All language subtitles for Mayday.S08E01.System.Breakdown.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264-playWEB_track3_[eng]

They're
the traffic cops of the skies.

Keeping planes on course.

Okay, you're right
in the middle
of the TCA, sir.

Guiding them to safety.

Avianca 052,
look at your TCA chart.

Charlie 2937 descend...

And keeping them apart.

But the system has reached
a breaking point.

Where is it?

CO-PILOT: There! On the left!

If there is another
major airline accident,

it's going to
probably originate

from an air traffic
control problem.

Yup, yup. We got it.

There are
too many planes.

The tools controllers use
to track them are inadequate.

The failing system
is putting passengers at risk.

Monitor, vertical.

Now,
the race is on to fix it...

Do you
see him, Daniel?
No.

...before disaster strikes
again.

Mayday! Mayday!

Rush hour.
John F. Kennedy
International Airport.

One of the busiest
in the world.

More than 1,200 planes
use JFK everyday.

In the sky, they're stacked up
for kilometers,

waiting to land.

On the ground,
dozens more are waiting
to take off.

The constant stream
of airliners

can tax the abilities

of even the most
experienced controllers.

The "picture",
as it's called,

that they have to
maintain in their head

of everything
they're controlling,
where everybody is,

their speed, their altitude,
their separation.

Also includes constant
back and forth
talking to the pilots.

And this is a matrix
of information flow in
and out of their brains.

It's just amazing to watch.

For the team
of air traffic controllers
in JFK'S tower,

it's just another
day at work.

It's a job that gets
more demanding

with each passing year.

On a busy day
in most centers

and most departure
and arrival controllers,

you're saturated.

You've got people talking
as fast as they can.

And that's where
errors come in.

Over the last decade,

there's been a 25% jump
in traffic at JFK.

And New York's not alone.

It's a trend that concerns
some industry experts.

One of the things that I do
as an aviation analyst

is try to keep a good lock
on what's happening,

watch where the weak spots
are in the system.

If there is another major
airline accident,

God forbid, it's going
to probably originate

from an air traffic
control problem.

The solution
to the looming crisis
is being developed here,

The William J. Hughes
Technical Center
in New Jersey.

It's the workshop
of America's

Federal Aviation
Administration.

The center has been involved
in every major advance

in air transportation
system technology since 1958.

Airport design, aircraft
safety and security...

communications, navigation.

Scientists at
the William Hughes Center

have tackled aviation's
most difficult problems.

Today, this plane is
at the heart

of one of the largest projects
in the history of the FAA.

They're using it to design
a new air traffic system

that will help manage
more traffic safely.

A two or threefold
increase in the number

of aircraft flying is
certainly within the, uh...

within the range
of possibility

in the next couple of decades.

Together, test pilots
and researchers

need to figure out a safer way
to get airplanes

into and out of
America's airports.

What they've come up with
is a system called NextGen.

NextGen will supply pilots
with the tools and information

they need to make
many decisions

that are now made
by controllers.

At its heart is
a sophisticated piece
of equipment

that will soon be added,
not to towers, but to planes.

To see if it works,

test pilots have to take it
for a ride.

We're liberating the airplane
to do what it's designed to do

and not constraining it
by our management.

Positive rate. Gear up.
CO-PILOT: Here it comes.

Researchers have installed a revolutionary
navigational computer

in the back
of this executive jet.

We're currently flying
over Delaware.

It's called ADS-B.

It stands for
Automatic Dependent
Surveillance Broadcast.

It's a sophisticated GPS
receiver that paints
a detailed picture

of any plane anywhere
near this flight.

So the pilot has what we call
situational awareness
of what's flying around him.

Uh, the aircraft
then broadcasts

that position
once a second,

so any other aircraft
flying within RF range
of that aircraft

now knows
its position as well.

There's nothing like this
in any cockpit today.

Because it's still
experimental technology,

the FAA is testing
this system in the cabin
of the aircraft.

If tests like this succeed,
it will someday be
in the cockpit

of every plane in America

and eventually
around the world.

Once the ADS-B system
is fully operational,

everyone will know
where you are,
how high you're flying,

and where you're headed.

It's a key piece of the future
because it is so accurate.

The computer that researchers
are putting to the test today

is the central element
in the most significant
retooling

of the American air traffic
control system
in half a century.

