- [Narrator] In an
aerodynamic stall the wings lose lift and the plane
drops from the sky. (speaking foreign language) - [Translator] It was the pilot's action that led to the stall. - They fell at more than
12,000 feet per minute. - [Narrator] Inexplicably,
the pilot continued to pull back when he
should've been pitching the plane's nose down
to gain speed and lift. - The more you raise the nose, the more the lift will be destroyed. And that's what was
happening to Air France 447. (tense music) - [Narrator] Cold Bay, Alaska. A frontier town at the tip
of the Alaskan peninsula. Surrounded by the Aleutian Mountains and hundreds of miles of ocean. Reeve Aleutian Airlines
is one of Cold Bay's only links to the outside world. It operates a small fleet
of rugged planes carrying people and cargo across
the state and beyond. Reeve Aleutian Airlines
flight eight prepares to leave Cold Bay for Seattle, Washington. The route will take the flight over a wide stretch of the North Pacific Ocean. 54 year old captain James
Gibson is a hardened bush pilot with more than 25 years experience flying Alaska's tough terrain. - Set takeoff thrust. - [Narrator] Gibson's flight engineer. - Thrust set. - [Narrator] Is 45 year old
Alaskan Gerald "Moose" Laurin. His first officer is 39
year old Gary Lintner. - Generally we flew
that route once a week. On this particular day we were scheduled for five hours of flying time. - Gear up. - Gear up. - Flaps up, Gar. - Flaps up. Reeve Eight is off the ground. About two-three. - [ATC] Reeve Eight, roger. And have a good fight. (dramatic music) - [Narrator] There are
10 passengers on board. Mostly hunters and anglers. Wendy Kroon is the
senior flight attendant. - We were headed to Seattle. It was a beautiful day. It was clear, no turbulence. Highly unusual. Highly unusual. There should've been turbulence. - [Narrator] Pacific winds in the nearby Aleutian Mountains often
create turbulent skies. Captain Gibson will
cross the North Pacific aboard a Lockheed L-188 Electra. Powered by four turboprop engines. - They're just an
incredibly tough airplane. Stronger than 10 acres of
garlic I used to always say. (Gary laughs) - [Narrator] Gibson finishes turning his aircraft on course towards Seattle when he hears an unusual buzzing sound. (loud buzzing) - You hear that, Gar? - I do. Not sure. - I noticed that the vibration that I was feeling in my
feet and the vibration that was in the glass was different. And that's the first time
I'd ever come across that and I thought well this
is a little different. - Moose, have a look would you? - Yeah, you bet. - [Narrator] As Gibson and Lintner wait for "Moose" Laurin to report back, the vibrations become more pronounced. - I distinctly remember looking down and seeing my control yolk shaking. And I turned to Jim and I
said geez, look at this. And Jim and I are looking at
each other across the cockpit. And finally he says. - Screw this. Let's turn around. - [Narrator] Meanwhile, Wendy Kroon helps Laurin check the engines. - The engineer said I want
you to come back and check number four engine and see
if you can see anything. And just as I looked out
the window, the engine went. - [Narrator] It's now
up to NTSB investigator Ron Schleede to find out what went wrong. - The loss of a propeller in flight is a very serious event. It can lead to catastrophic accident, has led to catastrophic
accidents in the past. - [Narrator] Though the
Reeve Aleutian accident was not catastrophic, it is
part of a disturbing trend. Since 1965 there have been four cases of spontaneous propeller
loss on the Electra L-188. - We had an airplane that nearly went into the ocean because
a propeller came off. So we needed to find out as best as we could what caused this accident. - [Narrator] For Schleede
there are only two possible causes that can explain
the loss of the propeller. - Fatigue crack or some
other preexisting damage would cause whole propeller
assembly to separate. And that has happened before. The other possibility is the gear box. The powered gears that
drive the propeller. If there's a catastrophic failure there, that can also cause the
engine or the propeller assembly and gear box to separate. That has also happened in the past. - [Narrator] His team studies what's left of the damaged engine. Right away it's clear his
investigation will be difficult. - The wreckage really didn't
give us much of a clue because what we needed
to look at was gone. - [Narrator] With no
physical evidence to examine, Schleede's team studies the
plane's flight data recorder. Hoping it can explain the vibration. - The flight recorder on this airplane was a very rudimentary recorder. It records by a stylus
scraping a metal foil. And so it's not a very scientific thing compared to what we have today. So we could not, on the flight recorder, determine where the vibration came from. - [Narrator] The Electra has
a history of engine vibration. Vibration so serious it's been known to tear the plane apart at high speed. Investigators examine the rubber mounts designed to absorb those vibrations. If they're worn down, it
could explain the accident. But the mounts check out. The investigation hits another dead end. - We could not determine even
a probable cause in this case. When you can't do that and
have to say I don't know, that's very hard for
an investigator to say. - [Narrator] But there is another question Schleede hopes he can answer. Why was Gibson's plane so hard to land? In four other cases when an Electra's propeller separated, the
planes landed without incident. - The loss of a propeller is
not necessarily catastrophic. It's designed to fly with
only half its engines. - [Narrator] Yet with
three engines intact, Gibson could barely maintain
control of his plane. Something made this case unique. Flight 592 has crashed into one of the most inhospitable spots on Earth. The Florida Everglades. - [ATC] A large jet aircraft
has just crashed out here. Large, like airliner-sized. Need to get your choppers in the air. - [Narrator] The Everglades covers much of the Southern tip of Florida. Hundreds of square miles of shallow swamp, mangroves, and watery grassland. Just getting to the crash site will be a huge challenge for rescuers. Miami Dade police
helicopters find the wreckage of ValuJet flight 592 in swampland far from the nearest highway. - [Reporter] Federal safety officials say it's the most difficult
recovery operation they've ever faced with wreckage strewn like confetti in a muddy
alligator-infested swamp that can only be reached
by helicopter or airboat. - A very waterous, marshy area. And that's proving
difficult to reach people that may have survived this crash. - [Narrator] Rescuers
know that the first hours of this rescue operation are critical. In 1972, Eastern Airlines
flight 401 crashed into the Everglades three miles
from the ValuJet crash site. Several passengers drowned
before rescuers could reach them. - Yeah, to be in the
Everglades after the crash, it was utter devastation, destruction. The smell, you could smell the jet fuel. You could smell the hydraulic fluid. You could smell death. (ominous music) - [Narrator] Most of the aircraft has sunk beneath the surface of the swamp. - The wreckage was in the Everglades. It's a hostile environment. It wasn't clear at that
point how much we'd be able to learn from the records
or be able to recover. - We suited up as best as possible. We first put on that Tyvek suit, and then we put on an extra sleeve. Put two surgical gloves on,
put a pair of work gloves on, and then they duct taped the
work gloves to the Tyvek suit. - [Narrator] The heavy
gear protects rescuers from spilled fuel and other toxins. But below the surface of the swamp lurks an even deadlier threat. - They had to have a sharpshooter on top of the airboat at all times. - [Narrator] The crash site is a nesting grounds for alligators. - As the divers were walking in the water, if somebody sighted an alligator, or you'd hear them hiss in the saw
grass, they would take pot shots to try and scare them away. - [Narrator] Just hours after the crash, officials come to a grim conclusion. - It doesn't look good that
there are any survivors. - [Narrator] At an FAA fire test facility. - Okay, let's do this. - [Narrator] They hope to recreate the fire that consumed flight 592. - One minute to ignition. - We had to trigger one of the
