Do you know what could be the purpose to build a mound (embankment) at the end of runway in Muan airport where 737 crashed yesterday? On this embankment they positioned the approach lights. But why build such immense structure ? If it wasn't there, the plane probably would stop on the grass few hundred meters away.
I knew the pilot of ET 302, met him many times. One day, I was standing at the forward galley, asking for water, before we took off. A man exited the cockpit, and looked like he couldnt be more than 22 years old. He told me he was the pilot, of course I was shocked. he was kind, gracious, humble man. From time to time, we would see each other in Addis Airport, and I flew with him again, and used to jokingly call him, ''my son.'' The Ethiopians are such kind, humble people. May Yared Getachew rest in peace
Yes, exactly - and that has to be taken to notice when judging about the performance of the pilots. They did the very best possible in their situation, but this situation was simply overwhelming and they had no chance for winning the battle of their life.
It took a lot longer than 6 minutes for investigators to find out what happened. If you have to choose 1 first (which was a choice the pilots had) then they needed to re-gain control before working out what was going on.
I am a cabin crew and I was flying in MAX in between those two accidents. I wasn't (and many of my colleagues) too happy about it because a) we were primarily on airbus and b) the Lion Air accident wasn't really solved in my opinion. So when I was scheduled on MAX flight, after the briefing I asked our captain what did he think about the accident and MAX and he said and I'm quoting: "It was a crew mistake, we are better trained, so don't worry about it." Two days later this accident happened and they grounded MAX's and I'm not kidding when I say every single one of my collegues (possibly all over the world) had the same thought: This could've been me.
It's sounds arrogant to say we're better trained. If the pilots were from developed countries like from USA or UK, I kind of doubted if they will save those 2 max planes.
@@andikardian9014 Yeah, that's the point. They weren't and they aren't better trained. But that was the thinking at the time, that Lion Air just had incompetent pilots when it fact it was a ticking time bomb and pulling a short stick.
@@andikardian9014 it does sound arrogant, but bear in the mind that the media and Boeing pushed this narrative back then, "everybody" thought that not only 1st world pilots
I bet that to this day he still remembers what he told you. I think that he really believed that, so it must have been a shock when he understood the truth
As an Ethiopian, I can say that Ethiopian Airlines is more than just an organization for many of us-it’s a symbol of national pride and achievement. The crash was a devastating event for the entire country, and it struck especially close to home as my town was nearest to the crash site. I’d like to say እናመሰግናለን [inameseginalen](Thank you) to Petter for providing such high-quality content as always.
If the pilot in this video is any indication of the skill and courage of the rest of your pilots then your national honor was only increased by this sad incident. All blame accrues to Boeing.
Don't be fooled by Boeing fan boy. He is paid by Boeing to deflect blame away from Boeing. Your pilot did a great job, but this guy is paid to defend Boeing and pass the blame to him.
"Looks like Boeing may have just killed another ~175 people, but on the other hand, doing something about it might be bad for the shareholders" re the latest flight disaster Jeju Air South Korea. Don't fall for this nonsense, he is paid well by Boeing to produce videos saying this stuff!!
@@supremelord8605 idk, but it's been consistent over all these crashes, the pilots do not really trim up more than 1-2 seconds. I'm no pilot so I hope someone can chime in, but what I get from these videos is that it's highly irregular to trim more than just a few seconds, so the assumption is "trim button is not working"
The stabilizer is very powerful, and therefore large, sudden movements of it can easily induce an upset (as we see at the end of this very video!). Therefore, pilots are trained to use their trim buttons only in extreme moderation. It would go against everything he had been taught about trimming for the captain to jam his finger onto “nose-up” and leave it there for twenty seconds. Given a little more time or fewer distractions, it’s *possible* that he could have realized that this was necessary. But while acting on instinct and habit, it’s just not something pilots do.
@@supremelord8605 well you have to take into account the situation they were in. SO many things were happening at once and they likely didn't even understand at the time that the Electrical trim input that they were inputting did basically nothing because MCAS was way more powerful and faster. They technically would have needed to trim for tens of seconds for anything to change in the trim but then again, MCAS would just come back and change it back to worse.
Not often I get full on chills down my back during a youtube video, but as a 29 year old guy in aviation - just imagining what that captain was going through and how helpless the entire situation must have felt made me tear up after the impact. Incredible storytelling and a phenomenal breakdown as always, thank you for all you do.
All they needed was a simple switch, MCAS on or off. As well as avoiding the accidents, pilots would most likely only used MCAS until they got used to the slightly different characteristics of the revised aircraft. Calling Boeing a bunch of clowns is an understatement. I wonder whether the designer of MCAS had designed anything more than computer games in the past, where the reset button gave him another life. If it was not so sad, it would be funny. If I was a cartoonist, there would be a series of cartoons, "Boeing's flying circus".
The flight that crashed Boeing. Those poor pilots, literally fighting the aircraft and figuratively fighting Boeing's systematic cost-cutting policy. This is really heart-breaking.
Worst part is: no one is going to prison for this, Boeing only needs to pay some fine. There really need to be reforms to corporate law, so that management / executives are personally liable for a company's actions.
This was one of the most covered accidents in the last decades for sure and yet this video gave so much more insight on it. I was always under the impression that using the stab trim cutout switches would've been the solution that would've solved everything. My heart sank when you explained the impossible physical forces needed to do it manually under these unforeseeable circumstances. Thank you for the incredible work!
I was thinking the exact same thing, i remember shortly after the accident an airline pilot posted a video of how to use the stab trim cutout switches in the event of MCAS failure.
What i find odd about the stam trim cutout switches in off position is then no trimming is possible, making a down trim situation incorrectable...all very complicated!
@ I probably have to watch the video again but from what I gather the pilots were exhausted physically from pulling on the yolk with 90lbs of pressure, hindsight is 20/20 but while both were pulling back a third person such a as a flight attendant could have turned the trim wheel.
I fly f16 out of nellis. I'm close to my retirement and have offers with most of the main airlines... I've watched your videos now for a few years and must say you definitely have the most informative detailed content on every single major event in recent aviation history. Going from having responsibility for two lives to 400 is a big change. One of the main things that I've taken from watching your videos is most of the time it doesn't matter how much experience a pilot has, a lot of this just sneaks up on you and there's nothing you can do. Those of us that have wings and live in the clouds feel invincible anyway. Keep up the good work
Outstanding work, Petter! Netflix can't hold a candle to your explanation of the 737MAX/ MCAS and what happened with Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes. It's refreshing to see a social media outlet report the facts, causes, remedies, and outcome without any sort or rhetoric or sensationalism. This truly pays the proper respect and tribute for the loss of life. Keep up the great work! PS...your "didn't notice" is very effective in illustrating human behavior of missing items when focused on the primary function at hand....in this case, flying the plane with myriad distractions. That puts things in very clear perspective for the non-aviator. Excellent tool!
He literally lied though. He has a political objective with his video because those who made the plane and flew the plane were brown. I’m past the point of just having fun making fun of people like you now and really wonder for the future of our kids if you’re going to do this every single time.
As a programmer, the fact that the computer systems didn’t immediately disable MCAS, the autopilot, and the stick shaker as well as all the safety protections when the AOA sensor disagree malfunction happened is baffling. If the sensors don’t agree then all of those systems aren’t just useless, they’re dangerous. So many of these accidents are caused by automation taking cues from faulty sensors. It shouldn’t be completely on the pilots to decide what to do in a vague situation like this while simultaneously trying to figure out which systems have gone wrong. At the first moment of disagreement, have all automations shut off and have “direct law” to use airbus speak, apply. Manual controls only for all systems. An aircraft taking all automation away is less scary than a phantom problem that cannot be diagnosed while the aircraft is moving weirdly
I work in the Oil & Gas and chemicals industries and worked with the control and emergency shutdown systems used. All ESD systems use 2 out of 3 voting for sensor inputs; control and ESD systems can detect when signals are out of range and flag them as faulty; the development of smart sensors that can diagnose faults; operators are able to over-ride faulty signals. This means the control and safety systems remain functional when there are sensor failures.
But there's only one sensor active at a time. The algorithm alternates on different flights. So there's nothing to disagree with, unless you mean that the program should disable MCAS if the sensor gives a nonsense reading. Another fatal flaw is that the program had no limit to how far and how long it would command the stabilizer trim to keep going until it reached obviously deadly nose down angles. Just a dumbfounding program. Unbelievably dangerous.
I have the same background and commented basically the same thing when Petter released his first videos on this a couple of years ago. In critical systems like this, 2 is 1, 1 is none. Of course, an airplane manufacturer like Boeing knows this, which made it even more baffling.. However, in lieu of the revelations of questionable quality control etc. throughout the organization which has come to light since then, it doesn’t really surprise as much. It’s a cultural thing that runs deep and will be extremely hard to change - I honestly doubt they’ll be able to do so, but I guess time will tell..
with the recent series of plane crashes, i've been getting nervous for the 4 back-to-back flights i'm taking next week, but for some reason watching this channel makes me feel calmer. as horrible as these incidents are, the fact that they're learned from is comforting. thank you for all you do petter
Plane crashes do happen but you need to take statistics into account before you decide whether it is too big risk to take. You take risks no matter how you travel, priority should be about minimizing it. Safe travels
@@KarminsLynn so true! i'm heading from australia to northern USA so my only option is to fly, but it's been comforting to remember how much safer planes are than cars statistically
I used to watch Air Crash Investigations/Black Box because i was interested in the mechanics of investigating ait disasters etc. The only thing i didn't like was the sensationalising they did. Your videos from a pilot manage to give the details without being dry. You are doing a lot of good work here petter and i've been watching since the very start. Keep up the sterling work and Happy New Year!
Same! me and my mum were avid ACI watchers, but since finding MP I can't stand the overdramatization of the incidents, I'd rather have the clear facts in order without being thrown back and forth in timeframes like they used to in ACI and Seconds from Disaster.
@mitchyk sadly I think a large demographic of television watchers prefer the drama of a story rather than the details. So the programs are designed for them.
@@mitchyk they need to do it for the network to pick their show. I personally enjoyed watching ACI. While being more of a dramatization, it was by far the most informative compared to the rest of the documentary. Also, the main reason for the popularity of ACI genre on TH-cam is due to the success of Natgeo's ACI. I have asked my colleagues and friends, they all state the reason they watch this genre on youtube is because of their familiarity with Natgeo's ACI. As bad/good as it was, it clearly paved way to amazing content like this.
one of the things that always gets me, is that they are obviously getting the “too low, terrain” warning, but not a single person at boeing thought to tie that into MCAS and make sure that it stopped pitching down if it sensed that the aircraft was too low. like I get that it was often used at takeoff when the altitudes were already low, but I feel like if you already have the radar and positioning sensors that can warn you about altitude, it shouldn’t be that hard to write a line of code in the MCAS that would disable it in the case of another one of those warnings. seems like a “terrain” (i.e. you’re about to crash the goddamn plane) warning should supersede any of the other automated systems that may be providing pitch down input… it also makes my blood boil that MCAS was literally only supposed to provide simuLATED YOLK FORCE so the aircraft “felt” like the old 737s to handle. at what point does it make ANY sense to give a system designed simply to *make a pilot feel more comfortable* the ability to catastrophically control the aircraft, ESPECIALLY when its signals are based on a single point failure ?!? like good lord… I work in aerospace & defense for a direct competitor to boeing, and there are DOZENS of levels of checks & balances to ensure that no mission-critical function can ever operate on a single point failure. I’m so heartbroken for what all these pilots, passengers, and crew had to deal with because of boeing’s greed, ignorance, and megalomania.
Exactly! I'm sitting here thinking, "You didn't code in altitude failsafes... why?" Or consider that the only/most likely reason a pilot would be flying manually outside a certain distance from ground would be a failure of automatic systems *which would mean co-indications that would hamper fault diagnosis*??
