In a small garden outside the building of Bombardier C Series Aircraft Manufacturing Co., Ltd. in Montreal, Canada, President Ryan Valette listened to his secretary's report with a grim face.
"That means that after the previous order of 20 PW6000s is completed, Pratt & Whitney will no longer renew the engine contract with us," the secretary said in a deep voice.
Ryan leaned against a tree, biting his thumb habitually. When he was obviously anxious, he would have this little habit: "Is this confirmed?"
"It should be confirmed. The office of the president of Pratt & Whitney Power contacted us directly, but they don't seem to be making an official announcement, as if they want to keep it low-key."
"Pratt & Whitney Power's President's Office?" Ryan let out a long sigh. "It looks like it's settled. There's no plan for an official announcement. Does that mean that Pratt & Whitney Power doesn't intend to terminate the cooperation?"
In fact, the cooperation was terminated, but the company wanted to deal with it coldly. This is obviously to take care of Bombardier's feelings and prevent the public opinion from expanding, so as to give Bombardier a chance to breathe for a certain period of time. As long as Pratt & Whitney has not officially announced the termination of cooperation with Bombardier, it will take some time for the news to break out. During this time, if Bombardier can find an alternative plan, the negative impact of this matter can be minimized.
From this perspective, Pratt & Whitney's approach has taken Bombardier's feelings into consideration to the greatest extent possible.
The secretary hesitated for a moment: "Well... I haven't got any relevant information yet."
"Then..." Ryan thought for a moment: "What about the order of PW4000-94 engines for CS100? Has it been affected?"
The secretary was startled: "We have not received any notification of changes to the CS100 aircraft engine cooperation order."
The PW4000-94 engine is actually a larger model than the PW4000-112 engine used on the Boeing 777, but there is a difference in the fan size. The serial number following it represents the fan size of this sub-model.
That is, the fan size of the PW4000-94 engine is ninety-four inches, while that of the PW4000-112 is one hundred and twelve inches.
The order for PW6000 engines for the CS300 aircraft was terminated, while the order for PW4000-94 engines for the CS100 aircraft was not affected. This in itself represents something and is somewhat consistent with what Ryan said just now.
The secretary was also a smart person. She quickly realized a possibility: "Is someone deliberately targeting the CS300 project?"
"What is the biggest difference between CS100 and CS300?" Ryan asked suddenly.
"How many seats?"
The CS100 has 100 seats, while the CS300 has 130. However, the secretary didn't quite understand why the difference of 30 seats was so big.
Ryan shook his head: "It's the difference between a branch line and a main line."
"In fact, the previous CS100 could barely be called a mainline aircraft, but we tried hard to claim that it was a regional aircraft. The CS300 is already a thorough mainline aircraft, and then it was targeted because this aircraft touched the bottom line of the existing interests in the mainline passenger aircraft market."
"Boeing and Airbus?" The secretary frowned, "No, it's Airbus."
Since the CS300 borrows a lot from Airbus in terms of logic, in terms of market competition, the more direct competitor of CS300 is Airbus.
"As expected, we are facing this situation again." Ryan sighed. "In order to avoid this kind of situation, we defined the CS100 as a regional airliner. Boeing and Airbus's tolerance of the CS100 seems to have given us the illusion that they are gentle little lambs, but they are still vicious wolves that will not spit out bones if you don't give them a chance."
The secretary also felt a headache: "But if we don't involve the trunk market, the company will be finished."
Bombardier is the world's third largest aircraft manufacturer, but its internal finances are terrible. Most of the profits from civil aircraft manufacturing come from mainline aircraft, and regional aircraft are the only ones that make money. As a result, half of this small profit pool has to be shared with Embraer, which means that Bombardier is actually far less glamorous than it seems.
After discovering that the profits in the regional jet market had reached their ceiling, Bombardier's only way to survive was to enter the trunk jet market. Only by fighting in the trunk jet market could it survive.
However, the mainline passenger aircraft market is the private domain of Boeing and Airbus. If anyone wants to enter, they will easily become the target of public criticism. Previously, Bombardier defined the CS100 as a regional passenger aircraft in order to avoid such a situation.
It was just such a trial product, and its appearance did not cause too much reaction from Boeing and Airbus, which gave Bombardier the idea of ​​going a step further, so the 130-seat CS300 passenger aircraft came into being.
Unexpectedly, Boeing and Airbus, which had previously reacted indifferently, counterattacked so quickly, directly using the engine technology that Bombardier could not solve as a trump card to clamp down on the CS300.
That’s right, even as the world’s third largest aircraft manufacturer, Bombardier is still unable to independently develop and manufacture aircraft engines.
