CAPTAIN CONTROLLER FIRST_OFFICER FLIGHT_ATTENDANT FLIGHT_ENGINEER GPWS GREG_FEITH HELEN_ZIENKIEVICZ INVESTIGATOR NARRATION PASSENGER PASSENGER_TWO SHEM_MALMQUIST TODD_CURTIS TOM_HAUETER FLIGHT ENGINEER Injured passengers due to severe turbulence. FIRST OFFICER 300 feet (91 meters)� TOM HAUETER The Pentagon would have to take a look at what�s happening. Is this a ruse to take a look at our radar site? INVESTIGATOR I�ve never seen anything like it before. HELEN ZIENKIEVICZ This accident was definitely a catastrophic event. Two passengers died. GREG FEITH Wow. HELEN ZIENKIEVICZ Being on this airplane was like being on a rollercoaster. INVESTIGATOR The weather was clear. It�s unlikely there was any turbulence. GREG FEITH That changes everything. FLIGHT ENGINEER Approaching 39 degrees north, 172 degrees east. CAPTAIN All good back there? SHEM MALMQUIST In 1993, China Eastern Airlines was a fairly new company. It had only been around a couple of years. The entire China aviation market was rapidly changing. SHEM MALMQUIST It was an exciting time with people finding that they suddenly had the ability to start traveling overseas. CAPTAIN You press this switch and the air conditioning pops up. CAPTAIN You try. SHEM MALMQUIST The captain was flying the airplane from the right seat because he was training the person who was in the left seat to be a new captain. TODD CURTIS The MD-11 was an upgraded version of the DC-10. It was more efficient flying at cruise speeds. Although it had an automated system for flying the aircraft, it was also changed in such a way that it was very responsive to pilot input if they were flying it manually. FIRST OFFICER Fuel check numbers look good. CAPTAIN Copy that. SHEM MALMQUIST During the cruise portion of the flight, things are fairly routine. Flying at 33,000 feet (10,000 meters), the autopilot�s on. CAPTAIN Ladies and gentlemen, the cabin crew is now passing out Customs Declaration Cards, which must be completed before entering the United States. PASSENGER Do you know the postal code of the hotel we�re staying? PASSENGER TWO Yeah. CAPTAIN Something�s going on with the speed indicator. TODD CURTIS The flight control computer is making numerous checks of various systems including air temperature, airspeed, fuel burn, etc. And it sometimes gives suggestions to the pilots of how they can fly more efficiently; in this case, fly more slowly. CAPTAIN Hmm. That didn�t fix it. SHEM MALMQUIST It�s not a big concern. The airplane�s flying fine. But it�s just odd. And the captain tries to sort it out. CAPTAIN I�m gonna try this. FIRST OFFICER What�s that? SHEM MALMQUIST They start feeling this buffeting and the airplane�s shaking around. It�s definitely something that will get any pilot�s attention. CAPTAIN I�m taking control. TOM HAUETER He needs to get the nose down because if the airplane truly stalls, it no longer has enough lift to stay flying. It�s gonna start dropping from the sky. CAPTAIN Autopilot off. GPWS Pull up. Flying too low. Bank angle. TOM HAUETER You�re trying to gain control of the airplane, trying to understand what�s going on. The adrenalin level goes dramatic real quick. FLIGHT ATTENDANT Turbulence! Seatbelts, everyone! CAPTAIN What�s going on? HELEN ZIENKIEVICZ In essence, this airplane was pitching, then pitching down. It�s almost like being on a rollercoaster. TOM HAUETER It happened so fast. The forces are so great, you wouldn�t have time to even think of trying to get your seatbelt on. GPWS Pull up. FIRST OFFICER Eight degrees nose down. Nine. Ten. GPWS Bank angle. TOM HAUETER You�re being slammed back into your seat and then thrown back onto whatever might be below you at the time. TODD CURTIS The pitch downs were more extreme than the pitch ups and the aircraft was losing altitude. TOM HAUETER A lot�s going on. It�s a dark night. He�s using his instruments. Forces are nothing like he�s ever seen before and so it takes several of these cycles of this porpoising until finally he is able to get the airplane back to level. FIRST OFFICER Level at zero degrees. TOM HAUETER To the crew, it probably felt like it lasted, you know, an hour. In reality, it lasted a little less than a minute. CAPTAIN What just happened? FIRST OFFICER No idea. FLIGHT ATTENDANT We have many injuries. CAPTAIN We need to get this plane on the ground. FIRST OFFICER 235 passengers on board, unknown number injured. CAPTAIN Call it in now. FLIGHT ENGINEER Flight 5-8-3, requesting the nearest airport. This is an emergency. CAPTAIN Air speed? FIRST OFFICER 298 knots (550 kilometers per hour). CAPTAIN Angle of attack? FIRST OFFICER Zero. TOM HAUETER All they know at the moment is the airplane�s flying what appears to be fine but, then again, until we land and get out and look at it, we don�t know. FLIGHT ENGINEER We�re 39 degrees North, 176 East. CONTROLLER Copy. Please stand by. CAPTAIN