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00:00Just minutes after taking off from Lima...
00:02We declare an emergency.
00:04The pilots of AeroPeru Flight 603 get mixed messages from their plane.
00:10I cut the engines, but the speed is increasing.
00:14Having erroneous airspeed indications now puts into your brain,
00:17am I climbing, am I not climbing?
00:19They seek assistance from the ground.
00:22Can you tell us our altitude, please?
00:23You're a 9,700 feet, according to my radar.
00:27But nothing makes sense.
00:28We're in the water, pull up!
00:33All 70 people on board are killed.
00:37Investigators compare the cockpit voice recording...
00:40We will maintain 10,000 feet, said it.
00:4310,000 feet.
00:44...with the flight data recorder...
00:46Captain doesn't realize how close they are to the water.
00:48...and suspect a single faulty sensor prevented the crew from averting disaster.
00:53It violates the laws of physics.
00:56Airplanes just don't do that.
01:23It's nearing 1 a.m. at Jorge Chavez International Airport in Lima, Peru.
01:32Thick clouds blanket the sky as Aero Peru 603 taxis to the runway.
01:41The weather in Lima, Peru is a very, very stable environment, especially this time of the year.
01:47The captain is 58-year-old Eric Schreiber.
01:51He's highly experienced, having logged almost 22,000 flight hours.
01:56Aero Peru 603, authorized to Santiago, initial level 29,000 feet, and afterwards on course, transponder 5603.
02:0942-year-old first officer David Fernandez has flown nearly 8,000 hours.
02:15Correct.
02:16Lima Tower.
02:16He will be the pilot flying the aircraft tonight.
02:20Roger.
02:23He's doing double duty by also operating the radio.
02:29Lima Tower.
02:30Aero Peru 603, runway 15.
02:34Ready for takeoff.
02:37Aero Peru 603, wind calm, clear for takeoff, runway 15.
02:45There are 61 passengers and seven flight attendants on board.
02:59Takeoff at 41 minutes past midnight on the dots.
03:04What precision?
03:06Like the Suez.
03:08Let's go.
03:17The crew is extremely professional.
03:20They accomplished their checklists and procedures as what would be expected.
03:23And they were basically an on-time machine.
03:43Flight 603 will fly out to the Pacific Ocean before heading south to Santiago.
03:50The aircraft is a four-year-old Boeing 757-200.
03:55The Boeing 757 is a long, narrow-bodied aircraft, twin-engine.
04:00It's simple in its design, simple in its instrumentation, and just an overall comfortable airplane to fly.
04:10The passengers settle in for the three-and-a-half-hour flight.
04:18In the cockpit, the first officer spots a potential problem.
04:24The ultimer is stuck.
04:31Windshear, windshear, windshear, windshear.
04:34The pilots also get a windshear warning.
04:40The windshear is an alert that we're entering into an environment of undesirable winds that could be highly critical in
04:48the safety of the aircraft.
04:49Those type of winds are just very uncommon in that area.
04:52And we're not forecasted at night at all.
04:57Flight 603 climbs into the thick clouds above Lima.
05:01The pilots lose sight of the ground.
05:05The speed.
05:07They now discover another instrument isn't working.
05:12Yeah, right.
05:14Flying in the clouds at night, without knowing how fast they're going or their height above the ground, the pilots
05:21face a potentially dangerous situation.
05:26Am I climbing?
05:27Am I climbing?
05:27Am I not climbing?
05:28Am I near mountainous terrain?
05:29Which is very close to the coastal line of Peru.
05:34Tower, Aero Peru 603.
05:36Flight 603 updates the tower controller.
05:40Aero Peru 603, Tower, go ahead.
05:43We have no optometer and no airspeed.
05:45Declaring an emergency.
05:51When a pilot declares an emergency with air traffic control, the controller is going to give that aircraft priority handling.
05:59Roger, change frequency to 119.7 for further instruction from radar control.
