Legendary Captain

Chapter 116 Utterly Shameless! Stealing Credit! (Please Subscribe!)

Previously, the aircraft's system automatically reported radio altitude, not barometric altitude. Radio altitude measures the aircraft's actual altitude above the ground, not barometric altitude, which uses a pre-set barometric datum.

Generally speaking, radio altimeters have a measurement range of -20 feet to 2500 feet and are mainly used during the approach and landing phase of an aircraft to indicate the relative altitude of the aircraft to the ground.

It is understandable that the radio altimeter readings may show some unusual changes due to the changing ground conditions before approaching the runway.

During the final approach phase of the maneuver, the radio altitude should normally be continuously decreasing. However, if there are deep pits or hills at the maneuver points, the radio altimeter may show abnormal changes.

However, such unusual numerical changes shouldn't exist when the aircraft is over the runway. The aircraft's radio altitude should, in theory, be in a continuous downward trend.

For a normal landing approach, the aircraft is roughly in the airspace above the runway at about 50 feet. The aircraft's radio altitude should normally continue to decrease unless the crew makes a large pull on the stick, causing the aircraft to stop descending or even pitch up.

However, here's the problem! Xu Xian did make a lot of lever movements, and during the final approach phase, he always kept some of his attention on the instruments in the cockpit, and the elevation rate gauge never showed a positive number!

Since there's no problem with the generator unit's operation, then the problem must be external!

Xu Xian realized the problem almost instantly!

The endpoint of the instrument landing signal has been incorrect!

Previously, during the approach, air traffic control had mentioned that the instrument landing system (ILS) at Jin'an Airport had not been calibrated or tested. When the ILS signal was intercepted at the fifth approach, they found it to be very stable, naturally assuming that the ILS should be fine.

However, despite all their careful planning, they did not expect that while the stability of the blind descent signal was not the problem, the destination was completely off.

At least, Xu Xian was certain that the plane was not guided onto the runway.

The plane is about to touch down outside the runway!

The instant Xu Xian shouted "Prepare for collision avoidance," the height of the aircraft, which was still fifty feet off the ground, instantly dropped to ten feet! There was no gradual transition from forty to thirty to twenty feet!

Caught off guard, Xu Xian froze for a brief moment, preventing him from immediately pulling the plane up. Of course, the plane was now essentially a powerless glider, and no one could say for sure how much control surface effect remained. Whether the plane could even take off was something no one could guarantee.

He had absolutely no idea what was below the plane, and felt a sense of helplessness, as if his life was in someone else's hands! He had no idea where the plane would land next!

However, the plane didn't give Xu Xian any time to think. Ten feet is only three meters, and it would have touched down in the blink of an eye. To be honest, even if Xu Xian had reacted earlier and pulled hard on the stick, the plane probably still wouldn't have been able to take off.

Since the aircraft has no power, generating sufficient control surfaces requires inputting more control parameters, which means Xu Xian needs to pull the stick more, resulting in a steeper pitch-up attitude. When the attitude is too extreme, the tail may touch down before the main landing gear does, a phenomenon known as "tail scraping."

Unpowered aircraft already have very little margin for vertical control, and coupled with their low altitude, the outcome was practically predetermined!

In the moment of utter despair, perhaps it was at that very moment that Xu Xian lost his ability to think. His left hand, gripping the steering wheel, unconsciously shifted to the left, without even Xu Xian himself noticing.

It was this very subtle movement that caused the plane to begin rolling to the left. Only then did Xu Xian realize that the plane had entered a yaw state.

Upon discovering that the aircraft was not level with its wings, Xu Xian prepared to make corrections.

However, there was no time to make corrections, considering that the plane was only a few meters above the ground!

Sure enough, just as Xu Xian's corrective thoughts arose, the aircraft's left main landing gear touched down first!

Instead of touching the hard runway surface, the aircraft's left landing gear landed on the relatively soft grass.

Before Xu Xian could react to what was happening, due to the huge ground load, the aircraft's left landing gear sank into the mud the moment it touched down, while the aircraft's nose landing gear and right landing gear were still in the air!

The intense braking effect caused by the immense drag from the left landing gear getting stuck in the mud made the entire aircraft seem to stumble in mid-air. Centered on the left landing gear, the aircraft was thrown directly to the left.

At this moment, if passengers and flight attendants at the rear of the aircraft cabin were not secured by seat belts, this single blow could send them flying into the air.

