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  • 6/20/2025

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00:00What's that?
00:03When crisis strikes.
00:05What is it, the engines?
00:06Pilots must make life and death choices.
00:08Which one is it?
00:09It's the left.
00:12It's the right one.
00:13Did he say the right one?
00:18But sometimes accident investigators find evidence of baffling decisions.
00:22Turn it off up there, autothrauddle, pull here.
00:25It's off!
00:26Those guys had no idea what was going on.
00:28With deadly consequences.
00:30The input of the first officer
00:32Pulled down!
00:33Was the exact wrong thing to do.
00:36Three flights end in tragedy.
00:38Don't tell me he tried to do that in the air.
00:40When pilots add to the problems they're facing.
00:43He's not correcting.
00:44Don't tell me.
00:46Don't tell me.
00:51D-day, D-day.
00:55Pulled up!
00:58D-10, P-Ravenyard.
00:59D-10, P-Ravenyard.
01:01D-10, P-Ravenyard.
01:02D-10, P-Ravenyard.
01:03D-10, P-Ravenyard.
01:04D-10, P-Ravenyard.
01:05D-10, P-Ravenyard.
01:06D-10, P-Ravenyard.
01:07D-10, P-Ravenyard.
01:08D-10, P-Ravenyard.
01:09D-10, P-Ravenyard.
01:10D-10, P-Ravenyard.
01:11D-10, P-Ravenyard.
01:12D-10, P-Ravenyard.
01:13D-10, P-Ravenyard.
01:14D-10, P-Ravenyard.
01:15D-10, P-Ravenyard.
01:16D-10, P-Ravenyard.
01:17D-10, P-Ravenyard.
01:18D-10, P-Ravenyard.
01:19D-10, P-Ravenyard.
01:20flight 92 completes the final takeoff preparations for a short flight to
01:24Belfast. Why don't you let them know we're ready to go? There are 118 passengers on
01:45the Boeing 737. One of them is Nigel Baldwin. Captain Kevin Hunt flew the plane in from
02:06Belfast. He's a 23-year veteran who's logged more than 750 hours in 737s. First officer
02:14David McClelland takes the controls for the return trip. He's been a pilot for six years.
02:30Midland 92 cleared. Flight level 350.
02:37Flight level 350, Midland 92.
02:44Could I have a coffee too please? The plane has only been in the air for 10 minutes.
02:55What's that?
02:58I just knew there was something not quite right.
03:00Oh. You smell that?
03:09Is that smoke?
03:18What is it? The engines?
03:19We can hear it, sort of a humming vibration.
03:27It's fire, Kevin.
03:29Which one is it?
03:32It's the left.
03:37It's the right one.
03:39The pilots need to act quickly.
03:40They try to stabilise the problem engine by reducing power on that side.
03:59Seems to be running all right now.
04:01But we still got the smoke.
04:03This is Midland 92.
04:09We've got an engine fire.
04:11We need to divert to East Midlands.
04:13Understood.
04:14Clear for descent to 10,000 feet.
04:17Shutting down the engine will prevent the fire from spreading.
04:21Shutting down now.
04:22The pilots turn towards nearby East Midlands airport.
04:33Landing lights.
04:35On.
04:37Flaps one, please.
04:38They will have to make the landing with only one engine.
04:41Power, please.
04:42Power, please.
04:52We're losing another engine.
05:06Fire bell on number one.
05:10Try relighting the other one.
05:17It's not...
05:18I can't see it.
05:22I remember the flames coming over the top of the engine.
05:26And it was just sort of licking around the sides.
05:29I have to stretch the glide.
05:31The captain lifts the nose in a last-ditch attempt to reach the runway.
05:37Dammit!
05:39Pull the fuck.
05:41Don't take it.
05:43Don't take it.
05:43There were people screaming.
05:52There were people crying.
05:54You know, having fear for their lives.
05:56Three.
05:57Three.
05:58Three.
05:59Three.
06:00Three.
06:01One.
06:02One.
06:03One.
06:04One.
06:05One.
06:06One.
06:07One.
06:08One.
06:09One.
06:10One.
