All language subtitles for M.2003-S11E08-Blind.Spot.PSA.Flight.182.WEBDL-1080pEAC3.5.1h264-PiTBULL_track4_[eng]

NARRATOR: September 1978.

A Boeing 727 is headed for the ground.

MCFERON: Easy baby, easy.

FOX: Mom, I love ya.

(SCREAMING)

(EXPLOSION)

NARRATOR: San Diego becomes
the site of the worst aviation

disaster in US history.

My hair stood up
on the back of my head when

I learned that this crash had occurred.

FUNK: Oh, my word.
The accident scene was horrendous.

How am I gonna put
this puzzle together was a

real big concern of mine.

NARRATOR: Evidence leads investigators
to a remarkable conclusion.

MCFERON: Oh, yeah,
before we turned downwind I saw him.

Hold on.

NARRATOR: A horrendous
accident may have been caused.

MCFERON: (OVER RADIO) Oh, yeah, before
we turned downwind I saw him about 1:00.

NARRATOR: By a single misheard syllable.

MAN: (OVER RADIO)
Mayday, mayday!

(THEME MUSIC PLAYING)

NARRATOR: Pacific Southwest
Airlines flight 182 is on an

early morning run down
the coast of California from

Sacramento to San Diego.

First Officer Bob Fox is at the controls.

Approach, PSA 182, coming out of 9-5,

descending to 7,000.

Airport is in sight.

NARRATOR: A nine-year
veteran with PSA,

he's on track to becoming a captain.

Captain Jim McFeron has been
with the airline for 17 years.

Known as a born pilot,

he is highly regarded by his colleagues.

This is the second flight
of the day for both men.

PSA 182 is cleared.
Visual approach, runway 2-7.

Thank you, cleared visual approach, 2-7.

NARRATOR: Among the 128 passengers,

there are 30 Pacific Southwest employees.

Many are heading back to the company's
home base in San Diego.

PSA was an excellent airline.

They had a super maintenance record,
super, um, safety record.

They were recognized
in the industry as wow,

these guys are good.

NARRATOR: Pilots are cautious
when arriving at San Diego.

Lindbergh Field is the busiest
single-runway airport in North America.

San Diego Lindbergh
Airport is a challenging place

to fly into because of its
proximity to downtown and also

some of the obstructions around it.

HOGUE:
There's a very drastic terrain drop.

Pilots do it all the time and,
some of them don't like to

talk about it but it's a little scary.

There was always concern
that wow someday, you know,

there could be a major crash.

NARRATOR: Several other
airports nearby are abuzz

with commercial,
military and private planes.

The airspace around
San Diego International is

quite busy because of the
600 flights a day in and out

so there are planes taking
off and landing constantly.

NARRATOR: Flight 182 will have
to thread its way through all

this traffic while passing over the city,

preparing to land on runway 27.

Martin Wayne is at the engineer's console.

As they approach the airport,

he contacts the company's head office.

We're out of Los Angeles,
San Diego at 0905.

MAN: (OVER RADIO) (LAUGHING)
PSA 182, roger.

A little late but thank you.

I just called my off report.
The guy started laughing.

(LAUGHTER)

Make it up by reporting
our next takeoff now.

(LAUGHTER)

Very nice.

HOGUE:
Even though they were fun and laidback,

they were still highly professional.

The crews were just personable.

You felt like they wanted
you to be on their airplanes.

It was great.

"Catch Our Smile" was their motto.

It was an experience, it was fun.

NARRATOR: Flight 182's
approach to Lindbergh Field is

being handled by an approach
controller at a facility

15 kilometers North of the airport.

The approach control
facility is quite busy and

that's stressful because
you're handling so many

different airplanes in the same airspace.

NARRATOR: When the controller
spots a Cessna flying ahead of

flight 182, he makes
sure that they can see it.

PSA 182, traffic's at 12:00

(OVER RADIO)
Three miles out, 1,700.

Got it.

Traffic in sight.

They were issued traffic.

They acknowledged sight of the traffic.

Okay sir.

Maintain visual separation.

