Legendary Captain

Chapter 313 Overruns the runway! The fuselage breaks apart!

Star Travel 6311 Qiancheng Airport Wubian.

In the cockpit, Xu Xian had received the landing order from the Qiancheng control tower long ago. Today the wind was calm and the visibility was excellent, with almost no obstructions in sight. After turning to the fifth line, they quickly came into view of the runway.

It's truly a wonderful day for the baby to be born.

"Instructor, you can hold me up! I'm still not used to operating with my left hand. If I land too hard, you'll be punished too!" Before landing, Xu Xian wiped his palms with a wet towel to remove the sweat from his hands, preparing for the landing.

However, Xu Xian seemed quite relaxed, and before landing, he even had the mind to joke with Ning Sheng in the right seat.

Today was originally supposed to be Qin Zongyang's turn to fly with Xu Xian, but Qin Zongyang had an urgent matter to attend to, so he grabbed Ning Sheng to take his place. Although Ning Sheng's skill level was a bit lower than Qin Zongyang's, he was still an instructor and could fly with Xu Xian in the left seat, so there was no problem.

If it were anyone else, Ning Sheng might not have been willing. Because he wasn't a backup today and had no obligation to cooperate with the dispatcher. However, since the dispatcher was supposed to be taking Xu Xian along, Ning Sheng agreed without hesitation.

"Aren't you used to operating with your left hand? Is it obviously awkward?" Ning Sheng laughed. "Looks like you're not omnipotent after all!"

When flying in the right-hand seat, the left hand controls the throttle and the right hand grips the steering wheel. When flying in the left-hand seat, everything is reversed. Many people find this very difficult to adjust to at first, and only a few can adapt quickly.

One important purpose of accumulating left-hand seat time is to reduce the discomfort of pilots using both hands to control the aircraft.

Although Xu Xian was incredibly skilled at flying on the right side, he felt extremely uncomfortable when switching to the left, unable to fully control the controls. He especially felt weak and unable to use his left hand properly when operating the steering wheel.

Xu Xian has no physical problems, so how could he be unable to exert force? The only explanation is that due to the twisting sensation during manipulation, Xu Xian's muscles have involuntarily stiffened. When the body stiffens, it is easy to feel unable to exert force.

This awkwardness in handling was especially noticeable when Xu Xianfei was in the left seat, and he was even ridiculed by Qin Zongyang many times because of it. Clearly, Xu Xianfei was not the kind of person who could switch between his left and right hands very smoothly.

Fortunately, this situation was only temporary. After flying a few more times, Xu Xian's condition improved significantly, and he no longer made any basic operational errors.

Of course, Xu Xian was quite cautious. To eliminate any possible risks, he specifically instructed Ning Sheng to explain that he still had some problems with his left-hand manipulation. This was to prevent Ning Sheng from assuming that Xu Xian was definitely fine based on his preconceived notions and thus not helping to keep an eye on things. If a problem arose under such circumstances, Ning Sheng would be too late to intervene.

If it were someone else in Xu Xian's position, they might not have wanted Ning Sheng to keep an eye on them. Wouldn't acting this way indicate a lack of confidence in their own control?

However, Xu Xian didn't care about that at all; he would never do anything foolish like stubbornly clinging to pride. Especially in aviation, being obsessed with saving face could lead to serious problems, even endangering one's life.

It's obvious that Xu Xian is someone who values ​​his life!

"God is truly omnipotent!" Xu Xian didn't see anything wrong with having Ning Sheng keep an eye on things, his expression remaining extremely relaxed: "Shall I disconnect now?"

"Let's break it!" Ning Sheng sat up slightly and began to put his right hand on the steering wheel: "Once you become an instructor, won't you still have to fly in the right seat from time to time? So, don't worry about whether you're used to your left or right hand."

After being promoted to instructor, I would occasionally train left-seat pilots, at which point they would have to fly on the right. Could it be that they wouldn't be used to flying on the right? That definitely wouldn't work.

Therefore, if you want to become an instructor, whether you sit in the left or right seat, you should be able to operate the aircraft proficiently; there is no difference whatsoever.

"I haven't been hired as a captain yet, let alone an instructor," Xu Xian chuckled, seemingly unconcerned about Ning Sheng's mention of being an instructor.

Besides, once he's actually hired as a captain, he'll soon need to consider undergoing his final Air Force pilot recruitment physical examination. If he fails this examination, Xu Xian will give up on the idea of ​​flying altogether.

However, Xu Xian would definitely not tell Ning Sheng these things. Although he and Ning Sheng had a good relationship, they were certainly not at the point where they could talk about anything.

