Original subtitles

FLIGHT ATTENDANT: Ladies and gentlemen,

we are starting our approach.

FLIGHT CREWMAN: We lost both engines.

[inaudible].

Emergency descent. FLIGHT CREWMAN: Mayday!

Mayday!

Brace for impact!

He's going to crash!

NARRATOR: Avianca flight 52 is in trouble.

The crew is exhausted.

They're over New York City and almost out of fuel.

Are we clear to land, no?

Yes, sir.

We are clear to land.

Tell me things louder because I'm not hearing it.

NARRATOR: They're cleared to land.

Soon the nightmare will be over.

Gear down.

Glide slope!

Sync rate, 500 feet.

NARRATOR: The captain desperately searches for

the runway at Kennedy Airport.

Lights!

NARRATOR: But he can't find it.

The runway, where is it?

I don't see it.

I don't see it.

NARRATOR: Now, they're battling violent wind shear.

This is the wind shear.

NARRATOR: They're going to crash.

Give me the landing gear up.

Landing gear up!

NARRATOR: The plane has hardly a drop of fuel left.

They cannot land.

[crying]

Flight 52 is about to crash somewhere over New York.

How could that happen?

Even the world's finest aircraft detectives will never

agree about who is to blame.

Southwest of Kennedy Airport, with a track brought up--

[sirens]

106 to Main Street in Oyster Bay.

NARRATOR: January 25, 1990.

Air traffic controllers are nervously

tracking a massive low-pressure system approaching

America's northeast coast.

There was a system moving through the Great Lakes,

moving east.

There were a couple of other systems converging,

and a lot of times they'll converge in the New York area

there, and the whole Northeast will go down.

NARRATOR: The weather is already near the safe minimum

to land a plane.

Flights will have to be canceled or delayed.

The terminals will be choked with thousands

of angry passengers.

Despite the terrible weather, the air traffic managers

in Washington DC order controllers

at Kennedy Airport in New York to set a high landing rate.

We have some--

NARRATOR: Air travel is vital, and they're

under tremendous pressure to delay or cancel

as few flights as possible.

There's pressure because that's the business they're in.

The business is moving passengers from A to B.

That's what the airlines are paid,

and the controllers are paid to help that work.

Hey JFK, I need--

NARRATOR: Washington DC managers pressure New York

to land 33 aircraft per hour.

Because of the winds, we don't like the rate of 33 an hour.

NARRATOR: Scores of overseas flights

with thousands of passengers are already on their way.

They have to land somehow.

What are we going do with foreign traffic?

We'll just give them airborne holds.

Well, we know we're going to have

wind shear and missed approaches,

and this is going to be a very bad day.

And that set the scenario at about 7:00 or 8:00

in the morning before we left Medellin.

At 7:00 or 8:00 in the morning, the scenario was set

for this accident to happen.

NARRATOR: But within the next few hours, fog and low clouds

close the main runway at JFK.

Whatever their bosses say, the controllers

won't be able to land 33 aircraft an hour.

[music playing]

2,400 miles to the south in Colombia,

it's a warm, cloudless day.

Avianca Flight 52 is now boarding

passengers for New York.

Among them, Miriam and Luis Montoya

and their two young daughters.

[speaking spanish]

INTERPRETER: I remember during that day in the morning,

before we boarded the flight, I talked

to a friend that was going to pick us

up at the airport in New York.

He told us the weather conditions were bad.

The temperature was very low, and it was rainy,

and it was going to be foggy.

NARRATOR: After a short business trip,

Nestor Zarate is traveling home to New York.

I received a telephone call telling me that if I could be

in the airport in a half an hour and not ask any questions

or request anything, I would get on the direct flight

to New York.

NARRATOR: In the cockpit, flight engineer Matias Moyano

monitors the loading of over 13,000 pounds of fuel

for a total of 80,000 pounds--

enough for the journey, plus an extra two hours' flying time.

Avianca 052 heavy, request clearance for takeoff,

runway 11.

NARRATOR: Just after 3:00 in the afternoon,

Avianca 52 leaves Medellin with its maximum allowable fuel

load.

