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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 are going down.
09:02Messages from radar turn left immediately.
09:04Terrain ahead.
09:06Pull up.
09:06We're going down.
09:07Pull up.
09:08Pull up.
09:11Pull 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 and still somehow been flown into
11:29a mountain.
11:34An analysis of the engines shows that they were fully functional at the time of impact and capable of producing
11:41maximum 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 there was no obvious
12:13damage or mechanical failure they were trying to land here but then they slam into the margala
12:22hills seven miles north of the runway how did they get so far off course
12:32for an approach that was supposed to be a very tight approach because of the existence of the hills
12:40that is extraordinary they were approaching from the southeast for landing here on runway one two
12:56scattered clouds rain visibility was at 3.5 kilometers challenging conditions
13:08could the cloudy conditions have been a factor in the accident
13:14when an aircraft flies into high ground one thing that is almost certainly a factor
13:21is poor visibility low cloud fog call it what you will
13:28visibility would have been an issue but you don't need to see the margala hills to know that they're
13:39there everyone knows towards the north east of the runway there mountains they're clearly marked on the
13:45maps terrain ahead start with going down pull up pull up
13:56can the controller explain why the crew of flight 202 couldn't avoid the mountains
14:04radar control informed him he'd be doing the circling approach to runway one two
14:09a blue 202 expect arrival at ILS three zero followed by circling approach to land runway one two
14:17and he understood the approach yes sir he did
14:23understood it'll be ILS down to minima and then left downwind
14:29and then that's when I assume control as he began the right turn to the circling approach
14:41the circling approach involves four carefully timed turns the first to the right followed by a left turn
14:50that takes the plane parallel to the runway the two final turns line the plane up for
14:55the landing on runway one two pilots must keep the runway in sight for the duration of this approach
15:07after about a minute I expected to see him fly by
15:13but he never did
15:16I asked the crew if they had the runway in sight
15:18and they confirmed that they did
15:21air blue 202 please confirm you have 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 are supposed to turn after 30 seconds
15:45instead they kept going for almost two minutes
15:49we tried to stop him several times
15:54it was too late
15:57message from radar turn left immediately
16:08we couldn't prevent
16:13what happened
16:20it's all here on the radar track
16:29crew knew what they had to do
16:32they reported that they were doing what they were supposed to do
16:36and yet the aircraft continued to fly in the wrong direction
16:46how could the pilots have ended up so dangerously off course
16:58investigators look into the background of flight 202's pilots
17:03to determine if the approach into islamabad was mishandled
17:09captain had years of experience with major airlines
17:15captain chowdhury has been flying for more than 40 years
17:20he 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 sayed ahmed had far fewer hours than the captain
17:44the former fighter pilot had recently joined the airline
17:47and had accumulated only 286 hours on airbus a320 airplanes
17:56two very different pilots
17:59one during the end of his career with thousands of hours of experience
18:04and the other just 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
18:35thing it actually might be more difficult to learn how to operate this new type of aircraft
18:49okay so they're supposed to perform their approach within this area
18:54anything beyond this is outside the airport's 4.3 mile protection zone
18:59okay okay let's see his track
19:03investigators 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
19:25and this left turn takes them directly into the marhala hills
19:32the 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 it should have sounded 60 seconds before impact
19:57the enhanced ground proximity warning system looks downward to see the height that you're at
20:04above ground but 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
20:36of the approaching terrain and they would have been given oral warnings
20:42so since they flew directly into the terrain
20:45has the enhanced ground proximity warning system completely failed
21:01don't leave me in suspense did they get any ground proximity warnings
21:14the cockpit data shows that in the final minute of the flight the crew got 21
21:21separate warnings about the rising terrain ahead
21:29okay so that answers that
21:34over 21 times we saw terrain terrain pull up terrain ahead pull up there's no way that the captain missed
21:42that warning the enhanced ground proximity warning system was working properly terrain ahead
21:50if the warning system was operating why would the pilots ignore it and allow the accident to happen
21:57if you hear a full terrain pull up warning from the egpws the reaction should be immediate it should be
22:06to
22:06apply full power pull the nose of the aircraft up get it moving away from the ground and that should
22:11be done
22:12before any questions are asked
22:19why didn't the crew of air blue flight 202 act on terrain warnings and steer their plane away from the
