All language subtitles for Air.Disasters.S18E03.Pilot.Betrayed.1080p.SMIT.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-maldini_track3_[eng]

Good morning, ladies
and gentlemen, this

is your captain.

I hope you had a good--

NARRATOR: Captain Stefan
Rasmussen has been in love

with flying all of his life.

STEFAN RASMUSSEN: I got
my first idea of flying

when I was a young boy.

NARRATOR: After learning
to fly in the air force,

Rasmussen joined
Scandinavian Airlines.

He seemed to, like, be the
one who really enjoyed his job.

NARRATOR: On December
27, 1991, he's in command

of a state of the art DC-9.

The flight will take him to
the very edge of his abilities,

as his engines fail and his
plane falls out of the sky.

I was in a nightmare.

Stockholm Scandinavian 751,
we are crashing into the ground

now.

NARRATOR: What caused the
most baffling accident

in Sweden's history is
nothing investigators

could have imagined.

What they finally
uncovered will strain

Rasmussen's lifelong
relationship with airplanes

to the breaking point.

I really felt that I
didn't trust the aircraft.

PILOT 1: Ladies and gentlemen,
we are starting our approach.

PILOT 2: We lost both engines.

FLIGHT ATTENDANT 1: Put
the mask over your nose.

FLIGHT ATTENDANT 2:
Emergency [inaudible]..

PILOT 3: Mayday, mayday.

PILOT 4: Brace for impact!

[inaudible]

MAN: He's gonna crash!

[music playing]

NARRATOR: It's two
days after Christmas.

Stockholm Arlanda Airport is a
mess of snow, slush, and ice.

Passengers boarding a
mid-morning Scandinavian

Airlines flight to
Copenhagen are finding

the cabin very uncomfortable.

INGRID ASTROM: It was
really warm inside the plane

when we entered
because there had been,

like, heaters on during night.

And I saw when the
passengers embarked,

they also wanted to take
off, like, jackets and shoes,

and-- because it
was like a sauna.

Is it possible to
turn the heat down now?

Just one moment.

NARRATOR: 34-year-old
Ulf Cedermark

has been with the
airline for four years.

He's the first officer
on today's flight.

It was a light snowfall--
temperature was just below

freezing-- and light winds.

We were going to fly Stockholm
to Copenhagen, and then

to Warsaw back to Copenhagen,
and down to Barcelona that day.

It would be quite
a long working day.

NARRATOR: Stefan Rasmussen
has just finished

an exterior check of the plane.

The Danish pilot is in
command this morning.

STEFAN RASMUSSEN: In those over
12,000, almost 13,000 hours,

I've been sitting
in an aircraft,

I always felt that I put
the aircraft on back of my--

like a rucksack.

And when we took lift on the
wings, we melted together.

NARRATOR: The plane Rasmussen
is strapping on today

is a nearly new DC-9, easily
identifiable by its two

rear engines.

By now, everyone should
know that door stays open.

Right.

NARRATOR: Even in the days
before terrorist threats,

flying with the cockpit
door open is unusual.

I found out that if
we had the door open,

and they could see that there
were human being in there,

they trust you.

NARRATOR: The winter weather
has delayed this flight,

but Rasmussen won't compromise
safety for schedule.

Where are we now
with the de-icing?

TECHNICIAN (ON RADIO): The
wings aren't quite done.

They've done the underside.

Now they're doing the top.

Thank you.

NARRATOR: Under Captain
Rasmussen's instructions,

the ground crew had already
de-iced the plane once.

Now they're giving
it another pass.

ULF CEDERMARK: And
it took a while.

But they had trouble getting rid
of the snow on top of the wing.

And so we were slightly
late for their push

back out to our runway.

NARRATOR: For Captain Per
Holmberg, this kind of delay

is routine business.

He flies DC-9's for the airline.

A passenger this morning,
he's scheduled to command

another flight later that day.

Finally, Scandinavian
Airlines Flight 751

is cleared to proceed.

There are buildups of snow that
the crew must avoid on the way

to the runway.

