Nearly 10,000 meters above the altitude, the windshield suddenly burst. Strong wind, low temperature, pressure loss, hypoxia, the entire aircraft fell rapidly… More than 100 passengers in the cabin, and the mountains and ridges below the plane, how did the hero crew complete the miracle of emergency landing? CCTV News “Face to Face” exclusively interviewed the crew of Sichuan Airlines flight 3U8633.
Reporter: Did there be anything unusual that morning when I was performing this task?
Liu Chuanjian: There was nothing unusual. I lived in the company that day and went to the preparation room to make all preparations on time. The information was the information my second captain communicated with the front desk. I read all the information and there was no problem with the weather very good.
Reporter: After getting on the plane, what is your normal procedure in accordance with the conventional method?
Liu Chuanjian: External inspection of the aircraft and internal inspection of the aircraft.
Reporter: Is this what the captain wants to perform every time?
Liu Chuanjian: I have to do what I have to do every time. This time I checked it, and there is no problem.
About forty minutes, the plane had arrived at the southeastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. It had good visibility at high altitudes, and could see the layers of mountains and ridges below the plane, with a flight altitude of 9,800 meters. Liu Chuanjian flew no less than 100 times from working in Sichuan Airlines in 2006. According to previous practices, the plane would have to fly for a period of time at this altitude.
Reporter: Are you and the co-pilot at that time?
Liu Chuanjian: They are all very good, very relaxed, the weather is very good, I feel that completing the task today is a very pleasant thing, and this is the mood.
But surprise changes always happen unexpectedly. At around 7:06 in the morning, the plane in the stable flight suddenly made a loud noise.
Liu Chuanjian: Before the first explosion, there was nothing unusual in the whole early stage.
Reporter: You said there was an explosion?
Liu Chuanjian: Yes, an explosion occurred during the cruise.
Reporter: Where did the sudden explosion come from? What was your first judgment at that time?
Liu Chuanjian: The first judgment at that time was that an explosion occurred. The sound of explosion occurred. The co-pilot and I both found something strange when it exploded. We would do an examination immediately and felt abnormal. At the same time, we found that the front windshield of the co-pilot had cracks.
Reporter: How loud was the explosion sounded at that time? Let me describe the sound feeling? For example, did popcorn sound like that in the past?
Liu Chuanjian: Yes, the sound of popcorn, at least this sound.
Reporter: The sound is so high, and in a confined space, this decibel is very large.
Liu Chuanjian: Yes, I was in a state of shock at that time, so my movements were very fast.
Reporter: But under this emergency response, what is the first measure you should take as a captain?
LiuBabaylanChuanjian: Touch, feel the situation of our glass with your hands, just like what I said before. Our glass has several layers, and the structure of each layer is different. If the outer layer and the middle layer, it has three layers of glass. If it is inside, it has cracks, which tells us that its stress layer has been damaged.
Reporter: What was the state you felt when you touch the glass with your hands?
Liu Chuanjian: It feels like a paddling, I touched it gently with my fingers.
Reporter: Is there a crack?
Liu Chuanjian: Yes, there is a crack, it is a paddling, and the feeling of cutting hands. I know that the layer inside must be broken.
Reporter: What does the inner layer mean to you?
>Liu Chuanjian: It means that the aircraft’s ability to withstand has decreased, but it is not necessarily bad. My textbook tells me that its ability to withstand will be reduced.
Reporter: Do you have any communication with the co-pilot?
Liu Chuanjian: There is no communication. At this time, I first stepped down and held the microphone to lower the altitude at the same time. I told our air traffic control that I would return to Chengdu.
Reporter: Why did this decision be made?
Liu Chuanjian: Its ability to withstand the aircraft may have a fault.
The windshield glass of civil aviation passenger aircraft usually has three layers of outer layer, middle layer and inner layer, and its toughness and compressive resistance are two or three thousand times that of ordinary glass. Generally speaking, even if the inner layer of glass breaks, the middle layer and outer layer can still withstand the pressure difference between the inside and outside the cabin. But due to occupational sensitivity, it is too late Cinema discussed with other crew members, and Liu Chuanjian quickly made the decision to return to the nearest Chengdu Airport immediately.
Reporter: How far was it from Chengdu at that time?
Liu Chuanjian: It was about 150 kilometers.
Reporter: Has he surpassed Chengdu or not to Chengdu?
Liu Chuanjian: It has passed.
Reporter: After passing Chengdu for more than 100 kilometers, he returned to Chengdu.
Liu Chuanjian: Yes.
Looking in the aftermath, every decision was made from the moment of the accident. It is crucial that every second becomes precious. Because for high-speed aircraft, a slight hesitation will make the aircraft fly farther away in a short time, making the next step of self-rescue unreachable or impossible. Liu Chuanjian turned the head of the plane, and at the same time grabbed the microphone and sent the message “The wind barrier is cracked, we decided to land in Chengdu” to the ground control department.