22:27mountains
22:30investigators listen to the cockpit voice recording
22:34what are current conditions please
22:35air blue 202 visibility is now 3.5 kilometers with rain wind 16 knots 050 degrees runway 12 currently in
22:46use
22:47they focus on how the crew set up for landing
22:51it will be runway 12 yes invisibility is crap
22:58the weather was marginal and marginal weather makes you nervous because 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 with an approach he wasn't comfortable with
23:18set waypoints for runway 12 radial 026 five miles abeam
23:32mate stop why is he asking him to input a course to the runway this is supposed to be a
23:41visual approach
23:45it didn't make any sense for the captain to be entering waypoints into the flight management system
23:51the circling approach is by definition a visual approach so there is no way that any pilot would normally do
23:58this
24:01then just two miles from the airport the pilots of air blue flight 202 hear of a flight landing ahead
24:09of them
24:09be advised that a dia 737 has landed on runway 12 safely
24:17commencing right turn heading 352
24:23that could have caused the pilot to say hey if they can get in we can get in too
24:28wait stop's up so he starts his turn later than usual half a mile from the runway
24:42instead of breaking off early they had to continue on because of the low visibility and low ceilings
24:48and they did not break off to the right until the last possible point which was at the end of
24:52the runway
24:54concerned with poor visibility captain chowdhury makes a baffling decision switch into nav mode for managed
25:03approach to runway 12 there he goes switching to nav mode he can't be visual
25:11carrying out the circling approach using the autopilot to navigate is a violation of procedures
25:20as soon as you select the nav mode the plane starts to fly the pre-programmed waypoints
25:26and at this point captain chowdhury is normal flying the visual approach okay sir
25:36but are you visual i have a visual
25:44chowdhury insists he can see the runway but investigators are certain he could not
25:51they can't see the airfield any longer because they've just got to the far side of it there is no
25:56airfield in sight
26:00so instead of turning left to fly parallel with the runway
26:06he keeps flying in this direction moving further and further from the airport
26:12sir we're reaching higher ground
26:16terrain ahead sir there's terrain ahead sir turn left terrain ahead
26:28it should be turning terrain ahead as the captain struggles to turn away from the hills
26:34terrain controllers become concerned air blue 202 confirm you have airfield in sight
26:42what should i tell him sir
26:45tell them tell them
26:49the crew doesn't reply straight away probably because the first officer knows full well that no
26:55they don't have visual contact with the airfield but he waits for his captain to tell him what to say
27:00air blue 202 please confirm you have visual with the ground
27:04terrain ahead oh air blue 202 visual with the ground
27:11in the end the crew tells air traffic control that they are in visual contact with the ground
27:18now that's not untrue but 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
27:28sir we are approaching terrain ahead yes i know we are turning left
27:33pull up the captain says he's turning left but he keeps flying directly towards the hills
27:47investigators are unable to explain why captain chowdhury could not alter his course
27:53and steer away from the mountains
28:00sir turn left the final minute of the cvr reveals a picture of chaos
28:06terrain and confusion pull up sir sir pull up
28:14they're a blind power trying to climb
28:20pull up sir
28:24investigators hear first officer ahmed pleading with his captain to pull up
28:28terrain ahead why aren't we turning left pull up terrain ahead pull up terrain sir
28:41sir we're going down pull up message from radar turn left immediately pull up
28:50we're going down
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 i think they knew that they had to turn left for some reason
29:24the aircraft didn't turn left
29:28will flight 202's flight data recorder explain why captain chowdhury didn't
29:34or couldn't turn and avoid the mountains can we see the altitude please
29:41the minimum altitude is 2500 feet
29:46and they're going to be able to do it
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 heading three five two
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
30:18they want to get closer to it can we see the flight path
30:25you see he's way off course in heavy fog and has clearly lost visual
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
30:59and the aircraft turned left to heading of three zero zero
31:07towards the mountain
31:11the airbus now makes a left turn towards a predetermined waypoint
31:16bringing 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
31:31because they knew they were in the vicinity of the high mountainous terrain terrain
31:35ahead
31:38avlo 202 turn left heading 180
31:40terrain why 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 it's not turning
32:24he's still in nav
32:28investigators realized the captain forgot that his plane was in navigation mode and not heading mode
32:35which is required to turn the aircraft if the aircraft is flying in nav mode it will keep on
32:43flying on its predetermined course whether or not the crew change the heading select
32:49terrain ahead why aren't we turning left
32:55captain chowdhury doesn't realize that his inputs are futile
