WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:03.600 So picture this. You are sitting in a window seat 2 00:00:03.640 --> 00:00:04.879 on a passenger. 3 00:00:04.480 --> 00:00:06.960 Jet, right, and your seat belt is just you know, 4 00:00:07.240 --> 00:00:09.919 tightly fastened to cross your lap exactly. 5 00:00:09.919 --> 00:00:16.039 And outside the sky has turned this bruised, completely unnatural 6 00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:16.800 black color. 7 00:00:16.879 --> 00:00:19.280 Yeah. The cabin, which is probably just filled with that 8 00:00:19.399 --> 00:00:24.160 normal low hum of conversation, just suddenly drops into this deafening, 9 00:00:24.760 --> 00:00:25.800 terrifying silence. 10 00:00:25.920 --> 00:00:28.160 Right. The only sound is the roar of the engines, 11 00:00:28.320 --> 00:00:30.559 and they're fighting against something you can't even see. The 12 00:00:30.559 --> 00:00:32.479 whole plane is vibrating violently. 13 00:00:32.600 --> 00:00:35.000 You can probably smell the rain, right, and that ozone 14 00:00:35.000 --> 00:00:37.799 smell bleeding through the air vents overhead. 15 00:00:37.439 --> 00:00:40.560 Oh definitely. And then suddenly your stomach just leaps into 16 00:00:40.640 --> 00:00:45.399 your throat. You feel this terrifying sense of total weightlessness. 17 00:00:44.719 --> 00:00:48.240 Because this massive machine is suddenly completely at the mercy 18 00:00:48.280 --> 00:00:49.880 of invisible forces. 19 00:00:49.560 --> 00:00:51.799 And you are literally just along for the ride. 20 00:00:52.039 --> 00:00:53.960 It is the ultimate stress test. I mean, we are 21 00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:58.399 looking at the absolute extreme intersection of aerodynamics, severe weather, 22 00:00:58.520 --> 00:01:03.600 and well endurance. When those margins of safety evaporate, the 23 00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:07.680 decisions made in those ensuing seconds they completely determine whether 24 00:01:07.719 --> 00:01:10.640 a flight makes the evening news as a tragedy or 25 00:01:10.680 --> 00:01:11.719 as a total miracle. 26 00:01:11.879 --> 00:01:15.239 Welcome to today's deep dive. We are stepping directly into 27 00:01:15.319 --> 00:01:18.319 the shoes of aviation accident investigators today. 28 00:01:18.599 --> 00:01:25.359 Yes, we're going to forensically unpack three true, really harrowing 29 00:01:25.439 --> 00:01:29.719 stories of commercial jets just battling severe weather. 30 00:01:29.879 --> 00:01:31.959 And we are not just recounting timelines here. We are 31 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:34.719 really tearing into the mechanics of these events. We want 32 00:01:34.760 --> 00:01:39.159 to understand the physics and honestly, the psychology that dictates survival. 33 00:01:38.840 --> 00:01:42.040 Because modern flight is well, it's a profoundly augacious premise 34 00:01:42.079 --> 00:01:43.159 when you really stop and think. 35 00:01:43.000 --> 00:01:45.920 About it, it really is. We routinely strap ourselves into these 36 00:01:45.959 --> 00:01:49.359 two hundred ton metal tubes, blast through the upper atmosphere 37 00:01:49.359 --> 00:01:51.519 at like eight hundred kilometers an hour, and we just 38 00:01:51.560 --> 00:01:53.760 expect to sip our coffee in total peace. 39 00:01:53.680 --> 00:01:56.519 Right completely forgetting that nature always always has the home 40 00:01:56.519 --> 00:01:57.280 field advantage. 41 00:01:57.319 --> 00:01:59.359 We absolutely take it for granted. And when that home 42 00:01:59.359 --> 00:02:03.439 field advantage asserts itself, the consequences are incredibly swift. 43 00:02:03.680 --> 00:02:07.120 They are the rules of modern aviation safety are quite 44 00:02:07.120 --> 00:02:09.879 literally written in blood. I mean, every alarm that sounds 45 00:02:09.919 --> 00:02:12.560 in a modern cockpit, every radar doome spinning at your 46 00:02:12.599 --> 00:02:16.400 local airport. They exist because investigators picked through the wreckage 47 00:02:16.400 --> 00:02:19.639 of moments exactly like the ones we're about to examine. 48 00:02:19.759 --> 00:02:22.159 So let's jump right in and unpack our first case. 49 00:02:22.439 --> 00:02:25.800 We are going back to August TEWOD nineteen eighty five. Right, 50 00:02:26.159 --> 00:02:29.800 it's a sweltering one hundred and one degree day at 51 00:02:29.879 --> 00:02:33.240 Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. Like you can practically see 52 00:02:33.240 --> 00:02:36.000 those heat waves just shimmering off the tarmac. 