Contact Lindbergh tower,

- (OVER RADIO) 133.3. Have a nice day.
- Okay.

Visual separation means
that the pilot has another

- aircraft in sight and acknowledges it.
- FOX: Got it.

Once the visual approach
is accepted by the pilot,

he's then responsible for maintaining
separation from that traffic.

It's somewhat like two boats passing.

It's the responsibility
of the overtaking boat

to maintain separation visually.

NARRATOR: As it approaches the airport,

flight 182 banks left so that it's flying
parallel to the runway,

ready to turn and
land when given permission.

I would characterize
this as wonderfully routine.

There wasn't anything out of
the ordinary with this flight.

NARRATOR: With the plane now
less than eight kilometers

from the runway, a controller
in the airport's tower takes

over to guide the flight in for landing.

Lindbergh, PSA.

(OVER RADIO) 182 down wind.

182, roger.

BROWN: Within the airport traffic area,
which is that five mile radius,

the airplanes coming into the
airport to land and takeoff

are controlled by that controller.

NARRATOR: The tower controller
is juggling several planes in

addition to the PSA 727.

PSA 182, traffic
12:00 one mile, a Cessna.

Because there's only
one runway at Lindbergh, ah,

it requires some air
traffic control spacing

because of the difference in
the speeds of the aircraft.

PSA 182, cleared to land.

182 is cleared to land.

The jet's quite a significantly
faster approach speed

than the Cessna so you have
to give them more spacing.

NARRATOR: It's now 9:00 AM.

Many passengers on flight 182
are planning to put in a

full day's work in San Diego.

(BEEPING)

Gear down.

NARRATOR: Minutes from landing,
pilot Bob Fox spots a distant plane.

There's one underneath.

I was looking at that inbound over there.

- (CRASHING)
- (SCREAMING)

Easy baby, easy baby.

NARRATOR: A professional
photographer happens to spot

flight 182 in flames.

Hey, what have we got here?

- It's bad.
- Huh?

We're hit man, we're hit.

Tower.

(OVER RADIO)
We're going down. This is PSA.

Okay, we'll call the equipment for ya.

(BEEPING)

NARRATOR: The approach
controller's radar

reveals that the 727 has
collided with the Cessna.

Jesus Christ, it's an aluminum shower.

BROWN: To have two aircraft
under your control collide is

the worst nightmare I
think for any controller.

I don't think anything
else could be that bad.

This is it baby.

(OVER PA): Brace yourself.

FOX: Mom, I love ya.

(EXPLOSION)

(BLARING SIRENS)

All of a sudden it just went right in,

just a burst of flames.

It was just incredible.

(OVERLAPPING CHATTER)

- My home, it's burning up.
- We can't do anything about it.

My hair stood up
on the back of my head when I

learned that this crash had occurred.

This huge mushroom cloud of smoke
and fire was seen by thousands of people.

(RADIO CHATTER)

NARRATOR: Two planes have
collided and fallen from

the sky over San Diego.

The city is in shock.

But the full scope of
the tragedy is only beginning to emerge.

REPORTER: Hundreds
of people watched in horror as

the two planes collided and
crashed into a quiet San Diego

residential neighborhood.

This is the biggest
disaster that's ever happened

in San Diego County.

REPORTER: One witness reported seeing

falling bodies hit a car.

MAN (OVER TV): Two bodies
were bounced out of the PSA.

One hit through the windshield,
killed the mother.

The other one hit on the side and
killed her four month old baby.

Police officers covered up the
bodies and that's about all

they could do.

NARRATOR: It's feared that everyone
onboard the two planes is dead.

The PSA plane landed
at Dwight and Nile streets.

The Cessna landed about six blocks away
in front of a house, near 32nd and Polk.

NARRATOR: 22 homes are destroyed.

Seven residents are killed.

Nine more are injured.

The city feels overwhelmed.

WOMAN (OVER TV): We heard it on the news

so we came down here to see
what we could do to help.

We've been walking through
here carrying water and it's

just such a bad scene,
it's really horrible.

NARRATOR: Greg Clark is a
San Diego police officer who

rushes to the scene to
help search for survivors.

