However, at standard ISA temperatures, there is no need to correct the aircraft's descent. Knowing that the final descent was three degrees and the ground speed is known, the corresponding descent rate can indeed be calculated.
However, theoretical feasibility is not the same as practical feasibility.
Without the altitude ratio reference on the approach chart, Xu Cang had no way of knowing whether he was actually on the correct descent. Even the altitude ratio on the approach chart was actually only a reference of integer nautical miles and could not be real-time, so it was usually only used for non-precision approaches.
However, it is better to have something than nothing! Currently, Xu Cang only makes real-time adjustments based on the corresponding relationship between ground speed and descent rate.
This conversion relationship is not simple, but involves trigonometric functions and unit conversion. After all, the unit of ground speed is knots, while the unit of descent rate is feet per minute.
This real-time conversion is not the most difficult part. Even if this real-time calculation process is not required, it is almost impossible in practice.
Because ground speed not only has a direct mathematical relationship, it is also closely related to flight control.
As ground speed increases, the required rate of descent increases by the same amount, and vice versa.
This means that in order to correct one of them to the standard, the other value will change and become deviated.
It is precisely because of this related factor that it will be unimaginably difficult to control the aircraft. No, it is almost impossible.
On the one hand, they have to deal with a huge amount of calculations that is beyond human control, and on the other hand, they have to perform immeasurable precision operations on the aircraft. Any slight deviation in either of the two would be extremely fatal.
Moreover, due to weather conditions, the aircraft must maintain the glide path with almost harsh standards.
"He was using the VOR as a horizontal guide and calculating a glide path in his head. No wonder he asked me if the VOR course of Runway 27 and the extended final line were pinching my feet!" The captain's heart was pounding, he knew he was witnessing an approach that would shake the entire civil aviation industry.
Xu Cang pursed his lips, as if the plane was a rock that had not moved for thousands of years. In his hands, the plane was also motionless and continued to descend at an almost consistent rate of descent.
Maybe! Maybe! He could really complete this demanding landing in his mind?
I don’t know why the captain in charge and the second pilot both had this idea!
Five hundred feet high!
The two captains, who seemed to have seen the light at the end of the tunnel, suddenly saw the word PULLUP appear below the attitude indicator on the PFD, and then the terrain alarm WHOO! PULL UP! rang in the cockpit!
The second captain's face suddenly changed. His first thought was that he encountered a terrain warning and that the descent trajectory calculated by Xu Cang was wrong!
"Xu Cang, go around, go around, terrain warning!" the second pilot shouted.
This is basically the pilot's instinctive reaction. When encountering a terrain warning at an ultra-low altitude and facing the risk of impending collision, no pilot will continue to descend. That is not an approach, but rather seeking death!
The captain in charge did not say anything, but instead grasped the steering wheel with his left hand. This action said it all.
It is true that Xu Cang's performance just now was amazing enough, but it was still no match for the objective difficulty. Humans simply cannot calculate such a huge amount of content.
Xu Cang miscalculated after all! And the terrain warning is the biggest evidence! Because the aircraft's descent rate is very stable now, there is no possibility of a terrain warning due to a large descent rate. If the aircraft is really on the correct glide path and the descent rate is normal, there will definitely be no terrain warning. Otherwise, this glide path is wrong.
However, Runway 27 does have a compliant blind landing glide path, which is also a third-degree glide path, so this glide path cannot be wrong. The only one who is wrong is Xu Cang.
Maybe Xu Cang is crazy, and if necessary, he needs to take over the plane.
"Xu Cang, you should at least do a go-around or terrain maneuver!" The captain in charge did not start immediately, he still expected Xu Cang to do it himself.
However, Xu Cang's eyes kept moving back and forth on the ground, and he had not given up yet.
"Xu Cang!" Seeing this, the captain in charge suddenly shouted: "The Tokyo Convention can't protect you like this. Even if you survive, you will still be brought to court."
The Tokyo Convention signed in the past stated a lot of immunity for pilots, even including some immunity from punishment. Although it caused a lot of controversy at the time, it was eventually signed.
However, if Xu Cang continues to be stubborn, even the Tokyo Convention, which greatly protects the rights and interests of pilots, will be useless.
The second captain's heart almost stopped. At this moment, the volcanic ash was everywhere, and they couldn't see outside. They could only trust the terrain warning. Seeing that Xu Cang hadn't made any move, he suddenly roared: "Xu Cang, what are you doing!"