Call recording: Chengdu, Chengdu, Sichuan, 8633, please say, it’s a bit malfunctioning now. I applied for altitude, Sichuan’s 8633, 8400, 8400, I’m going to return. I’m now having a wind barrier, the wind barrier is cracked, right, 3U86Is 33 a return to Chongqing? Return to Chengdu and make an advance to land in Chengdu, right? 3U8633 has been received, you can go to 8400 first to keep it.
Reporter: Where is the instructions from the tower?
Liu Chuanjian: No. Liu Chuanjian: Because I finished reporting the words, he might have shut down just after he finished speaking, but at this time the entire glass exploded.
Reporter: Just the moment you report?
Liu Chuanjian: Yes, it may not be over when I finished speaking, but it exploded at this time. I exploded three times and didn’t respond. At that time, it must be a stressful situation. Maybe I was just when I opened my eyes.
Reporter: Do you want to protect yourself first?
Liu Chuanjian: Without protection, I didn’t expect it to explode. Maybe I heard a sound, instinctively blinked or something like that, when I opened my eyes and saw him.
Reporter: When I saw the co-pilot?
Liu Chuanjian: Yes, they are already hanging there. Half of the body is outside the window.
Reporter: At that time, was my entire lower body outside the window or the upper body?
Liu Chuanjian: The upper body, the upper body is outside the window.
Reporter: Don’t the upper body have seat belts and fixes?
Liu Chuanjian: During the cruise, our co-pilot could relax a little, and then he only tied the seat belt on his legs, not the shoulder belt, so he was sucked outward. There was a pressure difference between inside and outside when the explosion, and the pressure difference was about seven o’clock.
Reporter: Will people be sucked out immediately?
Liu Chuanjian: I went out in one go.
The windshield glass of the front seat of the cockpit suddenly burst suddenly, and the broken glass scattered outward, which was equivalent to the plane breaking a large hole at an altitude of nearly 10,000 meters. The huge pressure difference inside and outside the cabin instantly sucked the upper body of the co-pilot Xu Ruichen out of the window.
Reporter: It’s too sudden?
Liu Chuanjian: Yes, it’s very sudden.
Reporter: For you, as a captain, when the co-pilot has such a special situation, has there been any emergency plan in the past?
Liu Chuanjian: Really not. It was all based on the first reaction. When he went out, I actually wanted to reach out and grab him.
Reporter: Is this what I instinctively want to catch?
Liu Chuanjian: Yes, I wanted to reach him, but I couldn’t reach it when I saw that the plane was very fast, maybe around 800 kilometers. One of them was unable to get through, and the second one was really not able to reach him. What is the state of the plane now? I want to keep the plane in good condition, so I operated the plane.
Reporter: But you couldConfirm his safety?
Liu Chuanjian: I dare not confirm what would happen. I didn’t dare to think about it at that time. What I thought about at that time was to control the condition of the plane and not let the plane fall.
Reporter: But at that time, how sure are you in your heart?
Liu Chuanjian: Actually, I was really unsure at that time. In fact, I was finished shouting in my heart, it was over.
Komiks The moment the windshield burst, the cockpit lost pressure, and a series of chain reactions followed one after another, and the cabin environment changed rapidly.
Liu Chuanjian: The biggest change is that the strong wind blows on me, and there is a feeling of tearing on my face.
Reporter: Is it like a knife cut?
Liu Chuanjian: I felt that my whole body was deformed at that time.
Reporter: Can you open your eyes?
Liu Chuanjian: The eyes can be opened.
Reporter: Did you wear sunglasses at that time?
Liu Chuanjian: Wearing sunglasses at that time, the whole plane was shaking violently. There was no sound at that time, but the sound was very loud after a while.
Reporter: The entire body?
Liu Chuanjian: Yes, the entire body is shaking, the instrument is not clearly visible, and it is shaking.
Reporter: Is there any display on the instrument? Do all the functions still exist?
Liu Chuanjian: The instrument on my side is displayed, and the other side of my plane I operated, but I was not sure at the time that it was the correct display.
Reporter: Why can’t you be sure?
Liu Chuanjian: Because after the explosion, many devices were no longer working. The electronic instrument display system told me that there were countless things on it that were filled with them. The two screens were all displayed with faults.
At nearly 10,000 meters at a height of 800 kilometers per hour, the plane that lost the windshield of the front seat of the cockpit seemed to have broken a big hole, and the strong wind seemed to blow people flattened. The panel of the flight control component was blown over. Many flight instruments could not be used normally, and the entire plane was shaking violently. Everything that happened in the cockpit was quickly transmitted to the aircraft cabin. At that time, the second captain Liang Peng was resting in the cabin.
