Pilot Misconduct Revealed in Fatal Colorado Crash | Flight 2286 | Mayday Air Disaster

folks this is your captain speaking we'll soon be landing in Durango a commuter flight over the Rocky Mountain speeds towards disaster somewhere out there in the black of night was an aircraft down in our County A desperate search uncovers Twisted wreckage 5 miles from the runway half the people were killed what are we missing here we having a hard time understanding how the crew impact is so far short of the airport an unexpected tip off points to a shocking possibility what exactly did she say one that will rock the entire airline industry the best way I could describe the investigators was astounded it's a cold Winter's evening at Stapleton airport in Denver Colorado Captain Steven Silva and first officer Ralph Harvey are just about ready for takeoff hey everybody seated y everybody's in all good outside walk around was all clear trans Colorado flight 2286 is a short hop to Durango La Plata County Airport in Southern Colorado listen when we get to Durango I'd like to get in the air again as quickly as possible shouldn't be a problem we won't need to refuel it's the crew's fourth Flight of the day and they're running late bad weather has put them 40 minutes behind schedule let's see what else we could do to get these folks back on time you got it we're always running behind it seems like your constant stly trying to get caught back up cuz you have connecting flights passengers want to make these flights just as we would too if we were a passenger in the back tonight there are 15 people in the cabin of the turbo prop commuter plane including suie Welch my brother was sick in California and I was there coming home from visiting him and I missed my connection so it was a plane that I wasn't supposed to be on in the first place trans Colorado 2286 you are cleared for takeoff transcolorado is a small Regional carrier that operates flights for Continental Airlines 2286 clear for takeoff thank you Captain Silva is in command he love flying you know was in his blood you can see it Brad Howard flew with Captain Silva in the late 198 Steve was very happy jovio energetic pilot uh I enjoyed flying with Steve your hand will fly in this leg right you bet first officer Harvey will operate the controls for this flight leaving the captain free to handle Radio Calls take off power airline pilots routinely trade the flying duties part of it is for uh the reduction of fatigue so that one person's not doing all the work but it also divides this the jobs up so that first officers that will be captains are gaining experience 100 the captain keeps an eye on the air speed as they accelerate for takeoff V1 and [Music] rotate I was a little bit apprehensive because the weather wasn't so great before I got on but when I got on I thought wow this is what was I worrying about it's fine the cruise day began in Denver after two short hops to Riverton and Casper Wyoming they circled back to Denver now they're headed for Durango a route that takes them over the southern Rocky Mountains in fact just about 20 M to the north of Durango is is the most numerous 14,000 ft Peaks uh within the continental United [Music] States Denver flight watch trans Colorado flight 2286 I like the latest weather for drag Cortez please the latest we have is indefinite ceiling obscured visibility uh light snow and fog they're still forecasting moderate icing below 18,000 thank you the mountains come very obscure quite fast when a front moves through and the visibility course then drops down nothing we can't [Music] handle about 20 minutes from the airport the captain and the first officer review The Landing so we're still doing the straight into Runway two okay Runway two 0 sounds good control will'll plan on a DME to Runway 20 that's approved trans Colorado 2286 cleared for Runway 20 Approach at Durango airport like many small airports in America Durango does not have its own air traffic control the controller is in Denver more than 200 mil away once they cleared you for that approach they basically gave you the responsibility to get that airplane down on the ground radar coverage turn terminated please report Landing By Radio have a good night okay we're down to 14 and we're cleared for the approach 2286 wel go the passengers should be on the runway in less than 5 minutes folks this is your captain speaking we'll soon be landing in Durango so if you could please buckle up your seat belts we should have you on the ground short the entire flight actually was smooth as glass like one of the smoothest flights I've ever had there was no cause for alarm anything unusual at all speed set one4 flaps one4 flaps the pilots work quickly to prepare for landing geared out gear down g g they know that they have have a lot of altitude to lose they got a lot of air speed to lose and it also requires the appropriate use of different devices on the airplane to create additional drag to help it slow [Music] down do you have the runway something's wrong the pilots can't see the runway damn what we're too low pull out no no no no no hold on there was this just big boom I thought we just had a rough landing and the plane began to do a a flip that's when I thought it's happening we're crashing help me [Music] Jesus trans Colorado 2286 this is Denver please come in the flight to Durango is now overdue trans Colorado 2286 how do you read trans Colorado 2286 how do you read both Denver and L Plata County Airport Personnel had tried to contact the aircraft via Radio France Colorado 2286 please come in it was pretty much uh aircraft was overdue and somewhere else out there in the black and KN was an aircraft down uh in our