Original subtitles

narrator: smoke fills a passenger plane

six miles in the sky.

[gasping]

[coughing]

pilot: we're on mayday. we're going down.

narrator: electrical systems shut down as the smoke spreads.

the crew tries desperately to land their stricken plane.

attendant: we're going to be making an emergency landing.

put your head on your lap.

pilot: we're going to need fire trucks.

controller: they're standing by for you.

narrator: what seemed like a small problem at first

has become a life-or-death struggle

for everyone on board air canada flight 797.

flight attendant: ladies and gentlemen, we are starting our approach.

pilot: we lost both engines!

flight attendant: put the mask over your nose.

emergency descent.

pilot: mayday, mayday.

flight attendant: brace for impact!

controller: i think i lost one.

man: investigation starting...

man: he's gonna crash!

narrator: early evening, june 2, 1983.

suppertime aboard air canada flight 797.

captain donald cameron has been working for air canada

for 17 years

and has flown almost 5,000 hours in a dc-9.

but it doesn't mean he gets to eat first.

donald cameron: how's your seafood? nice?

narrator: before he can dig in,

his first officer claude ouimet will have to finish.

claude ouimet: good.

[laughing]

narrator: the jet is in the middle of a flight

from dallas, texas, to montreal,

with a stopover in toronto.

the heavy cloud cover below hides some light showers,

but at their cruising altitude of nearly 33,000 feet,

the view is clear and bright.

the dc-9 is only half full today,

with 41 passengers scattered throughout the plane.

woman: can i have some tea, please?

narrator: 24-year-old dianne fadley

is an active member of the juvenile diabetes foundation.

dianne fadley: we have a number

of different fundraising activities.

once a year they have a large conference,

and at this time it happened to be in toronto.

narrator: raymond chalifoux is 23 and recently married.

an engineer, he's returning home

from his first-ever business trip.

raymond chalifoux: it was a little bit frightening

both for me and for my wife.

i was supposed to be gone four or five days,

so first time we were separated for a long period of time,

so it was kind of insecuring for me, yeah.

narrator: and a few rows further up

sits a growing legend in the world of folk music.

stan rogers is just 33,

but his career is beginning to take off

outside of his native canada.

paul mills: i think stan's best-known songs

celebrate ordinary people.

the songs are really about ordinary people

rising to the occasion

and becoming heroes on their own.

narrator: just before 7 o'clock,

the plane is a little more than halfway to toronto.

[popping]

ouimet: what was that?

it's right there. i see it.

right there.

cameron: yeah.

narrator: three circuit breakers have popped out.

like fuses,

they protect delicate electrical circuits on the plane

from becoming overloaded.

cameron: like a machine gun.

ouimet: yeah. zap, zap, zap.

narrator: the three breakers are for the flushing motor

in the toilet at the rear of the plane.

cameron decides to give them a few minutes

before he tries to reset them again.

ouimet: sometimes it overworks and overheats,

and then the breaker popped,

and then it cools off,

and then you push the breaker and everything is fine.

so put the snag in the logbook,

and that's it.

cameron: someone must have pushed a rag down the toilet or something,

jammed it and it overheated.

narrator: cameron thinks

that something must be stopping the motor from working properly,

but it's not an emergency.

toilets get blocked all the time.

several minutes pass

as the plane continues on its way to toronto.

flight attendants laura kayama and judi davidson

are busy serving up dinner in the cabin.

in the cockpit,

it's captain cameron's turn for dinner.

but first he wants to reset the three circuit breakers.

without them, the toilet won't work.

the rest of the flight could get uncomfortable

for the passengers.

cameron: pops as i push it.

narrator: he's given it more than eight minutes,

but whatever is wrong with the washroom,

it isn't fixing itself.

in the cabin,

one of the passengers complains about a disturbing odor.

judi davidson: yeah, that is a strange smell.

let me take a look.

narrator: connie kirsch,

a texan headed for a business meeting in toronto,

is seated at the back of the plane.

connie kirsch: i had smelled a peculiar smell

where i was sitting,

and i...it struck me as odd.

actually it was a wiry smell.

it wasn't a smoke smell.

narrator: a wisp of smoke is leaking out of the washroom.

the smoke and the acrid smell of burning plastic

takes davidson by surprise.

this is much more than just a clogged toilet.

other passengers are beginning to notice the smoke

and the suffocating smell.