Are we closer to Russia or to the US? TOM HAUETER They�re in one of the few places in the world where there�s nothing really close by. CAPTAIN Ladies and gentlemen, the plane encountered severe turbulence and the damage is being assessed. Please cooperate and be patient. We are planning for an emergency landing. CONTROLLER What is your emergency? FLIGHT ENGINEER Injured passengers due to severe turbulence. CONTROLLER Stand by please. CONTROLLER It looks like it�s either Anchorage or Shemya. Waiting for clearance. TOM HAUETER Shemya is basically an island in the middle of nowhere, operated by the US Air Force. It�s strictly for military operation. There are no commercial flights. TOM HAUETER The Pentagon would have to take a look at what�s happening here. Is this a real emergency, or is this a ruse to take a look at our big radar site we have there? I imagine there was a lot of discussion going on from a security point of view. CONTROLLER Cleared to divert to Shemya. FLIGHT ENGINEER We�re cleared to divert to Shemya. TODD CURTIS The captain had a choice to make. Do I go to the closest available runway, which was Shemya, or do I go further on to Anchorage, which might be catastrophic had there been damage to the aircraft. CAPTAIN Okay. We�re going to Shemya. We have received permission to land at Shemya Air Force Base. Damage to our aircraft is unknown. Can we get a weather report? TODD CURTIS Shemya has extreme weather. Heavy cloud cover, fog and high winds is the norm. FIRST OFFICER Altimeters. CAPTAIN Set. TOM HAUETER They really don�t know what�s gonna happen when they slow up. Did the elevators get damaged? Will the landing gear come down? There�s a lot of things they�ve gotta be concerned about. CAPTAIN ILS armed. Runway 28. FIRST OFFICER Three thousand feet (900 meters). SHEM MALMQUIST The crew at this point is going to be under a good amount of stress and pressure to make sure that they do it right the first time, wanting to get the people to help as quickly as possible. CAPTAIN Autopilot off. Taking control. CAPTAIN Gear down. FIRST OFFICER Landing gear is down. 500 feet (150 meters). 400 feet (120 meters). 300 feet (90 meters). CAPTAIN We have touchdown. HELEN ZIENKIEVICZ This accident was definitely a catastrophic event. Many, many passengers and flight attendants were seriously injured. PASSENGER At that time I think I would die. Of course surely I would die. GREG FEITH You�d never know anything was wrong with it from here. GREG FEITH They did land on US territory and so we were gonna conduct the investigation. And because it was an MD-11, it was a relatively new airplane. GREG FEITH I�ll go check inside. GREG FEITH We needed to find out what really happened. GREG FEITH I�ll go check out the cockpit. GREG FEITH We didn�t have a lot of information. We knew that there had been an emergency landing, that the airplane had encountered severe turbulence. With that kind of information, you can build a lot of different storylines. The cockpit looked normal. But as soon as you looked down the aisle, it looked like a bomb had gone off. INVESTIGATOR I�ve never seen anything like it before. GREG FEITH Row 15, bin down on seats B and C. Seat 23B, signs of impact damage. GREG FEITH There was a lot of baggage that had come out of the overheads. Broken glasses, broken dishes � they are basically lethal weapons if they are flying through the air. INVESTIGATOR Hey. Check out those marks. GREG FEITH Likely scuff marks from shoes. GREG FEITH That was really disturbing because passengers, they had to have been floating not only in space but they had to have rotated so that their feet were above their head. INVESTIGATOR It seems like there was a sudden pitch down. GREG FEITH The damage is worse in the aft section. Someone got badly hurt here. HELEN ZIENKIEVICZ People in the back are more likely to get injured. That tail of the airplane tends to get whipped about almost like a fishtail. GREG FEITH Let�s see if we can find some passengers that are well enough to talk to us. GREG FEITH We really needed statements from passengers and flight attendants who had experienced the violence. They were gonna give us a first-hand account of what really took place. GREG FEITH Thanks for coming in today. Okay. When the incident happened, what�s the first thing you remember? PASSENGER The plane started to shake. Then it went up and down, like this. GREG FEITH How quickly did this happen? PASSENGER So fast. I think I�m lucky to be alive. GREG FEITH When the plane started shaking, did the crew give a turbulence warning? HELEN ZIENKIEVICZ One of the common causes of turbulence tends to be bad weather such as rain or hailstorms. If the turbulence is unforeseen, passengers who don�t have their seatbelts on are at much greater risk for injury. GREG FEITH Did you see out a window? Was there any bad weather? PASSENGER