The Colombian airliner with 158 passengers and crew

heads north.

By early evening, deteriorating weather has made for appalling

conditions at JFK.

Continue to the left, heading 2-3-0 vectors

and holding for Cameron again.

NARRATOR: Unable to turn back overseas flights,

controllers direct air traffic to circle and wait to land.

So turn left.

There is a wind shear alert on final at 1,500 feet.

Turn left, heading--

NARRATOR: They worked frantically

to keep track of the growing number of aircraft

circling over New York.

American Airlines 251, you are clear to land on Runway 37.

When Mother Nature gets involved, problems develop.

The tension gets higher.

The pressure gets higher.

Decisions become more critical.

NARRATOR: JFK airport now only has one runway for landing,

and aircraft or queuing up to use it.

In the near blackout conditions, several planes

have to abort their landings, which only adds to the delays.

On Flight 52, the crew knows none of this.

They neither receive nor request the weather for New York

or for their alternate airport, Boston.

In this case, Avianca 52 had the capability of calling

several different stations or could

have called their own dispatch operation in Miami

and got an update on the weather.

We don't really have any evidence that they checked

with anyone to get the updated weather for JFK

and their alternate, Boston.

It's inconceivable to me that someone who

had a responsibility of other people's lives

would fly into a deteriorating condition

without checking about A, do we have a way out of this place?

NARRATOR: Avianca 52 enters the airspace

near Norfolk, Virginia.

After four hours in the air, New York City is

now less than 40 minutes away.

51-year-old Captain Laureano Caviedes

is a seasoned pilot who's flown with Avianca for 27 years.

But his English is poor.

All communications with air traffic control

will be handled by the 28-year-old co-pilot Mauricio

Klotz.

Flight engineer Matias Moyano is experienced,

but like co-pilot Klotz, he has only four months

of flight time in the 707.

They were a highly-experienced flight crew who had

been into New York several times previously

on behalf of Avianca.

So they were familiar with the route and the procedures.

Washington, good evening.

Avianca 052 heavy, flight level 3-7-0.

Avianca 052 heavy, Washington Center, roger.

Avianca 052, I'd like you to make a right 360-degree turn.

And I need you to get a pencil ready for holding

instructions at Norfolk.

OK, 360-degree right turn at Norfolk.

Avianca 052 heavy.

Hold south on 174 with right turns in 20-mile legs.

NARRATOR: Flight 52's troubles are about to begin.

It's diverted out over the Atlantic Ocean near Norfolk

and placed in a holding pattern.

Here, the aircraft will fly an elliptical pattern

until further notice.

The pilots don't know about the weather ahead,

but with enough fuel for more than two hours of flying,

there's no cause for alarm.

The Northeast Corridor of the United States

is one of the most congested airspaces in the world.

Incoming traffic from overseas is routinely

directed through a pipeline of controllers

before receiving clearance to land at one of the New

York area's major airports--

JFK, LaGuardia, or Newark.

Tonight, Avianca 52 will come under the direction of more

than six controllers trying to get the aircraft,

now circling over New York, safely down on the ground.

We just got off the line.

It's indefinite holding at this time.

Turn left in 0-8-0.

NARRATOR: While air traffic control tries

to cope with an increasing backlog of flights,

Avianca flight 52 circles for 19 minutes

over the Virginia coast, waiting to continue to New York.

Avianca 052, expedite descent through level 3-3.

Just leave flight level 3-3-0 within three minutes, please.

OK.

We'll leave 3-3-0 within three minutes, Avianca 052 heavy.

NARRATOR: The Avianca jet is on its way to New York, at last.

But they have no idea of the trouble that awaits them.

Avianca flight 52 is on its final approach to New York,

unaware that conditions at JFK are barely safe for landing.

It's pitch black with heavy mist, rain,

and sudden, violent winds.

The plane has almost used up the fuel planned for the journey,

and will soon start eating into its reserves.

The crew considers diverting to their alternate airport

in Boston, just 210 miles from New York.

Washington Center, Avianca 052 heavy.

Avianca 052 heavy.

Go ahead.

