- [Narrator] On flight
1121, something is wrong. The Twin Otter is losing altitude fast. - [Waitress] Oh my God. - [Narrator] It falls into a steep dive. (voices overlapping) Let's than two minutes after takeoff, flight 1121 crashes into the Pacific. - [Waitress] Oh my God. - News that a plane crashed, and narrowly missed the town of Staines is soon the top story across the country. Within an hour, the news
reaches Chris Pollard, a new investigator with Britain's Accidents Investigation Branch. - At the time that I arrived on the site the rescue attempt had started big time, and the site was very,
very active with people. - [Narrator] Investigators are
struck by something unusual. In most accidents, momentum
carries the wreckage forward after it hits the ground. The crash at Staines is different. - The tail had not moved very far from where it had initially
struck the ground. And the rest of the aircraft probably hadn't moved forwards
more than about 50 yards. Which for such a heavy airplane is very, very little distance. - [Narrator] Nearby power
lines tell part of a story. - The older investigators,
they were pointing out the power lines, which it had passed over very, very shortly before
the first impact point. - If you walked around the back of the remains of the tail unit, you could look backwards and upwards, and there were overhead
high tensions cables. This told you really the
aircraft must have been coming down as the very steep angle in order not to interfere with the cables. - [Narrator] The undamaged
wires and compact crash zone tell investigators that the plane fell to the ground suddenly and steeply. It's a sure sign that the plane stalled. (wind whistling) - All the sort of basic impact signs were that the aircraft was stalled. The first question is why. - [Narrator] London's Heathrow Airport. - B Line 548 requesting start. - [Narrator] The crew of
British European Airways flight 548 is completing
final preparations for an afternoon flight to Brussels. Captain Stanley Key was
supposed to have today off, but was called in at the last minute. Key is a former Royal Air Force pilot, and one of the airlines
most qualified captains. - Starter master, on. - [Narrator] It takes three
pilots to fly the plane. - Droop's down. - Jeremy Keighley is the co-pilot. - Flaps, 20. - Simon Ticehurst will help
monitor the instruments. - Engine one, start. - Engine one, start. - [Tower] B line 548. Clear for take off. - 548. - [Narrator] The captain
calls for takeoff power. - Maximum thrust. (engines whining up) - [Narrator] Second Officer Ticehurst monitors the plane's speed. - 100 knots. - [Narrator] They can't lift off until they reach rotation
speed, 139 knots. - Stopwatch on. - Rotate. - Under carriage up. (tense music) - 60 Seconds. - [Narrator] As the plane climbs, passengers are rocked by turbulence. - B Line 548, climbing has cleared. - [Tower] 548 airborne
at zero nine. Good day. - Roger. - [Narrator] Keighley prepares
to throttle back the engines. If he does it too soon, the plane won't have
enough power to climb. - 75 Seconds. - [Narrator] He'll have just
five seconds to get it right. - 85 Seconds. (tense music continues) 90 seconds. - [Narrator] Keighley
reduces power just in time. - Passing 1500 feet. - [Narrator] The procedure goes well. - [Tower] 548, climb of
flight level six, zero. Squawk, 6615. - [Narrator] The tower clears
them to a higher altitude. - Up to six zero. - [Narrator] Then. (alarm beeping)
- What was that? - [Narrator] The plane
begins to lose altitude. (dramatic music) - Look at the speed! Look at the speed! (dramatic music continues) (plane exploding) - [Narrator] All 118 people aboard BEA flight 548 are killed. At AIB headquarters, engineers piece together
the wreckage of flight 548. By testing the reassembled systems, investigators should be able to tell if there was a broken
part or faulty mechanism that could have caused the stall. They soon notice a problem. - That can't be right. - A lever is set to an
unexpected position. It's used to operate crucial lift devices on the wing known as droops. Droops are aerodynamic surfaces that can be extended from
the front of the wing. They increase lift during
takeoff to help the plane climb. Droops should only be
retracted once the plane has enough speed to
maintain lift without them. If one of the pilots pulled
in the droops too early, it would have instantly put the plane into a dangerous stall. There's no way to tell just
by looking at the droop lever, whether the crew moved
it before the crash, or if it was jostled out of
place by the crash itself. It might even have been moved
during recovery operations. - Hang on, will you? - [Narrator] To determine
how the all important lever was last moved, they
must carefully examine the cables connected to it. (suspenseful music) - Retracted. - [Narrator] There's no longer any doubt. Someone in the cockpit
moved the droop lever. It's a troubling discovery. They travel to BEA's flight
simulator outside London. The team hears about a nagging problem for pilots of the Trident plane. The handle use to retract the droops is nearly the same shape as the one used to adjust the flaps. - [Investigator] I can see
why you'd confuse them. - B Line 548, climbing has cleared. - [Narrator] It's the
co-pilot who's supposed to raise the flaps after takeoff. - [Tower] 548, airborne
at zero nine. Good day. - Roger. - [Narrator] But the third
pilot sometimes helps out. - 85 Seconds. - [Narrator] If the flaps were already up, it would be all too easy to
pull in the droops instead. If their theory is right, investigators should be
able to find other cases where pilots made the same mistake. The team reviews the flight records from nearly 100 other Trident flights. - It's not just this crew. - [Narrator] They find two near accidents, where pilots pulled in
the droops by mistake. It now seems the crash of BEA flight 548 was the result of a confusion
over control levers. Authorities implement a number of changes designed to prevent similar
accidents from happening again. Handles on the Trident, and
other planes are redesigned to eliminate the possibility of confusion. And cockpit voice recorders
