Original subtitles

FLIGHT ATTENDENT: Ladies and gentlemen,

we are starting our approach.

PILOT: We lost both engines.

[radio chatter]

MAN: Mayday.

Mayday.

FLIGHT ATTENDANT: Brace for impact!

[chatter]

MAN: He's gonna crash!

[engine roaring]

Buenas noches, señor.

American 965 leaving 230--

NARRATOR: In 1995, days before Christmas,

an American Airlines Boeing 757 is on its final approach

to Cali, Colombia.

Cali approach, American 965.

NARRATOR: The pilots are calm and relaxed.

They don't know they've made a terrible mistake.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL (ON RADIO): 965, altitude?

965, 9,000 feet.

NARRATOR: They're more than 10 miles off course

and have no clue where they are.

[siren buzzing]

AUTOMATED VOICE: Too low.

Terrain.

Pull up, baby.

NARRATOR: In complete darkness, the jet carrying 163 passengers

and crew is in mortal danger.

OK, easy.

I think we knew that something imminent was--

was around the corner.

Up, baby.

More! more!

OK.

Up, up, up!

[alarm buzzing]

NARRATOR: Flight 965 crashed into a 9,000 foot mountain,

sending reverberations through the aviation industry.

How could one of the world's most technologically advanced

aircraft, with a state of the art navigation system

and flown by some of the most skilled pilots,

crash into a mountain?

[somber music]

On December 20, 1995, American Airlines

flight 965 prepares to depart from Miami

International Airport.

Its destination is Cali, Colombia.

Flight 965 is scheduled to depart Miami at 4:40 PM,

but has already been delayed for 30 minutes

to allow for connecting passengers.

Surely, gonna call us any second now.

NARRATOR: The Dussans only just make it.

In Miami they tell us that we have to rush

because the plane gonna--

gonna leave to Cali very soon.

[chatter]

Definitely we were very happy because we know

we're gonna fly that night.

So you made it.

Just in time.

[chuckles]

NARRATOR: Mercedes Ramirez, along with her mother

and father, managed to get on the flight at the last minute.

We were on standby, so we weren't sure

if our names were gonna be called off

to actually get on that flight.

We heard our names, and we were excited 'cause we're like,

yes, we got on the flight.

But it's very old American, you know.

NARRATOR: Flight 965 finally leaves the gate

at 5:14 PM, 34 minutes late.

But the problems aren't over yet.

As they taxi toward the runway, the tower informs

them of yet another delay.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL (ON RADIO): American 965, standby.

NARRATOR: Heavy seasonal traffic clogs the runways,

and they're forced to wait another hour

and 20 minutes on the tarmac.

We'll go when they're ready.

That's all there is to it.

Waiting and--

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL (ON RADIO): American 965.

NARRATOR: Finally, two hours late, flight 965

is cleared for takeoff.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL (ON RADIO): Fly the runway heading.

Cleared for takeoff.

Merry Christmas.

Cleared for takeoff, 27 right, American 965.

You do a great job.

Good night.

NARRATOR: Captain Nicholas Tafuri, aged 57,

is in charge of flight 965.

He's one of American Airlines' premiere pilots

with more than 13,000 hours of flying time, over 2,000 of them

in the 757.

He'd flown to Cali only six days earlier.

200, the heading, climbed to 16.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL (ON RADIO): That's 16, American 965.

NARRATOR: At the controls as first officer

Donnie R. Williams, age 39.

Although he's been flying for American for nine years,

flight 965 is his first trip to Cali.

[ominous music]

MERCEDES RAMIREZ: Everybody on that plane was either

going back home for the Christmas holidays

to visit their family.

So I think everybody was just happy and excited to go back.

NARRATOR: Today, December 20, is a very special day

for passenger Mercedes Ramirez.

Mercedes is a university student from Missouri.

It's her 21st birthday, and this trip

is a gift from her parents.

Usually we spent Christmas in Kansas City at home,

but they wanted to do something special.

