Chapter 144: Chasing the Wind! Chasing the Sun!
In the Qizhou tower control room, the duty chief received a piece of news that made him feel extremely puzzled. The crew of Flight 9451 actually planned to fly to the waters near Qizhou first, circle over the coast, and then make a decision.
"You should have received the sunrise time. Why do you have to go to sea so early?" The duty manager asked the crew via the radio.
Qizhou Airport is right next to the sea. It was originally a tidal flat area, which was later leveled by the government for the construction of the airport. The airport is separated from the beach by a coastal dam, and it only takes ten minutes to drive there. The area suitable for emergency landing at sea given by the Maritime Administration is not far from the airport, so there is no need to rush there.
In fact, there was no big difference between circling and waiting over the airport and waiting on the sea . However, the people involved in this matter were all on edge, and they became suspicious at the slightest sign of trouble.
This time, it was not Shi Qi who answered the duty officer, but Xu Cang: "The N2 vibration value of our No. 2 engine has exceeded five. The engine may shut down at any time. We must be prepared."
"Did the tip of the compressor blade scrape the sealing material?" At this time, Shi Qi gradually understood.
Xu Cang hummed softly: "N1 high vibration will feel obvious vibration of the fuselage, but N2 high vibration usually does not have this kind of feeling. Previously, because of the abnormal opening of reverse thrust, we were attracted too much energy."
If the reverse thrust of the engine is abnormally turned on in the air, it is usually accompanied by a greater or lesser degree of airframe buffeting, which is very similar to the phenomenon of high vibration of N1. This makes it easy for them to notice the vibration problem of the N1 rotor, but it is easy to ignore the excessive vibration value of N2 .
When people are under high pressure, their vision is easily channeled, and they cannot see other abnormal flight data. After all, when reverse thrust is turned on and the thrust is always close to the limit, the vibration value of the engine will almost inevitably increase.
Previously, the engine vibration value had been maintained close to the limit. But just now, we were busy discussing the feasibility of emergency landing at sea and relaxed our attention a little, and the N2 vibration value directly exceeded the limit.
"Still don't care?" Shi Qi looked at Xu Cang's profile. There was no hesitation on that young face. He nodded firmly: "No matter what, we can't do anything about it!"
Boeing and Airbus have the same procedures for dealing with the problem of high engine vibration values, which is to reduce the aircraft thrust when possible until the vibration value drops below the standard or the thrust is reduced to idle thrust.
If the reverse thrust of the No. 2 engine is normal, that is, in the normal closed state, Xu Cang can try to reduce the thrust of the No. 2 engine to below 70 in order to reduce the load on the aircraft. Even if it has to endure a certain amount of small descent rate, it is acceptable. After all, they have already reached nearly 13,000 feet, and this altitude can be allowed to be consumed slowly.
However, under the premise of turning on the reverse thrust of the No. 2 engine, Xu Cang must make the thrust of the No. 2 engine more than 80, which is the bottom line that cannot be tolerated. Once the thrust of the No. 2 engine is less than 80, if the speed is not sacrificed, the aircraft must at least produce a descent rate of more than 1,500 feet, and this is still Xu Cang's most optimistic estimate.
When the remaining No. 2 engine also started to have problems, the duty director, Shi Lingling and Li Rongxian beside him could not help but feel nervous. You know, once the N1 and N2 of the aircraft have high vibration values at the same time, it is very likely that they will be unable to control it. Li Rongxian knew that the No. 2 engine itself had a problem with the reverse thrust being abnormally turned on, which would aggravate the increase in vibration values, or the abnormal reverse thrust being turned on was the key reason for the abnormal increase in vibration values of the No. 2 engine.
"The sun won't come out for another fifteen minutes." Shi Lingling looked at Li Rongxian: "Can the engine hold up?"
Li Rongxian took a step back, a trace of confusion flashed across his face: "I...I don't know either."
Yes, how could he know? No one could give an accurate answer. However, based on his experience, the No. 2 engine would not last even ten minutes.
An aircraft engine is an extremely precise collection of parts. A problem in any one link can easily lead to a chain reaction, especially when the N2 rotor begins to vibrate highly.
If the vibration value of the N2 rotor exceeds the standard, it means that there is a problem with the core part of the engine, which is the most fatal.
Shi Lingling was silent for three or four seconds, then said, "Director Li, is there a walkie-talkie I can use to talk?"