It was during this earth-shaking roar that Xu Cang's body trembled violently, and a drop of bright red blood flowed out of his nose. He muttered to himself in an almost desperate tone, "It's a mess, I can't figure it out!"
Even Xu Cang was confused by the second captain's roar, and in an instant, he could no longer calculate!
"GPS failure will lead to erroneous terrain warnings, don't you... know that?" Xu Cang said weakly, as if his soul had been taken away.
"Xu Cang..." These words directly struck the second captain's heart, as if he was frozen in time. He seemed to understand and realized that he had made a huge mistake.
Xu Cang spent a huge amount of energy to calculate the downward path. He was so focused that he couldn't even utter a word to explain it all.
However, it was because of the continuous interference from the two captains that everything finally became chaotic. Xu Cang could no longer catch up, and the glideslope he had calculated in his mind was gone!
The second captain, who reacted quickly, almost fainted. He had destroyed the chance of survival that was within his grasp!
"No! This isn't over yet!"
However, at this moment of despair, Xu Cang burst out with a strong willpower. The light was already before his eyes, how could he retreat?
It’s too late, it’s too late!
Prior to this, Xu Cang used his unparalleled mental effort to calculate a descent trajectory, while also having to devote his attention to completing the tightrope-walking aircraft correction operation.
Whether it was the mental arithmetic decline or the unimaginably demanding manipulations performed at will, any one of them was enough to stump the world's top pilots, but Xu Cang withstood the pressure of two mountains on his own.
However, even Xu Cang was at the end of his strength under such a heavy burden. Any external interference would have a huge negative impact on Xu Cang, not to mention that the two captains wanted Xu Cang to give up the approach one after another.
Actually, to be honest, the two captains cannot be blamed. Because not every pilot is a genius like Xu Cang who can see through everything. In a situation where the eyes cannot see anything, the glide path is completely based on one person's mental calculation, without any standard reference, and also encountered terrain warnings.
From a normal person's perspective, he would definitely trust the onboard terrain warning system.
The GPWS on the 747 uses radio altitude and closing rate to determine whether there is a risk of collision with the ground. However, this system has a fatal flaw, which is that it cannot judge the risk of collision with the ground in extremely steep terrain or smoothly descending terrain.
Therefore, the EGPWS system, or enhanced terrain warning, was gradually used in later Boeing aircraft. This warning system does not scan the surrounding terrain, but the terrain data is originally stored in the aircraft database. The system uses GPS signals as a positioning method, and then retrieves the obstacles near the aircraft from the database based on the aircraft's position.
Since the radio altimeter is no longer scanned, it is natural to prevent the omission of certain dangerous terrain. However, this enhanced terrain warning system based on GPS signals and terrain database also has a very embarrassing problem, which is that it appears when the GPS signal disappears.
Since the enhanced terrain warning system first relies on GPS positioning, and then retrieves the surrounding terrain data of the corresponding location based on the position coordinates, what if the GPS signal disappears? The enhanced terrain warning system will be confused and will not know which terrain data to retrieve.
Precisely because the enhanced terrain warning system cannot figure out where the aircraft is, it begins to randomly retrieve terrain data. If it happens to be retrieved to a mountainous terrain with high mountains, the enhanced terrain warning system will also determine that the aircraft is at risk of crashing into the ground and issue a warning, which is the so-called false warning.
Under certain extreme conditions, a terrain warning may suddenly sound when an aircraft is flying peacefully at an altitude of 10,000 meters. This is the enhanced terrain warning going awry. This situation is usually referred to as hitting a "glass mountain" in the industry.
British Airways Flight 1009 had been flying in the volcanic ash for too long, and the volcanic ash fragments would definitely have caused damage to the exposed GPS antenna. So when Xu Cang saw the advisory information about left and right GPS failure appearing in the CDU draft column, he was not surprised.
Xu Cang is smarter than ordinary people in that when others know a fault has occurred, they only think about how to deal with it. But Xu Cang not only thinks about how to deal with it, he also thinks in advance about what other problems will arise from this fault, so that when the extended problems arise, he will be calm and unhurried.
If all GPS fails during the satellite landing system's approach , it means that satellite signals cannot be obtained, and the entire approach will definitely not be able to proceed.
This was not only known to Xu Cang, but also to the responsible captain and the second captain. However, the decision to continue the approach was made by Xu Cang after considering various conditions.
