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00:00:02,292 --> 00:00:06,379
(alarm sounding)
(narrator): China Airlines
Flight 676 falls out of the sky,

2
00:00:06,506 --> 00:00:09,759
crashing into a residential
neighbourhood in Taipei.

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00:00:11,051 --> 00:00:12,428
- It was a horrific crash.

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00:00:12,594 --> 00:00:15,556
Pieces of the wreckage fell
onto houses.

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00:00:16,390 --> 00:00:18,643
(narrator):
More than 200 people are dead,

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00:00:18,810 --> 00:00:22,938
making this the worst aviation
disaster in Taiwan's history.

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00:00:25,149 --> 00:00:28,527
- Okay, let's get to work.
I want photos of everything.

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00:00:29,445 --> 00:00:30,822
(narrator):
Amid the devastation,

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00:00:30,987 --> 00:00:34,115
recovery teams locate
the crucial flight recorders.

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00:00:34,991 --> 00:00:37,453
- Hopefully the NTSB can extract
some useful data from them.

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00:00:37,619 --> 00:00:42,792
(narrator): Crash experts
from around the world
assist in the investigation.

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00:00:43,625 --> 00:00:45,753
- I've got something for you.
- We're on it.

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00:00:45,878 --> 00:00:47,713
(narrator): But 11 seconds
of the flight

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00:00:47,838 --> 00:00:50,298
are almost impossible
to explain.

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00:00:50,466 --> 00:00:52,467
- What the heck happened here?

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- And 11 seconds
is like an eternity.

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That verges on unbelievable.

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- Mayday, Mayday!

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00:01:03,812 --> 00:01:05,523
- It's going up!

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00:01:06,565 --> 00:01:08,776
(indistinct radio chatter)

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- At least
the weather's improved.

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- For now.

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(narrator): China Airlines
Flight 676 is cruising
over the South China Sea

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as it nears Taipei City, Taiwan.

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- The flight is scheduled
to land at Taipei's
Chiang Kai-shek Airport,

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the primary gateway to Taiwan,

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and it's the busiest airport
on the island.

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(narrator): This evening,
Captain Long-Lin Kang
is at the controls.

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An Air Force veteran,
he's clocked over 2,000 hours
on the Airbus A-300.

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This flight is special.

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- I hope you're enjoying
the flight tonight.
Can I give you some water?

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(narrator): His wife
and children are on board,

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00:02:14,425 --> 00:02:16,677
returning from a holiday
in Bali.

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- It's a special moment
for the family.

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There is no one that you would
have rather fly them
than yourself,

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ensuring of their safety.

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(narrator): Tonight's flight
left Bali at 3:27 p.m.

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and is scheduled to touch down
in Taipei just after 8:00.

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- I'll talk to the cabin?
We're seven minutes
from descent.

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(narrator): Tonight,
Kang is paired with a rookie.

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- Okay, thanks.

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(narrator):
He has far more experience
on the A-300

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than his first officer,
Der-Sheng Jiang.

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- The first officer's job
is help pilot flying to handle
all the non-essential job,

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or non-essential duty,

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so the pilot flying
can concentrate
on flying the aircraft.

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00:03:05,475 --> 00:03:09,313
- Yes, hello?
- Hi. We're about seven minutes
until we start descent.

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00:03:09,480 --> 00:03:11,523
(narrator): The descent
is the busiest,

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most critical phase
of any flight.

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- Weather is 16° and cloudy.

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00:03:16,903 --> 00:03:19,991
We won't need any wheelchairs
tonight, right?

52
00:03:20,157 --> 00:03:21,825
- No, not tonight.

53
00:03:27,623 --> 00:03:30,125
- Look at the ECAM,
the trim tank.

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(narrator): The captain notices
an error message
concerning the trim tank.

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The trim-tank system moves fuel
between tanks in the wings
and tail,

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keeping the plane balanced
and fuel-efficient.

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- Let's see what we can do.

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- The... auto trim, um...

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00:03:57,694 --> 00:03:59,988
It seems like we don't need
to do anything.

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- Yeah, we do.
See the Trim Tank System Fault?

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00:04:04,117 --> 00:04:07,163
(narrator): The captain
guides the first officer
through the issue.

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00:04:07,329 --> 00:04:09,915
- Trim Tank System Fault?

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- Trim-tank system in flight
if no forward transfer.

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Not our case.

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(narrator):
It's not a critical problem.

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- Okay, clear.

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So you see, that's it.
That's the Trim Tank System
Fault procedure.

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- It's just a minor hiccup,

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and it's easy
to clear the message.

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(narrator): The plane is now
25 minutes from the airport.

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- Descent.

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(narrator): The captain prompts
the first officer to check in
with controllers.

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- Okay.

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00:05:02,259 --> 00:05:04,636
Control, Dynasty 676...

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00:05:04,761 --> 00:05:06,679
requesting descent.

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00:05:08,098 --> 00:05:09,475
- Dynasty 676,

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descend and maintain
flight level 250.

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(narrator): The tower issues
a new altitude of 25,000 feet.

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- Descending
to flight level 250,

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heading 360.

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On our way.

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- Check the gate.

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(narrator):
The crew also needs to confirm

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their gate information
with airline operations
on the ground.

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00:05:39,922 --> 00:05:43,050
- Operations, Dynasty 676.

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00:05:44,634 --> 00:05:46,929
- Disregard. Dynasty 676.

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(narrator): The first officer
makes a careless mistake.

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- This side.

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- Unfortunately, the FO made
the request on the ATC channel,

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so not the correct frequency
of the company radios.

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It's quite embarrassing,

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because basically,
you call the operation
with your call sign,

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so every pilot in that areas
know he made a mistake.

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(narrator): The plane is now
45 miles from the airport.

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And the weather
is getting worse.

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- Did you see that?
The lightning's pretty strong.

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The power of that lightning.

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- Lightning does not pose
a direct physical threat
to the aircraft,

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but it usually comes
with severe thunderstorms,
strong winds.

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That's not the kind
of conditions that you want
to land at the airport.

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(narrator): The captain wants
to get his plane on the ground
before the storm worsens.

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- Flaps: 20.
(narrator): Three miles
from the airport,

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the pilots extend the flaps
as they reduce speed.

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- Flaps: 20.

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(narrator): Below them,

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the busy streets
of Taipei's sprawling suburbs
are shrouded in fog and mist.

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- Visibility is always a concern
for pilots,
especially when landing.

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If you can't see the runway,
you pose a danger to the safety
of the aircraft.

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You could either miss
the runway altogether,

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or, even worse,
a controlled flight
into terrain.

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- God, that tailwind's
really strong.

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(narrator): The captain
pitches the nose down
for the descent.

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- Landing lights.

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- On.

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(narrator): They're just moments
from landing...

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- Landing Checklist complete.

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- ...but the captain
doesn't like the approach.

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- GO lever. Go-around.

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(narrator): Just 1,300 feet
from the ground,

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the captain aborts
the landing attempt.

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00:08:03,982 --> 00:08:06,901
- Pilots can go around
for any reasons, like a...

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non-stable approach,

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or runway is blocked,

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or by ATCs,

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or pilot not satisfied
for the approach.

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And we have go-arounds
in the airports,

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maybe one go-around per days.

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It's quite common operations.

