"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"
Amid a burst of annoyed curses, the cockpit door of British Airways Flight 531 was opened, and Captain David, who had just gone out to check the right wing, came into the cockpit with a grim face.
At this moment, Xu Cang was already sitting in the captain's seat on the left. As soon as David came in, Captain Schneider, who had just moved to the right seat, naturally began to unbuckle his seat belt to make room for David.
Although he was nominally the first pilot, when something went wrong, Schneider's identity as captain was still not as important as that of an ICAO flight commissioner.
Fortunately, Schneider saw the situation clearly and consciously accepted the change in control.
"The fire in Engine 2 hasn't stopped yet." David was still cursing, "The fuel control switch has been cut off. Where is the fuel supply for the combustion?"
At this moment, Xu Cang was controlling the plane to slowly rise, and did not respond to David's question. Because even he couldn't understand why the fire in the No. 2 engine had not even shown any signs of decreasing even though the fuel had been cut off.
However, the systems involved in large passenger aircraft are too complicated, and even the aircraft manufacturers may not understand some situations clearly. Xu Cang is too lazy to worry about such things anymore.
Although the aircraft was constantly draining fuel to reduce its overall weight, it only had one engine and was climbing very quickly. However, there was one thing that made Xu Cang feel fortunate, that is, as the altitude increased, the headwind became stronger and stronger, which meant that it was more conducive to firefighting in a high-altitude environment.
At this moment, the plane was not far from Munich Airport. Stronger headwinds would definitely delay the landing time. However, the time difference was about two minutes, which was still acceptable. The most urgent thing was to put out the fire first. Otherwise, who knew how long the wing could last if it was burning like this?
Schneider vacated a seat and David sat down naturally. Then he looked back through the right side window for a few times and said nothing more.
"After we reach 40,000 feet, we can only maintain that altitude for about five minutes, and then we should descend." David started to prepare for landing as soon as he got on the seat: "Due to the problem with the right wing, we can't maintain a fast descent rate during the descent, and the speed brake can't be used. At such a high altitude, if we still want to land as soon as possible, we need to descend in advance, otherwise a lot of time will be spent on circling descent."
In the basic principle of energy conversion, low speed and high descent rate are contradictory. For an aircraft, a high descent rate often also means a high speed. However, at this moment, the right wing of the aircraft is fragile, and David dare not let the right wing bear too much load, so he must control the speed of the aircraft.
However, if you want the aircraft to maintain a relatively conservative speed during the descent, the aircraft's descent rate will not be too large even under slow conditions. The aerodynamic layout of the Boeing 777 is quite excellent, making it more advantageous than other aircraft in unpowered gliding conditions.
In most cases, this would be a good advantage, but now it has become one of the factors restricting British Airways Flight 531.
Forty thousand feet was too high. If he descended slowly, it would probably take more than twenty minutes. Moreover, what was even worse was that David did not dare to use the speed brake. The speed brake was a common method of increasing the rate of descent, which could destroy the lift of the wing.
However, David didn't dare to try it at this moment.
The speed brake has a side effect, which is that it will cause the aircraft fuselage to flutter. This is because when the speed brake is raised, it will block the smooth airflow on the upper surface of the wing, forming some turbulence on the upper surface of the wing. It is in this way that the speed brake achieves the effect of destroying the lift of the aircraft.
However, the turbulence on the upper surface of the wing will cause the fuselage to vibrate slightly. Therefore, during flight, there are strict restrictions on the position of the speed brake. If the crew makes an error and moves the speed brake handle beyond the flight position, the vibration of the fuselage will no longer be subtle, but rather quite obvious. In this case, even a normal aircraft may not be able to withstand it.
Of course, for normal aircraft, as long as the position of the speed brake does not exceed the standard, the vibration effect it produces is within an acceptable range.
However, the aircraft on British Airways Flight 531 now seems to be no longer a normal aircraft. Even if it is a slight buffeting, the right wing of the aircraft is unlikely to be able to withstand it. More importantly, the buffeting effect generated by the speed brake is transmitted from the wing to the fuselage, that is, the first point of action of the buffeting is the wing. Isn't this adding insult to injury?
Based on this reasonable and convincing inference, David did not dare to use the speed brake to increase the descent rate.