Ever since Sukarno-Hatta Airport began to regret accepting his aircraft, Xu Cang knew that the person in charge of Sukarno-Hatta Airport was extremely cautious and would not take any responsibility at all.
Now the problem is not with the ground equipment, but with the GPS antenna of their own aircraft. There is a fundamental difference between the two.
If there was a problem with the ground equipment, Xu Cang would definitely go around without saying anything. At least in a low-altitude environment, the plane could still survive in the low-concentration volcanic ash for a while, and perhaps during this time, the ground equipment could be repaired.
However, if the GPS antenna on the plane is broken, it is broken. Due to the limited conditions, it is impossible for anyone to climb outside the plane to repair the antenna, which eliminates the possibility of repair.
In other words, the only route for the satellite landing system is completely blocked.
Blind landing was not possible, and neither was the satellite landing system. Xu Cang could even imagine how Sukarno-Hatta Airport would shirk responsibility and refuse to allow the plane to attempt to land.
So, we must do it in one go!
However, all of this was wiped out by a false terrain warning caused by a loss of GPS signal!
"Xu Cang!" The second captain stared at Xu Cang's profile in a daze. The blood flowing from his nose dripped onto the floor, filled with a sad and powerless feeling.
Xu Cang let out a long sigh, his mouth filled with the rusty smell of blood. At this moment, it seemed that Xu Cang's most primitive survival instinct was aroused.
Thin and dense bloodshot appeared in his eyes, making him look extremely hideous and terrifying.
The short mental arithmetic process of less than a minute had consumed almost all of his energy. If he flew away again, he would definitely not be able to do it again.
This approach was his last chance, his last chance to take control of his own future.
Fate has already grabbed him by the throat, but this will not make Xu Cang surrender!
Fall down, land the plane, and then, break the fate and survive!
At this moment, from the perspective of the captain in charge, after the mental arithmetic process was interrupted, Xu Cang seemed to have lost his soul and was in a daze.
Of course, maybe they were really wrong, and it was just a false terrain warning caused by the loss of GPS signals. Maybe they really extinguished their only chance of survival. In any case, they couldn't land now. Forcing a landing would be courting death.
At an altitude of 300 feet, the captain tightened his left hand on the steering wheel. He had reached the limit of intervention: "Xu Cang, let's go!"
The big mistake has been made, why are you still obsessed with it? Let's go around first, and then we can make plans later! If this sound still can't make Xu Cang react, then the captain in charge will have to take over the control of the plane himself. He can't just watch the plane fall into the abyss.
But it was this roar that made Xu Cang suddenly raise his head, and a bright light burst out from his eyes. He saw it, he saw the severed road being connected again, and he saw the last ray of dawn before the darkness swallowed everything!
Finally, Xu Cang moved!
Suddenly! He stepped on the accelerator! With the roar of three engines, the plane's descent was quickly stopped.
The captain in charge breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Xu Cang finally stepped on the throttle. Xu Cang finally came to his senses. However, before the captain in charge could rejoice for a moment, the second captain suddenly shouted, "Thrust! Xu Cang, you didn't increase the thrust for a go-around!"
With only three engines running, if the plane wanted to go around, the throttle had to be increased to almost maximum. However, Xu Cang did not do so, and only increased the throttle to two-thirds of the full thrust, which was definitely not the thrust required for a go-around!
The second captain had already begun to have doubts when he saw that Xu Cang's thrust setting was not enough. Then, when he looked at Xu Cang's pitch attitude setting, his face changed drastically.
Xu Cang did not lift the plane up, but simply kept the plane's track indicator on the horizon.
"This is not a go-around, this is... a level off!" The second captain was sweating profusely, and he understood Xu Cang's idea. Xu Cang had no intention of giving up this approach, he had to continue landing!
Since the previously calculated glide path was disrupted by external interference, the aircraft could no longer maintain the accurate glide path, and therefore could not descend without authorization.
Therefore, Xu Cang stopped descending at an altitude of 300 feet. In order to ensure that there was no terrain threat, Xu Cang continued to approach at an altitude of 300 feet.
After coming to terms with this terrifying thought that made his heart tremble, the second captain could no longer hold back: "Xu Cang, you still want to land? There is no guidance now, and you don't even have a DME value. It is impossible for you to land!"
