Legendary Captain

Chapter 368 The engine was extinguished?

"Xu Xian?" When the name reached the area controller's ears, he froze, his anger instantly dissipating. However, when he saw the weather range on the radar screen, he still insisted on his opinion: "If you maintain your course now, you'll need to fly over 120 nautical miles to completely overcome the weather. With a course of 200, you only need to fly less than 50 nautical miles. How big is the difference?"

"Fifty nautical miles?" In the cockpit, the captain couldn't help but check the navigation screen to determine the direction, while also using the weather radar to assess the likelihood of flying along track 200.

To be honest, following the area control's designated flight path 200 was indeed a good choice. Not only was the distance it would traverse only fifty nautical miles, which isn't far in a typhoon area that often spans hundreds of nautical miles. He carefully studied the weather radar display; the area traversed by flight path 200 was mostly a mixture of green and yellow shadows, with a few red danger zones. However, these could be avoided through small-scale aircraft maneuvers, so the red areas didn't actually have a significant impact.

Overall, considering the travel distance and the weather intensity of the areas it passes through, the route suggested by the regional air traffic control is a very good choice.

"Brother Xu, what about us?" The captain's opinion was to accept the instructions of area air traffic control, which was indeed a very good transit plan. Moreover, due to the limited detection range of the airborne weather radar, they could not see the entire typhoon area, which was a significant limitation when making transit plans. Therefore, the captain was inclined to accept the controller's instructions.

However, Xu Xian merely glanced at him coldly: "Who put the plane in this dangerous situation? Who should bear the responsibility? If you understand that, then please shut up!"

The captain shuddered slightly. Yes, who caused the plane to stray into the typhoon, leading to this difficult situation where a decision had to be made?

That's right, it's him! It's the captain in charge!

Radar shadow, or radar blind spot! As the captain, he failed to consider the possibility of radar shadow and stubbornly believed that the weather radar showed no weather area, which meant it was safe.

The reason why there are blind spots or areas that weather radar cannot detect is related to the working principle of weather radar.

How does an aircraft's onboard weather radar detect the weather? It does so by detecting the intensity of water droplets! Weather radar transmits pulsed radio frequency signals and, based on the reflectivity of water droplets, creates a displayed image.

Because water droplets have the strongest reflective power under the same conditions, weather radar is more sensitive to all weather phenomena containing water. Conversely, objects like ice crystals have weak reflective power, so weather radar is not very effective at detecting ice crystals, dry hail, and dry snow. As for clouds, fog, wind, clear-sky turbulence, and lightning that do not contain obvious water droplets, weather radar has no detection capability at all.

However, most dangerous weather is accompanied by cumulonimbus clouds, so in most cases, even if weather radar is not very effective for certain weather phenomena, it can still ensure flight safety.

The only difficult issue to resolve is clear-sky turbulence. Clear-sky turbulence can exist independently and can occur without any warning. Many turbulence-related injuries are not caused by passing through cumulonimbus clouds, but rather by encountering clear-sky turbulence.

At an altitude of 10,000 meters, under a cloudless sky, severe turbulence can occur without warning. It is precisely this suddenness that makes turbulence most likely to have serious consequences.

Even so, with the current capabilities of weather radar, it is still quite reliable, except for the presence of radar shadows.

The essence of radar shadow is that the radio frequency energy signal emitted by weather radar cannot penetrate areas of heavy precipitation. Under such circumstances, weather radar will naturally be unable to detect a certain area.

This situation is difficult to avoid for the time being because even with continuous upgrades to weather radar, its essence remains largely unchanged; it still relies on the reflection of radio frequency signals emitted by the radar to perform detection. In this context, the inability of radio frequency signals to penetrate areas of heavy precipitation, resulting in radar shadows, is unavoidable.

Because radar shadow areas are often accompanied by extremely heavy rainfall with unpredictable weather intensity, these areas are very dangerous. However, since the presence of radar shadows cannot be avoided, methods must be used to warn pilots of their presence. This is where the Radar Shadow Warning (PAC) function comes in.

When the detection range of the weather radar is set within 80 nautical miles, a yellow arc will be generated around the area where the radar shadow exists, to remind the pilot that this area is the radar shadow and should not be entered.