[coughing]

laura kayama: sergio, there's a problem in the washroom.

judi says there's a fire.

sergio: ok. i'll be right there.

narrator: chief flight attendant sergio benetti

is in charge of the cabin crew.

kayama: as a precaution,

we're moving everyone a few rows up.

[coughing]

narrator: the smoke is noxious and overpowering.

benetti can't see any flames.

he sprays the fire extinguisher into the tiny washroom,

trying to coat every surface.

chalifoux: as soon as i saw that fire extinguisher,

something went through my mind.

there is definitely something wrong.

the guy seemed to have the thing under control,

so he's gonna do his job

and things will be business as usual.

narrator: it's 2 minutes past 7,

just 11 minutes since the circuit breakers

first popped out.

laura kayama brings captain cameron

the disturbing news.

kayama: excuse me, captain.

there's a fire in the washroom in the back.

they just went back to go put it out.

ouimet: you want me to go back?

cameron: yeah, go.

narrator: a fire on board an aircraft

is one of the worst situations any crew can face.

the plane is some 6 miles high.

what starts as a spark

can turn deadly in a few short minutes.

but at the moment,

cameron doesn't know how bad the situation is.

cameron: you got to remember, in 1983,

people were allowed to smoke in the aircraft.

and there had been a number of incidents

of this sort in the industry,

so it really didn't alarm me that much.

narrator: ouimet finds the situation

is worse than he expected.

benetti: i didn't see any flames when i opened the door before,

but i sprayed it really good with the fire extinguisher.

ouimet: you think it was a cigarette in the garbage?

benetti: no, not really.

ouimet: ok.

[coughing]

ouimet: can't get back there. smoke's too heavy.

i think we better go down.

narrator: but flight attendant sergio benetti

has a very different assessment of the situation.

benetti: you don't have to worry.

i think the smoke's easing up.

narrator: it's a confusing moment for captain cameron.

cameron: some components do fail from time to time

that are not severe or serious enough

to cause an emergency descent.

that's a pretty serious thing.

narrator: when ouimet and benetti

were at the back of the plane,

the smoke seemed thick,

but now it appears to be subsiding.

ouimet: ok. it's starting to clear now.

but i'll go back and check if that's ok.

cameron: yeah, that's ok.

take these goggles.

i'll leave my mask on.

go back wherever you can,

but don't get yourself incapacitated.

ouimet: no problem.

no problem.

narrator: if it's just a broken toilet motor,

cameron can still make it to toronto.

but if it's more serious, he'll have to land immediately,

before the small inconvenience becomes a deadly problem.

the crew is growing concerned.

they've already moved passengers toward the front of the jet,

as far as possible from the creeping smoke.

captain donald cameron

is waiting for an update from the back of the plane,

when suddenly he's got a new problem.

the master warning light is on.

electrical systems throughout the plane,

including some in the cockpit, begin to fail.

[beeping]

cameron: the airplane basically lost

all its sophisticated navigation and attitude information.

so i was left very suddenly

with, i think, three instruments per engine

and four flight instruments,

which were very primitive.

they were what you might have flown

a world war ii bomber with.

narrator: with his electrical systems starting to shut down,

cameron calls the nearest ground control.

cameron: memphis center, this is air canada 797.

controller: air canada 797, indianapolis center. go ahead.

cameron: yeah, we've got an electrical problem here.

we may be off communication shortly.

stand by.

narrator: co-pilot claude ouimet is at the back of the plane.

the washroom door handle has become hot to the touch.

he doesn't even risk opening it.

faced with a potential fire on board,

the crew has no choice

but to land their plane as soon as possible.

ouimet: i don't like what's happening.

i think we'd better go down.

we're going to be making an emergency descent.

brief the cabin crew.

benetti: yes, sir.

narrator: as soon as the decision is made,

another warning light goes on.

they've just lost most of their emergency power.

ouimet: we're talking about multiple failure here,

and it's starting to be complicated,

so we're going down and obviously we have to land.

ouimet: mayday, mayday, mayday.

narrator: a small problem

has snowballed into an all-out emergency.