Generally speaking, an instrument approach system is accompanied by a DME device. DME stands for Distance Measuring Equipment, which is a very common distance measuring device that can provide the distance value between the aircraft and the DME device.
The reason why instrument approach systems are generally equipped with DME is that after having a distance display during the approach process, the pilot can calculate the height-to-distance ratio through the distance to determine whether he is above or below the standard glide path, and thus make reasonable corrections.
However, the VOR station on Runway 27 is a simple VOR station without DME equipment, so it can only provide horizontal guidance but not display any distance information.
Why did the second captain feel that Xu Cang's idea of ​​continuing the approach was foolish?
In fact, the location of the VOR station on Runway 27 is quite exquisite, right at the end of the runway. If you have a DME display, you can at least use the DME value to judge how far the aircraft is from the end of the runway.
Now the outside world cannot see, without the help of DME, they don’t know when they will fly over the runway! Moreover, this does not take into account the final correction.
Even if Xu Cang could clearly recognize when he would reach the top of the runway, what about the next 300 feet?
Yes, VOR stations can still provide horizontal guidance. However, their accuracy is far from comparable to blind landing signals. It is very likely that the course is not deviated at all on the instrument, but in reality, the aircraft still deviates from the centerline of the runway.
This has nothing to do with the control technology, but the accuracy of the VOR station itself. Why does VOR and other non-precision approaches require more stringent weather conditions than precision approaches? It is because the accuracy of non-precision approaches is not high enough. Even if you follow the navigation guidance, there will still be a large deviation when you visually see the runway.
If the non-precision approach is the same as blind landing and only gives the pilot 60 meters of vertical altitude correction space, the pilot may not have enough time to make corrections.
It is precisely because of this expected difference in the difficulty of correction that the minimum descent altitude for non-precision approaches is usually more than twice the decision altitude for precision approaches. In this way, after entering the visual phase, the pilot can make the final correction to the aircraft more calmly.
Even if Xu Cang could fly over the runway, how would he get down the last 300 feet? Blindly, relying entirely on luck?
The captain in charge also reacted at this moment. He grabbed the three thrust levers with his right hand, hoping to push up the thrust. However, under Xu Cang's control, the three throttle levers were as firm as a rock.
"I don't need a DME. The VOR station itself can provide enough information." Xu Cang said coldly, his words full of determination that could not be questioned: "Follow my orders, I will take you to survive!"
However, the first half of Xu Cang's words sounded like thunder to the second captain's ears, and a flash of inspiration flashed through his mind. Suddenly, he seemed to understand Xu Cang's idea: "You mean... reverse needle?"
In the control room of the airport tower, the controller was closely monitoring the status of British Airways Flight 1009. Before this, the aircraft had maintained a relatively uniform descent rate.
However, suddenly, the aircraft, which had been descending continuously, began to gradually reduce its descent rate, and all of this was seen by the controller.
"Well, what's going on?" A strange thought just came to the controller, but there was no special reaction. When the aircraft is on the fifth leg, it will be affected by the airflow and there will be a short-term fluctuation in the descent rate, but it will usually return to normal in a very short time.
However, in the moment the controller was stunned, he saw that the descent rate of British Airways 1009 had dropped to zero.
"Go-around?" This was the controller's first thought, and he was even waiting for the crew's report. However, after waiting for two seconds, the controller finally noticed something unusual. The plane was actually maintaining an altitude of about 300 feet and no longer descending!
The controller was stunned for a moment and found that British Airways 1009 was neither descending nor ascending, but was simply maintaining its altitude at a low altitude, which was extremely strange.
At this moment, even if the controller did not understand the pilot's specific approach principles, he knew at this moment that the plane was definitely not on the correct track. The deviation was too great and could no longer be explained by human control errors.
"British Airways 1009, are you ok with the altitude? Why aren't you descending?"
After waiting for a second or two, Xu Cang's indifferent but firm voice came over the radio: "We can see the runway, switching to a visual approach."
This sentence was said in English, but the tower controller was stunned on the spot. He stood up slightly and looked out of the tower window, but what he saw was still pitch black, and the lights in the airport were also dim, and the visibility was still extremely poor.
"Can you see the runway at 300 feet?" The tower controller was stunned by Xu Cang's call. In this era, some rules are not very standardized, such as the practice of directly switching from instrument approach to visual approach.
