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00:02Controllers in Islamabad watch as Air Blue Flight 202 head straight towards a massive hill.
00:09He's not turning.
00:14They issue urgent warnings.
00:16Turn left immediately.
00:18But fail to prevent a disaster.
00:20Marine ahead.
00:21They're going down!
00:30It's the worst accident in Pakistan's aviation history.
00:36When investigators listen to the CVR, they hear the pilots realize they're in danger.
00:42Terrain, sir!
00:45Took steps to avoid it.
00:47Turning left.
00:49But were unable to save the lives of 152 people.
00:54Why aren't we turning left?
00:56The crew knew what they had to do.
01:00They had reported that they were doing what they were supposed to do.
01:04And yet, the aircraft continued to fly in the wrong direction.
01:10BD! BD!
01:14Up!
01:17I mean, one, they'll be having you.
01:18I think you're up on my side.
01:19I'm going to wait to see you.
01:20I'm going to go.
01:21I'm going to go.
01:34Air Blue Flight 202 begins its early morning descent towards Islamabad, Pakistan.
01:46There are 146 passengers and 6 crew on board the Airbus A321.
01:57Air Blue 202, expected arrival to ILS runway 30, followed by circling approach to land runway 12.
02:04No.
02:04Understood.
02:05It'll be ILS down to minima and then left downwind.
02:10Okay.
02:13Captain Parvez Chowdhury is one of the airline's most experienced pilots.
02:20Najam Qureshi is a former Air Blue pilot who flew with Captain Chowdhury.
02:26Captain Chowdhury had a lifetime of experience flying with the Pakistan International Air Line.
02:32He had a very successful carrier and he was pretty much approaching the end of his carrier.
02:37Air Blue 202 clear to 3900 for ILS approach to runway 30, followed by circling approach to land on 12.
02:45First officer Syed Ahmed has less commercial experience.
02:49He's a former F-16 fighter pilot and squadron leader in Pakistan's Air Force.
02:56Air Blue 202 clear to 3900 for ILS, 230, clear to descend to 3900.
03:10He had about 300,000 the type, so just brand new, learning the differences between the A4's line and the
03:17commercial line.
03:20Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, is a city of more than 800,000 people.
03:26It's surrounded by the Himalayan foothills to the north and northeast.
03:34The mountainous terrain means the only approach to Islamabad's runway is from the south.
03:41Due to the wind direction today, planes are landing on runway 12.
03:45They must circle the airport and make a visual approach to the other end of the runway.
03:54It is always safer to land with a headwind as compared to a tailwind.
03:59When the winds change beyond a certain limit, the air traffic controller will switch the runways.
04:05That will ensure the plane lands in a headwind.
04:11Thick clouds envelop the airport, making landings difficult.
04:17China Southern is going around and diverting back to Urumqi.
04:20China Southern confirming, diverting back to Urumqi.
04:25Attention, all landing aircraft.
04:27China Southern is diverting due to weather.
04:31If at any point you lose sight of the airfield,
04:35you should abandon the approach completely and carry out the missed approach procedure.
04:44Flight 202 is now less than 10 minutes from landing.
04:54You're down.
05:00Gear down.
05:04The plane reaches the minimum altitude to which the pilots can descend without the runway in sight.
05:12As soon as you see the runway, you turn right,
05:15and then after that you're supposed to keep the runway in sight.
05:19Commencing right turn, heading 352.
05:25Call it in.
05:28Air Blue 202, maintaining 2-500, and turning right, heading 352.
05:34Air Blue 202 confirming at 2-500, turning right, heading 352.
05:46Captain Chowdhury initiates the first turn of the circling approach.
05:51Air Blue 202, continue on the circle for landing on runway 1-2.
05:57Caution, low clouds and visibility.
05:59Maintain visual with the airport.
06:03Even in the poor weather, it is up to the pilots to decide whether they should continue to approach or
06:09not,
06:09depending whether they have the runway in sight.
06:15The controller expects to see the lights of the Airbus as it flies past the airfield.