My friend Max died in that crash… It is still so raw. This is the first time I actually will listen to anything related to it… Everything else was always sensationalism until now…
These two MCAS videos are the best thing I have ever watched on this issue - so much for the whole industry to learn from. Very professional work from you, Petter, and your team. Many thanks - Paul
Wow, request for pilot training is "dangerous" precedent, but a system that can fly an aircraft full of people into an ocean is not dangerous enough to mention in the manual? Guess "dangerous for profits" is more important than "dangerous for human life".
Exactly, even after getting such a great presentation of all the technical facts my mind only goes to the fact that Boeing ignores any common sense as long as it will increase their profits, safety be damned.
For a company of this size, human lives are nothing but a resource like gas, oil, electricity, metals, machines. All we can is accept this fact and accept that some lives will be sactificed and there's no way around it.
As an airline Captain approaching retirement, after nearly 20,000 flying hours, I fully understand the operational requirements, tasks, and actions these two men were faced with. The extreme challenges encountered by this crew were completely unexpected, strikingly tangible and deeply relatable. By the end of the video, I was physically nauseated and emotionally drained. I can't think of a better testament to the exceptional quality and realism of this presentation. I would say “kudos”, if it was not an understatement.
This video had the same agitating effect on me. Other videos have deeply moved me, but here it really was a combination of (a) extremely heavy pulling, (b) a battle they could not win, and (c) pure despise against those at Boeing responsible for continuing to keep the truth under wraps after the deadly warning of the Lion Air disaster. They never faced persecution. May it be a heavy yolk pulling at them for the rest of their lives for the sake of the passengers and crew whose deaths they could have prevented.
Truly sickening actions by Boeing, in the end the simulator ended up mandatory, the system was super faulty when released to the public and after a truly horrible accident to shift the blame to the airline and pilots, just despicable. After two horrible tragedies maybe the 737 Max is super safe, but it shouldn't have taken this many lives to figure it out, mostly when it's plain and obvious they were cutting corners at every turn@@Eddyspeeder
Petter, these are two of the best videos you've done. As an engineer it reminds you that whatever you're working on, the first 90% of the work is designing it to do all the things you know it needs to do. And the second 90% of the work is, "Okay now let's try to sniff out everything we haven't considered." And that's hard! To get out of your own bubble of "confirmation bias" that you've thought through everything. Super important to have outside perspective for those, "Well what happens if..." situations.
You know it was a huge tragedy when one local, very hated, politician from my country received unanimous support and condolences from everyone after losing wife and 2 kids in that plane.
This is probably one of the more heartbreaking crashes. The pilots were so young, yet showed great airmanship and tried to keep the plane in the air for as long as they could. RIP to them, crew and passengers.
I knew several people on this flight, and it was absolutely heartbreaking. Thirty-two of my fellow countrymen lost their lives that day. The pain and loss are unimaginable, and it’s something that will stay with us forever. May they all rest in peace, and may their memories never be forgotten.
@@jt8273 Yeah I got that, but what does that mean and why was it so urgent to press it? Is it bad to crash the plane in the simulator? Can you rewind or change something and try again? I am just wondering why it was so urgent.
Important to remember everyone: "it only occurs with the autopilot disengaged" is not very reassuring when all these multiple failures usually cause the autopilot to disengage because the aircraft cannot rely on it's instrument's data to fly it safely
Hindsight is a truly wonderful thing. Anyone who thinks they could do better would never know until they're suddenly thrust into a situation unlike most have expected or experienced before.
tbf, all he had to do was trim. It was clear he realized at some point it was the altitude vein. All he had to do was trim with the joystick. But ya mcass was designed stupidly to begin with.
@@MentourPilot I'm not a pilot nor have I had any training. My "instinct" was to try something similar to the "roller coaster" maneuver. It just seemed like it MIGHT have a chance. Btw, I pressed that "red button" for you RIGHT AWAY.
I love how you always try and provide a justification or possible reason for the pilots actions. It can often be difficult to understand their situation but your justifications really make it clear just how stressful the situation must have been and so why they acted the way they did.
This so horrible. These were two young, talented pilots with glittering careers ahead of them. Edit: Lol, I'm sure race isn't why all the people below are triggered. Not at all.
I didn't think I would learn anything new after all your excellent previous videos, but your explanation that MCAS would trim down far faster than the pilots could trim up is truly disturbing.
The thing is the pilot trim switch would always override it anyway so it shouldn't matter but for one reason or another, training, muscle memory or whatever, they would just never do so more than a couple seconds. Far too little to counteract and usually not even in time to interrupt the MCAS input. With how it seems pilots actually use the trim system they should probably replace the switches with just a single button to set it to zero the yoke forces.
@TheAkashicTraveller literally trained from day one only to trim for a couple of seconds not bloody ten that would of been needed to stop MCAS, end of the day boeing knew it was a problem but just happy to leave it.
@@TheAkashicTravellerBeyond what the other guy said, having a "reset-to-zero" button might be problematic - or at least, said "zero" would need to be calculated prior to takeoff, since trim is also used to correct for the aircraft's loading being off-centre. In other words, resetting the horizontal stabiliser to the exact middle position is not _necessarily_ what you want. But I think it actually might be a good idea regardless; a reset button next to the override switches.
@@TheAkashicTraveller Yes, muscle memory failure. When automation confusion reigns go back to manually flying the plane, manually control the thrust levers for appropriate settings, disconnect auto pilot, level the plane with using trim until stick forces are reduced (not for two seconds). Too many of these incidents involve wrestling with the automation instead of switching it off.
This Max series is just a MASTERPIECE by you and your crew, Petter. Congratulations! This channel has gone from the best aviation channel to one of the best channels in YT as a whole. Magnificent job! 👏 👏 👏
I knew a UNICEF member in that flight, my father's coworker. I always called her Aunt Anne, she also lived in our apartment complex near the Khartoum Airport, departing on this very flight for a work meeting. That last week at had met her and I dont think at the time it had really registered to me what had happened, throughout that week until the day of her funeral. She was a really sweet individual, and for me it was one of the pivital moments that got me interested in the story behind aviation. Rest in peace aunty, and thank you for inspiring me. ❤ 20:35
I love the attention that you put into your videos, such as changing the background and the coffee mug to prove your point. Such a fantastic way to do that.
Started as an anxious flier many years back, now I watch as an intelligent flier with many trips under my belt. These videos are phenomenal and the entire team deserves so much recognition. I will continue to give credit to this channel when it comes to slaying my flight phobia - and I will also keep sending others like me to those early videos in hopes that they also get hooked and can watch incident analysis not in fear but genuine curiosity.
My son is a pilot and new training captain. Thank you for providing this great channel and information to remind pilots to stay calm and follow the checklist and not to take shortcuts. You help to keep us all safe. Have a great new year.
For me it seems like the obvious mission to promote the sale of the max as not needing any additional Sim training has resulted in the total loss of two aircraft and ultimately ended up with extra Sim training anyway. Such a tragic result for a cost saving plan that didn't work.
Never really had confidence on automated systems, after automatic transmission caused loss of torque by swapping bigger gear while drifting trough mirror ice covered corner and car slide on the snow bank. After that i have not bought or driven vehicle that has more than ABS brakes, cause i want to be one driving not the vehicle. Sudden change in the handling characteristics can easily disorientate even experienced driver and such assisting systems only erode drivers skills or worse never allow them to be created, taking them into far worse situation, witch point when these systems throw "error cant do shit anymore" driver has no feeling on what has or is happening, handling characteristics change due computer tilting and if they dont have experience on taking control back in such situation, there definitely is not enough time to learn there. Hence learn to drive with little as possible assisting systems and dont relay on them, while putting vehicle out of control in area where its safe to learn to take the control back with out danger to other, your self or the vehicle etc property. "ice" test training grounds you can forget if its not winter, since steel with oil in it is nowhere close to actual ice conditions btw. Also keep testing the capabilities of the vehicle over winter months like how good the traction you have from studded tires that are getting worn out, brakes etc so you are aware of the capabilities of the vehicle in different times. Given modern airliners, i would not make as pilot since my first though would be to pull breakers on all the automated crap and fly manually...
Thanks, Petter. I never really understood why either accidents weren't primarily caused by pilot error, but mostly by design issues. With the details and your own experience on the type that you shared, I now do.
One detail not mentioned is that switches in the base of the control column cutout the trim power when it was pulled back on all 737s as an intuitive safety fallback. They were deleted on the Max.
Wow. The whole time I was hoping they pilots would try manual trimming but didn't even think about how the forces would have prevented them. These pilots were clearly skilled and it's unfortunate that Boeing's decisions failed them, despite them fighting desperately until the end.
It's still strange that in all of these videos I have never heard it mentioned once that the pilots ever even looked at what the physical trim setting was. It also feels extremely strange that all of them would feel a massive force on the controls yet only trim for a very very short time. Sure, you could be thinking the electric trim may be broken, but then why the hell isn't your first instinct to actually look at what it's physically doing, if anything?
@@HenrikDanielsson Agreed. Also it's strange that towards the end, the captain made the conscious decision to reverse the stabilizer cutout switches, surely as a means towards using the electric trim again, but then once he had the electric trim operating once more he AGAIN only applied trim for what sounded like a very brief moment. Weird. As an aside, given that all flight control surfaces on the 737 are hydraulically actuated, what is the point of implementing yoke resistance to a point that would require superhuman strength to counteract? The yoke isn't directly acting on the flight controls. So strange.
@@somealias-zs1bw they 737 FCs are hydraulically actuated but linked with cables, only the rudder is not fully mechanically linked from the cockpit to the surface
"Would I travel on it as a passenger, now? Absolutely" I suspect there are many who were waiting to hear this from you. Thank you for a very informative video, Petter.
Based on what Boeing whistleblowers are saying a lot is about to unravel…. We will see, I believe that we are facing a false improvement, if it can be called that. But worst is about to come in some years from now. Unless they are lying, which I don’t think so. Especially at least 2 or 3 of them dying suspiciously…there is a lot that Boeing wants to keep in the dark room.
All those preventable deaths, and not one person who actively profited from the decisions that led to them went to jail. We have a two tiered justice system, one that prioritizes the wealthy at the expense of everyone else
Thank you for this greatly explained video. I am an Ethiopian and we are very proud of our world class airline. At the time of the accident my colleagues insinuated this was likely pilot error just because it was an African airline and I took it personally and argued this would likely be aircraft issue since our pilots receive rigorous training. As you pointed out the two pilots were fighting a losing battle with an erroneously designed system and in the end couldn’t avoid the tragedy. May God rest their souls and everyone onboard that lost their lives.
I'm am from Kenya, neighbouring country to Ethiopia. And as I watch this video today, the same day that another tragedy happened in South Korea, it's very horrifying!
@@juliemanarin4127without knowing the primary result why the landing gear was up: my guess is that the "spoiler arm"-switch was on "auto" and not "manual" and therefore waited to deploy the spoilers until the Sensors in the landing gear signaled a touchdown... thus the speed was never really reduced (by drag on the runway) and the rest... happened.😢
51:14 Why didn't they try trimming back as much as possible? Once they correctly identified trim as a problem, and decided to switch back to electric trimming since manual wasn't working, why not give it all they had? Were they under the impression that trim was completely stuck?
Because of something not said in today's thin-skinned world: They were in a panic. It's true that Boeing sent them a bad system which should never have gotten out the door. It's also true that they only needed to apply airmanship; fly the plane, then worry about which checklist applies when. Pitch, power, airspeed, altitude. And do notice that big noisy trim wheel by your knee. To fly the plane, PF needed only to use manual electric trim right at his thumb to trim out the stick force, something a 737 pilot does intuitively. After trimming out so the stick doesn't feel like it's pulling his arms off he needs only to notice "This buggered thing was trying to kill me!" and kill power to buggered thing (the trim motor). After that point maybe he'd realize he was in a near 100 knot overspeed, he's using way too much thrust as is much too low. Then set a reasonable pitch, power and airspeed, climb to far above MSA, call in a mayday, circle in a hold and have a think. Instead, they panicked.