It is actually illegal to change from an instrument approach to a visual approach. First of all, not to mention that visual approaches require extremely stringent conditions. During the final approach phase, the approach method cannot be changed at will. An instrument approach is an instrument approach, and a visual approach is a visual approach. How can you fly however you want?
However, in the past 2,000 years, civil aviation was still in its infancy in many countries, and it was truly unfettered and unconstrained. Therefore, the controller never felt anything wrong because Xu Cang changed the approach method. What confused him was the fact that Xu Cang mentioned that the runway could be seen at an altitude of 300 feet.
You know, the vertical visibility for a Category I blind landing only requires 200 feet. If the crew of British Airways 1009 can see the runway at 300 feet, doesn't that mean the weather conditions at the airport are better than Category I and can take off and land normally?
However, judging from the visual, the weather outside doesn't look like it's above Class 1.
The reason why Xu Cang used the excuse that he switched to a visual approach was because the flight restrictions for a visual approach were relatively few. If he hadn't said that he switched to a visual approach and maintained level flight for a long time during the final approach, even a fool would have known that something was wrong.
Of course, maintaining level flight even during a visual approach is actually quite strange, but it is a little more acceptable than an instrument approach.
The tower controller took another look outside. He could not accept the fact that the weather at the airport was above Category I. He did not care whether British Airways 1009 was about to land or not. He called out directly on the channel: "British Airways 1009, can you really see the runway? The weather conditions reported by the airport do not even meet Category III standards."
But after the tower controller asked the question, there was no response on the radio.
The tower controller looked at the radar and saw that the plane was almost over the runway, but the altitude was still maintained at 300 feet. At this time, even the tower controller realized that something was wrong.
"There is a problem. This is definitely a problem." He quickly picked up the microphone and shouted into the frequency again, his words full of urgency: "British Airways 1009, why haven't you descended yet? Please report your intentions."
However, there was still no response to this call.
The tower controller didn't believe that the radio was out of order, and his face turned pale. He had a vague idea of ​​what British Airways 1009 was going to do...
They are going to land by force!
Just as the tower controller had this thought, everything in the cockpit confirmed his idea.
That’s right, Xu Cang was going to land forcefully!
When approaching the end of the runway, the VOR needle began to deviate significantly. This was not the reason why Xu Cang deviated from the course, but a precursor to the needle being about to reverse.
VOR stands for Very High Frequency Omnidirectional Range Beacon, which is a common navigation device in the aviation industry. Unlike NDB non-directional radio beacons, VOR has a direction indicator, that is, the VOR needle on the aircraft will point to the VOR station in real time.
This feature of real-time pointing to the VOR station will lead to a situation where when the aircraft passes over the VOR station, the VOR needle will reverse 180 degrees, which is what the second captain previously called the "inverted needle"!
Usually VOR stations are installed at the same site as DME stations, which can provide both direction information and distance information. However, Sukarno-Hatta Airport is a rare example of a pure VOR station.
The lack of DME distance information did not bother Xu Cang at all. Xu Cang used the characteristics of the VOR needle to determine the timing of flying over the VOR station. Because the VOR station was right at the head of the runway, the moment the needle fell was exactly the moment when Xu Cang entered the air above the runway.
However, determining the timing to enter the runway is not enough, because the aircraft needs to descend and make final corrections. Even if the VOR course guidance is followed accurately, there will still be errors in the end.
Therefore, Xu Cang needed to do another thing. Previously, the method of reverse needle to determine the timing of entering the air above the runway was just a small matter, and the subsequent actions were the real moment that determined life and death.
The controller's call was still echoing in the cockpit, but no one paid any attention to it.
"Xu Cang, this runway is 4,200 meters long, but your approach altitude is too high. Is there enough runway?" The captain in charge simply trusted Xu Cang completely at this time. What he was concerned about now was whether the plane could land and whether it could stop at the end of the runway after landing.
Generally speaking, the height of the runway threshold is fifty feet, which is the most standard. Of course, some pilots will approach at a slightly lower altitude in order to make the final leveling more comfortable.
Generally speaking, a high approach is more difficult to make, because it involves the issue of controlling the descent rate at ultra-low altitude. However, the altitude of Xu Cang's approach this time can no longer be described as too high, it is six times the standard approach altitude, which is really outrageous.
Entering too high an altitude will cause the final touchdown point to move forward continuously, which means that the distance available for the aircraft to stop will become smaller and smaller.
Although a 4,200-meter runway is quite long, for a behemoth like the 747, there is actually not much room for it.
