Xu Cang was so confident that he thought he could handle almost any flying situation.
However, there are always areas that are beyond human capabilities.
For example, Xu Cang could accept a dual-engine flameout, an emergency landing at sea or land, and could cross the culvert of a bridge with a precision of millimeters. However, no pilot could accept a broken wing, especially a broken large wing.
Most of the lift of an airplane comes from its wings. If a wing breaks, it would be like a bird with a broken wing. There would be no possibility of survival at all.
Xu Cang has seen many special situations, including engine explosions, engine fires, and even engine flying off. However, due to the existence of the casing restriction test, most of the damage can be confined within the engine casing.
Every engine needs to undergo this kind of test. Although nothing is absolute, there are occasional cases where the casing has restrictions, but it is unheard of that the outer wall of the engine of this PW4000-112 has fallen off so much.
Almost all of the engine fairings have fallen off, and most of the engine core has been exposed, wrapped in flames. Even under the impact of high-speed airflow, the flame still shows no signs of extinguishing, like stubborn weeds that cannot be removed.
The Boeing 777 is still conservative in its choice of materials, of course, compared to the future Dreamliner Boeing 787. Compared to the old 737 and other models, the Boeing 777 has a larger proportion of composite materials in its fuselage materials.
However, the changes to the wing structure of the Boeing 777 are not very big. Otherwise, some composite materials are still not as good as traditional metal materials in terms of high temperature resistance.
This may be the only blessing.
The flames spreading from the engine core have already burned the engine's suspension frame red, and the situation has extended to the suspension frame and the wing. If it is a Boeing 787 with a larger proportion of composite materials, the wing structure where the suspension frame and the wing meet may be burned through, reducing the structural strength and causing a break there.
However, the Boeing 777 most likely will not do so. As long as there is no subsequent metal fragment inserted into the leading edge of the wing, everything will be controllable and there is no need to worry.
Unfortunately, that was just wishful thinking. He had to face a terrible and desperate possibility, that is, there was a chance that the right wing would break in the middle.
In fact, the probability does not depend on whether the wing is broken, but on whether all the people on the plane survive.
As long as the big wing is broken, no god can save it, not even Xu Cang can!
Xu Cang took a deep breath, hoping to calm his heartbeat which was almost out of control.
"What if the wing breaks?" Xu Cang asked himself, but after a brief thought, he couldn't come up with an answer.
Perhaps, only death!
At this moment, a dull roar reached the middle of the cabin, where Xu Cang was standing. He looked along the cabin passage and found that the cockpit door, which had been tightly closed, had been opened.
From a distance, Captain David kept waving at Xu Cang, looking very anxious.
It seems that there were problems not only in the passenger cabin, but the cockpit also received some bad news, the severity of which had caused David, a somewhat old-fashioned ICAO flight specialist, to completely abandon the safety regulations for entering and exiting the cockpit.
At least the two captains seemed to have more to worry about than worrying about someone rushing into the cockpit while the door was opening.
After calming down a bit, Xu Cang left the cabin manager behind and rushed to the cockpit. The order in the cabin was no longer a big deal, as he had already known in the cabin what was the sharp sword hanging over his head.
Perhaps it was because the psychological impact of the complete detachment of the fairing was too great, causing the passengers, who should have been in infinite panic, to stay in their seats in fear, curled up like frightened hamsters.
Xu Cang entered the cockpit unimpeded and closed the cockpit door.
As soon as I came in, I understood everything just by looking at the weather radar display on the navigation page, without even waiting for Schneider and David to say anything.
On the weather radar, a huge cyclone with an edge close to an ellipse appeared on the DU display screen in almost full red, covering almost the entire DU display screen.
"Xu Cang, the top of the no-fly zone has risen to 30,000 feet." David said with a serious expression.
