flight safety detectives episode 157 - yeti air crash

The Flight Safety Detectives examine the preliminary accident report from the fatal January 2023 Yeti air crash. They discuss professionalism and crew resource management as the central cause.

“Pilots needs to execute with purpose,” Greg Feith says. “That means that before you do or touch anything in the cockpit you have to be clear about your purpose.”

Greg, Todd Curtis, and John Goglia share possible reasons why the Yeti Airlines ATR 72 flight crew made fundamental errors that allowed the aircraft to stall and crash shortly before landing. For them, the Yeti air crash may become a great case study for the importance of paying attention and professionalism.

The flight crew included a captain getting familiarization training with a new airport and a training captain. John highlights the many tasks being covered by the training captain and makes a case for the need for a third crew member in the cockpit.
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The preliminary report shows that the training captain grabbed the wrong levers during approach. Neither pilot reacted well to the resulting flight issues. Human factors and poor communication are large contributors to the resulting crash.

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