All language subtitles for M.2003-S24E04-Fight.for.Survival.Pilgrim.Airlines.Flight.458.WEBDL-1080pEAC3.5.1h264-NOGRP_track3_[eng]

(narrator): A horror story
unfolds at 4,000 feet.

- There were actual flames
coming up

through the cockpit floor.
(grunts)

We were starting to be burned.

- Fire is consuming
Pilgrim Airlines Flight 458.

- This airplane
was a death trap.

- It was time to fight
for your life.

- The pilots have just seconds

to get their plane
on the ground.

- All I could see were trees.

- Hold on!

- It wasn't going to be
a smooth landing.

(crashing)

- 11 of the 12 people on board
make it out alive.

But the fire destroys
any evidence of its origin.

- The whole plane's incinerated.

- A surviving pilot
gives NTSB investigators

the break they need.

- The first time
I hit the switch,

I saw the smoke

coming from the base
of the control column.

- That was a very,
very large statement

to an investigator.

(theme music)

(computer): Mayday, Mayday.

(alarm blaring)
Pull up!

(indistinct radio chatter)

(soft music)

(narrator):
There are 10 passengers

on board Pilgrim Airlines
Flight 458.

(pilot): Folks,

we'll be getting airborne
shortly,

so please make sure

your seatbelts are fastened
at this time.

All set.

- Nicely done.

(narrator): Just after three
in the afternoon,

the Twin Otter
starts down the runway.

- 60 knots.

- 60 knots.

- Flight 458 lifts off
from Groton, Connecticut.

The flight is a short hop
to Boston,

just 87 miles to the north.

- Positive rate.

- Flaps up.

- Flaps up.

- 36-year-old Thomas Prinster
is the captain flying today.

He's been with the airline
for three years.

- Tom was loved by all.

He would show us
how to fly that airplane,

what you don't wanna do,
what you do wanna do.

Um, he was just a real pleasure
to fly with.

- Temperatures and pressure
is in the green.

Looking good.

Pilgrim 458
now passing through 1,000 feet.

(radio): Pilgrim 458,
roger that,

passing 1,000.

(narrator): 27-year-old
First Officer Lyle Hogg

has only been with the airline
for a few months.

- Before I went to
Pilgrim Airlines,

I had about 1,500 hours.

Um, in my time at Pilgrim
prior to this,

I'd flown
approximately 400 hours.

- The pilots are flying
a De Havilland Dash 6,

Twin Otter,
a turboprop airplane

that's popular
with regional airlines.

- It was
a twin-engine turboprop

used on local flights
for the most part.

A very popular airplane
in its day.

It helped lead
the regional airline revolution

that was going on at the time,

and it was used
all over the world.

- Pilgrim 458, climb 4,000.

Report Norwich V-O-R.

- The flight to Boston
lasts only 40 minutes.

There's no flight attendant
on board.

One of the passengers
on today's flight

is US Air flight engineer
Harry Polychron.

He's flying to Boston
for the start of his shift.

- My flight out of Boston
the next day

was early in the morning,

so my plan was
to arrive on Sunday night,

get a hotel room,

so I would be all set
and ready to go.

- Paul Hainsworth
is a business consultant

who is catching
a connecting flight in Boston.

- Once we started the takeoff

and started going up
into the air,

I literally
just tipped my head over,

closed my eyes
and started dozing.

I was tired.

- The plane reaches
its cruising altitude

of 4,000 feet.

- The weather was
a typical February day

in New England.

There was clouds
at about 3,000 feet,

with some freezing drizzle,
freezing rain.

(radio): Pilgrim 458,
how's the ride?

- Smooth right now.

(narrator):
With the outside temperature

nearing minus 3 degrees Celsius,

the precipitation is freezing

and creating a layer of ice
on the windshield.

- We're picking up some ice.

- On the windshield,

it's similar to frost
on a windshield of a car,

sort of rough looking
and difficult to see through.

- How do the wings look?

- No ice.
- Alright,

let's see if we'll be able
to clear this windshield.

