"NG8773, you are now 21 nautical miles west of Rongcheng Airport. Maintain altitude and adjust heading to 090. I will now guide you into the landing path." The controller, who witnessed this dramatic scene on radar, replied with lingering fear.
"Turn left to heading 090, NG8773, understood!"
After receiving the instructions from the ground, Chen Yang engaged the autopilot and gently turned the knob to set the heading at 90. The massive passenger plane immediately tilted slowly to the left, tracing a beautiful arc in the black night sky. Chen Yang stared blankly out the dark window, his mind racing. He felt something was amiss, but couldn't pinpoint what had gone wrong, so he remained silent, his brow furrowed.
Under the controller's guidance, the aircraft slowly flew towards Rongcheng Airport, its altitude gradually decreasing during the approach. As landing approached, Chen Yang remained uneasy, a persistent unease haunting him. He felt there was some fatal flaw that neither he nor the controllers had considered.
The runway lights were already faintly visible ahead, but Chen Yang's unease grew stronger.
In the counter-terrorism emergency command center, everyone stared intently at the radar screen as flight NG8773 drew ever closer to Yongle Airport. The atmosphere was tense; everyone held their breath, their fists clenched involuntarily.
The J-10 fighter jet, despite severe wing damage, successfully made an emergency landing. Upon hearing the news, those in the command center breathed a sigh of relief. If anything had happened to this fighter jet, costing hundreds of millions, the consequences would have been unbearable for everyone.
The photos taken by the high-speed camera specially equipped on the fighter jet for this mission were quickly transmitted to the large screen in the command center. In the dark night sky, the brightly lit behemoth of the airliner appeared before everyone, creating a truly awe-inspiring sight.
A series of slides played, showing the NG8773 flying smoothly through the night sky. But everyone knew that beneath the calm exterior, the cabin was a scene of utter chaos.
When one slide appeared, Major General Liu Guoqiang, Chief of Staff of Army Group A, suddenly shouted:
"Stop! Zoom in on this photo!"
Liu Guoqiang pointed to a spot in the photo. Technicians quickly operated the computer and zoomed in on that area. Everyone's eyes were drawn to it. In the photo, a beautiful young woman was being held at gunpoint by hijackers. Her face was pressed against the window glass, her eyes filled with despair. The hijackers' cruel smiles were clearly visible.
The high-resolution reconnaissance camera faithfully and clearly recorded everything.
Liu Guoqiang gritted his teeth and slammed his fist on the conference table, his eyes burning with rage. This was the first time Liu Guoqiang had seen his daughter's image since losing contact with her, and it was a heartbreaking scene. "Guoqiang, Xinyao should be alright. There are no reports of casualties from the plane." Fang Hongda calmly patted Liu Guoqiang on the shoulder and then said, "Continue playing!"
The slideshow continued.
The scene of Chen Yang suddenly launching an attack, successively killing the hijackers patrolling the front cabin and the tall, thin man, was all captured by the fighter jets through the portholes and presented to everyone.
"It's him!" Fang Hongda and Liu Guoqiang exclaimed in unison.
"Guoqiang, you know Chen Yang too?" Fang Hongda asked in surprise.
"Yes! Last time Qingya came to Rongcheng... that girl from the Xu family, she had a little trouble on the highway, and it was all thanks to this young man who saved them!" Liu Guoqiang nodded and said, "By the way, this time Xinyao went to Sanya with Chen Yang and a professor from her school to attend an academic forum."
"I didn't expect this young man to be so brave! He actually dared to step forward in that situation! He saved Xinyao's life..." Liu Guoqiang continued with a sigh, "If they can come back safely, I will thank him properly!"
Fang Hongda stared thoughtfully at Chen Yang's extremely standard and precise gun-drawing action in the photo, and said loudly:
"Show us the image of the cockpit after the bandits were subdued!"
"Yes!" the staff member replied crisply, and then quickly searched through the massive number of photos.
Soon, a photo appeared before everyone. In the photo, the posture of flight NG8773 had become extremely strange, with the nose tilted upwards at a large angle, showing a steep climb in the night sky. Before Fang Hongda could give any instructions, the staff quickly zoomed in on the image. Everyone soon saw the scene in the cockpit. Due to the shooting angle, the photo only showed a young man in civilian clothes sitting in the captain's seat, struggling to push the control stick forward through the porthole.
However, both Fang Hongda and Liu Guoqiang recognized him immediately: the person piloting the plane was none other than Chen Yang!
The two exchanged glances, both reading deep worry in each other's eyes. Fang Hongda, in particular, knew everything about Chen Yang. He knew that Chen Yang had never had even a single day of flight training. Previous reports suggested that an aviation enthusiast was controlling the aircraft, and they had held onto the hope that at least this enthusiast had flown small planes. Now, it seemed the situation was worse than they had imagined.
Everyone present understood that in modern, increasingly automated passenger aircraft, a complete novice entering the cockpit and facing thousands of instruments and buttons would likely feel dizzy, let alone be able to successfully land the plane. The possibility of that was practically zero.
