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00:00The plane came flying out of the bottom of the cloud at 4,000 feet per minute.
00:06Pull up! Pull up!
00:07Nuremberg Air Service Flight 108 breaks apart
00:11while the pilots attempt to land at Dusseldorf Airport in Germany.
00:17All passengers and crew are killed.
00:21Because of the size of the accident site,
00:24we use the grid to identify the positions of every part of the wreckage.
00:31Investigators reconstruct the plane to determine what happened.
00:36There must be a thousand pieces in here.
00:41Over here.
00:42They uncover evidence of a one-in-a-million failure
00:45that should not have brought the plane down.
00:49The pilots had no chance to control the aircraft in a proper way.
00:54I think under these circumstances, there was nothing they could have done.
01:00V-day, V-day!
01:05Pull up!
01:073-801-0, for having your arms, we're going to come back tonight.
01:10One, two, three.
01:11One, two, three.
01:12One, two, three.
01:13You have to go, hold up, hold up.
01:14It's an hour before sunrise at Hanover Airport in West Germany.
01:31Nuremberg Air Service Flight 108 prepares for the first flight of the day.
01:36In the cockpit is 36-year-old Captain Ralph Borstorff and 28-year-old First Officer Sybil Hale-Man.
01:53They each have 2,500 flying hours.
01:56Should we clear sailing?
01:59Both of them would be fairly typical.
02:01What you would see in commuter operations, people starting their careers and getting ready to move up.
02:08The weather forecast predicts calm skies with only a slim chance of thunderstorms near their destination.
02:16Might get a bit rough on landing because of some turbulence and a chance of thunderstorms, but it's unlikely. Just 10%.
02:22Sounds good.
02:26A 10% chance of thundershowers.
02:29It's a 10% chance you want to know about it, but it's not something you're going to put too much thought into.
02:34Before Flight 108 can depart, snow and ice that accumulated overnight are removed.
02:44This flight was a full flight. It had 19 passengers on board, all of those being business people.
02:51It's a 40-minute flight from Hanover to Dusseldorf, a major business hub on the Rhine River.
02:57We started the route in 1987, about six months before this flight.
03:04We had very weak train connections between the east and western parts of Germany.
03:09So from the very, very beginning, we had full airplanes.
03:14Flight 108 leaves Hanover at 7.15am, 15 minutes behind schedule.
03:22Flaps.
03:22Flaps.
03:22Flaps.
03:22Flaps.
03:27The pilots are flying a Fairchild Swear Engine Metroliner 3.
03:35It's a powerful turboprop plane designed for short commuter flights.
03:40The Metroliner 3 airliner is a perfect scaled-down airliner.
03:44It hauls 19 people fast to fuel efficiently.
03:46All the creature comforts of a bigger airline.
03:48From the very beginning, I was impressed by the airplane.
03:53It was extremely well designed, it was flexible, it was fast,
03:59it had good pressurization.
04:01So everything a pilot likes, the airplane had.
04:07It takes 10 minutes for flight 108
04:10to reach its cruising altitude of 14,000 feet.
04:14It will stay at that altitude for only 15 minutes.
04:22Well, no rest for the wicked.
04:25We'll have the descent checklist, will you?
04:28Regional flying is generally an hour and a half or less,
04:32leading to increased workload for the time that you are in the air.
04:39Check the radar.
04:41The captain notices some weather on the radar.
04:45Thunderstorm could be rolling in after all.
04:48Maybe. Doesn't look particularly bad.
04:51I'll check the ATIS.
04:57ATIS continuously broadcasts updated weather conditions at the destination airport.
05:02GUSTING 24, VISIBILITY 10, SKY CONDITION, BROKEN CLOUDS AT 1,500 FEET.
05:12Nothing but a thunderstorm. We should be fine.
05:15Okay.
05:17We'll continue with the approach.
05:20Their expectation was that the weather was getting better
05:22and that any thinner showers hadn't really materialized.
05:26Good morning. This is your captain speaking.
05:28We have begun our descent into Dusseldorf.
05:31Please ensure your seatbelts are fastened.
05:33Should be landing in about 15 minutes.
