Fighting To Survive | Air Astana Flight 1388
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- Опубликовано: 6 сен 2024
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Embarer 190 Picture: Myroslav Kaplun
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Our story begins on the 2nd of october 2018, An air astana embraer 190 was due for some major maintenance and for that it was ferried to the military airbase of Alverca do Ribatejo, in portugal. They had some complex service bulletins to go through. They had to do a basic inspection, remove and check the avionics and a lot of things like that. On the 9th of october they started work on the wings of the plane. The control cables that controlled the ailerons, needed some work as there was too much friction. Ailerons are small control surfaces on the trailing edge of the wing and it helps the plane to bank. They swapped out the stainless steel cables for cables made with carbon and steel. They also did some general maintenance on the plane, greased a few pulleys, adjusted a few things, that sort of stuff.
On the 26th of october, the fixes were done and the plane was powered on, but there was an issue. On the engine indicating and crew alerting system or EICAS was an error, the error read FLT CTR NO DISPATCH, the computer was telling the mechanics that the plane was not ready for dispatch as there was something wrong with the flight control system. They carried on with the other tests that they needed to carry out before the plane was to be delivered back to air astana. So they carried out their inspections and they did a few engine run up tests. The plane was delivered by the maintenance team to the area manager but the error on the EICAS was still there, something in the flight control system needed fixing. The manager put together a small team to try to find the issue and to fix it. They didnt have much time. The plane was to be back with air astana on the 24th and they had extended that by a few days to the 31st of october, but their trouble shooting went well past that deadline. On the 11th of november the plane was to be flown back to minsk from alverca airbase. The flight crew went over the airplane to see if all was in order. The flight crew found an issue with the ventilation in the avionics system and a small glitch with the hydraulics system. This was fixed by the maintenance crew and with that they taxied out to the runway to begin their flight to minsk. The plane had 6 occupants including the 3 pilots. It was a rainy day the clouds were low to the ground. There was a layer of clouds at 500 feet and another one at 1500 feet.
The Embraer took off into the skies at 1:31 pm, right after take off the pilot flying had a hard time engaging the autopilot, it just wouldn't engage. Moreover the plane started oscillating side to side very slowly, but these oscillations started to build up. The pilots knew that something was wrong and the plane was not behaving the way that it should. They tried to activate the autopilot many times and they kept getting an autopilot fail error. Right after take off they declared an emergency. They knew that they needed to get this plane back on the ground and they needed to do it fast. The plane was excecuting uncommanded roll and yaw inputs. Realising that they had little to no control of their plane they began to troubleshoot their aircraft. The plane just would not behave in the way that they expected it to.
Things were so bad that the crew asked Lisbon control for a heading out to see where they could attempt a ditching and to minimize damage should they lose the little control that they had. Things were so bad that they had a very hard time flying in the general direction of the sea.
At this point they needed a plan, the pilots consulted with the technicians onboard to see if they could offer some advice, The crew had been switching between the direct and normal modes of the flight control system and they found that they had a bit more control in the direct mode, In 
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nasa wrote the differential thrust software after sioux city and the pilots union refused to accept its implementation
.
it also saved fuel.
@@brucebaxter6923 interesting. Why the resistance?
@@commerce-usa
Pilots and motor vehicle drivers are the only people that fight automation.
They want to be heroes and cant handle the idea that a computer does their job three times safer.
Its quite interesting looking at the statistics, 2/3 of all deaths are pilot responsibilty, 1/2 pilot initiated, 1/6 pilot error
@@brucebaxter6923 thank you. Those statistics are eye opening. Even so, one would think that the automation would have caught the cable reversal during the preflight surface test phase. We learn something from every event.
@@commerce-usa
yep, nothing is perfect and we have to be careful to not let perfect be the enemy of good.
An old captain once wrote in an airline magazine (paraphrased): "An aircraft is never as dangerous as when it comes out of the hangar after maintenance".
Scary for maintenance personnel too! Have I forgotten to tighten.......
AA Flight 191 is the textbook example of that!
I've heard of planes coming back from depot with loose power tools and loose flashlights (i don't mean little ones that you can hide in your hand, these are like a foot and some change long and you could club someone with them) closed up in panels, I've seen some systems wired backwards, some connectors simply not connected...
