“Damn it!”
In an instant, the plane's autopilot was torn off, and Xu Cang quickly grabbed the steering wheel and stepped on the accelerator to control the plane. Fortunately, the impact just now only lasted for a moment, and the plane's condition quickly recovered.
After adjusting the plane back to a normal descent rate, Xu Cang reconnected the autopilot and autothrottle and let out a long breath: "We just dropped more than two hundred feet in an instant."
Shi Qi's face was slightly pale, but he had prepared himself mentally, so the situation seemed okay. On the contrary, the inspector from the bureau who was sitting behind him had sweat on his forehead.
Shi Qi wanted to say a few words to Xu Cang, but he caught a glimpse of the bureau inspector who was still frightened, and suddenly asked, "The east has never encountered such air currents, right?"
The inspector of the bureau shook his head instinctively, but when he met Shi Qi's gaze, his expression suddenly froze and he stopped shaking his head.
Shi Qi sneered in his heart. This guy was just acting like an inspector of the bureau, afraid that others would look down on him. It was really meaningless.
"Ask the people behind. The fall just now was quite severe. I hope no one gets hurt." Shi Qi said to Xu Cang.
"According to the cabin procedures, the descent announcement should have been made and the seat belts checked." Normally, half an hour before landing, the crew will make a descent announcement and a final cabin inspection, which should include checking the seat belts.
Shi Qi's face was a little serious: "Some passengers just don't listen. They fasten their seat belts when the crew checks, but when they leave, they unfasten their seat belts again because they feel uncomfortable wearing seat belts."
"Is there such a boring and disobedient person?" Although he said so, Xu Cang still made a signal to the cabin. As soon as the signal was sent out, he heard a commotion coming from the back, and then a flight attendant answered the phone: "Front cabin..."
Before the flight attendant finished speaking, Xu Cang asked directly: "Was anyone injured just now?"
"Well, someone fell off his seat due to the turbulence just now, and the flight attendant has gone to deal with it now."
Xu Cang frowned when he heard this: "Is there an empty seat next to that person?"
After waiting for a while, the flight attendant's voice was heard again: "Yes, that person was sitting in the middle, with no one on either side. He must have not fastened his seat belt, and his body was lifted into the air just now, so he fell and hit the armrests on both sides."
"Then let the flight attendant sit in the seat next to him and fasten his seat belt to ensure his own safety. If there is no need, just sit there. There may be more bumps later. Make another announcement to passengers and ask them to fasten their seat belts." Xu Cang thought for a moment: "Is that person unconscious?"
"No, I just said my body hurts."
"Okay, you guys should pay attention to safety too." Xu Cang just hung up the phone, a trace of worry flashed across his face: "There are really people who don't wear seat belts."
No matter what, it is taboo for the crew to have passengers injured on the plane. Even if it is an objective reason of air flow, if the injury is serious, the crew and the airline must bear the responsibility, and there is no way to escape this.
However, now that things have come to this, it would be better to land as soon as possible to prevent the passengers' injuries from getting worse.
Erhai Airport is different from other large airports. It is subject to procedural control and there is no radar guidance, so direct flights are not allowed. You can only follow the procedures step by step.
Soon, when the plane was approaching the airspace above the airport, Shi Qi reported: "Tower, Chunxia 9442 is over the airport."
"Chunxia 9442, cleared to descend as per procedure, establish VOR/DME course for Runway 28, report procedure turn."
"Descend according to procedure, runway 28, VOR/DME course, procedure turn report." Shi Qi said, "There is a severe turbulence area seven nautical miles from the airport, at an altitude of about 4,900 meters. A passenger on board is suspected to be injured. Please arrange for medical personnel to board the plane after landing."
Shi Qi was very careful in his words. It was hard to tell whether the man was just bumped and in pain for a while, or was really injured without medical staff. Therefore, Shi Qi only used the word "suspected".