- You got it.

- The pilots want to make sure

they'll be able
to de-ice their windshield

when it's time to land.

- We would test
the windshield de-icing

just to make sure
it was working.

We wouldn't
continually operate the pump

all the way to your destination,

so you wouldn't use up
too much of the alcohol.

You'd save it
for when you needed it,

which would be on approach
and landing at the next airport.

(ominous music)

- Not getting anything
on my side.

- I noticed very little fluid
on my side of the windshield

when I first activated
the switch.

- Anything on your side?

- Some. Not a whole lot.

- The second time,

I held the switch
in the on position

for a little bit longer

so we could get
a good indication

of the de-icing fluid
affecting the windshield.

- Still nothing.

- Something's not right.
I'm gonna stop trying.

- Quite soon after that,

there was an odor
in the cockpit.

It was alcohol-like.

It wasn't an emergency
at that time, yet.

But we were beginning
our thought process as far as,

"Okay, what are we gonna do
to deal with this issue?"

(sniffles)
- I smell smoke.

- Yup.

- Around the same time,
we also realized

there was an acrid type smell.

The first thought
that I had was,

Tom had been a smoker

and the ashtray in the cockpit
was in the lower center yoke.

We looked towards the floor
where the ashtray was,

and it was not smoke
coming from the ashtray.

- In the cabin,

Harry Polychron senses
something's not right.

- I had my head
buried in the paperwork

and then,
I got that whiff of alcohol.

(sniffles)

- As a flight engineer,

Polychron knows the smell

could indicate
something serious.

- Alcohol was not something

you normally smell
on an airplane flight.

- It's coming from down there.

- The pilots now see
wisps of smoke

entering the cockpit.

(coughing)

- We did see, initially,

some very light
white-type smoke.

Before we could even
talk about that

or react to that,

the smoke started
to become thick,

very quickly.

- Both pilots realize
something is on fire

and it's getting worse.

- Fires are terrible things
to have on an aircraft,

you can't just pull off

to the side of the road
with a fire.

You have to do something
immediately.

- Quonset, Pilgrim 458.

We need a direct to Providence,
this is an emergency.

(coughing)

- The captain wants to land
at the nearest airport,

Providence, Rhode Island,
just 12 miles to the right.

- A turn to Providence
was kind of a no-brainer,

'cause we knew exactly
where we were

and knew exactly
where Providence was.

- Pilgrim 458,
was that you calling?

- Directly to Providence,
please.

This is an emergency.
There is a fire on board.

- Pilgrim 458, roger.

Understand.

Uh...

...turn right,
heading of one five zero

for vectors to Providence.

- Okay, let's get on the ground.

(coughing)
- Right turn.

One five zero.

I'll look for the runway.

(narrator): With a fire burning
somewhere inside the airplane,

the pilots have very little time
to get back on the ground.

- I'm pushing. I'm pushing.

- But the smoke is making it

difficult to see
inside the cockpit.

The clouds
and ice-covered windshield

make it nearly impossible
to see outside.

- We gotta get
under these damned clouds!

- We needed to get on the ground
as fast as we could.

And so the turn was quite abrupt

and the descent was quite steep.

- Pilgrim 458,
how many people on board?

- Controllers begin to prepare

for an emergency landing
in Providence.

- We've got 10 people on board.

- Lyle responded
that there were 10.

He was thinking
of the passengers.

He didn't include
Tom and himself.

- It's getting worse.

(coughing)

- Where the hell
is it coming from?

- It was blinding.
It was choking.

They couldn't see each other.

They couldn't see
out the windscreen.

They couldn't see
their instruments.

They were in the clouds.

(passengers coughing)

- The smoke from the cockpit
makes its way through the cabin.

(coughing)

- As soon as the black smoke
started in the cabin,

it became
more and more difficult

to see and breathe.

- I immediately grabbed
the bottom of my sweater,

pulled it up, spat into it,

and put it
over my nose and mouth

and started to use that,
you know, as a filter.

