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Mayday S26E08 Episode 8 Engsub
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00:02While a passenger live streams an approach into Pokhara Airport in Nepal...
00:08The plan is to go paragliding with my buddies!
00:15Add power!
00:18Yeti Flight 691 falls from the sky.
00:24What's happening?
00:3072 people are killed.
00:34This was the deadliest crash involving Nepali Airlines ever.
00:43Eyewitness video gives investigators their first lead.
00:47That's at least an 80-degree left bank.
00:53When they analyze the flight data...
00:56Wow!
00:57They're shocked to discover the engines weren't generating power.
01:02No power, torque indication zero!
01:05There should have been warning lights.
01:07Why didn't they figure it out?
01:09You start to question what was going on in the cockpit.
01:13D-D-D-D-D!
01:38Yeti Airlines Flight 691 flies south of the Himalayan mountains in Nepal.
01:49There are 68 passengers on board, including Sonu Jaiswal, a tourist from India, heading to Pokhara to paraglide with friends.
02:03Pokhara Tower, Yeti 691, descending through 12,500 feet.
02:10Captain Kamal Casey is the senior officer and the pilot monitoring instruments on today's flight.
02:17Roger, Yeti 691, 12,500 feet.
02:22He's also a veteran of more than 21,000 flying hours.
02:29We had absolutely the utmost respect for Captain Kamal Casey as he was a veteran in the Nepali skies.
02:38And he was quite a humble and knowledgeable guy as well.
02:44It's very clear.
02:46We'll be good for visual landing.
02:49Flying the plane from the left-hand seat is Captain Anju Katawada.
02:54She's flown more than 6,000 hours.
02:59Captain Katawada has a very special history.
03:02Her husband, he was a pilot with the same company.
03:06He was a first officer on the twin water and it crashed and he died some years earlier.
03:13Katawada decided to take up flying to honor his spirit.
03:17So she become a pilot.
03:208,500 feet.
03:22While Captain Katawada is an experienced commercial pilot, she has only 186 hours on the ATR-72.
03:40The ATR-72 is a turboprop twin-engine aircraft.
03:45It's a high-wing aircraft.
03:49It's a very stable, predictable and logical aircraft.
03:53And it's very good to fly here in the mountains and hilly regions of Nepal.
04:02Today's flight is a short 25-minute hop from Kathmandu to the tourist city of Pokhara.
04:14Yeti 691, expect to land on 1-2.
04:17Broadway 1-2, Yeti 691.
04:2215 miles from the airport, Yeti flight 691 is cleared for the approach.
04:29Hey everyone, exciting times as we're headed to Pokhara's new airport.
04:33Sonu Jaiswal is live streaming from the cabin.
04:36The plan is to go paragliding in the Himalayan foothills with my buddies.
04:463, 1, 0.
04:48Captain Katawada programs a heading for the approach to runway 1-2.
04:57You are in between the runway and the mountains.
05:01So you need to be very, very precise with your handling skills of the aircraft.
05:10Okay, visual, visual.
05:12Okay, visual.
05:15The pilots monitor their position carefully, keeping the plane clear of the mountains.
05:23Yeti Airlines 691 in sight, report final runway 1-2.
05:28Call you on final for runway 1-2.
05:31Yeti Airlines 691.
05:36Ear down.
05:40Less than two minutes from the airport, the pilots configure the plane for landing.
05:47Okay, from here you can go manual.
05:49Okay, standby.
05:53Disconnect.
05:55Captain Katawada disconnects the autopilot, then begins the first of two crucial turns to line up with the runway.
06:12Okay, flaps 30.
06:15Flaps 30.
06:18Continue descent.
06:20Okay.
06:24One minute from touchdown, the pilots run through the pre-landing checklist.
06:30Okay, landing gear.
06:31Down three green.
06:33Flaps.
06:34Flaps.
06:34Flaps.
06:34Flaps.
06:34Flaps.
06:34Flaps.
06:39In the cabin, Sonu Jyeswal continues livestreaming.
06:44We're getting pretty close now.
06:48As the flight gets closer to the ground, the landing seems trouble free.