06:29Radar, I can't see Air Blue 202.
06:31What's his current location, please?
06:33He's approaching the no-fly zone north of the airfield.
06:36Instruct him to turn left immediately.
06:41Flight 202 is much further north than expected, and needs to turn left for the approach to runway 1-2.
06:50Air Blue 202, turn left heading 180.
06:56Confirm he has visual with the ground.
06:58If not, instruct him to climb and execute a missed approach.
07:02Air Blue 202, confirm you have airfield in sight.
07:07The controllers had radar.
07:09They could see what the aircraft was doing.
07:12They could see that the aircraft was not doing what the procedure said they should be doing.
07:19Ask again.
07:21Air Blue 202, please confirm you have visual with the ground.
07:33Air Blue 202, visual with the ground.
07:37He's confirming visual.
07:41He's not turning.
07:45Controllers can see that Flight 202 is rapidly approaching the hills north of the airport.
07:56In the cockpit, the pilots are struggling to turn their plane away from the mountains ahead.
08:04Why aren't we turning left?
08:10Why aren't we turning left?
08:18Terrain ahead.
08:21Pull up.
08:22Terrain ahead.
08:23Terrain, sir!
08:24Pull up.
08:26Instruct him to turn left immediately.
08:30The controllers can't believe what they're seeing.
08:34Here's a guy with 25,000 hours, and he's flying directly towards a mountain.
08:41In the cabin, passengers have become aware that something's not right.
08:51They're approaching the 5,000-foot Magala hills.
08:56Terrain ahead.
08:58Pull up.
08:58Sir, we are going down.
09:00Terrain.
09:00Sir, we're going down.
09:02Messages from radar turn left immediately.
09:04Terrain ahead.
09:06Pull up.
09:06We're going down.
09:07Pull up.
09:13Pull up.
09:21Flight 202 has crashed into the Magala hills, seven miles from the airport.
09:29The wreckage lies at an altitude of nearly 3,000 feet.
09:34It will be difficult for rescuers to reach the site.
09:41We couldn't get access to it with a car or a truck.
09:46Even with helicopters, there was no place to set down.
09:51So the only way to get to the accident site was with a long, slow climb.
09:58It takes more than half an hour for rescuers and volunteers to make their way up the steep hill to
10:04the crash site,
10:05in hopes of finding survivors.
10:16When crews do reach the site, they find a scene of complete devastation.
10:33152 people died in this accident.
10:36It's the worst accident in Pakistan's aviation history.
10:45Why did a modern airplane fly into well-known mountains north of the airport in Islamabad?
11:00Investigators arrive at the accident site to study the wreckage of Air Blue Flight 202.
11:09When an aircraft flies into mountains, there are really two areas that we're looking at in terms of the root
11:15cause.
11:17One is a sudden and unexpected loss of control.
11:22The other would be the aircraft has actually stayed in control of the pilots
11:27and still somehow been flown into a mountain.
11:34An analysis of the engines shows that they were fully functional at the time of impact
11:39and capable of producing maximum thrust.
11:46Okay, good work, everyone.
11:48Start heading back down.
11:50Right.
11:51So the stabilizer was set at 3.5 degrees nose up.
11:55Landing gear was down.
11:57Engines at climb power.
12:00So configured for landing, but climbing at full power.
12:06An examination of the electrical and mechanical components that we could find,
12:11there was no obvious damage or mechanical failure.
12:16They were trying to land here.
12:20But then they slam into the Margulah Hills, seven miles north of the runway.
12:27How did they get so far off course?
12:32For an approach that was supposed to be a very tight approach
12:37because of the existence of the hills, that is extraordinary.
12:43They were approaching from the southeast for a landing here on runway 12.
12:56Scattered clouds, rain.
13:00Visibility was at 3.5 kilometers.
13:04Challenging conditions.
13:08Could the cloudy conditions have been a factor in the accident?
13:14When an aircraft flies into high ground,
13:17one thing that is almost certainly a factor is poor visibility.