and how standard equipment in almost all commercial passenger planes. Los Angeles International Airport. Hughes Airwest flight
706 prepares for takeoff. There are 44 passengers on board. - Welcome aboard, folks. We'll be getting underway any minute now. - [Narrator] Captain Theodore
Nicolay is in command today. - Roger. 24 left. Climb heading 250. - [Narrator] First Officer, Price Bruner is also highly experienced. - Runway's clear. Throttles are all yours. - [Narrator] At 6:02PM, the Hughes Airwest
flight lifts off from LA. 372 miles from Los Angeles,
at an air base in Nevada, Marine pilot, James Richard Phillips, and radar intercept
officer, Christopher Schiess is one of a group of fighters
that's been practicing air intercepts over the
Western United States. The F-4's high altitude
oxygen system was leaking. - So there's no way to
fix it at this base? - [Narrator] And the mechanics
in Nevada couldn't fix it. - Sir, it's return shy? Yes, sir. Will do. Yeah, they still want us
to head back to El Toro. - [Narrator] To avoid using
the broken oxygen system. - [James] Just keep it nice and low. - [Narrator] They've been
ordered to fly at low altitude. At 5:15 PM the F-4 takes off. Pilot Rick Phillips cruises
lower than he ordinarily would. If it weren't for the oxygen problem, he could fly much higher, and clear of commercial
traffic leaving Los Angeles. At around 6:00 PM, the
pilot needs to climb to avoid the mountains ahead
and get above a layer of haze. - [Control] Copy Rick. Climb to 15,000. - [Narrator] There's a basic an aviation called see and avoid. It's every pilot's job to
watch out for other planes. Investigators wonder why
the pilots of the DC9 did not take any action
to avoid the disaster. - He's coming in at 420 knots from the north, slightly east. The DC9 is coming in at 320 knots from the southwest. - [Control] Okay, 040, direct to Daggot. - What's the rate of closure? - [Narrator] In the
seconds before the crash, radar operator Schiess, has his head down checking his scope. Pilot Phillips is likely
checking instruments. - At 15 seconds, the F-4 is one 10 of an inch
big in the window, tiny. 10 seconds, three tents of an inch. Still tiny, but maybe now he can see it. Five seconds, the entire window's filled. - Just another hazy day. - [Christopher] Watch it! (loud rumbling) - [Narrator] None of the pilots that day had enough time to see the
other plane in their path. (aircraft exploding) - [Christopher] Watch it! - Hughes Airwest 706,
reset your transponder. Radar contact lost. (rumbling)
(people yelling) Radio check. How do you hear me? (wind whining)
(dramatic music) (aircraft exploding) - What the hell happened? - [Narrator] A DC9,
with 49 people on board, has slammed into the California Hills. Controllers should have
been able to stop the F-4, and warn Hughes Airwest flight 706 that it was on a collision course. Investigators hope recordings
of air traffic radar will tell them more about what
the F-4 pilots were doing. But the controllers on duty that day say the fighter didn't
appear on their radar at all. - I would've warn Hughes
if I'd seen the jet. - [Narrator] And they have
the tapes to prove it. There appears to be no way to explain why the radar system in
Palmdale didn't detect the F-4. Then investigators
discover some key details about the equipment installed there. The system may not have
been reliable enough to accurately track a
fast moving fighter jet. Investigators conduct a radar test. They fly an F-4 along the route to see whether it can be
picked up by radar in Palmdale. - Was that something there? - The F-4 does six runs. The controller can barely
track the high speed fighter. - It might have been
in plane, or maybe not. (tense music) - [Narrator] They conclude
it was almost impossible to detect the Marine F-4 as
its streaked across the sky. To make matters worse, in 1971, military pilots were not routinely briefed on civilian air traffic flights. And the military plane
was not under orders to check in with civilian
air traffic control. The investigators reach
an alarming conclusion. Air transportation in
America has a dangerous flaw. The military and civilian
systems don't communicate. The exhaustive investigation
produces two separate reports, One civilian and one military. They cover every detail
of the deadly accident. The reports lead to important changes in the rules governing aviation. Military pilots are now
advised of all restricted air traffic zones near
commercial airports. The size and shape of
zones has also changed. No longer merely spokes on a hub, restricted airspace at busy airports now surrounds the entire terminal. Lessons learned from the accident helped force changes
to air traffic control that make passengers safer to this day. - Left, left! (dramatic music) - [Narrator] The
captain's constant attempt to level the plane he believed
to be turning sharply left, actually put the aircraft into a deadly spiraling dive to the right. (aircraft exploding) But there's a troubling question. Even if the captain was
confused by his instrument, why didn't the First
Officer notice the problem, and take steps to save the plane? Investigators wonder what could prevented First Officer Kolesar from
noticing his captain's mistake. - Coming level 110, Crossair 498. - It was the First Officer's
job to monitor the instruments. - Taper it off. - [Kolesar] It's coming. - [Narrator] But he had an extra challenge during flight 498. - Turning left to Zurich
East. Crossair 498. - [Narrator] The plane's
computerized navigation system was a new addition to the cockpit. Cockpit design is a complicated process. Pilots need to be able to
reach everything easily, as well as monitor a vast
array of instruments, including the artificial horizon, located directly in front of them. Investigators wonder if
an awkward cockpit design made it difficult for the First Officer to see what was going on. To find out, they conduct
an unusual experiment. - Okay, let's begin. - [Control] B1. - [Narrator] They reconstruct the flight to see exactly where the
First Officer was looking when things started to go wrong. - Gear up.
