Legendary Captain

Chapter 290 Complex Airport Landing

"National Flyers Union? What's that? A union?" Xu Xian's first thought upon hearing the name was that this so-called National Flyers Union was an organization similar to a union.

However, Xu Xian had never had a very good impression of labor unions. Foreign labor unions were often suspected of coercing workers, while domestic labor unions mostly just distributed things like movie tickets, and he basically forgot that the organization even existed.

"I don't know the specifics either; they didn't discuss it with me," Qin Zongyang shrugged. "But it seems to be about reporting violations by various airlines. In the past, if a pilot wanted to report an airline's violations to the authorities, they had to be prepared for retaliation. Personally, many times it's impossible to fight against airlines. So, many airline violations are covered up. Now, this so-called Flyers' Alliance will act as an intermediary, reporting the received information to the authorities in a relatively confidential way. Because of the intermediary, the confidentiality of the whistleblower is stronger. That's roughly how it works, but the specific details are only known to the initiator; I'm completely in the dark about it."

"Report the airline?" Xu Xian was stunned. "Report what?"

"Isn't the most important thing the issue of rest? The authorities have explicitly prohibited scheduling any other work during rest periods, but how many airlines actually follow that? We're all in the same industry; we all know this, it's a tacit rule. It's just that times have changed now, and some people—no, a group of people—want to break this established rule." Qin Zongyang lowered his voice: "They've also said that if there's obvious nepotism in airlines, they'll be reported. Anyway, if this so-called Airline Alliance is established, airlines won't have an easy time in the future."

Don't underestimate the technical profession of flying; it still involves technical skills, most notably the children of pilots. If your father is an instructor, his son in the same company will have smooth sailing, at least until he becomes a captain. If he's the son of a leader, he'll be even more untouchable; nepotism exists everywhere.

If nepotism isn't too outrageous, it's generally fine, and people tend to turn a blind eye. However, in some cases, it's gone too far, causing many to find it unacceptable. For these individuals with special connections, as long as inspections don't involve government departments and are conducted only within the company, they invariably pass, displaying utter impunity. Many have reached their breaking point.

Using rest time and cracking down on nepotism will become key objectives for this organization in the future.

"Is it just reporting? Will they organize a strike or anything?" Xu Xianlao felt that frequently uniting pilots for a mass strike was extremely irresponsible. How was this any different from foreign labor unions demanding things from capitalists at the expense of ordinary people?

Many passengers would rather their flights go ahead than get a refund; they may have more important things to do. Therefore, pilot strikes aren't just a matter between pilots and airlines; they also affect the needs of the general public. One or two strikes without major disruption might be manageable, but if they become frequent occurrences, won't they face serious consequences?

"Strike? A strike once or twice is fine, but if it becomes a habit, it will cause serious problems, especially in our transportation industry."

Xu Xian nodded: "That seems quite reliable. Focusing on the pilots' reasonable demands is indeed a good idea. It's difficult for individual pilots to compete with airlines. If they are exploited in various ways, they can only endure it. Now that there is a group of pilots as a support, at least it can ensure that the airlines don't go too far."

If the goal is simply to relay the pilots' reasonable requests to the authorities and report any irregularities in the airline's daily operations, then Xu Xian thinks it's a good idea.

"This organization was originally started by the co-pilots, but now it seems some captains want to join. I wonder how it'll turn out," Qin Zongyang sighed. "If those people were encouraging you to get involved, would you want to join?"

"Go in my ass! I quickly changed captain and left. I have absolutely no interest in these kinds of things in the aviation circle." Xu Xiancai wasn't the kind of saint who thought about helping the weak and punishing the strong all day long; he was just a stinky salted fish.

"Before, as long as the money was right, I'd fly however I wanted. Things are different now. Everyone's focused on quality of life; money isn't the primary consideration anymore. Times have really changed." Qin Zongyang waved to Xu Xian, "Let's not talk about this anymore, let's go eat."

About an hour later, Qin Zongyang's crew received the approach instruction. The cabin crew was on the plane, so in reality only Qin Zongyang and Xu Xian approached.