At this moment, according to the aircraft altimeter, there are less than two minutes before the plane will level off. This is the descent rate produced by Captain Schneider increasing the thrust of the No. 1 engine to almost the maximum. Under the single- engine condition, this Boeing 777 has reached its ceiling, and will produce a descent rate close to 1,200 feet per minute anyway.
"It is a cyclone generated by a snowstorm in the Alps. Thirty thousand feet should be the maximum altitude calculated by EASA, which will directly affect the flight safety."
Xu Cang's face looked quite ugly. The change in the altitude of the top of the no-fly zone showed that both EASA and the EU Directorate-General for Transport were paying attention to this unprecedented huge cyclone.
Since they finally decided to expand the height of the no-fly zone, it means that they are constantly measuring the intensity of the weather. For any reasonable person, it is best not to challenge the authority of EASA and the Directorate-General for Transport.
Because there is real danger down there.
"We are now directly above the core area of ​​the cyclone, so we must not descend below 30,000 feet. Once we are far away from the core area, we may be able to break the 30,000-foot limit in an emergency."
The 30,000-foot altitude limit is definitely not issued arbitrarily. At least in the core area, which is the area with the highest cyclone intensity, an altitude of 30,000 feet poses an obvious threat to flight safety.
In fact, with Xu Cang's experience, he once flew straight through a thunderstorm with a shattered windshield, and it was not impossible for Xu Cang to fly over the top of a cyclone at an altitude of 30,000 feet.
Going down through the top of this no-fly zone means a huge safety threat, but it is not a matter of death. The reason why Xu Cang is so afraid is because of the fragile wing on the right.
Now Xu Cang is extremely worried about whether the large wing with structural damage can hold up until the plane lands.
If we go down through the top of the no-fly zone, as long as we don't go too deep, we should be able to control the danger to a barely acceptable level. However, this premise is based on the condition that the aircraft fuselage is strong enough.
Once entering the no-fly zone, it means entering the airspace that can be directly affected by the cyclone. There, Xu Cang is almost certain that the airflow will be extremely turbulent.
As we all know, excessive turbulence will cause great strain on the aircraft fuselage.
If the fuselage was intact, it might be possible to endure it. However, the right wing had been burned by the engine flames and a piece of metal debris had been inserted into the leading edge. The integrity of the structure itself had been damaged. If it was still under the destruction of the air load, the wing would inevitably break.
Again, if the big wing is broken, no one can survive.
According to the weather radar, the cyclone area has extended to Munich. However, the airflow in the outer area is definitely more stable than that in the core area, and the injured wing may be able to withstand such an impact. As long as we maintain the altitude and wait until we are far enough away from the most violent core area, we can try to lower the altitude.
But the problem now is that Xu Cang cannot maintain an altitude above 30,000 feet just because he wants to. This involves the limit of aircraft performance and cannot be changed by subjective imagination.
"No, the plane can't maintain an altitude of 30,000 feet." Captain Schneider, as the operator, knew it best. If the plane approaches a certain altitude that can be maintained, the descent rate will slowly decrease, but at this moment the plane's altitude is close to 30,000 feet, and the plane's descent rate is still maintained at more than 1,200 feet per minute, with no sign of decreasing.
This shows that the current aircraft ceiling is far from 30,000 feet.
"The plane is too heavy!" Xu Cang looked into the distance. Suddenly, he moved forward and pressed the air fuel release pre-position switch with his right hand. At this moment, the fuel release system entered the pre-position state.
"What are you doing!" David's face suddenly changed when he saw Xu Cang's actions: "This is not an oil dumping area. There is precipitation below. The fuel cannot be vaporized if you do this. If there are people or land below, we will face a huge number of compensation claims."
David was so smart that as soon as he saw Xu Cang's actions, he immediately understood Xu Cang's thoughts.
That's right, the plane is too heavy now. It carries a huge amount of fuel on an ultra-long-distance intercontinental route of more than ten hours. Under such circumstances, the power of a single engine is definitely not enough to keep such a heavy behemoth at an altitude of 30,000 feet.