Do you have any information about delays to Boston?

NARRATOR: The Washington controller asks his assistant

to check on the conditions at Boston,

but he gets distracted, juggling other aircraft,

and he forgets all about Avianca's request.

While flight 52 is left waiting for an answer that never comes,

their precious fuel supply is slowly draining away.

Ask him about Boston again.

Did you ask about delays at Boston,

or are we going to approach Kennedy?

OK, Avianca 052.

It looks as though New York's center may have to hold you

for possibly up to 30 minutes.

OK, Avianca 052, I've been advised Boston is open

and accepting traffic if you do need

that as an alternate airport.

OK, standby a minute.

NARRATOR: Flight engineer Moyano begins to calculate

how much fuel they'll have after an additional 30

minutes of holding.

Even before they can respond, Washington control directs them

to another holding location.

Avianca 052 heavy.

Make a right turn now to intercept

the Cameron two arrival.

Cleared on course.

Maintain flight level 1-niner-0.

NARRATOR: Flight 52 is now off the New Jersey coast in an area

known as Cameron, less than 45 miles from Kennedy Airport,

but it seems as far away as ever.

During all those holding times,

I was praying and trying to see where we're going to land.

I mean, when are we going to be on the ground?

I don't want to be here anymore.

CAPTAIN: Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain.

I apologize for the delay, but it appears

we're going to be holding as we wait

our turn to land in New York.

NARRATOR: It will be the crew's last communication

with the passengers as flight 52's

situation goes from bad to worse.

Avianca 052, descend and maintain 1-4,000--

NARRATOR: It's handed over to the New

York controllers, who, even on a good day, can be intimidating.

And today is not a good day.

Avianca 052--

NARRATOR: There are up to 39 aircraft

trying to land and dozens more on the ground

waiting to take off.

Tired and frustrated, the crew of Avianca 52

continues to circle the crowded airspace over New York

while they wait for clearance to land.

After more than five hours in the air,

Luis Montoya is anxious to get his wife and two

young daughters on the ground and back

to their home in Queens.

[speaking spanish]

INTERPRETER: As the flight started to prolong,

we started to feel uneasy.

My wife was carrying the baby at all times,

and we were wondering what could be happening.

After all, they weren't giving us any information,

and most people began to feel nervous.

NARRATOR: New York Center finally

gives the crew of Avianca 52 the message

they've been waiting for.

Avianca 052 heavy.

AVR Kennedy is 2,400 feet.

Can you accept an approach?

That's an affirmative, sir.

NARRATOR: They think they're finally in the clear.

Avianca 052--

NARRATOR: Then calamity.

We are passing 1-0-5.

NARRATOR: The foul weather forces

several aircraft ahead to abandon their landing attempts

and try again.

The controllers have bad news for the Colombian airliner.

Avianca 052, continue to the left heading 2-3-0 vectors

holding at Cameron again.

NARRATOR: Another hold.

OK.

2-3-0 vectors for holding at Cameron.

NARRATOR: They've been held up for 48 minutes near Norfolk,

and then asked to circle for another 25 minutes

only a few miles from the safety of JFK airport.

They were progressively moving toward JFK,

and they were held in the air for three times.

This certainly would put some stress on the crew

as to the fact, they want to go from A

to B. They don't want to fly in a race track

for an hour just holding.

NARRATOR: 8:55 PM, 40 minutes before flight 52

ends, the cockpit voice recorder captures a crew that seems

resigned, or perhaps too timid to complain.

Moments later, Avianca is given more unwelcome news.

Avianca 052, expect for the clearance time 0-2-0-5.

Expect for the clearance in 20 minutes.

NARRATOR: Now the stress level on the cockpit begins to rise.

0-2-0-5, well, I think we need priority.

We are passing out of fuel.

Avianca 052, roger.

How long can you hold, and what is your alternate?

OK.

Standby a minute.

NARRATOR: The flight engineer quickly

calculates the remaining fuel.

Yes sir.

We'll be able to hold for five minutes.

That's all we can do.

Avianca 052, roger.

And what's your alternate?

It was Boston, but we can't do it now.

We'll run out of fuel.

