Chapter 4 Chapter 3 Women

The plane was wobbly. At first I thought it was a problem with the instruments, because the instruments were not reliable after the airframe was frozen.Gray and I were at a loss, and didn't know how to operate it for a while. After ascending like this, we still don't get to outer space.Especially at this altitude and the speed of ascent, there is no oxygen, no one dares to take off the oxygen mask, and everyone sits in the position, waiting for the unknown fate to come. Then there was a loud bang from the plane and it sounded like someone was knocking on the door.Of course, there must be no one knocking on the door at such a high place. It should be that something outside hit the plane.Since the outside of the fuselage was covered with frost and it was dark at night, we couldn't see what was going on outside.We didn't see what was going on outside until the frost had been shaken off the windshield.It turned out that the plane encountered a strong updraft mass, so it was forced to ascend 10,000 meters. Now it was raining or hail outside, beating the C-47 frantically.

I understand that no matter how strong the updraft is, it will eventually end, but now it is necessary to control the plane so that it does not get swept away.Some comrades-in-arms have also encountered it before. Some were swept to Guangxi by air currents, and some were directly swept to Mount Everest.Gray tried to control the plane, but the trouble was that the direction finder was completely useless in this wind speed.Downdrafts and strong crosswinds are often accompanied by strong updrafts.If you fail to get out, you will be forced to descend quickly, and it is very easy to collide with the snow mountain, or fall directly to the ground.

Gray has tried his best, and the only thing he can do is to pray for God's mercy. There is nothing we four Chinese can do. God will not bless the Chinese.We all know that the terrain and weather of the hump are the biggest killers, and the "Zero Machine" is far behind.I was soaked like I just crawled out of the water, and the other four were not much better. C-47 is not an airtight cabin, and we felt that it was useless to wear oxygen masks. We felt that we could not lift it up in one breath, and the downdraft appeared. At this time, the C-47 in the dark night fell from the sky like a huge rock, and it landed vertically, and the plane was completely out of control.There was a waterfall of sweat all over my face, and before I could wipe it off, there was a pop in the cabin, and the C-47 tilted and fell sideways.Falling from a height of tens of thousands of meters is definitely unbearable for people, and it is even more difficult to control the plane at this time.I managed to glance at the altimeter, and the descent rate exceeded 3,000 feet per minute, and it didn't take long for me to really be doomed.

I don't know if the back cabin was pierced by hailstones. I heard the sound of ping-pong collisions, overturning, and the smell of dust getting into my nose.I hurriedly looked back, the cabin was filled with dust, and everyone's face seemed to be covered with a layer of ashes.The gyro compass and the horizon gave no readings, and finally, with the help of Gray and I, the airspeed pointer slowed down and showed 40 mph now. The plane is under control! When everything stabilized, I found out that the plane was right next to the top of a snow-capped mountain. If it continued to descend, it would crash into pieces.At this time, the plane was like a dead leaf, slowly floating in the night sky, unable to withstand any damage.After Gray leveled the plane on its side, I realized that the oil drum in the back compartment had been untied. Seeing this, Hu Liang and Zhang Yicheng went to tie it up again.Han Xiaoqiang, who took off his mask, called continuously into the microphone, trying to contact the comrades who had just called for help, while his eyes were red with heat.

We know very well that even if we hadn't encountered the three "Zero machines", it would be difficult for our comrades to escape the clutches of the weather.Although the weather was fine just now, the hump route is inherently changeable. It may be sunny one second and snowstorm the next.We have all lost contact with the ground navigation station, we can only rely on ourselves, and no one will come out to rescue us at this time.Finally, the radio locator flipped drastically, and I could vaguely discern the direction, but I couldn't help being surprised, and now I was within the range of the northern slope of the Himalayas.

I flew for nearly an hour tonight, and then flew a long distance after all the instruments failed. It must be very far away from Kunming at that time.Just now it was lifted by the updraft, rolled rapidly at high altitude for a while, and then pulled down by the downdraft. It is possible that the C-47 was swept to this position.Fortunately, after flying over the Himalayas, the weather and terrain will be better, unlike now that every second is painful.But the Himalayas are the most dangerous section of the Hump route, and whether they can reach it alive often depends on the conditions of this section of the route.

When Hu Liang and Zhang Yicheng tied up the scattered oil drums and walked to the seat, Han Xiaoqiang suddenly asked, "Are there any female pilots in this flight mission?" When I heard this sentence, I turned around and replied, "No! Why do you ask such a question?" Han Xiaoqiang was stunned for a moment, and then replied: "It's strange, how did I receive a distress signal from a woman?" Our aircraft uses VHF channel 4, if the working frequency band is different, then we cannot receive signals from other channels.Since Han Xiaoqiang can receive the signal, it means that the woman uses the same frequency band as us, and she must have called for help on the plane.But when I think about it, I don't remember any female pilots, nor did I take women to India.As soon as I thought about it, I immediately thought whether Yang Ning, who disappeared three months ago, was still alive. After all, there are very few female pilots, and it is very likely that she is asking for help.

Zhang Yicheng first questioned whether the earphones were broken during the turbulence of the plane, so the sound was distorted, and the man's voice became a woman's voice.Han Xiaoqiang admits that this is possible, but the distorted voice can be heard, it is completely a soft female voice.In order to be sure, Hu Liang walked over, put on the headphones handed over by Han Xiaoqiang, and listened carefully for a while.Hu Liang nodded and admitted that it was a woman's voice in the earphone, so there was nothing wrong with it.Zhang Yicheng didn't believe it, so he went to listen again. When he had to admit it, we believed that a woman was really asking for help.