What's more important is that the captain in charge could not understand whether the plane could descend after entering the runway and how it could descend.
If the descent is delayed, the remaining runway will be even more precarious.
In short, even if he chose to trust Xu Cang helplessly, the captain in charge still felt extremely bleak about his future.
Just as the captain asked this question, Xu Cang suddenly said, "Pull out the air-to-ground logic circuit breaker on the landing gear!"
The second captain was shocked by Xu Cang's request. Xu Cang's thoughts jumped too fast and he could not keep up with Xu Cang's pace at all!
However, at this moment the needle on the VOR indicator has turned ninety degrees!
"Quick! Unplug the logic circuit breaker in the open space!" Xu Cang roared.
"Fuck!" The second captain, who had no idea of ​​the situation, truly believed in Xu Cang unconditionally at this moment. He didn't care what Xu Cang wanted to do and immediately got up and drove away.
The second captain had so much experience that he didn't even need to look for it. He directly located the ground logic circuit breaker in the landing gear area, hesitated for a moment, and pulled it out instantly.
"Xu Cang, pull it out!" the second captain shouted.
At this moment, the VOR needle on the plane was about to reverse. Xu Cang did not wait for the needle to completely reverse, but began to descend in advance. However, Xu Cang manually controlled the descent rate and maintained a relatively small descent rate of about 500.
Xu Cang was a man of great insight. On his way back, he had checked the topographic map of the runway entrance of Sukarno-Hatta Airport.
The clearance conditions on the final leg of Runway 27 at Soekarno-Hatta Airport are indeed quite poor, but there are no obstacles near the head of the runway, so there is no problem in descending the altitude slightly in advance.
The approach altitude of 300 feet created too much pressure on Xu Cang, so much so that he needed to descend early to lower the actual approach altitude as much as possible.
However, even though Xu Cang knew that there was no terrain threat below, he could not let the plane descend too fast, because he was not sure whether the plane was exactly above the runway. If it descended too fast, if there was a large deviation after visually observing the runway, there would be less room for Xu Cang to make corrections.
"It's reversed!" The captain in charge, who had been paying attention to the VOR pointer, reminded Xu Cang the moment he saw the pointer completely reversed.
Xu Cang lowered his gaze, and indeed saw nothing. At this moment, the runway lights of the airport should be turned on as bright as possible, especially at night, but less than 300 feet away, Xu Cang did not even see the shadow of the lights.
However, Xu Cang was not frustrated by not seeing the runway lights. He had expected it. If the runway lights could be seen at 300 feet, all the measuring equipment at Sukarno-Hatta Airport would have been sent to the garbage dump.
Therefore, Xu Cang needs to do something at this moment.
At this moment, the captain in charge and the second captain both held their breath. Finally, they were going to see how Xu Cang would complete the final descent!
So, under the extremely shocked gazes of the two people, Xu Cang pushed the No. 1 and No. 3 engines forward a little with his left hand, then pressed the timer, and finally actually pulled the reverse thrust of the No. 2 engine directly.
The captain in charge and the second pilot were shocked when they saw Xu Cang pull up the No. 2 engine for reverse thrust in mid-air, especially the second pilot. He finally understood why Xu Cang asked him to pull out the circuit breaker of the air-to-ground logic.
It is very dangerous to use reverse thrust in the air. Almost nine years ago, a Boeing 767 aircraft accidentally used reverse thrust in the air during a flight, and the aircraft soon disintegrated.
Therefore, both Boeing and other aircraft manufacturers have put a lot of effort into limiting reverse thrust, and one of the most important things is to suppress the use of reverse thrust in the air.
In fact, if the aircraft is in normal flight, the thrust reverser will not work even if the thrust reverser is manually activated. This is written into the aircraft's behavior logic.
Therefore, if Xu Cang wanted to turn on reverse thrust in the air, he had to suppress the aircraft's air-ground logic system. However, the aircraft's air-ground logic system was attached to the landing gear, and there was no button or switch on the panel that could be turned off directly. Therefore, Xu Cang could only ask the second captain to manually unplug the relevant jumper.
In many cases, it is not allowed for the crew to pull out the circuit breaker by themselves, because it will bring some unknown situations. However, Xu Cang obviously can't care so much.
Even under the almost terrified gazes of the responsible and second pilots, the No. 2 engine did not even start reverse thrust at slow speed. Almost at the moment when reverse thrust was turned on, the fuselage of the aircraft vibrated violently.