Human beings cannot be perfect
on a sustained basis,

we can for certain periods
of time.

Therefore,
we have to expect failure.

People make mistakes.

It's a lesson
the airline industry
has learned the hard way.

A lesson that
fundamentally shaped

how planes travel
across the skies today.

In the few years in which
they have been operating,

the airlines have discovered
that their efforts

to improve comforts
and services have...

After the Second World War,

Americans were traveling
by air in booming numbers.

The earliest air traffic
controllers stood next
to runways.

They waved flags
to guide planes in.

As traffic increased,

pilots also began
to use radios

to stay in touch
with airports.

The first air traffic
control towers

were built as more and more
flights had to be handled.

Airports have become
very busy places.

And air traffic was beginning
to overwhelm controllers.

June 30th, 1956.

Los Angeles
International Airport.

TWA Flight 2 lifts off
eastbound for Kansas City.

Airline flying in the '50s
was, uh, was really amazing.

It was something
you dressed up for.

Only people who could afford
a fairly high price
could actually fly.

The TWA
Flight is a Lockheed
Super Constellation...

one of the most advanced
commercial airliners
of its time.

You won't find any pilot
who doesn't think
the Super Connie

is one of the sexiest
airplanes ever designed.

Just minutes
behind TWA Flight 2,

United Airlines Flight 718

takes off
from the same airport
on its way to Chicago.

The system to track
both of the planes
is far from high tech.

The air traffic control center
consisted of a room

with a map spread out
on a table

and the air
traffic controllers

were moving markers
on that map to indicate

where each airplane was
and its last known position.

The pilots
radio their positions
to company dispatchers.

Controllers use
this information

to get a rough idea
of their flight paths.

They were on radar
for a while in Los Angeles,

but once they got
outside that area,
there was no radar.

They were flying
under visual flight rules.

The rule is called
see and be seen.

So, I see you,
you see me,

we stay apart,
and we're responsible
for our own separation.

And except
for a few radars in
certain parts of the country,

controllers didn't really know
where the airplanes were.

They were estimating
on their reports.

As the two planes get closer
to the Grand Canyon,

the distance between them
disappears.

Both captains were used
to showing the Canyon off
on a clear day.

They could move the airplane
to the left, move it
to the right a little bit,

point out the Canyon
to people

and get them to ooh and ah.

The United Flight
closes in on the TWA plane
from the right,

unaware their paths
are about to cross.

People on one side
of the DC-7

would have been able to see
the oncoming Constellation.

Would have seen an airplane
against an azure sky,

with fluffy clouds,
coming closer and closer.

And they would have
felt the impact.

The Grand Canyon
is a graveyard

for 128 passengers and crew
of two airliners

which crashed on peaks
little more than a mile apart.

None survived.

It was the worst commercial
air disaster in history.

The Grand Canyon crash
created huge banner headlines
across the nation

and a lot of pressure
on the government to
do something.

We needed radar.

We needed to buy it
and get it deployed

throughout the United
States immediately.

We had to change the system.
And we had to do it fast.

The crash
killed 128 people

and changed the world of
air traffic control forever.

Following a lengthy
investigation,

the stark conclusion
was that the crash happened

because the two planes
were outside of so-called
controlled airspace.

TWA and United collided
over the Grand Canyon

primarily because neither
they nor the control system

had the ability to know where
both of those airplanes
really were.

Once the planes left
the small area

being monitored
by controllers,

no one was paying attention
to where they were.

The "See and Avoid"
principle is a fraud,
and it always has been.

The fact is
the faster you go,
it's a big sky,

you've only got 180 degrees
of peripheral vision,

and you can't see
and avoid everything up there.

In the wake
of the Grand Canyon accident,

American airspace was
blanketed by radar.

Planes were more stringently
confined to air corridors,
highways in the sky.

The air traffic control system
we have in the United States
today

was designed with the Grand
Canyon accident in mind.

That crash
determined how far apart
airplanes should be spaced

and where radar dishes
and air traffic control
centers should be built.

It also resulted
in the formation

of the Federal Aviation
Administration, The FAA.

But now, 50 years later,

the system needs
to change again.

Today,
the system falls short of
the public's expectations,

being congested...

slow...

clunky...

unpleasant.