"Do you need me to contact the technical department? Is it possible to change the power system selection?"
Ryan rejected the secretary's proposal without much thought: "The software logic of our C Series aircraft is more inclined towards Airbus, so the engines of Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce are more compatible. However, Rolls-Royce's focus is in Europe. If we choose Rolls-Royce, it will probably side with Airbus in the future confrontation with Airbus. Therefore, we chose Pratt & Whitney's engine, which has been the case since the CS100. However, I didn't expect Airbus to have such a great influence on Pratt & Whitney. Pratt & Whitney is even willing to terminate the cooperation order with us."
"Both the CS100 and CS300 were designed with Pratt & Whitney's engine interface. How easy is it to replace the power system?"
"However, the latest batch of CS300 shipments only has 12 aircraft," the secretary said. "There are no new orders for the time being."
After these words came out, Ryan couldn't hold it anymore.
The bad news is that Pratt & Whitney will not provide new engines and can only consume the inventory.
Good news, even the stock is not used up.
"What is the total number of orders for CS100?"
The secretary thought for a moment and said, "It seems to be twenty-three."
Ryan let out a sigh: "Is this the end of our aircraft manufacturing business?"
Bombardier Group has three main sectors: railways, aircraft and automobile manufacturing. If this continues, the aircraft manufacturing business may not be able to continue.
As the third largest aircraft manufacturer, the CS100 aircraft, which was initially involved in the field of mainline passenger aircraft, received zero initial orders, which was a huge loss of face for the C Series company. After such a long time, only 23 aircraft were sold, which was not a good situation.
The CS300 aircraft that they had placed high hopes on was likely to fail before it could even be launched, and Ryan felt physically and mentally exhausted.
Without Pratt & Whitney's engines, the CS300 project is doomed to have only one fate. Today, the cash flow of the C Series aircraft company has reached its limit, and the headquarters is extremely dissatisfied with their poor performance on the C Series aircraft and will not allocate funds at all.
“Perhaps, we could try to attract outside capital?”
"Like who?" Ryan asked, "Who is willing to invest more money in us?"
The secretary thought for a moment and said, "For example, AVIC? Didn't we cooperate with them in the fuselage business before? They seem to be eager to obtain the technology for related aircraft development. AVIC should be quite generous in providing funds."
Some of the fuselages of the C-series aircraft were produced by AVIC, but AVIC did not make much profit from this business and simply wanted to take this opportunity to learn related technologies. The secretary saw through AVIC's mentality and obtained funds from AVIC, essentially making AVIC the victim.
"AVIC?" Ryan thought for a long time. In his heart, he actually felt that AVIC was a piece of fat meat. Relying on the technological advantages, it seemed not difficult to make money from AVIC, and there would not be any serious consequences.
This is the general mentality of foreign companies towards domestic companies, treating domestic companies as fat sheep to be slaughtered at will.
"Go talk to the engineering department and ask them to see if there is a possibility of replacing the power system. Ask them to compile a report for me. Also... find out if there is anyone willing to transfer the PW6000 order. Within an acceptable range, allow a moderate price increase." Ryan pondered for a moment and said, "Also, contact AVIC."
…
In the small conference room of the Erhai headquarters, Qin Xin fell into deep silence as she looked at the formal invitation letter from Pratt & Whitney Power that she had just received. In front of her, Lu Jinghua also didn't know what to say.
"What do you think?" Qin Xin put the letter on the conference table and sat down in a random seat.
This was not an official meeting. After receiving the letter, Qin Xin was undecided and wanted to find a place to discuss it with others.
However, it was obvious that with Lu Jinghua's ability, this matter had clearly exceeded his limit. He had no problem managing the flight department of an airline company, and could manage it in an orderly manner, but no matter how big the matter was, especially when it came to the field of engines, or a giant like Pratt & Whitney, Lu Jinghua was naturally a little timid.
According to Pratt & Whitney Power, they wanted to have a formal business negotiation with Spring Airlines, and of course Xu Cang was named to participate. As for whether Pratt & Whitney Power would send someone or Spring Airlines would send someone, that could be discussed later. What Pratt & Whitney Power wanted to confirm now was that Spring Airlines, or Xu Cang, had the subjective intention to have a formal business negotiation.
Pratt & Whitney Power issued such a formal invitation, which seemed to involve something quite serious. Otherwise, the secretariats of both parties could just pass on the message. Of course, it was also clear that Pratt & Whitney Power took Xu Cang very seriously, and the invitation was of a very high level.
"Mr. Qin, why don't we wait until Xu Cang comes back before we talk about this matter?" When he was unsure, Lu Jinghua habitually threw things to Xu Cang.