For me it looked like,
um, a large bomb had gone off.

Everything that was in
the path of the aircraft

just completely destroyed.

There were passenger seats
stuck in the side of houses

and pieces of fuselage just,
just everywhere.

I found nobody that was in one piece.

NARRATOR: Two hours after the crash,

NTSB investigator Wally Funk
arrives from Los Angeles.

FUNK: Since I was
the lead investigator for that

particular day, I got the call
from the FAA duty officer and

he informed me that there had been
a midair collision in San Diego.

Oh, my word.
The accident scene was horrendous.

First the San Diego police
department escorted me in and

introduced me to the
fire marshal 'cause they had

control of the entire wreckage.

Any survivors yet?

That was just
chilling that you suddenly you

realized there's, there are no survivors.

The medical personnel
were frustrated because

everybody came to
the realization that there was

nothing that they could do.

NARRATOR: 144 people are dead,

including the seven on the ground.

It's the biggest airline
disaster in American history.

FUNK: It was entirely something that
I had not expected.

There was so many bits and
parts and pieces around,

not only the aircraft but the homes.

I just started by photographing

and writing notes.

A real big concern of mine was how
am I gonna put this puzzle together?

NARRATOR: Funk needs to
confirm that the wreckage of a

small plane found six blocks
away is in fact what collided

with the 727.

There's no doubt about it.

We had paint transfers.

We had pieces and parts from
the two different aircraft.

Yes, this was an
absolute midair collision.

There's no doubt about it.

NARRATOR: But there's a
much larger question looming:

how could such an accident happen?

FUNK: We had to visualize from
a very mangled mess of metal

where the two came together.

(CRASHING)

I really felt compelled to
bring the Cessna wreckage over

to the main wreckage.

Put that downright, uh, there please.

FUNK: So we could kind of understand
really what had happened.

NARRATOR: Eventually,
the wreckage of the two planes is

- sent to a hangar for reconstruction.
- FUNK: It's just a big puzzle.

You have to try one piece at
a time putting it together.

NARRATOR: Funk records as many
witness interviews as possible

while memories are still fresh.

But I find in all my
investigations that children

up to 17, 18 years old
are my best witnesses

because a youngster
will give me a really good

interpretation of what they saw,

not what they thought they heard or

what they thought they saw.

Quite a few people described what

they saw falling out of the sky.

Can you tell me exactly what
you saw when you looked up?

NARRATOR: But all the
interviews are disappointing.

So you didn't see the actual collision.

FUNK: We had nobody that
really saw the whole thing happen.

We only saw it after the bang.

(CRASHING)

NARRATOR: The closest thing to
a sighting of the collision is

a television crew's footage of the Cessna
plummeting to the ground.

The NTSB sends additional
staff from Washington,

including senior
investigator Philip Hogue.

HOGUE: Great work here.

Let's get right down to it, all right?

I know that you've done
a heck of a lot of research and

you've been mainly concentrating
on the larger aircraft.

FUNK: But it was great to see the guys
when they finally got there.

The technical support was wonderful.

We kind of divvied up the duties.

So I will tackle the Cessna.

NARRATOR: Needing to know
more about the smaller plane,

they review its records for the day.

The Cessna belonged to
a flight training school.

A student pilot was having a lesson.

We had a flight instructor sitting on

the right side and we had
a student pilot learning to get

his instrument rating.

NARRATOR: Investigators
learn that the student pilot

approached runway nine twice,

practicing landing using
only his instruments.

Instrument pilots need
more practice of approaching

the runways as opposed to the landings.

NARRATOR: Local media
jump to a conclusion.

There were a lot
of people who thought that

the crash had to be the fault of
that Cessna because they had a,

it had a student pilot.

There can be a built in
bias in the traveling public's

mind and the media's mind
that airliners should have

priority in and out of airports and

this is not the way that it works.

It, it's a first come,
first served system.

However, with a jetliner on a,

on an assigned glide path
coming in to a major airport,

people wanted to know how come
that little airplane was up

there in the way.