When the flight computer calculates the single-engine ceiling, the aircraft's gross weight is an extremely important reference factor.
Therefore, if one wants to increase the single-engine ceiling, one must reduce the load on the aircraft.
There are not many ways to adjust the gross weight of an airplane in the air. From any angle, at least the gross weight cannot be corrected by adjusting the number of passengers. Throwing passengers out of the plane does not seem to be a good option.
Then the only option is to make adjustments to the fuel, and aerial refueling is a system developed for this function.
Not all aircraft are equipped with an air-to-air fuel dumping system. Models such as E190, A319, A320, A321, B737, and B757 do not have an air-to-air fuel dumping system. Models such as A300, A310, A330, A340, and B767-200/300 can be equipped with an air-to-air fuel dumping system. For A380, B767-400, B777, B747, MD11, and IL78 aircraft, the air-to-air fuel dumping system is standard.
From this, it can be found that the necessity of upgrading the aerial fuel dumping system has a strong positive correlation with the size of the aircraft.
Regional airliners like the E190 or single-aisle narrow-body aircraft like the B737 are generally not equipped with an air-to-air fuel dumping system. However, for heavy wide-body aircraft such as the 747, 767-400, and 777, air-to-air fuel dumping is a relatively necessary function.
Because this type of aircraft usually undertakes long-distance flights, a large amount of fuel is needed at one time. If an emergency occurs, the aircraft will try to adjust its total weight by circling to consume fuel, and it is estimated that it can circle from day to night.
Even for mainstream single-aisle narrow-body aircraft, there have been more than one case where they circled in the sky for several hours in order to consume fuel. If it were a heavy aircraft, the duration would be unimaginable.
The Boeing 777 has three fuel tanks, the left tank, the right tank and the center tank, which is very similar to the fuel distribution of the 737. The fuel drain system of the Boeing 777 allows all tanks to drain, and the drain ports are located on the drain nozzle valves on the inside of the ailerons.
The reason why David stopped Xu Cang's behavior was not because he disagreed with Xu Cang's idea. It must be said that this was a brilliant idea, but the place where it was implemented was not very coincidental.
Jet fuel can cause harm to people and soil, so under normal circumstances, you must dump it in a specially approved dumping area. In an emergency, you can dump fuel outside the area at certain specific altitudes.
Generally speaking, if the aircraft altitude is higher than four thousand feet, the released fuel will be completely vaporized in the air and will decompose into water and carbon dioxide as it floats downward, minimizing the degree of damage and pollution.
Therefore, if you need to drain oil, the altitude must not be lowered no matter what.
Under these conditions, it is clear that BA 531 is perfectly adequate. Unfortunately, this does not apply in the event of precipitation.
Precipitation is not just rain, it also includes snowfall.
In a precipitation environment, the vaporized aviation fuel that should have decomposed on its own will not be able to decompose due to being wrapped by snow crystals or raindrops, but will fall to the ground attached to the precipitation.
In this case, the precipitation containing aviation fuel is a huge pollution and damage to the ground.
If there were a densely populated area below, given Europe's dedication to environmental protection, the compensation would be unimaginably high. I'm afraid that British Airways can't afford this amount of compensation.
Now the area below is all cyclone area, which means that the huge amount of fuel in this Boeing 777 will all spill onto the ground without a drop falling to the ground. Except for a part of uninhabited mountainous area in the Alps, the rest of the area below is all crowded with people. David dare not imagine the consequences of Xu Cang's actions.
Even if you survive, you will have to face endless compensation lawsuits for the rest of your life. This kind of life is more painful than death.
However, Xu Cang just paused and said: "This is our only way to survive. We will talk about the future later."
After saying that, Xu Cang directly started the oil release function.
All of a sudden, a huge amount of aviation fuel gushed out from the inner nozzles of the two ailerons and sprayed into the sky at an altitude of ten thousand meters.