Not that I could see. GREG FEITH Thank you. GREG FEITH They described that the flight was actually relatively smooth. They didn�t notice any kind of turbulence. There was nothing unusual about the flight leading up to the main event. INVESTIGATOR This isn�t what I expected. The weather was clear. It�s unlikely there was any turbulence. GREG FEITH That changes everything. INVESTIGATOR What about the elevators? GREG FEITH Definitely worth a look. GREG FEITH A damaged elevator could have led to a loss of control. We had to determine whether or not there was a problem. GREG FEITH Everything looks good on the outside. I�ll check for internal damage. GREG FEITH We use what�s called the tap test and it�s a very simple test and in fact it�s done with a quarter. GREG FEITH If you hear a hollow type of sound, that�s a very good indication that there is a delamination in one or multiple layers of that composite material. GREG FEITH I�m hearing nothing out of the ordinary. GREG FEITH After we cleared the elevators, we still had to understand what may have caused this airframe buffet. No substructure failures or anomalies were found. GREG FEITH Nothing wrong with the elevators. INVESTIGATOR Then what else? GREG FEITH What did the CAPTAIN have to say? INVESTIGATOR I�ll check the status of his interview. GREG FEITH We wanted to know what he was doing as far as his duties and responsibilities leading up to the upset. CAPTAIN I�m taking control. INVESTIGATOR Hey. You�re not gonna believe this. Page 22. GREG FEITH He mentions turbulence before the onset of the incident. We knew there wasn�t any. INVESTIGATOR That�s not all. Keep reading. GREG FEITH He noticed the slats were extended? INVESTIGATOR Yeah. GREG FEITH That�s weird. Why would the slats be extended during cruise? TOM HAUETER There�s no reason to deploy slats at 33,000 feet (10,000 meters). As soon as you would see that the slats had extended at that altitude in cruise, that would be an alarm bell. GREG FEITH If the slats were out, that would explain the pitch up described by the passengers. INVESTIGATOR They�re controlled by this handle here. GREG FEITH We should check the entire slat system. GREG FEITH We had to determine whether one or more of the components in that slat system had either malfunctioned or failed. GREG FEITH The first look is clean. No obvious signs of damage. GREG FEITH We had to access all the mechanical linkages. There�s hydraulic valves, electrical mechanical systems. So we had to make the determination whether or not they were functioning as designed. GREG FEITH Okay, let�s test them. Extend the slats. TODD CURTIS There�s one handle in the cockpit that controls both the slats and the flaps. Typically the slats are deployed first so when you pull it back to the first notch, the slats get deployed. You pull it back further, the flaps get deployed. GREG FEITH It all seems to be working fine. I�m not seeing any mechanical issues at all. TOM HAUETER They examined the whole system and they extended normally, they retracted normally. There was no obvious damage to the aircraft. GREG FEITH I still think the slats are part of the problem. INVESTIGATOR Maybe it wasn�t mechanical? GREG FEITH Good thought. Maybe it wasn�t. TOM HAUETER Everything showed that the airplane was perfectly fine to fly. And so the investigation would focus to what the pilots did or did not do that caused the upset. GREG FEITH Now we had to determine whether or not those slats had been deployed inadvertently. GREG FEITH You got all the reports? INVESTIGATOR Yep. GREG FEITH We do what�s called a look back, so we�re looking at whether or not this is an isolated event or a systemic problem. INVESTIGATOR Hey, look at this. GREG FEITH What have you got? INVESTIGATOR Ten incidents in two years. GREG FEITH Clipboard fell on the handle. First officer rested his arm on the handle. Slats extend in cruise flight. GREG FEITH There had been other events with this particular system, either an un-commanded or inadvertent deployment of the slats. Fifty percent were due to some sort of pilot contact with the slat handle. GREG FEITH If the pilot didn�t know he knocked the handle, he probably didn�t hit it that hard. INVESTIGATOR So it could�ve moved to the slats only position. GREG FEITH Deploying the slats at high speed would trigger the buffeting, which was likely misconstrued as turbulence. What was happening in the cockpit right before the buffeting started? INVESTIGATOR The captain said he was using the control keypad � here. GREG FEITH They are really close together. GREG FEITH We�ve gotta see how easy it is to knock this handle out of place. GREG FEITH Ready? INVESTIGATOR Ready. It moved. GREG FEITH Now the first officer was sitting in the left seat so he could have knocked it. But the captain said he was playing with the keypad. TOM HAUETER They tried different