As planes
fly faster and higher,

it becomes harder
for controllers
to track their movements.

I think, in many respects,
we're in a, uh,

a very similar situation
to where we were in the '50s.

The system has
to change massively.

And the change
must happen soon

before we are faced
with a major air accident

that could take the lives
of hundreds of people.

The technology onboard
the FAA flight

might be the solution to
the overtaxed air traffic
control system.

Test pilots regularly
take to the skies

to help researchers prepare

the new system
for America's airliners.

The beautiful thing
about ADS-B is,

is it gives the pilots
in the cockpit

and the air traffic
controllers basically
the same picture.

ADS-B is more
than a map of other planes.

The idea is to show pilots
what now only air traffic
controllers can see...

data about the planes that
are in a pilot's airspace.

With ADS-B, you'll see
who that other aircraft is.

You'll see an identifier
on it.

You'll be able to see planes
on runways.

You'll see planes
in the traffic pattern.

And you'll get a better
feel for what's going on
around you.

Especially if you're at
an uncontrolled airport.

We can also
see map information.

We can see navigational aids.

We can also see
other airports.

Giving pilots
all that information
in the cockpit

will allow them
to make decisions

about how to get to
their destinations quickly
and safely.

The current system
relies on radars

for the detection
and tracking of aircraft.

And radar was
a great technology
in 1940,

but fundamentally,
it's very sloppy.

Today, ground-based radar
bounces radio signals

off an airplane
to calculate its position.

It can be off
by as much as two miles.

That's why we keep aircraft
three miles or more apart,

because we're just not
that confident
of the solution.

With NextGen,

an onboard GPS unit will
constantly receive signals
from a GPS satellite.

This will tell pilots
where they are

down to within
a few hundred feet.

With a more
accurate picture of airspace,

airliners will be able
to fly closer together.

The FAA hopes this will
help relieve the congestion
at busy airports.

Today, only controllers
have an accurate picture
of air traffic.

They use this information
to guide pilots around
potential problems.

The pilots themselves
have no way
to independently confirm

where they are in relation
to all other flights.

They must rely
on controllers to tell them.

The weakness of
the system was exposed

years before
NextGen tests began.

Labor Day weekend, 1986.

Aeromexico 498,
traffic ten o'clock.
One mile...

Approach Controller
Walter White

guides Aeromexico Flight 498
in for a landing

at Los Angeles
International Airport.

The airspace around LAX
is very tightly controlled.

It's called the TCA,
the Terminal Control Area.

As Aeromexico Flight 498
closes in on the airport,

Walter White sees a plane
he does not expect
on his radar.

Uh, one approach
on a flight from Fullerton.

Cruising altitude is 4,500.

- We'd like following.
- Okay. You're are right
in the middle of the TCA, sir.

Grumman six-six-Romeo,

I suggest in future,
you look at your TCA chart.

There was an aircraft
that was east of the airport

which he became involved in.

That was what
they called a violator.

In many cases,

the air traffic
that was crawling
across his screen,

even with transponders,
were not reporting altitudes.

Walter White
hustles the small plane

out of
the controlled airspace.

You just had an aircraft pass

right off your left
above you at 5,000

and we run a lot of jets
right through there at 3,500.

But White
doesn't realize that
there's another plane

dangerously off course.

We should be able to see
the ocean by now.

Take a look at the map
and look around the 405...

A Piper Cherokee

is cutting across
the approach to LAX,

oblivious to the danger.

The Aeromexico Flight
is just minutes from landing.

Aeromexico 498.

Los Angeles Approach.

This can't be!

The jet plunges
towards Cerritos,

a suburban community
of Los Angeles.

Aeromexico 498.
Los Angeles Approach.

I'm sitting there
talking with the two
departure controllers,

and not really thinking.

I hear Walter say
something like...

I think I lost one.

Aeromexico 498,
Los Angeles approach.

That immediately
got everybody's attention.

So I looked at the radars,

and could hear him
calling Aeromexico 498.

...498, Los Angeles approach.

The crash devastates
the community of Cerritos.

Fifteen people on the ground
are killed in the disaster,

along with all 64 people
on the Aeromexico jet.

The Piper Cherokee is found
in a nearby schoolyard.

All three people
on the small plane
have been killed.