05:3530 miles from the airport.
05:46Dusseldorf, good morning.
05:48Requesting to send to 3000, NFD-108.
05:52First officer Hale-Man contacts the Dusseldorf approach controller
05:55for landing instructions.
05:58NFD-108, good morning to you.
06:00You are cleared to 3000 feet and currently number three to land.
06:06Copy to send to 3000, number three to land.
06:10When ATC gives us an indication of where we are on the order for landing,
06:14it helps us set up, it helps us get ready,
06:15it helps us know when you're going to start putting flaps and gear down.
06:19Three minutes later...
06:23Localizer alive.
06:27Flight 108 lines up with the runway's centerline.
06:36Establish on the localizer.
06:40The first officer checks on the weather.
06:45Looks like a thunderstorm has moved right in front of us.
06:50Might be trouble.
06:54Thunderstorms have to be treated with respect.
06:56I mean, they can produce hail, they can produce downdrafts, tailwinds,
07:00overpowering what the airplane is capable of doing.
07:05The captain decides to maneuver around the storm.
07:14The problem was, it's a big thunderstorm in the approach sector of Dusseldorf.
07:19They shouldn't fly through thunderstorms.
07:24In the Dusseldorf control center...
07:26NFD-108, please switch to tower control.
07:30Frequency 118.30.
07:32The approach controller hands over flight 108 to the tower.
07:36NFD-108, confirm switch to tower control.
07:39NFD-108, confirm switch to tower control.
07:41Frequency 118.30. Bye.
07:44Moments later, flight 108 disappears from radar.
07:55Seven miles northeast of Dusseldorf airport, a maintenance worker at a sewage treatment plant hears the sound of an approaching airplane.
08:07Flight 108 breaks out of the clouds in a steep dive.
08:14500! 400! 300! Pull up!
08:20The plane pulls up just in time.
08:25The plane came flying out of the bottom of the cloud at 4,000 feet per minute.
08:31The g-force it would have taken to overcome that, to pull the airplane nose back up, it was violent.
08:37The sound of the engines recedes into the distance.
08:42That flight would have been sheer terror.
08:44Sheer terror for the people in the back, sheer terror up front.
08:47You know, you went from having a visual reference to thinking you're good, to all of a sudden you're back in the cloud again.
08:51A minute later, the plane returns.
08:56This time, flight 108 spirals out of control and breaks up.
09:04No, no, no!
09:06It's a horrifying sight.
09:08I can't even imagine what the person watching that would be thinking.
09:11Two minutes before dawn, flight 108 slams into an open field on the banks of the Ruhr River.
09:18The wreckage is scattered over a wide area.
09:31First responders make their way to the crash site.
09:35All 19 passengers and both pilots are dead.
09:40The metroliner itself is broken into thousands of pieces.
09:44You're seeing that parts are distributed throughout the area.
09:51You'll start collecting all the parts, mapping where they are, and trying to put this puzzle back together again.
09:58Investigators from Germany's Air Accident Investigation Unit, or FUS, begin mapping the wreckage of flight 108 to determine what caused the accident.
10:15The first step was to identify the positions of every part of the wreckage.
10:23And because of the size of the accident site, we used the grid and we were able to get the information where every piece was at the accident site.
10:35Much of the plane, along with its black boxes, are badly damaged.
10:42The recorders in this aircraft aren't the new digital type of recorders, which record 300, 400 parameters.
10:49This was the old foil style recorders. You had altitude, air speed, you had heading, some information, you had g-loads. You didn't have the data we have today by a long shot.
11:02The black boxes and debris are sent to a warehouse, where investigators begin their analysis.
11:12Once the parts are recovered, taken to a facility, you can then clean where the fractures, where the separations are.
11:20You can look at where a part broke apart.
11:24The wings, the engines, the tail sections, separated from the aircraft.
11:32Investigators try to confirm witness statements that the plane broke up before it crashed.
11:39This piece looks compressed, like it came from a high energy impact.
11:46But this piece is intact.
11:50What that indicates is this intact piece of wreckage did not go to the accident site with the rest of the airplane.