Avianca 052, cleared to land at Kennedy via heading 0-4-0.

Maintain 1-1,000 at speed 1-8-0.

The Avianca crew, when they felt it,

they were being handed off to an approach controller

now and given a heading in a lower altitude.

I'm sure in their minds, they thought, well, they even

commented on a cockpit voice recorder, we're being handled,

or we're being taken care of.

Avianca 052 only has five more minutes in the hold.

Are you going to be able to take them,

or I'll send him off to his alternate?

What is his speed now?

I'm not sure, to be honest with you.

Holding speed.

Slow him to 180, and I'll take him.

Say it again.

Slow him to 1-8-0 knots, and I'll take him.

NARRATOR: But in this critical handoff,

there is no specific mention that Avianca

is running out of fuel.

Flight 52 has been handed off a third time.

Descending to 7,000.

Avianca 052 heavy.

Avianca 052, before you go, there is a wind shear

alert on final at 1,500 feet.

The high-level wind shear was passed on early

on, so he was aware of that.

But the low-level wind shear below 500 feet

was not passed on.

NARRATOR: Throughout the flight from Colombia,

the plane's autopilot has been unusable.

Reported after the last flight, Avianca maintenance

failed to fix it.

After more than six hours of flying manually,

the physical and mental stress is taking

a toll on Captain Caviedes.

To me, it's inconceivable someone

would have to fly a Boeing 707 without an autopilot.

I mean that's a high workload in smooth air.

NARRATOR: After more than an hour

and 17 minutes waiting for clearance to land,

the crew of flight 52 believes controllers on the ground

are aware of their fuel emergency

and are clearing the 707 for a priority landing.

In the cabin, the flight attendants and passengers

have no idea that their plane is dangerously low on fuel.

Then the go-around procedure is stating that the power

be applied slowly to avoid--

NARRATOR: In the cockpit, the crew now hastily discusses

the go-around procedure--

what to do if they can't find the runway

through the fog and low clouds and have

to go around a second time.

It's standard procedure.

Power be applied slowly and to avoid rapid accelerations,

and to have a minimum of nose-up attitude.

To maintain what?

Minimum.

Minimum nose-up attitude.

That means--

NARRATOR: Flight engineer Moyano is concerned

that if the captain were to pull up the plane's nose too

sharply, the remaining fuel would

slosh to the back of a tank and cause the engines to stop.

[inaudible] fuel during the go-around.

Avianca, descend and maintain--

descend and maintain 3,000.

Descend and maintain 3,000, Avianca 052 heavy.

Avianca 052 heavy, contact Kennedy

tower 1-1-9-0.1 Good day.

NARRATOR: Only minutes before landing, flight 52

is handed off to a JFK tower controller

whose shift is about to end.

Avianca 052 heavy, Kennedy tower 22 left.

You are number three following 7-2-7

traffic on a niner-mile final.

Avianca 052 heavy, roger.

I was so happy.

For me, it was like a joy.

We're going to land soon, and this is going to be end.

Avianca 052, what is your air speed?

Avianca 052, 1-4-0 knots.

Avianca 052, can you increase your airspeed 1-0 knots?

1-0?

OK, 1-0 knots, increasing.

Increase.

Increase.

10 knots more.

Tell me things louder, because I'm not hearing it.

Lower the gear.

Gear down.

Avianca 052, 2-2 left.

Win 1-niner-0 at 2-0 cleared to land.

Clear to land, Avianca 052 heavy.

Wind check please?

1-niner-0 at 2-0.

NARRATOR: With the weather deteriorating and flying

on fumes, the crew of flight 52 will

have only one chance of getting their 149 passengers safely

on the ground.

Stand by.

Flaps 50, landing checklist complete.

Flight engineer had to know they were out of fuel,

and when they came in for their first approach,

it was time for the flight engineer to say,

this is the only approach we're going to be able to make.

And he didn't.

Give me 50.

Flaps 50 now.

All set for landing.

Standing by for lights.

Slightly below glide slope.

1,000 feet above field.

Instruments cross-checked, slightly below.

Standby for lights.