Moreover, the flight crew is obliged to inform the control unit of certain weather phenomena, such as encountering wind shear or severe turbulence.
"Chunxia 9442, Erhai Tower received it. Medical personnel will be arranged after landing. Do you have any other needs?"
"Not for now, thank you."
"It looks like your company's flight department and safety supervision department are going to be busy." The bureau's inspector suddenly said.
If a passenger is injured, it will be a very troublesome matter and will be enough to make the people in the flight department and the safety department worry for a long time.
Xu Cang ignored these somewhat meaningless words and directly called up the next altitude of 11,200 feet. This was the restricted altitude for the final approach point IF, while the procedural turning point mentioned by the tower did not have a corresponding altitude restriction.
Shortly after crossing the home point the aircraft descended below 15,700 feet and passed the transition altitude layer.
"Transition altitude layer, 1010." Xu Cang pressed the pressure reference knob and directly switched the pressure reference from STD to 1010: "Approach checklist."
As the assisting PM, Shi Qi not only switched the air pressure reference on his side to 1010, but was also responsible for adjusting the air pressure reference of the standby instruments to 1010 before starting to make the approach checklist.
"Approach checklist, altimeter 1010, cross-check, one, two, three, verify!" After confirming that all three altimeters had been correctly adjusted to the corrected sea pressure, Shi Qi inserted the checklist card back: "The Erhai Lake is still too dangerous. I think we need to readjust the descent procedure."
Xu Cang's face was gloomy: "Let's talk about it after we land."
In fact, Spring Airlines' landing procedures are already very conservative, stricter than those of other airlines. However, this matter cannot stop passengers from being disobedient, as evidenced by today's incident.
But the problem is that it was clearly his own fault for being disobedient that caused the injury, but when something went wrong, the crew and the airline cannot avoid their responsibility, which is a bit uncomfortable.
Although Xu Cang felt that this rule was unreasonable, he knew that it would not be changed. It would remain the same after more than ten or twenty years, and the penalties would even become more severe.
After passing over the airport, the plane took off on track 170. After flying fourteen nautical miles, Shi Qi continued to report: "Chunxia 9442, the procedure turning point."
"Spring and Summer 9442, the five sides report to Taiwan."
"The five sides report to Taiwan, Spring and Summer 9442."
As soon as the call ended, the plane just passed the procedure turning point of fifteen nautical miles.
"Turn according to the horizontal navigation first, and then reserve the course." Xu Cang added.
Shi Qi didn't have any objection, he just hummed.
Therefore, the aircraft follows the turning track calculated by the computer and relies on horizontal navigation to make continuous left turns along the turning track and cut into the final leg.
Under horizontal navigation, the aircraft was aligned with the fifth leg. Xu Cang adjusted the course settings and navigation frequency, pressed VOR/LOC, and soon the FMA on the main flight display screen showed course interception.
"Chunxia 9442, runway 28, final approach."
"Spring and Summer 9442, surface wind 100/7, gusts 15 meters, corrected sea pressure 1010, wet runway, runway 28 is clear for landing, watch out for the final airflow."
"Runway 28 is clear for landing, revised sea pressure 1010, spring and summer 9442." Shi Qi: "It is clear for landing. Gusts of 15 meters, getting stronger again."
"The wind is not the problem, visibility is the problem." Judging from the current situation outside the windshield, the visibility in this field is indeed very poor. It is foggy and nothing can be seen.
After the aircraft passed the final approach point IF, Xu Cang adjusted the altitude to the final approach fix point FAF altitude of 10,300 according to the procedure, and then implemented a descent rate of about 1,000.
"Is the height okay? Five hundred is enough."
"Go down quickly, the wind may be weaker down there, let's see if we can see the ground earlier." Xu Cang said.
Although the report said that it was estimated that the clouds would not be clear until more than 300 meters, this kind of thing is still based on the subjective feelings of the crew. In such a mountainous area, it is more reassuring to see the ground earlier.