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(narrator): But this go-around
is going tragically wrong.

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(passengers crying out)

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- Dynasty 676,
confirm go-around?

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(alarm sounding)

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(narrator):
An alarm warns the crew
that the plane is losing lift.

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- With no lift...

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...airplane nose will drop,

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and then airplane will dive.

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And then
you get in trouble fast.
- No!

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(whooping)
(TAWS): Sinking, sinking.

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Don't sink.

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(passengers screaming)
- The aircraft
is out of control,

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it's veering left of the runway,

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and falling towards a densely
populated residential area.

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- Dynasty 676, Taipei.
What is your status?

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(passengers screaming)
- Brace, brace, brace!

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(pilots groaning)
(alarm sounding)
(TAWS): Terrain. Pull up.

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- All vehicles, an A-300
has just crashed on the roadway
north of 05 Left.

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(sirens wailing)

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00:09:52,341 --> 00:09:55,219
(narrator): The burning remains
of China Airlines Flight 676

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are scattered along a busy road
near Chiang Kai-shek Airport.

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00:10:03,560 --> 00:10:05,354
- It was a horrific crash.

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00:10:05,520 --> 00:10:07,940
There was a severe fire
from the jet fuel,

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and it took
more than 60 firefighters

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from across the city
to put out the fire.

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(narrator):
How could a modern jetliner
performing a go-around

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fall out of the sky

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and crash into a residential
neighbourhood?

157
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- Any survivors?

158
00:10:48,938 --> 00:10:52,234
(narrator): All 182 passengers
and 14 crew

159
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on board China Airlines
Flight 676 are dead,

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including the captain's family.

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00:11:02,286 --> 00:11:04,996
Six more people have been killed
on the ground.

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- It fell into a residential
neighbourhood.

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Pieces of the wreckage fell
onto houses, into cars.

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(narrator): It's Taiwan's
worst air disaster.

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- It was a very devastating
incident; you know,

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with many innocent lives lost
in an instant.

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(narrator): It's also
China Airlines' second crash
in less than five years.

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00:11:36,486 --> 00:11:40,698
In 1994, Flight 140 crashed
in Nagoya, Japan,

169
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killing 264 of the 271 on board.

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00:11:45,745 --> 00:11:48,499
That aircraft was also an A-300.

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00:11:51,835 --> 00:11:54,671
- The Taiwanese people
are very concerned
and frightened,

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because they want to make sure
that the government would ensure

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that the airline
is safe to travel.

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00:12:00,677 --> 00:12:03,263
(narrator): Desperate to allay
the public's fears,

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00:12:03,388 --> 00:12:07,935
the government grounds
the airline's entire fleet
of A-300s

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00:12:08,060 --> 00:12:10,102
until the planes can be checked
for faults.

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00:12:10,229 --> 00:12:14,316
The decision throws Taiwan's
air travel into chaos.

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00:12:17,193 --> 00:12:20,404
- Taiwan is an island,
so air transport
is incredibly important.

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And with the aircraft grounded,
a lot of flights were cancelled,

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00:12:24,116 --> 00:12:27,037
and many people's travel plans
were out the window.

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00:12:30,081 --> 00:12:32,960
(narrator): The Taiwanese
Civil Aeronautics Administration

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00:12:33,085 --> 00:12:36,129
will lead
the high-profile investigation.

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00:12:36,254 --> 00:12:39,341
The pressure to find answers
is intense.

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00:12:41,051 --> 00:12:43,010
- Okay, let's get to work.

185
00:12:46,097 --> 00:12:48,225
I want photos of everything.

186
00:12:48,392 --> 00:12:51,519
- We all want to know
what happened quickly
and get this solved.

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00:12:51,687 --> 00:12:53,230
By the same token,

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you don't want to leave
something unfound
because you rushed through it.

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00:12:56,774 --> 00:12:59,360
And so even though there may be
pressure from the government,

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00:12:59,528 --> 00:13:03,115
you have to push back,
say, "We'll do this as fast
as we can."

191
00:13:04,825 --> 00:13:06,534
(narrator):
Amid the devastation,

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00:13:06,701 --> 00:13:10,621
investigators focus first
on recovering as much
of the plane as they can.

193
00:13:10,746 --> 00:13:14,167
- Some pieces
may not be important,
but the first thing is to...

194
00:13:14,292 --> 00:13:16,168
do you have all the parts
of the airplane?

195
00:13:16,294 --> 00:13:19,172
Do you have the wing tips,
the tail tips, the nose?

196
00:13:19,297 --> 00:13:22,717
But when you have buildings
and cars and everything else,

197
00:13:22,842 --> 00:13:24,845
it becomes a lot more difficult.

198
00:13:25,595 --> 00:13:29,140
(narrator):
They also plot the position
of every piece of debris.

199
00:13:29,765 --> 00:13:35,313
Soon, a pattern emerges
that paints a vivid picture
of the way the plane came down.

200
00:13:35,438 --> 00:13:39,234
- Whatever went wrong,
it caused them to come in steep
and flat.

201
00:13:42,946 --> 00:13:44,697
They pancaked.

202
00:13:44,822 --> 00:13:49,577
- Looking just at the impact,
it gives the initial indication
that this airplane,

203
00:13:49,702 --> 00:13:52,456
although it was coming down
vertically very quickly,

204
00:13:52,623 --> 00:13:55,082
it didn't have a lot
of forward velocity to it.

205
00:13:55,249 --> 00:13:59,587
And also the pitch attitude
of the airplane wasn't severely
pitched down or pitched up.

206
00:13:59,754 --> 00:14:04,301
It was a kind of more
of a flat impact,
which is a little bit unusual.

207
00:14:05,509 --> 00:14:09,639
(narrator):
The high-velocity impact
destroyed most of the plane,

208
00:14:09,806 --> 00:14:12,017
but both engines survived.

209
00:14:12,142 --> 00:14:14,769
- I see
a distinct damage pattern.

210
00:14:15,312 --> 00:14:17,105
- If the engines are running
at impact,

211
00:14:17,272 --> 00:14:21,067
basically you'll bend
or shear off the fan blades

212
00:14:21,192 --> 00:14:23,611
opposite to the direction
of rotation.

213
00:14:23,736 --> 00:14:27,783
Also,
you'll see where they ingest
a fair amount of debris,

214
00:14:27,950 --> 00:14:30,494
usually vegetation,
at the same time.

215
00:14:32,995 --> 00:14:35,331
- Engines were running
when they hit.

216
00:14:36,207 --> 00:14:38,793
Hard to know for sure
if they were working properly.

217
00:14:39,503 --> 00:14:45,174
- So there are numerous
mechanical hints
that investigators can get

218
00:14:45,341 --> 00:14:47,469
to determine if there's power
on the engine.

219
00:14:47,594 --> 00:14:49,845
How much power?
Well, that's a bit different.

220
00:14:50,013 --> 00:14:55,976
Then you need to turn
to flight recorders or some sort
of recorded data to get at that.

221
00:14:56,894 --> 00:15:00,315
(narrator):
Investigators also recover
the jackscrew mechanism

222
00:15:00,440 --> 00:15:02,484
used to operate the flaps.

223
00:15:04,528 --> 00:15:08,490
- If a pilot chooses
the wrong flap settings,
there can be two dangers.

