Legendary Captain

Chapter 179 You are stronger than them!

"What did you say?" Shen Yansi's voice suddenly became sharp.

His reaction was so strong precisely because he knew they actually had the landing analysis report for Yunnan Airport.

"This reporter seems to have misunderstood something. We don't have any official report here." Shen Yansi suppressed his inner turmoil and tried to appear calm, not wanting to let his emotions show.

Meanwhile, Shen Yansi had begun playing word games. This time, he didn't say that the landing analysis report for Dianyun Airport didn't exist; instead, he said that there was no official report.

In other words, the bureau may have some incomplete or flawed reports, which cannot be considered official reports. Shen Yansi was already looking for a way out for himself.

Some slower-reacting people did not notice the changes in Shen Yansi's verbal descriptions; however, many observant people had already noticed the problem.

This includes Wen Jingshu and Lian Shanxue.

Perhaps it's true that girls are more perceptive; the two of them noticed the change in Shen Yansi's words immediately. Lian Shanxue was alright; after all, she didn't know much about the investigation, she just instinctively felt that something was wrong, but she didn't know exactly what the problem was.

In comparison, Wen Jingshu's reaction was more intense. Due to her special status, she knew some of the inside information. The landing analysis of Dianyungang Airport, which the authorities had originally intended to conceal, had been leaked, and the report was unfavorable to the flight crew.

"Damn it!" Wen Jingshu didn't know the specifics of the report, only that it would put the crew in a passive position, but she didn't know the extent of the problem.

However, just by looking at Shen Yansi's changing expression, it was clear that things seemed to have deviated from the normal course of events.

Wen Jingshu and Lian Shanxue could see it, but the reporters couldn't? They were all seasoned experts at reading people, and almost half of the reporters sensed a hint of explosive news.

The reporter from Daily Civil Aviation didn't bother arguing with Shen Yansi about whether the report was official or not. He directly stated the report's contents: "This report shows that six out of ten simulated approach landings were successful. I think a 60% success rate is much better than an emergency landing on the Kunyang River, right? Dianyun Airport has a 4,000-meter runway, while the Kunyang River not only has bridge piers obstructing the way, but the riverbed is also not strong enough. I just want to ask the crew how they made their decision! Why did they abandon Dianyun Airport and ultimately choose to make an emergency landing on the Kunyang River? First Officer Xu Xian, I hope you can answer this question."

As he spoke, the reporter actually instructed his assistant to distribute a thick stack of documents to all the media present, which made Shen Yansi's eyelids twitch.

The blame suddenly fell on Xu Xian, who was caught off guard. He paused for a few seconds to organize his thoughts before continuing, "At the time, I considered that the aircraft could not achieve the optimal glide ratio, and there were tall obstacles ahead, so I felt that it was impossible to land at Dianyun Airport."

"Then why is the success rate of landing so high during simulator testing?"

At this point, Shen Yansi chimed in, "Isn't there something wrong with your analysis report?"

"Really? It has your signature, Team Leader Shen, on it!" The reporter laughed, looking like he had Shen Yansi completely under his thumb.

The documents in the reporter's hands were not originals, but Shen Yansi's signature was still easily recognizable.

Shen Yansi took a deep breath, trying his best to calm his anger.

"Team Leader Shen, did you go to Xiangyu's headquarters to do simulator verification?" a reporter from Daily Civil Aviation asked with a smile, dropping another bombshell.

Shen Yansi was stunned for a moment, his face completely darkening. This reporter's information network was incredibly efficient; he even knew where they were going to fly the simulator.

"The report you have differs from the truth." Shen Yansi did not directly answer the reporter's question, but instead focused on the report itself: "Therefore, this report is not the final official report, and naturally has no validity."

"What's going on?" the reporter pressed.

Shen Yansi frowned: "With the same parameter settings, there are differences in gliding performance between real flight and simulated flight, and it cannot completely reproduce the actual situation at that time."

"Team Leader Shen, are you saying there's a problem with the simulator?"

"I didn't say that." Shen Yansi showed a hint of impatience.