53 00:02:36.039 --> 00:02:38.199 Oh yeah, brutal Texas summer day. 54 00:02:38.159 --> 00:02:40.919 Exactly, and we're looking at Delta flight one ninety one. 55 00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:45.159 It's a Lockheed L ten eleven TriStar, which at the 56 00:02:45.159 --> 00:02:48.599 time was like one of the most sophisticated, reliable passenger 57 00:02:48.680 --> 00:02:49.039 jets in. 58 00:02:49.039 --> 00:02:50.960 The world, absolutely top of the line. 59 00:02:50.719 --> 00:02:53.520 And they are coming into land desperately trying to beat 60 00:02:53.560 --> 00:02:58.159 this massive dark afternoon thunderstorm that's brewing right over their 61 00:02:58.159 --> 00:02:58.800 approach path. 62 00:02:58.879 --> 00:03:01.319 Yeah, to set the operational day here, it's a really 63 00:03:01.360 --> 00:03:05.680 congested Friday afternoon. Air traffic control is just juggling this 64 00:03:05.800 --> 00:03:07.360 heavy backlog of planes. 65 00:03:07.080 --> 00:03:09.879 Right, everybody's trying to get in exactly. 66 00:03:09.400 --> 00:03:12.719 And that extreme ground heat and the Texas humidity. They're 67 00:03:12.759 --> 00:03:15.960 acting like an engine. They're just fueling these rapid pop 68 00:03:16.080 --> 00:03:18.520 up storm cells everywhere, and Flight. 69 00:03:18.280 --> 00:03:20.719 One ninety one had already deviated from its flight path 70 00:03:20.800 --> 00:03:22.319 earlier to avoid bad weather. 71 00:03:22.400 --> 00:03:26.039 Right, Yes, so we know this captain is cautious, he's experienced. 72 00:03:26.280 --> 00:03:29.400 They are lining up for runway seventeen left and they're 73 00:03:29.439 --> 00:03:32.919 following just a few miles behind a small corporate leer jet. 74 00:03:33.039 --> 00:03:36.360 Okay, so the leader jet lands completely without incident. But 75 00:03:36.479 --> 00:03:39.400 then just a minute later, Delta one on one enters 76 00:03:39.439 --> 00:03:43.800 this terrifying forty seven second struggle that essentially alters aviation 77 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:44.840 history forever. 78 00:03:44.960 --> 00:03:47.479 Yeah, the plane gets pounded by this driving rain. 79 00:03:47.400 --> 00:03:51.039 And suddenly its airspeed just surges wildly, So the crew 80 00:03:51.319 --> 00:03:53.840 naturally pulls back the throttle to slow the plane down. 81 00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:56.199 But moments later, the plane simply drops. 82 00:03:56.240 --> 00:03:57.759 It just falls right out of the sky. 83 00:03:57.879 --> 00:04:01.039 Think it was swatted by an invisible hand. The engines 84 00:04:01.080 --> 00:04:04.039 are roaring at maximum power, the pilots are physically hauling 85 00:04:04.080 --> 00:04:07.080 back on the yokes, but the wings are generating zero lift. 86 00:04:07.159 --> 00:04:10.199 They're being violently tossed left and right, and despite this 87 00:04:10.479 --> 00:04:13.879 desperate white knuckle fight, the aircraft just plows into Highway 88 00:04:13.919 --> 00:04:15.759 one fourteen just north of the airport. 89 00:04:15.919 --> 00:04:19.319 Tragically, it instantly crushes a vehicle on the highway, killing 90 00:04:19.319 --> 00:04:20.959 a driver named William Mayberry. 91 00:04:21.120 --> 00:04:25.000 Yeah, and then the plane bounces, impacts the ground again 92 00:04:25.040 --> 00:04:27.519 at over three hundred and fifty kilometers an hour, and 93 00:04:27.680 --> 00:04:30.720 just tears apart in a catastrophic wall of fire. 94 00:04:30.839 --> 00:04:32.839 Out of one hundred and sixty three people on board, 95 00:04:32.839 --> 00:04:35.920 one hundred and thirty seven lives are lost, but by 96 00:04:35.959 --> 00:04:40.360 some absolute miracle of structural integrity, twenty seven people who 97 00:04:40.399 --> 00:04:43.000 were sitting in the severed tail section actually survive. 98 00:04:43.319 --> 00:04:46.680 It's incredible that anyone survived that. But when the National 99 00:04:46.720 --> 00:04:47.959 Transportation saved, right. 