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  • 6/3/2025

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00:01A regular, commercial flight to an extraordinary part of the world.
00:06A lot of tourists fly in just for scenery.
00:10Thai Airways 311 is bound for Kathmandu.
00:15But it never arrives.
00:17Thai 311, Kathmandu, please report your position.
00:21Until the airplane is found, it's difficult to figure out what might have happened.
00:25This is where we search.
00:27A high-altitude trek leads investigators to one of the most remote places on Earth.
00:33You couldn't tell that you had an Airbus A310 aircraft there.
00:37You couldn't even tell you had two engines.
00:39How can they ever hope to piece together what happened?
00:43Right away, you knew you were really going to be in a difficult situation.
00:57It is mid-summer in the Himalayas.
01:11Monsoon season, when shifting winds and sudden rains sweep across the jagged mountain landscape.
01:32Just above the awesome peaks, flies Thai Airways Flight 311.
01:41The pilot flying is Captain Preda Sutimai.
01:46His first officer is Phun Phat Bunyaye.
01:50I will never get tired of seeing these mountains.
01:54It truly is an extraordinary sight, brother.
01:58The flight's 99 passengers are a mix of Nepalese nationals and international tourists, all headed to Kathmandu.
02:10Kathmandu is a popular tourist destination.
02:14It's a mountainous airport and a lot of tourists fly in just for that, for the scenery.
02:20The Thai Airways plane is an Airbus A310, a medium to long range twin jet.
02:27The A310 overall is a fantastic airplane.
02:31It has a range of eight hours and it can carry 20 tons at a decent altitude.
02:40The flight from Bangkok to Kathmandu is expected to take roughly three and a half hours.
02:47The Nepalese capital lies at more than 4,500 feet above sea level.
02:52The approach requires navigating near some of the world's highest mountains.
03:04Kathmandu, Thai 311, request descent.
03:17Kathmandu, Thai 311, do you read?
03:22The first attempts that the flight crew had with air traffic control, they called three times and got no response at all.
03:29Kathmandu, Thai 311, do you read?
03:33The acoustics were not very good.
03:35There was a lot of echoing on the frequencies maybe that had been caused by the mountains.
03:42Kathmandu, Thai 311.
03:45311, Kathmandu, go ahead.
03:47Finally, the Nepalese controller hears the call.
03:50Request descent.
03:52Thai 311, have negative traffic at or above flight level 150 within our jurist.
03:59Accept Royal Nepal at 206.
04:02You are cleared for descent.
04:04The controller, he was relatively inexperienced.
04:07He had nine months' experience.
04:08You know, he's not a complete rookie, but at the same time, he's got a lot to learn yet.
04:14Ladies and gentlemen, we will soon begin our descent into Kathmandu.
04:17Please stow away your tray tables, raise your seat backs, and fasten your seat belts in preparation for landing.
04:22The flight is now about 30 minutes from its destination.
04:30Lots of clouds.
04:32Let's go through.
04:34Kathmandu's trip over an international airport is one of the most challenging in the world.
04:39The mountains that tower above the capital force pilots to descend much more steeply than at other airports.
04:46When I look at the approach that the aircraft was going to be flying going into Kathmandu, I'm definitely struck by the steepness of the approach itself and the gradient of the terrain in the area.
05:03Go ahead, would you request for runway 02, please?
05:08Thai 311 request 02.
05:12Thai 311 confirm requesting 02.
05:16Confirm.
05:18The pilots have requested a straight-in approach from the south to runway 02.
05:24It will keep them clear of high mountains north of the airport.
05:27But as they get closer, things change.
05:36Thai 311 Kathmandu.
05:38Go ahead, Thai 311.
05:40Thai 311, for your information, runway 02 not available due to poor visibility and heavy rain toward that side.
05:47You'll have to take runway 20.
05:49Sudden bad weather means the only approach now available is from the north.
05:54It requires circling north of the airport to land on the opposite runway, a manoeuvre the captain does not want to make.
06:04We need runway 02 for the straight-in approach.
06:09You'd be challenged at the notion doing a circling approach in a mountainous environment.
06:14It's one thing to do it over an island, say in the sea, without any obstacles.
06:19It's another thing to do it surrounded by mountains.
06:23I guess we can't make it, brother.
06:29Please check the fuel to Calcutta.