If British Airways Flight 531 did not want to spend too much time in the sky due to the altitude, it would need to descend in advance, that is, it would descend from 40,000 feet when it was still some distance away from Munich, and then as it moved away from the core area of ​​the cyclone, it could try to break through the top of the no-fly zone of 30,000 feet and continue to descend.
Otherwise, if we really waited until we were close to Munich Airport to start descending, we would have to circle for less than half an hour, which was too exaggerated.
"Five minutes?" Xu Cang's face showed no special expression. "Five minutes is enough. Basically, if the fire can be extinguished, we will know when we reach that altitude. When descending, after slowing down to a suitable speed, lower the landing gear. This should increase the descent rate."
David nodded: "The biggest problem now is the right wing. As long as it is fine, there will be no problem. If there is a problem with it, then..."
With David's level, he was quite confident that he could complete a single-engine landing. Moreover, as long as he was far enough away from the cyclone area, the blizzard would not have such a big impact on the aircraft, and he also believed that he could handle the strong wind turbulence at the edge of the cyclone.
The only problem is the broken wing. As Xu Cang said, this is a problem that no one can solve unless the person sitting in the cockpit is a god!
"Xu Cang, if the right wing is broken, do you have any solution?" After a long silence, David still asked this question.
He knew Xu Cang's previous experiences. If those situations really happened, only Xu Cang could save the collapsing building.
"The wing is broken." Xu Cang moved his left hand holding the steering wheel, then turned his head to look at David: "You take control?"
David was stunned: "What?"
"I mean hand-control."
"Now?" If it was just the current situation, or if the wing was not broken, David could complete all the operations by himself. However, judging from Xu Cang's expression, he should just ask him to lend a hand, not to leave the problem of the broken wing to him.
David grabbed a half-wet towel from the storage bag beside him and wiped the sweat off his palms. Then he quickly took control of the steering wheel: "Take control."
"Hand over the controls." Xu Cang let go of the steering wheel: "The steering is also in your hands."
During the climb, the No. 1 engine basically maintained high thrust. Therefore, the side slip of the aircraft was very obvious, and a lot of left rudder was required. Sometimes, in this case, the handover control was limited to the control wheel, and the rudder was still controlled on one's side. However, Xu Cang knew that David was also a flight specialist of the International Civil Aviation Organization, and his control skills must be impeccable, so he also handed over the rudder with confidence.
Now David is the only one operating the plane.
At first, David thought Xu Cang was a little tired and wanted to let him take control so he could take a short break. However, when David caught a glimpse of Xu Cang's face while controlling the machine, his heart skipped a beat.
It is obvious that Xu Cang is not a person who likes to hide his emotions in his heart. His inner thoughts can be seen from his face, such as his assessment of the current condition of the plane.
"Xu Cang, was what Schneider said just now true?" The current operating load is not big for David, he can devote a lot of energy to it. However, the real load lies in Xu Cang's performance. Why does he feel that Xu Cang is also under a lot of pressure?
Just now, Schneider mentioned that Xu Cang had other considerations for releasing a large amount of oil, such as preparing for a crash.
Of course, dumping a large amount of fuel will allow the aircraft to have a higher single-engine ceiling, but there is no need to drain the fuel until there is only a little over a ton left, which means that the aircraft will have almost only one approach opportunity, leaving no way out at all.
The only explanation is that Xu Cang believed that there was a high possibility that the plane would crash, so he released the fuel in advance to prevent a violent explosion after the crash.
Otherwise, if dozens of tons of aviation fuel exploded and burned, the damage caused would be unimaginable.
Generally speaking, when it reaches this point, the plane is already struggling on the brink of death. David knew that his current situation was very dangerous, but he did not expect Xu Cang's prediction to be worse than his.
"You don't have any way to deal with a broken wing?" Schneider, who was sitting in the back, was also nervous: "You could have landed in Jakarta that time."
Xu Cang remained silent, just opening and closing his left hand continuously, and the feeling of discomfort began to appear.
The doctor once said that the strange feeling in Xu Cang's left hand was most likely not a physiological problem, because various examinations showed that there was no problem with Xu Cang's hand nerves, and they recovered very well, and under normal circumstances he could still complete extremely complex operations.
The abnormal feeling was real, whether it was the inability to sense the temperature the first time, or the discomfort of not being able to integrate the human and the machine when approaching Erhai Lake. Once might be just an accident, but twice or three times is not the case.
Now that uncomfortable feeling came back.
Just now when Xu Cang was holding the steering wheel, the situation he encountered during the approach to Erhai Lake happened again.