Even in the cockpit located at the front of the aircraft, this rotation causes the cockpit's view to change like a carousel, with the speed of the view switching being dazzling.

In a very brief moment, almost without anyone reacting, the aircraft's nose was deflected by more than forty degrees due to the left landing gear. Relative to the runway direction, the aircraft was approaching at an almost semi-oblique angle.

Even so, the calculation is not yet complete.

Due to the traction of the left landing gear, the airtime of the right landing gear was shortened infinitely. The moment the aircraft was thrown off, the right landing gear also touched down quickly, and at the same time, Xu Xian had already regained his cognitive abilities.

After regaining consciousness, Xu Xiangang's skewed view from the cockpit was quickly corrected, followed by a solid feeling of touching down. This meant that both main landing gears had touched down!

After that, the plane felt like a car going over a speed bump, bouncing several times before finally stopping.

Xu Xian felt a chill run down his spine; the landing gear must have hit something!

But reality doesn't give Xu Xian time to think; he has to fix the plane back to a straight-line taxiing state!

Although the aircraft was guided to an unknown touchdown point due to a faulty instrument landing signal—perhaps in front of the runway, perhaps to the side—tacking at an angle is a dead end, regardless of the location. In contrast, taxiing in a straight line offers a glimmer of hope.

What if the instrument landing signal guides the aircraft to the front of the runway terminal? If it maintains a straight taxiing position, won't it eventually return to the runway?

After the initial shock and speechlessness, Chen Qi quickly recovered. Looking at the machine head that had turned in an unknown direction, he shouted, "Handwheel!"

Actually, the current deflection angle is already very large. If you want to return to the correct gliding direction in a short time, using the handwheel is indeed the quickest and most effective way.

The handwheel can be deflected at a full 78 degrees!

However, generally speaking, handwheels are not allowed to be used at high speeds. This is because the handwheel's operation is too sensitive, especially at high speeds, and it is easy to over-operate if one is not careful.

For example, if the plane was originally veering to the left and there was a possibility that it would overshoot the runway to the left, a simple turn of the handwheel could cause the plane to veer directly to the right and overshoot the runway.

Therefore, there are speed limits on the operation of the handwheel in the SOP, in order to prevent over-operation.

However, in some situations, or in emergency situations, it may be necessary to use the handwheel beyond the prescribed limits in order to quickly correct the direction, such as when the landing gear breaks after touching down.

Xu Xian was about to correct the direction of the plane when Chen Qi's shout startled him. He angrily cursed, "You son of a bitch!"

At this point, the nose landing gear hasn't touched down yet. Turning the handwheel would have a hammer-like effect, so it's better to just step on the right rudder and straighten the plane.

Not long after Xu Xian stepped on the right rudder, the plane’s nose immediately turned back quite a bit, and then, as if leaving the country dirt road and entering an asphalt road, the continuous turbulence disappeared instantly.

"We're on the track!"

The change in the taxiing position filled Xu Xian with joy. The plane must have been guided to the grass a little in front of the runway terminal. Sure enough, after maintaining its direction slightly, it would be back on the runway.

Xu Xian saw that they were back on the runway, but he still couldn't see the situation ahead clearly. In his anxiety, he immediately switched from the automatic brakes to the maximum manual brakes. He had only one thought in his mind: to stop the plane as quickly as possible. The plane was still on the runway, but he didn't know where it would be in the next second.

However, Xu Xian himself had never used the manual brakes on a real airplane. A complete novice, he was already eager to stop, and when he slammed on the brakes, he practically wanted to crush the brake pedal.

It has to be said that the maximum braking effect of the manual brakes was truly too good. Even with the shoulder straps securing them, Xu Xian and Chen Qi still leaned forward slightly. And the plane's speed was dropping rapidly.

Perhaps Xu Xian slammed on the brakes, because after a muffled thud, the plane suddenly veered to the left.

The tire burst!

Fortunately, the deflection angle wasn't too large, and the aircraft's speed had already been reduced sufficiently. Xu Xian immediately used the handwheel to control the aircraft's taxiing direction, ensuring it remained in a straight line.

Although it was Xu Xian's first time operating the handwheel, he operated it with great precision and did not over-operate.

As the plane came to a stop, Xu Xian's slightly trembling right hand applied the parking brake, and two long hissing sounds echoed simultaneously in the cockpit.

