CHAOS in the cockpit. What went wrong?? Birgenair 301 

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One indicator was reading over 300 knots, the other was indicating 200, as well as the backup indicator. Which one was correct? Maybe the one that wasn't confirmed to be malfunctioning during takeoff?

This is one of the most infuriating flight accidents I've seen. It's hard to find excuses for those three in the cockpit. Their stupidity and complete incompetence cost them and all those people their lives.

It's so sad knowing how easily this accident could've been avoided only if the captain did his checks and don't have so much of an ego and listened to his co pilots

Such an incredibly preventable crash.

This is the best flight accident channel in RU-vid. The patient, calm explanation of everything, the background and the level of research is superb! Well done!

It's incredible that all it took is 1 indicator to malfunction to bring the entire plane down, despite being other working indicators ...

24000 flight hours and the captain doesn't know the basics of flying, its just amazing

Rule #1 - When instruments aren't working, ABORT take-off. "No delays" are not worth the lives of all onboard.

I used to live in Puerto Plata back then. Friends of ours were on the beach and saw the crash, later we found out that neighbors of ours were on that plane. This crash caused me to develope a severe fear of flying - after moving back to europe I never stepped on a plane again for about 20 years. I dreamed about plane crashes on the regular basis, at least once a month. I'm trying to understand this particular crash in order to overcome my fear and this video is helping a lot with that. Unlike the "Mayday" video this is pointing out the known facts in a very calm manner. Thank you!

Insects in the pitot tube are a fact. I'm a pilot, a few years ago two friends and I flew a Cessna around Australia. We stopped for a few days on the far north coast and when we took off we discovered we had no airspeed indication. After we landed we discovered a wasp had built a nest in the pitot tube. Exciting addition to the trip!

The crew's actions were beyond incompetence. They obviously did not understand the basic systems and essentially ignored the plane's last warning to them about the stall. This is criminal.

Souns like a culrtual thing going on there where younger pilots are unwilling to challenge the senior pilot, it's happened in Korean and other aitlines. One of the pilots was aware of the issue as he kept shouting ADI but the captain ignored it. A sad and preventable accident.

Incompetence leads to chaos, chaos leads to suffering. By the way, that incompetence already started on the ground when pitot tube covers were not installed.

It's frightening how such a small thing can cause a crash.

How do you get that confused? A minute and 30 seconds ago, you previously both established on the ground that your ASI clearly wasn't working, and that in the air, the overspeed and mach warnings were wrong. Even after so, he still *pulled the thrust levers back!* Even his way less experienced colleagues recognized the situation before he did!

Pitot tubes should have a system that blows high-pressure air out of the tube before flight to ensure that there isn't a clog. That would also blow off any tube covers that a crew might have forgotten, or blow a hole in the tape that brought down another flight.

Wow. This is beyond incredible. As soon as you said the plane was sitting on the ground for 20 days, I thought...I hope the pitot tubes were covered! That aside, this was not even a complicated or stressful situation to manage, and yet the "experienced" captain managed to find a way to FUBAR it. I always say the doctor graduating first in their class and the one graduating last, both have MD behind their names.

Sometimes I watch your videos and my eyes just widen and jaw clenches. How. HOW are THREE professional pilots so BLIND?!

I just binged all your videos over the course of the past week and what can I say.. the information you provide is of incredible depth. Yet, your style of presentation and the immaculate visuals make it easy to follow. I started watching mentour a few weeks ago and this is about everything I had to do with aviation so far. However, these videos make it so easy to really get into it. Good job man, keep doing what you are doing! I am super hyped for new content:)

utter incompetence resulting in the deaths of 189 - tragically sad

How did 3 pilots not simply look at their Attitude Indicator and ADI (RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM) to see their angle was up? This is beyond negligent.

Wow. Imagine an insect combined with the crew's chaotic problem solving skills killed 189 people. How did the captain became a captain at all?

A 757 with 2/3/2 seat layout cabin? Amazing! ;)

You’re really good at story telling and setting the scene. The videos are informative and I appreciate the level of detail you go into, allowing someone like myself with no physics or aviation background to follow along and understand.

