Legendary Captain

Chapter 283 Single-Wheel Grounding (Seeking Monthly Tickets!)

Upon hearing the tower's clear order to go around, Xu Qing knew that this approach was doomed. Even though he desperately wanted to land on the first try to make his performance seem perfect, flight safety was the top priority, not something he could control.

"What's the big deal?" Lu Xinyu couldn't help but complain.

Despite the dual malfunctions of a single engine and asymmetrical flaps, they continued their approach, only to have it all fail because a patrol vehicle broke down on the runway. It was truly laughable.

"Alright, let's go around!" Even though he was extremely unwilling, Xu Qing still absolutely obeyed the control tower's instructions. However, before going around, he needed to do one thing: remove the goggles he was wearing.

The blindfold was worn to facilitate the low-altitude leveling maneuver. If there was no need to continue, then someone with a screw loose would be wearing that stupid blindfold.

With a single engine and asymmetrical flaps, the aircraft's status is extremely difficult to control during a go-around maneuver. If Xu Qing is still wearing his blindfold, he can barely see the instrument displays, which would truly be blind flying.

Even if Xu Qingzhen were to fly blindly based entirely on her senses to perform a go-around maneuver, she could still manage to do so, but the safety guarantee would be slightly less reliable.

Of course, you should be tough when you need to be, but if you don't need to be tough and risk your own safety, that's truly the behavior of a fool.

After deciding to follow the instructions for the resumption of flights, Xu Qing first had to remove his goggles to perform the resumption of flights in a less burdensome state.

Just as Xu Qing removed his blindfold and regained his vision, his attention was not constantly drawn to the patrol vehicle like Lu Xinyu's. Therefore, he was able to scan a wider area instead of being confined to just one vehicle.

At this point, the plane was very close to the runway. As soon as visibility returned, they were able to quickly locate the patrol vehicle still parked on the runway, the driver who had begun to evacuate, and the security personnel who had helped push the vehicle.

However, Xu Qing's gaze was never fixed, a quality possessed by an excellent pilot.

He didn't stay in the patrol vehicle for long, but his left hand was already ready to accelerate. After all, the reaction to the go-around order had to be quick, otherwise there would be problems.

Once the control tower issues a go-around instruction to the crew, the crew must react as quickly as possible; otherwise, if the delay is too long, they will be held accountable.

Xu Qing had already taken a little time to remove the blindfold, and if they waited any longer, it would take quite a while.

Just as Xu Qing was about to accelerate the No. 1 engine, he suddenly noticed something was wrong with the air above the runway.

"That's a drone?" Xu Qing's heart skipped a beat, and he exclaimed in surprise, "It really is a drone!"

"Damn it!" Guided by Xu Qing, Lu Xinyu finally noticed the anomaly above the runway and unconsciously swore.

Xu Qing only needed to compare the drone's flight altitude briefly to know that the re-flight was not going to be possible.

Because the thrust of the number one engine must be limited, otherwise the aircraft's yaw moment would be uncontrollable. As a result, the aircraft's rate of climb during the go-around would be extremely low.

Visually, the airspace above the runway is now filled with drones, blocking the aircraft's go-around trajectory. If they were to actually attempt a go-around, they would definitely collide with this large swarm of drones first.

Xu Qing glanced around again, made a quick decision, and took the communicator: "Star Travel 6333, I cannot resume flight!"

Lu Xinyu was surprised that Xu Qing had directly informed the control tower that he could not go around the plane, and asked in astonishment, "Shall we turn right and climb now? Is that alright?"

Lu Xinyu's point was that if they maintained their current trajectory and attempted a go-around, they would inevitably collide with the swarm of drones directly above the runway. Wouldn't turning right and going around directly avoid the swarm of drones?

"No!" Xu Qing simply replied with those two words. He pursed his lips, his mind racing, searching for a solution.

Xu Qing had only quickly glanced at the situation in front of the plane before considering various possible solutions, all of which were ultimately rejected. Xu Qing's conclusion that a return to flight was impossible must have been made after careful consideration. Even from Lu Xinyu's perspective, Xu Qing's conclusion seemed too hasty, almost like an impulsive act.

"No? Why not?" At this crucial moment, Lu Xinyu didn't care about being respectful with his words. Instead, he seriously expressed his opinion. He felt that Xu Qing's conclusion was a bit hasty. Why is turning right now not allowed?

wrong!

Suddenly, Lu Xinyu noticed that the plane was already two nautical miles from the runway. He immediately remembered what the control tower had told him: if the plane was within two nautical miles of the runway, it could not turn right and had to maintain its flight path until it had passed over the runway before it could turn right and ascend.