Those poor pilots weren't just dealing with one problem. In their minds they were facing many seemingly unrelated problems and then to have a system that is constantly undoing what you are trying to correct is crazy.
Added to the fact of being only 1500 ft above the ground 😣 that adds another layer of pressure. It’s the imminent doom of being too close to the ground, any wrong action can result in a crash in just a couple of seconds. Altitude and airspeed are the pilot’s best allies.
Thank you for the video. A colleague of mine was on this flight; he was a former Protestant pastor and environmental activist who passed away. Especially in such a sad context, it feels good to see the video and hear your explanations. I like your videos so much that I’m now considering getting a single-piston engine pilot's license! Thank you and Happy New Year!
What really killed them? Earlier 737 planes had those tow switches; one disconnected just the autopilot. This switch would have killed MCAS and left the pickle switches working. The ability to shut out just the autopilot was removed during a re-design. The first plan was to eliminate the switch that did this function. But the FAA and operators would be freaked if the new "just the same" plane had a switch gone, might even had them investigate the repercussions of this removal. So, instead, we wired the two switches in series, a backup switch in case the first one failed (never happened, never will). And that is how we killed these people.
A very important design failure. Without the ability to use the powered stab trim via the pickle switches anyone with an MCAS failure below 10000 ft has no chance if recovery action delayed by startle factor. Manual trimming is impossible / useless once the stab angle has exceeded the correct trim setting by two degrees.
"Push the red button now" - the tone in his voice sent a shiver down my spine. I've listened to him talk for maybe hundreds of hours but the intensity/command authority of that sentence really got to me.
This was heart-breaking, just like so many others here have said. Even so, you handled and presented it as excellently as ever. I especially appreciated you creating these two back-to-back as it allowed even my memory-impaired brain to remember most of the relevant details. The efforts of the pilots to physically hold that plane in the air by brute strength were phenomenal. 6 minutes doesn't sound like a lot, but 6 minutes of trying to haul on over 40kg, all while communicating, trouble shooting, trying to operate equally unyielding systems... It must have been awful. And then to know that their only, miniscule chance was to turn MCAS back on, despite knowing what would happen.... Terrible
Even with MCAS aside, it seems to me really weird that one faulty sensor is allowed to cause such a mayhem in the cockpit. Stick shaker, faulty speed readings, faulty altitude readings etc. It causes such a stress and workload to pilot that it just creates perfect environment to cause even more errors and problems. Such a powerful point of failure should either rely on multiple sensors or at least detect the faulty sensor and disconnect it.
Thank-you Petter for another compelling, informative and high quality video and explanation into the heartbreaking Max 8 crashes. As a mechanical engineer and Project Manager in a completely unrelated field I find the cautionary tales on how unacceptable risks slip through “final” designs to be hugely instructive. Congratulations to you and your team on another amazing production. I have watched all of your videos, many of them multiple times!! Keep up the fantastic work!
@@TheOriginalCFA1979 I know Boeing hires hitmen, i didn't know they had a paid online supporter budget too edit: comment that was deleted said it was pilot error
I am certain that had a North American or European airliner crashed, they would have. There is a double standard regarding the loss of innocent life in the so called “global south.”
Love the (slightly underhand?) demonstration of inattentional blindness - nice touch! A bit like the saying in the movie industry: "Don't Tell - Show" - really helps drive the point home
@@srdjagunjicThe red button is the pause button, as they were losing control in the simulator and were about to crash. Obviously the real life pilots don’t have a pause button.
@@srdjagunjic I think he was just under extreme stress and wanted the simulator stopped. No doubt he was putting himself in the place of these poor pilots and for him that would be incredibly easy for him to imagine. Something like that could well give a person a panic attack if he continued to push it.
What is strange is that the mechanical fail-safe-override, that when required is designed in such a way as to not work! As Petter explained, it can be MADE to work by off-loading the aileron-surfaces but not safely at low altitude. The designers ought to have made more space and increased the handle lengths OR just changed the gearing of rotations-to-action produced... at least if it had required 150 turns end-to-end the pilot could have achieved this. OR, the designers could even have had an additional switch on a panel next to the manual control for power-assist-mode; this would just reconnect power to the motion and NOT reset the whole computer aided paraphernalia!
As I've said before, as an experienced control engineer, I put a lot of blame on the Boeing engineers who developed & released this 'tiger in a dark room'. When you design a system with such a mission-critical safety spec, you have to run through all foreseeable 'Failure Modes', or 'what-if' scenarios in layman's terms, & run through them on a simulator at least. IMHO if they had but done this properly, they could have started out with what they have now, or even better than what they have now, even with only one AOA sensor.. it seems that even now, the MCAS is still too aggressive (although thankfully it is now allowed only one aggressive attack) & is only looking at the (now two) AOA sensors instead of the bigger picture which includes total weight & weight distribution, airspeed, altitude + climb rate, pitch/horizon value, pilot inputs on the stick, & current absolute trim value.. any automotive engineer who understands multiple interrelated engine parameters with multiple sensors when developing the ECU 'flash' curves would probably have been able to show them how to do it
Correct me if I'm wrong, so MCAS was absolutely NOT needed at all in the first place as the new engines position didn't pose any safety concern. They only included it to avoid pilot re-training and its associated costs. And they did it in the most shoddy possible way: relaying on only one sensor and being completely secretive about it. At least until they had no other option after the first crash, and still Boeing had the nerve to blame the pilots. In the aftermath, not only 346 people were killed but pilots had to go trough the very simulator training MCAS was supposed to spare them of. Let's not forget the stelar role played by the FAA: letting Boeing do whatever they wanted just for being an American company facing fierce competition.
@@UHF43 The FAA wouldn’t have approved a plane with such different manoeuvring characteristics to be of the same type rating as the NG. Even with additional simulator training.
The second pilots were to blame. The FAA? Do you remember when the chant was to stop the government from getting in the way of businesses from innovating The FAA was told to transfer this work to the Airlines, which were much more knowledgeable about their products than they were. Because no airline would readily do something so stupid as to certify a defective airplane. The next time you hear somebody saying government is dumb business is smart. This is what happens. MCAS wasn’t intentional stupidity. It was plain stupidity. Well, financially engineering the plane. Nobody realized that it was a a safety risk to the airplane. Because as you said, it wasn’t strictly necessary. And the assumption was turning off the switches would remove it
I'm glad to see many Ethiopian citizens engaging with this type of informative content. It’s important to learn and reflect on these events as they help us understand aviation better and honor the memories of those involved.
I used to work in Us Airways' simulator center as an administrative assistant, right around when a new type was being released that required some refresher training (tbh, I worked there around the years 1999/2000 and I looked up which one it could be and came up empty. I remembered it being a triple number, like the 777, but that's ~1994 and I hadn't graduated high school yet!). I remember typing out memos for incoming pilots and handing them their hotel assignments! It was all very serious business, but I was a temp, and it was for a reason (nightmare boss). My mom also worked as a temp in UsAir's (pre-rename) Ops Center, and she got to see the big NASA-like room with the huge screens that showed all the planes midflight! I just thought I'd drop that in here, thank you for all your hard work. SOOO many people are behind every flight, behind the scenes!
It seems like the electric trim switches could have been operated to move the horizontal stabilizer to the needed position immediately followed by operating the Trim Stab Cutout switches to disable MCAS even before releasing the electric trim switches. In fact the only reason for enabling the electric control (disabling Trim Stab Cutout) would be to operate the pilot's electric trim switches. But under the huge mental, emotional and physical stress of the unique situation and lack of MCAS awareness, it is understandable that tunnel thinking overcomes the ability to plan strategies.
Yes, please, give a small cover, because it looks like all involved flights had issue with landing gear.. to be honest, I feel scared with my upcoming flights ..
We really are. We rallied around to fight negative misinformation around the accident. I remember Ethiopian was among the early customers of the 787 as well and when battery issue started to occur, some idiots were commenting “how could they afford such brand new airplane”.
@@AbebeAmare Westerners are manipulated in such a way they end up thinking the rest of the world is made of cavemen led by military juntas. Media tries so hard to hide that there's other systems in the world that works better than the western one.
It's hardly a gem if you read Bernd Kai von Hoesslin's "Wasted Warnings." A whistleblower and pilot for ET, his book is a vivid glimpse into the inner workings of a highly corrupt airline that tried its hardest to deny deficiencies and never take responsibility, as was the case with their flight 409, 2nd guessing investigators who clearly found the real cause of that crash.
@@AbebeAmare If it helps, i worked in a training center at an american Airline and most pilots respected Ethiopian Pilots. When my previous director, who was also a test pilot, told me about this incident, he told me that pilots knew this wasnt pilot error because Ethiopian Pilots were well respected and known to be great pilots in the industry. Its always the media and business people trying to find a scapegoat.
Came here after Korean air crash. Truly heartbreaking. Watching these videos kinda scaring me of air travel. Huge respect to pilots. Now onwards I will always be thanking pilots.
I’ve been a technician for almost 30 years for an airline that flies the 737 exclusively. The Classic and NG versions of this aircraft have been absolutely stellar machines to maintain. The Max just feels different. Fragile.
It’s honestly so crazy how fast these problems happen at times. Like I’ve heard you explain them going through issues and it feels like it happened over like 10+ minutes, only for you to say it was in like seconds or a couple minutes. Knowing it sometimes only takes a couple minutes to have things go drastically wrong is just insane. I wanted to be a pilot growing up, so I love to watch your videos. Thanks for the content sir
Rest in peace Captain Yared Getachew & FO Ahmednur Mohammed. They did their best given the circumstances but it was a losing battle with a hidden system equiped with superior powers. That email the Ethiopian airlines engineer wrote to Boeing BEFORE the accident needs to be talked about more . Boeing killed all those people the executives deserve jail time.
I’ve never heard of the rollercoaster maneuver, but before you mentioned it I considered something like it and immediately thought it was too ridiculous and dangerous to even joke about.
Yah, and I don't blame them either for not really considering it so close to the ground. With the problem they were having, they were already scary-low as it was.
Personally, if I'd been the pilot not flying, I'd have got out of my cockpit seat and used my foot to rotate the wheel downwards and pulled up with my arms, one revolution every 5 seconds or so until the required 40 revolutions - that's three minutes of pain sweat and agony - had been achieved... there being no Petter and no "red button" handy to press. Perhaps weight lifting should be on pilots training schedule if fail-safe-manual-overrides require super-human strength?
@@keithalderson100 this makes no sense sorry. It's not stuck, you need the same amount of strength thru the whole rotation, you can "kick" but you can't bring it back with the same power. Also 3 minutes if half the time of the whole situation. They tried to to it manually at around 4 minutes in, so it wouldn't help. And finally, both pilots were pulling at the same time to only keep it leveled, so if one stopped, the plane would down faster
As a non-pilot something that really confuses me about this is why did nobody check the trim indicator? They clearly understood they had a trimming problem and I understand why you wouldn't necessarily want to trim A LOT but why didn't they look at the trim indicator to try and understand what the trim was doing and how low it was actually trimmed?
Not a pilot, but work in aviation. The simple answer is that they are focused on flying the aircraft and processing all the information given to you directly. Then people are forgetting about environmental factors. The plane is yawing. Sounds of the cockpit. The fact they are wearing headphones to drown out noise. Then you throw in human factors. Stress, confusion, fear, target fixation, recentcy bias, fatigue etc. A big way to counteractng these factors are memories item, which did not exist for this scenario. In this scenario, the trim wheel is not in the pilot direct line of sight and fault indications are pulling their attention away from it. The cockpit is also loud and the pilots have headphone so maybe they couldnt fear the trim over the annunciators, stick shaker, engines etc. Can a more exerienced pilot have caught the issue earier on? Maybe but that doesnt mean anything.