Qin Xin sighed slightly. Lu Jinghua still lacked some experience. With the expansion of Xu Cang's business, Lu Jinghua could no longer give professional advice in many cases.
"No need!" A man walked directly out of the door. It was Yi Feng who had negotiated with Luo Tianrong not long ago.
Because Xu Cang mortgaged the genuine authorization of Boeing aviation materials, the original plan to build the aviation materials company was slowed down. Yi Feng, who had nothing to do, was called by Xu Cang to take over the management position of Spring Summer Airlines.
The operations involved in the next period of time are too complicated, and without someone like Yi Feng in charge, something might go wrong.
Yi Feng walked into the conference room and said, "Boss Qin, I have read the invitation letter from Pratt & Whitney that you sent me. Xu Cang told me before he left for the UK that if Pratt & Whitney took the initiative to invite me, I should agree. However, he told Pratt & Whitney whether they were interested in conducting flight tests of the PW8000 prototype."
"PW8000? Is there a PW8000?" Lu Jinghua was stunned: "Isn't the latest model PW6000?"
"That's not what I know." Yi Feng believed in Xu Cang very much. If Xu Cang said there was PW8000, then there must be a PW8000 engine: "There is no need to mention the details of the PW8000 test flight to Pratt & Whitney. Just mention it so that they can be mentally prepared. Xu Cang will discuss the subsequent details in person."
Qin Xin pondered for a moment: "According to Xu Cang, PW8000 doesn't even have a prototype yet, so its progress is not as good as Trent 1000. Is it not very dangerous to conduct a test flight under such circumstances?"
Yi Feng pursed his lips and said, "Xu Cang has his own arrangements, we just need to listen to him."
Lu Jinghua was a little at a loss for a moment. He looked at Yi Feng and then at Qin Xin, not knowing how to respond to this invitation.
Qin thought about it and waved his hand: "Forget it, since Xu Cang has already arranged it in advance, let's do it according to his wishes."
Seeing Qin Xin agreed, Yi Feng naturally took out another document: "Boss Qin, this is an additional financial expenditure. It involves confidentiality and cannot be reviewed by the Finance Department. It will go directly from your side."
Qin Xin was puzzled. She took the document and looked at it for a while: "Aviation material replacement? 50 million?"
"This is an advance allocation, which should be sufficient, but there is a possibility of overspending." Yi Feng added: "If President Qin feels there is no problem, just sign the document."
To be honest, Qin Xin didn't quite understand the contents of the document.
Qin Xin had some financial knowledge, but she was puzzled by the practice of purchasing two copies of the same aviation materials as shown in the documents but only using one copy.
"Is this what Xu Cang did?"
Yi Feng nodded: "Yes, I have been doing it for a while."
"reason?"
"It is a necessary price to pay to resolve the issue of Tianrong Aviation Materials."
"Tianrong Aviation Materials was established not long after the separation of military and civil aviation, and has always dominated the domestic aviation materials field. To be honest, I am not optimistic about it." Lu Jinghua can still say a few words in the areas he knows.
Lu Jinghua knew some of Xu Cang's operations on Tianrong Aviation Materials, but he was more inclined to believe that Xu Cang's tens of millions would easily go down the drain.
However, Lu Jinghua couldn't refute Xu Cang's decision and could only let him do as he pleased.
"No, no, no, you underestimate Xu Cang too much. In front of Xu Cang, Tianrong Aviation Materials is nothing but that." Yi Feng said with a smile, looking very confident in Xu Cang.
There are very few people who know Xu Cang’s entire plan, such as Yi Feng, Xiao Lingyun, and maybe Li Rongcheng in the future.
All three are talented people with vision and abilities, and they can all stand on their own.
People like Lu Jinghua are specialized talents and can only accept part of the tasks. Moreover, due to their limited vision, they do not see things clearly.
Therefore, Xu Cang would not deliberately talk to Lu Jinghua about things beyond his ability. Of course, occasionally talking about it does not count. In fact, Qin Xin could not see all of Xu Cang's plans.
"It seems like there are a lot of things you haven't told me." Qin Xin snorted, slightly dissatisfied.
Of course, Qin Xin was not a rude person, she knew the limit of her ability. After expressing a little dissatisfaction, she did not ask about the relevant matters. In terms of not causing trouble for Xu Cang, Qin Xin was very clear.
After taking another quick look, Qin Xin discovered that Lu Xiaoxiao had already signed the signature column. She was a little surprised: "Has Xiaoxiao seen it?"
"She is in charge of the purse strings. For confidentiality purposes, the money cannot flow through the finance department, but it is necessary to let her take a look. I explained some of the details to her, and she has no objection."