- Looking at the gear handle. - Gear is up. - [Control] Crossair 498,
climb to flight level 110. - [Pavel] Climbing
level 110. Crossiar 498. Coming. - His duties kept his gaze away
from the artificial horizon. - Now he's looking here. Now I can look up. - [Narrator] By the time the First Officer could see what was happening, the plane was already
in a steep right bank. - Turning left to Zurich East. We said left. - [Tower] Crossair 498,
confirm you are turning left. - Please standby. (alarm beeping) No. - The first officer's stress, shows he knew there was a serious problem. - Left! Left! - [Narrator] The captain thought
his plane was turning left. He didn't understand what his First Officer
was trying to tell him. - Left! (aircraft exploding) - After the crash of flight 498, the airline improved training for pilots from former Soviet block countries. They now get three months
of extra instruction. They also must pass an
English proficiency test. Finally, all Swiss crews are now required to engage the autopilot
immediately after takeoff, ensuring that they can
pay proper attention to the progress of the flight. None of the crash
theories are panning out. Investigators reexamine the
best evidence they have, the pilot's comments
recorded in the cockpit. And the information from
the flight data recorder. - Turning left to Zurich East. We said left. - [Narrator] The timing
of the captain's remark, convinces investigators that
his instruments were working, but that he didn't understand what the gauges were telling him. - Left! Left! Left! - [Narrator] The troubling question, how could a qualified
pilot become so confused that he didn't know the
difference between left and right? (aircraft exploding) The search for an answer
takes investigators to Russia, where captain Gruzin learned to fly. - Thank you for seeing us. - [Narrator] They meet with
Russian aviation experts. Both pilots were highly qualified. There seems to be no reason
to suspect pilot error, until the Russian investigators
suggest a stunning theory. They tell investigators about a troubling cluster of accidents caused
by Russian trained pilots becoming confused by a
crucial flight instrument. Pilots in the Soviet
Union were trained to fly using an artificial horizon
that looks very different from the one used in Western planes. - Turning left to Zurich
East. Crossair 498. - [Narrator] In the
West, the airplane symbol in the middle remains stable,
as the background moves. Soviet horizons work in the opposite way. The airplane symbol shows the motion, and the horizon is fixed in place. A left turn on a Soviet display looks very similar to a right
turn on a Western display. In his confusion, he became convinced he was in a steep left turn. He was turning right to try
to correct that problem. - Left! Left! - [Narrator] The
captain's constant attempt to level the plane he believed
to be turning sharply left, actually put the aircraft into a deadly spiraling dive to the right. (aircraft exploding) Investigators learned
that flight 90 was delayed for more than an hour while
the airport was closed. - 60 degrees in Tampa, and
we're stuck in a snowstorm. - Definitely be good to get home. - [Narrator] If ice and snow built up on flight 90s wings during the delay, it could have prevented
the plane from climbing. Ice and snow can interrupt the flow of air over the plane's wings, decreasing lift. - The importance of deicing the aircraft is very paramount. Even a small amount of contamination can affect the performance of a wing, whether it's a light
aircraft or a heavy aircraft. (contemplative music) - [Narrator] They examined deicing records from the day of the crash. - They were very, very interested in how efficient that deicing had been. - [Narrator] Air Florida's procedures called for a powerful deicing solution, one designed for very cold days. - Basically what happens is that the deicing fluid
dissolves the snow and ice sort of into a mixture. So when it's first put on
at sort of full strength, it's doing quite a good job. - [Narrator] Records reveal
that the deicing fluid sprayed on flight 90
was not full strength. - They honed in on the issue
of the equipment itself, the mixture that was used, the procedures that were followed. - [Narrator] Deicing
fluid has to be adjusted according to of the outside temperature. - It's the deicing fluid. - [Narrator] If the mixture
wasn't strong enough, it might have allowed ice
to reform on the wings. - You wanna pass me that
weather data, please? - [Narrator] Investigators
study temperatures recorded at the airport
during the long shutdown. They find that the fluid
used should have worked. - They figured they'd go right behind- - [Narrator] Though it
wasn't full strength, the mixture was strong enough for the temperatures recorded
in the day of the crash. - Sloppy work, but shouldn't
have caused the crash. - Other aircraft did depart, which means that things were
successful in other jet ways. What was wrong with
this particular aircraft that caused the crash? - Come on. I've got an idea. - [Narrator] With little
data from the FDR, NTSB investigator, John McAdele comes up with an unusual way to analyze the power coming from flight 90's engines, by analyzing the sound they made. Jet engines contain turbines
that make different sounds depending on how quickly they're spinning. When the engine needs more
power, the turbine spins faster, and the frequency of the sound changes. - You ready to go? - Yeah. - The sound of flight 90's engines should tell McAdele how much
power they were generating. And thanks to the unique
design of the 737, with its engines mounted
close to the cockpit, he already has a recording
of the sound he needs. They play back the cockpit voice recorder in a soundproof room. - Power at 20. B1. (contemplative music) Easy. - Can you take the stick shaker out? - [Larry] Forward, forward. What's going on? - Lose the crew voices. - [Larry] Forward, forward. - [Narrator] The technician eliminates the other sounds in
the cockpit one by one, until all that's left is
the sound of the engines. The results are dramatic. Investigators now know that
the Boeing 737's engines weren't running at full
power during takeoff. What they don't know is why. McAdele has no hard evidence
that the sensor was blocked, but he decides to follow a hunch. He uses a piece of tape to simulate the effect of ice blocking
the engine sensor. He recreates the actions of the pilots on the day of the flight. - Okay. Start her up. - [Narrator] And he records the sound of the engines from inside the cockpit. - Keep throttling up. - [Narrator] He increases
power, until the engine gauges match the target set by
the crew of flight 90. - Got it. - [Narrator] Blocking the
sensors on the test flight should create the same reduction in engine performances on flight 90. Both engines should set identical. - Okay. Let's see what we've got. - [Narrator] McAdele compares the sound of his test flight to the engine noise captured during flight 90's takeoff. - That's a perfect match. - [Narrator] Investigators
