All language subtitles for Air.Disasters.S11E10.The.Lost.Plane.1080p.PMTP.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-maldini_track3_[eng]

NARRATOR: A
regular commercial flight

to an extraordinary
part of the world.

JOHN: A lot of tourists
fly in just for the scenery.

NARRATOR:
Thai Airways 311 is bound for
Kathmandu. But it never arrives.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
Thai 311, Kathmandu.
Please report your position.

DAVID MCNAIR: Until
the airplane is found

it's difficult to figure
out what might have happened.

NEPALI INVESTIGATOR:
This is where we search.

NARRATOR: A high-altitude
trek leads investigators

to one of the most
remote places on Earth.

DAVID ROHRER: You
couldn't tell that you had

an Airbus A310 aircraft there.

You couldn't even
tell you had two engines.

NARRATOR: How can they ever hope
to piece together what happened?

DAVID ROHRER: Right away
you knew you were really

gonna be in a
difficult situation.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: It is
mid-summer in the Himalayas.

Monsoon season, when
shifting winds and sudden rains

sweep across the
jagged mountain landscape.

Just above the awesome peaks
flies Thai Airways Flight 311.

The pilot flying is
Captain Preeda Suttimai.

His first officer
is Phunthat Boonyayej.

FO. BOONYAYEJ: I will never get
tired of seeing these mountains.

CAPT. SUTTIMAI: It truly is an
extraordinary sight, brother.

NARRATOR: The flight's
ninety-nine passengers

are a mix of Nepalese nationals
and international tourists

all headed to Kathmandu.

JOHN: Kathmandu is a
popular tourist destination.

It's a mountainous airport

and a lot of tourists fly in
just for that, for the scenery.

NARRATOR: The Thai Airways
plane is an Airbus A310,

a medium-to-long-range twin jet.

JOHN: The A310 overall
is a fantastic airplane.

It has a range of eight hours

and it can carry 20
tons at a decent altitude.

The flight from Bangkok to
Kathmandu is expected to take

roughly three and a half hours.

The Nepalese capital
lies at more than 4,500 feet

above sea level.

The approach requires navigating

some of the
world's highest mountains.

FO. BOONYAYEJ: Kathmandu,
Thai 311. Request descent.

Kathmandu, Thai
311. Do you read?

JIM: The first attempts
that the flight crew had

with air traffic control,
they called three times

and got no response at all.

FO. BOONYAYEJ: Kathmandu,
Thai 311. Do you read?

JIM: The acoustics
were not very good.

There was a lot of
echoing on the frequency.

Maybe it had been
caused by the mountains.

FO. BOONYAYEJ:
Kathmandu, Thai 311.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
311, Kathmandu. Go ahead.

NARRATOR: Finally, the Nepalese
controller hears the call.

FO. BOONYAYEJ: Request descent.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
Thai 311, we have
negative traffic at or above

flight level one-five-zero
within our juris...

except one in
Nepal at two-zero-six.

You are cleared for descent.

JIM: The controller, he
was relatively inexperienced.

He had nine months' experience.

You know, he's
not a complete rookie

but at the same time
he's got a lot to learn yet.

ANNOUNCEMENT:
Ladies and gentlemen,

we will soon begin our
descent into Kathmandu.

Please stow away your tray
tables, raise your seat backs

and fasten your seat belts
in preparation for landing.

NARRATOR: The flight
is now about 30 minutes

from its destination.

CAPT. SUTTIMAI: Lots of
clouds. Let's go through.

NARRATOR: Kathmandu's
Tribhuvan International Airport

is one of the most
challenging in the world.

The mountains that tower
above the capital force pilots

to descend much more
steeply than at other airports.

JIM: When I look
at the approach that

the aircraft was going to be
flying going into Kathmandu,

I'm definitely struck by the
steepness of the approach itself

and the gradient of
the terrain in the area.

CAPT. SUTTIMAI:
Go ahead. Would you request
for runway zero-two please?

FO. BOONYAYEJ: Thai
311, request zero-two.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
Thai 311, confirm
requesting zero-two.

FO. BOONYAYEJ: Confirm.

NARRATOR: The pilots have
requested a straight-in approach

from the south to runway two.

It will keep them clear of high
mountains north of the airport.

But as they get
closer, things change.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
Thai 311, Kathmandu.

FO. BOONYAYEJ:
Go ahead, Thai 311.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
Thai 311, for your information

runway zero-two not available
due to poor visibility

and heavy rain toward that side.

