In the cockpit, the co-pilot was sweating profusely as he searched for the flight chart at an unreliable airspeed. This time, the captain, perhaps sensing the pressure on the co-pilot, did not urge him, but was patient and forced himself to stop talking.
He could tell from the sweat on the co-pilot's face that he was close to collapse. If he was put under more pressure, he would collapse at any time. What was worse was that he had to concentrate all his energy on controlling the plane and he didn't have the ability to play two roles at the same time.
Suddenly, the captain glanced at the co-pilot and his pupils shrank. He no longer cared about the plane, freed his right hand, and slapped the checklist: "Isn't this the flight chart?"
"This is not a turbulent flight..." The co-pilot was halfway through his sentence when he shuddered. He suddenly saw another mark on the chart title - Unreliable airspeed.
In other words, the following chart is used for both turbulent air flight and unreliable airspeed. Before that, he was really nervous to the extreme. He only read the first few words of the chart title and did not read the whole thing. No wonder he could not find it.
This flight chart is actually on the first page of the flight performance chapter!
The co-pilot swallowed his saliva, wishing he could find a hole in the ground to crawl into. However, he quickly adjusted his mood and focused on looking up the table.
The captain on the left breathed a sigh of relief. Although the process was a bit tortuous, it finally achieved the desired result. However, after waiting for almost a minute, there was still no response from the co-pilot.
The captain, who was already holding back his anger, couldn't help but start cursing: "Can you find it or not?"
“This… there are too many charts here, and I don’t know which one to use!” In the co-pilot’s field of vision, there are six charts in this small chapter on unreliable airspeed, but the co-pilot doesn’t know which one to use?
The captain was so angry that veins popped on his forehead, and he was about to snatch the checklist from the co-pilot and put it on his knees. At most, he could do two things at once, flying the plane while checking his watch, because he knew that he could not rely on this co-pilot at all.
However, just as the captain stretched out his right hand, countless fine arcs of electricity suddenly exploded from the two windshields in front of the cockpit. Before this, the windshield did produce arcs from time to time, but the range was only regional and would only last for a moment.
But this time, the electric arc light almost covered both windshields. The bright yellow light was about to illuminate the entire cockpit. And the strangest thing was that after the electric arc was generated, it not only did not disappear immediately, but continued to remain on the windshield, creating an extremely terrifying image.
The reason for such a horrible electric arc phenomenon is that in order to maintain the strength of the front two windshields, electric wires are buried in the windshields so that the windshields can always be kept warm through electric heating.
Because if the windshield is too cold, it will become very brittle. If something hard hits the windshield at this time, it is likely to break the windshield directly.
Therefore, if the windshield heating function is lost, the speed must be limited at low altitudes, otherwise the situation will be very dangerous if a bird strikes.
However, in line with the principle of "not equipped if not used", usually only the front two windshields are heated, while the side windows are not. It is for this reason that only the front two main windshields will have arcs, which is caused by the induction of the electric wires in the windshields with the external electric charges.
Although windshield arcs are rare, they are not uncommon to extreme extents. However, arcs as large and dense as this one are quite rare.
"Captain, is this okay?" The co-pilot was relatively calm. After all, he had experienced this phenomenon before when flying through clouds during a severe thunderstorm. When he first saw this scene, he was a little scared, but the captain thought it was quite interesting, and nothing happened afterwards.
Once a person experiences it once, the sense of fear will decrease dramatically.
The captain turned on the landing lights again. There was still that unidentified substance outside the plane, which looked like a cloud but not a cloud, and like fog but not fog.
The captain actually had no idea what was going on. If he had encountered this situation in a normal rain cloud, he would not have panicked at all. He had probably encountered this situation more than a dozen times in his career, so he was no longer surprised.
However, in such an environment, any problem would be magnified, which made the captain feel quite anxious.
Fortunately, the arc light that was like a shining star did not last too long. After about ten seconds, the windshield arc finally returned to normal.
Just when the captain felt relieved, there was a crack, just like the most exquisite porcelain in the world had cracks. The captain's heart suddenly shrank, and his brain lost the ability to think at this moment.
There is no porcelain on the plane, but there is a windshield, and the sound just now was clearly the sound of the windshield cracking.
"Where's the flashlight? Take a snapshot!" The captain broke out in a cold sweat and hurriedly asked the co-pilot to check.