06:31The captain decides to abandon the landing and divert to an airport in India.
06:36Fuel.
06:37We've got enough to get to Bangkok.
06:38And for Calcutta, how much do we need?
06:3918, 14, 42?
06:40For passengers, diverting to Calcutta would mean landing more than 400 miles away from their destination.
06:41Tide 311, I've just confirmed that runway 02 is now also available from the east.
06:46You've got enough to get to Bangkok?
06:48We've got enough to get to Bangkok.
06:49And for Calcutta, how much do we need?
06:5018, 14, 42?
06:51For passengers, diverting to Calcutta would mean landing more than 400 miles away from their destination.
07:04Tide 3-1-1, I've just confirmed that runway 0-2 is now also available.
07:12Report 2-5 DME.
07:14Wait a minute.
07:16It seems the unpredictable weather has changed again.
07:19It's good news.
07:21Kathmandu, Tide 3-1-1, confirm runway 0-2 available?
07:26Confirmed, runway 0-2 is now available.
07:29That's lucky.
07:30The straight-in approach from the south is once again clear.
07:35But the plane is now too close to the runway to descend safely.
07:39They were a little bit high for the position that they were at in relation to the airport.
07:44Kathmandu, Tide 3-1-1, we cannot make approach now.
07:49We will need to turn back to Romeo and climb to 1, 8,000 feet and start our approach again.
07:56The captain decides to turn around and try again.
08:02It should give him the distance he needs for a safe, controlled descent.
08:07Using the flight management system, 1st officer Bunyaye looks up a navigational waypoint called Romeo to restart their approach.
08:21But there's a problem.
08:23The system won't lock in the flight path to Romeo.
08:27It disappeared.
08:29It's Romeo 27, isn't it?
08:31Ro-me-o.
08:34Catmandu, what is the visibility?
08:439-3-1-1, stand by for tower observation and visibility.
08:48Flying in dense cloud, the pilot's view ahead is extremely limited.
08:54They want to know when they can expect to see the airport.
08:57A ground proximity warning suddenly begins to sound.
09:05Pull up, pull up.
09:07Airspeed low.
09:09Turn back, turn back.
09:11It's false, it's false.
09:12Terrain.
09:14Pull up.
09:15Don't sink.
09:16Hurry, hurry, pull up.
09:33Up, up, pull up.
09:36Oh, my God!
09:37Ty-3-1-1, please report your position.
09:54Ty-3-1-1, Catmandu, please report your position.
09:57In the mountains of Nepal, a search is underway for Thai Airways Flight 3-1-1.
10:08The airbus carrying 113 people vanished on approach to Kathmandu.
10:16Nepal has moved quickly to set up a royal commission of investigators.
10:20This is the airport.
10:24Flight 3-1-1 was coming in from the south, here.
10:29Until the airplane is found, it's difficult to figure out what might have happened.
10:34This is where we search.
10:41They search an area covering dozens of square miles to the south of Kathmandu.
10:50The search course started in the south, because it came in from the south.
10:56A methodical search eliminates territory, sector by sector.
11:05Where is this thing?
11:07The plane is nowhere to be found.
11:15Time is of the essence.
11:17The unpredictable Himalayan weather could bring heavy rains at any moment,
11:22making the search all but impossible.
11:27As the mountain search continues,
11:30investigators interview air traffic control,
11:33hoping for any kind of lead.
11:35We don't have radar here, so we can't help you with the airplane's location.
11:40A radar is a line-of-sight tool.
11:43It doesn't penetrate through mountains or anything like that.
11:45So in a mountainous area like Kathmandu,
11:48your radar coverage would be limited to some degree,
11:51because it would be blocked by the mountains themselves.
11:54I just rely on what the pilots tell me.
11:57In a non-radar environment, they have a mental picture,
12:00and that picture is really painted by the words that the pilot reports to them.
12:05They don't have an exact location.
12:07It's almost like working blindfolded.
12:10They were going to restart their approach.
12:12Their last reported position was here,
12:1514 miles to the south of the airport.
12:22Kathmandu, the tide 3-1-4.
12:24We cannot make approach now.
12:26We will turn back to Romeo and climb to 1-8,000 feet
12:29to start our approach again.
12:31To redo the approach, they would have to turn back towards the south.
12:38There was one thing.
12:39At one point, they mentioned a technical fault.