Compared to talking to Qin Xin, Yi Feng actually prefers to talk to Lu Xiaoxiao.
Lu Xiaoxiao was unknown before, but she had a strong business sense and could see things at a glance. Yi Feng only gave her a glimpse of the plan for the operation of aviation materials, but Lu Xiaoxiao was able to guess the general idea.
Talking to smart people is always relaxing and pleasant.
Qin Xin still trusted Lu Xiaoxiao very much. Since Lu Xiaoxiao had signed, she had no objection and signed the grant document smoothly.
Yi Feng took the document and said, "According to the time, Xu Cang's plane has almost flown one-third of the way."
Speaking of Xu Cang, Yi Feng remembered another thing and turned to Lu Jinghua: "Manager Lu, the marketing department will launch a promotion in the future, and we will inform the flight department at that time, which involves the painting of the aircraft fuselage. At present, only Hanjing can paint in China. When the promotion is finalized, the flight department is requested to actively cooperate with anything that requires aircraft adjustment. In addition, there may be a linkage with Muhua Airlines A380 in the future. At that time, the leaders of the flight department will also participate and give suggestions. Of course, Xu Cang has already set the general policy, and we only need to optimize the details."
Lu Jinghua was stunned: "What activity?"
Yi Feng smiled and said, "Olympics!"
…
At this moment, in the cockpit of British Airways Flight 531, as the fire alarm of the number two engine suddenly sounded, Captain Schneider and David both tensed up.
"Second fire alarm!" Captain Schneider suddenly shouted.
There was no time to talk to the satellite phone at the operation control center. Schneider and David immediately started the engine fire memory project.
"A/T ARM switch, right side, verify the off position." At this time, David was in the right seat, performing the duties of a PM.
All the operations performed at this time are memory items, and there is no need to refer to the checklist. In order to prevent confusion, David and Schneider are quite tacit. David, as the PM, reports the content of the memory items, and Schneider conducts the actual operation after confirming that it is correct.
After David called out the first operation, Schneider cut off the autothrottle arming switch without any doubt.
"Thrust handle, second launch, check the slow position."
Before doing this, CAAC will ask the PM to control the thrust handle of the working engine first, and only after confirming that there is no problem will the thrust handle of the faulty engine be moved to slow speed.
This is to prevent erroneous operation.
However, at this time, the accident of accidentally shutting down the engine that shocked the world had not yet occurred, and the civil aviation community had not paid special attention to the risk of accidentally shutting down or removing the throttle.
On the EASA European side, Schneider simply confirmed with David that the throttle needed to be reduced, and then he automatically moved the thrust handle of the No. 2 engine to slow speed without protecting the thrust handle of the working engine.
This is a matter of habit in each area. Xu Cang did not say anything. He just wanted to make sure that there were no problems with the basic procedures.
"Fuel control switch, second engine, verify cut-off position."
The fuel control switch here is similar to the engine start handle of the 737. Once it is turned on, the engine will be completely shut down and it will take a certain amount of time to restart, so it is more important than the thrust handle.
Therefore, when confirming the fuel control switch, Captains Schneider and David confirmed it again and again before David cut off the fuel control switch of the No. 2 engine.
That's right, CAAC and EASA seem to be consistent on who cuts the fuel control switch, that is, let the PM cut off the fuel control switch, as opposed to the thrust handle.
"Engine fire switch, second engine, pull out!" David said the next part at the same time: "Rotate to the stop position and hold for one second."
After that, David pulled out the fire alarm switch of Engine 2. This switch will automatically pre-position when a fire is detected, and once it rotates to the stop position, it will release the fire extinguisher.
"Start!" David pressed the timer on the plane, then looked at the APU panel: "Start the APU!"
In fact, at the current altitude, it is quite difficult to start the APU, but David doesn't care and just tries a few more times.
The first pilot, Schneider, did not express any objection to Captain David's decision to start the APU at high altitude, which was considered as tacit approval. In the face of the fire, this was not even a flaw.
The standard operating procedure only states that it is difficult to start the APU successfully at high altitudes, not that it cannot be started.
"Transponder mode selector, TA ONLY." Captain David paused for a moment and said, "Plan to land at the nearest suitable airport. Do not perform the autothrottle checklist."
After saying that, David looked back at Xu Cang, and after thinking around, he finally did as Xu Cang suggested.
But this time it was not a normal emergency landing, but an emergency landing as quickly as possible.
"How come this fire alarm came so quickly?" Captain Schneider had never encountered such an urgent fire alarm in all his years of flying.
The criteria for determining an engine fire is very high because it involves shutting down the engine and releasing a fire extinguisher.