Standby.

The wind is slightly from the left, 190 with 20,

below glide slope.

NARRATOR: With about 10 minutes of fuel remaining and just two

miles from the runway, flight 52 flies

into violent wind shear forcing the crew

to slow the plane down.

They were getting like 60 knots of wind on the nose,

and then as they descended on down through about 500 feet

to the ground, they were down to 20 knots.

So that's, 40 knot change and 1,000 feet of elevation.

That's a lot.

This is the wind shear.

NARRATOR: The wind changes direction.

It's pressing them down toward the ground.

Glide slope!

Glide slope.

Sink rate, 500 feet.

NARRATOR: The captain desperately

searches for the runway, but it's

shrouded in low clouds and fog.

Lights!

The runway, where is it?

I don't see it.

I don't see it.

NARRATOR: The plane's warning system is telling

them they're about to crash.

Pull up.

[crying]

Glide slope!

Sink rate, 500 feet.

NARRATOR: Just two miles from touchdown,

flight 52 has been caught in violent wind shear.

Captain Caviedes supplies full throttle, burning up more

of the plane's precious fuel.

Give me the landing gear up.

Landing gear up!

The airplane was about 200 feet above the ground,

about two miles from the runway, which

was well below the glide slope, and very dangerous.

So the airplane almost crashed on its first approach.

When you get a missed approach,

now it changes the whole ball game.

Request another traffic pattern.

Executing a missed approach.

Avianca 052 heavy.

The operation of pulling the plane up in the missed approach

was a very violent one.

It was a very steep climb, so we were all thrown back by gravity

towards the back of our seats.

Something's going on here.

Anything-- we're going to crash.

This is terrible.

I mean, we start praying and then I pass out.

I couldn't handle it anymore.

NARRATOR: As captain Caviedes pulls back hard to climb

to safety, the 707's remaining fuel sloshes back

and away from the fuel pumps.

Flight 52's violent climb to safety

frightens and infuriates the passengers.

[angry non-english speech]

[speaking spanish]

INTERPRETER: My baby Daniela also started to feel uneasy

and began to cry.

We began to get the feeling that something was about to happen.

Avianca 052, you were making a left turn, correct sir?

Tell him we are in emergency.

2000 feet!

That's right.

To 1-8-0 on the heading, and we'll try once again.

We are running out of fuel.

OK.

What did he say?

I already advised him that we are going to attempt again.

Advise him we are in emergency.

Did you tell him? - Yes sir!

I already advised him!

NARRATOR: But the tower controller

at the end of his shift transfers Avianca 52

to his counterpart in approach control.

They'll have to begin all over again.

Avianca 052 heavy, contact approach on 1-1-8.4.

Approach Avianca 052 heavy.

We just missed a missed approach and we are maintaining 2,000.

Flaps 14.

Avianca 052 heavy New York.

Good evening.

Climb and maintain 3,000.

Advise him we don't have fuel!

Climb and maintain 3,000.

We are running out of fuel, sir.

OK.

Fly heading 0-8-0.

Did you already advise him we don't have fuel?

Yes, sir.

I already advised him.

We are going to maintain 3,000 and he's going to get us back.

As they get back in the pattern and circle the field

and come back in again, that again

adds to the traffic jam that was being

created at Kennedy Airport.

Avianca 052 heavy.

I'm going to turn you about 15 miles northeast,

and then bring you back onto the approach.

Is that OK with you and your fuel?

What did he say?

The guy is angry.

I guess so.

Thank you very much.

These guys were out, and they didn't say we were out.

And he allowed the approach control

to vector them way out in the original pattern

and 15 miles north of the outer marker again.

NARRATOR: Flight 52 is instructed

to fly a long-approach pattern for another landing attempt.

The plane is down to its last dregs of fuel

as the crew waits for final clearance to land.

In their minds that they were being handled and taken care of

and they had enough fuel to go around and shoot the approach.

But on the way, they were given a 360 turn because of traffic

spacing, and then they were run way out towards Long Island

and vectored all around, which was equivalent to holding

for another 15, 20 minutes.

Did you get clearance yet?