ouimet: mayday, mayday, mayday.

controller: this is louisville control. over.

ouimet: air canada 797.

we have a fire on board. we are going down.

controller: can you possibly make cincinnati?

ouimet: roger that.

narrator: cincinnati is 28 miles away.

they can make it.

captain cameron begins an initial descent

to 4,900 feet.

the crew has switched to emergency battery power,

but many of the plane's instruments aren't functioning.

ouimet: so all we had left was dc emer power,

and that's only good for radios, basically.

narrator: it's not only instruments.

cameron finds that a critical piece of his plane

isn't working properly.

the horizontal stabilizer on the tail of his dc-9

is frozen,

set for cruising at almost 33,00 feet.

cameron uses the part that's still working--

the elevators--

to make the plane dive.

but like a car that's lost power steering,

the aircraft resists.

as cameron pushes on the controls,

they push back

with a pressure equal to 44 pounds.

cameron: the airplane became very heavy,

and it took my total concentration

to fly the airplane.

[coughing]

narrator: an acrid, bitter smoke

is creeping forward from the back of the plane

and seeping in from the seams in the fuselage ceiling.

it hovers like a cloud over the passengers' heads.

chalifoux: incredibly harsh smoke

that was really irritating your throat.

you had to take really, really small, small breaths.

otherwise you would choke.

[coughing]

fadley: i could see it rise.

it was traveling along those luggage racks, you know,

coming forward.

kayama: seatbelts.

[coughing]

narrator: the smell of burning plastic

fills the air.

[coughing]

dropping oxygen masks could make the situation worse.

cameron: i could have deployed

the oxygen masks to the passengers,

but it's forbidden.

you're only allowed to use the oxygen masks

in case of a massive decompression

or a loss of cabin pressure.

not for fire.

[coughing]

kirsch: i was crying and scared.

i wasn't hysterical.

the gentleman sitting next to me

explained to me that if i would not cry

and if i could, you know, conserve my...

not breathe so fast

that it would conserve the oxygen, would help us,

and not to worry,

that the flight attendants,

they really know how to handle these sort of situations.

[coughing]

narrator: as the electrical malfunctions

ripple through the plane,

the p.a. system shuts down.

flight attendants struggle to shout directions,

but it's getting more and more difficult to breathe.

[coughing]

in 1983, it's not standard procedure

to tell passengers how to open the emergency doors,

but in this case,

the two flight attendants are taking no chances.

davidson: ...as far away from the plane as possible.

[coughing]

narrator: as smoke begins entering the cockpit,

the captain's situation is becoming critical.

for the first time,

ouimet talks to the cincinnati airport.

ouimet: approach, air canada 797.

we're on mayday. we're going down.

controller: air canada 797. cincinnati approach.

plan runway 3-6 ils,

and the equipment has been alerted.

do you have time to give me the nature of the emergency?

ouimet: we have a fire in the washroom.

we're filling up with smoke right now.

controller: say type of aircraft,

number of people on board, and amount of fuel.

ouimet: we'll copy that later.

we don't have time.

narrator: gregory karam is the approach tower controller.

he's the lifeline for the struggling jet.

he can't see the plane on radar yet,

but he knows it's in trouble.

almost 13 minutes after 7:00,

karam catches sight of flight 797 on his radar.

gregory karam: air canada 797, you are now fully identified.

this will be a no-gyro radar approach for runway 2-7 left.

descend now to 3,500 feet.

your position is now 1-2 miles southeast of the airport.

narrator: the crew needs to be guided in from the ground.

struggling to see through the dense smoke,

they could easily veer off course.

karam will talk them down,

watching them every step of the way.

in the cabin,

the smoke and heat are becoming unbearable.

chalifoux: my thought was, "well, we're gonna crash."

they won't be able to identify myself

because i didn't have my papers with me.

so i stood up, i took my wallet in the compartment

and put my jacket on

so that they could identify my body.

ouimet: where's the airport?

karam: twelve o'clock and eight miles, air canada.

ouimet: ok. we're trying to locate it.

we're going to need fire trucks.

karam: they're standing by for you.

can you give me the number of people and amount of fuel?

ouimet: we don't have time. it's getting worse in here.

karam: understood, sir. turn left now.

you are one half-mile north of final approach.