"Are you talking about the intercom?" The duty manager didn't think much about it and said, "Yes, I have one. Do you want one, Miss Shi?"
Shi Lingling responded: "Yes, help me tune to the tower frequency."
The duty director signaled his assistant to fetch the walkie-talkie and said, "Ms. Shi, you can use it, but it is an internal device of our department. Please return it later."
"I know." Shi Lingling herself had no intention of taking the walkie-talkie for herself.
Soon, the assistant of the director on duty came over with a walkie-talkie and handed it to Shi Lingling at the director's signal.
Shi Lingling took the intercom and went to the exit of the control room without saying anything. The duty director guessed something and was not surprised. He just asked casually, "Where are you going, Miss Shi?"
"Coastal Dam!" Shi Lingling left without even looking back.
Li Rongxian was stunned for a moment, but soon reacted. He almost didn't hesitate and quickly chased after her: "Ms. Shi, wait for me."
At this moment, in the cockpit, Xu Cang was already maneuvering the plane towards the designated sea area. According to the results calculated by the flight computer, if the current speed was maintained, it would not even take more than three minutes to reach the designated area.
Shi Qi couldn't help but feel worried when he saw the N2 vibration value on the engine data display reaching seven. The engine's vibration value was increasing a little too fast, which was not a good sign. Although the vibration value of the No. 2 engine was also dangerous before, it was able to maintain around five for a long time, which was a critical standard.
But after the N2 vibration value broke through five, it took no more than five minutes to increase from six to seven. This speed really made Shi Qi feel uneasy.
"Are you really not going to care?" Although the decision to make an emergency landing has been made, there is still a big difference whether there is power before the emergency landing, especially since an emergency landing at sea has almost harsh requirements on the aircraft's entering water posture.
Xu Cang also noticed the growth rate of N2's vibration value. After thinking about it for a while, he decided to take a tentative countermeasure.
"Once we pass the coastline, I will slowly reduce the thrust of the second engine. If the aircraft can maintain a descent rate of less than 800 feet per minute, it will be acceptable." Xu Cang did some mental calculations. According to the current altitude, if the aircraft can maintain a descent rate of no more than 800 feet per minute, then it can last less than seventeen minutes in a small descent, which is enough time to wait until sunrise.
Shi Qi also felt that it was necessary to deal with the problem of the No. 2 engine. If left alone, the No. 2 engine would not last long: "Okay!"
Both of them were experienced pilots, so they didn't need to communicate too much. In less than half a minute, the plane flew over the coastline. Xu Cang relaxed his right hand slightly, and then he gripped the side stick tightly.
"Then I'll start!"
After he finished speaking, Xu Cang began to reduce the thrust of the No. 2 engine at an extremely slow speed, starting from the initial thrust of 87 and reducing it all the way down.
From beginning to end, Shi Qi was paying attention to the vibration values of N1 and N2 and the climbing rate table. After the thrust of the No. 2 engine was reduced to less than 85, the plane could no longer maintain level flight, and because Xu Cang had been maintaining the attitude of the plane, the speed of the plane began to decrease.
"The plane can't hold on." Shi Qi frowned, feeling a little uneasy, because neither the N1 nor the N2 vibration values showed any signs of decreasing. However, the only thing to be thankful for was that there was no trend of further deterioration.
Xu Cang did not immediately reduce the pitch attitude to maintain the speed of the aircraft, but waited for a while. When the speed was reduced to close to the warning speed, he did not dare to let it descend any further and began to gently reduce the pitch attitude of the aircraft through extremely subtle push-rod movements.
During the additional operation of the aircraft, Xu Cang kept the thrust at 80 and did not reduce it any further. When the pitch of the aircraft was reduced enough to stabilize the speed, the aircraft could no longer maintain its altitude and began to gradually form a descent rate.
Fortunately, the plane's sinking tendency did not seem to be strong, and the descent rate was formed slowly. After about five seconds, the descent rate was barely maintained at 800 feet per minute.
"It looks just right." Shi Qi raised his eyebrows. The descent rate did not exceed the limit, but the engine vibration value did not change at all. It just reduced the thrust from 87 to 80, which seemed far from enough.
Xu Cang's left hand kept tapping the throttle, and it was obvious that he was still hesitating. With such a rate of descent, there was no problem of holding up for a long time, but it was futile if the engine vibration value could not be controlled.
"I'll lose a little more weight." Xu Cang said.
Shi Qi couldn't help but worry: "Is the height easy to handle?"
