Legendary Captain

Chapter 231 Unreceivable Blind Landing Signal

"Lianshan, this isn't your business, go back!" Xu Xian grabbed Lianshanxue's hand, trying to remove it: "This shipment is of toluene diisocyanate. Prolonged exposure to it will damage your eyes."

"So you can handle it?" Lian Shanxue retorted. Following Xu Xian's exertion, Lian Shanxue slightly withdrew her right hand, gently tapping Xu Xian's forehead with her fingertips, like a gentle older sister: "You always think you can handle everything, but the truth is you can't. You're not a god, you're human."

Lian Shanxue glanced at the skid gauge on the spare instrument panel and whispered, "You won't make it to the landing. Leave it to me now. Your turn to shine will come when we land."

Lian Shanxue had just heard the sound of the No. 2 engine stop running, and she suspected that it had shut down. Looking at the sideslip indicator on the backup instrument panel, she noticed the plane was experiencing a slight sideslip, indicating that Xu Xian hadn't fully corrected the situation.

It wasn't that Xu Xian lacked the ability to completely correct the sideslip caused by the single shot, but rather that most of his energy was diverted to the discomfort caused by the toluene diisocyanate gas.

Xu Xian only roughly corrected the aircraft to a relatively balanced state, without worrying too much about maintaining a precise state at all times.

Although the aircraft is now a single-engine aircraft, the difficulty of operation for the crew before approach and landing is not actually very high; at least, Lian Shanxue felt that she could handle it. However, during the approach and landing phase, the crew needs to operate the aircraft with extreme precision.

If the only problem with the aircraft is that one engine has failed, and there are no other malfunctions, Lian Shanxue felt that he could still manage a single-engine landing.

However, the system is now malfunctioning, and speed and airspeed information are unreliable. Under these circumstances, Lian Shanxue is well aware of her own capabilities and knows she cannot fall behind.

Therefore, she can only take over the plane now to give Xu Xian time to rest and maintain his condition so that he can still have sufficient work ability after the plane approaches the airport.

Just then, the Chengdu air traffic control sent a reminder: "Star Traveler 6333, if you have the chance, rinse your eyes with plenty of water. Otherwise, prolonged exposure can cause serious damage to your eyes."

Xu Xian's breath hitched: "How serious is it?"

"According to the airport's main hospital, if you continue working at your current pace, you probably won't last long at the airport," said Rongcheng Air Traffic Control. "Also, the concentration of toluene diisocyanate in the cabin is very high right now. If you stay in that environment for more than ten minutes, you may become permanently blind."

The air traffic control in Chengdu was actually unwilling to inform the flight crew of the dangers of toluene diisocyanate, as the conditions on the aircraft were unlikely to be met at that time. Therefore, providing this information to the crew only served to increase their panic and had no other purpose.

However, the crew has the right to know their situation, and if the control deliberately conceals it, they will be held accountable afterwards.

"Permanent blindness." Xu Xian knew that toluene diisocyanate could damage the eyes, but he did not expect it to be so harmful that it could cause permanent blindness.

At this moment, Xu Xian hesitated. Compared to death, Xu Xian seemed to fear losing the light more. The thought of spending his next life in darkness terrified him more than losing his life.

"So, let me do it." Sensing the fear in Xu Xian's tone, Lian Shanxue couldn't help but feel a pang of pity.

He's still just a child!

"Aren't you scared?" Xu Xian asked incredulously.

Lian Shanxue shook her head: "Because I'm willing, I'm not afraid!"

"I'm willing." Xu Xian savored Lian Shanxue's words, his mouth full of bitterness.

In the brief moment Xu Xian was lost in thought, Lian Shanxue had already taken Wang Qian's seat and contacted Rongcheng air traffic control: "Star Travel 6333, there's a military aircraft at both the 12 o'clock and 9 o'clock positions. They're requesting us to follow them. Should we comply?"