12:42But a few seconds later, they said they were fine.
12:45A mysterious technical fault raises suspicion.
12:49But at this point, there's no way of knowing if it played any role in the plane's disappearance.
12:54They knew the aircraft had some technical problem.
12:57That's what they were told.
12:58You didn't know whether it was a radio fault, a navigation system fault.
13:02So we wondered what it was.
13:07It's been almost 48 hours since Thai Airways Flight 311 disappeared in the Himalayas.
13:15Investigators have yet to find the aircraft.
13:19But now, they're about to get an important break.
13:24Local villagers report that they found aircraft debris north of Kathmandu.
13:30Some people, where the airplane crashed, had heard about it, had heard the crash,
13:34and they couldn't communicate with anybody as to where it went
13:36because they didn't have the means to do so.
13:38Are you sure you don't mean down here, to the south of the city?
13:44Investigators can't quite believe it.
13:46The reported crash site is nowhere near the area they've been searching.
13:51I don't think they ever, in their wildest imagination,
13:53thought the airplane was north of the airport.
13:56North of Kathmandu, near the border with Tibet,
14:00the Himalayan peaks soar to an altitude of 20,000 feet.
14:06These northern summits are the reason almost all planes approach Tripuvan airport from the south,
14:12where the mountains are closer to 8,000 feet.
14:14Send out the helicopters.
14:19Tell them to start searching to the north of the airport.
14:28Later that day, 27 miles north of Kathmandu,
14:33search crews find the remains of Thai Airways Flight 311.
14:37The point of impact is a steep rock face more than 11,000 feet up the side of a remote mountain.
14:45It hit essentially a vertical rock face,
14:47and then the whole aircraft just tumbled down into a valley.
14:52There was some small evidence of fire,
14:54but mostly just total destruction of the aircraft.
14:57None of the 113 people on board have survived.
15:03It immediately created some mysteries as to what might have happened,
15:07why the airplane got to a place that was not expected.
15:09The challenge for investigators is unlike anything they've encountered before.
15:15The terrain is so extreme,
15:18helicopters can't land near the impact zone.
15:21The team will have to trek more than 3,000 feet up from the base camp
15:25to reach the wreckage.
15:32It's a treacherous five-hour hike.
15:37Okay, I gotta stop.
15:39It's a dangerous area, you have to be very, very careful.
15:43At a high altitude, you tend to end up with hypoxia.
15:57It isn't long before the mountains let it be known just how dangerous they can be.
16:02What happened? What's going on?
16:06One of the investigators died.
16:09A British investigator for Airbus suffers fatal complications from hypoxemia,
16:18a lack of oxygen in the blood due to thin air at high altitude.
16:22It's bad enough that people die on the accident,
16:28but you don't want other people dying trying to solve the accident or recover things from the accident site.
16:33And so that was a shock.
16:35It's now brutally clear to everyone.
16:37On this mission, the stakes could not be higher.
16:41Deep in the Himalayan mountains,
16:52Nepal's Accident Investigation Commission makes its way towards the Thai Airways crash site.
16:58The team includes experts from around the world, including Canada's David Rohr.
17:09You're there to hopefully find something to prevent recurrence to save somebody else from having that same tragedy in their lives
17:18or have a similar outcome, that that's why you're there.
17:22Rawr is confronted with a scene of total devastation.
17:44The level of destruction was enormous.
17:50You couldn't tell that you had an Airbus A310 aircraft there.
17:55I mean, you couldn't even tell you had two engines.
17:57The first big question they have is how did Thai Airways Flight 311 end up here?
18:05The Airbus should never have been flying north of the airport.
18:12Searchers soon find the cockpit voice recorder, but that won't reveal the flight path.
18:18Investigators already know the airport has no radar data.
18:21Their best chance of discovering how the plane reached this fatal impact zone is to find the flight data recorder.
18:30Right away, you knew that if you didn't have the FDR,
18:35then you were really going to be in a difficult situation in terms of trying to determine cause or probable factors.
18:41Still no sign of the FDR?
18:43No.
18:45Unfortunately not.
18:46The intensive, high-altitude effort has already killed one team member.
18:53Investigators know that their time on the mountain will be limited.
18:58Right over there.
19:00An airport hangar in Kathmandu is the final stop on a long journey for wreckage collected from the mountainside.