(1) Captain, do you know why the stick is shaking? No (2) Captain, do you know why the plane is stalling? No (3) Captain, do you know why the computer says, terrain pull up? No (4) Captain, do you know why there are three pilots? No

I agree with other comments, your calm explanation in detail of the circumstances helps viewers with no flight knowledge have a better understanding

Really just need to binge like 50 of these before my flight tomorrow morning right

You should cover the Malaysia Airlines A330 in Brisbane that left with pitot tubes covered just a few years ago. Pilots used technology to help get them to land (Back Up Speed Scale)

This is another example of how experience doesn't guarantee competence

There must be something psychological about unreliable airspeed conditions that really messes with pilots. Over a decade later, Air France 447 was brought down by the exact same panic and confusion following an unreliable airspeed condition.

I remember when I started the theory lessons for my glider licence. The very first lesson I think, was about how pitot tubes work, and how a clogged pitot tube would work!! This is mind boggling!!:(

It's so odd. It's like they randomly forgot the backup instruments.

Your presentation of this and similar events is so captivating. Think the background music really adds to it as well like at 9:39. May our overlord the RU-vid algorithm be kind and promote this channel!

Similar to AF447 13 years later. They forgot about basic aerodynamics for lift, and panicked.

Having once flown with the Turkish airline "Onur Air" nothing that happened in that cockpit would surprise me in the least. What caused this accident was sheer incompetence.

Thanks for another great video! This one feels especially tragic. No matter how many instrument redundancies are installed, they are only as good as the crew’s trust of them. I like how you explain exactly what happened and defined some terms (CRM) just in case it’s somebody’s first time watching. I also really like how you list the safety changes that were made as a result of the accident, I will be using this information for a research project. I hadn’t heard of this flight although I have heard of others with the pitoh tubes. As always very informative, concise and thorough video.

I binge watched all of your videos over the past week. Super happy to see a new one! Keep up the great work!

These videos are so addictive and captivating I find myself rewatching videos I've already seen. I've learned so much by the clear narration and simple breakdown of aviation systems. Thank you ❤.

I love those sim reenactments, those 15° pitch up in the ADI without any significant change in altitude made me nervouse just by watching. Great work, love this channel

Congrats on 200k, Fantastic videos, I love the flight sim and ur voice isn’t annoying like other peoples. Well done 🎉

Years ago flying a small plane, a Cessna 182, with my instructor we had a pitot tube block. It was due to ice in the tube which happened after a heavy rain was followed by a drop in the air temperature overnight as a front came through. The day was cold bright and sunny and the walk around did not show any ice on the plane. We had vfr conditions and were able to return to the airport safely. I developed the habit of blowing into the pitot tube after that

I am a Turk and there is nothing sadder than understanding those audio recordings.

I'm not sure I'll ever want to fly during the night and over an ocean, ever again. 😭

Thank you for your productions. I've binged them all in a few days.

Another truly excellent account of a tragic accident. It's also a great teaching experience. Thank you once again.

This was the best English I have ever hears without caption I understood all,by the way I love the the accent 😍

The B757 is a narrow bodied single isled aircraft, not dual.

This story is almost as good as the captain pilot who thought it was a good idea to pull out two circuit breakers from an import system in the middle of flight at 33,000 feet… Oh wait

Yesterday I watched one of your videos that mentioned that insect covering the tubes, and now I’m seeing this and how much it can affect everything. Weird how no one noticed that problem at all,and that a so experienced pilot with a perfectly fly able aircraft couldn’t avoid it. Rip to all those people

Best channel for aviation by far 💎

I thoroughly enjoy your videos. Great quality always.

Your videos are the best man! I love watching these before I go to bed... idk why but it helps me sleep, you just have a soothing voice :)

We have a small mud wasp in Australia which builds its nest in any small gaps or holes during the warmer months of the year. It catches small spiders, paralyses them and entombs them along with wasp eggs in a chamber constructed within the mud - the spiders then becoming food for the newly hatched wasps. I have on numerous occasions gone to start a brushcutter or mower only to have it refuse to start. Experience has taught me to check things like exhaust outlets or air filter boxes. It's surprising, but true, that these insects can pack enough mud into the exhaust outlet of a small petrol engine to prevent it starting. And just because you checked yesterday doesn't mean that it isn't clogged today. They are very fast and tireless workers. I imagine that such an insect could render a pitot tube utterly useless in about half an hour.

Yes very good clear and to the point with no long boring adds .