Qin Zongyang and Xu Xian ate and drank to their hearts' content, but as soon as they reached the boarding bridge and the cabin door, they regretted it.

"What's that smell?" Qin Zongyang walked ahead, but when he was about to enter the cabin, he stopped, sniffed the air, and immediately frowned.

For some reason, the entire cabin crew, who should have been inside the cabin, were gathered on the jet bridge; none of them were on the plane, and some even looked slightly pale.

Xu Xian caught up, sniffing, "A sour, rotten smell? Coming from inside the cabin?"

"A sour smell? It seems so." Qin Zongyang glanced at the flight attendants gathered at the cabin door, their expressions slightly dazed, and randomly asked one of them, "Were you the ones up there during Wang Yonghe's segment just now?"

Judging from the current situation, it seems that only the flight crew has been changed, but the cabin crew has not. So these flight attendants in front of us should be from the crew that returned earlier.

Normally, when flight attendants see Qin Zongyang, they would greet him warmly, after all, he is a leader in the flight department. But today, even when Qin Zongyang asked him a question, the flight attendant's response was always a beat slow: "Mr. Qin, yes! We were just on the plane, did you catch us?"

Qin Zongyang glanced at the flight attendant's name tag, recalled the crew information, and hesitated before asking, "Are you the chief flight attendant?"

The flight attendant's face was as white as a sheet of paper, which looked rather frightening. She nodded: "President Qin, are we still flying to Bisu?"

"Yeah, what were we doing here if we weren't flying to Bisu?" Qin Zongyang pointed at a group of dejected flight attendants: "What's wrong with you all? You all look like wilted eggplants. Are you alright?"

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that none of the flight attendants had any energy or spirit; they seemed completely drained. Even the strong and robust security personnel looked out of sorts.

"President Qin, don't you have some kind of turbulence index? Is it even more turbulent than over there? When we went over just now, several people in the cabin were thrown up from the turbulence. Although we didn't throw up, even now that we're on solid ground, we still feel dizzy." The chief flight attendant then revealed the truth.

Qin Zongyang was shocked: "That's so exaggerated? They all threw up? Then what about the smell that came from inside the cabin just now?"

"Isn't it just vomit?" The flight attendant slapped her forehead. "After we landed, the cleaning ladies spent almost half an hour cleaning it up. Even now, you can still faintly smell the odor, and the air freshener can't cover it up."

Xu Xian overheard the flight attendant's complaints from behind, and the thought that he was smelling vomit made his stomach churn.

They had just had a hearty meal not long ago. At this moment, Xu Xian couldn't help but regret it. If he had known things would turn out this way, he would have been better off not eating at all! Even if he had to eat, he should have eaten less. Now he was so full that the food was almost up to his throat. If he moved any more food up, wouldn't he throw up?

Qin Zongyang seemed to have a good tolerance for things, at least he didn't react much, and even put on a look of sudden realization: "No wonder the dispatcher said there was cleaning work to be done, so that's what he meant! Are you guys okay with this? Do you need to replace him?"

The flight crew is all slouching and stooped. Qin Zongyang is worried that they won't be reliable when it comes to actually doing their jobs.

"Mr. Qin, I'd also like to change crew members. I just spoke with cabin control, and they simply can't spare any staff. If we don't fly, no one will fly," the chief flight attendant said helplessly. "We're just a little dizzy from the turbulence, but we'll feel better after a while. Mr. Qin, you still haven't told me about the turbulence index? What's it?"

"How much?" Qin Zongyang looked at Xu Xian.

Xu Xian quickly stepped forward: "Seven, it is a bit erratic, but it shouldn't be that exaggerated."

In electronic flight planning, the turbulence index can go up to nine. A turbulence index of seven will definitely cause turbulence, but it shouldn't be as severe as what we just experienced.

"It's not that bumpy, right? That's good, that's good." The chief flight attendant waved to her crew: "They've all dispersed. Go inside and tidy up, get ready to welcome guests."

Urged on by the chief flight attendant, the flight attendants reluctantly walked into the cabin, most of them like zombies.