oxygen generators manually. (escaped oxygen hissing) (tense music) - Nothing at all. We didn't really get much of a fire. - [Narrator] An activated
oxygen generator isn't enough to set fire to the cardboard
box it's packed in. - So how did these things start a fire? - [Narrator] NTSB investigators
are back at square one. They can't prove their theory. - What were these things packed in? - [Narrator] The failure
of the fire test prompts investigators to look
more closely at exactly how the oxygen generators
were packaged for transport. - The first test we did we had not packed them exactly the
way they were packed. - Need a layer of bubble wrap. - We did not use bubble
wrap in the first test, that is put bubble wrap over the top of the generators before
we closed the box, We put five boxes of oxygen generators, put them on top of a tire, and put some luggage around them. - Okay, let's start it up. (tense music) (high-pitched whirring) - It made an unbelievable noise. It was a high pitch scream. We all looked at each
other, we were startled. I mean the sound was deafening. - [Narrator] 10 Minutes after ignition the ceiling of the test cargo container reaches 2,000 degrees fahrenheit. - Lord almighty! - We almost destroyed their test facility. - [Narrator] After 11 minutes it exceeds the capacity of the monitoring equipment. - All right. Let's get that fire out. - We had a raging fire and none of us had expected a fire to
be that big and that hot. And it was just amazing
to see how disastrous, how destructive something this long and that big around could be. - [Narrator] The experiment
supports the NTSB theory. Improperly packaged oxygen generators caused the crash of ValuJet 592. Singapore Airlines flight six taxis to the runway through heavy wind and rain at Taipei's Chiang Kai-shek Airport. Taiwan sits inside Asia's
infamous Typhoon Alley. And tonight the island nation
is bracing for the worst. Typhoon Xangsane, with winds of 99 miles an hour, is closing in fast. Flight six needs to get airborne before the brunt of the storm hits. There are 179 people on board the overnight flight to Los Angeles. Including business
traveler Francois Parent. - Being a frequent flier, I was not too concerned about the weather because that didn't bother me in the past. - [Narrator] Parent has
requested an aisle seat. The only one available on
this flight is in row 65. The second to the last row of the plane. He has no idea how important his seating assignment will become. - Singapore six, for your information surface wind 020 at 2-4. Gust 4-3. - Thank you, sir. Singapore six. - Let me know when it hits 30. - [Narrator] If the
crosswind hits 30 knots, the crew will have to
abandon their takeoff. - Singapore six you are
cleared for takeoff. Runway zero five left. - Okay, thrust left, TOGA TOGA. - [Narrator] Captain Foong Chee Kong decides to proceed with the takeoff. - Okay. My control. - [Narrator] The 747 accelerates
towards takeoff speed. 180 miles an hour. - V1. - [Foong] V1. - As the plane was
gaining speed to take off, at a certain time the plane kinda lost it. (loud rumbling) - Ahh! - [Narrator] The plane's tanks are loaded with 15,000 gallons of fuel. It ignites immediately. - Direct emergency vehicles
to runway zero five left! (sirens wailing) - [Narrator] Rescuers must battle both the flames and the violent storm. The massive 747 has broken into pieces. Of the 179 passengers
and crew, 83 are dead. Most victims were seated
in the middle of the plane where the fuel-fed fire was most severe. The 96 survivors include all three pilots, some passengers in first
class, and everyone in the rear section where
Francois Parent was seated. One of Asia's busiest airports
is immediately closed. It is now up to the Aviation
Safety Council of Taiwan to determine the cause of the disaster. Taiwanese investigators
still can't answer why the crew of Singapore Airlines flight six made the fatal error of
turning onto the wrong runway. Determined to find out what
went wrong on flight six, investigators decide to put
themselves in the pilot seat. The cockpit of a 747 at
Chiang Kai-shek Airport. - All right, let's get going. - [Narrator] In similar weather conditions they follow the route taken by flight six. They taxi slowly towards runway five left. Matching Captain Foong's speed. The plane turns onto the final taxiway. From this point, the flight six crew should've taxied passed runway five right. Towards the turn for runway five left. - Now we continue on to five right. How could they have missed that sign? It's huge. - [Narrator] Signs marking five right are clearly visible from the cockpit. But investigators see nothing that would tell a pilot the runway is out of service. But inside the cockpit,
there is an indication that the plane is on the wrong runway. The instrument landing
system isn't locking onto a beacon that should be dead ahead. - This should tell you
something's not right. - [Narrator] If the plane had
been on the correct runway, the display would've been centered. Before departing, the
pilots program the plane's computer to lock onto a beacon at the end of their designated runway. Flight six's navigation
system would've been scanning for that signal
just before takeoff. The beacon was clearly off to their left. Not ahead of them. Captain Foong was taxing
at a speed of nine knots. About nine miles an hour. Because the turn took
so long, Captain Foong might've thought he'd gone
further than he really did. So much time had passed
that he may have thought he had already reached runway five left. Just before takeoff, the crew had one last chance to avoid disaster. - Now the PVD hasn't lined up. - [Narrator] It should've been a warning to the crew that something was wrong. - Never mind. We can see the runway just fine. - [Narrator] Captain
Foong ignores the warning. - Okay. My control. - V-1. - V-1. - [Narrator] What happened
next was inevitable. - There's something there! - There's the point of impact. The clues were there. They ignored them. (tense music) - [Narrator] It's finally clear why Singapore Airlines flight six ended up on the wrong runway. But with hundreds of planes taking off during the annual typhoon season. The challenge now is to make
sure it never happens again. (ominous music) At Jakarta Air Traffic Control SilkAir 185 his vanished from radar. The controller has heard no mayday call. He tries to get a message
to the missing flight with the help of another pilot. - Indonesia 238, Jakarta. - [Pilot] Go ahead, Indonesia 238. - Please relay to SilkAir 185
to contact Singapore 134.4. - [Pilot] Roger. Indonesia 238. - [Narrator] But the
737 is already submerged beneath the murky waters
of Indonesia's Musi River. Halfway between Jakarta and Singapore. Local villagers report the crash. - And they're telling
stories about the aircraft coming very fast from an altitude. - [Narrator] Along the river people search for survivors, but find
only small bits of debris. A 50 ton aircraft carrying 104 people has all but disappeared. News of the SilkAir crash is
met with shock in Singapore. Home to almost half the passengers. There is very little hope
that anyone has survived. 24 hours later, following
the crash of SilkAir 185, Indonesian investigator Santoso Sayogo takes charge of the team from the National Transportation
Safety Committee. - Empty those bags. Put it with the other bags for processing. - What we did is to go to
the crash site, observe, and then record and preserve anything that we can use for later investigation. - More small debris. - [Narrator] The scale of the
disaster soon becomes evident. There are no survivors. All 104 passengers and
crew have been killed. Including veteran pilot
Captain Tsu Way Ming and his first officer Duncan Ward. - It was just complete bewilderment as to how it might have happened. In that situation you go into
a complete state of shock. I didn't really know what to believe. - [Narrator] In 1991, nearly seven years before the SilkAir crash,
a United Airlines 737 on approach to Colorado Springs took a sudden roll to the right. It hit the ground second later. Killing everyone on board. (suspenseful music) Three years later. It happened again, 132 people died when a USAir
737 crashed near Pittsburgh. Both accidents were caused by the same type of rudder malfunction. - That was a big concern
