2/5 The Plane That Wouldn’t Talk (Mixed Signals)

investigators find now clues in the wreckage,
only the plane’s black box
the tape raises perplexing questeion
how have the failure of one single instrument cause the crash of one of the worls’s most sophisticated airliners?
Birgenair Flight 301 February 6, 1996 Boeing 757-200
Pitot tube blocked by mud dauber wasp, FMC error, autopilot error and pilot error

Birgenair Flight 301 is scheduled to fly from Puerto Plata to Frankfurt. On takeoff, the captain finds that his air speed indicator (ASI) is not reading properly, though the co-pilot’s ASI is showing the correct speed. Both pilots become confused and believe that both ASIs are malfunctioning. They lose control of the aircraft and it crashes in the Caribbean Sea. All 13 crew members and 176 passengers die.