13:23Low cloud, fog, call it what you will.
13:28Visibility would have been an issue.
13:30But you don't need to see the Margulah Hills to know that they're there.
13:39Everyone knows towards the north, east of the runway, there are mountains.
13:43They're clearly marked on the maps.
13:46Terrain ahead.
13:47It's not a way to go down.
13:49Pull up.
13:51Pull up.
13:57Can the controller explain why the crew of flight 202 couldn't avoid the mountains?
14:05Radar control informed him he'd be doing the circling approach to runway 12.
14:09A blue 202 expect arrival at ILS 30,
14:12followed by circling approach to land runway 12.
14:17And he understood the approach.
14:19Yes, sir.
14:20He did.
14:22Understood.
14:23It'll be ILS down to minima,
14:25and then left downwind.
14:30And then?
14:31That's when I assumed control,
14:34as he began the right turn to the circling approach.
14:41The circling approach involves four carefully timed turns.
14:46The first to the right,
14:48followed by a left turn that takes the plane parallel to the runway.
14:52The two final turns lined the plane up for the landing on runway 12.
14:58Pilots must keep the runway in sight for the duration of this approach.
15:07After about a minute, I expected to see him fly by, but he never did.
15:16I asked the crew if they had the runway in sight, and they confirmed that they did.
15:21Air blue 202, please confirm you have visual with the ground.
15:28Air blue 202, visual with the ground.
15:31But he kept flying further and further away from the airport, directly towards the hills.
15:40After breaking off from the approach, they were supposed to turn after 30 seconds.
15:45Instead, they kept going for all the last two minutes.
15:49We tried to stop him several times.
15:54But it was too late.
15:57Message from radar, turn left immediately.
16:07We couldn't prevent...
16:12...what happened.
16:20It's all here on the radar track.
16:28The crew knew what they had to do.
16:32They had reported that they were doing what they were supposed to do, and yet the aircraft continued to fly
16:40in the wrong direction.
16:42Marine ahead.
16:45Pull up.
16:46How could the pilots have ended up so dangerously off-course?
16:58Investigators look into the background of Flight 202's pilots to determine if the approach into Islamabad was mishandled.
17:09The captain had years of experience with major airlines.
17:15Captain Chowdhury has been flying for more than 40 years.
17:19He has accumulated more than 25,000 flying hours throughout his career.
17:25But only about 1,000 of those were on the Airbus.
17:33The first officer, however, is a whole different story.
17:38First officer, Syed Ahmed, had far fewer hours than the captain.
17:43The former fighter pilot had recently joined the airline, and had accumulated only 286 hours on Airbus A320 airplanes.
17:56Two very different pilots, one, during the end of his career, with thousands of hours of experience, and the other
18:05just starting off his commercial career.
18:08But neither of them had a ton of experience with the Airbus A321.
18:16Did the pilot's lack of experience on this type of plane play a role in the accident?
18:25Experience is generally considered to be an asset.
18:29The only potential downside is that, of course, if you've got a lot of experience of one particular thing,
18:35it actually might be more difficult to learn how to operate this new type of aircraft.
18:48Okay.
18:50So they're supposed to perform their approach within this area.
18:54Anything beyond this is outside the airport's 4.3-mile protection zone.
19:00Okay, let's see his track.
19:04Investigators examine Flight 202's radar track to see how the pilots set up their approach.
19:11All right.
19:13So they make their first turn here.
19:19And then head straight out of the protection zone.
19:24Then this left turn takes them directly into the Markhala Hills.
19:31The radar track shows that the pilots flew closer and closer to the mountains surrounding Islamabad.
19:39Wouldn't they have gotten a warning that they're approaching the hills?
19:48Yes, sir.
19:50It should have sounded 60 seconds before impact.
19:56The enhanced ground proximity warning system looks downward to see the height that you're at above ground,
20:06but it also looks ahead to see any terrain that you're flying towards.
20:14If they got a warning, why didn't they try to pull up or turn to avoid it?
