Legendary Captain

Chapter 335 An Unprecedented Engine Detachment Incident (Part 1)

Although Xingyou Airlines operates overnight flights at Binjiang Airport, it doesn't have a base there. So, when returning to Dianyun the next day, all you need to do is check in at the hotel using a handheld breathalyzer and sign the logbook. As for pre-flight coordination, since there's no preparation room, most of it is done in the car or even on the plane.

The hotel where Star Travel Airlines stayed overnight wasn't far from the airport, about a 20-minute drive. Once the entire crew was on the bus, Captain Tang Jian told the chief flight attendant, "The coordination details remain the same as yesterday. You can go over the security plan on the plane."

Most crew members won't explain things clearly on the plane, because some of this information needs to be kept confidential, and the driver isn't part of the crew, so who knows if he'll say something inappropriate after hearing it.

Therefore, Tang Jian was quite attentive to this aspect and directly stated that the coordination content was the same as when he came yesterday. This crew was the same one that came from Yunnan yesterday, with no one changed, making coordination very convenient.

"Okay, Captain." The flight attendant was unaware of what had happened with Xu Xian the night before, so she seemed rather cheerful.

In contrast to the relaxed atmosphere of the flight crew, the flight crew sitting in the front row, including Tang Jian and Lian Shanxue, seemed extremely oppressed. As time went on, the flight crew behind them seemed to sense that something was a little off, so they suppressed their somewhat unrestrained laughter and began to whisper among themselves.

Not only did the flight crew sense something was off, but Tang Jian, the captain, also felt extremely uncomfortable. Last night, after they waited for Lian Shanxue for a while, she sent him a message saying they should go eat by themselves and that she was going home.

As a result, with Lian Shanxue not showing up, Yue Xinzhao's enthusiasm waned considerably, and he ended up finding another place to eat before heading back. While waiting in the car today, Tang Jian was worried that Lian Shanxue might skip her flight. Fortunately, Lian Shanxue was considerate and arrived on time.

However, from the moment Lian Shanxue got into the car, she didn't say a word. Since Lian Shanxue didn't speak, Tang Jian was too embarrassed to strike up a conversation with her, so it's no wonder the atmosphere in the cockpit was so oppressive.

Fortunately, the journey was short, about twenty minutes, and the time passed quickly. Once we arrived at the departure level of the terminal, the crew got off the bus and entered through the staff entrance.

To use this staff channel, you need a mission sheet and a boarding pass. When they came yesterday, the company had already prepared the mission sheets for them in advance, which were carried by the co-pilot, Lian Shanxue.

After Lian Shanxue handed the mission sheet to the security personnel, Tang Jian passed through smoothly after verifying his documents. When it was Lian Shanxue's turn, the security officer was clearly taken aback when she saw Lian Shanxue's name on her boarding pass. She quickly glanced at the name on the mission sheet, then looked at Lian Shanxue's appearance, and cautiously asked, "Are you Lian Shanxue? Which Lian Shanxue?"

"I have no idea which Lian Shanxue you're talking about." Lian Shanxue smiled at the security checker's expression. "Is everything alright?"

"No problem, no problem." The security officer quickly scanned Lian Shanxue's boarding pass, and after confirming it was correct, she pulled out a notebook from somewhere and timidly asked, "Could I sign this?"

"Signature?" Lian Shanxue was taken aback for a moment, glanced at Tang Jian who was still going through security, and thinking that it wouldn't take long, she took the pen from the young lady and carefully wrote her name in the notebook.

"Is it okay now?" Lian Shanxue handed the paper and pen back to the security checkpoint.

The security check lady was overjoyed: "Okay, okay, thank you so much!"

Actually, she originally wanted to take a photo with Lian Shanxue, but she worried that Lian Shanxue might find taking a photo too troublesome and refuse. So, she settled for an autograph instead. An autograph is much easier to get than a photo, and the acceptance rate is much higher. If nothing unexpected happens, Lian Shanxue should agree.

As expected, Lian Shanxue was very easy to talk to and readily agreed.

After passing through security, perhaps to ease the tension, Tang Jian mustered up his courage and joked with Lian Shanxue: "You're like a big star now, people even want your autograph."

