Part 3/11:
Routine quickly turned to panic when the autopilot disconnected without warning, and the pilots were bombarded with contradicting fault messages, including alarming indications of overspeed and potential stalling. The flight controls were unresponsive, and as the captain attempted to regain command, he grappled with confusing readouts that contradicted one another.
In the cockpit, confusion unfolded. The A330's flight control systems, typically a pilot's best ally, were now behaving erratically, generating false information. With reliance on secondary instruments, Captain Sullivan fought to maintain altitude, while in the passenger cabin, a sense of calm persisted—most onboard were unaware of the dire situation developing just a few feet above them.