When Spring Airlines flight 9442 from Tianning to Erhai Lake passed through the Jianchuan control area and was about forty minutes away from Erhai Lake, Xu Cang finally ran out of chatter and slumped down in his seat, not wanting to say a word.
At first, Xu Cang felt that the inspector from the bureau was a nuisance sitting in the back, but when the conversation got excited, he didn't bother to care about him anymore. Even the calmer teacher Shi Qi in the back was infected and started to become nonchalant.
In the end, Xu Cang became bored, but Shi Qi became more interested.
"I heard that you asked those eight bureau representatives to resign on their own?" Shi Qi asked curiously, "Do you think the bureau will agree to your request?"
When this was mentioned, even the bureau inspector who had been sitting in the back and had not said a word pricked up his ears.
"I gave them face. If they are sensible, they can just find an excuse to resign so that they won't be embarrassed later. There is a big difference between resigning on their own and being forced to resign as the representative of the bureau. It depends on what they choose."
Teacher Shi Qi didn't react much, but the inspector behind him was so shocked that his eyelids twitched. The high-handed representative of the bureau was just a man in control in Xu Cang's eyes.
The most terrible thing is that what Xu Cang said was not nonsense. From the information he obtained, it confirmed every word Xu Cang said.
This is the most heart-touching thing.
Teacher Shi Qi smiled and said, "What if neither of them chooses?"
"It's okay. The General Administration will force them to choose the path I set for them. There must be an explanation for the captains who died in our company before. The General Administration will give me an explanation." Xu Cang lowered his brows, seeming very sure.
Teacher Shi Qi did not seem to have any doubts about this: "If you had told me this before, I might have doubted it. But now, I think what you said makes sense."
Xu Cang's originally depressed spirit was slightly shaken: "What do you mean by that?"
"My friend at the General Administration told me that the General Administration's Flight Standards Division is already considering a second inspection of our pilots who died recently, and the inspectors will be selected separately, possibly across regions, to ensure fairness. If they pass the second inspection, the previous unqualified conclusion will be revoked." Shi Qi confirmed, "The General Administration is still on your side."
"Hmm? Confirmed?" Xu Cang was quite surprised by the news. However, since Shi Qi told him so, it was likely confirmed. It was estimated that there would be further news soon.
Shi Qi patted his chest and said, "Of course I am. How can I deceive you?"
As soon as these words came out, the inspector from the bureau sitting behind him coughed twice and said, "Shi Qi, don't talk nonsense without the order from the General Administration."
The inspector's words were based on the common idea of ​​self-preservation, but in front of Xu Cang, Shi Qi had no such concerns at all and said whatever he wanted to say.
Xu Cang ignored the reminder of the bureau's inspector. He thought about it for a moment and decided that if the information provided by Shi Qi was true, it really meant that the General Administration was on his side.
There are very few examples of secondary inspections in the history of domestic civil aviation. The General Administration is willing to do so, and its attitude is self-evident.
But why did the General Administration do this?
Xu Cang was still clear-headed. He believed that the General Administration must have a reason for doing this, and he did not think that he could get the General Administration's favoritism without any reason.
"Could it be that incident?" Xu Cang first thought of what he had said about cooperating with the hearing of Japan's JCAB.
At that time, in the absence of any rigid requirements, Xu Cang proposed to actively cooperate with the hearing request of the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau JCAB. The reason was to prevent JCAB from casting a dissenting vote in the CAAC's upcoming director election.
If the General Administration is just returning the favor, then it seems to make sense.
However, this also proves from another perspective that CAAC must have really encountered some problems in the election of a class of directors, otherwise it would not be so cautious.
Xu Cang didn't really care about the attitude of the General Administration, he had plenty of ways to deal with those people. However, the General Administration took the initiative to move closer to him, no matter what the reason was, it was always beneficial to Xu Cang, and it would also save Xu Cang a lot of trouble, which was naturally what he wanted.
Xu Cang hesitated for a moment and said, "After I go down, I will go to the Flying Marks Center to confirm."
After saying that, Xu Cang sat up slightly and asked for the weather of Erhai Lake on ACARS.
While waiting for the METAR message, Xu Cang and Shi Qi began to prepare for the approach.
Erhai Airport operates with a single runway, namely Runway 10/28. Due to cost control, only Runway 28 of Erhai Airport has an ILS system, while Runway 10 on the other side only has VOR/DME procedures.