Once the fire extinguisher is released into the core engine, the engine is basically useless. Cleaning up the fire extinguisher residue is very troublesome, even for professional engine manufacturers. In this case, it is basically not worth repairing and should be directly scrapped.
Therefore, there is not only one fire detection loop in the engine, but the aircraft will only sound a fire alarm if all fire detection loops believe that the engine is on fire.
In addition, there is a level below the fire alarm called overheat.
The two are distinguished according to the detection temperature standard. If it is just the engine overheating, there is no need to perform the final operation of releasing the fire extinguisher bottle, and it usually stops at the engine fuel control switch.
Therefore, for a normal progressive fire alarm, the engine overheat light should come on first, wait a short while, and then the engine fire warning light will come on.
This fire alarm that goes directly over the engine overheating means the fire is coming very quickly.
Schneider just said this. He didn't ask for an answer or anything. This was not what they needed to care about. Then he said to David, "Announce Mayday!"
Without Schneider's instructions, David informed the air traffic control unit before the first captain had finished speaking: "Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! Milan control, British Airways flight 531, engine number two on fire, requesting to land as soon as possible, alternate landing...Munich."
David remembered Xu Cang had said before that if possible, the most suitable alternate landing location would be Munich. Since they had already chosen to make an alternate landing, they would just follow Xu Cang's wishes. Anyway, from the current point of view, Munich was indeed a good alternate landing location.
"British Airways 531 received, descend immediately to altitude FL260, heading 010." Milan control quickly gave the descent instruction and radar guidance.
Xu Cang took a look and saw that heading 010 was basically flying straight to Munich.
However, David was not satisfied with the altitude instruction given by Milan control: "We may not be able to maintain the altitude of FL260 in the single engine situation."
"British Airways 531, please maintain FL260. This is a no-fly zone. Do not enter."
David wanted to say something, but at this moment the No. 2 engine had completely shut down. With only one engine functioning, the huge Boeing 777 could not maintain its high altitude at all. Even with the No. 1 engine at maximum thrust, the plane began to fall uncontrollably.
In this situation, David didn't care and just lowered his altitude first.
Captain Schneider was very skilled, and after cutting off the No. 2 engine, the aircraft did not show any major attitude changes. Then, Schneider turned on the autopilot while keeping the autothrottle disconnected, while maintaining input on the rudder to correct the aircraft's sideslip and reduce the thrust of the No. 1 engine.
In this case, Schneider only needed to input very small amounts of rudder to keep the aircraft from sideslipping.
With almost no thrust, the Boeing 777 began to enter a rapid descent.
David called up the single-engine operation page in the MCDU. According to the FMC's calculations, at this aircraft weight, with a single engine, the aircraft could maintain a maximum altitude of 24,000 to 25,000 feet. As David had said before, 26,000 feet was impossible.
David glanced at the MCDU screen with his finger: "What if we can't maintain FL260?"
Xu Cang also saw David calling up the single-engine page. Xu Cang was not too surprised by this result. This was an ultra-long intercontinental flight of more than ten hours, too much fuel was added, and the plane was too heavy.
If the fuel quantity is controlled within three hours of flight, it is almost certain that the altitude can be maintained at 26,000 feet.
At this point, the situation is rather awkward. If they follow the aircraft performance, they will have to enter the EASA no-fly zone. Unlike restricted areas, no-fly zones are usually difficult to coordinate, and there are indeed activities that pose a huge threat to civil aircraft.
Perhaps fearing that British Airways Flight 531 would descend below 26,000 feet, after David did not give a definite answer, Milan controller asked: "British Airways Flight 531, please confirm that you can maintain FL260."
"Milan Control, according to our flight computer, we can only stay between 24,000 and 25,000 feet at most." David asked, "Help me coordinate, we may have to exceed the altitude of the no-fly zone."
"BA 531, this no-fly zone was not established by EASA, it was issued by the Directorate-General for Transport via EASA."
"Director-General of Transportation?" David was stunned.
He thought that this no-fly zone was a single act of EASA, but he didn't expect it was instructed by the EU Directorate-General for Transport, which means that this no-fly zone is of a very high level. If the no-fly zone is only the work of EASA, then there is still a possibility of coordination, but if it is really the intention of the Directorate-General for Transport, then there is no possibility of reversal.
"British Airways 531, I will report your situation to the higher authorities to see if there is any possibility of compromise." Milan controller added: "Until you get my reply, try to maintain an altitude of 26,000 feet."
David was about to curse. Is the performance of an aircraft subject to human subjective initiative? If he wanted the aircraft to maintain an altitude of 26,000 feet, would the aircraft obey him?