It's finally all over!

Xu Xian habitually rubbed his nose with his index finger, only to find that his nose was already wet with sweat, but he didn't realize this until he landed.

Subconsciously, Xu Xian used the web of his hand to wipe his nose, and then wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, which was covered in sweat.

Xu Xian looked as if he had just been pulled out of the water, but only now did he have the leisure to notice his condition.

Chen Qi was still shaken. Those last few seconds from landing to returning to the runway were terrifying. The feeling that the whole plane was about to be thrown out was not a pleasant experience at all.

"This is so exciting, so damn exciting!" Chen Qi's head slumped against the back of the chair, as if he had lost all his strength. Only the gradual upward curve of his lips betrayed his true thoughts.

At that moment, a cabin call came in. Chen Qi answered the phone and heard the flight attendant ask, "Cockpit, do you think we should evacuate the passengers?"

Chen Qi paused for a moment, then his gaze involuntarily drifted to Xu Xian beside him. Xu Xian pondered for a moment, then slowly shook his head at Chen Qi.

Chen Qi, that guy, is so indecisive. Without even thinking, he replied to the flight attendant, "No need, wait for instructions from the cockpit!"

After hanging up with the flight attendant, Chen Qi casually asked, "Why didn't we evacuate?"

"Do you know what's down there? What if there's a huge crater right next to us?" Xu Xian said. "We don't have a fire alarm, nor any fuel leaks or other hazards requiring emergency evacuation. Why risk sending passengers out? Who will be responsible if something goes wrong later?"

In all times, any issue concerning personal safety is a major concern, especially for specialized service industries like civil aviation, where safety must be the top priority.

Just like Xu Xian said, nobody knows what the situation is like nearby; it's still pitch black as far as the eye can see. If there's a huge crater next to the plane, and a passenger falls into it while using the emergency slide and gets seriously injured, who will be responsible?

"The control side should contact us soon and have definitely arranged a rescue. We just need to wait patiently," Xu Xian added at the end.

Perhaps as Xu Xian had said, sure enough, the sound of traffic control rang out the next moment.

"Chimelong 5677, what's the situation now?" The traffic control officer's voice sounded somewhat cautious, as if he was afraid of receiving a bad response.

Or rather, any response is a good thing; no response is the worst thing.

Chen Qi took the call: "We just landed, and the situation nearby is unclear. We're staying put and requesting immediate backup!"

"Alright, alright! Just wait, the rescue will be here soon!" The control officer was overjoyed to hear that there was no major problem.

At this moment, Chen Qi said again, "I'll have the chief flight attendant tally the number of injured in a bit, and then I'll let you know."

In the end, the journey was like a circus act, so it was to be expected that some passengers would get injured. The crew should have taken a count beforehand so that the rescue team could be prepared.

"Okay, okay! Tell me when you've finished the statistics, and I'll pass it on to the rescue team!" the control director said excitedly.

At his advanced age, to have to endure such mental torment is truly a shortened lifespan. However, thankfully, everything ended peacefully, without leaving a "colorful" mark on his career, which is already a stroke of luck.

The office of a doctor at the First People's Hospital of Yunnan Province.

A nurse came to the doctor's office and said, "Doctor, the patient in room 34 insists on going back, and we can't stop him."

"Number 34?" The doctor recalled briefly. "The patient with stent restenosis?"

Not long ago, two people asked him about the condition of patient number 34, so he still remembered it quite well.

"His current condition makes it inconvenient for him to be discharged alone. Tell him to have his relatives come and pick him up," the doctor said.

He remembered that patient number 34's heart problem was getting worse and he needed to stay in the hospital for a while. If he let him go like this, and something went wrong later, he might get himself into a lot of trouble.

Alternatively, if the patient insists on being discharged, have a family member come to pick them up, explain the situation clearly to everyone, and I'll consider that I've fulfilled my responsibility. After that, it's none of my business.

"I asked him, and he said there's no need to contact him," the nurse said.

"No need to contact him? Aren't there enough medical disputes these days? If he's to be discharged, his family should be the ones to pick him up, not us to let him out. At the very least, we should explain the situation to his family!" the doctor insisted.

Nurse: "Although he doesn't need to be contacted and won't give his family's contact information, I just discovered that he had a coronary angiography done at our hospital before. When he registered, he filled out the emergency contact information; his name was Xu Xian!"