"So, is it possible that the simulator itself wasn't the problem?" The reporter smiled knowingly, "but rather that during the actual flight, the crew didn't control the aircraft properly, thus failing to achieve the optimal glide ratio?"

"You're saying there's a problem with our controls?" Li Zhiming, who had been silent until now, suddenly became furious. "I've been flying at the speed calculated by the computer, how could there be a problem? If there's still a problem, then it's a problem with the flight computer, you should go ask Boeing!"

Before Xu Xian took over the command of the aircraft, Li Zhiming was the one flying it. Although he was a bit confused at the time, his hands were perfectly steady. The aircraft was always flying at the optimal gliding speed.

"Is this the captain involved?" the reporter asked. "Did you really maintain the optimal gliding speed calculated by the computer throughout the entire incident?"

The reporter emphasized the words "strictly maintain"!

Shen Yansi's eyelids twitched violently; this reporter was starting to nitpick again. So he immediately said, "In actual flight, maintaining a perfect speed is unrealistic. As long as the aircraft's speed remains within plus or minus three knots of the reference speed, we consider it to be without deviation in speed."

In flight simulation, the changes in environmental parameters are relatively uniform, making it relatively easy to maintain speed. However, in actual flight, it is unrealistic to keep the flight speed fixed at a single number.

"Under normal circumstances, a few minor errors are nothing! But in an emergency, isn't it something a flight crew should be doing to maintain perfect flight control?" The reporter's voice suddenly rose: "Perhaps the flight crew's lack of precision in control prevented the aircraft from reaching the optimal glide ratio. Don't you think that makes sense?"

Good heavens, this is a huge accusation that could ruin Xu Xian and Li Zhiming!

Is what this reporter said reasonable? Of course it is! Being able to guarantee the optimal gliding speed without the slightest error would definitely result in a better glide ratio! However, humans are not machines, so how can it be impossible to have absolutely no error? That would make the statement a completely impractical and meaningless statement.

However, this reporter was also very cunning! Instead of saying that the crew had violated regulations, he said that the crew should have performed machine-like precision operations in an emergency.

Legally speaking, the crew may not have any problems. However, in public opinion, this is a very controversial statement.

Even if you're fine with the rules, you should have done better in an emergency. If you didn't, then you still have a problem.

It's like someone who's exhausted after a long day at work is on a bus, and an elderly person sits next to them without offering them a seat. Some people might feel annoyed and want to criticize them!

First, from a legal perspective, not giving up one's seat is certainly not illegal.

From a moral standpoint, it seems reasonable for someone who is physically and mentally exhausted to want to rest for a while.

Then let's elevate it to the level of noble character! How can a person of high moral character fail to respect the elderly and care for the young?

If someone were to argue that they don't want any lofty morals, he would say that if a person never restrains themselves with high standards, that is the beginning of their decline.

Anyway, there's bound to be one that suits you.

Shen Yansi was at his wits' end. These media outlets were only interested in generating traffic and didn't care about logic at all.

"Mr. Xu, what are your thoughts on this issue?" With Xu Qing's massive online following, he certainly wouldn't let this opportunity pass: "Mr. Xu, do you think pilots should hold themselves to even higher standards?"

"What standard? Your standard?" Xu Qing raised his eyelids slightly.

"What?" The reporter was taken aback. "Mr. Xu, I mean that the inability to land at Yunnan Airport this time was most likely due to the crew's lack of finesse in handling the aircraft."

"Is that so?" Xu Qing softly called out to Wang Wenya in the audience, "From now on, all news articles about me are not allowed to be reprinted by Daily Civil Aviation Administration, understand?"

Wang Wenya smiled and said, "I understand. I will keep an eye on things."

Almost all news about Xu Qing is reprinted from Pengteng Information, and Pengteng Information has never indicated that reprinting is prohibited. However, if Daily Civil Aviation were explicitly prohibited from reprinting, it would result in a significant loss of traffic for Daily Civil Aviation.

As a top figure in the industry, Xu Qing has such a great influence.