"Whatever you want."
A descent rate of one thousand feet per minute is not that fast. The only difference is to level off earlier. As long as the restricted altitude is not exceeded, everything will be fine. Shi Qi has no objection as they are all minor issues.
According to the descent arc, the aircraft will descend to the predetermined altitude of 10,300 feet about four nautical miles before the final approach fix. Xu Cang waited for a moment and felt that it was necessary to confirm something: "If you want to go around, follow the standard procedure and increase the altitude normally, but you must wait until after the go-around point to turn. The MaPt point is one nautical mile away from the airport. Pay attention to the reminder."
The missed approach point MaPt is a positioning point different from the precision approach. Generally speaking, there is no such point in the precision approach procedure. In a non-precision approach, such as this VOR approach, if a missed approach occurs, the horizontal rolling action cannot occur before the missed approach point, that is, no turn can be made before the missed approach point.
In any case, VOR approaches are a relatively less used approach method, and it is always good to mention it to avoid some low-level mistakes later.
After the plane leveled off, Xu Cang pre-adjusted the next altitude, MDA. The minimum descent altitude of Runway 28 at Erhai Airport is 8,300 feet. However, after adjusting the corresponding altitude, the method cannot be given, but the descent rate can only be pushed after passing the final approach fix point, otherwise it will be below the restricted altitude.
"What descent rate are you going to push later?" the bureau inspector at the back suddenly asked.
"One thousand two hundred feet per minute? Any higher would be bad, and might set off a terrain warning."
The bureau inspector nodded: "Almost."
The VOR approach uses the so-called rapid descent to level flight mode, that is, after passing the final approach positioning point, it descends to the minimum descent altitude at a larger descent rate and finally maintains a level flight state.
However, this larger descent rate is a rather vague concept, and can be as large as 1,500 feet per minute, or as small as 1,000 feet per minute. At a plain airport, a larger descent rate does not matter, but at a mountainous plateau airport near Erhai Lake, the descent rate cannot be too large, as a large closing rate may cause a terrain warning.
One thousand two hundred feet per minute is a more appropriate value.
The inspectors of the bureau were also worried about this and specifically asked about it. However, in fact, this was unnecessary. Xu Cang and Shi Qi had more experience in operating in mountainous areas than the inspectors of the bureau who had been operating in plain airports for a long time.
In order to prevent the workload from increasing, we started to establish the landing configuration at about 1.5 nautical miles from the final approach fix point, with the landing gear at 15 degrees and then lowered. Since it was a level flight deceleration, the configuration was basically reached and the speed was reduced accordingly.
At 0.8 nautical miles from the final approach fix, flap 30 was just the right time to lower the green light. To be honest, the timing of establishing the landing configuration was a little late.
After passing the final approach positioning point, Xu Cang achieved a descent rate of 1,200 feet per minute.
From 10,300 feet down to 8,300 feet, there are 2,000 feet in between, and it takes a little over a minute to level off. If it is at night, it is best to turn off the lights at this time, otherwise the light reflected by the clouds will block the possible visual reference. However, it is still daytime now, so it doesn't matter whether the lights are turned off or not.
During this time, Shi Qi slightly raised the lower seat height so that he could clearly see the visual reference.
During this minute, no one in the cockpit spoke. Some people looked at the instruments inside the cockpit, while others focused their attention on the outside. Not long after, the plane leveled off to an altitude of 8,300 feet. At this altitude, the front was still white.
"The horizontal visibility is not good either. Let's fly forward a little more." Shi Qi said.
The horizontal visibility was marginal this time, and it was estimated that it would be a while before we could see anything. The three people in the cockpit were prepared, and they were not surprised to see no approach lights or runway.
"If we're going to go around in a while, come on, press TO/GA, set the go-around thrust, go-around thrust set, flaps 15, positive climb, retract the wheels. Four hundred feet, engage horizontal navigation, then increase speed and retract flaps."