NARRATOR: Hopefully,
the black boxes salvaged from

the crash site will help
answer this question.

One was up front,
which was the voice recorder,

and one was in the AFT stairwell,

which was the instrument recorder.

They were flown back to Washington, DC.

Figuring out what was said
in the cockpit and what the

instruments said takes a lot of time.

NARRATOR: In the meantime,
investigators interview the

first of the two controllers
who were guiding the planes.

Can you show us the two flight paths?

NARRATOR: The approach
controller remembers the

planned routes of the two
planes but he can't be sure

what routes they actually flew because
approach radar is not recorded.

So the 727 was flying
East to do a turn around and

land on runway 27.

And the Cessna was flying
Northeast but it was miles

ahead of the 727, probably
headed home after doing touch

and goes on runway nine.

FUNK: They should have missed
each other by over a mile.

FUNK: Since I had been into Lindbergh
several times as a pilot,

it occurred to me were they on
the right headings, altitudes?

NARRATOR: Learning the exact
flight paths will require

complex calculations
that include data from an

air traffic station in Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, a transcript of the
controller's conversation with

both planes reveals the pilots were
aware of each other's positions.

So the PSA crew reported seeing the Cessna

when they were still three miles apart.

The planes would
have been somewhere around here and here.

Got it.

Traffic in sight.

NARRATOR: The Cessna pilot
was also made aware of

the 727 behind them.

MAN: (OVER RADIO) Traffic at 6:00,
two miles Eastbound.

A PSA jet inbound to Lindbergh out of

3,200 has you in sight.

NARRATOR:
Investigators want to know,

if the pilots of both
planes knew of each other,

why did their aircraft collide?

New radar equipment installed
just one month earlier was

designed to prevent
exactly this type of incident.

The collision alert
system was instituted to

prevent collisions, to alert
controllers to the fact that

there was an imminent collision
between two aircraft.

Um, didn't you get any warning?

We did, we ignored it.

Explain.

Well when the alert sounded
I mentioned it to my supervisor.

(BEEPING)

It's the alarm again.
I talked to both planes.

PSA 182's confirmed a
visual sighting of the Cessna.

We're not expected to contact
the pilots if they're flying

by visual rules,
not to mention we get about

13 alarms a day so.

He went to his advisor
and told him what he had but

since they had had so many
false ones they really just

kind of disregarded it.

NARRATOR: The controllers
decide not to act on the alert

but they still contact the Cessna and

repeat an earlier message.

Traffic in your vicinity,
PSA jet has you in sight.

He's descending for Lindbergh.

You could almost call
it a courtesy call by the

approach controller to the Cessna.

(CRASHING)

- NARRATOR: But at that exact moment...
- Get over here.

NARRATOR: The planes collide.

I feel they should have

watched these two
aircraft a little closer.

I think they were
rather cavalier about it.

NARRATOR: Investigators interview
the Lindbergh tower controller,

trying to understand why he also failed

to warn both planes about
their impending collision.

They discover that to monitor
traffic he relied on a less

sophisticated form of radar.

The tower controller did not have
the collision alert system at the time.

NARRATOR: When the controller
saw the planes within

one and a half kilometers of
each other he made contact,

warning the 727.

MAN: (OVER RADIO) PSA 182.

Traffic 12:00, one mile,

- A Cessna.
- I think he's passing

off to our right.

Yeah.

If the pilot says he's
passing off to our right this

implies that he's still
maintaining visual separation.

It was his responsibility and
you would not worry about it.

NARRATOR: After
talking to both controllers,

investigators still have no
answer to the key question in

the midair collision.

Who crashed into whom?

Now let's have the next acetate please and

see where that takes us.

NARRATOR: When they finally
calculate the two planes'

actual radar tracks,
the answer becomes clear.

This is where the 727
has rear-ended the Cessna.

The Cessna never passed off to the right.

He was always in front of PSA.

NARRATOR: The 91 ton
aircraft flying at almost

300 kilometers per hour simply tore apart

the much slower and lighter Cessna.

We have plotted down here,
this is the third position of...

NARRATOR: The radar track reveals
another important detail.