The reporter from Daily Civil Aviation originally wanted to ride on Xu Qing's popularity, but unexpectedly ended up biting off more than he could chew. He must be kicking himself.

"Mr. Xu, are you trying to change the subject?" a reporter from Daily Civil Aviation asked through gritted teeth.

He originally wanted to say that he was protecting the crew, but he really didn't dare to break ties with Xu Qing, so he changed to a slightly milder word, "change the subject".

Little did Xu Qing know that he didn't answer the question at all. Instead, he lazily asked Shen Yansi, "Team Leader Shen, was today's press conference booked out by Daily Airlines? If you keep asking like this, we might not have enough time later."

Shen Yansi immediately understood, his eyes lighting up as he nodded repeatedly: "Who's next?"

Other media outlets had been waiting impatiently, and when they saw Shen Yansi asking the next question, they didn't care about the Daily Civil Aviation staff anymore and just raised their hands to signal.

The Daily Civil Aviation reporter was instantly ignored by everyone, and his smug face turned ashen in the next second.

"Previously released information mentioned that there were certain problems with the control measures in this incident. What is the current outcome?"

This is a relatively normal problem.

Shen Yansi replied, "There were some oversights in the release of the prisoners in this incident. However, after investigation, it was found that there were no serious problems with the control measures. Nevertheless, we have taken corresponding punitive measures for the minor control issues exposed in this incident."

During the initial investigation, it was discovered that air traffic control had not considered the effects of crosswinds and velocities when granting passage. The flight path was directly represented by the heading. As a result, it was later found that the aircraft's actual flight path was 238, just a hair's breadth away from violating the rules.

However, although it did not exceed the standard, the engine malfunction caused the aircraft to deviate slightly, directly exceeding the track 240.

So, by standard, the regulations are not problematic. However, the fact that the regulations did not violate any rules is purely due to luck, so some punishment is still necessary.

Could you please provide details about the compensation plan for the injured passengers?

"The preliminary agreement is that each of the more than 30 seriously injured passengers will receive 450,000 yuan, and each of the slightly injured passengers will receive 80,000 yuan. The remaining passengers will receive 10,000 yuan each as compensation for mental distress."

"So, the negotiations haven't been fully completed yet?"

"Because some passengers have objections to the compensation plan, it may take some time."

The most contentious group in this compensation plan is the seriously injured passengers; at least half of them have not accepted Star Travel's compensation offer so far.

These kinds of things usually require protracted negotiations, and there are generally no substantial results in the short term.

The reporters who asked the questions were quite accommodating, asking only very normal questions and not dwelling too much on Shen Yansi's answers.

With the previous experience from a reporter from Daily Civil Aviation, the questions from this reporter were much milder, which made Shen Yansi feel better.

"Next!" Shen Yansi's expression brightened as he smiled and gestured for the next person to ask a question. If the questions from the next person were all like those from the previous reporter, that would be quite pleasant.

When Shen Yansi called on a reporter, the reporter immediately asked: "In the previously released cockpit voice recordings, there was a clear dispute between the co-pilot and the captain over control of the aircraft. Will the authorities take any action against this situation of confusion in cockpit authority?"

"This..." Shen Yansi was momentarily speechless. It wasn't that the reporter was deliberately making things difficult; it was indeed a rather unavoidable question: "Judging from the outcome, we believe that there were no major problems with the power transition that occurred in this incident; it was just that the method was somewhat lacking."

"Does the authorities judge right and wrong based on the outcome?" The reporter clearly disagreed with this view: "Even if we look at the outcome, this incident involved more than 130 people, something unseen in decades of civil aviation history. Is this considered an acceptable result?"

"We simulated landings on the Kunyang River by several captains, but none of them performed as well as Xu Xian. Only one captain managed to pass through the first culvert, but a significant deviation occurred at the second culvert. Therefore, even with numerous passenger injuries, we believe Xu Xian's handling of the emergency landing was not due to the crew's fault," Shen Yansi added. "In fact, our investigation revealed that if the concrete layer at the touchdown point hadn't cracked, thus affecting the aircraft's trajectory, the plane should have been able to pass through the culvert perfectly. So, the large number of casualties also had an element of luck involved."