And we had never spent the holidays

with our family in Colombia, so it was a big deal for us.

Since we flew standby, I couldn't said with both my mom

and my dad all in one row.

So my mother and I were seated next to each other.

I was by the window.

She was in the middle.

And then there was a passenger who was about my age

who was in the aisle seat.

And then my father was in another row behind us.

And so nothing out of the ordinary

at all, just a normal flight.

NARRATOR: 19-year-old Mauricio Reyes

sits beside Mercedes' mother.

Reyes is a student at the University of Michigan.

You know, once we get there, we have to go see Victor.

NARRATOR: Gonzalo Dussan and his wife Nancy,

and their two children--

Michelle and Gonzalo Junior--

are seated nearby.

[ominous music]

GONZALO DUSSAN: We were very excited because the first time,

you know, we're going with my family to pass, you know,

Christmas over there in Cali.

We wanted to see our families members

and our brothers, sister, you know, to see our city again.

[ominous music]

NARRATOR: Two hours and 45 minutes into the flight,

the plane is cruising at 37,000 feet on a preprogrammed flight

path to Cali's airport.

Let's see.

We've got 136 miles.

NARRATOR: They're flying a Boeing 757--

a state of the art airplane equipped with

sophisticated computer systems.

When programmed, the onboard computer-- known as the flight

management system--

can control the aircraft from takeoff to landing.

It can be the pilot's best friend

or, in the case of flight 965, their worst nightmare.

An awkward moment an hour before they're scheduled arrival

makes Mercedes Ramirez change seats.

MERCEDES RAMIREZ: My mother had been talking to the college

student who was next to her, and I think she was trying to kind

of set me up with him. 'Cause she kept on saying,

oh, my daughter's in college, and my daughter is this,

and my daughter is that.

So I was very embarrassed.

I'm going to join Dad.

MERCEDES RAMIREZ (VOICEOVER): So I got up from my seat

and moved to the row behind us.

And I sat with my father.

NARRATOR: The seemingly trivial decision

will prove to be her lifesaver.

[ominous music]

It's a clear, moonless night with visibility

more than 6 miles.

And that's just how it works.

That's our scenario.

NARRATOR: But Captain Tafuri is now

getting concerned about their arrival time.

Debrief, one hour sign in, and you can't move that up at all

because it's an FAA thing.

NARRATOR: FAA regulations require

a minimum number of hours on the ground

before the cabin crew can fly again.

Any further delays will jeopardize their return flight

the next day.

[sighs] Well, let's see.

We got the 136 miles to the VOR and 32,000 feet

to lose and slow down to boot.

So we might as well get started.

NARRATOR: If they land within the next 25 minutes,

they'll beat the deadline.

All right, sir.

And if you'd keep the speed up on the descent,

it'd help us too.

OK?

OK.

OK, Gonzalito, let your sister sit beside the window.

NARRATOR: Gonzalo Dussan's children

quarrel over the window seat, not knowing that

the consequences will be dire.

And I remember I told him before Cali,

when the-- when the plane started to lose altitude,

so we're gonna see the valley, the city, very nice

with a lot of lights on it.

Because usually by December, by Christmas time,

they decorate, you know, the mountains

with different colors, lights, and everything.

Then they start to fight for the window side.

OK, Gonzalito, let your sister have a chance by the window.

And I'm like, oh, I want to see.

I want to see the lights.

I want to see the airport.

And he got mad.

ACTOR AS GONZALO DUSSAN: OK, Michelle,

you go sit by the window.

Ooh, sit with your cousin.

Good boy, Gonzalito.

OK, Michelle, take a look at the lights.

That's it.

Come sit here.

Come sit beside me.

We are almost there.

Michelle, can you see the lights outside the window?

ACTOR AS NICHOLAS TAFURI: Ladies and gentlemen,

this is your captain speaking.

We have begun our descent for landing at Cali.

It's a lovely evening.

