Chapter 400 Shocked Japan! The Prophet Xu Cang!
As soon as the voice sounded, the cockpit fell into a brief silence. The captain, who was originally furious, calmed down and asked, "Have we entered the airspace?"
There is no possible domestic involvement in the WN3102 plan.
For example, in the flight plan from Tokyo to Guam, a domestic coastal city airport was selected as an alternate landing field. According to international regulations, Southwest Airlines needs to submit the flight plan of this flight to CAAC. Then, if a special situation arises, such as entering the eastern coastal airspace without communication, it will not cause too intense a reaction, after all, they know everything about it.
However, the plan for flight WN3102 does not involve any domestic airports or routes, so Southwest Airlines will naturally not submit the flight plan to CAAC. Once it enters the domestic airspace, it will be an aircraft of unknown significance and will naturally be intercepted.
"Communication restored?" Richard Bayer was pleasantly surprised. Before the call on the emergency frequency was over, he was ready to explain the situation. Although the other party was not as reckless as the Russians, Richard Bayer did not want to test the waters on this matter.
"We are flight WN3102. Due to an electrical system failure, there are injured people on board who need emergency treatment. The plane needs to go to China for an emergency landing..." Richard Baier reported directly in Chinese.
After Richard Bair's report, there was no immediate response. However, soon a ray of light appeared in the surroundings, and a bright spot fell from the sky above the cockpit.
The bright spot is the tail nozzle of the engine. It is located in the front left of WN3102 and always maintains a roughly equal distance.
With the help of moonlight, I could vaguely see the outline of the fighter plane. I saw the fighter plane shaking its wings left and right, which is a relatively standard behavioral signal, that is, follow me.
"Keep your distance, I will guide you." A low voice sounded over the emergency frequency.
Richard Bayer was overjoyed and was about to explain the maneuverability problem of his aircraft to the fighter pilot. However, Xu Cang took off the headset of the former co-pilot and pressed the speaking button: "We choose to abort the emergency landing in China. Please guide us to fly to Japan. If continuous guidance is not possible, just give us an initial guidance. Based on our current position, the northeast direction should be Kyushu, Japan, but we cannot grasp it accurately."
Since the airspace of the two countries is very close, in many cases, we cannot provide guidance for a long time, otherwise it is easy to cause some disputes. However, at this moment, the distance to the Japanese island should not be too far. As long as there is an initial guidance and the starting direction is determined, the impact of high-altitude wind on the track can be ignored in a short period of time.
Perhaps the two requests made the other party a little confused, so after Xu Cang made the request this time, the other party did not give any further reply.
Xu Cang then directly stated his identity: "I am Xu Cang, a registered pilot of CAAC Spring Airlines, flight attendant boarding certificate number SA00829, ICAO first-level flight specialist number 41357. You can verify my identity with CAAC and ICAO, but please be quick, I am injured and I can't hold on for too long."
After Xu Cang revealed his identity, a response came from the radio: "I'll go check it out. Wait a moment."
"Are you really going to Japan? What difference does it make, or are you sure that the plane will crash?" Richard Bayer was not too opposed to Xu Cang going to Japan, but his current energy simply could not support a longer flight to Japan as the final destination, so why not land nearby?
With Xu Cang's ability, as long as there is a possibility, he can expand this possibility infinitely. But from all the performances, Xu Cang showed great pessimism about the success of the landing.
"That's right. There is no difference in itself, because even if I land nearby, I can't land." Xu Cang spoke weakly: "But I am still working hard to survive."
"Try hard, why are you still trying so hard?" the captain shouted, "If you can't land, who else can? You've given up, and we're still pinning our hopes on you."
The captain immediately folded up the seat: "No matter where you are going, I don't want to go crazy with you, I want to go out!"
As he spoke, the captain reached out to close the components, wanting to actively decompress the aircraft. Otherwise, they would not be able to open the cabin door under the huge pressure difference. However, he was also confused. When the power of the aircraft was cut off, the electrically driven bleed air system had already failed. The components had no air available, and the aircraft was in a state of slow decompression.
His action actually had no effect.
However, although the aircraft cabin is not completely airtight, it still has some airtight effect, and the pressurized air in the cabin escapes relatively slowly, so that the altitude in the cabin will not rise too quickly.