06:59but seconds from the runway captain Casey realizes there's a critical problem with
07:05the engines stop our there's no power when there's no power that means they
07:15have very limited time at that altitude they need to react quickly our power captain
07:24katawada tries to power up but the engines aren't producing any thrust 400 feet above
07:33the ground the pilots face a critical situation in the tower the controller doesn't know that
07:43flight 691 is in any trouble yeti 691 runway 12 clear to land there's no power no power add power
07:58captain katawada pushes the throttles to the limit
08:05there's no torque okay give it to me
08:09the more senior captain takes control
08:1880 691
08:26flight 691 is stalling
08:35while sonu jesua live streams the unfolding disaster
08:44what's happening
09:15what's happening
09:21yeti flight 691 has crashed in one of the worst possible places
09:27the seti river runs near to the airport through a huge gorge that's where the plane crashed
09:38the plane was completely destroyed in the impact there was a huge flame burning
09:48there was no possibility to find any survivor
09:56the bodies of 71 of the 72 passengers and crew are eventually found and identified
10:03including both pilots this was the deadliest crash involving nepali airlines ever
10:15what could have caused a commercial airliner to drop out of the sky just seconds before landing
10:30when investigators arrive at the crash site of yeti flight 691 they face a devastating scene
10:41the wreckage the wreckage the wreckage the wreckage the wreckage was scattered all over the place
10:46the first impact was before the river where the parts of the left wing was detached
10:52some parts were located on the bottom of the river guards
10:55and the rest of the parts were at the side of the river
11:04under the supervision of nepali investigators the wreckage along with the black boxes and central
11:11processing card from the plane's computer are sent for analysis to labs in france and singapore
11:20it's really not uncommon in an accident investigation to have to send something out for closer investigation
11:35nepali investigators wonder about flight 691's orientation when it hit the ground
11:42looks like this is from the first point of impact
11:47that's a flap from the left wing
11:50and an aileron tip
11:53so the left wing must have hit the ground first
12:00the plane crashes wing down what that suggests to investigators
12:05is that the plane crashed out of control
12:08you would never intend to have it be that way you'd always try and level it out and crash as
12:12close
12:12to a regular attitude as you can
12:16maybe the plane stalled
12:20you may be right check this out
12:31it's gone viral
12:38a witness had filmed the plane during the final moment of the flight
12:44it appears that the left wing lost lift and dipped severely
12:50that's at least an 80 degree left bank
12:59it sure looks like a stall to me
13:06when you see evidence that looks like a stall
13:09you immediately start questioning what could have led to that
13:12and you go back to what's going on during that approach
13:23this is not an easy approach
13:26they'd have to fly between the runway and the mountain
13:30and make two left turns before lining up with runway one two
13:35and this is where the plane crashed
13:37and just before the crash they were beginning their final left turn
13:43did the pilots bank too far during one of the turns and stall
13:50they would have had to go from zero to an 80 degree bank in a few seconds
13:59it suggests there was a problem with the plane
14:05you might want to focus and see if there's any smoking guns in the maintenance records
14:10if there was anything wrong that somebody knew about
14:12maybe they tried to fix it and it didn't get fixed
14:17i've got maintenance records
14:25investigators go through the plane's records
14:27in search of any gaps in maintenance or inspections
14:33i'm not seeing anything
14:37everything checks out
14:40maybe the controller knows something
14:44yeah
14:46the air traffic controller may have heard something in their conversation with the pilots
14:51picked up something that isn't really evident from the tape
14:58did you have visual contact with the aircraft
15:06did you see or hear anything suggesting a problem with the plane
15:10no um i was flying normally when i had visuals with it
15:13it was just out of sight right before the crash
15:18then i heard it
15:22the explosion
15:41did the pilots say anything suggesting the problem with the plane
15:45nope
15:46no match
15:49okay
15:50thank you
15:52so
15:54do you know what happened
16:01not yet
16:08in the early stages
16:10you'd want to look at anything witnesses might have to say
16:13anybody who might have seen heard
16:15or otherwise noticed the crash
16:19the controller offers little insight into why the plane stall
16:23then a witness to the accident comes forward
16:26there
16:27that's where you saw the plane
16:31he had the credibility because he was an engineer
16:35and you said that you saw the propeller spitting just before the crash
16:43when you see a propeller rotating it means it moves very slow otherwise you cannot see it moving
16:53the slow rotation of the propellers could indicate there was a problem with the engines that drive them
17:02quick update sounds like engine failure
17:08we need to talk to the french about their engine analysis
17:16hello
17:17hello
17:20nepali investigators now join the team from france to examine the wreckage of yeti flight 691
17:28engines are badly damaged can't tell if they failed in flight
17:37most of the engines were consumed by fire so they couldn't learn definitively whether they were producing power
17:47look at that prop
17:48look at that prop
17:51investigators notice something telling on a propeller hub
17:59looks feathered
