Legendary Captain

Chapter 281 No Way to Heaven or Earth

Xu Xian quickly reassured him, "Director Cheng, it's not that bad, it's not that bad. This activity plan is dozens of pages long; it'll be hard to digest if you eat too much of it!"

"You did this on purpose, didn't you?" Cheng Guangyu was very displeased with Xu Xian's opportunistic behavior. He was just saying it casually; how could Xu Xian take it seriously?

Xu Xian laughed heartily: "Director Cheng, don't get angry, it was just a joke, just a joke."

Among the crowd were prominent figures in the civil aviation industry, but they still had to be extremely respectful to Cheng Guangyu, since he was a government official.

Among this group of people, Xu Xian was probably the only one who could chat and laugh with Cheng Guangyu, and even crack jokes with him.

In fact, Xu Xian's decision to have Xu Qing replace him in the performance was already a violation of the rules and would certainly have resulted in punishment. However, even under these circumstances, Cheng Guangyu seemed to have completely forgotten about Xu Xian's transgression and maintained an excellent attitude towards him. This clearly demonstrates the Bureau's true attitude towards Xu Xian.

There were also many airline representatives present, and seeing this scene, they were all extremely envious.

"Star Travel 6333, shut down Engine 2." At this moment, Lu Xinyu's voice came from the speakers.

This is not a radio conversation with the control tower; it's just a routine status report at a critical juncture.

Xu Xian put away his joking thoughts and focused his attention on the five sides. Thirty nautical miles was simply too far; even with today's excellent weather and almost unobstructed visibility, he still couldn't locate the plane.

He glanced at the runway and noticed that the inspection vehicle for checking the runway hadn't even entered the runway yet; they were moving rather slowly.

"Nothing should happen, right?" Xu Xian felt his right eye twitching uncontrollably. The saying goes that a twitching left eye means good fortune, while a twitching right eye means bad luck. His premonition had been proven correct before.

Even though Xu Xian was a staunch materialist, I still felt uneasy.

At this moment, in the cockpit, the Star Travel 6333 aircraft, which had already intercepted the course, was stable in the five-sided direction. They would maintain altitude and intercept the glide path from below.

They approached according to standard procedures and are still some distance from the final approach positioning point. This means that the glide path will take a relatively long time to intercept them. During this waiting period, the aircraft will maintain level flight, which is considered quite stable.

This is the right time to shut down the engine.

Therefore, after Lu Xinyu gave advance notice of the engine shutdown procedure, they began the shutdown procedure for engine number two.

"Auto throttle off!" Xu Qing pressed the auto throttle cut-off button. Before turning off the engine, the auto throttle must be disconnected first. This is the operating procedure in the engine failure checklist.

"Automatic throttle off." Turning off the engine requires careful operation, and Lu Xinyu had to verify every action Xu Qing took, even though he believed Xu Qing wouldn't make a mistake.

"Thrust handle. Engine number two. Stop the light." This action was required to be performed by Lu Xinyu according to regulations.

"You protect the first engine, I'll take the second!" According to the rules, Lu Xinyu, as the PM, had to protect the first engine with one hand, while Xu Qing, as the PF, was responsible for taking the thrust of the second engine.

This is done because when the engine thrust is reduced, the aircraft will begin to yaw, and only the power steering (PF) can increase the control input according to the rate of manual thrust to maintain the stability of the aircraft's direction.

Because the aircraft's yaw torque was too strong, exceeding the autopilot's maintenance limit, it was impossible to use autopilot and could only fly manually. Therefore, in order to change the aircraft's state as slightly as possible, Xu Qing controlled the throttle reduction speed relatively slowly.

It's not that Xu Qing couldn't reduce the throttle to its limit all at once, but rather that while it's possible, it's unnecessary. Moreover, considering the yaw moment already generated by the flap asymmetry, if the throttle were reduced to its limit all at once, the aircraft's control limits might not be able to reach the level required to correct the yaw moment, at which point the aircraft would turn uncontrollably to the right.