100 00:04:47.839 --> 00:04:51.160 So investigators immediately went out to the wreckage to examine 101 00:04:51.160 --> 00:04:54.120 the static discharge wicks on the trailing edges of the 102 00:04:54.120 --> 00:04:58.439 wings exactly. But they found those wigs completely intact, unburnt, 103 00:04:58.839 --> 00:05:01.199 which instantly ruled up the the whole lightning theory. 104 00:05:01.279 --> 00:05:03.639 Right, there was no exit wound for any kind of 105 00:05:03.680 --> 00:05:07.519 electrical charge. So the investigators naturally pivoted to air. 106 00:05:07.399 --> 00:05:10.319 Speed because air traffic control had just instructed Flight one 107 00:05:10.439 --> 00:05:13.959 ninety one to slow down to maintain spacing behind that 108 00:05:14.040 --> 00:05:14.560 Leer jet. 109 00:05:14.639 --> 00:05:17.920 Yes, so the working theory shifted to pilot error. You know, 110 00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:20.480 did the crew pull the throttles back too far and 111 00:05:20.560 --> 00:05:21.759 to stall this heavy jet. 112 00:05:21.839 --> 00:05:24.439 But they had to pull the magnetic tape from the 113 00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:27.439 flight data recorder the black box to actually answer that. 114 00:05:27.920 --> 00:05:31.720 And when the NTSB painstakingly decoded all those flight parameters, 115 00:05:31.759 --> 00:05:33.560 they found the crew was flying at one hundred and 116 00:05:33.600 --> 00:05:34.639 fifty knots. 117 00:05:34.600 --> 00:05:38.839 Which was a perfectly appropriate speed for that exact landing configuration. 118 00:05:39.079 --> 00:05:41.519 So it wasn't lightning and it wasn't a classic pilot 119 00:05:41.519 --> 00:05:45.600 induced stall. The data tape revealed something that was entirely invisible. 120 00:05:45.720 --> 00:05:48.680 Yeah, I could log this chaotic and crawly rapid shift 121 00:05:48.680 --> 00:05:49.279 in the winds. 122 00:05:49.560 --> 00:05:53.199 First the plane was slammed by a massive headwind, then 123 00:05:53.439 --> 00:05:56.480 just seconds later, an aggressive downdraft physically pushing the plane 124 00:05:56.519 --> 00:05:59.959 toward the ground, and finally a lethal tailwind. 125 00:06:00.519 --> 00:06:05.519 That deadly triad headwind, downdraft, tailwind. That is the undeniable 126 00:06:05.560 --> 00:06:06.959 signature of a microburst. 127 00:06:07.079 --> 00:06:10.399 Okay, so the atmospheric physics here are really crucial. On 128 00:06:10.439 --> 00:06:13.639 a one hundred and one degree day, you have massive 129 00:06:13.680 --> 00:06:16.759 amounts of hot air rising right and it meets the cold, 130 00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:18.959 moist air inside a storm. 131 00:06:18.680 --> 00:06:22.720 Cloud exactly, and that air cools instantly becomes incredibly dense 132 00:06:22.959 --> 00:06:25.079 and just plummets back down toward the Earth. 133 00:06:25.240 --> 00:06:27.519 I'm trying to really visualize the aerodynamics of this for 134 00:06:27.600 --> 00:06:30.240 you guys listening. So the wind is falling straight down 135 00:06:30.279 --> 00:06:32.839 from the cloud. Is it basically like turning a kitchen 136 00:06:32.879 --> 00:06:35.199 faucet on full blast right into a flat sink? 137 00:06:35.240 --> 00:06:36.639 That is the perfect analogy. 138 00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:39.759 So the water hits the bottom and aggressively splashes outward 139 00:06:39.839 --> 00:06:42.160 in a full three hundred and sixty degrees circle. 140 00:06:42.279 --> 00:06:45.639 Yes, when that dense column of cold air hits the ground, 141 00:06:46.040 --> 00:06:48.920 it splashes outward in all directions. So when an aircraft 142 00:06:48.959 --> 00:06:53.000 flies into that sink of air, the sequence of aerodynamic 143 00:06:53.040 --> 00:06:54.160 events is just devastating. 144 00:06:54.199 --> 00:06:56.160 Walk us through what that feels like for the plane. 145 00:06:56.279 --> 00:07:00.000 First, you hit the air that is flowing outward toward you. 146 00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:03.920 Headwind dramatically increases the air rushing over your wings, which 147 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:06.720 artificially spikes your lift and your air speed. 148 00:07:06.879 --> 00:07:11.240 Oh, which perfectly explains the flight data. The plane pitched up, 149 00:07:11.319 --> 00:07:14.800 the speed surged, and the pilots just instinctively pulled back 150 00:07:14.839 --> 00:07:17.319 the engine power because their instruments were screaming that they 151 00:07:17.360 --> 00:07:19.319 were flying way too fast for landing right. 