@@charlesdale5965 Was that step important?
Agree
This has to be one of the greatest aircraft saves in all history, genius level problem solving under massive pressure bravo chaps.
When I served in the United States Airforce I did cable rigging and our final check for ailerons is a two person job. One mechanic would be in the cockpit and would first turn the control; wheel to left for a left wing down and the mechanic outside would verify the left aileron up and right wing aileron down. Then we would turn control wheel for right wing down and verify right wing aileron up and left wing aileron down . This is a must in all cable rigging to prevent crossed cables.
You NAILED it, my man!! My Father taught me that!
thats what you also do after building an RC plane and configuring your controller - make sure servos aren't working in reverse.
I can't see how it's not an obligatory check after changing the cables.
Basic common sense gets hidden in paper work and management
I'm trying to picture a pre-flight inspection that doesn't cover proper control surface rigging. I mean, that was pounded into me right from primary.
! ! ! OLD SCHOOL BASICS ! ! !
Likewise This “OLD SCHOOL BASICS”, “FLY, NAVIGATE AND COMMUNICATE” Are The “GOLDEN RULES” Ever !
As a maintenance technician I’ve seen this happen before. But most times you catch it on the ground. Anytime I take control cables off I mark them with tape and label the tape with either numbers or orientation. Great video as always.
Respect!
The fact that they aren’t stamped on the attachment arms and marked on the cables from the factory is really interesting
A really good design would have different sized or shaped ends on the cables.
That said, it seems that in that particular maintenance facilty, no dangle was left un-clacked and no fuster un-clucked.
I sincerely hope none of those clowns is still working on aircraft.
Would it make sense to give the ailerons a waggle while the plane was on the deck? Seems to me a visual inspection of the aileron operation would have caught this issue
@@cmdreltonpoole6303 It was certainly hammered into every student pilot where I trained to check that visually (all controls free and correct sense). However, on most airliners you can't actually see them from the flight deck, and you can't even send a crewmember back to look for you any more, now that the flight deck has to remain closed from boarding to the destination gate.
But no excuse for it not being checked prior to a test flight.
5.5G!! It's probably a testament to the build quality of this plane that it didn't just tear itself apart in the air. Wow.
Good to know Embraer builds their planes like tanks.
They are just small enough to handle it! I think an A380 would have split into 3 pieces midair.
@@kevintucker3354 Look up China Airlines Flight 006, where a 747 nonetheless survived a 30,000 ft dive in under two minutes, maxing out at 5.1g. There were whole parts of the plane missing, the wings were bent, but they landed the thing!
More like luck
@@aerohk You'd be a lot less lucky with poor build quality.
These pilots did an amazing job and excellent CRM too, the trust in putting a second pilot recognising you can't do it anymore is amazing.
They went from 0 to test pilots in 60 minutes, props to them.
I think the real reward for the pilots was living to see the next day.
No, the real reward for those pilots would have been walking into the maintenance hanger, finding the maintenance crew, and punching them right in the nose.
@@IrishEddie317 how many acft have you successfully fixed? Mistakes do happen in the Mx world. But you probably know that .
@@deaf2819 but really that kind of mistakes should not happen. Not to a whole crew not at something, that is so crucial. Even if it wasn't intended it would have been their fault if this didnt go well. All they had to do is powerup the engines and do a flight control check with somone doublechecking what the ailerons are actually doing. Yeah mistakes can happen but you need to find them before you declare something safe. Thats your job and if you are unable to do that you should be thinking of another profession.
@@IrishEddie317 Inexperienced maintenance people working on items they should not have been.
The pilots deserve the polarisn award
They had it upside down three times and had to pull it through, pulling about 5.5G. It's a miracle that the wings stayed on.
I assume it is now scrap and not purchased by a budget airline.
Well, it certainly didn't return to the fleet.
If i have understood correctly, they would have to change all those parts that were subjected to abnormal stresses, meaning most of the plane. No one would ever trust parts that have endured 120-150% of the force they were designed to endure and is most likely kept together by the paint and sheer strength of character. It's one-shot deal going over that limit, part most likely will stay intact the first time but no one would quarantee second time. And seeing other air crash investigations, they have scrapped planes for less.