[scoffs] Would have been
nice of them to clear the snow.

Oh, that would have
made it too easy.

Approaching holding
point runway 08.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL:
Roger, Scandinavian 751.

You are cleared for
takeoff from runway 08.

Spoilers.

ACTOR AS STEFAN
RASMUSSEN: Armed.

Autobrake, take-off unarmed.

Runway update performed.

Checklist completed.

ACTOR AS STEFAN
RASMUSSEN: Set power.

NARRATOR: Despite the
winter conditions,

the take-off is routine.

V1, rotate.

Gear up.

Gear up selected.

[rattle]

STEFAN RASMUSSEN: When Ulf,
he reached out for the gear,

I heard some things
which was different.

NARRATOR: Just 25
seconds into the flight,

as the plane is climbing,
there is a problem.

When you hear things that
are different from the normal,

you get suspicious.

There was a really big
roar in the aircraft,

like almost like an explosion--

boom.

[explosions popping]

INGRID ASTROM: There was
another banging noise.

But I just thought,
what is that?

I had never heard that before.

NARRATOR: It's obvious
the source of the noise

it's the right engine.

It sounds serious.

I believe it's a
compressor stall.

STEFAN RASMUSSEN: I
took the right throttle

and moved a little back.

But there, it really
became strange

because the engine
performance increased

when I reduced the throttle.

It's like if you're
sitting in your car,

and you were turning
your wheel to the left

and the car is
driving to the right.

You get confused.

INGRID ASTROM:
We're not supposed

to call into cockpit now.

And then I thought,
this is an emergency.

I have to call the captain.

NARRATOR: But Captain Rasmussen
doesn't respond to the call.

He's too busy trying
to figure out what's

going wrong with his plane.

I couldn't see anything
on the instrument.

They were quite stable.

And they're quite normal
range and no problem.

But I could hear those
roaring every second.

NARRATOR: He searches for
telltale signs of attack

or structural failure.

STEFAN RASMUSSEN: And I looked
up at the cabin pressure,

because if you have a
bomb or a freight door,

anything which is ripped off,
that'll give a decompression.

NARRATOR: In the cabin,
pressure levels are stable.

Have your seat belts fastened.

It's fine.

NARRATOR: But the crew
has other concerns.

INGRID ASTROM: I saw the smoke.

And it smelt burnt.

What should we do about this?

NARRATOR: Just 3,200
feet above the ground,

the emergency escalates.

The right engine quits.

[engine winds down]

When we have flown a
little over 1 minute,

the right engine just went down.

[beeping]

I had a very, very
short moment of thinking

that I was in a nightmare
and just dreaming.

I was confused.

I was really confused.

NARRATOR: 2 seconds later,
the left engine also quits.

The plane is now powerless.

STEFAN RASMUSSEN: One
engine dropped, and then

another engine dropped.

I thought that it wasn't true.

It wasn't true.

It wasn't real.

NARRATOR: Less than a minute
and a half after takeoff,

the DC-9 begins
falling from the sky.

INGRID ASTROM: And after
that, it was complete silence.

And I think that was
the worst moment for me,

just being in there
and it's so quiet.

It was like a bird just
sailing through the sky.

So then I started to get scared.

Engine relay.

NARRATOR: As the pilots try
to restart their engines,

things get even worse.

The left engine
erupts in flames.

ULF CEDERMARK: And I
saw the exhaust gas

temperature was rising rapidly.

The max temperature was
around 680 degrees Celsius,

and I saw it go above 800.

NARRATOR: A fire in
the engine could spread

to the rest of the plane.

Should I pull?

NARRATOR: If Cedermark
pulls the fire

extinguisher in the
left engine, he will

never be able to restart it.

[beeping]

He pulls the handle
to put out the fire.

From his seat, Captain
Per Holmberg can see

that the crew is in trouble.

Flight 751 is now falling at a
rate of 1,200 feet per minute.

But air traffic controllers
at Stockholm Airport

have no idea the
plane is in trouble.