06:11One.
06:12One.
06:14One.
06:15One.
06:16One.
06:18One.
06:18One.
06:39Pretty new.
06:40Many are injured, including First Officer McClelland.
06:46Captain Hunt has a broken spine.
06:51As rescue efforts continue,
06:54a team from Britain's Air Accidents Investigation Branch arrives on the scene.
06:59Got close enough to see the runway lights.
07:02I think all of the team, their first impression was that this airplane seems to have had some problem with engine power.
07:10Investigators search the area for even the smallest fragments of engine debris,
07:16anything that might help explain the cause of the disaster.
07:27The pilots are too badly injured to be interviewed.
07:31Investigators speak to the controller who assisted them.
07:34They said they had an engine fire.
07:35This is Midland 92.
07:41We've got an engine fire.
07:43We need to divert to East Midlands.
07:45Understood.
07:46Cleared for descent to 10,000 feet.
07:49The 737 can be flown with only one working engine.
07:53So why was the plane unable to reach the runway?
08:00Investigators examine the recovered engines.
08:02What they find surprises them.
08:04Both engines fail.
08:07Both engines showed pretty low speed rotation at the impact.
08:11So it was a question of sorting out why they were both there.
08:16Dual engine failure is almost unheard of.
08:19How did it happen?
08:22Flight 92's voice and flight data recorders might provide some answers.
08:26So the right engine stops here.
08:33And the left gives out more than 15 minutes later here.
08:37Whatever the two problems were, they didn't happen at the same time.
08:41Let's hear it.
08:43The team hopes the cockpit voice recorder will reveal what went wrong.
08:51That's an engine vibration.
08:53Can't be anything else.
08:54Let's see what you do about that.
09:00Whoa.
09:01What is it, the engines?
09:03We could hear the banging of this and the shaking.
09:05And it's obvious that the crew were pretty rattled by this as well.
09:10Which one is it?
09:13It's the left.
09:16It's the right one.
09:18Did he say the right one?
09:20It was a little bit of a mystery that the voice recorder showed them apparently opting for the right engine as being where the problem was.
09:30I can't see anything wrong with the right engine at this point.
09:33We were suspecting that the right engine had been shut down, but it was the left engine that had the problem.
09:39It was vital that we got the crew's version of events.
09:43The captain is still recovering from his severe injuries, so investigators interview the first officer.
09:50It started with the vibrations in the right engine.
09:56The vibrations were really fierce.
09:59Captain Hunt suggested that we throttle back.
10:03Throttle it back.
10:04We throttled back the right engine and the vibration stopped.
10:09Seems to be running all right now.
10:11The vibration and the noise went away, so it would have indicated to them we've done the right thing.
10:18The team is forced to consider an extraordinary theory.
10:24This could be two unrelated engine failures.
10:28Fire on the left side and an entirely different one on the right side.
10:32What led to two separate failures?
10:39Investigators hope engine fragments recovered near the crash site will provide an explanation.
10:45One piece stands out.
10:51Gotcha.
10:53A section of fan blade shows signs of metal fatigue.
10:56Even a single broken blade can cause a dangerous reaction.
11:03This finding could explain how the engine failures began.
11:09It would have been a lot of physical vibration.
11:11The passengers reported that it was like the sound of, in a tumble dryer of rocks and stuff being thrown around.
11:18It would have really been quite violent.
11:20A metallurgical examination reveals which engine the damaged blade came from.
11:25Blade 17, left engine.
11:34The blade that broke first and then triggered the vibration came from the left engine.
11:40Investigators face a compelling question.
11:42If the vibrations were coming from the left engine, why did the pilots shut down the right one?
11:47It's hard to believe they would shut down the wrong engine.
11:51There was a lot of skepticism from the operations inspectors, the pilots on the team,
11:55because here we have a very experienced, well-qualified crew.
12:01Which one is it?
12:04It's the left.
12:08It's the right one.
12:09And it's very, very difficult to accept that such a basic mistake could be made.
12:20When their left engine began vibrating, the pilots of Flight 92 mistakenly shut down the right engine.
12:26It's the left.