The reason why Xu Cang needed to increase the throttle of the No. 1 and No. 3 engines before pulling up the No. 2 reverse thrust was to maintain the aircraft's altitude and speed when the No. 2 reverse thrust was turned on.
Of course, this situation would not last too long! However, Xu Cang did not intend to let this dangerous situation last too long.
Ten seconds! Ten seconds was the limit that Xu Cang could tolerate! Nine years ago, Lauda Flight 004 crashed due to the accidental opening of the reverse thrust in the air, which took only twenty-two seconds from the opening of the reverse thrust to the disintegration.
Xu Cang was unwilling to repeat the mistake of Lauda Flight 004.
Just when the captain in charge was horrified by Xu Cang's crazy behavior and was wondering whether he should take action to stop him in time, his eyes suddenly focused and he saw that the originally dark front was actually slightly lit up with a faint light.
Those are the runway lights!
However, the light was vague, as if it existed, yet also as if it was an illusion, making it difficult to see clearly.
However, it was this illusory light that directly dispelled the captain's idea of ​​intervening in Xu Cang's affairs. At this moment, the captain's thoughts were flowing, and he seemed to understand Xu Cang's thoughts.
That is to use the huge forward airflow generated by reverse thrust at ultra-low altitude to blow away the volcanic ash in front of the aircraft so that the crew can see the runway lights. As long as the crew can see the lights, they have a reference and can land.
I can only say that Xu Cang's idea was a work of genius. He even came up with the idea of ​​using the reverse forward airflow to push away the volcanic ash.
However, the concentration of volcanic ash this time was so high that it only opened a gap in the airflow generated by the reverse thrust. All the crew could see were unreal lights that could not be used as an accurate reference at all.
"Still not working?" the captain in charge murmured.
We have come this far and have seen the faint lights of the runway. The chance of survival is right in front of us, but it is out of reach.
At this moment, Xu Cang's whole body was full of strength, and all 639 muscles in his body were tense.
We can’t wait any longer!
Now, every second that passes is consuming the braking distance after landing. If the plane waits any longer, even if it can land, it will run off the runway and be in danger of death.
So in the fifth second, Xu Cang clenched his teeth so hard that they almost broke and bled, and his left hand pushed the No. 2 engine directly to the front without any warning.
The fuselage, which was already vibrating violently, suddenly seemed to be disintegrating. The huge airflow from the No. 2 engine hit the reverse thrust deflector gate. The impact force of full throttle was so terrible that the airflow actually broke the deflector gate directly.
Even though the reverse thrust system was almost destroyed, the instantaneous forward airflow generated directly cleared the volcanic ash in front.
Finally, finally! Xu Cang saw a clear runway centerline light!
However, just when Xu Cang wanted to make corrections according to the light, the volcanic ash that had been pushed apart was about to close again. But the next moment, accompanied by a deafening roar, the air inlet and outlet of the No. 2 engine simultaneously spewed out a majestic column of flames, and the huge impact force it carried directly swept away all the volcanic ash around the plane.
From the controller's perspective, a vortex inexplicably arose in the endless darkness of the deep space above the runway, as if it was going to swallow everything. Before he could understand what was happening, a flash of light appeared in the vortex, and then it was like thunder, or as if a blazing sun was wrapped in it, exploding with infinite light in the innermost part, and then shining brightly above the runway.
The full thrust reversed the No. 2 engine and destroyed it, but it must be said that the quality of the 747 engine is really impressive. After such a huge explosion, the shock wave only leaked from the front and back, and the engine fairing firmly bounded the explosion range inside the engine.
Under such a violent shock wave, the volcanic ash that was about to close was swept away, and a part of the runway was perfectly displayed in front of Xu Cang.
At this moment, how could Xu Cang miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity gained by scrapping an engine?
At that time, Xu Cang directly reduced the thrust of the No. 1 and No. 3 engines by more than half, but did not completely reduce them. It is true that Xu Cang urgently needed to descend, but at this moment the plane was still about 200 feet high. How could he directly reduce the throttle completely at such a high altitude?
If all of these were collected, the entire 747 would fall down, and the plane would be destroyed and everyone on board would die.
While retracting the No. 1 and No. 3 engines, Xu Cangzhongzhi directly slowed down the throttle of the No. 2 engine, and then pulled up the fuel control switch of the No. 2 engine to cut off its fuel supply to avoid a secondary explosion.