believe the ice on the wings degraded the plane's performance. When combined with low
engine power, though, it was enough to rob the pilots of the lift they needed to climb. The Air Florida disaster
was a wake up call for better flight safety
in winter conditions. In the aftermath of this
accident Northern airports around the world improved
deicing facilities, so that pilots can deice near the runway just before takeoff. Powerful technology now
clears runways faster, helping airports avoid long
delays after a heavy snowfall. Since the Air Florida
disaster pilots and regulators better understand the
risk of winter flight. November 12th, 2001. It's the Veteran's Day
holiday in the United States, a day off for many. But at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport it's another busy day. Flight 587 lifts off at 9:14 AM. - [Tower] American 587, heavy. - [Narrator] 2300 feet above
the ground, disaster strikes. (dramatic music) - Oh my God! Oh my God, oh my- - [Narrator] The plane is losing altitude, and falling out of the sky. - Holy crap. - [Narrator] And the
plane is heading straight for the houses of Queens, New York. - The sound, at first, was just a normal airplane flying above. I was still in bed, kind of
half sleeping, half awake. As it started to get louder, that's when you felt a little vibration. - Oh my God! - We're stuck in it. - [Computerized Voice]
Tower, look to the south. There's an aircraft crashing. - Airplane going down. - Get out of it. Get out
of it, get out of it. - The house started
vibrating very heavily. This all happened really quick. (dramatic music) (aircraft exploding) - [Narrator] The fuel
ignites a massive fireball, engulfing several homes. (alarms blaring)
(horns honking) - My whole window was bright orange, really loud, really bright. I just jumped up, looking for
my glasses, and pretty much, with my dad, ran out to
the front of the house. - Are you missing any flights? American Airlines, flight 587. - We ran out the front door. All I could see, 'cause
I didn't have my glasses, I couldn't find my glasses. The whole street was covered in flames. My whole side of my house
was covered in flames. And there was black smoke
billowing up really high. - What the hell happened? - I remember looking back into my house, and the whole kitchen area was just black. It was all thick black smoke already. - [Narrator] Fire rips through
the quiet neighborhood. And a city still in shock
from the events of 9/11 is plunged back into fear and chaos. Was this terrorism, or was it an accident? Flight 587 crashed in Queens. - [Investigator] Look
at these rudder inputs. - [Narrator] Investigators turn
to the best clue they have, the unusual rudder movements. - 11 degrees left. 11 degrees right. Could he have ripped the
tail off his own plane? - [Narrator] Normally
pilots only move the rudder a couple of degrees in either
direction to steer the plane. Investigators wonder if the
extreme rudder movements on flight 587 created
the aerodynamic force needed to tear the stabilizer off. - You ready? - [Narrator] To find out, they create a computer
simulation of an A300, and fly it the same way
as First Officer Molin, moving the rudder 11 degrees
back and forth three times. (dramatic music) - There. That would've done it. - [Narrator] The
discovery finally explains what happened to American
Airlines flight 587. But it doesn't explain why. It's clear the pilot should
have had no trouble handling the amount of wake turbulence
they experienced on takeoff. But that's not what
happened on flight 587. They don't understand
why an experienced pilot would move his rudders so
violently to fly out of the wake. Investigators believe the
First Officer was following his training when he
overreacted to wake turbulence. They learned that some trainees were presented with an
impossible scenario. - [Instructor] For this drill, there's a Boeing 747 just ahead of you. When you encounter his
wake, the upset will begin. - [Narrator] They were
told that wake turbulence would induce the sudden roll. - The wake turbulence rarely tilts you more than 10
degrees in any direction, and it's easily recoverable. - Unfortunately, the
exercise was exaggerated. The airplane banked one direction a little bit, and then went very strongly to 90 degrees, which is a tremendous bank
in the opposite direction. - [Narrator] The only way to recover is with sustained rudder inputs. - Little wake turbulence, huh? - Yeah. - [Narrator] First Officer
Molin was trained to believe that severe weight turbulence could cause a catastrophic upset. - The First Officer began responding with wheel back and forth, and
accompanied by rudder, a back and forth rudder. - Hang on to it, hang on to it. - He thought it was
some outside turbulence, or something else that was happening. And he was making opposite controls, and was fighting himself, and didn't know that it was actually his inputs that were causing the problem. - [Narrator] The First Officer's actions stressed the vertical stabilizer, (metal ripping) until it breaks under the strain. After the accident,
American Airlines changes its training procedures
dealing with wake turbulence. - Once it became clear
that some negative training was going on, American
Airlines, to their credit, revamped the program to
prevent this type of activity. - [Narrator] The training simulator has been modified to be more realistic. Inputs have an immediate effect. Pilots are now taught not to
use the rudder at high speed. A new warning light is also
installed in the cockpit, to help prevent pilots
from deflecting the rudder too far during flight. NOAA 42 was to descend just
1500 feet above the water, before entering the storm, Hurricane Hugo. 30 minutes behind NOAA 42,
an Air Force Reserve C-130 was also heading for the storm, at a much higher altitude, 10,000 feet. NOAA 42 was the first
plane into the storm. The G forces are some of the most powerful ever recorded in any hurricane, and far beyond what the plane
was designed to withstand. A broken sensor couldn't properly regulate the amount of fuel flowing to the engine. When the sensor failed- - We're losing number three. - [Narrator] It fed too
much fuel to the engine, and it ignited into a stream of flames. - Emergency shut down handle. - [Narrator] Pulling the handle starves the engine of fuel,
and douses the flames. But the loss of an engine has
left them in a dangerous bank, and they're still losing altitude. - More power. Oh, thank God. - I've never been happier to
see the inside of a hurricane. - [Narrator] The crippled
plane has made a narrow escape, emerging into the relative
safety of the hurricane's eye. (waves crashing) The world is watching as Hurricane Hugo churns across the Atlantic. It's a massive cyclone,
over 375 miles wide. The storm is marching
steadily toward the Caribbean, and threatens to hit land
in less than two days time. On dozens of islands, and