Qin Zongyang remembered something and called out to the flight attendant: "By the way, flight attendant! For this flight to Bisso, there will be no more in-flight service after twenty minutes. I won't give you any more turbulence signals either, because after twenty minutes, when we reach Bisso, the plane will definitely start to experience turbulence. Just keep your seatbelts fastened for the rest of the flight, and I'll keep the seatbelt indicator light on the whole time."

"President Qin, don't worry! I've already spoken to my staff. Forget about twenty minutes. After takeoff, unless there's a special reason, just stay seated. We'll skip the in-flight service. Passengers can complain if they want." It seems the entire crew was terrified of the turbulence and simply canceled the in-flight service.

"Alright!" Qin Zongyang smiled. "You guys go ahead with your work, we'll call our guests in a bit."

After the entire flight crew had boarded the plane, Xu Xian leaned close to Qin Zongyang and asked, "Master, it feels like we're in trouble?"

"What do you mean?"

"To be honest, these flight attendants have flown quite a lot. It's one thing if the passengers get seasick, but even the flight attendants are so dizzy from the jolting. It seems like it's really harder to fly than over there," Xu Xian said worriedly. As he spoke, there was still a faint, sour smell of vomit in his nostrils, which made Xu Xian feel a little nauseous.

Qin Zongyang clicked his tongue: "That seems to be the case, but it must be rocking like crazy!"

Because pilots have stricter flight time regulations than cabin crew, flight attendants usually fly more than pilots. Frankly speaking, flight attendants are truly frequent flyers, even more so than pilots. If they can be worn out by all that stress, imagine how bumpy the ride must be!

Normally, Xu Xian wouldn't have cared much, but today was different. He felt a little weak after eating.

"Sigh, I should have known better than to go to the cafeteria," Xu Xian couldn't help but sigh.

Compared to Xu Xian's gloomy mood, Qin Zongyang seemed very optimistic. He even patted Xu Xian on the shoulder and said, "My good disciple, we are both experienced and seasoned. What are we afraid of? Don't panic. With your master here, I guarantee we will succeed."

One hour and twenty minutes later

"Damn it, I miscalculated." In the cockpit, Qin Zongyang gripped the steering wheel with one hand and covered his mouth with the other, his face flushed red. "Did all the demons and monsters come out of Kunmi River today? How could it be this bumpy?"

Kunmi Lake was known in ancient times as the Sea of ​​Demons, filled with endless ghost stories, and legend has it that a peerless demon lurks within. Of course, these are all just tales of gods and ghosts, and in today's materialistic society, they're just something to listen to for amusement.

However, once inside the Bisu area, the turbulence wasn't too bad. But the approach sidings of Bisu Airport's runway 03 were directly over Lake Kunmi River. As soon as an aircraft reached the approach sidings and cut over the airport, it immediately became extremely agitated. The point where the approach sidings cut over the airport acted like a dividing line; before that point, the airspace, while not exactly calm, was at least acceptable. Beyond that point, it was simply unsafe to fly.

After entering the territory of Bisu, Qin Zongyang saw that the airflow was relatively stable, and he was overjoyed. He even mocked Teacher Wang Yonghe for making a fuss.

That's it? That's it?

But as soon as the plane crossed the airspace on three sides, it seemed to enter another airspace, and the shaking made Xu Xian unable to see the instrument panel clearly.

Just a moment ago, Qin Zongyang was smug and triumphant, but he was immediately hit by a torrent of turbulence. While eating in the cafeteria, he had eaten a lot of meat and oily food, and also drank a lot of soup. As a result, the oil and soup were churning in Qin Zongyang's stomach. Several times, Qin Zongyang really felt something was already up to his throat. If it went any further, he would definitely vomit up his lunch.

Startled, Qin Zongyang dared not let himself spray his lunch onto the DU display screen. He even covered his mouth to stop himself from taking that final step.

However, the initial hope that the autonomous driving system could hold on a little longer turned into a complete breakdown after only a few bumps, forcing Qin Zongyang to switch to manual operation.