You'll have to
take runway two-zero.

NARRATOR: Sudden bad
weather means the only approach

now available is from the north.

It requires circling
north of the airport

to land on the opposite runway,

a maneuver the captain
does not want to make.

CAPT. SUTTIMAI:
We need runway zero-two
for the straight-in approach.

JOHN: You'd be
challenged at the notion of

doing a circling approach
in a mountainous environment.

It's one thing to
do it over an island

say in the sea
without any obstacles.

It's another thing to do
it surrounded by mountains.

♪ ♪

CAPT. SUTTIMAI: I guess
we can't make it, brother.

Please check the
field to Calcutta.

NARRATOR: The captain
decides to abandon the landing

and divert to an
airport in India.

FO. BOONYAYEJ: Fuel. We
got enough to get to Bangkok.

CAPT. SUTTIMAI: And for
Calcutta, how much do we need?

Eighteen, 14, 42?

NARRATOR: For passengers,
diverting to Calcutta

would mean landing
more than 400 miles

away from their destination.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
Thai 311, I've just confirmed

that runway zero-two
is now also available.

Report two-five DME.

CAPT. SUTTIMAI: Wait a minute.

NARRATOR:
It seems the unpredictable
weather has changed again.

It's good news.

CAPT. SUTTIMAI:
Kathmandu, Thai 311. Confirm
runway zero-two available?

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
Confirmed. Runway
zero-two is now available.

CAPT. SUTTIMAI: That's lucky.

NARRATOR:
The straight-in approach from
the south is once again clear.

But the plane is now too close
to the runway to descend safely.

JIM: They were a little
bit high for the position

that they were at in
relation to the airport.

CAPT. SUTTIMAI:
Kathmandu, Thai 311. We
cannot make approach now.

We will need to turn
back to Romeo and climb

to one-eight-thousand feet
and start our approach again.

NARRATOR: The captain decides
to turn around and try again.

It should give him
the distance he needs

for a safe, controlled descent.

Using the flight
management system,

First Officer Boonyayej looks
up a navigational waypoint,

called Romeo, to
restart their approach.

But there's a problem.

The system won't lock in
the flight path to Romeo.

FO. BOONYAYEJ: It disappeared.

CAPT. SUTTIMAI:
It's Romeo 27, isn't it?

FO. BOONYAYEJ: Ro-me-o.

CAPT. SUTTIMAI: Kathmandu,
what is the visibility?

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
Thai 311, stand by for tower
observation and visibility.

NARRATOR: Flying
in dense cloud cover,

the pilots' view
ahead is extremely limited.

They want to know when they
can expect to see the airport.

CAPT. SUTTIMAI: Level change.
GPWS: Terrain. Terrain. Pull up.

NARRATOR:
A ground proximity warning
suddenly begins to sound.

GPWS: Pull up.
Pull up. Airspeed low.

FO. BOONYAYEJ:
Turn back! Turn back!

CAPT. SUTTIMAI:
It's false. It's false.

GPWS: Terrain.
Pull up. Don't sink.

♪ ♪

Terrain. Terrain.
Pull up. Pull up.

FO. BOONYAYEJ: Oh my God!

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
Thai 311, please
report your position.

Thai 311, Kathmandu.
Please report your position.

NARRATOR: In the mountains
of Nepal, a search is underway

for Thai Airways Flight 311.

The Airbus carrying
113 people vanished

on approach to Kathmandu.

Nepal has moved quickly

to set up a Royal
Commission of investigators.

NEPALI INVESTIGATOR:
This is the airport.

Flight 311 was coming
in from the south, here.

DAVID MCNAIR: Until
the airplane is found,

it's difficult to figure
out what might have happened.

NEPALI INVESTIGATOR:
This is where we search.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: They
search an area covering

dozens of square
miles south of Kathmandu.

DAVID MCNAIR: And the search
of course started in the south

because it came
in from the south.

NARRATOR:
A methodical search eliminates
territory sector by sector.

NEPALI INVESTIGATOR:
Where is this thing?

NARRATOR: The plane
is nowhere to be found.

Time is of the essence.

The unpredictable Himalayan
weather could bring heavy rains

at any moment, making the
search all but impossible.

As the mountain search
continues, investigators

interview air traffic control,
hoping for any kind of lead.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
We don't have radar here,

so I can't help you with
the airplane's location.