I didn't expect new episode to drop on Sunday's evening, but I would lie if I'd say I'm not going to watch it right away. :P I'm already familiar with this disaster, but I would love to get to know your perspective. Thank you

love green dot aviations videos.. amazing content. your channel will grow fast. i hope nothing but success for you friend

Thank you for the high level details and beautiful presentation 👌

This is the 3rd to 4th video about crashes dealing with pitot tubes, if I ever fly again I’m going to ask if I can do preflight walk around or ask the captain if the tubes are uncovered and clear.

Okay, I'm not the most avid aviator in the world, but I DO love my experimentals... (ultralights for those who aren't sure)... AND I have to point something out (and a question involved)... I've worked on and with a LOT of engines. Under a given load, I've NEVER seen an engine that didn't have a consistent output. That means, wherever you set the throttle for a specific speed one day, it's going to be the same (or VERY close to it) on any other day or time under the same load... In the experimentals, at least, most seasoned pilots could tell you if you've got an issue, just by the throttle setting and air-speed indicated... Say, 80% throttle, and you're doing 60 knots, they KNOW you've got trouble. If it's "running rough" they can even diagnose that, practically on the spot. "Oh... backfires and misses... You're either out of gas, or the fuel lines are clogged." Things like that... SO the question... Is it really THAT big a trick to LOOK down at the throttles for whatever the autopilot's doing and then match to the air-speed indicated and say, "Yeah, that makes sense." OR "Nope, this one's busted, too. That CAN'T be right." Look, I'm not about bashing the people involved. I think the FAA and NTSB (among others, et al) have done enough analyzing... I'm interested in a clever detail to think about while you or anyone is aspiring to be a pilot or to improve yourself AS a pilot. Maybe take some time and occasionally STUDY those throttle positions as they associate to the actual speed of the airplane. Then if something weird, like this, happens, you have an easy, quick, personal check you can do that will lend acknowledgement to what the issue actually is, almost instantly... If you're throttles slip back under the autopilot to 30% and the speedo' keeps insisting that you're going 280 to 300 knots (or something ridiculous) you can grimace and say, "Welp, this one's FUBAR, Cap'. You got a good airspeed over there?" AND get into the QRH, and start on those procedures and check-lists, rather than scratching heads and butts and wondering if the aliens have finally hacked into your plane's brains and took over... ;o)

Love your content I keep watching your videos over and over. Thank you and have a great day 😀😀

You do a fantastic job and the overall quality is very good. Thank you for your time. Also, thank you for making these at least a half hour long. Some rush through the content like they are making a late night infomercial. Any shorter, and there is too much missed. You aren't rushed and you get the information out there. Thanks again.

Wtf? Can't believe it. If I would be a pilot I would probably know every dial in and out in my aircraft and in that case even for me as a normal person it's absolutely trivial to compare the readings to the other sources of information, especially if the instrument already behaved wierd on the ground How can you trust such an instrument? Unbelievable. Very good video as always:)

Just subscribed, you narrative style is excellent, you explain everything in a clear and simple manner, so a lay person like me can understand , thank you !!!!!!😁🇬🇧

That captain was very lucky to survive 24000 hrs of flying. Sometimes experience makes people rigid and resistance to change

Absolutely love your videos! You have an excellent narrating voice, and explain the aviation terminology really well. 👍

I’ve binged all your videos! Great stuff

i was waiting for your video for so long. Please post more often, I really like your investigations.

Yes, but I remember hearing that pilots were later tested with this very same problem in flight simulators and many of them failed.

Green Dot Aviation brought another video to us. Hooray!

That was very well presented.

Congratulations on hitting 50k subs!!! 💛🎉 I guess now 58k 👀 A very nice video as always!

Good video. I thought I was familiar with this incident but in fact you've drawn my attention to the fact that only the Captain's ASI was defective. This makes it particularly perplexing. Presumably, his experience stopped the other 2 pilots being more assertive. Truly a gross CRM failure, the plane was perfectly flyable.

Ive flown out of this airport many times…thanks for telling this!

I visited Puerto Plata in 2006. They have a monument at the harbour/battery area. It has every single name of the passengers on that flight

Thank you for your videos😊

I'm not even a jet pilot and this is one of the most frustrating one of these videos I've seen.

RIP To the passengers and crew of Birgenair Flight 301

These stories are so heart breaking.

Nice. video, as always! Greetings from Bangkok Thailand

I’ve become addicted to these videos. So well done and entertaining., some so very sad, but entertaining

You do a great job with your videos. Your research and reporting is second to none. Glad to be a subscriber! ✅ Could they not have changed the settings for the AP to take its information from FO? What a completely unavoidable crash. I knew you would say it was an insect’s nest in the tubes.

