Xu Xian was startled, and his thoughts about the sudden and almost explosive sound were suddenly interrupted. He and Wang Qian looked at each other: "Brother, there is a fire in the cargo hold!"

"Fuck!" Wang Qian cursed and immediately ordered: "Turn off the alarm bell and verify the fault."

Like most fire alarms, the first step is to cut off the alarm for cargo hold fire alarms. As for the "fault verification" mentioned later, it is not to verify whether it is a cargo hold fire alarm, but to determine whether the fire is in the front cargo hold or the rear cargo hold.

on fire.

The cargo hold fire alarm preset switch is divided into the front cargo hold and the rear cargo hold, so you first need to determine the location of the fire.

Xu Xianlian pressed the FIRE WARNING button to cut off the fire alarm bell, and then checked the cargo hold fire alarm panel. The cargo hold fire alarm panel is next to the engine, APU and wheel well fire alarm panels, and is located at the top of the center console.

At this time, a red word "AFT" lit up on the cargo hold fire alarm panel, indicating that a fire broke out in the rear cargo hold. If "FWD" lit up, it meant that a fire broke out in the forward cargo hold.

"Brother, it's a fire in the rear cargo hold!" Xu Xian reported.

At this time, Wang Qian also allocated his attention to the fire alarm switch in the cargo compartment. Not long ago, during the preparation stage of the cockpit, his theory about being struck by lightning twice in a row echoed in his ears, but in less than two hours,

, reality slapped him hard in the face.

"If we smell a strange smell or detect smoke, we should wear an oxygen mask!" Wang Qian gritted his teeth, warned, and continued: "Cargo fire alarm checklist!"

In fact, the cargo hold and the passenger cabin are not completely sealed. There is gas circulation between the gaps in the partitions. That is to say, if the cargo hold catches fire, the smoke generated by the combustion can penetrate into the passenger cabin and cockpit through the gaps.

If the smoke cannot be controlled later, they must wear oxygen masks to avoid inhaling a large amount of smoke and causing them to lose their ability to work.

This requirement was recorded in the standard operating procedures. Xu Xian naturally remembered it clearly. After expressing his approval, he followed Wang Qian's request and went through the cargo hold fire alarm checklist.

There is no memory item for the cargo hold fire alarm checklist, but in principle it is required to be completed as soon as possible. With Xu Xian's memory, he has already memorized the cargo hold fire alarm checklist in his mind. However, although the situation is urgent at this time, it is not yet critical.

When a moment's delay can mean the difference between life and death, it's better to abide by the rules. Otherwise, it would be too much to always treat the standards as nothing and go beyond the checklist at every turn.

After carrying out the fire alarm checklist in the cargo hold in an orderly manner, he read out the name of the checklist, and after Wang Qian confirmed it, Xu Xian began to carry out the disposal steps.

"Cargo hold fire alarm arm switch, affected cargo hold, confirm, press, verify arm!"

The switch with the red word AFT on before was the cargo hold fire alarm arming switch. This switch can be pressed. As long as it is pressed, the cargo hold fire extinguishing bottle is armed. Otherwise, it is impossible to directly press the release switch to put out the fire in the cargo hold.

Release the fire extinguisher bottle.

This time there was a fire in the rear cargo compartment, so all you had to do was press the fire alarm switch in the rear cargo compartment.

"Brother, there is a fire in the rear cargo compartment. Then arm the rear cargo compartment switch." Xu Xian also checked with Wang Qian before proceeding.

The operation of this key switch must be verified with another crew member if conditions are met, otherwise a big problem may occur.

There has been a case where the right engine of a civil airliner caught fire after takeoff. According to the engine fire alarm handling procedures, the crew had to complete the shutdown of the affected engine from memory in a short period of time.

Shutting down the engine does not simply mean that the thrust handle is returned to the idle position and the starter handle is cut off. It also involves pulling out the fire alarm handle and releasing the fire extinguishing bottle.

As soon as the fire extinguishing bottle is released, the engine will be completely destroyed and it will never be restarted, so the disposal operation must be cautious.