Lian Shanxue glanced at him, saying little, but her expression was incredibly indifferent, making Tang Jian feel very guilty. Tang Jian sighed inwardly, thinking that no one else, a captain, had ever lowered themselves to such a degree.

However, a large portion of Xingyou Airlines' revenue now comes from Lianshanxue. As we just saw, Lianshanxue enjoys a very good reputation among the general public, especially women, who typically have stronger purchasing power. Therefore, all Lianshanxue-related merchandise sells very well. Currently, the bulk of Xingyou Airlines' revenue comes from the operation of merchandise. Nominally, Xingyou Airlines is an airline, but in reality, it's a merchandise sales company.

Therefore, Xingyou Airlines' survival now depends entirely on Lian Shanxue's attitude. If Xingyou Airlines can't survive, the entire company will face unemployment. In the past, the impact on pilots wouldn't have been so significant; they could simply find another employer. But things are different now. The current job market is tough, and many large companies aren't actually short of staff, making it very difficult for pilots to find new jobs.

In the past, captains fared better, but first officers faced a bleak future. Now, even captains with flight licenses have little chance of finding another job. That's reality!

Many pilots only know how to fly planes and don't actually have any special skills. If they were to lose their jobs, it would be a real disaster.

During this period, Xingyou Airlines relied on two main sources of revenue: the assistance of Qingyuan Group and the sales of related Lianshan Snow products. If either of these two sources of revenue was affected, Xingyou Airlines would be unable to survive.

This demonstrates just how important Lianshan Snow is to Xingyou Aviation!

It can be said that apart from Wen Jingshu, no one at Xingyou Airlines dares to neglect Lian Shanxue, as it is a matter of their own livelihood.

Before this, Tang Jian thought it was too magical that Lian Shanxue could support a company, but after walking with Lian Shanxue at the airport today, he realized that it was not an exaggeration at all.

During the security check, security personnel asked Lian Shanxue for her autograph. After passing through security, she was constantly recognized and asked for autographs and photos. If she weren't wearing a uniform, she would be no different from a celebrity.

At the boarding gate, ground staff were already waiting. As soon as the crew arrived, they opened the gate and let them in first.

When Lian Shanxue arrived, the ground staff asked, "Can we pick up passengers normally?"

Lian Shanxue didn't speak, but pointed to Tang Jian who was following behind: "Ask him, he's the captain."

"Oh, him." The ground staff member let Lian Shanxue go first, and only asked when Tang Jian came aboard, "Captain, do you think we should board normally?"

"Have you received the flow control notification?" Tang Jian asked.

The ground staff shook their heads: "No."

"Then let's proceed as normal." Tang Jian instructed the ground staff, then quickly followed Lian Shanxue.

Looking at the flight crew, one in front of the other, the ground staff were quite puzzled. The captain and first officer seemed to be reversed. The first officer looked like the leader, while the captain seemed like the follower. What was going on?

Lian Shanxue entered the cockpit, but instead of immediately preparing, she put down her box and took out a reflective vest, intending to go down and do a walk-around inspection of the aircraft. As she came out, she bumped into Tang Jian, who was entering the cockpit. Tang Jian noticed the reflective vest in Lian Shanxue's hand and said, "The walk-around inspection should be done by the captain; you don't need to worry about it."

"It's alright, I'll just go down for a walk and tell the gas station attendant about the fuel level." With that, Lian Shanxue ignored Tang Jian and went down the stairs of the covered bridge.

While the captain should indeed perform the walk-around inspection, it is not prohibited for the co-pilot to do so, and Lian Shanxue's actions were not problematic.

Wearing a reflective vest, Lian Shanxue followed the regulations and began the aircraft inspection from the left front fuselage. At that moment, she happened to encounter a maintenance worker who was also conducting an aircraft inspection.

Aircraft maintenance personnel conduct far more rigorous walk-around inspections than pilots. At least they have a work order; after checking each item and finding no problems, they check it off and proceed step by step. As long as the procedures are followed, there shouldn't be any issues. While pilots' standard operating manuals contain detailed descriptions of walk-around inspections, they lack a corresponding checklist for reference.