Can you give us a final yet?

Avianca 052 heavy.

Avianca 052, affirmative sir.

Turn left, heading 0-4-0.

Climb and maintain 3,000.

Negative sir.

We are running out of fuel.

OK.

Turn left, heading 3-1-0, sir.

Set flaps 14.

OK, and you're number two for the approach.

I just have to give you enough room

so you can make it without having to come out again.

OK.

We're number two and flying 3-6-0 now.

NARRATOR: The lights in the aircraft

start to flicker as the engines are starved of fuel.

3-3-0 on the heading, Avianca 052.

Once you're to no fuel flowing through the pump out

of the tank, an amber light comes on

to tell you that tank is empty.

Flame out!

Flame out on engine number four!

Flame out on it?

Flame out on engine number three!

Show me the runway.

NARRATOR: The passengers can hear the sound of the engines

beginning to shut down.

When the engines went off, I looked over

to the lady that was sitting next to me

and I asked her to give me her hand.

And I philosophically accepted, you know, I might die here.

This is it.

Avianca 052, we just lost two engines,

and we need priority, please.

Avianca 052, turn left heading 2-5-0.

Intercept the localizer.

2-5-0, roger.

Select the ILS.

ILS!

Avianca 052, you're 1-5 miles from the outer marker.

Maintain 2,000 until established in the localizer.

Cleared for ILS, 2-2 left.

Roger, Avianca.

You select the ILS?

He's ready on 2.

When all the engines flame out and the generators fall off

the line, a considerable amount of power is lost,

electrical power is lost.

In the cabin, the screams, the crying,

and then this terrible sound of the wind

against the fuselage as the plane drops from the sky.

[loud crash]

Avianca 052, radar contact lost.

Avianca is missing due to the weather thing.

Yeah, Avianca 52 lost an engine.

We're trying to find out why.

NARRATOR: Six and a half hours after leaving Colombia,

Avianca flight 52 is missing somewhere over New York.

CALLER ON PHONE: Yes, hello.

I live in Cove Neck in Oyster Bay.

And there is a plane crashed in our yard,

in front of our house.

When I woke up, I was--

the first thing that I did, I put my hand over here

in my back, and I was bleeding.

I said, oh my God, we crashed.

Both my legs were broken and I had blood all over the place.

[speaking spanish]

INTERPRETER: The seat where my daughter was sitting

was totally destroyed by pieces of steel that happened

to have come from the wing.

[speaking spanish]

INTERPRETER: I found my baby Daniela amongst the pieces

of a torn up, twisted chair.

And I picked her up like this, and she was drenched in blood.

NARRATOR: Avianca flight 52 has crashed

on Long Island, New York, less than 17 miles from JFK airport.

Medical technician Bob O'Brien hears

the survivors before he spots the shattered

aircraft in the trees.

There were just some people who were crying in pain,

but it was apparent immediately what

had happened when the plane hit the mountain

and just stopped dead.

NEWS REPORTER 1: It just fell out of the sky.

That's how witnesses described the crash of Avianca flight

52, a strangely silent crash.

NEWS REPORTER 2: You can see there was not a big fire here.

That will make it easier for investigators

to examine if there were any gas or engine problems.

NEWS REPORTER 3: There have been reports

of lightning in the area just before the plane went down.

NEWS REPORTER 4: Spokesman for the Controllers Union

says that Kennedy is critically understaffed, a problem that

is compounded by bad weather.

NEWS REPORTER 5: Rescuers have not yet given

up on finding more victims.

We're still conducting--

[speaking spanish]

INTERPRETER: First thing I remember is that I looked up,

and I saw a priest.

He was praying for me, and I was lying down on the ground.

Right above us, I saw three or four

helicopters flying over us.

Oh, my leg!

I managed to get up on top of the fuselage,

and there is that door handle that says, in case of emergency

pull here.

So I pull that door handle, and that door handle just went--

[whooshes]

And the door came open about four inches.

And then I was able to flip that over,

and I could just see piles and piles of people

strapped in their seats.

NARRATOR: The force of the crash has broken off the cockpit

and catapulted it through the trees and very close to a home,

some 100 feet from the impact site.