On the surface, he could still control the aircraft, even the top controls that many ordinary pilots could not reach. However, Xu Cang knew that he could no longer achieve a certain harmony with the aircraft. Most of the time, this was not a problem, because Xu Cang's skills had reached a perfect level.
But at certain special moments, this sense of disharmony is the culprit that prevents him from becoming a miracle.
Can Xu Cang be copied? Of course not!
Can flying technology be replicated? Yes!
After all, if flying is a skilled profession and you put in efforts that are beyond the reach of ordinary people, you will most likely be able to hone your skills to a near-perfect level.
Are those veteran instructors who have been flying for decades really much worse than Xu Cang purely on a technical level?
However, there are many excellent pilots, but there is only one Xu Cang!
Because he was born to be a pilot, from the first time he held the joystick of a Cessna 152 in the aviation school, Xu Cang could feel that his thoughts, ideas, and perceptions were in tune with the aircraft. While other students were still practicing the most basic control movements, he was already able to complete complex maneuvers such as spin recovery.
So, Xu Cang's flying has never relied on skills, but instinct, the kind of instinct that he was born with. However, at this time, he felt that instinct was leaving him.
"Is the psychological pressure too great?" Xu Cang thought.
Before, he was worried that there was some irreversible physiological injury to his left hand, which was why he was unable to sense the temperature the first time and when he approached Erhai Lake later.
But now, Xu Cang began to waver not because of the problem with his left hand but because of the huge potential pressure of the wing breaking.
There is an old saying that if the sky falls, there will be tall people holding it up, and Xu Cang is that tall person holding it up.
Although David and Schneider knew the severity of the situation, the psychological pressure they and Xu Cang were under was completely different. David and Schneider were subconsciously relying on Xu Cang. They knew that they would not be able to survive if the wing was broken, so they placed all their hopes on Xu Cang, and they did not feel that much pressure.
As long as you have someone to rely on, everything is not that scary.
However, they can rely on Xu Cang, but who can Xu Cang rely on?
Xu Cang alone bore almost all the pressure of the broken wing.
He was not talking nonsense just now. In history, there have been very few successful landings with broken horizontal stabilizers or vertical tails. However, the impact of damage to the horizontal stabilizer or vertical tail is far less than that of the large wing.
If the right wing breaks, the huge lift difference will cause the aircraft to flip sideways directly, and there will be almost no countermeasures.
For Xu Cang, who has already stood at the top of the pilot list, the problem of the broken wing is still unsolvable.
"You can control it later." Xu Cang suddenly said, "It doesn't matter whether I control it or not."
David was stunned for a moment, and instantly understood what Xu Cang meant.
If there is no problem with the big wing, David can land by himself. If there is a problem with the big wing, Xu Cang can't do anything about it. So, in essence, it really makes no difference whether Xu Cang controls it or not.
Schneider's face turned pale, but he didn't say anything else.
It is indeed a bit cruel and irresponsible to push the unsolvable problem of the wing fracture entirely onto Xu Cang.
David pursed his lips. He also understood the meaning of Xu Cang's words. The feeling of dejection was uncontrollable. If Xu Cang couldn't do anything, then their fate could only be handed over to God.
"British Airways 531, altitude FL400, expected cruising time five minutes." David did not ask Xu Cang anything else, but reported his intentions to Milan control after leveling off.
If Xu Cang is also helpless, then he can only rely on himself.
…
At this moment, in the cabin, the first-class flight attendant had been arranged in the middle of the economy class, sitting in the window seat next to the wing. This arrangement was made by Captain David when he came out to check the condition of the engine and wing.
Since the problem with the wing was discovered, the cockpit had turned on the wing lights. Under the illumination of the wing lights, part of the wing surface could be clearly seen.
The wing lights were originally used by the crew to observe ice accumulation on the wing surface, especially at night. However, at this time, they became a light source for visually observing the damage to the leading edge of the wing.
Nothing else matters now. The biggest problem is whether the right wing can hold up. Therefore, Captain David asked the first-class flight attendant who is more experienced to do nothing but watch the right wing. In fact, Captain David wanted the cabin manager to still take this responsibility, but after all, he had to take care of the cabin order and couldn't just ignore it. Since the first-class flight attendant was also an old employee, he thought he could be relied on, so he had to settle for the next best thing.
All I can say is that seeing some things is more beneficial than not seeing them.