Therefore, the responsibility for aircraft inspection should actually lie with the maintenance crew, not the captain. However, in principle, neither the captain nor the first officer is responsible for the aircraft's condition, but if a problem occurs, the crew cannot escape responsibility. Therefore, it is essential for the crew to conduct their own walk-around inspection of the aircraft.

When Lianshanxue came down, the maintenance crew was checking the lightning strike points on the radome. Seeing the snow, they pointed at the plane and said, "Your plane is so old, why are you still flying?"

"5993 is indeed a bit old. I heard that it had already been flying elsewhere for a long time when the company was established, so it's quite old." Lian Shanxie replied, "This aircraft just finished its second D-overhaul, so there shouldn't be a third one, right?"

5993 is the aircraft's registration number. Lian Shanxue remembered hearing some veteran instructors say that aircraft 5993 was already there when Xingyou was first established, and it wasn't a new aircraft. Judging from this, the aircraft must be over twelve years old.

A D-maintenance is the most rigorous maintenance an aircraft undergoes, typically every five to six years. If an aircraft has undergone two D-maintenances, its age is generally over ten years.

The average age of aircraft in China is ten years, which means that 5993 is already considered an old aircraft. If it needs a third overhaul, its age will be over fifteen years, which is extremely old. Civil aviation companies generally don't fly this type of aircraft.

"Of course not, it wouldn't be worth it if we had to do another D-type overhaul," the maintenance engineer said.

A D-level overhaul requires a significant amount of money, and for an aging aircraft with a limited service life, spending so much effort on a D-level overhaul is simply too extravagant. Generally speaking, passenger aircraft will only undergo two D-level overhauls, and some may even only have one. After reaching about ten years of age, they can be considered for sale, whether to a cargo airline or something else.

Lian Shanxue approached the maintenance mechanic: "Master, is there a problem?"

"No, not at all." The maintenance worker shook his head repeatedly. "I just noticed that this aircraft has a very long list of reservations. Although most of them don't have much impact, this is the first time I've seen such a long list of reservations."

As he spoke, the maintenance worker pulled out a retained fault report (5993) from under his work order and showed it to Lian Shanxue. Lian Shanxue had actually already seen it during the pre-flight preparations, but seeing it on paper again still made her heart pound.

The fault retention sheet for aircraft 5993 is two whole pages long. On other aircraft, it would probably only have a few items, but on aircraft 5993, it's several times longer.

Even though most of the reserved faults do not significantly affect flight operations, just looking at this long list of reserved faults shows that the aircraft is nearing the end of its service life.

"By the way, it's been a long time since I've seen your company bring in any new planes; they're all old ones," the maintenance worker said.

Lian Shanxue tightened her reflective vest: "The new planes are all sunbathing at Dianyun Airport."

As she spoke, Lian Shanxue noticed the refueling truck approaching and said to the maintenance crew, "Master, where do you need to go first?"

After speaking with the maintenance crew, Lian Shanxue quickly caught up with the fuel truck and went to the driver's cab. The fuel truck driver got out, shifted the wheels, and after confirming it was safe, turned around to ask the crew how much fuel they needed. But in just one glance, he noticed that the approaching crew member was a pretty young woman, and the fuel truck driver couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

"Master, 29,000 liters of fuel." Lian Shanxue had already confirmed the amount of fuel to be released, so she didn't even need to check: "Master, you fill it up first, I'll go upstairs to get something, I'll be right back."

She forgot to bring her earplugs when the snow fell on Lianshan Mountain before, and there were quite a few planes operating nearby, their engines making a really loud noise. Fortunately, she used ground power this time; otherwise, running the APU would have made the noise even louder.

Listening to noise for extended periods can easily damage hearing, and Lian Shanxue is quite mindful of this.

"Okay, okay!" the gas station attendant grinned and said, "Leave this to me, just get it done and sign off."

Both the fuel register and the fuel slip require the crew's signature; these two steps cannot be skipped.

"It's okay, I'll be there in a bit." The authorities are now cracking down on refueling monitoring, and if they find that there are no crew members watching while refueling, it's easy to get punished.

