At Tokyo's Haneda Airport, since the entire Tokyo airspace was under control, all flights at Haneda Airport, including domestic and international routes, were delayed without exception.
Among them, an American Airlines 747 parked in a corner of the airport was one of the types affected.
They were supposed to launch it ten minutes ago, but after the trailer was hooked up, they were informed that the launch was cancelled due to Tokyo airspace control. The specific time when the airspace was opened was not determined, so they could only wait.
There were two crews on this all-American plane. One of them was still lying in the crew lounge on the second floor. The other was in the first-class cabin of the plane, where there was a man in plain clothes with gray hair and beard, who looked to be about fifty years old.
Unlike other distinguished guests in the first class who were dressed in fancy clothes, he did not seem that noble and was wearing ordinary clothes.
Just now the captain announced the delay, and many passengers who were eager to go home had already started to complain. But this middle-aged man was calm, picked up the magazine on the plane, and flipped through it.
Suddenly, a tall flight attendant came over and whispered to the middle-aged man, "Captain, I want you to go to the cockpit."
That's right, the flight attendant was calling the middle-aged man "captain". In fact, this man was indeed a captain of American Airlines, but he was the captain of an A320 aircraft. He came to Japan for vacation and it was convenient for him to join his own company's crew on the return trip.
The middle-aged man snapped the magazine shut: "Was it delayed for a long time?"
He knew the captain of the flight and they had a good relationship. The only explanation for him being invited into the cockpit was that the flight was delayed for too long and the friend in the cockpit invited him in to chat and kill time .
"It wasn't mentioned before." The flight attendant didn't know the details either.
The middle-aged man looked at his watch and sighed helplessly: "Block it for a while."
After saying that, he stood up and followed the flight attendant to the front cabin workroom. After the flight attendant drew the curtain and opened the cockpit door, the middle-aged man stepped in.
This 747 is the oldest 100 model, and it is equipped with an engineer. It is densely packed with various instruments and switches. If you are not a professional, you will probably be dazzled by seeing all these instruments and switches.
Unlike the 737's toilet-like cockpit, the 747's cockpit is slightly larger. The middle-aged man found a seat and sat down naturally. "How long will the delay be?"
"I don't know, but it looks like it will take a while." The captain pointed to the second VHF on the communication panel: "This is the frequency for Narita approach, listen."
"Hmm?" The middle-aged man raised his eyebrows and listened attentively. Sure enough, the sound of the approach to Narita Airport soon came from the frequency: "ANA45, descending at 6,000 feet, heading 320, corrected sea pressure 1013, reporting remaining fuel time."
"Descending altitude 6,000 feet, heading 320, corrected sea pressure 1013, fuel remaining 17 minutes."
The middle-aged man was stunned for a moment, and pushed the back of the captain's seat: "ANA45? Is there a problem with this flight? Is the fuel shortage?"
"It seems so. Now the entire Tokyo airspace is making way for this plane. The airspace control is because of this plane." said the captain.
The middle-aged man looked puzzled: "It shouldn't be possible, one plane controls the entire Tokyo airspace? What's so serious about this?"
"Who knows!" The captain shrugged. "My friend monitored some information on the frequency of Tokyo area control. It seems that this ANA plane had previously made an emergency landing in Yokohama, but for some reason, it changed its emergency landing to Narita Airport."
The middle-aged man rolled his eyes: "Isn't this clear to you? You still don't understand the reason?"
"Uh..." The captain was a little embarrassed: "My friend is just like us, he can only understand some simple Japanese sentences. It's good enough that he can hear that this ANA plane is making an emergency landing in Narita. It was him who called me and asked me to tune to Narita's approach frequency. It's really lively, the entire Tokyo airspace is sealed off, and so many flights are delayed just for this one plane. What a great honor."
" Something , otherwise Tokyo area control would not agree to close the entire Tokyo airspace. The impact is too great..." The middle-aged man thought for a moment: "Just now the control was asking about the fuel status. The crew reported that there were seventeen minutes left. The remaining fuel has reached the emergency fuel level. Since it has reached the emergency fuel level, why did the crew prefer to change the route to Narita Airport instead of continuing to land at Yokohama Airport?"
The so-called emergency fuel is a professional term in the aviation industry, which means that the estimated arrival fuel of a flight when landing at the nearest suitable airport is less than the fuel to maintain a 30-minute flight time.
The concept of maintaining a flight time of 30 minutes also has a very strict definition. The aircraft should be circling at the airport elevation of 450 meters at the waiting speed, and the weight data used is the aircraft's maximum zero fuel weight, while also taking into account the error of the fuel gauge.
Typically, this amount of oil is set at close to three thousand pounds.
That is, if an aircraft uses the FMC fuel forecast and finds that there are less than 3,000 pounds of fuel remaining after landing, it should consider declaring a fuel emergency.