Ning Sheng took Xu Xian's words as a joke: "Your future path will be smooth sailing. Being a captain is just your starting point. Becoming a senior captain, type instructor, airfield instructor, and appointed representative will all follow naturally. You're not really content with just being a solo captain, are you?"

"This..." Xu Xian didn't know how to answer for a moment. His true thought was that he would stop at becoming a solo pilot. As for future senior captains, type instructors, and other levels, he had no interest in them for the time being.

"Forget it, that's a matter for the future. Let's focus on making this a success." Xu Xian changed the subject, carefully maneuvering the plane to keep it steady on the glide path.

However, the airflow at Qiancheng Airport was so stable that a slight adjustment to the balance was enough to keep the aircraft stable, and there was hardly any need to make any steering wheel maneuvers.

Initially, after disengaging the autopilot, Xu Xian made a slight adjustment to the steering wheel, but then barely touched it. In such incredibly comfortable weather, Xu Xian even wondered if the difficulty level was too low and wouldn't achieve the desired practice effect.

As the plane slowly descended, the airflow remained stable at different altitudes. Xu Xian had rarely seen such a calm airflow environment, and couldn't help but sigh, "If only the fifth side of Yunnan Airport could be half as comfortable as this."

"I wonder what will happen after we switch to Kunyang Airport? Yunnan is really hard to fly over," Ning Sheng said with a smile.

During the windy season, operating Yunnan Airport is like waging war, even though there isn't any complicated terrain around the airport. It's really hard to understand why this is the case.

Since the investment from Wens Foodstuff Group, the construction progress of Kunyang Airport has gradually returned to normal, and it should be operational within the next two years. Many pilots still have certain expectations for Kunyang Airport, after all, the location of Dianyungang Airport is not very good.

Either there's rampant fog or strong winds and turbulent currents; the only slightly comfortable time of year is springtime, otherwise there's never a peaceful period.

Pilots aren't masochistic; they don't enjoy flying in such a deadly environment. They definitely prefer a slightly more comfortable place. Now, the only hope lies in the future Kunyang Airport.

The maneuvering on the five sides was quite pleasant, and Xu Xian even had the leisure to observe the terrain and environment around the airport.

The surrounding environment of Qiancheng Airport is somewhat different from that of most airports. Many airports are located in relatively remote areas, with virtually no people around them. However, Qiancheng Airport is different. Although its vicinity is not bustling, it is at least not deserted, with a few scattered buildings.

When the plane reached low altitude, Xu Xian saw a child waving in his direction near the barbed wire fence not far from the runway.

Near airports, especially smaller ones, you often see people watching planes take off and land outside the barbed wire fence. To be honest, for people like Xu Xian, airplanes and cars are basically the same, and he doesn't understand what's so interesting about watching planes take off and land.

However, seeing the children below looking excited, Xu Xian couldn't help but smile.

After passing over the children's heads, the plane was very close to the runway. Despite the low altitude, the airflow remained extremely stable, and Ning Sheng on the right subconsciously relaxed a little: "Looks like even God is making things easier for you."

Such a favorable airflow environment is something Ning Sheng has rarely seen in all his years of flying.

"Such weather is indeed rare," Xu Xian replied casually, but his hands remained focused.

Just then, an electronic radio message came through the cockpit at a height of fifty feet. Xu Xian tensed slightly, already ready to level off.

Suddenly, Xu Xian felt the approach rate to the runway increase dramatically, as if an invisible hand was pressing down on the plane, and the originally steady and standard descent rate accelerated instantly.

"The descent is too fast!" Ning Sheng, sitting in the right seat, thought it was a problem with Xu Xian's control and specifically reminded him to reduce the descent. At the current rate of descent, the plane was definitely experiencing a heavy landing.

"It wasn't me!" If Xu Xianfei couldn't even control a sudden drop by now, then all his previous flights would have been for nothing. The sudden acceleration and drop of the plane was not caused by Xu Xianfei's piloting error.

However, regardless of whether it was due to Xu Xian or some other unknown reason, if the sinking was too fast, then it needs to be corrected, right?

So Xu Xian started accelerating, all the way up to 65 km/h. For a low-altitude, flat airport like this, 65 km/h before touchdown was already quite high.

Generally, once you apply the throttle and slightly pull the stick to stop the excessive descent, you can start gradually reducing the throttle. If you don't reduce the throttle, the aircraft will easily drift due to the high throttle applied. The initial increase in throttle is only to compensate for a sudden, unexplained, excessive descent.