18:09when propellers are feathered their edges face forward and cannot produce thrust
18:16it's like putting your car in neutral position
18:19you can push on the gas as much as you want but nothing is going to happen
18:28it's actually stuck in a feather position
18:40this one moves freely but it could have moved on impact
18:49this one is stuck too
18:54so two of them were in the feathered position when they hit the ground
19:01normally propellers are feathered on the ground after shutdown
19:06that prevents them from spinning in the wind and damaging the engine
19:10there is however one exception
19:13an automatic feathering unit will feather that propeller immediately as soon as an engine failure is detected
19:19perhaps faster than the pilot can do it
19:24were the props feathered automatically in flight due to engine failure
19:29investigators download the data from flight 691's multifunction computer
19:35to find out
19:35the multi-function computer stores information about the automatic feathering unit in its memory
19:44they're going to be able to learn whether the auto feather unit feathered
19:49one engine or both engines
20:00it never activated
20:04if you learn that the auto feather system didn't feather the propellers
20:08that immediately raises the question who or what did
20:14were the propellers feathered manually
20:17investigators consider a crucial piece of wreckage recovered from the scene
20:22the central control pedestal
20:25the central pedestal is located between the pilots
20:29and here you have the power levers
20:32you have the flaps lever
20:33and you have the condition levers which controls the propellers
20:39flaps are stuck at 30. that's where they should be for landing
20:47condition levers are moving freely
20:51doesn't tell us much
20:55look at this
21:04witness mark
21:07you're looking for witness marks the marks that one aircraft component makes against another
21:12at the time of impact
21:14and those marks will suggest in the case of the central control pedestal
21:20where the controls were positioned at impact
21:24the witness mark suggests that the pilots could have put the left
21:29lever in the feathered position
21:32maybe some other debris caused the witness mark
21:36there's no witness mark for the right condition lever
21:42were the propellers feathered by the pilots
21:45or did the witness marks occur on impact
21:49we're going to need the flight data recorder download to settle this
21:57the flight data recorder doesn't record the propeller blade angle
22:01but it does record certain parameters that let investigators infer whether the propellers were feathered and if so when
22:28they find evidence that the pilots feathered the props one minute before the crash
22:35when the propellers are feathered the torque drops and the propeller's rpm speed drops
22:43that's what the witness was able to see when he reported spotting the individual propeller blades
22:50how did they make that mistake
22:58what was going on in the pilot's mind
23:02what was going on in the cockpit
23:04what's happening
23:18pick it up 24 minutes into the flight right before the propellers were feathered
23:25investigators listen to the cockpit voice recording from yeti airlines flight 691
23:31to understand why the pilots feathered their propellers when they did okay from here you can go manual okay stand
23:39by
23:43disconnect
23:45okay flaps 30. flaps 30.
23:51continue descent okay
23:54stop
23:55samson where are we at here time is 10 56 35
24:06according to the fdr
24:09the flaps did not move to 30 at this point but this is when the props were feathered
24:21flying flying the flaps 30. the flaps didn't move
24:26but at the same moment the prop rpm decreased and torque went to zero
24:32the pilot has pretty obviously feathered the engines instead of moving the flaps
24:46they must have mixed up the flap levers with the condition levers
24:51and captain casey was the pilot monitoring
24:56how could a captain make that mistake
25:04in most airline accidents pilot error is a factor that can be because of inadequate training
25:13experience it can be because of too little rest but there can also be other factors impairing their
25:22decisions
25:24here you go
25:29the team reviews results from the pilot's toxicology tests
25:37nothing on captain katiwata
25:44same with captain casey
25:49maybe they weren't adequately rested
25:54according to the airline's records both pilot schedules were within guidelines
25:59suggesting adequate rest and their medical certificates are current
26:05they conclude that something other than impaired judgment caused the pilots to feather the props by mistake
26:13at this point at this point you'd have to wonder what might have been going on in the cockpit
26:16that would lead him to be distracted into setting the propellers to feather instead of setting the flaps for landing
26:25did the location of the condition levers on the pedestal play a part in the captain's error
26:32they examine an atr 72 pedestal
26:37i reach over for the flaps
26:41but i put my hand on the condition lever instead
26:49the flap lever and the condition levers are very close together on the pedestal
26:55i want to move the flaps to the 30 degree position
27:00but instead i move the condition lever to feathered
27:10the flap and condition levers have the same range of motion and stop in similar positions
27:18it's not a stretch that they could have mixed up the levers
27:22and don't forget captain casey was where i'm sitting right
27:33muscle memory is very important for a pilot because you can do sequences without being conscious
27:40about it but when you move to the other seat on the other side suddenly that flow is disturbed
27:47because now you have to use the opposite time
27:52oh that feels a lot less natural
27:57and much easier to mix up
28:04okay flaps 30. flaps 30.