This plane went to hell and back, going above and beyond what it was ever designed to do and still got back on ground in one piece so i would say the airplane itself is also a hero in this story with the crew.
And even more that they did not lose consciousness, you can easily pass out because your heart can’t pump blood to the brain when you way 500kg assuming 80kg normal weight
@@rogervanbommel1086 I don’t think it’s been confirmed that nobody did. The pilots flying might’ve even been helped by naturally straining to control the flight if they didn’t already know to do anti g maneuvers, and there were at least a couple minor hospitalizations from the flight. The engineers... I don’t know about them lol
Flying that plane must have been like trying to ride one of those bicycles where the front wheel moves opposite direction of the handlebars.
at 200 km/hr
@@wazza33racer with certain death if you fall off.
and when you turn the handlebars front brakes are applied.
Ah yes, when the computer finds a fault, reset it and the actual problem will totally go away! Pls trust. Good thing it wasn’t fully loaded with passengers and that the pilots persevered through this ordeal.
Thanks for the video!
don't test and you won't get covid
Believe it or not this is often times the fix for acft.
Put it into service mode, flick dipswitch 27, cycle power 3 times, error code gone. Old hand's trick.
@@henrychan720 An online study has found that 100% of households have an internet connection. :P
@@dinoschachten LOL
It must have been scary as hell when they heard creaking noises from the main structure. I can only imagine how difficult it was to focus hard on regaining a manageable level of control when it sounded like the plane was so close to being torn apart at any moment. They more than earned their awards!
They were flying upside down and pulling 5Gs.
That is extreme.
I was an inspector on a C-check and caught a lot of cables that were crossed and also ran wrong. Where was the QC who stamped for it, and why was it not noticed on ops check? Before we release an aircraft for a test flight, we would make sure that all the flight controls move in correct direction and they move freely.
Let me just say I really appreciate the way you present those videos. Not as dry as to just read from the investigation reports, but also not as overly sensationalist as to drag on unneccessarily. I'm glad I found your channel and can appreciate the effort you put into those videos, researching the background of each incident and giving a concise but entertaining and easy enough to understand explanation of what happend. Keep up the good work!
Thanks!!
Air Astana is a very safe Airline, lucky they all survive. Bravo to the Crews
Oh Boy... I remember this one. It made me arrive home 4h latter than it was supposed to and almost lost the last train because of this one! All air traffic was cut that day.
Fortunately there was no casualties.
This is why you always use the 'thumbs up' rule when working on or checking the ailerons.
You can't just move the yoke or stick back and forth and look to see if the ailerons are moving.
Put your hand on the yoke and raise your thumb. When you move it your 'thumb up' must point towards the 'aileron up'.
These guys are lucky to be alive.
I was always taught, "stick left, left up, stick right, right up" mantra, but I guess it matters little as long as you remember!
How can't aerilon movements be seen from the cockpit of a modern jet airliner, on which the wings are swept back and are a long way from the plane's nose and cockpit.
Anon anon, the angle of the wing makes the angle of view go thru the thick part of the wing, even towards the outer edge, thereby obscuring the ailerons from view from the cockpit. That's why maintenance always has one in the cockpit and one on the ground communicating via the intercom.
Wrong. Musikur is right.
@@None-zc5vg The plane had an indicator in the cockpit that showed which way the surfaces were deflecting. If the captain looked down at his flight displays while testing the ailerons and spoilers (which he was supposed to), he would have noticed them moving the wrong way.
Thanks for adding more info to this story. I listened to the ATC recording a while back. These pilots are amazing and never stopped fighting.
I am absolutely astounded that they were able to land the plane!
Damn. That's Captain Sully levels of airmanship. great job
Minus them missing critical flight control checks before the flight. They are just as responsible as the maintenance teams. No one followed proper checklist and tech data from maintenance to the pilots.
In a sense, what they did was better than Sully.
True, as Scuba Dog wrote, they could've found out before leaving the ground.
But most of what Sully did was immediately start the APU, and not do anything stupid (like trying to get back to the airport, over the urban areas). Well, and outstanding CRM and prioritization.