Each pilot is equipped with a flashlight to observe aircraft at night, etc. This equipment is standard equipment, just like the pilot's reflective vest. If the pilot is found not to have a flashlight or the flashlight is out of power during the apron inspection, he will be punished.
Of course, even if the pilot did not bring a flashlight, there was a flashlight in the cockpit, which was at the pilot's seat. However, this flashlight was not portable, but connected to the aircraft with a wire, and the pilot could only pull it out a certain distance. However, considering various situations, the telescopic range was made very large, and in most cases there was no limit.
However, although the plane's built-in flashlight can be manually adjusted in brightness, even at its brightest setting it is not very powerful and is slightly inferior to the map light above the crew's seat.
This map light is specially used for pilots to read various charts and documents at night or in dim light. The brightness can also be adjusted. However, the maximum brightness of this map light is very high, much stronger than a flashlight.
However, the illumination angle of this map light is limited. Basically, the maximum illumination range can only be concentrated on a part of the area in front of the crew. It is impossible to use the map light to illuminate the windshield.
Since the apron inspection is a rare event, some pilots are too lazy to carry flashlights. Fortunately, the co-pilot was "law-abiding" and quickly took out the flashlight from the flight box.
As the flashlight was turned on, the strong light shone first onto the left front windshield. The two men stared at the left front windshield with their four eyes fixed. What made the captain feel relieved was that even though he heard the obvious sound of the windshield cracking, the windshield did not immediately break into pieces, so it was very likely that the windshield only cracked a crack.
The most urgent thing now is to find where the crack is, whether it is on the outer windshield or the inner windshield. The different locations of the cracks will cause completely different levels of danger.
Although the captain was anxious at first, he finally focused most of his attention on controlling the aircraft after confirming that the fragmentation was not that serious.
However, even though the captain was relatively certain that there was a crack, the co-pilot still could not find where the crack was after searching for a long time.
The captain could only glance out. Seeing the incompetence of the co-pilot and the way he was shooting, he immediately became angry and yelled, "What can you find if you shoot straight? Shoot it sideways, shoot it sideways!"
The co-pilot was scolded by the captain again, and he was shocked and immediately tilted the angle of the flashlight. It must be said that the captain was experienced. Just by changing the angle of incidence, the co-pilot quickly found the crack.
The co-pilot pointed to the center of the windshield on his side and said, "Captain, the crack is here!"
The captain quickly took the time to take a look, and sure enough, there was a crack running diagonally from the lower right corner of the right front windshield to the upper left corner, dividing the entire right front windshield into two parts.
"Can you tell if it's the outer windshield or the inner one?" In fact, from the captain's point of view, it can be roughly determined that it is the outer windshield, but for such a life-threatening matter, the captain still wants to get a second confirmation, even though the co-pilot is really useless.
What comforted the captain a little was that the co-pilot also thought that it was only a problem with the outer windshield after observing for a while, which was the same opinion as the captain.
Even so, the captain was still worried. He pulled his seat back, unbuckled his seat belt, held the steering wheel with his left hand, then stood up slightly and quickly touched and swept the right front windshield with the five fingers of his right hand.
If the inner layer of the windshield had cracks, the fingertips would have felt something. However, after quickly sweeping across the right front windshield, the fingertips did not feel anything unusual, and it was still quite smooth.
"It's okay, it's okay!" Since the first problem occurred, the aircraft has never stopped malfunctioning. The aircraft instruments, balance, navigation, management, and now even the windshield have problems. He can't stand it any longer.
Since the 737 aircraft has a double-layer windshield, if only the outer layer of the windshield is broken, the risk factor is not too high. But if the inner layer of the windshield is broken, it may be possible to carry the broken windshield all the way to the ground, but there is also a possibility that the windshield will be directly shattered, which is a huge problem.
The captain was exhausted at the moment, and he didn't want to ask the co-pilot to find the "Windshield Damage" checklist. Fortunately, this checklist was also relatively simple. After distinguishing whether it was the outer layer or the inner layer that was damaged, the captain pointed directly to the windshield heating switch and instructed: "Then turn off the right windshield heating."
The co-pilot knew this step without even looking, and immediately turned off the windshield heating according to the instruction. In fact, there is another step, which is to turn off the windshield blowing switch, which is used for defogger. Now this device is already turned off, so there is no need to do it again.
"Watch and listen carefully. If you notice any problem with the windshield, remind me immediately." After the captain gave the instructions, he immediately took the checklist and placed it on his knees. He began to look for the corresponding unreliable airspeed flight chart himself.