Before the event was held, someone must have calculated that if the plane turned right within two nautical miles of the runway, the turning trajectory would likely still collide with the drones flying over the sides of the runway.

However, the aircraft is now two nautical miles from the runway, but that's not the most crucial point. The aircraft is now traveling at a speed greater than the speed required for a single-engine approach, and this greater speed means a larger turning radius.

If, under single-engine conditions, a right turn and go-around within two nautical miles would likely result in a collision with drones flying over the sides of the runway, then at their current speeds, a right turn and go-around at the same location would result in an even larger turning trajectory, making a collision with drones flying over the sides of the runway even more likely.

In Lu Xinyu's view, there were still quite a few drones in the air above both sides of the runway, making it impossible to turn right.

Lu Xinyu took a deep breath. Sure enough, he was still too young. Xu Qing only glanced at him and found the problem, while he actually needed to react. Their levels were indeed different.

Xu Qing touched the speed knob with his left hand, then gritted his teeth and let go.

Lu Xinyu knew that Xu Qing was trying to reduce speed to decrease the turning radius, and that Xu Qing was still attempting a right turn and go-around maneuver. But now it seemed that it was all too late.

If only the control tower had let them resume flights sooner.

At that moment, everyone in the lounge was stunned when they heard Xu Qing say that the flight could not be resumed.

"What do you mean by 'cannot go around'? Didn't you just say it was okay to go around?" someone asked, puzzled. There was still a car blocking the runway; if it didn't go around, how could it possibly land?

Xu Xian pursed his lips, his gaze fixed on the numerous black dots in the airspace above the runway, and said grimly, "It's indeed impossible to go around!"

"Why are there so many drones over the runway?" The media representative who had just received a call from his subordinate had now noticed a significant number of drones gathering in the airspace above the runway. Pointing to the airspace above the runway, he questioned the Hamchi Airport Group representative, "Has the airport lifted the airspace restrictions over the runway?"

The representative from Hamchi Airport Group also noticed the situation and was immediately stunned. He quickly responded, "Impossible, absolutely impossible! Our airport would never lift the airspace restrictions over the runway. Anyway... I definitely didn't issue that lifting order!"

Initially, the representative from Hamchi Airport Group was very confident, but seeing the established fact that a large number of drones had already gathered in the air above the runway, he began to suspect that the group might have some new arrangements that they hadn't informed him of. So, in the end, he dared not make any guarantees and could only clear himself of any wrongdoing.

Cheng Guangyu's eyes turned red. He never expected that, despite all his careful planning, not only would the patrol vehicle malfunction, but his subordinates would also start disregarding the rules. Before this, the airport had repeatedly warned that drones were absolutely not allowed to fly over the runway, but now a large number of drones were gathered over the runway, completely ignoring the ban.

Almost all the drones in the venue were used by the media for filming, so the ones breaking the rules now are the media reporters below. Thinking of this, Cheng Guangyu suddenly turned his head and looked directly at the group of media representatives.

Seeing Cheng Guangyu's almost murderous gaze, the media representatives all shuddered. Only then did they realize what was happening and quickly called their subordinates, instructing them to recall the drones if anyone misbehaved.

"Too late!" Xu Xian narrowed his eyes, only now realizing that it was all too late. Actually, he felt a little regretful. It seemed that he had noticed something was wrong when the drone flew over the runway. However, at that time, it seemed to be just one drone, and it was far away, so it was not very clear. He did not pay much attention to it afterward, and his attention was still focused on the patrol vehicle. He did not notice the changes in the airspace above the runway.

"Too late." Upon hearing this, Cheng Guangyu's heart clenched. He immediately pulled out his walkie-talkie: "Tower, there's a drone over the runway! There's a drone over the runway! We can't maintain the go-around trajectory. You need to re-direct the go-around trajectory!"

Cheng Guangyu was worried that the control tower might not know the situation over the runway, so he contacted the tower directly via walkie-talkie, hoping that they could provide a new go-around plan.

Of everyone present, besides the flight crew, the tower controllers are the most knowledgeable about the situation.

Unfortunately, that patrol vehicle parked on the runway was simply too eye-catching, and the control tower might not have noticed the drone over the runway. Otherwise, they wouldn't have waited until now to allow StarJourney 6333 to resume flights.

Frankly speaking, if the control tower had noticed the changes in the airspace above the runway and had allowed Star Cruises 6333 to go back to flight sooner, this embarrassing situation wouldn't have happened.

In the control tower, Cheng Guangyu's voice echoed continuously from the walkie-talkie, assaulting the nerves of the tower controllers time and time again.

The moment Xu Qing said that the flight could not be resumed, his attention was immediately focused, and he quickly noticed the large number of drones gathered in the airspace above the runway.