Liang Peng: I saw that the door exploded.
Reporter: Which door do you think is it?
Liang Peng: Cockpit door.
Reporter: Is the door connected to the passenger compartment?
Liang Peng: Yes.
Reporter: Is it exploded? Liang Peng: It bounced away, and there was a lot of Cinema‘s wind.
Bi Nan: Just haveThere was a whistling sound, and the oxygen masks in the cabin fell off.
Reporter: Did it fall off automatically?
Bi Nan: Yes.
Afterwards, a passenger recalled that nearly an hour after the plane took off, the plane that was originally flying smoothly suddenly had violent bumps and a powerful airflow was blown into it, like a sandstorm, making people unable to open their eyes. The cabin suddenly darkened, and harsh sounds and passengers screams rang around. The plane descended rapidly, and many items were blown to the ground of the cabin.
Purchaser: Suddenly the light went dark, the stewardess and the trolley flew into the air, and then fell down again. Hearing a bang, the plane descended rapidly and all the indicator lights went out. Each row of oxygen masks was removed.
Faced with the oxygen mask that suddenly landed in front of me, many passengers could hardly believe their eyes. This disaster scene that was usually only seen in blockbusters happened in front of their eyes.
Reporter: Have you encountered this situation before?
Bi Nan: I have never encountered it before.
Cinema Reporter: But people instinctively encounter this sudden emergency situation, and their moods are different?
Bi Nan: It’s too late for you to do this. At this time, I only know that I want to ensure the safety of my passengers and my team members. If I panic and get messed up, what should they do?
Bi Nan: I can only notify passengers through the broadcaster, broadcast passengers, what do they do? I told them to pull the mask down hard, cover the mask around the mouth and nose, fasten the seat belt, and follow our instructions.
Reporter: Other flight attendants?
Bi Nan: They are the same. They have to use some of their passwords and slap the seats to make passengers fasten their seat belts, pull down the cover to inhale oxygen, and at the same time comfort the passengers.
Reporter: How do you appease the travelers?
Bi Nan: Some passengers have cramps, maybe they are nervous and cramps. The flight attendant keeps massaged him and relaxed him. The passengers are crying. The flight attendant keeps patting him on the shoulder, holding his hand, and giving him confidence.
A cockpit that broke a large hole at an altitude of nearly 10,000 meters, also quickly led to two other fatal consequences, one was low temperature, and the other. After the pressure was lost, the air in the cockpit would quickly flow out of the window, which would quickly lead to hypoxia in the cockpit.
Reporter: Before this cold, if the temperature is used to show how much it might be about zero?
Liu Chuanjian: If the temperature is 9,800 meters, the theoretical calculation should be more than minus 40 degrees.
Reporter: More than 40 degrees below zero?
Liu Chuanjian: Yes.
Reporter: But it’s normal for you to fly a plane that you shouldn’t wear too thick.
Liu Chuanjian: Yes, usually.
Reporter: Wearing this way?
Liu Chuanjian: Yes, it is the same. In fact, the normal temperature of our cabin should be adjusted to around 24 degrees. The temperature in our cockpit is also around this temperature, which is a relatively comfortable temperature.
Reporter: But the temperature suddenly dropped from more than 20 degrees to minus 40 degrees Celsius. Will the operation of the entire limb be greatly affected?
Liu Chuanjian: In fact, I didn’t have any effect in the early stage, because I was too nervous and my muscles were very nervous, and I really didn’t feel it.
Reporter: Do you wear an oxygen hood?
Liu Chuanjian: Yes, we have an oxygen mask in our training. As I said just now, I want to take out an oxygen mask to wear, but I can’t wear it.
Reporter: Why?
Liu Chuanjian: The wind was too strong, and I couldn’t take out anything. I took out the oxygen hood and couldn’t pick it up.
Reporter: Can’t you wear it yourself?
Liu Chuanjian: Yes.
Reporter: Is there no oxygen hood for you?
Liu Chuanjian: I didn’t realize the problem of hypoxia at that time. I was determined to operate the plane well. I really didn’t expect this problem at that time.
Reporter: It depends entirely on the ultimate challenge ability of Komiks to control it, right?
Liu Chuanjian: Yes, I should say that at this time, I think this place should be called willpower when I came down that day. I think this is a very accurate word, and it is very appropriate to use willpower in this place.
But willpower cannot last for too long, people have physiological limits. What Liu Chuanjian needed to do immediately was to reduce the flight altitude of oxygen and suitable temperatures as soon as possible. Otherwise, the crew would be Babaylan gradually frozen or suffocated by hypoxia, and the entire plane and 119 passengers would also be trapped in an abyss that would never be restored.
Reporter: But do you know the situation below?