When you're having to pull back on the yoke with that many pounds of force, you need to lay your thumb on the electric trim switch until you can quit pulling. And then turn the two stab trim switches off.
@@TheRCAviator yeah, that's what makes the most sense to me too. I just don't understand why they didn't trim more, they could feel it, why didn't they look at the indicator if they felt like the trim was way out of whack. Again not a pilot, not like I'd know, just seems like the it'd be a natural response but maybe I'm missing something.
As a private pilot, I can say that if you have more pressing thing things requiring your attention, you don't notice the force you're using. Normally after some time you do notice it and correct the trim. But with analysis it should have become clear this was the thing to fix and persistent use of the backwards trim button worked. I guess they were just overwhelmed and were unable to come to this conclusion.
Even knowing exactly how this all ends, I couldn't stop from being on the edge of my seat, as if the pilots will get out of this at the last minute. Rest in peace to all of those who were lost. (And really well done video, you and your team have really out done yourselves with the production and narration here)
Forget being a nervous flier, I can't even begin to imagine the terror of the pilots trying the their hardest to figure this out and get safety on the ground. This just made me mad all over again. That payout did absolutely nothing to hurt them. They should've spent some time for murder because that's what it was. Thank you so much Cpt. Petter and your crew, for all the hard work that you all do.
This was a great episode. I could feel the fear from behind the screen, can't image what the pilots must've been thinking near the end when both were pulling with full force and the nose just kept diving.
@@ClarencegHamm it was not a boeing issue in any capacity, it was a 20 year old plane with a set in stone maintenance schedule that hundreds of airlines around the world have followed successfully for its entire operating life. Currently cause is looking like pilot error, because the right hand thrust reversal cowling being deployed tells us that hydraulic system 1 must have been working. There was then no reason to land without trailing edge flaps extended and speek brakes deployed on landing, as they are both controlled by hydraulic system 1, which we know had pressure.
@@nostromo8065So they failed to lower the gear or the gear failed? Why would they land without flaps and armed spoilers unless they couldn't slow the plane down for some reason?
Petter, Thank you so much for you and your teams dedication and thoroughness in these videos. As an avid aviation enthusiast and aspiring commercial pilot, I find all of your videos fascinating and informative. But these last two about the MAX have been especially good. Honestly, I’ve had some qualms about flying on the MAX, even after recertification, but now that I know how thoroughly MCAS has been modified, the extra training, and the scrutiny of worldwide authorities, I feel much better. Your videos have helped me feel more confident getting onto an airplane, knowing that every incident is studied and documented so that it can never happen again. Thank you for all your work, & I can’t wait to see what masterpiece you and your team work up next!
Although your videos deal with very serious subject matter, I find myself anxiously waiting for the next video. You do such a fantastic job of explaining these events so that we, non-aviators can understand what happens in the cockpit. Thank you for all the work you and your team does on every video and I can’t wait for the next one!
Finally, the last part of the 737 MAX accident story is here. As an aviation enthusiast and a passenger, if the aircraft that i am about to board was the 737 MAX, I accept it and ready. Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 is the cause of the Boeing 737 MAX grounding worldwide for 20 months. Making 2 737 MAX Accident videos is an excellent idea in this last month of 2024 and like the Lion Air MAX video, this video is very amazing. 🤝Thank you explaining it in a quite complex and in a detail way and Happy New Year, sir. ❤from Indonesia.
Thank you for doing this video. I enjoy your objective, non biased approach to your videos and have been waiting patiently for this one as many people in the public blamed it on pilots experience. Keep up the great work. 🙏🏿👍🏿
A heart breaking loss of lives, but the pair of videos about MCAS were very interesting. That you tried to control the aircraft in a sim, was awesome. And the 'you didn't notice' the cup and the background lighting part, sure caught my attention! Thank you for your hard work, sir!
When I saw you struggling with the yoke and your friend fighting with the trim wheel I thought: Those at boing, responsible for the design and the recommended stab runaway procedure should have been prisoned in the sim until they managed to land the plane safely without calling for the red button^^ There were so many quite obviously dangerous design flaws such that its hard to not call it a crime to release an aircraft to the public with such issues.
@MentourPilot, I have watched many of your videos and I honestly believe this is one of the most significant you have released of late. I remember when this happened and the almost mocking comments about the pilots, the airlines and how all they had to do was “Stab Trim Off”. The pilots portrayed as untrained hacks The airline portrayed as some tin pot joke The stab trim off portrayed as a simpler click and then sit back to sip your tea. This video sets the record straight. The fact they fought the aircraft with all their strength and tried everything they could in a situation of sensory overload The fact the airline had questioned Boeing about the suitability of their advice and were just pawned off The fact MCAS could make the situation worse at a faster rate than the pilots could trim back out. Sure, easy to say from outside the situation that they should have trimmed back for 30!seconds and then disconnected the trim, but from the sim video you showed, you needed your arms wrapped round the yoke to keep level and your hands could be nowhere near the trim…. Well done for speaking truth and clarity
I'm really curious why the "roller coaster" technique was removed from the operating manual of later 737s. It seems like it will be needed whenever there is a runaway stabilizer incident at high speed that leaves the stabilizer in an extreme position -- something that could happen regardless of MCAS.
This crash breaks my heart. The fact that not only did both the pilots and Ethiopian Airlines get so much right only to lose the plane and their lives anyway, but that Boeing ignored all of this and went with the racist defense that “a pilot from a developed nation would have been able to save the plane” is both devastating and infuriating. These two pilots, along with everyone else on the plane, should still be here, and Boeing should never be allowed to forget the blood on their hands.
The fact that these incidents were not considered murder or at least aggravated manslaughter committed by Boeing's senior decisionmakers is, IMO, yet another indictment on how corporate law and endless shareholders greed works in our current economic setup 😣 The fact that Boeing then tried to leverage racist arguments to obscure their own negligence and greed feels like intentional fraud on top of everything else!
It's easier for Boeing to blame them than admit they just want money and don't care about the lives on board their products. After the jeju air accident I refuse to fly on a 737, they are just too old and too bodged together. I'm no aeronautical engineer but it doesn't take a genius to see it's ALWAYS a 737 involved with accidents these days.
What's even more sad is that I still see some comments here that still calls out on the pilots simply because they are from a "third world country" and therefore unskilled. Even after what has happened to Boeing. The pilots seemed to have tried everything to save the plane.
these two videos were really interesting...i thought i knew what happened but this was the first time i learned the combinations of multiple failures that occured...your videos are just getting better... Great job!
@@th3realspartanI mean, more people are flying than ever, pilots are exhausted and overworked. Not necessarily weird, just shitty. Azerbaijan, the aircraft was flying around certain borders with certain trig happy countries. The world is getting smaller each day.
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Ethiopias airport is pronounced Bo Lay
How is the comment older then the video?!?!
Do you know what could be the purpose to build a mound (embankment) at the end of runway in Muan airport where 737 crashed yesterday?
On this embankment they positioned the approach lights. But why build such immense structure ? If it wasn't there, the plane probably would stop on the grass few hundred meters away.
Are you really not going to address the MASSIVE amount of misinformation that you put out in your last video about lithium ion batteries?
@@armosinz1944scheduled video
I knew the pilot of ET 302, met him many times. One day, I was standing at the forward galley, asking for water, before we took off. A man exited the cockpit, and looked like he couldnt be more than 22 years old. He told me he was the pilot, of course I was shocked. he was kind, gracious, humble man. From time to time, we would see each other in Addis Airport, and I flew with him again, and used to jokingly call him, ''my son.'' The Ethiopians are such kind, humble people. May Yared Getachew rest in peace
I am sorry for your loss..
Thank you for sharing your memories of him
Rest in peace Yared. Your efforts were not in vain.
Sorry for your loss.
to everyone calling this bs: you guys wouldn’t really know would you guys?
it’s crazy how everything discussed in the video happened in only 6 minutes.. truly heartbreaking
Yes, exactly - and that has to be taken to notice when judging about the performance of the pilots. They did the very best possible in their situation, but this situation was simply overwhelming and they had no chance for winning the battle of their life.
It took a lot longer than 6 minutes for investigators to find out what happened. If you have to choose 1 first (which was a choice the pilots had) then they needed to re-gain control before working out what was going on.
But how did all those white pilots land the plane in simulation? Must have been racism voodoo in the air. Or maybe some Charles darwin.
All I know is the stress of that 6 minutes has them physically and mentally, emotionally had to completely exhaust them
Yeah it can't be understated the pressure these pilots were under and how hard they fought
I am a cabin crew and I was flying in MAX in between those two accidents. I wasn't (and many of my colleagues) too happy about it because a) we were primarily on airbus and b) the Lion Air accident wasn't really solved in my opinion. So when I was scheduled on MAX flight, after the briefing I asked our captain what did he think about the accident and MAX and he said and I'm quoting: "It was a crew mistake, we are better trained, so don't worry about it." Two days later this accident happened and they grounded MAX's and I'm not kidding when I say every single one of my collegues (possibly all over the world) had the same thought: This could've been me.
It's sounds arrogant to say we're better trained. If the pilots were from developed countries like from USA or UK, I kind of doubted if they will save those 2 max planes.
@@andikardian9014 Yeah, that's the point. They weren't and they aren't better trained. But that was the thinking at the time, that Lion Air just had incompetent pilots when it fact it was a ticking time bomb and pulling a short stick.
Wow
@@andikardian9014 it does sound arrogant, but bear in the mind that the media and Boeing pushed this narrative back then, "everybody" thought that not only 1st world pilots
I bet that to this day he still remembers what he told you. I think that he really believed that, so it must have been a shock when he understood the truth
As an Ethiopian, I can say that Ethiopian Airlines is more than just an organization for many of us-it’s a symbol of national pride and achievement. The crash was a devastating event for the entire country, and it struck especially close to home as my town was nearest to the crash site. I’d like to say እናመሰግናለን [inameseginalen](Thank you) to Petter for providing such high-quality content as always.
If the pilot in this video is any indication of the skill and courage of the rest of your pilots then your national honor was only increased by this sad incident. All blame accrues to Boeing.
We feel your pain.
Even in far off Australia we hold Ethiopian Airlines in high regard. Such a shining light for that part of the world
Don't be fooled by Boeing fan boy. He is paid by Boeing to deflect blame away from Boeing. Your pilot did a great job, but this guy is paid to defend Boeing and pass the blame to him.
"Looks like Boeing may have just killed another ~175 people, but on the other hand, doing something about it might be bad for the shareholders" re the latest flight disaster Jeju Air South Korea. Don't fall for this nonsense, he is paid well by Boeing to produce videos saying this stuff!!
I love that you include these "you didn't notice" segments to shut up everyone who says "I would've noticed immediately"
They could have just kept trimming tho, I mean why would they stop trimming up
@@supremelord8605 idk, but it's been consistent over all these crashes, the pilots do not really trim up more than 1-2 seconds. I'm no pilot so I hope someone can chime in, but what I get from these videos is that it's highly irregular to trim more than just a few seconds, so the assumption is "trim button is not working"
The stabilizer is very powerful, and therefore large, sudden movements of it can easily induce an upset (as we see at the end of this very video!). Therefore, pilots are trained to use their trim buttons only in extreme moderation. It would go against everything he had been taught about trimming for the captain to jam his finger onto “nose-up” and leave it there for twenty seconds. Given a little more time or fewer distractions, it’s *possible* that he could have realized that this was necessary. But while acting on instinct and habit, it’s just not something pilots do.
@@supremelord8605 well you have to take into account the situation they were in. SO many things were happening at once and they likely didn't even understand at the time that the Electrical trim input that they were inputting did basically nothing because MCAS was way more powerful and faster. They technically would have needed to trim for tens of seconds for anything to change in the trim but then again, MCAS would just come back and change it back to worse.
@@Schaddn but when you trim the wheel moves so they would have known that it was working tho I’m open for correction.