Sully's flying was excellent, but much more based on a calm and rational response in a VERY brief time window.
This crew, on the other hand....
They fought the controls for *2 HOURS* and *never* gave up.
Despite being exhausted, and essentially locked up in a flying coffin whose controls were actively fighting their efforts to land....
That's *quite* a different feat!
(still glad everyone survived both incidents of course)
"Safe landing" - I love those words.
I can only imagine what that crew went through. I assume the plane was scrapped after this incident as it was no longer structurally sound.
Yes, it was written off. They landed on 19L on the 3rd attempt, but were actually intending to land on 19R...
aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20181111-0
Its a testament to the pilots abilities that they managed to land on 19 something at all.
Yes, it was scrapped
As a trainer of aircraft mechanics... Thank you for this great example.
The pilots learned to fly a plane that was “trying” to kill them. Great pilots! 👏
So that was like a rodeo but with a plane. It's really impressive that they managed to land safe and sound!
You do such good job on these. No long winded, self serving intro and no garbage. Just good info.
Thanks for posting
I love these videos. You're really good with a speaking voice that is clear to understand. As others say, not to dry, not overly sensational. You keep in important information even if it's a slight spoiler to the factors determined to be the cause. For example in this one, mentioning that the cable was different, which is important information, so even though we knew it would be that which was the issue, it was good information for us.
Really enjoy the fact it's more a listening video than a watching one. Though I do enjoy seeing the graphics, and videos. Thank you!
These pilots need way more recognition
I've been subbed for a while now and your videos just keep getting better and better. Good job, keep it up. 👍
Never let the total idiot down voters affect you. Not one of the 4 could even start to make a fine report like yours. I see these everywhere. I am ex USAF and watch aircraft crash videos with a technical eye. In some ways yours are the best. I believe you are self-taught and your understanding of technical things shows very high intelligence. Again, don't let idiots get you down. These 4 remind me of what a friend used to say - "Creeps are a dime a dozen".
This was another interesting case. Well done!
I appreciate that you show incidents which have a positive outcome while also pointing out general aviation issues that need to be addressed.
Very good, very detailed explanation of what went wrong and why. I really appreciate and want that level of detail. As a result your videos are becoming increasingly useful in helping people like myself gain a better understanding of exactly how any why accidents occur and perhaps even help us to avoid making the same mistakes.
After seeing many incident reenactments, one of the major causes of failure is made known here: The business of keeping to a schedule. Anyway, I'm glad the crew got the plane to the ground in one piece.
Those pilots did an amazing job! Thanks for a great video!
They did. But should/could they have detected that in pre-flight checks?
I work for a big machine shop that makes very safety critical parts and assemblies on 70% of planes in the sky today. Everyone i work with is very proud of what we do and we take our job very seriously, i watch these videos on my lunch breaks as a reminder that we can never let something that would put people in danger happen on our watch. Thank you for your time and interest in aerospace, you seem very knowledgeable about it.
Oh I’m not that knowledgeable. I just read the reports and talk to people like you :) I’m just the messenger
Hey that sounds interesting.... I'm a MechE and would like to know to know more about what you work on..
Would it be possible to hit you up on Reddit or something?
These guys are lucky to be alive. If they'd paid any attention to the flight controls page before taking off, they'd have seen the ailerons were reversed. This aircraft was written off after this flight.
The stress levels of this crew in these 5g conditions, unimaginable.
The amount of times these poor guys asked for vectors to the sea. That must be a horrible thing to have to ask for, but to have to ask 10 or more times, that really rubs it in. Every time they managed to stop the plane from doing circles, they were facing the opposite way to the sea. But... Actually, im glad they didn't make it to the sea. Had the made it there, they mayve ditched and planes landing on the Atlantic is not something I would wish on anyone. Good work fellas. And to the f-16s and controllers.
The reverse controls remind me of the 3 Boeing 737's having huge problems in the 90s, only the final one managed to land.
Another great video.