20:25Did the pilots of Flight 202 get any warning of an impending collision?
20:32The crew would have been given pictures on their navigation display of the approaching terrain,
20:38and they would have been given oral warnings.
20:42So since they flew directly into the terrain,
20:46has the enhanced ground proximity warning system completely failed?
21:11The cockpit data shows that in the final minute of the flight,
21:19the crew got 21 separate warnings about the rising terrain ahead.
21:24Pull up.
21:29Okay, so that answers that.
21:34Over 21 times, we saw terrain, terrain, pull up.
21:39Terrain ahead, pull up.
21:40There's no way that the captain missed that warning.
21:43The enhanced ground proximity warning system was working properly.
21:48Terrain ahead.
21:50If the warning system was operating,
21:52why would the pilots ignore it and allow the accident to happen?
21:56Terrain ahead.
21:57Pull up.
21:58If you hear a full terrain pull-up warning from the EGPWS,
22:03the reaction should be immediate.
22:05It should be to apply full power,
22:08pull the nose of the aircraft up,
22:09get it moving away from the ground.
22:11And that should be done before any questions are asked.
22:19Why didn't the crew of Air Blue Flight 202
22:22act on terrain warnings
22:24and steer their plane away from the mountains?
22:28Islamabad, Air Blue 202.
22:31Investigators listen to the cockpit voice recording.
22:34What are current conditions, please?
22:35Air Blue 202 visibility is now 3.5 kilometers with rain.
22:40Wind 1, 6 knots, 0, 5, 0 degrees.
22:44Runway 1, 2 currently in use.
22:47They focus on how the crew set up for landing.
22:51It'll be runway 1, 2.
22:53Yes, invisibility is crap.
22:58The weather was marginal,
23:00and marginal weather makes you nervous
23:02because you don't know
23:03whether you're going to be able to see anything at all.
23:07And the captain clearly was nervous about this approach.
23:13Did the captain proceed
23:14with an approach he wasn't comfortable with?
23:18Set waypoints for runway 1, 2.
23:21Radial 0, 2, 6.
23:23Five miles abeam.
23:32Mate, stop.
23:35Why is he asking him to input a course to the runway?
23:40This is supposed to be a visual approach.
23:45It didn't make any sense
23:46for the captain to be entering waypoints
23:48into the flight management system.
23:51The circling approach is, by definition,
23:53a visual approach.
23:54So there is no way that any pilot
23:57would normally do this.
24:01Then, just two miles from the airport,
24:04the pilots of Air Blue Flight 202
24:07hear of a flight landing ahead of them.
24:23That could have caused the pilot to say,
24:25hey, if they can get in, we can get in, too.
24:29Wait, stop, stop.
24:30So he starts his turn later than usual,
24:35half a mile from the runway.
24:42Instead of breaking off early,
24:44they had to continue on
24:45because of the low visibility and low ceilings.
24:48And they did not break off to the right
24:49until the last possible point,
24:51which was at the end of the runway.
24:55Concerned with poor visibility,
24:57Captain Chowdhury makes a baffling decision.
25:00Switch into nav mode
25:02for managed approach to runway 1, 2.
25:05There he goes, switching to nav mode.
25:07He can't be visual.
25:11Carrying out the circling approach
25:13using the autopilot to navigate
25:15is a violation of procedures.
25:20As soon as you select the nav mode,
25:22the plane starts to fly
25:24the pre-programmed waypoints.
25:27And at this point,
25:29Captain Chowdhury is normal flying
25:30the visual approach.
25:45Chowdhury insists he can see the runway,
25:47but investigators are certain he could not.
25:51They can't see the airfield any longer
25:53because they've just got to the far side of it.
25:55There is no airfield in sight.
25:59So, instead of turning left
26:02to fly parallel with the runway,
26:05he keeps flying in this direction,
26:08moving further and further from the airport.
26:12Sir, we're reaching higher ground.
26:16Terrain ahead.
26:18Terrain ahead.
26:20Sir, there's terrain ahead.
