WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.120 --> 00:00:03.080 Imagine you're cruising at thirty three thousand feet in one 2 00:00:03.080 --> 00:00:07.000 of the safest, most thoroughly tested passenger jets ever. 3 00:00:06.960 --> 00:00:08.720 Built, right a totally routine flight. 4 00:00:08.919 --> 00:00:12.599 Exactly, the engines are humming perfectly, the wings are fully intact, 5 00:00:12.960 --> 00:00:17.079 the autopilot is engaged, and then suddenly the plane just 6 00:00:17.120 --> 00:00:20.440 starts plummeting at an astonishing twelve thousand. 7 00:00:20.120 --> 00:00:23.440 Feet a minute, which is just a terrifying rate of descent. 8 00:00:23.559 --> 00:00:26.559 Oh yeah, and there's no midair explosion, there's no catastrophic 9 00:00:26.600 --> 00:00:29.280 engine failure either. It literally just falls out of the sky. 10 00:00:29.399 --> 00:00:31.480 It's basically the ultimate aviation nightmare. 11 00:00:31.600 --> 00:00:35.320 It really is. So today we're doing a deep dive 12 00:00:35.399 --> 00:00:38.719 into the baffling and honestly tragic mystery of West Caribbean 13 00:00:38.759 --> 00:00:42.079 Airways Flight seven oh eight. We've got this massive stack 14 00:00:42.159 --> 00:00:47.079 of investigative reports, recovered flight data, and the actual cockpit 15 00:00:47.119 --> 00:00:49.159 transcripts to try and figure out how a perfectly good 16 00:00:49.200 --> 00:00:50.799 airplane just drops into the night. 17 00:00:51.119 --> 00:00:52.960 And you know, when you really look closely at this 18 00:00:53.000 --> 00:00:56.520 two thousand and five crash, it becomes this deeply unsettling 19 00:00:56.799 --> 00:00:59.840 case study because it's not simply a story about like 20 00:01:00.240 --> 00:01:02.960 a machine breaking down or a storm being too strong. 21 00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:07.680 We are looking at this terrifying intersection of high altitude physics, 22 00:01:08.200 --> 00:01:14.000 the really deceptive nature of modern automation, and just the 23 00:01:14.040 --> 00:01:17.239 devastating consequences of extreme human stress. 24 00:01:17.439 --> 00:01:20.920 Yeah, that human element is huge here. So let's set 25 00:01:20.920 --> 00:01:23.959 the scene for everyone, because the chaotic atmosphere around this 26 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:26.640 flight starts hours before they even leave the ground. 27 00:01:26.400 --> 00:01:27.040 It really does. 28 00:01:27.159 --> 00:01:30.560 It is well past midnight on this weltering August night 29 00:01:30.599 --> 00:01:35.319 at Panama's Document International Airport. The air is thick with humidity, 30 00:01:35.359 --> 00:01:38.280 and there are these heavy thunderstorms bring out over the Caribbean, 31 00:01:38.439 --> 00:01:42.120 nasty weathery flying air exactly, and sitting on the tarmac 32 00:01:42.200 --> 00:01:45.400 is a fully loaded MD eighty passenger jet. You have 33 00:01:45.400 --> 00:01:48.519 one hundred and fifty two passengers on board, mostly French 34 00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:51.879 citizens who they've just finished a week long vacation at 35 00:01:51.920 --> 00:01:53.120 the Panama Canal and they just. 36 00:01:53.040 --> 00:01:55.439 Want to get back home to Martinique. 37 00:01:54.799 --> 00:01:57.799 Right, But they are already boarding two hours late. Yeah, 38 00:01:57.879 --> 00:02:00.000 which is just a miserable way to start a flight. 39 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:02.920 Oh absolutely. I mean that delay as immense pressure to 40 00:02:02.959 --> 00:02:06.319 an already stressed flight crew. And to make matters even worse, 41 00:02:06.560 --> 00:02:08.080 the flight is completely overbooked. 42 00:02:08.120 --> 00:02:10.199 Wait, like literally not enough seats. 43 00:02:10.120 --> 00:02:13.360 Well, not just seats. The weight calculations for the aircraft 44 00:02:13.400 --> 00:02:16.639 are so incredibly tight that the crew is forced to 45 00:02:16.639 --> 00:02:20.199 make this really difficult call right at the gate. 46 00:02:20.360 --> 00:02:21.080 Oh wow. 47 00:02:21.240 --> 00:02:23.400 Yeah, they actually have to leave two of their own 48 00:02:23.400 --> 00:02:26.919 flight attendants behind on the tarmac in Panama just to 49 00:02:26.919 --> 00:02:28.439 shed a couple of hundred pounds of weight. 