However, perhaps it was really the explosion of the No. 2 engine that shook Xu Cang's mind, or perhaps Xu Cang really had not flown the 747 that many times, so his control over the throttle was not that precise, and he closed the throttle too much on the No. 1 and No. 3 engines.
When the 747 passed the last fifty feet, the frequency of the radio altimeter had already caught Xu Cang's attention. He immediately reacted and increased the throttle of the No. 1 and No. 3 engines.
However, there is a certain delay in increasing the thrust of the turbofan engine, and the inertia of the 747 aircraft is too great. When the thrust of the No. 1 and No. 3 engines was just added, the wheels of the 747 hit the road surface directly and hard, shaking Xu Cang's heart, liver, spleen, lungs and kidneys to the point of breaking.
Just from this one thought, Xu Cang suspected that the plane was about to disintegrate.
However, this was just a thought. The moment the plane touched down, Xu Cang immediately pulled up the reverse thrust of the No. 1 and No. 3 engines, and the captain in charge had already manually pulled the speed brake to the maximum.
When they actually landed, they were horrified to find that the plane's touchdown point had crossed the center circle of the runway, which meant that they had less than half of the runway to slow down.
Xu Cang originally wanted to use the maximum automatic brake, but when he saw this situation, he immediately switched to the maximum manual brake. Xu Cang stepped on the brake pedal directly, and as the lights on the center line of the runway began to turn red, Xu Cang's heart suddenly tightened.
This means there is not much runway left!
However, Xu Cang still did not feel satisfied with the deceleration effect of the 747 due to its huge inertia.
"It's not enough, we can't stop!" The second captain had a sharp eye and immediately felt that there was not enough runway left.
Not only the second captain, Xu Cang actually had the same idea, but he had already used all means to slow down, so what else could he do?
Suddenly, Xu Cang saw that all the lights on the center line of the runway had turned red, and his heart suddenly tightened.
"Not good!" the captain in charge shouted.
At the moment the captain's call came down, the end lights at the end of the runway were already faintly visible.
The plane is about to overrun the runway!
Suddenly, Xu Cang saw a 30-degree escape way on the left side of the end of the runway. He recalled briefly that this escape way was facing a far apron, and the dim lights of the tower had already come into Xu Cang's sight.
In previous studies of the airport map of Soekarno-Hatta Airport, the apron corresponding to this runway should be used for de-icing of slow vehicles, and there should be no aircraft stopping there now.
So, Xu Cang made a prompt decision and pushed the rudder down. Before the captain in charge could react, he rushed straight to the escape route on the left.
"Xu Cang, there's the control tower ahead!" The captain in charge understood what Xu Cang meant, but the control tower was in the center of the apron facing the exit ramp. If they rushed out like this, wouldn't they just crash into the control tower?
However, Xu Cang didn't care about all that. He braked at maximum and drove the plane directly onto the apron.
So, on the tower, the controller clearly saw the strobe lights and navigation lights representing the aircraft running wildly in the darkness, heading straight for the tower.
After leaving the runway, the plane did not go through the apron entrance. Instead, its wheels went over a short stretch of grass and then rushed directly and violently into the apron.
Under the illumination of the landing lights, the crew saw the entire apron, and there was really no aircraft. However, the small building in front of the tower base was already in sight, and this small building was made of glass curtain walls. Under the illumination of the lights, it was so close that the crew could even see the reflection of the aircraft.
As time passed, not only the people in the tower, but also the two captains held their breath. Only Xu Cang stared at everything in front of him with a determined look.
Finally, the huge 747 used up its last bit of energy, and its speed was reduced to an undetectable level. But at this time, the nose of the plane had already approached the glass curtain wall, and the light reflected from the landing headlights made Xu Cang unable to open his eyes.
Suddenly, the plane stumbled forward, and then with a thud, the plane finally stopped.
"Stop!" The captain in charge roared with ecstasy after the initial shock, and the moment he roared, the glass curtain wall that the nose of the plane was against exploded and shattered into countless pieces.
Xu Cang looked at the broken glass fragments scattered on the ground. The dreamlike feeling of surviving a disaster finally became real. It was so wonderful.
Then, a surge of uncontrollable blood rushed to his head, Xu Cang let out a long roar towards the sky, and the entire dark airport wilderness was filled with Xu Cang's cry of victory over fate!