19:07The Sherpas would bring down the pieces that we identified down to the landing zone.
19:14Then the Nepalese army and their helicopters would put them in nets and then sling them down to the hangar at the airport.
19:22With still no word on the plane's flight data recorder, investigators review the A310's maintenance records.
19:29In any investigation, you don't just sit and wait for the recorders.
19:34You start doing work right away.
19:36For example, were there any problems with the aircraft before the action?
19:40They already know that the Thai Airways pilots reported an unknown technical fault to air traffic control.
19:48It's a red flag and there's so many different areas that could be called a technical fault.
19:53You know, was it a configuration issue? Was it a power issue? Was it a landing gear issue?
20:00It just opens up Pandora's box of what it can be.
20:04Hey, look at this.
20:08The day before the flight, there was a circuit breaker failure on the plane.
20:13There was a recurring problem with the XP-205 bus, and that bus was related to navigation equipment,
20:18so we were kind of thinking, well, perhaps we'd better look at that in more detail.
20:22The XP-205 bus carries electrical power to several important systems, including the plane's navigation system.
20:32Maybe the bus failed while they were in flight. It's possible.
20:37A malfunction in the navigation system could explain the location of the crash.
20:41If that bus failed, it would wipe out the co-pilot's electric instruments,
20:46which would show his position and his navigation. That would be pretty critical.
20:52But in order to prove their theory, they'll have to track down the XP-205 bus amidst piles of burnt and twisted debris.
21:02It's hard to tell what we're even looking at here.
21:07Given the destruction of the aircraft, it's very difficult to track down those types of technical issues.
21:12As team members comb through the wreckage, the investigation takes an unexpected turn.
21:21Excuse me. Can I help you?
21:37During the investigation, one of the family members was asking for a circuit board,
21:43just because it somehow would link them to their loved one.
21:46That's when we actually found the internal mechanism of the recorder we were missing, which is quite amazing.
22:02The FDR should provide crucial data on the plane's speed, direction, and altitude throughout the flight.
22:10You always hope that luck is on your side, that things will happen to your benefit,
22:15and those are the kind of moments you really hope for as an investigator.
22:18It's the breakthrough they've been waiting for.
22:20Evidence that could reveal how a plane flying south of the airport
22:24ended up slamming into mountains to its north.
22:28The cockpit voice recorder from Thai Airways Flight 311 is finally ready for analysis.
22:44Lots of clouds.
22:46Let's go through.
22:48Investigators hope to hear something that might help explain why the Airbus hit a mountain at over 11,000 feet.
22:58Thai 311, 10, Matthew.
23:02Go ahead. Would you request for runway 02, please?
23:06Thai 311, request 02.
23:10Thai 311, confirm requesting 02.
23:14Confirm.
23:16As they initiate their descent, all seems normal.
23:21I guess we can't make it, brother.
23:23Please check the fuel to Calcutta.
23:25But as the captain considers diverting to Calcutta, the atmosphere in the cockpit seems to change.
23:32Fuel.
23:33We got enough to get back to Bangkok.
23:36Airport Calcutta.
23:37How much do we need?
23:3818, 14, 42?
23:41He's really getting frustrated with his first officer.
23:43I got the impression that the answers from the first officer were not what the captain was looking for.
23:53They weren't communicating properly with each other.
23:57Thai 311, I've just confirmed that runway 02 is now also available.
24:02Report 25 DME.
24:05Wait a minute.
24:06Captain, do Thai 311.
24:08Confirm runway 02 available.
24:10Investigators then notice something else out of the ordinary.
24:17Confirmed.
24:17Runway 02 is now available.
24:20Request surface condition, please.
24:23Wait a minute.
24:24Stop.
24:25The pilot on the radio is not the first officer.
24:29It's the captain.
24:29Why was the captain speaking with the controller?
24:34As the pilot flying, the captain should never have been speaking with air traffic control.
24:39It's up to the first officer, as a non-flying pilot, to do the communication.
24:44But it didn't unfold that way.
24:48Normally, division of duties in a cockpit is very important in sharing workload.
24:51But in this case, I noticed that the captain was, in many cases, taking over the radio transmission work.
25:03Speed break in.
25:06Flap 15.
25:07Speed break in.
25:09Flap 15 selected.
25:12As they keep listening, they hear the captain's frustration grow.
