Legendary Captain

Chapter 228 Ball Lightning! A Meteor Shower! (Seeking monthly votes!)

Xu Xian's hearing was so accurate that the disappearance of the vertical display components didn't really affect him much compared to not being able to see the plane's speed and altitude.

He could roughly discern the aircraft's thrust from the engine's hum. But amidst the rumbling engine noise, Xu Xian heard a discordant discordant sound.

It sounded like fingernails scraping against a blackboard—very sharp. However, Xu Xian couldn't understand what was wrong. If he could even tell an engine malfunction by ear, he'd be a god.

Xu Xian currently does not know the speed and altitude of the aircraft, so he can only rely on the palm-sized spare instrument to temporarily maintain the pitch angle of the aircraft, hoping that after leaving the thunderstorm cloud, the icing on the aircraft will improve and the external sensors can start working again.

Even when airspeed becomes unreliable, the aircraft's attitude, N1, ground speed, and radio altitude remain reliable. However, because all six display modules are black, N1, ground speed, and radio altitude are not displayed on the backup instruments; only the aircraft's attitude is visible.

As long as the attitude and thrust remain roughly the same as before, the aircraft's airspeed and rate of descent should not change significantly. Of course, this only meets Xu Xian's expectations under relatively ideal conditions. Given that the aircraft's attitude has hardly been stable in the past, Xu Xian has only taken a rough pitch angle; demanding even greater precision is beyond his own capabilities.

Actually, compared to the aircraft's thrust and altitude, Xu Xian was more worried about airspeed.

He could roughly discern the aircraft's thrust from the sound. As for altitude, once the aircraft emerged from the clouds and reached the destination surface, with visual reference, altitude became less important.

Of course, if the cloud base is extremely high or low, then just ignore what he said; it's a matter of luck, and you can't blame him.

However, not knowing the current airspeed is a critical issue. To make matters worse, icing on the aircraft's sensors renders overspeed and stick-jumping warnings completely ineffective.

If the overspeed warning and stick jerking warning were reliable, Xu Xian wouldn't panic even if he couldn't see the airspeed. These two warnings would allow him to determine whether the aircraft's speed was too high or too low, facilitating corrections. However, the warnings themselves are flawed; he doesn't know which warning—the overspeed warning or the stick jerking warning—is correct or incorrect. This makes it impossible for him to react to whether the aircraft's airspeed is too high or too low.

Whether it's the aircraft's excessive speed leading to excessive load and ultimately causing it to disintegrate, or the aircraft's insufficient speed resulting in a deep stall and a direct descent, neither of these is acceptable to Xu Xian.

But reality is so unpredictable that Xu Xian had no choice but to resort to unconventional methods.

Just like the feeling of a car going over a speed bump at different speeds, when an airplane is traveling at a high speed, the shaking is more pronounced and feels harsher. In contrast, when an airplane is traveling at a lower speed, although the shaking is also more pronounced, the sensation is relatively gentle, like swaying in the wind.

This is a rather unreliable method because it is directly related to the intensity and direction of turbulence. Relying solely on sensory analysis often leads to conclusions that differ from reality.

But Xu Xian had no other choice, so he could only resort to this seemingly absurd method.

To be honest, only someone as quick-witted as Xu Xian could come up with some ideas. Others would probably be completely confused at this point, even though Xu Xian's method didn't seem very reliable.

Another point that concerned Xu Xian was that all six display components had failed, and that this happened after the lightning strike. He couldn't help but suspect that the lightning had struck the aircraft, thus affecting its electrical and display systems.

If the aircraft leaves the thunderstorm cloud area, will its display system be able to recover? Without a display component, it will lose many ways of obtaining information, such as MAP map mode, ground speed, and radio altimeter. Each of these data sources is very important to Xu Xian.

In fact, as long as one display component is working, Xu Xian can use display switching to transfer the required display page to the corresponding working display component. However, now that all six display components are malfunctioning, Xu Xian is completely helpless.

And was the disconnection of the generator driven by engine number two also due to lightning?

After failing to reconnect the No. 2 generator switch, Xu Xian gave up and started the APU directly in an attempt to connect to a second AC power source.