12:29It's the right one.
12:31Front and back.
12:34I don't think we'll ever know why he changed his mind mid-diagnosis.
12:38Once the left engine caught fire, investigators believe that mistake ended any hope of a safe landing.
12:48But a major question remains.
12:50Why did the vibration suddenly stop in the damaged left engine when the crew shut down the right one?
12:56They reduced the power on the right engine, but somehow the left engine settles down.
13:08The team analyzes every action the pilots made.
13:12When the crisis hit, they reduced power to the right engine.
13:15Seems to be running all right now.
13:17The engine problems appeared to stop.
13:21I'm in no doubt that that was by far the most dominant cue for them,
13:25that they had done the right thing, and the problem lay in the right engine.
13:28But the flight data shows that just seconds before reducing power,
13:32the first officer made one other adjustment.
13:34That's it, of course.
13:38He had to disconnect the autothrottle.
13:44Forward and back.
13:46To reduce power on the right-hand side, the pilot must first switch off the autothrottle.
13:51Forward and throttle off.
13:55Switching to manual has an unforeseen consequence.
13:59It reduces power to the left engine,
14:01and a temporary but dramatic improvement in performance.
14:04It was damaged, but it was reasonably happy operating at a low power setting,
14:10which is all it needed, because they were constantly descending towards the airfield.
14:15With its right engine shut down,
14:17the plane flew for nearly 17 minutes on only the damaged left engine.
14:21But when the crew increased power...
14:23Power, please.
14:24...part of the broken number 17 blade was sucked into the left engine,
14:28causing a catastrophic failure.
14:30Investigators conclude that the pilot's incorrect assessment
14:42triggered a chain of events that led to disaster.
14:45It was probably the killer blow,
14:47because what that meant was that they felt
14:49that what they had done, which was to close the right-hand engine down,
14:53was the correct thing to have done.
14:55When pilots compound problems in flight,
14:59they may have only seconds to correct the error and save their aircraft.
15:06Congonhas Airport in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
15:1389 passengers are getting ready for TAM Airlines Flight 402 to Rio de Janeiro.
15:19One of TAM's most experienced pilots is in command.
15:25Jose Antonio Moreno has almost 6,500 flying hours.
15:29Before start checklist?
15:31Yes, Captain. Already done?
15:33Good.
15:34Go ahead and call the tower so we can get these engines started.
15:37You got it.
15:38First officer Ricardo Luis Gomez is less experienced.
15:42He qualified to fly the Fokker 100 only a week ago.
15:45Sao Paulo, TAM 402, we're ready to go and requesting engine start.
15:50TAM 402, you are cleared to start.
15:53Fire him up.
15:56Starting number one.
16:03Starting engine two.
16:10TAM 402, you are cleared for takeoff.
16:13Runway 17 right.
16:15Here we go.
16:17Takeoff thrust.
16:31V1, rotate.
16:33V1, rotate.
16:45V1, rotate.
16:45V1, rotate.
16:46Suddenly, TAM flight 402 is in trouble.
16:49No, no, no, no, no, no.
16:52Less than 50 feet in the air, the plane rolls dangerously to the right.
16:57The captain struggles to level the plane.
17:01But now, there's a new problem.
17:03Air speed is dropping.
17:07It has to be an absolutely sick feeling for that flight crew at that point.
17:10Time soon.
17:2025 seconds after takeoff.
17:26Lead, bring, bring, bring, bring, bring, bring, bring.
17:28Lines, bring, bring, bring.
17:31TAM flight 402 crashes into a Sao Paulo neighborhood.
17:44The crash kills all 95 people on board the plane and another four on the ground.
17:50Many more are injured.
17:52A team of investigators from the Brazilian Air Force arrives at the scene.
18:01Major Carlos da Conceição is in charge.
18:05When I got there, it was really a scene of total devastation.
18:13The plane took down everything in its path.
18:17It was like a war zone.
18:22What went wrong when flight 402 took off?
18:26Here. It's from the cockpit.
18:29Piece by piece, they recover the aircraft's components to begin the search for answers.
