Update: [Face to Face] Exclusive full interview with Sichuan Airlines heroic crew
Part I: How can we make a life and death landing from the altitude of 9,000 meters?
Narratage: Nearly 10,000 meters, windshield burst suddenly. Strong wind, low temperature, loss of pressure, anoxia, the whole plane approaches crash rapidly... More than one hundred passengers in the cabin, but more than hundreds of mountains below the aircraft. How can the hero crew complete the miracle of landing? News Face to Face made the exclusive interview with Sichuan Airlines 3U8633 flight crew.
Anchor: What was wrong with that mission that time?
Liu Chuanjian: there is nothing unusual. I slept in the company that night (this means a good sleep). We log into the preparation room on time to do our pre-flight briefing. The Second Captain got the briefing package at usual. We check and discuss all the information routinely and the weather was very good.
Anchor: What's your normal procedure when you board the plane?
Liu Chuanjian: External inspection and internal inspection of aircraft.
Anchor: Is this the captain perform every time?
Liu Chuanjian: What I have to do every time will be done. I checked this time and no problem found.
Narratage: About forty minutes later, the plane reached the southeast edge of the Qinghai Tibet Plateau. It has a good visibility and you can see the range of mountains and mountains below the plane, with a height of 9,800 meters. From 2006 to Sichuan Airlines, Liu Chuanjian flew over 100 times.
Anchor: What was the state of you and the co pilot?
Liu Chuanjian: All very good. We are relaxed and the weather is very good. I feel very happy to finish the task today. It's such a mood.
But the change is always happening when you are out of sight. Around 07:06 in the morning, the plane in a steady flight suddenly got a loud bang.
Liu Chuanjian: there was nothing unusual before the first explosion.
Anchor: you said there was an explosion?
Liu Chuanjian: Yes, an explosion occurred during the cruise.
Anchor: Where did the sudden explosion come from? What was your first judgement?
Liu Chuanjian: The first judgment of the time was an explosion, a burst of sound, and I and the co pilot found the blowout at the same time, it was unusual. We were going to do the inspection right away, and we found a crack in the front windshield.
Anchor: How loud is the explosion at that time? Describe to us the feeling of sounds. For example, the popcorn? Is that kind of loud sounds?
Liu Chuanjian: En…sure, like the sound of popcorn.
Anchor: The sounds is so loud in the sealed-up space, the decibel should be high.
Liu Chuanjian: Yes, at that time, a state of amazement, so my movements were very fast.
Anchor: Under such emergency response, what are the first steps you should take as captain?
Liu Chuanjian: Touch. To feel the situation of the glass with hands, as I said earlier, the windshield consists several layers, each layer is different. We want to know which, or the outer, the middle, or if it is inside…
Anchor: What did you feel when you touched?
Liu Chuanjian: The feeling of rowing. I touch lightly with my fingers.
Anchor: Is there a crack?
Liu Chuanjian: Yes, a crack, which is the feeling of rowing and cutting hands. I know that one is broken.
Anchor: What does it mean for you?
Liu Chuanjian: it means that the full performance is discount, but not necessarily bad. My textbook tells me that the endurance will be reduced but okay for a while.
Anchor: Do you have a discussion with the co pilot?
Liu Chuanjian: No. No time. What I need discuss first is to be with the ATC. I took the microphone and require lower height immediately. I told our air traffic controller that I was going to return to Chengdu.
Anchor: Why do you make such a decision and so fast?
Liu Chuanjian: Any function in plane is discounted, there may be more trouble with the plane. We are in such western area.
Narratage: The windshield of civil aircraft usually has three layers: outer, middle and inner layers, and its toughness and compression capacity are two or three thousand times that of ordinary glass. According to the general theory, even if the inner layer glass is broken, the middle and outer glass can withstand two times the pressure difference. But because of his sensitive career and Liu Chuanjian quickly made the decision to return to the nearest Chengdu airport immediately without the discussion with other crew members,
Anchor: How far is it from Chengdu at that time?
Liu Chuanjian: It's about 150 kilometers.
Anchor: Has it surpassed Chengdu or has not arrived in Chengdu?
Liu Chuanjian: Passed it.
Anchor: After more than 100 kilometers across Chengdu, you returned to Chengdu.
Liu Chuanjian: Yes.
Narratage: After that, every decision is crucial from the moment of the accident, and every second is precious. For aircraft in high speed, a little hesitation will make the aircraft fly farther into mountains area, making the escape and after rescue impossible. Liu Chuanjian is making the turn, and grabbed the microphone to the ground control, said "windshield cracked, we decided to return Chengdu".
Call recording:
Liu: Chengdu, Chengdu, Sichuan 8633
ATC: Please speak
Liu: A bit of fault now. Applying for a lower level.
ATC: Sichuan 8633, lower to 8400, lower to 8400
Liu: I'm going back. The windshield cracked.
ATC: The windshield cracked, right?
Liu: Yes
ATC: 3U8633, Returning to Chongqing?
Liu: No, I returned to Chengdu
ATC: Got you ,for Chengdu, okay.
Liu: Yes
ATC: 3U8633. Got it. and you first keep at 8400.
Anchor: what about the further instructions from ATC?
Liu Chuanjian: No. because just both us think we finished the conversation. The whole windshield happened to burst.
Anchor: In the same moment of your talking?
Liu Chuanjian: Yes, when I am going to finished but not finish yet. Three times, it did three times. I loss total my response at that moment when I was able to re-open my eyes after the shock. I guess due to the effect of high explosive stress
Anchor: The first instinct to rescue him?
Liu Chuanjian: No. I didn't think it would explode at all. It might be that I heard a sound, instinctively blinked or something was like this, when I opened my eyes to see him.
Anchor: When you see the FO?
Liu Chuanjian: Yes, he was hanging there. Half of the body is outside.
Anchor: Is there not a seat belt?
Liu Chuanjian: In the cruise, we can relax a little, and he only fasten the leg belt, without that shoulder strap, so he was sucked out.
Anchor: people will be sucked out immediately?
Liu Chuanjian: Go out immediately.
Anchor: it's too sudden?
Liu Chuanjian: Yes, it's very sudden.
Anchor: for you, as a captain in the special circumstances of the copilot, is there any contingency plan in which there was such a design before?
Liu Chuanjian: Not really. All depends on the first reaction. Actually, I want to reach out to grasp him.
Anchor: Is this instinctive?
Liu Chuanjian: Yes, I want to grasp him back. But I can't reach him. The speed of the plane is very large. It may be around 800 kilometers. I can't pass over to get him back. And the important to me is the state of the plane. I want to keep the state of the plane well, so I manipulate the plane.
Anchor: But could you confirm his safety at that time?
Liu Chuanjian: I'm not sure what will happen. I didn't dare to think at that time. What I thought at that time was to control and not to let the plane fall.
Anchor: But how much certainty do you have in mind at that time?
Liu Chuanjian: Actually, I wasn't sure at that time. In fact, I was shouting to myself. “it is my end! it must be my end!” in my deepest mind.
Last edited by shimin; 20th May 2018 at 03:58.