However, David also knew that there was no point in forcing the controller, as the controller no longer had the power to decide on such matters.
"When can we descend from altitude?"
"After passing the 48th parallel north."
David directly typed an extension line of 48 degrees north latitude on the MCDU, and the result was displayed on the navigation page. His face froze. The 48 degrees north latitude basically cut to the Munich stadium.
This meant that they could not descend until they were over Munich, and could only circle and descend after reaching Munich.
At this time, half a minute had passed, but the fire warning light of Engine No. 2 had not gone out, which meant that the fire had not been brought under control.
Schneider also noticed this and turned the fire alarm switch of the No. 2 engine to another direction.
This time Schneider did not count the time. The reverse rotation of the fire alarm switch had already released all the remaining fire extinguisher bottles, and there was no more to be done if he turned it any further.
Normally, releasing the fire extinguisher twice can put out the fire, so Schneider and David are not too worried. Moreover, even if the fire is not put out in the end, when the engine is designed, the outer wall of the engine can limit the fire inside when a fire occurs, and it will never spread out.
Knowing this, Schneider and David were not actually very worried about the fire. Instead, they were more concerned about whether they could stay outside the no-fly zone.
"The no-fly zone is to the south. What if we make an emergency landing in Turin?" David asked.
It was clear that he had no confidence in maintaining the altitude limit of 26,000 feet.
"The no-fly zone extends southward to 46 degrees north latitude, which is also very close to the Turin area. And you are now flying south to Turin, which will take longer." The Milan controller hurriedly said, "I will help you coordinate. Wait a moment, I will do it as soon as possible!"
"Forty-six to forty-eight degrees north latitude? Why set up such a large no-fly zone?"
Although the difference is only two degrees, it is still very large in terms of actual land area, especially since this area includes a large number of top cities, including almost the entire Switzerland.
As a result, almost all Swiss flights have been grounded.
David couldn't understand what EASA and the Directorate-General for Transport were thinking. Setting up such a large no-fly zone in Europe, where every inch of land is valuable, could it be that both organizations had lost their minds?
At this time, Xu Cang was somewhat helpless. The performance of the aircraft was really beyond human control. Perhaps because most of his energy was focused on the single-engine ceiling, Xu Cang still overlooked some things.
No matter what, the Milan control went to coordinate, lowering the pressure here first while waiting for news from Milan.
"If we land later, we will use flaps 30 for landing, and flaps 20 for go-around..." Schneider said.
In fact, it is a bit early to say this at this stage, but now we are basically waiting for news from Milan. Compared with the fire, the no-fly zone is the biggest problem. If the no-fly zone can be lenient, Schneider and David, two experienced captains, are still very confident that they can land safely.
"oh."
Schneider didn't need to tell David that he had already memorized the engine fire checklist.
He thought for a moment, then turned to look at Xu Cang: "Xu Cang, what if you don't let me get down?"
Before Xu Cang could say anything, he heard a sharp scream coming from the cabin behind him. The sound was so sharp that it penetrated the cockpit door and penetrated inside.
Xu Cang's heart suddenly tightened. How come something happened in the cabin?
He immediately turned on the surveillance footage in the front cabin workroom and saw the cabin manager, who was originally seated, hurriedly unbuckling his seat belt, appearing to be in a hurry to deal with matters in the cabin.
"Did something really happen?" Xu Cang immediately stood up slightly and looked into the cabin through the peephole on the cabin door. He happened to see the flight attendant unbuckled his seat belt and ran along the aisle towards the economy class.
"Is there something wrong with the cabin?" David had just heard the scream, and anyone could realize that there might really be something wrong with the cabin. However, the cockpit was the battlefield for the pilots, and they were busy with their own affairs, so how could they care about the cabin?
In the cabin, when the cabin manager ran to the middle of the cabin, he found a middle-aged woman covering her mouth and trembling .
This cabin manager is quite old. Unlike in China where they tend to be young and pretty, there are many older flight attendants abroad. They have been flying for a long time and know some flying knowledge.
The fire alarm of Engine 2 was so loud that the cabin manager could hear it clearly even in the forward cabin. The other flight attendants didn't know what the alarm meant, but she knew.
Many faults are invisible, but engine fire alarms are visible and are the most likely to cause panic.
The screaming lady was sitting right next to the engine and could see the engine through the porthole. The cabin manager was almost certain that the lady had such a big reaction out of fear after seeing the engine on fire.
The cabin manager would not feel annoyed, this is a normal reaction for ordinary people.
She immediately comforted him: "Ma'am, we have received rigorous training, and the plane is still under control. Please fasten your seat belts and follow our instructions..."