However, just as Xu Xian was agonizing over the problems with the display and electrical systems, a sudden flash of light appeared outside the windshield. This time, Xu Xian saw it clearly: a thick electric snake was rushing down from the sky, seemingly about to pierce through heaven and earth. Moreover, judging from the visual observation alone, Xu Xian felt that he was not very far away from this lightning bolt.

While Xu Xian was still thankful that he hadn't been struck by that terrifying lightning bolt, from somewhere unknown, above Xu Xian's line of sight, a round, orange-yellow ball, about the width of two palms in diameter, slowly descended. It landed smoothly outside the windshield, like a leaping sprite.

At that moment, time seemed to stand still. Xu Xian's face was bathed in the orange light, and he was momentarily lost in thought.

After only a brief moment of distraction, Xu Xian seemed to hear crackling electrical sounds. Before he could figure out what was happening, a piercing howl blared through his earphones, as if it were about to pierce his eardrums.

The howling sound was so shrill that Xu Xian could not bear it at all. Instinctively, he covered his ears with his left hand and hissed softly, his face showing extreme pain.

At that moment, it felt as if an iron needle was twisting and turning in Xu Xian's brain, and he was almost fainting from the pain.

After tearing off his headphones and throwing them aside, Xu Xian felt a little better after getting rid of the nagging noise that had seeped into his head.

In that brief moment, Xu Xian was drenched in sweat, as if he had been pulled from the water. Yet, after this experience, his mind was somewhat clear. He slowly raised his head, looking at the small, cute-looking sphere, his pupils suddenly contracting as he took a deep breath: "Could it be..."

Xu Xian had barely finished speaking when the orange sphere touched the radar dome on the nose of the aircraft, and Xu Xian's breath caught in his throat.

Just as Xu Xian breathed his last, the orange sphere suddenly contracted. Xu Xian's mind went blank, and he blurted out four words: "Ball lightning!"

boom!

Like a thunderclap from a clear sky, a massive explosion occurred at the nose of the plane, the energy of which caused the nose to plunge violently downwards. Xu Xian had no chance of controlling it.

Less than half a second after the explosion, the sky was as bright as day again, and this time, everything around the plane was illuminated.

Hail and rain, clearly visible!

However, Xu Xian had no time to discern any of this. After the explosion forced the plane to nose down, he quickly reacted and tried to correct the aircraft's attitude. But before he could even lift the stick, an indescribable downdraft slammed into the fuselage, instantly pushing back the attitude he was about to increase, and the pitching continued to increase until it reached nearly fifteen degrees.

A 10-degree pitch angle is already considered a complex situation, let alone a 15-degree pitch angle.

At this moment, Xu Xian was almost facing the ground. The downward angle was too large, so large that the speed of the plane would be completely out of control.

Xu Xian immediately reduced the throttle to a slow speed to prevent the aircraft from exceeding its airspeed limit. However, the aircraft's downward attitude was too violent. Even with the throttle reduced to its maximum, the released gravitational potential energy would still push the aircraft's kinetic energy to an extremely dangerous level.

As the aircraft accelerated, its load increased rapidly under the combined effects of high speed and severe turbulence. Finally, at a certain moment, a very crisp cracking sound rang out from somewhere on the right wing of the aircraft.

The main venue at the headquarters of Qingyuan Group.

Inside the main hall, an exceptionally grand meeting was being held, and the main character was none other than Xu Qing.

Due to Xu Qing's enormous influence among the public, especially teenagers, he would occasionally hold meet-and-greets with the intention of spreading positive energy, targeting Xu Qing's huge fan base.

The main content of the meeting was Xu Qing sharing his life experiences and principles of conduct, and occasionally he would talk about his recent plans and some insights into life.

The entire meet-and-greet was essentially a large tea party between Xu Qing and her fans.

Of course, Xu Qing didn't expect to change someone's character through a single meeting. He simply hoped to raise public awareness and attention to civil aviation.

Although Xu Qing is not the kind of person obsessed with fame and fortune, it is still very necessary to cultivate a supporter base appropriately.

Several similar meet-and-greets had been held before, and Xu Qing usually spoke for two or three hours straight without taking a break. However, at this meet-and-greeting, Xu Qing only spoke for about an hour and a half before it was abruptly ended.

The short time obviously left many fans wanting more, and after Xu Qing stepped down from the stage, they surrounded her.

Xu Qing was slightly exasperated by the fans' excessive enthusiasm. It wasn't that he was deliberately acting like a big shot or intentionally cutting down time, but rather that if he continued talking, his hands might start to give way again.