along the US coastline, people rush out of Hugo's path. But high above the ocean,
a team of hurricane hunters has to try to exit out of the storm. The only way out of the
storm is back through it. But with only three engines
running, reentering the eye wall at this low altitude would be suicidal. Their best hope is the
Air Force Reserve C-130, still approaching in the storm. - [Captain] NOAA 42 to Teal 57. We've had an emergency
we've lost one engine. - [Narrator] Once the
C-130 passes into the eye, it might be able to fly close enough for the crew to assess the damage. - Teal 57, we're gonna need a favor. I don't know if we can climb
high enough on three engines. You coming down to us? - Roger NOAA 42, starting our dissent. - No sudden moves. They're on us. - NOAA 42, you look like
you're still in one piece. Other than that deicing boot. - Teal 57, gonna need another favor. We can't stay in here. Fuel's
gonna be an issue very soon. Can you help us find a soft spot? - Roger that. We'll see what we can find. - [Narrator] Onboard NOAA 42, there's nothing to do but wait. (dramatic music) - Any word yet, guys? - NOAA 42, I think I
have something for you. - [Narrator] The Air Force plane has found a possible exit point. - Try the Northeast quadrant. - Roger, Northeast quadrant. We'll see you back at base. - Let's hope they're right. - [Narrator] NOAA 42 is going to try to punch through the storm at 6,000 feet. They hope the winds at this altitude will be less destructive. - [Co-Pilot] Set condition one. - [Narrator] The Air Force crew has chosen the exit point well. There is far less
turbulence at this altitude. - That's more like it. - [Narrator] After a
tense 20 minute journey back through the storm
that nearly killed them, the crew finally escapes
Hugo's powerful grasp. - Oh my God. - What a day. - Yeah, a little too close
for comfort, if you ask me. Teal 57, we're out and, I think owe you one. - All part of the service. We'll see you guys back on dry land. (calm music) - [Narrator] After their harrowing ordeal, everyone on board gets
safely back to Barbados. (calm music continues) - Well, the first thing we've gotta do, is find the rest of this plane. - Taylor's first job is
to convince the government to fund a new search of
flight 870's wreckage. - [Frank] Yes. Could you
put me through please? - [Narrator] It could cost millions. And there's no guarantee
it will solve the case. - No, I. We absolutely have
to have more of the plane. The basic conclusion
from what we inherited was that we needed to
recover more records. And we said so very clearly. There's no way to make any conclusions without more of the wreckage. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Thanks very much. Thank you. Bye. - [Narrator] If anyone
can find the wreckage, it would be Taylor. During the Lockerbie investigation, he helped create a software program to locate widely scattered debris. - You have two effects. How far a piece will travel in the direction that the
aircraft was originally traveling, and how far it'll be blown downwind by whatever winds there are. But the computer can do this very easily. - [Narrator] Taylor convinces
the Italian government that his program can find more wreckage. - Okay. Altitude around 24,000. - [Narrator] They approve his request for a new salvage operation. - Wind is westerly, about 100 knots. - [Narrator] But the
pressure's on to deliver. (dramatic music) - That's where we should be looking. Wind data was available. So we could feed that into our computer. And it told us, more or less, where the rest of the wreck would be. - [Narrator] The strategy works. The effort soon recovers
another 40% of the plane. - And eventually we found it. It was there, more or
less, within a few meters, virtually, of where we predicted. - [Narrator] Itavia flight
870's reassembled fuselage reveals a new hole at
the back of the plane. It appears to have been caused by a bomb. - Yes. Well we know what that is. - [Narrator] Investigators study more wreckage from that part of the plane. - What have we got here? Well, look at you. - [Narrator] The steel wash basin has been bent upwards by an explosion, just what investigators
would expect to see if a bomb exploded in the rear lavatory. - The more we discovered,
the more they all pointed back to an explosion in
the rear toilet area. - [Narrator] Taylor and
his team finally have enough evidence to say what
brought down Itavia flight 870. (loud banging) (calm music) - I think it was a bomb. - [Narrator] There's just one more test they need to do to be sure. - Okay. Let's blow it up and see what happens. - Investigators place
explosives inside a DC lavatory to test their theory that a
bomb brought down flight 870. - [Tower] Three, two, one. (bomb explodes) - [Narrator] If the shattered pieces match flight 870's debris. - Okay, let's go see how we did. - [Narrator] It will
provide strong evidence that they're right. The explosion creates distinctive damage. It's nearly identical to what was seen in the debris from the
lavatory of flight 870. - Okay. Measure that one, will you? Yep. We were absolutely sure.
Yes, yes, there's no doubt. - [Narrator] The evidence can't
reveal who planted the bomb. But investigators now have a
good idea where it was placed. Based on the physical evidence, the aircraft's last radar return, and the location of debris,
investigators now have a clear picture of flight
870's final moments. - Itavia 870, call back for descent. - Thank you for everything.
We'll call you for descent. 870. - What? (metal tearing) - There's explosion close to the pylon of the right hand engine. Which caused the right
hand engine to come off. - [Narrator] In less than 10
seconds the plane breaks apart, and plunges into the sea. - Monsieur David, I have the angle of attack sensor data. - [Narrator] Investigators
hope the flight data recorder from XL airways flight
888 will finally explain what went wrong in the skies
of our Perpignan, France. Information from a key
set of sensors stands out. - That's odd. - [Narrator] Part way through the flight, two critical sensors failed
at exactly the same time. - We know there were descending here. But the sensors still show a climb. - [Narrator] Angle of attack sensors act like small weather veins
on the outside of the plane. During flight, they pivot. Their movement helps the flight computer monitor the position of the plane, so it can automatically adjust the flight systems to maintain lift. If the sensors got stuck in one position when they malfunctioned, it
would explain why the computer didn't detect the dangerous
angle of the plane. - We need to get a look at those sensors. - [Narrator] Investigators
test the mechanism that allows the sensors to move. - Anything? - [Narrator] It's working perfectly. There seems to be no way to
explain why the sensors failed. - Well, something jammed them. - [Narrator] David graphs altitudes, and corresponding air temperatures
throughout the flight. - Minus 50 at 32,000 feet. - [Narrator] At high altitudes, the air outside the