Shen Yansi's words were quite protective of Xu Xian.

"Does Team Leader Shen mean that even the captain would likely be unable to successfully make an emergency landing in the Kunyang River?" the reporter asked.

Shen Yansi felt a sense of unease, but he couldn't pinpoint what the problem was.

He couldn't wait too long, so he reluctantly nodded and said, "Yes!"

"Since Team Leader Shen said that even the captain would find a landing difficult, what makes the co-pilot so confident he could succeed? Is he gambling with the lives of the less than two hundred people on board?" the reporter said sharply. "In the Dianyungang Airport landing analysis report from our friends at Daily Civil Aviation, there was one attempt that didn't maintain the optimal glide ratio but still landed successfully. The co-pilot involved just now also said that the aircraft couldn't maintain the optimal glide ratio, so it couldn't land at Dianyungang Airport. But now the verification results show that even without maintaining the optimal glide ratio, there's still a chance of a successful landing, while the verification results for forced landings on the Kunyang River have all failed. Even using the simplest and most brutal probability comparison, isn't there a problem with the crew's assessment of the landing success rate?"

"But Xu Xian's performance in the emergency landing was quite good," Shen Yansi said. "We need to look at the facts. Even if Xu Xian wasn't the captain, his piloting skills in this incident were at least very high."

"Then what's the point of setting up technical skill levels? Just to differentiate salary levels?" the reporter said. "In the cockpit voice recorder, the captain had questions about the co-pilot's emergency landing on the Kunyang River, indicating that the captain had a clear understanding of the technical difficulties of such a landing. However, the co-pilot still insisted on making the emergency landing on the Kunyang River. I don't know what gave him the confidence to make the emergency landing on the Kunyang River. Just because he thought he could? Then there's no need to evaluate captains and co-pilots anymore. If you think you can do it, then you can make a controlled landing."

Many airports now have technical requirements for flight crews. At some special airports, even a single captain cannot lead a flight; that's the difference.

Xu Xian believed he could do it, but that was just his opinion; he had no evidence to support his confidence. From the reporter's perspective, no one could guarantee sufficient safety for an emergency landing in the Kunyang River. Since it was all a gamble anyway, it was better to gamble on returning to Yunnan Airport.

As the reporter pressed Xu Xian relentlessly, repeatedly questioning his abilities, Wen Jingshu, sitting in the audience, couldn't hold back any longer and prepared to retort. However, just as she was about to speak, Wen Yiren, standing next to her, pressed her shoulder.

Wen Yiren said expressionlessly, "Although I don't manage the group's affairs, I can't just watch you drag the group into danger. This matter concerns Xu Xian; let's not get involved!"

Wen Jingshu glanced around; all the media personnel present wore mocking expressions, clearly enjoying the spectacle. The Kunyang River emergency landing incident certainly had too many flaws, and getting involved wasn't a good choice.

Just as Wen Jingshu hesitated, Lian Shanxue, who was not far away, spoke up instead: "If you know the captain is incapacitated, can't the co-pilot take over?"

Li Zhiming, who was innocently caught in the crossfire, could only manage a wry smile and offered no further comment.

"The captain was incompetent? Was it the co-pilot's judgment?" The reporter sneered, "I have some information here that makes me doubt the co-pilot's judgment."

Lian Shanxue was startled and turned around abruptly to look at the reporter.

The reporter then pulled out a tablet displaying a screenshot of a WeChat Moments post: "I found two interesting things. It shows that Xu Xian had been drinking alcohol two days before the emergency landing, and quite a lot of it."

"I should remind you that Xu Xian's drinking was in accordance with regulations, and his pre-flight breathalyzer test results were normal," Shen Yansi immediately said.

He thought the reporter wanted to make a big deal out of Xu Xian's drinking, so he had to clarify the relevant conclusions beforehand.