06:04Switching to 119.7.
06:11Before contacting radar control, the captain takes over from the first officer.
06:16Okay, I have control.
06:19The captain may decide to take over the flying role and tell the first officer to talk on the radio
06:25and work procedures.
06:27Lima 603, we request vectors for ILS runway 15.
06:32The pilots request directions for a return to the airport.
06:36Roger, we suggest a right turn heading 330.
06:40It was a good call to ask air traffic control, give us vectors.
06:43We're so busy up here dealing with everything else.
06:46You can certainly help us out if you tell us which direction to turn and guide us back towards the
06:50airport.
06:52Turn right heading 330.
06:55A heading of 330 will take the plane north to a position where it can then make the turn back
07:02to Lima.
07:04But two and a half minutes later.
07:07Aero Peru 603, you're showing level 9200.
07:11What is your heading now?
07:13The radar controller notices that flight 603 hasn't turned back towards the airport.
07:23Heading 205.
07:24We're heading away from the shore.
07:26Affirmative.
07:29We will maintain 10,000 feet.
07:31Set it.
07:3210,000 feet.
07:33The captain decides to fly further out to sea before returning to Lima.
07:39They go out over the ocean, which is one of the best decisions to possibly do.
07:43They don't now have to worry about other aircraft in the Andes Mountains.
07:50In the cabin, passengers are unaware of what's happening in the cockpit.
08:00Safely away from shore.
08:01According to the radar, you're crossing radial 230 from Lima, distance west, southwest is 37 miles.
08:11Flight 603 finally starts turning north to begin the approach to Lima and needs to begin its descent to the
08:19airport.
08:20I'll try to descend with the power cut.
08:29It was going to descend at idle thrust, which is a good way to descend.
08:33It's nice and steady in a 757 and keeps the airspeed under good control.
08:45I cut the engines, but the speed is increasing.
08:49Even with power to the engines cut, the airspeed indicators show that the plane is accelerating.
08:57Can you tell us the speed, please?
08:59I have 320.
09:01We have 350.
09:05They'll need to use a different strategy to descend.
09:11Getting to the lower altitude, hopefully getting into some clearer areas to see the coastal line,
09:16could give them more comfort for a safe landing.
09:20Take the speed brakes out.
09:24That is another great way of slowing the aircraft and getting better control of the airspeed.
09:33But deploying the speed brakes has the opposite effect.
09:40Over speed.
09:41A new warning tells them they're flying far too fast.
09:46The airplane's above its maximum allowable airspeed.
09:49It's in danger of breaking apart if they don't do something right now.
09:58When I have the speed brakes out and all the power is cut, this can be right.
10:04What more possibly can be confusing and going wrong right now?
10:10Seconds later, they get a contradictory warning that the plane's flying far too slow.
10:18The stick shaker indicates to pilots that if the airplane gets any slower, it's going to be in a stall
10:24condition.
10:26Are they going too fast or too slow?
10:30The pilots must decide which alarm to react to.
10:35We're stalling!
10:42The captain decides to increase the speed by pitching the nose down, silencing the stall warning.
10:53But they're not out of danger yet.
10:57With conflicting warnings and no reliable airspeed or altitude readings, the pilots of Flight 603 urgently need help.
11:07Is there any plane that can take off to rescue us?
11:11Yes. We're coordinating immediately.
11:14At this point, it was a totally out-of-the-box thought by the first officer to ask for this
11:23type of assistance,
11:24which would have given them a visual reference right next to them with altitude, airspeed, also communications,
11:31and we have somebody alongside of us holding our hand to the airport.
11:37The plane is now 50 miles from Lima's airport.
11:42Aero Peru 603, you are heading 270, 10,000 feet.
11:48While they wait for a rescue plane, the captain attempts to join the approach path to the runway.
11:54I'll try to intercept the ILS and then descend.
11:58Lima, Aero Peru 603, we will try to intercept the ILS.