18:34We know that the aircraft departed controlled flight at a very, very low altitude.
18:39The first culprit in that type of instance would be loss of thrust.
18:44Investigators scrutinize the flight data and spot something odd about the thrust settings.
18:50The power is all over the place.
18:55The thrust was increasing and decreasing, increasing, decreasing, and then finally full thrust.
19:02It was very confusing. Why would this happen?
19:05Investigators consider a connection with another piece of evidence.
19:08Okay, so you saw something moving at the back of the engine.
19:11A witness saw one of the plane's thrust reversers open just before the crash.
19:17Can you bring up all the data on the thrust reversers?
19:22The thrust reversers deploy on landing to help slow the aircraft. They are never used in the air.
19:34The reverser is an aerodynamic brake which is used on landing.
19:38Why would it open during takeoff?
19:40The flight data reveals that after takeoff, the right thrust reverser opened and closed twice, then remained deployed.
19:55This shouldn't even be possible.
19:57I was amazed because that's just not supposed to happen.
20:03Thrust reverser systems are designed to prevent an accidental deployment in flight.
20:10Investigators test the reversers, looking for flaws which might explain why one opened during flight.
20:15The movement of the thrust reversers was a big mystery.
20:31They discover the problem, a faulty landing sensor.
20:35It intermittently signaled the reverser to open and close.
20:38If there is an uncommanded thrust reverser deployment, the system would automatically retard the thrust level back to idle.
20:56But the aircraft should still be able to climb safely with just one engine.
21:00So why couldn't flight 402?
21:03Okay. Go ahead, please.
21:08Investigators listen to the audio captured by the cockpit voice recorder.
21:21No, no, no, no, no, no.
21:22He sounds like he's fumbling with something.
21:26It's locked!
21:28What's locked?
21:29Turn it off up there, autothrottle, pull here!
21:32It's off!
21:36It sounds like the crew thought the problem was the autothrottle.
21:41The pilots are focused on the autothrottle.
21:44They never discuss the reverser.
21:46Turn it off up there, you too!
21:48It's off! It's off!
21:50And there was no alarm to warn them that the reverser deployed.
21:53Hooray!
21:54Those guys had no idea what was going on.
22:07It's now clear to investigators that the crew was confused.
22:11But they still need to determine why the pilots reacted as they did in those critical last seconds.
22:17You want to get clear what, in fact, happened so that this won't happen again.
22:23To obtain a more detailed picture, the team combines the flight data and the cockpit voice recording to create a real-time animation of the flight.
22:33Let's see what we got.
22:34Take-up speed was 127 knots.
22:46It reveals why the crew acted the way they did when the reverser was deployed.
22:51It's locked!
22:53Hold it.
22:54It must be reacting to the movement of the thrust lever.
22:57No, no, no, no, no!
22:58The automation just moved it to idle, just like it's supposed to.
23:01The sudden loss of thrust in the right engine indicates that the fail-safe system did activate when the reverser deployed.
23:08Turn it off up there, autothrottle, pull here!
23:11It's off!
23:13But the pilots misinterpret the lever's movement.
23:18Oh, no. Don't tell me.
23:20Don't tell me.
23:23They think the autothrottle is malfunctioning and reducing thrust to the right engine.
23:30I think the first officer is deliberately putting the engine back to full power.
23:36When the thrust reverser accidentally deploys in the Fokker 100,
23:41a cable automatically pulls back the throttle to reduce engine power.
23:51Pilots shouldn't be able to override it.
23:55Yet the first officer managed to do exactly that.
24:16The levers are here.
24:17It was very important to, in fact, examine the cable. What condition was it in?
24:26This connects to the faulty reverser.
24:28Investigators discover that the cables separated at a key connection point.
24:33That connector should be able to withstand the force that the pilots exert.
24:38Only this time, it didn't.
24:39Three times, the safety system pulls back the power.
24:44And three times, the first officer puts the engines back to full power.
24:49Investigators conclude that when the thrust lever snapped to idle for the first time,
24:55the first officer used all his strength to move it forward.
24:58The object is to get the airplane as high and fast as you possibly can.
