredible way. However, the plane was still traveling at 180 knots, which was too fast for the plane to stop.
At this moment, Xu Cang directly pulled the speed brake to the flight position, and the lift of the aircraft was suddenly damaged, and the speed dropped to an incredible degree. At the moment when the speed brake was pulled up and cut into the fifth leg, due to the huge change in state, the air around the aircraft was violently squeezed and exploded directly in the air, like a sonic boom.
As the plane's speed continued to decrease, Xu Cang did not retract the speed brake until it was approaching the second stick shake. He just rushed down with the stick shaken plane.
There is a certain margin in stick shaking, and Xu Cang wants to use this margin to reduce the speed as much as possible.
Almost before outsiders could react, after approaching the runway, Xu Cang retracted the airbrake, kept the plane slightly lifted, and slammed heavily onto the runway at an ultra-low speed. The load was so great that it seemed as if the plane was about to fall apart.