The Pilots had NO Idea! The Super-Strange Story of Air France flight 011

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ZERO communication in that cockpit. They were both flying their own planes with a gremlin messing with the controls in the other seat.

This is one of the best example of this quote, made by NASA astronauts : There is no problem so bad that you can't make it worse.

Thanks for breaking this down. I was on this flight! Had to hold my breath & tell myself that this wasn’t my time to go, which got more difficult as the passenger behind me got hysterical! Worse was the thick cloud cover through which you could feel the speed & left-right, up-down motions. Was a relief to climb back up again as it was obvious that the pilots were not in control earlier

One question that stood out to me watching this video was: Did the pilots ever know that the Boeing 777 would NOT call out "dual inputs" like an Airbus would? It's worth considering that they both operated on the assumption that they would hear a warning if they were fighting each other's control inputs. Communication breakdown was the key factor here. The Captain should have announced to the FO if he was in fact taking control of the plane. "Assisting" silently was exactly what made the FO continue over-controlling the plane.

Shocking how 2 people working close together can be far apart mentally.

The captain went from "finger on the controls to moderate anything wild" to "hauling on the controls like a gorilla and ignoring his job" real fast there.

777 Captain here, would just like to say “Thank you”. It’s always good to watch your videos and helps refresh system knowledge particularly on the 777. Your videos provide such an in depth analysis and offer great take away points to incorporate on the line. Fantastic work. All the best!

61 year old glider pilot and instructor, career ending because of cancer. I love these videos for what they teach us and also keeping me connected to flying. THANK YOU !

I have a merch Idea: A tee-shirt with the phrase Petter always says in his videos: "Remember that. It will become important later." 😂

Not wanting to cast aspersions on Air France, but to me this sounds strangely similar to AF447 - first officer, blind to his own mistake, making weird inputs and the captain making different inputs to counteract "the misbehaving aircraft", insufficient communication between the two about what they're doing, unknowingly fighting themselves and a perfectly flyable aircraft into a bad situation accompanied by spurious alarms and other unexpected aircraft feedback. It certainly shows a counterpoint to people claiming AF447 was solely the fault of Airbus' control design.

When I was in the U.S. Navy, on my first takeoff something similar happened. In the T-34C Mentor, the pilots sit one behind the other, unable to see each other's controls. The standard procedure for all pilots was to NEVER have both pilots attempting to control the plane at the same time, in order to prevent this same type of confusion. When control was to be taken or given, "You have the controls" and "I have the controls" was required of BOTH pilots. Another important rule was to never ascend above 600 feet on takeoff until well clear of the pattern, as the pattern altitude was 1,200 feet at North Whiting NAS. This would maintain adequate separation between arriving and departing aircraft. My instructor was particularly adamant about not breaking that rule. As we lifted off, my instructor reminded me NOT to climb above 600'. But my controls felt heavy, as if the plane wanted to nose down and descend. So I was pulling back on the stick and trimming up. The more I pulled back on the stick and trimmed, the louder my instructor warned me NOT to exceed 600 feet. The downward force was getting pretty severe, so I kept pulling back and trimming up. Eventually we cleared the pattern, and my instructor shouted a swear word and I felt the controls suddenly JERK BACK, giving me the impression that he had taken the controls from me. So I let go of the stick and put my hands in the air so he could see them, and said, "You have the controls!" It turns out that he had been PUSHING on the stick the entire time, while I was pulling back and trimming UP! When he finally stopped pushing, all of that trim I had put in caused the stick to fly back, feeling like my instructor had grabbed the stick and jerked it back! So for a few seconds we were a ROCKET headed into space! LOL! Neither one of us was flying the plane! LOL! I still got an okay grade on the flight - I think because my instructor wouldn't want anyone to know he had been pushing the controls while I was flying the plane. I probably shouldn't have told that story on him during my tie-cutting ceremony, but I did anyway. ;)

I’m a current Boeing 777 pilot. The long 2-crew sectors are demanding. I personally find JFK very challenging. It is in very busy airspace and the ATC quality isn’t always fantastic. Taking controlled rest on the flight deck of a 777 does mitigate fatigue to some degree, but the seats don’t fully recline(and it’s uncomfortable sleeping sitting up) and the ACARS system frequently chimes, especially over non-oceanic airspace. It is absolutely better than nothing, but you still need to be fit to be able to manage, and you will be tired there is no doubt. Did this impact the First Officer? Something is surely going on in his head, because a go-around above flare altitude is normally mini-briefed. I agree with your discrete guarding of the controls as an LTC. I have always done this, to create a ‘limit’ should it be necessary. But I would not normally expect that to be the case line flying. I have flown the 777 throughout the 5G issue and never actually had an issue. The shear unnecessary panic has shades of AF447 and as a professional pilot is deeply worrying. Really excellent documentary and thought provoking. Thank you

Isn't it normal procedure for the pilots to verbally confirm which pilot has the controls/aircraft?

I'm a hobby pilot and now understand the significance of my coach saying "I have controls"!! Excellent nerdy aviation video!

These videos are not only for aviation fans but also great lessons for crisis management under stressful conditions for everyday life. Thanks a lot for sharing!

I think this is the first ever yt channel that actually uses captions correctly. Moving them to the top when information is displayed at the bottom, love it. Well done!

I think the most amazing thing for me personally is that I watch your videos and you'll mention something ... like that the landing gear are still down... and I'll just immediately say to myself "that'll produce drag". I'm not a pilot, not even thinking of ever taking a flying lesson... just someone who has flown here and there...not even a well seasoned passenger. That's how much can be learned from your videos. Thank you!

It always surprises me on how quickly things can go from being really good to really bad. It's just a matter of seconds . That's so strange.

Re: FORDEC and PIOSEE Being a pilot under stress in an airplane reminds me being a pharmacist under stress in a pharmacy.dealing with problems. Even though pharmacists keep their feet on the ground,, the stress is continuous and overwhelming at times, FORDEC or PIOSEE can bring us back to the reality of the situation. Thank you, Mentour Pilot.