Xu Xian also believed that the sudden acceleration of the sinking was just a temporary phenomenon. As long as the throttle was increased to hold it up for a while and the abnormal sinking was eliminated, the subsequent grounding operation could be carried out according to the normal procedure.

Like Xu Xian, Ning Sheng didn't say anything after he noticed Xu Xian had stepped on the gas.

But everything seemed to be completely different from what the two of them had imagined!

Even after Xu Xian increased the throttle, the plane's descent showed no signs of slowing down, a fact that could be observed both from the radio altimeter's reporting rate and the visual runway approach rate.

"What's going on? Sixty-five throttle isn't enough?" Xu Xian was slightly surprised. At Qiancheng Airport, a flat airport with an elevation of only thirty meters, sixty-five throttle couldn't stop the plane from sinking? At other flat airports, with sixty-five throttle, a slight pull on the stick would stop the plane from sinking and put it into a level state.

Something seems a little strange!

However bizarre the situation was, and no matter how much Xu Xian couldn't understand it, it couldn't hide the fact that the plane was still descending too quickly. So, Xu Xian had no choice but to accelerate again.

But to his horror, he discovered that as he increased the throttle, the plane's descent did not decrease at all; on the contrary, it accelerated.

Twenty feet!

At that moment, Xu Xian glanced at the accelerator; it was already at over 70 mph. Even in the thin air of a high-altitude airport at over 10,000 feet, you wouldn't need to go over 70 mph!

However, such a huge throttle was not enough to lift the plane at the low-altitude plain airport!

"This won't do!" Ning Sheng, relying on his intuition, felt that this landing was strange and incomprehensible. If the plane continued to sink like this, who knew what kind of damage it would suffer?

He also couldn't understand why the plane was sinking so fast even though the throttle was already at over 70 mph, and Xu Xian's control of the plane's attitude was fine!

However, now is not the time to ponder why. The aircraft's current descent is far beyond normal standards, and even at high throttle, the descent rate cannot be corrected. Therefore, there is only one option left.

"Resume flights!" Like Ning Sheng, Xu Xian also felt that continuing would be disastrous. He was starting to question the aircraft's current state. The safest and most reliable solution was to resume flights!

Even though the radio altitude is only twenty feet, the 737 is capable of zero-altitude go-arounds. However, performing a go-around at twenty feet might result in the landing gear briefly touching down, since there is an uncontrollable drop of about fifty feet when transitioning from descent to ascent.

Since the two were of the same mind, there was no more hesitation. Xu Xian continued to increase the throttle and prepared to press the TO/GA switch. However, at the very moment Xu Xian made the go-around maneuver, although there was still twenty feet of altitude left, after the announcement that it had directly exceeded ten feet, the next altitude was suddenly only five feet.

The plane's descent accelerated again at this moment, so fast that the radio altimeter could not even detect a height of ten feet and instead reported a height of five feet.

It was after Xu Xian heard the report from a height of five feet that his heart tightened slightly, and he had a sudden feeling that something was wrong.

With the throttle at maximum, the plane seemed to be under a spell, crashing into the runway at an incredible rate of descent.

Unlike a typical go-around at zero altitude, the aircraft did not climb back up immediately after the main landing gear touched down. Instead, due to the massive impact of the descent, the left landing gear, which touched down first, broke off instantly, and the aircraft became uncontrollable.

Xu Xian had already pushed the throttle to its maximum, but after the landing gear broke, the entire aircraft lurched off the runway. Due to inertia, Xu Xian's right hand was pulled, and the throttle, which had been at maximum, was suddenly reduced to idle.

After the plane overran the runway, its nose landing gear sank into the soft soil. Under the impact, it held up for a short time before breaking off.

Due to the broken front landing gear, the nose began to sink into the mud. As the mud obstructed the nose, its speed dropped rapidly, while the rear of the fuselage maintained a high speed. As a result, the rear half of the fuselage continued to swing rapidly around the nose.

Under the powerful rotational torque, the middle section of the fuselage began to deform rapidly. In a short while, after undergoing extremely obvious deformation, the middle section of the aircraft fuselage broke off on the spot with a series of cracking and twisting metallic sounds.

The enormous aircraft, less than forty meters long, broke in half. The front part, with its nose stuck deep in the soil, did not fly far, but the rear part, due to inertia, was thrown out and rolled several times before finally coming to a stop after crashing into another passenger plane on the tarmac.

One moment it was a 737 about to land, the next it was "dismembered"!

(End of this chapter)