JIM: A radar is a
line of sight tool.

It doesn't penetrate through
mountains or anything like that.

So in a mountainous area like
Kathmandu, your radar coverage

would be limited to some degree

because it would be blocked
by the mountains themselves.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: I just
rely on what the pilots tell me.

JIM: In a non-radar environment,
they have a mental picture,

and that picture is
really painted by the words

that the pilot reports to them.

They don't have
an exact location.

It's almost like
working blindfolded.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
They were going to
restart their approach.

Their last
reported position was here,

14 miles to the
south of the airport.

CAPT. SUTTIMAI:
Kathmandu, Thai 311. We
cannot make approach now.

We will turn back
to Romeo and climb

to one-eight-thousand feet
to start our approach again.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
To redo the approach,

they would have to turn
back towards the south.

There was one thing.

At one point they
mentioned a technical fault.

But a few seconds later
they said they were fine.

NARRATOR: A mysterious technical
fault raises suspicion.

But at this point,
there's no way of knowing

if it played any role in
the plane's disappearance.

DAVID MCNAIR:
They knew the aircraft
had some technical problem.

That's what they were told.

You didn't know
whether it was a radio fault,

a navigation system fault,
so we wondered what it was.

NARRATOR: It's
been almost 48 hours

since Thai Airways Flight 311
disappeared in the Himalayas.

Investigators have
yet to find the aircraft.

But now they're about
to get an important break.

Local villagers
report that they found

aircraft debris
north of Kathmandu.

DAVID MCNAIR:
Some people where the airplane
crashed had heard the crash,

and they couldn't
communicate with anybody

as to where it went 'cause they
didn't have the means to do so.

NEPALI INVESTIGATOR:
Are you sure you don't mean

down here to the
south of the city?

NARRATOR: Investigators
can't quite believe it.

The reported crash site

is nowhere near the
area they've been searching.

DAVID ROHRER:
I don't think they ever
in their wildest imagination

thought the airplane
was north of the airport.

NARRATOR: North of Kathmandu,
near the border with Tibet,

the Himalayan peaks soar to
an altitude of 20,000 feet.

These northern summits are
the reason almost all planes

approach Tribhuvan
Airport from the south,

where the mountains
are closer to 8,000 feet.

NEPALI INVESTIGATOR:
Send out the helicopters.

Tell them to start searching
to the north of the airport.

NARRATOR: Later that day,
27 miles north of Kathmandu,

search crews find the remains
of Thai Airways Flight 311.

The point of impact is a steep
rock face more than 11,000 feet

up the side of a
remote mountain.

DAVID MCNAIR: It hit essentially
a vertical rock face

and then the whole aircraft just
tumbled down into a valley.

There was some
small evidence of fire,

but mostly just total
destruction of the aircraft.

NARRATOR: None of the 113
people on board have survived.

DAVID MCNAIR: It immediately
created some mysteries as to

what might have happened,
why the airplane got to

a place that it
was not expected.

NARRATOR: The
challenge for investigators

is unlike anything
they've encountered before.

The terrain is so extreme

helicopters can't
land near the impact zone.

The team will have to
trek more than 3,000 feet

up from the base camp
to reach the wreckage.

♪ ♪

It's a
treacherous five-hour hike.

NEPALI INVESTIGATOR:
Okay. I gotta stop.

DAVID MCNAIR:
It's a dangerous area. You
had to be very, very careful.

At a high altitude you
tend to end up with hypoxia.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: It isn't long before
the mountains let it be known

just how dangerous they can be.

NEPALI INVESTIGATOR: What
happened? What's going on?

DAVID MCNAIR: One of
the investigators died.

NARRATOR: A British
investigator for Airbus

suffers fatal
complications from hypoxemia, a

lack of oxygen in the blood due
to thin air at high altitude.

DAVID MCNAIR: It's bad enough
that people die in the accident,

but you don't want
other people dying

trying to solve the accident

or recover things
from the accident site.

And so that was a shock.

NARRATOR: It's now
brutally clear to everyone:

On this mission the
stakes could not be higher.

NARRATOR: Deep in
the Himalayan mountains,

Nepal's Accident
Investigation Commission

makes its way toward the
Thai Airways crash site.

The team includes
experts from around the world,

including Canada's David Rohrer.

DAVID ROHRER: You're there
to hopefully find something

to prevent recurrence,
to save somebody else

from having that same
tragedy in their lives

or have a similar outcome.
That's why you're there.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: Rohrer is
confronted with a scene

of total devastation.