As we'd expected, we'll pass a shower or two on the way in.

NARRATOR: This lovely evening is about to end.

In 30 seconds, the pilots will make the first of a series

of mistakes, which will result in the death

of nearly everyone on board.

[ominous music]

American Airlines flight 965 is on its final descent,

roughly 63 miles from Cali, Columbia.

[ominous music]

Cali's Aragón airport is situated

at the end of a long valley.

On both sides of the valley are towering mountain ranges,

almost 14,000 feet high.

It's a formidable sight.

To follow its proper pre-programmed flight path,

the aircraft must pass over a series of waypoints.

These are generally radio beacons at fixed

positions along the route.

The plane's computer picks up the signals from these beacons

and then guides the plane safely to its destination.

Flight 965 is now approaching the waypoint called Tulua--

the radio beacon at the head of the valley,

which leads to Cali.

After passing to Tulua, the plane

should fly over the final waypoint called Rozo.

Then it passes the airport, turns right,

and lands from the south.

ACTOR AS NICHOLAS TAFURI (ON RADIO):

Cali approach, American 965.

American 965, good evening.

Go ahead.

Buenos noches, señor.

American 965--

NARRATOR: Cali Air traffic controller Nelson Rivera

will oversee the final approach of flight 965,

but he has a problem.

Insurgents opposed to the Colombian government

have blown up the radar installation.

Rivera has no way of knowing where planes are until they

radio their position.

Your distance DME from Cali?

NARRATOR: Without radar, the air traffic controller

must rely on the pilots to provide

their distance to the runway.

The DME is 63.

NARRATOR: The DME is the distance measuring equipment

in the Boeing cockpit.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL (ON RADIO): Roger.

American 965 is cleared to Cali.

Descend and maintain one 5,000 feet.

Altimeter 3002.

Report on Tulua.

OK, understood.

Clear, direct to Cali.

VOR, report Tulua.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL (ON RADIO): Affirmative.

NARRATOR: It's a misunderstanding.

Captain Tafuri thinks he's been told to fly direct to Cali

and forget about Tulua.

But the controller needs him to report passing Tulua

so he knows where the airplane is.

NELSON RIVERA: [speaking spanish]

INTERPRETER: To me, the word directly means

that he was authorized to go directly to Cali,

that there was no delay.

Therefore, he had to inform us of his position in Tulua

because we don't have radar.

I needed him to inform me of that exact location.

NARRATOR: Tafuri punches direct to Cali into his computer.

Since the plane No longer has to pass over them,

all the waypoints between its present position and Cali

are erased, including Tulua, which

the plane is now approaching.

I put direct Cali for you in there.

OK.

Thank you.

Flight attendants, please prepare for landing.

Thank you.

GONZALO DUSSAN: And I remember they gave us the order to--

to put the back of the seat straight.

I remember that.

And everybody was, you know, so happy because we

were very close to the city.

[ominous music]

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL (ON RADIO): 965.

NARRATOR: 11 minutes before their estimated time

of arrival--

965.

Go ahead, please.

Sir, the wind is calm.

NARRATOR: --air traffic control asks

the flight crew if they'd like to land on runway 19--

You want to shoot the 19 straight in?

NARRATOR: --instead of their planned approach to runway 01.

Yeah.

We won't have to scramble to get down.

We can do it.

Yes, sir, we'll need a lower altitude right away, though.

Roger.

American 965 is clear to VOR DME.

OK.

NARRATOR: The pilots are pleased.

Runway 19 is a straight in approach from the north.

They won't have to lose precious time by circling the airport.

But there isn't much time.

They need to get the plane down quickly.

Williams deploys the speed brakes.

The brakes are flaps on the top of the wings.

When raised they reduce lift and increase

the plane's rate of descent.

Approach runway 19.

Rozo, number one arrival.

NARRATOR: This split second decision

to land on runway 19 sets off a chain of events

that will end in disaster.

We'll report VOR.