There were quite a few reporters at the press conference, and with so many spotlights on him, any unusual behavior would be easily noticed. Just in case, it would be best for him to slip away while he was still in good spirits.

An hour and a half isn't very long, but it's not short either. Fans might feel a little unsatisfied, but they won't be dissatisfied. Xu Qing's handling of the fan meeting's length was very appropriate.

Although fans surrounded Xu Qing, he wasn't afraid. Most of his fans weren't extremely fanatical; they surrounded him hoping to talk to him more, and probably wouldn't do anything drastic.

As expected, the fans around Xu Qing consciously kept their distance and did not crowd her excessively. Some wanted Xu Qing to sign her autograph, some quietly took photos, and some wanted to ask Xu Qing questions. Although there were many people in the venue, it appeared to be very orderly.

While dealing with fans, Xu Qing suddenly spotted a somewhat familiar woman in the crowd. He felt like he had seen her somewhere before, but couldn't quite place her.

This feeling tormented Xu Qing, making him very uncomfortable. Finally, out of curiosity, Xu Qing took the initiative and asked the woman, "Hello, do we know each other?"

The little boy with the woman's eyes lit up, and he excitedly grabbed her sleeve: "Mom! Xu Qing really knows you!"

The woman patted the little boy's head and smiled at Xu Qing: "Mr. Xu, we met once on flight 9517 years ago. I didn't expect you to remember me!"

"9517?" With that prompt, Xu Qing instantly knew who it was: "You're that...that flight attendant, the one who took my documents?"

Back then, on Eastern Flight 9517, the captain suddenly fell ill and lost consciousness. The cabin crew had to find a pilot on board. Xu Qing was initially reluctant, not wanting to cause any trouble. But seeing that no one answered, she had no choice but to bite the bullet and reveal her identity.

For security reasons, a flight attendant on 9517 asked to check Xu Qing's identification. Xu Qing handed over her business license, and the flight attendant then took it to the purser for verification. That flight attendant was the woman in front of us.

"Mr. Xu, I never expected you to remember this!" The woman was also slightly surprised. She and Xu Qing had only met once on flight 9517, and she never imagined that more than 20 years later, Xu Qing would still remember it. This memory was simply amazing.

Xu Qing laughed heartily, "I'm not particularly capable, but I have a great memory. I knew I'd seen you somewhere before. This child is you."

"That's my son!" The woman nudged the little boy's back, gesturing for him to take a few steps forward. "Didn't you want Uncle Xu's autograph? Isn't now a good opportunity?"

"Your son? Wow, you got married pretty late!" Xu Qing said with a smile.

Xu Qing felt that she was probably not much older than the woman. Xu Qing's son was already an adult, while her son looked to be about ten years old.

"Somewhat!" The woman smiled gently, and seeing that Xu Qing was so approachable, she felt a little more at ease.

Xu Qing looked at the still somewhat timid little boy, pulled him to her side, and pinched his cheek: "Did you come to see me?"

When Xu Qing recognized the woman, her reaction was actually quite calm, but the little boy was unusually excited. Most likely, it was because the little boy had begged his mother to come to this meet-and-greet.

Perhaps because he had never been so close to Xu Qing before, the little boy was so nervous that he couldn't speak.

"Want my autograph?"

The little boy reacted immediately, nodding emphatically and quickly taking out a pre-prepared autograph book from his bag, handing it to Xu Qing.

When Xu Qing saw the autograph book, he was speechless. The child's hands were shaking when he handed it over; he looked very nervous.

Xu Qing patted the little boy's head, but instead of signing his name, he took out an extremely exquisite fountain pen from the inside pocket of his clothes and put it in the little boy's hand.

"I have a connection with your mother, so I'll leave the autograph to you. Just keep this pen safe."

The little boy was stunned by the unexpected gift. He turned to look at his mother, his eyes clearly asking if he could accept it.

The woman nodded: "Since it's a gift for you, just accept it and remember to take good care of it!"

Upon hearing that he could accept the gift, the little boy's face turned red with excitement. He clutched the pen tightly to his chest and rushed outside, afraid that Xu Qing would change her mind and take the pen back.

Xu Qing found the little boy quite amusing, pointed in the direction he had gone, and asked, "Shouldn't you go check on him? He might get lost!"