25:04Given the information that this flight crew had,
25:06I would venture to say that 99% of all flight crews would have reacted exactly the same way.
25:11With the throttle held forward, the reverser opened again, triggering the fail-safe cable.
25:18But the first officer continued pushing.
25:20That combined force was stronger than the manufacturer anticipated. The cables separated.
25:29It had ended up with the thrust reverser fully open and with full thrust on that engine where the thrust reversers were open.
25:37With one engine at full forward power and the other in full reverse, the plane rolled into an uncontrollable dive.
25:44Once you put the engine back to full power, they didn't stand a chance.
25:54The crew's actions were central to the fatal crash of TAM 402.
25:59But why did an automated system designed to help keep an aircraft safe so confuse the crew?
26:05The thought came, why? How did this happen? How did the crew not understand what was happening to them?
26:12Let's see how much time these guys spent training for this.
26:17Investigators need to find out if the TAM pilots knew what to do if the Fokker 100's thrust reversers deployed accidentally.
26:25We found out that TAM had consulted with Fokker to find out whether there was any need to train for a reverser deployment during takeoff.
26:34A failure so rare they decided not to train for it.
26:45Fokker formally responded that the probability that the reverser would open during takeoff was very small and this training was not necessary.
26:54Turn it off up there, here too. Stop! Stop!
27:00Confused and untrained, the first officer restored the power he wanted for the takeoff.
27:09Unfortunately, they didn't have enough information to make the right decisions at the right time.
27:15After the crash, TAM Airlines added new training to instruct its pilots how to respond if a reverser deploys during takeoff.
27:35The cockpit is a complex network of integrated systems. When flight crews confront one failure, it takes just one bad decision to create another, far more serious problem.
27:47Air Asia flight 8501 cruises high above the Java Sea, north of Indonesia.
28:06Captain Irianto is in command of the Airbus A320. He's logged more than 20,000 flying hours.
28:13His first officer is Remy Emmanuel Placel. He's amassed about 2,000 flying hours, much of it on the Airbus.
28:21It was the first officer that was manipulating the controls. The captain was in command of the flight, but was performing the duties of the pilot monitoring or the non-flying pilot.
28:34Today's flight originated in the Indonesian city of Surabaya. The route heads across the Java Sea to Singapore.
28:41Looks like weather ahead.
28:48I'm going to radio for a higher cruise. Get around that weather.
28:54Good idea.
28:56But before the captain can do that, the flight computer sends a fault warning.
29:00Ecamm actions?
29:01Ecamm actions?
29:02The Ecamm system monitors the plane's functions and lists actions to be taken by the crew.
29:08FAC1 off and on.
29:12FAC2 off and on.
29:14Resetting the aircraft's two flight augmentation computers, or FACs, addresses the fault.
29:20Warning cleared.
29:22And silences the warnings.
29:30A few minutes later.
29:31Same.
29:37Back one off and on.
29:40After the crew addresses the second fault.
29:43AirAsia 8501, you are cleared to 340.
29:47Jakarta Air Traffic Control clears the flight to climb.
29:54The controller waits for confirmation.
29:57But the pilots are distracted.
30:00Here we go again.
30:02Ecamm actions.
30:04FAC1 off and on.
30:07Very annoying and very time consuming to deal with this recurring problem.
30:16Enough of this.
30:19Ecamm actions.
30:23In Jakarta, the controller is trying to contact the flight.
30:27AirAsia 8501, do you read me? Please acknowledge.
30:30The displays indicate the plane is now rolling sharply left.
30:31Level.
30:32Okay, level.
30:34Level.
30:36I'm trying.
30:38It's not responding.
30:40AirAsia 8501, do you read me? Please acknowledge.
30:42But in the cockpit, the fault warnings have increased dramatically.
30:44AirAsia 8501, do you read me? Please acknowledge.
30:46The displays indicate the plane is now rolling sharply left.
30:47Level.
30:49Okay, level.
30:51Level!
30:53I'm trying.
30:55It's not responding.
30:58AirAsia 8501, please confirm you are climbing to flight level 340.
31:08The plane is now climbing higher and higher.