County trans Colorado 2286 please come in [Music] help us it was dark and it was very cold and just looking around I could see that we we could be anywhere please is anyone out there I just thought Here I Am Lord help me Susie Welch discovers that she's not badly injured but it's clear other survivors of the transcolorado crash are suffering terribly we have to get out they needed help as quickly as they could get it you know when we couldn't give what they needed at the time suie faces a difficult decision stay and tend to the injured or leave in search of help they say stay where you are someone will come and get you but we were out in the middle of nowhere we didn't know if anybody knew anything the weather wasn't really good that night at all there were snow flurries in the area and it was extremely cold if the injured don't get help soon they could freeze to death just hang on wien for help Welch and some other able-bodied passengers decide to set out on foot it may be the best chance of survival for everyone I was thinking my family they don't know where we are they have no idea if I'm even alive that gets me we had approximately 4 ft of snow on the ground which really hampered our rescue activities after more than an hour they catch a lucky break they come across a highway I saw a semi and a car and I thought Hallelujah that was a relief to see that some passengers are now safe Rescuers go in search of the others we moved emergency responders and equipment to that particular location on US Highway 160 East of drango approximately 6 miles it was a remote area and so it made it difficult for the Emergency responders to get there um we it took us a long time to figure out exactly where the crash was finally Rescuers reached the airplane of the 17 people on board the crash has killed nine including both Pilots Half the people were killed which is you know it's it's of course it's a heartbreaker for a lot of [Music] people the next morning daylight reveals the full extent of the destruction the front of the aircraft from the wing forward was fairly really well demolished um the tail it was broken off in parts and the good portion of the left wing was missing Tom hter of the national Transportation safety board now faces a huge task yeah left wing tip right here yeah thanks guys figuring out why a commuter plane slammed into the ground 5 miles from the airport we having a hard time understanding how the crew impacted so far short of the airport that was going to be the big mystery here to try to understand sorting through the wreckage is like trying to piece together a giant jigsaw puzzle and that's not the only challenge in 1988 planes with fewer than 20 passengers are not required to carry flight recorders the lack of a cockpit vce recorder in digital flight data recorder makes things much much more difficult because you have to then take the evidence from the airplane and then deduce what happened to lead the airplane into the ground thank you hter immediately turns his attention to an obvious suspect the weather Denver flight watch trans Colorado flight 2286 I like the latest weather for Durango and Cortez please trans Colorado 2286 Durango the latest we have is indefinite ceiling obscured visibility light snow and fog they're still forecasting moderate icing below 18,000 icing is a potentially deadly phenomenon that can occur from 32 down to -4° F super cooled water coats the surface of an aircraft's wings and freezes degrading aerodynamic performance the biggest problem is it changes the shape of the uh the wing all of a sudden you start getting instead of a nice rounded Edge it starts becoming a blunt Edge um and now with the smooth air flow you get turbulent air flow and you start losing leftt on the wing that's what happened to American Eagle flight 4184 the plane was on route to Chicago when ice spilled up on the wings sent it into a deadly roll the crash killed all 68 people on board the critical question now did ice on the wings of flight 2286 lead to a similar tragedy on a snowy night in the Colorado Rockies The Descent to Runway 20 in Durango is over mountainous terrain a crew would have had little time to recover if ice on the wings caused a sudden loss of lift no no no no did the plan's Wings ice over is it the right temperature range for icing hter studies weather reports from Durango's airport normally icing is a problem if you have a liquid that's very cold hits the airplane and freezes on it it has be raining or drizzle the weather at the airport was overcast and cloudy but the temperature was - 24 F it's a dead end temperatures were well below the minimum required for icing it was so cold that night there's no liquid water out there to form on the airplane just snow and so icing could be eliminated pretty quickly the location of the crash site just 5 mil from the runway suggests another [Music] possibility one quarter flaps to prepare for landing the pilots have to extend the plane's flaps and lower the landing gear Gear down three GRE The increased drag means the plane needs more power to maintain lift during the last few minutes of [Music] flight investigators Wonder did a sudden loss of engine power cause the crash for they producing power at impact was any obvious problems with the engines prior to impact so you start looking at the everything in detail they check the position of the engine levers the engine speed is set for high exactly where it should be it seems the pilots had the right settings speed set what about the engines themselves did they somehow fail a trained investigator can find Clues to engine performance by looking at the propeller blade blades and how they bent in the crash the blades