Legendary Captain

Chapter 202 Women Are No Less Than Men (Seeking Monthly Tickets!)

Shangdu Area Control Center.

After the controller called Star Travel 6341 several times without success, he called it many more times on the emergency frequency, but still received no response.

This has caused some panic among the authorities.

Although aircraft depressurization is not common, it is not extremely rare either. The Shangdu Area Control Center handled an aircraft depressurization incident not long ago.

Compared to malfunctions like those affecting the power system, aircraft depressurization is far less likely to result in catastrophic consequences. At least in the history of Chinese civil aviation, there are no precedents of serious air disasters solely caused by depressurization, although there have been one or two such cases abroad.

Because the cockpit is equipped with a cabin altitude warning system, as soon as the aircraft depressurizes, the pilots will be alerted, and they can put on their oxygen masks and bring the aircraft down.

In theory, depressurization of an aircraft should not have a significant impact on its handling.

The aircraft depressurizes, audible warnings are issued, and the pilots put on oxygen masks—all of this is perfectly logical. Generally speaking, as long as the pilots wear oxygen masks properly, there shouldn't be any particularly serious consequences.

But what if you don't wear it?

To be honest, even if the air traffic controller wasn't a professional pilot, he didn't think there was any technical difficulty in putting on an oxygen mask!

When the cockpit altitude warning sounds, just put on your oxygen mask. There's no need for any analysis. What's so difficult about that?

Even when the plane is at an altitude of 40,000 feet, the pilot still has about ten seconds to regain consciousness and put on an oxygen mask.

Ten seconds!

Ten seconds isn't enough time for a pilot to develop the muscle memory to trigger the audible warning and put on an oxygen mask? If he can't even react to that, then he doesn't deserve to be a pilot.

In civil aviation, almost all flights are below 40,000 feet, with very few exceeding it. The previous incident abroad where a plane rapidly depressurized, causing almost everyone on board to lose consciousness due to oxygen deprivation, ultimately leading to the plane crashing into a mountain, was partly due to the aircraft's extremely high cruising altitude, exceeding 40,000 feet. At such extremely high altitudes, if the plane rapidly depressurizes, the pilots only hesitate for a moment before losing consciousness.

Of course, the aircraft's excessive cruising altitude was one contributing factor, as was the crew's slow reaction time. This accident involved many factors and cannot be analyzed as a typical case, thus lacking general applicability.

Xingyou 6341 was cruising at approximately 37,000 feet, which, while high, was certainly not at a point where the pilots wouldn't have time to react in the event of rapid depressurization. Moreover, and most importantly, Xingyou 6341 had already declared an emergency and autonomously turned 30 degrees to the right before beginning its descent. This clearly indicated that the crew was in control of the aircraft; how come, in the blink of an eye, when the pilot tried to contact them again, there was no response?

He went to report it. According to regulations, such incidents should be reported first. But what exactly happened in such a short time?

Since the crew of Star Travel 6341 has already taken action and even printed out the emergency status code, it means they should have put on oxygen masks. But where are they now?

If the flight crew is fine, the decompression problem won't lead to a catastrophic issue. But if the flight crew has a problem, then the situation is very different.

Regardless of the situation, the flight crew's lack of response was extremely unsettling, especially at this sensitive time. If it weren't for the presence of Star Travel 6341's signal on his radar screen, the air traffic controller would probably have gone completely insane.

Undeterred, the air traffic controllers used several nearby aircraft as relays to call Star Travel 6341, but the feedback came back that there was still no response.

"What's going on! The plane is veering off course by six nautical miles!" The controller looked at the radar screen, wondering about the trajectory of Star Travel 6341.

His instruction was to shift to the right by six nautical miles and descend to 4,500 meters. Although the crew only responded with the altitude change instruction, their speech was clear, suggesting they were simply too busy with the procedure to pay attention to the completeness of their repetition.

His instructions weren't complicated, and logically, there shouldn't have been anything he couldn't understand. So, it seems the flight crew didn't fully follow his instructions! Something seems amiss!

"Kunlong 9734, turn right to heading 030 first, it will have an impact."

"Chimelong 5633, ascending to 9200 meters, hurry up!"

Although the Kunlong Airlines and Chimelong Airlines planes are still some distance from Xingyou 6341, if Xingyou 6341 continues on its current course and is unable to turn to the right six nautical miles offset, then there will be an impact later.

Rather than scrambling around later, it's better to plan ahead and allocate airspace in advance to avoid last-minute scrambling. Besides, Star Travel 6341 has already declared a state of emergency and has extremely high priority, so making room for the two aircraft isn't unreasonable.

