Legendary Captain

Chapter 203 Everything is under control! (Seeking monthly votes!)

The two people, who had already given up hope, were stunned for a moment after receiving Xingyou6341's response, and even wondered if they had misheard.

"Did you hear me right?" The emergency manager looked at the administrator. "Did they just agree?"

"Huh? It seems so!" The administrator was also taken aback by this result, feeling as if it were a dream.

"I knew our company couldn't be this unlucky!" The emergency manager slapped the administrator's hand away, pressed the call button himself, and contacted the crew: "What's the situation now?"

"The plane is fine for now, but the autopilot isn't engaging. We'll try again once the plane stabilizes. The captain just lost consciousness due to hypoxia, but he's been given an oxygen mask and his condition should be stable for now." Lian Shanxue's voice was still somewhat intermittent, indicating she wasn't fully conscious. However, she clearly remembered the plane's altitude: "We are correcting back to a six-nautical-mile offset on the right. Requesting permission to continue descending!"

"Star Travel 6431, you can continue to lower the sea pressure by 3,000, adjust the sea pressure to 1014, and strictly maintain a six-nautical-mile offset on the right." At this moment, another voice interrupted, completely different from the previous one, but it came from the Shangdu Control Center.

The reason why Xingyou 6341 was not allowed to descend directly to an altitude below 10,000 feet was that there was a low-altitude aircraft crossing below Xingyou 6341 at that time, and there were many low-altitude aircraft that were difficult to coordinate. Therefore, Xingyou 6341 was allowed to descend to an altitude of 4,500 meters first, and after the crossing was over, it could continue to descend.

This command actually affected the emergency descent of Star Travel 6341. At that time, Star Travel 6341 was at an altitude of more than 30,000 feet. Even if it were to descend to 4,500 meters, it would take several minutes. In those few minutes, the crossing would have already passed, and Star Travel 6341 could continue its descent.

Giving Xingyou 6341 a transitional altitude of 4,500 meters was purely as a precaution.

The transitional altitude for the Shangdu area is 3,600 meters, at which point the atmospheric pressure benchmark needs to be changed.

Lian Shanxue was stunned for a moment. Her mind was already slowed down due to the thin air, and the two voices, which were clearly not from the same source, left her somewhat bewildered.

"Is it confirmed that the corrected sea level can be lowered to 3,000 meters and 1014 meters?" she confirmed.

The instructions given by the Shangdu Area Control Center were delivered in a very deliberate and clear manner, as if afraid that the crew might not understand them.

"Received. Adjust the sea pressure to 3,000 meters, adjust the sea pressure to 1014, and move the star level to 6341!" Lian Shanxue had no more questions and relayed the area control instructions in full.

"Thank goodness, thank goodness, it seems everything is alright!" Upon hearing the crew's clear and articulate reply, the air traffic controller and the director who had rushed over also breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing that the situation seemed to have stabilized, the director immediately instructed his assistant, "Go call Star Travel Control and have them shut down that communication system. The call just now caused chaos among the crew!"

The second confirmation command from Xingyou 6341 was clearly influenced by the confusion from the previous call to the Xingyou Operations Control Center, and of course, it was also partly due to Lianshanxue's current mental state not being clear.

This is why regulators have set strict usage standards for the emergency communication system developed by Star Travel, because sometimes this thing can really disrupt the communication between the crew and air traffic control.

After receiving the order, the assistant to the duty manager on the control side hurriedly contacted Xingyou's operations control center.

"You want us to shut it down?" The operations control center administrator was speechless. "But I wanted to find out more about the situation!"

"The director has clearly instructed you to shut down the emergency communication system, as it has been interfering with the crew's communications," the assistant said firmly.

"Damn it," the administrator covered the microphone and said to the emergency manager next to him, "the controls have ordered us to shut down the emergency communication system."

The emergency manager paused, then asked, "Why?"

"They said we interfered with crew communications."

The emergency manager gasped: "Use and discard, huh? So you think we're just someone to be summoned and dismissed?"