DAVID ROHRER: The level
of destruction was enormous.

You couldn't tell that you had
an Airbus A310 aircraft there.

I mean, you couldn't even
tell you had two engines.

NARRATOR: The first
big question they have is,

how did Thai Airways
Flight 311 end up here?

The Airbus
should never have been

flying north of the airport.

Searchers soon find the
cockpit voice recorder.

But that won't
reveal the flight path.

NEPALI INVESTIGATOR:
Bring that to base.

NARRATOR:
Investigators already know
the airport has no radar data.

Their best chance of discovering
how the plane reached

this fatal impact zone is to
find the flight data recorder.

DAVID ROHRER:
Right away you knew that
if you didn't have the FDR

then you were really gonna
be in a difficult situation

in terms of trying to determine
cause or probable factors.

DAVID ROHRER: Still
no sign of the FDR?

NEPALI INVESTIGATOR:
No. Unfortunately not.

NARRATOR: The
intensive high-altitude effort

has already
killed one team member.

Investigators know that
their time on the mountain

will be limited.

NEPALI INVESTIGATOR:
Right over there.

NARRATOR: An airport hangar
in Kathmandu is the final stop

on a long journey for wreckage
collected from the mountainside.

DAVID ROHRER: The Sherpas
would bring down the pieces

that we identified
down to the landing zone.

Then the Nepalese
army in their helicopters

would put them in nets

and then sling them down
to the hangar at the airport.

NARRATOR:
With still no word on the
plane's flight data recorder,

investigators review the
A310's maintenance records.

DAVID MCNAIR:
In any investigation,
you don't just sit

and wait for the recorders. You
start doing work right away.

For example, were there
any problems with the aircraft

before the accident?

NARRATOR: They already know
that the Thai Airways pilots

reported an unknown technical
fault to air traffic control.

DAVID ROHRER: It's a red
flag, and there's so many

different areas that could
be called a technical fault.

You know, was it a configuration
issue? Was it a power issue?

Was it a landing gear issue?

It just opens up Pandora's
box of what it can be.

DAVID ROHRER: Hey, look at
this. The day before the flight

there was a circuit
breaker failure on the plane.

DAVID MCNAIR:
There was a recurring
problem with the XP-205 bus.

And that bus was related
to navigation equipment,

so we were kind of thinking,

well, perhaps we better
look at that in more detail.

NARRATOR: The XP-205 bus carries
electrical power to several

important systems, including
the plane's navigation system.

NEPALI INVESTIGATOR:
Maybe the bus failed

while they were in flight.

DAVID ROHRER: It's possible.

NARRATOR: A malfunction
in the navigation system

could explain the
location of the crash.

DAVID ROHRER: If that
bus failed it would wipe out

the co-pilot's
electric instruments,

which would show his
position and his navigation.

That would be pretty critical.

But in order to prove
their theory, they'll have to

track down the XP-205 bus

amidst piles of
burnt and twisted debris.

NEPALI INVESTIGATOR:
It's hard to tell what
we're even looking at here.

DAVID MCNAIR: Given the
destruction of the aircraft,

very difficult to track down
those types of technical issues.

NARRATOR: As team members
comb through the wreckage,

the investigation
takes an unexpected turn.

♪ ♪

DAVID ROHRER:
Excuse me. Can I help you?

DAVID MCNAIR:
During the investigation,
one of the family members

were asking for a
circuit board just because

it somehow would link
them to their loved one.

NARRATOR: The unusual request
leads to an incredible find.

DAVID MCNAIR:
That's when we actually
found the internal mechanism

of the recorder we were missing,
which was quite amazing.

NARRATOR:
The FDR should provide crucial
data on the plane's speed,

direction and altitude
throughout the flight.

DAVID MCNAIR: You always
hope that luck is on your side,

that things will
happen to your benefit.

And those are
the kind of moments

you really hope for
as an investigator.

NARRATOR: It's the breakthrough
they've been waiting for,

evidence that could
reveal how a plane flying south

of the airport ended up slamming
into mountains to its north.

DAVID ROHRER:
Ready? Okay. Start it up.

NARRATOR:
The cockpit voice recorder
from Thai Airways Flight 311

is finally ready for analysis.

CAPT. SUTTIMAI: Lots of
clouds. Let's go through.