The woman waved her hand and said, "It's alright, his father is outside."

"I see!" Xu Qing clicked his tongue. "To be honest, I was ashamed to say that I didn't even know who the captain of flight 9517 was at the time."

Although the captain's incapacitation on Flight 9517 was Xu Qing's "debut battle," he was merely a temporary replacement. After landing, he briefly explained the situation to the authorities and hurriedly went home, not giving the incident any thought. He certainly didn't know the names of the captain and flight attendants.

If they met again, Xu Qing could roughly recognize their faces, but he wouldn't know a single one of their names.

"It's nothing. It wasn't a matter of life and death, so it's normal not to take it to heart."

The 9517 incident wasn't actually that serious; the captain's incapacitation alone wasn't enough to forge a life-or-death bond. Therefore, it was perfectly normal for Xu Qing not to know the names of the flight crew members involved.

"Now that I've run into you, I'm really curious to know who the captain was back then. Maybe we can have a meal together sometime in the future," Xu Qing said with a smile.

Xu Qing is a sentimental person, and he often invites crew members who went through emergency situations together to dinner. So when Xu Qing said that they should have dinner together in the future, it wasn't just a formality.

"Mr. Xu, I'm afraid there's no chance. The instructor has been gone for some time now."

Xu Qing was taken aback, but recalling the captain's appearance when he first met him, he realized that the captain was quite old. More than twenty years had passed, so his passing was to be expected.

The woman continued, "Instructor Qin had always had a heart condition, and that day it was a sudden relapse. Fortunately, he was saved after being taken off the plane. However, after that, Instructor Qin stopped flying. It seems he passed away about ten years ago."

"Instructor Qin?" Xu Qing frowned.

"Yes! Instructor Qin Fengyuan!" the woman confirmed.

"Qin Fengyuan?" Upon hearing this name, Xu Qing suddenly felt dizzy. A moment later, everything went black, and she fainted on the spot without any warning.

The top-floor conference room at the Wens Group headquarters.

"Every department should carefully review the Kunyang Airport case; there can be no oversights in the preparations." Wen Jingshu swept her gaze over the group of senior executives below. "Also, where is the person liaising with Qingyuan Group?"

The investment in Kunyang Airport requires Xu Qing's support. However, Xu Qing cannot participate in all the miscellaneous matters below, so some matters require Wen's Group to coordinate with Qingyuan Group.

As Wen Jingshu was giving instructions, the conference room door opened a crack, and Li Yuan from the secretary's office tiptoed into the conference room.

This meeting brought together all the top executives of the entire group, and even as a secretary, she felt a lot of pressure just walking in.

Even though Li Yuan had kept her movements as quiet as possible, Wen Jingshu still noticed her. However, she only glanced at her and didn't ask any questions.

Li Yuan tiptoed to Yang Ning, who was seated at the end of the table, and whispered, "Director, Xu Xian is in trouble!"

"What?" Yang Ning exclaimed in surprise, almost unable to control his voice, "What happened?"

Li Yuan quickly replied, "We've received news from Xingyou."

Li Yuan quickly recounted the story of Xingyou 6333, which made Yang Ning's expression grow increasingly unpleasant.

She knew exactly what Xu Xian meant to Wen Jingshu. If something happened to Xu Xian, Wen Jingshu would have no heart to manage the group's business anymore, and now was precisely the critical moment of the Kunyang Airport investment case.

"Aunt Ning, is there something you need?" Wen Jingshu had been paying attention to Li Yuan since she entered the meeting room, and she didn't really care much when Li Yuan and Yang Ning were whispering to each other.

Li Yuan was Yang Ning's direct subordinate, so it was normal for her to report important matters to him. However, in a short period of time, Yang Ning's expression changed drastically, his face suddenly turning extremely grim.

This was a sensitive period for the massive investment in Kunyang Airport, and to be honest, Wen Jingshu was under pressure. Normally, she might not have asked in public, but now, she couldn't help herself.

Yang Ning, who was listening to Li Yuan's report, was suddenly thrown into disarray by Wen Jingshu's question. All the senior executives of the group present turned their attention to her.

Yang Ning was fine, but Li Yuan was extremely nervous being watched by so many high-ranking leaders, and her body even stiffened slightly.