When his hand touched the component switch, the captain realized the problem and immediately moved his right hand down to increase the manual control switch on the panel. He wanted to manually open the exhaust valve to let the pressurized air in the cabin out as soon as possible, so that the pressure could be relieved more quickly.
However, before he touched it, Xu Cang's slightly mocking voice sounded: "Don't you know that the control valve of the exhaust valve also needs electricity?"
The captain was stunned and froze on the spot.
Xu Cang continued, "You can't possibly receive complete parachuting training, so the parachutes in the first-class cabin should be automatic. There is a problem with automatically opening parachutes, which is that they also need electronic equipment to judge the altitude. But after the solar storm just now, can those electronic equipment still be used? Or, do you think you can open the parachute by yourself without relying on auxiliary equipment?"
Xu Cang's words directly hit the captain's heart. He always felt that he had one more way out than Xu Cang. Although there might be no rescue, compared to the plane that was completely out of control, he could still choose to parachute at the last moment.
However, it seems that this road is also a dead end.
The solar storm just now almost destroyed most of the electronic equipment on board, so the electronic device that controls the opening of the parachute must have been affected as well.
Of course, it is also possible that it can still be used. After all, the electronic equipment on the plane is not completely unusable. For example, the communication system failed before, but after leaving the aurora area, the communication system recovered a little. Although it is still in a degraded mode, it is at least usable.
However, all this is based on the premise that the electronic equipment in large passenger aircraft has a lot of backup redundancy, but can the automatic control device of the parachute have such backup redundancy?
The captain's face, as black as the bottom of a pot, said it all.
Without the electronic equipment to automatically open the parachute, what's the difference between asking them to skydive and betting their lives on the half-dead Xu Cang?
Perhaps he was already extremely desperate. The captain gritted his teeth and said, "Yes, you know everything, but you are going to die anyway. What's the point?"
"Who said I would definitely die? Who said I would definitely not be able to fall?" Xu Cang tried his best and sat up straight: "We still have a chance of survival!"
"What!" Richard Bayer was incredulous: "Xu Cang, the joystick and throttle are all out of control, how can we still land like this?"
In fact, if only one of the joystick or throttle is out of control, there is definitely a chance.
For example, if the joystick is out of control, then completely give up using the sidestick and only use the throttle to control the pitch and roll of the aircraft. This operation requires extremely precise control, but there are successful precedents in civil aviation history.
If it was just a throttle out-of-control situation, then if the altitude was sufficient, they could directly cut off the two engines, converting it into a full drifting approach with both engines shut down. There have been cases before where the aircraft had only glided to the ground.
Well, since there are precedents, Richard Bayer feels that there is a possibility of successful manipulation.
However, if the joystick and throttle are completely out of control, all possibilities of success will be eliminated. For example, if both engines fail, the pilot will need to constantly fine-tune the aircraft's attitude to achieve a suitable descent rate.
However, now that the joystick is out of control, how can we make delicate and accurate posture adjustments?
Richard Bayer could not think of any way to succeed based on his own level of knowledge. However, even ants try to survive, so he did not believe that Xu Cang would joke about his own life.
If he said there is a glimmer of hope, then there really must be a glimmer of hope.
"The joystick or throttle are indeed out of control, but in a sense, they are not actually completely out of control." Xu Cang whispered.
At this time, the captain also calmed down. He felt that Xu Cang had discovered something: "What do you mean by not completely out of control?"
"If the flight control computer and FADEC are completely out of control, then when we don't apply new signals, both the aircraft attitude and thrust should be in a changing state. But in fact, as long as we stabilize the throttle lever position and side stick control signal, the aircraft will not produce new unpredictable changes."
The FADEC that Xu Cang mentioned is the full authority digital engine control system, which is the so-called "engine control" that they had been suspecting was damaged.
Xu Cang's words stunned Richard Baier and the captain. This was a very small and ordinary point, but they had never really thought about this phenomenon. Only Xu Cang discovered it.
Indeed, if the flight control computer and the engine control system are completely confused, then under the same input signal, the control surface adjustment value and thrust value they generate should always change. In other words, even if the throttle lever does not move and no new control signal is input to the side stick, the thrust and attitude of the aircraft should still change.
But in fact, neither the thrust nor the aircraft attitude changed, it was very stable.
This means that the flight control computer and engine control system are not completely chaotic.