12:02Roger, Aero Peru 603.
12:04They think they're flying at a nice, safe altitude.
12:07And they think that they pretty much have airspeed under control.
12:10They probably thought they were in a pretty darn good position.
12:16Soon after, the radar controller provides an update on the escort flight.
12:22Aero Peru 603, there is a 707 about to take off.
12:27Starting to move now.
12:32It seems to be flying well.
12:36Can you tell us our altitude, please?
12:39You're at 9,700 feet according to my radar.
12:43Terrain.
12:43Terrain.
12:44Too low.
12:44Terrain.
12:47Too low.
12:49Terrain.
12:50Terrain.
12:509,700 feet, but we're getting a terrain warning.
12:54Pull up.
12:55Pull up if he's telling you to pull up.
12:57Terrain.
12:58We're in the water.
12:59Pull up.
13:08We're rolling over.
13:09Pull up.
13:11Pull up.
13:1929 minutes after taking off, Flight 603 crashes into the Pacific Ocean, 48 miles from Lima, Peru.
13:34Within hours, a Navy aircraft discovers debris from Flight 603.
13:43The accident occurred at night, and the wave conditions were very high, so the first few ships that went out
13:49to look for the wreckage really struggled to find it.
13:54Heavy fog also hampers recovery efforts.
14:12By the end of the first day, the bodies of only 13 of the 70 people on board are recovered.
14:20There are no signs of survivors.
14:25Those who haven't been found are believed to be inside the fuselage on the seabed.
14:44It's up to air crash investigators from Peru's Accident Investigation Board to find out why a plane, last observed flying
14:52nearly 10,000 feet above the sea, suddenly crashed into it.
15:02We have the military radar.
15:05With the underwater wreckage still beyond reach, investigators get their first lead from the Peruvian military.
15:14Any coastal nation will have military radar that's constantly scanning for any approaching aircraft, so by querying the Peruvian military
15:23radar, we were able to get some data about the altitude and position of the accident flight.
15:30So, after taking off, they follow the approved flight plan over the ocean, and then they start heading north.
15:37Yeah, they're headed back towards Lima.
15:42The flight climbs to 13,000 feet, and then it starts to descend.
15:47And now, in the last seven minutes, the flight has a series of erratic climbs and descents before it crashes.
15:58It appears they lost control.
16:04It becomes just a roller coaster ride of altitudes, because they don't have control.
16:15What could have caused the pilots to lose control?
16:19When you start putting an investigation together, you start putting the what-ifs on the table.
16:25What if this failed? What if that failed? What if this went wrong? What if the crew made a mistake?
16:32Pre-take-off seems okay.
16:34Investigators scrutinize the communications between air traffic control and the pilots.
16:39Look at this. The crew reported problems with airspeed and altitude readings only two and a half minutes into the
16:44flight.
16:46Tower, Aero Peru 603.
16:48Aero Peru 603. Tower, go ahead.
16:51We have no altimeters and no airspeed.
16:59Faulty air data.
17:01Sounds like an issue with the pitostatic system.
17:07The pitostatic system uses tubes and sensors mounted on the plane, which measure air pressure to calculate airspeed and altitude.
17:17But wasn't there a recent crash involving the pitostatic system?
17:21Yeah.
17:23Burgen Air flight 301.
17:27Only eight months earlier, another Boeing 757 crashed soon after taking off from Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic.
17:35The cause was a blocked pitot tube.
17:40Some investigators were wondering if we had a similar situation to what we had in Burgen Air.
17:45It wasn't entirely the same, but it still involved blockage or covering parts of the pitostatic system.
17:52Well, maybe that's what happened here.
17:57Well, maybe that's what happened here.
18:21Aero Peru 602.
18:21At a depth of 680 feet.
18:27Using remotely operated vehicles, investigators finally get their first view of the wreckage site.