12:00For sure an in-flight breakup.
12:04The team is now convinced that Flight 108 broke up before hitting the ground.
12:10The question is, what led to that?
12:13Is there any evidence of a pre-existing failure that would have led to the accident?
12:16Hey, can you bring that piece over to the table?
12:21Did a design flaw or some kind of failure create a fatigue crack, causing the wings to break off before impact?
12:31Even though the airplane is fairly new, you don't rule out anything.
12:37Was there a flaw in manufacturing? Was there a full drill where it shouldn't have been drilled?
12:42Was there some other issue that would cause a crack to start growing very early in the aircraft's life?
12:48Well, this doesn't look like a fatigue crack at all.
12:54It can only mean one thing.
12:57Overload fracture.
13:00Yeah.
13:04Overload fractures can occur because the airplane's exceeded speed limits.
13:08Flight control inputs are severe.
13:10Severe turbulence can cause overload.
13:14And sometimes you have a combination of all three coming together.
13:18Hey, can you get the lights?
13:21What pushed this plane past its structural limits?
13:25Investigators examined the plane's flight path for clues.
13:28Nothing unusual here.
13:35The flight path from departure, en route, to arrival for landing seemed normal.
13:45What happened at this part, the end of the flight?
13:51Oh, look at that.
13:54They discover that the pilots flew an erratic flight path before the plane crashed.
14:01That would certainly cause a structural overload.
14:06Agreed.
14:08The crew was on approach and now suddenly goes through some very tight maneuvers.
14:15And you piece that together with the wreckage you found and where it was found.
14:20And that gives you a much better idea of what led to the accident.
14:26Investigators speak to the controller who oversaw the approach of Flight 108 to determine what might have caused the unusual flight path.
14:36Tell me about the night of the crash.
14:38Uh, there was thunderstorm activity from about 7.40 until just after 8 a.m.
14:47Mm-hmm.
14:49Did your other flights run into any trouble?
14:52They reported moderate icing and turbulence, but everyone else landed without incident.
14:58Okay.
15:00No go-arounds? No missed approaches?
15:02No.
15:03Okay.
15:04Uh, but about six miles out, a 7.37 got hit by lightning.
15:13Dusseldorf approach, Lufthansa 1354.
15:17We just experienced a lightning strike at 3,000 feet, six miles final.
15:22No immediate issues.
15:24Lufthansa 1354, Dusseldorf approach.
15:26Roger, let me know if you require further assistance.
15:28Typically when we're concerned about thunderstorms in the airport vicinity, uh, it's not much about the lightning, it's more about the winds and the wind shears that can be powerful enough to push the airplane into the ground.
15:40Since airplanes are made of aluminum, which conducts electricity, most lightning strikes flow over the skin of the fuselage and safely exit through the tail.
15:50I remember one occurrence of flying, the aircraft got hit by lightning. There was a sudden flash outside the fuselage. You could hear it. And the airplane kept on going. And there was no associated damage to the aircraft. And we continued on.
16:08Did you report the lightning strike to flight 108? Yes.
16:12NFD 108, the preceding landing experienced a lightning strike about six miles final.
16:19Dusseldorf approach, we copy and are looking outside. NFD 108.
16:26For flight crews, it is not abnormal to deal with thunderstorms and to deal with the probability of some lightning. This flight was very, very usual.
16:35Okay. Great. Thank you for your time.
16:40If it wasn't the weather that caused the pilots to push the plane past its structural limit, what did?
16:51Will flight 108's black boxes provide clues as to why the plane broke up mid-flight?
16:57It's not looking good. How so?
17:06Flight data recording and the cockpit voice recording both stopped two minutes before the plane crashed.
17:13At the exact same time that the plane started flying erratically.
17:16A total power failure?
17:20The CVR and the FDR get their power from two separate sources.
17:27So the fact that both these recorders stopped at the same time indicates whatever happened affected both electrical systems, not just the one.
17:35The Metroliner's electrical system is powered by two generators. In the event of a power failure, two batteries act as a backup system.
17:45But if it was a total power failure, that means the backup system failed as well. How is that even possible?
17:55How is that even possible?