If an aircraft cannot maintain directional stability under the single-engine throttle setting on the fifth turn, it will be even more unable to maintain stability during a go-around when the throttle is higher and the yaw torque is stronger.

If this really happens, then there's no need to fly any further. Just prepare to restart the second engine and obediently land with both engines running.

As Xu Qing continued to reduce the thrust of the No. 2 engine, the aircraft began to show a slight tendency to yaw to the right. Fortunately, Xu Qing's control inputs were quick enough that the aircraft only experienced a small deviation, which was still within acceptable limits.

However, when the thrust was almost depleted, Xu Qing had to use a lot of rudder and aileron trim to maintain control of the aircraft.

"Mr. Xu, this looks very dangerous." Lu Xinyu watched as Xu Qing made a lot of rudder and aileron trims, and the yoke was almost pushed all the way down. This meant that the aircraft's controllability was almost at its limit. If the thrust of the number one engine were slightly greater, it was hard to say whether the aircraft would still be controllable after this.

"Hmm," Xu Qing naturally knew that the plane was now close to the critical point. If it were to resume flight, the thrust of the number one engine would definitely be much greater than it is now. He estimated that there was a possibility that the plane would really be out of control.

If the plane becomes uncontrollable during the go-around, even if Xu Qing desperately wants to land, he cannot ignore the obvious safety risks. If the go-around is truly uncontrollable, then he will have no choice but to abandon his plans.

Xu Qingyan sensed that there was still some distance between them and the glide slope, so he said, "I'll try to increase the number one engine to go-around thrust first, and see if the aircraft can be controlled."

"Now?" Lu Xinyu also gripped the steering wheel with one hand. He knew that the plane might be in a very unstable state later, and Xu Qing had an old injury to his right hand. He didn't know when Xu Qing might lose control of his right hand, so he had to be ready at any time to take over the plane if Xu Qing had a problem, so that the plane could be safely brought under control.

Xu Qing had no objection to Lu Xinyu's actions to ensure Xu Qing's safety. While Lu Xinyu's action might have been motivated by concern for Xu Qing's well-being, Xu Qing wasn't pathologically arrogant, and Lu Xinyu's behavior was necessary and reasonable.

"If you feel it's necessary later, just do it. Don't worry about me." To dispel Lu Xinyu's last bit of concern, Xu Qing gave Lu Xinyu a special instruction.

Although Lu Xinyu's hands were on the steering wheel, out of admiration and respect for Xu Qing, he still had a slight hesitation. If he took over, wouldn't that imply that Xu Qing couldn't control the plane? Wouldn't that be questioning Xu Qing's abilities?

Just as Lu Xinyu was having reservations, Xu Qing directly brought things to the table, and everything was laid bare.

Upon hearing Xu Qing's words, Lu Xinyu nodded emphatically: "I understand, Mr. Xu."

After saying that, in order to verify the status during the go-around as much as possible, Xu Qing then proceeded with the engine shutdown procedure: "I'll hold the first engine start handle, you switch the second engine start handle."

The division of labor for switching on the engine start lever is different from that for switching off the thrust lever. The power pre-starter (PF) holds the start lever for the working engine, while the power plant (PM) switches on the start lever for the faulty engine. This is the opposite of the division of labor for switching off the thrust lever. This is a clearly defined part of the standard operating procedure and must not be done incorrectly.

"Okay, verify that the start handle for engine number two has been disconnected." Before disconnecting the start handle for engine number two, Lu Xinyu made a final confirmation.

The starter lever is different from the thrust lever. When the thrust lever is fully released, the engine is only in idle mode. As soon as the thrust lever is engaged, the thrust naturally increases. But the starter lever is different. When the starter lever is engaged, the fuel supply to the engine stops, and the engine completely shuts off, entering a fan-like state.