Not often I get full on chills down my back during a youtube video, but as a 29 year old guy in aviation - just imagining what that captain was going through and how helpless the entire situation must have felt made me tear up after the impact. Incredible storytelling and a phenomenal breakdown as always, thank you for all you do.
All they needed was a simple switch, MCAS on or off. As well as avoiding the accidents, pilots would most likely only used MCAS until they got used to the slightly different characteristics of the revised aircraft.
Calling Boeing a bunch of clowns is an understatement. I wonder whether the designer of MCAS had designed anything more than computer games in the past, where the reset button gave him another life.
If it was not so sad, it would be funny.
If I was a cartoonist, there would be a series of cartoons, "Boeing's flying circus".
The flight that crashed Boeing. Those poor pilots, literally fighting the aircraft and figuratively fighting Boeing's systematic cost-cutting policy. This is really heart-breaking.
It is criminal. Blood is on Boeing's "hands."
Worst part is: no one is going to prison for this, Boeing only needs to pay some fine. There really need to be reforms to corporate law, so that management / executives are personally liable for a company's actions.
Flight that crashed boing was merger with McDonell Douglas.
a boeing also crashed today in south korea
@@madapigi1 Oh no.. there is video of it too.. overshoots runway and slams into a wall.
This was one of the most covered accidents in the last decades for sure and yet this video gave so much more insight on it.
I was always under the impression that using the stab trim cutout switches would've been the solution that would've solved everything. My heart sank when you explained the impossible physical forces needed to do it manually under these unforeseeable circumstances.
Thank you for the incredible work!
I was thinking the exact same thing, i remember shortly after the accident an airline pilot posted a video of how to use the stab trim cutout switches in the event of MCAS failure.
me too, this changes completely how I see it
What i find odd about the stam trim cutout switches in off position is then no trimming is possible, making a down trim situation incorrectable...all very complicated!
@ I probably have to watch the video again but from what I gather the pilots were exhausted physically from pulling on the yolk with 90lbs of pressure, hindsight is 20/20 but while both were pulling back a third person such a as a flight attendant could have turned the trim wheel.
I fly f16 out of nellis. I'm close to my retirement and have offers with most of the main airlines... I've watched your videos now for a few years and must say you definitely have the most informative detailed content on every single major event in recent aviation history. Going from having responsibility for two lives to 400 is a big change. One of the main things that I've taken from watching your videos is most of the time it doesn't matter how much experience a pilot has, a lot of this just sneaks up on you and there's nothing you can do. Those of us that have wings and live in the clouds feel invincible anyway. Keep up the good work
You have my dream life.
Outstanding work, Petter! Netflix can't hold a candle to your explanation of the 737MAX/ MCAS and what happened with Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes. It's refreshing to see a social media outlet report the facts, causes, remedies, and outcome without any sort or rhetoric or sensationalism. This truly pays the proper respect and tribute for the loss of life. Keep up the great work! PS...your "didn't notice" is very effective in illustrating human behavior of missing items when focused on the primary function at hand....in this case, flying the plane with myriad distractions. That puts things in very clear perspective for the non-aviator. Excellent tool!
The PBS Frontline piece is also very good.
I agree, that kind of 'live demonstration' of a principle is absolutely world-class! Love it
Netflix doesn’t even deserve to be mentioned, they’re a joke
He literally lied though. He has a political objective with his video because those who made the plane and flew the plane were brown. I’m past the point of just having fun making fun of people like you now and really wonder for the future of our kids if you’re going to do this every single time.
@@GhGh-gq8oo, what is the point of your comment? It makes no sense. Who lied, and what political objective?
As a programmer, the fact that the computer systems didn’t immediately disable MCAS, the autopilot, and the stick shaker as well as all the safety protections when the AOA sensor disagree malfunction happened is baffling. If the sensors don’t agree then all of those systems aren’t just useless, they’re dangerous.
So many of these accidents are caused by automation taking cues from faulty sensors. It shouldn’t be completely on the pilots to decide what to do in a vague situation like this while simultaneously trying to figure out which systems have gone wrong. At the first moment of disagreement, have all automations shut off and have “direct law” to use airbus speak, apply. Manual controls only for all systems. An aircraft taking all automation away is less scary than a phantom problem that cannot be diagnosed while the aircraft is moving weirdly
I work in the Oil & Gas and chemicals industries and worked with the control and emergency shutdown systems used. All ESD systems use 2 out of 3 voting for sensor inputs; control and ESD systems can detect when signals are out of range and flag them as faulty; the development of smart sensors that can diagnose faults; operators are able to over-ride faulty signals. This means the control and safety systems remain functional when there are sensor failures.
I just made the same comment a few minutes ago. Baffling indeed. Boeing put their own dubious interests above public safety.
But there's only one sensor active at a time. The algorithm alternates on different flights. So there's nothing to disagree with, unless you mean that the program should disable MCAS if the sensor gives a nonsense reading. Another fatal flaw is that the program had no limit to how far and how long it would command the stabilizer trim to keep going until it reached obviously deadly nose down angles. Just a dumbfounding program. Unbelievably dangerous.
I have the same background and commented basically the same thing when Petter released his first videos on this a couple of years ago. In critical systems like this, 2 is 1, 1 is none. Of course, an airplane manufacturer like Boeing knows this, which made it even more baffling..
However, in lieu of the revelations of questionable quality control etc. throughout the organization which has come to light since then, it doesn’t really surprise as much.
It’s a cultural thing that runs deep and will be extremely hard to change - I honestly doubt they’ll be able to do so, but I guess time will tell..
@@michaelhansen7516 Indeed.
with the recent series of plane crashes, i've been getting nervous for the 4 back-to-back flights i'm taking next week, but for some reason watching this channel makes me feel calmer. as horrible as these incidents are, the fact that they're learned from is comforting. thank you for all you do petter
I was thinking about flying back home in a few months. Probably won't go anytime soon.
Plane crashes do happen but you need to take statistics into account before you decide whether it is too big risk to take. You take risks no matter how you travel, priority should be about minimizing it. Safe travels
@@KarminsLynn so true! i'm heading from australia to northern USA so my only option is to fly, but it's been comforting to remember how much safer planes are than cars statistically
@@elleeveee Consider that the last passenger airliner to crash in the US happened 16 years ago, and even then, it was a Canadian built De Havilland.
Are any of the flights on a 737? If not you're ok
I used to watch Air Crash Investigations/Black Box because i was interested in the mechanics of investigating ait disasters etc.
The only thing i didn't like was the sensationalising they did.
Your videos from a pilot manage to give the details without being dry.
You are doing a lot of good work here petter and i've been watching since the very start.
Keep up the sterling work and Happy New Year!
Same! me and my mum were avid ACI watchers, but since finding MP I can't stand the overdramatization of the incidents, I'd rather have the clear facts in order without being thrown back and forth in timeframes like they used to in ACI and Seconds from Disaster.
@ToniTerrier good to know other people find the sensationaliaing of mass death distasteful. Which begs the question why do they do it?
@mitchyk sadly I think a large demographic of television watchers prefer the drama of a story rather than the details. So the programs are designed for them.
@@mitchyk they need to do it for the network to pick their show. I personally enjoyed watching ACI. While being more of a dramatization, it was by far the most informative compared to the rest of the documentary. Also, the main reason for the popularity of ACI genre on TH-cam is due to the success of Natgeo's ACI. I have asked my colleagues and friends, they all state the reason they watch this genre on youtube is because of their familiarity with Natgeo's ACI. As bad/good as it was, it clearly paved way to amazing content like this.
@@F1SHY99 Indeed, exactly. And it has the merit to point out worldwide the necessity of safety management for the airline business.
one of the things that always gets me, is that they are obviously getting the “too low, terrain” warning, but not a single person at boeing thought to tie that into MCAS and make sure that it stopped pitching down if it sensed that the aircraft was too low. like I get that it was often used at takeoff when the altitudes were already low, but I feel like if you already have the radar and positioning sensors that can warn you about altitude, it shouldn’t be that hard to write a line of code in the MCAS that would disable it in the case of another one of those warnings. seems like a “terrain” (i.e. you’re about to crash the goddamn plane) warning should supersede any of the other automated systems that may be providing pitch down input…
it also makes my blood boil that MCAS was literally only supposed to provide simuLATED YOLK FORCE so the aircraft “felt” like the old 737s to handle. at what point does it make ANY sense to give a system designed simply to *make a pilot feel more comfortable* the ability to catastrophically control the aircraft, ESPECIALLY when its signals are based on a single point failure ?!? like good lord… I work in aerospace & defense for a direct competitor to boeing, and there are DOZENS of levels of checks & balances to ensure that no mission-critical function can ever operate on a single point failure. I’m so heartbroken for what all these pilots, passengers, and crew had to deal with because of boeing’s greed, ignorance, and megalomania.
Excellently stated. Fully agree.. Boeing were criminally culpable.
They simply gave 0 thoughts to the "what of the system fails" question. (Or deliberately ignored)
Exactly! I'm sitting here thinking, "You didn't code in altitude failsafes... why?" Or consider that the only/most likely reason a pilot would be flying manually outside a certain distance from ground would be a failure of automatic systems *which would mean co-indications that would hamper fault diagnosis*??
You're actually right. They deliberately ignored all checks just because of profit.
A horrible company
My friend Max died in that crash… It is still so raw. This is the first time I actually will listen to anything related to it… Everything else was always sensationalism until now…
So sorry you lost Max.
May your friend rest in peace
Sorry for your loss. These plane manufacturers will pay for what they have done, some day.
These two MCAS videos are the best thing I have ever watched on this issue - so much for the whole industry to learn from. Very professional work from you, Petter, and your team. Many thanks - Paul
Petter's team's reiteration here of MCAS understanding was not a repeat of their LION video it was a further enhancement. Great education.
Wow, request for pilot training is "dangerous" precedent, but a system that can fly an aircraft full of people into an ocean is not dangerous enough to mention in the manual?
Guess "dangerous for profits" is more important than "dangerous for human life".
Yeah… it was pretty awful
Exactly, even after getting such a great presentation of all the technical facts my mind only goes to the fact that Boeing ignores any common sense as long as it will increase their profits, safety be damned.
Yeah but you're forgetting, if the pilots had been American, something something
I used to fly with Boeing a lot, I guess I'm just lucky to be alive...😳
For a company of this size, human lives are nothing but a resource like gas, oil, electricity, metals, machines. All we can is accept this fact and accept that some lives will be sactificed and there's no way around it.
great video!
As an airline Captain approaching retirement, after nearly 20,000 flying hours, I fully understand the operational requirements, tasks, and actions these two men were faced with. The extreme challenges encountered by this crew were completely unexpected, strikingly tangible and deeply relatable. By the end of the video, I was physically nauseated and emotionally drained. I can't think of a better testament to the exceptional quality and realism of this presentation. I would say “kudos”, if it was not an understatement.
Wow. 20k is amazing.
This video had the same agitating effect on me. Other videos have deeply moved me, but here it really was a combination of (a) extremely heavy pulling, (b) a battle they could not win, and (c) pure despise against those at Boeing responsible for continuing to keep the truth under wraps after the deadly warning of the Lion Air disaster. They never faced persecution. May it be a heavy yolk pulling at them for the rest of their lives for the sake of the passengers and crew whose deaths they could have prevented.
I pushed the red button to make it all stop. They didn't have that option.
Having to constantly pull back over 100lbs on a control stick would exhaust even the most jacked body builders.
Truly sickening actions by Boeing, in the end the simulator ended up mandatory, the system was super faulty when released to the public and after a truly horrible accident to shift the blame to the airline and pilots, just despicable.
After two horrible tragedies maybe the 737 Max is super safe, but it shouldn't have taken this many lives to figure it out, mostly when it's plain and obvious they were cutting corners at every turn@@Eddyspeeder
This hurts my heart. These poor pilots. When they get failed by the system, it's so hard to watch. How terrifying!