17:58From the perspective and the explanations coming from the manufacturer, the possibility of a total electrical loss was very low.
18:06But during the course of the investigation, we understood more and more that it could be that the flight crews had a total electrical loss.
18:16Investigators consider the effects of a total power failure.
18:20They would have lost most of their instruments.
18:23Well, except their vertical speed indicator, the altitude and the third attitude indicator.
18:30Our Metroliner's have been installed with a third independent artificial horizon.
18:40It used bleed air coming from the engine.
18:43And as long as the engine was running, the artificial horizon was working as well.
18:47Totally independent from electricity.
18:51The standby non-electrical artificial horizon could have been used by the crew to help keep the aircraft level and straight.
19:00And then the complexity of this accident gets into why didn't the crew effectively use that standby?
19:09But even with limited instruments, who's to say they could have even seen them?
19:13Oh, good point. The lights that illuminated the instruments may not have been working. Huh.
19:22You need those instruments, and if you can't see them, then you don't know if you're up or down. You're flying blind at this point.
19:26To confirm the unlikely finding of a total electrical failure.
19:43The team examines light bulbs from Flight 108's instrument panel.
19:49If the light bulb was on when the plane hit the ground, the hot and pliable filament inside would be stretched.
19:57But if the light was off, the cold, brittle filament would break upon impact.
20:04All these filaments are broken.
20:09The outcome was that we found no bulb which was under electrical power during the impact of the aircraft.
20:21Investigators now have conclusive evidence of a sudden total power failure.
20:27Total power failure.
20:31But what could have caused it?
20:34The controller did tell us that another plane got struck by lightning.
20:40Maybe this one did too.
20:41Maybe this one did too.
20:43A lightning strike outside of the aircraft could lead to a problem with the electrical system inside of the aircraft.
20:51If the electrical field of a lightning strike is very, very high, could be induced into the aircraft.
21:01Investigators search for evidence of lightning striking the fuselage of Flight 108.
21:07There must be a thousand pieces in here.
21:14It's a painstaking process.
21:17Lightning could have struck anywhere.
21:19Lightning marks on the skin would look like a circle.
21:23You'll see the paint burned.
21:25You may see some localized melting of the metal in that particular area.
21:35Over here.
21:38What do you got?
21:41I found it.
21:45Huh.
21:47Once you've found a piece of metal in the lightning strike, it's like, okay, where does it go on the airplane?
21:51What's in the proximity of this?
21:53Is it next to the electronics?
21:56Is it next to hydraulics?
21:58Where is this lightning strike occurring?
22:01The only way to determine where the mystery piece comes from is to reconstruct sections of the airplane.
22:08No.
22:10At the time of this accident, reconstructions were fairly typical.
22:16Mainly because we didn't have as much data as we have now.
22:18So reconstructing it made sense.
22:30I think I've got it.
22:31Investigators match the piece of the plane to the left side of the fuselage forward of the wing.
22:36This is where the lightning strike.
22:40Yes.
22:42But could a lightning strike in front of the left wing actually cause a total electrical failure?
22:49There are power system lines running right behind where the lightning struck.
22:54Can't be a coincidence.
22:56Hmm.
22:57Is it possible that that lightning strike entered the electrical wires on the other side,
23:03and therefore led to the lost electrical power?
23:06So that would have been the real focus of the investigation at this point.
23:09Investigators examine what remains of Flight 108's electrical wiring in search of evidence that the lightning strike jumped from the fuselage to the electrical system.
23:26You would look for the insulation material on the outside that's been burned away.
23:35Is there melting inside the wires?
23:37Evidence that somehow electrical energy got through the insulation barrier, into the wiring,
23:44and then was starting to actually melting the wires locally.
23:49How odd.
23:51There's no signs of arcing.
23:56We checked the wiring, we checked the electronic components available from the wreckage for some indication for electrical overload.
24:13Finding any lightning damage to the wiring?
24:15Not yet.
24:17It's very possible once the lightning gets into the fuselage, you may not see any direct impact in that area.
24:24It flows into the aircraft, and so even wiring as close by may appear to be unaffected.