In such turbulent conditions, Qin Zongyang had to remain fully focused to stabilize the aircraft. However, as soon as he put all his attention into the controls, he had less energy to suppress his urge to vomit. The lunch in his esophagus swayed up and down in his throat, as if it were a veiled vomit, testing the limits of Qin Zongyang's endurance time and time again.

"Star Travel 6411, proceed with the descent procedure and report to the control tower from all sides." At this moment, the Bisu control tower gave the new instructions.

Bisu Airport is not controlled by radar, but by procedures. Normally, from the current location of Star Trek 6411, the control tower would instruct it to descend according to procedure. Because of the RNP APCH approach on runway 03, there is no such thing as a pathway report or ILS report; there is only a five-way reporting requirement to the control tower.

This is a fairly normal instruction. Anyone who has flown more than Su-40 knows that in this location, the control tower will usually instruct the aircraft to descend according to procedure.

Qin Zongyang, who was already on the verge of "ejaculation," felt waves of stomach acid mixed with soup and oil flowing back into his mouth. In his current state, he had no energy left to control the plane.

Suddenly, Qin Zongyang realized that Xu Xian had not yet replied to the tower radio. He turned his head and glanced at him, only to find that Xu Xian had buried his head in a waterproof bag and was vomiting incessantly.

"You're even worse than me!" Qin Zongyang didn't expect that he could hold on for a little while longer, while Xu Xian had indeed vomited and collapsed.

After vomiting, Xu Xian's face was as white as paper, and his eyes were bloodshot. He waved his hand at Qin Zongyang: "Can you still fly?"

Xu Xian felt that if the jolting continued, he would vomit up all his bile. Originally, Xu Xian wouldn't have vomited like this, but he had eaten too much before the flight, and the food was already so full that it was about to burst. With the jolting and the slightest provocation, he really couldn't control himself.

"Can you still hold on? I can control the plane without any problems." To be honest, this is where Qin Zongyang's skill was truly demonstrated. No matter how much the plane bounced around, he was still able to keep it steadily at the intended altitude, with the error within the acceptable range.

Maintaining altitude for an aircraft is not something that can be tolerated with an error of one or two feet; otherwise, the requirement would be too high. Generally speaking, an altitude error of less than one hundred feet is not considered a deviation from altitude. Qin Zongyang's ability to keep the altitude deviation below one hundred feet under such turbulent conditions is truly remarkable.

Perhaps because he had vomited some of it, Xu Xian felt a little better: "Alright, let's keep flying. Help me get back on the radio, I need to wipe my mouth. Oh, and don't descend yet."

Having just vomited, Xu Xian had a lot of vomit around his mouth. He planned to clean it up with a damp towel before continuing his flight. However, the control tower had already contacted them, and a long delay in replying could lead to misunderstandings. Seeing Qin Zongyang's calm demeanor, he suggested that Qin Zongyang reply for him temporarily, and he would resume communication after wiping the vomit from his mouth.

Xu Xian thought continuing to fly was feasible for two reasons. First, after vomiting, he felt a little better, and with only a few minutes left before landing, he seemed able to hold on. Second, with the plane in such turbulent condition, turning again would increase the G-force, and who knew what problems might arise. Most importantly, Qin Zongyang at least appeared to still have control of the aircraft, which was the prerequisite for everything.

Since the pilot was able to maintain control of the aircraft, there was no reason not to continue flying.

"Let me go back?" Qin Zongyang hesitated for a moment, then readily agreed, "No problem!"

"Bisu Tower, Star Travel 6411, descend according to procedure, report to the tower from the five sides." Qin Zongyang first replied to Bisu Tower's previous instructions, and then made his own request: "The current position is very turbulent, I will not descend for the time being, and will circle around the four sides to lower the altitude later."

The turbulence in the Bisu area is mainly due to convective weather over Kunmichuan Lake; the lower the altitude, the stronger the turbulence. The turbulence is currently manageable, but if the aircraft descends further, it might become uncontrollable. Therefore, Qin Zongyang requested to maintain the current altitude for the time being.