Once the engine is shut off, restarting it requires going through the starting procedure, not just pressing a button or turning a knob. Furthermore, starting the engine involves more than just completing the starting procedure; it takes time and cannot be done in a very short period.

In comparison, the 700 and 800 models of the 737 have relatively fast engine starts; the MAX model would have a much slower start.

Because cutting off the engine start lever can cause a variety of problems, it is necessary to double-check before cutting the engine start lever. If you cut it incorrectly, it can sometimes have disastrous consequences.

Xu Qing glanced at Lu Xinyu's fingers resting on the starter handle of engine number two and confirmed, "Verify and cut off starter handle for engine number two!"

"Second engine verification cutoff!" After receiving confirmation from Xu Qing, Lu Xinyu immediately switched the engine start handle to OFF, and at that moment, the second engine was completely shut down.

There's a difference between starting the engine at idle and shutting it off completely. Xu Qing made some minor adjustments to the aircraft's status, and once it stabilized, he let out a long sigh: "I'm starting to accelerate."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Qing began to increase the throttle of engine number one.

Under normal circumstances, if it is a single-engine go-around, the running engine is usually fully revved up first to provide sufficient climb rate, and then the throttle is finely adjusted after the aircraft stabilizes.

Xu Qing definitely couldn't just floor the throttle, because he didn't know the limits of the aircraft's handling. If he floored the throttle, the plane would lose control, and what would he do then?

Therefore, Xu Qing needed to gradually increase the throttle and slowly explore the aircraft's control limits.

As the throttle of the No. 1 engine increased, Xu Qing's left rudder was almost pushed to its limit, and the rudder and aileron trim were also nearing their limits. Fortunately, the aircraft was still under control.

Compared to simulators, the yaw moment appears to be smaller in a real aircraft under single-engine conditions. If the same situation were to occur in a simulator, the aircraft would have long since become uncontrollable.

Xu Qing continuously increased the thrust of the No. 1 engine while carefully maintaining the stability of the aircraft. It must be said that Xu Qing's corrections were timely in response to the increase in the thrust of the No. 1 engine, and the aircraft basically did not experience any changes in roll.

In terms of the precision of manipulation alone, Xu Qing's manipulation was nothing like that of someone with an old injury in their right hand.

When the thrust of the No. 1 engine reached approximately 95, the aircraft began to turn uncontrollably to the right. At this point, Xu Qing had exhausted all means of control, indicating that the aircraft's maneuverability was nearing its limit.

Seeing the plane begin to veer to the right, Xu Qing immediately stopped increasing the throttle and slightly reduced it to keep the plane within a controllable range.

"Mr. Xu, this should be the maximum thrust, ninety-five!" Lu Xinyu glanced at the N1 indicator: "Ninety-five thrust should be enough for a go-around, right? The rate of climb might be a bit slow."

Lu Xinyu had never performed a single-engine go-around in an actual flight, but he had tried it many times in simulator training and local training. The single-engine thrust of 95 liters was barely enough to meet the thrust requirements for a single-engine go-around, and Hamchi Airport's low altitude avoided the problem of insufficient aircraft performance at high-altitude or high-altitude airports.

This is because, under the same attitude and climb rate conditions, the thin air at high-altitude airports limits aircraft performance, thus requiring greater thrust than at low-altitude airports.

If the single-engine thrust of 95 liters were used at Yunnan Airport, it would be quite insufficient, and he would probably need to reassess the situation. However, at Xianchi Airport in the plains, it would be more than enough, and there would not be much risk.

"Hmm." Xu Qing had ample flying experience and naturally knew that a single engine thrust of 95 was sufficient in the local airspace of Hamchi Airport, but he still needed to verify one thing.

Next, Xu Qing raised the aircraft's attitude to a normal single-engine go-around attitude, about seven to eight degrees. He wanted to see what the rate of climb would be in a normal single-engine go-around attitude under the condition of 95 thrust per engine.

After Xu Qing positioned the aircraft in a single-engine go-around attitude, the plane, like an old man with his last breath, struggled to climb upwards.