25:19Dammit.
25:20The flaps cannot be extended.
25:23The flaps would not extend to full configuration, which for the Kathmandu approach is essential.
25:34It's too late to make a landing.
25:36It's too late.
25:36We can request a return.
25:39Dammit.
25:40Kathmandu, tie 3-1-1.
25:44Request to maintain 10,500.
25:47And request to go back to Kolkata due to technical.
25:50It's now clear that the technical problem has nothing to do with a circuit breaker.
25:56It's the wing flaps.
25:58They won't extend to 15 degrees.
26:00When they went to 15 and 15, of course, they didn't get 15 and 15.
26:04They got the one chime, and they had a flap fault.
26:07But just how serious a problem is it?
26:11Will it affect the captain's ability to control his plane?
26:21Hey.
26:22The flaps have extended.
26:27The recording soon tells them that the flap issue is quickly resolved.
26:32They did cycle the flaps.
26:34They did correct the problem.
26:36Uh, back to normal, though.
26:38Can we make a left turn to Romeo?
26:41Understand operation normal.
26:43And you'd like to make an approach?
26:45Affirm.
26:46Affirm.
26:46The situation appears to be stabilizing.
26:51Tie 3-1-1.
26:52Clear CR approach.
26:53Report 1-0 DME.
26:55Leaving 9,500.
26:57But the captain's frustration soon returns.
27:01We can't land at this time.
27:03We have to make a left turn back to Romeo and start our approach again.
27:07Communication with ATC was anything but great.
27:16It was, uh, fragmented.
27:18It was unclear.
27:21Tie 3-1-1.
27:22Go ahead.
27:22Your DME distance.
27:23We are 9 DME.
27:2510,500 feet.
27:32Answer, please.
27:33Answer, please.
27:33Answer, please.
27:41Repeated requests to return to Romeo were pretty much unanswered.
27:49Investigators now wonder.
27:52Can we make our left turn back now?
27:56Does the Thai Airways crew keep flying towards the mountains
28:00because they don't have clearance to change course?
28:03We'll climb and turn to the right.
28:09But despite lacking clearance,
28:11the captain takes matters into his own hands
28:14and turns his plane right,
28:16heading back to the start of the approach.
28:31They're all gone.
28:31They've disappeared.
28:35Moments later,
28:36there is more uncertainty in the cockpit.
28:39It's Romeo 27, isn't it?
28:43Ro-me-o.
28:46Also, the captain seemed to be getting frustrated
28:48with the co-pilot's efforts
28:50to put things in the navigation system.
28:52This thing failed again.
29:00Why is he having such a hard time inputting the waypoint?
29:04Then, investigators hear a surprising question from the first officer.
29:09Are we going north?
29:13Are we going north?
29:16The co-pilot said something like,
29:19we're going north, huh?
29:21In that, with that inflection,
29:22like a mitigating type question.
29:25The recording presents a troubling contradiction.
29:30Though clearly frustrated with air traffic control
29:33and with his co-pilot,
29:35it seems the captain managed to turn south away from the mountains.
29:40Yet minutes later,
29:41they hit a wall to the north.
29:42How they ended up slamming into a mountain
29:52they were supposed to be flying away from
29:55remains a mystery.
29:56Terrain, terrain, pull up.
29:59Oh my God!
30:09In Nepal,
30:10investigators have ruled out the possibility
30:13that a faulty circuit breaker
30:15caused the Thai Airways 311 disaster.
30:19Had the XP-205 bus failed,
30:21it would have fired off some warning chimes,
30:23which we'm sure they would have talked about,
30:25which they didn't.
30:26And so I think that was probably the main reason
30:29we discounted it as a factor.
30:33They wonder if the work records
30:35of the two Thai Airways pilots
30:37can shed any new light on the investigation.
30:40The captain's record reveals
30:42he was a highly trained pilot
30:44who had flown to Kathmandu many times.
30:47He was impressive,
30:48and I think everybody in the company
30:50had identified him as a person
30:52who was going to go right
30:53to the senior levels of the company.
30:56The co-pilot was older than the captain,
30:58had a lot of experience as well.
31:00First officer's flown into Kathmandu
31:0214 times in the last year.
31:04But as investigators look more deeply
31:08into the first officer's record,
31:10they make a surprising discovery.