Although it wouldn't have a huge impact even if Xingyou 6341 didn't fly according to the controller's instructions, the airspace nearby isn't busy right now. Xingyou 6341 can fly forward, backward, or turn around, it doesn't matter which way it flies, there won't be any conflict. But it still looks a bit unsettling!

The inability to properly execute air traffic control instructions and respond to air traffic control calls is one of the signs of flight crew incapacity. Given the current context of rapid decompression of the aircraft, could it be that the flight crew is suffering from hypoxia and has become disoriented?

But what if the flight crew suffers from hypoxia and becomes incapacitated? What about the declaration of an emergency, the partial response instructions, and the descent operation?

That's contradictory!

The controller kept tapping his right foot on the ground, revealing his unease. After thinking for a while, he realized he couldn't handle the situation and needed to find someone to make a decision.

"Chief!" the controller shouted, finally calling for backup.

Star Travel Aviation Operations Control Center.

The emergency communication system administrator was half-asleep, almost drifting off to sleep.

Since the development of the emergency communication system, a special section has been created for monitoring aircraft safety, with dedicated personnel, namely the emergency communication system administrator.

Previously, the flight control system could not monitor aircraft data very comprehensively. Sometimes, when their own flights experienced various malfunctions, the pilots were working hard in the air, but the people at Xingyou Aviation's flight control center were unaware that their own aircraft had malfunctioned.

The control center now monitors aircraft data in great detail, including the power system, pressurization system, hydraulic system, fuel system, electrical system, and warning system, among others.

If any data in any of the systems becomes abnormal, the emergency communication system administrator at the operations control center will be able to detect it.

However, since the emergency communication system was put into use, apart from the day of the test when Xu Xian conducted an emergency landing at the Kunyang River, it has not been used much at other times.

To be honest, it's no exaggeration to say that civil aviation is the safest mode of transportation. The probability of malfunctions is already very low, and the probability of accidents is even more ridiculously low.

Within the entire Star Travel Aviation operations control center, the administrator of this emergency communication system is probably the most relaxed. He basically just clocks in and out every day, only needing to keep a sliver of his mind focused on the work at hand, so he really doesn't have much work pressure.

The administrator was now repeating his daily routine, his eyes half-closed, his mind practically drifting off to sleep. Just as he was drifting in and out of consciousness, he vaguely heard a notification tone, and through his half-closed eyes, he seemed to see a window pop up on the monitor screen.

"What the heck?"

The administrator roused himself, temporarily regaining his composure, and with his somewhat dry eyes, glanced at the pop-up window on the screen again.

"Cockpit altitude 27000 feet?" When the administrator saw the abnormal aircraft data highlighted in red on the pop-up window, a cold sweat broke out on his back, and his soul seemed to return to his body.

Although the administrator wasn't a flight professional, he had worked in the operations control center for many years and was aware of some obvious anomalies.

The cabin impact warning will sound if the aircraft's cabin altitude exceeds 10,000 feet, and the passenger oxygen masks will automatically deploy above 14,000 feet. The cabin altitude reached 27000 feet; did the aircraft rapidly depressurize at this high altitude?

Looking again at the aircraft's air pressure altitude, it's exactly the same as the cabin altitude. Is the aircraft connected to the outside? No wonder the cabin altitude is so high.

The aircraft depressurization is not yet at the point where they can directly activate the emergency communication system. Otherwise, if an airline could arbitrarily intervene in radio communications, wouldn't that create chaos?

Only in dangerous situations like Xu Xian's previous incident, where both engines stalled in succession, could Xingyou Operations Control intervene directly using the emergency communication system without consulting with air traffic control.

To put it bluntly, in the civil aviation industry, rapid decompression is not considered a particularly critical situation. At least compared to Xu Xian's previous situation where both engines failed and he had to make an emergency landing at the nearest airport, it seems to be of a lower level.

Now fully conscious, the administrator shook off the last vestiges of confusion and prepared to find the emergency manager. Any unsafe incident must be reported to the on-duty emergency manager, who will then conduct an incident assessment.

If the matter isn't too urgent, they can handle it themselves and report it later. If it's more urgent, they need to notify the senior management on duty immediately.

Just as the administrator stood up, the landline phone on the worktable rang. The administrator hesitated for a moment, then temporarily put aside the idea of ​​finding the emergency manager and answered the phone first.

"Hello, Star Travel Aviation Operations Control Center!"

"This is Shangdu Area Control Center. Your company's flight 6341 has declared a state of emergency. Preliminary assessment indicates that the aircraft has depressurized." It turned out to be Shangdu Area Control Center on the other end of the phone.

The administrator, who had already half-risen, immediately understood upon hearing it was the Shangdu Area Control Center: "Is there some special situation?"

