It is extremely rare for civil airliners to run out of fuel during flight, because aviation operations have very strict fuel policies and multi-layer safety redundancy. If it really happens, there will be a set of rigorous emergency plans.
The whole process can be roughly divided into three stages:
1. Preventive Measures: Fuel Management Policy
First of all, the airline will use strict policies to prevent this situation. The amount of fuel carried per flight is far more than the amount of flying to the destination, but also includes:
· Travel oil: the amount of fuel that flies to the destination.
· Spare oil: the amount of oil that flies to the standby landing site near the destination.
· Waiting for oil: the amount of oil waiting for circling under air traffic control.
· ** contingency fuel**: additional fuel for weather changes on the route, detours and other situations.
During the flight, the crew will monitor the fuel volume in real time through the aircraft's fuel system and calculate whether it can safely reach the destination or standby landing site. Once the fuel is tight, measures will be taken immediately, such as applying for a direct flight, requesting a priority landing, or deciding to prepare for landing as soon as possible.
2. State of emergency: declare "minimum oil volume" or "emergency oil volume"
When the fuel is really tight to a certain extent, the pilot will announce different levels of emergency to the air tube:
· Minimum fuel consumption: indicates that the remaining fuel is not enough to cope with any delay or detour, and needs to be prioritized by the air management. This is an alarm signal that the situation is becoming serious.
· Emergency fuel: indicates that the remaining fuel can no longer support the safe flight to any airport and must land immediately. After the announcement, the air management will immediately vacate the airspace and give the plane absolute priority.
3. The ultimate situation: the fuel consumption is exhausted
If the emergency fuel cannot be landed in time after the announcement, resulting in complete exhaustion of fuel, the most extreme situation will happen - all engines will stop. However, the plane will not fall directly like a stone.
· Loss of power: The aircraft will lose the main source of power, but the stamping air turbine will automatically eject, using the airflow to provide basic electricity and hydraulic pressure to ensure that the aircraft can be controlled.
· Become a glider: At this time, the plane will become a huge glider. The aerodynamic design of modern passenger aircraft is excellent, and the gliding ratio can reach 15:1 to 20:1. This means that at an altitude of 10 kilometers, theoretically you can glide a distance of 150 to 200 kilometers to find a suitable site for emergency landing.
· Looking for an emergency landing site: The pilot will use this gliding time to find a suitable emergency landing point with the assistance of the air tube. The first choice is the airport. If you can't reach it on land, water emergency landing is the last choice.
The most famous success story of this process is the "Hudson River Miracle" in 2009. American Airlines Flight 1549 failed due to a bird collision, and finally made a successful emergency landing on the Hudson River.
In general, from the strict fuel policy, to the real-time monitoring of the pilot, to the declaration of the state of emergency, and finally to the excellent gliding ability of the aircraft itself, this whole system progresses layer by layer, jointly ensuring flight safety.
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