Thank you, sir.

Report Tulua, VOR.

Report Tulua.

I've got to give you a Tulua first of all.

You want to go right to Cali or to Tulua?

I thought he said the Rozo one arrival.

Yeah, he did.

We got time to pull that out?

NARRATOR: Events begin to unravel

very quickly in the cockpit.

The pilots have to locate the new charts for the approach

to 19, enter the new route into the computer,

and still fly the plane.

And Tulua one Rozo--

yeah, there it is.

See, that comes off Tulua.

NARRATOR: They are getting totally confused.

The controller keeps asking them to report

when they've passed Tulua.

But having erased it from their computer,

they've no idea where it is.

It's on your map.

Should be.

NARRATOR: Captain Tafuri asks the tower

if they can forget Tulua and fly directly

to Rozo, their last waypoint before the runway.

Can American Airlines 965 go direct to Rozo

and then do the Rozo arrival, sir?

Affirmative.

Take the Rozo one and runway 19.

And the wind is calm.

All right, Rozo.

The Rozo one to 19.

Thank you, American 965.

Report Tulua at 21 miles and 5,000 feet.

OK.

Report Tulua--

NARRATOR: The controller is still asking them to report

passing the Tulua beacon.

Without radar, he doesn't realize they've already

passed it and are speeding down the valley toward the airport.

Captain Tafuri now makes another fateful decision.

What the-- what happened here?

NARRATOR: Having decided to head for the Rozo waypoint,

he punches R into his computer.

[bell dings]

The computer database responds with a list of more than 10

waypoints to choose from.

Normally the nearest one, Rozo, would be at the top.

But tonight It's not.

Captain Tafuri doesn't notice, and pushes Execute.

[beeping]

At over 300 miles per hour, and descending at a rate

of approximately 1,300 feet per minute,

flight 965 begins to veer off on a new and deadly course.

[ominous music]

[speaking spanish]

INTERPRETER: I never imagined that they were deflecting

the route in addition to losing altitude,

because I didn't have radar.

NARRATOR: In the cockpit of flight 965,

the pilots are completely unaware of what they've done.

They're busy studying charts as their plane

crosses the mountains into unknown territory.

[ominous music]

For more than a minute, American Airlines flight 965 has been

turning into the mountains.

Captain Tafuri and First Officer Williams

suddenly notice that their aircraft

is taking them somewhere they don't want to go.

We're going out to--

Let's go right to Tulua first of all.

OK?

Yeah.

Where are we headed?

17, 7--

NARRATOR: Captain Tafuri is floundering

in the pitch darkness.

What happened here?

NARRATOR: If he can find the Tulua waypoint,

he can get his bearings.

He switches to another computer system

and enters the radio frequency for the Tulua beacon.

OK.

I'm getting it.

17, 7 just doesn't seem right on mine.

I don't know why.

Left turn.

So you want a left turn back around to ULQ.

Nah.

Hell, no.

Let's press on to--

Where we're-- press on to where, though?

Tulua.

NARRATOR: Hopelessly lost and less than two minutes

from impact, Tafuri decides to press

on with his doomed approach.

Let's go to Cali first of all, OK?

Come to the right, right now.

Come to the right, right now.

NARRATOR: The pilots don't know it.

But when the plane veered off course,

it crossed over the mountains.

They're now in another valley, parallel

to where they should be.

[suspenseful music]

The passengers are completely unaware that in less than 60

seconds the aircraft, traveling at more than 210 miles an hour,

is going to crash.

We're almost there, though.

Tulua, I'm not getting for some reason.

See, I can't-- OK.

Now-- no.

We don't want Tulua.

Let's just go to the extended center line of--

Which is Rozo.

--Rozo.

Well, why don't you just go direct to Roao then.

All right? - OK.

Let's--

I'm gonna put that over to you.

NARRATOR: They decide to give up on Tulua

and make straight for the airport.

They don't realize that there is now a wall of mountains

between them and Cali.