Judging from the tone of Shangdu's control, it seems like there's more to say!

"We have given the instructions to offset to the right and descend, but the crew seems to have only executed the descent instruction and not the right offset instruction. Moreover, we have failed to contact the crew."

"What does this mean? Communication has also failed?" The administrator's heart sank. If the plane depressurizes and communication fails, things are going to get complicated.

"That shouldn't be it!" The traffic control center in Shangdu expressed their opinion: "The crew declared an emergency on their own and partially repeated our instructions, but shortly afterward, we lost contact with the crew again."

"Although the surrounding airspace isn't busy right now and there shouldn't be any conflict, we're more worried about the crew's situation!"

The administrator immediately grasped the meaning behind Shangdu's words, and his heart tightened: "You suspect there's a problem with the aircraft?"

Is a plane crash the most fatal thing? No!

The most fatal problem is when the flight crew has a problem. Without a crew to control it, the plane is just a lump of iron and is completely useless!

Rapid decompression of an aircraft rarely leads to catastrophic consequences because it hardly affects aircraft control; as long as the aircraft remains under control, it won't be damaged much.

But what if something goes wrong with the crew? Wouldn't the plane be unmanned? The administrators don't even want to imagine the consequences of an unmanned plane.

Not long ago, the Kunyang River emergency landing incident almost emptied Xingyou Airlines' coffers. If another major incident occurs, even their parent company, Wens Group, will not be able to save Xingyou.

In an instant, the administrator thought of many things, even conjuring up the possibility of Star Travel going bankrupt; his imagination was truly boundless.

"I'm afraid so. We now have reason to suspect that there's a problem with the flight crew!" The Shangdu Area Control Center was quite honest, not holding back at all, and directly stated their guess, completely disregarding Xingyou's psychological tolerance.

The administrators were completely devastated. Xingyou Airlines had a weak financial foundation and couldn't afford a second setback. Given the serious safety incident, it wasn't the first time an airline had gone bankrupt!

"What do you need us to do?" The administrator felt that the call from the shopping mall control center was not just to inform them, but rather sounded like they needed something from them.

At this point, the Shangdu Area Control Center finally revealed their intentions: "We have tried various methods to contact the crew, but we have been unable to reach them. Don't you have an emergency communication system? Try that and see if you can get in touch with the crew."

It turns out that the Shangdu Area Control Center had run out of ideas and could only pin its hopes on the new gadgets that Xingyou Aviation had recently developed.

"But our emergency communication system uses the same methods as yours! If you can't reach us, we can't either!" The administrator was speechless. Wasn't this request from the Shangdu Area Control Center pointless and unnecessary?

Whether it's normal radio communication or the emergency communication system developed by Star Travel, the crew is contacted through the pilot's headset or speaker.

The two communication methods are identical. If control can't reach them, why can their emergency communication system do?

The administrator had a sudden inspiration: was this some kind of desperate measure by the Shangdu area control department?

Just then, the administrator felt a tap on the shoulder. He turned his head and saw that it was the emergency manager who had come to him.

"What's wrong? Why are you standing there?" the emergency manager asked.

Unconsciously, the administrator did not realize that he was standing. He became the only person standing in the entire operations control center, and his voice on the phone was very loud and full of a desolate tone, making him very recognizable.

If the emergency manager didn't notice this, then he must be blind!

"Manager, something terrible has happened!"

"Aren't you afraid that Xu Xian and I won't end up together?" Even Wen Jingshu, who was usually very wealthy, was a little surprised when she heard Xu Qing directly use the Kunyang Airport project as a wedding gift for Xu Xian. Even in wealthy circles, it is quite rare to give such a large wedding gift.

Xu Qing was taken aback: "Could there be some other change? When I came over just now, you two seemed to be talking together, as if good news was on the horizon! Was I wrong?"

Wen Jingshu blushed slightly: "It can't be considered wrong!"

In contrast, Xu Xian remained silent.

Xu Qing glanced at the silent Xu Xian, seemingly lost in thought, and finally made a slight adjustment to the plan: "If you two don't end up together, then I want half of the profits from the Kunyang Airport project!"

Upon hearing this, not only Wen Jingshu, but even Xu Xian's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

Goodness, that's quite an appetite.

"You just put in a few words for us, act as a middleman, and don't pay a single penny, yet you're asking for half the profits? Isn't that a bit much?" Wen Jingshu was utterly shocked. Faced with Xu Qing's outrageous demands, her impression of him was completely overturned.

In Wen Jingshu's mind, Xu Qing should be a celestial being who regards money as dirt, how could he be such a vulgar person obsessed with money?