However, because the typhoon area was so large, the captain and first officer set the detection range of the weather radar to a very wide range—one to 160 nautical miles and the other to 320 nautical miles—and never changed it. It was precisely because of this somewhat absurd use of radar that the crew failed to notice the radar shadow warning.

The strange "safe zone" that the captain and co-pilot saw earlier was actually not a safe zone, but rather the location of radar shadows, the real danger.

The two crew members mistook the dangerous area under radar shadows for a safe one; it was utterly ridiculous. The captain bears the vast majority of the responsibility in this matter.

That's why, when Xu Xian questioned the captain's professionalism, the captain couldn't refute him, nor did he have any reason to. After all, he was the one who started it all; it was his wrong decision that put the entire plane in danger.

Seeing that the captain still had some sense of shame, Xu Xian withdrew his gaze and directly reaffirmed his decision: "Letu 5641, track 200 is unacceptable. Request to maintain track!"

"Damn it! Don't you understand? If you maintain your flight path, you're flying right into the eye of the typhoon. I've already checked track 200; there aren't any large, unavoidable danger zones. Why can't you accept that? So what if you're Xu Xian? Are you immune to making mistakes? You weren't the one who overran the runway earlier. Do you think you're always right?" This area controller was also young and hot-blooded; he didn't care who he was talking to. Xu Xian? Was Xu Xian always right? Did they have to unconditionally obey all his instructions?

He was an air traffic controller, part of the flight safety team, and responsible for the passengers. He wasn't Xu Xian's servant, forced to do whatever Xu Xian said. At least so far, he didn't think there was anything wrong with his proposed crossing plan. Or rather, he couldn't understand Xu Xian's intention in maintaining the flight path. Wasn't this heading towards the typhoon's center?

He wouldn't have any reservations about Xu Xian's identity. Since he felt there was a problem with what Xu Xian said, he had to bring it up.

However, the way or language this hot-blooded young controller expressed his insistence was rather extreme.

When the controller mentioned the runway overrun incident, Xu Xian's face turned completely cold; this was undoubtedly reopening old wounds. Although the authorities hadn't officially classified the runway overrun as Xu Xian's responsibility, as long as the truth remained unclear, people would be more inclined to place the blame on him. After all, compared to vague, unknown possibilities, a living, breathing person like Xu Xian was easier to take responsibility for, and also easier for people to vent their frustrations about.

This kind of unconscious behavior is not uncommon even in the civil aviation industry.

At that moment, the co-pilots in the left seat and the observer's seat behind could feel the temperature in the cockpit suddenly plummet to an ice cave, a chilling cold that could be felt by the body.

The captain and first officer fell silent for a moment.

"Didn't you consider the typhoon's movement? Do you think a typhoon just stays in one place and won't develop?" Xu Xian didn't retaliate against the controller's presumptuous remark about him overrunning the runway. His emotions were like a mirror, briefly rippled, then returned to a frightening calm: "If you think that a short enough crossing is the best option, then please shut up!"

"Typhoon movement?" The controller was visibly shaken, almost losing his balance. He switched to another control panel, pressed a few keys, and began generating the typhoon's predicted path on a different screen. Upon seeing the predicted path, the controller's eyes widened in uncontrollable shock: "How is this possible?"

According to the typhoon's predicted path, it will first turn southwest, and then eastward. This forecast data comes from the meteorological department and is highly reliable.

If everything unfolds exactly as predicted by the meteorological department, the typhoon is currently moving southwest, roughly in the same direction as track 200. Furthermore, the typhoon itself is developing, meaning its area of ​​influence is continuously expanding.

What does this mean?

If Letu's plane really flies in the direction of track 200, it will not only have to overcome the speed of the typhoon's movement, but also take into account the speed of the typhoon's own development. Right now, it looks like the plane only needs to fly about fifty nautical miles to escape the weather zone, but actually flying that way would be much, much farther than fifty nautical miles!

"How could you know the typhoon's path? You can't determine the typhoon's overall movement and path just by looking at the upper-level winds." The controller was almost going crazy. He couldn't imagine how Hsu Hsien knew the predicted path of the typhoon.

If it is a relatively independent or small-scale weather system, its movement trajectory can be roughly guessed by observing the upper-level winds. However, typhoon systems are too large, and the upper-level winds within them are affected by many factors, so the wind direction of the upper-level winds is not as reliable.

But if it's not through high-altitude winds, how could the crew in the cockpit know the typhoon's path?