[suspenseful music]

965, altitude?

965, 9,000 feet.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL (ON RADIO): Roger.

Distance now?

[alarm buzzing]

NARRATOR: The plane's ground proximity

warning system is telling them they're about to crash.

965, this is Cali approach.

Can you hear me?

[speaking spanish]

INTERPRETER: He didn't answer.

He never answered again.

[alarm buzzing]

Easy does it.

Easy does it.

Nope.

I could feel that we were just violently just going up.

And I felt like I was on a roller

coaster ride or something.

[screaming]

And the turbulence was absolutely horrible.

And by that time, people were screaming.

And everybody knew on the flight that something was very wrong.

AUTOMATED VOICE: Too low.

Terrain.

Easy does it.

Easy does it.

Nope.

Up, baby.

MERCEDES RAMIREZ: Instinctively, I reached over

and I grabbed my father's hand.

And I pull my head in my lap.

[screaming]

In my mind I just kept on thinking, come

on, just straighten it out.

Straighten it out.

Up, baby.

More!

More!

Up! Up!

Up!

NARRATOR: These were the last words

on the cockpit voice recorder.

[crash]

[somber music]

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL (ON RADIO): American 965,

this is Cali approach.

American 965, this is Cali approach.

Can you hear me?

[ominous music]

NELSON RIVERA: [speaking spanish]

INTERPRETER: I never experienced anything like this before.

This was the first time that I lost a plane and the crew

was not responding.

It is very difficult to grasp the moment.

When the plane didn't answer, I looked

outside from the control tower.

I could see from there the sky.

I started to look for the plane.

The night was clear, and I thought

I could see the plane coming.

But in this case, I never saw the plane.

[chatter]

NARRATOR: As the arrival time comes and goes,

rumors begin to circulate that air traffic control has

lost contact with flight 965.

[chatter]

In an instant, joy turns to shock

as cries that the plane is crashed

spread throughout the terminal.

[phone ringing]

Locals living near the town of Buga, north of Cali,

report hearing a massive explosion.

[sirens wailing]

Rescue teams raced to the town, which

lies near the base of a local mountain range with peaks

as high as 10,000 feet.

[suspenseful music]

At 3:00 AM, almost six hours after the plane disappeared,

a search and rescue team treks up the side

of El Diluvio Mountain.

[radio chatter]

[ominous music]

In the midst of tons of twisted and torn metal

lies 21-year-old Mercedes Ramirez.

Her last memory prior to impact is grabbing her father's

hand, and the deafening sound of the tail

section striking trees.

MERCEDES RAMIREZ: The next memory I have is the next day.

It's daylight.

I wake up and it's--

I see the sunlight around me.

And I don't know where I am.

And what's around me looks like a-- like a landfill,

like a trash dump.

And so, as I'm laying there, I'm thinking where in the world

am I.

NARRATOR: Mercedes is critically injured,

with severe internal injuries and a shattered leg.

Help!

Is anybody out there?

Help me!

NARRATOR: 19-year-old college student Mauricio Reyes

also survives the impact--

Can you hear me?

NARRATOR: --and responds to Mercedes' cry for help.

Can you move?

ACTOR AS MERCEDES RAMIREZ: Um, I can try.

I'm not sure.

My leg is bent backwards.

OK.

ACTOR AS MERCEDES RAMIREZ: Please help me.

OK. Hold on.

Hold on.

OK.

Help me, please.

OK.

MERCEDES RAMIREZ: The only way for me to get out

was having to drag myself over people.

And I remember this lady who I had to drag myself over.

And I'll-- I'll never forget her.

[groans]

Looking back, I think, oh, my goodness.

That was someone's mom or that was someone's sister

or someone's wife.

But at that time, she was just an object that I

needed to get over to get out.

ACTOR AS MERCEDES RAMIREZ: [groans]

Can you move?

Can you stand up?

I think my leg is broken.

- OK, well try-- - OK.