because all of a sudden now you have the airplane doing things that the crew isn't anticipating. - Okay. Wrap it up. - [Narrator] Investigators
fear that the deadly rudder phenomenon may have struck again. - If the rudder had failed and it had gone hard over as we had seen
in these other events, that would've exposed it
to higher aerodynamic loads and would've separated from the aircraft. - [Narrator] Even more
disturbing, the rudder problem was supposed to have been solved. Boeing engineers came up with a fix before construction even began on the 737 that crashed in Indonesia. - For the accident in the aircraft Boeing already modified the rudder. - So the question is
why would this airplane have had an experience
like that given the fact that it had the
modifications to the rudder. - [Narrator] It is now crucial
that the team figure out exactly when flight 185's
tail section broke off. Did it detach at 35,000 feet, throwing the plane into a dive? Or did something else
cause the rapid descent, causing the tail to break
off on the way down? - We had to examine the
wreckage, see how these stabilizers came off, and then
put that storyline together. - [Narrator] On day five
of the investigation there's a major breakthrough. Divers have found a key piece
of the investigative puzzle in the mud at the bottom
of the Musi River. - The accident happened
on the 19th December and we discovered flight data recorder in the afternoon of the 24th. One day before Christmas. - I can confirm. It is the FDR. Slightly damaged, but
it doesn't look too bad. - It was kept in clean
water just to preserve the information on it so
it would not deteriorate. - [Narrator] If the FDR
recording has survived, investigators should
soon know exactly when flight 185's tail section
began to break off. - It's up to the guys in Washington now. - [Narrator] A team from Peru's Aviation Accident Investigation Commission must answer that question. Patrick Frykberg is in charge. - The first impression that I got, it was the terrible smell of fuel. And blood. It was still burning. 24 hours after it crashed. It amazed us that somebody had survived. (speaking foreign language) - [Translator] Thanks to my seat change, because I couldn't fit into the seat because of my size, they
changed me to row 10. The emergency exit row. And that's why I had a chance to survive. - [Narrator] Frykberg is
also amazed by the looting. - But they were taking anything they could carry from the wreckage site. They took tires, oxygen bottles, doors, metal pieces, parts of the landing gear. Maybe there was an interest of exchanging them for money. - [Narrator] The small troop of government soldiers at the crash site. - Excuse me. I'm with CIAA. I'm gonna need your help please. - [Narrator] Can't
protect all the evidence. - It was huge as well. So it wasn't that easy of
a situation to control. - Hey, I need both these engines
guarded around the clock. No exceptions. - [Narrator] Frykberg is forced to preserve the most important pieces. - We could distinguish the engines, but everything else was into small pieces. - We need to take pictures of everything before it's all gone. Let's go. - [Narrator] What he can't
guard, he tries to document. - I mean the pieces were there. The flight controls were there. We found the cockpit,
parts of the cockpit. We found the seats. We were mainly worried about recovering the flight data recordings and
the cockpit voice recording. - [Narrator] Hope of getting some answers is renewed when within hours they find one of the plane's two black boxes. Since Peru lacks the
technology to read the data, the cockpit voice recorder will be shipped to the NTSP in Washington for analysis. - It's like a rush because okay, we have something to work with now. - [Narrator] But the second black box, the flight data recorder, is
still nowhere to be found. - Any sign of the FDR? Well I can guess what happened to it. Keep looking. - [Narrator] It's more than likely that looters have taken the FDR. - Watching that some of the
evidence was being taken away, we were very very
frustrated that we could not have a better control of the crash site. - [Narrator] With the evidence they need disappearing by the minute,
they post a $500 reward for the return to the
flight data recorder. - It tells us how the
systems were performing until they crashed, until
the aircraft crashes. So it's pretty necessary
information to have. - [Narrator] It seems
that $500 was too good to pass up for one man in Pucallpa. In a major breakthrough for
investigators, the man agrees to exchange the second black
box for the reward money. - He was pretty much the
good guy at the time. - [Narrator] Frykberg needs to know how they could've made such
a fundamental error. He reviews the events
leading up to the crash. A perfect storm of unlikely
events and tragic mistakes. (dramatic music) It starts. - You can sit in the cabin if you prefer. - [Narrator] With a broken seatbelt on the first officer's jump seat. The captain is left flying with only a young inexperienced trainee. - Textbook, Major. - Thank you, sir. - You remind me of myself. - Look at that beast. - [Narrator] Captain Perez
Palma misjudges the storm. - We can get in through here. - [Narrator] And flies right through it. Intense hail shatters the windshield. - Do you have the runway in sight? - [Narrator] Blinding the crew. - No, I don't have it. - [Narrator] When a
massive downdraft hits, the pilots don't notice
their plane is descending until the ground proximity alarm goes off. Then they make the biggest mistake of all. They fail to throttle up. - Pull with me! - [Narrator] Investigators
conclude that happened as the result of one critical decision taken moments earlier
by Captain Perez Palma. - It sealed their fate. - [Narrator] Investigators
analyze a pivotal decision made by the captain of flight 204 less than a minute before the crash. - [Frykberg] At the last
moment he took control. - [Narrator] When he began to lose confidence in his co-pilot. - Or maybe I have it, okay? - [Narrator] He took command and became the pilot flying the plane. At that moment Chirinos
Delgado became first officer. - Gear down? - Not yet! - [Narrator] The pilots
had switched roles. - [Perez] Look at the speed, you idiot! - [Narrator] Both seem
confused by the transition. - Hurry with the flaps! - [Narrator] It's now the co-pilot's job to monitor the changes in altitude. - Flaps five! - Okay. Flaps five. - [Narrator] But he's distracted by the demands of the captain. - Never both pilots are looking
outside at the same time. Never. Always one of the pilots must keep close contact with the instruments. - I can't see it! I can't see anything! - Pull it, okay? Pull with me. - [Narrator] Though both
pilots were pulling back, they both likely assumed
the other one would take the crucial second step
needed to get out of trouble. Pushing the throttles
forward to maximum thrust. (speaking foreign language) - [Translator] When
pilots are too confident and self-sufficient, they get used to the idea that nothing will happen. - We'll make it. - [Translator] Call it lack of discipline, or not obeying the rules,
but that's what happened. - [Narrator] At Los Angeles
International Airport, United Airlines flight 718 is preparing to depart for Chicago. At 9:04 in the morning, flight 718 lifts off from Los Angeles. Captain Shirley must
follow an assigned corridor through the airspace around Los Angeles. After that, he's free to
fly wherever he wants. As long as he reports in passing a series of waypoints along the route to Chicago. 54 minutes into the flight the DC-7 reaches its second waypoint. The crew will next check
in when they cross a point on the map known as the
Painted Desert Line. Cruising at 21,000 feet, the crew spots thunder clouds ahead and
adjusts their course. - How are we doing on your side, Bob? - Thunderhead five miles south. We're clear of it. - Damn! - [Narrator] Shocked passengers have no idea what's gone wrong. - Oh God! - Bank bank bank bank bank! - Come on, baby, come on! - [Narrator] Flight 718
is overdue to check in. Calls from dispatch go unanswered. Air Traffic Control
headquarters in Salt Lake City. - CA Salt Lake. - [Narrator] Controllers
here don't normally communicate directly with flight crews. They get flight information
by phone from airline dispatchers who are in radio