- The pilots are also
struggling to breathe.

Since the Twin Otter
is not pressurized,

they're able
to open their windows

to get fresh air.

- Because I was having
a hard time

seeing Tom at that point,

I opened the window on my side
of the aircraft.

(dramatic music)

- But windows in the cabin
don't open

and the passengers
are suffocating.

- "How am I gonna get air?"

It was time to fight
for your life.

(coughing)

(grunts with effort)

The passengers and crew:

of Pilgrim Airlines Flight 458

are in the fight of their lives.

- I did have that tennis racket.

Boom, bash out a window.

(wind howling)

(passengers coughing)

It drew the smoke out,
and then, I proceeded forward.

I did it a couple more times
to other windows

on the right side
of the airplane.

(banging)
(grunts in effort)

(coughing)

- I was absolutely in awe
as to what he was doing.

(passengers coughing)

- We'll all be fine!

The smoke is starting to clear!

- And I thought,
"My God,

this is just an amazing piece
of good news,

not only for me,

but for everybody else
on the plane."

(wind howling)

- In addition to
the thick smoke,

the pilots are now
confronted by fire

coming up through the floor.

- Ah!

- I thought, "Let me try to get
to the fire extinguisher."

It was behind my seat.
It was close to the floor.

(screams)

- But with intense heat
coming through the floor,

Hogg can't grab it.
(groans in pain)

- Ah!

- That's when we were starting
to be burned.

The initial reaction
is not feeling the pain.

The initial reaction is,
you know,

"We've got to get this airplane
on the ground quickly."

- Still 11 miles from Providence
and unable to see,

the pilots know
they don't have enough time

to get their burning airplane
to the airport.

- We were
in an emergency descent

pointing towards Providence,

but not knowing
if we could get there.

(passengers coughing)

- Off duty flight engineer
Harry Polychron

makes his way to the cockpit
to let the pilots know

about the situation
in the cabin.

- It was hard to stand.

It pitched up, pitched down,

pitched left, pitched right,

it was a wild ride

and you got
thrown around up there.

When I poked my head
into the cockpit,

it was engulfed in smoke.

(coughing)

(wind howling)

They couldn't see
the instruments

and they couldn't see outside.
So how they managed

to keep that plane right side up
amazes me.

I just wanted to let them know
that the passengers were okay

and just, "Keep it up, guys,
you're doing a great job."

I said...

- You guys keep flying.

We have everything under control
in the back.

- My intentions were just
to keep those guys inspired

to keep doing
what they were doing,

which was heroic.

- The flames are spreading
from the cockpit into the cabin.

The pilots are
running out of time

to save their plane.

(banging)

(tense music)

- It was an extraordinarily
painful, frightening,

deadly set of circumstances
getting worse every second.

(coughing)

- The pilots
can't see each other,

and with the windows open
can't hear each other either.

- I needed to make sure
that Tom was, in fact,

still flying the aircraft.

And that's when I rested my hand
on the yoke

to follow along
with his movements.

- Captain Prinster
maintains a rapid descent.

But he has no idea
where he's going to land.

- I initially did not see
an adequate landing site.

We were still in the clouds.

(tense music)

- The passengers start
to prepare for the inevitable.

- I sat up very straight
in the chair,

and took the seat belt,
and ensured

that it was going
across my hip bones,

and not my stomach,

and tightened it
as tight as I possibly could.

- 15,000 feet
from the ground,

the heat from the fire
has grown so intense

that the pilots' headsets
are beginning to melt.

(coughing)

(wind howling)

(Hogg): I needed to get
that rubber headset off.

- These circumstances
were absolutely extreme.

At that point,
it was very clear to the pilots

that this airplane
was a death trap.

- The flight should be
nearing the airport

in Providence.

- Pilgrim 458, you can proceed
direct to Providence V-O-R.

- Without headsets,

the pilots are no longer able
to communicate with the ground.

- One of the pilots
was gripping the yoke so hard,

his thumb was on top of a button
that activates the microphone.