Arlanda, Stockholm
Scandinavian 751.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL:
throttle morning, SK 751.

Climb to flight level 180.

ACTOR AS ULF CEDERMARK: We
have problems with our engines,

please.

We need to go back to--

to go back to Arlanda.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL: 751, Roger.

Turn right heading to--

[static]

[powers down]

NARRATOR: Suddenly,
the radio goes dead,

a result of the failed engines.

Only the right engine
can provide power,

but it's now spinning too
slowly to generate electricity

for the instruments.

ULF CEDERMARK:
Without the engine,

you don't have any
propulsion, so you will--

the only energy you
have is your height.

NARRATOR: With time running
out, the pilots of Flight 751

must find a way to restart
the right engine or else crash

into the countryside below.

at 20 feet per second.

How can I help?

NARRATOR: Captain
Per Holmberg, who

boarded the flight
as a passenger,

becomes part of the flight crew.

He came out in the cockpit,
and he said, is there

anything I can help you with?

I don't think I even said yes.

I said, just start the APU.

NARRATOR: If the auxiliary
power unit can be launched,

it will bring back the
radio and instruments.

ULF CEDERMARK: So I just handed
him the emergency checklist

and started to focus on
controlling the flight to see

that we were maintaining the
speed and had the altitude

and that we were wings level.

He managed to start the
auxiliary power unit.

So my flight instruments
were supplied from that.

NARRATOR: But for some reason,
Captain Rasmussen's instruments

don't come back online.

He managed to fly the
plane basically by feel.

NARRATOR: Power is also
restored to the cabin.

But it's small comfort
to passengers, who now

know they're in extreme danger.

Stockholm air traffic
control instructs the pilots

to return to the airport.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL:
Scandinavian 751,

are you able to
turn right heading

0-9-0, radar vectoring for 0-1.

NARRATOR: But the
plane is now just

1,600 feet from the ground.

And First Officer Cedermark's
attempts to resuscitate it

aren't working.

Roger.

We are maintaining our
heading, but we are

trying to restart our engines.

NARRATOR: Making a 180-degree
turn back to Stockholm

could be catastrophic.

I really had the
feeling that if I

turned the aircraft at that
time, we would have stalled.

When you're turning back,
you are losing a lot of energy.

So the most safe thing to do is
actually just to gold streets

and keep your wings level.

That means that you will use
less energy of your altitude

so you can maintain your speed.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL: You
can maintain 2,000 feet.

We are not able to
maintain 2,000 feet.

We are descending.

We are at 1,600
feet and descending.

NARRATOR: Holmberg
wants Rasmussen

to focus his attention on
finding a landing spot.

Look straight ahead.

Look straight ahead.

He was screaming at Stefan
just to look straight ahead

and watch the flight path.

Prepare for
on-ground emergency.

On-ground emergency.

Bend down.

Bend down.

Bend down.

So we shouted "bend down"
I don't know how many times--

bend down, bend down, bend down.

Keep your seat belts fastened.

NARRATOR: While
passengers brace,

Rasmussen considers
where to land his plane.

Look straight ahead.

STEFAN RASMUSSEN: And
I had an idea that

on the northern direction could
bring us out to the Baltic Sea,

which was at that time frozen.

And that's an excellent runway.

NARRATOR: But instead, he finds
himself gliding powerlessly

over a dense forest.

STEFAN RASMUSSEN: I
saw that green area.

And I saw that little light spot
in the middle of the forest.

But that really looked short.

Steer right.

Steer right.

NARRATOR: Just 500
feet above the ground,

Captain Rasmussen lifts the
plane's nose to slow it down,

hoping to soften
the crash landing.

STEFAN RASMUSSEN: Pine
trees, from the top

they look very soft.

I could use the trees
as almost like a pillow.

Should I lower
the landing gear?

STEFAN RASMUSSEN: Yes.

Gear down.

Bend down and hold your knees.

INGRID ASTROM: I prepared
myself for a hard impact.

If it's an emergency
landing, we have no engines,

I just thought, this is
going to be a hard landing.

Stockholm Scandinavian 751.