To be honest, if you haven't thoroughly understood the content of this subject or haven't looked at it for a long time, it is easy to get confused by this chart.
The charts are divided into climb, cruise, descent, all at different thrusts and speeds, and the difference between holding and circling. After that, there are various settings of different flaps for the airport area and the three-degree descent on the final approach.
Not to mention the co-pilot, even the captain felt his mind go blank when he first saw these charts. In addition, he could only devote part of his energy to look at them, and his reading was intermittent. As a result, it took him almost two minutes to find the corresponding chart.
"What is our total takeoff weight?" the captain suddenly asked.
In fact, the captain should not ask this question normally. What he really wants to know is the current total weight of the aircraft, not the total weight of the aircraft at takeoff.
Because in the flight chart, the attitude and thrust settings need to be determined according to the aircraft weight and flight altitude. Now the altitude is known, but the total weight is unknown.
However, the most direct way to get the current gross weight of the aircraft is to go to the performance page of the CDU, where the gross weight of the aircraft will be changed in real time (it can also be seen on the approach page).
But now, because all flight management computers have failed and all CDU screens are black, he can't get the total weight of the aircraft directly. So he has to change another method!
The difference between the current gross weight of the aircraft and the gross weight at takeoff is the fuel consumed. The real-time fuel level of the aircraft is visible, and the amount of fuel added when the aircraft is released is also known, so the difference between the two is the weight of the fuel burned. In this way, as long as the takeoff gross weight is known, and then the weight of the consumed fuel is subtracted, that is the current gross weight of the aircraft!
That’s right, pilots always have a way!
However, the first officer, whose brain was nearly shut down at this moment, did not understand what the captain meant. He thought the captain wanted the current total weight information of the aircraft, and pointed to the CDU innocently: "Captain, the CDU is not visible now."
"The takeoff weight is not the current weight of the aircraft!" The captain knew that the co-pilot had misheard, but the feeling of exhaustion was real: "Look at the manifest, the takeoff weight is on the manifest."
"Ah? Oh oh oh!" The co-pilot realized that it was his own fault and quickly looked through the cargo manifest that he had collected earlier. Reading the cargo manifest is a basic skill for pilots, and even the nearly incapacitated co-pilot was able to quickly determine the takeoff weight.
After receiving the information from the co-pilot, the captain did a quick mental calculation and found that the aircraft was currently weighing about 340 tons, and the most consistent condition in the table was 750,000 pounds.
With the altitude and speed, the captain immediately gets the attitude and thrust settings for cruise mode.
"Three degrees attitude, EPR1.39, N190.8!" The captain readjusted the various settings of the aircraft according to the flight chart.
According to this setting, theoretically, the aircraft can maintain level flight and the aircraft can stabilize within a normal range of values.
However, since the crew did not know which airspeed data source was correct at this moment, they could only believe that the chart provided by Boeing was of practical significance.
Although there has been no successful precedent in the early stages, there is at least a glimmer of hope for success in this matter.
Then the good news came one after another. Jakarta Control responded to the previous high altitude application: "British Airways 1009, the airport has not responded yet, but FL400 has been approved. Do you still want to go to high altitude now?"
The captain had long been wary of the unknown black matter outside the plane, so he was naturally overjoyed to learn that he could finally ascend: "Go, let's gain altitude!"
After the captain agreed, Jakarta controller immediately said, "British Airways 1009 , you can go to standard pressure altitude FL400."
After the first officer finished reading, the captain immediately looked down at the attitude setting for the climb. They didn't know the actual airspeed, so they couldn't climb at will, and could only set the climb attitude according to the requirements on the chart.
According to the chart for the climb regime, at maximum climb thrust, in a four degree attitude, the airplane will produce a six hundred fpm climb rate at .84.
There is no way. For an aircraft weighing more than 340 tons, 40,000 feet is indeed close to the ceiling, and the subsequent climbing speed will be very low. This is caused by objective conditions.
However, the captain did not mind the climb rate, as long as he could leave this altitude layer, he could climb slowly.
So the captain slightly increased the plane's pitch-up attitude and began to increase the thrust of the plane. However, as the thrust of the plane was increased, the plane suddenly trembled violently, and the captain and the co-pilot heard an explosion that almost broke their eardrums.
"What...what's going on?" The captain's nerves were already tense, and such a sudden explosion made the hairs on his body stand up.