However, because the fire alarm occurred just after the plane took off, the captain of the flight was under great psychological pressure. During the fire alarm memory project, he did not communicate with the co-pilot at all, and actually turned off the left engine by mistake, ultimately causing two

Both engines lost thrust, causing a serious flight accident.

This accident case is still often mentioned even today to illustrate the importance of mutual verification, especially in emergencies.

People in high-pressure environments are prone to making low-level mistakes, which requires timely reminders and help from another person.

Wang Qian nodded: "Press it!"

After verification between the two parties, Xu Xian pressed the fire alarm arm switch in the rear cargo compartment. This arm switch will not rebound after being pressed, and at the same time, the ARM arm English logo will appear on the switch.

"Cargo hold fire extinguishing release switch, press and hold for one second."

The cargo hold fire extinguishing release switch, the CARGO FIRE DISCH switch, is another independent switch. This switch can rebound, which is different from the cargo hold fire alarm preset switch.

"Release the switch to extinguish the fire in the cargo hold. Press and hold for one second!" Wang Qian confirmed the action and signaled to Xu Xian that he could continue.

After Xu Xian pressed the fire-extinguishing release switch in the cargo hold, he and Wang Qian pressed the timing button almost in unison.

After pressing the cargo hold fire extinguishing release button, the release light may not light up immediately. Generally speaking, it should light up within thirty seconds, so Xu Xian and Wang Qiancai will time it. If it exceeds thirty seconds, the release light will turn on.

If it still doesn't light up, you may need to press the fire extinguishing release switch again. If it still doesn't work, there may be a problem with the release circuit, and then the problem will become bigger.

The two of them ignored the problem of delayed release lights and let time pass before taking the next steps.

"Recirculation fan switch, off!" This is to prevent smoke from spreading faster.

"Component switch, high flow bit!"

Wang Qian nodded: "Component switch, verify, there are two high-flow positions!"

Xu Xian followed Wang Qian's instructions and adjusted the switches of the two components to the high flow position.

"Plan to land at the nearest suitable airport!" Xu Xian took a breath: "Brother, only the delayed projects are left! It's over for now!"

The delayed items are the descent checklist, approach checklist and landing checklist! These all need to be done after the approach preparation is completed, and they have not yet reached the time to do the delayed items.

While Xu Xian was temporarily completing the cargo hold fire alarm checklist, the release light came on, and both Xu Xian and Wang Qian relaxed a little.

"Brother, we have to land as soon as possible!"

Whether it is a cargo hold fire, an engine fire, an APU fire, or a wheel well fire, as long as a fire emergency occurs, the aircraft must land as soon as possible without any delay.

"I know!" Wang Qian didn't waste any time. Regardless of whether someone else was talking on the frequency, he immediately covered the frequency: "Star Travel 6333, cargo hold fire, request for immediate landing!"

But as soon as Wang Qian finished speaking, a large number of subsequent communication sounds completely drowned out Wang Qian's previous call. Even Wang Qian didn't know if the Rongcheng control had heard his words.

After waiting for a while, he still didn't hear the control officer's reply to him. He was still replying to someone else. Wang Qian knew that what he just said was still not heard by the control officer, at least not clearly.

"What a damn good time to pick!" Wang Qian cursed. It was rare that the radio was so busy today, and there was no room to interrupt.

Wang Qian glanced at the cargo hold fire alarm panel. After the fire extinguishing bottle was released, the fire alarm indicator in the rear cargo hold was still on, indicating that the fire alarm had not been eliminated.

Xu Xian noticed Wang Qian's actions and comforted him: "Brother, Helen's fire extinguishing bottle or residual delay may cause the fire alarm light to remain on. You see, this reference is of little significance."

The cargo compartment fire alarm may go out during subsequent flights, may remain on, may illuminate intermittently, or even the main fire alarm light may light up again and the fire alarm bell may sound. However, if the above phenomenon is caused by the same cargo compartment, it does not mean that the cargo compartment fire is insurmountable.

Control. In other words, if the fire alarm light in the forward cargo compartment no longer lights up, then the reference of some fire alarm information is actually not that important.

"I know!" Wang Qian waved his hand and sighed: "I just hate looking at this fire alarm light!"