This is different from what most people think, that as long as there is no fuel shortage or flameout, it is not a big deal. In fact, this is not the case. The concept of margin is followed in civil aviation.
This concept is not only used in aircraft design to generate backups for various systems, but also in actual operations. It is extremely dangerous for an aircraft to stall due to lack of fuel, so regulations must set up a safety margin for this, which is the so-called emergency fuel volume.
Even if the car lands safely in the end, but the oil in the tank is less than the emergency oil level when the car is shut down, it is still an unsafe incident.
At this moment, the problem of ANA Flight 45 was no longer about emergency fuel. The premise of emergency fuel was that the aircraft could fly to its destination and still have enough fuel left to circle at an altitude of 450 meters at the airport for 30 minutes.
Now ANA Flight 45 only has 17 minutes of fuel left, and the situation is much more serious than the emergency fuel level. If it can fly like this, if it is not a critical situation, then the flight crew must have a big problem.
To be honest, although Yokohama Airport is relatively large, it has all the mainstream instrument landing systems. Although the runway is not as wide as Narita Airport, it is not narrow and is definitely sufficient.
With fuel so urgently needed, what were the considerations behind the crew abandoning Yokohama Airport and taking the risk to go to Narita Airport?
"Whatever it is, in ten minutes or so, once the plane lands, Tokyo airspace control will be lifted and we can go." The captain was just there to watch the fun. He put his hands behind his head, lowered the back of his seat to the lowest position, and lay down on the seat. "By the way, it seems you need to renew your license this time. When I came here, I saw your name on the list of expired licenses."
"Ah?" The middle-aged man was a little surprised.
The expiration of a license does not mean the expiration of qualifications. Just like an ID card, a license also has an expiration date. However, the validity period is very long, and many pilots don’t even pay much attention to it.
The middle-aged man took out a small bag from the lining of his clothes, and inside was his pilot's license. He definitely didn't need to bring this on vacation, but he needed to add a crew, and sometimes they would check his documents, so just in case, he brought his license.
Of course, even if they check documents, they usually only check the flight attendant boarding pass. He is a relatively cautious type.
After flipping through the license for a while, he saw the expiration date in the lower right corner of the second page. The middle-aged man smiled and said, "That's true. I wouldn't have noticed it if you hadn't told me."
Next to the expiration date of the license was the pilot's signature with a series of letters on it, which was his name - Chesley Sullenberger.
At this moment, on ANA Flight 45, Xu Cang's forehead drooped on the collapsed mode control panel, and he asked weakly: "Narita Approach, apply to use Runway 08."
"No. 08?" When Schallenberg heard the words on the radio, his eyes couldn't help but look at the pre-adjusted localizer and starting heading on the control panel in front of the cockpit. Both were set to 261, which meant that they should use Runway 26 to take off at Haneda Airport.
Not to mention Schallenberg, the captain present was also a little puzzled: "Isn't that wrong? Narita should be the same as Haneda. We use Runway 26 here, so Narita should be the same."
"No. 08?" The captain next to him in the cockpit of ANA 45 was stunned and said quickly: "Xu Cang, we should use No. 26, No. 08 has a tailwind."
Narita Airport is very close to Yokohama Airport, and the runways of the two airports are also very close, and the winds are basically the same. Previously, Xu Cang and his team landed on Runway 27 at Yokohama Airport, so they should have used Runway 26 at Narita Airport.
When contacting Yokohama Airport, the approach frequency was informed of the local wind of Narita Airport. If we choose to land on Runway 08, we will need to bear a tailwind of about three meters.
Of course, this tailwind is within the standard, but in civil aviation, no, it should be the entire flying industry, landing against the wind is considered to be relatively basic common sense. How can you land with a tailwind?
"I know." Xu Cang just responded.
Sure enough, Narita Airport Control also raised the same question: "ANA45, there is a three-meter tailwind for landing on Runway 08. Runway 26 can be used."
Narita Airport approach control thought Xu Cang had misunderstood that Runway 26 was unusable or had ignored the impact of the local wind.
However, Xu Cang soon explained the reason for choosing Runway 08: "For the Narita approach, we calculated that the fuel volume is only enough for us to make one approach. Once we make a go-around, we cannot make a second approach. If we make a go-around, we will not return, but directly maintain our course into Tokyo Bay for an emergency landing."
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the American Airlines cockpit on the ground was shocked.
"Emergency landing in Tokyo Bay?" Schallenberg thought he had misheard. "Is that what he said?"
His Japanese language skills were only average, so he had to verify the shocking news with his friends.