We are crashing
into the ground now.

ULF CEDERMARK: I
wasn't afraid until we

were flying into the trees.

Then I was scared, and I knew
we were not going to make it.

STEFAN RASMUSSEN: I didn't
thought I should die.

I knew I should die.

I-- I made my prayer to god.

[metallic screech]

[crunch]

[impact]

And then a moment
after, we were--

we were-- we were
in a strange world.

[wind whooshing]

INGRID ASTROM: After we have
come to a complete stop,

I feel the smell
of airplane fuel.

I thought, OK, we're
going to explode.

And I look around, and I see
the snow because there was

a big crack in the
airplane fuselage

just in front of the aft galley.

And you could just walk
down on the ground.

STEFAN RASMUSSEN:
Everything was quiet.

And I woke up.

It might only have been
a split second or so.

ULF CEDERMARK: I was
afraid that my spine

was broken, that I was--

wouldn't be able to walk again.

So I remember I
was sitting there,

and I was moving my
toes and my feet,

just to see if I could
have control over them.

I had a pain in my hand because
I had broken a bone in my hand.

And I was bleeding
heavily from my forehead

so I was trying to get
clear of all the blood that

was coming down in my eyes.

And Stefan told me that we had
to get out of the aircraft.

NARRATOR: After plowing through
over 400 feet of pine forest,

the pilot's fear is now
that the broken aircraft

could catch fire.

[coughing]

Dozens of passengers
escaped through the breaks

in the fuselage walls.

But Captain Per Holmberg
has been knocked

unconscious by the crash.

INGRID ASTROM: It all went so
fast that, like, no one could

take in, like, what happened.

So I tried to stay with a group
of passengers I had there.

But I just knew the feeling also
that we had to wait a long time

for the rescue teams.

Help will be here soon.

NARRATOR: Fortunately,
no fire materializes.

But because they removed
their winter clothing

while boarding the
sweltering plane,

many passengers are
starting to freeze.

Most people were just standing
in their shirts, t-shirts,

very, very little clothes.

Few didn't even have shoes on.

NARRATOR: They are now
at risk of hypothermia.

INGRID ASTROM: So I
focused on being caring.

Maybe I did it for
my own sake also.

I needed a hug also.

It was comforting to,
like, comfort someone else.

[shaky breathing]

NARRATOR: The wreckage of
Scandinavian Airlines Flight

751 lies just over
9 miles northeast

of Stockholm Arlanda Airport.

The fuselage is broken
into three pieces.

In the chaos of the moment,
nobody knows how many people

have been killed in the crash.

Rescuers arrive within
minutes and attend

the freezing survivors.

They pull Captain Per Holmberg
from the cabin unconscious.

ULF CEDERMARK: He landed
on the wall at impact,

and he skidded down on the
wall to the floor at impact.

So he was quite badly damaged.

He cut his eyelid,
and he also got

his collarbone that
was broken off,

so his shoulder was
in front of him.

NARRATOR: 92 of the passengers
have sustained injuries.

Only eight are
considered serious.

But when the crew
conducts a headcount,

they're stunned to learn
that out of the 129 people

who boarded Flight
751, not a single one

was killed in the crash.

INGRID ASTROM:
Everyone survived.

It was like a shock
just to take in.

So I was the happiest
captain in the world.

We were all alive.

That was a great moment.

as the Swedish Accident
Investigation Board, or SAIB,

takes charge of the case.

Scandinavian Airlines alerts
its own Investigators,

dispatching Tore Hultgren
to head up its team.

TORE HULTGREN: It's most
unusual that the plane

crashes in a wooded area
and everybody survives.

I've never heard of it before.

The police kept everybody
off the site itself.

There was a cordon around the
aircraft about 100 meters.

We had the complete aircraft.

Nothing had burned.

And we had lots of good data.

NARRATOR: Henrik
Elinder from the SAIB

gets to work on the evidence.

HENRIK ELINDER:
And we all started

to plan the documentation of
the accident site, which means

photographing all the final
approach through the woods,

you know, and to take
photos of all the parts that

were spread all over the place.