After the Boeing 777's air fuel dumping system is pre-positioned, the default fuel dumping amount is set to the maximum landing weight standard. But even just to meet the maximum landing weight requirement, there is still a lot of aviation fuel that needs to be dumped.
David was actually quite conflicted. He knew that dumping fuel in mid-air was their only option to stabilize at an altitude of 30,000 feet. However, when he thought about the possibility of facing endless lawsuits for the rest of his life, he felt a pang of pain in his heart.
Take the A330 as an example, its aerial fuel dumping system can pump out one ton of fuel in one minute. The aerial fuel dumping system of the Boeing 777 is more advanced than that of the Airbus 330. Under the premise of ensuring the gasification of fuel, the pumping efficiency of the Boeing 777 is higher.
Compared with the flight computer of the Boeing 737, the FMC of the Boeing 777 is more advanced and more responsive.
As a large amount of fuel is drained, the flight computer will automatically correct the aircraft's gross weight, thereby calibrating the ceiling value in real time on the single-engine page.
David wiped the stubble on his chin and stared at the ever-changing single-engine page on the MCDU. As the aircraft's gross weight decreased, the single-engine ceiling value on the MCDU screen began to rise slowly.
David kept his lips pursed and his eyes staring straight ahead. Even Schneider, who was mainly responsible for the operation, kept looking at the MCDU.
Just as the aircraft was about to break through 30,000 feet, the single-engine ceiling value on the MCDU page finally rose to FL300. At this moment, David gritted his teeth and celebrated secretly.
"That's enough, that's enough, that's enough! Schneider, adjust the thrust attitude and maintain level flight." David turned around and said, "Turn off the fuel dump system. The total weight of the aircraft is enough."
Although David had been ready to throw the can down the drain since Xu Cang started the aerial fuel dumping, if less fuel could be dumped, it would directly mean less compensation in the future and less pollution to the environment.
Although the Boeing 777's aerial fuel dumping system is highly automated, the crew can manually terminate the fuel dumping process at any time.
However, Xu Cang did not stop releasing fuel in the air at all.
The aerial fuel dumping journey continues.
David was startled: "Xu Cang?"
At first, David was just a little surprised. He thought Xu Cang didn't know how to manually stop the mid-air fuel dumping. Indeed, this mid-air fuel dumping function was rarely used, and of course, the crew didn't want to use it.
The opportunities to dump fuel in mid-air are extremely rare, and human intervention is even rarer. In many cases, it is just to reduce the aircraft's total weight to below the maximum landing weight. It is basically done automatically without any human intervention.
"You don't know how to do it? You've never done it before?" David didn't think much about it and started to unbuckle his seat belt. He planned to do it himself.
As a result, as soon as David unbuckled his belt and stood up slightly, Xu Cang put his right hand on his shoulder and pushed him back into his seat.
David was stunned, and immediately felt something was wrong: "Xu Cang, what are you going to do?"
"David, I know how to operate it." After saying that, Xu Cang held the MCP board with one hand, leaned forward, and tapped the MCDU with the other hand.
David was completely confused by Xu Cang's behavior, but soon he realized that Xu Cang was not going to stop dumping fuel in the air, but was resetting the amount of fuel dumping.
The default starting fuel release amount of the fuel release system is to reduce the gross weight to below the maximum landing weight, but this fuel release amount is not constant and can be manually modified on the MCDU.
Perhaps David still didn't realize the seriousness of the problem. But when he saw Xu Cang set the final fuel consumption to one ton, he froze.
The takeoff required nearly 40 tons of fuel, but Xu Cang only wanted to leave one ton. This ton of fuel was only enough for the Boeing 777 to fly for 20 to 30 minutes.
Xu Cang is cutting off his own retreat!
Captain Schneider was also shocked by the horrific amount of fuel Xu Cang dumped. However, he did not stop Xu Cang, but directly contacted the controller: "British Airways 531, conducting an aerial fuel dumping operation at 47 degrees 22 minutes north latitude, 8 degrees 32 minutes east longitude, altitude 30,000 feet, estimated fuel dumping volume... 29 tons."