"It's a bit tricky, but it should be doable." Xu Cang said, "Give it a try!"
After that, without waiting for Shi Qi's opinion, Xu Cang reduced the thrust of the No. 2 engine from 80 to 78. This amplitude was much smaller than before, but the N2 vibration value was adjusted to 6 after the thrust stabilized at 78.
Shi Qi, who had been paying attention to the relevant data, had his eyes light up: "It works, it works, it's down to six."
However, before Xu Cang could feel any joy, the plane started to descend like a wild horse, increasing its descent rate from 800 feet per minute all the way to 1,200 feet per minute in about three or four seconds, and there seemed to be no sign of stopping.
"Damn it!" Xu Cang reacted quickly and increased the engine thrust back to eighty immediately.
However, it does not mean that after the aircraft thrust is increased back to 80, the aircraft's descent rate will immediately return to 800 feet. The aircraft's own reaction has a certain delay. After maintaining a high descent rate for seven or eight seconds, it slowly turns around and finally stabilizes at 800 feet per minute.
The reason why Xu Cang did not directly increase the engine speed back to 87 to maintain level flight was mainly because he was worried that increasing the throttle so violently would increase the burden on the No. 2 engine.
After the aircraft stabilized again, the vibration value of the No. 2 engine jumped back to seven.
Shi Qi's face was very ugly. If they were not waiting for the sunrise, would they have to worry about the operation of the second engine? They would have put the second engine into slow mode long ago.
"What should we do? Should we keep it like this?"
Xu Cang did not increase the thrust until the plane stabilized. Instead, he frowned and looked towards the east again. There seemed to be no sign of the sun rising.
"That's all." Xu Cang licked his cracked lips and called the chief steward.
Soon the chief steward came in. As soon as she came in, Xu Cang got straight to the point: "Courter, within ten minutes, have all the passengers put on their life jackets and prepare for an emergency landing on the water. Is that ok?"
"Water...water landing?" The chief flight attendant felt like he had been hit hard and didn't know how to answer for a moment.
In their regular training, they do practice many forced landings, but the forced landing on water is not done every year. This also shows that the industry's attitude towards forced landing on water is not to treat it as a normal subject, at least compared to forced landing on land.
The evacuation time for emergency landing on water is even more urgent. Because the aircraft is not a ship, due to the existence of the boost valve, the sealing is not as good as it looks from the outside.
Xu Cang himself had not tried how long it would take for an airplane to completely sink after falling into the water, but the flight manual mentioned that if an emergency landing on water was to be carried out, the best time was ninety seconds, which meant that all people in the cabin had to be evacuated within ninety seconds.
Not only is the evacuation time urgent, but also water activities after evacuation are also an issue that needs to be considered urgently. Not everyone is good at swimming, especially when there are strong winds and waves at sea, including the chief steward himself.
Even as a purser, she was most afraid of water training. There was nothing she could do, she herself was a landlubber, and the No. 3 she knew seemed to be just as bad as her.
Seeing the chief flight attendant hesitate to speak, Xu Cang shouted directly: "Be prepared for a water landing within ten minutes. At 2,000 feet, the cockpit will notify you that you will be making a water landing. At 500 feet, start the anti-collision posture. After the plane stops, you listen to our evacuation signal. If there is no response from the cockpit after half a minute, you decide how to evacuate on your own without asking for our permission. Remember, everyone evacuates within 90 seconds, do you understand?"
After Xu Cang finished giving a series of instructions, Shi Qi was stunned. He knew that Xu Cang had good flying skills, but he didn't expect that in actual command, he didn't act like a co-pilot at all, but arranged everything in an orderly manner.
The flight attendant hesitated, but soon nodded heavily: "I understand."
Xu Cang waved his hand: "Okay, go out and get ready."
After the chief steward left, Shi Qi whispered, "It can be seen that the chief steward is very nervous. Can you speak more softly?"
Xu Cang looked at the gradually decreasing height and sighed: "Is she the only one who is nervous?"
At the same time, at the exit of the airport work area, a car passed by, carrying Shi Lingling and Li Rongxian. Shi Lingling used to take the team's interview car to the Shandong Airlines base every day.
But because today's interview time was too early, Shi Lingling did not go with her team in order to sleep a little longer. Instead, she arrived half an hour late and drove another car.
Fortunately, she came alone in a car this time, otherwise she might not be able to drive a large vehicle like an interview car.