Over the radio, the area controller's voice was filled with disbelief; he wanted an answer.

Just then, another person appeared beside the controller—the duty supervisor who had briefly left. The duty supervisor nudged the controller: "What's wrong?"

The area controller exclaimed in surprise, "Chief!"

Just then, Xu Xian's voice came: "Can we maintain our flight path, Letu 5641?"

Xu Xian completely ignored the controller's question, but as soon as Xu Xian's voice rang out, the duty manager frowned: "Xu Xian?"

The director of the Huacheng area control center and Chen Yuan, the director of the Rongfu area control center, were good friends. During the hazardous materials leak incident, it was Chen Yuan, the director of the Rongfu control center, who commanded Xu Xian, a fact Chen Yuan frequently recounted with great enthusiasm. Influenced by his friend Chen Yuan, the director of the Huacheng area control center naturally paid attention to Xu Xian and was quite familiar with his voice. He recognized Xu Xian the moment his voice came through the loudspeaker.

The area controller explained the situation to the duty manager in very concise language, including Xu Xian's reasons for rejecting the plan to cross track 200.

"Maintain your flight path?" The duty officer, who seemed to understand the situation, took the call: "Lotoo 5641, what is your intention in maintaining your flight path?"

He didn't ask Xu Xian why he was in the cockpit. According to regulations, Xu Xian should be suspended from commercial operations by now. However, it was unusual for someone who was supposed to be completely disconnected from civil aviation to be on the radio, yet the duty officer didn't even bother to ask.

The duty manager's impression of Xu Xian differed from that of the air traffic controller. Perhaps influenced by his friend Chen Yuan, or perhaps it was simply his own feeling. Subconsciously, the duty manager felt that Xu Xian was an omnipotent and omniscient god, someone who only needed to do as he was told.

However, Xu Xian's decision to maintain the flight path was so puzzling that even if he trusted Xu Xian completely, he still needed to find out the reason.

In the cockpit, Xu Xian pressed the command button: "Maintain the course. Of course, to reach the typhoon's center!"

"Typhoon center? Aren't we almost at the typhoon center?" the captain asked in surprise.

Xu Xian glanced at the captain: "Why do you feel like the plane is in the eye of the typhoon now? Just because the turbulence is less than before? Don't you know that the true eye of a typhoon can be almost calm? Is it calm now? We're just at the boundary between the outer edge of the typhoon and its center."

The captain was speechless for a moment. He only knew that the center of the typhoon was calmer than the outer perimeter, but he didn't really know the specific details.

In front of Xu Xian, he seemed like an idiot. He couldn't understand why Xu Xian seemed to know everything.

"You want to get to the eye of the typhoon? Are you sure you can get through?" the duty officer asked doubtfully. He roughly understood Xu Xian's intention to go to the eye of the typhoon, but the key question was how to get there.

Xu Xian had already planned everything: "This typhoon is still in its development stage, and the vertical height of the cloud wall is only about 10 kilometers. We should be able to bypass it from above. So, to get to the eye of the typhoon, we only need to pass through the last layer of spiral rainbands. Although that last layer of spiral rainbands may be very strong, we should only need to hold out for a short time. At least I think it's much safer than flying on the outer edge of the typhoon for a long time."

"Cloud wall area? Spiral rainband area?" The captain felt he could understand every single word Xu Xian said, but when put together, he couldn't make sense of it. Cloud wall area and spiral rainband area both seemed to be professional meteorological terms, but coming from Xu Xian's mouth, they sounded perfectly natural.

Not only was the captain confused, but the area controller next to the duty manager was equally baffled. They were trained in air traffic control, not meteorology. However, the duty manager, being more experienced, was able to follow up on Xu Xian's words: "But even in the last layer of the spiral rainbands, you might not be able to get through."

Within the entire typhoon system, the outermost area and the boundary of the typhoon eye have the highest wind speeds. The final spiral rainband area is precisely the boundary of the typhoon eye, one of the two areas with the highest wind speeds in the entire typhoon system, and it can even be said that the winds here are stronger than those on the outer edge of the typhoon.

This area, though not very thick, should only take a few minutes to traverse. However, the destructive power of that extremely high wind speed zone is immense, and the aircraft's fuselage structure might not be able to withstand it.