224
00:15:08,657 --> 00:15:13,286
One is you select flaps
at too high of a speed,

225
00:15:13,412 --> 00:15:15,663
and that can
structurally damage the flaps.

226
00:15:15,831 --> 00:15:19,667
The other danger is that
you could be at a low speed,
retract flaps;

227
00:15:19,835 --> 00:15:21,628
now you don't have enough lift,

228
00:15:21,753 --> 00:15:25,340
and the airplane is gonna start
coming out of the air.

229
00:15:25,882 --> 00:15:27,676
- The nut's almost at the stop.

230
00:15:28,467 --> 00:15:31,345
So the flaps
were partially extended at 20.

231
00:15:31,930 --> 00:15:33,389
- Flaps: 20.

232
00:15:33,557 --> 00:15:35,725
(narrator): There's no sign
of structural failure,

233
00:15:35,892 --> 00:15:38,602
and the flaps
were in the correct position.

234
00:15:38,729 --> 00:15:42,481
- Early on in the investigation,
the process is fairly simple.

235
00:15:42,606 --> 00:15:45,317
It's a shotgun approach.
We're looking at everything.

236
00:15:45,735 --> 00:15:50,407
(narrator): There's one theory
in particular that investigators
want to explore.

237
00:15:52,576 --> 00:15:55,077
- Maybe the weather
had something to do with this.

238
00:15:56,288 --> 00:15:59,541
- We know from the weather
forecast that the weather
was gonna get worse.

239
00:16:00,124 --> 00:16:02,918
There was fog moving in,
there was lightning.

240
00:16:03,503 --> 00:16:07,215
And so you start looking
at all those factors.
(thunder)

241
00:16:07,841 --> 00:16:09,551
- The power of that lightning.

242
00:16:10,509 --> 00:16:13,555
(narrator): Investigators turn
coller

243
00:16:13,721 --> 00:16:15,514
for more insight
into the weather

244
00:16:15,639 --> 00:16:20,937
around Chiang Kai-shek Airport
at the time
China Airlines 676 crashed.

245
00:16:21,395 --> 00:16:23,315
- So what kind of winds
are we looking at?

246
00:16:23,440 --> 00:16:26,025
(narrator):
Did a dangerous condition
called "windshear"

247
00:16:26,150 --> 00:16:28,070
bring the plane down?

248
00:16:30,196 --> 00:16:32,490
- God, that tailwind's
really strong.

249
00:16:32,990 --> 00:16:35,201
(narrator): Windshear is caused
by powerful winds

250
00:16:35,326 --> 00:16:38,663
that can form
close to the runway
during thunderstorms,

251
00:16:38,788 --> 00:16:40,916
creating forces so powerful,

252
00:16:41,081 --> 00:16:43,585
they can slam a plane
into the ground.

253
00:16:49,215 --> 00:16:52,469
- Visibility was above minimum,
no windshear.

254
00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:55,262
The weather was fine.

255
00:16:55,387 --> 00:16:58,391
(narrator): The weather theory
is quickly ruled out.

256
00:16:59,558 --> 00:17:02,186
- We knew there was lightning
approaching the airport.

257
00:17:02,311 --> 00:17:04,772
Uh, the winds, however,
were fairly light.

258
00:17:04,940 --> 00:17:07,567
No severe turbulence
and no severe downdraft.

259
00:17:07,692 --> 00:17:11,695
We didn't see any weather
out there that, by itself,

260
00:17:11,822 --> 00:17:15,241
should cause this airplane
to be pushed out of the sky.

261
00:17:16,242 --> 00:17:18,120
- Take a look at this.

262
00:17:18,245 --> 00:17:20,163
(narrator): But controllers
did notice something

263
00:17:20,329 --> 00:17:22,499
which is troubling
about the flight.

264
00:17:24,500 --> 00:17:25,961
- Interesting.

265
00:17:26,502 --> 00:17:29,213
(narrator):
Airliners usually descend
to the runway

266
00:17:29,338 --> 00:17:31,883
at a gradual three-degree angle.

267
00:17:32,342 --> 00:17:36,680
But Flight 676 had
a much faster, steeper descent.

268
00:17:37,847 --> 00:17:41,768
- You're right.
They were way too high
on approach all the way in.

269
00:17:43,310 --> 00:17:45,855
- At a point
that's about five miles
from the runway,

270
00:17:46,021 --> 00:17:50,652
the airplane is 1,000 feet
higher than it should be
for that position.

271
00:17:51,153 --> 00:17:53,779
And so they've got a problem.

272
00:17:56,156 --> 00:17:57,867
- GO lever. Go-around.

273
00:17:58,701 --> 00:18:02,329
(narrator): The finding explains
why the captain called
for a go-around.

274
00:18:02,955 --> 00:18:06,084
But it still doesn't explain
what caused the crash.

275
00:18:06,793 --> 00:18:09,921
- A go-around, in and of itself,
is not a cause for concern.

276
00:18:11,047 --> 00:18:15,343
(narrator): At the crash site,
the painstaking search
of the debris pays off.

277
00:18:15,509 --> 00:18:19,681
Investigators find both of
the black-box flight recorders.

278
00:18:20,723 --> 00:18:22,308
- Great job.

279
00:18:22,976 --> 00:18:24,685
- The flight-data recorders
are essential

280
00:18:24,810 --> 00:18:28,480
for finding those little bits
of information
that you can't see

281
00:18:28,606 --> 00:18:30,400
in the wreckage itself.

282
00:18:31,067 --> 00:18:32,484
It gives us a lot more data

283
00:18:32,611 --> 00:18:37,531
to now put into our little
basket of information.

284
00:18:38,450 --> 00:18:40,868
(narrator): Investigators
get more critical information

285
00:18:41,036 --> 00:18:43,663
with the discovery
of the plane's FADECs,

286
00:18:43,788 --> 00:18:47,334
or Full Authority
Digital Engine Controllers.

287
00:18:48,125 --> 00:18:50,753
- The FADEC is just like
a flight-data recorder,

288
00:18:50,921 --> 00:18:54,758
except it's specific
only to the engine operation,

289
00:18:54,924 --> 00:18:59,054
or if there were any engine
anomalies that were occurring
during the flight.

290
00:19:00,012 --> 00:19:02,973
- Hopefully,
the NTSB can extract
some useful data from them.

291
00:19:03,098 --> 00:19:07,729
(narrator): Recovering the data
from the U.S.-made controllers
requires special expertise,

292
00:19:07,854 --> 00:19:11,066
so investigators ask
the National Transportation
Safety Board

293
00:19:11,231 --> 00:19:13,233
to oversee the download.

294
00:19:13,401 --> 00:19:15,862
- They were slightly damaged,
but they weren't burned.

295
00:19:15,987 --> 00:19:18,656
And that gave investigators
hope.

296
00:19:19,115 --> 00:19:23,536
(narrator): While the FADECs
are transported to Connecticut
in the United States...

297
00:19:26,873 --> 00:19:28,499
- Welcome to Canberra.

298
00:19:29,041 --> 00:19:32,753
- ...the flight recorders
are sent to the Bureau
of Air Safety Investigation,

299
00:19:32,921 --> 00:19:35,673
or BASI,
in Canberra, Australia.