Just before the impact,

the Cessna turned
right into the 727's path.

Why the change in heading?

The trajectories of
the two airplanes are such that

had the Cessna not drifted,

the airplanes would not have collided.

NARRATOR: Close examination of
the Cessna's training flight log

reveals one possible reason
for the change in direction.

He was wearing a training hood.

NARRATOR: The Cessna
pilot wore a training hood.

It's a device worn during
instrument flight training.

A pilot undergoing training
for an instrument rating

must learn to fly with
exclusive reference to

the instruments so on good weather
days there has to be some

means to block
the natural horizon, the outside.

And it was a black hood
that came out about this far

from his face so that
he couldn't see outside.

NARRATOR: Funk wonders if
the hood could have caused him to

go off course at the worst possible time.

The Cessna was told to
stay on a 70 degree heading.

Cessna 7, 711 Golf, San Diego departure

fly heading 0-7-0.

NARRATOR: Pilots are taught
to scan their instruments to

maintain their heading.

COX: On occasion you'll
see headings that will drift

because a learning pilot
doesn't have the heading in

that scan fast enough.

NARRATOR: But even if the hood
did play a role in causing the

Cessna to drift...

That does not explain why
the PSA crew couldn't see the Cessna.

Got it.

MCFERON: (OVER RADIO)
Traffic in sight.

NARRATOR: How did the veteran
crew of a 727 lose sight of a

plane flying directly in front of it?

NARRATOR: Investigators now
realize they may never find

out why the pilot of a
Cessna changed its heading,

putting it on
the same flight path as a 727.

Why the Cessna pilot did not stay
on his, uh, assigned heading,

I can't answer that question.

But it's important to
know that that drift of that

heading wasn't so severe that
the air traffic controller

called him and said what's
your heading so clearly they

did turn according to the
radar but the significance of

it is, uh, is a bit more questionable.

NARRATOR: What's not in
question is that it was the

responsibility of the 727's
crew to avoid the Cessna.

COX: The PSA crew, when
they acknowledged they had

the Cessna in sight at that moment
became responsible for keeping

the airplanes separate.

NARRATOR: In Washington,
investigators review

the PSA crew's last moments on
the recovered cockpit voice recording.

HOGUE: All right, hit it.

FOX (OVER RADIO): Are
we clear of that Cessna?

WAYNE (OVER RADIO): Supposed to be.

MCFERON: (OVER RADIO) I guess, I hope.

(LAUGHTER)

Oh, yeah.

Hold on. Go back.

NARRATOR: Philip Hogue
focuses in on the conversation

recorded 35 seconds before the collision.

FOX (OVER RADIO): Are
we clear of that Cessna?

WAYNE (OVER RADIO): Supposed to be.

MCFERON: (OVER RADIO)
I guess, I hope.

(LAUGHTER)

Oh yeah, before
we turned downwind I saw them about 1:00.

Probably behind us now.

NARRATOR: The PSA crew not
only doesn't see the Cessna,

they assume they have already passed it.

It was right in
front of them the whole time.

The 727 when it's flying
in level flight is a slightly

nose up condition so that
the pilots as they look out

they're looking over
the nose of the airplane.

FUNK: Was the nose of the aircraft high
and they didn't see the Cessna?

They may not have realized
the Cessna was as close as it was.

NARRATOR: The NTSB conducts a
study to determine how long

the PSA crew could see the Cessna
through their windscreen.

Welcome aboard.

Now use the reference
points to adjust your seat.

NARRATOR: They start by
adjusting the pilots' seats

for optimal viewing using a device called

the design eye reference point.

The manufacturers
designed a very simple but

very effective system where
you line up little balls in

the center post of
the windscreen that put your eye

in the same position every time.

Now if you would
please take a measurement from

my eye line to the
white ball in the middle.

Okay now from
the eyeball to the floor please.

NARRATOR: Once the pilots' viewing
positions have been determined,

the photographer
uses a special camera to take

panoramic images of each pilot's view.

Okay let's have a look
at what the pilots can see.

Would you put up the view.

NARRATOR: He starts with
the captain's view.