31:13Thai Airways, they categorized you
31:15based on whether you were going to be
31:16captain material,
31:18or whether you were going to be
31:20first officer material only.
31:23Interestingly enough,
31:24in their assessment,
31:26they categorized for the first officer
31:28in this case that he would not be captain.
31:30I've always thought that
31:32if you tell somebody
31:33you're limited,
31:34I will hire you,
31:36but you're limited,
31:36well, maybe they'll fulfill that prophecy.
31:41Still doesn't explain
31:43how they ended up
31:43way up here to the north.
31:45Flight 311 flew 27 miles
31:48north of the airport.
31:50Into airspace,
31:51commercial airliners
31:52normally avoid at all cost.
31:54Is that the data from the FDR?
31:57Great.
31:58With the FDR data now recovered,
32:01investigators have their first chance
32:03to analyze the plane's deadly flight path.
32:06Because recorders will give you
32:08latitude and long too,
32:09gives you a nice track
32:10as to where the airplane went.
32:12First, let's have a look
32:13at what they were intending to do.
32:14Can you pass me the published approach?
32:18Thai Airways' approach
32:19to Kathmandu is from the south.
32:21The crew wanted to land
32:23on runway 2.
32:27Roughly here
32:28is where they would have decided
32:30on the missed approach.
32:35This
32:35is where they were supposed to go.
32:40Let's see what they actually did.
32:46The data shows
32:48Flight 311
32:49proceeding north
32:50towards Kathmandu.
32:53Everything seems
32:54to be in order.
32:56And right here,
32:57they're looping around
32:58to restart their approach.
33:00Right?
33:01All right.
33:06They were supposed
33:07to level out.
33:09They just kept turning.
33:14Instead of straightening out
33:15flight 311
33:17and heading to Romeo,
33:18Flight 311
33:20does a complete
33:21360-degree turn.
33:25When I saw it,
33:26I was, you know,
33:28I was amazed
33:30because
33:31I couldn't understand
33:33why they would want
33:35to do that.
33:36It just doesn't make any sense.
33:38Why the Airbus
33:39flew in a complete circle
33:41back on a collision course
33:43with mountains
33:43north of the airport
33:45is a mystery
33:47investigators must solve
33:49in order to understand
33:51why 113 people died
33:53aboard the Thai Airways flight.
34:00Ready?
34:01Ready.
34:02Fire it up.
34:03In search of answers,
34:06they turned
34:06to a flight simulator.
34:09In terms of simulator testing,
34:10the one thing
34:11that it allows
34:12the investigators to do
34:13is to replicate
34:14what happened
34:15and understand
34:16what the crew would see
34:17or any other problems
34:18that they would face.
34:18The captain just took over
34:19communications
34:20with the controller.
34:20Yeah.
34:21Okay.
34:25Captain,
34:26two,
34:26tie 311,
34:28confirm.
34:29Runway 02 available.
34:31At this point,
34:33the captain
34:33is flying the aircraft,
34:35monitoring the instruments
34:37and speaking to the controller
34:39all on one of the steepest,
34:41most difficult descents
34:42in aviation.
34:43Speed break in.
34:45Flap 15.
34:47Speed break in.
34:48Flap 15 selected.
34:57Damn it.
34:59The flaps cannot be extended.
35:00The flap issue
35:03is temporary,
35:05but time spent
35:06resolving it
35:06forces a delay.
35:08They can no longer
35:09make the straight-in landing.
35:11Let's see.
35:13Okay.
35:14No.
35:15We are too high
35:17and too close
35:18for the approach.
35:20Only choice
35:20is to circle back
35:21and do another approach.
35:23The controller
35:24hasn't given clearance.
35:26He keeps asking
35:26for the aircraft's
35:28altitude and distance
35:29from the airport.
35:30Hang on.
35:30We are getting
35:31very close to the mountains,
35:32right?
35:33We need to make
35:34a turn soon.
35:36The autopilot
35:37takes the plane
35:38to a selected heading
35:40in the shortest way possible.
35:42In this case,
35:43that would mean
35:43turning to the left.
35:45The controller said
35:46there's traffic to the left.
35:48Okay,
35:48there is a lot
35:49going on here right now.
35:50And he still
35:51hasn't cleared you
35:52to go back to Romeo.