We couldn't get into the cockpit to get

to the pilot and the co-pilot.

All those chairs, they all just hit that cockpit door

and just piled into that fuselage.

And just that-- all that added weight and all that inertia,

now just took over in the front of that and just popped it off.

And it rolled to its left side and stopped up against a tree.

[sirens]

Come on.

Somebody get the back here.

I saw some cables, and I saw a big hole in the fuselage

over the passengers that were sitting next to me,

who were kind of unconscious.

And on top of me was this guy who was bleeding.

Big guy, I don't know who he was.

But he was on top of me, but I was sitting.

I pulled myself with those cables towards that hole

which was over the wing.

I started screaming, hey!

Help me out! Help me!

Take me out of here!

And then somebody, when they realized that I was alive,

they removed the--

I mean, they took away the guy who was on top of me,

and they took me out of the airplane.

At that moment, a fireman was climbing on the wing

and he saw me, and he said, there's a guy here.

And he pulled me out.

[sirens]

NARRATOR: 37 fire and rescue companies

from Nassau County respond.

Before 9/11, the rescue was one of the largest of its kind

in the New York area.

That little girl was sitting up on the fuselage,

and she was crying, mi madre, mi madre!

And that imprint of horror just was, you know, you

just, in your mind's eye, focus right back in on,

I saw mi madre.

I saw her mother, and I know what

that little girl was seeing.

It was horrible enough for me, and I'm a professional rescuer.

[speaking spanish]

INTERPRETER: I realized that my baby was dying,

so I began to scream--

Please help me!

I have the baby here.

Please!

Coming through!

Coming through!

Back it up.

Watch your back.

NARRATOR: The plane crashed in the wealthy neighborhood

of Cove Neck, near the home of the father

of tennis star John McEnroe.

Medics set up a makeshift triage unit on his lawn.

When daylight breaks 10 hours later,

85 survivors have been pulled from the wreckage.

The lead flight attendant is the only crew

member to survive the crash.

Of the 11 babies on board, all but one are found alive.

Bob O'Brien scours the tail section for survivors

and finds FAA investigators looking

for the aircraft's black boxes.

BOB O'BRIEN: I grabbed the handle

and just pulled the whole box out

and brought that out the door and gave it to them.

NARRATOR: Even as people are being pulled from the wreckage,

the investigation begins.

In charge on the ground is Barry Trotter of the National

Transportation Safety Board.

A former pilot, Trotter became an investigator

after losing his right arm in a motorcycle accident.

The condition of the aircraft was really astonishing to see

that much of the structure was left in the condition

that it was in.

It hit right on about a 28-degree embankment,

and with the wings and all the other trees,

it only slid 28 feet.

So it hit and stopped instantly.

NARRATOR: Unaware of the details of Avianca's troubled flight,

investigators quickly find valuable evidence.

You could look at the engines right away,

and you could tell the engines were not turning.

So there was no power on the engines.

That was the first big clue.

NARRATOR: Trotter and his team check the fuel tanks

and find just a few gallons remaining.

It becomes clear why the 707's engines stopped.

But the question of who's to blame is still to be answered.

In Cove Neck, New York, salvage workers

begin to dismantle the shattered remains of Avianca flight 52.

But there's still one critical question--

who is responsible for flight 52 running out of fuel

and causing the deaths of 72 passengers and crew?

The answer will be worth millions of dollars

and affect dozens of lives.

At the National Transportation and Safety Board in Washington

DC, investigators are eager to recover data locked

inside the two black boxes.

They begin with the flight data recorder, which

records information such as the plane's altitude, speed,

and heading.

But it proves useless.

We opened it and found that the foil

wrap was not hooked up.

So someone had actually intentionally taped the end

of the foil so it wouldn't fly around and put

it back in the airplane.

NARRATOR: Without the flight data recorder,

investigators rely heavily on flight

52's cockpit voice recorder.

It's found with more than 40 minutes of recordings

of the crew in between the first officer

and air traffic controllers.

Yes sir, we are cleared to land.

Standby.

All set for landing.

