Summary of "WE CAN'T LAND! The Incredible Story of Air India 101"

Short recap — the near‑disaster Air India flight and how it was saved

What happened

Date/place: September 11, 2018 — Air India long‑haul from New Delhi to New York (JFK/Newark area).
Aircraft: Boeing 777‑300ER, fully loaded on a ~14‑hour polar route.
Stakes: roughly 350–370 people on board, low remaining fuel after the long flight, heavy rain and very low cloud ceilings at the New York airports.

The crisis, step by step

Pre‑flight
- Engineers reported the APU not working. The crew elected to proceed and carried extra fuel (about 800 kg extra) for alternates — a decision that later proved critical.
Early flight
- About 40 minutes after takeoff, two of three radio altimeters failed, leaving only one working unit (important for accurate height info near landing).
Later enroute
- While crossing the Atlantic the TCAS (traffic collision avoidance system) failed. Multiple, unrelated instrument failures led the crew to worry about an underlying systems fault.
Arrival in the New York area
- Pilots discovered the ILS/localizer would not capture (ILS inoperative). In the bad weather, that meant they couldn’t rely on precision/autoland guidance and would need visual references for a non‑precision (LNAV/VNAV) approach — but visibility and cloud ceilings were below their preferred minima.
First approach
- A false “landing gear not down” warning sounded in the cockpit, distracting the crew. They couldn’t stabilize the approach and executed a go‑around.
Fuel and alternate options
- Low fuel limited diversion options. ATC and the crew considered Newark, Stewart, Bradley, Boston, etc. A fresh METAR for Newark briefly reported the ceiling at ~400 ft, so they elected to try Newark with a VNAV approach despite conditions still being below ideal minima.
Final approach and landing
- Clouds broke at about 400 ft. The crew found they were a bit high and right, made prompt corrections (nose‑down and left), and touched down safely on Runway 4R at Newark. Emergency vehicles had been scrambled but the crew declined assistance.

Timing was crucial: ten minutes after landing the entire airport was hit by a thunderstorm — a delay of only a few minutes or a second go‑around likely would have made a safe landing impossible.

Outcome and aftermath

The aircraft landed safely; there was no accident. The plane was ferried back to India the next day.
No official investigation report or public incident report was published in the subtitles; the root cause remained unconfirmed. A prevailing hypothesis is a malfunction in the airplane’s main computer/diagnostic system that produced incorrect or failed instrument data.
Crew performance: despite being a four‑pilot crew who hadn’t flown together before, they showed strong crew resource management, coordinated effectively with ATC, prioritized fuel and diversion options, and made the high‑pressure decisions that kept everyone safe.

Highlights and memorable moments

A rare cascade of multiple, unrelated instrument failures (APU, two radio altimeters, TCAS, ILS/localizer, and a false gear alarm).
The pilots’ decision to carry extra fuel at departure and to attempt Newark when the METAR briefly improved were pivotal.
The visual moment when clouds broke at ~400 ft and the pilots corrected the aircraft just in time is dramatic.
The airport being engulfed by a thunderstorm minutes after their landing underscores how narrowly disaster was avoided.

Jokes / reactions

The video/subtitles contain no comedic material — it’s a tense aviation survival story, not a comedy.

People mentioned

Capt. Rustam Pia (commander)
Capt. Vikas (co‑pilot)
Capt. Shashant Singh (crew)
Capt. Ds Butty (crew)
Air traffic controllers (unnamed)
Passengers and cabin crew (unnamed)

If you’d like, I can: - Convert this into a shorter timeline, - Produce a minute‑by‑minute sequence, or - Extract the key ATC exchanges and cockpit warnings shown in the video.