"What are you waiting for? Contact him right now!" the doctor urged. "Explain patient number 34's condition clearly to him, and also discuss the follow-up treatment."

The nurse nodded repeatedly, immediately left the office, and went to make a phone call.

Inside the cockpit of Chimelong 5677.

After Chen Qi notified the flight crew to count the injured passengers, the entire cockpit suddenly became quiet.

Suddenly, Chen Qi remembered something and turned to Xu Xian, asking, "I still don't know your name? Which company do you work for?"

From the moment the accident happened until he landed, Chen Qi was in a state of extreme panic and didn't even have time to ask the young man who came to help his name.

Xu Xian didn't hide anything: "Xu Xian, from Star Travel Airlines."

"Star Travel Airlines? Star Travel Airlines has such an excellent captain?" Chen Qi laughed. Judging from Xu Xian's previous performance, even if Xu Xian wasn't the captain, he was probably a high-ranking first officer.

Xu Xian appeared somewhat embarrassed by Chen Qi's use of the title "captain": "What captain? I'm just a trainee!"

"A student? You're a student at Star Travel Aviation?" Chen Qi was taken aback for a moment, then laughed, "You're not kidding me, are you!"

Xu Xian waved his hand dismissively: "What are you joking about? I'm a student!"

"Trainee...Trainee of Star Travel Aviation!" Chen Qi murmured, a different kind of light suddenly flashing in his eyes, a light that belonged to him alone.

He glanced at the clock, then at the cockpit voice monitoring panel, and an extremely crazy idea began to form in his mind.

Before Xu Xian could recover from the joy of surviving the ordeal, Chen Qi's soft voice suddenly rang in his ears: "You didn't seem to have mentioned your identity to the authorities, did you?"

Xu Xian didn't think much of it and immediately replied, "Yes!"

"Then who else knows your identity?" Chen Qi asked again.

Xu Xian: "I think it's just the chief flight attendant and one other flight attendant, right? Oh, and the security officer too."

"Did no passengers know?"

"No, I approached the flight attendant myself," Xu Xian said.

Suddenly, a hint of doubt arose in his mind: "Why are you asking this?"

Chen Qi smiled and said, "Do you know who I am?"

Xu Xian frowned. He disliked Chen Qi's tone, which was condescending, and didn't follow up on Chen Qi's words.

Chen Qi didn't seem to mind, his face still beaming with a smile: "You should know that Star Travel Airlines' parent company is Chimelong Airlines, and I am Chen Qi, the son of Chimelong Airlines' vice chairman!"

After speaking, Chen Qi waved his boarding pass in front of Xu Xian, seemingly to prove his identity.

Xu Xian felt even more disgusted now, but he hid it well; after all, he still needed to make a living. The vice chairman of the subsidiary company was someone Xu Xian couldn't afford to offend.

"I'm sorry, I haven't been with the company for very long." Xu Xian forced a smile.

"It's okay, it's okay! There are a lot of leaders in the company, it's normal that I can't remember the son of a vice chairman." Chen Qi waved his hand, pretending to be nonchalant, but his tone of voice seemed to indicate that this was not the case.

When faced with such ambiguous situations, Xu Xian would never be foolish enough to respond; he would simply chuckle dryly and try to gloss over it.

Chen Qi didn't give Xu Xian that chance, simply saying, "I want to make a deal with you!"

Suddenly, a ray of light shone from not far away; it was the headlights of the rescue team's convoy.

Some blinding lights shone through the cockpit windshield onto Chen Qi's face. At that moment, Xu Xian saw Chen Qi's face clearly for the first time.

Chen Qi grinned, his expression completely different from his panicked behavior on the plane, revealing several sharp teeth that made him look rather ferocious.

"Five hundred thousand!" Chen Qi spread his five fingers: "Here's five hundred thousand. Quietly follow the passengers down in a moment, and pretend you never came to the cockpit."

"Agree! You'll get 500,000, and I'll even have my dad pave the way for your future. Don't agree! Believe me, I can make sure you have no place in this industry!"

At this moment, Chen Qi finally became the person he was supposed to be!

There are still many details I haven't written about this special operation. Some I deliberately omitted, fearing it would make the story too long. Others I simply forgot about later, oops! But they're all minor things.

The first special event is quite long, and the second major special event will be a very fast-paced plot; the basic concept is already in place.

(End of this chapter)