And the result of that

was the air traffic controllers
heard this roar.

(wind howling)
- Pilgrim 458...

Pilgrim 458, do you copy?
I'm not reading you.

- 1,000 feet above the ground,

the Twin Otter
breaks through the clouds.

(wind howling)

- Out of my window,
all I could see were trees.

Tom was making a turn.

I couldn't see him,
but I could feel him

making a turn to the left.

(tense music)

- The pilots need to land

before the fire reaches
the highly flammable fuel

located in the belly
of the aircraft,

directly below the passengers.

(dramatic music)

(sniffles)

- I was wondering,
at this point,

were we gonna be able
to get the plane on the ground?

Or was it gonna explode
in midair?

- Get ready!

(frantic music)

- Oh, God!

Ah!

- Looking out the window,
I no longer saw all trees,

I saw the shores
of this frozen reservoir

and my immediate thought was,
"Hey, we're gonna make it."

- The pilots have spotted
the Scituate Reservoir

near Providence Rhode Island,

a frozen body of water
that covers five square miles.

- It was a wide open, flat area.

There were no trees,
there was no nothing.

There was just ice.
It was a gift.

- The pilots aim
their burning plane

towards the reservoir.

- The next thing was just
to get that thing on the ground

as fast as we could

and get out of the aircraft.

It never crossed our minds,

was the ice gonna hold
the airplane or not?

(dramatic music)

(narrator): In the cabin
of Pilgrim Airlines Flight 458,

passengers can see

they're heading
for an emergency landing.

- I looked out the window

and I saw impact was imminent.

I wanted to go strap in
but the seat was on fire,

so I braced myself
against the bulkhead.

- Flight 458

is moments from slamming
onto a frozen lake.

(frantic music)
- Hold on!

- It was a matter of
get this airplane on the ground

as absolutely as fast
as we could.

Um, you know, it wasn't going
to be a smooth landing.

- Brace for impact!

- All of a sudden,
there's the most enormous bang.

(crashing)

(grunting)

(passengers screaming)

(crashing)

- Paul Hainsworth
and Harry Polychron

are knocked unconscious.

The plane breaks up

as it skids across the ice
for 500 feet.

(fire crackling)

- When I woke up,
the plane had stopped,

and everything was very quiet.

(grunts in pain)

- The pilots have managed
to maneuver

their burning airplane
onto the ice-covered lake.

Now, they must make sure
everyone gets off the airplane

before it's completely consumed
by fire.

- Here we are

in this white, frozen tundra,
if you will.

And, 'What do we do now?"

(somber music)

- I just released my seatbelt

and jumped up
and hit the plane door

and attempted to open it,
which I was unable to do,

because the fuselage
had compressed.

I glanced

and I saw a split
in the fuselage

right behind the doorway.

I made the decision

that I was gonna kick
that area of the fuselage

and make a hole in it,
so that we can escape.

- This way.

There's a hole back here.
You can get out this way.

- Hainsworth knows
passengers must get out quickly.

- I still had the concern

that the plane could
imminently explode.

I jumped out first,

and I then started
to assist other people.

- At the front of the plane,

Harry Polychron
is badly injured.

(grunts in pain)

- I was filled with adrenaline
and shock.

I had dislocated my shoulder.
I had injured my knee.

I had a burned leg.

My very first instinct

was to get out of that airplane
right now.

And I started to proceed
to the back of the airplane.

I heard a young woman say,
"Somebody please help me."

- Come on!
This way to the back.

We can get out here.
Come on.

Are you okay? Come on.
Ah!

- I grabbed the young lady,

I pulled her
to the back of the airplane

and as far as I knew,
I was the last one out.

(groaning in pain)

- Can you make it?

- Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, I think I can make it.

- There was no checklist
to be read

and no procedures to follow
at that point.

- Let's get out of here.
(Prinster): Yeah.

(groaning)

- Both pilots
and 9 of the 10 passengers

make it off the plane
and head for the shore.