24:32But now this high energy has gotten into the airplane, and the question is where does it go?
24:38Maybe I can find something in here.
24:41After we found no evidence for damage in the wiring based on the lightning strike,
24:48we had to do a deeper investigation within the systems, and that means we had to look for damages in the avionic components.
25:02The team now focuses on even smaller components of the electrical system, the diodes.
25:08Let's check this out.
25:09A diode is an electrical component that allows current to flow in one direction only, preventing reverse current flow that could damage circuits or create malfunctions.
25:26If the diode is working properly, there should be resistance to high current flow in one direction and not the other.
25:37Only 50 ohms. Almost nothing. Now the reverse.
25:55Also 50 ohms.
25:56But investigators discover low resistance to current flow in both directions.
26:04It's shorted.
26:06The outcome of our investigation of the diodes was that all diodes were open in both directions.
26:17That means the diodes were shorted. The question now was why we decided to take these to a manufacturer and ask them to do a deeper investigation.
26:35Results are in.
26:37To better understand why the diodes shorted, they examine test results provided by the manufacturer.
26:43Oh, that's interesting. Looks like cracks in the center of the diode.
26:54Once you've seen that a diode has failed, then you can do tests and research on a good diode to see how much energy it would take basically to fry that diode.
27:04Voltage tests are done to determine if the cracks in the diodes were the result of a lightning strike or something else.
27:14A thousand volts.
27:17Investigators learn that when more than a thousand volts are applied to a working diode, it will crack.
27:24A lightning bolt can carry hundreds of millions of volts, more than enough energy to crack the diode.
27:29It must have been lightning.
27:30The damage of the diodes only can be produced by high voltage.
27:40Could it be possible that high voltage would be produced within the aircraft?
27:46And the answer was, you know, it could be only produced by the lightning strike.
27:56Basically, the lightning hit the aircraft, flowed through the system.
28:01It impacted the diodes, which fried them, cracked them, took them offline.
28:06And that shut down the electrical systems on the aircraft.
28:12The odds of lightning taking out an entire electrical system are next to impossible.
28:19And yet, that's what happened.
28:23But this doesn't explain why the crew flew into the thunderstorm in the first place.
28:28The primary rule is, if you see a thunderstorm, no matter what its size, you avoid it.
28:38You go around, you divert, you hold, you do whatever you can.
28:44You do not want to fly through a thunderstorm.
28:45Investigators examine Nuremberg Air Service's Flight Operations Manual to understand why the pilots of Flight 108 ended up in a thunderstorm.
29:03I don't get it.
29:05It clearly states flights in or near thunderstorms should be absolutely avoided.
29:09So why didn't they do the sensible thing and go around the storm?
29:13At that time, they had several possibilities.
29:18One possibility was just to prepare, if they would fly through the thunderstorm, what could happen, what they have to do, what they have to prepare.
29:27Another possibility could have been just to divert to another airport.
29:32Let's have a listen to what the pilots were saying about the storm.
29:41Check the radar.
29:43Thunderstorm could be rolling in after all.
29:46Halfway through the flight, the crew learns there's adverse weather ahead.
29:51Maybe.
29:54Doesn't look particularly bad.
29:58I'll check the ATIS.
29:59The crew checks Dusseldorf Airport's weather service.
30:04Information Bravo at 070.
30:07But there's no indication of a thunderstorm.
30:09Once they got the ATIS, their expectation bias was that the weather was getting better.
30:14Broken clouds at 1,500 feet.
30:17Nothing but a thunderstorm. We should be fine.
30:19The captain considers the information and makes his decision.
30:25Okay.
30:27We'll continue with the approach.
30:30They just assume best case scenario and don't do a proper briefing.
30:35As professional pilots, we always brief each other based off the worst conditions.
30:39You never know if that 10% probability of thunderstorms actually happens.
30:43And if it does happen and it's too late, you don't have time to brief it.
30:46NFD-108.
30:5211 minutes later, the situation becomes more critical.
30:57Proceeding landing experienced a lightning strike about six miles final.