The fact
of the matter is

that the Cherokee
flew into the TCA

and hit the DC9
in restricted airspace
without a clearance.

The National
Transportation Safety Board
questions Walter White

about what he saw
on his radar display.

At any time, did you see
the Piper Cherokee
on your scope?

No.

No, sir.

The Piper's target was
not displayed.

It is my belief
that it was not
on my radar scope.

He, uh, was positive

that the aircraft
was not there for him to see.

But when
investigators finally get

the air traffic
control radar records,

they conclude the Piper
should have been visible.

We were
able to determine

that the aircraft
that collided

with Aeromexico
was there to be seen.

Controllers had been complaining

about the radars
for a long time.

We had reported problems
with the radar

not picking up targets
several times.

You may lose one target,
you may lose two targets.

It may not be presented
for one sweep.

Did you see
the Piper Cherokee

- on your scope?
- No, sir.

But that doesn't mean
that the target isn't there.

A blind spot is only
an instantaneous thing.

It's not a continuous thing.

He was looking
at one and trying
to keep it clear.

Lost track of another one
that just happened to be at
the same altitude

as the approaching
Aeromexico jet.

It was a one
in a billion chance,

but that one in a billion
came up that particular day.

The collision
over Los Angeles

drew attention to weaknesses

in the radar systems used
by air traffic controllers

and led to some
much-needed improvements.

Mode C Intruder
is an automated program

that is now incorporated

in all our major
radar facilities.

That, if an aircraft
should inadvertently intrude,

the controller
will now be given

a visual and an aural alert,

thus giving him
time to provide

a timely warning
to the pilot.

After the collision
over Los Angeles,

radar systems at the airport
were upgraded.

The next generation
of air traffic management
will only use radar

if the GPS system fails.

NextGen is also targeting
another weakness in
the current system,

the radio.

Today, pilots and controllers
use radios to talk
to one another.

We're now descending
to one-niner-zero...

The system
depends on clear,
precise language.

Misunderstandings are common.

And they've caused some of
the most tragic air disasters
in history.

As the FAA test flight
flies high west
of Atlantic City,

its radio keeps the pilots
in touch with controllers.

Vector for sequence
for the downwind runway 22.

Okay,
1-0-0, clear for the ILS.

But in the air traffic
system of the future,

pilots and controllers
will communicate
less frequently.

The controller and the pilot
can now work together

to resolve issues
instead of wasting
a lot of time

explaining what
the issues are.

Mistakes can be made
for a number of reasons.

English is the international
language of aviation.

But pronunciation, accent
and emotion alter the way
any language is spoken.

Nowhere is this
better understood

than in the air traffic
control tower

at John F. Kennedy
International Airport.

If you listen
on any control frequency,

you're going to hear
a lot of people say,
"Would you say that again?",

"Say again, over, please."

The airspace above JFK

is frequented by one
of the most international

collections of pilots
in the world.

Maintaining clear radio
communications

can prove challenging
to controllers here.

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.

When pressure mounts,

small misunderstandings can
have enormous consequences.

January 25th, 1990.

In the skies over New York...

Avianca 052, expect further
clearance time in 20 minutes.

I think we need priority.
We are passing out of fuel.

Avianca 052, roger,
how long can you...

Avianca Flight 52
is trying to land in New York.

But a driving rain
is delaying air traffic
into and out of the area.

The flight began in Colombia.

On its way to New York,
it's been routed through
a series of holding patterns

by air traffic controllers.

Bad weather
is delaying landings all along
the Northeastern Seaboard.

There was
a system moving through
the Great Lakes moving East.

There were a couple
other systems converging.

And a lot of times,
they'll converge
in the New York Area there

and the whole Northeast
will go down.

Is it okay if I send
four more your way?

Casino, I'm back
in the hold again.

I got full in the stack
and there's no end in sight.

Avianca 052, I might be able
to get you in right now,

stand by.

Thank you.

They were progressively
moving towards JFK,

and they were held in the air
for three times.

This certainly would put
some stress on the crew,

uh, as to fact
they want to go
from A to B.

They don't want to fly
in a racetrack for an hour,
just holding.

Avianca 052, roger.

And what's your alternate?

We said Boston,
but we can't do it now.

We'd... We'll run out of fuel.