contact with their pilots. At 10:51 they get a disturbing call from United Airlines dispatch. - Salt Lake. Understand, United 718 20 minutes overdue at Painted Desert. - [Narrator] Moments later,
another dispatcher calls. More disturbing news. (phone rings) - Salt Lake TWA. I'm getting no response from flight two. - Understand, TWA flight two 20 minutes overdue at Painted Desert. We have had no contact here. - [Narrator] Controllers now know that two planes flying from LA have not reported crossing a scheduled waypoint. The Painted Desert Line. United flight 718 and TWA
flight two to Kansas City were both expected to reach
that waypoint at 10:31. Controllers send out a bulletin
asking local authorities to keep an eye out for
the two missing planes. The next morning, news
comes from authorities in Arizona confirming
everyone's worst fears. - They found them? - [Narrator] The remains
of two different planes have been spotted in
Arizona's Grand Canyon. The twisted wreckage of United 718 lies in a rocky ledge 688 feet
up the sheer canyon wall. The air tour pilot spots
the second crash site on the floor of the canyon
about one mile away. The immediate priority
is to get rescuers into one of the least accessible
places in North America. When rescuers finally
reach the crash area, they first find the scattered
remains of TWA flight two. Reaching the wreckage of the other plane will be even more difficult. It's not long before rescuers
come to a grim conclusion. Everyone aboard both planes is dead. It is now up to investigators from the Civil Aeronautics Board to
piece together what happened. With no cockpit voice
recorder to help them, investigators turn to radio dispatch recordings and transcripts. TWA flight two took
off three minutes ahead of the United flight in
a different direction. It was to fly Northeast towards its first checkpoint, Daggett. The TWA pilot was Jack Gandy. With 15,000 hours as captain he was nearly as experienced as United's Bob Shirley. Gandy knew these skies well. He'd flown this route nearly 200 times. - Good morning TWA dispatch, TWA two. We've got a little bit of weather here we wanna get on top of. Be a good man and ask Salt
Lake to clear us to 21,000. - Roger, TWA two. Requesting clearance at 21,000 feet. (phone ringing) - So TWA asked for 21,000. So Salt Lake clears them? - No. Request denied due to conflicting traffic. - Advisory TWA two. Unable to approve to
21,000 due to traffic. - That's a no go on 21,000,
United 718 is there. - [Narrator] Captain Gandy wants to avoid the clouds in his path. And in 1956, he has another
way to accomplish that. - Let's just get on top of this stuff. - [Narrator] He uses visual
flight rules, or VFR. - Roger that. Advise Salt Lake I'm going
to VFR and 1,000 on top. - Salt Lake. TWA two requesting 1,000 on top. - Maintain at least 1,000 on top. Advise TWA two his traffic is United 718. Direct Durango. - [Narrator] The TWA crew was cleared to fly a thousand feet above the clouds, but warned to look out for United 718. Half an hour after
requesting a thousand on top, Gandy reports his actual altitude. - 21,000 Feet. - [Narrator] Investigators now understand how the TWA flight ended up at the same altitude as United 718. As for why both planes diverted from their scheduled routes at the same time. - Damn! What's he doing there? Pull up, pull up! - [Narrator] The answer
is the crash site itself. An awe-inspiring natural wonder. - Let's give them a look, shall we? - Aye captain. - [Retro Narrator] Wonderful
sights to see way down below. The Grand Canyon for instance. One of the seven wonders of the world. - Just keep your eyes
peeled and you'll get a spectacular view no
matter where you're sitting. Damn! - [Narrator] But on June
30th, 1956, it proves fatal. - Oh god! - [Narrator] Jack Paschal
needs to find out how such a common practice killed 128 people. The seasoned crew of
American Airlines flight 191. - Rudders set. - [Narrator] Makes final
preparations for takeoff. - Spoilers are on. - [Narrator] From
Chicago's O'Hare Airport. The DC-10's three engine
layout makes it one of the most recognizable passenger jets on the runway. On this flight, a live
feed from a video camera mounted in the cockpit allows passengers to watch the takeoff from the cabin. - American 191 you are clear for takeoff. - American 191 underway. You have control. - I have control. Runway clear? - Clear. - Okay, setting takeoff thrust. Here we go. Damn. There's the turbulence. - Not too rough. I lost power to my side. - [Narrator] The captain's
instruments suddenly go dead. - Looks like we've lost number one. - [Narrator] And he's lost
power from the left engine. But the plane is already airborne. - Look at this. Look at this! Equipment. I need equipment. He blew an engine. - [Narrator] The DC-10 should be able to climb with only two engines. Pilots are trained to cope
with this kind of emergency. First they need to get as far
from the ground as they can. They put their plane into a steeper climb. Forward speed drops. - We're banking! - Go right, go right! - [Narrator] The plane is
banking sharply to the left. It's only 325 feet from the ground. - I can't hold it! - American 191 heavy, do you copy? He's not talking to me. - [Narrator] Losing power from one engine should not be causing the plane to bank. Passengers have a frightening
view of the ground below. - What's going on? - [Narrator] The pilots can't
get the altitude they need, and they're banking further
and further to the left. - I'm losing it! - Go right, go right! Come on, come on! - 300 feet, we're losing altitude. (passengers screaming) - [Narrator] The cockpit camera gives passengers a glimpse of their fate. But they are not the only ones
whose lives are in danger. A trailer park just north of the airport is home to thousands of people. - Oh god! - [Narrator] And the plane
is heading straight for it. Witnesses on the ground can clearly see flight 191 flying on its side. - We're still turning! - Level, baby, level! Brace brace brace! - [Narrator] The DC-10 crashes into an airport hangar at the edge of the airport. The full load of fuel instantly ignites. - DC-10 with 271 souls
on board has gone down. Northwest of runway 32 right. - [Narrator] American Airlines flight 191 has crashed just short of the trailer park beside Chicago's O'Hare Airport. The DC-10 has also obliterated
a hanger beyond the runway. Once the fire is under control, the search for survivors can begin. All 271 people on board are dead. It's the worst aviation
disaster in US history. Investigator Michael Marks
believes the shattered pieces from the engine pylon may explain why flight 191 fell from the sky. - Look for yourself. See, that had to happen before the crash. - [Narrator] A close
examination reveals a crack in the metal that clearly
developed slowly over time. It's a telltale sign
that the pylon bulkhead was already damaged before the crash. - You can see where it's spread. All along there. - [Narrator] The crack
that Michael Marks finds runs along the top edge
of the aft bulkhead. The microscopic examination
gives Marks another clue. A dent on the pylon bulkhead at exactly the point where the crack began. Investigators arrange to
watch as another DC-10 undergoes the same
maintenance that was performed on flight 191 just weeks before the crash. To save time, the airline has modified a key maintenance procedure. - Okay bring her up! - [Narrator] The normal
procedure for servicing an engine involves
removing it from the pylon and leaving the pylon
attached to the wing. There are hundreds of
connections to be undone. The quicker way involves
taking out just three bolts. The engine is removed from the wing while still attached to the pylon. It saves about 200 man hours of labor. - Now up! - [Narrator] Maneuvering
the pylon into position with an engine attached to
it is a tricky procedure. - I think I know what happened. - [Narrator] A possible
explanation surfaces. - [Investigator] Take her down. - [Narrator] For the mysterious dent found on the pylon from flight 191. The team in Tulsa calls Marks. (phone ringing) - What do you got? - [Narrator] They describe
how the maintenance crew struggled to fit the pylon attachment into the mounting bracket or clevis. Marks concludes that on the
accident plane the clevis must have slammed into the