However, compared with the poor choice of runway direction at some airports, the runway construction angle of Erhai Airport is quite suitable, and the local wind direction of Erhai Lake is also very favorable, with basically no major changes over the years.
This means that the ground wind at Erhai Airport rarely has positive crosswinds, which is a blessing in disguise for Erhai Airport, where the airflow is quite chaotic.
If there is strong wind turbulence and an additional positive crosswind, many pilots may not be able to withstand it.
The good thing about Erhai Airport is that the ground wind is good, so in most cases Runway 28 is used, and even Runway 10 is rarely used.
For pilots, blind landing is always easier to fly than VOR approach.
It can only be said that this is basically the optimal solution under cost control in the construction of the Erhai Airport runway.
Xu Cang has been flying to Erhai Airport for quite some time. He has basically been flying the blind landing on Runway 28, except for one or two times when he flew the VOR/DME non-precision approach to Runway 10 because of a tailwind.
However, due to the extremely severe final turbulence at Erhai Airport, it would be quite stressful for the operator if flying the VOR approach to Runway 10.
Generally speaking, the most common decision height for a Category I ILS is 200 feet, and even below that, pilots can still refer to ILS signals. However, the minimum descent height for the VOR approach to Runway 10 at Erhai Airport is as high as 1,020 feet, which is five times higher than that of a Category I ILS.
The altitude of Erhai Airport is 2,251 meters, which is about 7,400 feet. This means that under normal circumstances, if weather conditions permit, at an altitude of 8,500 feet, the pilot must disconnect the autopilot and fly according to visual control.
As we all know, the accuracy of visual navigation is not as good as that of instrument navigation, especially in civil aviation operations, which basically fly under instrument flight rules. There are very few visual flight rules. This has caused pilots of large civil airliners to rely on instruments instinctively. For visual flight, or such a long period of visual flight, pilots will show a feeling of not being able to adapt.
It doesn't mean that pilots of large passenger aircraft don't fly visually. For example, in a Category 1 blind landing, basically below the decision altitude, the pilots begin to focus their main attention on the outside. This is a process of gradually switching from instrument flight to visual flight.
However, the visual phase of instrument flight and visual flight are two completely different concepts. They are two different flying methods based on different flight rules, even if there are some characteristics that overlap between the visual phase of instrument flight and visual flight.
The 200-foot visual phase is not difficult for most pilots. After all, they have all gone through the visual flight rules training in the aviation school.
However, during the visual phase under instrument flight rules, there are higher flight standards than for visual flight, as well as current concepts such as stabilized approach, so flying needs to be more and more precise, and is far less unrestrained than the visual flight rules during previous flight school hours.
Perhaps it is because of this long-term restraint that pilots are naturally more dependent on instruments, and are tired of and afraid of being separated from instruments. An altitude of 200 feet is still acceptable, but an altitude difference of more than 1,000 feet, relying entirely on the pilot's visual judgment, is very stressful for most pilots.
PAPI lights are a relatively simple optical navigation system, and pilots are prone to visual illusions based on differences in runway length, width, and surrounding reference points.
Just like if the width of the runway is smaller than the normal runway width, that is, the so-called narrow runway, the pilot will have a visual feeling that the aircraft is too high, but in fact, from the feedback of the PAPI light, the aircraft is still on the correct glide path.
Although the pilot may realize that this is just a visual error, the sense of mismatch will make the pilot very uncomfortable and affect the actual control.
Therefore, if there is guidance from instruments, trust in the instruments can offset this insecurity.
Moreover, the final airflow at Erhai Airport is too chaotic. Without instrument guidance, it is easy for errors to accumulate if only visual reference is relied upon, making it impossible to correct them at low altitudes.
The airport may also know this reason, so even if there is a certain tailwind on Runway 28, as long as the tailwind does not exceed the standard, they will still use Runway 28 for blind landing and will not easily use Runway 10 for VOR/DME approach.
Pilots also agree with this, preferring to fly an ILS approach with a tailwind rather than a VOR approach against the wind.
When taking off from Erhai Airport in the first section, Xu Cang and his team took off from Runway 28. According to habit, both of them prepared for blind landing on Runway 28, and did not wait for the weather report from MATAR.