Even if nothing unexpected happens, these two military aircraft were probably called over by the air traffic control center, so there shouldn't be any problems. However, out of caution, Lian Shanxue still checked again.

Suddenly, a woman's voice came through, catching the Rongcheng control team off guard and leaving them confused.

Chen Yuan covered the microphone with one hand and squinted as he asked the controller, "Who is she? What's going on?"

The controller was equally baffled: "Sir, I don't know! Asking me won't help."

"Is it Star Travel 6333? Don't get it wrong."

"Didn't you just introduce yourself? It's Star Travel 6333, isn't it?" the controller said helplessly.

Just then, the assistant came over to clarify: "Director, there's a female pilot on Star Travel 6333 who's been added to the crew. Could it be her?"

Determining the information of the crew members on board an aircraft is one of the most basic means of handling an emergency.

"Lian Shanxue?" Chen Yuan removed his hand from the microphone. "Are you Lian Shanxue?"

"That's right! I'll take over the plane now. Xu Xian will rest for a while until the approach and landing phase," Lian Shanxue said. "Please contact Rongcheng Airport and make preparations for taking over."

"Xu Xian can rest?" Chen Yuan was overjoyed.

Just then, the controller, looking rather clueless, was about to mention that Chengdu Airport had refused to accept them: "Star Travel 6333, Chengdu Airport, them..."

"Them my foot!" Chen Yuan quickly covered the controller's mouth and took the microphone: "The lead military aircraft was requested by me. Just follow their instructions, and we will guide you to avoid obstacles."

This time, the Rongcheng Military Region truly gave Chen Yuan face, or rather, the people face. When the people are in danger, the military will still overcome all difficulties to provide assistance.

"Okay! We'll let you know if anything happens."

"Fine!" After giving his instructions, Chen Yuan gave the air traffic controller a hard pinch on the head. "You damn loose tongue! Did I ask you to talk about what happened at Rongcheng Airport?"

"But, Director, didn't your assistant just say that..." The controller was also a little aggrieved. Just now, when Chen Yuan was talking to his assistant, he said with absolute certainty that Rongcheng Airport refused to accept Xingyou 6333. Why is he denying it on the spot now?

"That was just now, can it be the same now?" Chen Yuan scoffed.

The assistant was also confused: "What's the difference?"

"He's not thinking straight, but is your brain rusty too?" Chen Yuan wanted to kick his assistant. After working with him for so long, he hadn't improved at all.

Chen Yuan said with exasperation, "Now that someone can step in, Xu Xian can rest and conserve his energy. Doesn't that mean Xu Xian can maintain sufficient work capacity by the time we reach Rongcheng Airport? Then Rongcheng Airport's reasoning becomes untenable. Why would they refuse to accept Xingyou 6333?"

"That's right!" The assistant slapped his thigh, as if waking from a dream. Actually, the Chengdu airport was also under a lot of psychological pressure to refuse to accept Xingyou 6333. Now that they know the crew members can guarantee sufficient work capacity, they probably wouldn't dare to go against the tide and be determined to refuse Xingyou 6333.

Chen Yuan nudged his assistant: "What are you waiting for? Hurry up and go talk to the people at Rongcheng Airport."

There was a military aircraft to the left and directly in front of Xingyou 6333. The two military aircraft were very close to Xingyou 6333, and they both had all their external lights on. Lian Shanxue could see the positions of the two aircraft quite clearly.

After communicating with the military pilots, Lian Shanxue roughly understood their intentions.

The military aircraft directly to the left provides Xingyou 6333 with altitude reference, while the aircraft directly in front provides direction reference. Lian Shanxue doesn't need to worry about her own altitude, as long as she maintains the same altitude as the military aircraft to her left. She also doesn't care about her flight path, as long as she closely follows the military aircraft directly in front.

With two military aircraft escorting it, Star Travel 6333 was finally able to temporarily put aside its worries about overcoming obstacles.