Liu Chuanjian: I know the mountain below. I know how low I can’t go down.
Reporter: What is your bottom line going to decline?
Liu Chuanjian: My bottom line was what I thought in my mind at that time. When the second captain didn’t come in, I thought about 23,000千英尺。
Reporter: If you go down again, you may have some with the mountain.
Liu Chuanjian: Yes, if you are close to the safety level, you may be at risk of hitting a mountain.
But at that time, the plane had already flown to the southeastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Due to the dense mountains in this area, the mountain height was mostly between 5,000-6,000 meters. The plane could not fly close to the top of the mountain, and it must have a safety margin of at least 600 meters. Once the cabin loses pressure, the minimum safety altitude must be maintained at about 7,300 meters, that is, 23,000 feet.
Reporter: Will it fall from more than 30,000 feet to twenty-three thousand feet?
Liu Chuanjian: Yes, it’s only 23,000 feet before I get out of the mountain. I can’t go down any further. I must go out of the mountain before I can continue to go down.
Reporter: But if it continues to be at that level, it is impossible to operate like this?
Liu Chuanjian: It is impossible, it is impossible to last for 23,000 feet. It has been too long, and the oxygen of passengers is limited, the temperature is very low, and the human body is very uncomfortable.
Special routes mean that the aircraft with a cockpit that has lost pressure cannot drop to an altitude of oxygen and a suitable temperature. The pilot must grit his teeth and insist on continuing to fly at an altitude of more than 7,000 meters, or 23,000 feet, until it flies out of the mountains and reaches the basin before it can descend again.
Reporter: At this time, what you need to do is to stabilize the attitude of the aircraft and then decrease. After the air pressure produces a very large loss of pressure, what is the pressure on the inside?
Liu Chuanjian: The strong impact force is poured into it, and the sense of oppression is why we slow down? In order to reduce this sense of oppression, the damage to our entire body will be smaller, and the damage to us humans will be smaller. The speed is too great. Will the Cinema be blown to the back and blow it from here.
Reporter: You said that the wind blows directly from the wind barrier?
刘传健：后舱去。
Reporter: Passenger cabin?
Liu Chuanjian: Yes, if the speed is too high, will it still be broken later?
Reporter: Did you think of these questions at that time?
Liu Chuanjian: Yes, the main thing I thought about at that time was this damage. The damage of this wind should not turn the damage caused by me into damage to our body. I just wanted to slow down. As I said before, I am very confused about whether I am at a large speed or a small speed, or a large drop rate or a small drop rate. I am very confused about it.
记者：为什么会纠结？
Liu ChuanJian: Because my speed is too high, the height will be faster.
Reporter: What are the side effects of the problem caused by quickness?
Liu Chuanjian: The safety of the unit’s safety may not be guaranteed.
Reporter: How to balance this contradiction and make the final decision?
Liu Chuanjian: Yes, so I said that I would choose this speed in a state that I think is more appropriate and relatively acceptable to people, and the relative decline rate is smaller at this time.
Reporter: Is this a valuation based on experience?
Liu ChuanKomiksHealth: Cinema is not based on experience.
Reporter: What is that relying on?
Liu Chuanjian: It was a situation at that time. People felt a little better and that was a situation at that time. I felt that I did it.
In the airplane cabin, it is a different scenario. The sudden violent shaking and rapid fall of the plane made the passengers extremely panic, crying and screaming. BabaylanThe flight attendant and four other flight attendants tried their best to appease the passengers. A food truck lost control and injured a flight attendant in the waist.
Reporter: How to calm the passengers’ status at this time?
Bi Nan: Because the flight attendants were in each area at that time, they told the passengers to believe in us because we were professionally trained and believed that we had the ability to deliver you to your destination safely.
Reporter: But you don’t know what happened in the cockpit.
Bi Nan: I don’t know, I don’t know.
Reporter: You didn’t go to the cockpit to take a look.
Bi Nan: I have contacted me, but I haven’t.
Reporter: How to contact us?
Bi Nan: Make a phone call.
Reporter: No reply?
Bi Nan: No reply.
Reporter: If the captain doesn’t respond to an emergency like this, will you feel more worried?
Bi Nan: To be honest, I will definitely do it, because I don’t know what kind of instructions and arrangements I will make next. Maybe I will think a lot more about it at this time.
Reporter: What do you think?
Bi Nan: Think of various solutions, various scenarios, and various results.
The source of confidence is Liu Chuanjian. He was born in the Air Force and had decades of flight experience and received strict fighter flight training. Later, Liu Chuanjian went from an ordinary pilot to a flight instructor and brought out many pilots. Later, he transferred to work in civil aviation.