Radar tracks provide the Cessna's heading,

pitch and bank angle.

They plot this data on top of
the photographs in ten second intervals.

All right,
let's see what the copilot can see please.

NARRATOR: What they find is surprising,

a longer than expected time
period in which the PSA crew

could see the Cessna.

170 seconds of clear view.

The pilots could have
seen the Cessna in plain view.

How can you miss a plane that
is staring you in the face?

Yeah it's something falling,
she doesn't say what but okay.

All right, I'll take that, Sue Pritchard.

NARRATOR: Investigators wonder
if witness reports can shed

some light on the mystery.

They discover that there may
have been something in the air

that misled the pilots.

We had collected 220 witness reports.

16 of those witness
reports revealed that they

thought they saw other
aircraft in the area.

(PLANE PASSING OVERHEAD)

NARRATOR: Air traffic
controllers don't remember

a third plane flying nearby but
many small planes don't carry

a transponder, the device
needed to identify them.

Had they not had a transponder,

the third airplane may not
have been visible to the radar

in the San Diego approach facility.

NARRATOR: Investigators study the cockpit
recordings more closely,

- searching for clues about a third plane.
- Oh, yeah.

Before we turned
downwind I saw him about 1:00.

Probably behind us now.

NARRATOR: 35 seconds
before the crash,

the crew assumed the Cessna
was safely out of the way.

But the captain's
1:00 reference seems odd.

The flight paths of the two
planes show that the Cessna

was never in that position.

The Cessna was at their 11:00
so what plane were they looking for?

The fact that it was
at 1:00 instead of 11:00

indicates that there's a
possibility that he saw another aircraft.

It may have been quite
some distance away but

he saw another aircraft.

NARRATOR: Then, another clue
about a possible third plane.

FOX: (OVER RADIO)
There's one underneath.

I was looking at that inbound over there.

NARRATOR: The plane
he spots is flying inbound.

That means it's flying in
the opposite direction of the

Cessna that was hit.

It does open and add
further credibility to

the possibility that they
saw a different airplane.

NARRATOR: But what plane
exactly may never be known

even after factoring in the 16 reported
sightings of other aircraft.

The team concluded
that the 16 witnesses could

not really put a aircraft in
that particular area at that

particular time.

NARRATOR: Investigators are at an impasse.

Their visibility study
tells them that the Cessna was

technically visible for 170 seconds,

nearly three full minutes.

So why did the crew of
the 727 lose sight of it?

They go back to the cockpit recording.

MAN: (OVER RADIO) Three miles just
North of the field, Northwest.

- Cessna 172 climbing VFR at.
- Okay stop tape.

MAN: (OVER RADIO) 1,400.

135 seconds to impact.

This is when the controller
first mentioned the Cessna.

Okay, roll tape again.

MAN: (OVER RADIO) PSA 182.

NARRATOR: Two minutes
before the collision,

the crew hears the Cessna's
position being described but

they haven't spotted it yet.

COX: The silhouette of
the Cessna would have been

difficult as they
were approximately the same altitude.

They're going in the same
direction so one of the things

that the human eye picks up is
movement and for a good part

of the time this is not
moving in the windscreen.

San Diego Ops, we're number two
because we try harder.

NARRATOR: The Cessna has
now been visible for nearly

80 seconds out of their window
but the crew has failed to see it.

90 seconds to impact
they get another warning.

And after we read and
saw what the CVR said I feel

that they were distracted
in their conversation.

Roll tape.

MAN: (OVER RADIO) PSA 182,
traffic's at 12:00 three miles out, 1,700.

Got it.

MCFERON: (OVER RADIO)
Traffic in sight.

Stop tape.

NARRATOR: 85 seconds before impact,

the 727's pilots spot
the Cessna flying ahead of them.

The crew is then instructed
to use visual flight rules and

contact the Lindbergh tower.

Okay sir, maintain visual separation.

Contact Lindbergh tower,

133.3. Have a nice day.

Okay.

They saw it one
second and then they didn't

see it another second.

Was the conversation
such that they looked away and missed it?

