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 been 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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