For Xu Cang and Shi Qi, they had flown to Erhai Airport countless times, and there were only two approach directions for Runway 28 at Erhai Airport, east and west, so they knew how to fly with their eyes closed.
In just over two minutes, the cockpit was ready. Looking at the time, there was still about half an hour left. Another ten minutes, and the command should be transferred to the Erhai Tower.
Like many small branch airports, there is no approach frequency at Erhai Lake, only a tower frequency. After switching frequencies, it directly accepts control commands from the tower. It is a standard procedurally controlled airport.
Xu Cang did not miss the ten minutes of lazy time. He yawned and then daydreamed to relax a little.
As a result, just as I relaxed, the heavy voice of the supervisor of the bureau came from behind: "How about changing seats?"
Xu Cang, who was about to drift off, suddenly regained his consciousness. He did not look at the inspector but first glanced at Shi Qi: "What?"
He didn't hear clearly just now.
Shi Qi looked at Xu Cang, then at the inspector: "Are you talking about changing seats?"
The bureau inspector nodded: "Yes, change seats in the air."
"Change seats, what seats?" Shi Qi asked curiously, "You want to fly?"
"I'm an inspector, how come I'm flying here?" The inspector pointed at Xu Cang and said, "You two should switch seats. Let him fly the left seat."
Xu Cang heard it clearly now, but he was even more confused. He pointed at himself and said, "I'm flying the left seat. Why should I fly the left seat?"
Although Xu Cang didn't mind the issue of left and right seats, he was too lazy to do such unnecessary and boring things.
"Yes, the flying rules do not require Xu Cangfei to sit on the left. Moreover, he is the co-pilot, not even a senior co-pilot. Is it necessary for him to fly on the left?" Shi Qi also raised his own questions.
"For him to exercise his co-pilot's authority and qualifications, he does not need to operate from the left seat." The supervisor of the bureau said, "However, Xu Cang has more than one identity. In addition to being a co-pilot of CAAC, he is also an ICAO flight specialist. He needs to maintain the qualifications of an ICAO flight specialist, so he needs to complete a normal landing from the left seat. As you know, after a special event, considering the possible psychological impact, this is a necessary measure."
What the bureau inspector said does make some sense.
For example, after a pilot experiences a major emergency, he needs to consider the psychological or physiological problems that remain.
Needless to say, the physiological aspects can all be dealt with in accordance with the aviation and health regulations. The psychological issues are more difficult to deal with. In this era, the mental state of pilots was not taken seriously enough, and even in later generations, this state has not been fundamentally improved.
Pilots can apply for psychological counseling, but many pilots do not take it seriously. Therefore, in order to determine whether pilots have residual problems after certain incidents, a normal landing is required.
Of course, this requirement only applies to the left seat and the captain.
Because they have reached the left seat level, their landing techniques tend to be perfect and mature, and under normal circumstances, there will be no major changes in movements. If during the landing process, pilots of this level have abnormal landing movements, then it is necessary to consider whether it is a psychological reason.
Certain psychological problems will directly reflect on manipulative actions.
So here, the so-called "normal" landing is not just about landing the plane safely. The control actions must also be standard and standardized. If the landing is done with some substandard techniques, even if it lands, it may be deemed unqualified.
This method is simple and crude, but it has to be said that it is somewhat effective. At least compared to some complicated psychological assessments, this method is relatively straightforward and simple.
Shi Qi thought for a moment and said, "It seems that there is such a rule."
"Really?" Fei Biao was the most familiar with this kind of thing. Xu Cang was not so familiar with it. He did not change seats immediately, but asked the inspector of the bureau: "I have never encountered such a situation when I was in trouble before."
"You were a co-pilot before, and the ICAO flight specialist qualification was not issued until a few days ago. Flight specialist, um... in the past, it was at least the captain who held the position, and had great supervisory power, and naturally the same level as the captain. Of course, you don't have to change seats, and it won't prevent you from exercising your rights as a CAAC co-pilot, but the ICAO flight specialist qualification will be suspended."
Xu Cang and Shi Qi looked at each other. Xu Cang raised his eyelids, let out a long sigh, and a hint of annoyance appeared on his face.
"Is there a problem?" Shi Qi asked, "The wind is a bit strong today."
Xu Cang said nothing and unbuckled his seat belt: "Change seats."