The emergency manager was hoping to use this opportunity to showcase his abilities to the emergency communication system! After all, he had called the crew through the emergency communication system, even if it was just pure luck. But air traffic control simply blocked their way to show their faces – it was utterly outrageous.

The emergency communication system is not yet fully deployed. If he could take this opportunity to make some use of his connections, it might be helpful for its promotion. But as soon as the idea came to him, the authorities cut it off.

Everyone has their own little thoughts!

"What should we do then?" The administrator was unsure of what to do.

The emergency manager grinned and said, "Forget it. The rollout of the emergency communication system requires the approval of the regulatory authorities, and it's not good to strain relations too much. Let them be."

It's somewhat unwise for an airline to go against the regulations.

"I'll leave this to you. I'm going to the tenth floor." Seeing that the emergency communication system was also unusable, the emergency manager's enthusiasm for going down the stairs waned considerably. Since he also needed to report the matter to the company's on-duty senior management anyway, he simply left first.

The tenth floor of the Star Travel Aviation Base building is where the offices of senior management personnel are located.

"By the way, contact the buoy and the safety supervision department, and think about how to write the report." The emergency manager rubbed his temples. After this kind of incident, it was inevitable that he would have to deal with the authorities again.

However, dealing with the authorities is hardly an enjoyable experience.

In the cockpit of Star Travel 6341, Lian Shanxue was piloting the aircraft, while the instructor next to her was still unconscious and probably wouldn't wake up anytime soon, but the problem shouldn't be too serious.

Prolonged oxygen deprivation to the brain can potentially leave permanent sequelae. Although Lian Shanxue is not a doctor, she still knows some basic medical knowledge.

Generally speaking, if the brain is deprived of oxygen for more than five minutes, irreversible brain damage will begin to occur. If it is deprived for more than ten minutes, the patient may survive, but will likely end up in a vegetative state.

Fortunately, the instructor's oxygen deprivation did not last long, and he should not suffer any serious aftereffects once he wakes up.

The plane is now below 20,000 feet. Even though it is still above 10,000 feet, compared to the previous altitude of less than 40,000 feet, Lianshan Xue can now breathe continuously and effectively.

Just thinking back to how it felt when she took off her oxygen mask, Lian Shanxue still felt a lingering fear.

The suffocating feeling, as if someone were choking her, was a nightmare. At that moment, she even considered taking the instructor's oxygen mask back.

If she really couldn't hold on any longer, she would indeed take back the oxygen mask that had been given away. At least for a short time, Lian Shanxue's left hand, which was gripping the thrust handle, had already reached for the instructor's oxygen mask.

However, Lian Shanxue persevered and endured it. After adapting to the thin air, and as the plane descended rapidly and the cabin altitude decreased, Lian Shanxue finally managed to accept the higher oxygen levels at high altitudes.

In fact, Shan Xue heard the control personnel calling her several times. However, due to the lack of oxygen at the time, she was unable to recover and was only able to resume her normal condition after gradually adapting to the environment.

In an emergency, communication is relatively secondary. She had already declared a state of emergency, so there wouldn't be a situation where she had to yield to others; it would be others yielding to her. At such a high altitude, apart from aircraft collisions, there are no terrain obstacles, so a slight delay in responding to air traffic control is not a life-threatening matter.

At least compared to getting her used to the oxygen-deprived environment at high altitude, the issue of returning to control seems less important.

As the plane descended rapidly, Lian Shanxue had to start thinking about what to do next. She couldn't rely on her instructor for the time being; she had to rely on herself. However, her mind was still somewhat unclear, as if she were stuck, unable to come up with a solution.

At that moment, in the cabin crew area at the front of the aircraft, the chief flight attendant glanced at her watch, calculated the time, and prepared to unbuckle her seatbelt.

"Sis, are you really going?" Flight attendant number three, seeing the flight attendant's actions, remembered the somewhat inexplicable announcement from not long ago.