Liu Chuanjian: BecauseThe air force’s elimination rate was very high. At that time, we advocated eight qualities and the requirements were very high. It was already very difficult to recruit them. For example, only ten or twenty were recruited in a province, and the entire recruitment was very small, so the elimination rate was very high. As a result, after entering, the elimination rate was very high. 70% to 80% of people were eliminated. In the end, only 20% or more could truly become pilots and become the combat effectiveness of the troops.
Reporter: But from the perspective of bomber and fighter pilots to civil aviation, will it be different from such flight technology and flight control?
Liu Chuanjian: The basic driving skills are the same, because civil aviation aircraft have more automatic equipment and more computers. For aircraft in the army, there is another characteristic, which is flexible maneuvering. I feel flexible maneuvering, and the speed is the basis. As for our civil aviation transportation, safety is the first priority. Safety and comfort make passengers feel. This is one of our goals, so there will be some differences in operation.
Reporter: Before, including me reading the information, when you were at the Air Force Flight Academy, there were some special learning arrangements for special and extreme situations.
Liu Chuanjian: Yes, each model will have some independent items in the expected course, such as how we should do this course, and how we do another course, there will be some, all of them. How do we learn it, how do I prepare it before flying, and what will I do if it appears? As a pilot, you must be very familiar with the appearance of these special events.
Reporter: Have you ever learned such emergency responses like windshield glass?
Liu Chuanjian: No, in my impression, it is British Airways Flight 5390, because I have watched that many times.
Reporter: You talk about the accident in the UK in 1990.
Liu Chuanjian: Yes, because it became a movie. I was very impressed by it and I watched it several times.
On June 10, 1990, British Airways Flight 5390 took off from Birmingham and headed to Mallorca, Spain. During the flight, a piece of windshield in the cab of the plane suddenly flew off and sucked the captain out of the plane. Later, with the efforts of the deputy pilot, the plane landed safely in Southampton, and the captain miraculously survived. In the following decades, this British Airways incident was regarded as a miracle in the history of aviation that pilots turned the tide. However, the aircraft driven by Liu Chuanjian is more dangerous than the situation at that time when British Airways 5930 was.
Reporter: What is the main difference? That accident and this accident.
Liu Chuanjian: (British Airways 5390) The height is relatively low and the speed is relatively small. Our height is very high this time, which should be 9,800 meters. Then the pressure difference is very large, the temperature is very low, and the speed is also very fast. The speed at that time was 8.00 km/h.
In addition to the differences in altitude and speed, under the plane driven by Liu Chuanjian is the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau with glaciers standing on the top of the mountain. Once you follow the conventional rules and fall, you will inevitably hit the iceberg, and the consequences will be unimaginable.
Reporter: Can you hear the reaction of the passengers behind you at that time? sound.
Liu Chuanjian: I can’t hear, I can’t hear anything.
Reporter: Did you tell the passengers behind you through the radio?
Liu Chuanjian: Cannot broadcast.
Reporter: All equipment failed.
Liu Chuanjian: It’s not that it’s faulty. I don’t know if it’s faulty. Because the wind and noise are very loud at this time, I don’t have the energy to go, I don’t have automatic equipment, I want to control the plane, I can’t broadcast any of them, because I believed that their crew members were all professionally trained at the time. We are usually very professional, because when they encounter this situation, they should be dealing with no problems and handling no problems, so you cannot broadcast any of them.
Reporter: In other words, your responsibility is to control the plane in the cabin.
Liu Chuanjian: Yes, I think my responsibility is to control the plane well, not let the plane fall down, and to safely land the plane into the runway, which is what I thought at the time. Even if I don’t do anything else, I want to do this.
Reporter: But when you reported to the tower that you were about to return, you did not get such a reply. So how do you make a decision?
Liu Chuanjian: Yes, in such a critical moment, you can not get such an answer.
Reporter: Did I decide since Cinema?
Liu Chuanjian: Yes, in times of crisis, we can not get a reply, and it is the responsibility of our captain.
Under Liu Chuanjian’s manipulation, the plane that exploded from the wind block continued to fly. Fortunately, after twenty or thirty seconds after the windshield glass burst, Xu Ruichen, the co-pilot who was sucked out of the cab by a strong pressure difference, returned to the cockpit.
Reporter: How did you come back?
Liu Chuanjian: Because of the pressure difference, after the blast, it is equivalent to no pressure difference inside. The pressure inside and outside the plane is the same. In fact, it is slid in with the wind. If our wind keeps sucking out, it will not be able to enter.
Reporter: After coming in, what kind of cooperation does he have with you?
Liu Chuanjian: There was basically no cooperation, because I was concentrating on operating the plane at this time, and I basically didn’t care about him because I couldn’t care about him.
After the accident, Liang Peng, the second captain who was resting in the cabin, realized that the plane was in big trouble. He’s driving right awayCockpit.