31:19Then suddenly, it falls.
31:29Altitude!
31:30I see it!
31:33The rate of descent here was very, very high.
31:37Flight 8501 plummets from the sky, speeding towards the sea below.
31:44AirAsia Flight 8501 is falling fast.
31:48Pull!
31:50The pilots are helpless.
31:57The plane vanishes from radar and plunges into the Java Sea.
32:01The loss of AirAsia 8501 was a classic case of a flight degenerating from mundane, normal cruise conditions to the loss of the aircraft in a span of just 20 minutes.
32:21Rescue teams search the area, but of the 162 passengers and crew, there are no survivors. Only a few pieces of floating debris.
32:30An international team of air safety investigators flies to Jakarta to join local experts.
32:40They need to find out why a highly sophisticated airliner, flying at cruising altitude, suddenly fell from the sky.
32:48We have a lot of little pieces everywhere. My first reaction was, it's not going to be easy.
32:54Two weeks after the crash, the plane's black boxes are recovered from the sea.
33:00Investigators analyze the cockpit voice recording.
33:03Jakarta Air Traffic Control, AirAsia 8501, request to climb to 38,000 to clear storm clouds.
33:10Almost immediately, they discover something.
33:17ECAM actions.
33:19Back one off and on.
33:22Back two off and on.
33:25Warning cleared.
33:27They were dealing with some kind of warning.
33:30Play recording.
33:32ECAM actions.
33:34Same.
33:35Okay, the warning came back.
33:36They were getting continual fault warnings through the, what's called an ECAM system, electronic central aircraft monitoring system.
33:45Here we go again.
33:47At this point, the crew's behavior was standard.
33:50They were communicating on what checklist to apply.
33:54There it is again.
33:56ECAM actions.
33:58Then the recording reveals something unexpected.
34:02No, I've got a better idea.
34:03After a fourth fault, the captain appears to take a different course of action.
34:08Hold recording.
34:10Now the autopilot has disengaged.
34:14An unexpected disengagement of the autothrottle and autothrust system results in a pretty loud warning.
34:21What was that?
34:22What was that?
34:23Okay, let's see what we have.
34:25Master, caution.
34:26What?
34:27Checking.
34:29Then, a more serious alarm sounds.
34:31Level.
34:33Stall warning.
34:34Pull.
34:35Slowly.
34:37What's going on?
34:38Pull!
34:39Pull!
34:40What caused this technically sophisticated aircraft to stall?
34:57The autopilot disconnects, the aircraft stalls, they struggle to recover.
35:01It makes no sense.
35:05Investigators look for clues in the plane's maintenance records.
35:14They quickly find one.
35:16There had been an issue with the Rudder Travel Limit Unit, or RTLU.
35:19The RTLU prevents the rudder from deflecting too far in either direction mid-flight.
35:33Records reveal that it had been malfunctioning for almost a year.
35:3723 reports of the exact same failure.
35:44The RTLU failures on this particular airframe had become increasingly frequent.
35:49After each failure, maintenance workers reset the RTLU.
35:53They just kept resetting it, and then putting it back in service.
35:58And failed to find a more permanent fix.
36:01They were returning the airplane to service after reset, and from a legal standpoint,
36:05it did clear the problem.
36:07But, obviously, whatever the fault was, they hadn't found it,
36:10because the problem continued to reoccur.
36:13The aircraft could operate normally despite the warnings.
36:17But on the night of the crash, it didn't.
36:19Why?
36:22Investigators hope to find the answer on the flight data recorder.
36:26So here's the first warning.
36:28It clearly was the RTLU.
36:30They do the fix, simply resetting the entire system.
36:32Two more times, the RTLU warning goes off.
36:36And each time, they did the right thing.
36:39Then it went off on a fourth time.
36:42Then suddenly, there was a glitch.
36:46Investigators believe that glitch caused the autopilot to disconnect
36:50and put the plane into a dangerous left bank.
36:52The single event of autopilot, autothrottle disengagement sends the investigators in two different directions.
36:59One, what caused it? Two, how did the crew handle it?
37:02As investigators struggle to answer those questions...