The pilots are
growing increasingly desperate

for clearance to land.

Avianca 052, just...

They've used up
almost all of their fuel
while waiting their turn.

...set him up
for his alternate.

- What is his speed now?
- I'm not sure, to be honest.

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

After more than
an hour in holding patterns,

controllers finally
give the pilots

of the Avianca flight
permission to land.

Avianca 052
descend and maintain 3,000.

Descend and maintain 3,000.

But in
this critical hand-off

from one controller
to another,

no one mentions that
the plane is running out
of fuel.

Avianca 052 heavy,

contact Kennedy Tower
one-one-niner point one.
Good day.

It was extremely important
that Avianca 52

landed on their first
approach to JFK.

The voice recorder revealed
that the Captain was certainly

quite concerned
about the fuel state.

At JFK,
only one runway is being
used for landings.

Weather at the airport is
making approaches difficult.

Avianca 052 heavy,

Kennedy tower
two-two left,

you're number three,
following seven-two-seven
traffic

on a niner mile final.

Avianca 052 heavy, roger.

Avianca 052, say airspeed.

One-four-five knots.

Are we clear to land? No?

Yes, sir.
We are clear to land.

Standby.

The Avianca crew,
when they felt that they
were being handed off

to an approach controller now
and given a heading

and 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."

Four kilometers
from Runway 22L

and with fuel
running dangerously low,

the flight hits
ferocious winds.

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 a 40-knot change
in 1,000 feet of elevation.

That's a lot.

- This is the wind shear.
- A dramatic change

of winds throws the aircraft
off its descent path
as it makes its approach.

- Glideslope!
- Glideslope.

Glideslope. Glideslope.

The runway. Where is it?

- I don't see it.
Pull up. Pull up.

The plane
is thrown towards the ground
by the winds.

Pull up. Pull up.

The airplane
was about 200 feet
above the ground,

about two miles
from the runway,

which was well below
the glideslope
and very dangerous.

So, the airplane almost
crashed on its first approach.

Give me
the landing gear up!
Landing gear up!

When you get
a missed approach,

it changes
the whole ball game.

Request another
traffic pattern.

Executing a missed approach.
Avianca 052 heavy.

The fuel tanks
aboard Avianca Flight 52

are all but empty.

Another approach
on the airport
will be nearly impossible.

Controllers in New York
will have to try once more

to get Avianca Flight 52
safely to the ground.

...to one-eight-zero

on the heading,
and we'll try once again.

We are running out of fuel!

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

And he allowed
the approach control
to vector him

way out in
the original pattern

and 15 miles north
to the outer marker again.

Advisor, we are
in an emergency!
Did you tell him?

Yes, sir!
I already advised him.

But the First Officer neglects
to use the word "emergency"

in his radio transmissions
to the tower.

He only mentions
that his fuel is low.

...zero-five-two heavy,
contact approach on
one-one-eight point four.

Approach
Avianca 052 heavy...

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.

Flame out! Flame out
on engine number four!

The engines quit
when they're finally starved
of fuel.

Flame out
on engine number three!

Show me the runway.

We just lost two engines
and we need priority please!

Avianca zero-five-two,

turn left
heading two-five-zero.

Without engine power,

Avianca Flight 52 crashes into
a residential neighborhood
on Long Island.

Avianca zero-five-two,
radar contact lost.

Yes. Hello, I live in
Cove Neck in Oyster Bay

and there is a plane
crashed in our yard
in front of our house.

Eighty-five
of the 158 people onboard
survive the crash.

Throughout the night,
rescue workers pull them
from the wreckage.

Investigators from
the National Transportation
Safety Board

arrive within hours.

They remove
the cockpit voice recorder
from the wreckage.

The condition
of the aircraft was

really astonishing to see that
that much of the structure

was left
in the condition
that it was in.

It hit right on a,
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.

The NTSB
investigation reveals

that controllers
didn't transmit

vital information
to one another.

Radio communication,

one of the most vital parts
of air traffic control,

failed the passengers
and crew.

Trying to avoid those kinds
of mistakes is a key component
of NextGen.

Radio communication
will largely be replaced

by an exchange
of electronic data.

Automation is
extremely important.

And in the future,
it's going to be able

to get rid of
the type of errors
that occur

when you put massive
pressure on a human being

to be 100% perfect.