--on three.

OK.

One, two, three.

[screams] No, I can't!

I can't!

MERCEDES RAMIREZ: And when he lifted me was when--

the first time I actually felt pain.

It just felt like an electrical current going up--

up and down my leg.

So he laid me back down.

And then he went off to-- to try to find help.

I'm going to the village.

OK? OK.

Just stay here. - OK.

OK.

OK.

OK.

OK.

NARRATOR: At first light, the Colombian Air Force

starts the search for the crash site, delayed because they

have no night vision equipment.

GONZALO DUSSAN: When I wake up, I start

to feel the pain in my back.

Then, when I hear this sound of the helicopters,

I realize something happened.

I started, you know, to feel panic.

Help me!

Someone please help me!

ACTOR AS MICHELLE DUSSAN: Daddy, I'm here.

Papa!

Michelle?

NARRATOR: Gonzalo Dussan's six-year-old daughter,

Michelle, still strapped in her seat--

Michelle, call me.

NARRATOR: --answers her father's desperate call for help.

Keep talking to me.

OK?

Michelle?

GONZALO DUSSAN: So I realized that my daughter was alive too.

Then I started to crawl to try to look

for my-- where the voice of my daughter coming from.

Michelle, please.

I'm coming.

Where are you?

NARRATOR: Dussan struggles to crossed

through the broken and twisted cabin to reach his daughter.

Michelle.

NARRATOR: But she's pinned beneath the wreckage.

- Let me help you. - Ow.

Ow.

My leg hurts.

When the plane crashed, my legs--

I had my seat belt on.

And I-- I guess the crash were so deep that my legs,

like, speared into the ground.

You OK?

MICHELLE DUSSAN (VOICEOVER): I'd try to move myself,

but my legs hurt.

They hurt really bad.

I couldn't pick myself up. - Ow!

Daddy, it hurts.

OK.

OK, Michelle.

I'm going to get-- get some water for you

soon and bring it back.

OK?

Then I try to crawl more to try to get out.

NARRATOR: Despite a severe back injury,

Dussan manages to crossed towards a small open section

of the fuselage.

GONZALO DUSSAN: I saw a hole behind me,

and I said inside me--

I said, God, help me to get out from here.

NARRATOR: The survivors of flight 965

realize they have no option but to wait for help, unsure

if it will arrive in time.

The temperatures have fallen dramatically.

And without protective clothing they could

die of exposure within hours.

Since beginning their search at first light,

the Colombian Air Force has yet to spot the crash site.

Michelle!

Over here!

Over here!

I could see the helicopters perfectly from where I was at.

And even though I could see them perfectly,

I didn't know if they could-- if they could see me.

Help us!

When-- when I saw the helicopter very close

to the trees, to the top of the trees,

I start moving the blanket.

I start to move the blanket, then so I say,

oh, they saw-- they saw me.

They saw me.

WOMAN: Here!

Help us!

Help us!

NARRATOR: More than eight hours after impact,

and after enduring life threatening injuries

and near-freezing temperatures, the survivors of flight 965

are about to be rescued.

MERCEDES RAMIREZ: People finally know that we're here,

and they're finally here to-- to rescue us

after so many hours of being stuck

on that side of that mountain.

So seeing them was one of the greatest things ever.

[hopeful music]

GONZALO DUSSAN: They came and they throw a rope,

and the people start to descend.

And, you know, I was so happy because I feel,

you know, that they--

they're going to help us.

NARRATOR: College student Mauricio

Reyes is the first to be airlifted off the mountain.

[somber music]

But low cloud cover delays the removal

of the remaining survivors.

[speaking spanish]

Fearing that six-year-old Michelle

Dussan may not survive, volunteers

take a calculated risk.

[speaking spanish]

They fashion a stretcher from a piece of the wreckage

and begin to evacuate Michelle off the mountain by foot.

Shortly after, the weather clears.