Star Travel Aviation Operations Control Center.

"What did you say? The system is broken? Can't contact the crew and control?" Qin Zongyang wanted to slap the staff in the operations control center. They really messed up at the crucial moment.

"Could the satellite phone have been damaged while crossing the thunderstorm area? This system relies on a satellite phone system," the staff member speculated.

"You're asking me?" Qin Zongyang's forehead veins bulged. "Why aren't you getting over there and fixing that damn system? It's an embarrassment!"

Such a big thing happened, and then their operations control center messed up. Isn't that embarrassing for the control center?

The staff members readily agreed and quickly went to set up the emergency communication system.

"Old Qin, this system was developed by the Innovation Technology Department. You've misjudged them," Cao Jinwen reminded him.

"Cao Jinwen, where did you go from being so scared you peed your pants? Now you're all smug again?" Qin Zongyang was very unhappy that Cao Jinwen had embarrassed him.

When Cao Jinwen was in the general manager's office at Tongtai Chemical, he was terrified when the general manager mentioned that the shipped goods contained toluene diisocyanate; it was as if the sky had fallen. Now that he's back at the company, he's back to being all smug. This is exactly what Qin Zongyang despises most.

"I was really scared just now, but I've calmed down now." Cao Jinwen waved his hand, then suddenly his gaze shifted to the entrance of the operations control center: "Hmm? So many people have come?"

Qin Zongyang and the others were startled, and their eyes all turned to the entrance of the Operations Control Center. They saw a large group of people filing in, including AOC Director Wei Zhibin, Safety Director Chen Fei, Deputy Maintenance Director Wang Xian, and even the General Manager of the Cabin Department. Most surprisingly, Marketing Director Li Chuan also came along.

"What are you all doing? Coming over to play mahjong tonight?" Qin Zongyang looked at the group of leaders and sneered.

Even with Star Travel 6333 in such a dangerous situation, these people are only arriving now. Although none of them are on duty today, so their late arrival is understandable, Qin Zongyang is currently in a bad mood and can't help but feel a little resentful.

"Playing mahjong my foot." Wang Xian, the vice president of maintenance, was the highest-ranking official here, and this matter had nothing to do with him. He was only here out of necessity, so he spoke with considerable confidence: "If the chairman hadn't suddenly decided to hold some kind of video conference, what would I be doing here?"

"Video conference?" Qin Zongyang and the other two were all taken aback.

Wang Xian, the vice president of maintenance, frowned for a moment, then realized what was going on and waved his hand: "The attendees are at least M3 level, your level is too low."

The expressions on Qin Zongyang's and Lu Xinyu's faces all stiffened. Qin Zongyang and Lu Xinyu were at the M2 management level, while Cao Jinwen was only at the M1 level, and indeed, he wasn't even qualified to attend the meeting.

This is a bit awkward.

Qin Zongyang curled his lip: "If you want to have a meeting, go have one. What are you doing here?"

"It's all because of your apprentice. The meeting's topic was the 6333 emergency."

As Wang Xian was speaking, Marketing Director Li Chuan pushed through the crowd and asked urgently, "Lian Shanxue, I heard she's up there too. What's the situation?"

Logically speaking, this video conference had nothing to do with Li Chuan. But when he heard that Lian Shanxue was on a plane, how could he sit still? Recently, he had been practically living at the company, thinking about how to develop Lian Shanxue's commercial value. But, as fate would have it, Lian Shanxue ran into trouble at this time.

If anything happened to Lian Shanxue, his nascent hope for promotion would be completely extinguished. So, even though this video conference had nothing to do with him, he still shamelessly joined in.

"A chemical company concealed the presence of hazardous materials, and there's a significant amount of toluene diisocyanate leaked from our plane," Qin Zongyang said.

"What? Is there a danger if that stuff leaks?"

Qin Zongyang took a deep breath: "It's very dangerous!"

