A transcript has been released of a jaw-dropping conversation between two pilots on an American Airlines plane that they feared had almost crashed on take-off.
On 10 April 2019, the Airbus A321T – carrying 101 passengers and eight cabin crew members – was involved in the near-miss as it was departing JFK airport in New York.
The plane was found to be so damaged that it was scrapped to be used for parts.
Three years later, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators have released their final report into flight AA300, revealing the stunning conversation between the captain and his first officer as it happened.
According to the report, the plane “rolled” to the left during takeoff amid a 14-17 knot crosswind, with its left wing hitting a runway sign and then the ground, as a result of the captain’s “excessive” use of the left rudder pedal.
The incident, which happened at about 8.40pm local time, was so serious that the pilots – who were both 58 years old and highly experienced – feared that the plane would flip over.
It was only when the captain said “I can’t control it” that the first officer intervened by applying more power to the aileron, on the tip of the right wing, and more back pressure to stabilise the aircraft.
Amongst other quotes from the expletive-heavy transcript, the first officer said to the captain: “That scared the **** out of me. I thought we were gone.”
The captain replied: “The ******* airplane just rolled on me dude.”
The plane had to return to JFK airport after flying for just about 15 minutes
(Reuters)
The captain then complains about the crosswind, saying: “******* hate flying this thing with any kind of crosswind.
“**** me, I’m going to take some time off after that **** … holy **** I’m not working tomorrow.”
A flight attendant then calls the pair to find out what happened, and the captain complains that the Airbus computer systems on board are too complicated to fully understand.
He said: “**** Airbus man. This is the kinda **** we don’t like about it. You know, there’s so many computers we don’t, we don’t know what it ******* does sometimes.”
Then the pilots discussed among themselves whether to return to JFK airport or continue toward Los Angeles.
As the plane climbed to 20,000 feet, the pilots informed air traffic controllers of their plan to make the 15-minute journey back to JFK.
It appears their decision was partly made because of “politics” and to avoid any…
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