50 00:02:28.840 --> 00:02:31.960 That is wild. They left their own crew behind just 51 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:33.360 to make weight exactly. 52 00:02:33.759 --> 00:02:36.479 So you have Captain Omar Osbina, who is a highly 53 00:02:36.520 --> 00:02:39.759 experienced pilot, and his twenty one year old first officer, 54 00:02:39.879 --> 00:02:43.719 David Munos, and they're preparing to take this incredibly heavy 55 00:02:43.759 --> 00:02:45.599 aircraft into the night sky. 56 00:02:45.520 --> 00:02:49.439 Right into what is essentially a low intensity hurricane whipping 57 00:02:49.479 --> 00:02:50.400 across the Caribbean. 58 00:02:50.560 --> 00:02:53.439 Yeah. But you know, for a seasoned flight crew operating 59 00:02:53.439 --> 00:02:56.360 out of South America during hurricane season, rough weather is 60 00:02:56.439 --> 00:02:57.479 honestly just part of. 61 00:02:57.400 --> 00:02:59.759 The job, right, It's just a Tuesday for them pretty much. 62 00:02:59.840 --> 00:03:02.520 So they run their numbers, they calculate the required runway 63 00:03:02.560 --> 00:03:05.599 length for this super heavy payload, and they finally get airborne. 64 00:03:05.680 --> 00:03:09.800 They're anticipating a bumpy, but otherwise routine three hour flight, so. 65 00:03:09.719 --> 00:03:12.800 They climb through this heavy rain to their initial cruising altitude, 66 00:03:12.840 --> 00:03:16.080 which is thirty one thousand feet, and over the next hour, 67 00:03:16.319 --> 00:03:19.919 the engines are burning through thousands of pounds of jet. 68 00:03:19.719 --> 00:03:23.560 Fuel, which naturally lightens the aircraft exactly so. 69 00:03:23.919 --> 00:03:27.280 Feeling they have shed enough weight, Captain Ospina requests a 70 00:03:27.319 --> 00:03:30.759 climb to thirty three thousand feet to try and get 71 00:03:30.800 --> 00:03:34.560 above some of the worst weather, and air traffic control approves. 72 00:03:34.560 --> 00:03:37.560 It makes sense, you always want to get above the storm. 73 00:03:37.319 --> 00:03:39.520 If you can, right, But as they level off at 74 00:03:39.560 --> 00:03:43.000 thirty three thousand feet, the turbulence actually get significantly worse. 75 00:03:43.120 --> 00:03:46.199 The storm is intensifying all around them, and the temperature 76 00:03:46.240 --> 00:03:47.439 is just dropping rapidly. 77 00:03:47.560 --> 00:03:49.639 Yeah, and you can hear on the voice recorder, First 78 00:03:49.639 --> 00:03:55.159 Officer Munoz starts verbally worrying about the conditions. He specifically 79 00:03:55.199 --> 00:03:58.199 notes the risk of ice forming on the wings. 80 00:03:57.960 --> 00:04:00.000 Which is a very valid concern in those condiments. 81 00:04:00.159 --> 00:04:03.520 Totally. Then the tension in the cockpit just spikes. The 82 00:04:03.560 --> 00:04:06.560 captain remarks that the plane isn't accelerating the way it should, 83 00:04:06.639 --> 00:04:09.639 and suddenly, at thirty three thousand feet in the pitch black, 84 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:12.560 the most terrifying sound you can hear in a cockpit 85 00:04:12.680 --> 00:04:17.160 starts blaring the stick shaker. Yes, the control column physically 86 00:04:17.199 --> 00:04:19.600 starts vibrating violently in the pilot's hands. 87 00:04:19.680 --> 00:04:23.240 And for those listening, that is the aircraft's ultimate mechanical 88 00:04:23.279 --> 00:04:25.959 warning that an aerodynamic stall is imminent. 89 00:04:26.360 --> 00:04:28.720 It's screaming at them that they're about to fall. 90 00:04:28.839 --> 00:04:32.240 Exactly that violent shaking is the exact moment the lethal 91 00:04:32.319 --> 00:04:35.839 drop begins. The plane is literally losing its grip. 92 00:04:35.639 --> 00:04:39.120 On the sky, so the crew is suddenly fighting gravity. 93 00:04:39.519 --> 00:04:42.079 Captain Aspina gets on the radio to the Mikeisha air 94 00:04:42.079 --> 00:04:46.560 Traffic control center in Venezuela, and it is just a desperate, 95 00:04:46.680 --> 00:04:47.600 chilling communication. 96 00:04:47.800 --> 00:04:50.680 Yeah. The controller asks if they are experiencing a problem, and. 97 00:04:50.680 --> 00:04:53.959 The captain responds with this catastrophic report. He says, they 98 00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:56.759 have suffered a flame out on both engines. 