NARRATOR: The two
black boxes which

record cockpit conversations
and store flight

data are recovered immediately.

Investigators
speak to survivors.

Everyone tells a similar story.

Would you mind telling
me what you saw and heard?

NARRATOR: Loud booming sounds
from the engines moments

after the flight began,
smoke in the cabin,

and finally, the entire loss
of power and an engine on fire.

You have a
twin-engine aircraft,

and you are really
not supposed to lose

both engines at the same time.

NARRATOR: The Pratt &
Whitney turbofan engines

are sent to a Scandinavian
Airlines repair

shop for a closer examination.

Investigators are eager
to speak with Captain

Rasmussen about the incident.

But to their dismay,
Scandinavian Airlines

takes him to the mead first.

The first question, what did
you think when both engines

refused to function?

It'll take me an awful long
time to tell you all that.

HENRIK ELINDER: The normal
case is that the key witnesses,

like the crew and
so on, should be

kept in quarantine until they
meet the investigation board.

NARRATOR: European media
celebrate Captain Stefan

Rasmussen as a hero for landing
the DC-9 without engine power.

But Investigators
consider the possibility

that he or his copilot had
made errors that caused

the crisis in the first place.

The honor and the glory
always rests with the captain,

but so does also the mishaps.

STEFAN RASMUSSEN: I knew
that being a person where--

in the spotlight
of the press would

be a quite different situation.

And I said to myself, the
only thing you can do now

is to give them all
the story and then pray

that they will find the reason.

Lift.

NARRATOR: Lars Lindberg is an
investigative representative

for the Swedish Airlines
Pilot Association.

He examines the
wreckage for signs

of mechanical or
structural failure.

We knew both engines had
failed for some reason.

So we was concerned what was
the background for something

like that to happen.

The first time I saw the
engines in the workshop,

I was surprised.

Is this all they found?

There was a number of parts
that were completely missing.

And this was something we hadn't
seen before to this extent.

NARRATOR: To find
out what happened,

investigators must find
the missing pieces,

which now lie somewhere
in snow-covered fields

and forests.

A close study of Scandinavian
Airlines Flight 751'S engines

reveals exactly which
pieces are missing.

LARS LINDBERG: Parts
of this aircraft

was shedding parts
from both engines.

And then what you do
is you go further in,

and you document everything, and
you try to find the root cause,

and see how it all
comes together.

NARRATOR: The missing
pieces could hold the key

to discovering why both
of the plane's engines

quit within seconds
of each other.

But they could be anywhere
along the 9-mile route the plane

covered during its short flight.

They must be found.

Investigators use the
flight data recorder

to map the plane's journey
and determine where

engine parts may have fallen.

After scouring the snow-covered
fields along the plane's path,

the recovery team finds
500 fragments, just

a fraction of what's missing.

Many are very badly damaged.

Some of the titanium
blades actually

seem to have been on fire.

LARS LINDBERG: You
have this titanium

fire inside both engines, both
the right and the left engine.

And this titanium fire is
a very unique occurrence.

It's requiring very,
very high pressure

and very high temperature for
a titanium blade to catch fire.

NARRATOR: Investigators
dig deeper into the cause

of the engine trouble.

The left engine's fuel
line is badly dented.

It was obviously hit
by a fast-moving piece

of metal inside the engine.

The impact caused it to rupture.

When this part
got dislodged, it

went out and hit the fuel line.

And that fuel line
cracked, sprayed

fuel onto the hot engine.

NARRATOR: The engine was clearly
coming apart during the flight.

It sounds serious.

NARRATOR: The discovery explains
the fire into left engine,

and why so many pieces
of it were found

so far from the crash site.

But Investigators are left
wondering why the engines

broke up in the first place.

A major clue comes from
passenger and crew testimonies,

which told of repeated
booming noises

before the left
engine caught fire.

The cockpit voice recorder
picked up these sounds.

So you can hear that.

Then we could correlate that
with when the damage occurred.