NARRATOR: Investigators hope
to hear something that might

help explain why the Airbus hit
a mountain at over 11,000 feet.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
Thai 311, Kathmandu.

CAPT. SUTTIMAI:
Go ahead. Would you request
for runway zero-two please?

FO. BOONYAYEJ: Thai
311, request zero-two.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
Thai 311, confirm
requesting zero-two?

FO. BOONYAYEJ: Confirm.

NARRATOR: As they initiate their
descent, all seems normal.

CAPT. SUTTIMAI: I guess
we can't make it, brother.

Please check the
fuel to Calcutta.

NARRATOR: But as the captain
considers diverting to Calcutta,

the atmosphere in the
cockpit seems to change.

FO. BOONYAYEJ: Fuel. We got
enough to get back to Bangkok.

CAPT. SUTTIMAI: And for
Calcutta, how much do we need?

Eighteen? Fourteen? Forty-two?

DAVID ROHRER:
He's really getting frustrated
with his first officer.

JOHN: I got the impression
that the answers from the

first officer were not what
the captain was looking for.

They weren't communicating
properly with each other.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: Thai
311, I've just confirmed that

runway zero-two is now also
available. Report two-five DME.

CAPT. SUTTIMAI: Wait a minute.

Kathmandu, Thai 311. Confirm
runway zero-two available?

NARRATOR:
Investigators then notice

something else
out of the ordinary.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
Confirmed. Runway
zero-two is now available.

CAPT. SUTTIMAI: Request
surface condition, please.

DAVID ROHRER: Wait,
wait a minute. Stop.

NARRATOR: The pilot on the
radio is not the first officer.

DAVID ROHRER: It's the captain.

Why was the captain
speaking with the controller?

NARRATOR: As the
pilot flying, the captain

should never have been speaking
with air traffic control.

JOHN:
It's up to the first officer,
as the non-flying pilot,

to do the communication.
But it didn't unfold that way.

DAVID ROHRER: Normally division
of duties in a cockpit's

very important in
sharing workload.

But in this case I noticed that
the captain was in many cases

taking over the
radio transmission work.

CAPT. SUTTIMAI:
Speed brake in. Flap 15.

FO. BOONYAYEJ: Speed
brake in. Flap 15 selected.

NARRATOR: As
they keep listening,

they hear the
captain's frustration grow.

CAPT. SUTTIMAI: Damn it!
The flaps cannot be extended.

DAVID MCNAIR:
The flaps would not
extend to full configuration,

which for the Kathmandu
approach is essential.

CAPT. SUTTIMAI: It's too late to
make a landing. It's too late.

FO. BOONYAYEJ: We
can request a return.

CAPT. SUTTIMAI: Damn
it! Kathmandu, Thai 311.

Request to maintain 10,500

and request to go back to
Calcutta due to technical.

NARRATOR: It's now clear
that the technical problem

has nothing to do
with a circuit breaker.

It's the wing flaps. They
won't extend to 15 degrees.

DAVID ROHRER: When
they went to 15 and 15,

of course they
didn't get 15 and 15.

They got the one chime
and they had a flap fault.

NARRATOR: But just how
serious a problem is it?

Will it affect the captain's
ability to control his plane?

CAPT. SUTTIMAI: Hey.
The flaps have extended.

NARRATOR: The recording soon
tells them that the flap issue

is quickly resolved.

JOHN: They did cycle the flaps.
They did correct the problem.

CAPT. SUTTIMAI:
Back to normal now. Can we
make a left turn to Romeo?

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
Understand operation normal.

And you'd like to
make an approach?

CAPT. SUTTIMAI: Affirm. Affirm.

NARRATOR: The situation
appears to be stabilizing.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: Thai
311, clear Sierra approach.

Report one-zero
DME leaving 9,500.

NARRATOR: But the captain's
frustration soon returns.

CAPT. SUTTIMAI: We can't land
at this time. We have to make

a left turn back to Romeo
and start our approach again.

JOHN: Communication with
ATC was anything but great.

It was
fragmented. It was unclear.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: Thai
311, go ahead your DME distance.

CAPT. SUTTIMAI: We are
nine DME, 10,500 feet.

Answer, please.

Answer, please.

JIM: Repeated requests
to return to Romeo were

pretty much unanswered.

NARRATOR:
Investigators now wonder...

CAPT. SUTTIMAI:
Kathmandu, Thai 311. Can we
make our left turn back now?