Reporter: How long did you get into the cockpit?
Liang Peng: I can’t remember it now. At that time, the flight attendant Bi Nan compared me with gestures.
Reporter: What is the gesture she gave you to compare?
Liang Peng: She said to me that inside, she just compared it. What I thought at the time was that I was afraid that people would easily lose consciousness in this environment. I was afraid that they were disabled inside, so I had to go in.
Reporter: What do you see when you enter the cockpit? Liang Peng: After entering the cockpit, the first thing I saw was the plane turning. Komiks, with mountains below.
Reporter: Are all mountains?
Liang Peng: Yes, we are on the mountain. Then I sat down immediately, put on my seat belt, and I immediately took out the oxygen mask, and then I looked at him, and I signaled to the captain Liu, and I said you put it on. He said it was okay, and I said that it was OK, and then I put it on. After putting it on, I immediately took out ours, because our flying high plateau had a specific pressure loss procedure, which was like when we encountered this situation, where we should fly and how many altitude we should go, I immediately took out my electronic flight bag, took out our Lhasa pressure loss procedure, and I showed it to him and told him that the place we were going to fly now was Chongzhou, and we were going to reach 22,000 feet in height. He said yes, I would make plans for him, which was equivalent to being responsible for navigation and communications for him, and then he was responsible for manipulating the plane.
Reporter: What was the captain’s condition at that time?
Liang Peng: He just flies very focused and keeps the plane in good condition, which is our main thing.
After the cockpit lost pressure, the violent wind blew over the control panel of the flight assembly. Many data boards that can be used as a basis for judgment have been destroyed or become unconfirmed. The control panel of the flight component is destroyed, which is equivalent to the aircraft changing from a smart car to a hand-held tractor. It is no longer possible to drive autonomously and must be done manually. Fortunately, this is not unfamiliar with Liu Chuanjian, who was born in a military aircraft.
Reporter: I saw that the plane’s flight control component panel was blown up on the information.
Liu Chuanjian: It was opened.
Reporter: What impact will this be after it is opened?
Liu Chuanjian: It will affect many equipment. I really don’t know it. It will cause countless fault information in my fault information. So I am in the back, including the landing gear structure reduction, and every time I do an action, I am very worried. I am afraid that it will change the attitude of the aircraft due to the fault. So if our posture cannot be controlled, all the safety and previous work will be in vain. Every time I do itI actually have a move. From the bottom of my heart, I am very confused, including the available and unusable equipment. I absolutely don’t use it, because using it may cause some adverse consequences and I cannot evaluate it because my plane is controllable now. What should I do if it becomes uncontrollable after it is done? This is why I am confused about Babaylan.
Flight data shows that at around 7:07 am on May 14, 2018, flight 3U8633 began to urgently descent from around 32,000 feet.
Reporter: What kind of process should it be?
Liu Chuanjian: It should have been faster at the beginning, because I haven’t taken over the plane yet. When operating the aircraft, it is a little bigger at the first time. At this time, the aircraft is in the posture that it has just maintained at the lower altitude, at the growth rate, and the throttle is very large. The throttle is in a relatively high position, and the aircraft is rapidly lowering altitude. When I saw that the plane was taken over and the plane could be operated, this gradually decreased.
Liu Chuanjian: But I tried my best to control the plane, because the plane turned with the slope and was going down the height. I looked at it and I was not sure whether my watch number was real or fake. The airspeed was increasing all the time, so the action I did was to remove the throttle and control the plane.
Reporter: Is this the only choice in the face of this situation?
Liu Chuanjian: Yes, the only choice is that there is no other choice, that is, not to let the plane be damaged and keep the plane in shape. If our plane loses its posture, in some cases it will fall off and stall.
Reporter: What if it is stalled?
Liu Chuanjian: Or the posture is incorrect, not in the correct posture.
Reporter: What is the result?
Liu Chuanjian: It means that the plane fell directly to the ground.
In the case of strong winds, huge noise, low temperatures and lack of oxygen, every operation of Liu Chuanjian in the cab was extremely difficult.
Reporter: At that time, in your cockpit, did you feel the temperature and air pressure?
Liu Chuanjian: It was very cold. When it was cold to the end, my whole body was shaking. My second captain was stroking me, and he was also encouraging me. When he stroked me, I felt my body trembling. I know he is encouraging me on the one hand, and at the same time he also says don’t be afraid that it’s okay.
Reporter: You feel that his approach at that time was an encouragement to you, right?
Liu Chuanjian: I feel my body trembling because it’s very cold. He stroked me and told me that it would be better for touching, and he felt it was better.
Reporter: Where is the co-pilot at that time?
Liang Peng: The co-pilot was injured at the time and had injuries on his body. There was nothing in front of him. What he could do at that time was indeed limited.