If it is a more secret fault, the passengers in the cabin will be unsure or unable to realize the seriousness of the incident and cause some commotion. Some people have excessive self-awareness, and even when faced with special situations, they probably know that they can't do anything, but they will still do some meaningless behaviors to cause some trouble in the cabin.
But now it was different. The No. 2 engine wrapped in flames was too conspicuous. All the passengers did not need to ask the flight attendants what happened, nor did they need to question whether the flight attendants were hiding anything from them. They knew what situation the plane was facing just by relying on their own eyes.
Although this situation of exposing everything nakedly to the passengers is cruel, it is extremely effective.
Some passengers remained silent, some sobbed secretly, and some began to pray, but no one stood up to disrupt the order in the cabin.
Compared to the first-class flight attendants who had nothing else to do, the cabin manager and some other flight attendants had a lot of things to do. When Captain David came out just now, he mentioned one thing to the cabin manager, that is, the plane might make an emergency landing.
Although Captain David did not guarantee that the plane would make an emergency landing, he still instructed the cabin manager to prepare for an emergency landing on land.
Even though the cabin manager had worked for British Airways for many years, he had never encountered an emergency landing before. Therefore, even though he was prepared, the cabin manager was still under great psychological pressure.
Unlike ordinary passengers, the cabin manager had communicated privately with Captain David and she understood the current situation of the plane better.
To be honest, if we follow what Captain David said, the so-called forced landing on land is unnecessary. At this moment, there are three top pilots in the cockpit. As long as there is no problem with the wing, there is no possibility of forced landing. Any of the pilots can guarantee that the plane will land safely.
But as long as there is a problem with the main wing, there is probably no need to make an emergency landing, just wait for death.
Wait for death! This is what Captain David clearly said to her.
However, the cabin manager did not tell the other flight attendants about this. Therefore, like Xu Cang, the cabin manager was the one who bore the most pressure in the crew. As a result, the experienced cabin manager made frequent mistakes and did many things that were not up to standard .
The first-class cabin crew watched their crew members busy preparing for the emergency landing. This kind of thing is actually mentioned in the pre-flight meeting of the crew, but if it really happens, they still need to communicate with each other. Because although there are standard procedures, individuals will have their own little habits in the implementation process. Such differences may cause problems in the cooperation of the emergency landing procedures, so the process needs to be determined in advance.
This is actually the same as in aviation. Even if there is an SOP, there are still differences between pilots in how to deal with the problem. However, there are only two people working in the cockpit at one time, so the impact of this difference is not that great.
After all, the difference between working with two people and working with more than a dozen people is very obvious.
Because the first-class cabin attendant had to assume the responsibilities assigned by the captain, she was not brought along for the emergency landing and evacuation. However, the normal flight crew configuration is excessive, and even if one first-class cabin attendant is missing, the execution of the emergency landing procedure will not be greatly affected.
However, the first-class flight attendant could tell how dire the situation was just by looking at the cabin manager's expression.
Suddenly, the first-class cabin attendant's eyes fixed, and for the first time since the accident, she smiled. The flames outside the No. 2 engine disappeared, at least from the visual point of view.
The first-class flight attendant immediately unfastened her seat belt and was about to tell the cockpit the good news. At this time, the other flight attendants were still busy preparing for the emergency landing, so it was better not to let them pass on the message.
However, the first-class flight attendant had only taken two steps forward from her seat when her right wrist was suddenly grabbed. She turned around and looked down, and found that a female passenger sitting in the aisle seat had grabbed her.
Although most of the flight attendants were good-looking, the girl holding her wrist was breathtakingly beautiful, with shoulder-length black hair and eyes that sparkled like black gemstones and seemed to be able to speak.
"Hello, is there anything I can help you with?" Although she was anxious, the first-class flight attendant still controlled her tone and asked.
The girl pulled the flight attendant's right hand down and moved her face closer.
The first-class flight attendant was startled, then immediately understood, bent down and listened attentively.
The girl leaned close to the first-class flight attendant's ear and said, "Tell the cockpit that there is a problem with the swing range of the right wing tip. It would be best if they come out to verify it themselves, and they need to bring additional lighting equipment."
The first-class flight attendant shuddered and looked at the girl who seemed to have walked out of a painting in disbelief: "You know anything about airplanes?"
The girl didn't say much: "I think you should go to the front. There's no point in getting to know me."