ATC recording here:
Part 1: ruclips.net/video/kIc8Rr-cKd8/видео.html
Part 2: ruclips.net/video/evYLkhxoP3U/видео.html
Video of the landing filmed from one of the F16's, from a comment on the second video: www.jn.pt/local/videos/imagens-dos-f-16-mostram-aterragem-em-beja-e-o-alivio-dos-pilotos-10166908.html
That's amazing airmanship!
That was amazing... Astana is probably the best case of saving plane in entire history of aviation.. But these guys were really well trained, everyone else from other third world countries would probably crash due to lack of good training but of course at the end of the day luck played the biggest role.. But definitely the best save in history..
Serious failure in maintenance process management. Would have also expected cables to be keyed in such a way to avoid such a misshap from happening. Even just color coding the cables could have provided visual clues of a problem.
As always, love that you’re talking about an incident that’s not talked about a lot. Great video by the way and hope to see more.
I love this channel! You read and write the story so well that I don’t miss having all the visuals.
Amazing save, considering the issues they had to fight!
Really good mini crash investigation. Clear and to the point. And no fluff.
I am a tug plane pilot for gliders. In my preflight checklist I verify elevators, flaps, ailerons and check visually that they move in the right direction. I cannot do the rudder as it turns the nose wheel as well. Inverting the cables during maintenance is a classic mistake. On an airliner, you can get a mechanic to watch the aileron deflection and report by radio. On an F-16 (fly by wire), they reversed a pitch gyro on the flight control system, that reversed the elevator but only once airborne. That is tricky because when tested on the ground, with no feedback to the gyro, the elevator moved normally.
Was that plane a write off after the incident?
I heard the radio chatter between this flight and ground control in another video. I remember the pilot sounded clueless. He kept begging for directions to the sea for a crash, and never seemed to know which direction he was flying. It made no sense. This video gives me a much better idea of what was really happening on that flight. There's a reason communication is last on the list during a flight emergency. This crew was very skilled to have landed this plane safely after the crazy rollercoaster of a ride. I bet every pilot looks out the window to be sure control surfaces respond to inputs correctly during preflight checks.
That sucks, what is even more frustrating is the poor pass downs from the MX crew. There were a lot of factors here, unfortunately. I know that generally for things like this, they would have tried to avoid pulling panels to check the aileron rigging and may have assumed it could be a LRU or something. So they likely shotgunned parts at the plane, until the message on the EICAS stopped popping up.
If the pilots could have noticed that the aileron inputs were reversed, I would have tried to pull the CBs for the roll ailerons. Granted, I only worked on the EMB145s so I don't know if they had a roll aileron control unit, or it was hydraulic or electrically driven. But goodness, what a shit show. For any future maintainers, a bit of green or white masking tape with the words 'Left/Right' on them is something worth doing. Always document what you are pulling apart, or hell, take pictures.
Thank you for the video, I love your work. The Flight Channel has amazing videos, but sometimes I want to be doing other things while I am enjoying videos and you narrating makes it possible for people to do that. Thanks again.
Taking pictures & masking tape...... Better option.... Saves time and give little more confidence that components going on correct place... 🙌👍
Listen to the ATC Audio. It is intense. These guys are heroes.
Ok... In my first ever flight lesson I was taught to check that my flight controls were operating correctly (i.e, ailerons deflecting properly). The fact that nobody bothered to do that before this plane flew, ESPECIALLY since the flight control systems had been worked on, really blows my mind. Kudos to the pilots for getting it down, but they shouldn't have even taken off in the first place!
Great Video as always from this channel
Also could you do a video on 9/11, it's a big American historical date
When I used to fly that was one thing I always looked for was aileron deflection when I turned the yoke. I know it is more difficult in a larger aircraft but given the aircraft had just go through some major overhauling I would think they would take the time to visually verify every surface did as it was supposed to. From your other video, I would add checking the trim tab movement as well if the aircraft had just been serviced. I guess a new saying after an aircraft has been serviced should be, "Trust nothing, verify everything, BEFORE takeoff.
This is your best video yet, thanks for the awesome videos!
Every pre-flight checklist I know of has an item something like "controls free and clear." That means the pilots move the ailerons, rudder, elevators, and other control surfaces and confirm they are operating correctly.
But are they also looking out the window, to see if the ailerons react in the manner they expect? Quite tricky, if possible at all. Comms with ground crew needed?
