Update：The captain said: Have to face the dilemma.
When windshield was suddenly broken, the temperature dropped to - 40C. The instruments failed, the instantaneous pressure lost and even the FO was sucked out half. The Captain Liu Chuanjian, with excellent flight skills and good psychological quality, made the aircraft safe and emergency landing.
In May 16th, Chengdu, Sichuan, in the news conference on the 3U8633 flight held by Sichuan Airlines, Captain Liu told the thrilling of his experience at the time.
Captain: Less than a second after reporting to ATC, the windshield burst.
Liu Chuanjian recalled that in that time, all the crews suddenly heard a "bang" of a burst. The crew members immediately responded to the issue, when the windshield had not fallen off. "The first reaction is to touch, to make it clear whether the bottom or the outer layer broke down. The rupture is like a steel glass block, a mesh. The touch makes me sure it is completely breaking, and I made the decision immediately to go back to the ground and report to the ATC." But just by that moment, the broke windshield popped off. When he reacted to it, he saw the half of the FO's body dropped out. "Then I tried to catch him and couldn't catch him. I looked back to check the state, the plane was dropping, the speed was increasing, I tried to make the second ATC report, and issued the code of 7700.” However, for the cause of the accident, Liu Chuanjian said, "I really dare not make any guesses. That is the technology beyond of my domain of knowledge. That is something of technical expertise."
At 40 degrees below zero, the first thing did not feel cold
Liu Chuanjian said there would be a variety of subjects in each training course and one of the them related to the event, "so I'm very familiar with the subject." He recalled that when the incident occurred, the plane was about 800 km / h. No sound was heard in his ears when the windshield just fell off. After a while, all the noise was heard, and the communication with the second captain was entirely gestural.
It is worth noting that, Liu Chuanjian said, when the incident just happened, there was no time to check OAT. According to the theory, the temperature should be around 40 degrees below zero. But he did not feel cold at the first time. Instead, he was concentrating on the state of the plane. He began to feel cold after feeling that the aircraft can be completely controlled by him. In addition, he also admitted that the first time was very scared, and later on until he tried and began to know the aircraft was under his control. It gradually turned better. "At that time, the wind was so strong that my body was in a state of deformation." He said he did not even think about what he did. Now, in retrospect, it is likely to be a disastrous consequence. "Maybe the plane might have lost."
Feel confident that the aircraft can be manipulated.
Liu Chuanjian stated that the decision to go back and emergency landing was made at the time because he was very confident about the route and the state of the failures. The decision was very decisive. "I recollect roughly that there are hundreds of flights to this route, which are very effective for the location and overall situation. There was no other choices by that time. I felt very confident until I felt that the plane could be manipulated”.
However, Liu Chuanjian also confessed that at that time the situation was bad, when the windshield broke off, the plane had many failures and had a great impact on the manipulation, making him feel very difficult at the beginning.
The most tangled descent: going fast or slower down?
Liu Chuanjian recalled the most difficult thing in the process of descent was to go faster or slower. "In the case of anoxia and cold, I hope that the aircraft will descend to a lower altitude as soon as possible, but if we want to go faster, the speed increases. Higher speed have more impact on us. The safety of the crew is not guaranteed. That is my dilemma. "
Liu Chuanjian said, finally he chose a relatively moderate scheme, which is based on ensuring the safety of the crew.
A feeling of fear now.
As for many of the articles and reports in praise of himself, Liu Chuanjian said, first of all thanks. The recent days he is good, mainly meet with the investigation team. But his rest has no impact. At the press conference, Liu Chuanjian's expression was slightly worse. He said probably because he was frightened, "there will be some feeling of fear now."
The Chinese version of "Captain Sully" belongs to the whole civil aviation circle.
Liu Chuanjian refused to compare himself with the Sully. As for honor, Liu Chuanjian said, "this is not my own, it belongs to China, and the whole civil aviation industry, including my crew, the ATC, AOC, the local authority and the Civil Aviation Administration, which is the honor of the civil aviation. Because honor itself is a very happy thing."