6 February 1996 - Birgenair 301 Birgenair Flight ALW 301, a B757-225 with registration TC-GEN, departed Puerto Plata for a charter flight to Frankfurt via Gander and Berlin at 23.42h LT.
At 80kts on take-off the captain found out that his ASI wasn't working properly. The co-pilot's indicator seemed to work fine. While climbing through 4700ft the captain's ASI read 350kts (real speed was about 220kts); this resulted in an autopilot/autothrottle reaction to increase the pitch-up attitude and a power reduction in order to lower the airspeed. At that time the crew got 'Rudder ratio' and 'Mach airspeed' advisory warnings. Both pilots got confused when the co-pilot stated that his ASI read 200kts decreasing while getting an excessive speed-warning, followed by a stick shaker warning. This led the pilots to believe that both ASIs were unreliable. Finally realizing that they were losing speed and altitude they disconnected the autopilot (which, fed by the captain's faulty ASI, had reduced the speed close to the stall speed) and applied full thrust. At 23.47:17h an aural GPWS warning sounded. Eight seconds later the aircraft struck the ocean.
All 13 crew members and 176 passengers died.
The incorrect ASI readings were possibly caused by an obstructed pitot tube, which had left uncovered for 3-4 days prior to this flight.
Transcript of the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR)
Time Source Content 0341:40 (42:02) HOT-2 have a nice flight 0342:08 (42:30) CAM ((sound of increasing engine noise)) 0342:09 (42:31) HOT-1 EPR select 0342:10 (42:32) HOT-2 EPR 0342:16 (42:38) HOT-2 power's set 0342:18 (42:40) HOT-1 okay checked 0342:23 (42:45) HOT-2 eighty knots 0342:24 (42:46) HOT-1 checked 0342:26 (42:48) HOT-1 my airspeed indicator's not working 0342:28 (42:50) HOT-2 yes 0342:29 (42:51) HOT-2 yours is not working 0342:30 (42:52) HOT-2 one twenty 0342:32 (42:54) HOT-1 is yours working? 0342:32 (42:54) HOT-2 yes sir 0342:33 (42:55) HOT-1 you tell me 0342:35 (42:57) HOT-2 Vee one 0342:36 (42:58) HOT-2 rotate 0342:43 (43:05) HOT-1 Positive climb gear up 0342:43 (43:05) HOT-2 positive climb 0342:44 (43:06) CAM ((sound of landing gear handle being moved)) 0342:46 (43:08) HOT-2 gear is up 0342:50 (43:12) HOT-2 LNAV 0342:51 (43:13) HOT-1 yes please 0342:52 (43:14) HOT-2 LNAV 0342:59 (43:21) HOT-1 yes 0343:00 (43:22) HOT-2 It began to operate 0343:02 (43:24) HOT-1 is it possible to turn off the wipers 0343:03 (43:25) HOT-2 okay wipers off 0343:05 (43:27) CAM ((sound of windshield wipers stops)) 0343:08 (43:30) HOT-1 climb thrust 0343:09 (43:31) HOT-2 climb thrust 0343:10 (43:32) HOT-1 VNAV 0343:11 (43:33) HOT-2 VNAV 0343:16 (43:38) HOT-2 okay flap speed 0343:17 (43:39) HOT-1 flaps five 0343:24 (43:46) HOT-1 flaps one 0343:25 (43:47) HOT-2 flaps to one 0343:30 (43:52) HOT-1 gear handle off 0343:32 (43:54) HOT-2 gear handle's off 0343:33 (43:55) HOT-1 flaps up 0343:34 (43:56) HOT-2 flaps up 0343:36 (43:58) HOT-1 after takeoff checklist 0343:38 (44:00) HOT-2 after takeoff checklist landing gear up and off, flaps are up checked up, altimeters later, after takeoff completed 0343:47 (44:09) HOT-1 okay 0344:07 (44:29) HOT-1 center