You can see that on the
flight data recorder.

NARRATOR: The sounds are
familiar to investigators

and leave no doubt.

The DC-9's engines began
surging shortly after takeoff.

Jet engines rely on a steady
stream of air for combustion.

A series of fans move incoming
air through various stages

of compression.

But when that flow is disrupted,
fuel at the rear of the engines

ignites violently
and shoots forward.

That's the surge.

You can have a small surge,
and you can have a large surge.

And you can have the complete
surge on the whole engine.

It sounds serious.

[high-pitched whir]

LARS LINDBERG: This surge
process was very violent.

So after a very short
time, we had an aircraft

with two engines that could
not be restarted that didn't

generate any thrust.

Basically, you had a giant
glider at that point.

blades from the
front of the engines

explains why they were surging.

They're badly dented.

The damage would have prevented
them from effectively directing

air to the rear of the engines.

This damage that twisted the
fan blade started this process.

You got this disturbed
air in the fan.

You got this rotating fan
stall that then triggered

this whole breakdown--
the compressor surge,

and then the whole
process that led

up to the dual engine failures.

NARRATOR: But what exactly
mangled the blades?

There are ways to tell.

If it comes from a stone,
rubber, ice, and so on,

you can see it on the
shape of the damage.

The ice causes very
specific damages.

It's sort of like a soft dent.

NARRATOR: Analysis of dent
patterns on the fan blades

is conclusive.

They were struck by ice.

snow Investigators
want to find out where

the ice could have come from.

We have the data for the 24
hours leading up to the crash.

NARRATOR: They know Stockholm
had been hit with rain and snow

in the hours before
Flight 751 took off.

HENRIK ELINDER: It was a
situation with a temperature

around 0 degrees.

It was a drizzle snow
rain in the morning.

NARRATOR: They learned
that the DC-9 arrived

from Zurich the night
before with the fuel

tanks more than half full.

TORE HULTGREN: They had quite
a large amount of reserve fuel,

diversion fuel, in their wings.

The fuel in the wing tanks
were close to minus 20 degrees

Celsius.

NARRATOR: The
conditions that night

were ideal for the formation of
clear ice on the wing surface.

And here you had very, very
cold fuel on the top wing skin.

And as the temperature
dropped during the night,

it went to snow, and
rain, and finally snow.

So there was a layer cake--

ice at the bottom,
slush, and snow on top.

But 10 inches total on top
of the wings in the morning.

NARRATOR: Responsibility for
de-icing the plane ultimately

falls on the captain.

Rasmussen insists he was aware
of the overnight buildup.

Investigators
wonder if the pilot

did all he could
to ensure his plane

was completely free of ice.

Rasmussen claims he
instructed technicians

to de-ice the plane thoroughly.

I did a walk around
with the aircraft.

It was cold.

It was frosty.

NARRATOR: Noticing that there
was still frost on the wings,

the head technician ordered
a second round of de-icing.

I was really convinced
that the aircraft was clean.

And so was he.

So was he.

STEFAN RASMUSSEN (ON
RECORDING): Where

are we now with the de-icing?

TECHNICIAN (ON RECORDING):
The wings aren't quite done.

They've done the underside.

NARRATOR: The cockpit
voice recorder

backs up Rasmussen's testimony.

STEFAN RASMUSSEN (ON
RECORDING): They've got it

good and clean under the wings?

TECHNICIAN (ON
RECORDING): Yes, yes.

TORE HULTGREN: De-iced the
aircraft once, and looked at it

and then said, once more.

And they de-iced a second time.

NARRATOR: In fact,
225 gallons of fluid

were sprayed on the aircraft.

But the fluid may
have been faulty--

not potent enough to
melt the thick layer

of ice that had accumulated
on the wings overnight.

Technicians test
samples of the fluid

used to de-ice Flight 751.

TORE HULTGREN: They
found no discrepancies.

There was nothing wrong
with any of the fluids used.

NARRATOR: But when investigators
interview the maintenance crew

that worked on the
plane, they begin

wondering if the de-icing
team was thorough enough

in their efforts.