Wang Qian raised his eyelids and took a deep look at Xu Xian. The two looked at each other, making Xu Xian's heart feel slightly tense. He really couldn't tell what the look in Wang Qian's eyes meant.

Blame? Angry? Or... helpless?

Fortunately, Wang Qian only looked at Xu Xian for a few seconds, then withdrew his gaze, turned his attention away from the windshield again, and pressed the talk button with his left hand. This time Wang Qian's voice roared very loudly.

"MAYDAY! MAYDAY! MAYDAY! Can you let me say a word?"

MAYDAY cleared the way, and Wang Qian's voice was about to roar to the sky. The originally chaotic and busy frequency was suddenly silent. Compared with the noise a second ago, there was a huge difference.

"Brothers, I'm sorry, please occupy the frequency." Compared with the volume that suppressed the entire audience just now, Wang Qian's voice seemed a bit low. He took a breath: "Star Travel 6333, there is a fire in the cargo hold!"

After a brief silence in the frequency, someone from the crew suddenly said: "Brother, you are awesome, let's hold on for a while."

Xu Chengcheng controller was also stunned by Wang Qian's voice just now. He calmed down for a while before replying: "Xingyou 6333, is it confirmed to be a cargo hold fire?"

"That's right! Now we apply to descend as soon as possible and land nearby." Wang Qian confirmed.

"Is there anything else needed other than descending and landing as quickly as possible?" the controller asked.

Wang Qian was a little annoyed by the control: "I want to do it now..."

Wang Qian stopped abruptly in the middle of his words. His eyes passed through the windshield and fell into the layers of thunderclouds in front and below. Just now, at eleven o'clock, the thunder clouds directly below them erupted.

There was a flash of light, as if a giant bomb exploded in the clouds.

"Damn it!"

At this time, the control responded: "Xingyu 6333, you have applied for a lower altitude, right? Wait a moment, I am coordinating!"

Now in this area, a large number of aircraft have almost deviated from the established routes in order to fly around the thunderstorm. The controller needs to make some adjustments to create a suitable altitude for Star Tour 6333.

But after the controller said these words, he waited for a while but did not get a response from the crew of Xingyou 6333. He suddenly became suspicious: "Xingyou 6333, call from Chengdu!"

At this time, in the cockpit, Xu Xian and Wang Qian's faces were reflected with a series of flashes of light. In their sight, it seemed as if the plane was sitting on a thunder pool, with electric snakes dancing wildly in the clouds below. How could they get down?

?

Moving his eyes forward again, under the dim moonlight and lightning, this thundercloud continued to extend, and it was impossible to see the end at a glance.

When preparing for the flight, they knew that there were strong thunderstorm clouds spanning part of the Dianyun area, most of the Chengdu area and a small part of the Shangdu area. However, they climbed to a high altitude early, except for the relatively serious ones.

Bumpy, they didn't encounter any other situations, so they didn't take it to heart. But when they really started to pay attention, they realized how desperate this thundercloud was.

"Brother, can we go down?" At this time, even the brave Xu Xian was frightened by the sight of thunder and lightning below.

This is not to say that passenger aircraft cannot withstand lightning strikes. At the beginning of the design of any aircraft model, the lightning protection capability test of the aircraft is included. In the airworthiness verification of a certain aircraft model by the Authority, it means that the aircraft has sufficient lightning protection capabilities.

An important criterion for verification.

But having said that, most of this lightning protection capability is just to deal with occasional lightning strikes. No pilot in the world would drill into thunderclouds easily.

The lightning protection capability of the aircraft is designed to prevent accidental lightning strikes, and is not evidence that the aircraft can penetrate thunderclouds.

If planes could really fly through thunderclouds, there wouldn't be any airline regulations on flying around thunderstorms.

If there was just an isolated thunderstorm air mass below, Xu Xian had to bite the bullet and go down. After all, the plane was on fire, and they really couldn't afford to delay in the sky. But from a visual point of view, Xu Xian could see at least

There were six or seven lightning strikes, and the intervals between them were so small that it was almost impossible to pass through them.

If you want to get through the thunderclouds below, there is no trick, you have to rush!
To be continued...