35:57Needing to turn
35:59before he reaches
36:00the mountains
36:00north of Kathmandu
36:01and with traffic
36:02on his left,
36:04the captain decides
36:05to override
36:06the autopilot.
36:08We'll climb
36:09and turn to the right.
36:11He can turn right
36:12by turning
36:13the heading knob
36:14incrementally
36:15in the same direction.
36:24The airplane
36:25was turned
36:26most likely
36:26by changing
36:27the heading bug.
36:28In other words,
36:28the captain has that option.
36:30He just turns
36:30a heading selector
36:31and the airplane
36:32will turn.
36:33Watch your turn.
36:34You're starting
36:34to level off.
36:35Oh, yeah, right.
36:39The climb,
36:40turn,
36:40descend
36:41with an autopilot,
36:42that's tough to do.
36:43And he was doing
36:44all of that
36:44in the turn.
36:45Okay,
36:45he's starting
36:45to fly south now
36:47and should straighten out.
36:49Yes.
36:50But he gets
36:50yet another call.
36:53The controller
36:53tells him
36:54to lower the altitude
36:54to 11,500 feet
36:56due to traffic
36:57in the area.
36:58Okay.
37:00Tide 311,
37:01send to flight
37:01level 11,500.
37:04It started
37:05to really become
37:05apparent
37:06that,
37:07you know what,
37:07with all the distractions,
37:09with all the workload
37:11that the captain
37:12that the captain had
37:12that eventually,
37:15you know,
37:15the monkey climbed
37:16on his back
37:17and he took on
37:19the whole load
37:19of the operation.
37:21Investigators are close
37:22to a breakthrough.
37:25And this is the moment
37:26they should have stopped
37:27adjusting the heading.
37:28The simulation gives them
37:31a sense of the mounting
37:32pressure in the
37:33Thai Airways cockpit.
37:35An extremely busy captain
37:37flying a challenging
37:38approach
37:39attempts an improvised
37:41right turn.
37:42He's trying to do
37:43too many things at once.
37:44He's asking to go
37:45to a point.
37:46He's trying to fly the
37:47airplane on the autopilot
37:48and he's starting
37:50to lose
37:51the 3D picture
37:52that he has
37:53in his head
37:54where he is.
37:56Without realizing it,
37:57he turns the heading
37:58knob too far.
38:03He turned it
38:04one too many times
38:05and did a full circle.
38:09Each time he has
38:10to reach up
38:11and change his heading,
38:12he has to take
38:13his eyes off the ball.
38:15What's the one thing
38:16that we never do
38:17is take our eyes
38:18off the ball?
38:19Well, each time
38:19he reaches up
38:20to select a different
38:21button,
38:21he takes his eye
38:22off of the screen.
38:26The captain
38:26took on too much
38:27himself
38:28where the point
38:28he was distracted
38:29from his primary task
38:30was just to navigate
38:31the airplane.
38:33Investigators
38:34finally understand
38:35how the plane
38:36ended up heading
38:37in the wrong direction.
38:39But they still wonder
38:40why the crew
38:41didn't notice
38:42the mistake in time.
38:44After he did the turn,
38:45they kept flying
38:47north for more
38:48than five minutes.
38:50As the pilots
38:51head toward disaster,
38:52they struggle
38:53to input
38:54the Romeo waypoint.
38:56Their frustration
38:57with the flight
38:58computer should be
38:59a warning sign.
39:01Romeo is now
39:02behind them.
39:04How could they
39:05not notice?
39:05Why the Thai Airways
39:11crew failed
39:12to notice
39:12that they had
39:13turned their plane
39:14360 degrees
39:15back towards
39:16the towering
39:17Himalayan mountains
39:18is one of the last
39:19mysteries investigators
39:20want to solve.
39:21The team tried
39:22to understand
39:23as to why
39:23the crew
39:24continued to the north.
39:25What cues
39:25could they got
39:27and why did
39:28they ignore
39:28those cues?
39:30Take a look
39:31at this.
39:32There are no
39:33cardinal points
39:34on the compass.
39:36A close look
39:37at the cockpit
39:37compass reveals
39:38a possible
39:39explanation.
39:41The instrument
39:42lacks the usual
39:43direction markers,
39:45N-S-E-W,
39:47for north,
39:47south, east,
39:48and west.
39:49It had just numbers.