300
00:19:36,383 --> 00:19:42,180
- Well, we've had expertise
and facilities for the replay
and analysis of flight recorders

301
00:19:42,305 --> 00:19:44,723
going back to the 1970s.

302
00:19:46,851 --> 00:19:48,853
Let's find you some answers.

303
00:19:48,979 --> 00:19:54,108
We've had close links
in the Asia-Pacific region
for many decades.

304
00:19:54,233 --> 00:19:59,197
So it's natural
that our expertise would be made
available to the Taiwanese.

305
00:20:00,656 --> 00:20:02,826
- In these international
accident investigations,

306
00:20:02,992 --> 00:20:05,787
each country brings
a different area of expertise.

307
00:20:05,912 --> 00:20:10,290
And the purpose behind this
is global aviation safety,
because...

308
00:20:10,416 --> 00:20:12,126
if an accident happened
in one place,

309
00:20:12,294 --> 00:20:14,586
it could've happened easily
in your own country.

310
00:20:15,547 --> 00:20:17,257
(narrator): In Connecticut...

311
00:20:18,424 --> 00:20:24,306
- Hold it there.
- ...NTSB Systems Analyst
Jeff Guzzetti begins recovering

312
00:20:24,471 --> 00:20:27,976
the data from the FADECs
of Flight 676,

313
00:20:28,101 --> 00:20:30,353
with help
from the manufacturer.

314
00:20:31,770 --> 00:20:35,482
- The manufacturer
is very much needed.
It's their laboratory.

315
00:20:35,650 --> 00:20:39,570
However,
the procedure is dictated
by the investigators.

316
00:20:39,695 --> 00:20:42,156
That box was not opened
until investigators,

317
00:20:42,324 --> 00:20:45,993
like myself, showed up and,
in front of everybody,

318
00:20:46,118 --> 00:20:48,747
we unlocked, unsealed the boxes,

319
00:20:48,872 --> 00:20:52,584
and began to extract
the components that we needed.

320
00:20:55,920 --> 00:20:58,589
(sighing)
Well, here goes nothing.

321
00:21:01,718 --> 00:21:04,845
(narrator): There's no guarantee
that the data survived.

322
00:21:06,431 --> 00:21:08,641
- These chips were not designed
to be crash-worthy.

323
00:21:08,767 --> 00:21:13,313
They were designed
so that an airline can download
information from the FADEC

324
00:21:13,438 --> 00:21:16,649
and conduct maintenance
on the engines as needed.

325
00:21:19,193 --> 00:21:21,863
(narrator): Today...
they get lucky.

326
00:21:22,029 --> 00:21:28,036
- So I was very relieved to see
that the memory did survive
on the chips of the FADEC.

327
00:21:28,202 --> 00:21:30,329
So now we had something
to work with.

328
00:21:35,543 --> 00:21:37,545
Okay, let's see what we've got.

329
00:21:37,670 --> 00:21:40,507
(narrator): Were the engines
functioning properly?

330
00:21:41,090 --> 00:21:45,804
- The FADEC memory
will not only point out
the anomaly of an engine,

331
00:21:45,929 --> 00:21:48,597
but exactly when it happened
and at what altitude.

332
00:21:48,765 --> 00:21:51,433
And that data is crucial
for investigators.

333
00:21:52,935 --> 00:21:55,730
(narrator): The data confirms
the investigators' observation

334
00:21:55,855 --> 00:21:59,317
that the engines were working
when the plane hit the ground.

335
00:22:00,109 --> 00:22:04,279
But something inexplicable
happened 20 seconds before that.

336
00:22:10,662 --> 00:22:12,579
- What the heck happened here?

337
00:22:14,124 --> 00:22:17,919
Engines were operating normally
during the entire
accident flight,

338
00:22:18,086 --> 00:22:21,131
except during a certain portion
of the go-around,

339
00:22:21,297 --> 00:22:24,467
in which both engines surged
at the same time,

340
00:22:24,634 --> 00:22:26,553
which is anomalous,
shouldn't happen.

341
00:22:27,303 --> 00:22:30,973
(narrator): Aircraft engines
ingest huge quantities of air

342
00:22:31,141 --> 00:22:34,727
and use it to spin a turbine
to create thrust.

343
00:22:35,310 --> 00:22:36,938
If that air is disrupted,

344
00:22:37,105 --> 00:22:41,984
the engine can't produce
enough thrust and will backfire
or surge.

345
00:22:42,152 --> 00:22:47,656
- It's kind of like, uh,
walking into a room
that suddenly has no air...

346
00:22:47,824 --> 00:22:51,076
(panting)
...and you're gasping
and you're surging.

347
00:22:55,123 --> 00:22:56,790
(phone ringing)

348
00:22:58,668 --> 00:23:01,421
- Campbell.
- I've got something for you.

349
00:23:02,087 --> 00:23:05,967
(narrator): The NTSB updates
the Australians
about their findings.

350
00:23:07,050 --> 00:23:08,635
- Engine surge?

351
00:23:09,304 --> 00:23:11,471
Okay, we're on it.

352
00:23:13,432 --> 00:23:15,977
(narrator):
But what caused the surge?

353
00:23:17,936 --> 00:23:21,524
- It could be ingesting birds
into the engine.

354
00:23:21,691 --> 00:23:24,277
It could be a...
a mechanical malfunction

355
00:23:24,402 --> 00:23:28,740
that's allowing too much fuel
or too little air
into the engine.

356
00:23:28,865 --> 00:23:30,700
We just didn't know.

357
00:23:34,953 --> 00:23:36,498
- Let's take a look.

358
00:23:36,623 --> 00:23:39,334
(narrator):
At the Australian Bureau
of Air Safety Investigation,

359
00:23:39,499 --> 00:23:42,420
Neil Campbell reviews
a simulation

360
00:23:42,545 --> 00:23:45,507
of the final seconds
of Flight 676

361
00:23:45,672 --> 00:23:49,469
based on
the information captured
by the flight-data recorder.

362
00:23:51,136 --> 00:23:53,181
- In this case,
the flight-data recorder

363
00:23:53,347 --> 00:23:55,933
recorded 115 separate
parameters.

364
00:23:56,058 --> 00:24:01,021
It tells us things
about the aircraft performance,
its configuration,

365
00:24:01,189 --> 00:24:05,567
whether the flaps
are up or down,
the landing gear's up or down.

366
00:24:05,734 --> 00:24:09,113
It tells us
what the crew inputs were, uh...

367
00:24:09,239 --> 00:24:11,449
the aircraft responses
to those inputs,

368
00:24:11,574 --> 00:24:15,577
and also the status
of various aircraft systems.

369
00:24:16,037 --> 00:24:17,747
- Nearly at the airport.

370
00:24:18,498 --> 00:24:21,166
(narrator): Campbell scrutinizes
the data carefully,

371
00:24:21,291 --> 00:24:23,461
looking for anything
that might explain

372
00:24:23,586 --> 00:24:27,965
why the engines
of a modern A-300 surged
and lost thrust.

373
00:24:33,304 --> 00:24:35,222
- Here comes the go-around.

374
00:24:36,473 --> 00:24:38,393
- GO lever. Go-around.

375
00:24:44,524 --> 00:24:47,567
- Hold on. What have we here?

