New Year Grassroots Visit | Life and Death Guardians Amidst Turbulent Waves: They Are the "Fifth Arresting Wire" of the Aircraft Carrier

The role of shipborne helicopters in naval warfare is becoming increasingly prominent, as they undertake various missions at sea, including reconnaissance and early warning, maritime transport, and search and rescue operations. The shipborne helicopter unit responsible for maritime escort and rescue missions on aircraft carriers is referred to as the "fifth barrier cable" of the aircraft carrier.

How is this special "barrier cable" forged? In today's "New Year Walks to the Grassroots," we look at the report from CCTV reporter at the South China Sea exercise site.

In recent years, the combat capability generation pace of aircraft carrier strike groups has accelerated, with various new types of carrier-based aircraft such as the J-35, KJ-600, and J-15T joining the carrier strike group, leading to more intensive takeoff and landing training. On an aircraft carrier, the available landing runway is less than one-tenth of that of a land airport, and fighter jets must land precisely between the four barrier cables on the deck, with an effective landing area of only over 30 meters. In the event of an emergency, shipborne helicopters' search and rescue operations become the last line of safety that pilots can rely on.

CCTV reporter Wang Xiaodan: Here is the airport helipad of a certain shipborne helicopter unit of the Southern Theater Command Navy. Behind me is the Z-9S shipborne helicopter responsible for maritime escort and rescue missions. You can see that the left side of the nose is equipped with a multifunctional searchlight, the right side has a sighting device, and there is an electric winch on the right side of the fuselage. Right now, the ground crew is preparing for takeoff, and we will soon board with the crew to fly to a certain area in the South China Sea to conduct a cross-day-and-night joint search and rescue exercise.

Pilot: Ready, requesting to start.

Tower Controller: Check self-driving connection, you can take off.

Pilot: Understood, taking off.

With the command given, the shipborne helicopter takes off urgently and quickly flies to the designated mission area. As winter approaches, the sea conditions in the South China Sea are relatively harsh, with high waves and strong currents, undoubtedly increasing the difficulty of the search.

Naval Aviation Unit Lu Jian: First of all, "search" is key; only by finding the target can the crew cooperate to complete the mission. Sometimes the wind and waves are quite strong, with peaks and troughs very pronounced, and waves can reach three to four meters high, which tests the crew's close cooperation and tacit understanding.

Time is the life of a comrade. Compared to land, search and rescue at sea is much more complex. Low water temperatures can cause hypothermia for those who fall into the water, wind and waves can change the location of the fallen, and marine life poses potential risks. The rescue crew fully utilizes the speed advantage of aerial rescue, planning the search and rescue route based on the target guidance issued by the ship, accurately maneuvering the helicopter to hover, while the co-pilot closely monitors the horizon and radio altimeter, always paying attention to the commands in the headset, anticipating the next rescue action.

At this moment, the wind speed approaches the operational critical value, and due to a sudden change in wind direction, the rescue target has deviated from its original position. The pilot continuously corrects the aircraft's position and locates the target.

The helicopter hovers into the wind above the fallen target. Winch operator Lu Jian quickly operates the rescue equipment, while rescuer Gou Zejun slowly descends. During this process, the winch operator needs to accurately grasp the relative position of the aircraft and the injured person; if the winch cable is too short, the rescuer cannot approach the target, and if the cable is too long, both the rescuer and the rescued may become entangled in the cable.

To overcome the effects of downward airflow and sea winds, Gou Zejun keeps kicking his legs to reduce rotation, gradually approaching the floating target in the sea.

Naval Aviation Unit Gou Zejun: We face various dangers in maritime rescue. For example, if a pilot is forced to parachute and cannot detach from the parachute lines in time, there is a high possibility of becoming entangled in the lines. This greatly increases the difficulty and risk of the rescue. Even I could become entangled in the lines, complicating the situation further. We always carry a parachute knife, and in emergencies, we must quickly cut the lines to do our utmost to carry out the rescue.

Racing against time under the whirling iron wings, every second counts on the rolling sea surface. Rescuer Gou Zejun secures the fallen target dummy with a rescue harness, confirms safety, and signals to lift up, successfully bringing it into the cabin. After returning to the station, the crew members immediately conduct a debriefing and review.

As night falls, the crew boards again to conduct night search and rescue exercises. Carrier-based aircraft must have the capability for all-time takeoff and landing, which means that shipborne rescue helicopters must also possess night maritime rescue capabilities. Pilots can easily misjudge altitude and distance on the dark sea surface, and once the helicopter's three-dimensional coordinates change, it can be difficult to detect, making it exceptionally challenging to maintain a stable hover.

The beam of the helicopter's search spotlight moves across the sea surface, identifying one suspected target after another. Winch operator Lu Jian closely monitors the radio altimeter while reporting and guiding based on real-time observations, reminding the pilot to correct the position. Meanwhile, rescuer Gou Zejun is already equipped and ready to enter the water for rescue.

Lu Jian: As the winch operator, precision is speed, and I also need to be the pilot's eyes, guiding and adjusting the aircraft's position in a timely manner so that the rescuer can be lowered right next to the person in the water. If we miss the position, the time we gained earlier will be wasted.

Gou Zejun: Conducting rescue under nighttime conditions makes it difficult to see the situation of the cable in the water. We must ensure that the rescued person is secured with the rescue harness as quickly as possible while also ensuring that we do not get entangled in the cable ourselves. At the moment of lifting out of the water, the immense pulling force will cause the cable to tighten instantly, and combined with the weight of the rescued person, it can be about 300 pounds. If it gets tangled around limbs or the neck, the consequences can be very serious.

Winch operator Lu Jian continuously observes the status of rescuer Gou Zejun. At this moment, the sea wind blows fiercely, creating layers of waves. Gou Zejun tightly grips the fallen target dummy and skillfully performs the rescue operation.

Gou Zejun: I remember during my first night training, it was pitch black all around, and apart from the roar of the aircraft, I could hear nothing. A sense of fear surged in my heart, as if I were the only person left in the world, connected only by a cable thinner than my little finger. I didn't know if a wave would swallow me whole. This made me deeply realize how helpless the situation of the person in the water is. So I tell myself that I must practice hard to ensure that every rescue operation can be the fastest and most precise.

As the fallen target dummy is successfully rescued, the helicopter begins its return flight. During this cross-day-and-night search and rescue exercise, the crew overcame bottleneck issues such as maintaining low-altitude hovering at night and target position deviation caused by rotor airflow, effectively honing their all-time maritime rescue capabilities. On the aircraft carrier, the rescue helicopter is the one closest to the elevator in the hangar; whenever carrier-based fighter jets take off and land, to ensure the safety of the pilots' lives, they are always the first to take off from the deck and the last to land.

Gou Zejun: My instructor once told me that there is nothing more meaningful than saving lives. We do not wish for any flight accidents to occur, but when they do, we will definitely be the first to appear on the rescue front line. The skills we practice for quick deployment, rapid detection, and swift rescue are all to protect the safety of our comrades' lives, becoming a safety barrier that supports the "Flying Shark" soaring in the skies.

Lu Jian: I have been engaged in maritime search and rescue work for 18 years, and I have long regarded rescue as my lifelong career. Although we cannot fly to high altitudes and face strong enemies like fighter pilots, our crew always hovers at the five o'clock position on the right side of the aircraft carrier, silently guarding the safety of our comrades' lives. I want to say, with us here, the "Flying Shark" warriors can fly with peace of mind.