autopilot on please 0344:08 (44:30) HOT-2 center autopilot is on command 0344:10 (44:32) HOT-1 thank you 0344:12 (44:34) HOT-1 one zero one three 0344:13 (44:35) HOT-2 one zero one three 0344:25 (44:47) HOT-1 rudder ratio, mach airspeed trim 0344:27 (44:49) HOT-2 yes trim 0344:28 (44:50) HOT-1 there is something wrong there are some problems 0344:43 (45:05) HOT-2 direct Pokeg 0344:44 (45:06) HOT-1 okay there is something crazy do you see it 0344:46 (45:08) HOT-2 there is something crazy there at this moment two hundred only is mine and decreasing sir 0344:52 (45:14) HOT-1 both of them are wrong. what can we do? 0344:54 (45:16) HOT-1 let's check their circuit breakers 0344:55 (45:17) HOT-2 yes 0344:57 (45:19) HOT-1 alternate is correct 0344:59 (45:21) HOT-2 the alternate one is correct 0345:04 (45:26) HOT-1 as aircraft was not flying and on ground something happening is usual 0345:07 (45:29) HOT-1 such as elevator asymmetry and other things 0345:11 (45:33) HOT-1 we don't believe them 0345:23 (45:45) CAM-3 shall I reset its circuit breaker 0345:24 (45:46) HOT-1 yes reset it 0345:25 (45:47) CAM-3 to understand the reason 0345:27 (45:49) HOT-1 yeah 0345:28 (45:50) CAM ((sound of aircraft overspeed warning)) 0345:30 (45:52) HOT-1 okay it's no matter 0345:39 (46:01) HOT-1 pull the airspeed we will see 0345:39 (46:01) CAM ((overspeed warning stops)) 0345:40 (46:02) HOT-2 now it is three hundred and fifty yes 0345:47 (46:09) HOT-1 let's take that like this 0345:50 (46:12) CAM ((sound of four warning alert tones)) 0345:52 (46:14) CAM ((sound of stick shaker starts and continues to end of recording)) 0345:56 (46:18) CAM ((sound of four warning alert tones)) 0345:56 (46:18) HOT-1 **** 0345:57 (46:19) HOT-2 **** 0345:59 (46:21) HOT-2 sir 0346:00 (46:22) CAM-3 *ADI 0346:05 (46:27) HOT-1 **** 0346:07 (46:29) HOT-2 nose down 0346:19 (46:41) HOT-2 **** 0346:22 (46:44) CAM-3 now * 0346:23 (46:45) HOT-2 thrust 0346:25 (46:47) HOT-1 disconnect the auto-pilot, is autopilot disconnected? 0346:25 (46:47) HOT-2 already disconnected, disconnected sir 0346:31 (46:53) CAM-3 *ADI* 0346:38 (47:00) CAM-3 * 0346:39 (47:01) HOT-1 not climb? what am I to do? 0346:43 (47:05) HOT-2 you may level off, altitude okay, I am selecting the altitude hold sir 0346:47 (47:09) HOT-1 select select 0346:48 (47:10) HOT-2 altitude hold 0346:51 (47:13) HOT-2 okay, five thousand feet 0346:52 (47:14) HOT-1 thrust levers, thrust thrust thrust thrust 0346:54 (47:16) HOT-2 retard 0346:54 (47:16) HOT-1 thrust, don't pull back, don't pull back, don't pullback, don't pull back 0346:56 (47:18) HOT-2 okay open open 0346:57 (47:19) HOT-1 don't pull back, please don't pull back 0346:59 (47:21) HOT-2 open sir, open 0347:01 (47:23) HOT-2 **** 0347:02 (47:24) CAM-3 sir pull up 0347:03 (47:25) HOT-1 what's happening 0347:05 (47:27) HOT-2 oh what's happening 0347:06 (47:28) CAM-3 * 0347:09 (47:31) GPWS ((sink rate whoop whoop pull up warning starts and continues until the end)) 0347:13 (47:35) HOT-2 let's do like this 0347:14 (47:36) CAM-3 * 0347:17 (47:39) ((end of recording)) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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