The flight attendant slightly loosened her oxygen mask to test whether she could breathe normally without it. Although breathing was still not smooth, it wasn't too uncomfortable.

This means the plane's altitude wasn't that high! Even if it wasn't below 10,000 feet, it was probably not far off.

"Didn't you hear the cockpit announcement?" The flight attendant put her oxygen mask back on, taking several deep breaths as if she were about to dive.

Flight attendant number three panicked: "But the plane is still descending! It's probably not even 10,000 feet yet!"

"So we're just going to ignore it?" The chief flight attendant remained calm, unlike the junior flight attendants who were easily flustered. "Ten thousand feet isn't the line between life and death. Does a person die if the plane is above ten thousand feet? It's just a little difficult to breathe, it's not like they're suffocating you. Don't think about it like you're going to die. Besides, since the cockpit said that, there must be something they need our help with. Isn't it our job to help the flight crew? Furthermore, I don't believe the flight crew is indifferent to my safety. They must have considered it. Making us wait two minutes means that if we go to the cockpit now, the problem isn't too serious."

The flight attendant wasn't indifferent to her own life; she felt that the cockpit wouldn't use the passenger announcement system to notify them to come in unless it was something extremely important. Furthermore, the specific mention of coming in two minutes indicated that the crew had estimated the cabin altitude, suggesting that after two minutes, the cabin altitude would no longer have a significant impact on passengers.

"Keep an eye on the cabin!" The purser, having made up her mind, picked up the phone and contacted the cabin crew in the rear: "Is everything alright?"

Not long after, a flight attendant in the rear cabin replied, "Everything's fine! They all have their oxygen masks on!"

"Okay! Follow the instructions from the cockpit. After removing your oxygen masks and confirming that the plane is stable, come out and check the passengers in the cabin to see if any are injured. If so, give me a summary later."

If the aircraft descends below 10,000 feet, the cockpit will issue an announcement instructing all passengers to remove their oxygen masks. Due to the extreme attitude changes during an emergency descent, or differences in passengers' tolerance to decompression, injuries are possible. Pilot and flight attendant manuals typically mention checking passenger status and reassuring passengers after the aircraft descends below 10,000 feet.

Unfortunately, the emergency descent was indeed a bit frightening, and I reckon some people were terrified and needed to be comforted.

The flight attendant is going into the cockpit soon, and she needs to explain a lot of things to them so they won't be confused about what to do! Don't be fooled by how clear-headed they all seem during training; when it comes to actual emergencies, they're lucky if they can recall 60-70% of their training results.

Therefore, just to be on the safe side, the purser must ensure that the subsequent cabin procedures are carried out accurately before entering the cockpit.

However, judging from the current situation, the order in the cabin is still acceptable, and there has been no noise, which is undoubtedly a good thing for the flight crew.

Of course, right now the plane is descending rapidly, and everyone is too scared to care. Once the plane levels out and the fear subsides, they might start demanding an explanation.

But that's a story for later.

"Be smart! Keep an eye on the cockpit door!" The purser unbuckled the last seatbelt, patted the third flight attendant's hand, got up and pulled the curtain to block the view from the passenger cabin.

The moment the purser stood up, the security officer sitting in the cabin noticed and made a move to stand up as well. However, the purser quickly raised her hand and gestured for him to sit down.

The aircraft is in a very unstable state right now, and it hasn't descended below 10,000 feet, so it's best not to bring the security personnel over. Normally, when entering the cockpit, a food cart is used to block the passageway.

But now the plane is heading straight down, and because of the high speed pulling on the speed brakes, it's like the plane is being driven on a mountain road, making it impossible to stay still. At this point, the third flight attendant can't get up to secure the food cart, so it's better not to pull the food cart at all, to avoid the food cart running around and causing any danger.

These are extraordinary times, so extraordinary measures must be taken. However, the purser still instructed the third flight attendant in the front cabin to keep an eye on the aisle, just to be on the safe side.

The flight attendant originally intended to send a signal to the cockpit requesting entry, but upon looking at the cockpit door, she noticed a problem.