The ground crew insists that
after they sprayed the wing,

it appeared to be clean, but
that appearance was deceptive.

It looked perfect
because the clear

ice on top of the fuel tanks,
you cannot see the clear ice.

NARRATOR: A technician
inspected the front of the wing

and found no ice.

He couldn't have known that
there was ice further back out

of his reach.

TORE HULTGREN: No provisions
for stairs or anything

that he could use to
get up on the wing

at the de-icing platform.

It looked shiny and nice,
couldn't see any ice on it.

But still, there was maybe an
inch of ice on top of the wing

when the aircraft took off.

NARRATOR: As soon as
the plane took flight,

the ice became a problem.

TORE HULTGREN: On this
aircraft, the engines are

positioned behind the wings.

And as the aircraft rotated,
and the wings bent in order

to take the weight
of the aircraft,

this ice in the wing
roots loosened, and it

sucked right into the engine.

NARRATOR: The ice
damaged the fan blades

at the front of the
engines and ultimately

caused them to begin surging.

TORE HULTGREN: Nobody really
expected this would happen

or could happen.

But it did.

NARRATOR: When ice breaks
off the wings during flight,

it doesn't pose a problem
for most aircraft.

But the placement of
the DC-9's engines

leaves them more
susceptible to being struck.

The Pratt & Whitney
engines on Flight 751

were designed to withstand
this type of ice ingestion.

Something else must
explain the disaster.

Investigators know that the
wrong reaction by a pilot

can make surges worse.

They combed through
the flight data

to see what these pilots did
when the emergency struck.

The first thing
you do when you have

a surge, if you recognize
is that a surge,

is that you reduce power.

NARRATOR: Captain Rasmussen
claims he did just that.

Of course, you just
pull the throttle back,

and then you help
with the balance

between the incoming
fuel, incoming air.

And that was exactly what I did.

NARRATOR: But the
flight data recorder

tells a different story.

Why is the engine
power increasing?

NARRATOR: It clearly shows that
in the moments after the surge,

thrust was reduced, but
then seconds later, it was

increased to beyond full power.

Yeah, it didn't add up because
the RPM was increasing to 110%.

And the throttle
position was moving.

It shouldn't be.

The only thing that could
move the throttles [inaudible]

was the pilot's hand.

NARRATOR: But if Rasmussen
didn't push the throttles

forward, something else did.

It would explain the
captain's confusion

as his engines began to surge.

As a pilot, when you've
gone through the training,

you've done all your
emergency training,

you've been through
the simulator,

and now you have a system
that is doing something

that you don't expect,
it's very confusing.

investigators can find
no possible explanation

for the increase in thrust.

LARS LINDBERG: The frustrating
part with the investigation

was that we could not figure out
why the system did what it did.

NARRATOR: Then almost two months
after the accident, the plane's

manufacturer
provides the answer.

The culprit is something called
"automatic thrust restoration."

ACTOR AS LARS LINDBERG:
It's brand new.

It automatically increases
the thrust during the climb.

NARRATOR: Swedish authorities
learn that Automatic Thrust

Restoration, or
ATR, was recently

introduced as a safety feature
on Scandinavian Airlines

planes.

It existed because the FAA had
discovered some pilots were

throttling back
considerably while taking

off and landing to reduce noise
over residential neighborhoods.

The ATR was designed to make it
impossible for them to throttle

back to dangerous levels.

So as soon as he powered
back, the system kicked in.

NARRATOR: Investigators learned
that when Rasmussen reduced

power to clear his engine
surge, the system read this

as a dangerously
low power setting

and pushed the
throttles forward.

The increased thrust made the
surging worse until the engines

destroyed themselves.

The investigation concludes
that the pilots had taken

the right steps
to clear the surge

and prevent the catastrophe,
but the computer

code which governs the ATR
undermined their efforts.

A strip of 0's and 1's
caused the throttles to move

and caused the engines
that were stalling,

because they already got too
much fuel, got even more fuel.

And they went into
self-destruct, both engines.