In fact, the captain's Japanese was not that good, but he nodded confidently, "Yes, he said to make an emergency landing in Tokyo Bay. No wonder he applied for Runway 08, even if he had to endure the influence of the tailwind. If I remember correctly, once Narita Runway 08 makes a go-around, it will be right in front of Tokyo Bay. Is the fuel shortage so urgent? There is no fuel left even for a third turn."
Tokyo Bay is just northeast of Narita Airport. If you use the conventional runway 26 to land, if you fail to land and take off, you need to turn 180 degrees in the air to make an emergency landing in Tokyo Bay. Normally, turning around may not be a big deal, but when the fuel is extremely tight, it is very likely that the plane will stall due to lack of fuel once you take off. At this time, altitude is everything, and turning is the easiest way to lose altitude. Xu Cang must prevent this fatal possibility from happening at all costs.
"This guy is so calm. He knows what he wants, what risks he will take, and how to avoid these risks." The captain present exclaimed.
Everyone makes mistakes, and being prepared and being unprepared are two completely different concepts. However, many people don’t know how to judge the risks they may encounter in the future, let alone quickly analyze solutions based on this.
This is the excellent quality of being calm and composed in the face of emergencies.
"But is this the captain of ANA? He talked about water landing as if it was a joke." The captain present asked curiously, "I really want to know if it is necessary to bring it up so deliberately? Can't they just land directly? Or is there something wrong with the plane?"
At the end of his speech, the captain present suddenly had an idea. He turned around and looked at Schallenberg, and found that he was looking out of the cockpit with a frown on his face.
"What's wrong?" asked the captain.
Salenberg's brows furrowed even more tightly: "But we can't make an emergency landing in Tokyo Bay!"
"What's the meaning?"
In the cockpit, even the co-pilot and the engineer couldn't help but cast inquiring glances at Schallenberg.
Shallenberg raised his hand and pointed to the distance. At the far end of his finger, there was a long dragon-like bridge spanning east and west, and it was located right above Tokyo Bay.
"There's a bridge over Tokyo Bay." Shallenberg frowned. "Can this make an emergency landing in Tokyo Bay?"
However, Xu Cang had not thought of this in the cockpit of ANA Flight 45. After all, he was just a mortal, and everyone would make mistakes, especially at the moment when Xu Cang was in very poor physical condition.
Xu Cang seemed to have taken the issue of forced landing in Tokyo Bay for granted. However, this was obviously not an easy issue to think of, at least the captain of ANA Flight 45, who was from Tokyo, had no such awareness at all.
Before deciding to go to Narita Airport for an emergency landing, Xu Cang revealed to him the decision to make an emergency landing in Tokyo Bay. Although he felt extremely shocked at the time, after thinking about it carefully, this was the only chance of survival he could find.
Therefore, when Xu Cang mentioned to Narita Aircraft that they might make an emergency landing in Tokyo Bay, the captain's reaction was not very strong. Of course, as a Tokyo native, he had no idea that there was a bridge across Tokyo Bay and whether the bridge would cause any harm to the subsequent emergency landing.
The captain responded quickly: "If flight 08 makes a go-around, do you plan to fly straight to Tokyo Bay and make an emergency landing?"
The captain thought about it for a moment and couldn't help but marvel at Xu Cang's thoroughness. He really had thought of every detail.
However, compared to the captain's acceptance, the performance of Narita Airport's approach control was obviously not that good. After Xu Cang raised the possibility of an emergency landing in Tokyo Bay, Narita Airport's approach control remained silent for a full minute without responding.
Xu Cang did not urge him. His head just leaned on the edge of the damaged control panel. He didn't want to say a word unless it was necessary.
Not sure if it was because of excessive blood loss, Xu Cang felt dizzy.
"What if they don't agree?" At this juncture, the captain became a little worried.
Xu Cang half-closed his eyes, his voice weak but full of the most firm determination: "I am not applying, I am informing. Whether they agree or not has nothing to do with me. Once the go-around is allowed, this plane will be forced to land in Tokyo Bay, that's for sure."
In matters concerning his own life and death, Xu Cang felt that he had the highest priority. If the plane ran out of fuel, they would not be able to turn at all. Turning would consume the precious altitude of the plane, which would also consume the chance of survival.
Xu Cang hesitated for a moment and said, "We will postpone lowering the landing gear for a while, and try lowering the landing gear manually again."
Since releasing the landing gear will bring more resistance to the aircraft, and the fuel supply is already tight, releasing the landing gear too early will consume more fuel, which is obviously unwise.
When checking the fuel level after the missed approach at Yokohama Airport, a rough calculation showed that the aircraft had enough fuel for a second approach. However, the further the aircraft flew toward Narita Airport, the more outrageous the FMC fuel forecast became.
Only then did Xu Cang remember that the FMC's fuel prediction was not accurate when the landing gear was lowered, so he had to ask the captain to look up the performance table for landing gear lowered in the performance section of the QRH.