And the remaining survivors are airlifted to a base camp

halfway down the mountain, and then to the hospital.

[speaking spanish]

More than 13 hours after the crash of flight 965,

Michelle Dussan is the last survivor

to emerge from the jungle of El Diluvio alive.

ACTOR AS MICHELLE DUSSAN: Mommy.

I don't think that there is any medical explanation

or scientific explanation.

There is no explanation that out of people that were stronger

and, like, tough, that me, a little girl--

a six-year-old girl-- could survive out of so many people

that were so much stronger than me.

I just thank God so much.

NARRATOR: Of the 163 aboard flight 965, 159 were lost.

Only four survived.

All of the survivors were seated within two

rows of one another--

just above the wing and above huge girders,

that make the area the plane's strongest section.

Despite this, Mercedes Ramirez has lost both her parents

on her 21st birthday.

MERCEDES RAMIREZ: December 20, 1995,

my life changed forever, and has never been the same ever since.

There was 160 people on that flight who,

the moment that plane hit that mountain, all their hopes

and dreams were instantly lost.

But for some reason, I've been given a second chance at life.

And so I'm gonna try to make the best of it.

NARRATOR: The evacuation of survivors

gives way to the gruesome task of recovering

the bodies of the 159 souls who perished

on the summit of Mount Diluvio.

Investigators now descend to try to find out how one of the most

sophisticated airliners equipped with state of the art

technology could veer off course and crash more

than 35 miles from the airport.

[suspenseful music]

The investigation into the crash of flight 965

was led by Columbia's Aeronautica Civil.

Assisting the Colombians were investigators

from the US National Transportation Safety Board,

including Dave Ivey.

DAVID IVEY: The wreckage and debris report indicated

that the airplane actually impacted the eastern side

of the mountain as it was trying to proceed back

west to get into the valley.

And the main body of the wreckage

cleared the mountain top or the ridge,

I should say, and landed over on the western side, which

is inside the valley area.

[ominous music]

NARRATOR: Also following the investigation

was Dave Simmon, an airline captain who

knew the Cali approach well.

DAVE SIMMON: In the days that followed the crash,

the industry was shocked.

They were shocked because they didn't know

how could a sophisticated airplane like the 757,

flown by a well-respected international carrier

like American Airlines, with well-trained crews,

get so far off course.

Nobody could figure out how did it happen, why did it happen.

[somber music]

NARRATOR: Sabotage and mechanical malfunction

were soon ruled out.

Attention turned to the actions of the flight crew.

The discovery of the black boxes enabled investigators

to follow the final moments of American Airlines flight 965.

There is never one single item that--

or error that typically brings an airplane down.

There's an error chain.

And a chain is made up of many links.

The airplane was en route to Cali.

As they were approaching from a distance out,

the controller offered them a straight in landing.

Are you able to approach runway 19?

Would you like to shoot the 19 straight in?

Uh, yeah.

We'll have to scramble to get down.

We can do it.

When they first accepted the approach,

the first officer remarked that we

do need to get down in a hurry in order to accomplish this.

Yes, sir.

We'll need a lower altitude right away, though.

At the time the crew accepted the approach to runway 19,

they were too high, too fast, and too close

in to safely make this approach.

NARRATOR: To lose altitude, the first officer

deploys the speed brakes--

an action that will prove disastrous in the final segment

of the flight.

The fact that they accepted that runway put the crew

in a rushed and hurried manner.

Maybe at Tulua first of all.

You want to go right to Cali or to Tulua?

I thought he said the Rozo one arrival.

Yeah, he did.

We got time to pull that out?

NARRATOR: The flight crew now must study the approach charts

and reprogram the computer.

Meanwhile, the airplane is moving at more

than 5 miles per minute.

Because they're rushed, and in a hurry, and scrambling,

they then make a dangerous request.

Can American Airlines 965 go director to Rozo

and then do the Rozo arrivals, sir?

Affirmative.

Take the Rozo one and runway 19.