With the elimination
of radio chatter,

air traffic control towers
of the future
will be very quiet places.

Controllers on the ground
will still be needed

to move planes
in and out of airports.

But with more
accurate information
at their disposal

and less need
to talk to pilots,

they'll be able to handle
far more flights
than they do today.

On board the FAA's flight,

the new GPS-based technology
gets the ultimate test.

Without any warning
from Air Traffic Controls...

Do you see
them yet, Daniel?

CO-PILOT: No,
I don't see them yet.

- There he goes!
- There he is!

They notice
another plane
just 400 feet below.

In the back of the jet,

the NextGen system
detects the other plane.

Had the system been
in the cockpit,

it would have shown the pilots
its precise location.

Without it, they rely on
a piece of technology

called TCAS to warn them
of the danger.

Using signals transmitted
from plane to plane,

the Traffic Collision
Avoidance System

warns pilots when other
planes are too close.

A TCAS gives
the pilot a traffic advisory

at 45 seconds before
the potential collision.

And then, at approximately
25 seconds or so

before
the potential collision,

a resolution advisory
is given

to actually tell the pilots

to climb or descend
to avoid the altitude
of the other aircraft.

Normally, air traffic
will call that to us.

- Yeah.
- But they didn't even
call the traffic.

- No.
- So that TCAS helped a lot.

TCAS can help pilots
of approaching planes
avoid collisions.

But with the new system,

pilots will be able
to prevent their planes

from getting dangerously close
in the first place.

You know, with ADS-B,
we're going to be able to see
that traffic on the display.

So the avionics can have
smarts built into it to

warn the pilot
when he's approaching
another aircraft.

Today,
the system works perfectly.

The pilots of the test flight
see the danger and avoid it.

TCAS can help pilots
avoid a collision,

but having it onboard
is no guarantee

that an accident
won't happen.

September 29th, 2006.

A small business jet
flies high above
the Brazilian countryside,

The pilots will fly
to Manaus in Brazil,

before taking off again
for New York City.

CO-PILOT: [ON RADIO] Brasilia,
November six-zero-zero...

In the cockpit,
co-pilot Jan Paladino

is having trouble
maintaining radio contact

with air traffic controllers.

...November six-zero-zero,
X-ray Lima.

He tries
different channels,

but still no one responds
to his radio calls.

Brasilia, November
six-zero-zero...

It's unusual for pilots
and air traffic controllers

to be out of contact
for such an extended period
of time.

Brasilia, November
six-zero-zero X-ray Lima.

November six-zero-zero X-ray...

Finally,
after 12 attempts,

Paladino gets through
to controllers.

Contact one, two, three,

two, six, decimal 45.

Sorry, say frequency
one more time for November
six-zero-zero X-ray Lima.

But Paladino can't understand
the garbled radio transmission.

Brasilia November
six-zero-zero X-ray Lima.

Then,
the signal disappears
altogether.

The jet follows
the Brasilia air corridor
en route to Manaus.

But traffic
along this corridor

runs in both directions.

...six-zero-zero
X-ray Lima.

The airway system
between Brasilia and Manaus

is very simple.

It makes airplanes

fly northbound maintaining
even levels,

and airplanes
flying southbound

maintaining odd levels.

A little more than
two hours into the flight,
disaster strikes.

The concussion itself seemed
to affect every atom
in my body.

The end of the wing
was chopped off

and it was serrated.
It looked like it had been
chewed off.

The Legacy Jet has struck
an oncoming Boeing 737...

Keep calm!
...GOL Flight 1907.

With 154 people onboard,

the GOL flight
spirals out of control.

The pilots of the smaller jet
don't know what they've hit,

- but their business jet
is still flyable.
- Sit down back there!

I got it.
I got it. Just let me
fly the thing, dude.

- All right.
- We're descending.
I want to get down.

Okay,
it's yours. It's yours.

The crew locates
a runway at a military base
in the middle of the jungle.

November six-zero-zero
X-ray Lima declaring
an emergency.

We need to land at zero bravo
Charlie Charlie,
is that your airport?

Affirmative.
The pilots

of the executive jet attempt
an emergency landing.

Here we go. Hold it.

Let's dump the flaps
at the top of the flare.