With this calculation, how can there be a second approach? Because the front and right landing gears could not be retracted, flying with the landing gears obviously consumed more fuel than flying in a clean configuration, so even the fuel reserve for a single approach was somewhat stretched.
Even if we fly to Narita Airport, there is no 100% guarantee, so why consider the so-called second approach?
There is another fatal problem. If you want to take off, it is well known that the initial climb phase of the go-around requires a large thrust, or even full thrust.
During the approach, since most of the time is in the descent phase, the average thrust can actually be kept at a relatively low level. However, once the throttle is almost fully extended for a go-around, the fuel consumption will instantly increase, and such a large flow rate is simply fatal when fuel is scarce.
Therefore, after asking the captain to review the landing gear lowering part in the performance chapter, Xu Cang abandoned all fantasies about the second approach and was mentally prepared for an emergency landing on the water.
Perhaps the only thing to be thankful for was that Xu Cang had previously made an emergency water landing in the waters near the coast of Qizhou, but that time he used an A320, so the situation was naturally slightly different.
Soon, Narita Airport responded: "ANA45, we have contacted the maritime department. If we have any news, we will inform you immediately."
As expected, until a decision had to be made, avoiding the question of whether to agree to an emergency landing in Tokyo Bay was the best option. In any case, Tokyo Bay is an extremely busy port with a large number of ships moored and cruising in it. How could such waters be suitable for an emergency landing of a large passenger plane?
However, under normal circumstances, it is not easy for the authorities to refuse directly and just drag it out. If ANA Flight 45 can land safely at Narita Airport, then this option will not be necessary.
Naturally, you will not be held responsible for what you say as a result of this choice.
How could Xu Cang not know what those people were thinking, but he didn't care and just responded casually.
After that, Xu Cang handed the plane over to the captain in the left seat, and he called the cabin crew on the intercom and gave them instructions for the next matters.
"The plane will land at Narita Airport in about fifteen minutes. Due to the landing gear, the plane will most likely make an emergency landing on the runway. Please listen to our commands and pay attention to issuing anti-collision posture instructions."
Because the chief stewardess was in poor health, the first-class stewardess was now in charge of the cabin command. Compared to the previous panic, the first-class stewardess was in a much better condition after calming down.
"Got it." The first-class flight attendant said immediately.
Xu Cang paused: "Evacuate and listen to our orders. If an unexpected situation occurs and the cockpit cannot issue an evacuation order, you should call the cockpit as much as possible. If there is no response within 30 seconds, it is up to you to decide whether to evacuate. Got it?"
I have to say that Xu Cang's explanation was quite clear. There was no sign of the immaturity of a co-pilot in him at all. Instead, he had the steadiness of a captain.
The first-class flight attendant silently noted in her mind: "I know."
"In addition..." At this point, Xu Cang's tone has become a little serious: "If the plane takes off at Narita Airport, we will not make a second approach, but will choose to make an emergency landing in Tokyo Bay."
"East...Tokyo Bay?" Like everyone else when they first heard the decision, the first-class cabin attendant was so shocked that she almost stuttered. A water landing is almost the most difficult form of evacuation, especially during emergency drills.
"I don't have time to explain to you why we have to make an emergency landing in Tokyo Bay. This is the situation. As long as we take off from Narita Airport, we will definitely make an emergency landing in Tokyo Bay. Maybe we won't be able to remind you in time at that time, you can just rely on your own physical judgment. Once the plane takes off, it is a signal to switch from an emergency landing on land to an emergency landing on water." Xu Cang said solemnly.
Landing on land and water are two completely different concepts. If you are not well prepared, it is easy to cause a big accident during the evacuation. However, it is almost foreseeable that once the plane takes off at Narita Airport, the fuel will be basically exhausted. The cockpit may not be able to control the cabin and there will be no time to give orders.
Therefore, Xu Cang must take advantage of this opportunity to explain everything to the first-class cabin attendant. If necessary, the attendant will make the final decision.
"Use this last moment to check the evacuation procedures for the two emergency landings and allocate tasks. In particular, you must determine the location of the life raft. You know where the life raft is on the luggage rack, right?"
The first-class flight attendant was startled: "I know. What about the life jackets?"
"Put it on now, quickly!" Xu Cang ordered.
Once the ship is pulled from Narita to the forced landing in Tokyo Bay, the time interval will be too short to put on life jackets, so passengers will have to wear them in advance.
"Okay, I got it." The first-class flight attendant nodded heavily, acting like an acting chief purser.
Xu Cang recalled it in his mind, and it seemed that there was nothing else to explain, so he just said: "Let my friend answer the phone."
Soon, Xia Shuyue's voice rang out from the other end of the line: "Brother, you called me?"
