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Cases › DCA21FA085 › Cockpit voice recorder

BOEING 777-222United Airlines

37 lines · 12:59:38.5 – 13:27:17.9 · Broomfield, CO, 2021-02-20

The NTSB cautions that a transcript is not a precise science and, taken out of context, can mislead. These are the last words of real people — handle with care.
37 of 37 lines
CaptainFirst officerControllersWarningsSounds
The final secondsjump to the end ↓
  • 13:22:20.8CAM-2FUZZZ or GRASP?
  • 13:22:49.2RDO-2heavy.
  • 13:24:05.6CAM-1uh- be on the ground just a couple minutes and uh-
  • 13:24:19.4CAM-2just plan uh to be remain seated. yeah just uh- at least right now.
  • 13:24:48.1RDO-1heavy. seven thousand. inbound runway two six. DCA21FA085 Time and Time and Source Source
  • 13:25:04.9CAM-1something to shake that bad.
  • 13:26:07.8RDO-2and we just have the uh- have them follow us.
  • 13:26:20.8CAM-1vibration drops way off. 13:26:38.0 god #. okay let's go flaps twenty. set the approach
  • 13:26:20.8CAM-1speed for me. DCA21FA085 Time and Time and Source Source
  • 13:27:17.9CAM-1land. * stable.

Crew communication

37 lines readobservations a human-factors reviewer takes from a transcript — the sterile cockpit, the Board's own notations, rhythm, CRM markers. Not emotions, not scores: the affect is in the audio, and the audio is sealed
56 / 45
floor share · CA / FO %
7%
non-pertinent talk in sterile window
0 · 0 · 1
laughter · delivery · expletives
1 of 1
crew questions unanswered in 8 s
—
warnings with a crew response in 5 s
CaptainCaptain: 1 in minute 11Captain: 1 in minute 15Captain: 1 in minute 16Captain: 1 in minute 17Captain: 1 in minute 20Captain: 1 in minute 25Captain: 2 in minute 26Captain: 2 in minute 27Captain: 1 in minute 28First officerFirst officer: 2 in minute 1First officer: 1 in minute 2First officer: 1 in minute 3First officer: 3 in minute 4First officer: 1 in minute 6First officer: 2 in minute 10First officer: 1 in minute 14First officer: 1 in minute 15First officer: 2 in minute 19First officer: 2 in minute 20First officer: 1 in minute 21First officer: 1 in minute 22First officer: 1 in minute 23First officer: 1 in minute 24First officer: 1 in minute 25First officer: 1 in minute 27Controllers12:5913:0413:0913:1413:1913:24
Utterances per minute, one row per speaker on one clock. shaded = sterile-cockpit window · red = end of recording.
Sterile cockpit · 14 CFR 121.542

Windows: 12:55:03–13:07:16, 13:12:52–13:29:59 · basis: recorder pressure altitude below 10,000 ft. Candidate non-pertinent lines below are a first reading for the investigator, not a finding.

  • 13:24:19.4“just plan uh to be remain seated. yeah just uh- at least right now.”
  • 13:26:07.8“and we just have the uh- have them follow us.”
The Board’s own notations

Delivery and physiological notes the transcribers added in brackets, plus # expletives. 4 words are marked unintelligible (*).

  • #13:26:20.8“vibration drops way off. 13:26:38.0 god #. okay let's go flaps twenty. set the approach”
Silences of 45 s or more
Concerns voiced, and what followed

Hedged or questioning lines from one pilot in the critical window, with the other pilot’s next words.

None found in the window.

Warnings and the response

No warning-system lines in the transcript.

Questions between the pilots left unanswered
Standard callouts
V1 · not in transcriptRotate / Vr · not in transcriptV2 · not in transcriptPositive rate · not in transcriptGear up · not in transcript1,000 ft · not in transcript500 ft · not in transcriptMinimums · not in transcriptGear down · not in transcriptRunway in sight · not in transcriptGo around · not in transcriptStabilized · not in transcript

“Not in transcript” never means “not said”: a line may be unintelligible, or the recording may not cover that phase.