32:59pull up
33:02in order to get from nav mode into heading mode you pull the knob out and that engages heading mode
33:09he forgot to pull it out
33:12he realizes his error and pulls the knob here at 40 seconds before impact
33:28when captain chowdhury tries to correct his error he only makes a bad situation worse
33:45captain chowdhury has dialed in so many left turns that his last input is now to the plane's right
33:53the airbus takes the shortest route to get to that heading directly towards the margala hills
34:05is in heading mode for the rest of the flight
34:13the investigation saw that the captain was so reliant on the automation that
34:16he was trying to turn the aircraft to the left asking 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
34:30the range ahead investigators now know why captain chowdhury was unable to turn left and avoid the
34:37mountains but one question remains why didn't the first officer recognize the mistakes and do
34:43something to correct them
34:45so we're going down
34:52100 knots
34:54check
34:54investigators find a possible explanation for the first officer's puzzling behavior
35:00v1
35:01at the very start of flight 202
35:05rotate
35:07as it took off for islamabad
35:10the flight starts with the pilots working efficiently as a crew
35:15positive rate
35:17gear up
35:23gear up
35:27the takeoff from karachi is textbook
35:33from initial pushback startup and all of it to take off everything seemed normal
35:42we are clear to climb to flight level explain to me why that is blue but the other symbols are
35:49white
35:50the pilot's cordial relationship soon changes
35:57there on your display why 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
36:09oh that's wrong
36:11it's because it's the one being navigated towards basic
36:15do you know how to modify this point
36:19from the main menu oh you don't need to return to the main menu you can do it on the
36:24screen
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 behavior it seems it was only really for the purpose of
36:43putting his first officer in his place making sure he knew who was in charge and to do as he
36:50was 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 you might as well go back and help the girls serve tea
37:07yes
37:09sorry sir
37:18what about maximum thrust available for climb can you at least tell me what that is
37:23this has been going on for nearly an hour now torture
37:29radio ahead to islamabad for the weather
37:34do you know how to use the radio yes
37:39captain chowdhury is a very experienced pilot he should know that this is not how we behave
37:46on the flight deck of an airliner
38:02investigators wonder why captain chowdhury would act so aggressively towards his first officer
38:09he 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 sometimes 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
38:46and the people who are in the commercial side already they feel that actually force guys they are taking away
38:53their opportunities
38:58investigators believe that the captain's abusive behavior might explain one of the mysteries of this tragedy
39:04why 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
39:20investigators scrutinize first officer ahmed's actions leading up to the crash of flight 202
39:26his first officer tells 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'll take over the control pull back on the side stick to create the
39:47max performance
39:48maneuver applied toga thrust and keep climbing till 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
40:17so nasty that it served to completely shatter the self-confidence of the first officer
40:25first officer ahmed allows procedures to be set aside switch into nav mode for marriage approach to
40:34runway one two okay
40:38sir and 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
40:53he became a bystander
40:59the first officer clearly knows that what they're doing is wrong he 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
41:16terrain ahead pull up sir we are going down
41:21sir we're going down three and a half minutes after the start of the approach
41:27we're going down the airbus slams into the hills
41:39this 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 there was nothing wrong with the engines
41:59it 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 all the warning signs were there telling them what to do
42:22it should have been easy to recover very if he hadn't taken his first officer out of the picture
42:31different outcome absolutely incredible
42:41it's hard to believe that somebody of his experience would make so many errors
42:48and mishandling of uh the aircraft uh say it i just it 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
43:11and better crew management training
43:16this accident shows the cockpit management
43:18in the atmosphere in the cockpit that's set by the captain
43:21is just as important as an operating aircraft and operating engines
43:26and in 2018 the airport in islamabad is replaced with a more modern airport
43:32with two runways that are well away from the hills that claim the lives of the 152 people on board
43:39flight 202
43:44as i learned more
43:46i really felt extremely bad
43:51i felt very sad about that loss
43:59i felt very sad about that loss
43:59it was a preventable accident
44:01it was a preventable accident
44:01it was a preventable accident
44:03it was a preventable accident
44:03it was a preventable accident
44:03it was a preventable accident
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