Quoting the video, "If the airspeed gets too low, the airplane will fall out of the sky." I'm trying to put a positive spin (pun intended) on this and I can't think of anything to say except that's not true. To state it in simple terms (even though the phenomenon is not aerodynamically simple) an airspeed that is too low will cause the aircraft wings to stall. If no action is taken to recover from the stall, eventually the aircraft will crash. However, stall recovery is a crucial part of pilot training, even for beginner pilots. Proper procedures for stall recovery are practiced repeatedly. Rarely do stalls result in accidents and never do they simply cause an aircraft to "fall out of the sky."

Great videos!! Very addictive!! Thanks!!

wow, it's pretty similar to the airfrance crash in the Brazilian coast a few years ago.... interesting that even though a lot of things changed, a similar situation happened again

Great channel mate, I don’t usually like aviation videos of simulators but your narration makes it very enjoyable and informative. Thank you.

Love your vids!

Fair play to you. Always a great story teller. Thanks! Such a terrible pity that this flight went so awfully wrong. This is one of the most significant learning-events for any airline I've come across myself in my limited exposure to airline crashes. It's honestly upsetting! Hope that every pilot sees this vid, familiarises themselves with the content, and understands the impact of CRM and effective logical thinking and quick triage. I know that, 26 years later, things are better, but the main thing is responding appropriately under extreme real-world pressure.

Beautiful videos :D

Seen before, but always good to get another view. WASPS! It`s happened before and since- ground crew should take some responsibility, however the flight crew not only killed themselves, but also the PAX entrusted to their care. An evolving channel, always gets a `Like` before watching, and of course, SUBSCRIBED!

You make it,thanks!❤

@15:37, he describes the Pitot probes as sticking out and measureing airspeed. It is not that simple. Airspeed is actually a difference in pressure between the pitot probe and the static port. The static port is simply the pressure at the given altitude and what is used to indicate altitude. The Air Data computer also has a correction called SSEC (Static source error correction), it is a calibration that takes into account the angle of the pitot probe and the angles of the fuselage that affect airflow into it. So the reason the blocked pitot port gives a reading at all, is because when the bug blocked th pitot tube, the ground level pressure got locked into the pitot probe (approximately 14.7 PSI). As the aircraft ascends, the static pressure goes lower and lower. So now the difference in static and pitot pressure gets higher, giving airspeed indication. But also at the same time, the SSEC correction is also doing its thing and also affecting the airspeed reading. As the announcer said, this should have been a very basic troubeshooting by comparing all 3 indications and throwing out the one that was different.

The part where the captain compared his faulty instruments with those of the first officer and declared that "both of them are wrong" infuriated me. How did he come to that conclusion when he didn't even bother to check all the other indicators in the cockpit? A gut reaction? It's not like he could have known that from prior experience... The captain was probably aware of all the flying experience he'd amassed and fancied himself the finest aviator in the world, when in reality he was only extremely lucky up to that point and was grossly unprepared for an emergency...

Hearing the cockpit voice recording in my native language was really haunting.. Those people were completely confused and terrified. Very sad.

I would have put a little panel indicating all 5 speeds at the same place and add in the check list for those issue to use it to check the speed.

Similar one to Aeroperu 603. Both pito tube failures which lead to disaster. Similar crashes need similarly excellent videos. This is the result.

god what a disaster

3 degrees pitch up and proper engine thrust...it's a Bonin.

One of the most important aspects of a good pilot is a clear head and the ability to think quickly and rationally under pressure, and of course experience and training. However at night when the computer or other systems malfunction, as systems are want to do, it is the ability of the pilot to remain calm and think logically that makes the difference. Here for what ever reason, the Captain could not do that. This could be for any number of reasons such as a head cold, allergies, loss of cognitive ability from age or other causes, alcohol or other drugs, or just not having that ability to begin with. We will never know what precipitated the Captain's confusion and slow witted actions, but this is a perfect example of how deadly poor decision making can be in a modern aircraft. Also at some point one of the other pilots should have just taken over and made themselves heard. But do not forget the first mistake which was not to abort the takeoff when the speed indicator was not working and the failure to follow other check lists. The series of blunders that eventually led to a situation that required clear thinking was seriously negligent. 🌵🌵🌵

Very unfortunate. Rest in peace ❤️🌹