152 00:07:19.600 --> 00:07:22.839 But by reducing power They essentially set a trap for 153 00:07:22.879 --> 00:07:25.839 themselves because seconds later they fly into the center of 154 00:07:25.879 --> 00:07:27.920 the column the actual downdraft. 155 00:07:27.480 --> 00:07:29.600 Which physically forces the aircraft. 156 00:07:29.240 --> 00:07:33.439 Down exactly and then comes the final fatal phase. As 157 00:07:33.439 --> 00:07:37.120 they exit the microburst, that outward flowing air is now 158 00:07:37.160 --> 00:07:39.800 moving from behind them. It becomes a massive. 159 00:07:39.480 --> 00:07:42.360 Tailwind, and a tailwind steals the airflow right off the 160 00:07:42.360 --> 00:07:44.560 top of the wings. You just lose your lift instantly. 161 00:07:44.759 --> 00:07:47.480 And because the pilots had idled the engines just moments 162 00:07:47.480 --> 00:07:51.480 before to fight that initial headwind, they were caught completely 163 00:07:51.480 --> 00:07:52.120 flat footed. 164 00:07:52.279 --> 00:07:55.600 They slammed the throttles forward to escape, but heavy jet 165 00:07:55.639 --> 00:07:59.279 engines they take precious seconds to spool up to full power. 166 00:07:59.399 --> 00:08:01.079 Right, Yeah, they just ran out of time. They were 167 00:08:01.079 --> 00:08:02.079 simply out of altitude. 168 00:08:02.120 --> 00:08:04.959 And the really crazy part is the radar technology back 169 00:08:04.959 --> 00:08:09.519 in nineteen eighty five only detected precipitation heavy rain. It 170 00:08:09.560 --> 00:08:11.079 couldn't detect wind velocity. 171 00:08:11.160 --> 00:08:15.480 No microbursts were practically invisible to air traffic controllers. Furthermore, 172 00:08:15.720 --> 00:08:20.040 this specific microburst materialized directly over the approach path in 173 00:08:20.120 --> 00:08:23.959 a matter of literally minutes. Wow, that leer jet that 174 00:08:24.040 --> 00:08:27.920 landed right before them, It landed safely simply because the 175 00:08:27.959 --> 00:08:30.560 downward column of air hadn't actually hit the ground yet. 176 00:08:30.600 --> 00:08:34.000 The meteorological timing was just unbelievably tragic. But I mean 177 00:08:34.039 --> 00:08:37.799 the ntsp's findings on Delta one ninety one completely rewrote 178 00:08:37.799 --> 00:08:38.399 the rule bo oh. 179 00:08:38.440 --> 00:08:42.399 Absolutely. This crash directly spearheaded the development of terminal Doppler 180 00:08:42.399 --> 00:08:43.679 weather radar at major. 181 00:08:43.480 --> 00:08:46.200 Airports right which uses the Doppler effect to measure the 182 00:08:46.200 --> 00:08:48.679 actual speed and direction of wind particles in the air, 183 00:08:48.799 --> 00:08:49.519 not just the rain. 184 00:08:49.799 --> 00:08:53.240 And it also forced the FAA and NASA to develop 185 00:08:53.399 --> 00:08:56.480 on board forward looking predictive wind shear detectors. 186 00:08:56.679 --> 00:08:59.639 I read that NASA actually modified a Boeing seven thirty 187 00:08:59.639 --> 00:09:04.120 seven and intentionally fluid into severe microbursts just to test 188 00:09:04.159 --> 00:09:05.600 and calibrate those sensors. 189 00:09:05.919 --> 00:09:10.759 They did. It was incredibly hazardous testing, but it succeeded. Today. 190 00:09:11.120 --> 00:09:14.240 If an aircraft detects that specific sequence of winds ahead 191 00:09:14.240 --> 00:09:18.960 of them, the system literally screams wind sheer ahead over 192 00:09:19.000 --> 00:09:20.080 the speakers. 193 00:09:19.840 --> 00:09:22.360 Giving the crew those precious few seconds they need to 194 00:09:22.399 --> 00:09:25.600 power up and climb away before ever entering the downdraft. 195 00:09:25.840 --> 00:09:29.440 It's incredible that technology essentially neutralize the invisible threat of 196 00:09:29.480 --> 00:09:30.919 a microburst. 197 00:09:30.320 --> 00:09:32.879 It really is, But getting a plane safely out of 198 00:09:32.879 --> 00:09:36.000 a volatile sky is really only half the battle, because 199 00:09:36.039 --> 00:09:38.519 stopping two hundred tons of metal on a completely flooded 200 00:09:38.519 --> 00:09:41.639 strip of asphalt is an entirely different physics problem. 201 00:09:41.759 --> 00:09:44.399 It is which takes us perfectly to our next case, 202 00:09:44.799 --> 00:09:48.080 because while radar solve the wind issue, it couldn't solve 203 00:09:48.120 --> 00:09:49.120 the friction on the ground. 