They were incompetent and their incompetence killed a lot of people.
No@@Drunken_Master
@@Drunken_Master sounds to me like Boeing and their training was incompetent and lacking. And THEY killed a lot of people.
@@Drunken_Masterexcept they were not incompetent
@@xthereaper8434please don’t feed the trolls
Petter, these are two of the best videos you've done.
As an engineer it reminds you that whatever you're working on, the first 90% of the work is designing it to do all the things you know it needs to do. And the second 90% of the work is, "Okay now let's try to sniff out everything we haven't considered."
And that's hard! To get out of your own bubble of "confirmation bias" that you've thought through everything. Super important to have outside perspective for those, "Well what happens if..." situations.
Yes, it seems that The FFA did NOT take their regulatory and auditing role seriously at all.
Thank you so much for doing this. I waited for 2 years for you to make this vid.
Yared was a family friend
I’m so sorry.
Im sorry for your loss 🖤
He wasn't even an REAL pilot ! He was just an AP pilot !
I´m sorry for your loss, too. May he rest in Peace. He did everything possible to rescue the aircraft and the lifes of the people on board.
So very sorry 😢❤
You know it was a huge tragedy when one local, very hated, politician from my country received unanimous support and condolences from everyone after losing wife and 2 kids in that plane.
Agreed, that kind of tragedy shouldn't happen to anyone whether or not they are liked/disliked for their politics.
Probably says more about how good-hearted Ethiopian people are.
@@justvid366 NuSpirit_ wrote about Anton Hrnko - slovakian politician
@@AN-12345 Indeed. But if it happened to Trump or Biden, I can guarantee that a large number of people would be unable to contain their glee.
@@6yjjk Oh how I wish I could disagree with you here, and that's incredibly sad to me.
This is probably one of the more heartbreaking crashes. The pilots were so young, yet showed great airmanship and tried to keep the plane in the air for as long as they could. RIP to them, crew and passengers.
I knew several people on this flight, and it was absolutely heartbreaking. Thirty-two of my fellow countrymen lost their lives that day. The pain and loss are unimaginable, and it’s something that will stay with us forever. May they all rest in peace, and may their memories never be forgotten.
Murdered by Boeing. I am so sorry for your great loss
So sorry 😢❤
I'm sorry for your loss in an accident that shouldn't have happened.
So sorry for your loss. 🙏
So sorry for your loss
"Press the red button; press the red button NOW." Yikes! Never thought I heard of an airline pilot saying that in a simulator before today.
SAME
What does this actually do?
@@ralfrudi3963i think petter said it stops/freezes the sim
@@ralfrudi3963relieved the poor pilot or didn’t you watch it??
@@jt8273 Yeah I got that, but what does that mean and why was it so urgent to press it?
Is it bad to crash the plane in the simulator? Can you rewind or change something and try again?
I am just wondering why it was so urgent.
I get chills down my spine every time, when petter says “But that is soon about to change…”
Important to remember everyone: "it only occurs with the autopilot disengaged" is not very reassuring when all these multiple failures usually cause the autopilot to disengage because the aircraft cannot rely on it's instrument's data to fly it safely
Hindsight is a truly wonderful thing. Anyone who thinks they could do better would never know until they're suddenly thrust into a situation unlike most have expected or experienced before.
Exactly
Truth
tbf, all he had to do was trim. It was clear he realized at some point it was the altitude vein. All he had to do was trim with the joystick. But ya mcass was designed stupidly to begin with.
@blaynestaleypro trim for like 10 secs which is completely against everything you're taught.
@@MentourPilot I'm not a pilot nor have I had any training. My "instinct" was to try something similar to the "roller coaster" maneuver. It just seemed like it MIGHT have a chance. Btw, I pressed that "red button" for you RIGHT AWAY.
I love how you always try and provide a justification or possible reason for the pilots actions. It can often be difficult to understand their situation but your justifications really make it clear just how stressful the situation must have been and so why they acted the way they did.
This so horrible. These were two young, talented pilots with glittering careers ahead of them.
Edit: Lol, I'm sure race isn't why all the people below are triggered. Not at all.
lol. Autopilot let them DEI their way up.
@@McUsernameFace Are you dumb bro? What DEI? IT'S AN ETHIOPIAN AIRLINE.
umm, and over a hundred other people
@@McUsernameFace VERY low effort bait. Ethiopian Airlines… of Ethiopia.
@@McUsernameFace Please get your 80 IQ politics out of here
I didn't think I would learn anything new after all your excellent previous videos, but your explanation that MCAS would trim down far faster than the pilots could trim up is truly disturbing.
The thing is the pilot trim switch would always override it anyway so it shouldn't matter but for one reason or another, training, muscle memory or whatever, they would just never do so more than a couple seconds. Far too little to counteract and usually not even in time to interrupt the MCAS input. With how it seems pilots actually use the trim system they should probably replace the switches with just a single button to set it to zero the yoke forces.
@TheAkashicTraveller literally trained from day one only to trim for a couple of seconds not bloody ten that would of been needed to stop MCAS, end of the day boeing knew it was a problem but just happy to leave it.
@@TheAkashicTravellerBeyond what the other guy said, having a "reset-to-zero" button might be problematic - or at least, said "zero" would need to be calculated prior to takeoff, since trim is also used to correct for the aircraft's loading being off-centre. In other words, resetting the horizontal stabiliser to the exact middle position is not _necessarily_ what you want.
But I think it actually might be a good idea regardless; a reset button next to the override switches.
@@TheAkashicTraveller Yes, muscle memory failure. When automation confusion reigns go back to manually flying the plane, manually control the thrust levers for appropriate settings, disconnect auto pilot, level the plane with using trim until stick forces are reduced (not for two seconds). Too many of these incidents involve wrestling with the automation instead of switching it off.
@@TheAkashicTravellerthey were having to pull up so hard that they couldn't trim! The wheel was stuck! And it takes 15 turns to get one unit!
just wanted to comment that I like how you included the credits at the beginning of the video. You have created a great team, bravo.
This Max series is just a MASTERPIECE by you and your crew, Petter. Congratulations! This channel has gone from the best aviation channel to one of the best channels in YT as a whole. Magnificent job! 👏 👏 👏
I knew a UNICEF member in that flight, my father's coworker. I always called her Aunt Anne, she also lived in our apartment complex near the Khartoum Airport, departing on this very flight for a work meeting. That last week at had met her and I dont think at the time it had really registered to me what had happened, throughout that week until the day of her funeral. She was a really sweet individual, and for me it was one of the pivital moments that got me interested in the story behind aviation. Rest in peace aunty, and thank you for inspiring me. ❤ 20:35
I'm so sorry for your loss. The best of us are often taken too soon. 😢
A friend of mine was there too.. Ironically his name was Max
I love the attention that you put into your videos, such as changing the background and the coffee mug to prove your point. Such a fantastic way to do that.
Started as an anxious flier many years back, now I watch as an intelligent flier with many trips under my belt. These videos are phenomenal and the entire team deserves so much recognition. I will continue to give credit to this channel when it comes to slaying my flight phobia - and I will also keep sending others like me to those early videos in hopes that they also get hooked and can watch incident analysis not in fear but genuine curiosity.
My son is a pilot and new training captain. Thank you for providing this great channel and information to remind pilots to stay calm and follow the checklist and not to take shortcuts. You help to keep us all safe. Have a great new year.
For me it seems like the obvious mission to promote the sale of the max as not needing any additional Sim training has resulted in the total loss of two aircraft and ultimately ended up with extra Sim training anyway.
Such a tragic result for a cost saving plan that didn't work.
This is one of those incidents that shakes your entire trust in the management of Aviation. Truly Devastating.
agreed, didn't have much confidence in Boeing at the start of 2024 and recent events have only made it worse
Never really had confidence on automated systems, after automatic transmission caused loss of torque by swapping bigger gear while drifting trough mirror ice covered corner and car slide on the snow bank. After that i have not bought or driven vehicle that has more than ABS brakes, cause i want to be one driving not the vehicle. Sudden change in the handling characteristics can easily disorientate even experienced driver and such assisting systems only erode drivers skills or worse never allow them to be created, taking them into far worse situation, witch point when these systems throw "error cant do shit anymore" driver has no feeling on what has or is happening, handling characteristics change due computer tilting and if they dont have experience on taking control back in such situation, there definitely is not enough time to learn there. Hence learn to drive with little as possible assisting systems and dont relay on them, while putting vehicle out of control in area where its safe to learn to take the control back with out danger to other, your self or the vehicle etc property. "ice" test training grounds you can forget if its not winter, since steel with oil in it is nowhere close to actual ice conditions btw. Also keep testing the capabilities of the vehicle over winter months like how good the traction you have from studded tires that are getting worn out, brakes etc so you are aware of the capabilities of the vehicle in different times.
Given modern airliners, i would not make as pilot since my first though would be to pull breakers on all the automated crap and fly manually...
Management seems to always be the problem.
Corporate greed. Nothing else to add.
Indeed, exactly.
Thanks, Petter. I never really understood why either accidents weren't primarily caused by pilot error, but mostly by design issues. With the details and your own experience on the type that you shared, I now do.
I tend to assume that almost any "pilot error" problem will have at least one systemic problem that contributed.
One detail not mentioned is that switches in the base of the control column cutout the trim power when it was pulled back on all 737s as an intuitive safety fallback.
They were deleted on the Max.
Stellar work here. The amount of research and editing that went into this puts any major news outlet to shame.
Wow. The whole time I was hoping they pilots would try manual trimming but didn't even think about how the forces would have prevented them. These pilots were clearly skilled and it's unfortunate that Boeing's decisions failed them, despite them fighting desperately until the end.
Me too thanks Petter @MentourPilot for highlighting this and allowing many of us to be fair to those valiant pilots!
It's still strange that in all of these videos I have never heard it mentioned once that the pilots ever even looked at what the physical trim setting was. It also feels extremely strange that all of them would feel a massive force on the controls yet only trim for a very very short time. Sure, you could be thinking the electric trim may be broken, but then why the hell isn't your first instinct to actually look at what it's physically doing, if anything?
@@HenrikDanielsson Agreed. Also it's strange that towards the end, the captain made the conscious decision to reverse the stabilizer cutout switches, surely as a means towards using the electric trim again, but then once he had the electric trim operating once more he AGAIN only applied trim for what sounded like a very brief moment. Weird. As an aside, given that all flight control surfaces on the 737 are hydraulically actuated, what is the point of implementing yoke resistance to a point that would require superhuman strength to counteract? The yoke isn't directly acting on the flight controls. So strange.
@@somealias-zs1bw they 737 FCs are hydraulically actuated but linked with cables, only the rudder is not fully mechanically linked from the cockpit to the surface
@@HenrikDanielsson Great question
"Would I travel on it as a passenger, now? Absolutely" I suspect there are many who were waiting to hear this from you. Thank you for a very informative video, Petter.
The mcas issue is fixed,now, if they can keep the exits from blowing out and the rudders working.
@@mikerundall2456And leaving tools in the fuel tanks, ladders in the tail section, etc.
There shouldnt have to be a fix. Do it right the first time. @@mikerundall2456
Based on what Boeing whistleblowers are saying a lot is about to unravel…. We will see, I believe that we are facing a false improvement, if it can be called that. But worst is about to come in some years from now. Unless they are lying, which I don’t think so. Especially at least 2 or 3 of them dying suspiciously…there is a lot that Boeing wants to keep in the dark room.
Im still scratching my head on how that Boeing CEO was allowed to walk with a golden parachute.
RIP John Barnett
All those preventable deaths, and not one person who actively profited from the decisions that led to them went to jail. We have a two tiered justice system, one that prioritizes the wealthy at the expense of everyone else
Thank you for this greatly explained video. I am an Ethiopian and we are very proud of our world class airline. At the time of the accident my colleagues insinuated this was likely pilot error just because it was an African airline and I took it personally and argued this would likely be aircraft issue since our pilots receive rigorous training. As you pointed out the two pilots were fighting a losing battle with an erroneously designed system and in the end couldn’t avoid the tragedy. May God rest their souls and everyone onboard that lost their lives.