@@hawkertyphoon4537 true, that's why the checklist says "free and clear" and not "free and clear and operating to spec."
@@RaysDad
As an armchair Fighter Pilot i routinely looked in the mirror (rudder) and out the dang window to see if my P-40, corsair, Mitchell, Yakovlev, what have you... Ailerons were working fine.
We need to give these Men some Webcams to do these checks.
Hell, even some extra cams in random spots do be able to see engines, wing upper, lower, tail structures... whatever.
Let them take a look at their entuire Aircraft, i say.
according to Mentour Pilot - who has uploaded a video on the incident a few days ago - there is a screen that graphically displays the ailerons & spoilers - it seems the pilots just misinterpreted it somehow - they won't ever again
I am a captain who has flown this type of airplane and feel obliged to make a couple comments on your video. I am impressed with the technical detail you included in the video but I think the final comments on the aircrew’s failure to diagnose the maintenance failure prior to takeoff is completely off base. The pilots, from their duty stations cannot see any flight control movements. The pilots rely on a flight control page to verify that proper control inputs are registered through the display screen. I would have no way of knowing if maintenance reversed the cables and then changed the computer registration of the inputs to appear normal. Since I am not qualified to do physical work on this airplane I rely SOLEY on the maintenance staff to insure all updates, repairs, and inspections are completed and correctly signed off. The pilots did a fantastic job of maintaining control of this airplane and landing it safely, my hat is off to them.
A few observations here;
Only a dunce would make the first flight after maintenance into the clouds.
When I took my ATP (Airline Transport Pilot) check ride in a Piper Aztec , about the only time both engines were running was the I was asked to land without touching the yoke (steering wheel, sort of). Yes, it can be done using differential power, rudder and elevator trim. I never had to but I was always ready to use this method if I had aileron trouble.
I don't know about this one but with a lot of big planes, you can't see the ailerons from the cockpit.
While most mechanics do a superb job of maintaining planes you need to do a very thorough preflight after maintenance. If this means having one pilot go back in the cabin to verify control surface movements, it'd be worth it. Since you can't see the rudder from anywhere inside the plane, have someone on the ground verify it. Trouble is, you need someone familiar with how control surfaces work.......
Amazing video as usual looking forward to more
Truly unbelievable that they gained control of this plane and landed safely! Especially after first planning a water ditching!
I can only imagine the crew’s post traumatic stress for the next 48 hours! They earned a couple of free drinks the hard way...
In my opinion, I most definitely preferred your title to the one ACI used.
That aside, thanks for this video, and looking forward to watching the ACI episode soon. Salutations to the pilots and the plane who hung on until the end.
Amazing. Thank you.
Yoooooo THEY PULLED FIVE FUCKING Gs IN A PASSENGER PLANE! GOD DAMN! They flew the absolute shit out of that plane! That was quite a juicy detail, MACI! 5:25
Kinda like inverting the X and Y axis on a game controller when you didn’t expect it and are not used to it.
Worse, because those roll spoilers were not reversed.
First thing I thought of was crossed control runs. This as a potential major flight safety issue has been know about for many decades. In my time as an aircraft maintenance manager in the 1970s and 80s, any work on control runs (and any other safety critical systems such as air speed indication etc) required an independent (ie by someone not involved in the work just completed) functional and visual check that everything was working correctly. Clearly they omitted this vital check. Well done the crew - I have great admiration for them on what was virtually a stricken aeroplane.
This situation is straight up on the pilots. Pilot in Command means you are responsible for everything that happens. You may not be at fault, but you are responsible. Everyone who is a pilot was taught from lesson one, "Exercise the controls full scope and visually verify free and correct." If you take a plane out of maintenance without performing that check, you have earned everything that follows.
This was very informative and just one more thing to worry about the next time I am inside a plane taking off. Lol. I love turbulence. I want it everytime I fly. I don't want the kinda turbulence this plane created for itself. 5g's. Most humans never experience 2g's. Crazy. Im finding there are so many more instances of aircraft failings than reported to us. Sometimes its just a small blurb on the ticker that nobody really ever see's. Good job on the video, footage, explanations.