18:35the wreckage was very concentrated the plane was intact when it hit the water
18:48the fact that all the major pieces of the airplane are in one concentrated area
18:53really gives the investigators a much clearer picture of how the airplane came down so they
18:59either came down in a flat spin or it came down nose first in which it's a very unusual accident
19:08there the black boxes are also located
19:14they're very very critical to get both recorders first you want to know how the airplane was
19:19behaving and then secondly what was going on in the cockpit between the crew members of the airplane
19:27they are packed in seawater and sent to washington where the ntsb the national
19:33transportation safety board will process their invaluable data
19:43that's it keep moving that way
19:47the team also searches for evidence of some kind of blockage of the pitot tubes and static ports there
19:55keep going
19:57they focus on a section of the left fuselage where the static ports are located
20:02okay now moving
20:08that's it
20:10the static ports were blocked
20:14they can see that the ports are covered
20:21when we saw that those static ports were covered it was case closed
20:26drop the curtains we knew exactly what happened in this accident
20:31how did such a critical device which determines airspeed and altitude get covered up and blocked
20:40make sure you tag everything
20:43investigators survey the recovered wreckage of aero peru flight 603 to find out what is covering the static ports
20:54look at that
20:58looks like silver tape
21:00same color as the fuselage
21:07cars
21:28why were the ports covered with tape and by whom
21:37it wasn't our job to assign blame or liability but we wanted to understand the procedure to make sure that
21:44important step of removing the tape would never get overlooked again
21:52so let's check the last bug entry
21:54okay
21:56investigators check maintenance records to understand why the ports were taped over
22:03interesting
22:04hey
22:06bird strike
22:10during the planes last landing before the accident
22:14the right engine was struck by birds
22:19they replaced the turbine blades
22:20the hydraulic pump was repaired and they polished the lower front of the 757
22:27exactly where the static ports are located
22:31did maintenance personnel follow the correct procedures for polishing the 757
22:37when you're performing work on the airplane such as polishing and washing it
22:41it's important not to get any debris
22:43into the ports
22:44because when you take off
22:46temperatures go down
22:47they may freeze in place
22:50which could cause severe instrument problems to the airplane
22:54according to the maintenance manual they're supposed to cover the static ports
22:58whoever polished the plane covered the static ports with tape and didn't remove it
23:05so why wasn't the tape removed after the area was polished
23:10if you look at the maintenance process on an airplane and cleaning and polishing an airplane is maintenance
23:18there's multiple steps multiple people and multiple looks
23:22the whole purpose of that is to make sure that nothing is missed
23:28were the static ports inspected as part of flight 603's line check
23:35it was a crazy night
23:37investigators interview the line mechanic to determine if the static ports were inspected after the work was done
23:44the line chief usually does it but he was sick
23:51so i did it
24:02so i guess you didn't see the tape then
24:08aluminum tape is pretty common
24:11and if you take it and just spread it over those ports
24:14it blends in perfectly
24:16and it makes it very easy for somebody to miss it
24:21was he adequately trained
24:23i would say the answer to that is no
24:28did you see either pilot do a pre-flight check
24:32yes
24:33the captain
24:36you know if he checked them
24:40couldn't tell you
24:42couldn't tell you
24:44if i had a new person on my crew
24:46i would tell them to watch the captain
24:48see what he's doing
24:50and it becomes routine for mechanics to watch what the flight crew does
24:55okay
24:56thank you for your time
24:59there's at least one if not two line checks that are done by
25:03supervisors of the line maintenance
25:05and then one of the crew members would do a walk around as they're obligated to do always
25:11so there are several levels where things should have been detected but weren't in this flight
25:22so both the line mechanic and the pilot missed it
25:27investigators now know that despite all the safety checks that were meant to be performed
25:32no one spotted the silver tape covering the static ports