"Shu Yue, the plane will make an emergency landing soon, and you are not allowed to participate in the evacuation. Listen to me, you are a passenger, and once the flight attendant announces the evacuation, you will evacuate with the passengers. Do you understand?" Xu Cang's voice rarely rose a few notches, sounding even a little stern.
At this time, Xia Shuyue was sensible and did not add any more burden to Xu Cang: "Brother, don't worry, I will take good care of myself."
Xu Cang was very pleased. Xia Shuyue sometimes behaved like a little girl, but at critical moments, she was not clingy at all, which made Xu Cang like her even more.
After hanging up the internal call, Xu Cang took off his headphones and threw them aside. He looked like he was exhausted.
"Do you have the confidence to land on a single wheel?" Xu Cang said calmly.
When this question was mentioned, the captain was silent for a long time, and didn't say anything, just shook his head. He could see that Xu Cang was in a bad state, but to be honest, he was indeed unsure and had a serious lack of confidence.
Xu Cang clenched his right fist and then released it, then clenched it again and released it again, repeating this process. The captain couldn't tell what Xu Cang meant by this little action, but he instinctively had a bad feeling.
"Can you take the controls?" the captain asked carefully, knowing that Xu Cang's right hand was holding the steering wheel.
The reason why Xu Cang kept clenching his fists was that he felt that his grip strength was far weaker than before. This was not sudden or aimless, but was caused by excessive blood loss and physical weakness.
Xu Cang stroked the steering wheel. Under the circumstances, he could only nod his head: "Let me take the controls."
"What about the accelerator?"
Xu Cang's right hand was fine, but his left hand was injured, and his palm was wrapped in thick bandages, which seemed to make it difficult to operate the throttle. The captain thought that if necessary, he could play the role of Xu Cang's left hand and control the throttles of both engines.
However, Xu Cang shook his head: " No , I can do it myself."
Fortunately, the throttle lever only has two strokes, forward and backward. Although it might be painful, Xu Cang still felt that it was safer to cooperate with himself.
"Xu Cang, I heard that you have completed an emergency water landing in China. Do you want us to skip the single-wheel landing and go directly to an emergency water landing?" asked the captain.
Xu Cang's reputation for completing an emergency landing on the water near the coast of Qizhou spread abroad. In any case, an emergency landing on the water is an extremely amazing operation, which is the best in any country.
It is even said that ANA's flight department organized a study session on Xu Cang's emergency landing in Qizhou.
There is a set of procedures for emergency landings on water. However, just having a set of procedures does not mean that it will be successful. The angle and speed of entering the water during an emergency landing will directly affect the survival rate.
However, water has unpredictable shapes. Who can guarantee that the angle and speed of entering the water are the most appropriate each time?
Xu Cang is no exception!
"Do you think that a water landing is easier than a land landing on the runway?" Xu Cang was somewhat helpless. The captain had never experienced a water landing. Perhaps he knew that a water landing was difficult, but he had no clear idea of ​​how difficult it was. It was difficult to judge such a thing without experiencing it personally.
The captain's idea seemed a bit naive. He thought Xu Cang had done a water landing once before, and with experience, the success rate should be relatively high. Given his infinite fear of landing on one wheel, he hoped to skip the single wheel landing and progress to Xu Cang's more skilled water landing.
The captain didn't know how to respond to Xu Cang's words. He hesitated for a while before saying, "I just feel that you have had successful experience."
"Some experiences cannot be used as reference." Xu Cang sighed: "Also, there is a more important reason..."
Xu Cang said, pointing to the broken windshield: "In this case, do you still think that a water landing is a good idea?"
The captain's breath was choked, and he had completely forgotten about the windshield. Indeed, if the windshield was broken, once the plane made an emergency landing on water, a huge amount of water would pour into the cockpit, and the people in the cockpit would be in great danger and could drown if they were not careful.
"Once we choose to make an emergency landing on the water, we are really risking our lives."
In Xu Cang's opinion, an emergency landing in Tokyo Bay was not a good solution from any angle. It was just a desperate struggle when there was no other way out.
"I understand." The captain lowered his head dejectedly, and his mood seemed to be even lower.
He was still thinking too simply, and his understanding of future dangers was not accurate enough. The actual crisis was much more serious than he expected.
There are also life jackets in the cockpit, but the inflated life jackets will seriously affect the pilot's control, so neither Xu Cang nor the captain plans to wear life jackets.
However, with the cooperation of the two, the captain was able to inflate the two life jackets. He then placed the inflated life jackets on each side of the two people. If you make an emergency landing on the water, even if you don't have time to put them on, it is at least a good idea to just hold on to the inflated life jackets.
Moreover, for someone like Xu Cang who is not good at swimming, this inflatable life jacket is even more precious.
After everything was prepared, the captain still controlled the plane in the early stages, while Xu Cang conserved his energy and the control of the plane was handed over to Xu Cang after the plane reached a low altitude.