37:08Hello, NTSC.
37:11...they get a tantalizing new lead.
37:13Wait, wait, slow down. What happened?
37:15Investigators receive an unexpected call, offering new information about the captain of AirAsia 8501.
37:23Start from the beginning.
37:25Where was he?
37:27Three days before the accident, this same captain was about to fly from Indonesia to Kuala Lumpur
37:34when he had an RTLU malfunction.
37:37He asked for an engineer to come into the cockpit and try to fix that.
37:41RTLU problem again?
37:42Yeah, it just keeps coming back.
37:45The maintenance engineer rebooted the system.
37:52But the problem returned.
37:57I've got an idea.
38:01He then pulled the circuit breakers for the main computer.
38:07Maintenance on the ground has a very specific list of circuit breakers that says,
38:12you can utilize pulling these circuit breakers to reset computers within the airplane.
38:18The captain watched as the problem appeared to be resolved.
38:23Problem solved.
38:25And can I do the same thing if it happens again?
38:28Yeah, just do what the ECAP tells you to do.
38:33Don't tell me he tried to do that in the air.
38:36Investigators think they now know what the captain did to cause the crisis.
38:42Begin simulation.
38:44To see if they're right, they simulate the events in the cockpit.
38:48OK, so let's start with the RTLU warnings.
38:52OK?
38:54FAC 1, off.
38:56FAC 2, off.
38:58Enough of this.
39:01After a fourth alarm.
39:02E-CAM actions.
39:03No.
39:04I've got a better idea.
39:06Investigators believe the captain pulled two critical circuit breakers.
39:09Captain pulls circuit breaker one.
39:10The result is immediate.
39:11And there goes the autopilot disconnect warning.
39:12This had to be what he did.
39:13No.
39:14No.
39:15I've got a better idea.
39:16No.
39:17I've got a better idea.
39:18Investigators believe the captain pulled two critical circuit breakers.
39:20Captain pulls.
39:21Circuit breaker one.
39:27The result is immediate.
39:33And there goes the autopilot disconnect warning.
39:39This had to be what he did.
39:40He was perhaps copying what he'd seen the ground engineer do.
39:43Of course the consequences in flight, disabling critical systems are quite different.
39:50His fix for a minor fault created a new problem.
39:54Pulling the circuit breaker disables the autopilot,
39:57which sends the plane into a 54-degree roll.
40:04The first officer doesn't notice the plane is banking
40:07until the captain sits down again.
40:09Oh, my God. Oh!
40:12The co-pilot's movement of the stick to its extreme right-most position
40:17resulted in a very violent roll to the right.
40:21The FDR data shows how extreme the plane's movements were.
40:25So the plane rolled 54 degrees left,
40:29and he pulled back almost level in just two seconds.
40:34That would scramble anybody's gyros.
40:37Maybe that was the confusion.
40:39As soon as the first officer had leveled the aircraft,
40:42the fluid in his ear canals keeps spinning to the right.
40:45The aircraft is level, but there's a very strong illusion from the ears
40:48that you're turning to the right.
40:50And then he pulls it as hard as he can,
40:54and the plane starts climbing.
40:58This is a massive input.
41:00The airplane would pitch up very quickly.
41:04What's going on?
41:05He was completely baffled.
41:07His vertigo may have led him to believe that the aircraft was pitching down,
41:10so he's actually recovering from an imaginary pitch down.
41:13He was disoriented.
41:15The plane stalls and begins to fall out of the sky.
41:19The captain attempts to regain control, but his efforts fail.
41:23I think the crew had started to lose their spatial awareness completely.
41:27The first officer continues pulling back on his side stick until the very end.
41:32The input of the first officer was the exact wrong thing to do.
41:39What's going on?
41:41When a flight crew faces a failure mid-flight,
41:45one bad decision can trigger bigger problems that lead to catastrophe.
41:50No one's going to be able to reach up and grab you and bring you safely back.
41:57What it finally comes down to is how well that captain and first officer
42:01orchestrate what they have been taught with the situation that they have
42:05to try to bring everybody back down to Earth safely.