techniques about, okay, if you hit the handle from the right side back, you hit the handle from the front side back, what would it take to jar the handle out of position? GREG FEITH Hang on. Let me try something. Bingo. That�s what the captain was doing when the buffeting started. INVESTIGATOR It didn�t take much force either. GREG FEITH It was real easy during normal movement using the keypad on the center pedestal to inadvertently strike the handle and cause an uncommanded slat deployment. GREG FEITH So the handle probably moved in flight and then the captain retracted the slats. GREG FEITH The captain said that he saw that the slat handle had been out of position at about the same time the stall warning system triggered. He immediately moved the slat handle back into the retract position. GREG FEITH Now, that explains the initial pitch up. But there has to be more to it than that. I mean the plane went up and down several times. The slats wouldn�t have caused that. TOM HAUETER The cockpit voice recorder would record for 30 minutes and overwrite itself so we didn�t have that information. However, with the flight data recorder we could see control positions, we could gain other information. GREG FEITH Okay. First up, let�s look at pitch. So we have five big oscillations in roughly 20 seconds. The biggest pitch up is here, oscillation one, 9.5 degrees. The biggest pitch down happens here, minus 24 degrees, oscillation number 4. GREG FEITH And it starts to stabilize � here. INVESTIGATOR The slats were extended here, during the beginning of the first pitch up. GREG FEITH It�s gradual at first. Is the autopilot on? So it�s on for the first few seconds. And it would have been fighting to bring the nose down. GREG FEITH When the slats deploy, the airplane will have a natural nose or pitch up tendency. With the autopilot engaged, it will actually correct for that pitch up and return the airplane to a level attitude. GREG FEITH But the autopilot�s losing the battle. The pitch keeps increasing, and that would trigger the stall warning. Yep. The stall warning turns on here. A few seconds later, the autopilot disengages. And now the nose dives down sharply. CAPTAIN I�m taking control. Autopilot off. GREG FEITH So the captain�s at the controls when this big drop happens. Show me the elevator data. Wow. So the CAPTAIN made some elevator inputs starting right here. INVESTIGATOR That is a huge nose down command. GREG FEITH It�s an over-correction. And I think I know why. CAPTAIN I�m taking control. GPWS Pull up. Flying too low. SHEM MALMQUIST Autopilots are designed so they won�t just let go easily. You don�t want somebody just accidentally bumping against the controls to suddenly knock the autopilot off. GREG FEITH He felt a resistance and pushed against that resistance of the autopilot, disengaging it. Unfortunately, that led to an excessive amount of nose down elevator command. GREG FEITH He started a chain reaction of pushing and pulling too hard on the yoke. TOM HAUETER At high altitude, the pitch forces are very light on the yoke. So when he pulls back to get the nose up, he�s putting in too much up force. It goes up too high. He pitches down, it goes down too low. And he puts in several cycles on the control yoke trying to get back to normal. TOM HAUETER Once you get into the oscillations it�s hard to stop. Everything is happening fast. GREG FEITH We were able to calculate that the occupants of the airplane experienced 1.24 negative Gs and two positive Gs. No wonder there were so many injuries, including two fatalities. GREG FEITH He did get the plane back under control. It just took a while. TODD CURTIS Pilot induced oscillations can cause extreme stresses on the aircraft. Usually the best course of action is to put in less control force. Once that happens, you can have a nice, stable flight. GREG FEITH So why would an experienced captain struggle so long to get a plane back under control? GREG FEITH Long day ahead. You�re gonna need this. INVESTIGATOR I pulled the captain�s files. GREG FEITH He had over 1300 hours on the MD-11. That should be plenty. He flew other passenger jets too. TOM HAUETER The captain had flown Ilyushins, he had flown Airbus 300s. He had experience on big aircraft, he had experience with high altitude flight. Everything would indicate that he was well qualified to fly the airplane. GREG FEITH No complaints, no prior accidents. He�s clean as a whistle. INVESTIGATOR Even took a refresher course a few weeks before the accident flight. GREG FEITH Hmm. Let me see the training manual. GREG FEITH A critical aspect of accident investigation when you�re looking at an event like this is pilot training. The captain did go through a very comprehensive textbook or classroom training. INVESTIGATOR Find anything? GREG FEITH Actually, it�s what I didn�t find that interests me. No