NARRATOR:
Does the Thai Airways crew keep
flying towards the mountains

because they don't have
clearance to change course?

CAPT. SUTTIMAI: We'll
climb and turn to the right.

NARRATOR: But
despite lacking clearance,

the captain takes
matters into his own hands

and turns his plane right,

heading back to the
start of the approach.

♪ ♪

FO. BOONYAYEJ: They're all
gone. They've disappeared!

NARRATOR:
Moments later, there is more
uncertainty in the cockpit.

CAPT. SUTTIMAI:
It's Romeo 27, isn't it?

FO. BOONYAYEJ: Ro-me-o.

DAVID MCNAIR: Also, the captain
seemed to be getting frustrated

with the co-pilot's efforts

to put things in
the navigation system.

FO. BOONYAYEJ: This
thing failed again.

DAVID ROHRER:
Why is he having such a hard
time inputting the waypoint?

NARRATOR: Then,
investigators hear

a surprising question
from the first officer.

FO. BOONYAYEJ:
Are we going north?

DAVID MCNAIR: The
co-pilot said something like,

"We're going north, huh?"

with that inflection like
it's a mitigated-type question.

NARRATOR: The recording presents
a troubling contradiction.

Though clearly frustrated
with air traffic control

and with his
co-pilot, it seems the captain

managed to turn south
away from the mountains.

Yet, minutes later, they
hit a wall to the north.

GPWS: Terrain. Terrain. Pull up.

FO. BOONYAYEJ:
Turn back. Turn back!

CAPT. SUTTIMAI:
It's false. It's false.

NARRATOR: How they ended
up slamming into a mountain

they were supposed to be flying
away from remains a mystery.

GPWS: Terrain. Terrain. Pull up.

FO. BOONYAYEJ: Oh my God!

NARRATOR: In Nepal,
investigators have ruled out

the possibility that a
faulty circuit breaker

caused the Thai
Airways 311 disaster.

DAVID MCNAIR: Had the XP-205
bus failed, it would have

fired off some warning
chimes, which I'm sure

they would have talked
about, which they didn't.

And so I think that that
was probably the main reason

we discounted it as a factor.

NARRATOR: They
wonder if the work records

of the two Thai Airways pilots

can shed any new
light on the investigation.

The captain's record reveals
he was a highly trained pilot

who had flown to
Kathmandu many times.

DAVID ROHRER:
He was impressive, and I
think everybody in the company

had identified him as a person

who was going to go right to the
senior levels of the company.

The co-pilot was
older than the captain.

He had a lot of
experience as well.

DAVID ROHRER: The first officer
has flown into Kathmandu

14 times in the last year.

NARRATOR: But as
investigators look more deeply

into the first officer's record,

they make a
surprising discovery.

DAVID ROHRER: Thai
Airways, they categorized you

based on whether you were
gonna be captain material

or whether you were going to
be first officer material only.

Interestingly
enough, in their assessment

they categorized for the
first officer in this case

that he would not be captain.

I've always thought
that if you tell somebody,

you're limited, I will
hire you but you're limited,

well, maybe they'll
fulfill that prophecy.

DAVID ROHRER: It
still doesn't explain

how they ended up way
up here to the north.

NARRATOR: Flight 311 flew 27
miles north of the airport into

airspace commercial airliners
normally avoid at all cost.

DAVID ROHRER: Is that the
data from the FDR? Great.

NARRATOR: With the FDR data now
recovered, investigators have

their first chance to analyze
the plane's deadly flight path.

DAVID MCNAIR: 'Cause
recorders will give you

latitude and longitude.

It gives you a nice track
as to where the airplane went.

DAVID ROHRER: First,
let's have a look at

what they were intending to do.

Can you pass me the
published approach?

NARRATOR: Thai
Airways' approach to Kathmandu

is from the south. The crew
wanted to land on runway two.

DAVID ROHRER: Okay.
Roughly here is where

they would have decided
on the missed approach.

This is where they
were supposed to go.

Let's see what
they actually did.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: The
data shows Flight 311

proceeding north
toward Kathmandu.

Everything seems to be in order.

DAVID ROHRER: And right
here they're looping around

to restart their
approach, right?

♪ ♪

They were supposed to level
out. They just kept turning.

NARRATOR:
Instead of straightening
out and heading to Romeo,

Flight 311 does a
complete 360-degree turn.