At this time, the benefits of clearing the airspace are so obvious. From beginning to end, there was only one plane flying in the entire Tokyo airspace, ANA Flight 45. It is really a vast sea for fish to leap and a high sky for birds to fly.
In order to save fuel, the Narita approach control naturally guided the aircraft to the final approach using radar. This operation was not difficult. The captain was not used to looking at the ground speed and cabin altimeter at the beginning, but after adapting for a period of time, he was able to allocate his energy more skillfully.
Narita Airport did not have the problem of unstable glide path, so the approach control guided the aircraft to about eight nautical miles to cut into the final leg. Under Xu Cang's command, the aircraft began to slow down from the smooth configuration at three nautical miles from the cut-in point.
During this time, Xu Cang took the plate with his right hand and said, "Let's lower the landing gear manually."
This time, every second counts. In order to save fuel as much as possible, the two of them delayed lowering the flaps. In addition, the length for cutting into the fifth leg was not sufficient, so he had to move faster, otherwise, it would be difficult to reduce the speed.
When performing the action, the speed has been reduced to 180 knots of flap five, which naturally meets the landing gear release speed limit of 270 knots.
After confirming that the speed was OK, the captain immediately unbuckled his seat belt, pulled his seat back, leaned back, opened the manual landing gear cover on the entrance floor, and pulled out all the manual landing gear handles for the front and right landing gears.
After the manual landing gear handle is pulled out, the lock is released when the handle is pulled to the limit. In theory, the red indicator lights of the front and right landing gears will light up at this time.
But what’s embarrassing is that the red indicator lights on the front landing gear and the right landing gear were already on.
In this case, the captain didn't care. After the last manual landing gear handle was pulled out, he immediately counted to fifteen seconds in his mind, and then without hesitation, he lowered the landing gear handle.
As the landing gear handle was lowered, the captain immediately looked at the landing gear indicator, shouting in his heart, "Put it down quickly."
However, after waiting for a few seconds, the green light of the left landing gear had lit up, but the front landing gear and the right landing gear remained the same as before, with only the red light on.
The captain looked up and checked the standby landing gear indicator on the rear top panel. The green light on the left landing gear was on, but there was no reaction on the other two.
"Damn it!" Even Xu Cang, who was always calm, couldn't help but feel emotional at this moment. However, he quickly adjusted his mood and gave the order: "Execute the landing checklist for partial or full retraction of the landing gear."
"Okay!" Although the captain's expression was not very good, he still carried out Xu Cang's request seriously.
"Set flaps forty reference speed."
After completing the operation on the CDU, the captain pulled out the landing gear sound warning jump switch of P6-3:D18 against the airflow. This was to prevent the landing gear sound warning from occurring when the landing gear was retracted and the landing flaps were selected.
Afterwards, the flight control automatic speed brake trip switch of P6-2:B9 was pulled out to prevent the ground spoiler from accidentally being released after landing.
"Don't arm the autobrake, don't arm the speed brake." The captain confirmed to Xu Cang: "After landing, use the manual brake, and I will manually operate the speed brake."
At this time, the plane had already entered the final approach course. Xu Cang slowly reduced the throttle and began to slow down.
Xu Cang tried his best to control the throttle with his fingers to avoid touching the wound on his palm. However, even with such caution, when he drove the thrust handle, he still pulled the wound on his palm, which was very uncomfortable.
However, things had come to this point, and Xu Cang had no choice but to shoot.
As the plane slowed down, the captain lowered the flaps to forty: "Wind correction plus five, three meters downwind, reference speed 151."
The control panel was damaged, and the captain could not adjust the reference speed. He could only give Xu Cang voice prompts. However, this was enough for Xu Cang.
At an altitude of one thousand feet, the tower gave landing permission, and Xu Cang did a final preview of the landing procedure: "After landing, release the speed brakes. Listen to my command. It is expected that the speed brakes will be released after the landing gear, nose and engine nacelles have all touched the runway. Do not use reverse thrust. When the leveling begins, you will shut it down yourself... Wait, I said it wrong, don't turn off the fuel pump."
Xu Cang shook his head and followed the normal landing checklist for partial or full retraction of the landing gear. When leveling off, all fuel pump switches needed to be turned off.
However, Xu Cang had to consider the possibility of a go-around. If all the fuel pump switches were turned off, wouldn't all the engines be shut down?
However, even if the fuel pump switch is not turned off, the engine may not be able to last for too long. The fuel levels on both sides have already bottomed out, and the low fuel level warning has appeared a long time ago.
The captain's heart tightened. Xu Cang's reaction just now was not a good sign. It showed that Xu Cang's physical condition was really very bad and it began to affect his thinking ability.
However, at this moment, the captain didn't know what to say. The most important thing was that he himself didn't have the confidence to take over.