I'm am from Kenya, neighbouring country to Ethiopia. And as I watch this video today, the same day that another tragedy happened in South Korea, it's very horrifying!
Very sad
Mentour Pilot fans tuko wengi
Indeed.
Yes I wonder what happened in that crash 😢
@@juliemanarin4127without knowing the primary result why the landing gear was up: my guess is that the "spoiler arm"-switch was on "auto" and not "manual" and therefore waited to deploy the spoilers until the Sensors in the landing gear signaled a touchdown... thus the speed was never really reduced (by drag on the runway) and the rest... happened.😢
51:14 Why didn't they try trimming back as much as possible? Once they correctly identified trim as a problem, and decided to switch back to electric trimming since manual wasn't working, why not give it all they had? Were they under the impression that trim was completely stuck?
Because of something not said in today's thin-skinned world: They were in a panic. It's true that Boeing sent them a bad system which should never have gotten out the door. It's also true that they only needed to apply airmanship; fly the plane, then worry about which checklist applies when. Pitch, power, airspeed, altitude. And do notice that big noisy trim wheel by your knee.
To fly the plane, PF needed only to use manual electric trim right at his thumb to trim out the stick force, something a 737 pilot does intuitively. After trimming out so the stick doesn't feel like it's pulling his arms off he needs only to notice "This buggered thing was trying to kill me!" and kill power to buggered thing (the trim motor).
After that point maybe he'd realize he was in a near 100 knot overspeed, he's using way too much thrust as is much too low. Then set a reasonable pitch, power and airspeed, climb to far above MSA, call in a mayday, circle in a hold and have a think.
Instead, they panicked.
Those poor pilots weren't just dealing with one problem. In their minds they were facing many seemingly unrelated problems and then to have a system that is constantly undoing what you are trying to correct is crazy.
Not just undoing it, but actively making it worse each time you try to fix it
@@biosparkles9442 I cannot imagine their fear, trying everything they could come up with and having the plane making it worse. Truly terrifying.
Added to the fact of being only 1500 ft above the ground 😣 that adds another layer of pressure. It’s the imminent doom of being too close to the ground, any wrong action can result in a crash in just a couple of seconds. Altitude and airspeed are the pilot’s best allies.
Thank you for the video. A colleague of mine was on this flight; he was a former Protestant pastor and environmental activist who passed away. Especially in such a sad context, it feels good to see the video and hear your explanations. I like your videos so much that I’m now considering getting a single-piston engine pilot's license! Thank you and Happy New Year!
Im sorry for your loss.. but thank you for your kind words and best of luck with your training
What really killed them? Earlier 737 planes had those tow switches; one disconnected just the autopilot. This switch would have killed MCAS and left the pickle switches working.
The ability to shut out just the autopilot was removed during a re-design. The first plan was to eliminate the switch that did this function. But the FAA and operators would be freaked if the new "just the same" plane had a switch gone, might even had them investigate the repercussions of this removal.
So, instead, we wired the two switches in series, a backup switch in case the first one failed (never happened, never will).
And that is how we killed these people.
A very important design failure. Without the ability to use the powered stab trim via the pickle switches anyone with an MCAS failure below 10000 ft has no chance if recovery action delayed by startle factor. Manual trimming is impossible / useless once the stab angle has exceeded the correct trim setting by two degrees.
"Push the red button now" - the tone in his voice sent a shiver down my spine. I've listened to him talk for maybe hundreds of hours but the intensity/command authority of that sentence really got to me.
Yes it got to me too.
I feel so sad when Petter says "well, we will never know for sure". You know it's a bad ending.
Tbh in this one most people would know from the beginning cuz it's in pretty recent history so we all remember the news.
This was heart-breaking, just like so many others here have said. Even so, you handled and presented it as excellently as ever. I especially appreciated you creating these two back-to-back as it allowed even my memory-impaired brain to remember most of the relevant details.
The efforts of the pilots to physically hold that plane in the air by brute strength were phenomenal. 6 minutes doesn't sound like a lot, but 6 minutes of trying to haul on over 40kg, all while communicating, trouble shooting, trying to operate equally unyielding systems... It must have been awful. And then to know that their only, miniscule chance was to turn MCAS back on, despite knowing what would happen.... Terrible
Late 2024 provided plenty new material for future episodes.
More pilot errors and poor runway design. And war
So sad but I can't wait for that episodes 😢
@@killer-gamingthis one from yesterday was nasty
Started with a horrific crash and ended with one, condolences to the families
Yep, we wouldn't have any videos without these incidents
Even with MCAS aside, it seems to me really weird that one faulty sensor is allowed to cause such a mayhem in the cockpit. Stick shaker, faulty speed readings, faulty altitude readings etc. It causes such a stress and workload to pilot that it just creates perfect environment to cause even more errors and problems. Such a powerful point of failure should either rely on multiple sensors or at least detect the faulty sensor and disconnect it.
Thank-you Petter for another compelling, informative and high quality video and explanation into the heartbreaking Max 8 crashes. As a mechanical engineer and Project Manager in a completely unrelated field I find the cautionary tales on how unacceptable risks slip through “final” designs to be hugely instructive. Congratulations to you and your team on another amazing production. I have watched all of your videos, many of them multiple times!! Keep up the fantastic work!
I don't understand how Boeing executives didn't get convicted for negligent homicide.
@@TheOriginalCFA1979 not really
@@TheOriginalCFA1979
I know Boeing hires hitmen, i didn't know they had a paid online supporter budget too
edit: comment that was deleted said it was pilot error
same reason healthcare insurance aren’t liable to their deaths caused by their denied claims.
I am certain that had a North American or European airliner crashed, they would have. There is a double standard regarding the loss of innocent life in the so called “global south.”
@@TheOriginalCFA1979 Bootlicking filth.
Love the (slightly underhand?) demonstration of inattentional blindness - nice touch!
A bit like the saying in the movie industry: "Don't Tell - Show" - really helps drive the point home
The part where Petter, in the simulator, said "Press the red button now!" was so chilling. Those pilots didn't have a chance in the real world
Can you explain why? What happens if they dont press the red button? Does something break?
@@srdjagunjicThe red button is the pause button, as they were losing control in the simulator and were about to crash.
Obviously the real life pilots don’t have a pause button.
@@srdjagunjic I think he was just under extreme stress and wanted the simulator stopped. No doubt he was putting himself in the place of these poor pilots and for him that would be incredibly easy for him to imagine. Something like that could well give a person a panic attack if he continued to push it.
What is strange is that the mechanical fail-safe-override, that when required is designed in such a way as to not work! As Petter explained, it can be MADE to work by off-loading the aileron-surfaces but not safely at low altitude. The designers ought to have made more space and increased the handle lengths OR just changed the gearing of rotations-to-action produced... at least if it had required 150 turns end-to-end the pilot could have achieved this.
OR, the designers could even have had an additional switch on a panel next to the manual control for power-assist-mode; this would just reconnect power to the motion and NOT reset the whole computer aided paraphernalia!
As I've said before, as an experienced control engineer, I put a lot of blame on the Boeing engineers who developed & released this 'tiger in a dark room'. When you design a system with such a mission-critical safety spec, you have to run through all foreseeable 'Failure Modes', or 'what-if' scenarios in layman's terms, & run through them on a simulator at least. IMHO if they had but done this properly, they could have started out with what they have now, or even better than what they have now, even with only one AOA sensor.. it seems that even now, the MCAS is still too aggressive (although thankfully it is now allowed only one aggressive attack) & is only looking at the (now two) AOA sensors instead of the bigger picture which includes total weight & weight distribution, airspeed, altitude + climb rate, pitch/horizon value, pilot inputs on the stick, & current absolute trim value.. any automotive engineer who understands multiple interrelated engine parameters with multiple sensors when developing the ECU 'flash' curves would probably have been able to show them how to do it
Correct me if I'm wrong, so MCAS was absolutely NOT needed at all in the first place as the new engines position didn't pose any safety concern. They only included it to avoid pilot re-training and its associated costs. And they did it in the most shoddy possible way: relaying on only one sensor and being completely secretive about it. At least until they had no other option after the first crash, and still Boeing had the nerve to blame the pilots. In the aftermath, not only 346 people were killed but pilots had to go trough the very simulator training MCAS was supposed to spare them of. Let's not forget the stelar role played by the FAA: letting Boeing do whatever they wanted just for being an American company facing fierce competition.
No, they included it because it was required to certify the airplane.
@Milkmans_Son How was it needed for certification?
@@UHF43
The FAA wouldn’t have approved a plane with such different manoeuvring characteristics to be of the same type rating as the NG. Even with additional simulator training.
The second pilots were to blame.
The FAA? Do you remember when the chant was to stop the government from getting in the way of businesses from innovating
The FAA was told to transfer this work to the Airlines, which were much more knowledgeable about their products than they were.
Because no airline would readily do something so stupid as to certify a defective airplane.
The next time you hear somebody saying government is dumb business is smart. This is what happens.
MCAS wasn’t intentional stupidity. It was plain stupidity.
Well, financially engineering the plane. Nobody realized that it was a a safety risk to the airplane. Because as you said, it wasn’t strictly necessary.
And the assumption was turning off the switches would remove it
It is covered in the Lion Air video.
Fantastic work Peter. Congratulations on the success of the channel & keep it coming !
One of my Ethiopian friend’s dad was onboard and lost his life on the plane. I feel relieved when you cover this incident..
I'm glad to see many Ethiopian citizens engaging with this type of informative content. It’s important to learn and reflect on these events as they help us understand aviation better and honor the memories of those involved.
I used to work in Us Airways' simulator center as an administrative assistant, right around when a new type was being released that required some refresher training (tbh, I worked there around the years 1999/2000 and I looked up which one it could be and came up empty. I remembered it being a triple number, like the 777, but that's ~1994 and I hadn't graduated high school yet!). I remember typing out memos for incoming pilots and handing them their hotel assignments! It was all very serious business, but I was a temp, and it was for a reason (nightmare boss). My mom also worked as a temp in UsAir's (pre-rename) Ops Center, and she got to see the big NASA-like room with the huge screens that showed all the planes midflight! I just thought I'd drop that in here, thank you for all your hard work. SOOO many people are behind every flight, behind the scenes!
It seems like the electric trim switches could have been operated to move the horizontal stabilizer to the needed position immediately followed by operating the Trim Stab Cutout switches to disable MCAS even before releasing the electric trim switches. In fact the only reason for enabling the electric control (disabling Trim Stab Cutout) would be to operate the pilot's electric trim switches. But under the huge mental, emotional and physical stress of the unique situation and lack of MCAS awareness, it is understandable that tunnel thinking overcomes the ability to plan strategies.
Thank you Petter. It has been a horrible week … I hope you will say something, even though I know your usual policy.
I will likely have an initial briefing with the Patreon crew, but beyond that we will only cover the news on www.mentourpilot.com
Yes, please, give a small cover, because it looks like all involved flights had issue with landing gear.. to be honest, I feel scared with my upcoming flights ..
The Ethiopians must be incredibly proud of this gem of an airline. I'm so sorry for the souls lost on this flight.
We really are. We rallied around to fight negative misinformation around the accident. I remember Ethiopian was among the early customers of the 787 as well and when battery issue started to occur, some idiots were commenting “how could they afford such brand new airplane”.
@@AbebeAmare Westerners are manipulated in such a way they end up thinking the rest of the world is made of cavemen led by military juntas.
Media tries so hard to hide that there's other systems in the world that works better than the western one.
