Desperate: The Crash that Changed Aviation Forever

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Avianca Flight 052 crashed on approach to JFK in 1990, but it wasn’t bad weather or mechanical problems that caused this. This tragedy was caused by a breakdown in communications, missed warnings, and a lack of fuel. This is the full story of what went wrong onboard Avianca 052.
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Final Report:

#Mentourpilot #pilot #aircraft

[NowChess]

A crash that has surpisingly little to do with fuel or weather and instead has all to do with human psychology and communication...
Great video as always Petter!

[Witty_HistoryGeek]

The amount of Miscommunication on this flight made me want to tear my hair out.

[VictoriaHaley-ii]

I believe this is one of the most depressing incidents ever covered on this site.
But it really conveys the message "If you have a problem and you need help, be LOUD about it"

[ZOANOM]

I am an Operations Manager at an ARTCC, and I can't express the value this channel has been to myself and others with whom I work. The details you give are invaluable to the understanding of the impact the decisions we make every day can have on the flying public. We sometimes train to be such experts on specific systems, that we overlook the bigger picture. Thank you for this channel.

[HunterPhenomMakoy]

The whole time I’m thinking “at least there won’t be a fire with no fuel” but I’m still shocked so many people survived. Truly amazing.

[Myria]

The first officer never using the word emergency while probably being convinced that „priority“ was the correct terminology, while also simply accepting the headings that ATC gave him and not protesting once and clarifying their critical situation, is so frustrating

[englishmuffinpizzas]

Those final comms were painful to listen to. The captain basically begging the FO to mention the emergency and him still refusing to state it clearly, the pilots accepting instructions they couldn't even when asked if it was okay with their fuel situation... even if the FO thought the emergency had been conveyed, there is a difference between landing with 29 min of fuel and 0.

The flow controller simply refusing to accept the reality of the weather situation was also pretty maddening

[adamd]

I remember when I was brand newest a student pilot. My instructor told me the story.
He said you’re better off annoying the controllers because you need help with the situation than not doing anything at all and crashing

But this is good life advice in general, even if you are not flying an airplane you’re better off, asking for help and figuring out the rest of the problems later than ignoring a major problem because you don’t want to ask for help

[alfredobeltran]

I’m from Bogotá, Colombia, and perfectly remember this accident. I was 16 by then, and remember the local press coverage stating that it seemed to be a chain of errors that led to the accident.

Glad to see that it ended in several lessons learned for the aviation industry.

[Medics-bz]

As a first responder who was on the first ambulance to arrive at this crash, I would like to thank you for a job well done here. It was nice to see a concise explanation of what caused this accident.

[ElaborateTiger]

One thing I really appreciate about your analysis is that in cases like this where people generally single out the pilots for a seemingly inexplicable incompetence, you go into the circumstances that led up to these errors such as their training. Then it becomes a lot clearer that the failure was on many levels.

[DaWolf]

As a dispatcher in the US, big fan of you doing this one. My entire job is to prevent exactly this. We communicate with the crew enroute about delays and weather ahead to make sure they know what to expect. We calculate diversion fuel requirements and ensure the crew has enough to hold safely. And we're there as a link to anything else the crew might need from the company, or as a backup communication method if they miss a frequency change. This accident is near and dear to me exactly because it shows exactly why the US requires dispatchers for all US airlines, and gives us specific legal responsibilities for the safety of flight - and because even now, we're still not required for foreign airlines flying into the US.

Also, as a side note, EFC times are still used in the US. They now refer to the time at which an aircraft can proceed further along its flight plan in the event of a radio failure. We regularly use them to determine if we should divert or not. I've seen them get revised upwards occasionally, but mostly they're conservative now, adding a significant margin on top of when the aircraft is actually expected to leave the hold.

[cthellis]

Holy crap, I have never been more stressed listening to the communication log from any of your other videos.

[redsnpr]

Tip of the hat for this very well done analysis of this tragedy ... which marked me professionally and personally. Between 1988 and 89, I worked in Avianca as a flight performance engineer based in Bogotá and met both the FO and captain of flight 052. In early 1989, Avianca assigned me to the position of resident representative at the Boeing Everett plant overseeing for Avianca the assembly and delivery of the first two 767-200ER aircraft. The first delivery, that should've occurred on December 1989, was delayed due to a Boeing machinists strike. The 767's were to replace the 707's, specifically the ones on the JFK route; I'll always wonder that if that 767 had been delivered, the accident would've never occurred.
I had just arrived home that evening from the Boeing plant when I saw this incredible image of the crashed aircraft's tail with the company logo on the TV news, which turned out to be the first ever aircraft accident rescue transmission. It took me a couple of minutes to react rationally and start making phone calls to main base. I was the first one giving the bad news to the company.
You're also spot on about the mentality prevalent at that time within the Avianca cockpit crews of never contradicting the captain in command, or "sacred cows" as they were called. CRM was completely unknown. English language usage by senior pilots was uncommon. No flight following. All that changed drastically once the 767 aircraft were introduced in the operation.

[nathanowen]

I’m doing my masters in teaching English to speakers of other languages. One of my modules I am taking at the moment is English for Specific Purposes and when speaking of air traffic controllers and pilots in class I have referenced your videos multiple times. Thank you for providing great examples.

[macsinvan]

I'm a sailor, not a pilot, but the same human behaviours come into play when people are put under stress while at sea. Your communication style is second to none, congratulations.

[bladebaron]

"Oh, he's angry? Well, I guess we'll just die then." I just don't get it. Petter you do a great job of explaining how the different mind sets of pilots work, those mind sets that lead to what look like bizarre failures to stay safe. Still very hard for me to get my head around it sometimes. Like how could a pilot have 16, 000 hours, but never manage to get his English to an even halfway decent level?

Always a stellar job, Petter. Definitely one of the top three yt presenters I've ever seen. That's out of several hundred, easily. Keep it up, Scandi bro!

[hollyadams]

This gave me a new perspective on flight delays. I had no idea that there was so much coordination and communication that went into deciding whether to hold a flight or not. I definitely won’t be upset anymore when my flight is delayed knowing that it’s for everyone’s safety and it’s not just an inconvenience. Wonderful video as always from the Mentour crew!

[johnmcqueen]

The future brother-in-law of a close friend (a Colombian) was on Avianca 052. He was one of the survivors but spent many weeks in the hospital. When I met him later in 1990 he told me he now considered his birthday to be January 25, the day he almost died and the rest of his life began. This is the first time I have seen such a detailed report on the incident, and I thought of him the whole time.

[collieclone]

Watching this was worse than reading a Kafka novel. You keep thinking "Say the word emergency, for god's sake!" Well done, Petter. This has increased my already high level of respect for airline pilots.