The airflow at Erhai Airport is very troublesome, but for Xu Cang, it shouldn't be a big problem. However, Xu Cang's left hand had just been injured, and Shi Qi was worried that Xu Cang might still be feeling unwell, so he asked.
Since Xu Cang felt that there was no problem, Shi Qi didn't say much. The identity of ICAO flight specialist was still useful, and the relevant qualifications had to be maintained.
The cockpit of the Boeing 737 is very small. If you want to change seats, the observer's seat at the back must also be folded up. Xu Cang unplugged his own aircraft, pulled the seat to the back, stood up, and found that the inspector of the bureau had also stood up and leaned back to the cabin door, making a space in front of him for Xu Cang.
Xu Cang left his seat and stood in front of the inspector with his back to him. At this time, the inspector passed Xu Cang and sat in the right seat first to prevent any accidents on the plane.
Shi Qi saw that the inspector had taken his seat, so he also stood up and left his seat, letting Xu Cang take his seat. After Xu Cang took his seat, Shi Qi exchanged seats with the inspector.
Anyway, one of the criteria for changing seats in the air is to keep at least one pilot on the seat at all times, maintaining continuous monitoring of the aircraft.
Just as Xu Cang sat on the left seat, there was a ding-dong sound from the cockpit. Xu Cang glanced at the printer in the corner of the central console and saw a palm-sized piece of paper slowly coming out from there.
"It's the weather." Shi Qi was adjusting Xu Cang's seat settings. He was taller than Xu Cang and his legs were naturally longer, so he turned the steering wheel forward and lowered the seat height a little.
Xu Cang is actually more accustomed to the left seat than the right seat. After all, he has been the captain for a longer time.
He tore off the paper from the printer, took it and took a look, muttering, "It really is a METAR, 090 degrees and 7 meters?"
Xu Cang was stunned for a moment, and Shi Qi on the right blurted out: "Then the tailwind for Runway 28 is not excessive?"
Xu Cang was not a jerk. ILS was definitely easier to fly than VOR approach. Who would want to fly VOR approach when they could fly ILS? However, his luck seemed to be not very good. The weather report he just received showed that the wind at Erhai Lake exceeded the tailwind standard for Runway 28.
It seems that the blind landing cannot be carried out.
"When was it?" Shi Qi stretched his neck, wanting to see the note in Xu Cang's hand.
Xu Cang handed the note to Shi Qi: "At this point, it looks like we have to fly a VOR."
"When we got up in the morning, there was heavy fog. Now that the sun is up, the fog should have dispersed, right?" Shi Qi said, "If the fog hasn't dispersed, the VOR may not be able to fly."
Since VORs cannot direct pilots to lower altitudes, weather standards are higher.
For example, Runway 10 has a vertical visibility of 200 feet, which theoretically meets the standard, while Runway 28 has a vertical visibility requirement of 1,100 feet, which is a big difference.
When we took off this morning, it was just daybreak and the whole airport was shrouded in fog. For an airport like Erhai, which is flattened by cutting off a mountain, fog is quite common, and once fog appears, it is not easy to dissipate.
According to the situation this morning, it was marginal weather for approach. However, after the sun came out and the wind was strong, it would accelerate the dissipation of fog. Logically speaking, at this point in time, even if the fog had not completely dissipated, the visibility should be better.
"Take a good look. It's foggy here. The sky is full of clouds at 330 meters. The vertical visibility is better, but not much better. It's still marginal weather." Xu Cang said helplessly.
In the weather report, it shows 09007MPS, FG, OVC330m, 17/17, 1010.
Compared with the weather standard of Class I blind landing before takeoff, the current weather conditions are indeed better, but for VOR/DME approach, it is still marginal weather.
"17/17? The temperature and dew point are the same, and the humidity is so high?" Shi Qi was surprised: "If the fog doesn't dissipate at this time , then the whole day will be like this."
The 17/17 here means the temperature is 17 degrees and the dew point is also 17 degrees. Generally speaking, the closer the air temperature and the dew point temperature are, the greater the local humidity is, and the greater the difference is, the drier the local area is.
Generally speaking, when the temperature and dew point are consistent, there is a high probability that precipitation will occur in the area.
There has been no precipitation yet on the Erhai Lake side, but there is a lot of fog, which shows that the air is extremely humid and will not dissipate for a while.