As for Xu Xian's mention of the cloud wall region, that makes some sense. For many fully developed typhoon systems that have reached a mature stage, their cloud layers can reach heights exceeding twenty kilometers, which is inaccessible to commercial aircraft. Even immature typhoons still in their developmental stage have a vertical altitude of at least fifteen kilometers, which is also an extremely challenging altitude for commercial aircraft.

Therefore, it is impossible for commercial aircraft to fly over the top layer of a typhoon. However, the cloud wall region of the outer edge of a typhoon is lower than the top layer of the typhoon system. For a typhoon that has not yet fully developed, its cloud wall region should be less than 10 kilometers.

Ten kilometers is still achievable for commercial aircraft. As long as the aircraft passes through the airspace between the upper part of the cloud wall and the lower part of the spiral rainbands, the turbulence will not be so strong, and the weather system will be relatively stable. At least until reaching the final layer of vertically developing spiral rainbands, Xu Xian's plan is feasible. But the problem lies in crossing the last obstacle; the duty officer is not confident, even though the other party is Xu Xian.

"Given this situation, do you think there's any completely safe option? It's just a matter of choosing! Even if you fly outwards, you still have to cross the outer edge of the typhoon, and the danger there is no less than the boundary of the typhoon's eye." Xu Xian saw things clearly: "I can't see the exact location of the typhoon's eye from here, but if I'm not mistaken, there will be an airport in the middle of the typhoon's eye, which should be Zhangzhou Airport."

"Just as I expected!" The duty officer's pupils contracted; his guess seemed to match Xu Xian's plan perfectly.

The eye of a typhoon is the most peculiar area in the entire typhoon system. It was roughly the same as the captain had imagined. However, the wind force in the actual eye of a typhoon is extremely small, almost reaching the standard of calm wind. Moreover, not only is the wind force small, but there is also no precipitation.

The eye of a typhoon is dominated by upward vertical airflow, with almost no horizontal airflow. These weather conditions are ideal for landing.

Because of the typhoon system's own movement and expansion, the distance and time required to fly outward are actually unpredictable. Therefore, rather than placing hope on flying outward with an uncertain outcome, it is better to fly inward.

Normally, the diameter of a typhoon's eye can reach nearly forty kilometers. For this larger typhoon, the eye should be even larger.

According to the typhoon's predicted path, the eye of the typhoon would pass over an airport, namely Zhangzhou Airport. Xu Xian's plan was to divert the typhoon to Zhangzhou Airport under the conditions of the typhoon's eye.

The duty manager couldn't help but have the same question as the controller earlier: "You seem to know the typhoon's path. Logically, your weather radar shouldn't be able to see the overall movement of the typhoon system, right?"

The entire typhoon system was so large that airborne weather radar could not see the whole picture. If only a corner of it was visible, the pilot could not observe the entire typhoon system's trajectory.

However, after several conversations, the duty officer discovered that Xu Xian seemed to know the typhoon's path very well.

Even the captain and co-pilot were curious at this moment. However, Xu Xian merely moved his lips and said, "I think you should watch more of the news."

"New news?" The duty officer paused for a moment, then burst into laughter: "Oh, I see! Oh, I see!"

While waiting in the departure lounge at Rongfu Airport, the TV screens there were playing news about the typhoon, including the meteorological department's predictions about the typhoon's path.

Xu Xian seemed indifferent to everything, but in reality, he could see, hear, and remember everything!

"So, do you have a better plan?" Xu Xian asked calmly. "If not, I'll just maintain the flight path."

The duty officer took a deep breath: "Lotoo 5641, maintain track, descent report!"

After passing through the cloud wall region and before approaching the vertical spiral rainband region, Xu Xian's aircraft would definitely need to descend. Otherwise, at high altitudes, the aircraft's load margin is very low, and even slightly strong turbulence could cause it to stall or overspeed, making it very difficult to control. Only at low altitudes can the aircraft withstand a greater amount of turbulent fluctuations.

Xu Xian paused for a moment, then a slight smile appeared on his lips. It seemed the controller he was speaking to was knowledgeable; he even knew that he would soon be crossing the spiral rainband zone at low altitude.

"Then I'll go up to 11300 meters first," Xu Xian requested. They were currently at 9500 meters, which Xu Xian felt was not high enough. He needed to make sure they could get around the top of the cloud wall area.

"You can ascend to 11300 meters, report your descent," the duty officer said. "I will contact Zhangzhou Airport for you."

