Cockpit recordings have unveiled that the pilot in control during a tragic 1979 plane crash believed he had enough time to adjust his course before ultimately crashing into a closed runway.
The dialogue in the cockpit was from a Western Airlines DC-10 jumbo jet disaster at Mexico City Airport on October 31, 1979. Pilot Charles Gilbert crashed into a closed runway, colliding with a construction vehicle and a storage building, leading to an immediate explosion.
The crash resulted in the loss of 70 out of the 87 passengers and crew on board, including all three pilots. The operator of the construction vehicle also tragically lost his life in the accident. This information came to light as a man was fatally crushed in another airport incident, prompting the airline to issue a challenging update.
According to aviation experts cited by the NYT, the final cockpit conversation included the following exchange:
Captain: “Are we cleared onto the right, is that accurate?”
Copilot or engineer: “Yes, that’s correct.”
Captain: “This is the approach to 23 left.”
Despite company regulations mandating altitude announcements at specified intervals, the recordings indicate that no such announcements were made. Aviation experts were puzzled as to how an experienced flight crew could lose track of their altitude, resulting in a catastrophic crash on an inactive runway.
Standard procedures dictate that pilots should abort their landing approach in foggy conditions if the runway is not visible upon reaching a certain low altitude. The cockpit transcripts show that Captain Gilbert realized his error in heading towards the wrong runway and attempted to correct course using the electronic instrument landing system (ILS) from 800 feet away.
Tragically, shortly after the final conversation in the cockpit, the aircraft descended onto the unlit runway as the pilots increased throttle to full power in a desperate attempt to climb and prepare for another landing try. However, the plane collided with a construction vehicle, veered onto the closed runway, and crashed into a storage unit before erupting in flames.