204 00:09:49.320 --> 00:09:52.360 Right, So we are moving forward twenty years to August 205 00:09:52.399 --> 00:09:55.080 two thousand and five. We're at Toronto Pierson Airport, and 206 00:09:55.120 --> 00:09:57.679 we are on air Prance Flight three point fifty eight, 207 00:09:57.759 --> 00:10:00.799 which is in Airbus A three forty sane is descending 208 00:10:00.799 --> 00:10:03.759 into what can really only be described as an apocalyptic 209 00:10:03.799 --> 00:10:04.480 summer storm. 210 00:10:04.559 --> 00:10:07.000 Yeah, it is a literal red alert condition. On the ground. 211 00:10:07.279 --> 00:10:09.919 The lightning is so intense and so frequent that the 212 00:10:09.919 --> 00:10:13.840 airport ground crews are legally barred from even being outside. 213 00:10:13.360 --> 00:10:16.960 And conditions are deteriorating by the minute. Flight three five 214 00:10:17.000 --> 00:10:19.399 A has been in a holding pattern, but they are 215 00:10:19.440 --> 00:10:22.639 burning through their fuel reserves, so air traffic control clears 216 00:10:22.679 --> 00:10:25.200 them for an approach on runway two four left. 217 00:10:25.480 --> 00:10:28.919 And the really critical variable here for you to remember 218 00:10:29.519 --> 00:10:32.840 is that runway twenty four left is the shortest runway 219 00:10:32.919 --> 00:10:33.879 at Pierson Airport. 220 00:10:34.039 --> 00:10:35.799 Let's put you back in the cabin for a moment. 221 00:10:36.159 --> 00:10:38.960 You are a passenger on this flight. It is pitch 222 00:10:39.080 --> 00:10:44.440 black outside your window, illuminated only by these relentless, completely 223 00:10:44.519 --> 00:10:46.080 blinding flashes of lightning. 224 00:10:46.159 --> 00:10:47.919 The turbulence is violent, exactly. 225 00:10:48.240 --> 00:10:51.679 The plane finally hits the tarmac, but the speed is terrifying. 226 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:55.440 The aircraft overshoots the entire runway, blasts right through the 227 00:10:55.480 --> 00:10:58.919 airport perimeter fence, and plunges into a fifty foot ravine 228 00:10:59.000 --> 00:11:00.039 right next to Highway. 229 00:10:59.759 --> 00:11:02.399 Four, which is one of the busiest highways in North America. 230 00:11:02.440 --> 00:11:04.600 By the way, right, the left wing breaks apart, fuel 231 00:11:04.600 --> 00:11:08.000 pours out everywhere, and the carecraft catches fire. Passengers actually 232 00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:11.080 reported looking out the windows and seeing this horrifying orange 233 00:11:11.120 --> 00:11:13.480 aura just enveloping the fuselage. 234 00:11:13.519 --> 00:11:16.000 Now, the aviation industry operates on what is known as 235 00:11:16.360 --> 00:11:17.399 the ninety second rule. 236 00:11:17.480 --> 00:11:18.519 What does that mean exactly? 237 00:11:18.759 --> 00:11:22.120 Well, extensive testing proves that during a major aircraft fire, 238 00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:26.679 you have approximately ninety seconds before the cabin experiences a flashover. 239 00:11:26.840 --> 00:11:29.879 A flashover, Yeah, that's the point where the thermal radiation 240 00:11:29.960 --> 00:11:32.960 inside the cabin gets so intense that all the plastics, 241 00:11:33.000 --> 00:11:36.639 the foams, the fabrics, they all spontaneously ignite. It produces 242 00:11:36.679 --> 00:11:40.679 this lethal, incredibly thick, toxic smoke. If you are still 243 00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:44.240 inside when a flashover happens, survival is virtually impossible. 244 00:11:44.320 --> 00:11:48.759 Oh man, So the evacuation is just absolute pandemonium. The 245 00:11:48.799 --> 00:11:51.960 flight attendants are screaming commands over the roar of the fire, 246 00:11:52.559 --> 00:11:52.919 and some. 247 00:11:52.919 --> 00:11:55.679 Of the emergency slides on the left side either failed 248 00:11:55.759 --> 00:11:58.159 to deploy properly or they get punctured by all the 249 00:11:58.200 --> 00:11:59.000 twisted wreckage. 