99 00:04:56.319 --> 00:04:59.199 Which is just a worst case scenario. And the controller 100 00:04:59.240 --> 00:05:00.959 on the ground is rantically trying to get. 101 00:05:00.839 --> 00:05:03.519 Their coordinates because they don't know where they are right. 102 00:05:03.439 --> 00:05:07.360 This particular Venezuelan radar station isn't equipped with advanced tracking. 103 00:05:07.920 --> 00:05:11.399 They rely entirely on the pilots to report their own position. Oh, 104 00:05:11.399 --> 00:05:15.319 but the plane is dropping at an unfathomable rate. We're 105 00:05:15.360 --> 00:05:17.800 taking nine thousand feet in just thirty seconds. 106 00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:19.879 That is just falling like a rock. 107 00:05:20.079 --> 00:05:23.399 Yeah, the captain radios we are at thirteen thousand feet 108 00:05:23.439 --> 00:05:26.079 and going down. Yeah, the plane is uncontrollable. 109 00:05:26.319 --> 00:05:29.160 And within three minutes of that initial drop, flight seven 110 00:05:29.240 --> 00:05:32.319 oh eight slams into a muddy cattle ranch in a 111 00:05:32.360 --> 00:05:36.480 remote region of Venezuela, and tragically there are no survivors. 112 00:05:36.720 --> 00:05:38.000 It's just devastating. 113 00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:40.279 Okay, let's unpack this for a second, because a dual 114 00:05:40.279 --> 00:05:43.439 engine flame out is well, it's basically like the pilot 115 00:05:43.519 --> 00:05:45.439 light blowing out on your home furnace, right. 116 00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:46.199 That's a great way to put it. 117 00:05:46.240 --> 00:05:48.480 Yet, like the fuel is still there, the machinery is 118 00:05:48.519 --> 00:05:52.639 totally fine, but the fire inside just dies. But I mean, 119 00:05:53.199 --> 00:05:57.079 modern jet engines are incredibly resilient. Could a severe weather 120 00:05:57.199 --> 00:05:59.879 system actually snuff out both of them at the exact 121 00:06:00.199 --> 00:06:03.759 same time, like both engines on a car suddenly dying 122 00:06:03.800 --> 00:06:05.480 while doing seventy on the highway. 123 00:06:05.519 --> 00:06:08.199 I mean, it is extremely rare, but investigators knew it 124 00:06:08.199 --> 00:06:12.160 wasn't impossible. When Colonel Lauris Ramos, she was Venezuela's lead 125 00:06:12.240 --> 00:06:15.000 aviation investigator, when she took charge of the scene that 126 00:06:15.120 --> 00:06:17.680 was actually her team's initial working theory. 127 00:06:17.600 --> 00:06:21.079 And honestly, just getting to that crash site was a nightmare. 128 00:06:21.120 --> 00:06:24.120 I was reading about this. It's the deadliest aviation disaster 129 00:06:24.399 --> 00:06:29.439 in Venezuela's history, located in this lawless, swampy border region 130 00:06:29.600 --> 00:06:30.639 right next to Columbia. 131 00:06:30.720 --> 00:06:33.600 Yeah, the logistics of this investigation were insane. 132 00:06:33.759 --> 00:06:37.160 The threat of kidnapping by militant groups was so high 133 00:06:37.360 --> 00:06:41.480 that the investigative team required heavily armed Venezuelan Army escorts 134 00:06:41.680 --> 00:06:43.959 just to be on the site, and they were strictly 135 00:06:44.079 --> 00:06:46.079 ordered to only work during daylight hours. 136 00:06:46.319 --> 00:06:49.040 You can only imagine the pressure on Colonel Ramos. It 137 00:06:49.120 --> 00:06:52.759 was astronomical. I mean, the MD eighty was a workhourse 138 00:06:52.839 --> 00:06:54.439 of the global aviation industry. 139 00:06:54.560 --> 00:06:57.079 There were what thousands of them flying, over. 140 00:06:56.959 --> 00:06:59.560 Three thousand of them flying around the world every single day. 141 00:06:59.800 --> 00:07:02.439 If this crash was caused by a fatal design flaw 142 00:07:02.480 --> 00:07:05.600 where rain could drown the engines, the entire global fleet 143 00:07:05.720 --> 00:07:07.120 might need to be grounded. 144 00:07:06.800 --> 00:07:09.680 Immediately, because it had happened before. Right, she knew there 145 00:07:09.720 --> 00:07:11.319 was a terrifying precedent. 