[sirens]

narrator: finally, the crew sees the airport.

ouimet: ok. we have the airport.

karam: the tower has you in sight.

you need not acknowledge further transmission from me,

air canada 797.

you are cleared to land.

you are four miles from the airport.

good luck.

narrator: in a thick haze of smoke and soot,

flight attendants laura kayama and judi davidson

feel their way along the aisle,

trying to reassure the passengers.

[coughing]

they can't get past the twelfth row.

the smoke and the heat are overwhelming.

fighting the reluctant controls,

captain cameron's strength is being pushed to the limit.

karam: 797, the tower has you in sight.

narrator: squinting through the smoke,

the crew of flight 797 lands hard.

at 20 minutes after 7:00,

the air canada plane is on the ground.

it's less than 30 minutes

since the first sign of any trouble on board flight 797.

chalifoux: when we touched the ground,

i assumed that we're safe now.

now let's get out of this airplane.

narrator: but inside the plane, the smoke isn't letting up.

passengers are undoing their seatbelts

and trying desperately to escape.

kirsch: i got up out of my seat

and i remember putting my hands up on someone's back

and it was like waiting in a line,

and i knew that was one line i didn't want to wait very long,

so i turned around and went the other direction,

not knowing i was actually heading towards

the front of the plane.

[sirens]

narrator: sergio benetti is the first one to the door.

[coughing]

[sirens]

he's helping gasping passengers escape.

benetti: go! go! go!

narrator: the cabin is pitch black

and burning hot.

in the cockpit, the crew quickly shuts the plane down.

the first officer escapes through the emergency window.

it's a 16-foot jump to the ground.

passengers have opened three of the over-wing exits.

but even with the doors open, the exits are all but invisible.

the smoke is too thick.

[coughing]

kirsch: i saw a light,

and it was the door that had opened.

someone had opened the door.

and i realized what it was and ran to the door,

and held my--i just put my face out so i could breathe.

narrator: passengers who have found the exits

slide off the wing and stumble to safety.

on the ground, laura kayama and judi davidson

frantically move passengers away from the deadly plane.

fire rescue vehicles surround the plane.

they douse the plane's exterior

and the ground beneath with foam,

fearing a fuel fire, or worse--an explosion.

through the cockpit window,

ouimet can see captain cameron sitting in his seat

looking dazed and slumped towards the wheel.

ouimet: the first thing that got my attention

was to see don's face in the window

and realize that he was not completely conscious.

cameron: i couldn't get out of my seat.

i'd start and i'd get my arse up in the air like that

and i'd be pushed back by the...i have no idea.

it was an invisible force,

but it was probably smoke and fire.

narrator: desperately trying to save the captain's life,

ouimet tells firefighters to cover him with foam.

ouimet: spray the cockpit!

cameron: it was a soapy ice-cold mixture

that drenched me.

narrator: it works.

cameron stirs and climbs out through the cockpit window.

ouimet: don! there he is! don!

narrator: barely 90 seconds have passed

since the plane landed,

when suddenly the whole interior of flight 797 ignites.

the flames roll through the cabin like a train.

captain donald cameron

is the last person to get out of the plane alive.

ouimet: we knew there were people on the airplane

unfortunately at that point.

that was...that was finished.

narrator: the cabin fire

breaks through the top of the fuselage.

[distant sirens]

black smoke can be seen for miles.

[coughing]

flight attendant laura kayama begins to count.

chalifoux: i will remember these words forever.

she told us to line up so that she could count the survivors.

if there were survivors, obviously there were dead.

kayama: 18, 19, 20, 21, 22...