Just as Wang Xian was about to speak, he suddenly noticed that Zeng Yu was also in the operations control center. At that moment, Zeng Yu was staring at the marker for Xingyou 6333 on the radar screen, remaining silent.

"Old Zeng?" Wang Xian called out softly.

Zeng Yu didn't even turn his head back, just waved his hand and said, "You go about your own business, don't worry about me."

Just then, a staff member came out of the internal conference room of the operations control center and said to everyone, "Leaders, the chairman is now online."

Wang Xian glanced at Zeng Yu, sighed, and called to the others, "Let's go in!"

At Wang Xian's invitation, the group of company leaders headed towards the internal conference room. Since these leaders, despite their high positions, were not present at the scene when the incident occurred, Ning Sheng was eventually called in as well.

The internal meeting room of the operations control center is separated from the operations control hall by only one glass curtain wall. The area is not large, and there are not many empty seats left after a group of people sit down.

This place was originally designed as a temporary command center for company leaders in the event of an emergency, so it wasn't originally intended for use as a meeting room.

When everyone entered, Wen Jingshu's video feed was already displayed on the conference room's large screen. Some of the leaders present were meeting the group's chairman for the first time, so they appeared extremely nervous. And nervousness is contagious; even some who weren't initially nervous began to feel uneasy.

For a moment, the atmosphere in the meeting room became somewhat stiff.

Wen Jingshu glanced down through the video feed, checked her watch, and spoke first: "Is everyone here? Who wants to give a brief overview?"

As Chen Yuan had predicted, after his assistant informed Rongcheng Airport that someone had come to replace Xingyou 6333 to help, Rongcheng Airport stopped insisting on its own opinion and agreed to accept Xingyou 6333, and began to make preparations.

For an airport of Chengdu's caliber, emergency preparedness is a constant priority, and its mobilization capabilities are terrifying. As long as the airport accepts the Star Wanderer 6333, preparations for it will proceed at an extremely rapid pace.

Inside the cockpit of Star Travel 6333, even though Xu Xian thought Lian Shanxue could handle cruise operations under single-engine conditions, this was based on a normal working environment. Now, the entire cockpit was filled with toxic gas, and he wasn't sure how long Lian Shanxue could hold out. So how could he dare to leave the cockpit to rinse his eyes?

So, after freeing his hands, Xu Xian wet a small towel with mineral water and covered his eyes with it, which could roughly isolate the effects of toluene diisocyanate.

When Xu Xian wet the small towel with mineral water, a lot of water leaked out, which would normally be absolutely forbidden, but he couldn't care less now.

Xu Xian, who had covered his eyes with a damp towel, didn't know how long the flight had been. He only felt that the plane was very stable, without any major fluctuations. The portable oxygen tank didn't last long either. However, for Xu Xian, as long as his eyes weren't exposed to outside air, he was just thankful.

Suddenly, Xu Xian asked, "Not here yet?"

"Almost there!" Lian Shanxue's voice was still soft and gentle, but it was slightly hoarse. The gas from toluene diisocyanate was still affecting her vocal cords.

"Are you alright?" Xu Xian continued to ask.

"fine!"

Just as Lian Shanxue's voice faded, the sound of military aircraft came through the loudspeaker: "You are now 32 nautical miles from Rongcheng Airport. There are no more high obstacles in the area. You will continue to be under the control of Rongcheng. Good luck, goodbye."

Generally speaking, the instrument landing signal can extend to a range of 25 nautical miles. This means that if the Star Travel 6333 flies a little further forward, it can intercept the instrument landing signal, and there will be no need for military aircraft to guide it.

Hearing this, Xu Xian ripped off the wet towel: "There are only thirty-odd nautical miles left, aren't you going to switch with me?"

This time, Xu Xian opened his eyes directly, and the first thing he looked at was Lian Shanxue beside him.

Even after a period of rest, what Xu Xian saw was still shrouded in a thick fog, making it look very blurry.