"Approach gear inhibit switch, inhibit! Engine bleed air switch off." As the captain finished the last bit of work, he directly switched the transmitter of the communication panel to the passenger PA: "Crew, take your positions."
As before, Xu Cang still planned to rely entirely on the blind landing signals of the instruments to let the plane descend to a sufficiently low altitude, such as fifty feet. Xu Cang still had some confidence in his own control ability, and he believed that he could rely on the unguided blind landing signals to descend to fifty feet.
In fact, the final airflow at Narita Airport was not strong either, and everything seemed to be in line with Xu Cang's expectations. His plan was to touch down with a slight left bank, letting the left main wheel touch down first, and then decelerate gently and consistently while the bank returned to normal.
The reason why speed brakes and reverse thrust cannot be used in this situation is that once used, the aircraft will not be able to maintain a state of gentle deceleration, causing the fuselage of the aircraft to contact the road surface prematurely. At high speeds, it may cause the fuselage to disintegrate or the friction of the fuselage to ignite the fuel and explode.
Xu Cang had rehearsed countless times in his mind how to touch down and at what slope to touch down, and the airflow on the final leg was quite considerate, not giving Xu Cang any extra burden. However, Xu Cang actually had an uneasy thought in his heart, that is, Narita Airport was too close to Tokyo Bay.
The air currents at the junction of land and water are usually not very stable, especially at low altitudes.
However, when they were close to the runway and the radio altitude of fifty feet was reported, Xu Cang immediately turned his eyes outside despite the air current.
According to the plan, Xu Cang will start to press the left pressure plate the moment his eyes move outward, but the amount of pressure will be very small. In order to offset the control input of the left pressure plate, Xu Cang will simultaneously apply right rudder.
This amount must not be too much, otherwise once the aircraft forms an obvious sideslip, it will be easy to sink and become uncontrollable.
Twenty feet!
Xu Cang's control was so precise that after a slight left bank, the plane actually stayed firmly on the center line of the runway, without deviation. If this moment was a matter of life and death, the captain in the left seat would definitely be obsessed with Xu Cang's unparalleled exquisite control.
This is simply art.
Ten feet!
It seemed like the weather was really good, and there was no noticeable air current at such a low altitude.
“Success!”
Even Xu Cang had such thoughts at this time.
However, just as Xu Cang had this thought, as if to take care of Xu Cang's slight laziness, an unknown airflow suddenly rose before the left landing gear was about to touch the ground. The balance maintained by Xu Cang was so delicate yet extremely fragile, like a piece of porcelain that would break at the slightest touch.
If all these changes could have happened earlier, it would be enough to attract Xu Cang's attention and make corrections.
Before this, Xu Cang had been worried about the geographical location of Narita Airport. But until it was ten feet below the ground, the plane was stable, and everything was going according to Xu Cang's control. It is said that a journey of a hundred miles begins with a single step, and Xu Cang fell at the last step before the finish line.
He was too tired, and the physical fatigue had affected his concentration. At the moment before landing, Xu Cang still showed his helplessness as an ordinary person. However, in fact, everything was doomed. Even if Xu Cang had not been distracted at all and could have maintained his strong concentration for a long time as if nothing had happened, the timing of the airflow was too coincidental, so coincidental that even if Xu Cang discovered it at the first time, he was powerless.
The airflow was not actually very strong. It just blew gently from the left side of the plane to the right side, as if smoothing out the wrinkled surface of the lake. The plane, which was supposed to touch down with a left slope, suddenly began to tilt to the right when the left landing gear touched down.
At this moment, Xu Cang already knew that this landing was a failure, a complete failure, with no possibility of recovery.
Fortunately, Xu Cang was distracted for only a moment, which did not mean that he was not aware of his current situation. Without any hesitation, at this point, forcing the plane to land would basically result in the destruction of the plane and the death of everyone on board.
He stepped on the accelerator to its full extent, and with the huge roar of the engine, the left landing gear touched the pavement like a dragonfly touching the water, and then separated immediately, and the plane took off from the ground.
The moment the plane took off, Xu Cang had an uncontrollable thought in his mind, a thought that was based on the most primitive escape instinct under fear. If he turned around and landed on another runway at Narita Airport, would there be a slight chance of success?
The reason why Xu Cang had not planned to turn around and land in the opposite direction on the same runway was that turning would cause a very rapid loss of altitude. If the aircraft ran out of fuel and stalled during the flight, it would not be able to maintain altitude at all, which would be extremely dangerous. Second, due to the existence of the turning radius, if the aircraft was to turn back and land in the opposite direction, the actual turning angle would be more than 360 degrees.
There is a parallel runway at Narita Airport. If you turn right after climbing, you can land without considering the turning radius. However, there is a big problem. That is, the parallel runway is under construction and nearly half of the pavement is actually unusable.