Xu Qing, however, remained calm: "A lot? Without my mediation, you wouldn't have gotten that project at all. And don't forget, there's also Kunlong Airlines! Do you think you can compete with Kunlong Airlines?"

Wen Jingshu was speechless after Xu Qing's words. It seemed that her competition with Kunlong Airlines for the civil aviation project was a foregone conclusion.

Even though she understood Xu Qing's decisive role in this matter, Wen Jingshu still couldn't quite accept it. Xu Qing could reap hundreds of millions in profits without investing a single penny—wasn't that robbery?

"Fifty percent is too much, twenty percent at most!" Wen Jingshu was still unwilling to give up this lucrative opportunity. Seeing that Xu Qing insisted on sharing the profits, she had no choice but to lower the profit-sharing ratio.

Xu Qing chuckled: "Instead of figuring out how to cut my share, you should be thinking about how to win over Xu Xian. That way, you won't have to give me a single penny!"

Wen Jingshu's neck turned red: "I'm not a bargaining chip, someone who would throw themselves into someone else's arms for the profit of a project!"

How could the chairperson of the prestigious Wens Group possibly offer herself up for the sake of a single project's profit? That would be beneath her stature. Even if she were more than willing to do so!

Xu Xian, who was standing to the side, was embarrassed by Xu Qing's disrespectful behavior, but just then Huang Ying came over to call for help.

"What are you doing staying outside? Come in and lend a hand!" Huang Ying didn't treat Xu Qing like an outsider and spoke without any reservations.

Xu Qing glanced at Xu Xian: "Are you cooking at your house today?"

"I originally found a helper, but she's flying and can't come. Your move has completely disrupted my plans," Xu Xian complained. "If my mom has to help, it'll probably take a long time."

"Your Aunt Ting made this decision on the spur of the moment, it has nothing to do with me," Xu Qing quickly distanced herself. "However, your Aunt Ting can help out, she can cook."

Mei Tingting experienced hardship with her father during her childhood; she wasn't a complete rich kid. She does some cooking and housework, so she's not completely sheltered from the world.

Xu Xian was somewhat displeased: "Aunt Ting is a guest. How can we make a guest do chores?"

"What's with all this talk of logic? We're not strangers, why all the rules?" Xu Qing didn't seem to care much. "Besides, nobody's helping us now! How are your and your dad's cooking skills?"

Xu Xian's face darkened: "You'd better not come out and embarrass yourself."

"That's true. Although women are generally more skillful in these areas, I've tried cooking myself, and the result was still inedible," Xu Qing chimed in.

"A woman?" Xu Xian was startled, his head slowly turning until it landed on Wen Jingshu beside him.

Wen Jingshu's pupils contracted slightly: "Why are you looking at me? I can't cook!"

"Didn't you do this for me before?"

Wen Jingshu was speechless: "That's a vegetable and fruit salad, can you even call that a dish?"

Xu Xian ignored everything and grabbed Wen Jingshu, saying, "Who cares? Let's just make do for now!"

"You said you can't contact the crew?" The emergency manager looked at the administrator incredulously. "The crew isn't wearing oxygen masks?"

The administrator was also confused: "It doesn't seem so. The crew communicated with air traffic control before, but then air traffic control couldn't reach the crew anymore! So..."

"So you didn't understand either? The control team's brain must be a complete mess, right?" Anyone who's in the position of emergency manager shouldn't be slow-witted: "Whose call was that just now? Control's?"

"Um!"

"Just as I suspected!" The emergency manager had already guessed who the administrator had been talking to, but he just wanted to confirm: "What did control say? Was it to notify us?"

"They told me to try calling the crew using the emergency communication system."

The emergency manager glared at him: "Then call out! What are you standing there for?"

"But if even the authorities can't get through, why can't we get through too?"

"Is this something you can decide? Stop talking nonsense and call the crew!" the emergency manager ordered directly.

Although the administrator did not think this method would be effective, he did as the emergency manager said.

After activating the emergency communication system, both the administrator and the emergency manager wore headsets, as they did not want to announce the matter over the loudspeaker for the time being.

The administrator pressed the communication button and spoke into the headset microphone: "Star Travel 6341, can you hear me? If you can, please respond! Star Travel 6341, can you hear me? If you can, please respond! Star Travel 6341, can you hear me? If you can, please respond!"

The administrator repeated the question three times, but there was no response in the earphones, only indistinct noise.

This is a recording of noise from the cockpit caused by airflow leakage.

"It's really useless!" the administrator said helplessly.

The emergency manager gritted his teeth: "Damn it!"

Just as the two were in despair, a woman's voice suddenly came through the earpiece: "Star Travel 6341 received, currently establishing a six-nautical-mile offset!"

(End of this chapter)