Grasp the handle of the cockpit door, pull it again, and the door opens.

The cockpit door was unlocked!

The flight attendant was taken aback. Through the open cockpit door, she discovered that the person in the captain's seat was wearing an oxygen mask and lying down.

The flight attendant's heart skipped a beat; she roughly knew what was going on. She stepped inside, but the noise startled Lian Shanxue.

Lian Shanxue was completely caught off guard by the sudden intrusion of someone. She was so busy operating the plane that her mind wasn't quite clear, and she almost forgot to notify the flight crew to come into the cockpit in two minutes.

"Hey bro! What's going on?" Flight attendants usually call the co-pilot "bro," and the chief flight attendant naturally followed suit. But upon seeing Lian Shanxue's profile, the chief flight attendant realized that the co-pilot for this flight was a woman.

Lian Shanxue stared at the flight attendant as she entered, and it took her a while to react: "Oh, take out the oxygen mask from the captain's left side and put it on the captain!"

Lian Shanxue originally allowed the flight crew into the cockpit and even loosened the cockpit door lock for them beforehand to avoid the worst-case scenario.

But in the end, Lian Shanxue held on as planned, so the flight crew's role was no longer very useful.

However, since she was already inside, she asked the flight attendant to take the oxygen mask from the captain's side, as she couldn't leave her own side. This was something Lian Shanxue had anticipated. Although she was still conscious, she was in a state of low oxygen deficiency, which could be harmful to her health if prolonged. If the flight crew could come in and help her get the oxygen mask from the captain for the instructor, she could then take her own oxygen mask without worry, avoiding prolonged exposure to low oxygen.

The chief flight attendant had flown a lot and roughly knew where the pilots' oxygen masks were. With Lian Shanxue's guidance, finding them was quite quick.

"First, hold the clips on the oxygen mask and take off the instructor's oxygen mask," Lian Shanxue said, pointing to the red clips on the oxygen mask.

"Oh, oh!" Following Lian Shanxue's instructions, the flight attendant pinched the red clip, and with a hiss, the oxygen mask's hose loosened. "Just like that? Pick it up now?"

"Yes, hold it, then take it off and give it to me!" Lian Shanxue freed her left hand from the thrust handle and took the oxygen mask from the flight attendant. Then, she pinched the red clip and put the oxygen mask on herself with one hand.

The movement of putting on the oxygen mask with a single hand was fluid and efficient, and looked quite skillful.

As soon as I put on the oxygen mask, that feeling of easy breathing finally came back to me, and my mind became much clearer.

Under Lian Shanxue's guidance, the flight attendant then put oxygen masks on the instructors as well.

"Go back to your seats first! We're not below 10,000 feet yet. I'll make an announcement to the passengers when we can remove our oxygen masks. After that, calm the passengers down. If there are any injuries, notify me immediately. Write down the number of injured, their seat numbers, and if possible, their names and contact information so I can pass it on to the airport and have them prepare accordingly," Lian Shanxue instructed.

The flight attendant quickly said, "I've already spoken to the staff below. If there's any issue, I'll let you know immediately."

The procedures overlap between flight and cabin crew, so even Shanxue mentioned it casually.

Lian Shanxue put on the oxygen mask and calmed down: "There's nothing to worry about now. You can go out now. Put on the oxygen mask, and you should be able to take it off soon."

"Then what about the back?"

"I don't know where to go yet, but we definitely can't go back to Yunnan. We need to find a place to land," Lian Shanxue said. "I'll let you know when I've made a decision, don't worry!"

Passenger oxygen is a one-time use item; once it's used up, there won't be any more. Therefore, the aircraft must fly at an altitude of less than 10,000 feet; otherwise, if it depressurizes again, the passengers will have no oxygen available. The aircraft is currently about an hour away from Dianyungang Airport. Cruise at a low altitude of less than 10,000 feet for an hour is quite rare for a large civilian aircraft. Cruises below 10,000 feet are mostly done by small general aviation aircraft.

