What REALLY caused this plane to crash into a French island? Inex Adria 1308 (Patreon)

On December 1st, 1981, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82 carrying 173 tourists made its approach to Ajaccio airport on the French island of Corsica. 

This was the pilots’ first time flying into this particular airport, and they were unfamiliar with the area. As the aircraft descended into the clouds above the island, a series of misunderstandings began to take place between the pilots and air traffic control. Minute by minute these misunderstandings began to compound.

The story Inex-Adria flight 1308 shows that under certain conditions, a tiny misunderstanding can snowball into a full-blown catastrophe.