250 00:11:59.320 --> 00:12:02.080 Right all are literally forced to jump from the upper 251 00:12:02.120 --> 00:12:05.000 deck doors directly into the mud below. They are scrambling 252 00:12:05.120 --> 00:12:09.159 up this rainslect muddy hill, just desperate to get away 253 00:12:09.200 --> 00:12:12.519 from the burning fuselage that is exploding right behind them. 254 00:12:12.639 --> 00:12:15.000 But out of all that mud and chaos emerges the 255 00:12:15.039 --> 00:12:18.200 absolute astonishment of this story. All two hundred and ninety 256 00:12:18.200 --> 00:12:19.600 seven people on board survive. 257 00:12:19.879 --> 00:12:22.519 It is a profound testament to the rigorous training of 258 00:12:22.559 --> 00:12:26.120 that cabin crew and the structural design of the cabin itself. 259 00:12:26.720 --> 00:12:29.320 But investigators still had to figure out the mechanics of 260 00:12:29.399 --> 00:12:31.320 why this runway overrun happened. 261 00:12:31.639 --> 00:12:34.799 Right, and Doppler radar data showed that exactly, as flight 262 00:12:34.879 --> 00:12:37.759 three point fifty eight cross the runway threshold, a sudden 263 00:12:37.799 --> 00:12:41.039 wall of water and a massive thirty three not crosswind 264 00:12:41.399 --> 00:12:43.159 swept across the asphalt. 265 00:12:43.320 --> 00:12:46.039 A thirty three not crosswind is extreme. I mean, that 266 00:12:46.159 --> 00:12:49.919 is essentially the absolute maximum structural limit. The airbus A 267 00:12:49.960 --> 00:12:52.720 three forty is even certified to handle on a perfectly 268 00:12:52.840 --> 00:12:55.960 dry runway, let alone one covered in standing water. 269 00:12:56.279 --> 00:12:59.279 But the official investigation revealed a mechanical delay that really 270 00:12:59.360 --> 00:13:00.759 compounded the weather problem. 271 00:13:00.759 --> 00:13:01.519 What kind of delay? 272 00:13:01.679 --> 00:13:05.759 The thrust reversers, those that redirect the engine exhaust forward 273 00:13:06.000 --> 00:13:08.759 to drastically slow the plane down after landing. They were 274 00:13:08.759 --> 00:13:11.799 not activated until seventeen seconds at the wheels actually touched 275 00:13:11.840 --> 00:13:12.159 the ground. 276 00:13:12.559 --> 00:13:16.320 Wow, seventeen seconds at landing speeds. A seventeen second delay, 277 00:13:16.320 --> 00:13:18.759 it means you are chewing up hundreds of meters of 278 00:13:18.840 --> 00:13:21.679 usable runway every single second exactly. 279 00:13:22.120 --> 00:13:25.720 The crosswinds were so incredibly violent that the copilot who 280 00:13:25.759 --> 00:13:28.960 was physically flying the aircraft at that moment was fighting 281 00:13:29.000 --> 00:13:32.639 this brutal battle with the control stick just to keep 282 00:13:32.679 --> 00:13:34.679 the nose pointed down the center. 283 00:13:34.480 --> 00:13:36.399 Line so he couldn't reach the levers. 284 00:13:36.600 --> 00:13:39.679 He was gripping the thrust levers so tightly his arm 285 00:13:39.799 --> 00:13:43.399 was completely rigid with tension. The captain, sitting right next 286 00:13:43.399 --> 00:13:46.200 to him, could not physically pry his hand away to 287 00:13:46.279 --> 00:13:47.360 engage those reversers. 288 00:13:47.399 --> 00:13:48.360 Oh my gosh. 289 00:13:48.519 --> 00:13:51.279 By the time they finally wrestled the reversers open, the 290 00:13:51.360 --> 00:13:53.399 ravine was already rushing right toward them. 291 00:13:53.440 --> 00:13:55.720 Okay, I have to push back here, putting myself in 292 00:13:55.759 --> 00:13:58.440 the captain's seat. You are floating way too far down 293 00:13:58.519 --> 00:14:01.360 the runway. You finally touched down almost halfway down the 294 00:14:01.360 --> 00:14:03.879 shortest strip at the entire airport. Right the winds are 295 00:14:03.919 --> 00:14:07.120 at their absolute maximum limit and the rain is torrential. 296 00:14:07.759 --> 00:14:09.600 They had to know they were running out of space. 297 00:14:10.120 --> 00:14:12.600 Why didn't the captain simply order a go around, which 298 00:14:12.639 --> 00:14:15.679 I just slam the throttles to take off power, pull 299 00:14:15.720 --> 00:14:18.840 the nose up and try again, or just divert to 300 00:14:18.840 --> 00:14:19.519 another airport. 301 00:14:19.600 --> 00:14:21.360 It's a great question, and it speaks to one of 302 00:14:21.360 --> 00:14:24.000 the most studied psychological traps in all of aviation. 