Author's Note 1: Part 2 is still nerdy, but I still hope it's tolerable enough... And for those who are actually pilots or aviation experts here, please forgive me if are incorrect descriptions… ;P But still, please enjoy! :3
Author's Note 2: By the way, to make things more fun, I kinda made a photo reference blog post on my Tumblr, which you can access in the link below (just replace the dash between btrandkittens, tumblr and com with periods, coz FF keeps removing those parts :3)
btrandkittens-tumblr-com/post/99339042127/photo-references-for-terror-and-truth-in-the-sky-kogan
Terror and Truth in the Sky
Part 2
"No…"
Capt. Kendall realises in horror as both engines of their aircraft had failed in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and would not restart.
"Try again, Logie" Kendall orders.
"Uh… Yes, captain!" Logan nervously answers, his fear showing by calling Kendall "captain" instead of the usual "Kindle" even during serious phases of their normal flights.
"Is the APU running?" Kendall asks.
"Yes, captain. We can still attempt to restart the engines" Logan answers as he looks at the APU button on their overhead panel and sees that the APU is operational. The APU is their jet's Auxiliary Power Unit, a very small jet engine that provides electric power to certain portions of the aircraft, including the mechanism that makes the jet engines start up.
"Ok, perform restart!" Kendall calmly orders.
"Yes, captain!" Logan acknowledges.
The first officer then proceeds to twist the crank switch on the center control console between him and his captain. As the switch clicks into "Start", the he then flips the fuel pump switch of Engine 2 from its OFF position to ON. F/O Logan looks at the center displays in front of them. Again, the digital gauges that indicate engine rotation show that the engine is trying to start up. They need the gauge labeled N1 to show 25%, which would indicate that the jet engine's fan blades are rotating, and that the engine itself is taking in fuel to burn. As the N1 gauge reaches 20%, Capt. Kendall and F/O Logan see a glimmer of hope to restart even just one engine. The captain also looks back at the two screens in front of him to see if they're gliding down at a slower rate, so that they have enough altitude to recover from when one or both engines finally start. When he sees that their glide is maintained at 1,200 feet per minute (which means they'll stay airborne for the next 25 to 30 minutes without engines), he looks back at the centre displays. The N1 gauge shows 21%, Kendall starts to smile.
Suddenly, the N1 gauge of Engine 2 rapidly goes down and back to 0%.
"FUCK!" Capt. Kendall shouts.
"HOLY SHIT" F/O Logan stutters in reaction to his Captain and his frustration that Engine 2 failed to start up again.
Logan then immediately flips the fuel switch for Engine 1 and looks closely at the center display showing Engine 1's N1 gauge…
5%... 8%... 9%... 10%... 15%... 20%... 21%... 22%... 23%...
Kendall and Logan look on as they desperately wish that Engine 1 would start…
24%... 25%... 26%... 27%... 30%... 40%... 50%... And Engine 1 roars into life.
"YES!" Kendall and Logan scream as they high-five each other, lost in the elation that one engine finally restarted.
Kendall then pushes the thrust lever for Engine 1 from IDLE to the maximum thrust position called TOGA (Take-Off/Go-Around). Engine 1 obeys the order and the aircraft picks up speed and altitude as Kendall pulls back on his control joystick to make the aircraft climb to 33,000 feet, the level recommended when the aircraft encounters a single-engine failure.
In the cabin, as the passengers hear the roar of the engine on their left side, they feel a glimmer of hope as the cabin lights come back to life and they start to feel the air blowing out of the airconditioner vents. They cheer and applaud loudly, loud enough that Kendall and Logan can hear them behind the reinforced cockpit doors.
But the blonde captain and brunette first officer cannot relax yet. They still have to rush back to LAX before something worse happens again. Logan immediately radios LAX, advising them of a temporary dual-engine failure, and has recovered one engine. And to be safe, instead of declaring "PAN PAN PAN" (which is something like a "yellow alert"), Logan declares "MAYDAY" (which is the equivalent of "red alert") to Los Angeles Center, which relays the information to the LAX control tower as well.