NARRATOR: The crew must now
keep the Cessna in view while

performing other tasks.

The captain contacts the tower controller
and prepares for landing.

Lindbergh, PSA 182 downwind.

The wings need to be configured with

the proper slats and flap settings.

The landing gear must be lowered.

Systems have to be adjusted.

All of these things are going on so it's,

it's a busy place for
three people in a 727.

NARRATOR: At this critical moment,

no one is keeping an eye on the Cessna.

MAN: (OVER RADIO) PSA 182, traffic 12:00,
one mile, a Cessna.

Is that the one we're looking at?

Yeah, but I don't see him now.

The Cessna should be
right here in front of them.

The Cessna was visible
just at about the windshield

level of PSA and it's
really incredible somehow

they lost sight of it.

Okay. Can you show me
how you normally adjust your seat please?

NARRATOR: But when
investigators learn more about

how PSA pilots adjust their seats,

they begin to understand how
the crew may have lost sight

of the Cessna.

That's it?
You don't use your reference points?

It's not a requirement
to utilize the manufacturer's

designed eye reference position.

NARRATOR: Investigators
discover that many pilots

adjust their seats to
their own personal settings.

Pilots come in all sizes and shapes.

They learn quickly to adjust the seats to

the position that's comfortable.

Some pilots want to
sit lower so they can see

their instruments better.

NARRATOR: From this new seat position,

the Cessna's location on
the windshield is recalculated.

The results show an
important difference between

the two seat settings.

With the new setting the crew
would have had the Cessna in

view for only five to ten seconds,

not a few minutes.

Five seconds, that's all.

The position of
the Cessna was down below the nose

or the reference that
the pilots could see.

If they had moved their heads up, uh,

the Cessna was still visible but otherwise
it was below the windscreen.

Okay, let's play find the Cessna.

NARRATOR: But even assuming that
the crew did lean forward,

investigators now
realize they would face other

problems in spotting the Cessna.

It's almost camouflaged.

They become harder to see
and the terrain makes it even

more so because you have white roofs.

You have dark roofs.
You have roads, you have lakes.

You have trees so that the
background changes and

the aircraft will move
across this background.

Is that the one we're looking at?

Yeah, but I don't see him now.

NARRATOR: The Cessna is now
flying too close to the 727 to

be viewed without leaning
forward and it's against

a backdrop that makes
it hard to recognize.

MAN: (OVER RADIO) PSA 182,

Cleared to land.

182 is cleared to land.

NARRATOR: A collision is
now imminent and the six men

involved in preventing it are oblivious.

The Cessna pilot can't see out his window.

His trainer has
failed to notice the plane is off course.

The 727's crew have the Cessna
in a blind spot but both

controllers assume
the crew can see the Cessna and

will avoid it.

There's only one thing that
can stop this accident from

happening and 144 lives depend on it.

FUNK: The PSA captain should
have made the suggestion to

the tower, I don't see him anymore.

NARRATOR: Captain McFeron will
talk to the tower about

the Cessna but a misunderstanding
over a single word will prove deadly.

The two planes are 70 seconds
from colliding over San Diego.

MAN: (OVER RADIO) PSA 182,

Traffic 12:00, one mile,

A Cessna.

Flaps five.

Is that the one we're looking for?

Yeah, but I don't see him now.

NARRATOR: The fate of flight
182 now depends on the captain

clearly communicating this to the tower.

Okay, we had him there a minute ago.

NARRATOR: But the captain is not clear.

182, roger.

NARRATOR: And the controller assumes
the Cessna is still in sight.

COX: When the PSA
crew lost visual contact,

they were responsible to tell
the air traffic controller

I no longer see the Cessna.

NARRATOR: Still uncertain
about the Cessna's location,

once again the captain tries
to explain his situation to the tower.

I think he's passed off to our right.

The comment that
the captain makes indicates that

they're not sure,
that they don't have him in

sight at that moment.

NARRATOR: The controller could
force the PSA flight or the

Cessna to change
course but he does nothing.

It's very difficult to
determine what that exchange

between the air traffic
controller and PSA meant to

each of the pilots.