28:10continue descents
28:13the pilot monitoring move the condition levers instead of the flap lever
28:18that should be impossible but it has happened before
28:23i once asked for flaps and the pilot monitoring selected the gear down
28:30and those layers are far apart
28:34still it's hard to imagine looking at these levers that you'd get them confused
28:41true
28:48maybe he wasn't looking at them
28:54why would an experienced captain not check which levers he was moving
29:05okay okay visual visual okay visual investigators return to the voice recording of vieti airlines flight 691
29:14to determine if the captain's attention was elsewhere when he selected the wrong levers
29:19okay make sure you stay between the mountains and the runway
29:23they revisit the moment just before the propellers were feathered
29:27keep your power nose up keep visual with the tower don't go too far okay copy that
29:37okay stop for a second
29:41he's giving her a lot of instructions
29:45maybe that's the distraction
29:48but she's a very experienced pilot so why is he doing that
29:55when you're giving instruction that's an added mental stress it's an added cognitive load
30:01it's very distracting
30:03let's start from the top
30:05okay
30:07poker tower yeti airline 691
30:10yeti airline 691
30:14tower yeti 691 descending through 12 500 feet
30:20roger yeti 691 12 500 feet
30:25expect to land on runway 30
30:27runway 30
30:30runway 30
30:30yeti 691
30:34they discover that flight 691 was initially cleared to land on a different runway runway 30
30:42but eight minutes later there's a change of plan
30:45if traffic permits let's land on runway 12
30:49then you'll be approved for runway 12 without any instructor pilot supervision
30:54okay runway 12
30:57not only is he monitoring the flight he's approving her to land at pohra's new airport
31:05investigators discover captain casey was instructing pilots on how to land on both runways at the new airport
31:14i flew with captain kamal casey just two days before for my good qualification into pohra international airport
31:23but why runway 12
31:28you'll be approved to land in both directions
31:31copy that
31:38okay stop it
31:40so captain khatawada
31:42is cleared for runway 30
31:45and captain kc decides much later in the game he's approving her for runway 12
31:52captain katiwada had landed on runway 30 but never won two runway 30 is a straight-in approach
32:06and runway 12 you follow a narrow track next to the mountains
32:10and you turn left twice to line up with the runway
32:15so captain casey put captain khatawada on a more difficult landing
32:25runway 12 was a challenging approach for a pilot with just 185 hours on the area
32:32did captain casey properly prepare captain katewada for the difficult approach to runway 12
32:41the best way to prepare a pilot for such an approach would be to do a proper briefing maybe they
32:49have
32:49photos videos simulator training if available
32:56investigators examine captain katawada's training records
33:02she spent no time in the simulator training on runway 12
33:06what about a formal briefing
33:09there's no documentation related to training on one two
33:13i've got captain casey's flight history
33:17was captain casey even qualified to train others for landing on runway 12
33:23turns out he had only landed on one two twice
33:28a bit of experience but not enough
33:35because of his low experience and also katiwada's low experience on the aircraft
33:40i find that a bit strange
33:45i wonder if it's even possible to do a stabilized visual landing using that approach
34:00a stabilized visual approach is one that's conducted with the runway in sight
34:05at a normal rate of descent with landing flaps and landing gear down at the proper airspeed
34:13and with all checklists completed by a certain point
34:17there's just over one mile between the completion of the last turn and the runway
34:25that's going to give you just over 30 seconds from lining up to landing it's very tight
34:37official landing can increase the workload because they have to make tiny adjustments all the way
34:42through the pattern let's see how they handle the workload
34:49okay make sure you stay between the mountains and the runway
34:53to understand how the pilots dealt with the final approach to runway one two investigators return to the cvr
35:00keep your power nose up keep visual with the tower
35:06don't go too far okay copy that remember you need to make an early turn here
35:13okay a beam tower gear down you're down
35:24can i fly it manually wait wait not yet keep going straight after flaps 30 then you're good to go
35:33manual
35:35hold on captain casey is so focused on pointing out landmarks outside the cockpit
35:41he's not paying attention to what's happening inside the cockpit
35:47it's normal to let the less experienced pilot fly the aircraft and the most experienced pilot do the analysis
35:56okay flaps 30. flaps 30.