Landing on such a short runway is actually very, very difficult.
But, for some reason, Xu Cang was like a possessed man, wanting to turn right and directly cut into the fifth side of the parallel runway.
However, at the moment when Xu Cang had this thought, the No. 2 engine trembled violently and stalled at this critical moment. Of course, this was not unexpected. When the plane leveled off, the fuel levels in the two main fuel tanks had actually returned to zero. After the engine consumed the remaining fuel in the pipeline, it stalled as expected.
Xu Cang reacted quickly. He held the left rudder the moment the No. 2 engine stalled and instructed the captain to retract the flaps. After confirming that the landing gear cover was manually lowered, he retracted the landing gear handle.
"We turn right onto Runway 25?"
Just as the captain was busy, Xu Cang suddenly said this.
The captain's face suddenly changed. They had actually considered this plan. However, it was Xu Cang who rejected it at the time. The No. 2 engine had already shut down, and the No. 1 engine would also shut down in a foreseeable very short time. So at this moment, the altitude was the most precious. How could they possibly cut into Runway 25 in a steep turn?
Moreover, half of the runway 25 is under construction, so even if the plane cuts in, it is still questionable whether it can land on the runway.
All in all, cutting into Runway 25 was a plan that was almost impossible to be approved. However, during this time, Xu Cang actually brought up the old matter again.
The captain was just about to give some advice, but when he turned around, he saw Xu Cang's pale face. The face, which actually looked young, was full of fear.
"So he gets scared too!" the captain thought to himself at this moment.
Yes, how could they not be scared? The plan of cutting into Runway 25 seemed to be a sure death, so was the method of forced landing in Tokyo Bay really a good solution? Even if they entered the water normally, the water that subsequently poured into the cockpit would have a high probability of drowning them. In this plan, the two people in the cockpit were actually in danger of death.
Even though he had been on the brink of life and death so many times, when he once again faced death, Xu Cang still couldn't help feeling the fear from the inside out.
Human beings are such emotional creatures.
"Aren't you afraid?" Xu Cang suddenly asked.
The captain, who had been obeying Xu Cang before, was relieved at this moment. He smiled and said, "Xu Cang, don't let fear blind your eyes."
Xu Cang trembled all over. Facing the fierce airflow, Xu Cang slightly opened his eyes: "But when I saw the object in front of me clearly, it was a scene that made me feel desperate."
"What?" The captain was startled, half-closed his eyes, and looked outside. Right in front of the plane, the huge and vast Tokyo Bay appeared before him. There were many ships in Tokyo Bay, but most of them were parked on the shore, with a large open area in the middle.
This should be a suitable water area for an emergency landing, but a huge bridge connecting the two banks divides the entire Tokyo Bay into two. The originally wide enough water area was immediately divided into two parts and became precarious in an instant.
"Not enough time for an emergency landing?" The captain looked as pale as death.
He previously supported the water landing because it took into account the pilot's skills and could reduce the risk. However, the plan of turning right and cutting into Runway 25 was not only extremely dangerous, but also extremely luck-dependent, and did not allow the pilot to decide his own fate.
But now, the forced landing in Tokyo Bay, which had given the captain all his hopes, presented a picture of despair in his eyes.
The bridge divides the water into two parts, and the area of ​​either part is not large enough to support an emergency landing of a large passenger plane.
"This..." The captain never expected things to turn out like this: "This shouldn't be like this. How could it be like this?"
He actually forgot that there was a bridge over Tokyo Bay. As a Tokyo native, he actually forgot this.
Just as the captain was filled with regret, the only remaining engine No. 1 spewed out a faint black smoke and began to vibrate slightly. The captain's muscles tensed up all of a sudden. This was a very, very bad sign.
Engine number one is also about to shut down.
"Xu Cang!" The captain's heart was pounding, and he seemed to have smelled the breath of death. Perhaps, he should have followed Xu Cang's instructions and turned right to cut into Runway 25 and give it a try?
The captain gritted his teeth and said, "I forgot about this bridge. I should have reminded you."
Xu Cang was not a local, so it was normal that he did not think of it. But he made such a big mistake and directly ruined the lives of the entire plane.
Xu Cang opened his eyes slightly, as if the strong airflow could no longer affect his eyes: "Is there a bridge? Then let's cross it!"
"What did you say?" The captain was stunned. He obviously didn't understand what Xu Cang meant.
"Thank you for reminding me just now." Xu Cang straightened his back. At this moment, he was not afraid. People are like this. There will be a moment when they suddenly feel very scared, but as long as they cross that hurdle, everything will be clear.
What about the Tokyo Bay that splits it in two, and what about the bridge that is like a natural moat?
It’s time to let the Japanese see what the pinnacle of human strength is!