376
00:24:47,693 --> 00:24:50,572
(narrator): Fifteen seconds
after the go-around begins,

377
00:24:50,697 --> 00:24:54,241
investigators notice
something surprising.

378
00:24:54,576 --> 00:24:55,826
- Stop.

379
00:24:56,827 --> 00:25:02,416
We saw the aircraft pitched up
to a pitch attitude
of over 40 degrees.

380
00:25:02,874 --> 00:25:05,670
This is a very large value,
very unusual.

381
00:25:05,795 --> 00:25:10,799
Normally during a go-around,
we'd expect to see
15 degrees pitch attitude.

382
00:25:10,967 --> 00:25:13,094
No wonder the engines surged.

383
00:25:13,803 --> 00:25:17,097
(narrator): With the nose
of the plane pitched up
so steeply,

384
00:25:17,265 --> 00:25:21,685
air can't flow through
the engine to create thrust.
(rattling)

385
00:25:21,810 --> 00:25:23,813
- The airplane
was at a very high attitude.

386
00:25:23,980 --> 00:25:28,608
This prevented the engine
from taking in smooth,
continuous airflow.

387
00:25:28,776 --> 00:25:30,028
Oh, no.

388
00:25:30,153 --> 00:25:33,823
(narrator): The steep angle has
another disastrous consequence.

389
00:25:34,490 --> 00:25:37,326
If an aircraft pitches up
too steeply,

390
00:25:37,492 --> 00:25:39,328
it disrupts airflow
over the wings,

391
00:25:39,495 --> 00:25:41,663
preventing them
from providing lift.

392
00:25:42,457 --> 00:25:45,460
- Pitched up so high,
they stalled the plane.

393
00:25:49,338 --> 00:25:53,217
- And when an airliner
turns straight up
at such a high angle,

394
00:25:53,343 --> 00:25:55,761
the airspeed bleeds off
significantly,

395
00:25:55,886 --> 00:25:59,097
and gets you closer
to an aerodynamic stall.
(alarm sounding)

396
00:25:59,222 --> 00:26:02,893
(narrator): With the loss
of airflow into the engines
and lift from the wings,

397
00:26:03,018 --> 00:26:07,022
Flight 676 begins to drop
from the sky.

398
00:26:08,149 --> 00:26:11,861
- You're not flying,
you're almost becoming
a falling object at that point.

399
00:26:12,028 --> 00:26:13,695
- Let's see that again?

400
00:26:21,245 --> 00:26:23,122
He's trying
to get the nose down.

401
00:26:23,247 --> 00:26:27,835
(narrator): The data shows
the captain did what he could
to regain control.

402
00:26:29,002 --> 00:26:32,297
- The pilots were trying
to get the nose down
and get the speed back up,

403
00:26:32,422 --> 00:26:34,592
get airflow
over the wings again.

404
00:26:34,925 --> 00:26:39,681
This'll take time in a situation
where seconds are a big deal.

405
00:26:39,806 --> 00:26:41,848
(narrator): But it's too late.

406
00:26:50,566 --> 00:26:52,442
- They ran out of time.

407
00:26:57,323 --> 00:26:59,909
Unfortunately,
the altitude was too low,

408
00:27:00,076 --> 00:27:03,453
and they were not able
to recover the aircraft in time.

409
00:27:03,578 --> 00:27:06,039
If they'd had
another few thousand feet,

410
00:27:06,164 --> 00:27:07,874
there's a good possibility

411
00:27:08,041 --> 00:27:11,086
that the crew would've been able
to recover the aircraft
successfully.

412
00:27:12,587 --> 00:27:14,840
(narrator):
It's a tragic discovery.

413
00:27:14,965 --> 00:27:19,636
But why did Flight 676 pitch up
so steeply in the first place?

414
00:27:20,137 --> 00:27:23,807
Campbell combs through data
from earlier in the flight.

415
00:27:23,932 --> 00:27:26,143
- Throughout the investigative
process,

416
00:27:26,268 --> 00:27:28,770
everything gets looked at
and relooked at.

417
00:27:30,440 --> 00:27:32,150
- Look at this.

418
00:27:33,317 --> 00:27:34,736
That's weird.

419
00:27:35,278 --> 00:27:39,115
(narrator): Something strange
took place on board Flight 676

420
00:27:39,281 --> 00:27:41,576
just seconds before the stall.

421
00:27:41,741 --> 00:27:43,035
(rattling)

422
00:27:45,413 --> 00:27:47,832
- Bring up pitch and elevator,
please.

423
00:27:52,295 --> 00:27:57,090
You can see the pilots making
control inputs here... and here.

424
00:28:00,219 --> 00:28:02,471
But during these 11 seconds...

425
00:28:03,765 --> 00:28:05,516
...the plane is pitching up.

426
00:28:05,641 --> 00:28:07,101
(narrator):
Investigators determine

427
00:28:07,226 --> 00:28:09,729
that once the pilots initiated
the go-around,

428
00:28:09,854 --> 00:28:12,731
no inputs on the control column
were made

429
00:28:12,856 --> 00:28:16,027
as the plane continued
to pitch up dangerously.

430
00:28:16,152 --> 00:28:20,865
- The aircraft
will naturally want to pitch up
as the engine thrust increases.

431
00:28:21,656 --> 00:28:25,536
So I would expect the crew
to counteract that pitching-up

432
00:28:25,661 --> 00:28:28,455
by pushing down on the controls.

433
00:28:28,623 --> 00:28:30,540
While looking
at the flight-recorder data

434
00:28:30,665 --> 00:28:34,753
and seeing that there was no...
pitch controls,
no changes in those controls,

435
00:28:34,878 --> 00:28:39,592
it did make me wonder...
what the crew were thinking.

436
00:28:40,675 --> 00:28:42,428
So no one's flying the plane?

437
00:28:43,470 --> 00:28:47,432
It's very unusual that there
would be no control inputs
by the pilots

438
00:28:47,557 --> 00:28:49,768
during this period,
very surprising.

439
00:28:49,893 --> 00:28:53,647
- And 11 seconds in this
situation's like an eternity.
In fact,

440
00:28:53,815 --> 00:28:57,192
to... just sit there
and do nothing

441
00:28:57,359 --> 00:28:59,487
while this airplane
is pitching up,

442
00:28:59,612 --> 00:29:01,823
losing speed, having issues,

443
00:29:01,948 --> 00:29:05,284
um...
that verges on unbelievable.

444
00:29:05,409 --> 00:29:07,745
- Do you think the controls
were jammed?

445
00:29:07,870 --> 00:29:10,998
- Just for these 11 seconds?
No way.

446
00:29:12,415 --> 00:29:16,127
- There's three independent
flight-control systems for...

447
00:29:16,253 --> 00:29:19,798
uh, pitch, roll and... yaw,

448
00:29:19,923 --> 00:29:23,094
so it's the elevators,
ailerons and rudder.

449
00:29:24,220 --> 00:29:29,474
All those systems showed
that there was no activity
for that 11-second period.

450
00:29:30,017 --> 00:29:33,604
But prior to the go-around,
during the early part
of the flight,

451
00:29:33,729 --> 00:29:36,524
and during the recovery
from the stall,

452
00:29:36,691 --> 00:29:40,236
there were inputs made
on all those systems,

453
00:29:40,403 --> 00:29:42,904
and the aircraft response
was as expected.