top of the pylon bulkhead as the engine was being reattached. The impact could have started the crack that led to the pylon's failure. And to the crash itself. Over the next eight
weeks, each time the plane took off, the stress
that the massive engine put on the pylon made
the crack grow larger. It was only a matter of time before the pylon snapped and the engine fell off. - How long have you been
putting the engines on this way? - Not sure, but every airline does it. - [Narrator] Even more
worrying, the mechanics at American Airlines are not
the only ones cutting corners. It is now clear why the
engine fell from the plane. December 28th, 1978. - Losing an engine. - United Airlines flight 173 is less than 22 miles from Portland
International Airport. The plane's engines are
flaming out one after another. With two engines gone, the autopilot can no longer fly the plane. McBroom must get the crippled
DC-8 to the airport himself. The engineer struggles to keep
the last two engines running. - We just lost one and two. - [Narrator] Flight 173 has
now lost all four engines. With no engines running, backup batteries now provide power to only
critical instruments. The 100 ton aircraft is losing more than 3,000 feet of altitude a minute. At this rate, they will be lucky to stay airborne for
as long as 90 seconds. Now Captain McBroom makes
a horrifying calculation. - I can't make it. - [Narrator] The airport is too far away. - Okay, declare mayday. - Portland tower, United
173, heavy mayday... - He declared mayday, and then
in a very, what seemed to me like a calm matter-of-fact
voice, I could hear the pilot. - The engines are flaming
out, we're going down. We're not gonna be able
to make it to the airport. - We lost power, we're going down. - [Narrator] Emergency services
are told what's happening. - Flight 173's flamed out. They're going down. - [Narrator] The DCA is coming down over a densely populated suburb. Suddenly, Captain McBroom sees
what he's been looking for. A dark area up ahead. It looks like an empty field. - The place that you wanna put it is where there's minimum buildings. The most open area possible because the 200,000 pounds plus
jet arriving at 140 knots, which is 160 plus miles
an hour, it's gonna do a lot of damage to the
things on the ground. - [Narrator] Putting
the plane on this narrow strip of land is McBroom's best bet. But as he gets closer, he
realizes it isn't an open field. - We can't make it. - [Narrator] It's a heavily wooded suburb. And he's headed straight for it. - If there are woods,
and that's all you have, then you're gonna have to deal with it. The tops of trees are pretty soft. As you settle into the trees they get progressively less soft. They're gonna do a lot of damage. - [Narrator] McBroom doesn't give up. He actually tries to steer
the plane between the trees. The passengers still assume they're about to touch down on a runway. - We clipped the top of a few trees. And that felt like we were making the initial landing at the airport, so my first sense was hooray, we're there. And then all hell broke loose. (passengers screaming) - I saw the bright flash out there. And knew he had gone down. (dramatic music) - [Narrator] The plane carves a 1,600 foot long path through the trees. Incredibly, the DC-8 has crashed landed in the middle of a major American city. Without injuring a single
person on the ground. Most of the 189 passengers
and crew are alive. Including Captain Malburn McBroom. - [Malburn] We're losing an engine. - [Narrator] NTSB investigator Alan Diehl has discovered something
crucial on the CDR. - It's flamed out. - What? - [Narrator] Less than
eight minutes before the DC-8 crashes into a Portland suburb, the captain seems unconvinced that low fuel is behind his engine failure. (controls beeping) - He was asking what was causing that. And he got a very adamant
answer saying fuel. - Fuel. - As if to say we've been trying to tell you about this all along. - Open those cross feeds
there or something. - There are cross feed valves that are opened in a specific sequence to let one tank feed one or more engines. And it's the job of the
flight engineer on the case of a DC-8 to know exactly how to do that. - Showing fumes. - [Narrator] Though the crew couldn't agree on exactly how much was left. - Showing a thousand or better. - I don't think it's in there. - [Narrator] One thing is certain. There isn't enough to
keep the engines running. - Losing an engine. It's flamed out. - Takes a few things
to make an engine run. One of them is fuel. - [Malburn] You got that cross feed open? - [Narrator] Captain McBroom is desperate. He needs to get more fuel
to the remaining engines. - No, I haven't got it open. Which one? - Open them both. Damn it, get some fuel in there. - [Narrator] Each of the plane's four engines has its own fuel tank. Opening the cross feed should allow fuel to flow between the four main tanks. - Number two is empty. - [Narrator] But it's not working. - You're gonna lose number
three in a minute too. - [Narrator] One by one, fuel starvation shuts down all the engines. Leaving the DC-8 without any power. - [Malburn] Okay, declare a mayday. - The engines didn't have any fuel. - We knew that the
aircraft ran out of fuel. So then became the question why. Why would a modern transport aircraft like this run out of fuel? - [Narrator] Investigators
focus on two possibilities. Mechanical failure. Or human error. - Was it a crew problem or
was it an aircraft problem? - [Narrator] Investigators
desperately need to know what happened during the
final moments of flight 9633. They catch a break when
they learn that an airport security camera off the end of the runway recorded the YAK-42 as
it finally lifted off. The grainy image could
provide a crucial lead. - Whoa whoa. Can you play that again? - [Narrator] The video
shows that the plane was properly configured for takeoff. But beyond that, it
holds no new information. No clue as to what went wrong. - Okay, they started here. They lifted off here. - [Narrator] The airport
runway wasn't the issue. They had plenty of room to take off. - They had about 2,800 plus
meters of runway available. - That's more than twice the
distance they should need. - [Narrator] Something kept
the plane on the ground. The question is. What? They suspect the plane might
simply have been too heavy. - Aside from being
harder to get in the air if you weigh more, and anything that weighs more is gonna be
harder to accelerate. - [Narrator] It's a lesson
that was learned nearly nine years earlier in
Charlotte, North Carolina. All 21 people aboard
a commuter plane died. When it crashed and burst into flames less than a minute after takeoff. The plane was 579 pounds
above the allowed maximum. Weight was also considered a key factor in the US Army's deadliest
peace time crash. On Arrow Air flight 1285,
the weight of 248 soldiers equipped with heavy
gear was underestimated. Their DC-8 fell from the
sky 2,900 feet beyond the end of the runway
in Gander, Newfoundland. Everyone on board was killed. - If the weight is underestimated
or not calculated at all, you just don't have that clear picture of what exactly to
expect from the airplane. - They didn't know their weight. - [Narrator] Concerns
mount when investigators learn that YAK service didn't have baggage scales at Yaroslavl Airport. - There was no way to weigh
the gear, the luggage, and the cargo that would be loaded in the airplane so it was estimated. - [Narrator] Investigators
estimate the weight of the team and their hockey gear. Ultimately they find the
plane was not overloaded. - The weight is under the limit. - [Narrator] It may not be the answer, but it provides an important clue. - It does not appear that
was a contributing issue in this case, but it shows that the crew was not properly preparing the information they would need during the takeoff role. - [Narrator] Results from the
brake system analysis are in. There's no evidence of mechanical failure. The finding moves the investigation closer to a disturbing conclusion. One of the pilots must have
applied the brakes himself. A review of the crew's flight
records offers up a clue. Both pilots routinely trained on and flew two different versions of the YAK plane. The YAK-40 is a much older regional jet that carries up to 32 passengers. The larger YAK-42 which the hockey team was on debuted in 1980. Both pilots were more