However, the reality is that Chen Yang has been in charge of the aircraft for quite some time now. During this period, the plane experienced explosive decompression, yet Chen Yang was able to decisively and quickly descend the altitude. He also handled the threat of crashing into a mountain calmly and decisively. So far, the flight attitude has remained relatively stable, which everyone finds somewhat unbelievable.
Could Chen Yang be a genius?
Fang Hongda pondered for a moment and said:
"You guys make contact. I need to speak directly with the cockpit!"
In the cockpit of flight NG8773, Chen Yang nervously monitored the flight parameters, his brow furrowed. His mind raced, trying to figure out which aspect he hadn't considered. Suddenly, a voice came through his headset:
"NG8773, this is Secretary Fang Hongda of the Provincial Party Committee speaking to you!"
Upon hearing this, Chen Yang quickly and solemnly replied:
"Hello, Secretary Fang, this is Chen Yang!"
In this setting, Chen Yang naturally couldn't address Fang Hongda as "Uncle Fang." He knew that almost all the relevant leaders on the ground were present at this time.
"Chen Yang, how's the situation on the plane?" Fang Hongda didn't have time for pleasantries and asked directly.
Chen Yang replied succinctly:
"Reporting to Secretary Fang, the hijackers have all been apprehended. Currently, both pilots are seriously injured and unable to control the aircraft. There's a puncture in the tail section of the cabin, and the passenger cabin has depressurized. At present, it doesn't seem to significantly affect the aircraft's control."
Fang Hongda felt slightly relieved upon hearing this and immediately asked:
"Chen Yang, are you confident about the landing?"
Chen Yang paused for a moment, then answered firmly:
"Secretary Fang, I've never been in contact with an airplane before, but I'm quite interested in flying and have played many flight simulator games. In Microsoft Flight Simulator, my landing success rate..." "The power is ninety percent. But a game is just a game, completely different from real flight. So, all I can say is that I will do everything in my power to complete this impossible mission! Because there are two hundred and eight precious lives on board, two hundred and eight families anxiously awaiting the safety of their loved ones! I have no choice but to do everything in my power to save these lives, and to save myself!"
Everyone who heard Chen Yang's words over the radio was deeply moved. They knew that this young man in his early twenties was undertaking a heroic feat, and regardless of his ultimate success, he was destined to be recorded in history as a hero!
Fang Hongda said emotionally:
"Chen Yang, I believe you can do it! The moment you land safely, I will personally throw you a victory banquet! Go for it!"
"Please rest assured, Commander! I will resolutely complete the mission!" Infected by this emotion, Chen Yang involuntarily straightened his chest and solemnly uttered the words he often said in the army in his previous life, because at this moment, he was a soldier! And a lone hero! The call was brief, as everyone hesitated to disturb Chen Yang for fear of interfering with his C-control of the aircraft.
The flight speed decreased, and the glide path was being established; the runway was just around the corner.
"Chen Yang, keep going!" Fang Hongda's encouraging words still echoed in Chen Yang's ears!
Go...go! I understand!
Chen Yang suddenly realized!
The problem was the fuel level!
The plane was scheduled to fly to Sanya City and carried a relatively large amount of aviation fuel. However, due to the hijacking incident, the flight had only just begun. This meant the plane was carrying a significant amount of fuel. If it landed now, a hard landing could very likely result in the plane catching fire or even exploding.
Chen Yang wasn't a professional commercial airliner pilot; the possibility of a hard landing was still quite high for him.
At this thought, Chen Yang broke out in a cold sweat. He immediately contacted ground control, his voice unusually urgent:
"NG8773 requests a go-around! NG8773 requests a go-around!"
The ground controller was startled. Already under high tension, upon hearing Chen Yang's request to go-around, he anxiously asked:
"Reason?"
"Too much fuel! Landing is dangerous!" Chen Yang stated succinctly.
The aircraft was already at a very low altitude, and its speed had decreased significantly. Time was running out for Chen Yang. Without waiting for a response from control, he decisively pushed the throttle and pulled back on the control stick. The aircraft roared past at low altitude, then soared back into the dark night sky.
The controller suddenly realized his mistake—a crucial oversight! While feeling a wave of fear, he also greatly admired Chen Yang's composure and meticulous planning, and immediately issued instructions for the aircraft to climb.
After reaching a safe altitude, a new problem arose. The flight was partially damaged, and since it was being piloted by an inexperienced pilot, lingering in the air and wasting fuel was clearly unwise. The best course of action was to guide the aircraft to the sea surface to perform a fuel dumping procedure and quickly proceed with the landing. However, Chen Yang had only a superficial understanding of Boeing aircraft, and he obviously couldn't execute this complex procedure correctly. Meanwhile, the airline's dispatch engineers were delayed in arriving at their posts. The air traffic controllers faced a dilemma.
Just then, a strange voice suddenly came through the radio communication channel, which had been cleared after Chen Yang announced "mayday"...