China News Service, Chongqing, February 14th (Zhang Xu) High plateau routes are easy to overturn?

What does it feel like to overlook the "roof of the world" at an altitude of 10,000 meters?

Are high-altitude routes safe?

Recently, with the recovery of China's civil aviation flight volume and passenger traffic volume, the tourism industry in various places has gradually recovered, and the flight volume of China's high-altitude routes has also ushered in growth.

On the 13th, a reporter from Chinanews.com interviewed senior high-altitude flight captains and flight attendants to reveal the secrets about high-altitude routes to the public.

The picture shows Ma Jianbo taking a picture at Gao Gao Yuan Airport.

Photo courtesy of West Air

　　Implement the "dual captain" system with strict requirements

　　High plateau routes refer to aviation routes flying above an altitude of 2438 meters.

Ma Jianbo, the captain of West Air Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as West Air), who has 41 years of flying experience and mainly flew high-altitude routes for the past 10 years, said that adhering to the concept of "safety first", high-altitude routes are of great importance to aircraft, airports, pilots, Flight attendants and other requirements are relatively high.

　　First of all, in terms of aircraft, "aircraft flying on high plateaus have special 'requirements'." Ma Jianbo said, "aircraft flying on high plateau routes need to undergo modifications to other systems such as oxygen supply systems."

　　Ma Jianbo also said that high-altitude routes have high take-off and landing speeds, which affect the acceleration and deceleration performance of the aircraft. Therefore, the runways of general high-altitude airports are longer than those of ordinary airports, and the technical requirements for captains are also higher.

　　All airlines have stricter requirements for pilots on high-altitude routes.

Taking West Air as an example, the responsible captain must be a Class B instructor or above, and the length of time as the captain exceeds 500 hours.

Before every high-altitude flight, the aviation doctor will also conduct a strict pre-flight inspection on the captain of the flight, focusing on blood pressure, blood oxygen saturation, heart rate and other data. If the captain says he is not feeling well, the flight will be cancelled. These procedures are to ensure the absolute safety of flying high-altitude routes.

　　It is worth mentioning that Western Airlines requires high-altitude routes to implement the "dual-captain" system, that is, the aircraft must be equipped with two captains and one co-pilot, and "at least three people are guaranteed to be able to independently fly the aircraft."

　　As for other crew members, Huang Meijiao, the flight attendant who has more than 10 years of flight experience on high-altitude routes, told reporters that airlines will conduct systematic training for flight attendants, including theoretical and practical learning.

Compared with other routes, flight attendants must ensure adequate sleep, not fasting, and drink plenty of water before flying on high-altitude routes, so as to achieve the best physical condition and ensure the safety of the flight cabin.

The picture shows the scenery of the high plateau route taken by passengers.

Photo provided by the interviewee

　　Overlooking the "roof of the world", but "not looking at the scenery"

　　On high plateau routes, affected by factors such as terrain, sunshine, air pressure, etc., it is very easy for the airflow to be unstable and cause the aircraft to turbulent.

Someone asked, is the bump related to "not filling up the oil"?

"For high-altitude routes, considering the fact that there are not many alternate airports nearby, in order to ensure flight safety, high-altitude routes will refuel as much as possible." Ma Jianbo responded that in addition, aircraft turbulence has nothing to do with the amount of refueling.

　　Air turbulence is a common phenomenon during flight. According to IATA (International Air Transport Association) statistics, in recent years, there have been about 5,000 severe turbulences encountered by commercial aircraft worldwide in recent years.

"The turbulence is related to the speed, and it is also related to the airflow." Ma Jianbo said that it is necessary to grasp the speed and "feel" the airflow. This is related to the captain's knowledge, experience, courage, etc., and it is also inseparable from the support of the team after the opening ceremony. "Flying has never been a few people's business."

　　Huang Meijiao said that as a flight attendant, when encountering turbulence, he must first stabilize himself, and remind passengers to fasten their seat belts through the broadcast, and take good care of themselves.

In addition, the placement of luggage will also affect the safety of the plane during turbulence. "Passengers often see flight attendants habitually 'touching' the luggage plate, but they are actually checking and properly placing luggage." Huang Meijiao said.

　　Therefore, the flight attendants will also pay more attention to the arrangements for the elderly and children, such as trying to arrange them in non-aisle seats. At the same time, they will also remind passengers with children to keep their heads facing the window as much as possible to avoid luggage slipping and smashing due to severe turbulence. risk of injury.

　　It is worth mentioning that, in addition to tourism and business passenger flow, high-altitude routes sometimes undertake the task of transporting medical passengers.

Taking West Air as an example, the airline has undertaken tasks such as transportation of children with congenital heart disease in Tibet, passengers on stretchers, and hematopoietic stem cells for inspection and transportation, and has undertaken social responsibilities.

This is inseparable from the dedication of the crew. "Taking stretcher passengers as an example, we need to disassemble and assemble nine seats, toilet door panels, etc., and it takes about 9 hours before and after."

　　The photos sent by some passengers show that on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the "roof of the world" is just a group of white "dots".

"Looking at the scenery inadvertently is not due to aesthetic fatigue, but to go all out every time you fly over." A practitioner said.

(over)