plane is extremely cold. This gives him an idea. - Can the sensors freeze? - [Narrator] If there was
ice in the sensor mechanism, it might have frozen them in place. Investigators wonder if
rainwater from a severe storm flooded the sensors, and then froze. It's a dead end. - The weather was nice that day. - [Narrator] The plane didn't
en encounter any bad weather. If water got inside the sensors, it happened on the ground, not in the air. Investigators visit the hanger where the plane spent
three weeks being serviced. They learned the work
included painting the plane, replacing XL Airways colors with those of the air New Zealand fleet, they noticed something else
in the maintenance records. The plane needed extra cleaning after the paint job was done. - Tell me exactly how
you clean this plane? - [Narrator] Normally maintenance workers use a clean cloth to remove any dust, but this time they rinse
the plane with a hose. Spraying uncovered sensors
with a high pressure hose might explain how water
got so deep inside. But the investigators need proof. There's one test they need
to do to be absolutely sure. They flood the sensors
of an A320 with water, and recreate flight 888. At low altitudes. the
sensors work perfectly. - So far, so good. - [Narrator] When the
plane reaches 32,000 feet, the temperature inside the
sensor drops below freezing. - [David] There they go. The sensors aren't moving. - [Narrator] The water inside freezes, and the sensors stop working. The result explains
why the flight computer didn't prevent the plane from stalling during the low speed test. - Get your power at idol. Adjust pitch, flaps full. - [Narrator] With the
sensors frozen, the computer can't calculate the plane's
true angle of attack. Before the crash, XL Airways flight 888, the Captain tries to fly out of trouble. He increases power while
pushing his sidestick forward to bring the nose down. It's a textbook maneuver
to prevent stalling. But it doesn't work. The plane continues to pitch up, until it loses lift
and falls from the sky. Investigators need to know why. The flight plan calls for flying the plane through a series of 35 inflight tests that make up what's known
as an acceptance flight. - [Norbert] Okay, get your power at idol. - [Narrator] A computer simulation helps investigators analyze
flight 888's final flight check. - Okay, here we go. - [Narrator] Captain Kappel deliberately slows his plane down for the test. But the computer lets
the speed drop too far, below the minimum needed to
keep the plane in flight. Investigators notice a
warning on the cockpit flight display moments before the crash. - [Daivd] There. What is that? - [Narrator] They learn that the warning is supposed to alert the pilots the flight computer is no
longer helping to fly the plane. It had switched to full manual mode. The warning comes on
when the plane's computer gets conflicting information. The frozen sensors are
telling the computer the plane is flying level, while other onboard sensors are relaying it's extreme nose up attitude. One must be wrong. - The plane gave the
pilots control right here. - [Narrator] It seems
the crew of flight 888 either didn't see, or didn't understand the warning being sent by the computer. - Stick forward. - The pilot uses his side
stick to try to lower the nose. - [Norbert] Stick forward. - [Narrator] In manual mode,
that's just not enough. The crew also needs to
adjust the trim wheel for a more dramatic change
of pitch, but they never do. Investigators need to know
why such an experienced crew failed to act quickly when
the plane was in danger. They suspect one reason may be the unusual nature of this flight, an acceptance flight designed
to test the plane's limits. - [Tower] Okay, that's good. During the turn, let's
roll to 33 then to 45. - Okay. - [Narrator] Every time
they test the plane. - [Norbert] Hands off now. - [Narrator] The automation
fixes the problem. - Yep. Yes. Voila, it's all good. - [Narrator] Even when they
hear alarms, they don't worry. - [Tower] We need to over speed. - You just wanna hear
the over speed warning? - [Narrator] They're expecting the plane to correct the problem. - There it is. You can cancel
the warning if you like. - They trusted their plane too much. - Stick forward. - Flaps up, flaps up. - [Narrator] With their plane
in a catastrophic stall, the seven man aboard
flight 888 were doomed. - Oh God. Oh God! - Damn it! (wind whistling) - [Narrator] The official accident report highlights several contributing factors, including the decision to perform flight checks at low altitude. - Yeah, we need to go slow with recovery. - [Narrator] The report also calls for clearer rules governing
acceptance flights, and more training for stall recovery. January, 2009. US Airways flight 1549 departs
New York's LaGuardia Airport. There are 150 passengers on board, bound for Charlotte, North Carolina. - The aircraft took off uneventfully. And very shortly after takeoff, they lost all engines
as a result of birds. - I caught something out
of the corner of my eye. And slightly to our right, but still ahead of us was a line of- - Birds. - And they were very, very close, too close
for us to maneuver around. - Whoa. - [Narrator] After quickly
assessing the situation, Captain Sully Sullenberger, and
First Officer Jeffrey Skiles realized that without engine power, they're not going to make
it to any nearby airport. - We're gonna be in the Hudson. Brace for impact. - You need to be aware
of your brace position. In many, many accidents, the cabin crew are trying desperately to get the passengers
into the brace position. But because the passengers haven't read the safety features card, they
don't know what that means. - Get your hands down, and stay down! - [Narrator] Proper brace position is knees together, feet flat on the floor, body bent as far forward as possible, with arms wrapped under the legs, or braced against the
seat in front of you. - Your body's gonna be thrown forward. So if you can get yourself
into that position beforehand, the amount of movement back and forth is going to be reduced, and the level of injury will be less. (dramatic music) - [Narrator] In the cabin, the passengers prepare for the inevitable. - All the passengers really started kind of pulling together. And somebody yelled out
as we were going down. - [Passenger] Be ready at the doors. - [Clay] The folks at the
door says we're ready. - [Narrator] Clay Pressley does
what all passengers should. He stays calm, and tries to think ahead. - So I started thinking
about, if we're gonna crash, I know I need to figure out
where the exit rows are. If the water comes in, you need to be able to hold
your breath long enough to get to those four or five rows, and get the doors open if you can. - [Narrator] But before anyone can escape, they must first survive
a high speed impact. (dramatic music) - Looked like the airplane was going right for the bottom of the Hudson River. Then the airplane popped up. And it was just sort of