31:02If I were the crew and I were on approach and proceeding traffic in front of me were to get struck by lightning,
31:07at that point I would initiate a missed approach, go around and hold somewhere and figure out what we're going to do
31:11because the weather at that point is moving on to the approach path.
31:14You need to take that pretty seriously.
31:16But that's not what the pilots do.
31:19Düsseldorf approach. We copy and are looking outside.
31:22NFD-108.
31:28Hey, did you hear what happened to Walter last weekend?
31:31Yeah. Not surprised.
31:33Hold on.
31:35They should be talking about deviating or go around here, not someone's weekend.
31:39They should have been deciding where they were going to go and what they were going to do instead of going down this rabbit hole.
31:44They just thought the other person's comfortable with it and will continue going if they're comfortable, I'm comfortable.
31:48Investigators continue listening to the CVR as the pilots prepare for landing.
31:53You're left of the center line.
31:54What?
31:55You're left of the center line.
31:56You need to turn right.
31:57The captain started deviating to the left apparently without telling the first officer of his plan.
31:58I don't want to go in there. I'm trying to get around it.
31:59We're too close to the runway. You can't change course now.
32:00Sounds like the captain is trying to deviate around the left.
32:01I don't want to go in there. I'm trying to get around it.
32:02We're too close to the runway. You can't change course now.
32:03Sounds like the captain is trying to deviate around the storm.
32:06And the first officer isn't on the same page.
32:07It's a bad idea to try and re-intercept the approach when you're already in the back of the storm.
32:14I don't want to go in there. It's a bad idea to try to re-intercept the approach when you're already in the back of the storm.
32:17deviating to the left apparently without telling the first officer of his plan
32:21i don't want to go in there i'm trying to get around it we're too close to the runway you can't
32:24change course now sounds like the captain is trying to deviate around the storm and the first
32:32officer isn't on the same page it's a bad idea to try and re-intercept the approach when you're
32:37already unstabilized it's just a bad idea you just do a go around okay i hear you
32:52again no discussion of their options there's some tension in the cockpit there's some issue between
33:01the captain and the first officer we don't know exactly what it was but clearly this was not
33:09conducive to the crew working together to determine what was the best course of action so now the
33:18captain turns the plane directly into the thunderstorm hold on tight here it comes
33:31so neither crew knew what the other one was doing they hadn't briefed for the uh weather
33:37that they didn't have the plane set up for flying around in the vicinity of thunderstorms and they
33:41just kept going why wasn't this crew on the same page
33:51the understanding of the investigation team at that time was the communication between both pilots
34:03was not in a way as it should be what'd you find well investigators examine personnel records for insight
34:14into the pilot's working relationship the captain had a total of two thousand four hundred and seventy
34:23three flight hours but only two hundred and seventy seven hours in the metro three that's not a lot of
34:31experience on type no it's not the fo had basically the same number of flight hours but over
34:44thirteen hundred hours in the metro investigators discover that the first officer had much more
34:54experience on the metro liner than the captain with the crew having such an imbalance in the time the
35:01first officer is going to feel like they could be the captain that they got passed over for the upgrade
35:05they have more experience on the routes they have more experience on the plane more experience with
35:08the airline even in that case she probably didn't trust his handling of the aircraft that's never good in a cockpit
35:20did the pilots imbalance in experience make it difficult for them to cope with the lightning strike
35:26so they start making their descent here investigators examine how the pilots of flight 108 flew the plane as they
35:40entered the thunderstorm and then a minute before they lose power they start ascending again
35:46why would that happen let's hear what happens here
36:01okay glide alive
36:04quarter flaps
36:09selected
36:10three minutes from the airport the captain begins configuring the aircraft for landing and half flaps
36:22half flaps please
36:24as they descend towards the runway the captain rushes his flap settings
36:30the plane is now climbing instead of descending
36:33the captain requested the next flap setting half flaps the airplane then ballooned up climbed an altitude
36:43400 feet i'm not sure that was so good
36:47the captain trims the plane's nose down to counteract the increase in altitude
36:52in response to the 400 foot climb the captain trims the airplane rather than just putting a few
36:58bits of electric trim in he holds the electric trim
37:00uh pitching the nose down quite substantially he then adds even more nose down trim