[wailing]

narrator: including the crew,

there had been 46 people aboard the plane.

but there aren't 46 people on the runway.

fadley: i really thought that if the pilot could land the plane

we would all get off.

but i knew, when i looked around,

i didn't think we were all there.

narrator: the passengers who escaped the plane

suffer from smoke inhalation and minor injuries,

but most are not badly hurt.

fadley: it was almost like if you got off the plane,

nothing was wrong.

i mean, there was maybe a sprained ankle,

maybe someone had a broken arm or something.

you made it and you were completely fine,

or you didn't make it.

mills: i guess it was around midnight.

i decided to call air canada.

i said, "i'm trying to find out if a friend of mine

was on this flight in cincinnati."

and she said, "are you a member of the family?"

i said, "no, i'm just a close friend."

and she said, "do you know if his wife is alone?"

and i said, "well, yes."

and she said, "well, she may need somebody with her."

narrator: stan rogers, the rising musical star,

didn't make it off the plane.

cameron: cincinnati ground.

this is captain of the air canada flight

that's on fire here.

narrator: captain cameron radios cincinnati ground control

from an emergency vehicle near his plane.

he has a sobering message.

cameron: it seems there are 23 people

left on board the aircraft.

is there a scheduled carrier runs into here

that could maybe give aid and shelter

to our stranded passengers?

it's pretty cold out here.

narrator: what began as a simple electrical problem

has taken the lives of 23 people.

what caused the deadly fire?

what went so horribly wrong?

now the burnt shell of a dc-9

sits on the runway at the greater cincinnati airport.

it is one of the most disturbing airplane disasters in years.

within the hour,

investigators from the national transportation safety board

are on the scene.

the first grim task of the investigators

is to recover the bodies of the dead--

21 canadians and 2 americans.

many are burned beyond recognition.

almost all of the victims

are found in the front half of the plane

between the wings and the cockpit.

some are still strapped into their seats.

others are found in the aisles.

and even though all the passengers

had been moved up earlier in the flight,

two bodies are found near the rear,

beyond the wings.

john petrakis: because of the dense smoke in the cabin,

the passengers couldn't see well enough to find the exits.

and two passengers went beyond the over-wing exits

and succumbed to the environment.

narrator: investigators take blood samples

from the bodies.

they find deadly levels of certain chemicals

that were produced as the plane burned.

petrakis: when we did toxicological studies,

we were able to determine

that there were some significant high levels

of cyanide and fluoride in the blood,

as well as carbon monoxide.

narrator: it's not known

if the toxic fumes killed the passengers.

all that's certain is that they were unable to escape

before the flames tore through the plane.

with the bodies removed from the cabin of flight 797,

investigators begin digging through the wreckage

to try and find the cause of the fire.

among them are members of the fbi.

petrakis: they were investigating

to determine whether terrorism might have been a factor,

so they were on scene right away,

looking at the aircraft to make that determination.

narrator: the fbi examines pieces of the plane's floor,

samples of water from the washroom,

even a plastic vial found on the floor.

dick hill: the fbi became involved very early

because the possibility of a crime taking place

takes precedent over an accident.

they were looking for anything

that would have to do with an incendiary device

or a small explosive device

or anything that could be fused to start a fire.

they determined that there was no evidence

of any crime being committed

and it was probably accidental ignition,

and so they then left and ntsb took over the accident.

narrator: having discounted the possibility

that the fire was deliberately set,

investigators consider the next obvious cause--

a cigarette.

when smoking on planes was still allowed,

the most common source of fires in a washroom

was the trash container.

investigators examine the trash container

and find that the top is burned away,

but the trash chute

and the container behind and below the sink are intact.

inside the container are remnants of paper,

scorched but not burned.

the fire could not have started here.

with the most obvious potential causes discounted,

investigators begin to comb through the wreckage,

looking for what had started the fire.

studying the history of the plane,

hill uncovers some startling facts.

in the year before the accident,

76 separate maintenance issues

had been written up in the plane's logbook.

all were dealt with,

but still, it's an unusually high number of problems.

the plane's troubled history didn't end there.

four years earlier, the rear bulkhead had failed,

causing an explosive decompression.

the crew had to make an emergency landing.

cameron: it knocked out a lot of electrical cable

and hydraulics and stuff like that,

and the guy did a hell of a job bringing it back to boston.

narrator: the plane was repaired and put back into service.

but hill focuses on the wires

that had to be stitched together after the accident.

a bad repair job could have been the cause of the fire.

hill: there were wires that ran through there

that had been cut, spliced back together.

narrator: investigators study all the wire splices

they can find on flight 797

that weren't destroyed in the fire,

but they find no evidence of arcing or short-circuiting.

it's another dead end.

investigators turn their attention

to the cockpit voice recorder

and the popping circuit breakers.