26:22Sir, turn left.
26:25Terrain ahead.
26:28It should be turning.
26:30Terrain ahead.
26:31As the captain struggles
26:33to turn away from the hills,
26:34Terrain ahead.
26:36Controllers become concerned.
26:38Air Blue 202.
26:40Confirm you have airfield in sight.
26:42What should I tell him, sir?
26:45Terrain ahead.
26:46Tell him.
26:47Tell him.
26:48Pull up.
26:49The crew doesn't reply straight away.
26:52Probably because the first officer knows full well
26:55that, no, they don't have visual contact with the airfield.
26:57But he waits for his captain to tell him what to say.
27:01Air Blue 202.
27:02Please confirm you have visual with the ground.
27:04Terrain ahead.
27:06Air Blue 202.
27:08Visual with the ground.
27:11In the end, the crew tells air traffic control
27:15that they are in visual contact with the ground.
27:18Now, that's not untrue,
27:20but it's not the same thing as being visual with the airfield.
27:23It feels more like a reply designed to get air traffic control off their backs.
27:28Terrain ahead.
27:28Sir, we are approaching terrain ahead.
27:31Yes, I know.
27:32We are turning left.
27:33Pull.
27:33Pull up.
27:34Pull up, sir.
27:35Sir, pull up.
27:36The captain says he's turning left,
27:40but he keeps flying directly towards the hills.
27:48Investigators are unable to explain
27:50why Captain Chowdhury could not alter his course
27:53and steer away from the mountains.
27:58Terrain ahead.
28:00Sir, turn left.
28:02Pull up.
28:02The final minute of the CVR reveals a picture of chaos
28:06Terrain ahead.
28:07And confusion.
28:08Pull up, sir.
28:10Sir, pull up.
28:14They're a blind power.
28:16Trying to climb.
28:19Terrain ahead.
28:20Sir, pull up, sir.
28:23Pull up.
28:24Investigators hear First Officer Ahmed pleading with his captain to pull up.
28:29Terrain ahead.
28:29Why aren't we turning left?
28:32Pull up.
28:33Pull up.
28:35Terrain ahead.
28:37Pull up.
28:38Terrain, sir.
28:41Terrain ahead.
28:43Sir, we're going down.
28:45Pull up.
28:46Message from radar.
28:47Turn left immediately.
28:48Pull up.
28:50Sir, we're going down.
28:52Pull up.
29:01All they had to do was turn away from those hills.
29:09Despite reacting to the terrain warnings, the pilots could not steer their plane away from the mountains.
29:18I think they knew what was happening.
29:21I think they knew that they had to turn left.
29:23For some reason, the aircraft didn't turn left.
29:28Will Flight 202's flight data recorder explain why Captain Chowdhury didn't, or couldn't, turn and avoid the mountains?
29:37Can we see the altitude, please?
29:41The minimum altitude is 2,500 feet.
29:47Investigators can see that Chowdhury dialed in an altitude below what's permitted.
29:52There's only one reason it would drop below that.
29:58Commencing right turn.
30:01Heading 3, 5, 2.
30:07There's no earthly reason for doing it, because the minimums are there for a very good reason.
30:13The only reason why they ever break the minimums is because they can't see the ground properly and they want
30:19to get closer to it.
30:21Can we see the flight path?
30:25You see?
30:27He's way off course, in heavy fog, and has clearly lost visual.
30:33Let's see the autopilot modes.
30:38So, he asks the automation to take over.
30:46More than four miles off course, Captain Chowdhury makes his biggest error.
30:51By switching modes on his autopilot.
30:55The captain switched from heading mode to nav mode.
31:00And the aircraft turned left to heading of 3, 0, 0.
31:07Towards the mountain.
31:11The airbus now makes a left turn towards a predetermined waypoint, bringing the flight dangerously close to the mountains.
31:21He's approaching the no-fly zone north of the airfield.
31:26From this point on, air traffic control continued to urge the flight to turn left, because they knew they were
31:32in the vicinity of the high mountainous terrain.