39:51I think if there
39:52had been a big N
39:53on top of the compass
39:54for the whole time,
39:55it might have
39:55made a difference.
39:56when you're fully
40:03confident about
40:04where you're going,
40:07at what altitude,
40:09in what direction,
40:10when you think
40:11you have the mental
40:11picture,
40:13but yet you don't
40:14actually have the
40:15mental picture,
40:16you're situationally
40:17unaware of where
40:19you are.
40:19You know,
40:25one thing still
40:25bugs me,
40:26though.
40:27Why didn't the
40:27controller figure
40:28out where the
40:28plane was?
40:30Just over three
40:31minutes before
40:32impact,
40:33the controller
40:34asks the captain
40:35for their distance
40:36from the airport.
40:37Tie 3-1-1,
40:38go ahead,
40:39your DME
40:39for Kathmandu.
40:41We are
40:41five DME
40:43from
40:44Kathmandu.
40:45The captain
40:47reports that
40:48he's five miles
40:49away.
40:50The reported
40:50distance by the
40:51pilots just
40:52didn't make any
40:53sense to the
40:53controller.
40:54It's been five
40:55minutes since the
40:56Thai captain
40:57reported turning
40:58back towards
40:59Romeo.
41:00If he's flying
41:01south,
41:02away from the
41:03airport,
41:04he should be
41:04about 25 miles
41:06away,
41:06not five.
41:09The controller
41:10can't see on his
41:11screen where
41:12this airplane's
41:12going.
41:13All he can do
41:14is have a
41:15picture in his
41:16mind that the
41:16airplane is here
41:17and it's still
41:18following a script.
41:20But guess what?
41:20The airplane's no
41:21longer following
41:22that script.
41:23Confirm.
41:24Two, five DME.
41:26Five, zero, five.
41:29The pilot,
41:30when the controller
41:31asked him about
41:31that,
41:32very firmly
41:33said, five,
41:35zero, five.
41:35And I think
41:36that had the
41:37effect of
41:37shutting down
41:39an inexperienced
41:40controller.
41:41Roger.
41:42Report over
41:43Romeo.
41:45And forcing him
41:48to not probe
41:49deeper and ask
41:50any further
41:50questions.
41:51And that's a real
41:52shame because I
41:52think in this
41:53event, it might
41:54have made all
41:55the difference
41:55in the world.
41:58Are we going
41:59north?
42:00We will turn
42:00back soon.
42:02And then,
42:03only many miles
42:04north of the
42:05airport, at some
42:06point does the
42:07first officer say,
42:08hey, my display
42:10says I'm north
42:11of the airport.
42:11And he looks
42:13over, and he
42:14says to the
42:14captain, he
42:15says, we're
42:16north of the
42:17airport.
42:17But by then,
42:18it's too late.
42:21Hooray, hooray.
42:22Turn back.
42:23Turn back.
42:23It's false.
42:24It's false.
42:25He's totally
42:26locked into being
42:27in another place,
42:28and nothing that
42:28the first officer
42:29was going to say
42:30was going to
42:30change his
42:31perception of
42:32where he was.
42:32It's an amazing
42:53thing how, um, how
42:55the mind, how
42:56powerful our minds
42:57are sometimes when
42:58we're convinced we're
42:59doing something, even
43:00if that something is
43:01totally wrong.
43:03The crash of
43:04Flight 311 underscored
43:06the need for more
43:07advanced air traffic
43:08control technology at
43:10Nepal's Trip Hoven
43:11Airport.
43:12In an environment
43:13like Kathmandu, radar
43:14was essential, and
43:16radar was put into
43:18Kathmandu, so this
43:19would not happen
43:21again.
43:22The Thai Airways
43:24disaster also drove
43:25home the crucial
43:26importance of teamwork
43:27among pilots, a
43:29fundamental rule
43:30requiring a
43:31division of duties
43:32in the cockpit
43:33must never be
43:35ignored.
43:36It's not easy to
43:37realize, yeah, I'm
43:39so overloaded, I have
43:40to start delegating
43:41tasks, I have to
43:42stop doing
43:43everybody's job.
43:45He was trying to do
43:46everybody's job.
43:48At some point, you
43:48have to say, enough
43:49is enough, I'll fly
43:51the airplane, you
43:52handle the
43:53communication, and
43:55tell ATC what I am
43:57doing, tell them.