The first-class flight attendant was stunned for a moment. She didn't expect that at this time, the girl was still so calm and composed, but this kind of demeanor was beyond the reach of many people.
"How much does the wingtip swing? " The first-class flight attendant noted it down silently, and then really ignored the girl and ran forward quickly.
…
"Is there a problem with the swing range of the right wing tip?" When David heard the first-class cabin attendant's report during the internal call, his face was full of confusion: "Is this the original statement?"
"Yes, that's what the passenger said," the first-class flight attendant added, "She also said that you'd better take some lighting equipment and check it out for yourself."
"The swing amplitude of the wingtip?" Xu Cang frowned, thinking about what this sentence meant.
Fixed-wing aircraft like the Boeing 777 are not actually fixed-wing aircraft. Their large wings actually swing up and down like birds, but the amplitude is not as large as that of birds' wings. This is to increase the strength and toughness of the wings, otherwise the wings may not be able to support under the ultra-high aerodynamic strength.
After all, there is an old saying that things that are too new are prone to breakage.
Suddenly, Xu Cang thought of something and his face changed. He grabbed the headset and switched the transmitter to the cabin voice: "The flame of the No. 2 engine has disappeared?"
"Yes, I saw the fire was out just now."
Xu Cang threw the headphones directly onto the sunshade and said to David hurriedly, "Request a lower altitude."
"Down to thirty thousand feet?"
"No, it's lower!" Xu Cang was already unbuckling his seat belt: "Start the approach. Use the weather radar to scan and find a relatively stable passage."
"So urgent?" David was stunned. "If we enter the cyclone area earlier, the plane will encounter turbulence earlier, which will increase the aerodynamic load on the wings."
"I didn't ask you to enter the cyclone area right now. It's just that we don't have much time left. There is a problem with the swing amplitude of the right wing tip. I don't know how that person saw it, but if it is true, the impact of the crack on the leading edge of the right wing is far more serious than we expected, and the situation may deteriorate faster than we expected." Xu Cang said: "Don't lower the flaps, slow down and lower the landing gear first. Control the descent rate, and fly forward another eight nautical miles before trying to break through the top altitude of the no-fly zone."
"Eight nautical miles?" David looked at the weather radar. Eight nautical miles away was basically the red radar reflection area, and the intensity of weather activities would indeed be smaller. Moreover, it was far away from the core area, so the risk factor should be relatively low.
Of course, this is just a theory. No one knows what the situation is inside unless they fly in.
"Where's your flashlight?"
David was startled: "My box is not here."
"In the outermost pocket," said Schneider.
Xu Cang rummaged through the boxes on the left and quickly found a palm-sized flashlight: "I'll go to the cabin and take a look."
After saying that, he stood up.
“What if the control behind us doesn’t allow us to descend?”
"No matter!" Xu Cang said sternly, "This is not a military or other flight ban. It's just weather considerations. Why don't you let us fly through?"
After saying that, Xu Cang walked straight past Schneider, ignored the protective measures outside, opened the door and left the cockpit.
As soon as Xu Cang came out, he went straight to the middle of the economy class, while the first class flight attendant followed closely behind him.
Soon, Xu Cang turned on the flashlight and shone it through the porthole at the leading edge of the wing.
To be honest, even if Schneider's flashlight was powerful enough, there wouldn't be much light left after it passed through the thick window and landed on the leading edge of the wing. Xu Cang leaned against the window and searched carefully for a while, then suddenly his face changed: "Damn it."
A thin crack extended from the place where the metal fragment was inserted. If Xu Cang had not been shining the light, it would have been difficult to find it, and it could easily be mistaken for light and shadow.
Fortunately, the crack is not too long and now appears to be limited to the leading edge device of the wing and has not spread to the main structure of the wing.
However, this was still a very bad sign. The extent of the wing structure damage was much more serious than he had expected. Such a wing would definitely break, it was just a matter of time.
Xu Cang turned off the flashlight and turned around to ask the first-class flight attendant: "Who told you just now that there is a problem with the wingtip swing range?"
The most direct reason for the problem of wing tip swing amplitude is the damage of the wing structure. However, although there are cracks on the leading edge now, the change in the swing amplitude of the wing tip should not be significant, and even many experienced pilots probably cannot see it.
Can an ordinary passenger see this?
Or maybe that passenger was also a skilled pilot.
The first-class flight attendant pointed to a seat not far in front of him: "Over there."