Right. So give me
nine on the flare.

- Could you give me nine.
- Yeah, you've got nine.

Everyone,
sit down back there.

When you land under
those sort of circumstances,

you're landing faster
than you normally would.

You're coming down
like gangbusters.

Good. You got it.

Hold it. You're good.

Whoo! Oh, man.

Good job. Oh, man!

At Brasilia Air Traffic Center,

controllers have lost track
of GOL Flight 1907.

Manaus. There isn't any GOL.

I can't see anything here.

It's on its way.

So it's already in my area?

For over half an hour.

Anxiety was high
and controllers were confused
about what to say.

They didn't know
what was happening.

Troops locate the wreckage
of GOL Flight 1907

deep in the Amazon jungle.

There are no survivors.

Investigators learned
that the Legacy Jet
and the GOL Flight

were flying
along the same air corridor
in opposite directions.

One thousand feet of altitude
is supposed to separate them.

Investigators interview
the pilots
of the business jet.

We were proceeding
northwest, on course

to Manaus at 37,000 feet.

Okay? We were
attempting to contact
Brasilia control...

Did you say you were
flying at 37,000 feet?

Yes, that's right.
Flight level three-seven-zero.

We never moved from that.

The pilots
of the executive jet
filed a flight plan

in which they would
fly at 37,000 feet

until they reached Brasilia.

There, they would descend
to 36,000.

The flight plan
calls for you

to descend to three-six-zero
at Brasilia.

- Why didn't you?
- We weren't told to.

Before we took off,
we were cleared
for three-seven-zero

all the way to Manaus.
That's what we did, sir.

Air traffic control
can always

deviate from the flight plan,

because they have
best knowledge

of the actual
traffic situation.

We were not told to descend
and we did not descend.

Once we knew for sure
that both planes were flying

at the same altitude,

we knew there would be a lot

to investigate on the side
of Air Traffic Control.

Can you call up
the Legacy Jet screen for me?

On the radar screen,
we see the altitude, the speed

and the transponder
information of each plane.

Images show
investigators what
air traffic controllers saw

on their radar screen
before the accident.

One symbol stands out.

The "Z"
on the air traffic control
screens indicates

that the airplane

he's looking at
has lost its transponder.

Roger.

Transponders give controllers

exact information
on the altitude
of the flights they monitor.

Investigators learned
that the transponder aboard

the Legacy had
been turned off,

possibly due to the captain's
inexperience with the new jet.

Still working out the kinks
on how to work
this flight management...

Without information
coming from the jet's
transponder,

the air traffic computer
displays the altitude

the plane is supposed to be at,
according to the flight plan.

But it's actually
flying 1,000 feet higher,

right in the path
of the GOL flight.

The Brazilian controllers
did not verify the Legacy
Jet's real altitude.

Nobody did anything
from the ground,

which is where we expect it
to happen,

to save these two airplanes
from being head on
at the same altitude.

...zero X-ray Lima.

Back over Atlantic City,
pilots are preparing to bring

their test flight in
for a landing.

Today, the flight has
to stay within tightly
confined boundaries

set out
by air traffic controllers.

But when all aircraft
are equipped with ADS-B,
that won't be the case.

If the aircraft could fly

on a path that was
optimum for them,

and optimum
for the traffic system,

we could use a lot more
of the airspace

than we do today.

We're going to have airplanes

flying directly where
they need to fly,

and computers
keeping them apart.

At the FAA,
researchers have been
designing systems

that get flights from A to B
in a whole new way.

Right now, there's no way
for controllers to know

the exact location
of a plane.

That's why flights are
confined to pre-set highways

to keep them
from colliding.

With GPS-based NextGen,

a pilot can follow any route
he chooses,

provided there aren't
any other planes in his path.

He can choose
a much more direct route
to his destination.

If we could have airplanes
going in all directions

and more efficiently directly
to where they want to go,

we would be able to double,
triple, maybe even quadruple

the number of aircraft
that we could safely handle

in the skies at one time.

By charting
their own route,

ADS-B will allow pilots
to keep a safe distance
from other planes

without having to stick to
a pre-set highway in the sky.

Maintaining that distance
is important,

because even
the best technology

can't keep airplanes apart.

July 2002.