As soon as the car left the airport work area, in addition to the whistling wind, the sound of waves crashing against the shore also echoed in my ears. The coastal dam not far away was like a black dragon lying in the dark night, extremely oppressive.
When they were about to reach the coastal dam, Shi Lingling's cell phone rang again. She looked at the number and saw it was Di Qingquan's. Then she freed one hand and turned on the speakerphone.
As soon as the call was connected, Di Qingquan's anxious voice came from inside: "Xiao Ling, has the plane landed?"
Just after talking to Shi Lingling, Di Qingquan contacted the Aviation Security Bureau directly and asked it to take the initiative to understand the situation. The Aviation Security Bureau then contacted the Qizhou Tower, and the course of events became clear at once.
"No, probably another five or six minutes." Shi Lingling's voice was calm, as if Shi Qi, who was about to face an emergency landing at sea, was not her father.
"Xiao Ling, I still think that an emergency landing at sea is too dangerous. I heard that he made an emergency landing near the coast of Qizhou. The sun hasn't risen over there yet, right? If you make an emergency landing on water, you can't see the ups and downs of the water surface. How can the plane land?" Di Qingquan said anxiously, "It's good that the plane . Hurry up and ask your dad to think about it again."
"I can't think of it anymore." Shi Lingling said, "Their only remaining working engine has also broken down. They are probably close to the sea area where they are expected to make an emergency landing."
Di Qingquan was surprised and asked, "How could this happen?"
"Uncle Quan, you told me before that Xu Cang is very powerful." Shi Lingling suddenly asked, "Would we be sure if he was on the plane?"
This was a hypothetical question, but Di Qingquan figured it out quickly. He shouted, "Xu Cang is on the plane. Is he at the controls?"
"Yes, he is on the plane, and he should be the one to complete the forced landing." Shi Lingling's hands on the steering wheel suddenly tightened: "Uncle Quan, you haven't said it yet, are you sure?"
After waiting for about ten seconds, Di Qingquan sighed and said, "If there is no light for reference, no one can make an emergency landing on the sea. The sea is too rough and the margin of error is extremely low. If the angle of entry into the water is slightly wrong, the plane will be destroyed and people will die. You just said that the other engine also had a problem. What was the problem? Can they hold on until sunrise?"
Hearing that Xu Cang was also on board, Di Qingquan no longer worried about the necessity of an emergency landing at sea. In his opinion, if Xu Cang made the decision, it must have been a well-thought-out decision. The only thing to worry about now was how to land the plane.
Shi Lingling seemed to be exhausted: "Uncle Quan, I don't know either."
Not only did she not know, even Xu Cang and Shi Qi in the cockpit knew.
About two minutes later, the car stopped on the coastal dam. Shi Lingling and Li Rongxian looked east. The weather was so good today that they could even see the lights of the plane that was about to make an emergency landing.
Perhaps she had a last glimmer of hope in her heart. After she stood still, Shi Lingling turned on the intercom and said, "Xu Cang, are you sure about the emergency landing in a while?"
In the cockpit, Xu Cang couldn't help but frown when Shi Lingling's voice sounded. Shi Lingling's voice was mixed with a very strong wind sound, and it didn't seem to come from the Qizhou control tower.
"No pilot in the world can say he is sure of making an emergency landing on water!" Xu Cang replied calmly.
But Shi Lingling's tone suddenly turned cold: "Then let me ask you, did you choose to make an emergency landing at sea because of a personal grudge?"
In Shi Lingling's opinion, Xu Cang might have been resentful of her for what happened before, so he deliberately chose the extremely dangerous landing method of forced landing at sea, and deliberately took revenge on her by using Shi Qi who was also on the plane.
Shi Lingling could say such childish words, which showed that although she looked calm, she was actually panicking inside and had started to speak without thinking.
Shi Qi's face changed slightly, and he was about to scold his daughter. However, Xu Cang spoke first: "Shi Lingling, you are really a disgusting woman."
After saying that, amid Shi Lingling's hysterical roar, Xu Cang no longer responded, while Shi Qi next to him looked embarrassed, not knowing what to say.
"You don't have to say anything. Our survival is the most important thing." Xu Cang's eyes swept below. At this moment, the plane was less than 3,000 feet. If the light was sufficient and the visibility was good enough, the general situation of the waves could be seen at this height.
However, the sun had not yet risen, and it was still hard to see clearly below, which made Xu Cang very annoyed. Calculating the time, there were still four or five minutes before sunrise, but their altitude was not high enough.