31:35Terrain, ahead.
31:38Ablo 202, turn left, heading 180.
31:41Terrain, ahead.
31:41Why aren't we turning left?
31:43Pull up.
31:46Can we see what he's selecting?
31:51He's dialing in a left turn.
31:59Captain Chowdhury uses his heading knob to turn the plane sharply left away from the hills.
32:08But the plane, it keeps flying in the same direction.
32:12It's not turning.
32:24He's still in nav.
32:28Investigators realise the captain forgot that his plane was in navigation mode and not heading mode, which is required to
32:36turn the aircraft.
32:37If the aircraft is flying in nav mode, it will keep on flying on its predetermined course.
32:45Whether or not the crew change the heading select.
32:50Terrain, ahead.
32:51Why aren't we turning left?
32:53Pull up.
32:55Captain Chowdhury doesn't realise that his inputs are futile.
32:59Pull up.
33:01Pull up.
33:02In order to get from nav mode into heading mode, you pull the knob out, and that engages heading mode.
33:08Pull up.
33:09He forgot to pull it out.
33:12He realises his error and pulls the knob here at 40 seconds before impact.
33:26Ah.
33:28When Captain Chowdhury tries to correct his error, he only makes a bad situation worse.
33:36Sir, turn left.
33:37Oh.
33:38Why is I turning left?
33:45Captain Chowdhury has dialed in so many left turns that his last input is now to the plane's right.
33:54The airbus takes the shortest route to get to that heading, directly towards the Margala Hills.
34:05He's in heading mode for the rest of the flight.
34:13The investigation saw that the captain was so reliant on the automation that he was trying to turn the aircraft
34:18to the left,
34:20asking why the aircraft wasn't turning to the left,
34:22but he didn't even use his side stick and actually turn the aircraft to the left manually.
34:28Why aren't we turning left?
34:30Terrain, ahead.
34:31Investigators now know why Captain Chowdhury was unable to turn left and avoid the mountains.
34:37Pull up.
34:38But one question remains.
34:40Why didn't the first officer recognize the mistakes and do something to correct them?
34:45Sir, we're going down.
34:47Pull up.
34:52100 knots.
34:54Check.
34:55Investigators find a possible explanation for the first officer's puzzling behavior.
35:00V-1.
35:01At the very start of flight 202.
35:05Rotate.
35:06As it took off for Islamabad.
35:10The flight starts with the pilots working efficiently as a crew.
35:15Positive rate.
35:18Gear up.
35:23Gear up.
35:27The take-off from Karachi is textbook.
35:34From initial pushback start-up and all of it till take-off, everything seemed normal.
35:42We are clear to climb to flight level.
35:44Explain to me why that is blue, but the other symbols are white.
35:50The pilot's cordial relationship soon changes.
35:56Sir?
35:57There, on your display.
35:59Why is that symbol blue, but the others are white?
36:02You should know why that is.
36:05I believe it's because the flight plan defers from the current route.
36:09No, that's wrong.
36:10It's because it's the one being navigated towards basic.
36:15Do you know how to modify this point?
36:19From the main menu?
36:21Oh, you don't need to return to the main menu.
36:23You can do it on the screen.
36:26What did they teach you in that so-called training of yours?
36:31Captain Chowdhury is heard quizzing and berating his first officer.
36:37This wasn't normal behaviour.
36:39It seems it was only really for the purpose of putting his first officer in his place,
36:46making sure he knew who was in charge and to do as he was told.
36:52What's he doing?
36:55If you don't know how to use the flight management system,
36:59then what use are you in the cockpit?
37:01You might as well go back and help the girls serve tea.
37:07Yes.
37:09Sorry, sir.
37:18What about maximum thrust available for climb?
37:21Can you at least tell me what that is?
37:23This has been going on for nearly an hour now.
37:26Told you.
37:30Radio ahead to Islamabad for the weather.
37:34Do you know how to use the radio?
37:35Yes.
37:39Captain Chowdhury is a very experienced pilot.