"Controllable?" The middle-aged woman wiped her eyes and pointed at the engine outside: "Is this controllable?"
"Engine fire is..." The cabin manager originally wanted to explain the engine fire briefly to dispel the panic of the passengers, but when she saw the No. 2 engine with her own eyes, her face turned pale.
At this time, the first-class flight attendant also came over. She saw the cabin manager standing in the aisle like a statue, and she couldn't help but wonder, so she called softly, "Manager?"
This immediately brought the cabin manager back to her senses. She took a deep breath, and without caring about controlling the passengers' emotions, she pushed the first-class cabin attendant aside and headed straight for the cockpit.
Xu Cang had just withdrawn his gaze from the cat's eye when he heard a dong dong dong sound. It was none other than the sound of the cabin manager's high heels hitting the cabin floor.
The sound was so urgent, as if it could deeply convey how anxious its owner was.
Just a few seconds later, the cockpit door was hit hard, and the muffled sound echoed throughout the cockpit. Xu Cang, Schneider, and David all trembled unconsciously.
Xu Cang lowered his eyes and immediately saw from the surveillance camera that the cabin manager was leaning against the cockpit door. The muffled sound just now came from the cabin manager.
Before Xu Cang understood what was happening, the cabin manager's hurried and frightened voice came from outside the door: "Captain, Captain, come out, there's a problem with the engine."
The cabin manager shouted and banged on the cockpit door.
"What is she doing!?" When David saw the cabin manager's current state, he felt a surge of anger rising up.
From any angle, the cabin manager's behavior was extremely unprofessional and unreasonable without any cockpit protection, and he disregarded the safety of the entire cockpit.
"No, no! Something really happened!"
Xu Cang had seen this cabin manager before, and he was probably over 40 years old. He was still a flight attendant at such an old age, so he must be experienced. If he could scare such an old flight attendant so much that he didn't even care about the cockpit protection, then what she saw in the cabin just now might be more important than the safety of the cockpit.
Xu Cang began to unbuckle his seat belt and stood up at the same time.
David saw Xu Cang's actions and asked, "What are you going to do?"
"Get out!" Xu Cang unbuckled all his seat belts and stood up completely: "Something must have happened in the cabin. I have to go out and take a look."
The moment he stood up, he saw out of the corner of his eye that the fire warning light of Engine No. 2 was still on.
"The fire is not out!?" Xu Cang's heart tightened, and he thought of a very bad possibility.
"There is no security personnel outside to support you, you can't go out." David shouted.
Xu Cang’s behavior now also violates the regulations.
Xu Cang simply folded up the folding seat: "Never mind!"
As the folding seat closed, Xu Cang shouted, "Ask the reason why the no-fly zone was established. If...if under extreme circumstances, we can only cross the no-fly zone."
After saying that, Xu Cang opened the cockpit door directly without any protection.
As soon as he came out, Xu Cang grabbed the cabin manager's arm and said, "What happened? Take me there!"
The cabin manager was stunned for a moment, looked at Xu Cang, then looked at the closed cockpit door. He gritted his teeth, didn't care anymore, and took Xu Cang directly to the middle of the cabin.
In the surveillance video in the front cabin workshop, both Schneider and David watched Xu Cang follow the cabin manager to the economy class.
"David, it seems something has really happened." Schneider stroked his beard. "This cabin manager is the second most senior flight attendant in our company. She knows what she is doing."
David pursed his lips, calming down from his initial anger. He also realized that the current situation might not just be a no-fly zone issue. This old cabin manager definitely knows the priorities of things. If she could lose her composure like this, it must be something serious.
But, what big deal could it be?
At this moment, Milan's voice came from the loudspeaker: "British Airways 531, the upper limit of the no-fly zone has been changed."
David and the others were overjoyed when they heard this, and immediately stopped caring about the cabin affairs. David immediately replied, "How low can we go?"
"British Airways 531..." Milan's voice was heavy, and he paused for a moment: "The new no-fly zone altitude is now... FL300."
"FL300, OK..." David answered almost instinctively, but soon he realized the problem: "FL300? Milan Control, do you mean FL300, thirty thousand feet?"
Milan controller was also silent for two seconds: "Yes, the upper limit of the no-fly zone has been raised. The new altitude is now 30,000 feet, and it cannot be changed."
"30,000 feet, 30,000 feet..." David muttered to himself, his face gloomy. At this altitude, they would have to level off soon.
According to the calculated aircraft performance, they couldn't even maintain 26,000 feet, let alone 30,000 feet. This was clearly making things difficult for them.