Xu Cang walked over, wanting to see who this passenger with extremely amazing insight was.
When he walked over and took a look, he was immediately startled: "It's you?"
The girl also noticed Xu Cang who was looking at her: "Do you know me?"
"I know you, but you don't know me."
"I just saw you coming out of the cockpit. Although I don't know why you are not wearing a pilot's uniform, this doesn't seem to be the time to chat."
This girl has black hair and black eyes, and speaks Chinese very fluently. I didn’t expect that she is Chinese.
Xu Cang hesitated for a moment and said, "If I can survive, I will come to find you."
After saying that, Xu Cang did not stop, but walked forward. Just as he said in the cockpit before, they could not wait any longer, so they could only take a chance.
Looking at Xu Cang's receding back, the girl looked thoughtful. She thought for a long time and was sure that she did not know the man just now.
However, she didn't stay awake for long, as Xu Cang said, if they could survive, the premise of all thinking was that they could survive, and judging from the current situation, this requirement seemed a bit high.
She could see the slightest difference in the swinging amplitude of the wingtips, so how could she not understand the situation she was facing now?
…
Back in the cockpit, Xu Cang found that David had already begun to slow down and descend. According to Xu Cang's instructions, David controlled the descent rate, focusing on deceleration.
The speed to lower the gear, the speed to retract the gear, and the maximum speed with the gear lowered are all different. Generally speaking, the maximum speed that can be maintained with the gear lowered is greater than the maximum speed with the gear lowered, which means that after slowing down to lower the gear, they can speed up slightly to get a higher rate of descent.
After Xu Cang came in, David looked at the airspeed indicator and asked, "What do you say next?"
Xu Cang's face was gloomy. "There are obvious cracks in the leading edge device. It has not spread to the main body of the wing, but the situation is not optimistic. What does the control say?"
"We can descend, but the traffic control reports that Munich Airport is affected by strong winds and turbulence. The airport has been closed, but Munich Airport can receive us." David wiped his chin and said, "Xu Cang, do you want to fly north for a while? Or don't be so anxious to descend, turn off the mid-air fuel dumping, and fly north again, away from the cyclone area. The strong wind problem there may be much better."
"Where to go?" Xu Cang asked back, "As long as there is a crack, the process of the wing breaking will be greatly accelerated. This is a 777, not a 737. Besides Munich, which other city in the north can receive a 777? Frankfurt, Luxembourg, neither of which requires nearly an hour's flight. Do you think the right wing can still hold out for an hour? No, no, no, it can't even hold out for twenty minutes."
The huge size of the Boeing 777 means that it has very high requirements for landing airports, and only some hub airports can accommodate the Boeing 777.
In fact, they are already very lucky. Munich Airport is not the top airport in Germany, but it was expanded not long ago to cope with the possible increase in passenger traffic in the future. It is because of this airport expansion that Munich Airport can receive the Boeing 777. Otherwise, more than a month ago, Munich could not be used as an alternate airport.
Milan and Turin, which are both accessible in the south, are now covered by the cyclone. Rome is further south, but it is too far away. In the north, apart from Munich, there are only Frankfurt and Luxembourg to choose from. But the flight time does not allow it. You can go east to Vienna, but it is not much faster than going to Frankfurt, so it is not a good choice. If you turn west, you can go back to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, but the flight time is estimated to be one hour and twenty minutes, which is impossible.
God has been very kind to Xu Cang and his team, providing them with the Munich Airport very close by. Otherwise, they would have to consider a real land landing.
As he spoke, Xu Cang pointed to the weather radar screen and said, "Munich has also been covered by the cyclone zone. We can no longer avoid it, so we can only give it a try. Twenty minutes, no, this is the most optimistic estimate. We should have even less time."
"Twenty minutes." Sweat oozes from David's forehead. This has really become a moment of life and death.
Twenty minutes was the longest time expected. If they were unlucky, the right wing might break in the next second.
They are indeed quite urgent in terms of time pressure.
"How strong is the gust of wind?" Xu Cang asked.
"Twenty-one meters."
Xu Cang pursed his lips: "Then can you land?"
"As long as the wings are intact, I have the confidence to land even if it is a single engine." David said with a stern face: "But the problem now is... there are some things that I cannot decide."
