Air Crash Investigation: Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 | ET 302

Ethiopian airlines ET302: How pilots struggled to save the plane

05:39:55, They disengaged autopilot.

05:39:57 the Captain advised again the First-Officer to request to maintain runway heading and
that they are having flight control problems.

At 05:40:00 The AoA sensor sent the information to the planes computer that the aircraft is going to be stalled. Then the anti stalling system pushes the nose down for 9.0 seconds and the aircraft descended slightly.

05:40:03 The aircraft lost the altitude then the Ground Proximity Warning System alerted.

05:40:05, the First-Officer
requested runway heading to the ATC.

From 05:40:23 to 05:40:31, because the aircraft lost altitude three times then Ground Proximity Warning System alerted.

05:40:27, The captain was in control so he advised the First-Officer to trim up with him.

05:40:44, The aircraft was diving so three times the Captain called “Pull-up” and the First-Officer acknowledged.

05:40:50, They were having problem with the flight control. So the Captain told the First Officer to advise ATC that they would like to maintain 14,000 ft. Captain also told the first officer to inform about the flight control problem.

At 05:40:56, The request was approved by the ATC.

05:40:42 to 05:43:11 The left airspeed increased from
305 kt to 340 kt At the same time The right airspeed was
approximately 20-25 kt higher than the left.

05:41:20, the right overspeed clacker was recorded on CVR. It remained active until the end of
the recording.

05:41:21, the selected altitude was changed from 32000 ft to 14000 ft.

At 05:41:30, the Captain requested the First-Officer to pitch up with him and the fo acknowledged.

At 05:41:32, the left overspeed warning activated.

At 05:41:46, the Captain asked the First-Officer if the trim is functional. Then the First-Office replied
that the trim was not working and asked if he could try it manually. The Captain told him to try.

05:41:54, the First-Officer replied that it is not working.

05:42:10, the Captain asked and the First-Officer requested radar control a vector to return and ATC approved.

05:42:30, ATC instructed ET-302 to turn right heading 260 degrees and the First-Officer acknowledged.

05:42:43, the selected heading was changed to 262 degrees.

At 05:42:54, both pilots called out “left alpha vane”. The meaning of Alfa vane is AOA vane.

05:43:04, the Captain asked the First Officer to pitch up together and said that pitch is not enough.

At 05:43:20, The aircraft began pitching nose down.Pilots tried it to pull up but the nose down pitch continues, which reached 40° nose down. The left Indicated Airspeed increased, eventually reaching approximately 458 kts and the right Indicated Airspeed reached 500 kts. The last recorded altitude was 5,419 ft on the left and 8,399 ft on the right.