However, if the altitude is to be maintained, according to the descent profile, the altitude will become too high later on, making it easy to get stuck. Therefore, after passing the most bumpy area on the three sides, at the four sides, Qin Zongyang requested that the altitude be reduced by circling in place. After reaching the limit altitude, the five sides approach will be entered according to the procedure.

Airports with these procedures cannot descend randomly; they can only descend while circling in place during the approach procedure. If they deviate from the procedure, no one can guarantee that a terrain warning will not be triggered.

"Star Travel 6411, maintain altitude for now, report descent." The control tower knew the nature of the turbulence over their airport and readily agreed to Qin Zongyang's request.

"Thank you." After Qin Zongyang finished his application, he verified that the yaw damper was in the ON position, the engine start switch was in the Flying position, the autothrottle was kept on, and the autopilot was in CWS mode.

The CWS mode of autonomous driving is suitable for severe bumps. If autonomous driving is in CMD mode, it cannot maintain the connection state under the current turbulent conditions.

However, due to the turbulence on the plane, Qin Zongyang had to try several times before he could press the CWS button.

Even after the autopilot was engaged, the plane was still in a state of constant turbulence. Qin Zongyang pressed his temples, feeling that the turbulence was not only going to shake his lunch out, but also that his internal organs would be displaced.

"That bullshit plan the dispatch center came up with! A turbulence index of seven? What a joke!" Qin Zongyang cursed. "My head hurts."

"Luckily, I didn't deploy the flaps." Xu Xian, catching his breath, couldn't help but feel relieved. Actually, according to their position, they should have deployed the flaps earlier, but Qin Zongyang had definitely postponed it. Now it seems that this was an absolutely correct instruction; if they had flown with the flaps deployed, the plane would have already exceeded the speed indicated by the flaps. The plane's speed was currently fluctuating wildly between 290 and 210 knots, making it impossible to stabilize.

The CWS mode of autopilot is not designed to strictly maintain the aircraft's status; it only corrects itself after significant deviations occur. In such turbulent conditions, engaging the CMD mode, which strictly maintains the aircraft's status, would be impossible. The current aircraft status simply cannot be strictly maintained.

For flaps, if the speed exceeds 250 knots, it will exceed the speed limit indicated on the flap, which may damage the flap structure. Moreover, once the speed is exceeded, an investigation will definitely be conducted, which is quite troublesome.

"It's alright. We can hover around the four sides to adjust the altitude. There's no problem with altitude or speed," Qin Zongyang said.

Since the control tower has agreed to allow the aircraft to descend by circling on all four sides, there's no need to consider deceleration or other descent plans. The aircraft can establish a landing configuration while circling on all four sides and then transition into a five-sided approach.

As Qin Zongyang spoke, his lower abdomen suddenly twitched and contracted, his chest expanded, and some ominous sounds came from his throat.

Xu Xian's expression changed drastically. He grabbed a towel and handed it to Qin Zongyang. Qin Zongyang quickly took the towel and covered his mouth.

Actually, a waterproof bag would have been needed at this point, but waterproof paper bags require tearing open the seal, and there simply wasn't time for that, so Xu Xian subconsciously handed over a towel.

But a towel can't hold vomit. If you try to block it with a towel, the vomit will just spill out everywhere, making the situation even worse.

However, just as Xu Xian regretted handing Qin Zongyang the towel, Qin Zongyang made a dry heaving sound. Under Xu Xian's dumbfounded gaze, Qin Zongyang's Adam's apple bobbed, followed by a swallowing sound.

Xu Xian was completely dumbfounded, and stammered, "Master, what's going on?"

The response to Xu Xian was a very loud burp. Qin Zongyang smacked his lips, as if he was still savoring the taste.

Xu Xian almost vomited again, and after catching his breath, he said, "Master, is it delicious?"

"This is called pulling back from the brink." Qin Zongyang let out a long sigh of relief and waved to Xu Xian, "Can you land here later?"

"What's wrong? Was my landing unsuitable?" Xu Xian asked. "Master, what's wrong?"

Qin Zongyang rolled his eyes: "I'm stuffed!"

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(End of this chapter)