Minutes later the Twin Otter
is completely consumed by fire.

- I think
it's one in a hundred million

that I'm still here.

And I'm very grateful
to the pilot,

the co-pilot,
and also the other pilot,

that was a passenger
on the plane,

for their actions that were,

quite frankly,
beyond remarkable.

- One passenger is dead,

the result of
severe smoke inhalation.

All of the surviving passengers

are taken to hospital
with serious injuries.

Both pilots are badly burned.

- Lyle was burned
over 25 % of his body.

And the captain was burned
over 7/10 of his body,

much of it third degree.

- Volunteers
immediately begin removing

vital pieces of wreckage
from the lake

so they can be studied
more closely by investigators.

- Tonight,
we have a clean-up operation.

We have a portable
electric generator

out there with lights.

We're going to mop up
the fuel oil

and wait until the FAA comes.

- It's obvious that the plane
was destroyed by fire.

But it's not obvious
what caused it.

- Knowing that
there's a fire on board

isn't just enough.

You need to understand exactly
what happened,

how it happened,
when it happened,

and how the crew were able

to fly the airplane
with a fire on board.

- Both pilots are too injured
to provide a statement,

so investigators
turn to the controllers

for more insight.
- What did they tell you?

- Just that they had
a fire on board

and needed to make
an emergency landing.

- And when did they
call that in?

- The call came in at 3:29,

so less than 20 minutes
after take-off.

- What would cause
an in-flight fire?

You're looking for
a flammable source,

you're looking for
an ignition source.

- Okay.

It's gonna be hard to find
anything useful in any of this.

- Investigators examine
Flight 458's cockpit gauges,

hoping to find clues
about the cause of the fire.

- After a post-crash fire,

those instruments are often
so badly damaged

that they take extensive work
to get more.

And sometimes we get nothing
from the instruments

because we just can't make
any sense out of what they say.

- Wait a minute...

- The plane's clock
is still legible,

stopped by the impact
of the crash.

- 3:44.

Whatever happened,
it happened fast.

- Less than 5 minutes

after the pilots
report the emergency,

they slam
onto the frozen reservoir.

(crashing)

This tells investigators

that the situation
escalated rapidly.

(mysterious music)

- Engine fire?

(narrator):
Pilgrim Air Flight 458

wasn't equipped with
a Cockpit Voice Recorder

or Flight Data Recorder.

Investigators will need
to work through

the most likely sources
of an on-board fire.

- It makes investigation
a little more difficult,

and takes a little longer
to get it done.

It doesn't keep us
from doing an investigation,

but it certainly adds
to the amount of work

required to complete
an investigation.

- They study what remains
of the engines

to determine if they played
a role in this accident.

- Both engines were running
at the moment of impact.

- The best indication

that engines are
running at impact

are you look for damage
to the engine,

you look for twisting
and bending the propellers,

look for direction
of the bending

and the amount of bending
of the propellers.

There were clear indications

that both engines
were developing power

at the time of impact.

- The fact that the engines
were running on impact

tells investigators

they were not the source
of the fire.

- They all report
the same thing:

smoke.

- The pilots are still
too injured to talk,

but interviews
with the passengers

provide the team
with an important clue:

thick smoke from the cockpit
poured into the cabin

(passengers coughing)

- If passengers say
they saw smoke

any time during the flight,

it would be a focus
of the investigation

because we would be interested

in the source of the smoke,
the timing of the smoke.

- They study the plane's
badly burned wreckage

for any evidence
that could tell them exactly

where the fire began.

- Well, the fire
had to start somewhere.

- We look for
concentrations of heat,

which would give us
an indication

where a fire began.

- The whole plane's incinerated.

- Yeah,
but the cockpit floor here

suffered the most fire damage.

I'd guess that the fire started
somewhere under the cockpit.

- The plane burned up

after it touched down
on the ice.

It's impossible to pinpoint
the precise origin of the fire.

- We could tell generally
the area where it started,

but we needed to do more work
to look at

potential flammable sources.