146 00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:14.439 Exactly back in nineteen seventy seven, a DC nine, which 147 00:07:14.480 --> 00:07:17.360 is the direct predecessor to the MD eighty. It features 148 00:07:17.399 --> 00:07:20.279 the exact same rear mounted engine design. It flew into 149 00:07:20.360 --> 00:07:24.199 a massive thunderstorm and it ingested so much torrential rain 150 00:07:24.279 --> 00:07:27.279 and hail that both engines flamed out and that plane 151 00:07:27.319 --> 00:07:27.720 went down. 152 00:07:28.199 --> 00:07:30.279 So the team had to figure out if history was 153 00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:34.240 repeating itself. They even sent investigators back to Document Airport 154 00:07:34.279 --> 00:07:37.160 in Panama to track down the specific fuel truck that 155 00:07:37.279 --> 00:07:39.000 serviced flight seven oh eight. 156 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:41.160 Looking for water contamination in the fuel. 157 00:07:40.920 --> 00:07:44.839 Supply exactly, but the lap results came back completely clean. 158 00:07:45.040 --> 00:07:46.600 The fuel was perfect. 159 00:07:46.800 --> 00:07:49.279 And that's right around the time Joe Sidor, a senior 160 00:07:49.279 --> 00:07:53.079 investigator from the National Transportation Safety Board in Washington, arrives 161 00:07:53.120 --> 00:07:55.240 on the scene with a team of engine specialists. 162 00:07:55.439 --> 00:07:57.600 The NTSB brings in the heavy hitters. 163 00:07:57.720 --> 00:07:59.480 Yeah, and they start pulling the wreckage out of the 164 00:07:59.560 --> 00:08:04.199 mud and they uncover this massive physical clue. They mapped 165 00:08:04.199 --> 00:08:07.759 the debris field and find the plane's four corners, so 166 00:08:07.800 --> 00:08:11.199 the nose, the tail, and both wingtips, and they are 167 00:08:11.240 --> 00:08:13.480 all in one concentrated location. 168 00:08:13.240 --> 00:08:15.920 Which means it didn't break apart in the sky precisely. 169 00:08:16.439 --> 00:08:19.399 Finding the four corners together in a tight cluster allows 170 00:08:19.439 --> 00:08:22.519 them to instantly rule out a bomb, an explosion, or 171 00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:24.879 the plane breaking apart from aerodynamic stress. 172 00:08:24.959 --> 00:08:27.399 The aircraft was entirely intact when it hit the ground. 173 00:08:27.600 --> 00:08:30.800 Yes, But the real revelation came when they started pulling 174 00:08:30.839 --> 00:08:33.240 apart the jet engines themselves. 175 00:08:32.759 --> 00:08:34.919 Right, because they were looking for evidence of this flame 176 00:08:34.960 --> 00:08:35.799 out exactly. 177 00:08:36.600 --> 00:08:39.759 But they examined the compressor blades inside the engines, and 178 00:08:39.799 --> 00:08:42.960 they find severe bending and deep scoring. 179 00:08:42.519 --> 00:08:45.480 On the metal, which is physical proof of high speed rotation. 180 00:08:45.559 --> 00:08:47.240 At the exact moment of impact. 181 00:08:48.200 --> 00:08:51.639 The blades are spinning furiously. The engines were operating at 182 00:08:51.639 --> 00:08:54.440 a very high power setting when they hit the swamp. 183 00:08:54.679 --> 00:08:57.200 Wait, really, so they hadn't failed at all, not at all. 184 00:08:57.279 --> 00:08:59.559 They gave the engines a completely clean bill of health. 185 00:08:59.679 --> 00:09:01.000 The fl never happened. 186 00:09:01.159 --> 00:09:03.960 But hang on, if the engines were running at full power, 187 00:09:04.320 --> 00:09:07.519 why on earth was Captain Auspina screaming over the radio 188 00:09:07.600 --> 00:09:10.039 about a dual flame out? I mean, why would a 189 00:09:10.080 --> 00:09:12.919 seasoned captain think his engines were dead if they were 190 00:09:12.960 --> 00:09:13.759 actually fine? 191 00:09:13.879 --> 00:09:17.600 And that contradiction is the pivot point of the entire investigation, 192 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:20.840 because if the engines were fine, what actually took down 193 00:09:20.879 --> 00:09:24.559 Flight seven oh eight to piece that together. They desperately 194 00:09:24.600 --> 00:09:26.200 needed the data from the black. 195 00:09:25.919 --> 00:09:29.559 Boxes, which turned into a massive geopolitical stand. 