It can only be said that David's level is very, very high. He is confident to deal with gusts of more than 20 meters in single-engine mode. Ordinary people at his level are basically at the peak of flying skills. However, even David always has a big stone in his heart, which makes him breathless.
"Then let's leave our fate to God." Xu Cang let out a long sigh. There were some things he couldn't decide.
David licked his cracked lips. He knew that life or death was no longer within their subjective influence. Even Xu Cang thought so.
"I see."
After that, David controlled the plane to slow down slowly, and after confirming that it was sufficient, he lowered the landing gear. However, David slightly increased the descent rate, about 2,500 feet per minute to 3,000 feet per minute, and the speed increased to Mach number .74.
This speed is not very fast, but in David's mind, he should not increase the speed any further.
"At low altitude, maintain a speed of 280 knots." Xu Cang said softly.
Below about 26,000 feet, the Mach number is not very accurate, and it starts to return to the indicated airspeed. 280 knots is a more appropriate speed to deal with turbulence. At this speed, the aircraft can withstand a greater load, but I don't know if the right wing is also like this.
David did not speak, but silently operated. When the altitude exceeded 30,000 feet, Captain Schneider notified the control. The control did not have any restrictive instructions. There were no planes in this airspace. As long as the crew could bear the consequences of entering the no-fly zone, there would be no traffic conflicts or other problems, and the control would basically not intervene.
After breaking through the 30,000-foot altitude, the aircraft had left the most dangerous red radar wave reflection zone. However, even in the yellow reflection zone, which should be slightly better in theory, David almost lost his grip on the steering wheel as soon as he went down.
Xu Cang turned on the landing lights and found that the plane had entered the cloud, so he immediately turned on the anti-icing of the No. 1 engine. In such a cloud layer, ice accumulation must be very serious. Not only the No. 2 engine was scrapped, but the No. 1 engine was also damaged.
However, although the airflow was very chaotic, Captain David's hands were steady and the plane was able to maintain a relatively stable state while drifting.
In fact, Xu Cang had lowered the landing gear earlier, firstly to increase the rate of descent without increasing speed, and secondly to increase the stability of the aircraft. After the landing gear was lowered, the stability of the aircraft itself was increased, which is a point that is often overlooked.
The function of the lowered landing gear is a little bit like a vertical tail, except that this "vertical tail" cannot swing left and right.
Xu Cang placed his right hand on the sunshade, and his fingertips kept tapping on the surface of the sunshade, showing his extremely anxious heart. As he had decided before, he still did not take over the control, but let Captain David take full control.
With the support of the landing gear, the plane descended relatively quickly, and soon it reached nearly 20,000 feet. At this time, under the guidance of Captain Schneider, Xu Cang called up the navigation frequency for the blind landing on Runway 35 of Munich Airport.
Xu Cang rarely flew to European airports, and David was busy operating the plane. Fortunately, there was a captain, Schneider, who reminded Xu Cang of various data.
Xu Cang saw that although the plane's attitude was unstable, it was still basically within a certain range, which was a good sign. After thinking for a while, he called the cabin manager: "It is expected to land in ten minutes, be prepared for an emergency landing."
The cabin manager quickly replied on the intercom: "Got it, we're ready."
"After landing, if there is no command from the cockpit, follow your procedures and decide to evacuate on your own." Xu Cang added: "There is no new report on the wing or engine situation from the economy class."
"No."
"good!"
Xu Cang hung up the phone directly and let out a long sigh. This is the best. Just keep going like this and land steadily. This is the best!
In just two minutes, David's face had turned red and was covered in sweat, and you could see from the back that his shirt was almost completely wet.
After flying for so many years, David now feels like he has returned to the first time he took the controls.
Tension, anxiety, and fear!
Schneider could clearly see that David's muscles were very tense, very unnaturally tense. For a pilot of David's level, flying should be a very natural action, and the body should be very relaxed.
The reason why David kept his body tense was not because of the chaotic airflow, but because he had to be prepared for the drastic change of state after the wing broke.
It's like a leopard hunting, its nerves are so tense that they seem like they will break at the slightest touch.
This can certainly help you maintain your best concentration, but it will easily make you tired after a while. David's face full of sweat is proof of this, and it's hard to say whether he can last ten minutes like this.
However, Schneider did not have any intention of laughing. He knew that if he substituted him in, his performance might be worse than David.
With the abilities David has demonstrated now, he is fully worthy of his position as ICAO flight specialist.