Due to the typhoon, almost all airports in the south that were in the typhoon's path were closed, including Changju Airport. If Xu Xian's plan was to divert to Changju Airport, then he would need to contact the airport in advance to request that it reopen.

"Okay!" Xu Xian didn't say anything more. Right now, there are probably very few planes at any altitude in the entire Huacheng area. The airspace is mostly empty, so people can basically fly however they want.

As he spoke, Xu Xian set the altitude to 11300 meters in imperial units and began climbing using vertical navigation. However, the computer calculated a climb rate of Mach 0.78. In such chaotic weather conditions, Xu Xian felt that this speed was a bit too high, so he intervened and changed it to a climb rate of Mach 0.76. This would also increase the rate of climb, allowing the aircraft to reach the designated altitude more quickly.

As the plane began its climb, Xu Xian, with droopy eyelids, said to the co-pilot behind him, "Later, after we begin our descent, be ready to put on your oxygen masks at any time. If you're slow, I won't have time to help you."

"Oxygen masks?" The co-pilot glanced at the boost control panel. "Boost is working fine, right?"

"No problem?" Xu Xian pointed to the cracked right windshield. "How many more hailstorms do you think this windshield can withstand?"

The passenger nodded in realization: "I understand."

Even if hailstones exist at high altitudes, their size is not very large, and their destructive power is naturally not significant. However, as hailstones fall from high altitudes and absorb water droplets, their size increases, so at low altitudes, hailstones are larger and their destructive power is naturally greater. It's conservatively estimated that the outermost layer of the right-hand windshield is already shattered; the condition of the middle layer is unknown, and it's unlikely to withstand another large hailstone impact.

As they descend, they could be hit by large hailstones at any moment, meaning the right windshield could shatter completely at any time. Without oxygen masks, a broken windshield would easily lead to oxygen deprivation.

Even at altitudes below 10,000 feet, the oxygen concentration is theoretically sufficient. However, the high speed of the aircraft and the rushing airflow can cause breathing difficulties even when breathing naturally.

Therefore, the safest approach is to be prepared to put on an oxygen mask at any time.

"Also, take a look at the aeronautical chart. When the time comes, we'll descend to a safe altitude on the chart first and then see how things go," Xu Xian instructed.

"Okay, okay!" The co-pilot was definitely the one to look at the flight chart, so he readily agreed. However, as the altitude increased, the plane got closer and closer to the horizontal extension of the spiral rainbands, the rain became heavier and heavier, and the sound of the rain hitting the fuselage became more and more intense and terrifying.

This typhoon is likely to bring a massive amount of rain.

Suddenly, the passenger in the back seat blurted out, "It's raining so hard, the engine should be fine, right? It won't get extinguished, will it?"

Xu Xian's heart skipped a beat, but he quickly suppressed this strange feeling: "The engine has airflow channels, it's fine."

This statement, seemingly addressed to the passenger, was actually more of a way of convincing himself. The internal temperature of the engine core reaches over a thousand degrees Celsius; even if rainwater gets in, it will instantly vaporize and cause little impact. Furthermore, the engine is equipped with rainwater drainage channels that can expel most of the rainwater.

It shouldn't be a big problem.

However, this rainfall was truly record-breaking. Xu Xian had been flying for several years, but he had never seen such heavy rain before; it really felt like water was being poured down from the sky.

"Is everything alright?" The passenger was slightly relieved, but when his gaze fell on the ECU display, his brow furrowed slightly: "However, is there something wrong with the EGT of engine number one? Why is it only a little over six hundred?"

Upon hearing this, the captain's expression changed drastically. His gaze fell on the EGT indicator of engine number one, and sure enough, the EGT of engine number one was somewhat unstable, though it generally remained around 600. In contrast, the EGT of engine number two consistently remained above 800.

The captain's heart tightened, and he subconsciously glanced at Xu Xian. At that moment, Xu Xian also noticed the abnormality in the EGT of engine number one. Under normal circumstances, the EGT temperature of an engine should not be this low; an EGT index of over 800 for engine number two is relatively normal. The two engines, operating under the same conditions, had an EGT difference of a full 200, which undoubtedly indicated a problem.

At that moment, a shadow gradually fell over Xu Xian's heart. Could it be that the co-pilot's words had come true, and the engine was about to be doused?

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(End of this chapter)