are in position produced thrust and also by the rotational damage they were running that impact if they hadn't been running they been just pulled back but you can see where they're actually chopping away at the ground and trees being pulled forward when they HIIT it was definitely going at full speed no fault with the engine with no black boxes it's difficult to know where else to look accident investigators very definitely utilize a uh a process of elimination you eliminate the things that you know that didn't contribute and then eventually you'll get to the three or four or five things that did contribute to it howder here an unexpected call brings a surprising new lead one of the survivors has made an alarming allegation [Music] really hi welcome aboard you're down to the left good evening how are you you are right in the back then one of the passengers uh reported that she thought she smelled alcohol on the first officer the first officer helped board the passengers very gracious uh Gentleman by all accounts but she was disturbed by that the NTSB immediately adds Aviation psychologist Malcolm brener to the investigative team we were actually alarmed we were very concerned that alcohol might turn out to be a factor in in this case as soon as the team came back I was launched I think the next day almost immediately to follow up and see what I could learn about the first officer unbelievable a check of the first officer's driving record turns up more damning evidence arrested twice for drunk driving for us that is a a major trouble sign that uh would suggest that there is a serious alcohol issue lab tests are ordered to check for alcohol in the blood and urine of both Pilots let me know when you get the results you're heading we flying this leg right you bet if the first officer was impaired when Flight 2286 left Denver that could explain the aircraft's tragic fate so this is the route from Denver to Durango and here is where they hit the ground while they wait for lab results investigators examine other evidence they hope recordings of the the controllers conversations and transponder data can help them build a better picture of what was happening in the cockpit France Colorado 2286 climb and maintain flight level 230 climb and maintain 230 thank you for most of the flight there's no sign of a problem they didn't provide a Mayday any calls or any warnings like that trans Colorado 2286 cross the Durango 1 mile fixed at or above 14,000 cleared for Runway 20 approach now they're here okay we're down to 14 and we're cleared for the approach 2286 we go but as the plane approaches [Music] Durango investigators spot something very strange they're dropping really fast planes usually descend at a slow steady rate of about a, ft per minute flight 2286 is descending at nearly triple that rate a much faster much greater rate of the center approach the normal and so we're trying of wondering what was happening here did alcohol impairment cause the pilot flying to make a reckless descent was the first officer flying drunk blood and urine tests are in technicians have carefully checked samples from both Pilots despite suspicions raised by a passenger's tip off the results show no alcohol in the first officer's blood he was not drinking before the crash oh sir the passenger must have been mistaken either she smelled cologne or something else but fortunately it turns out alcohol was not an issue and I was relieved to find out uh that the first officer had dealt with that issue and and it it did seem to be in in in a in a commendable way what went wrong in the final minutes of flight 2286 is still a mystery okay we're down to 14 and we're cleared for the approach 2286 wel go investigators now wonder about the instructions the crew received from Air Traffic Control were they told to fly an approach that was simply too risky for the conditions that [Music] night the air traffic recording soon gives investigators their answer trans Colorado 2286 for your approach to Durango would you rather shoot the ILS or will the approach to Runway 20 be sufficient the recording reveals that the controller did not dictate the approach to to Durango instead he gave the crew two options the first was to fly an easy path around the airport to a Runway equipped with an instrument Landing system or ILS that guides the pilots down the second option Runway 20 has no ILS it requires Pilots to descend in a series of steep steps to avoid mountains north of Durango the way that the air traffic controller handled the flight was Templar they offered them the choice of which Runway and which instrument procedure that they would like to do but left the decision appropriately to the captain uh we'll plan on using the two thank you for some reason the captain chose to fly the steeper more difficult approach we have Hills here here and here why didn't they take the easy way down these are normally very very well-trained Pilots so what could have been the factors that occurred here thanks for coming have a seat Malcolm brener hopes other transcolorado Pilots can explain the decision so tell me about Captain silver what kind of a pilot was he everyone agrees that Steven Silva was a skilled pilot but he was known to want to rush at times a number of people noted he tended to push to keep the airplane on time he was a person that pushed the limit on things as a as a personality type there's even a letter in his file praising him for his ability to get in and out of an airport in just 7 Minutes listen when we get to Durango I'd like to get in the air again as quickly as possible shouldn't be a problem we won't need to refuel let's see what else we can do to get these folks back on