experienced on the older YAK-40, but they also regularly
flew the newer YAK-42. - It is improper and
incorrect to train a pilot to fly two airplanes at the same time. - [Narrator] It's beginning
to look like the crew's habit of flying two
different but similar planes may have led to confusion in the cockpit. Focusing in on the brake
pedals, investigators spot a small but potentially
significant difference. On the older YAK-40, a pilot
rests his foot on the brake. On the newer YAK-42, he must
put his heel on the floor. - They were flying back and forth, these two different kinds of aircraft, which happened to have different ways of putting their feet on the brake pedal. And that was when the
aha started to appear. - [Narrator] A pilot accustomed
to flying the older YAK might have placed his
whole foot on the pedal, and as a result could've
activated the brakes. It's a promising theory,
but questions remain. Investigators can't understand why a pilot wouldn't notice his mistake right away. - You'd have to have to put about 10, 15, 20 pounds of pressure onto the pedals. And that is significant weight. You would think a person would feel that. - [Narrator] They find a clue
in the crew's medical records. First Officer Igor Zhivelov had secretly been treated for a nerve condition. He should not have been certified to fly. - He was losing the
sensations in his legs. It was a medical development that didn't make him fall down, but
it made him less aware of feedback from feelings in his feet. - So the argument was made that the first officer could
have been pressing on the brake pedals without
even realizing it. - [Narrator] Then investigators make another startling discovery. - [Igor] Full power! The brakes didn't just
slow the plane down. They also prevented lift off. - It's gonna pitch you
down because you are being pushed by engines
that are above the brakes. It's gonna give the
aircraft a nose down pitch. - [Narrator] By engaging the
brake and the rotating wheels, the crew was actually
forcing the nose down. The effect was like glue. Sticking the plane to the runway. - Probably stabilizer too low. - [Narrator] The combined errors
meant the plane was doomed. - Full power! - [Narrator] As soon as it was airborne. - At that point, the
breaking force of contact of the tires with the runway now stops. And all the other forces that you've been putting into the aircraft,
pulling back on the yolk, elevator trim, flaps,
just to get the nose up. They are now no longer counteracted by the nose down force of the braking. The aircraft immediately
goes into a nose up. A high pitch rate. 20 degrees up in about two seconds. And you can't stay in the air. - [Narrator] The sudden nose up attitude causes the wings to quickly lose lift. Drag increases. The speed drops. The plane goes into a stall. - And you're just a big
hunk of metal and fuel and flesh just falling through the air. - [Narrator] Polish Air Force flight 101 is carrying 89 passengers. Including President Lech Kaczynski. Four of Poland's best
pilots are in the cockpit. They're elite military airmen from the country's special aviation regiment. Just after 10 o'clock the plane begins its descent to Smolensk. The state flight from Warsaw
took off at 9:27 this morning. Few understand Poland's troubled past better than President Kaczynski. By visiting a memorial near the site of the massacre, the
Polish president is taking an important step towards reconciliation. The elite crew is flying
a Tupolev Tu-154M. An extremely popular Russian built plane. As they get closer to the
airport the workload picks up. Flight engineer Andrzej Michalak much calculate engine performance. - May I please have the
temperature and pressure? - I'll tell you what the temperature is. Cold. (pilots chuckle) - [Narrator] He needs some vital
information from the tower. - Are we gonna speak Russian? - Yes. - [Narrator] English is the international language of civil aviation. But since Smolensk is a military airport, controllers here speak only Russian. Passenger jets don't
normally land at this base. But for the Polish delegation, it's the closest runway
to the Katyn memorial. Captain Arkadiusz Protasiuk is the only member of this Polish
crew who speaks Russian. He'll have to handle the
communication with the tower. (speaking foreign language) - Polish 101. Good morning. - Polish 101 acknowledge. Polish Air Force, we have fog. Visibility is 400 meters. - Understood. Polish Air Force 101. Heavy fog visibility is only 400 meters. - [Narrator] Smolensk
Air Base doesn't have the equipment needed for
a radio guided landing. The pilots will first have to descend to just above 300 feet. Then look for the runway. Once they spot it, they'll
have to land manually. - Temperature and pressure please. - Temperature is plus two. Pressure is 745. We do not have landing conditions. - Continuing our approach. If we're unable to land
we'll go around on autopilot. - [Narrator] Captain Protasiuk
takes his plane lower to get a firsthand look
at landing conditions. But as they get closer,
the fog gets even thicker. - Approaching outer marker. On course. - [Narrator] Then the situation
takes a turn for the worse. As the crew strains to
catch sight to the runway, the sound of an alarm
suddenly fills the cockpit. (controls beeping) - 100 Meters. - We are leaving for a go around. - 90 Meters. - [Narrator] But the crew is struggling to make the plane climb. - 20! - [Narrator] No one has survived. It's a monumental tragedy. One of the darkest days in Polish history. A day that was to have been commemorated by the president himself will now be remembered for yet another tragedy. - [Arkadiusz] After the fog has rolled in. - [Narrator] Investigators refocus their attention on the
cockpit voice recorder. - [ATC] Turn on your landing lights. - [Arkadiusz] Lights on. - [Automated Voice] Terrain terrain! Pull up! - [Narrator] They hear a warning that the plane is dangerously low. But strangely, the pilots
don't seem to react to it. - Can't see a thing. - [ATC] Turn on your landing lights. - [Narrator] Investigators are puzzled by the crew's behavior. They compare the plane's
intended flight path to the altitudes called
out by the navigator. - [Artur] 100 Meters. - [Automated Voice] Terrain terrain! Pull up! - [Artur] 90 meters. 40. - [Automated Voice] Terrain terrain! - 30! 20! - Stop. - [Narrator] Just after the
navigator calls out 65 feet. - [Artur] 20! - [Narrator] The unmistakable sound of the plane hitting the first tree. - 20 Meters? - They hit the tree at 11 meters. Not 20. - [Narrator] Something's not right. The navigator is calling out 65 feet, but the plane is only
36 feet from the ground. - They didn't know the altitude. - [Narrator] The recording leaves investigators with two
important questions. Why did the crew ignore the alarms? And why were they closer to
the ground than they thought? The team pours over the flight data, checking for signs of an
altimeter malfunction. - Lieutenant. - [Narrator] It could explain the crash. - [Investigator] What happens here? - [Narrator] But instead of a malfunction, they find that the altimeter
reading makes a sudden jump. A barometric altimeter
shows the plane's height above sea level by measuring
atmospheric pressure. Air pressure goes up
as the plane goes down. The numbers show that the instrument was reset to its default setting. A move that resulted in an
altimeter reading much higher than the plane's actual
height above the ground. - Why would a pilot do that? - [Narrator] Polish investigators take their questions
to pilots from the same special regiment that flew the president. - What do you think they were doing? - [Narrator] They learn that
military pilots sometimes use the barometric altimeter to
solve an annoying problem. The altimeter is connected to the Terrain Altitude Warning System, or TAWS. It alerts pilots if they're
getting too close to the ground. The alarm goes off so
frequently at military airports that some pilots have developed a dangerous habit of
disregarding the sound. They've also come up with ways to silence the nuisance alarms. One way is to simply reset the altimeter. That fools the system into thinking the plane is flying at a higher altitude. - Start playback. - It seems incredible
that such an elite crew flying such high ranking passengers would commit a breach of procedures. - [Artur] 100 meters. - [Narrator] Even if they