303 00:14:24.720 --> 00:14:27.840 Plan continuation bias, plan continuation bias. 304 00:14:27.960 --> 00:14:31.559 Okah, Yeah, Flying a large commercial jet is a complex 305 00:14:31.919 --> 00:14:36.519 joint decision making process. The co pilot is manipulating the controls, sure, 306 00:14:36.960 --> 00:14:40.679 but the captain retains ultimate authority. In those high stress 307 00:14:41.000 --> 00:14:44.720 final seconds of an approach. The mental shift from we 308 00:14:44.759 --> 00:14:48.120 are committing to land to we are aborting this landing 309 00:14:48.440 --> 00:14:50.360 requires a massive cognitive pivot. 310 00:14:50.480 --> 00:14:53.399 Right your brain is just locked into landing mode exactly. 311 00:14:53.679 --> 00:14:57.320 The captain saw his co pilot fighting the aircraft, assumed 312 00:14:57.320 --> 00:14:59.519 they were going to get it safely onto the pavement eventually, 313 00:15:00.039 --> 00:15:03.159 and he just hesitated. And once the wheels are firmly 314 00:15:03.159 --> 00:15:06.840 on the ground and the aircraft is actively decelerating, executing 315 00:15:06.879 --> 00:15:10.200 a go around becomes incredibly dangerous. They were committed to 316 00:15:10.200 --> 00:15:12.120 a runway, they simply no longer had. 317 00:15:12.120 --> 00:15:15.759 That split second hesitation nearly costs three hundred lives. It 318 00:15:15.799 --> 00:15:19.200 perfectly illustrates how truly unforgiving the physical margins are it 319 00:15:19.279 --> 00:15:19.720 really does. 320 00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:22.759 The Air France crash actually forced the industry to look 321 00:15:22.799 --> 00:15:26.519 beyond just pirate decision making and address the physical infrastructure 322 00:15:26.519 --> 00:15:27.559 of the airports. 323 00:15:27.120 --> 00:15:31.200 Themselves, because runway overruns are actually remarkably common, right they are. 324 00:15:31.840 --> 00:15:35.679 The solution was the wider implementation of engineered material arresting 325 00:15:35.720 --> 00:15:37.799 systems or EMASS right ems. 326 00:15:38.039 --> 00:15:42.480 These are those massive beds of crushable artificial stone installed 327 00:15:42.480 --> 00:15:43.919 at the far ends of runways. 328 00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:48.080 Exactly if an aircraft overshoots, the heavy landing gear sinks 329 00:15:48.159 --> 00:15:52.200 deep into this cellular cement, which safely and rapidly decelerates 330 00:15:52.240 --> 00:15:54.559 the plane. It works very much like those runaway truck 331 00:15:54.639 --> 00:15:56.559 ramps you see on steep mountain highways. 332 00:15:56.600 --> 00:15:59.879 But so many international airports, including Toronto at the time, 333 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:03.679 and install emass because well, it is expensive and requires 334 00:16:03.679 --> 00:16:07.080 extra land. It's wild that we rely so heavily on 335 00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:10.799 the pilots executing perfect physical maneuvers against severe weather. When 336 00:16:10.799 --> 00:16:12.039 the pavement runs out, it. 337 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:14.240 All goes back to the human element. I mean, in Toronto, 338 00:16:14.320 --> 00:16:17.960 the CRU's attention was fully consumed by the visible, obvious 339 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:21.799 threat right outside their window. But the terrifying alternative is 340 00:16:21.840 --> 00:16:24.600 when the threat is entirely inside the aircraft and the 341 00:16:24.600 --> 00:16:26.200 storm outside is really just a. 342 00:16:26.159 --> 00:16:28.759 Distraction, which brings us to our final story. We move 343 00:16:28.840 --> 00:16:31.639 to January two thousand and seven, right during the massive 344 00:16:31.639 --> 00:16:35.000 boom of budget airlines in Indonesia. We are looking at 345 00:16:35.120 --> 00:16:39.039 atom Air Flight five seventy four, a Boeing seven thirty 346 00:16:39.039 --> 00:16:42.039 seven carrying one hundred and two people. They are flying 347 00:16:42.080 --> 00:16:45.480 over the open ocean, getting absolutely pummeled by hail, heavy rain, 348 00:16:45.960 --> 00:16:48.360 and one hundred and thirty seven kilometer an hour winds. 