25:36so we know what caused the faultier speeds and altitudes
25:40but faultier data alone doesn't cause a plane to crash
25:44so what did
25:53investigators turned to the cockpit voice recorder from aero peru flight 603
25:58there you go thank you
26:00to determine how the pilots dealt with faulty airspeed and altitude data
26:05pick it up from the takeoff
26:27the plane is barely off the ground when the pilots identify the first problem
26:32the altimeters are stuck
26:34the captain's altimeter
26:37the captain's altimeter the first officer's altimeter
26:39the standby altimeter
26:41all three sources
26:42were different and they were all wrong
26:47keep V2 plus 10
26:49V2 plus 10
26:50it's quickly followed by a second issue
26:53the speed
26:55the airspeed
26:57is also stuck
26:58yeah right
27:00hold on
27:04they were only at 200 feet above the ground
27:07and they already knew that there are problems with altitude and airspeed
27:11in three different places in the cockpit
27:14they're seeing unreliable airspeed and altitude
27:18according to the FDR
27:19they're still climbing
27:22let's see how they handle that faulty data
27:26what's going on
27:27we're not climbing
27:29I'm climbing
27:32investigators hear the captain continue to rely on the faulty data on his altimeter
27:36climb, climb, climb
27:39I am climbing
27:40despite what the first officer tells him
27:43the captain is looking at his altimeter and saying what he sees right in front of him
27:49it's very hard to ignore this false data
27:53the airspeed and altitude readings are like a magnet drawing your eye and attention again and again
27:58climb, climb
27:59I am climbing
28:00so in this initial moments of the climb
28:03it seems like the first officer was more in touch with what the airplane was really doing
28:08what else do the pilots do to handle the situation?
28:11keep playing
28:14let's go to basic instruments
28:16but within a minute the captain stops focusing on the faulty instruments
28:22he decides to use the pitch and power procedure
28:24that's good
28:26very quickly on the captain says basic instruments
28:30I believe he means the pitch and power procedure
28:36the pitch and power procedure requires reducing the pitch angle of the aircraft to 2 degrees nose up
28:43and the throttles to 55%
28:46this should result in level flight
28:49by flying with set pitch and power and ignoring the unreliable airspeed and altitude
28:55gives the crew time to sort out what's going on
28:59and think through what might be causing the unreliable indications
29:05then they declare the emergency
29:06pick it up after that
29:08let's see if they did the procedure properly
29:15switching to
29:161, 19.7
29:18auto throttle has disconnected
29:20auto throttle has disconnected
29:22but instead of checking his attitude indicator and engine gauges
29:27let's see, read that
29:29the captain focuses on the crew alerting screen
29:33which is displaying more alerts
29:36rudder ratio and max speed trim
29:39the rudder ratio and max speed trim warnings were just the result of the unreliable airspeed and altitude indications in
29:46the cockpit
29:47they shouldn't have been the primary focus of the crew
29:52they're getting distracted by false alerts
29:54they ignore the pitching power procedure
29:58we're flying without speed
30:00soon after
30:01speed is zero
30:04all airspeed indicators at zero
30:10investigators hear the pilots turning their attention back to the erroneous airspeed and altitude readings
30:18the tape on the static ports meant that the airspeed and altitude were always wrong
30:24and they were always changing as the airplane climbed and descended
30:30we will maintain 10,000 feet
30:32set it
30:3310,000 feet
30:34but at no point did they disregard the unreliable airspeed and altitude
30:40they looked at them constantly
30:4212,000 feet
30:44the crew never switched their mindset to just using pitch and power
30:50they climbed for several more minutes
30:53but if they were climbing
30:55how did the crew end up hitting the ocean?
30:58they can't keep climbing forever
31:01we have problems reading our instruments
31:03investigators continue listening to the cockpit voice recorder of Aero Peru flight 603
31:09to determine how the crew carried out the return to Lima with faulty instrument data
31:14set the approach please
31:16i did
31:17i did
31:17then let's go
31:21the captain he knew he had to to get down to Lima airport
31:25i'll try to descend with the power cut
31:28and the way to do that was to reduce the power
31:33no sooner do the pilots cut the power than they face another problem
31:38the speed is increasing
31:41why is the speed so high?