37:42He should know that this is not how he behave on the flight deck of an airliner.
38:02Investigators wonder why Captain Chowdhury would act so aggressively towards his first officer.
38:08He was recently treated for diabetes and hypertension.
38:13But deemed fit to fly.
38:17Anything?
38:19Pilots who flew with him said he was demanding.
38:21Sometimes difficult.
38:24But nothing at this level.
38:27Maybe it had more to do with him.
38:31Could the first officer's background have affected his captain's attitude towards him?
38:41In Pakistan there has been a hidden rivalry between Air Force pilots and the people who are in the commercial
38:48side already.
38:49They feel that the Axiom force guys, they are taking away their opportunities.
38:58Investigators believe that the captain's abusive behavior might explain one of the mysteries of this tragedy.
39:05Why first officer Ahmed never took control of the plane.
39:12All the first officer had to do was to take manual control of the aircraft and fly it away from
39:17the mountain.
39:21Investigators scrutinize first officer Ahmed's actions leading up to the crash of flight 202.
39:26His first officer had to tell the captain to pull up three times and to turn left.
39:32Twice.
39:33But he never says he's taking control.
39:40If I was the first officer, I'd take over the control, pull back on the side stick to create the
39:47max performance maneuver,
39:48apply toga thrust, and keep climbing until I'm clear of the hills.
39:54The team believes the captain's behavior earlier in the flight explains why the first officer allowed him to mishandle the
40:02approach.
40:03If you don't know how to use the flight management system, then what use are you in the cockpit?
40:12We have the captain's behavior, which was so overbearing, so autocratic, so nasty,
40:19that it served to completely shatter the self-confidence of the first officer.
40:25First officer Ahmed allows procedures to be set aside.
40:30Switch into nav mode.
40:32For a managed approach to runway 12.
40:35Okay.
40:37Sir.
40:39And then fails to take control when his captain flies the plane directly towards the mountains.
40:47He was so worn down by the captain's harsh behavior that he just couldn't stand up to him.
40:52He became a bystander.
40:59The first officer clearly knows that what they're doing is wrong.
41:03He knows that his captain is disoriented,
41:06that the aircraft is on a collision course with a mountain,
41:10and yet somehow he doesn't have it in him to intervene.
41:17Terrain ahead.
41:18Pull up.
41:19Sir, we are going down.
41:21Terrain.
41:21Sir, we are going down.
41:23Terrain.
41:23Three and a half minutes after the start of the approach.
41:26Pull up.
41:27We are going down.
41:28The airbus slams into the hills,
41:33killing everyone on board.
41:41This is one of the most extraordinary accidents I've seen.
41:48There were no technical factors in this accident.
41:53There was nothing wrong with the aircraft.
41:56There was nothing wrong with the engines.
41:58It was all a matter of human misjudgment and human error.
42:10If he doesn't try the approach in nav mode,
42:13there's no accident.
42:16All the warning signs were there,
42:19telling them what to do.
42:22It should have been easy to recover.
42:25Very.
42:27If he hadn't taken his first officer out of the picture,
42:31different outcome.
42:34Absolutely incredible.
42:41It's hard to believe that somebody of his experience
42:45would make so many errors
42:48and mishandling of the aircraft.
42:53It justifies logic.
42:58The final report into the crash of Air Blue Flight 202
43:02makes several recommendations to Pakistani airlines,
43:07including better briefings on the circling approach procedures
43:10and better crew management training.
43:15This accident shows that cockpit management
43:18and the atmosphere in the cockpit that's set by the captain
43:21is just as important as an operating aircraft
43:24and operating engines.
43:26And in 2018,
43:28the airport in Islamabad is replaced
43:31with a more modern airport
43:32with two runways
43:33that are well away from the hills
43:35that claim the lives of the 152 people
43:38on board flight 202.
43:44As I learned more,
43:46I really felt extremely bad.
43:51I felt very sad
43:53about that loss.
43:59It was a preventable accident.
44:01It was a preventable accident.
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