Xu Cang continued: "Affected by the solar storm, the flight control computer and FADEC were indeed damaged, but this damage should only be a change in the corresponding relationship."
The captain obviously didn't understand, but Richard Baier came to his senses and showed a thoughtful expression: "If what you said is true, then in a sense, this plane is indeed controllable, but..."
"But we must find a new correspondence." Xu Cang sighed.
The captain was confused: "What are you talking about?"
Richard Baier said solemnly: "Take the side stick as an example. If we push the side stick forward two degrees, then under normal circumstances, the aircraft attitude should decrease by two degrees accordingly. This is a linear correspondence. However, now this correspondence has changed. Pushing the side stick forward two degrees may be reflected on the control surface as an increase in attitude by one degree. Although this correspondence is wrong, it is stable."
Xu Cang’s meaning is very simple, that is to find out the corresponding relationship of this error, then the plane can be controlled normally.
The captain understood Xu Cang's idea. It must be said that Xu Cang was indeed the world's number one in civil aviation. Being able to come up with a theoretical solution in such a nearly desperate situation was something that many pilots could only dream of.
The problem is, this is only theoretical.
The captain took a deep breath and spoke in a low voice: "Excluding the reverse thrust position, the throttle lever has a total of sixty scales, and each scale corresponds to a thrust value. The attitude change of the aircraft in pitch, with only the conventional available attitude values, is between positive twenty-five degrees and negative fifteen degrees, which has forty scales. In roll, within the normal range, forty-five degrees on each side can almost cover all possible aircraft forms, which has ninety scales. In other words, you must find and find the new values corresponding to the one hundred and ninety scales of the wing in a short time , and there must not be any deviation..."
Under normal circumstances, there is no need to remember the numerical values so accurately, because the numerical correspondence is linear and the changes are uniform. Even if there is a certain deviation between what you think and what you do, the deviation will not be large.
Just like the throttle, under normal circumstances, if the pilot pushes the throttle forward one more notch, the engine N1 speed may increase by 1% to 2%, which is not a big impact. However, in today's situation, if the throttle lever position is different by one notch, the engine N1 speed will be different, which may be a difference of more than ten or twenty N1s at once. In this way, the aircraft status will suddenly deviate greatly.
At high altitudes, it might be slightly better because there is enough margin, but at low altitudes, this is simply fatal.
In fact, the captain still said less.
Because from the reaction just now, when the throttle lever is in the same position, the speed changes of the engines on both sides are actually inconsistent, so it cannot be described by just sixty scale intervals, but a full one hundred and twenty scales, so the total number of memory scales should be two hundred and fifty.
In other words, Xu Cang needs to find, clarify and memorize the correspondence between the two hundred and fifty scales within the short time of flying to Japan.
There cannot be any error in this correspondence, otherwise, it may bring disaster to yourself.
Intellectually, the captain didn't think this was possible, especially since Xu Cang's physical and mental state were very poor at the moment.
In addition, there is another very serious problem...
"According to you, should we try them one by one?" Richard Baier asked worriedly, "Besides, we don't have engine data to show how to determine the engine speed? Moreover, if we try, the aircraft's state is likely to change significantly."
"We are at a high enough altitude and have room for trial and error." Xu Cang paused: "As for the engine and the sound, we can only rely on the sound of the engine running."
Richard Baier was not convinced: "It is possible to roughly distinguish the N1 speed by the sound of the engine running, but can you also hear the subtle differences? Can you distinguish the difference in the sound of 1% or 2% of the speed?"
This is not a difference in technical ability, but is determined by human physiological structure. People should not be able to distinguish extremely subtle differences in sound.
Xu Cang pondered for a moment and shook his head slightly: "I can only distinguish the speed difference of more than 3%."
"What's the use of this?" the captain asked anxiously.
"I can't tell the difference, but someone can!" Xu Cang said indifferently.
"Who?" Richard Baier was stunned: "On the plane?"
Richard Baier was extremely surprised. Is there anyone in this world who can distinguish the sound difference of 1 percent in rotation speed, and on an airplane?
Xu Cang nodded: "Yes, she is on the plane!"
At this moment, a deep voice came from the second VHF: "WN3102, I am here to give you initial guidance to fly to Japan. Please follow me."
…
At this moment, in the bustling commercial district of Ginza, Tokyo, Ji Chuan Yixin, the president of Jiasu Airlines, came out of the restaurant and breathed in the cool air of Tokyo at night. The cool feeling that filtered into his lungs made Ji Chuan Yixin's irritable heart calm down a little.