Then, the co-pilot suddenly discovered that the EGT of the No. 4 engine had gone red, and the N1 speed of the engine began to fluctuate violently.
"Pheasing...panting?" the co-pilot blurted out.
"What?" After hearing the co-pilot's words, I looked down and felt a chill down my spine. Judging from the engine data, it was indeed the No. 4 engine that was surging.
The captain was quite decisive. He was stunned for a moment, then he came to his senses and said, "The engine is surging. Let's do the memory project first!"
Engine surge is indeed very dangerous, but if it is handled properly or if you are lucky and the surge is not severe, it is possible to achieve reduced thrust operation without shutting down the engine.
However, the premise for such a result is that the exhaust temperature of the engine can be reduced and stabilized within a limited range. Therefore, the captain did not wait for the co-pilot to react. Now time is everything. The faster the action, the lower the loss can be controlled.
He directly started to retract the thrust handle of the No. 4 engine. Since the Boeing 747 is operated by four engines, even if one engine starts to reduce thrust, the thrust difference will not cause the aircraft to deflect. The captain slowly increased the rudder input according to the speed of his throttle reduction to maintain the stability of the aircraft's flight path.
When reducing the throttle, the captain and the co-pilot were watching the EGT value. They were both hoping that as the thrust decreased, the EGT value would also decrease, preferably below the red line, so that the aircraft could continue to operate under reduced thrust without much impact on flight control.
However, when the No. 4 engine was almost slowing down, the EGT only dropped slightly, and it seemed that it was impossible to achieve reduced thrust operation without shutting down the engine.
"Fuck!" The captain cursed and ordered the co-pilot: "Announcement PANPAN, request to return immediately. Also, we can't go up to a high altitude now, request to descend first. Please check the leveling altitude when one engine of the aircraft is not working. The total weight of the aircraft is 750,000 pounds."
The captain originally planned to maintain the altitude, but he estimated that with a weight of 750,000 pounds, it seemed impossible to maintain an altitude of 36,000 feet with one engine not working.
Of course, the No. 4 engine has not been shut down yet, but seeing that the exhaust temperature has not dropped, it will have to be shut down manually later.
"PANPAN! PANPAN! PANPAN!" The co-pilot called out three times in a row: "British Airways 1009, engine failure, requesting immediate return."
Jakarta control responded quickly: "British Airways 1009, turn right now, heading 100, do you still want to increase the altitude?"
"No, we are going to float down..."
At this point, the captain interrupted and said, "Request to descend to FL290."
The co-pilot paused for a moment, then continued after receiving the captain's instructions: "We are requesting to descend to FL290."
At this time, a state of emergency was declared, and British Airways Flight 1009 naturally had the highest priority. Jakarta control immediately agreed to their descent request without even applying.
So the captain started to turn right and fly back. During this time, the No. 4 engine had been slowed down and could no longer be slowed down. Although he was mentally prepared, he still moved his mouth when he saw the still strong EGT over-limit temperature, but he didn't curse in the end.
"Continuous ignition switch open!" If the exhaust temperature is not under control, the checklist must continue, and the next step is to shut down the car.
The co-pilot turned on the continuous ignition switch as instructed by the captain. After the action was completed, the captain looked at the EGT meter again. The red mark was too eye-catching. In the end, he could only sigh and cut off the fuel control switch of the No. 4 engine!
…
In first class!
"Sulfur! Sulfur! Why is there sulfur?" Xu Cang's eyes moved back and forth between the portholes on both sides.
However, through the porthole glass, he could not see anything at all except the thrilling darkness and the uneasiness that almost solidified into substance.
Next to Xu Cang, Song Xinyang heard Xu Cang mumbling to himself. Especially when he saw Xu Cang's face which looked like gold paper, he suddenly felt a little worried: "Xu Cang, what's wrong?"
At this moment, Leo had already unbuckled his seat belt and stood up suddenly: "Xu Cang, let's go to the front!"
Xu Cang did not hesitate and followed Leo directly to the front cabin workshop. However, during the rush, a certain idea in Xu Cang's mind gradually became clear.
Sulfur? Sulfur doesn’t exist in the sky! So where is there a lot of sulfur and how can it be discharged into the sky?
volcano!
The volcano erupted!
And it was not an ordinary volcanic eruption, but a giant volcanic eruption. The volcanic cloud it produced even reached more than 10,000 meters, which is simply exaggerated.