This incident must have been terrifying, all credit to the crew, for their professional and outstanding airmanship!.
It seems flight 1388 is going to be a full episode ACI! Hooray and thanks for your content!
I absolutely love your videos. I eagerly await each new episode!
great video!
Amazing that such a substantial error went past so many folks.
Any chance of a collaboration with VASAviation? Your narration and his radar view could be a match made in heaven :)
maybe for some of the bigger crashes/incidents over the years that may be widely misunderstood or the public may not know the whole story...A video on TWA 800 would be amazing with both of your talents, for example.
Very good that you brought up the spoilers were basically negating the effects of the ailerons. What a wild ride those pilots had. Not being familiar with this EMB aircraft, does the EICAS/MFD show the aileron deflections and would it have been indicating the reversed deflection when they did a control check? If not, then not sure how else they would have caught the reversal prior to takeoff. What an interesting scenario! Thankyou
If not it should be in the maintenance procedure to check that visually after maintenance on the cables before handing it over. It is scandalous that such a basic error could not only happen but fail to be detected. Really it should be "poke yoke" by design, but not everything can be.
There was a similar maintenance mistake done on a USAF acft that ended up crashing, it’s something you learn about in training .
But did no one do a flight control check? Not the maintenace crew and also not the pilots as part of their flight preparation?
Here,Here!! These men are Heroes!! True practitioners of the aeronautic-art!! Here, Here!!(Also, well-done, to the presenter: Author, Author!!
I'll bet that flight crew checks the controls next time.
I wonder if there was a way to have disabled the spoilers so that they could use the ailerons in reverse as the sole means of roll control. Of course they would need to know that this was an issue and it would still leave them flying with the roll axis inverted. All that said I think the pilots did an amazing job in terms of the flying.
If I recall correctly, that's kind of how they got a little bit of control back. Not really disabling anything, but they figured out that one of the systems (probably the spoilers?) were slightly delayed compared to the other, so by only making minor movements they only activated one of the control surfaces instead of both.
As a non pilot, non airplane mechanic, but an auto mechanic for 22 years and someone who loves all things aviation, I can see how this happened, because there is another video about a very similar problem on another plane I watched a few days ago. If the mechanic on the ground isn’t very smart and knowledgeable, it would be so easy for him to command left turn, the mechanic in the cockpit turns left. Mechanic sees the left side move in either direction, and call it good. Same on the right. He would not realize they could possibly install the cables backwards, so he doesn’t register that the input is opposite reaction. Just that it moved as it’s supposed to. I’d think that them moving opposite of the inboard flight control surface would be a giveaway. Maybe the inboard control surfaces are hydraulic? So they didn’t move during a static test? Just a thought.
GRATE Presentation and very interesting and engaging. However a lot of the shots are of an A.320!
Actually, I see a lot of A321s, which is considerably bigger aircraft than the E190! But yes, some A320s too!
Narration is improving a lot, it is more clear and smooth 👍
Your explanations for a layman are phenomenal, bravo!
One of my favorite videos yet! Awesome job!
You mean to tell me that at no time, NOBODY did step 1 of flight control maintenance certification? Whenever primary or secondary flight controls are disturbed, an independent qualified tech needs to call the person in the cockpit and (in this case) call for ‘Left wing down’ the person turns the yoke to the left and the inspector should physically see the L/H aileron move up, along with the spoilers. In this maintenance error, the aileron would have moved down. This is a major red flag for this maintenance company. They are being rushed to the point that they are not doing the simplest of safety checks in order to save time. Lessons written in blood here. This time they got lucky.
This just emphasizes that preflight checking the control surfaces is important. But in most of the big irons, the ailerons aren't real easy to see unless you crane your head out the slider. Good that they got it down.
I will probably never get involved in aviation, at least not until retirement lol, but your videos are really interesting!
In the automotive sector, poke-yoking a system (ensuring it can only be installed one way) is a cardinal rule. If a problem isn't caught in the design phase, it's caught during the prototype builds. How a critical directional system in aerospace was allowed to use this design is absurd.
Keyed connectors would help. I can think of several different options for making connectors that only work one way. Some more practical than others, but it is possible.