[popping]

ouimet: what was that?

it's right there. i see it.

right there.

cameron: yeah.

like a machine gun.

ouimet: yeah. zap, zap, zap.

narrator: the circuit breakers trip as a precaution.

when they begin to overheat,

the circuit breakers turn off,

cutting electrical current to the motor.

it's a safety feature so the motor won't cause a fire.

cameron: pops as i push it.

narrator: investigators need to know

if the breakers were tripped by a fire that had already started,

or was the motor itself the problem?

the ntsb builds a mock-up of the plane's washroom

and forces the flush motor to seize.

they want to see if it could have started the fire.

the seized motor reaches a temperature

of 802 degrees fahrenheit.

it's hot,

but it's not enough to ignite

parts of the washroom around the motor.

as they listen to the cockpit voice recorder,

investigators uncover a puzzling clue.

three minutes before the circuit breakers popped,

the recorder picked up another noise.

[static]

it was the sound of electrical arcing,

like static,

repeated eight times.

the noises weren't audible to the crew.

hidden from view on any airplane is a river of wiring.

investigators focus on a cable

coming from a generator below the washroom floor.

insulation had rubbed off two wires,

making it possible for sparks to be produced--

sparks that could start a fire.

hill: there was evidence

that there was some electrical arcing,

but it could have occurred

after the insulation had burned on those wires.

narrator: in spite of countless hours of investigation

and numerous tests,

in the end,

the ntsb can't pinpoint the exact cause of the fire.

there simply isn't enough evidence.

hill: just because of the vast amount of damage

that was done in that concentrated area

around the lavatory

where the fire burned for a long period of time

and possibly destroyed any of the evidence

of where the fire actually ignited.

[coughing]

narrator: even if they'll never know

the exact cause of the fire,

investigators try to understand

how it could cause so much damage.

there had been heat and smoke,

but no one had seen any flames

until an explosion ripped through the jet.

hill: when you have a fire that has incomplete combustion,

when it has a lack of oxygen,

they will produce combustible gases.

those gases then can collect,

especially in the crown of an aircraft.

narrator: the fire had burned out of sight

behind the washroom walls,

and the smoke, hot gases, and fumes intensified

and spread inside the wall space from the washroom

through to the cabin walls.

those spaces acted as a sort of chimney

for the gases and smoke that the fire was creating.

although the fire remained concealed

behind the walls and ceiling panels,

the smoke and hot gases entered the cabin through every seam,

gathering in the upper space in the cabin

and pressing down on passengers.

[coughing]

hill: the inaccessible areas and the cabin area

are all linked together

through small cracks and cervices and small openings.

the plane is one big pressure vessel,

with everything being the same,

equilibrated to the same pressure.

so smoke and gases in those areas

would fairly quickly start to permeate

into the passenger cabin.

[coughing]

narrator: when the doors were opened during the evacuation,

an unlimited supply of oxygen

was suddenly available to feed the fire.

the more intense the heat,

the more oxygen-hungry a fire becomes.

the gases ignited with the force of an explosion.

[screaming]

hill: once you have a flashover,

you produce heat, toxic gases,

and you burn up all the oxygen in the cabin,

and it becomes non-survivable.

narrator: the technical part of the investigation is complete,

but there are still a lot of questions

about how the crew responded to the fire.

cameron: the first officer said, "it's starting to clear now,"

and at that point i reckoned that the fire was under control.

narrator: could they have done more

to prevent the tragedy on board flight 797?

ntsb investigators

are unable to definitively pinpoint the cause of the fire.

but after reviewing all the information they have,

they're ready to release their report.

the report on the lethal fire aboard air canada flight 797

is published a year after the accident.

it's a landmark in aircraft safety.

but it immediately makes for controversial headlines.

the ntsb points out that the source of the smoke

was never identified,

either by the flight attendants or the first officer.

the captain was never told nor did he inquire

as to the precise location and extent of the fire,

which had been reported to him.

man: with that in mind,

what type of fire did you believe that you had?

cameron: a bin fire.

ouimet: mayday, mayday, mayday.

narrator: and the report asks a hypothetical question.

ouimet: air canada 797, we have a fire on board.

we are going down.

controller: can you possibly make cincinnati?

ouimet: roger that.