DAVID ROHRER: When I saw
it, I was amazed because

I couldn't understand why
they would want to do that.

DAVID ROHRER: It just
doesn't make any sense.

NARRATOR: Why the Airbus
flew in a complete circle

back on a collision course with
mountains north of the airport

is a mystery.

Investigators must solve it
to understand why 113 people

died aboard the
Thai Airways flight.

NEPALI INVESTIGATOR: Ready?

DAVID ROHRER: Ready. Fire it up.

NARRATOR: In search of answers,

they turn to a flight simulator.

DAVID MCNAIR: In
terms of simulator testing,

the one thing that it
allows the investigators to do

is to replicate what happened

and understand
what the crew would see

or any other problems
that they would face.

NEPALI INVESTIGATOR:
The captain just took over

communications
with the controller.

DAVID ROHRER: Yeah, okay.

CAPT. SUTTIMAI:
Kathmandu, Thai 311. Confirm
runway zero-two available?

NARRATOR: At this point, the
captain is flying the aircraft,

monitoring the instruments
and speaking to the controller

all on one of the steepest,
most difficult descents

in aviation.

CAPT. SUTTIMAI:
Speed brake in. Flap 15.

FO. BOONYAYEJ: Speed
brake in. Flap 15 selected.

CAPT. SUTTIMAI: Damn it!
The flaps cannot be extended.

NARRATOR: The flap
issue is temporary.

But time spent
resolving it forces a delay.

They can no longer make
the straight-in landing.

DAVID ROHRER:
Let's see. Okay. No.

We are too high and too
close for the approach.

The only choice is to circle
back and do another approach.

NEPALI INVESTIGATOR:
The controller
hasn't given clearance.

He keeps asking for
the aircraft's altitude

and distance from the airport.

DAVID ROHRER: Hang on.
We are getting very close

to the mountains, right?
We need to make a turn soon.

NARRATOR: The autopilot takes
the plane to a selected heading

in the shortest way possible.

In this case, that would
mean turning to the left.

NEPALI INVESTIGATOR:
The controller said
there's traffic to the left.

DAVID ROHRER: Okay, there is
a lot going on here right now.

NEPALI INVESTIGATOR:
And he still hasn't cleared
you to go back to Romeo.

NARRATOR: Needing to
turn before he reaches

the mountains north of Kathmandu

and with traffic on his left,

the captain decides to
override the autopilot.

CAPT. SUTTIMAI: We'll
climb and turn to the right.

NARRATOR: He can turn right
by turning the heading knob

incrementally in
the same direction.

DAVID MCNAIR: The
airplane was turned

most likely by
changing the heading bug.

In other words, the
captain has that option.

He just turns a heading selector
and the airplane will turn.

NEPALI INVESTIGATOR: Watch your
turn. You're center level off.

DAVID ROHRER: Oh. Yeah. Right.

JOHN: The climb, turn,
descend with an autopilot,

that's tough to do. And he was
doing all of that in the turn.

NEPALI INVESTIGATOR: Okay.
You're starting to fly south now

and should straighten out.

DAVID ROHRER: Yes.

NEPALI INVESTIGATOR: But
he gets yet another call.

The controller tells
him to lower the altitude

to 11,500 feet due
to traffic in the area.

DAVID ROHRER: Okay.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
Thai 311, descend

to flight level
one-one-thousand-five-hundred.

DAVID ROHRER:
It started to really become
apparent that, you know what?

With all the distractions,

with all the workload
that the captain had,

that, eventually, you know,
the monkey climbed on his back

and he took on the
whole load of the operation.

NARRATOR: Investigators
are close to a breakthrough.

NEPALI INVESTIGATOR:
And this is the moment

they should have
stopped adjusting the heading.

NARRATOR: The
simulation gives them a sense

of the mounting pressure
in the Thai Airways cockpit.

An extremely busy captain
flying a challenging approach

attempts an
improvised right turn.

JOHN: He's trying to do
too many things at once.

He's asking to go to a point,

he's trying to fly the
airplane on the autopilot

and he's starting
to lose the 3D picture

that he has in
his head where he is.

NARRATOR:
Without realizing it, he
turns the heading knob too far.

DAVID ROHRER:
He turned it one too many
times and did a full circle.

JOHN: Each time he has to reach
up and change his heading,

he has to take his
eyes off the ball.

What's the one
thing that we never do,

is take our eyes off the ball.