"That's it, another ten minutes!" There were beads of sweat on David's eyelashes, but he dared not relax for a moment. His left hand, right hand and feet were all operating constantly. If he was not careful, the plane would easily fall into a complicated state.
However, David knew that this was still the most difficult thing. The truly desperate thing had not happened yet, and he did not want it to happen.
If we can hold on for another ten minutes, the plane will be able to land.
Perhaps David's cry was heard by the heavens. After flying more than 8,000 feet in fear, Schneider reported to the control again when he was approaching the transition altitude of 12,000 feet: "British Airways 531, altitude FL120, 21 nautical miles from Munich Airport."
Schneider's report this time was intended, firstly, to inform controllers of the current condition of the aircraft, and secondly, to obtain the corrected sea pressure in Munich. Standard air pressure cannot be used at low altitudes.
"Received, corrected sea pressure 1015. British Airways 531, you can choose your own landing direction, two runways, four directions are all open for you, now contacting Munich approach 133.35."
At this moment, in the cabin, due to the severe turbulence, some people began to realize that the plane had descended. In addition, someone had previously discovered that the fire in the No. 2 engine had been extinguished. The passengers in the cabin speculated that the fault had been controlled and the crew was preparing for an emergency landing nearby.
For a moment, although it was shaking violently, the atmosphere in the cabin was not as depressing as before.
However, those who knew the truth, such as the cabin manager and the girl who first realized the seriousness of the problem on the right wing, did not show the slightest sign of happiness.
After meeting Xu Cang, the girl kept thinking whether she had met Xu Cang before but just forgot. But suddenly, the girl's body tensed up and her ears moved slightly, as if she heard something.
However, before she realized what the sound was, a dull tearing sound came, like a huge noise caused by metal twisting. The sound was so loud that most of the cabin could hear it.
"not good!"
At this moment, she still couldn't understand what was happening.
The wing is really about to break!
In the cockpit, Captain Schneider had just picked up the microphone to repeat the controller's instructions when he heard the teeth-grinding sound of deformed metal.
At this moment, a chill rushed to my brain and the hair on my body stood up, as if I were a disturbed wild beast.
The next moment, the plane, which was originally under control, suddenly rolled violently to the right.
"The wing is broken! The wing is broken!" Schneider held the handheld microphone and his thumb mechanically touched the speaking button. Schneider's extremely terrified call echoed in the communication frequency.
David felt dizzy, he was always afraid of this most terrible thing happening, always prepared for the possible wing break with the most cautious attitude. He knew that if it happened, it would be a problem that could not be changed by human power, but he had no choice.
Maybe... maybe he could find a glimmer of hope in this desperate situation.
However, when everything really happened, when the wing really broke, he realized how ridiculous his idea was.
The huge lift from the left wing could not be balanced, and the plane flipped to the right without control. He pressed the left plate at the first opportunity, but in such a situation, this effort was undoubtedly a drop in the bucket.
After the left wing rose to a certain height, it was almost perpendicular to the ground, and it almost produced no lift. The plane kept its wing tilted, almost perpendicular to the ground, and fell downwards.
"What should I do? What should I do?" David kept operating the steering wheel. He had almost lost his mind. No manual mentioned what to do if a wing was broken . This was a dead end.
"It's clearly going to land soon, it's clearly going to land soon!" David could no longer think normally. He manipulated the steering wheel randomly, but even so, the plane only changed its attitude slightly and still dived towards the ground.
A bird with broken wings is like this, lifeless!
"Why is this happening?" David cried out in his heart, "I don't want to die yet!"
At this moment, he finally understood thoroughly what Xu Cang said.
No one can survive a broken wing, except God!
Unfortunately, he is not a god, he is just a humble mortal, a mortal who is struggling to survive in despair!
Where is God? Who can save him?
In this way, the infinitely expanding fear between life and death almost drowned David. He forgot to breathe, forgot to think, and forgot the meaningless struggle to survive. The only thing left was instinct, the instinct to survive.
As the huge aircraft, which had almost lost its lift, fell at a rate of descent of over five thousand feet per minute, he felt the suffocation of despair, and a last bit of inspiration burst out in his mind, which was about to solidify.
David used up all his strength and shouted suddenly: "Xu Cang, save me!"
At this moment, David felt the steering wheel suddenly stagnate, and someone took over the plane. He turned his head sharply and saw Xu Cang's left hand already on the steering wheel.
God… answered his prayers!