(mysterious music)

- Days after the accident,

the pilots are ready
to make their statements.

- Pilots are most likely

the most experienced people
on the airplane,

and they can tell you the events
that occurred around them

at the time
that this was going on.

All their sights,
sounds and feelings

can make a difference
in the investigation.

- Thanks for agreeing
to do this.

Maybe you just wanna talk me
through what you can remember.

- Towards the end of that week,

they asked
if I would speak to the NTSB

and I agreed.

- We tried to de-ice
the windshield

but weren't getting any fluid.

Almost immediately,
I smelt alcohol,

and then, smoke.

And then, I saw the smoke.

Thin and white at first.
(coughing)

It was coming from the base
of the control column.

It didn't take long

before that smoke
turned thick and black.

(coughing)

Soon, we couldn't breathe.

And we were starting to burn.

(soft music)

- Uh, how long
between the de-icing

and the first signs of smoke?

(scoffs)

- It all happened real fast.

I don't know, maybe a minute?

Maybe less?

- And that's when you called in
the emergency?

- Yeah,

and started to descend
immediately after that.

- He hit the switch

to apply the de-icing fluid
to his windshield

to clear some icing that he saw,

and then,
very shortly thereafter,

he had what he described as

"white smoke
with an alcohol smell."

That was a very,
very large statement

to an investigator
looking for a fire.

- Okay.

It all starts right here,

with the de-icing.

- The interview
with the First Officer

provides the team with a focus
for their investigation:

the airplane's de-icing system.

- We'd start looking
in the wreckage

for evidence
for that de-icing system,

and then begin

a parallel investigation
with maintenance

to see if there was any kind
of history of problems

with that system.

- The reservoir holds

one-and-a-half gallons
of de-icing fluid.

A switch on the overhead console
activates the 28-volt pump.

Flexible plastic tubing
connects the pump

to the spray nozzles.

- It's a pretty basic system.

- The use of chemical de-icing
in airplanes

had been used since the 20'.

So it was not an unknown
or novel system

that they were using.

- Investigators search

for the surviving components
of the de-icing system.

- If they had found the pump
and the attachments,

it clearly would have
shown to them

where the problem was.

- That's all that's left.

No sign of the pump.

The lines are all gone, melted.

- The only part
of the de-icing system

that survived the fire

is a melted portion
of the plastic reservoir.

- This tells us nothing.

(mysterious music)

- Focusing on
the smell of alcohol

reported by the crew,

investigators study a sample
of the de-icing fluid

used by Pilgrim Airlines

to determine
just how flammable it is.

(sighs)
- 87% isopropyl.

That's pretty flammable stuff.

- They are now fairly certain

that the de-icing fluid
on Flight 458 ignited,

leading to a raging fire.

But they still don't know how.

- We really have not
had any experience

with this type of system

causing a fire
on board an airplane.

(mysterious music)

- They go over
the First Officer's statement

for clues about
how the fire started.

- He did say the system
didn't work very well

when they tried to de-ice.

- The first time
I hit the switch,

I got a tiny bit of fluid
on my side.

So I tried a second time
and got nothing.

- So what did you do?

- That's when I got
the strong smell of alcohol,

so I stopped trying.

A few seconds later,
we smelled the smoke.

- Investigators now need
to figure out

what part
of the de-icing system

could have led to the fire
that brought down Flight 458.

(narrator):
Investigators review

maintenance records
of the destroyed airplane

for any previous issues

with the plane's windshield
de-icing system.

- It had a history of leaking.

- Reports show
that the plastic tubing

had a history of cracking
and separating from the pump.

Pilgrim's mechanics
fixed the problem

by trimming
the cracked tubing

and re-attaching it to the pump
with clamps.

- As the alcohol
comes into contact

with this tubing
from the inside,

it's changing the properties
of the tubing

and it's causing it
to harden and swell,

so at the connection points,

it's no longer maintaining
a good contact.