After starting with a word beginning with F, David asked the question Xu Cang had just asked: "What is the reason for setting up a no-fly zone?"
"Huh? Don't you know that it's not in the navigation notice?" Milan controller asked back.
"We didn't see it. Maybe the altitude of the no-fly zone doesn't involve our normal cruising altitude." David was too lazy to look through the navigation notices again. "Why are the horizontal and vertical ranges set so large?!"
Milan Control took a deep breath and said, "Well, have you turned on the weather radar?"
"No, what's wrong?" When they were cruising before, they were basically close to the stratosphere and there was no weather at all. Naturally, the two of them turned off the weather radar to avoid radiation.
"Turn on the weather radar," Milan controller sighed, "and you'll know once you turn it on. The no-fly zone is not making things difficult for you, it's saving you."
David was stunned for a moment, let out a long breath, and turned on the weather radar on his side.
After a brief scan, an image that shocked Captains David and Schneider appeared on the navigation page.
David even held : "This..."
In the cabin, Xu Cang followed the cabin manager into the economy class and was led to the middle of the cabin. Standing in the cabin aisle, across three rows of seats, the cabin manager pointed to the window and said, "Look... the engine."
Following the direction pointed by the cabin manager, Xu Cang looked through the porthole glass and his eyes fell on the No. 2 engine. At this moment, Xu Cang's breathing stagnated, and he finally understood why the cabin manager was so out of control.
In his sight, the internal engine cover that was supposed to confine the fire actually showed signs of loosening. Under the impact of the violent airflow, part of the engine fairing kept shaking, as if it would fall off at any time.
Without the outer wall blocking it, the flames inside the engine spread directly out, burning the engine suspension frame. Just from the visual point of view, the engine suspension frame has been burned red, as if it will break at any time.
"how so?"
Xu Cang suddenly resumed breathing, but the frequency changed from extremely slow to extremely fast in an instant.
He didn't understand why the outer wall of the engine showed signs of falling off, and why the fire could spread from the inside of the engine? Did the original casing restriction test really pass smoothly?
Of course, in theory, the engine mount can withstand high temperatures and will not break due to flame erosion. However, theoretical things are often not 100% true, and the engine outer wall that is about to fall off is proof of this.
However, perhaps the only thing that made Xu Cang feel fortunate was that even if the engine finally fell off, it should not cause too much uncontrollable harm, as long as...
Just as Xu Cang had this thought, he heard a sudden thunderous roar. The uncontrollably burning engine exploded, and in an instant, the already shaky outer wall of the engine could no longer support itself and fell off, exposing part of the engine core.
Xu Cang almost collapsed when the explosion sounded. A piece of metal outer wall of the engine that was thrown away by the engine explosion was directly inserted into the leading edge of the wing.
At this moment, Xu Cang felt like his heart had stopped beating.
The wing... is about to break?
However, the things that made Xu Cang feel desperate had not stopped yet.
The huge flames burst out from the engine explosion directly illuminated half of the dark night sky above the plane.
At this moment, Xu Cang only felt a chill deep in his bones, the ignorance of the great power and the shock of the sudden glimpse of it.
With the help of the fire caused by the explosion, Xu Cang clearly saw a vortex under the plane that was so large that he could not imagine it.
That’s right, a giant vortex ten thousand meters in the sky.
Faced with the indescribable and immeasurable power, Xu Cang's thoughts seemed to have come to a standstill.
It is alive, that unimaginable vortex is alive!
It's not just the plane that's moving. Not only is the plane moving, but the vortex is also moving.
He finally understood why such a large no-fly zone was set up. Below it was a giant beast that devoured everything.
If you go down, you will only die!
"It was caused by the snowstorm!" This thought flashed through Xu Cang's mind.
He had heard that the Alps had experienced an extremely rare and severe snowstorm, but he had never imagined that the scope would be so horrific.
According to the month, there shouldn't be such an exaggerated snowstorm at this time, so he didn't take it too seriously before. But now, looking at the satellite cloud map of the relevant area that Song Xinyang had shown him before, he can be sure that the area below is the weather zone of the snowstorm.
If they could maintain a high altitude and fly through the cyclone area of ​​the blizzard from above, the danger would not be great. However, with a single engine, the plane could not maintain sufficient altitude.
Once you get too close to a cyclone zone, there will only be one outcome!
Moreover, what made Xu Cang feel almost desperate was that it was no longer a certainty whether the plane could maintain an altitude of more than 24,000 feet.
In his vision, the metal fragment inserted into the leading edge of the wing seemed to be inserted into Xu Cang's heart.
At this moment, Xu Cang couldn't help but ask himself...
"Xu Cang...what if...the wing breaks?"