did, it doesn't explain why the navigator was calling out the wrong altitude during the descent. - [Artur] 90 Meters. - Stop playback. He was using his radio altimeter. - [Narrator] Most large jets are equipped with two types of altimeter. Since the barometric
altimeter has been reset. - 30! - [Narrator] The navigator could only have been using the second one. When the radio altimeter read 300 feet, the air force jet was not
300 feet above the airport. It was 300 feet from the
bottom of the valley. Once they cleared the valley, they were just above the treetops. The radio altimeter was giving
them misleading information. It doomed everyone on board. January 25th, 2010. It's just past midnight at
Beirut's international airport. Captain Habtamu Negasa has been flying with Ethiopian Airlines for over 20 year. And has more than 10,000
hours in the cockpit. - Exterior checks complete. - Check complete. No problems. - [Narrator] The first officer
is far less experienced. Aluna Beyene is a recent graduate of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight Academy. Tonight there are 82 passengers
aboard the Boeing 737. They are preparing for an overnight flight to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Flight 409's flight plan calls
for it to head southwest. Then make a u-turn towards a navigational checkpoint called Chekka. Ethiopian Airlines 409 lifts off just after 2:30 in the morning. The captain begins banking the plane to the right as he climbs. - Ethiopian 409, control
19-3, ma'a salama. - [Narrator] The tower
controller bids the crew goodbye and hands the
flight off to a colleague. - Ethiopian 409, good morning. Climb flight level two-niner-zero. - [Narrator] The area controller instructs flight 409 to climb to 29,000 feet. - Flight level
two-niner-zero, Ethiopian 409. - [Narrator] But the weather
ahead is becoming fierce. Just a few minutes into the flight, something is going wrong. An alarm warns the crew that their turn is becoming dangerously steep. Captain Negasa is struggling
to correct the problem. He veers back to the left
towards the thunderstorm the controller wants him to avoid. (suspenseful music) A controller sees that flight 409 is starting to veer back towards Beirut. He warns the pilots again
that they need to turn. - Ethiopian 409, follow heading 270. Turn right heading 270. - Right heading 270. Roger. - Okay, what heading did he say? - 270, sir. - [Narrator] The cockpit
fills with a disturbing sound. - What is it? - [Narrator] The control columns vibrate warning them that the
plane is about to stall. - Speed! What is it? Go around, go around. - Roger. Go around. - [Narrator] The captain
pushes the throttle all the way up to go around power. But their situation is even more dire. (passengers screaming) - God! Oh god! Oh god! - [Narrator] As day
breaks, wreckage begins to wash up on shore. Navy ships recover floating debris. And some human remains. 82 passengers and eight crew are dead. Investigators return to the CDR. They hope the crew's
conversation can shed light on why to two qualified
pilots lost control of a mechanically sound airplane. - [Habtamu] Exterior checks complete. - Check complete, no problems. - [Narrator] They notice something odd. The first officer is
uncharacteristically quiet. - Okay. Engage the autopilot. - [Narrator] Even worse, he's not following his captain's commands. - Hold on. Stop for a second. - [Narrator] The crew's
behavior is baffling. It forces investigators to consider an unlikely explanation
for what went wrong. Something called subtle incapacitation. It's a controversial idea that goes beyond the usual definition of pilot error. - [Habtamu] What is it? - [Aluna] This room
doesn't make you sleepy? - [Narrator] Investigators continue to analyze the cockpit recording. - What are these guys doing? - [Narrator] They listen
to what the pilots were saying just before takeoff. - What were they doing up there? - Was there weed in it? (pilots laughing) - [Aluna] Did you feel dizzy? - [Habtamu] Oh I couldn't sleep. - [Aluna] Well me too. (pilots laughing) - [Narrator] Investigators
are shocked to hear the pilots joking about being tired. And the reference to weed. Subtle incapacitation may not be such an unlikely cause after all. Subtle incapacitation
is difficult to prove. In the crash of flight 409,
the evidence so far is mixed. But what investigators discover
next could tip the balance. - [Habtamu] Gear up. - [Narrator] Employment records detailing the pilot's flight hours. - Heading select. - Heading select. Check. - [Narrator] Reveal critical information about the captain of flight 409. He'd been working almost
nonstop for nearly two months. - In 51 days he probably flew something like 45 days out the 51. - [Narrator] The crew's
last chance to rest was a scheduled stopover
after flying into Beirut. - I could use some food that
didn't come from an airplane. What do you say? - Yeah. A good meal would be good. - All right. Let's do it. - Haven't had a lot of water today. - Oh she'll bring back with some. Oh here we go. - Did you feel dizzy? - Oh I couldn't sleep. - [Narrator] Investigators suspect that the heavy meal kept them awake at night. The storm conditions likely
added to the pilot's stress. (suspense music) Fatigued and under increasing stress, they lost track of where they were. - What is it? - [Narrator] And what they were doing. - Go around. Go around, go around! - Roger. Go around. (passengers screaming) - [Narrator] Investigators
conclude the accident was caused by crew that
was simply too tired or too confused to recover
from the first wrong turn. It's a textbook example
of subtle incapacitation. Merida Airport. Venezuela. On February 21st, 2008, the
crew of Santa Barbara Airlines flight 518 arrives for
the last light of the day. Captain Aldino Garanito
Gomez is a senior pilot and flight instructor for the airline with over 5,000 hours in the air. The captain's first officer today is one of his closest friends. Denis Ferreira Quintal has
over 2,000 flying hours. This afternoon, First
Officer Ferreira Quintal is handling the flying. - [Denis] 70 Knots. - [Narrator] The captain
monitors the instruments. - V-1. And rotate. (tense music) - Gear up. - [Aldino] Check. We're up. - [Narrator] Flight 518 is bound for Venezuela's capital Caracas. The airline operates this 90 minute flight three times daily. Navigating the mountainous terrain around Merida demands a lot from pilots. The official flight plan takes planes southwest through a river valley. So they can gain height
before looping back to the north and over the
mountains towards Caracas. Flight 518 turns left as it
climbs out of the valley. Then, six minutes into the flight, something begins to go wrong. (controls beeping) An alarm is sounding a
warning that the plane is dangerously close to the ground. (tense music) - Santa Barbara 518, do you copy? Santa Barbara 518, please respond. - [Narrator] 15 minutes later, flight 518 hasn't checked in as scheduled. (phone ringing) - Flight 518 is missing. 43 passengers on board. - [Narrator] As daylight
fades at Merida Airport, a search and rescue team
gets ready to launch. When a flight goes
missing, rescuers often use a plane's radar track to
pinpoint its last position. But Merida Airport has no radar. The rescuers don't know
where to find flight 518. - Okay, we don't have
a last known position. So the search radius here
is gonna be large, okay? - [Narrator] With no
other clues to follow, they start their search by air. Then comes distressing news
from high in the Andes. Mountain villagers have reported a plane crash six miles from Merida. There's no word about any survivors. Rescuers carried by helicopter
arrive at Los Conejos. A remote Andes mountaintop. The air is thin. The temperature near freezing. Hope of finding survivors in
the wreckage fades quickly. The crash has killed
all 46 people on board. Rescuers have recovered flight
518's two flight recorders. - The flight data recorder
and the cockpit voice recorder capture important details of
what the pilots did and said. The search for answers take them to Paris. To the French Accident
Investigation Authority. The BEA. Technicians download data from the flight data recorder, or FDR. It reveals that the doomed
plane hit the mountain just six minutes and 47