454
00:29:44,906 --> 00:29:47,701
- If the controls were working,

455
00:29:47,826 --> 00:29:50,538
why didn't the crew do anything?

456
00:29:51,622 --> 00:29:54,208
- This was a stunning finding
to us.

457
00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:59,130
Whenever you're faced with
evidence of improper actions
by a flight crew,

458
00:29:59,255 --> 00:30:00,714
you have to ask why.

459
00:30:00,839 --> 00:30:03,092
Was it because
they were perhaps intoxicated?

460
00:30:03,259 --> 00:30:05,970
Was it perhaps
because they were incapacitated?

461
00:30:06,095 --> 00:30:09,891
You really have to get
into the human-factor element
of this.

462
00:30:15,104 --> 00:30:17,064
- We need to know everything
about these guys.

463
00:30:17,189 --> 00:30:20,151
Background, training,
favourite foods, the works.

464
00:30:34,457 --> 00:30:36,334
Thank you.

465
00:30:36,791 --> 00:30:38,920
(narrator):
Investigators search to explain

466
00:30:39,086 --> 00:30:43,257
why two trained pilots
allowed Flight 676
to pitch up so steeply

467
00:30:43,382 --> 00:30:46,509
that it lost lift and stalled.

468
00:30:48,179 --> 00:30:54,018
- When you see a situation
where the pilot actions,
frankly, don't make any sense,

469
00:30:54,143 --> 00:30:57,771
you wonder: Is there something
medically wrong with the pilots?

470
00:30:57,896 --> 00:31:00,816
Alcohol, drugs, you know,
anything else going on?

471
00:31:01,567 --> 00:31:05,570
(narrator):
They review the pilots'
postmortem toxicology tests.

472
00:31:10,409 --> 00:31:12,452
- No sign
they were incapacitated.

473
00:31:15,163 --> 00:31:16,707
- You have to be
very methodical.

474
00:31:16,832 --> 00:31:19,501
You can't allow any biases,

475
00:31:19,669 --> 00:31:24,464
or opinions, to get in the way
of you collecting facts,

476
00:31:24,632 --> 00:31:27,134
because at this point,
that's all you're doing.

477
00:31:31,180 --> 00:31:34,474
- No red flags in the crew's
flying records, either.

478
00:31:39,270 --> 00:31:43,067
- Nothing stood out
that would explain
what happened here.

479
00:31:44,527 --> 00:31:45,987
- Thank you.

480
00:31:47,363 --> 00:31:50,490
(narrator):
Investigators pin their hopes
of finding answers

481
00:31:50,615 --> 00:31:52,867
on the cockpit voice recorder.

482
00:31:55,371 --> 00:31:57,498
- Okay, let's hear it.

483
00:31:59,959 --> 00:32:01,419
- The cockpit voice recorder
gives you

484
00:32:01,544 --> 00:32:04,547
those little pieces
of information
otherwise you wouldn't have.

485
00:32:04,713 --> 00:32:08,968
It's critical to understand
timing of the crew,

486
00:32:09,093 --> 00:32:12,930
how are they working together,
what's the tone of the cockpit?

487
00:32:13,722 --> 00:32:16,392
(FO): Weather is 16° and cloudy.

488
00:32:16,558 --> 00:32:19,018
We won't need any wheelchairs
tonight, right?

489
00:32:19,436 --> 00:32:23,606
(narrator): The team starts
the recording 30 minutes
before the end of the flight.

490
00:32:27,318 --> 00:32:29,697
- Look at the ECAM,
the trim tank.

491
00:32:31,906 --> 00:32:35,118
(narrator): They listen intently
to everything the pilots said.

492
00:32:37,704 --> 00:32:41,750
- Trim-tank system in flight
if no forward transfer.

493
00:32:42,585 --> 00:32:44,627
Not our case.

494
00:32:46,756 --> 00:32:49,717
Okay, clear.
So you see, that's it.

495
00:32:49,842 --> 00:32:52,428
That's the Trim Tank System
Fault procedure.

496
00:32:53,762 --> 00:32:57,307
- This captain's spending
an awful lot of time
helping his first officer.

497
00:32:59,184 --> 00:33:01,060
- Normally you have a division
of labour.

498
00:33:01,186 --> 00:33:05,857
However, this captain is doing
almost all the flying
and monitoring himself.

499
00:33:05,982 --> 00:33:09,987
He's not engaging
the first officer
in really helping with things.

500
00:33:11,447 --> 00:33:14,240
- Operations, Dynasty 676.

501
00:33:17,243 --> 00:33:19,163
- Disregard. Dynasty 676.

502
00:33:19,622 --> 00:33:22,415
(narrator):
When the first officer uses
the wrong channel

503
00:33:22,583 --> 00:33:25,001
to call airline operations
on the ground...

504
00:33:25,126 --> 00:33:26,420
- This side.

505
00:33:26,545 --> 00:33:29,882
- ...the captain intervenes
by making radio calls himself,

506
00:33:30,007 --> 00:33:31,759
which is contrary to procedure.

507
00:33:31,884 --> 00:33:33,426
- I think in the captain's mind:

508
00:33:33,551 --> 00:33:37,765
This guy's incompetent
and I can't trust him
to do a simple task.

509
00:33:37,890 --> 00:33:39,599
(chuckling)
And so the captain,
what'd he do?

510
00:33:39,767 --> 00:33:41,602
He started doing more
on his own.

511
00:33:42,353 --> 00:33:45,396
- Don't write that down.
We're descending.
- Okay.

512
00:33:45,522 --> 00:33:49,108
(narrator):
The captain begins criticizing
the first officer's actions.

513
00:33:49,276 --> 00:33:50,736
- Okay.

514
00:33:51,987 --> 00:33:53,947
- The captain felt
that the first officer

515
00:33:54,114 --> 00:33:57,117
was not performing his tasks
up to his standards,

516
00:33:57,284 --> 00:34:01,163
and it might be easier
and faster
to do everything himself.

517
00:34:03,206 --> 00:34:04,874
- What are you doing?

518
00:34:04,999 --> 00:34:06,710
- I'm-I'm keying in the data.

519
00:34:06,835 --> 00:34:10,005
- Don't waste too much time
on that.
What's the QNH?

520
00:34:10,673 --> 00:34:13,800
(narrator):
It's a risky situation.
- It sets up a problem...

521
00:34:13,967 --> 00:34:16,970
where this first officer
may be almost afraid

522
00:34:17,095 --> 00:34:19,889
to take action without
the captain's permission.

523
00:34:20,014 --> 00:34:23,184
- Statistics show that over 80%
of aircraft accidents

524
00:34:23,351 --> 00:34:26,771
have human performance
as a contributing factor.

525
00:34:27,565 --> 00:34:32,318
So it's very, very important
to work together effectively
as a team,

526
00:34:32,443 --> 00:34:34,487
to have good communication,

527
00:34:34,655 --> 00:34:38,199
and to make the best decisions
they can,

528
00:34:38,367 --> 00:34:40,411
even under stressful situations.

529
00:34:42,121 --> 00:34:43,789
(thunder)

530
00:34:43,914 --> 00:34:46,291
- Did you see that?
The lightning's pretty strong.