gently rock in the waves. - [Narrator] In an instant,
the 75 million dollar plane has become an unlikely boat
floating down the Hudson River. It's now filling with freezing water. - That water was cold. That was very cold. And
so your feet are freezing. - You land in the Hudson in
the middle of the winter, the water is going to be very cold, and you're gonna suffer from
hypothermia very quickly. Their feet and their hands will get numb. They're gonna be useless. - [Narrator] Passengers nearest
the exits opened the doors. - I just jumped up very quickly, and started making my way
to the emergency door. And so I worked my way out onto the wing, just a few steps to start with. - Fortunately, they had slide
rafts rather than just slides. So what they were able to do, was evacuate passengers
into the slide rafts. - In the end, all 150 passengers, and the entire crew of flight
1549, are brought to safety. Another example of how serious aviation accidents often end well. 10 passengers are flying
from Cold Bay, Alaska. - We were headed to Seattle. It was a beautiful day, it was clear, no turbulence, highly
unusual, highly unusual. - [Narrator] In the cockpit, Captain James Gibson and his crew have noticed something unusual as well. Not with the weather,
but with their plane. - I noticed that the vibration that I was feeling in my feet, and the vibration that was
in the glass was different. I don't know. Moose, have a look. Would you? - Yeah. You bet. - As Gibson and Gary Lintner wait for Moose Laurin to report back, the vibrations become more pronounced. - I distinctly remember looking down, and seeing my control yoke shaking. - Screw this. Let's turn around. - 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. As the prop came off, I thought, oh crap. It's gonna kill me. It's
gonna cut me in two, but it flew forward. And then it came back,
and slapped the engine, and then went underneath. - [Narrator] The prop tears a hole in the bottom of the plane. - I gotta go. - I grabbed a hold of the cargo net, and looked down at my foot. I'm looking straight down
at my foot, over a hole, straight down to the ocean. - [Narrator] The gash in the fuselage has caused an explosive decompression. - Then, of course, the
cockpit gets all foggy, and there's almost no sound. Your ear drums are popping. It's a little disconcerting,
because the fog and it's quiet. You think, geez, am I dead or not? - Depending on what altitude you're at, and depending on how explosive
the decompression is, you may have slightly
longer than at other times. But you will eventually
die from lack of oxygen. - [Narrator] Junior Flight Attendant, Victoria Fredenhagen, springs into action. - After the explosions, I wasn't sure what had happened. But I got up, and got the oxygen walk
around bottle, put that on. - Jim and I got our mask on. And within seconds, Moose
came through the cockpit door and said, holy crap, we just
lost number four propeller. (dramatic music) - [Narrator] The rupture in the fuselage has damaged critical flight controls. The crew needs to descend
to a lower altitude, where there's more oxygen. But the yolk is slow to respond. - Jim saw that the autopilot
disconnect lights were on. And he reached over and turned
the autopilot back on again. - [Narrator] The autopilot can
do what the pilots could not. - Wings level. - [Narrator] Steer the plane. - Descending to 10,000. - [Narrator] It's a struggle,
but they finally get their Electra L-188 down to 10,000 feet. The passengers are no
longer in danger of hypoxia. - It's now safe to remove your masks. - Well there's, of course,
adrenaline running at that point. It just felt, it felt good. I think it was just surreal,
because we were okay. - [Narrator] Reeve Aleutian
eight makes it to safety. The close call is a good
example of the dual roll that all cabin crews play. Michelle Santeurenne joined Air Moorea just three months ago. - I'll take the passenger list
and load sheet if it's ready. Ah, another full one. Just the way we like it. - [Narrator] Santeurenne flies
these short hops on his own, with no co-pilot or
cabin crew to help out. - Okay. Time to fly. No time to waste in paradise. Tower, we're ready to taxi. - [Tower] Air Moorea you
are cleared for takeoff, runway one two. - Cleared for takeoff for
Tahiti on runway one two. - [Narrator] The Twin Otter
has little automation. Santeurenne flies this plane by hand. (speaking in foreign language) - [Translator] The majority
of modern commercial planes are loaded with help for the
pilots, electronics, screens. But on this type of plane,
you have the pleasure of handling the plane
and fully controlling it. (calm music) - [Narrator] At this island airport, the ocean is just off the
edge of the 1300 yard runway. (speaking in foreign language) - [Translator] When we fly
over there, it's magical. Blue lagoons, magnificent islands, the greenery, the mix of colors. It's certainly paradise. - [Narrator] Vacationers get to watch the regular takeoffs and landings. The flight is one of
the shortest on Earth. Just seven minutes from
takeoff to touchdown. - Huh? Damn it. - [Narrator] But on flight
1121, something is wrong. The Twin Otter is losing altitude fast. - [Waitress] Oh my God. - [Narrator] It falls into a steep dive. Less than two minutes after takeoff, flight 1121 crashes into the Pacific. (plane crashing) - [Waitress] Oh my God. (phone ringing) - [Narrator] The tower is
told what people have seen. - Is it floating, or has it gone under? - [Narrator] Local fishermen rush to help. But they find no survivors, only bodies. All 20 people on the flight are dead. (speaking in foreign language) - [Translator] I will always remember. It was terrible, because
we were still hoping that despite what happened, people would come out
alive, or at least a couple. (somber music) - [Narrator] The disaster touches nearly everyone in the
tiny island community. The Air Moorea fleet is grounded when pilots refuse to fly the Twin Otter, until they know what caused the crash. - [Translator] A plane doesn't
just crash for no reason. It was either due to pilot
error, or a mechanical problem. So before continuing to fly, we asked that the whole
fleet be checked out. (dramatic music) - Bon jour. - [Narrator] Because Maria
is a French territory, a team from Francis's
Accident Investigation Bureau, the BEA is sent from Paris. It's their job to figure
out what went wrong. - Tell me there's more. - [Narrator] Alain Bouillard
leads the investigation. (speaking in foreign language) - [Translator] The Twin Otter
was an extremely robust plane. It was used in all the difficult places, where other planes can't
normally take off and land. That made us wonder. What could have happened to this plane that would've made it hit the water? - [Narrator] Investigators usually rely on clues from the wreckage. - This tells us nothing. - [Narrator] But most of this plane is at the bottom of the ocean. Bouillard will have a little to go on, unless he can get vital