Reporter: Then how do you place a co-pilot?
Liang Peng:I told him that it was the 7700, and I sent him to supervise it. I said this 7700, and let him always be responsible for the identification of 7700.
Reporter: What is 7700 in simple terms?
LiangKomiksPeng: It’s 7700. This is one of our transponders, because we had no way to communicate at that time. If he pressed this, he would see that we had it. We encountered an emergency, but we had to press it every once in a while, so you had to let them identify it and let them know because he was going out and coming back. I was already a little scared at that time, which was equivalent to me constantly comforting them. Captain Liu was cold, so I kept touching him and touching his hands, and I said there was no problem. One is that friction generates some heat, that’s it, and always comforting the co-pilot. No problem, no problem, that’s it.
Reporter: At that time, was the passenger seat sitting in the passenger seat?
Liang Peng: Sitting.
Reporter: I am sitting in the driver’s seat.
Liang Peng: Yes, I brought all the microphone and headphones from the captain at that time. I sent a blind message to the tower, saying what we are going to do now, where and how, but we can’t hear any sound.
Reporter: It can only be one-way transmission.
Liang Peng: Yes, just my words are called blind hair, which means I express to the tower. Just do whatever I want to do now, and they will control the rest.
Tower call: 8633 Chengdu, 8633 Chengdu.
At the same time, Chengdu regional air traffic control has not forgotten flight 3U8633. The duty air traffic control called flight 3U8633 several times, but there was no response from flight 3U8633. Air traffic control launched other flight assistance calls, but no results were obtained.
Tower call: Please call 8633 in the group to see if you can call it. 8633 from Sichuan, Chengdu calls you, 8633 from Sichuan calls you, 8633 from Sichuan calls you, 863312237 calls you.
At 7:10 am on May 14, 2018, the radar of the Southwest Air Control Bureau showed that the aircraft distress code A7700 appeared on flight 3U8633. All the on-duty controllers immediately entered an emergency working state. They commanded the six airplanes to avoid emergency and coordinated the military to cooperate with the special situation. At Chengdu Shuangliu Airport, eight aircraft outside the runway immediately stopped taking off under the command of air traffic control, and 15 aircraft on the apron stopped rolling out. Everything only provides the best airspace environment for emergency landings on flight 3U8633.
Reporter: How long did it take to control the entire plane to a good state?
Liu Chuanjian: It’s almost like this in about five minutes.
Reporter: What kind of process did you go through in your heart?
Liu Chuanjian: Very complex, very complicated.
Reporter: WhyUse the word complex?
Liu Chuanjian: Because I thought a lot at that time, I did think a lot.
Reporter: What do you think most about?
Liu Chuanjian: At most, I must keep the plane well and don’t drop it. This is the highest one for me as the captain. You must not let the plane fall, this is what I think the most. I tried my best to ensure the safety of more people, and that was what I thought at the time.
Reporter: Have you already had such a bad idea?
Liu Chuanjian: Yes, there is actually such an idea. Reporter: What would you expect at that time to be a more terrible situation?
Liu Chuanjian: To be honest, when I didn’t have the plane to control it safely, I was really worried that the plane would fall.
Reporter: If that happens, how can we ensure the safety and possibility of more people?
Liu Chuanjian: If I can’t control the plane, do as much as I can. If there are really something unbearable, it is unimaginable.
Reporter: These five minutes should be the most difficult five minutes in your life.
Liu Chuanjian: Yes, it’s very painful. To be honest, I still had a lot of confusing problems in this process until later, including the use of some of our equipment later. I was actually very cautious.
Reporter: What is caution referring to?
Liu Chuanjian: At that time, we had countless faults in it, and in fact, these were all very big tests for me.
At around 7:11 am on May 14, flight 3U8633 dropped from 32,000 feet to 24,000 feet.
Reporter: After these five minutes, you said that the plane’s posture has entered a relatively stable state. What are you going to do at this time?
Liu Chuanjian: We still operate the plane. Our plane cannot let go now. Once we release our hands, the posture of the plane will change greatly.
Reporter: But would you be safer at that time?
Liu Chuanjian: Yes, it’s much safer. At that time, the plane felt much safer if it was controllable.
Reporter: Did you communicate with the co-pilot at that time?
Liu Chuanjian: At that time, I had a conversation with the second captain. At this time, the second captain had already come in. The second captain told me that the passengers were safe and that nothing was good afterwards.
Reporter: What about hearing this reaction?
Liu Chuanjian: Yes, I didn’t actually say this to me, but I showed it to me.
Reporter: Gestures?
Liu Chuanjian: Yes.
Reporter: What is this, is it OK?
Liu Chuanjian: Later OK, it is OK for the passengers.
Reporter: What is this reaction to your heart?
