In January 1988, Huang Yongzhi, a native of Chongqing, was in a hurry to go out when suddenly, a deafening loud bang pierced the night sky, and a plane braving a raging fire fell from the sky and rushed straight to a small dirt slope about 20 meters high in the west of the village. 108 people died on the spot!
Huang Yongzhi was stunned, and it took a while to come back to his senses, and he shouted: "The plane has fallen!" The plane has fallen! Awakened by the loud noise and Mr. Huang's shouts, the villagers put on their clothes and walked out of their homes to check. When they arrived at the scene, they saw that the plane had crashed on a small dirt slope, igniting a raging fire, as if it were purgatory on earth. Villagers watched the wreckage of the plane and their luggage scattered everywhere, the pungent smell of burnt paste filling the air, and the mutilated corpses and human tissues scattered in the paddy fields were shocking. They tried to rescue the passengers who were still alive, but most of them were tragically killed in the plane fire.
A passenger groaned and said to the villagers: "I am from the north, and my home is in ***, but I died of my injuries before I finished speaking." Others were burned by the fire, and their identities were eventually unrecognizable. That night, the sirens of fire engines sounded throughout Xinmin Village, and the hearts of the villagers were clung to by grief and horror.
It was later confirmed that the plane was Southwest Airlines Flight 222 from Beijing to Chongqing, and it was operated by an Il-18D passenger plane. This airliner was the pride of the Soviet Union, with a maximum range of 6,500 kilometers and a deadweight range of 3,700 kilometers. When it was first put into service, countries such as Britain and the United States did not even have aircraft comparable to it.
However, the Il-18 aircraft has also been involved in two serious accidents in China. a crash in Shenyang that killed 18 people; The other case landed in the cabin** in Guangzhou, resulting in the death of 25 people on the spot. On this night, the villagers of Xinmin Village witnessed another tragedy. At 19:05 p.m. on January 18, 1988, Flight 222, with 108 people on board, disappeared over their village, leaving only wreckage and indelible pain.
On the runway of Beijing's capital airport, an Il-18 passenger plane quietly waits for the order to take off. Carrying the dreams of 98 passengers and 10 crew members, it is about to cross the night sky and fly to Chongqing Baishiyi Airport. The plane, which was scheduled to depart at 1 p.m., was interrupted by a small voice just before takeoff. The ground crew noticed that there seemed to be something unusual about the aircraft's take-off and landing gear.
To make sure nothing went wrong, they decided to give the aircraft a meticulous medical examination. As the minutes ticked by, the passengers on the plane began to feel a little anxious, but the crew made everyone feel at ease with warm smiles and reassuring words. In the darkness of the night, the plane finally started its engines again. At 21:47, when the plane flew over Hechuan County, it made contact with the control tower. At that moment, everyone in the crew, ground staff and tower tensed their nerves, looking forward to a safe landing. However, fate played a little joke on them.
At 21:54:14, the crew suddenly received an alarm: Engine No. 4 had failed, and the crew chose to fly directly to Chengdu, hoping to make an emergency landing there. The ground controllers responded quickly, and the atmosphere in the entire air traffic control center instantly became tense. But just at the last moment, at 21:56, engine No. 4 suddenly began to fire and burn. The crew communicated with the tower again: "It's better to land in Chongqing!" The ground controllers did not hesitate and immediately agreed to their request. The plane at the moment was like a wounded eagle, but it still struggled tenaciously, trying to return to the blue sky. The crew did everything in their power to control the aircraft, climbing to an altitude of 2,661 meters in six minutes at a speed of 380 km/h. Then the entire engine staggered off the plane and fell into a fireball 34 kilometers from the airport.
At this moment, the entire crew understood that they were facing unprecedented challenges. After losing one engine, the plane's condition took a turn for the worse. The aerodynamic layout of the left wing was disrupted, and the No. 1 engine on the left wing was also affected, which instantly stalled. The plane began to shake violently and continued to turn to the right. The panic in the cabin was at its peak, but the crew remained calm, and they did everything they could to stabilize the plane, while transmitting confidence and courage to the passengers.
Finally, with the exquisite skills of the crew and the prayers of everyone, the plane landed safely at Chongqing Baishiyi Airport. The moment the wheels touched the ground, the entire airport was boiling. The passengers wept with joy, and smiles appeared on the tense faces of the crew. They know that they have just worked a miracle. On this pitch-black night, the otherwise peaceful sky suddenly became chaotic.
A plane is crumbling in the air, and the crew is trying to control the plane with all their might. They decided to take the risk of trying to enter the airport at a low altitude, hoping to make a forced landing. However, the plane continued to shake badly, unable to maneuver, and unable to correct its course. At that moment, time seemed to be stretched. The crew continuously reported the situation of the aircraft to the tower, and each report was worrying.
At 10:16 p.m., the airliner descended sharply, reaching a rate of 5.6 meters per second, and its altitude dropped sharply to 90 meters. The passengers were terrified, screaming, and silently praying in their hearts for a miracle. The crew was also sweating profusely, and they tried their best to save the plane, but the plane's course deviated from the direction of the airport. They tried to lift the plane to 150 meters to correct the fuselage, but by this time the plane could no longer maintain its altitude, and the burning plane crashed headlong into the dirt slope of Xinmin Village near the airport. Three high-voltage power lines were broken on the slope, leaving a 20-square-meter dirt pit on a small dirt slope.
That night, all 108 people on board were killed. After investigation, the immediate cause of the accident was a fire after the failure of engine No. 4, which led to the crash of the aircraft. The indirect reasons behind it are even more heart-wrenching: incomplete technical documentation and chaotic management during maintenance lead to neglect of engine maintenance; The lack of aviation talents, the shortage of aviation equipment, and the chaotic management are also important reasons for the frequent occurrence of accidents. It was a heart-wrenching night and a moment of deep reflection. We need to pay more attention to aviation safety, strengthen maintenance management, and train professionals to ensure that every flight is safe and sound.