Original subtitles

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.