When the controller said affirmative, take the Rozo one,

he meant use the Rozo one arrival

procedure, although the crew thought

he meant to go direct to Rozo.

That's not a good idea.

Because to proceed direct to Rozo

is the last point just before the runway.

And Rozo is the last point before landing, not

the first point that you should be targeting.

And this miscommunication really dealt with the pilot

believing one thing and the air traffic controller

believing another.

That was another link, in my view--

ACTOR AS NICHOLAS TAFURI: What happened here?

DAVID IVEY: --that was part of the error chain.

Where are we?

DAVE SIMMON: The crew looks at their--

at their charts in front of them,

and they see the fixed Rozo.

And it is identified by the letter R.

So they naturally put R into the computer

thinking it will take them directly to Rozo.

NARRATOR: The computer offers a list to choose from.

But, unbeknownst to the pilots, none is Rozo.

Habit has shown--

and the system is designed to place the one that is

closest to your airplane first.

And so here was an R that showed up first and he selected that.

NARRATOR: A display in front of the pilot

shows the proposed course to the waypoint selected.

It will take the plane left, into the mountains.

DAVID IVEY: According to American Airlines procedure,

prior to executing an input such as this

to select the R, you confirm with the other pilot,

does this look correct to you.

965, 9,000 feet.

This clearly was not done.

If it had been, they would have seen a dotted line

showing a provisional path from the nose of the airplane,

turning, and going back to about their 7 o'clock position.

NARRATOR: Captain Tafuri hastily presses the Execute button.

DAVE SIMMON: Unfortunately, the crew

does not know that R stands for another fix that

is 132 miles away, behind them, at about their 7

o'clock position.

And that's where the airplane starts to go to.

DAVID IVEY: The plane was simply doing

what it was programmed to do.

In this case it's to fly out of Bogota, 130 miles away.

NARRATOR: More than a minute into the turn,

the pilots are unaware they're flying away from Cali

and dangerously off course.

DAVE SIMMON: The first officer is getting the charts out.

The captain's getting the charts out.

They don't know where we're headed.

DAVE SIMMON: They're trying to tune radios.

No one's flying the airplane.

No one's watching what happens.

And they assume that the automation

is gonna take care of 'em.

Sometimes it will, but in this case it didn't.

Uh, where are we?

We're going out to--

Let's go right to Tulua first of all, OK?

DAVID IVEY: In this case, the airplane got in front of them.

It was flying what was selected.

And, in fact, it was flying beyond the pilot's

recognition of where it was supposed to be traveling.

NARRATOR: The pilots had lost what's referred

to as situational awareness.

Left turn, so you want a left turn back around.

No. Hell, no.

Let's press onto--

Well, we're pressing to where, though?

Tulua.

That's a right U and--

Well, where are we going?

DAVE SIMMON: Once they became unsure of their position--

once they became confused and disoriented--

that's the time to click off the automation

and to basically abandon the approach,

climb to the minimum safe altitude, and to go to Cali.

965, altitude?

NARRATOR: Instead of abandoning the approach

and gaining altitude, flight 965 continued its deadly descent.

[suspenseful music]

[alarm buzzing]

When the warning sounded that the plane was about to crash--

[screaming]

--First Officer Williams disengaged the autopilot

within one second, but forgot to retract the speed

brakes he deployed earlier.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL (ON RADIO): 965, this is Cali Approach.

Can you hear me?

NARRATOR: According to the official report,

had he remembered to lower the speed brakes,

the plane could have cleared the mountain with room to spare.

A court eventually ruled that the pilots of flight 965

had shown willful misconduct on the approach to Cali.

Survivor Mercedes Ramirez, who lost both her parents,

continues to deal with the crash.

I think this was a classic textbook

case of everything you should not do when flying a plane.

Hopefully it's a wake up call to pilots that,

no matter how many times you've flown to a city,

you just have to be alert and aware.

Because every little move that you make,

you have the lives of people in your hands.