Fortunately, Lian Shanxue was very close to Xu Xian. When he looked closely, a chill ran down his spine.

A line of bloody tears streamed down Lian Shanxue's cheek and neck from the corner of her eye. Even at this moment, Lian Shanxue's eyes remained open, as if she felt no pain.

Xu Xian had personally experienced how painful it was for toluene diisocyanate gas to burn his conjunctiva. Even though Xu Xian kept telling himself to open his eyes and look outside, his eyelids still involuntarily kept closing.

This is the human instinct to seek advantage and avoid harm!

However, Lian Shanxue, a frail woman, actually resisted this instinct!

"You really don't have to do this," Xu Xian said, looking at Lian Shanxue with some heartache.

He originally thought that Lian Shanxue might be keeping her eyes half-closed or closing them briefly from time to time, as keeping her eyes open for a long time was simply not something a human could endure.

Lian Shanxue turned her face, and Xu Xian could finally see her eyes clearly. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, Xu Xian would never have believed that these were human eyes.

The whites of the eyes, outside the pupils, were now covered with dense blood vessels, so dense that Xu Xian felt Lian Shanxue's eyes were soaked in blood.

Lian Shanxue looked somewhat tired: "I dare not squint, otherwise I won't be able to see anything outside. I also dare not close my eyes, I'm afraid that if I close them, I will never be able to open them again."

As she spoke, Lian Shanxue laboriously raised her right hand, revealing large patches of red marks on the back of her hand. Her fingertips gently touched Xu Xian's face, and her lips moved slightly: "Xu Xian, when I first saw you, I thought you were so beautiful, even more beautiful than me. Do you... do you think I'll ever see your face again?"

At this moment, Xu Xian could no longer hold back, and tears streamed down his face: "I will definitely take you down there, I will definitely heal your eyes."

Perhaps for the extremely weak Lian Shanxue, even raising her right hand was incredibly difficult at this moment. She dejectedly withdrew her right hand and slowly closed her eyes: "I'm tired, Xu Xian. Remember to wake me up. I don't want to just fall asleep like this."

"Go to sleep. I'll wake you up when we land," Xu Xian said in an incredibly gentle voice, as if he were coaxing a baby.

"Hmm," Lian Shanxue uttered a very soft sound, and then there was no further movement.

Just then, the Chengdu Control Center issued an order: "Star Travel 6333, maintain this course and establish a courseway. You should be able to receive the glide slope signal soon after."

Generally speaking, the localizer signal in the ILS (Instrument Landing System) has a wider coverage area than the glide slope signal, which is why the Chengdu Air Traffic Control Center instructed Xingyou 6333 to intercept the localizer first. According to the altitude-to-range ratio, Xingyou 6333 is below the glide slope, so there is no rush to descend. As long as it maintains altitude, it can naturally intercept the glide slope from below.

After that, Star Travel 6333 can continue to follow the blind descent signal and even guide it to the final leveling stage.

Having composed himself, Xu Xian glanced at the backup instrument panel and suddenly asked control, "Rongcheng, how long until we intercept the course?"

"What's wrong?" Chen Yuan felt a sudden sense of unease. "According to our radar, you should be close to intercepting the course by now, right? Why haven't you turned onto the course yet?"

According to normal operating procedures, pilots need to turn slightly ahead of time to prevent crossing the locale. This ability to anticipate the change should be an essential skill for all pilots.

Xu Xian's plane was about to cross the five-sided line, but there was still no sign of it changing course.

"You're saying we should be almost on the localizer?" Xu Xian stared at the unmoving localizer needle on the backup instrument panel, his face suddenly darkening. "Are you sure Rongcheng Airport has activated its ILS?"

Chen Yuan gasped, "You can't possibly be unable to receive the blind descent signal, can you?"

You're asking me who the female lead is? I don't know either! Which one do you like?

But in the end, she'll definitely only be with one person!

(End of this chapter)