20 Seconds To Save It: How An Impulsive Pilot Caused A Fatal Crash (Revised)

paulb

Sunday, March 13, 2022 at 07:40 PM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

The Atlas Air 3591 crash was caused by a first officer with a long, unrevealed history of poor performance.
The first officer's problematic history was not known to the airline at the time of hiring.
An experienced captain on board was unable to prevent the accident or save the three lives lost.

See a mistake? Contact us.

The crash of Atlas Air 3591 shocked the airline industry. It was caused by a
first officer with a long history of poor performance that wasn’t known when he
was hired. And an experienced captain in the left seat wasn’t enough to save
the airplane or the three lives aboard. In this video, AVweb’s Paul
Bertorelli offers a detailed dissection of the accident based on the NTSB
sunshine hearing.

This report was first published in 2019.