196 00:09:29.399 --> 00:09:31.159 Up, Oh a huge one. Yeah. 197 00:09:31.240 --> 00:09:35.120 Venezuela had deep political mistrust of the United States government 198 00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:38.519 at the time, so they flat out refused to let 199 00:09:38.559 --> 00:09:42.120 the NTSB take the black boxes back to their labs 200 00:09:42.159 --> 00:09:42.879 in Washington. 201 00:09:43.120 --> 00:09:45.559 But they had to compromise somehow, right. 202 00:09:45.440 --> 00:09:48.759 Because the passengers were mostly French citizens, they agreed to 203 00:09:48.799 --> 00:09:52.480 send the boxes to the aviation authorities in Paris instead, and. 204 00:09:52.440 --> 00:09:56.200 Thank goodness they did, because when the French investigators finally 205 00:09:56.279 --> 00:09:59.840 extract the audio from the cockpit voice recorder, the final 206 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:02.320 moments become horrifyingly clear. 207 00:10:02.519 --> 00:10:04.879 Through all the heavy static and the sound of that 208 00:10:05.000 --> 00:10:07.080 vibrating stick shaker, you can hear. 209 00:10:06.960 --> 00:10:09.480 The twenty one year old first officer Munho is shouting, 210 00:10:09.799 --> 00:10:11.600 it's a stall, Captain, it's a stall. 211 00:10:11.720 --> 00:10:14.240 So the aircraft hadn't lost its engines at all. It 212 00:10:14.279 --> 00:10:17.440 had suffered a catastrophic aerodynamic stall exactly. 213 00:10:17.679 --> 00:10:19.559 And you know, for a lot of people, the word 214 00:10:19.679 --> 00:10:22.919 stall brings up the image of a car engine just 215 00:10:23.000 --> 00:10:24.279 sputtering and dying at a. 216 00:10:24.200 --> 00:10:26.679 Red light, right like you stall a manual transmission. 217 00:10:26.960 --> 00:10:29.480 Yeah, but an aerodynamic stall has absolutely nothing to do 218 00:10:29.519 --> 00:10:30.279 with the engine. 219 00:10:30.080 --> 00:10:31.399 Right, let's break that down for everyone. 220 00:10:31.559 --> 00:10:35.200 Sure, So, to stay in the sky, an airplane relies 221 00:10:35.279 --> 00:10:38.639 on a smooth, fast moving layer of air flowing over 222 00:10:38.679 --> 00:10:42.159 the wings to generate lift. A stall occurs when the 223 00:10:42.159 --> 00:10:44.879 plane's angle of attack, which is the angle at which 224 00:10:44.919 --> 00:10:47.960 the wing meets the oncoming air, when that angle becomes 225 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:48.879 too steep. 226 00:10:48.840 --> 00:10:50.480 Like pointing the nose up too high. 227 00:10:50.559 --> 00:10:54.039 Yes, when that angle gets too high, that smooth boundary 228 00:10:54.080 --> 00:10:57.120 layer of air separates from the wing, the wing completely 229 00:10:57.159 --> 00:10:59.799 loses its lift and the aircraft can basically no longer 230 00:10:59.799 --> 00:11:00.879 support its own weight. 231 00:11:01.000 --> 00:11:03.000 It just becomes a heavy piece of metal falling through 232 00:11:03.039 --> 00:11:03.360 the air. 233 00:11:03.559 --> 00:11:06.919 Exactly. But stalling a modern commercial jet at thirty three 234 00:11:06.919 --> 00:11:10.000 thousand feet while cruising is almost unheard of. It just 235 00:11:10.039 --> 00:11:10.679 doesn't happen. 236 00:11:10.759 --> 00:11:13.440 So to figure out why the plane lost its forward 237 00:11:13.480 --> 00:11:17.200 speed installed, they obviously turned to the flight beta recorder. 238 00:11:17.120 --> 00:11:19.519 Right, But unfortunately the unit took a massive hit in 239 00:11:19.559 --> 00:11:22.200 the crash. It was heavily damaged and missing a ton 240 00:11:22.240 --> 00:11:25.879 of crucial data points. Oh No, specifically, they lost the 241 00:11:25.879 --> 00:11:29.000 engine pressure ratios, which is the data that shows exactly 242 00:11:29.039 --> 00:11:31.480 how much thrust the engines were producing minute. 243 00:11:31.200 --> 00:11:33.919 By minute, which is exactly what they needed to solve this. 244 00:11:34.519 --> 00:11:37.799 But the NTSB back in Washington actually managed to use 245 00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:42.440 specialized software to rebuild and recapture that lost engine data. 246 00:11:42.440 --> 00:11:45.240 Didn't they They did. It was brilliant forensic work, and 247 00:11:45.360 --> 00:11:48.799 recovering that data revealed the exact mechanism of their doom. 248 00:11:49.120 --> 00:11:51.200 Okay, so when you hear they were flying through a 249 00:11:51.240 --> 00:11:55.159 freezing wet hurricane, the obvious assumption is ice build up 250 00:11:55.159 --> 00:11:55.639 on the wings. 