349 00:16:48.480 --> 00:16:52.159 The weather outside is atrocious, but inside the cockpit, the 350 00:16:52.200 --> 00:16:57.320 pilots are completely hyperfixiated on a malfunctioning piece of equipment IRS. Right, Yes, 351 00:16:57.440 --> 00:17:00.559 the inertial Reference system. This is essentially the digital brain 352 00:17:00.600 --> 00:17:03.840 that tells the autopilot exactly where the aircraft is in 353 00:17:03.840 --> 00:17:08.240 three dimensional space. The IRS is feeding their instruments contradictory data, 354 00:17:08.559 --> 00:17:11.640 and the pilots realize they are drifting dangerously off course 355 00:17:11.680 --> 00:17:12.519 over the open. 356 00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:15.079 Ocean, so they are lost. They are incredibly stressed by 357 00:17:15.079 --> 00:17:18.000 the violent turbulence, and they are desperately trying to troubleshoot 358 00:17:18.039 --> 00:17:19.240 this computer exactly. 359 00:17:19.480 --> 00:17:22.279 So the captain decides to switch the IRS from navmode 360 00:17:22.279 --> 00:17:25.680 to attitude mode to force the system to reboot and recalibrate. 361 00:17:25.759 --> 00:17:29.079 But making the switch triggers a completely fatal chain of events. 362 00:17:29.359 --> 00:17:31.519 Yeah. When you switch the IRS mode on a Boeing 363 00:17:31.559 --> 00:17:35.240 seven thirty seven mid flight, the manual dictates a strict, 364 00:17:35.359 --> 00:17:39.559 non negotiable procedure. The crew must manually hold the aircraft's 365 00:17:39.559 --> 00:17:43.720 wings perfectly level for exactly thirty seconds while the internal 366 00:17:43.759 --> 00:17:45.920 gyroscopes recalibrate. 367 00:17:45.519 --> 00:17:48.160 Thirty seconds, but they don't hold the wings level. No, 368 00:17:48.480 --> 00:17:52.160 both pilots are entirely engrossed in the glowing, blinking lights 369 00:17:52.200 --> 00:17:54.880 of the faulty computer screen down on the center pedestal 370 00:17:54.920 --> 00:17:59.480 between them. Neither pilot is monitoring the primary flight displays, and. 371 00:17:59.480 --> 00:18:02.839 When they made that switch on the IRS, the autopilot 372 00:18:03.480 --> 00:18:05.599 silently disengaged in the background, which. 373 00:18:05.480 --> 00:18:08.079 Is where the aerodynamics become absolutely lethal. 374 00:18:08.200 --> 00:18:12.480 Because no aircraft is perfectly physically symmetrical. You have microscopic 375 00:18:12.559 --> 00:18:15.880 variations in the aero dynamic rigging slight differences in fuel 376 00:18:15.920 --> 00:18:18.160 burned between the left and right wing tanks. So if 377 00:18:18.200 --> 00:18:20.400 you take your hands off the controls and the autopilot 378 00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:22.960 is off, the plane just won't fly straight forever. 379 00:18:23.200 --> 00:18:26.079 Flight five seventy four actually had a natural tendency to 380 00:18:26.119 --> 00:18:29.960 slowly roll to the right. We're talking incredibly slowly, about 381 00:18:30.119 --> 00:18:32.559 one degree per second. Let's bring this back to something 382 00:18:32.599 --> 00:18:36.119 you've probably felt. Have you ever sat on a stationary 383 00:18:36.200 --> 00:18:39.160 train at a station and the train right next to 384 00:18:39.200 --> 00:18:43.559 you slowly pulls away and your brain is completely convinced 385 00:18:43.599 --> 00:18:45.160 that you are the one moving backwards. 386 00:18:45.200 --> 00:18:47.920 Oh, absolutely, Your inner ear and your eyes are completely 387 00:18:47.960 --> 00:18:49.519 fighting each other exactly. 388 00:18:50.200 --> 00:18:54.039 Now, imagine that severe sensory conflict while flying at eight 389 00:18:54.119 --> 00:18:57.960 hundred kilometers an hour, trapped in a violent storm, surrounded 390 00:18:57.960 --> 00:19:02.240 by thick clouds. They have little early's zero visual horizon 391 00:19:02.319 --> 00:19:04.480 outside to anchor their senses. 392 00:19:05.400 --> 00:19:09.279 That is the textbook definition of spatial disorientation. When your 393 00:19:09.319 --> 00:19:11.720 inner ear doesn't have a visual reference to match the 394 00:19:11.720 --> 00:19:15.559 physical g forces acting on your body, your brain outright 395 00:19:15.599 --> 00:19:16.119 lies to you. 396 00:19:16.359 --> 00:19:16.720 Wow. 397 00:19:16.759 --> 00:19:19.640 Because the role was so incredibly gradual, the fluid in 398 00:19:19.640 --> 00:19:22.440 their inner ears settled. The pilots literally felt like they 399 00:19:22.480 --> 00:19:24.720 were flying perfectly straight and level, but the seven P 400 00:19:24.839 --> 00:19:28.000 thirty seven was silently tipping further and further onto its side. 401 00:19:28.119 --> 00:19:30.839