A Shocking Discovery After Crashing In The Mediterranean Sea! | Flight 1153 | Mayday: Air Disaster

The pilot and co-pilot are among the survivors. They tell investigators that their instruments showed they had plenty of fuel.  But investigators are perplexed -- the wing section of the plane – where the fuel is stored – floated after the impact. If it was full, it would have been too heavy to stay on top of the water. Something isn’t adding up. As they continue their work, investigators make a shocking discovery.  

From Season 7 Episode 6 "Falling Fast": It’s August 6th, 2005. Tuninter Flight 1153 is flying to the Tunisian resort island of Djerba. It’s high above the Mediterranean when suddenly, its right engine fails. As the pilots begin an emergency descent, their situation gets much worse. Their second engine also stops working -- the plane begins falling toward the sea.

Despite numerous attempts, the crew can’t restart their engines. They make a desperate choice — to attempt a landing at sea.The force of the impact tears the plane apart. Amazingly, 20 passengers survive — but 14 are killed.

Welcome to the OFFICIAL Mayday: Air Disaster YouTube Channel.

Mayday: Air Disaster is a dramatic non-fiction series that investigates high-profile air disasters to uncover how and why they happened. Mayday: Air Disaster follows survivors, family members of crash victims and transportation safety investigators as they piece together the evidence of the causes of major accidents. So climb into the cockpit for an experience you won’t soon forget.

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[LS-zjkv]

I heard an aircraft accident investigator saying, "there is never only one reason for an accident." "There are always a number of factors that lead up to the accident." I have seen this happen every time. Scary...

[GonzoHenson]

A couple thoughts about the fuel slip issue. First, if the audio from the tower shows that the ATC said they would get the slip to the pilot later, then that implied that a slip existed and that refueling occured. Second, while the pilot still broke the rules by not leaving with slip in hand, there are enormous pressures (financial and organizational) to make pilots fly their planes on time. That can lead to incautious decisions. Holding back for what seems like a minor bit of beauracracy means that your crew isn't getting paid (they are only paid once push back from the gate happens), the passengers are upset over missed connections & delayed plans, the airport coult be upset because contracts and flight plans aren't being fulfilled etc., and the airline itself is upset. It doesn't encourage a safety culture.

[charlesfaure]

Our policeman friend probably increased Paula's chance of being killed by his stupidity in ignoring safety instructions. Releasing your safety belt before a crash is sheer idiocy, not to mention His and Paula's weight being thrown forward into the seats/heads of the couple in front of them likely played a part in their deaths as well.

[GiantRogueWave]

I’ve never really agreed with criminal charges for these kinds of accidents. Unless something more substantial can be presented such as falsifying maintenance or doing other types of fraud, charging people over legitimate mistakes provides incentives to go on the defensive and finger point or obstruct the investigation as opposed to recognizing failures in the way things are done and improving the system.

[richarddorvil]

Like Capt Sully once said ... add human factors to the simulator pilot, and you'll get a different result every time

[dg]

“It’s impossible that this could’ve happened because they were such great swimmers.” Sure, but you gotta survive the crash first.

[albeit]

Discovering why accidents occur is so important.

Because of this work, there are people alive today who never had to experience a similar accident.

[vancouverislandandthething]

I get they need answers but throwing the pilots under the bus when the major infraction was putting the wrong fuel indicator in. Saying that the pilots could've glided to Palermo when they knew if they didn't make it crashing on land meant certain death but ditching meant a chance. Yes the captain shouldn't have left without the receipt but saying a pilot in the simulator made it means nothing. Knowing all they know in hindsight means a huge difference to how far the pilot could glide it.

[robertbryant]

The simulator pilots KNEW there was no fuel available and their only task was to immediately set up for longest glide possible from flight level 230. 1153’s crew didn’t feather immediately because they were fighting for engine restart until they were below flight level 170 and made the decision to ditch based on their sink rate and distance from Palermo. All this after losing time failing to get the engines restarted, because they continued to mistakenly believe they HAD fuel.not really fair to the crew in that regard. However, the cardinal sin of leaving without a fuel slip was the real issue. But after maintenance TO the fuel system, and assurance from the carrier’s office that the captain would get his fuel slip later led him to believe there was one, whatever his reservations would have been otherwise. I don’t believe he would have left without the slip if there was no maintenance. Probably wouldn’t have even started the engines in that case.

[MsBlackhawk]

I think the pilot did an amazing job given the set of circumstances and the info his instruments were giving him. If anything, the mechanic is more at fault for putting in the wrong fuel indicator.

[harrymarsee]

It absolutely sickens me the owners are always so ready to blame the pilot when it clearly was *NOT* his fault! No matter how courageous the pilot is, the owners of the airlines won't hesitate to offer up the pilot to be sacrificed rather than accept any blame for the way they run their airlines!

[piano-ninja]

I can't get over the guy inflating his life vest and undoing his seatbelt in the face of a crash, that didn't help him at all he was just crazy lucky to survive -_-

[kzwithcc]

Just because they were able to glide the aircraft to land in the simulator doesn't mean real life they could have. He did what he thought was best for an error that was made by someone else.

[Skatejock]

The mom who was talking about her daughter being a good swimmer. Sometimes its not about the swimming. You can die on impact. She could have hit her head and no amount of swimming experience can stop a hard enough hit to the head, they are not related. She may not have been able to save herself. Sad as it is. That would appear to be the reality. She may have blacked out before they hit the water for all anyone knows.

[calcrappie]

Why interview the passenger that refused correct advice by inflating jacket inside the plane, unbuckling seat belts etc. What a clown. Just lucky he survived.

[mickcollins]

Couple of thoughts:

Is it common to accept not having this fuel slip? There are a lot of things that are "against the rules" that are commonly accepted for the sake of efficiency and profits. How often does this fuel slip go missing and planes take off without it? It is possible that the captain was doing things 'the way they are done' and that insisting on having the slip and delaying the flight without it might have gotten him in trouble, at least initially.

How can they fault him for not switching to the ditch procedure earlier? He thought he had fuel. How soon do we want pilots to switch to crash landing mode? I imagine if a pilot gives up on restarting the engines after a time or two and decided to switch to ideal gliding and crash land, if they think the engines would have eventually restarted, he would get in quite a bit of trouble. They should spell out how many attempts at restarting engines should take place before switching to glide procedures.

[DBEdwards]

The rescue crews did a wonderful job. There were survivors, more than those who died. Very sad that there were engaged couples who died, and denied happiness

[Alicia-vfnq]

It's maddening the pilots were charged with manslaughter for this accident. Just because somebody can land the plane in a simulator where the threat of death is looming over them, doesn't mean anything!

[Runner]

You know you’re in trouble when both engines have stopped and the Captain says, “Ladies and Gentlemen, have you ever seen Mayday? Well, we’ll more-than-likely be one of the episodes in Season 21.”

[mitchalvin]

I love how the test pilots who glide for the maximum distance always throws out the engine out check lists and goes for maximum distance knowing that the engines will not start.