Furthermore, even if air traffic control allows Star Travel 6341 to cruise at low altitude, even Shanxue cannot fly back to Dianyun Airport. Keep in mind that beyond that lies the Guizhou-Yunnan Plateau. The Guizhou-Yunnan Plateau has an altitude of 2,000 to 4,000 meters, while Dianyun Airport, at less than 7,000 feet, is already considered a "low-lying area."

If an aircraft flies into the Guizhou-Yunnan Plateau at a height of no more than 10,000 feet, it must be subject to terrain warnings along the way.

It's important to know that the final approach positioning points for the two runways and four directions of the Dianyungang Airport's instrument landing systems all exceed 10,000 feet, while the minimum safe altitude within a 46-kilometer radius of the airport exceeds 12,000 feet.

Therefore, given the current state of the aircraft, it is simply impossible for it to land in Yunnan.

Lianshan Snow could only find a suitable alternate landing site before entering the Guizhou-Yunnan Plateau.

The flight plan provided two alternate airports: Nanyong and Rongcheng. Both airports are located at low altitudes, so flying there shouldn't be any problem.

However, Nanyong Airport has problems; its airport support is particularly poor, and if you make an emergency landing there, you might be left without any support. Therefore, Lian Shanxue prefers Chengdu Airport.

Firstly, Chengdu Airport has stable airflow year-round, with crosswinds rarely exceeding three meters, making it an excellent location, especially compared to Yunnan Airport, which is often shrouded in fog.

Secondly, the presence of a Star Travel base at Chengdu Airport makes operations more convenient and facilitates passenger accommodation.

Although Lian Shanxue had some reservations, she still needed to contact her family and ask for the company's opinion once the plane was stable. The most urgent task was to lower the plane to below 10,000 feet, stabilize it, and ideally, get the autopilot working as well.

The standard operating procedure manual recommends that if the captain becomes incapacitated, the co-pilot should initiate autopilot for landing. If autopilot can be re-engaged later, it's safer to use it.

Seeing that there was no one in the cockpit she could help with for the time being, and knowing that prolonged exposure to a low-oxygen environment was not a good thing, the flight attendant followed Lian Shanxue's advice and left the cockpit.

The flight attendant went into the cockpit to help the instructor put on the oxygen mask from the captain's side. With Lian Shanxue directing the operation, it was very quick. By the time she came out, less than two minutes had passed.

Flight attendant number three was surprised to see the purser return so quickly: "Is everything alright in the cockpit?"

The flight attendant was in relatively good condition for a short time without an oxygen mask, though she was a little short of breath. She opened the curtain a crack and glanced into the cabin, finding that the passengers were all behaving quite well, which finally put her mind at ease.

After putting her oxygen mask back on, the flight attendant wiped the sweat from her brow: "The captain has fainted!"

"What?! The plane!" Flight attendant number three had never encountered a captain unconscious before, and she almost screamed out in a moment of panic.

"What are you yelling about!" The chief flight attendant shoved the third flight attendant hard, clearly displeased. "Why don't you make another announcement and tell the passengers that our captain has fainted, hmm?"

Flight attendant number three blushed, ashamed of her rather poor composure: "This is the first time I've encountered this, and I just couldn't control myself!"

"Actually, that's not the point!" the flight attendant said.

Flight attendant number three was taken aback: "This isn't the main point? Wait, could it be that that young lady also has a problem?!"

The "young lady" that flight attendant number three mentioned is Lian Shanxue. Not only at Xingyou Airlines, but even in the entire civil aviation industry, female pilots are a rare breed. Plus, Lian Shanxue is pretty and very likeable. Some of the more charming flight attendants like to call her "young lady."

"Let me tell you! When I went into the cockpit, I discovered that the captain's oxygen mask actually belonged to the first officer. And the first officer wasn't wearing an oxygen mask!"

Flight attendant number three's mind raced with various thoughts: "Are you trying to tell me a story about selflessness?"

(End of this chapter)