With sweaty hands, Captain Kendall engages the autopilot by pressing AP1. AP2 had tripped and disconnected during the flickering of the lights and electrical systems of the jet. The aircraft then stabilizes at 33,000 feet and automatically chooses the ideal cruising speed.
Kendall and Logan then confirm through their checklists if the configuration of the aircraft is correct for their single-engine return to LAX. As F/O Logan declares "Checklist complete," Capt. Kendall starts to breathe easy and answers, "Thanks, Logie," to which First Officer Logan answers, "You're welcome, Kindle" with a tiny smile of relief.
However, after 15 minutes of stable flight, the aircraft starts to shudder again. Kendall and Logan can hear the remaining functional engine whining down as it shuts down again, and as indicated in the gauge displays as N1, N2 and other indicators of Engine 1 move back to zero.
"Fuck! Not again!" Logan shouts in frustration.
"Relax, Logie. We can fix this," Kendall reassures his best friend and colleague.
"Okay, Kindle. Lemme perform the restart procedures after I get the QRH" Logan says as he reaches out from behind his seat to get the Quick Reference Handbook again
"Okay, Logie. I have controls," Kendall then announces
"Roger, Kindle. You have controls," Logan acknowledges
Capt. Kendall takes over as the Autopilot 1 disconnected when the aircraft lost engine power. He then pushes a button that re-deploys the A330's RAT, or Ram Air Turbine, a small windmill or propeller beneath one of the wings. That small windmill spins and provides electric power to several vital systems that Kendall needs to maintain control of the aircraft with both engines dead. Their screens come back to life as the RAT provides power to the generators and the cockpit systems directly. They are now at 32,000 ft as the aircraft begins its slow descent without any engine power.
Logan then re-initates the startup procedures. He says aloud his steps to relay to the Captain what he is doing.
"Engine 1 and 2 fuel pumps – switched to OFF"
"APU – on"
"Startup Crank – Start"
"Engine 2 fuel pump on"
"Engine 2 N1 not responding"
"Engine 1 fuel pump on"
"Engine 1 N1 not responding too."
"Shit."
"Repeat the procedure. Continue repeating until one of the engines starts up," Kendall calmly orders, hiding the fear inside him, so as not to scare his best friend.
"Roger, Captain"
"Engine 1 and 2 fuel pumps – switched to OFF"
"APU – on"
"Startup Crank – START"
"Engine 2 fuel pump on"
"No response from Engine 2"
"Engine 1 fuel pump on"
"No response from Engine 1"
"Repeating the steps!" Logan shouts with a little fear in his voice.
"Engine 1 and 2 fuel pumps – switched to OFF"
"APU – on"
"Startup Crank – START"
"Engine 2 fuel pump on"
"Still no fucking response from Engine 2"
"Engine 1 fuel pump on"
"Still no fucking response from Engine 1"
"Repeating!"
"Engine 1 and 2 fuel pumps – switched to OFF"
"APU – shit…"
Logan watches in horror as the APU deactivated. He presses the APU start button to reactivate the APU. The APU does not respond and instead the button shows "Fault", together with a display on the screen indicating "APU FAULT." They need the APU to start the engine, but now the APU is not working.
But there is one last method they can try… The windmilling restart method.
Kendall brings the aircraft down to 28,000 feet with nose at a steeper descent angle to bring their speed from 280 knots to 300-330 knots, the speed needed for the fan blades to spin quickly enough that they can sustain ignition and operation. As they reach their needed altitude and speed, Logan repeats the startup procedure. No response from the aircraft.
"Son of a bitch!" Logan yells.
And suddenly, the cockpit displays flicker again and everything turns off. They lost all electrical power as well. Kendall and Logan try to move their flight controls, but the aircraft is not responding. They've lost electrical power to the radio system as well. This means that Los Angeles Center will no longer be able to contact them, and vice-versa, and even worse, they probably couldn't be seen on the radar anymore. Kendall and Logan stare at each other in the silent cockpit as they realize their fate…
"No…" they say at the same time…
To be continued…