Well, each time he reaches up
to select a different button,

he takes his eye
off of the screen.

DAVID MCNAIR: The captain
took on too much himself where

the point he was distracted
from his primary task,

which is to
navigate the airplane.

NARRATOR: Investigators finally
understand how the plane

ended up heading in
the wrong direction.

But they still
wonder why the crew

didn't notice
the mistake in time.

NEPALI INVESTIGATOR:
After he did the turn,

they kept flying north
for more than five minutes.

NARRATOR: As the
pilots head toward disaster,

they struggle to
input the Romeo waypoint.

Their frustration
with the flight computer

should be a warning sign.
Romeo is now behind them.

DAVID ROHRER: How
could they not notice?

NARRATOR: Why the Thai
Airways crew failed to notice

that they had turned
their plane 360 degrees

back towards the
towering Himalayan mountains

is one of the last mysteries
investigators want to solve.

DAVID MCNAIR: The team tried to
understand as to why the crew

continued to the north.

What cues could they have got,

and why did they
ignore those cues?

DAVID ROHRER:
Take a look at this.

There are no cardinal
points on the compass.

NARRATOR: A close look
at the cockpit compass

reveals a possible explanation.

The instrument lacks the usual
direction markers, N, S, E, W,

for North, South, East and West.

DAVID MCNAIR: It
had just numbers.

I think if there had been a
big N on top of the compass

the whole time it might
have made a difference.

JOHN:
When you're fully confident
about where you're going,

at what altitude,
in what direction,

when you think you
have the mental picture,

but yet you don't actually
have the mental picture,

you're situationally
unaware of where you are.

DAVID ROHRER: You know, one
thing still bugs me though.

Why didn't the controller
figure out where the plane was?

NARRATOR:
Just over three minutes
before impact, the controller

asks the captain for their
distance from the airport.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
Thai 311, go ahead
your DME for Kathmandu.

CAPT. SUTTIMAI: We are
five DME from Kathmandu.

NARRATOR: The captain reports
that he's five miles away.

JIM: The reported
distance by the pilots

just didn't make any
sense to the controller.

NARRATOR: It's been five
minutes since the Thai captain

reported turning
back toward Romeo.

If he's flying south,
away from the airport,

he should be about 25
miles away, not five.

JOHN: The controller
can't see on his screen

where this airplane's going.

All he can do is have
a picture in his mind

that the airplane is here and
it's still following a script.

But guess what? The airplane's
no longer following that script.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
Confirm, two-five DME?

CAPT. SUTTIMAI: Five. Zero-five.

JIM: The pilot, when the
controller asked him about that,

very firmly said,
"Five, zero-five,"

and I think that had the effect

of shutting down an
inexperienced controller...

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
Roger. Report over Romeo.

JIM: ... and forcing
him to not probe deeper

and ask any further questions.

And that's a real shame
because I think in this event

it might have made all
the difference in the world.

FO. BOONYAYEJ:
Are we going north?

CAPT. SUTTIMAI: We
will turn back soon.

JOHN: And then only many
miles north of the airport

at some point does
the first officer say,

"Hey, my display says
I'm north of the airport."

And he looks over, and he
says to the captain, he says,

"We're north of the airport."
But by then it's too late.

GPWS: Terrain. Terrain. Pull up.

FO. BOONYAYEJ:
Turn back. Turn back!

CAPT. SUTTIMAI:
It's false. It's false.

DAVID ROHRER:
He's totally locked
into being in another place

and nothing that the
first officer was gonna say

was gonna change his
perception of where he was.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

JIM: It's an amazing thing how
powerful our minds are sometimes

when we're convinced
we're doing something,

even if that
something is totally wrong.

NARRATOR: The crash of
Flight 311 underscored the need

for more advanced air
traffic control technology

at Nepal's Tribhuvan Airport.

DAVID ROHRER:
In an environment like
Kathmandu, radar was essential.

And radar was put into Kathmandu

so this would not happen again.

NARRATOR: The Thai Airways
disaster also drove home

the crucial importance
of teamwork among pilots.

A fundamental rule
requiring a division of duties

in the cockpit
must never be ignored.

JOHN: It's not easy to realize,
yeah, I'm so overloaded.

I have to start
delegating tasks.

I have to stop
doing everybody's job.

He was trying to
do everybody's job.

At some point you have
to say, enough is enough.

I'll fly the airplane.

You handle the communication
and tell ATC what I am doing.

Tell them.