- They dig further
into the plane's history

to find anything
that could explain

how the de-icing system
led to an on-board fire.

- Yeah. Listen to this.
A few months ago,

they discovered
a leak on this plane.

Maintenance checked it out,

discovered the tubing was
too short to reach the pump.

- They had trimmed

and reconnected the tubing
so often,

that it didn't fit anymore.

- Every time mechanics
trimmed the cracked tubing,

they made it
progressively shorter,

until it couldn't
reach the pump.

- Over time,
you wouldn't have

enough hose left to attach it

and you would have to replace
that piece of tubing.

- Hello.

It looks like the same thing
happened on this plane

just three days
before the accident.

A pretty major leak
by the sounds of it.

- Pilots saw a leak
during a stop in New Haven.

- They tried to re-attach
the hose coming from the pump,

but they couldn't

because the tubing
was too short.

They wrote it up

and a mechanic worked on it
later that day.

- The mechanic repaired
the damaged tubing,

reconnected and secured it,

then refilled the reservoir.

- The mechanic says he clamped
the tubing to the pump,

and then signed off
on the discrepancy

as "repaired".

Three days later,
the plane goes up in flame

s as the pilots try to de-ice.

- Investigators suspect

the tubes carrying fluid
to and from the pump

weren't properly secured

and detached from the pump
after the repair.

- There's a good chance
that that line wasn't

as long as it should have been

and probably was
pulling on the pump,

and because of
how it was attached,

it came off.

- Still nothing.

- The team believes
a faulty repair

is the reason
the de-icing system

malfunctioned on Flight 458.

But that still doesn't explain
the fire.

- The NTSB,

in an effort to determine
just what effect

that system
could have had on a fire,

either starting it
or contributing to it,

they took
one of these reservoirs

and a pump
into the laboratory

and hooked it up
to a power supply

to see what it would do.

- Investigators
need to determine

how much
of the highly flammable fluid

would have pooled
below the cockpit

if the tube did detach
as they suspect.

- Okay, let's see what we get.

(mysterious music)

Even without activating
the system,

it leaks
when the tube isn't attached.

- They measure
the amount of fluid

that leaks from the pump.

- The testing disclosed

that the pump would leak fluid

to the rate of about
90 milliliters a minute.

And over time,

that could actually drain
the entire tank

of a gallon-and-a-half of fluid.

- The test shows

that if the tube from the pump
had detached,

a large pool of flammable liquid

would have accumulated
below the cockpit

even before the pilots tried
to de-ice the windshield.

- Let's see what happens
when the system is activated.

(gasps)

Seven feet.

(sighs)
- Holy smokes that goes far.

- When Hogg tries to activate
the windshield de-icing system,

the pump would have
sprayed fluid

across a distance
of seven feet

in the compartment
below the cockpit.

- The consequences of that,

given what is down in that area,

are quite severe.

- The de-ice pump
gets pretty hot

when it's operating.

The air from the bleed air duct
is 150 degrees Fahrenheit.

The discharge from the silencer

sends heated air
into the cockpit.

And the electric motor
that drives the flaps

could also ignite the fluid.

- Investigators pinpoint
several components

that could have ignited
the spray

of highly flammable liquid.

- Investigators were never able
to fully determine

what ignited the fluid

because there was so much
down there.

It could have been the heat
from the hydraulic pump.

It could have been the motor
for the hydraulic pump.

It could have been
any one of the components

on the airplane,

on the back of
the instrument panel.

- Directly to Providence,
please.

This is an emergency.
There is a fire on board.

- Once the liquid ignites,
it doesn't take long for fire

to spread
throughout the airplane.

- Older aircraft are

less fire-resistant
than newer aircraft

and if you have alcohol
from a de-icing system

spreading
through the airplane,

it would have been easier for it
to have burnt

than probably
the newer materials.

- They've been flying around
in a time bomb all these years,

and no one thought
this was a problem?

- I think it's surprising,

any time you find,
particularly an aircraft

that's been in service
for so long

with such a good history,

find something new

that you learn
in an investigation.