"Let's contact the Erhai Tower in advance." Xu Cang adjusted the second VHF to the Erhai Tower frequency 131.2: "Instructor, you monitor the first one, I will contact the Erhai Tower."
"Please contact them." Shi Qi raised the volume of the VHF signal of the first Jianchuan area control: "I'll monitor the first one, you contact the Erhai Tower."
Xu Cang turned down the volume of the first VHF a little, and then switched the transmitter to the second VHF: "Erhai Tower, Chunxia 9442."
The plane was still a little far from Erhai Airport, and Xu Cang was still worried that the signal might not reach it. After waiting for a few seconds, another man's voice rang in the headset: "Chunxia 9442, Erhai Tower responds."
"Chunxia 9442, expected to arrive in 47 minutes, need entry conditions."
"Chunxia 9442, local 090 degree wind 7 meters, visibility 6 kilometers, cloud base 330 meters, temperature 17 degrees, corrected sea pressure 1010, using runway 10 VOR/DME approach, Erhai 01A approach."
"Erhai 01A approach, VOR/DME approach to runway 10, corrected sea pressure 1010, weather report." Xu Cang paused for a moment: "Is runway 28 available for blind landing?"
"Spring and Summer 9442, this airport has just experienced precipitation, wet runway, tailwind exceeds standard, runway 28 is unavailable."
After these words came out, Xu Cang and Shi Qi's faces were not very good. They had flown the VOR/DME approach to Runway 28 several times before, but when the sky was clear, the difficulty was not very great. Flying a non-precision approach in this marginal weather, the difficulty was skyrocketing.
Xu Cang hesitated for a moment and asked, "Did any of the previous planes land?"
"Chunxia 9442, a plane landed fifty minutes ago. However, the weather conditions were better than now, with visibility of eight kilometers and a cloud base of five hundred meters. According to the forecast of the meteorological department, there is no sign of improvement in the weather at Erhai Lake."
"The visibility is eight kilometers, and the cloud base is five hundred meters high..." Xu Cang couldn't help but feel a little envious. This already left some extra room for the pilots to operate. And the cloud base was more than three hundred meters high, which was really marginal weather.
"See you later then."
After saying that, Xu Cang directly switched the second VHF back to the emergency frequency, and at the same time restored the transmitter to the first VHF.
"I just checked the horizontal visibility requirement for the VOR approach to Runway 28, which is five kilometers. It looks like not only is the vertical visibility just right, but the horizontal visibility is also standard marginal weather." Shi Qi showed Xu Cang the flight chart of the Erhai Lake No. 28 VOR/DME approach: "It says there is no sign of improvement, just don't let it get worse."
Xu Cang put the CDU on the fourth page of the progress page and calculated the remaining fuel after the approach: "How much extra fuel was given?"
"Two thousand pounds, not much." Shi Qi looked at the flight plan and compared the actual fuel volume at the waypoint with the planned fuel volume: "The flight plan gave a cruising altitude of 7,800 meters, and we flew to 9,800 meters when we came back. Although the extra fuel given is not much, we actually have more fuel. If the first attempt is unsuccessful, we can try a second time, but we have to be careful about the fuel volume afterwards."
Since the cruising altitude is much higher than planned, this makes the aircraft more fuel efficient. Otherwise, two thousand pounds of extra fuel is not much.
"Then try at most twice. Jianchuan Airport is at its peak for arrivals at this time, so there may be delays during the alternate landing process." Xu Cang said decisively, "Let's prepare again."
The approach method has been changed, the landing runway has been changed, and the cockpit preparation must naturally be changed as well.
"If it's a wet runway, the autobrake will be switched to the MAX position." Xu Cang pulled out the autobrake selection knob , turned it to the MAX position, and then said, "The VOR approach course of Runway 28 has a three-degree angle with the runway extension line. Due to weather conditions, we have kept the autopilot connected. After visually sighting the runway, we disconnected the autopilot and manually corrected the aircraft's course. During this period, pay attention to reminding the aircraft's descent rate, and remind it if it exceeds one thousand or is less than five hundred. Others... Once you encounter wind shear, add throttle, press TO/GA, maximum thrust, disconnect the autothrottle, start with an attitude of fifteen, and follow the instructions. Do not change the aircraft configuration during the recovery process, check if there are any missed items, and report the rate of climb and speed change trends. After the recovery, first retract the flaps to fifteen, positively ascend the handwheel, connect the autothrottle, and notify the tower. Also, if you lose visual reference, go around immediately. The rest... That's all. Instructor, is there anything else to add?"