time the captain's concern over lateness helps explain his chosen approach to Durango so we're still doing the straight into Runway two okay Runway two sounds good control we'll plan on a DME to Runway 2 cleared for Runway 2 0 approach estimates show that the straight in approach to Runway 20 saves about 10 minutes of flight time to me it seems almost instinctive that that he thought this is his way to catch up and and get in Faster folks this is your captain speaking we'll soon be landing in Durango I think with this Captain felt as though it was his responsibility to try to get the passengers where they wanted to go when they were expected to be there and he took that very personally the information explains why Captain Silva chose such a challenging approach on a snowy night but it doesn't explain the crash other Pilots say they often use the very same Runway approach professional Pilots do these kinds of approaches with great regularity so I suspect that they they were aware of the challenging nature of the approach tricky approach lots of Pilots say they did it all the time to try to understand where things went wrong investigators compare the flight path Pilots are supposed to follow for Runway 20 to the actual Descent of flight 2286 what they discover is astonishing look at this they're way too steep even for this approach the comparison reveals that after opting for a challenging approach requiring a steep descent the transcolorado pilots flew in even steeper and here they're finally on the right flight path but they just keep dropping it's like they had no idea of their altitude we don't know exactly what happened obviously because we don't have the recorded information we do in a modern airplane it's quite clear that the crew descended below the published approach why exactly we don't know investigators wonder if the planes altimeters or any other flight instruments might have malfunctioned with the possibly internal failures do we see anything clogging the um the lines that provide pressure to the instruments and so you look at all the connections a thorough inspection turns up nothing all the control systems were properly hooked up and should have been functional at the time we found nothing mechanically wrong with the aircraft once again the investigation hits a wall do you have the runway there's still no explanation for why two trained airline pilots flew their plane into a hillside just short of the Durango airport damn we're too low hold up no no no no no hold [Music] up in Denver Malcolm brener digs into the qualifications of the two pilots on trans Colorado flight 2286 people don't normally go out with intention of crashing airplanes so what was it in their training their background something in their personal history anything else that could have caused them to make this error the file of first officer Ralph Harvey the pilot who was flying contains some disturbing details tested for Captain failed proficiency test failed instrument flying below average Brena uncovers a history of failed tests he learns that the first officer's mediocre flying actually cost him a job he was released from a previous employer because he failed to be able to upgrade in complex instrument flying conditions this particular individual uh was very challenged to do this on a regular basis and do it [Music] well so we're still doing the straight into Runway two okay Runway two sounds good nothing we can handle Brena suspects that flying the challenging approach to Durango in limited visibility was more than the first officer could manage I think as long as the weather is good he would probably be a very adequate pilot his trouble is when things start to happen very fast it seems like but there's another troubling question the duties of airline pilots are usually carefully divided Landing lights on the first officer was flying speed set so the captain should have been monitoring the instruments and watching for mistakes this first officer had a history of having uh some difficulties with complex instrument procedures and so this would be a first officer that a captain would want to watch Pretty closely it seems Captain Silva was not watching closely the evidence suggests he never corrected his first officer's mistakes for some reason the captain didn't take over and save the plane I need to know why they contact friends and family trying to piece together what the pilots were doing in the hours leading up to their last flight they're looking for any sign of stress or fatigue fatigue can be Insidious and a lot of it uh depends on what was the quality of sleep that he got the night before Brena learns that the captain had dinner with his parents the night before the crash looks like plenty of time to rest as far as anyone can tell Captain Sila spent a quiet evening with family then went home to sleep [Music] what a day less than 24 hours later he would fail to correct his first officer's perilously quick descent towards Durango after an exhaustive investigation Brena and his colleagues still don't know why what are we missing here when you find a mechanical failure it's obvious something fatigued and broke and because that part failed this happened trying to really understand why people make mistakes can be very difficult the case seems to have hit a dead [Music] end hello until a phone call changes everything yes what what exactly did she say we got a call from a member of the public this was a pilot who said that he had met with a woman who he believed was the fiance of the captain who who died in the accident what a day investigators learned that on the eve of the crash Captain Silva may not have spent a quiet night alone after all