seconds after takeoff. If a mechanical failure was to blame, the FDR should have a record of it. - What is this? - [Narrator] But investigators
face a huge problem. Certain information simply isn't there. Strangely, the FDR lacks
any navigational data. It's a major setback. One that puts even more
pressure on investigators to find the answers for
the mourning families. They need to piece together
some of the missing flight data. And come up with an
unorthodox way of doing it. - Tell me when you're ready. Okay? - [Narrator] They try to figure out the movements of the plane. - [Aldino] Same crap as the other day. If you want you can start to turn, Denis. - Turning now. - [Narrator] Investigators
are able to study every movement at the control column. The one thing that was properly recorded. - [Aldino] Pitch up 10 degrees. - [Narrator] Step by step they
piece together the flight. - Left 15 degrees now. - [Narrator] The recreation
shows that the plane was flying normally as it
flew away from the airport. But then it began to veer off course. - You see? Right here. This is when it went off course. - [Narrator] The finding confirms that there was a problem with navigation. But investigators can't
be sure if that was due to pilot error or mechanical failure. With no hard answers from
the flight data recorder, investigators in Venezuela
consider some conversations captured on the cockpit voice recorder. They focus in on the last
moments of the short flight. Hoping to hear something
that might explain why the plane veered off course. - [Aldino] Yeah, get to 067. - [Narrator] The pilots
discuss their compass heading. (controls beeping) - Denis, Denis! - We're at 074 aren't we? - [Narrator] What investigators
hear next provides a disturbing glimpse into
the flight's final seconds. - [Denis] Damn Aldino, we're at 318! - [Narrator] The pilots couldn't agree on where they were headed. - They have no idea where they are. - [Narrator] It's a key
finding in the investigation. - Aldino! - [Narrator] A clearer
picture of the flight's final moments is slowly emerging. - Aldino! - [Aldino] Hold on! - [Narrator] Investigators now know the pilots were in
control of the aircraft. - [Aldino] Hold on. Easy Denis, easy. - [Narrator] But the question remains. Why were they so badly off course? May 31st, 2009. Air France flight 447 is
crossing the Atlantic. The Airbus A-330 is flying overnight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. 58 year old Captain Mark
Dubois is in command. - Here's the new forecast. - [Narrator] He's been a pilot
for well over half his life. And is now one of the most
senior captains at Air France. - It's hard to see anything in this plane with this lighting. - [Narrator] First Officer
Pierre-Cedric Bonin is 32 years old. He's been flying the
A-330 for about a year. - We are arriving at Intol. - [Narrator] 37 Year year old relief pilot David Robert is on standby. The three pilots fly in
shifts to stay alert. There are 216 passengers
on the 11 hour flight. Autopilot holds the plane
steady at 35,000 feet. And the crew communicates with Brazilian Air Traffic Control. - [ATC] Air France, 447
contact the Atlantic center. - [Narrator] As they
fly, an onboard computer monitors the engines,
hydraulics, and other systems. It also sends progress reports
to Air France headquarters. (fax machine whirring) Every 10 minutes the computer
transmits the plane's position along with any maintenance data. - Air France 447 calling Atlantico. - [Atlantico] Air France
447, Atlantico, go ahead. - [Narrator] Three hours into the flight, the captain reports
reaching a navigational waypoint off the coast of Brazil. - Air France 447, position Intol. - [ATC] Maintain flight level 350. - Okay, will do. (thunder booming) - [Narrator] At 1:49 AM the A-330 leaves Brazilian radar surveillance and enters a communications dead zone
over the Mid-Atlantic. Two hours later, an air traffic controller in Senegal tries to contact the flight. - [ATC] Air France 447, this is Dakar. Do you copy? Come in, Air France 447. - [Narrator] He can't reach the crew. (phone ringing) So he alerts Air France. - [ATC] Dakar for Air France. Have you heard from A-447 over? - Negative. Hold for Air France please. - [Narrator] No one has heard
from the crew of flight 447. The only communication,
24 maintenance messages transmitted by the plane hours earlier. An Air France maintenance worker tries to make contact, but his
message bounces back. Perhaps the communication
system has failed. By the time the plane should've
reached French airspace, controllers still can't make contact. At Charles de Gaulle Airport
in Paris, the 11:10 AM arrival time comes and goes
with no sign of flight 447. The A-330 would've run out of fuel by now. The airline begins notifying families. The plane has almost
certainly crashed at sea. By the afternoon of June 1st, the world learns that flight 447 from Rio to Paris has
mysteriously vanished. It's one of the worst accidents in the history of commercial aviation. An advanced passenger jet is gone. 228 people are presumed dead. In Paris, French police escort
the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder
to Leo Sartorius' lab. After nearly two years of
searching and theorizing, the world may finally understand what happened onboard flight 447. The answer to what went wrong may be locked in these water tight containers. (speaking foreign language) - [Translator] There was a lot of concern that we might take a false step that would lead to the loss of the information. - [Narrator] One wrong
move and a two year search costing over $42 million
will have been for nothing. Starting with the cockpit voice recorder, they carefully open the protective casing. Looking for the memory card inside. - [Translator] The worst
thing would've been for the actual memory cards to be broken. Physically broken. - This isn't good. See the damage? - [Translator] We quickly noticed that there were small parts that were broken. So we weren't sure that
everything was in working order. - [Narrator] If technicians can't fix the cockpit voice recorder, they may never know what happened to the cockpit. Or even who was flying the plane. A close examination of the second box, the flight data recorder,
brings better news. - It's fine. No problems. - [Translator] I think we
all looked at each other and said it's incredible
that they're in this state. It's incredible. Were able to read the data very quickly. - [Narrator] While technicians try to repair the cockpit voice recorder, Sartorius carefully plots
the data from the FDR. The FDR data reveals that the pitot tubes did in fact freeze. - The pitot tubes freeze here. - [Narrator] The frozen tubes produce erratic air speed readings causing the autopilot to shut off automatically. - The pilot takes control of the plane. - It warns the pilots very loudly. That can be a bit of a
surprise, a bit of a shock. And it definitely was a
shock to these pilots. And it was their reaction to this warning which was the key to
everything else that followed. - [Narrator] All crews
are taught that a frozen pitot tube should clear
itself in less than a minute. - The pitots on the
aircraft, they were only subject the clogging for about 56 seconds. And after that, the air speed readings were back to normal again. - [Narrator] The pilot only needs to hold the plane steady and the
problem will disappear. - But he does not hold steady. - [Narrator] Whoever was flying the plane pulled back and pitched
the nose up instead. (speaking foreign language) - [Translator] When the
autopilot disconnected, the pilot in command changed
the pitch of the plane. - He climbs more than 2,500 feet. - If you pull the nose of an airplane up it's going uphill, it's gonna slow down. - Their speed drop more than 90 knots in less than a minutes. - [Translator] Raising
the nose of the plane at high altitude put the plane
into a stall very quickly. - [Narrator] In an
aerodynamic stall the wings lose lift and the plane
drops from the sky. - [Translator] It was the pilot's actions that led to the stall. - They fell at more than
12,000 feet per minute. - [Narrator] Inexplicably,
the pilot continued to pull back when he
should have been pitching the plane's nose down
to gain speed and lift. - The more you raise the nose, the more the lift will be destroyed. And that's what was
happening to Air France 447. (gentle atmosphere music)
