(Article/Observer Network columnist Zhang Zhonglin)
On August 15, Ural Airlines Flight U6178 was flying from Moscow to Simferopol, Ukraine, when it was hit by birds shortly after takeoff, and it landed in two rounds, but fortunately there were no casualties. Encountering a bird strike during the take-off and landing phase is very dangerous for an aircraft, and the failure of the engine due to the bird strike is arguably the most dangerous possibility. This successful crash is reminiscent of the Crash Flight 1549 accident in the United States a decade ago, known as the "Hudson River Miracle."
"Miracle of Buddy"
Since the plane crash is near the airport, and because of the successful forced landing without casualties, it is easier to restore the accident. Ural Airlines flight U6178 carries seven crew members and 226 passengers and is A321. After taking off from Zhukovsky Airport, he had just climbed to an altitude of 750 feet (about 250 meters) when he was hit by a flock of birds.
Judging from the data on the FR24, the speed of the aircraft at the time of the bird strike was only 143 knots, just exceeding the common V2 speed (ground speed) of the A321, and it can be said that the aircraft just left the ground not long after it encountered a bird strike. The speed of 143 knots, the height of 750 feet, the double engine failure, the speed is not speed, the attitude is not attitude, the height is not high, there is no room for emergency return, and the slightest carelessness of the aircraft will stall and crash.
The picture shows the approximate area of the forced landing of Ural Air
Due to the bird strike at the beginning of take-off and the aircraft situation is extremely unfavorable, the decision time left for the captain is very short, and the slightest hesitation will lose the energy that is not much, and then the aircraft will be destroyed, in this case, the pilot does not have time to turn over the QRH manual. Fortunately, Zhukovsky Airport is located on the outskirts of Moscow, and its runway ends with a large area of brown rice instead of a building, allowing the aircraft to make a forced landing and keep the fuselage intact, with only 10 people injured.
Drone aerial photography of the forced landing scene
If you hesitate, you will crash
The aircraft as a whole is intact, only the engine is off, and even gives people the illusion that they can be repaired and continued to use
Judging from the pictures on the scene, the fuselage of the A321 after the forced landing is very complete, and only the engine falls off under the impact force. Judging from the video taken by passengers on the plane in the forced landing, the pilot controls it very stably in the forced landing, and the descent rate is like a normal landing, if it is not a huge impact during the forced landing, it will really make people think that this is a normal landing. Of course, the vast and flat brown rice fields and soft soil also played an important role in this successful forced landing, and it can be said that there is no more ideal place for a forced landing than this - except for the runway. In addition to the skilled hero pilots, whose decisions saved more than 230 lives, perhaps thanks to Khrushchev's vigorous promotion of brown rice cultivation 60 years ago, leaving such a field of brown rice for the plane to land.
Khrushchev's bud fields still shelter the Russian people 60 years later
The Hudson River Miracle or the Neva River Miracle
Because this air disaster is very similar to the 2009 Hudson River Miracle, it has the characteristics of bird strikes, double failures, and no one dying shortly after takeoff, so that the media called it "the second Hudson River Miracle". However, the world knows the "Hudson River Miracle", but it does not know the "Neva River Miracle". In terms of generations, the 2009 "Hudson River Miracle" should be called "the second Neva Miracle".
On August 21, 1963, a brand-new Tu-124 took off from Tallinn to Moscow, captained by the 27-year-old Victor Mostoch. However, not long after takeoff, the young captain encountered the same situation as his Chinese counterpart 35 years later (the emergency landing of China Eastern Airlines Flight 586 in 1998): the landing gear could not be put away and could not be put down.
According to the procedure, it was natural to solve the problem immediately and make a landing, but soon after take-off, the weather at Tallinn airport began to deteriorate, and the only option was to go to the nearby Leningrad (present-day St. Petersburg) airport for disposal. Leningrad airport laid sand and foam on the runway to prevent the plane from catching fire when it landed, and the crew was trying to force the landing gear down. The Soviet crew forcibly lowered the landing gear by a very "fighting nation": a random engineer cut a hole in the floor of the aircraft with a cutter, and then poked the landing gear with a mop to try to get it down.