"Turn on all the lights." Xu Cang ordered.
Shi Qi turned on all the lights as he was told, and then asked, "Is there anything else I can do?"
"Except for the passenger announcements at 2,000 feet and 500 feet, the rest is not necessary. You just need to watch."
This was actually a rather impolite statement, but Shi Qi was not at all angry. Instead, he thought it was very normal.
"Fly forward a bit, and we'll turn south."
According to the current wind direction, Xu Cang decided to adjust the direction of the plane soon. They must fly parallel to the waves and absolutely cannot land against the waves. Once the direction is reversed, it will be a dead end.
At this time, the wind is from the north, and if it is the same in the low altitude, then their landing direction will be from north to south, that is, landing with the wind. This is different from the usual headwind landing, because at this time, the only thing they need to care about is the direction of the waves, not whether it is with the wind or with the wind.
However, the north wind at this time does not mean that there is also a north wind at low altitude, nor does it mean that the waves are blowing towards the south. We need to wait and see what happens below.
When Xu Cang was calculating the sunrise time, no matter how he calculated, it seemed that he could not catch up with the time. So, Xu Cang thought about it and slightly increased the throttle, hoping to reduce the plane's descent rate.
Xu Cang was very careful, he just increased the throttle back to 82, the amplitude was very small. But the engine was already at the end of its strength, Xu Cang moved the throttle lever, the N2 vibration value was directly increased to 8, and then the thrust of the No. 2 engine began to fluctuate greatly, becoming extremely unstable, and the exhaust temperature of the engine began to rise continuously, and it was about to break through the limit.
The sound of the No. 2 engine running in Xu Cang's ears was like that of an old man who was about to die, as if he had reached the end of his life.
"Oh no, the engine can't hold on!" Shi Qi's face changed drastically.
Xu Cang originally planned to lower the throttle to more than 60 to slightly suppress the over-limit situation of the No. 2 engine. However, he knew in his heart that the No. 2 engine was about to fail, and it was no longer possible to control it by simply lowering the throttle.
What should I do, what should I do, what should I do?
Shi Qi looked around, but there was no sign of the sun coming out. He was very experienced, and he knew that he and everyone on the plane had reached a life-or-death moment, but he was helpless.
The sun had not yet risen and it was pitch black all around. How could they make an emergency landing? Moreover, the No. 2 engine was about to fail, so they had no chance to return to land.
Died midway!
At this time, Xu Cang finally demonstrated his unparalleled courage. He directly slowed down the No. 2 engine and shouted, "Flap down, all flaps! Press the button for emergency landing!"
The ditching button is a feature added to Airbus aircraft compared to Boeing aircraft. It can close the valves on the aircraft to extend the sinking time of the aircraft as much as possible.
However, this is just an extension and cannot completely prevent the plane from sinking.
Shi Qi screamed: "What are you going to do? You're making an emergency landing now, and the sun hasn't even risen yet!"
"There is no choice. We are already very low, and the wind direction is probably about the same below. The waves should be about the same as we expected." Xu Cang shouted, "Wait until we are low enough. The landing lights may allow me to see the specific situation on the water surface at the last minute. I will make the final corrections there."
"That time is too short. You don't have time to correct it."
However, Xu Cang had made up his mind. Engine No. 2 would not give him time to wait for the sun. He wanted to accomplish the unprecedented feat in the dark night.
Xu Cang certainly knew that the landing light could only illuminate the water surface clearly when the landing was about to enter the water, and the time given to him to make corrections was almost just a blink of an eye, but Xu Cang had to seek a chance of survival in an instant.
"I will let you live." Xu Cang's whole body was tense, like a leopard about to attack: "Listen to me!"
Shi Qi took a deep look at Xu Cang and gritted his teeth: "Okay!"
At this moment, on the seawall, Shi Lingling looked at the bright spot in the sky that was rapidly falling, like a falling comet. She glanced at her watch and her face became solemn.
It was too early. It wasn't even sunrise yet, so why did they start to descend so quickly?
At this moment, a strong wind blew, blowing Shi Lingling's long hair onto her left shoulder. But after a while, the original north wind suddenly changed direction and turned directly to the south wind, and Shi Lingling's hair was blown directly onto her right shoulder.
When the wind direction at low altitude changed drastically, Xu Cang, who was about to make an emergency landing in the sky, had no idea about it!