The air traffic controllers finally realized where the problem was!

Cheng Guangyu asked him to come up with a new plan for resuming flights, but at this moment, under these circumstances, how could he possibly come up with a new plan for resuming flights?

The aircraft's go-around trajectory is already heavily restricted by the drone, leaving very little room for maneuver. In this critical situation, how did he come up with a new go-around plan?

In truth, the air traffic controller felt that even with more time, he still wouldn't be able to come up with a reasonable solution. You can't cook without ingredients; the space for a go-around was already severely limited—it was a complete dead end!

Thinking about this, the tower controller couldn't help but feel extremely regretful. If only he had let the plane go around earlier, then none of this would have happened.

Just as the air traffic controllers were at their wits' end, Xu Qing's voice came through the radio again: "Star Travel 6333, continue landing!"

"Continue to land!? How can we continue to land? Will we crash upon landing?" Lu Xinyu couldn't understand what Xu Qing meant at all. There was clearly a patrol vehicle parked on the runway. If they touched down again, wouldn't the plane crash and everyone on board die?

"Is a low-altitude flyby possible?" Lu Xinyu couldn't accept Xu Qing's idea of ​​continuing to land, so he opted to use a low-altitude flyby to avoid patrol vehicles and drones.

A low-altitude flyby simply means that the aircraft doesn't touch the ground and flies close to the runway. Lu Xinyu's idea was to have the aircraft fly close to the runway and pass through the area between the patrol vehicle and the drone.

It must be said that this was a rather bold plan, and at first glance, it did seem feasible. However, Lu Xinyu forgot that even during low-altitude flybys, a high thrust level must be maintained; otherwise, the aircraft would not be able to sustain continuous low-altitude level flight.

Under high thrust, the aircraft's current single-engine and asymmetrical flap configuration makes it extremely unstable. The area between the drone and the patrol vehicle is extremely small. Under normal circumstances, Xu Qing could manage to pass through the middle with some assurance. However, under high thrust, single-engine, and asymmetrical flap instability, no one can guarantee maintaining sufficient accuracy, not even Xu Qing.

Meanwhile, although there appears to be a barely passable area between the patrol vehicle and the drones, a closer look reveals that if one or two individual drones were to appear within that area, they would be very difficult to distinguish from the current visual distance of the crew. In other words, from Lu Xinyu's current position, he cannot be 100% certain that the area between the drone swarm and the patrol vehicle is completely clear.

Moreover, the drones' positions are not fixed. Since they've already broken the rules and flown over the runway, who can guarantee they'll stay in the same spot? What if the crew's intention to make a low-altitude flyby isn't understood, and one or two unruly drones happen to descend into what appears to be an empty area? At that point, the crew will truly be helpless.

"Low-altitude flyby won't work!" Xu Qing directly rejected Lu Xinyu's suggestion. He had also quickly considered low-altitude flybys before. However, this approach was already a bit beyond the pilot's control limits, and it also required the drones to be sufficiently docile. Neither of these prerequisites was entirely within Xu Qing's control, and he couldn't accept the feeling of not being able to put his fate in his own hands.

He wants to do it his way, the way he can control!

"Damn it, damn it!" Lu Xinyu roared in his heart.

The event plan clearly stated that the airport would prohibit drones from flying over the runway, but in practice, the ban was treated like a piece of waste paper, and the flight crew ended up paying the price.

At this moment, Lu Xinyu really didn't know what to do!

As far as the eye could see, Lu Xinyu could clearly see the lights and signs on the runway. He estimated that in another thirty or forty seconds, they would land and crash into the patrol vehicle on the runway.

"Follow my instructions, do not lower the landing gear handles. Lower the landing gear manually, only the left main landing gear!" Xu Qing suddenly commanded. "Then, restart engine number two."

"Restart engine number two? There's not enough time!" Lu Xinyu said dejectedly, "It's too late to start it now."

Given Lu Xinyu's knowledge, he knew that half a minute was not enough time to start an engine, so Xu Qing's order to restart the second engine was meaningless.

Lu Xinyu sighed inwardly, even Xu Qing would issue such an erroneous command at this critical juncture.

However, it can only be said that Lu Xinyu is on the first level, while Xu Qing is on the fifth level!

"I know that starting the second engine isn't for landing, but for the go-around later!" Xu Qing knew his order was strange, but he had no other choice.

Lu Xinyu still couldn't understand Xu Qing's words, but he stopped dwelling on it. Instead, he thought of another sentence Xu Qing had said earlier: "Only the left main landing gear, you mean...?"

At that moment, Xu Qing seemed to rediscover a feeling he once had: "Of course I'll use a single wheel for grounding!"

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(End of this chapter)