Language, as counts
Speakerwordsquestionshedgesexclamationsexpletiveschecklistsnon-pertinent lines
Captain216001100
First officer173100002

Read next to the Board’s coded human-factors findings on the case page. The NTSB cautions that a transcript is not a precise science; these are pointers into it, for a trained reader to weigh.

Hover a line to bookmark it or write a note against it — the note keeps the line’s time, speaker and words.

12:59:38.5FORDO-2coming out three whiskey with A-TIS. 12:59:52.2 united three twenty eight heavy denver ground. runway twop.9
12:59:38.5ATCATCTfive taxi via golf. i'm sorry i missed it verify information kilo? 12:59:57.6 all right golf to two five. we'll pick up kilo. united three twentyp.9
12:59:38.5FORDO-2eight heavy.p.9
13:00:51.8FOCAM-2checklist.p.10
13:01:36.0ATCATCTthree good day.p.10
13:02:17.2FOCAM-2two CHNGY transition. set.p.11
13:02:38.6ATCATCTcalm runway two five cleared for takeoff.p.12
13:02:41.5FORDO-2thre- three twenty eight heavy. 13:02:54.6 let's see it's uh showing flight level two three zero onp.12
13:02:41.5FOCAM-2this thing.p.12
13:03:01.3FOCAM-2for traffic.p.12
13:04:58.3ATCATCTgood day.p.14
13:05:03.3FORDO-2you out of six for flight level two three zero. united three twenty eight heavy denver departure radarp.14
13:08:45.9FORDO-2engine failure. we need to turn.p.18
13:08:58.3FORDO-2eight heavy mayday mayday aircraft uh. 13:09:02.3 united three twenty eight heavy just got here. uh- say again TRACON please.p.18
13:09:45.1CARDO-1eight heavy.p.20
13:13:38.0FOCAM-2we're returning to denver? DCA21FA085 Time and Time and Source Sourcep.24
13:13:45.4FOCAM-2engines uh- has failed and we'll be returning to denver. uh please remain calm and uh we'll have you on the ground safely *** thank you.p.25
13:14:35.6CACAM-1uh-p.26
13:15:35.8CARDO-1uh- get you the souls in just a minute. [This transmission from RDO-2 is OTA to company operations personnel on the ground. The inbound response from the company operations personnel is not transcribed.]p.28
13:15:40.7CARDO-1still run a few checklists and get some landing data. okay i'm just gonna keep you in that heading there. left turns 13:15:55.2 all the way around the uh- aerodrome and whatever runway TRACON you line up for and you want just let me know and we'll make it happen. [This transmission from RDO-2 is OTA to company operations personnel on the ground. The inbound response from thep.28
13:17:44.8FOCAM-2the right.p.30
13:18:01.5FOCAM-2plenty good on the landing weight. DCA21FA085 Time and Time and Source Sourcep.30
13:18:42.1CARDO-1heavy. united three twenty eight heavy you can have uh- any runway 13:18:59.8 you like so just let me know um- keeping you wide there if you TRACON want to go into the west runways or i can take you up to the north and take you to the south runways it's really your call.p.31
13:19:08.8FOCAM-2uh-p.31
13:19:14.2FOCAM-2over.p.32
13:20:04.2FOCAM-2damage indicated.p.33
13:21:25.9FORDO-2heavy.p.36
13:22:20.8FOCAM-2FUZZZ or GRASP?p.37
13:22:49.2FORDO-2heavy.p.38
13:24:05.6CACAM-1uh- be on the ground just a couple minutes and uh-p.39
13:24:19.4FOCAM-2just plan uh to be remain seated. yeah just uh- at least right now.p.39
13:24:48.1CARDO-1heavy. seven thousand. inbound runway two six. DCA21FA085 Time and Time and Source Sourcep.40
13:25:04.9CACAM-1something to shake that bad.p.41
13:26:07.8FORDO-2and we just have the uh- have them follow us.p.42
13:26:20.8CACAM-1vibration drops way off. 13:26:38.0 god #. okay let's go flaps twenty. set the approachp.42
13:26:20.8CACAM-1speed for me. DCA21FA085 Time and Time and Source Sourcep.42
13:27:17.9CACAM-1land. * stable.p.44