As she spoke, Lian Shanxue prepared to circle around the area before continuing on. But after taking only two steps, she suddenly remembered something and immediately turned back to ask the gas station attendant, "Sir, is there a military airfield near this airport?"

"Yes!" The gas station attendant pointed southeast: "There's a military airport there, where military planes take off and land. Civilian planes don't go there. It's called Huining Airport, I think."

Many airports now have both military and civilian uses, operating mostly for civilian purposes and only providing training takeoffs and landings for military aircraft at specific times. Bisu Airport, which Xu Xian visited previously, is an example of a dual-use airport. However, Huining Airport clearly does not belong to this category; it is entirely military, and you can't even find snow-capped mountains on aeronautical charts.

"Huining Airport," Lian Shanxue murmured. She roughly knew that Xu Xian had gone to fly fighter jets, but she didn't know the specifics. She had unexpectedly seen Xu Xian last night, so she casually asked if there was a military airfield nearby. If there was, then the claim that Xu Xian went to fly fighter jets was basically confirmed.

Outside the runway at Binjiang Airport.

"Star Travel 6334, you can enter track 20."

"You can proceed to runway 20, Star Travel 6334," Lian Shanxue replied, then immediately verified both sides: "All five sides are safe, the runway is safe, you can proceed to runway 20, takeoff thrust 92.3."

"Enter runway 20." Tang Jian slowly turned the handwheel into the runway, and asked Lian Shanxue during the turn, "Do you want to take control? I've corrected the deviation."

In principle, captains are not allowed to have a co-pilot fly with them. However, some captains with more experience may be allowed to do so after undergoing deviation correction training.

"Me?" Lian Shanxue hesitated for a moment, "Never mind, Captain, you can fly."

Lian Shanxue was somewhat distracted, and after thinking about it, she decided to give up the opportunity to manipulate things.

"Oh! Okay then." Tang saw that Lian Shanxue wasn't very interested, so he didn't insist. It didn't matter whether he flew or not.

Before the plane was even aligned with the runway, the control tower issued takeoff clearance: "Star Travel 6334, ground wind 200/01, runway 20, cleared for takeoff."

"Runway 20, clear for takeoff, Star Travel 6334." Lian Shanxue casually turned on the clock: "Takeoff command received."

"Takeoff clearance received, configuration in order, let's go." Tang Jian glanced at the takeoff configuration while Lian Shanxue was returning to air traffic control. After confirming that everything was correct, he started adding 40% N1.

Once N1 stabilized, Tang Jianyi pressed the TO/GA switch, and the throttle automatically increased to takeoff thrust. At the same time, accompanied by the rumbling sound of the engine, the speed of the aircraft gradually increased.

"80! Maintain thrust!" Lian Shanxue reported after the speed reached 80 knots.

"examine!"

As the decision-making speed was being assessed, Lian Shanxue shouted, "V1!"

"Take off!" Tang Jian responded, taking his right hand off the throttle and starting to grip the steering wheel with both hands.

This takeoff is not about lifting the wheels, but about making a decision.

In dry runway conditions, the decision speed and the wheel lift speed are actually very close, almost within one or two seconds after V1 is announced.

Sure enough, just as Tang Jian shouted "Take off!", the speed increased to the wheel-lifting speed, and Lian Shanxue shouted in response, "Lift the wheels!"

With a slight lift, Tang Jian easily lifted the front wheel off the ground, and then, maintaining the momentum, both main wheels followed suit. It can only be said that Tang Jian's liftoff posture was quite standard, and the speed was very consistent, without any occasional leveling-off phases.

Shortly after takeoff, the vertical rate of climb indicator showed a positive rate of ascent, and the Lianshan Ski Resort indicated: "Positive climb."

"Retract the wheel!"

Following Tang Jian's instructions, Lian Shanxue retracted the landing gear, and the aircraft was now more than 600 feet above the ground. After stabilizing the aircraft, Tang Jian prepared to engage the autopilot.

Just as Tang Jian finished balancing and extended his right hand to engage the autopilot, the plane suddenly veered to the left, its attitude instantly becoming uncontrollable. Tang Jian quickly withdrew his outstretched right hand to stabilize the aircraft.

Tang Jian's heart tightened: "What's going on!?"

(End of this chapter)