Below glide slope.

And it was apparent from the voice recorder transcript

and tape that the captain was not understanding

the first officer's radio communications that

were being made in English.

Everybody wants to blame the pilot,

but he may be the last person to make a decision.

And the scenario which caused him to be in that position

where he makes the decision was created by several other people

along the route.

The captain asked the first officer

about nine times, clarify information or repeat it

or to pass on information.

We are going to attempt again.

Advise him we have an emergency!

Do you tell him?

Did you make a conscious decision to run out of fuel?

No.

He was sucked into a situation by the air traffic controllers

where he ran out of fuel.

Once the airplane got into the JFK area,

there was certainly a serious breakdown in communications

on the part of the pilots within the cockpit,

on the part of the pilots talking to controllers,

and controllers talking to the pilots, and the controllers

amongst themselves, because there were handoffs

and some of the urgency was not passed on

within the controllers' system.

So we had multiple breakdowns in multiple areas

here that ultimately led to this accident.

Glide slope!

[inaudible]

NARRATOR: The cockpit voice recorder reveals a crew

desperate to land the 707 in near zero

visibility and extreme wind shear

without the aid of an autopilot.

In this case, the captain had a difficult time maintaining

the glide slope during the approach with the wind shear,

didn't see the airport, and had to make a go-around.

That almost doomed the airplane at that point.

The information being given to pilots

en route was a wind shear up as high as 1,500 feet,

but the pilots, on approach, were encountering

wind shear as low as 300 feet.

And that wasn't passed on to the Avianca pilot.

This is the wind shear!

NARRATOR: The crew of flight 52 is caught off guard.

As they descend below 500 feet and slow down,

a violent vertical wind forces them toward the ground--

The runway, where is it?

I don't see it.

I don't see it!

NARRATOR: nearly causing the plane to crash

two miles short of the runway.

With little fuel left, there is no fire

or explosion on impact, saving many from almost certain death.

Transmission about is primary--

NARRATOR: As the hearings into the crash begin,

controllers maintain that the Avianca crew failed

to use the word, emergency, instead,

using the word, priority, to communicate their situation.

The government took the position that the pilot

never declared an emergency, so no one

knew that he had a problem.

But saying you're getting low on fuel and saying you cannot

make your alternate, the word, emergency

is not necessary to say.

Negative, sir.

We are running out of fuel.

We just lost two engines and we need priority, please!

And they thought they were telling them when

they said we need priority.

To me, priority means a priority.

[speaking spanish]

INTERPRETER: In Spanish, for us, the word, priority means first.

Attend to me.

Run to me.

I need you right now.

NARRATOR: The NTSB concludes that air traffic's handling

of Avianca 52 was proper, given the information they

received from the flight crew.

Many passengers are outraged by what they feel

is a gross injustice that air traffic

control is found blameless.

Avianca sues the FAA, which employs the air traffic

controllers, saying they should have

done more when flight 52 told them

they were running out of fuel.

Senior staff people that we have here from the National

Transportation--

NARRATOR: The FAA settles and pays around 40%

of the estimated $200 million compensation

due to the victims.

And if you listen and read the tapes, the transcripts

of the tapes of each air traffic control center

along the route and the final in New York TRACON, New York

tower, Kennedy tower, you'll find 20 places where

this accident could have been avoided if somebody

had done something differently.

NARRATOR: Among the 85 survivors who

escaped the shattered remains of flight 52

are the Montoya's two daughters.

Daniela, the baby covered in blood,

grows to be a healthy young woman.

[speaking spanish]

INTERPRETER: The day just before the flight,

we took a long trip to visit the Virgin Mary.

This is a very important sanctuary in Medellin.

Perhaps it was a miracle of God and the Virgin

that the four of us survived.

It was a miracle, and we feel blessed by that.

NARRATOR: For many of the survivors,

recovering from their injuries has been easier

than coming to terms with the reason

why flight 52 ran out of fuel.

I had to learn to walk from scratch.

It's difficult to enough to deal with the injuries.

It makes me very angry to think that a plane went down with 161

souls and had almost half the people lost

their lives because of a word.