531
00:34:46,416 --> 00:34:49,210
(narrator):
The worsening weather
puts even more pressure

532
00:34:49,378 --> 00:34:50,920
on the busy captain.

533
00:34:51,045 --> 00:34:52,923
(Captain):
The power of that lightning.

534
00:34:53,423 --> 00:34:58,052
- Bad teamwork, task overload,
and now... weather.

535
00:35:00,806 --> 00:35:03,141
- The cockpit
was a stressful environment.

536
00:35:03,266 --> 00:35:05,519
The captain in particular
was worried

537
00:35:05,686 --> 00:35:09,190
about the deteriorating weather
at Taipei,

538
00:35:09,356 --> 00:35:12,400
and whether he might need
to divert or not.

539
00:35:15,403 --> 00:35:19,867
(narrator): It's what
investigators hear next
that gives them a vital clue.

540
00:35:21,367 --> 00:35:23,286
(CVR aural warning)

541
00:35:23,411 --> 00:35:25,831
- Hold on. Hear that again?

542
00:35:26,248 --> 00:35:27,958
(rewinding)

543
00:35:36,759 --> 00:35:38,719
(CVR aural warning)

544
00:35:38,844 --> 00:35:41,972
Huh. That's the autopilot
switching off.

545
00:35:43,641 --> 00:35:48,519
- There's a distinct sound
or an aural warning that occurs

546
00:35:48,646 --> 00:35:52,358
when the autopilot disengages,
and it's called
a cavalry charge.

547
00:35:54,818 --> 00:35:59,614
(aural warning)
Switching the autopilot off
is a routine part of the flight.

548
00:35:59,782 --> 00:36:01,492
- Landing lights.

549
00:36:03,077 --> 00:36:04,244
- On.

550
00:36:05,454 --> 00:36:09,123
- But at this stage
of the flight,
it was unusual to hear it,

551
00:36:09,291 --> 00:36:12,920
and very unusual
that there was no comment
by the crew.

552
00:36:13,795 --> 00:36:18,132
(narrator):
The pilots don't discuss why
the autopilot has disengaged.

553
00:36:19,300 --> 00:36:21,427
- Come on, guys,
talk to each other.

554
00:36:22,679 --> 00:36:27,141
- You would expect the captain
to say, "I'm taking over.
I have control."

555
00:36:27,309 --> 00:36:29,769
Or at least some comment
between the two crew

556
00:36:29,936 --> 00:36:32,313
about the fact
the autopilot's disengaged,

557
00:36:32,481 --> 00:36:34,315
but there was no comment at all.

558
00:36:34,483 --> 00:36:36,402
- Landing Checklist complete.

559
00:36:38,027 --> 00:36:41,282
- In my opinion,
after the criticism
by the captain...

560
00:36:41,447 --> 00:36:43,117
to the first officer,

561
00:36:43,284 --> 00:36:48,204
he was just going to respond
to any direct requests
from the captain.

562
00:36:50,958 --> 00:36:53,168
- GO lever. Go-around.

563
00:36:53,335 --> 00:36:57,880
(narrator): Six seconds
after investigators hear
the autopilot disengage,

564
00:36:58,007 --> 00:37:00,342
the captain initiates
a go-around.

565
00:37:00,800 --> 00:37:02,385
Without the autopilot,

566
00:37:02,510 --> 00:37:06,849
the captain needs to make inputs
manually on the yoke
to control pitch.

567
00:37:07,432 --> 00:37:08,976
But he doesn't.

568
00:37:09,143 --> 00:37:11,353
- The autopilot is crucial,
because...

569
00:37:11,519 --> 00:37:14,731
that autopilot prevents
the airplane from pitching up

570
00:37:14,856 --> 00:37:17,275
whenever you're initiating
a go-around.

571
00:37:20,195 --> 00:37:23,282
- I don't think the captain
knows the autopilot is off.

572
00:37:24,490 --> 00:37:27,994
- What the captain didn't seem
to catch was that the autopilot

573
00:37:28,161 --> 00:37:30,289
is no longer flying
the airplane.

574
00:37:30,414 --> 00:37:34,293
(narrator): Even if the captain
doesn't realize the autopilot
is disengaged,

575
00:37:34,418 --> 00:37:37,045
and the first officer
doesn't bring it
to his attention,

576
00:37:37,211 --> 00:37:39,213
it doesn't explain
why neither pilot noticed

577
00:37:39,380 --> 00:37:42,842
the plane was pitching up
to the point of stalling.

578
00:37:42,967 --> 00:37:45,429
- Looking
at your instrumentation,

579
00:37:45,554 --> 00:37:49,557
you can tell
that things are going wrong;
you should make corrections.

580
00:37:50,516 --> 00:37:53,311
It becomes very difficult
in investigation
to figure that part out.

581
00:37:55,773 --> 00:37:58,233
- Tee up to the st
he go-around.

582
00:37:59,568 --> 00:38:02,195
(narrator): Investigators focus
on the pilot's actions

583
00:38:02,362 --> 00:38:07,076
during the critical 11 seconds
that led to a devastating stall

584
00:38:07,242 --> 00:38:10,204
of China Airlines Flight 676.

585
00:38:12,581 --> 00:38:14,373
(Captain): GO lever. Go-around.

586
00:38:17,585 --> 00:38:19,213
Gear up.

587
00:38:20,005 --> 00:38:21,507
- Gear... down.

588
00:38:21,632 --> 00:38:24,342
(narrator): They discover
that while the plane
is pitching up,

589
00:38:24,467 --> 00:38:29,264
the pilots debate
how to configure the plane
for the go-around manoeuvre.

590
00:38:29,431 --> 00:38:31,016
- Gear up.

591
00:38:31,141 --> 00:38:34,978
- Gear up first.
He should be calling for flaps
before gear.

592
00:38:35,103 --> 00:38:38,190
- Heading select plus...?

593
00:38:38,648 --> 00:38:40,442
Plus 10?

594
00:38:40,608 --> 00:38:42,068
- Flaps!

595
00:38:42,568 --> 00:38:45,280
(narrator): It distracts them
from their instruments,

596
00:38:45,447 --> 00:38:48,157
which show the plane
is in danger of stalling.

597
00:38:48,867 --> 00:38:50,536
- What a mess.

598
00:38:52,079 --> 00:38:56,083
- During the go-around,
that's when you really have
to have your act together.

599
00:38:56,249 --> 00:38:59,085
You're close to the ground,
a lot of things are happening,

600
00:38:59,253 --> 00:39:01,547
and you've gotta be
on the same page.

601
00:39:01,672 --> 00:39:03,507
That didn't happen here.

602
00:39:03,632 --> 00:39:06,427
(narrator): Investigators
now have a better understanding

603
00:39:06,552 --> 00:39:09,262
of the pilots' behaviour
prior to the stall.

604
00:39:09,429 --> 00:39:12,141
But it doesn't answer
a key question.

605
00:39:12,306 --> 00:39:14,893
- Who turned the autopilot off,
and why?

606
00:39:15,978 --> 00:39:20,773
- The captain was under a lot
of stress and high workload.
Under those conditions,

607
00:39:20,898 --> 00:39:22,443
people can make mistakes.