251 00:11:55.720 --> 00:11:59.679 Right. Naturally, because ice at the massive amount of weight, 252 00:12:00.159 --> 00:12:02.559 it disrupts the airflow and it destroys lift. 253 00:12:02.960 --> 00:12:05.919 So if the wings were accumulating heavy ice, the autopilot 254 00:12:05.960 --> 00:12:08.840 would have commanded the engines to work much harder to 255 00:12:08.879 --> 00:12:10.360 push that extra weight through the air. 256 00:12:10.440 --> 00:12:13.039 Exactly you would see the engine power numbers spiking on 257 00:12:13.039 --> 00:12:13.879 the data recorder. 258 00:12:14.159 --> 00:12:16.879 But the recovered data showed the engines weren't spooling up. 259 00:12:16.919 --> 00:12:19.120 The thrust was actually decreasing, right. 260 00:12:19.120 --> 00:12:21.559 So it wasn't ice on the wings that doomed them. 261 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:25.840 It was incredibly the plane's anti ice system itself. 262 00:12:26.080 --> 00:12:28.399 That is just wild to wrap our heads around. 263 00:12:28.559 --> 00:12:31.759 It is. So investigators ran the performance calculations for the 264 00:12:31.840 --> 00:12:34.519 MD eighty. They took the reported weight to the plane, 265 00:12:35.000 --> 00:12:38.080 and they even added thousands of extra pounds to simulate 266 00:12:38.360 --> 00:12:41.440 like heavier passenger luggage or miscalculated cargo. 267 00:12:41.320 --> 00:12:42.720 Just worst case scenario. 268 00:12:42.440 --> 00:12:46.120 Weight exactly, and even at a grossly overweight fifty five 269 00:12:46.200 --> 00:12:49.879 thousand pounds, the MD eighty could easily maintain level flight 270 00:12:50.039 --> 00:12:51.679 at thirty three thousand feet. 271 00:12:51.720 --> 00:12:54.440 And this is the huge caveat only if the anti 272 00:12:54.519 --> 00:12:56.360 I system was turned off precisely. 273 00:12:56.840 --> 00:12:59.879 You see, the MD eighty's anti ice system works by taking. 274 00:13:00.639 --> 00:13:01.759 Which is what exactly. 275 00:13:01.960 --> 00:13:05.320 It's superheated, highly compressed air pulled directly from the core 276 00:13:05.360 --> 00:13:08.000 of the jet engines, and it routs that hot air 277 00:13:08.080 --> 00:13:10.720 through pips into the leading edges of the wings to 278 00:13:10.759 --> 00:13:11.360 melt the ice. 279 00:13:11.519 --> 00:13:13.799 Got it. It's kind of like driving a heavily loaded 280 00:13:13.799 --> 00:13:16.480 moving truck up a really steep mountain, and right when 281 00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:19.759 you need every single ounce of horsepower just to keep climbing, 282 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:22.600 you suddenly crank the air conditioning on full blast. 283 00:13:22.720 --> 00:13:24.000 That is a perfect analogy. 284 00:13:24.200 --> 00:13:26.600 Just siphons energy away from the drive train and robs 285 00:13:26.639 --> 00:13:29.080 the engine of the power it needs to keep moving forward. 286 00:13:29.159 --> 00:13:32.240 And on the MD eighty, that performance penalty is severe. 287 00:13:33.159 --> 00:13:35.639 The moment Captain Ospino flipped the switch to turn the 288 00:13:35.679 --> 00:13:38.720 anti ice system on, he bled away the critical engine 289 00:13:38.759 --> 00:13:40.000 thrust keeping them aloft. 290 00:13:40.399 --> 00:13:42.879 The performance charts actually show that with the anti ice 291 00:13:42.960 --> 00:13:47.159 active at their specific weight, the absolute maximum safe altitude 292 00:13:47.159 --> 00:13:50.039 for the aircraft dropped to thirty one thousand, nine hundred 293 00:13:50.080 --> 00:13:50.720 feet and. 294 00:13:50.679 --> 00:13:52.720 They were cruising at thirty three thousand feet. 295 00:13:52.960 --> 00:13:55.240 So by trying to protect the plane from ice, they 296 00:13:55.320 --> 00:13:58.120 inadvertently flew too high for the laws of physics. 297 00:13:58.240 --> 00:14:01.679 Exactly, they literally couldn't sustained that altitude with the power 298 00:14:01.720 --> 00:14:02.399 they had left. 299 00:14:02.799 --> 00:14:05.159 Okay, so the engines are bleeding power to hit the 300 00:14:05.159 --> 00:14:08.200 wings and the plane is slowly but surely losing its 301 00:14:08.240 --> 00:14:12.559 forward air speed. But I mean, these are highly trained professionals. 