Bashkirian Airlines
Flight 2937 cruises

westbound through
the night sky
for Barcelona.

The Tupolev 154M
carries 69 people.

Most of the passengers
are Russian children traveling
on a summer holiday.

Meanwhile, a DHL
cargo aircraft

travels north
towards Brussels.

The two flights are supposed
to pass each other
over Lake Constance

in southern Germany.

Climb flight level...

But air traffic controllers
have failed to notice

that both flights
are at the same altitude.

The controller is distracted
by another flight.

At a second station,
he assists a late arrival.

Two-nine-three-seven.

What is your present heading?

Present heading is...

It was a standard practice

at the ATC company
that at night,

one air traffic controller was
responsible for controlling

the entire airspace
of ATC Zurich.

Aboard the Tupolev,
the pilots have spotted
an intruder...

- Look. Look at that.
- ...and it's closing in fast.

Five hundred meters.

Onboard the DHL cargo plane,
the TCAS computer

is issuing an urgent warning.

Descend.

The system is
designed to warn pilots
of an oncoming flight.

Increase descent.

And what to do
to avoid collision.

Six hundred.

TCAS descent!

When the air traffic
controller returns
to his position,

he sees the conflict.

The flights will cross paths
in less than a minute.

Descend flight level
three-five-zero.

Expedite.
I have crossing traffic.

The Russian captain
obeys the controller's

instruction to descend.

But his TCAS system
is telling him to climb.

Climb. Climb.
- It says climb.

The Russian crew
has 35 seconds to decide
whether to obey

- the air traffic controller
or the computer.
- Descend level three

- five-zero
Climb. Climb.

- Climb.
- Descend level

three-five-zero.
Expedite descent.

He's guiding us down.

We're not accustomed
to not trusting controllers.

In civil aviation,

there were lots of situations
when pilots didn't follow

instructions of
the controller,

and that led to plane crashes
or other accidents.

Expedite descent level

- to three-five-zero
- Under pressure,

with just seconds
to decide,

the Russian pilots follow
the controller's direction.

At the same time,
the DHL jet
is also descending.

Increase descent.

Increase descent.

Increase!

He's going below us.

Increase climb.

- Increase climb.
- Where is it?

Here on the left!

- Climb!
- Climb!

Descend! Descend hard!

Bravo Tango Charlie
two-nine-three-seven.

Bravo Tango Charlie.

Both flights crash
near Lake Constance
in Germany.

Seventy-one people are killed.

There are no survivors.

The collision leaves
air traffic experts
at a critical crossroads.

If I have to
summarize the advice
that we gave the world,

if a warning
comes from ACAS,

pilots should immediately
follow it at all times.

If the Russian
pilots had followed
the computer's instructions,

the accident would not
have happened.

With the benefit of hindsight,
you always ask yourself,
"Could we have done more?"

And an accident
is a wakeup call
for everybody.

The disaster highlighted
the potential value

of automated systems.

And proved again
how fatal human errors can be.

It's an important lesson
for the developers of NextGen.

Technology can provide
humans with information,

but can't control
what they do with it.

...before landing?

Over Atlantic City,
the FAA jet is
on its final approach.

Runway is clear.
Bring the flaps to 16...

Its two-hour test flight
has brought

NextGen one-step closer

to being installed
on commercial airplanes.

Nice job, guys.

CO-PILOT: Two reverses.

Speeds at 90.
I got the yoke.

When ADS-B
is everywhere

and the data is being
displayed in the cockpit,

that will allow
the airlines to fly

hugely more efficiently.

Over the past 50 years,

air traffic control
has evolved tremendously.

Human error...

technical difficulties...

and poor communication...

have taken the lives
of hundreds of people

and uncovered
deadly weaknesses
in the current system.

Today, those weaknesses
are one step closer
to being fixed.

I think
the NextGen system,
as it has evolved now,

is really going
to be excellent.

It's going to start
in the direction
that we need to go

for the future.

The elements
that make up NextGen

will be introduced slowly
over the next decade.

Piece by piece,
the whole new system

of air traffic control
will take shape
in the US,

and ultimately
around the world.

That's what
airplane people do.

They react to the challenge
and develop a new way
of flying.

If NextGen lives up
to its promise,

that new way will mean
fewer delays

and ultimately,
fewer accidents.