"Of course I know that! Xu Xian didn't drink alcohol in violation of regulations, and his breathalyzer test result was normal, but that doesn't mean his condition was fine." As the reporter spoke, he swiped the tablet screen to show another screenshot of a WeChat Moments post: "This is a post from a flight attendant in the crew involved on the day of the incident. The post is quite long, but it basically says that Xu Xian looked to be in very poor mental condition."

One of the flight attendants on stage immediately changed her expression; it was she who posted that message on WeChat Moments.

Actually, she didn't mean anything by it; she just saw Xia Qing and Xu Xian walking together in the passenger seat and posted it on her WeChat Moments. As for Xu Xian looking unwell, that was purely a joke.

After all, it's normal for couples in the throes of new love to sometimes let loose and look a little tired.

However, she never expected that this would be dug up by someone.

"Some people aren't good at drinking. Even if the alcohol is metabolized after drinking a lot, their mental state will still be affected." The reporter then turned her gaze directly to the nervous Xia Qing and laughed, "You were also a flight attendant at the time, right? Did you think Xu Xian was in good condition then? I know about your relationship with Xu Xian, please answer honestly!"

The situation on the field took an unexpected turn, and Xu Xian's heart tightened. He never expected that the focus of the attack would shift to Xia Qing.

In an instant, everyone's attention was focused on Xia Qing. Xia Qing, who was already a little nervous, almost trembled with fear.

Under immense pressure, Xia Qing was incapable of thinking. The reporter's intimidation prevented her from lying, and she mechanically replied, "Yes, it's a little bad!"

Lian Shanxue suddenly stood up and shouted, "Xia Qing, do you know what you're saying?"

This is where the difference between Xia Qing and Lian Shanxue becomes apparent. Xia Qing becomes helpless under even the slightest pressure, while Lian Shanxue maintains a clear head throughout.

At this moment, Wen Jingshu's eyes also flashed with a fierce light!

Whether Xu Xian's condition is problematic is not something a mere flight attendant can judge, just as the crew has no right to declare a passenger dead when a passenger dies on an airplane.

If Xia Qing were smart enough, even if she was afraid of lying, she could simply say she didn't know. Although it would obviously seem like she was being cunning, it wouldn't count as lying.

Since she didn't answer the question directly, it naturally couldn't be considered whether she was lying or not. However, Xia Qing just couldn't understand this point.

As long as Xia Qing keeps her mouth shut, her so-called WeChat Moments post is a joke. Xu Xian's drinking time and breathalyzer results both comply with regulations, so his description on WeChat Moments is completely untenable. However, it's a different story if the flight attendant herself says it. Although it won't affect Xu Xian's final punishment, it will put him in a very passive position in the public eye.

Xia Qing was jolted awake by Lian Shanxue's shout and realized she had said the wrong thing, her face showing even more panic.

However, the reporter has already achieved his goal.

"Where did a co-pilot, a co-pilot whose mental state was completely compromised, get the confidence to handle an emergency landing? Even if we were lucky this time and no one died, this precedent must not be set! Otherwise, wouldn't things fall into chaos if a dangerous situation arose in the future?" the reporter said righteously.

Xu Xian remained silent, only letting out a soft sigh.

At this moment, Lian Shanxue gritted her teeth and said, "Why can't he? Changlong."

At this point, Xu Xian was suddenly startled and shouted sharply, "Lian Shanxue, shut up!"

He didn't know how Lian Shanxue knew about Chimelong Airlines, but saying she handled the Chimelong volcanic ash incident at this time would easily lead people to believe that she had become overconfident after handling the incident and thought she could surpass the captain's authority. Under the current circumstances, this would only exacerbate the conflict.

Lian Shanxue was stopped by Xu Xian's shout, and swallowed back the words that were about to come out, feeling wronged.

However, the next moment, Wen Jingshu stood up and asked, "You handled the Chimelong volcanic ash incident, why can't you say so?"

Xu Xian's eyelids twitched wildly; he never expected Wen Jingshu to step forward again.

"Captain?" Wen Jingshu smiled dismissively. "You're better than them, why can't you say so?"

(End of this chapter)