It is evident that even in plains areas, where the aircraft's aerodynamic performance is better than in high-altitude areas, the rate of climb is still extremely impressive under the limited thrust of go-around.

After waiting for a while, Xu Qing roughly knew the rate of ascent under this thrust, which was only about two hundred.

"The rate of climb is a bit low, but as long as we can climb, it's fine. If we really go back to flight, the second engine will be restarted, so there's no need to worry about the subsequent flights," Xu Qing said.

He had already decided in his heart that if he didn't land and had to go around the scramble this time, he would restart the second engine and obediently use both engines to land.

Seeing that it could indeed guarantee a continuous rise in single-shot situations, Lu Xinyu naturally breathed a sigh of relief: "Okay, I'll listen to Mr. Xu."

At this point, the control tower, which had noticed the plane's abnormal ascent, inquired: "Star Travel 6333, is there a problem? I see you've gained a little altitude again."

At this stage, the Star Travel 6333 aircraft should be maintaining level flight until it intercepts the glide path, so why is it still gaining altitude?

Since the aircraft had already experienced flap asymmetry, the control tower was genuinely worried that something new might happen.

The people in the lounge who were observing were unaware that the plane had taken an abnormal ascent. Upon hearing the tower's announcement, many who were concerned about Xu Qing felt their hearts tighten.

"Tower, we just verified the go-around capability. The aircraft has now returned to its original altitude and intercepted the glide path. There are no new malfunctions on the aircraft," Lu Xinyu quickly explained.

Upon hearing this, those observing from the control tower and the lounge breathed a sigh of relief.

"Okay, Star Travel 6333, good luck," the tower operator said.

"Verifying go-around performance? They must be checking the aircraft's roll control limits!" Xu Xian guessed.

Since Xu Qing has already considered the potential risks of resuming flights and has verified them, the situation he was worried about should not happen.

Just then, Xu Xian noticed that the inspection vehicle for checking the runway had entered the runway.

"This is incredibly slow," Xu Xian complained. To be honest, there was a time lag between the plane entering the fifth approach and the patrol vehicle entering the runway, indicating that the airport's operational efficiency was really poor.

However, since Cheng Guangyu confidently assured him that they had made meticulous calculations, Xu Xian wouldn't say anything at this time. He just felt that the airport could have handled things more efficiently, and the current tight schedule was really testing his heart's endurance.

In the cockpit, Xu Qing reduced the throttle of the No. 1 engine to bring the aircraft back to its original altitude, maintaining level flight and intercepting the glide slope. At the same time, he commanded: "Near-ground flap suppression switch, flap suppression. Additional delay items, descent checklist."

Prior to this, the delayed project on asymmetrical flaps had not been completed, and now that there was nothing else to do, it was a good time to finish the rest.

Xu Qing planned to put on the vision-restricting goggles after the plane intercepted the glide path.

And so, the runway inspection vehicle and the Xingyou 6333 aircraft drove towards each other, each carrying out their own work.

Additional delay items include the descent checklist, approach checklist, and final landing checklist, which also includes ground flap suppression and electronic flap suppression, which coincides with the need for a single-engine landing.

"Glide path intercepted!" As the aircraft intercepted the glide path, Lu Xinyu helped adjust the go-around altitude, and then Xu Qing put on his goggles. These goggles did not completely block his vision, but allowed him to see the runway lights very roughly, so Xu Qing could maintain the stability of the aircraft's localizer without even referring to the instrument landing system (ILS) signals.

Of course, the difficulty of Xu Xian's previous operation was never in direction, but in pitch. The challenge of this operation lies in the precise control of altitude.

Although the goggles can roughly distinguish the track lights, they cannot clearly see the track surface, so the final leveling maneuver relies solely on one's own sense of touch.

Furthermore, to prevent the operator from flattening the guide, both guides will be turned off after the glide slope is intercepted.