608
00:39:22,818 --> 00:39:25,653
- He's near the end
of his approach
and he's too high.

609
00:39:25,820 --> 00:39:29,867
(narrator): The team returns
to the flight-data recorder
for clues.

610
00:39:29,992 --> 00:39:32,369
- Somehow, the autopilot
gets switched off.

611
00:39:33,871 --> 00:39:35,789
- God, the tailwind's
really strong.

612
00:39:35,956 --> 00:39:39,126
(narrator):
Data reveals the captain
did something unusual

613
00:39:39,293 --> 00:39:42,003
right before
the autopilot is disengaged.

614
00:39:43,838 --> 00:39:47,842
- Here,
he's really at a crunch point.
He's still too high,

615
00:39:48,010 --> 00:39:50,554
so he gives the control column
an extra push.

616
00:39:51,929 --> 00:39:55,934
(narrator): Investigators
suspect the captain
pushes the nose down hard

617
00:39:56,059 --> 00:39:59,061
to try to salvage
his too-high approach.

618
00:40:01,648 --> 00:40:04,193
But when they dig
into the Airbus-300 manual,

619
00:40:04,358 --> 00:40:09,072
they find the captain's actions
had another tragic consequence.

620
00:40:11,909 --> 00:40:13,619
- Take a look at this.

621
00:40:16,288 --> 00:40:19,123
- The autopilot is designed
to be disengaged
in a number of ways.

622
00:40:19,248 --> 00:40:22,376
There's the routine way of
just switching it off normally.

623
00:40:22,878 --> 00:40:24,795
But on this aircraft,

624
00:40:24,922 --> 00:40:27,215
if you apply 33 pounds of force,

625
00:40:27,382 --> 00:40:29,635
it will automatically disengage.

626
00:40:30,260 --> 00:40:33,054
- He disengaged the autopilot
by accident.

627
00:40:34,722 --> 00:40:39,019
- And I think that's due
to the task overload
he's going through,

628
00:40:39,144 --> 00:40:43,106
that there's so much
going on in his mind,
there's so much happening here,

629
00:40:43,231 --> 00:40:46,275
that he doesn't catch the fact
that he's been pushing like mad,

630
00:40:46,400 --> 00:40:50,322
and... whoops,
the autopilot just disengaged.

631
00:40:52,074 --> 00:40:53,951
(narrator):
Investigators now understand

632
00:40:54,076 --> 00:40:57,788
why China Airlines Flight 676
fell from the sky.

633
00:40:58,288 --> 00:41:00,831
- It starts with bad teamwork
in the cockpit.

634
00:41:01,541 --> 00:41:04,378
- It seems like we don't have
to do anything.

635
00:41:06,463 --> 00:41:10,217
- Yeah, we do.
See the Trim Tank System Fault.

636
00:41:11,134 --> 00:41:12,594
Trim-tank system in flight...

637
00:41:12,760 --> 00:41:15,222
- In aviation,
it's definitely not a good idea

638
00:41:15,347 --> 00:41:19,184
to do everything yourself
in a two-person cockpit.

639
00:41:19,309 --> 00:41:22,396
There should be
a proper division of labour.
If there isn't,

640
00:41:22,521 --> 00:41:26,900
that one pilot
that's doing everything
becomes saturated with tasks

641
00:41:27,025 --> 00:41:31,280
and doesn't have
adequate capacity
to handle potential challenges.

642
00:41:31,445 --> 00:41:33,614
- God, that tailwind's
really strong.

643
00:41:33,782 --> 00:41:37,077
(narrator):
The overworked captain
is too high on approach.

644
00:41:37,244 --> 00:41:39,704
And when he attempts
to descend faster,

645
00:41:39,829 --> 00:41:42,748
he unintentionally disengages
the autopilot.

646
00:41:42,916 --> 00:41:44,751
(aural warning)
- Landing lights.

647
00:41:45,668 --> 00:41:46,920
- On.

648
00:41:47,045 --> 00:41:49,630
(narrator):
Neither pilot comments
on the autopilot.

649
00:41:49,798 --> 00:41:51,507
- Landing Checklist complete.

650
00:41:52,467 --> 00:41:55,469
(narrator):
When they are still too high
on approach...

651
00:41:55,637 --> 00:41:57,347
- GO lever. Go-around.

652
00:41:57,972 --> 00:42:00,684
- ...Captain Kang calls
for a go-around.

653
00:42:04,146 --> 00:42:06,231
Not realizing
the autopilot has shut off,

654
00:42:06,356 --> 00:42:09,318
he assumes
it will control the plane.

655
00:42:09,943 --> 00:42:11,612
It doesn't.

656
00:42:12,862 --> 00:42:14,530
(passengers crying out)

657
00:42:14,655 --> 00:42:18,452
The Airbus pitches so high,
it begins to stall.

658
00:42:21,454 --> 00:42:24,373
By the time
the captain notices...

659
00:42:25,958 --> 00:42:27,628
...it's too late.

660
00:42:28,336 --> 00:42:32,132
(pilots crying out)
(TAWS): Terrain, terrain.
Pull up.

661
00:42:33,759 --> 00:42:36,510
- What a shame.
It was totally preventable.

662
00:42:39,014 --> 00:42:41,099
- The aircraft was serviceable.

663
00:42:41,224 --> 00:42:44,561
And if the crew
had acted differently,

664
00:42:44,686 --> 00:42:48,106
then the end result
would've been different,
as well.

665
00:42:49,940 --> 00:42:51,525
(narrator): In the final report,

666
00:42:51,693 --> 00:42:54,153
investigators recommend
more training,

667
00:42:54,278 --> 00:42:58,492
including better
cockpit communication,
for all China Airlines pilots.

668
00:42:59,034 --> 00:43:04,289
In response, China Airlines
begins recruiting pilots
with proven track records,

669
00:43:04,414 --> 00:43:07,583
while improving
their pilot-training program.

670
00:43:08,418 --> 00:43:10,086
- After the loss
of this aircraft,

671
00:43:10,211 --> 00:43:13,005
crew resource management
training was required

672
00:43:13,173 --> 00:43:17,719
to improve the communication
and teamwork skills
between the pilots.

673
00:43:18,552 --> 00:43:22,724
(narrator):
Taiwan also overhauls
its Transportation Safety Board.

674
00:43:24,226 --> 00:43:26,311
- It's now got
an international reputation

675
00:43:26,436 --> 00:43:30,106
for their expertise
in the technical aspects
of investigation,

676
00:43:30,231 --> 00:43:31,983
including recorders,

677
00:43:32,108 --> 00:43:34,695
and also in publishing
high-quality reports.

678
00:43:34,860 --> 00:43:38,364
So that's been a real positive
after the accident, as well.

679
00:43:40,534 --> 00:43:43,954
- In all accidents,
you want to gain the most
out of it,

680
00:43:44,079 --> 00:43:46,748
so you can prevent the next one.

681
00:43:47,498 --> 00:43:49,376
So from this tragedy,
we learned,

682
00:43:49,543 --> 00:43:51,545
and we adjusted the system.

683
00:43:52,503 --> 00:43:54,380
And what we'd like to have

684
00:43:54,548 --> 00:43:57,592
is that we never see an accident
like this again.

685
00:44:31,376 --> 00:44:33,586
Subtitling: difuze