I was sitting in the co-pilot's seat, and I really wanted to go and listen to it. If it was Yang Ning's voice, I would definitely be able to hear it.It's a pity that I couldn't get away, so I could only keep turning my head, eager to judge whether the woman was Yang Ning through their description.However, according to Han Xiaoqiang's description at the time, the woman's accent was from northern Shaanxi, and Yang Ning was from Qingdao.From this point of view, the woman is not Yang Ning, but I don't remember any of the female pilots from Shaanxi. The woman's original words for help were: Help, I'm in a snow valley, the plane has fallen!Um don't know where I am now, can anyone hear me?Come to the rescue, there are strange things outside the plane, many people died.

The woman spoke like a bullet, and she could hear she was very scared, but Han Xiaoqiang yelled a few words into the microphone, but got no response.I don't know if our microphone is broken, or there is no signal over there.After a few minutes, the woman's cry for help disappeared, replaced by three gunshots.Finally, the earphones returned to calm, and no human voice could be heard.Han Xiaoqiang tried to contact other friendly phones, asking if anyone had received such a signal, but found nothing. Since women exist, it is likely that there were indeed women in the other 13 planes.It's just that she has a special status, or she is going to perform some secret mission, so we were not informed.It's not that this kind of thing has never happened before. It stands to reason that if someone calls for help, we will go to the rescue, but now we are all in danger.According to Han Xiaoqiang's analysis, the woman's call for help was unprofessional, and she was definitely not a random operator or a pilot.The VHF can sometimes pick up signals thousands of miles away, and even if we tried to fly there, we didn't have enough fuel.

However, the woman mentioned the "Snow Valley", which may really be in the Himalayas, but the area is too large, and it is impossible for us to search every place.Unless the woman reported the specific location and nearby features in advance, obviously this woman would not even call for help.Hu Liang translated the matter to Gray, and Gray waved his hand away. At this time, to save people is tantamount to committing suicide.The key is that the origin of this woman is unknown, and no information has been reported, so it is impossible to confirm that the plane she is carrying belongs to our side. Han Xiaoqiang was worried: "If it is really a confidential important person, we will miss it, why not give it a try?" I turned around and said, "Xiaoqiang, I also want to save people, but how do I land in the Himalayas? There is no airport here." Zhang Yicheng thought this question was absurd, so he chuckled lightly: "If you want to land, you have to crash the plane. Below are the heroic souls of our brothers. I don't want you to be in such a hurry to accompany them." Hu Liang was careful, recalling the content of the woman's distress call, he said: "The woman said that there are strange things 'outside' and many people died. So she must have sent the distress signal from the plane. This area is too chaotic. There are some places inside that no one has been to for thousands or tens of thousands of years. Who knows what strange things are there. Did you all hear the three gunshots just now? As long as you are not a fool, everyone knows that you must not create anything in the snow-capped mountains. There is a loud noise, otherwise there will be an avalanche, where else can we escape?" I said it was true. Even though the woman was unprofessional in calling for help, judging from the geographical environment she was in, she should be able to understand that shooting in the Snow Valley is not allowed, unless there is an emergency that must be fired.Hu Liang then analyzed that the woman sent a distress signal in the plane, so the plane can be used as a temporary refuge.If you encounter an attack by wild animals such as wolves in the snow valley, you can use an airplane to resist it, and you don't have to use a gun to defend yourself. Zhang Yicheng said coldly: "What do you mean, old Hu, that she saw a monster? Now is not the time to be alarmist, can you talk about science, you think I am uneducated!" Hu Liang said frankly: "I just guessed based on the situation, I didn't say there were monsters, so tell me, what happened?" Zhang Yicheng said disapprovingly: "Guessing is useless, can you guess right? I don't guess!" After the signal was cut off, Han Xiaoqiang tried for a few minutes, and I saw that he began to suffer from high altitude hypoxia again, so I quickly reminded him to wear a mask and not to contact that mysterious woman.Even if we find the woman's location, it's impossible to rescue her. We can only contact the ground navigation station and let those people find a way.However, we have been unable to contact the ground navigation station, and it is still closed presumably.Gray thought the same as I did. He said in English that the chance of success is too small to land in the snow-capped mountains. After the C-47 got out of the strong storm, the temperature in the cabin gradually rose, and the deicing machine was able to solve the problem of icing on the fuselage.I handed Hu Liang two bottles of alcohol and asked him and Zhang Yicheng to wipe off the frost in the back cabin, at least to let us see the outside situation through the windshield.Sitting in the co-pilot seat, I also unscrewed a bottle of alcohol and started removing ice cubes attached to the interior of the plane.After a while, the cabin smelled of alcohol, and the frost was almost removed. All of a sudden, I saw a plane beside me. It should be a C-53 transport plane, a friendly plane that was traveling with me tonight.Han Xiaoqiang in the back cabin saw it and hurriedly yelled into the microphone, trying to contact the radio operator on that plane.Seeing that their comrades-in-arms were still alive, Zhang Yicheng and Hu Liang were very happy and even cheered.That kind of excitement can only be felt at that time. Every plane is connected with heart and heart, and all blood is intertwined.Now the weather is stable, there is no strong airflow or snow, it is a good time to see the terrain clearly, and the god of luck seems to have returned to my side. The two planes were very close, flying in parallel, so close that they could see the people in the other plane.We waved to the pilot of the plane through the porthole, but before we could put our hands down, the C-53 suddenly landed rapidly from an altitude of more than 5,000 meters, and exploded after touching the mountain in less than ten seconds.