31:43is it the real speed?
31:45that's what worries me
31:46i don't think so
31:49they think they're speeding up
31:52when they can only be slowing down
31:58the pilots don't know whether to believe the faulty airspeed indicator
32:03that's showing they're going too fast
32:05after having pulled their thrust levers back to idle
32:09that'd be totally confusing for the captain
32:12he'd be saying this can't be happening
32:14it's impossible
32:15it violates the laws of physics of aircraft
32:18but the captain's thought process is overtaken by what happens next
32:24over speed
32:27the faulty airspeed data is now triggering the over speed warning
32:32an over speed warning gets your attention very quickly
32:37and you want to react to it
32:39but this is the time when he should have been questioning whether that was correct
32:46the first officer makes a split second decision
32:50take the speed brakes out
32:54and now
32:57with the power cut and the speed brakes out
33:01slows the plane down to the point of stalling
33:04the erroneous over speed data leads the pilots to reduce their speed
33:09which puts their plane into a stall
33:23the crew instinctively lowered the nose and increased their actual airspeed
33:28those are the steps that will keep you from stalling the airplane
33:34responding to the stall warning was the right move
33:38but after that
33:42they head further out to sea instead of towards lima
33:47why would they do that
33:53shortly after the stall warning ends
33:55a new warning tells them they are dangerously close to terrain
34:01too low terrain
34:03the captain doesn't realize how close they are to the water
34:05too low terrain
34:07on the 757
34:08a radio altimeter measures the plane's altitude when below 2500 feet
34:14and sounds the ground proximity warning when the plane drops too close to the terrain
34:19the ground proximity warning system is separate from the pitostatic system
34:23it was telling them the truth
34:26too low terrain
34:27too low terrain
34:29and now we've induced a terrifying alert of
34:33I'm about to hit a mountain
34:36the pilots thought they were near a mountain
34:38when they were actually approaching the surface of the ocean
34:41too low terrain
34:45let's go left
34:46too low terrain
34:55radar shows you're turning left
34:58you're heading to the west
35:00observative
35:00we're heading 250
35:02we're heading out to sea because we have a low terrain warning
35:06too low terrain
35:09he knew that the water
35:11the ocean is to the left
35:13and that's going to be my safe environment
35:16sink rate
35:18sink rate
35:18sink rate
35:20no sooner do they deal with the terrain warning
35:22than the pilots are confronted by an alert
35:25telling them they are descending too rapidly
35:28sink rate
35:29sink rate
35:30let's climb
35:30let's go up
35:32too low terrain
35:37now going up was the right call
35:39they were descending at 3,000 feet per minute
35:41they climbed to 4,000 feet
35:43and they stayed there for
35:46approximately one minute
35:53so what led to the final plunge into the sea?
35:57let's go back to Lima
35:58I'll try to intercept the ILS
36:00and then descend
36:02after 25 harrowing minutes
36:04the captain initiates a turn back to Lima
36:07Lima
36:08Aero Peru 603
36:10we will try to intercept the ILS
36:13can you tell us our altitude?
36:15is our altitude
36:169700 feet
36:18Roger Aero Peru 603
36:20you're showing level at 9700
36:25but when the terrain warning activates
36:28investigators know the plane was below 2500 feet
36:33they both had the wrong altitude
36:37investigators discover the controller was also providing flight 603 with incorrect altitude information
36:46the assumption was the controllers can tell us our altitude
36:50but the flaw in that is that that altitude is actually being sent to the controller from the aircraft itself
36:56terrain
36:56if the information on board the aircraft is incorrect
37:00then the information that's being sent to the radar is also going to be incorrect
37:06investigators speak to the controller to understand why he relayed the faulty readings back to flight 603
37:14so it looks like you were providing the crew with altitude data
37:17yes they said they didn't have any altimeters
37:20so I told them what I was seeing on my radar screen
37:24were you using SSR in mode C?