I'm kinda amazed that the plane survived long enough to land. With all of those excessive loads I wouldn't have been surprised if it broke up in flight
Great vlog as always! This just confirms my suspition of airplanes that are ready to be put back into service. Countless accidents and incidentes because of a sloppy job or jobs. The same was also the case before we got the simulator. Flying to practice an engine fire has resulted in the loss of the aircraft and crew. The maintenance guys should also have their own sims to practice on.
Seems to me; that a normal preflight inspection, and presumably a more thorough one after such maintenance, would have noticed that the ailerons were working the wrong way. I also find it interesting that they were switching from stainless steel to carbon steel cables. This is definitely a step backwards.
My guess is that even when they did their preflight checks, they snuck in some shortcuts born from experience. For example, in this situation the roll spoilers were working fine, so maybe they just looked at those. Alternatively, it could be that while still on the ground, the ailerons could move just fine, but that the person checking didn't realize they moved in the wrong direction because they only looked for movement. Or the source might be even more human! In the case they might have realized it was going in the wrong direction, it could have been a matter of miscommunication: aileron down means that wing goes up, and vice versa. Simple speech might not specify what is intended to go up or down. In a similar vein, the checklist might prescribe a certain order of testing (for example ailerons up first, down second), but the person checking may have thought the change was just a colleague keeping a boring checklist engaging by switching things up.
There are a lot of ways for this specific kind of inversion error to be miscommunicated because its is so much more insidious of a mistake than something simply being broken. As humans, we tend to see what we expect or want to see. There are ways for things to break that just shortcircuit all of our common sense: what kind of idiot would switch those cables around?! With all the advanced technology that is in play, it is really easy to assume that an error is in the more complicated equipment, especially when the symptoms do not match any previous experiences with the more basic equipment. It is a lot easier to assume that a transistor broke up and some electronics were activating that shouldn't.
Come on guys , Even als a PPL even before you startup your aircraft you check your flightcontrols for full freedom and visualy outside for correct movement.
On modern aircrafts you can check this visualy on the EICAM , ECAM or whatever system your aircraft has (Ambraer 190 has EICAM like Boeing).
Furthermore the maintenance crew apperently gave the aircraft free without even doing the same check. It's like replacing the tires on your car and not even checking if it looks like they are not flat..
They never should even have started up the engines.
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Excelent video again... and indeed great flying skills.
Completely incredible great channel.
Stick left, left side up, stick right, right side up. Basics are important kids! On a more sombre note, it was probably extremely lucky that the the flight spoilers were there counteracting the aileron inputs, I think it's extremely unlikely that they would have been able to recognise the error and correct it at low altitude if they had attempted to make even the slightest turn. It would have taken only seconds for them to totally invert and crash.
In April 1978 I took PanAm flight 73 from Frankfurt to JFK, NYC. Minutes after takeoff the lights went out. Then the climate control went out as well. A steward (or flight crew member) went toward the back of the cabin with a fire extinguisher. Then another person went aft with another extinguisher. It got cold fast!
Within 5-10 minutes everything came back on. Throughout the incident no communication from the cockpit. We eventually landed safely at JFK, in NYC.
Had we had to go back and land we'd first have gone over the ocean and dump fuel. I didn't know that at the time.
You know the flight is so rough when an experienced pilot gets so exhausted from struggling with the plane that the copilot has to take control. Extended amount of 5gs on the body can take a toll on the body, its the same as riding a rollercoaster. I'm amazing how it got on the ground without breaking apart.
Shout out to those pilots
Surely, colour coded cables, cable runs and attachment points would have avoided any such mistakes.
Excellent breakdown of this incredible event! We can only imagine the horrible ordeal those pilots went through to control their plane. Roll spoilers and ailerons working against each other? How confusing it must have been! I suppose their only recourse was to "freeze" the ailerons and control roll with rudder and differential thrust. It's a miracle that they survived.
RC planes are checked by pilots to see if the servos aren't reversed so they won't crash on a first flight, but a real plane carrying people is not checked if the controller and control surfaces movement match after making a major maintenance?
Brazilian aircraft, maintenance in Portugal. Linguistic and cultural affinity at play.