simulator training. INVESTIGATOR None? GREG FEITH Nope. Not for an inadvertent slat deployment during cruise or an upset at high altitude. INVESTIGATOR Hmm. SHEM MALMQUIST Just giving them something to read is sort of like trying to learn to ride a bicycle if you�ve only read a manual. CAPTAIN What�s going on? SHEM MALMQUIST With simulator training, you get some hands-on training and you have a good idea of what to expect. GREG FEITH He did not have that training. So in fact he was really a test pilot trying to get this airplane back under control after this uncommanded slat deployment. INVESTIGATOR This is the Airbus A300 here and the DC-10. Here is our MD-11. GREG FEITH Look at the center of gravity. It�s so far aft. INVESTIGATOR That would make the MD-11 less stable. TOM HAUETER The MD-11 was designed to increase fuel efficiency, and to do that you move the center of gravity back fairly far aft. The airplane becomes more pitch sensitive. SHEM MALMQUIST I found the airplane to be very maneuverable. But some people would get a little bit behind it and you could end up in cases where the airplane would overshoot what you were expecting. GREG FEITH The probable cause, as determined by the NTSB, did not place any kind of blame or even talk about the flight crew actually causing this event. This was a strict design issue that, unfortunately, the crew became a victim of. HELEN ZIENKIEVICZ The flight attendants had made an announcement about seat belts but, as is often the case, passengers may have ignored that announcement. HELEN ZIENKIEVICZ When you are in an airplane not just for takeoff, not just for landing, it is critical that you keep your seatbelt on. You never know what can happen in flight. NARRATION After declaring an emergency� � China Eastern Airlines Flight 583 seeks permission to land at a restricted US military base in the Bering Sea. Once the plane is examined, officials discount the possibility of espionage. The flight data recorder shows an erratic flight path. Only the cause is not what the pilots reported. The crew of China Eastern Airlines Flight 583 is on an overnight flight from Beijing to Los Angeles. China Eastern Airlines began operation in 1988. Two hundred and thirty-five passengers have just finished their meal service. Some rest while others watch a movie. The captain is a veteran pilot with more than 8,000 flying hours. His first officer is a seasoned pilot but new to this plane, an MD-11. This plane is one of five the airline bought to grow its international service. They�ve completed the first leg of the flight from Beijing to Shanghai and are now flying over the North Pacific, bound for Los Angeles. For many passengers, this is their first overseas flight. The process is unfamiliar. The crew has pre-programmed a cruising speed into the computer, which is now telling them to fly at a different speed. The CAPTAIN tries to clear the computer�s suggested speed. While they�re sorting out the speed issue, the plane seems to hit some turbulence. Suddenly, one of the worst things a pilot can hear a stall warning alarm. The nose of the plane is pitching up, which shouldn�t happen while cruising at altitude with the autopilot on. The CAPTAIN pushes the yoke with enough force to override the autopilot� ... and to avoid a stall. But now the nose pitches too far down. The effects of the dive are felt even more severely in the cabin. The captain uses all of his strength to keep the plane from diving, but the aircraft pitches up steeper than expected, exerting massive G-forces on everyone and everything in the cabin. The CAPTAIN attempts to level the plane, but it goes into an even more extreme dive. The CAPTAIN halts the terrifying dive, with severe consequences for unbuckled passengers. As the plane is tossed up and down, the crew avoids a stall by keeping the nose from pitching up too much. But the nose downs are a problem. On the next oscillation, the plane pitches down an astonishing 24 degrees. The captain battles to stop the plane from diving, while passengers struggle for their lives. Thirty seconds in, the oscillations lessen and the plane begins to stabilize. Even with the autopilot on, there�s no time to relax. There�s no guarantee that what happened won�t happen again. They�re flying over the vast Pacific Ocean, nowhere near an airport. And several passengers are seriously wounded. China Eastern Airlines Flight 583 is back at 33,000 feet (10,000 meters). Now it needs a place to land. For now, everything seems to be working. With injured passengers on board, the CAPTAIN can�t take the risk of flying 3700 miles (5,950 kilometers) to their destination Los Angeles. The crew considers where they might land. This far out over the Pacific, mainland Russia is 2200 miles (3,540 kilometers) to the northwest. Anchorage, Alaska is the same distance to the northeast. Flight 