It's hardly a gem if you read Bernd Kai von Hoesslin's "Wasted Warnings." A whistleblower and pilot for ET, his book is a vivid glimpse into the inner workings of a highly corrupt airline that tried its hardest to deny deficiencies and never take responsibility, as was the case with their flight 409, 2nd guessing investigators who clearly found the real cause of that crash.
@@AbebeAmare If it helps, i worked in a training center at an american Airline and most pilots respected Ethiopian Pilots. When my previous director, who was also a test pilot, told me about this incident, he told me that pilots knew this wasnt pilot error because Ethiopian Pilots were well respected and known to be great pilots in the industry.
Its always the media and business people trying to find a scapegoat.
@ you are nothing but a troll and know nothing about the airline.
Came here after Korean air crash. Truly heartbreaking. Watching these videos kinda scaring me of air travel. Huge respect to pilots. Now onwards I will always be thanking pilots.
I've been gobbling up these videos for the last few weeks. Can't wait for this one!!
Let me know what you think, after watching it
They fought to keep the aircraft afloat well trained pilots. May they rest in peace! That made me tear up.
And happy new year Capt. Petter!
I’ve been a technician for almost 30 years for an airline that flies the 737 exclusively.
The Classic and NG versions of this aircraft have been absolutely stellar machines to maintain.
The Max just feels different. Fragile.
It’s honestly so crazy how fast these problems happen at times. Like I’ve heard you explain them going through issues and it feels like it happened over like 10+ minutes, only for you to say it was in like seconds or a couple minutes. Knowing it sometimes only takes a couple minutes to have things go drastically wrong is just insane. I wanted to be a pilot growing up, so I love to watch your videos. Thanks for the content sir
Rest in peace Captain Yared Getachew & FO Ahmednur Mohammed. They did their best given the circumstances but it was a losing battle with a hidden system equiped with superior powers. That email the Ethiopian airlines engineer wrote to Boeing BEFORE the accident needs to be talked about more . Boeing killed all those people the executives deserve jail time.
Thanks!
I’ve never heard of the rollercoaster maneuver, but before you mentioned it I considered something like it and immediately thought it was too ridiculous and dangerous to even joke about.
Yah, and I don't blame them either for not really considering it so close to the ground. With the problem they were having, they were already scary-low as it was.
@@AaronOfMpls and given the large trim movements required and slow manual trim it seems unlikely to have worked fast enough
Personally, if I'd been the pilot not flying, I'd have got out of my cockpit seat and used my foot to rotate the wheel downwards and pulled up with my arms, one revolution every 5 seconds or so until the required 40 revolutions - that's three minutes of pain sweat and agony - had been achieved... there being no Petter and no "red button" handy to press.
Perhaps weight lifting should be on pilots training schedule if fail-safe-manual-overrides require super-human strength?
@@keithalderson100 this makes no sense sorry. It's not stuck, you need the same amount of strength thru the whole rotation, you can "kick" but you can't bring it back with the same power. Also 3 minutes if half the time of the whole situation. They tried to to it manually at around 4 minutes in, so it wouldn't help. And finally, both pilots were pulling at the same time to only keep it leveled, so if one stopped, the plane would down faster
As a non-pilot something that really confuses me about this is why did nobody check the trim indicator? They clearly understood they had a trimming problem and I understand why you wouldn't necessarily want to trim A LOT but why didn't they look at the trim indicator to try and understand what the trim was doing and how low it was actually trimmed?
Not a pilot, but work in aviation. The simple answer is that they are focused on flying the aircraft and processing all the information given to you directly.
Then people are forgetting about environmental factors. The plane is yawing. Sounds of the cockpit. The fact they are wearing headphones to drown out noise.
Then you throw in human factors. Stress, confusion, fear, target fixation, recentcy bias, fatigue etc. A big way to counteractng these factors are memories item, which did not exist for this scenario.
In this scenario, the trim wheel is not in the pilot direct line of sight and fault indications are pulling their attention away from it. The cockpit is also loud and the pilots have headphone so maybe they couldnt fear the trim over the annunciators, stick shaker, engines etc.
Can a more exerienced pilot have caught the issue earier on? Maybe but that doesnt mean anything.
When you're having to pull back on the yoke with that many pounds of force, you need to lay your thumb on the electric trim switch until you can quit pulling. And then turn the two stab trim switches off.
@@TheRCAviator yeah, that's what makes the most sense to me too. I just don't understand why they didn't trim more, they could feel it, why didn't they look at the indicator if they felt like the trim was way out of whack. Again not a pilot, not like I'd know, just seems like the it'd be a natural response but maybe I'm missing something.
As a private pilot, I can say that if you have more pressing thing things requiring your attention, you don't notice the force you're using. Normally after some time you do notice it and correct the trim. But with analysis it should have become clear this was the thing to fix and persistent use of the backwards trim button worked. I guess they were just overwhelmed and were unable to come to this conclusion.
Even knowing exactly how this all ends, I couldn't stop from being on the edge of my seat, as if the pilots will get out of this at the last minute. Rest in peace to all of those who were lost.
(And really well done video, you and your team have really out done yourselves with the production and narration here)
Forget being a nervous flier, I can't even begin to imagine the terror of the pilots trying the their hardest to figure this out and get safety on the ground.
This just made me mad all over again. That payout did absolutely nothing to hurt them. They should've spent some time for murder because that's what it was.
Thank you so much Cpt. Petter and your crew, for all the hard work that you all do.
For what it’s worth, this has become my favorite channel. Always watching. Great production work and super in depth!
This was a great episode. I could feel the fear from behind the screen, can't image what the pilots must've been thinking near the end when both were pulling with full force and the nose just kept diving.
RIP to the 179 people that passed away today in South Korea in the Jeju air 737 crash.
Always book a Airbus and stay away from these so called cheap flights
@@ClarencegHamm it was not a boeing issue in any capacity, it was a 20 year old plane with a set in stone maintenance schedule that hundreds of airlines around the world have followed successfully for its entire operating life. Currently cause is looking like pilot error, because the right hand thrust reversal cowling being deployed tells us that hydraulic system 1 must have been working. There was then no reason to land without trailing edge flaps extended and speek brakes deployed on landing, as they are both controlled by hydraulic system 1, which we know had pressure.
@@nostromo8065So they failed to lower the gear or the gear failed? Why would they land without flaps and armed spoilers unless they couldn't slow the plane down for some reason?
@@nostromo8065 do me a favor and rewatch 3:25 to 4:00 on this video really quick.
@@nostromo8065 do me a favor and rewatch 3:25 to 4:00 on this video really quick
Petter,
Thank you so much for you and your teams dedication and thoroughness in these videos.
As an avid aviation enthusiast and aspiring commercial pilot, I find all of your videos fascinating and informative. But these last two about the MAX have been especially good.
Honestly, I’ve had some qualms about flying on the MAX, even after recertification, but now that I know how thoroughly MCAS has been modified, the extra training, and the scrutiny of worldwide authorities, I feel much better.
Your videos have helped me feel more confident getting onto an airplane, knowing that every incident is studied and documented so that it can never happen again.
Thank you for all your work, & I can’t wait to see what masterpiece you and your team work up next!
Although your videos deal with very serious subject matter, I find myself anxiously waiting for the next video. You do such a fantastic job of explaining these events so that we, non-aviators can understand what happens in the cockpit. Thank you for all the work you and your team does on every video and I can’t wait for the next one!
I have been waiting for this video. Thanks Petter
Finally, the last part of the 737 MAX accident story is here.
As an aviation enthusiast and a passenger, if the aircraft that i am about to board was the 737 MAX, I accept it and ready.
Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 is the cause of the Boeing 737 MAX grounding worldwide for 20 months. Making 2 737 MAX Accident videos is an excellent idea in this last month of 2024 and like the Lion Air MAX video, this video is very amazing. 🤝Thank you explaining it in a quite complex and in a detail way and Happy New Year, sir. ❤from Indonesia.
Thank you for doing this video. I enjoy your objective, non biased approach to your videos and have been waiting patiently for this one as many people in the public blamed it on pilots experience. Keep up the great work. 🙏🏿👍🏿
hour long video AND a quality first minute? I feel this video's gonna be a good one just as everything else, very nice
I hope you will find it interesting and that it will answer some questions for you. Thank you for being here early!
A heart breaking loss of lives, but the pair of videos about MCAS were very interesting. That you tried to control the aircraft in a sim, was awesome. And the 'you didn't notice' the cup and the background lighting part, sure caught my attention! Thank you for your hard work, sir!
When I saw you struggling with the yoke and your friend fighting with the trim wheel I thought:
Those at boing, responsible for the design and the recommended stab runaway procedure should have been prisoned in the sim until they managed to land the plane safely without calling for the red button^^
There were so many quite obviously dangerous design flaws such that its hard to not call it a crime to release an aircraft to the public with such issues.
Finally some one explained the whole max scandel with out omitting any information
@MentourPilot, I have watched many of your videos and I honestly believe this is one of the most significant you have released of late.
I remember when this happened and the almost mocking comments about the pilots, the airlines and how all they had to do was “Stab Trim Off”.
The pilots portrayed as untrained hacks
The airline portrayed as some tin pot joke
The stab trim off portrayed as a simpler click and then sit back to sip your tea.
This video sets the record straight.
The fact they fought the aircraft with all their strength and tried everything they could in a situation of sensory overload
The fact the airline had questioned Boeing about the suitability of their advice and were just pawned off
The fact MCAS could make the situation worse at a faster rate than the pilots could trim back out.
Sure, easy to say from outside the situation that they should have trimmed back for 30!seconds and then disconnected the trim, but from the sim video you showed, you needed your arms wrapped round the yoke to keep level and your hands could be nowhere near the trim….
Well done for speaking truth and clarity
I'm really curious why the "roller coaster" technique was removed from the operating manual of later 737s. It seems like it will be needed whenever there is a runaway stabilizer incident at high speed that leaves the stabilizer in an extreme position -- something that could happen regardless of MCAS.
That's a very good question
Changing your cup & background lighting between shots was a great way of demonstrating the principle you were describing.
thank you for finally including in-video credits for everyone involved! I've always wondered who scripted, animated, filmed etc these docs 😊
Fantastic video. Thanks Petter. Merry Christmas and happy new year to you and your team!
Happy new year to you as well!
This crash breaks my heart. The fact that not only did both the pilots and Ethiopian Airlines get so much right only to lose the plane and their lives anyway, but that Boeing ignored all of this and went with the racist defense that “a pilot from a developed nation would have been able to save the plane” is both devastating and infuriating. These two pilots, along with everyone else on the plane, should still be here, and Boeing should never be allowed to forget the blood on their hands.
The fact that these incidents were not considered murder or at least aggravated manslaughter committed by Boeing's senior decisionmakers is, IMO, yet another indictment on how corporate law and endless shareholders greed works in our current economic setup 😣 The fact that Boeing then tried to leverage racist arguments to obscure their own negligence and greed feels like intentional fraud on top of everything else!
It's easier for Boeing to blame them than admit they just want money and don't care about the lives on board their products.
After the jeju air accident I refuse to fly on a 737, they are just too old and too bodged together. I'm no aeronautical engineer but it doesn't take a genius to see it's ALWAYS a 737 involved with accidents these days.
What's even more sad is that I still see some comments here that still calls out on the pilots simply because they are from a "third world country" and therefore unskilled. Even after what has happened to Boeing.
The pilots seemed to have tried everything to save the plane.
these two videos were really interesting...i thought i knew what happened but this was the first time i learned the combinations of multiple failures that occured...your videos are just getting better... Great job!
3:54 the timing is outrageous, with the misinformation I'm seeing around SK crash today. RIP those souls, such a hard time for Korea right now
Azerbaijan, The one in Korea and then there was another crash landing with no casualties thankfully. But 3 in a week ? Weird
@@th3realspartanI mean, more people are flying than ever, pilots are exhausted and overworked. Not necessarily weird, just shitty.
Azerbaijan, the aircraft was flying around certain borders with certain trig happy countries. The world is getting smaller each day.