pieces back on dry land. - We are going to need a
lot more wreckage than this. - [Narrator] There's another
reason to find the plane. Unlike large airliners,
Twin Otters are not required to carry cockpit voice recorders. But Air Moorea installed one anyway. It could hold the answers
investigators are looking for. - We were hoping to get, in addition to the voice in
the cockpit voice recorder, any kind of alarms that would sound. - [Narrator] But recovering
the CVR from the deep waters off the coast of Moorea
will be a huge challenge. - Way too deep to send down divers. The sea depth of this area
was around 700 meters. So obviously you cannot send any diver. You need to send a remote
control operated submarine. - [Narrator] Investigators
arrange for a ship equipped with a remote
controlled submersible to assist in the recovery, the Ile De Re. There's just one catch. It's more than 2,400 miles away, off the island of New Caledonia. It could take weeks for
the ship to get to Moorea. Flight 1121's CVR is equipped with a locator beacon, or pinger. But the battery that powers
it will only last 30 days. - We would try to send that recovery ship as soon as possible,
and within the 30 days of the battery life of the pinger. (speaking in foreign language) - [Translator] It looked
like it was going to be a very difficult investigation, if we couldn't recover the
cockpit voice recorder. - [Narrator] Qantas 32
lifts off right on schedule. It's 10:01 AM. The pilots are just four
minutes into the flight. (loud exploding) - We're losing an engine. (dramatic music) We've lost number two. - Holding 7500 feet. - [Narrator] De Crespigny waste no time taking over control from the autopilot. 35 years of flying tells
him what to do next. - Matt, ECAM actions. - On it. - The captain assigns Hicks
to decipher the ECAM data. He needs to evaluate every message, and figure out how best
to react to each one. - Degraded pneumatics,
hydraulics, electrics. Power to left wing shutdown, flaps, slats. And ailerons are damaged, but operable. - [Narrator] Captain De Crespigny knows he's running out of time. The failures are mounting. He needs to get the damaged
plane on the ground. That means turning around and
heading back to Singapore. - Singapore, Qantas 32. We require a left turn
back towards Singapore. - Qantas 32, Singapore.
Turn left heading 020. - [Narrator] A heavy
load of flammable fuel means any landing attempt
will be extremely dangerous. The pilots decide to
circle near the airport until they can work out a plan. - Dave, I need you to run
the numbers on this landing. - Check Captain Dave Evans
is called into action. - Three engines, full load, all that. - He uses the A380 landing software to calculate how much runway they'll need to bring the huge plane to a stop. - Looks like we can do it,
with 139 meters to spare. - Singapore approach, Qantas 32. We're gonna need a long approach, and better have fire services standing by. We're leaking fuel. - [Tower] Roger Qantas 32. You're cleared straight
in on final, 20 miles. - [Narrator] The five seasoned pilots now use everything they've
ever learned about flying. - Flaps, three. - [Narrator] To try to
land their plane safely. - Here we go. - [Narrator] De Crespigny's
ability to keep his plane lined up with a runway
is severely limited. - Singapore, what's the surface wind? - [Tower] 170 degrees at five knots. - [Narrator] If the crew misses
the runway, there's no way the crippled plane can go
around for another try. - Everybody ready? (dramatic music) - [Narrator] The plane is gobbling up 250 feet of runway every second. If they don't slow down quickly, they risk overshooting the
runway, and hitting terrain that could rupture the planes
heavily Laden fuel tanks. - Breaks. Full breaks- - I am. My feet are flat to the floor. Keep it in, Rich. Hammer them. - [Narrator] Finally, after
a grueling two hour ordeal, Qantas 32 comes to a
stop on the same runway it took off from, with less
than 500 feet to spare. (calm music) (passengers clapping) - [Passenger] Hallelujah. (calm music) - Beautiful. Well. Welcome to Singapore, guys. - [Narrator] The future
of the entire Qantas fleet of A380s now depends on understanding what went wrong inside one single engine. - There's really only a very
select number of companies that produce the large engines,
the large turbo fan engines. And Rolls Royce is up at the top. What a disaster. I've never seen anything like. - [Narrator] Simon Grummett
is a materials engineer with the Australian
Transport Safety Bureau. - Everywhere you looked there was, there was shrapnel, debris, and holes in this thing. So it was quite significant. And that was the initial response. And from that point onwards,
we knew that this was gonna be a big investigation,
particularly for the ATSB. - [Narrator] The severity of the damage adds pressure to find answers. - We knew that we had
a turbine disc failure. The next stage was to find out why the turbine disc had actually failed. - [Narrator] Investigators
take the engine apart, searching for anything that could explain the catastrophic failure
of the turbine disc. (dramatic music) They discover something disturbing. - Oil fire. In a Roles Royce engine? - [Narrator] The in inside
of the engine is burnt black, and covered with soot and oil. The evidence tells Grummett
that the fire was fueled by oil. The engine must have suffered an oil leak. Grummett examines the engine further, searching for the source of that leak. - Kev'. I think we got it. - [Narrator] A narrow
pipe has snapped off, releasing oil into the area
around the turbine disc. The broken part is called a stub pipe. - This nearly brought
down an A380. Geez, man. - [Narrator] Investigators send
what's left of the stub pipe to it's manufacturer, Rolls Royce, where a disturbing discovery is made. One side of the pipe is
much thinner than the other. That's what allowed it to break apart, spraying the engine with oil, and causing a near catastrophic fire. - That's no wonder it cracked. Were only talking, there was
.35 millimeters in thickness. It's a couple of sheets of paper. - [Narrator] Investigators
study the manufacturer's report. They learn why one side of the stub pipe was so dangerously thin. It was due to a manufacturing error. The ATSP immediately takes
steps to alert other airlines that their A380s are at risk. Just 29 days after the
accident, they issue a report warning that a faulty
stub pipe caused a fire that led to uncontained
engine failure on Qantas 32. They advise airlines to
inspect their fleets. There are 20 A380s with
the same Rolls Royce engine in service around the world. 34 engines are found to
have suspect oil pipes. - As a result of this investigation, all engines that had
nonconforming oil feed pipes have been removed from service. Rolls Royce have made significant changes to their quality management system. They introduced a software
program, which basically removes fuel from the
engine in a similar event. (calm music)