37:27yes that's right
37:28your radar's altitude is coming from the plane's transponder
37:35when the controller confirmed the altitudes for the pilots
37:39I think it gave them a false sense of hope
37:42that at least one of our problems has been solved
37:44the altitude problem
37:46when in fact that was tragically incorrect
37:54but even with the faulty altitude readings
37:57could the pilots still have landed their planes safely?
38:07pick it up during their final descent
38:09to determine if the pilots had any other options to save their plane
38:14investigators listen to the final moments of Aero Peru flight 603
38:20it seems to be flying well
38:23can you tell us our altitude?
38:25you're at 9700 feet according to my radar
38:319700 feet?
38:33but we're getting a terrain warning
38:36the crew can't understand the conflicting information
38:41but there was a way for the pilots to determine their actual altitude and save the plane
38:47if they check the radio altimeter
38:49they would have realized how close they are to crushing
38:51too low, terrain
38:53too low, terrain
38:54when the ground proximity warning system activated in the cockpit
38:58the crew could have referred to the radio altimeter
39:01and that would have given them the truth data about how high they were above the ground
39:06too low, terrain
39:12too low, terrain
39:15terrain
39:15pull, terrain
39:16pull, terrain
39:17pull, terrain
39:23we're hitting the water
39:24pull, terrain
39:26when an aircraft
39:28terrain
39:28has it's wing touch the water
39:30in a bank attitude
39:32the situation is hopeless
39:35pull, terrain, terrain, terrain
39:39pull, terrain
39:44The pilots try to get the plane back in the air, but the plane banks left and falls back
39:53towards the sea.
39:54We're running over!
40:08They really had no idea how low they were.
40:11And all those alarms fall so real just made matters worse.
40:25The situation in the cockpit was so confusing.
40:31It was hard for either crew member to understand which cautions and warnings were true and important.
40:38And there didn't seem to be a good balance between the two crew members in sorting that out.
40:45For investigators, there's one final unanswered question.
40:50Were the pilots properly prepared to handle an emergency like this?
40:55They examined the quick reference handbook, which provides guidance in emergency situations,
41:01as well as Aero Peru's training procedures.
41:07Well, there's nothing here.
41:09Anything in the training procedures?
41:11Not one single word on how to handle erroneous air data.
41:17The lack of training worked against them.
41:23A big takeaway from this accident was that flight crews need to be better trained to get to pitch
41:28and power in the event of unreliable airspeed and altitude.
41:37Investigators needed only two months to solve the mystery of Flight 603.
41:42They now know that blocked static ports created faulty air data readings.
41:53And those faulty readings created so much confusion in the cockpit.
41:58But I have the speed brakes out.
42:00I know the power is cut.
42:01That can be right.
42:02That the overwhelmed crew was unable to separate the false alarms from the true ones.
42:11They really needed to develop a laser focus on just flying the airplane.
42:16But they never got there.
42:18The captain's failure to react to the ground proximity warnings in time...
42:24He's telling you to pull up!
42:26We're hitting the water! Pull up! Pull up!
42:30...contributed to the death of 70 people.
42:50There's nothing highly technical about tape.
42:52But boy, did it start a chain of events.
42:59The investigation's report outlines a number of recommendations.
43:04But chief among them is for more training to ensure crews know how to deal with inaccurate air data.
43:11And implementing the use of eye-catching static port covers while a plane is being maintained.
43:19Remember, it's the simple things that cause problems.
43:25And we need to keep that in everybody's mind.
43:29Attention to detail.
43:30If you perform that detail, whatever it is, you're not going to get problems.
43:39This accident was one of the pillars of safety procedures.
43:47Our training changed.
43:50Our pre-flight procedures changed.
43:52Our attention to details changed.
43:54And it still lives to this day.
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