Yang Ning was Wen Mingyuan's confidante back then, and she had seen all kinds of situations. Even if a group of high-ranking officials turned their attention to her, she didn't care at all. The only person she cared about was Wen Jingshu.

After hesitating for a moment, Yang Ning finally said, "Something happened at Xingyou Airlines."

"Star Travel?" Wen Jingshu raised an eyebrow. "Is there a malfunction on the plane?"

"Yes, there's a problem with the plane." Yang Ning nodded.

Wen Jingshu breathed a slight sigh of relief: "Report this to me later."

Compared to the Kunyang Airport investment project, a goldmine with an extremely long-term return, Xingyou Airlines' project is hardly worth mentioning. At least at this meeting, there's no need to discuss Xingyou Airlines. After the meeting, she can simply receive a one-on-one report from Yang Ning.

Suddenly, Wen Jingshu frowned. She noticed that Yang Ning seemed hesitant to speak.

Yang Ning is very sensible and knows what matters to worry about and what matters not to worry about. She clearly stated that the Star Travel Airlines matter would be discussed later, but Yang Ning still seemed to want to bring it up.

"Aunt Ning, is there anything else you want to say?"

Looking at Wen Jingshu's suspicious expression, Yang Ning finally sighed. Some things couldn't be kept secret.

"Miss, something's happened to Xu Xian!"

"What did you say?" Wen Jingshu's expression changed drastically, her face turning pale in an instant. She immediately asked, "What happened?"

Just then, a look of horror crept onto the face of a director to Wen Jingshu's left. He slowly raised his right hand, pointed to the sky outside the window, and exclaimed in terror, "Chairwoman, look at the sky!"

Star Travel 6333 was compressed by an immeasurably powerful downdraft in the thunderstorm cloud area, and was falling wildly at an unimaginable speed.

Xu Xian didn't know the current rate of descent of the aircraft. But judging from the aircraft's downward attitude, it was probably approaching the limit of the climb rate display.

Although Xu Xian also wanted to descend quickly, he definitely didn't want to do it in this way.

Too fast! The descent speed is too fast! Even with the throttle reduced to its limit, the aircraft's speed will still increase uncontrollably. When the aircraft's speed exceeds its limit, the extra load beyond the standard will cause unimaginable damage to the aircraft's structure.

Moreover, under these circumstances, Xu Xian dared not pull the stick too hard. During a rapid descent, pulling the stick violently and maneuvering too roughly would increase the aircraft's load and could even cause the aircraft to break in two in an instant.

For a moment, Xu Xian seemed to be in a dilemma.

However, Xu Xian firmly believed that this downdraft should not be continuous. As long as the aircraft could withstand the pressure, it could even use this downdraft to quickly pass through the thunderstorm cloud area.

However, during this time, he vaguely heard some noises caused by the deformation of the machine, and he couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

"Hold on!" Xu Xian roared inwardly.

The rate of descent of Star Travel 6333 was so great that it was falling rapidly with an almost unstoppable force. Although it was accompanied by constant overload and the risk of the aircraft breaking apart, it is undeniable that the speed of descent was too fast.

In just a few seconds, Xu Xian felt that the clouds outside the windshield seemed to have thinned out, and the turbulence was not as violent as before.

Just as Xu Xian felt a surge of joy, in the blink of an eye, the world seemed to clear up instantly, and Xu Xian could even faintly see the lights on the ground.

An overwhelming surge of joy erupted from Xu Xian's chest.

Out!

It's finally out!

Just as Xu Xian was overjoyed at the unexpected turn of events, a bolt of lightning cleaved the sky and struck the back of the plane. Xu Xian felt a sudden burst of light around him.

Lightning again!?

Xu Xian thought to himself, but he didn't really care.

However, the lightning bolt that struck the back of the plane seemed to ignite something in the void behind it, causing it to explode violently and form a huge fireball in the sky!

At that moment, not far below the plane was the headquarters building of the Wen Group. Everyone in the top-floor conference room, including Wen Jingshu, stared at the sky with utter shock on their faces.

A meteor-shaped object covered in blue flames parted the thick clouds and shot straight down. Just as it emerged from the clouds, a bolt of lightning struck down, hitting the object directly from behind.

Under the extremely shocked gazes of everyone, the blue flame suddenly exploded, scattering into a dazzling fireball in the void, just like the sun!

(End of this chapter)