narrator: if he'd begun to descend sooner,

could the captain have landed at standiford field airport

in louisville, kentucky?

it was a few minutes closer.

the report and the media attention it gets

are devastating to captain cameron and his crew.

soon after the report is released,

there's an outcry among pilots in the industry.

they resent its implied criticism of flight 797's crew

and the suggestion that they could have begun their descent

five minutes sooner.

several months later,

the air line pilots association submits a petition

that defends cameron and the crew.

it makes an impact.

the ntsb releases a revised report,

including the petition by the air line pilots association.

in the petition,

first officer ouimet writes an impassioned defense

of landing the plane where and when they did.

the issue wasn't only the distance to the nearest airport,

but the required rate of descent.

as it was, the plane barely made the descent

to the greater cincinnati airport.

still,

the national transportation safety board's revised summary

doesn't pull all its punches,

pointing a finger at captain cameron.

the report states

that the time taken to evaluate the nature of the fire

and to decide to initiate an emergency descent

contributed to the severity of the accident.

20 years later, the statement still stings.

cameron: i am glad they were all...

the people that got off got off.

i'm very sorry that the people that didn't get off

didn't get off

because we spent a lot of time and effort getting them there.

that really bothered me.

all i know is that i did the best i could.

narrator: along with the comments

on the performance of the crew,

the ntsb recommends a host of safety improvements.

perhaps if the flight had been full,

someone would have noticed the smell of smoke sooner.

but what the washroom of flight 797 could have used

was a smoke detector.

they weren't standard throughout the industry,

but after flight 797,

attitudes and regulations changed.

even though flight attendants did receive some training

in dealing with fires aboard a plane,

it didn't go far enough.

but what was more obvious--

the flight attendants weren't properly equipped

to attack fires.

without full face-masks and oxygen,

they couldn't be expected to fight fire

while holding their breath.

in the years after flight 797,

attendants received better equipment and training.

the cabin crew had also made split-second decisions

that helped save lives.

moving passengers further up the plane

and handing out wet towels

minimized the effects of the toxic smoke.

their decision to tell passengers

to open the emergency exits over the wings

was not standard procedure,

but it let some passengers escape more quickly

and was eventually adopted as a routine practice.

finally, it became obvious

from the location of some of the bodies

that passengers died because of precious seconds lost

trying to find the exits in the pitch black.

what would have made a difference?

track lighting on the floors

and bumps along the overhead bins

that identified the rows with emergency exits--

features that would eventually become standard.

[coughing]

hill: as a direct result of 797,

a number of rules were changed,

including a more stringent test for seats,

a heat release and smoke requirement

for cabin interior panels,

a requirement for smoke detectors in lavatories

and halon fire extinguishers in the cabin.

kayama: we're going to be making an emergency landing.

put your head on your lap.

narrator: but the changes were too late

for those who died on flight 797,

like the man sitting beside connie kirsch.

months after the crash, his wife tracked connie down.

kirsch: she said, "i just understand

my husband was the one that was next to you,

and i just wanted to know how was he,

what was his spirits?"

and i said, "he was in great spirits.

he was very nice.

he let me sit next to him

and explained to me how to breathe."

that was really difficult.

narrator: stan rogers was another victim of flight 797.

he would never be able to fulfill the promise of his life

and growing career.

mills: i loved his generosity and his loyalty as a friend.

as an artist, he was perhaps one of the best songwriters

this country's ever produced.

and it was really an incredible pleasure and honor

to be working with him.

he still gets lots and lots of airplay,

and so his legend grows.

narrator: sometime after the accident,

two air canada employees show up at dianne fadley's door

in dallas.

fadley: they brought my bible.

it's dark because it was burned and singed,

but it's a paperback bible,

and it did not completely burn up.

this is just a reminder to me that god was with me,

and i believe he protected me.

and, you know,

he was there with me.

narrator: captain cameron and his crew

eventually received six separate awards

for their heroic actions on flight 797,

including recognition from the royal canadian air force.

but they're all still haunted by the nightmare.

ouimet: you feel responsible.

there's no question.

you feel guilt.

you're willing to give your license.

you feel very...

very small.

cameron: it's just a shame we didn't get everybody off.

it still bothers me.