Due to the failure of the fuel gauge, the crew has always thought that the aircraft still has fuel, and has been circling in the air to try to rescue the aircraft and put down the landing gear, so that until the engine is stopped, it is not realized that there is no fuel, but at this time there are still 20 kilometers from the airport, and it is impossible to fly to the airport in any case. So the 27-year-old Mostoch made the same choice as the 58-year-old Sulenberg (captain of the Hudson River Miracle, also known as Captain Sully): a forced landing on the river. New York had the Hudson River, and Leningrad had the Neva River, so Captain Mostoch, surrounded by the citizens of Leningrad, landed on the Neva River in the city center and almost hit a tugboat. After the successful landing, the passengers did not jump on the ship, but let the ship pull the plane to the shore and then disembarked, and there were no casualties among the passengers.
Figure 124 on the Neva River
Paintings based on the wonders of the Neva River
The accident has so many elements that it would be too fake to be scolded for being on the screen — of course, reality is often more bizarre than art, because reality doesn't need to be considered. So if the Neva Miracle is made into a movie, the real plot alone is "Emergency Landing" + "Captain Sully" + "Fighting Nation Cultivation", Captain Mostoch is a 27-year-old handsome guy, looking for a handsome guy to play, it is not a hit? If you really want to shoot it, it shows that the Captain of the Soviet Civil Aviation is skilled, full of martial virtue, and the 27th year is an "old driver" who can land safely on the water. The "Hudson River Miracle" of 2009 is afraid to become the "Neva Miracle Second", and Salenberg is also going to become the "American version of Captain Mostoch".
The miracle creator of the Neva River, Captain Mostoch
It's better to do well than to advertise
However, the miracle of the Neva River did not come to the screen, "Captain Mostoch" did not start filming, and the Soviet Union even tried its best to suppress the miracle of the Neva River: confiscating the film of witnesses at the scene, saying in the newspaper that it was filming with a real plane (so you are shooting one?). ）。 The Soviet Union did this to avoid the accident affecting the external sales of the Tu 124, and thus the Soviet Union missed the opportunity to portray a heroic Soviet captain - the Hudson River Miracle is known to the world, but not the Neva River Miracle.
In contrast, after the "Hudson River Miracle" in 2009, the American media went all out to promote and create a heroic captain after the 9/11 incident to inspire people. Hollywood also filmed "Captain Sully" released worldwide, making people think of "Captain Sully" as soon as they saw the successful landing - the so-called good job is not as good as blowing.
"Captain Sully" starred to Tom Hanks, which can be described as a luxurious lineup
Throughout the Cold War, the rigidity and restraint of the Soviet propaganda system left it at a disadvantage in the face of Western propaganda offensives for a long time. The total rout of the propaganda front also played a role in the total rout of the Soviet ideological field in the eighties, indirectly accelerating the disintegration of the SOVIET Union.
Of course, as "stepping on the Soviet Union across the river," China naturally fully absorbed the lessons of the Soviet propaganda front. The heroic deeds that emerged in the civil aviation accident were widely publicized in movies, and the most typical one is the movie "Emergency Landing" adapted from the forced landing of Flight 586 of China Eastern Airlines. For this old movie, there is not much introduction here, although it is limited by the level of the film industry in that year, it still faithfully restores the whole event and shows the exquisite technology and style of the Chinese pilot. Compared with the Soviet propaganda departments that think of ways to cover their lids, the Chinese propaganda system is a bit of a doorway.
Movie "Emergency Landing"
The "Captain China", which was based on the successful landing of the cockpit glass during the flight of Sichuan Airlines in May 2018, represents the latest technology and achievements of the Chinese film industry, and the heroic captain Liu Chuanjian played by Zhang Hanyu is also worth looking forward to. In recent years, the level of China's film industry has improved qualitatively, and there have been acclaimed and popular movies such as "Wolf Warrior 2", "The Wandering Earth", "Red Sea Action" and so on, and "Captain China" as a National Day tribute film and a rare domestic aerial disaster film, also makes people look forward to the quality of the film - after all, if such a good subject matter is filmed, it is really a crime.
As an important form of artistic expression, film is an important channel for carrying out propaganda work. As for the propaganda position, if you do not occupy it yourself, then the enemy will occupy it. The soviet experience tells us that heroic deeds will fall without publicizing them, and in the end it is called "XX version xx captain". Captain Liu Chuanjian is Captain Liu Chuanjian, not "Captain Sully in China". I hope that "Captain China", a film that is expected by all civil aviation people, can live up to expectations and open up the market internationally, so that the world knows the style of Chinese captains and the unremitting pursuit of safety by Chinese civil aviation.
Captain China, September 30, no more, no more.
This article is an exclusive manuscript of the Observer Network and may not be reproduced without authorization.