It is important to know that the maximum height of most volcanic eruptions does not exceed one thousand meters. The ash clouds of some large volcanoes can reach thousands of meters, which is already spectacular. However, based on the cruising capability of the 747, the altitude must be more than 10,000 meters at this moment. However, it is incredible that it can still be affected by volcanic clouds at an altitude of 10,000 meters.
However, this can also explain some of the abnormal phenomena just now. The volcanic ash will generate a lot of static electricity under the intense friction with the fuselage. Of course, since the fuselage of the aircraft is a Faraday cage, it can conduct electricity. But after all, some charges entered the cabin, which caused the charge in the cabin to increase rapidly, so the hair on Xu Cang's arms stood up for no reason.
As for the aircraft surge, it is easier to understand. It is natural for the aircraft engine to surge after inhaling a large amount of volcanic ash impurities.
"Volcanic ash!" Xu Cang was annoyed. How could an ice accumulation accident that was easily solved turn into an incident of volcanic ash?
Even in the history of civil aviation, there are not many cases of encountering volcanic ash, and he has little experience to refer to, which is very dangerous.
After arriving at the front cabin workroom, the flight attendant was shocked by the arrival of Xu Cang and Leo. Fortunately, the flight attendant knew Leo's identity, and she showed considerable respect for this senior executive of Airbus headquarters.
After learning that Leo and Xu Cang wanted to enter the cockpit, the chief flight attendant was embarrassed, but was still willing to ask for permission from the cockpit.
Xu Cang was anxious, but he could only wait. The loud noise just now was clearly caused by engine surge. Generally speaking, if such a loud noise is produced, the engine is probably unreliable and can only be shut down.
"Shut down the car?" This thought suddenly came to Xu Cang's mind. His thoughts turned, and a chill suddenly rushed from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. He muttered to himself: "I can't shut down the car, I can't shut down the car!"
Leo stood beside Xu Cang and asked curiously, "Mr. Xu, what are you talking about?"
As soon as Leo finished speaking, the flight attendant in the cockpit gave a reply: "Mr. Leo, I'm sorry, there is something important to deal with in the cockpit right now, so we can't let you in."
"This..." Leo was a little at a loss for a moment. He had not expected such a situation to happen. In fact, he didn't care whether he entered the cockpit or not. It was just that looking at Xu Cang's expression, Leo always felt that something big was going on, and the solution to this matter must be to let Xu Cang in.
At this moment, Xu Cang's ears moved slightly, and he clearly heard the noisy sound of the engine gradually weakening, which meant that the crew was already reducing the throttle.
"No, no, this won't work!" Xu Cang grabbed Leo and pointed at the flight attendant: "Translate my words to her. Tell her that the plane is in danger and I must be allowed in!"
Leo's eyes widened and he was stunned for a moment, but he quickly translated Xu Cang's words into English to the flight attendant.
Unlike Leo's reaction, after a moment of surprise, the flight attendant's face darkened. She pointed in the direction of the first-class cabin and shouted, "Sir, please return to your seat immediately!"
This sentence was very brief, and Xu Cang could understand it without Leo's translation! However, how could he go back at this time? As the sound of the engine continued to decrease, it finally stabilized.
He didn't know whether the crew had cut off the engine, but as long as they did, everything would be over!
Suddenly, Xu Cang felt the plane leaning forward slightly. In an instant, Xu Cang's hair stood on end. The plane was about to start descending!
At this moment, he pushed the chief flight attendant away, pounded hard on the cockpit door, and roared: "Don't f*cking descend, you're looking for death!"
The noise Xu Cang made when he pushed the chief flight attendant away directly alarmed another male flight attendant in the front cabin workroom. This flight attendant was very strong, and when he saw Xu Cang rushing towards the cockpit door, he immediately rushed towards Xu Cang.
However, just when he was about to lock Xu Cang, there was a click, as if the mechanism was opening, and the cockpit door opened directly.
Xu Cang was stunned for a moment, then quickly came to his senses, pulled hard, and opened the cockpit door directly.
However, as he opened the hatch, what he saw was the fuel control switch that had been turned off. Seeing this, Xu Cang almost couldn't stand steadily.
However, soon a beam of blue light shone on Xu Cang's body. Through the plane door, Xu Cang suddenly saw a faint blue fire floating in the sky ten thousand meters above the windshield of the plane!
As if he sensed everything, as if he tasted Xu Cang's shock and despair, Leo walked up to Xu Cang, with a strange blue light reflected on his face. He said in a daze: "Xu Cang, what should we do?"