Just in case, Xu Cang mentioned the go-around action in advance. Of course, Xu Cang did not question Shi Qi's ability, it was just a habitual behavior when he was the left seat.
Shi Qi hummed and said nothing.
At this moment, as time went by, Shi Qi's brows knitted tighter and tighter. The field of vision rarely appeared suddenly, usually you saw the ground first, then the approach lights, and then the runway.
But now we were almost at the go-around point, and we couldn't even see the ground. This was not a good sign.
"Erhai Tower, is there any change in the weather?" Shi Qi couldn't help but ask.
The tower immediately responded: "Chunxia 9442, there is no change in the weather. If there is any change, I will inform you in time."
As soon as the words fell, the plane was about to reach the go-around point.
"Will it be possible that we can't land?" Shi Qi had just finished speaking when he suddenly shouted, "The ground is visible."
Sure enough, when Xu Cang looked down, he could vaguely see the undulating mountains, but there was no sign of approaching lights.
Just as Xu Cang's eyes moved upwards, a voice came from behind: "It's time to take off again."
Xu Cang gritted his teeth and stepped on the accelerator: "Go back."
As the two engines increased their thrust for a go-around, a roar gradually rose. The thrust of the CFM56 engine had a certain delay, and after about two seconds, the powerful thrust burst out, and Xu Cang led the plane to fly into the sky.
"Flap fifteen!"
Without even Xu Cang giving any orders, Shi Qi had already retracted the flaps to the fifteenth position, and then retracted the landing gear while the aircraft was ascending.
During the speed increase, the flaps are returned to the five position.
"Just keep flaps at five." Xu Cang's hands were steady. Even in a go-around with a high pitch angle, he could control the plane accurately and would not let it enter any unexpected state.
When the plane stabilized a little, Shi Qi reported: "Tower, Chunxia 9442, go-around."
"Chunxia 9442, follow the standard missed approach procedure, altitude corrected sea pressure 4,500 meters, corrected sea pressure 1010."
"Standard go-around procedure, corrected sea pressure 4,500 meters, corrected sea pressure 1010."
"Chunxia 9442, report your intentions, second approach or alternate landing?"
"Wait a minute!" Shi Qi said, and looked at Xu Cang: "What do you mean?"
"I didn't see the approach lights just now. Did you see them?"
Shi Qi shook his head: "No, if I had seen it, I would have reminded you. However, during the initial climb, I vaguely saw the row of lights, but I'm not sure. I feel that if we fly a little further, we will be able to see it. But we can't go beyond the missed approach point."
After that, Shi Qi asked the tower whether the weather was likely to improve. The information he got was that the weather would not improve, but might even deteriorate in the future.
In fact, this is understandable. When the convection is strongest during the day, the clouds and fog have not dispersed. When the sun sets, it is even less likely to disperse. The situation will only get worse.
"How about making an emergency landing in Jianchuan?" Shi Qi suggested, "We have people in Jianchuan, so we can adjust the subsequent flights."
Although Jianchuan is not a base, but with the priority of the airport, Jianchuan is even better than Erhai in terms of airport support.
Xu Cang looked at the fuel gauge and found that there was plenty of fuel at the moment, so he could try it again safely.
"Let's try again." Xu Cang suddenly said, "I think we can still make some adjustments. We are very close to seeing the approach lights."
"But we can't pass the missed approach point. There's no point in getting close. If we can see it, we can see it. If we can't see it, we can't understand it. How can we just try it?" objected the bureau's inspector.
Just like when the pilot is performing a blind landing, when he passes the decision altitude, he can vaguely see the visual reference and wants to descend a little more. This is a very wrong behavior. Breaking through the decision altitude with the support of visual reference is actually a principled wrong behavior.
Even if you know that you are very close to establishing visual reference, it is still just a little bit short and it is not possible. Blind landing cannot exceed the decision altitude and non-precision approach cannot exceed the missed approach point. If you dare to cross the red line, you will be severely punished.