37:11we're still slightly high
37:20okay descending
37:24with all the trim the captain has added
37:26the plane is in a nose heavy position when the lightning strikes
37:41so now the captain loses the ability to recover
37:46when the lightning strike happens he loses electrical power so he may have a lot more heavier flight
37:52controls that he was prepared for and when the lightning strikes the instrument lighting fails
37:59making the instruments impossible to read there's no emergency procedure in the metroliner manual
38:06that tells you what to do if all your batteries fall offline you're a test pilot and at that
38:11point you use your pilot experience one of the things to do is for the non-flying pilot to get a flashlight
38:17to illuminate the standby instrument to help the flying pilot out the flashlights weren't found we
38:24don't know if they're on the aircraft or not the power failure cuts off their ability to see
38:29and to communicate with each other they couldn't hear each other we've lost electrical power
38:35we have nothing you've got a crew that can't communicate because you've lost the intercom system
38:43you've got a headset on and the metro is a very noisy cockpit so you can't hear the other person and
38:47what they're saying to you if they couldn't see their instruments or hear one another could the pilots
38:53still fly their plane they have aileron and rudder controls which aren't electrical
38:59the engines are still running the runaway is about seven miles away they should have been able to
39:08use the controls they did have to land the plane so they still had control over the ailerons over
39:14the rudder it was difficult but technically still flyable but without the ability to see their
39:20instruments they'd have no way of knowing where they were seconds later flight 108 is diving towards
39:31the ground
39:34the pilots had no chance to control the aircraft in a proper way because the light for the third
39:41artificial horizon was not there and they had no visual ground contact and i think under these
39:48circumstances it's nearly impossible to control the aircraft investigators finally understand how a
39:58lightning strike caused a fatal crash you're left at the center line what it starts with a poorly
40:13functioning crew you're left of the center line you need to turn right i don't want to go in there i'm
40:18trying to get around it we're too close to the runway you can't change course now okay i hear you
40:25instead of giving him the advice or the two crew mentality that we're not where we should be we
40:30shouldn't be here the first officer chose to go the other route which was shut down and only make
40:34the minimum calls which were deviation calls half flaps please
40:38the pilots decide to fly their nose heavy aircraft into a thunderstorm
40:52a powerful lightning strike we've lost electrical power causes a total power failure we have nothing
41:01and the disoriented crew where are we i can't tell loses control of the plane
41:08after you've been struck by lightning you've got winds that are gusting all over the place starts
41:25to become a pretty violent situation pretty quick the combination of turbulence and the pilot's blind
41:32actions lasting more than a minute sends the plane into extreme turns and banks
41:40are we banking can't tell what's the airspeed don't worry about the speed just pull you think
41:45you can trust your senses but you can't you don't know if you're banking to the left you don't if
41:48you're banking to the right you can't tell if you've got to know it's low or no it's high
41:52you can think you do you can think you trust it at the end of the day your gut instinct will be wrong
41:56the plane is so overloaded with the g-forces in these turns it broke up yeah
42:16pull up pull up i'm crying you're looking at a g-load that literally ripped the engine
42:23pile on off the wing that literally broke the wings bar the strongest part of the airplane broke it
42:27like a toothpick that way exceeded what the aircraft manufacturer ever designed that airplane to go
42:44the main conclusion of the report by germany's air accident investigation unit is clear
42:55the crew flew into a thunderstorm even though they could have flown around it
43:02you have two fairly experienced pilots that they never ever should have been in that situation
43:07there were red flags throughout if anything can be learned from this one you got to speak up on a
43:12two-crew airplane you can't let the other person take you to the scene of the crash
43:16in their recommendations the fus reiterates the need for training and manuals that clearly describe
43:23how to operate in and near thunderstorms this is a very different crew than we see today
43:32who are well trained on copied resource management who work together as a crew and the systems change for
43:38the better and the airplanes are much better as for nuremberg air service the company soon replaced
43:46the remaining metroliners in its fleet i made myself one of the last flight with the metroliner
43:52i had some tears in my eyes because i think it was on the aircraft's fort
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