Chapter 15 We choose to return
"Can't land? Why can't it land? You are the captain, you haven't even tried single-engine landing yet and you think it's impossible?" Xu Cang looked at the captain's profile seriously and felt something was wrong. It seemed that he was not joking, but he really had no confidence.
The captain didn't look very confident: "I'll think about it again. I'll think about it again."
Then he looked at the co-pilot and whispered, "Engine Failure or Shutdown Checklist."
No matter what, complete the abnormal checklist first and make decisions on other things later.
The co-pilot couldn't help feeling a little nervous when listening to the conversation between the captain and Xu Cang , but he still obediently started the checklist.
"Engine shutdown can only be performed when flight conditions permit." The first officer stared at the QRH and read: "Autothrottle, if engaged, disconnect."
The captain was also looking at the QRH at the same time. When the co-pilot read the autothrottle item, he squeezed the autothrottle shut-off button on the top of the thrust lever with both hands, and the A/T switch on the MCP board was also disconnected.
"Autothrottle disengaged, checklist continues."
"Thrust handle, affected side, close the light."
At this point, the actual speed of the No. 2 engine has been lost, but the throttle lever is still in the same position as that of the No. 1 engine. If you want to shut down the engine, you need to retract the throttle lever of the No. 2 engine first.
"Hold on to one engine." The captain released the throttle lever of Engine 1 and only held on to the throttle lever of Engine 2. The co-pilot understood the procedure and temporarily stopped reading the checklist, instead holding on to the throttle lever of Engine 1 and holding it still.
This is to prevent the wrong throttle, which happened to a foreign airline not long ago when it encountered a single-engine accident. Moreover, the crew not only adjusted the throttle incorrectly, but also cut the starting handle incorrectly.
In a high-pressure environment, we cannot have too high expectations of people's mental clarity, even for professionals.
"Thrust handle for engine number two, check and retract."
As he spoke, the captain slowly pulled back the throttle lever of the No. 2 engine. Because the throttle lever had lost its function, there was no change in the aircraft's attitude during the process.
As soon as the throttle lever of the No. 2 engine was retracted, the co-pilot withdrew his left hand and returned control of the throttle lever of the No. 1 engine to the captain.
"If conditions permit, run the engines at idle thrust for three minutes ."
The captain glanced at the timer and saw that there was still one minute left, so he had to wait a little longer: "Wait a minute, can you tell me what the wind speed is right now?"
"Sure enough!" Xu Cang's heart skipped a beat. Just as he expected, the extreme crosswind and strong gusts scared the captain. If the two engines were working properly, this might not be easy to handle, not to mention that under the single-engine condition, the stability and maneuverability of the aircraft were both reduced.
The co-pilot confirmed with the tower while waiting, and the tower soon gave bad news.
"Feiyu 6321, the current ground wind is 16013, gust 14 meters." The tower controller realized that the wind situation was really difficult to deal with after being asked: "Feiyu 6321, what is your decision, return or make an emergency landing?"
The captain raised his hand to stop the co-pilot from speaking, and replied: "Let's think about it again . Please help me understand the situation at Erhai Airport."
Erhai Airport is the closest airport to Jianchuan Airport. Theoretically, it is the most suitable alternate landing field, but the captain still has a frown on his face.
"Okay, I'll go find out."
"The alternate takeoff and landing field is Erhai Airport?" Xu Cang asked in disbelief. "It's the windy season now. We can't land at this airport, so Erhai Airport is even more difficult to land at. What about Qingshan? If all else fails, we can go to Qingshan Airport."
"Qingshan Airport is open?" The captain turned his head and looked at Xu Cang in confusion: "Why haven't I heard that Qingshan Airport is open?"
Xu Cang was startled, and then he realized that he was in the year 2000. Qingshan Airport, another hub airport in the southwest, has not yet been put into use, and will only start operating in about two years. He was so anxious that he started talking nonsense.
"Nothing, I remembered it wrongly." Xu Cang answered casually.
The airport density in 2000 was more than half that of twenty years later, and most of them still had short and narrow runways, which resulted in very few options for alternate landing fields.
However, domestic civil aviation will soon usher in a golden age.
Suddenly, Xu Cang had an idea in his mind, and he seemed to have grasped some clues about the future. However, news came from the control tower soon.
Erhai Airport is in operation today, but the wind gusts reached 10 meters. According to the forecast of the meteorological department, the wind speed will continue to increase in the near future.
At this time, the two people sitting in front had just turned off the start handle of the No. 2 engine. When the captain heard the words from the tower, his face was so gloomy that water was about to drip out of it.
He also knew that Erhai Airport was windy in spring and summer, and the turbulence there was well-known throughout the country. Even though the gusts there were ten meters, it was estimated that the intensity could exceed the fifteen-meter gusts at Jianchuan Airport.
The first officer followed the checklist and shut down the right-hand component, which would shift the flap-up components to high flow. After that, the APU was started.
It takes a while for the APU to start. The captain held his forehead and said, "Do the post-takeoff checklist."
During this gap, the captain was having a fierce ideological battle in his mind. Erhai Airport was the only airport that was suitable for them in theory, but the deadly turbulence there was even more terrifying than Jianchuan Airport. He would not dare to land there even if he had a hundred courage.
Not to mention him, even the company's veteran teachers found Erhai Airport very tricky.
But if we need to change the alternate airport, we can only use the more distant Qianxi Airport. But that airport is too far away, and the fuel consumption is very, very dangerous. Especially under single-engine conditions, the aircraft's cruising altitude will be very low, and the fuel consumption cannot be reduced. If the fuel is insufficient, then it will be a complete failure.
This is the situation now, there are too few choices.
Xu Cang was also very troubled when he saw the captain's tangled look. In the future, he happened to have handled a single-engine turbulent landing. If the captain really couldn't land, he might have taken up the task.
Even Xu Cang, or to be more precise, Xu Cang who had become the bureau's chief pilot in later generations, did not dare to land at Erhai Airport in the windy season with a single engine.
The wind there is so horrible!
The gloomy captain worked with the co-pilot to complete the post-takeoff checklist, but the APU had not yet started. For a moment, the cockpit fell into an eerie silence.
Xu Cang finally couldn't help it. Just as he was about to speak, he saw the captain seemed to have made an important decision. His eyes were no longer confused. He pressed the button and said, "Tower, we choose to return!"