That’s right, Ji Chuan was in a bad mood.
Just now in the conversation with JAL President Hideki Nagano, although Nagano was frightened, in the final analysis, the key to successfully occupying two seats on the JAL board of directors still lies in whether Goodspeed Airlines can be promoted to the leader in the domestic route market.
This is of course an offer that cannot be refused. If the company merges into JAL with the status of the No. 1 airline in the domestic route market, then it will be a natural progression to get two seats on the JAL board. The question is, is this really possible?
Xu Cang told him that this was possible, but Ji Chuan knew that among the top three airlines in the domestic market, only ANA was truly on a healthy development track. The second and third ranked Air China and Japan Airlines were both competing with each other. How could they possibly catch up with ANA?
Xu Cang talked to him a lot, including becoming the number one in the domestic market and the hearing.
Once, Ji Chuan thought Xu Cang didn't care about the hearing and thought he had a way to deal with it. However, from his observation, Xu Cang had no momentum to turn things around, and even had a negative effect because of some nonsense he said at the hearing.
In the central square of Ginza, Ji Chuan looked up and around. He was surrounded by world-famous high-end luxury stores and large shopping malls. The outer walls of the buildings were covered with giant LED screens, which displayed advertisements and promotional videos. On the largest one, footage from Xu Cang's hearing was being played, with Xu Cang's remarks on the possibility of a plane crashing into the Tokyo Tower being played on a loop.
I have to say, this sentence is indeed quite hateful.
Someone spent a lot of money to buy this LED screen, and the target is Xu Cang.
In the open space below the LED screen, a large number of people gathered together. Some of them held signs in their hands, which demanded that the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs blacklist Xu Cang and refuse him entry.
The publicity effect brought by the largest LED screen in Ginza and the rally slogans was obvious. The flow of people in the Ginza area was extremely amazing, and this attracted a lot of passers-by. It can only be said that the person who booked the LED screen was scheming. He simply edited the speech given by Xu Cang as an example. In this way, any Japanese who heard it would be angry.
As expected, after incitement, more and more people began to agree, demanding that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs refuse Xu Cang entry and put him on the unwelcome blacklist.
Xu Cang's reputation in Japan was not very good before because of various good things or public opinions brewing by radical personnel. After these remarks, he is simply a complete devil.
The crowd is excited!
"Crash into the Tokyo Tower?" Ji Chuan Yixin sighed. Even though this was taken out of context, Ji Chuan Yixin couldn't understand how such a controversial statement could be said.
Looking into the distance, the Tokyo Tower is still shining with lights, standing there quietly as a landmark building in Tokyo.
Ji Chuan didn't know how to judge Xu Cang: "How dare you say that."
Looking at the increasingly intense protest atmosphere in the Central Square, Ji Chuan was deeply worried about the fate of Jiasu Airlines. After all, just before the hearing, he publicly supported Xu Cang on behalf of Jiasu Airlines, which was like tying himself to the same boat.
If Xu Cang were subjected to such a massive attack, then Jiasu Airlines would certainly not be spared.
Handing over Jiasu Airlines to Xu Cang, is this a matter of survival or inviting a wolf into the house? Ji Chuan has already begun to lean towards the latter.
However, just as Ji Chuan was feeling helpless and depressed, the image of Xu Cang playing on the giant LED suddenly stopped. Perhaps it was not the end of the rental time. At least the group of people who led the protest looked up at the LED in surprise. Obviously, they did not expect this to happen.
Then, Xu Cang's still picture changed and turned to NHK news.
"The following is an urgent message. At 8:46 a.m. local time in the United States, a hijacked Boeing 767 crashed into Tower 1 of the World Trade Center..."
As the host's voice fell, the picture switched again. The middle of the World Trade Center Tower 1, which was originally a landmark building, was burning with black smoke. In the picture, there were also a large number of people fleeing like a tide . The scene was in chaos, like the end of the world.
A moment ago, the crowd, who were still furious at Xu Cang's wild statement that the plane might have been hijacked and crashed into Tokyo Tower, fell into an eerie silence. The atmosphere was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop, as if the world had stopped.
Ji Chuan stared blankly at the picture played on the LED screen, muttering: "Xu Cang..."