302 00:14:13.159 --> 00:14:16.679 How does a decaying air speed indicator go completely unnoticed 303 00:14:16.759 --> 00:14:17.679 in a modern. 304 00:14:17.360 --> 00:14:21.000 Cockpit Because the pilots weren't physically flying the plane. The 305 00:14:21.080 --> 00:14:25.279 autopilot was engaged. And this introduces a really dangerous quirk 306 00:14:25.279 --> 00:14:26.799 in the automation, a cork. 307 00:14:26.600 --> 00:14:29.159 That Boeing had actually sent a warning bulletin out to 308 00:14:29.200 --> 00:14:30.600 airlines about three years prior. 309 00:14:30.679 --> 00:14:32.960 Right, Yes, though there is no evidence the West Caribbean 310 00:14:33.000 --> 00:14:34.240 crew ever actually read it. 311 00:14:34.360 --> 00:14:35.600 So what was the quirk? 312 00:14:35.879 --> 00:14:39.440 Well, the MD eighty's autopilot was fiercely programmed to maintain 313 00:14:39.480 --> 00:14:43.320 its assigned altitude at all costs. So as the anti 314 00:14:43.320 --> 00:14:46.840 I system bled trust away, the plane naturally wanted to sink. 315 00:14:47.039 --> 00:14:49.799 Makes sense, less power you drop right. 316 00:14:50.360 --> 00:14:53.919 But to stop it from sinking, the autopilot quietly kept 317 00:14:53.960 --> 00:14:57.480 pitching the nose up higher and higher, trying to catch 318 00:14:57.519 --> 00:14:59.879 more air under the wings to maintain lift. 319 00:15:00.159 --> 00:15:03.720 But pitching the nose up trades forward momentum for altitude. 320 00:15:03.799 --> 00:15:06.399 It acts like a massive air brake exactly. 321 00:15:06.639 --> 00:15:10.279 The autopilot was completely masking the decaying speed from the pilots. 322 00:15:10.720 --> 00:15:13.519 It was sacrificing their air speed just to keep the 323 00:15:13.519 --> 00:15:15.720 altimeter locked at thirty three thousand feet. 324 00:15:15.919 --> 00:15:19.559 But Captain Ospina did eventually sense something was wrong. He 325 00:15:19.600 --> 00:15:23.279 felt the sluggishness, he noticed they couldn't accelerate. 326 00:15:22.960 --> 00:15:25.840 And he actually took the exact right action. Initially, he 327 00:15:25.919 --> 00:15:29.200 disconnected the autopilot and asked air traffic control for permission 328 00:15:29.200 --> 00:15:31.639 to descend back down to thirty one thousand feet to 329 00:15:31.639 --> 00:15:32.639 regain speed. 330 00:15:32.440 --> 00:15:34.279 Which would have saved them if he had just pushed 331 00:15:34.279 --> 00:15:37.039 the nose down right then and reached thirty one thousand feet. 332 00:15:37.080 --> 00:15:39.399 The speed would have recovered, the lift would have returned, 333 00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:41.639 and they would have landed safely in Martinique. 334 00:15:41.679 --> 00:15:44.360 It would have been a non event. But right at 335 00:15:44.360 --> 00:15:47.720 that very second, as they are teetering on the absolute 336 00:15:47.840 --> 00:15:51.679 edge of a stall, flying right at the aircraft's aerodynamic limit. 337 00:15:51.919 --> 00:15:55.879 Here's where it gets really interesting, right, because weather plays 338 00:15:55.879 --> 00:15:56.759 a cruel hand. 339 00:15:56.960 --> 00:16:00.320 Yes, they are hit by a fierce twenty mile per 340 00:16:00.360 --> 00:16:02.159 hour updraft from the storm. 341 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:04.080 A gust of wind blowing straight. 342 00:16:03.840 --> 00:16:07.759 Up exactly, and that gust pushed the plane's nose up 343 00:16:07.919 --> 00:16:10.320 just a few more degrees. It pushed the angle of 344 00:16:10.360 --> 00:16:12.519 attack past the critical breaking point. 345 00:16:12.360 --> 00:16:13.960 The airflow is separated from the wings. 346 00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:16.480 The stick shaker went off, and the aircraft entered a 347 00:16:16.480 --> 00:16:17.639 full deep stall. 