time to have a bit of fun now you're speaking my language they hear a story about drug use and a woman who is alleged to have made a stunning admission I'm sure glad we buried him right after the accident the night before we'd done a bag of cocaine we did a bag of cocaine would you like to go first yeah bag of cocaine that's the expression she used it's enough for a couple to party all night you realize this is a very serious allegation the best way I could describe the investigators was astounded thank you it's very disturbing to have a a drug involved cocaine was something that we hadn't really expected we've got a new story on the captain the stunning claim contradicts what many friends and family have said about the dedicated pilot everything that we received on the captain of the aircraft is that he was well trained a good pilot uh certainly had all the experience and there were no no issues and the captain's fiance denies the entire story a letter from her lawyer contends she wasn't even with the captain the night before the crash the ingestion of these drugs you just don't see this with professional Pilots though the captain's blood has already been analyzed the test wasn't sensitive enough to detect cocaine use the first one was done by the hospital and their testing was at a very high level they were looking only for overdose call the lab we need to run the captain samples again subsequently the specimens were sent to the toxicology lab in Oklahoma City in that case they go down to uh very sensitive levels if the captain of flight 2286 really was using cocaine the implications for the entire aviation industry will be huge I always thought Pilots were weaky clean I mean they are carrying people's lives they have people's lives in their [Music] hands technicians conduct a second and then a third Toxicology test on samples from the deceased captain of flight 2286 because of the seriousness of it they wanted to make sure that there wasn't laboratory error involved the results leave no room for doubt they reported that in the blood there had been cocaine in the recent past he wasn't asleep he was up using cocaine if as the evidence suggests the captain had been partying all night and had come to work he probably got very limited sleep he was in withdrawal by the time of the accident and many of the things that are characteristic of withdrawal such as a slowing of reaction in a general feeling of not being well would not help him on this type of approach Brena now understands the shocking chain of Errors negligence and criminal behavior that led to the crash this accident begins with a captain who was in no shape to [Music] fly after a long night of drug use the captain sets off for work his first flight of the day is scheduled to depart at 1:15 p.m. he must report for duty at 12:30 7 hours later after three flights the twin turbo prop is running late and the captain is feeling the effects of cocaine withdrawal listen when we get to Durango I'd like to get in the air again as quickly as possible shouldn't be a problem we won't need to refuel because of his actions his deliberate actions uh he presented himself for Duty not qualified and that that goes against everything that professional Pilots are [Music] taught France Colorado 2286 for your approach to Durango would you rather shoot the ILS or will the approach to Runway 20 be sufficient control will plan on a DME to Runway two the captain's habit of rushing leads him to choose a risky approach when a safer option is available what a horrible decision in withdrawal he's not he's not half the pilot he is when when when he's when he's alert the struggling first officer is soon overwhelmed by the difficult approach but the captain doesn't notice do you have the [Music] runway for this individual to have allowed himself to fall into this um condition is very very hard for me to understand with One Pilot struggling at the controls and the other battling fatigue neither is watching the plan's altitude damn what too l pull out no no no no [Music] [Music] no once they lost track of their altitude they didn't have a chance the ntsb's final report cites the first officer's poor flying and the captain's use of cocaine as contributing causes of the transcolorado crash the drug Revelations make headlines across the country it's not to be the first time that a commercial pilot involved in a crash has tested positive for drugs I was totally naive to the situation with Steve it totally shocked me the FAA soon implements important changes including more frequent drug testing for Pilots as a result of this accident uh to a large extent drug testing programs became practical and they've been very very successful uh to my knowledge there was not been any other case of of drugs involved in an airline accident the Durango crash leads to other reforms as well regulations now require black boxes in all commuter planes and any plane with 10 or more seats must have a ground proximity warning device hold up to alert Pilots if they're flying too low in the case of this accident the safety board reconstructed that a ground proximity device would have given warning at least 23 seconds prior to the collision and an aviation that actually is quite a bit of time for survivors like suie Welch painful memories linger but she knows her ordeal and the terrible loss of life were not in vain flying is safer now than it ever was because they're making these changes and I so I think that's that makes me really happy [Music] yeah

Channel: Mayday: Air Disaster

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Id: ShCMDts-cmo

Length: 42min 36sec (2556 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 13 2024