The inspectors of the bureau thought that Xu Cang was extremely bold. It was really outrageous that he dared to do this under the bureau's route inspection.
However, Xu Cang obviously would not make such a low mistake. He said solemnly: "Of course we cannot go beyond the missed approach point, but perhaps we can see the runway after adjusting our sight."
"What do you mean?" Shi Qi was stunned: "I have already adjusted the seat higher, it has nothing to do with the line of sight, right?"
If the seat is too low, it will indeed cause restricted vision, so in low visibility conditions, the crew will choose to slightly raise the seat height. Shi Qi did this before, and he naturally felt that he had no problem with his vision.
But Xu Cang was not referring to this.
"I'm not talking about seat height, I'm talking about nose pitch. If we can get to the same minimum altitude with the nose down, as opposed to level flight, it should be easier to see the reference with the nose down."
"Are you kidding? If the nose of the plane drops down, won't it exceed the minimum descent altitude?" The bureau's inspector was the first to express his objection.
"No, no, no. What I mean is to directly change the descent mode from rapid descent to level flight, and instead start from the final approach fix point and reach the minimum descent altitude with a continuous and stable descent trajectory. In this way, we will not exceed the minimum descent altitude, and we can also obtain a nose-down attitude at this altitude node, thereby obtaining a better visual field. Of course, given the inertia of the aircraft's transition from descent to climb, the aircraft is estimated to lose twenty to thirty feet in altitude. In order to prevent the minimum descent altitude from being exceeded during the turn and go, we need to re-set the minimum descent altitude."
Not only Shi Qi, but even the inspector of the bureau looked at Xu Cang blankly. After a long while, the inspector of the bureau finally asked, "What are you talking about?"
"Xu Cang, I don't quite understand what you mean. Maybe you can say it again?" Shi Qi also said.
"It doesn't matter how much I say, and this isn't a theoretical explanation, so don't worry about it. I'll just fly once by myself. I won't break any limits anyway."
The FAA inspector was a little uncertain: "You mean you want to use a new VOR approach flying method?"
"To be precise, it is suitable for all non-precision approaches and aircraft that only require basic navigation capabilities." Xu Cang corrected.
The inspector's eyelids twitched. He didn't quite believe Xu Cang had such ability. If Xu Cang said so, this should be a new flying method with universal significance. This kind of theory should require the wisdom of many people to gain something. How can one person figure it out?
But before the supervisor and Shi Qi could comment, Xu Cang contacted the tower directly: "Erhai Tower, Chunxia 9442, we are applying for a second approach, please guide us."
"Chunxia 9442, then you will reach a standard pressure of 4,800 meters, fly directly over this field, and then join Erhai 01A for approach. Descend according to the procedure, and report to the station on the final approach."
"Ascend to a standard air pressure of 4,800 meters, fly directly to this airport, join the Erhai 01A approach, descend according to the procedure, and report to the station on the fifth approach." Xu Cang repeated.
As soon as these words came out , the inspector of the bureau could not help but ask: "How can you make a decision on your own? We don't know whether this new method requires additional qualifications, additional aircraft equipment, or whether it complies with regulatory requirements. In this case, how dare you make a decision on your own?"
"Don't worry, there's no need for these. It's a very simple method." Xu Cang smiled.
But Shi Qi was still a little worried: "How can I cooperate with you?"
"We should establish the landing configuration before the final approach fix. The content is the same as before. From now on, I will be responsible for the work. Please help me compare the height-to-range ratio."
"Altitude ratio?" Shi Qi was stunned for a moment. "You mean the altitude ratio chart on the approach chart with Erhai Station as the starting point?"
Xu Cang nodded: "Yes, that's it."
"What are you going to do with this?" This sentence was asked by the bureau inspector.
Xu Cang smiled faintly: "Artificially set a downward trajectory."