36:04continue descent okay
36:11you probably didn't even look down to see what lever he was moving
36:16but there was still an opportunity to catch the mistake when they do the landing checklist
36:25the before landing checklist was an opportunity for him to look down
36:29at that control pedestal and see that he had moved the condition levers into feather
36:35i'm almost certain they could have recovered right up until the last few seconds
36:41did the pilots failure to follow their checklist ultimately determine their fate
36:53nepali investigators continue listening to the cvr of flight 691
36:58to learn whether the pilots followed the proper procedures before landing before landing checklist
37:10okay landing gear down three green flaps 30. wait captain kariwata said the flaps are at 30
37:20but according to the fdr they're still set at 15.
37:25neither pilot check the flap settings
37:30if captain casey saw that the flaps were not at 30 he may have realized he had moved the wrong
37:36lever
37:38power management take off tlu
37:41low speed low speed icing aoa check
37:45external lights on on complete
37:50they rushed it
37:53the before landing checklist was done very fast like bam bam bam bam bam and i don't any of them
38:00looked at the flap setting they just answered by memory
38:05oh and with the props feathered there should have been warning lights why didn't they figure it out
38:23when the propellers are feathered they're no longer providing power to the generators
38:30an aural and visual elec warning alerts the pilots that they're losing electrical power
38:36what is this
38:39elect is on cap
38:43the elect light comes on to warn the pilots hey you've got a big electrical problem
38:49checked
38:50check
38:51someone clicked off the warning
38:53they clicked off the warning without figuring out why it even came on
39:00it's hard to tell why captain kamal kc responded checked to the electrical light
39:06check
39:07would you pull out a quick reference handbook and start working a long electrical failure procedure
39:13or would you recognize hey i'm landing in less than 60 seconds let's just bring the plane in and
39:19deal with the problem on the ground we just continue right yes continue turn
39:30what's that click about
39:37fdr data shows this is where the flaps goes to 30
39:41so he notices the flap is not set at 30 and corrects it
39:51and with so much workload all he sees is the flap leader and doesn't notice that the propellers are feathered
39:59when your workload increases you get tunnel vision and you see less that makes it very difficult because
40:07now you only focus on one thing
40:11okay but why doesn't he figure it out when the engines have dropped to idle
40:22seconds from the runway captain casey realizes there's an issue with the engines
40:27there's no power there's no power add power
40:35even though the pilots see the engines are at idle they are still unaware that the propellers are feathered
40:41there's no power no power add power
40:47there's no torque okay give it to me
40:51in desperation captain casey takes control of the plane
40:55you're landing sir no power torque indication zero
41:20he decided to fly the plane rather than try to diagnose the problem
41:35one seeing a glance around the cockpit could have told him that he had feathered the propellers
41:48the final report of the Nepali accident investigation Commission concludes that
41:53the most probable cause of the accident was the inadvertent movement of both condition
41:59levers to the feathered position in flight what strikes me about this is that it was a very
42:06normal situation the only thing that went between success and failure was the slip of a hand
42:18the proximity to terrain and sharp turn required to land on runway 12 before landing checklist
42:26combined with a high workload and a lack of appropriate training all contributed to the
42:33crash after the accident Yeti Airlines tests the approach in the simulator with their pilots
42:43most of our pilots were not able to land on runway 12 either they were high on approach or they
42:50were
42:51fast on speed Yeti Airlines stops flying into runway 12 until they are able to establish a safe visual
43:02procedure and retrain their pilots the Commission recommends that the Civil Aviation Authority of
43:09Nepal ensures that a stabilized flight path is approved before allowing commercial operations at
43:16a new airport after the accident the victims of Yeti air flight 691 are mourned by a nation and fellow
43:28pilots
43:29remember their colleagues oh captain come on Casey I just want to remember him when he was alive and he
43:40was there with us
43:45Captain Khatiboda I respected her a lot she will be remembered as an elder sister and there is going to
43:55be always a void in the airlines that she is not there anymore
44:13Captain Khatiboda I'm her
44:14Captain Khatiboda I'm Susan
44:31Thank you
44:41Copyright Watch
44:42You
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