The surveillance camera footage was extremely blurry for a while, so it was impossible to see whether the guidance was turned off or not. However, whether the guidance was turned off or not can be reflected in the flight data log, and this cannot be faked.

In any case, the authorities have gone to great lengths to eliminate any possibility of the manipulators relying on external forces.

"Get started as soon as you're ready, don't hesitate at all. There's very little room for hesitation in this operation; even a slight delay could cause serious safety issues, so you must be quick to get started," Xu Qing instructed.

All of these operations were completed within 50 feet of touchdown. At this altitude, there is very little room for the pilot to hesitate. If it is clear that Xu Qing does not have a suitable leveling maneuver, the pilot must take action or go around the target area immediately, without any hesitation.

Xu Qing could tell that Lu Xinyu was under some pressure from flying with him, so he had to give her a heads-up first.

"Mr. Xu, I know what's important," Lu Xinyu assured him. He was on a plane himself and wouldn't dare risk his life.

"Okay, then you'd better keep a close eye on things."

Below the airport, the patrol vehicle slowly drove along the runway, ensuring there was no debris in its path. It could be said that although there were a large number of people on both sides, the airport's safety measures, or rather the behavior of the onlookers, were quite good; after walking nearly two-thirds of the runway, he did not see any debris.

It was after this remark that the driver of the patrol car suddenly noticed a beverage bottle not far ahead.

"Are there really people this rude?" The driver glanced at the people on both sides and reported, "Tower, there's a drink about ten meters in front of me. Stop and remove it immediately."

"Okay, clear the area and continue working. Exit runway report," the tower replied.

"Holy crap, there are even beverage bottles?" Xu Xian was taken aback. He noticed that many people in the lounge were simultaneously looking at a leader from the airport group.

The leaders of the Hamchi Airport Management Group were so embarrassed that they wished they could disappear into a crack in the ground.

"I hope nothing serious happens!" Although picking up a beverage bottle won't cause any major problems, isn't this a bad omen?

Xu Xian was quite worried

At this moment, the second patrol vehicle, which was coming from another direction, had already joined them and had completed the inspection of the remaining runway.

To save time, the runway inspection started simultaneously from both sides. Now that the two inspection vehicles have met, it means that once the discovered beverage bottles are removed, the runway inspection will be complete.

"Tower, patrol vehicle number two has completed its inspection and has now evacuated the runway."

"After patrol vehicle number two departs, it will return along taxiway F. Be careful to avoid crowds." There were quite a few onlookers around, and the control tower gave a special reminder.

"Received. Be careful to avoid crowds." Patrol vehicle number two was the first to leave the runway.

After quickly retrieving the beverage bottle, the driver of patrol vehicle No. 1 was about to leave when he suddenly stepped on the gas, causing the vehicle to lurch forward and then stall.

The driver was stunned. He quickly tried to restart the engine, but after several attempts, he still couldn't get it to work. When he looked up again, he could already see the shadow of an airplane in the sky not far away.

"Please disembark as soon as you finish your work, please disembark as soon as possible, the plane is about to land." The control tower immediately became anxious when it saw the patrol vehicle that was not moving at all on the runway and urged it to leave.

The sound was also heard by the people in the lounge, who gathered by the floor-to-ceiling windows to observe the track and the five sides.

"What's going on with that vehicle?" Xu Xian turned around and could clearly see the plane approaching. But just as the plane was about to land, the patrol vehicle was still on the runway.

"Why did it arrive so quickly?" Cheng Guangyu was extremely anxious. The estimated time for the plane to land seemed to have been brought forward considerably, which was different from what he had calculated.

Just then, the two aviation enthusiasts outside the airport got excited when they saw the plane was about to land. The one called Brother Wang quickly moved his drone over the runway.

Perhaps, just as he expected, everyone's attention was on the patrol car, and no one noticed his little actions.

It's the last day! Everyone, please vote with your monthly tickets!

(End of this chapter)