Liu Chuanjian: I was very excited at once. When I said this to me, I felt that I must fly them back today, which made me more determined.
Reporter: This was so powerful at that time.
Liu Chuanjian: Very powerful. To put it bluntly, I really do this. I know that every time I fly, I am behind the passengers. This is my purpose. As a captain, I really don’t think too much about other things. Every time I fly, I put this in the front.
Reporter: Behind are more than one hundred lives.
Liu Chuanjian: Yes, behind are countless families and countless related personnel. Even if we are in the 319 model 320 model, among the three models we fly, the 320 model may have about 190 people. At the most, the 319 model has at most 132 people, which is relatively fewer, and at most two hundred. So every time I fly, this is what I emphasize in my heart. At any time, I have to ensure that within the scope of my ability, I can guarantee that I will definitely ensure the safety of passengers, which is what I should do. This is the captain’s responsibility, it should be.
After that, flight 3U8633 continued to decline steadily, from a height of 9600 meters to 6600 meters, and then to 3900 meters. 34 minutes after the accident, flight 3U8633 landed at Chengdu Shuangliu Airport.
Liu Chuanjian: They can receive the 7700 transponder we sent. When we receive this signal, we tell us that the plane is in danger and they will also know what the situation is. They will transfer all the planes that affect our route and give the route to us. So today I am very grateful to some of our regulatory departments and some of their regulatory departments for their efforts to make way and cooperate with us because we cannot receive it. They are silently cooperating for us.
Liang Peng: After the landing gear is put down, we can see the ground. After seeing the runway, I was really not afraid at that time, because as long as we can see the runway, we can fly the plane down. This was the case at that time. So after it landed, I really breathed a sigh of relief. We both came to the side, we looked at it, and we shook hands and said, we are still alive now.
We are still alive, and the captain Liu Chuanjian is also impressed by this sentence.
Liu Chuanjian: The plane landed and breathed a sigh of relief. He and I were there at the same time, and we were all still alive.
Reporter: Is this the first thing you said?
Liu Chuanjian: Yes, it is the first sentence we can hear.
Reporter: Do you still remember what your eyes looked like when you saw your companions?
Liu Chuanjian: I think we all relaxed at that time, and we were relaxed at once.
As the plane descended together, the passengers’ hearts that had been raised for a long time, and the cabin, which had been shrouded in fear and depression, recovered from their anger.
Bi Nan: I told me through the cockpit that the plane was safe, and then I stood in the cabin to broadcast the passengers, telling the passengers that we were safe.
Reporter: Do you still remember the status of the content being broadcast at that time?
Bi Nan: I told the passengers, ladies and gentlemen, I am the flight attendant of this flight. I said we are safe and we don’t have to worry.
Reporter: Can you still speak in this state at that time?
Bi Nan: Yes, because I can’t panic, I can’t show it any more if I panic in my heart, because I am professional.
Reporter: Did the passengers hear these words at that time?
Bi Nan: Applause.
Reporter: This applause may contain many meanings.
According to a news release by Sichuan Airlines, except for the co-pilot’s skin abrasion and a flight attendant who was undergoing treatment due to a back injury, the remaining 27 passengers who went to the hospital for treatment did not see any obvious abnormalities. According to the announcement of the Southwest Civil Aviation Bureau, the Southwest Civil Aviation Bureau and the Sichuan Supervision Bureau rushed to the scene at the first time to investigate and deal with the cause of the accident. The survey also included captain Liu Chuanjian and all crew members.
Reporter: But after the entire incident is over, what is the overall arrangement that you need to accept?
Liu Chuanjian: We have just arrived these days. Relevant personnel and investigators from the Administration Bureau investigated the situation at that time with us, so that we could report some of the situation at that time, and then investigated us yesterday and the day before yesterday, for a whole day.
Reporter: Regarding this incident, many people may discuss that in the future, there will be safety in these emergencies on aviation. People will have many such questions. As captains, will you consider this issue?
Liu Chuanjian: Of course, we may consider it when there will be results in the future. Because there is no result now, we have no way to consider it, this is indeed.
Reporter: Everyone is very concerned about the last question. What will happen to your personal arrangements as the captain after you have experienced such a special accident?
Liu Chuanjian: I will continue to fly. After I have undergone examinations, physical examinations, and my mental stability is stable without abnormal conditions.
Reporter: Are you talking about psychological stability because there are still some possible emotional fluctuations?
Liu Chuanjian: Yes, it should also be used as an aviation doctor and as an aviation major, and will also provide us with psychological counseling, and we will also conduct us with a healthy state, allowing us to reach a healthy state. It is not necessarily physical health, but psychological health is needed.
Reporter: In other words, we can see you in the captain’s position in the future.
Liu Chuanjian: There should be no problem, I believe I can do it.