"I said I won't break any limits, so please stop interfering." After saying that, Xu Cang looked at Shi Qi and said, "Teacher, let's get started."
Having said this, Shi Qi was definitely willing to believe Xu Cang, and he nodded in agreement naturally. The inspector's face was uncertain, but in the end he really didn't say anything. Since Xu Cang said that he would not break any restrictions, let's wait and see. If there is any behavior that crosses the line later, just stop it immediately.
After Shi Qi and the bureau's inspectors had no more objections, Xu Cang controlled the plane to fly over the airport. Just like before, he descended according to the procedure and established the landing configuration before the final approach fix point.
After that, the aircraft leveled off and pre-adjusted to the next altitude.
According to the display on the aeronautical chart, the minimum descent altitude is eight thousand two hundred and eighty feet. This altitude can be called up on the PFD, but on the MCP board, the minimum altitude variable is one hundred feet, so it can only be rounded up, that is, eight thousand three hundred feet.
However, this time, Xu Cang was different. On the PFD, Xu Cang adjusted it to 8,320 feet, while on the MCP board, it was adjusted to 8,400 feet.
"No, what do you mean? Why is it different from the MDA value on the aeronautical chart?" the bureau's inspector asked puzzledly.
"It's not okay if it's lower than the MDA, but if it's higher than the MDA, do you care?"
The inspector of the bureau was speechless after being choked by Xu Cang. This is equivalent to restraining oneself with a higher requirement. The bureau can say that someone's requirement is too low, or even breaks the rules, but it cannot say that someone's requirement is high.
The bureau inspector snorted. "It's up to you. I'll watch. But if you violate any of the restrictions, I'll point it out directly."
Xu Cang did not bother with the inspector, but said to Shi Qi before approaching the final approach positioning point: "The landing configuration has been established, the ground speed is 138 knots, and according to the flight chart, the estimated descent rate is between 800 and 850. After we pass the point, we will push the descent rate to 900, and then make corrections."
Since it takes a certain amount of time for an aircraft to form a descent rate, if the estimated descent rate of 800 to 850 is still followed, the aircraft trajectory will be too high. Therefore, the initial descent rate needs to be pushed higher, and after subsequent corrections are made, the base rate descent rate can be returned.
Shi Qi nodded, not quite understanding: "Then I will be responsible for reporting to you?"
At this moment, the plane had just passed the final approach fix point, and Xu Cang gave a descent rate of 900 feet per minute. After that, Shi Qi reported: "Erhai Station, 9 nautical miles, 7,980 feet."
Runway 28 VOR is equipped with DME function, so the distance can be verified more conveniently.
At nine knots, the aircraft's actual altitude was 7,997 feet.
"Seventeen feet higher."
"Almost there." Xu Cang reduced the descent rate to eight hundred and fifty feet per minute.
At eight nautical miles, the aircraft's altitude was only five feet higher than the standard, which was basically in compliance, so Xu Cang reduced the descent rate to eight hundred feet per minute.
After that, Xu Cang never adjusted the descent rate again, and the height of each distance point matched well.
Shi Qi and the bureau's inspectors are both veterans, and they seem to understand Xu Cang's thoughts to some extent.
When they were approaching 8,400 feet, Xu Cang shouted, "Pay attention to find the runway."
This time is different from the level flight just now. The view is now looking downward. Even though it is still slightly above the minimum descent altitude, Shi Qi can find that the current field of vision is better than before.
Suddenly, just as they were about to reach 8,400 feet, Shi Qi said in surprise, "The approach lights are visible."
Xu Cang also saw the row of approach lights from the corner of his eye and said with a smile, "Check, continue."
The inspector's expression changed slightly: "Is this still possible?"
He could feel that Xu Cang's method seemed to have epoch-making significance for non-precision approach. The lights that were not visible at a lower altitude just now were actually seen at a slightly higher altitude. There was definitely a lot to be discovered.