583 is overseen by air traffic control in Honolulu, two thousand miles (3,200 kilometers) away. It�s an unusual situation. A civilian Chinese airplane in international airspace in urgent need of an airport. Shemya, a tiny island on the western tip of Alaska�s Aleutian Island chain, is about a thousand miles (1,600 kilometers) away. Anchorage is twice as far. Because it�s an Air Force base, Shemya has medical staff and equipment to treat injured passengers. The decision to allow the China Eastern Airlines flight to land is taken to the highest levels. The crew prepares for a difficult night landing on an airstrip they�ve never seen before with unknown damage to their airplane. After a nerve-wracking two hours in the air, the plane is now only 40 miles (64 kilometers) from the air base. As they get closer, the weather intensifies. The crew connects to an Instrument Landing System that uses radio signals to guide them in. They�re now only six miles (10 kilometers) from the runway. The ILS gets the plane as far as 200 feet (61 meters) above the ground. Then the captain has to fly by sight. The emergency is over. The plane is safely on the ground. Medical teams immediately assess passengers. The findings are grim. One hundred and forty-nine people are injured. Dozens of passengers and crew are taken to hospital. One passenger is dead. Another is fatally wounded. PASSENGERs who are well enough to travel are flown to Anchorage International Airport and transferred to hospital for treatment there. A team of investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board, or NTSB, flies in from Washington. GREG FEITH leads the investigation. As soon as investigators arrive at Shemya, they inspect the aircraft for signs of damage. The cabin gives them a glimpse into the tragedy that unfolded during the flight. The shaking could be the result of turbulence. INVESTIGATORs turn to the weather reports from the day of the incident. Elevators are hinged flaps on the trailing edge of the horizontal stabilizer. When the pilot pushes or pulls on the control column, the elevators respond by rising or lowering, creating pitch. INVESTIGATORs look for any exterior signs of elevator damage. It should sound solid. NTSB investigators turn to the captain�s account of China Eastern Airlines Flight 583�s high-altitude incident. The MD-11 has eight slats on the leading edge of each wing. When extended, they change the curvature of the wing, creating more surface area. Used in tandem with the flaps, they provide extra lift during takeoff. INVESTIGATORs now have a very promising lead. Did the pilots somehow deploy the slats at high altitude? Have any pilots accidentally deployed the slat handle in an MD-11? They review old incident reports. INVESTIGATORs have a new theory. A simple movement could have triggered the entire chain of events. INVESTIGATORs test whether the crew of China Eastern Airlines Flight 583 could have inadvertently knocked the slat handle out of position during flight. It�s a major breakthrough. Proof that the handle could have been accidentally moved while the captain reached for the keypad. INVESTIGATORs have uncovered a dangerous design flaw in the MD-11. The slats were fully extended for just seconds. INVESTIGATORs still don�t understand why Flight 583 experienced so many extreme oscillations. For the first time, they can see the severity of the oscillations passengers described. The team launches into a second-by-second analysis of the first pitch up. It�s called a �pilot-induced oscillation� or PIO. The pilot overcorrects, and the plane responds, creating increasingly uncontrollable movements. INVESTIGATORs turn their attention to the captain of Flight 583�s training to determine why he repeatedly overcorrected with his control column. The CAPTAIN passed all of his MD-11 training without incident. INVESTIGATORs take a closer look at the training the captain received. Was there something about the design of the aircraft that made it difficult to regain control? When compared to other large passenger jets, one design feature stands out. Most planes have their center of gravity farther forward, in the midsection. INVESTIGATORs conclude that the captain could have stabilized the oscillations sooner with faster, less forceful control inputs. But the design of the aircraft made that difficult to do. In their final report, NTSB investigators found that an unintended movement of the slat handle likely caused the slats to extend and the airplane to pitch up. The report also notes that many of the severely injured passengers either had their seatbelts unfastened or were standing in the aisle. And that left many passengers vulnerable. McDonnell Douglas developed the MD-11 as a fuel-efficient option for long haul flights. In the early 1990s, approximately one hundred of them were in service worldwide.