Shi Qi groaned for a moment and said, "That's all. However, after changing from wind shear to go-around, pay attention to the speed and the timing of retracting the flaps, and don't exceed the speed limit. That's all."
Xu Cang nodded and glanced back: "Anything else to add?"
The bureau inspector smiled and said, "It's well arranged. I have no objection."
Xu Cang clapped his hands and said, "No objection, that's great, let's do it this way."
Shi Qi did not take this approach too seriously. VOR approach in marginal weather with strong wind turbulence was indeed difficult, but if Xu Cang was in charge, there should be no problem.
"Xu Cang, do you think we should have the airport install another blind landing system on Runway 28?" Shi Qi suggested, "Not only does Runway 28 not have blind landing, but there is also a three-degree angle between the VOR approach course and the runway extension line. It's too troublesome to correct it when visibility is poor."
"Can I deduct the money from your salary?"
Shi Qi's face froze for a moment: "Forget it, VOR approach... is quite interesting."
Xu Cang smiled and moved his left hand. He felt that he didn't feel any particular discomfort, and his heart calmed down a little.
Soon, the frequency was transferred to Erhai Tower.
"Erhai Tower, Spring and Summer 9442, altitude 5,400 meters, Tuobo is at your command."
"Chunxia 9442, standard pressure at altitude 4,800 meters, reporting from above." Erhai Tower said: "The current wind direction and speed at this station is 100 degrees 7 meters, with gusts of 12 meters."
Xu Cang's face darkened, and he looked over at Shi Qi and asked, "How high is the cloud bottom?"
"The cloud base height remains unchanged at 330 meters."
"Got it." Xu Cang dialed up the British altitude of 15,700 feet, complaining, "With such a strong wind, the clouds and fog can't be blown away at all. I don't know what's going on."
Generally speaking, the situation where clouds and fog condense and do not disperse occurs when there is calm wind or very weak wind. Now the gusts are twelve meters, and it still can't blow away the clouds and fog. It's simply weird.
"The airport is right next to Erhai Lake and Cangshan Mountain to the west. There is a story behind it." Shi Qi said with a blink.
Xu Cang knew about that story, it was a folk legend, nothing more than a story about gods and ghosts, Xu Cang naturally didn't believe it. But the fact that the mist had gathered for so long and didn't dissipate was also very strange.
After achieving a descent rate of 1,000 feet, Xu Cang compared the chart and said, "The altitude restriction at Erhai Station is 4,800 meters. There is no problem with the altitude."
The approach procedure for Erhai 01A is to fly over the airspace of the airport, depart on track 170, fly fifteen nautical miles, and then make a continuous left turn to enter the final channel.
There are three key points in this procedure, namely the home point, the procedure turning point, and the final five-side entry point. The home point has a height limit of 15,700 feet standard pressure, the procedure turning point has no height limit, and the five-side entry point has a height limit of 11,200 feet.
In addition, the final approach fix point is 10,300 feet, after which the aircraft enters the final descent phase.
These altitude limit points must all comply with the requirements. You cannot just lower the altitude to that level regardless of anything else given by the control instructions. You must compare them with the restrictions on the aeronautical chart.
Four thousand eight hundred meters is exactly the transition altitude layer of Erhai Airport, and the altitudes below are all corrected sea pressure.
When they passed 17,000 feet, Xu Cang glanced at the landing lights: "10,000 feet, turn on the lights."
Shi Qi turned on the fixed landing lights as required and put the engine start switch to the continuous position.
Xu Cang looked at the two engine start switches and asked, "Why put them in the continuous position so early?"
According to SOP requirements, this switch should be turned to the continuous position after the landing gear is lowered. However, these are minor issues and are not serious.
"We're about to be above Erhai Lake. Be careful in today's weather." Shi Qi tightened his seat belt and signaled to the rear cabin to be careful of the turbulence: "You should also be careful. I'm not kidding you."
Xu Cang smiled: "It's the same excuse. There is a big monster in Erhai Lake, right? I've already said that this is a natural phenomenon..."
Before he finished speaking the last word, the normally functioning plane suddenly lost power and began to plummet, as if some monster had really sucked the plane down from the sky.