David was really shocked by Xu Cang's wild release of fuel in the non-refueling zone. Moreover, even if we don't care about the mid-air fuel release, what does it mean to leave less than half an hour of remaining fuel? Is there no way out for yourself?
"British Airways 531, your location is not a fuel dumping zone, please..." The controller was interrupted by someone, and then a slightly older voice said: "British Airways 531, aerial fuel dumping is allowed. If possible, maintain the operation at 30,000 feet. Good luck."
It was obvious that the old controller had intervened. He could tell that a Boeing 777 that had been flying for more than three hours dumped 29 tons of fuel, which meant that there would not be much fuel left. This was a desperate move.
Human efforts to save themselves should be respected.
Unfortunately, there was a desperate and suffocating feeling in the Milan area control room. They could feel that the situation of British Airways 531 was more serious than they expected and the crew reported.
They really couldn't imagine it, because not far below the plane was Zurich, the largest city in Switzerland.
David took a deep breath. He did not stop Xu Cang, but remained silent for a moment: "Xu Cang, you didn't tell me something."
"Yes!" Xu Cang sighed softly, and that sigh contained infinite attachment and unwillingness: "The fairing of the No. 2 engine has completely fallen off, and the core engine is almost completely exposed. Even when the fuel supply is cut off, the fire of the No. 2 engine has not been stopped. The flames are burning the engine suspension frame and the wings..."
“Da Yi…” David took a breath.
The Boeing 777's wings are mixed with some composite materials, making them lighter than traditional metal wings and stronger and tougher. However, the only weakness compared to traditional materials is high temperature resistance.
If the flames from the No. 2 engine continued to burn the wings, there would be a slight possibility of an outcome that they would find difficult to accept.
“No, no, no!” David kept shaking his head. “Although there is a possibility that the wing will break, this possibility is not so great that you need to make a desperate move. This is unreasonable.”
"And..." Xu Cang's heart tightened: "A piece of metal fragment from the engine fairing was inserted into the leading edge of the right wing under the impact of the explosion. David, the overall structure of the right wing has been broken. It is no longer enough to guarantee our safety. We need to make a choice."
"The most urgent task..." Xu Cang narrowed his eyes slightly: "Put out the fire!"
"But we have run out of fire extinguishers," Schneider said puzzled.
"What should we do if there's a fire in the wheelhouse? Do we have a fire extinguisher? No!"
David naturally knew how to deal with a wheel bay fire. It was actually very simple, just lower the landing gear and blow out the fire.
"But we've been flying for a while. If the fire in the No. 2 engine can be blown out, then this one should have been extinguished." David pointed to the fire warning light of the No. 2 engine. At this moment, the warning light was still on, which meant that the fire in the No. 2 engine had not disappeared.
Xu Cang took a deep breath: "At this altitude, the oxygen content is still too high."
Schneider responded quickly: "You want to maintain an altitude of 30,000 feet, but you want to ascend to a higher altitude and blow out the fire in the No. 2 engine in an area with lower oxygen content?"
This statement seems reasonable, but David keenly captured some problems from it.
"The Boeing 777's ceiling is around 42,000 feet. Even with a single engine, it doesn't take almost all of the fuel out to reach this altitude." David stared at Xu Cang intently: "You're being too extreme. Pumping out such a huge amount of fuel in order to ascend is definitely not just for the sake of allowing the plane to reach a higher altitude."
In fact, among the three, although Schneider is the oldest, he has the lowest technical level. However, some things are not based on technical level, but on experience, experience and insight into people's hearts.
When he saw Xu Cang's expression, he suddenly thought of an extremely terrifying possibility: "Are you afraid? Are you... preparing for a crash? "
David was shocked: "What?"
“You have to know that if the big wing is broken, no one can survive. If there is…” Xu Cang let out a long sigh: “Then it can only be… God!”