In a few seconds, they're
both totally destroyed.

[creaking]

[metallic screech]

[crunch]

[impact]

NARRATOR: The system was so
new to Scandinavian Airlines

that nobody there
had even heard of it.

LARS LINDBERG: And it was
confusing for everyone

because we didn't
know about the system.

We didn't have
information on the system.

SAS didn't know the system
existed on their aircraft.

We hadn't bought
that modification.

And it was sneaked in
via another system.

NARRATOR: Because he
didn't know about the ATR,

Rasmussen was unaware
that he could only save

his plane by switching it off.

News that the automatic
thrust restoration

was responsible for the accident
proved both a blessing and

a curse for Captain Rasmussen.

It eliminated any notion
that he had made a mistake.

STEFAN RASMUSSEN: When
I got that message,

I was really released.

It was like winning
in the lottery.

It was-- because I was so happy.

Because then I could explain
why I was in that total cone

of confusion.

NARRATOR: But the fallout
would ultimately destroy

a love affair and end a career.

On October 20, 1993,
the Swedish Accident

Investigation Board
releases its report

on the crash of Flight 751.

It determines that the actions
of Captain Rasmussen and First

Officer Cedermark contributed
to the safe outcome

of this incident.

And although investigators
question Captain Per Holmberg's

decision to enter the
cockpit in the first place,

they do praise his contribution.

This crew flew until they
stood still on the ground.

They never gave up.

They never gave up.

They didn't give an inch.

NARRATOR: The investigators
put much of the blame

for the accident on
Scandinavian Airlines

because their procedures
for checking for clear ice

were inadequate.

I believe it's a
compressor stall.

NARRATOR: The report
also condemns the fact

that the pilots didn't know
about the automatic thrust

restoration and how it would
act in a surge situation.

LARS LINDBERG: If the ATR
system hadn't been there,

if the throttles
hadn't moved forward,

there wouldn't have
been an accident.

It was a bit strange
that we didn't have

all the documentation
available to us

so we knew what we could
expect if something like this

would happen.

NARRATOR: In the
wake of the crash,

Scandinavian Airlines
started training its pilots

how to use the ATR system.

They also implemented steps to
ensure airplanes don't take off

with clear ice on the wings.

TORE HULTGREN: We changed
all the procedures.

We provided stairs
for the mechanic.

And we made it a requirement
to go up on top of the wing

and touch it with your hand
to verify after de-icing.

NARRATOR: After healing
from his injuries,

First Officer Ulf Cedermark
returned to the cockpit.

ULF CEDERMARK: I didn't feel the
responsibility that I wouldn't

be able to do my job again.

Whatever happens, I
know that I still can

see things for what they are.

And I still love doing my job.

And if something bad
happens, I can deal with it.

NARRATOR: But Stefan
Rasmussen's return

proved far more difficult.

Set power.

STEFAN RASMUSSEN:
After I'd heard

from a high-skilled
psychologist,

we talked about getting
in the air again.

He knew that that would be
a hard decision to take.

Gear up.

[beeping]

Fire drill.

[breathes heavily]

NARRATOR: After time
in the simulator,

Rasmussen couldn't regain
confidence in his plane.

Sorry, guys.

STEFAN RASMUSSEN: In a disaster
situation, in a crisis,

is that you have
optimized the teamwork

between man and machine.

I really felt that I
didn't trust the aircraft.

TORE HULTGREN: The pilot tends
to take the responsibility

for all that went wrong.

Too much of the glory and also
too much of the responsibility.

NARRATOR: With the right
counseling, about 90%

of pilots involved
in an accident

are able to continue flying.

Even though Captain
Rasmussen received treatment,

his career ended with
the crash of Flight 751.

Taking that decision
to leave aviation

as pilot was like having your--

your highest love and
come to the conclusion

that you have to kill her.

I had many hours, many missions
of happiness in an aircraft.

And I loved my passengers,
I loved my aircraft so much.

So I said, that's it.

[music playing]

I never regret it.

Never.

And I think I was right.