348 00:16:17.840 --> 00:16:20.399 Okay, so connect the dots for us here, because this 349 00:16:20.440 --> 00:16:22.320 brings us back to the most confusing part of the 350 00:16:22.320 --> 00:16:25.519 whole story. The plane is stalling, but we know from 351 00:16:25.559 --> 00:16:28.720 the NTSP that the engines are still running perfectly right, 352 00:16:28.840 --> 00:16:31.960 So why is the captain screaming to air traffic control 353 00:16:32.080 --> 00:16:34.879 about a dual engine flame out instead of just pushing 354 00:16:34.879 --> 00:16:36.679 the nose down to fix the stall. 355 00:16:36.919 --> 00:16:40.320 It's a tragic psychological trap. When the nose pitched up 356 00:16:40.360 --> 00:16:43.320 so sharply and the plane stalled, it caused a massive 357 00:16:43.360 --> 00:16:46.440 disruption in the smooth airflow traveling over the wings and 358 00:16:46.519 --> 00:16:48.080 back into those rear mounted engines. 359 00:16:48.440 --> 00:16:50.879 Oh, because the engines are at the back, they get 360 00:16:50.879 --> 00:16:52.399 the dirty air from the stalled wing. 361 00:16:52.600 --> 00:16:58.840 Exactly. That turbulent, choked air literally starved the engine compressors 362 00:16:58.840 --> 00:17:00.240 of oxygen for a brief. 363 00:17:00.120 --> 00:17:03.080 Moment, So the engines experience what's called a rollback, where 364 00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:06.920 they temporarily lose power because they basically can't breathe right, So. 365 00:17:06.880 --> 00:17:09.559 Put yourself in the captain's seat. He hears the deafening 366 00:17:09.640 --> 00:17:12.519 roar of the sall warning, he feels the violent buffeting 367 00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:15.640 of the airframe, and he watches his engine power dials 368 00:17:15.920 --> 00:17:16.880 suddenly plummet. 369 00:17:17.160 --> 00:17:17.920 Oh wow. 370 00:17:18.079 --> 00:17:21.880 In that terrifying split second, he falls victim to profound 371 00:17:21.920 --> 00:17:25.240 task saturation, what we often call tunnel vision. 372 00:17:25.400 --> 00:17:27.279 His brain just zeros in on one thing. 373 00:17:27.519 --> 00:17:31.279 Yes, his brain locks entirely onto those dropping engine dials, 374 00:17:31.440 --> 00:17:34.200 completely ignoring the pitch of the aircraft and the stick 375 00:17:34.240 --> 00:17:35.759 shaker warning him about the stall. 376 00:17:35.960 --> 00:17:38.759 He genuinely believes the storm has drowned his engines and 377 00:17:38.759 --> 00:17:40.640 they are falling out of the sky, and his. 378 00:17:40.599 --> 00:17:43.440 Reaction to that false belief seals their fate. 379 00:17:43.440 --> 00:17:46.000 Because every pilot is taught from day one how to 380 00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:49.359 break a saw right. You must push the control column forward, 381 00:17:49.599 --> 00:17:52.039 point the nose down, and let gravity give you back 382 00:17:52.079 --> 00:17:54.319 the air speed you need to generate lyft that. 383 00:17:54.440 --> 00:17:57.440 Is aviation one oh one. But if your brain is 384 00:17:57.480 --> 00:17:59.960 convinced that your engines are dead and you are plumb 385 00:18:00.279 --> 00:18:04.759 toward the earth, your deepest, most primal human instinct is 386 00:18:04.759 --> 00:18:06.720 to pull away from the ground. You want to pull 387 00:18:06.799 --> 00:18:09.759 up exactly, And the flight data recorder shows that instead 388 00:18:09.759 --> 00:18:12.799 of pushing forward, Captain Ospina pulled back on the yoke. 389 00:18:13.400 --> 00:18:17.160 He kept the nose pointed dangerously high, entirely logging the 390 00:18:17.200 --> 00:18:20.920 aircraft into an unrecoverable aerodynamic stall all the way down 391 00:18:20.920 --> 00:18:21.440 to the ground. 392 00:18:21.519 --> 00:18:23.160 And the most heart brazing part of all this is 393 00:18:23.200 --> 00:18:25.680 that first officer Munoz knew exactly what was happening. 394 00:18:25.759 --> 00:18:27.839 He did. We hear him on the cockpit voice recorder 395 00:18:27.880 --> 00:18:32.279 desperately yelling it's a stall, Captain, it's a stall. 396 00:18:31.640 --> 00:18:33.559 But the captain never acknowledges him. 397 00:18:33.799 --> 00:18:37.160 No, he is entirely consumed by the false reality of 398 00:18:37.160 --> 00:18:40.279 the flame out. He's hyperventilating, he's talking frantically to air 399 00:18:40.279 --> 00:18:43.880 traffic control, and he's physically fighting the heavy g forces 400 00:18:43.920 --> 00:18:46.680 of a plane dropping twelve thousand feet per minute. 401 00:18:46.759 --> 00:18:49.000