The captain made the comment...

I think he's passed off to our right.

Indicating that he wasn't 100%
sure but the air traffic controller

heard it as a declarative statement
and answered:

Yeah.

What that meant to the PSA crew,

I'm not sure we'll ever know.

He was right over here a minute ago.

Yeah.

But they were satisfied
with the situation enough that

they continued the approach
and the air traffic controller

was satisfied with
the situation enough that he did

not make any further comments about it.

MCFERON: (OVER RADIO) Okay we have...

NARRATOR: Investigators want
to know why the controller

took no action.

They compare two separate
recordings of the conversation

between the captain and the controller.

Okay, Chris, let's hear the cockpit first.

MCFERON: (OVER RADIO)
I think he's passed off to our right?

Passed.
I thought I heard passing before.

Double check that please.

MCFERON: (OVER RADIO) I think
he's passed off to our right?

He's still saying passed.

Let's compare it with the tower 'cause
I think I heard passing.

NARRATOR: They make a startling discovery.

MCFERON: (OVER RADIO)
Think he's passing off to our right.

Passing.

I was right, it does sound like passing.

NARRATOR: Due to radio static,

the controller heard the
word passing, not passed.

The difference may have
sealed the fate of flight 182.

Passing, big difference.

NARRATOR: The recordings
reveal that while the pilot of

PSA 182 said one thing,
the Lindbergh tower controller

- heard something else.
- I think he's passing

off to our right.

Yeah.

NARRATOR: Now investigators
understand why the controller

took no action.

If he had heard the words

"he's passed off to our right,"

he would have seen
from his radar that the pilot was mistaken

and that the 727 had not
actually passed the Cessna.

The air traffic controller heard it as

he's passing off to our right.

That indicated that they still
had visual contact with it.

BROWN: He would believe that
the pilot was being able to

maintain the separation.

It was his responsibility and
you would not worry about it.

NARRATOR: In the spring of 1979,

investigators finally
conclude who is at fault.

The determination of
the board's report is very clear

that the crew obviously
did not see the aircraft,

the Cessna, in time to divert it away
from a catastrophic accident.

The PSA crew,
when they lost visual contact is

responsible to tell
the air traffic controller,

"I no longer see the Cessna,"
and that they did not do.

NARRATOR: The Cessna pilot
is also mentioned as a factor.

For changing course
without notifying the tower.

Both controllers are criticized for
not following protocol and

giving the 727's
crew the specific heading of the Cessna.

HOGUE: Thinking back to that day,

there is just a tremendous
sadness that comes to mind

You know that accidents happen

but you think, this was an accident
that could have been prevented

but it wasn't.

NARRATOR: Recommendations in
the report focus on improving

the air traffic control
system at Lindbergh Field.

BROWN: They changed
procedures after this,

they put in a terminal control area.

There was a great deal of
restriction on what kind of

traffic could go through
and at what altitudes.

So in frank, many different restrictions
to make it safe for operation,

were put in to place at
Lindbergh after this accident.

We're out of Los Angeles,
San Diego at 0-9-0-5.

MAN: (OVER RADIO) (LAUGHING)
PSA 182, roger.

I just called my off report.

The guy started laughing.

(LAUGHTER)

Make it up by reporting
our next takeoff now.

NARRATOR: There's another legacy
of PSA 182,

new rules governing all
conversations in the cockpit

when flying below 10,000 feet.

Today's regulation
requires that you concentrate

your conversation exclusively to
the operation of the airplane.

At the time of the PSA 182 accident, the,

that regulation was not in effect.

NARRATOR: PSA 182 also
helped push the FAA in

the search for new technology.

Three years after the accident, in 1981,

a safety device called TCAS,

or Traffic Collision Avoidance System,

was put into development.

Now installed in all passenger aircraft,

the system warns pilots when
another plane comes too close.

FUNK: TCAS was a God bless.

We now can put it on our
transponders and we can see or

hear what's going on or
be told what's going on

with aircraft around us.

We have come in big leaps to
make aviation safer for people

to fly and feel comfortable
that their airplane is gonna

get where they want to go.