- Investigators now consider
one final question.

- How the hell
did they even manage

to get this plane
on the ground?

(somber music)

arrators

study the actions
of the pilots of Pilgrim 458

as they responded
to the emergency

unfolding on board.

(mysterious music)

- The first sign of black smoke,
they call in the emergency.

Then immediately change course

for an emergency landing
at Providence.

- He pushed the yoke forward

to make the airplane
descend very quickly.

(coughs)

They were still in the clouds.

And the airplane
was coming down rapidly.

(radio): Turn right,

heading of one five zero
for vectors to Providence.

- Let's get on the ground.

(narrator):
The pilots quickly began

a rapid descent from 4,000 feet,

while making a right turn
towards Providence.

(coughing)

- All their focus was
on getting the airplane down.

- At this point,

the cockpit is full
of thick, black smoke and fire.

So what do these guys do?

They stick their heads
out the window

and try and get
below the clouds.

- In spite of being unable
to see or breathe

and badly burned by fire,

the pilots fight to get
the plane below the clouds.

- They were getting
some severe burns

on their bodies.
They never left their seats,

and the fact that they were
doing everything they could

to control this airplane

and getting it down to land
on that frozen lakebed

was amazing.

- Despite the pain
and the terror,

these pilots
stayed at their posts,

they kept flying the airplane.

They were determined
to get it down safely

despite the agony
they were confronting.

(dramatic music)

- They report
breaking through the clouds

at 1,000 feet.

Quick left turn.

They're on the ground
in seconds.

- The cardinal rule is,
you know with a fire

is get the airplane
on the ground

as fast as you can,
and we did that.

It wasn't pretty,
but we did that.

We got it on the ground
and most everybody survived.

(crashing)

(dramatic music)

- Six minutes

to get below the clouds,
find a place to land

and put it on the ground

in a burning airplane.

- The investigators
commend both pilots

for their
"prompt and heroic actions"

in response to the emergency.

- Here's an example of a crew,
you know,

at the height of their skills
and professionalism

saving the lives of themselves
and the people aboard.

- Yeah, yeah.

- Let's get out of here.
- Yeah.

- Lesser men
would have given up.

They didn't give up.

They fought right to the end
and, uh...

and that's why I'm here today.

(passengers coughing)

- Passengers
also praise the actions

of off-duty flight engineer
Harry Polychron

for helping to save lives.

- Without the actions
of the passenger

sitting in front of me
with a tennis racket

that broke out those windows,

I absolutely believe

other people would have died
in that crash.

(coughing)

- The NTSB determines

that the fire
on board Flight 458

was the result
of the poor design

of the windshield
de-icing system.

- I didn't know how flammable
isopropyl alcohol was.

I think it took the industry by
surprise

that it was so flammable
and could result

in such a devastating fire
so quickly.

- Investigators recommend

that
the isopropyl alcohol system

on all Twin Otters
be replaced

with an electrically heated
windshield.

- The alcohol-de-icing systems
went away

as a result of this accident

and I think a realization

that the hazards were just...
were too high.

- But the enduring legacy
of Flight 458

is the heroism
and professionalism

of two pilots
who overcame overwhelming odds

to get their plane
and their passengers

safely to the ground.

- I don't consider myself
a hero.

I consider that we did
what we were trained to do

and did what we had to do
that day

in order to survive.

- The two pilots
received numerous honors

for their heroic actions.

Today, a memorial stands
in a park

named after Prinster and Hogg
in Scituate, Rhode Island,

near the location
of their remarkable landing.

41 years later,
the heroes of Flight 458

reflect on the hard lessons
learned that day.

- I mean, you guys were just,
uh, heroic in...

in your, uh, mental strength

to just stay with the task
there.

Fortitude is the word.

(Hogg): I think
your body takes over

and you just hang in there.

- It's nice when stuff
really hits the fan,

you can really kind of
shed everything away

and go for it.

And I think we all...
we all had a little bit of that.

- Yeah, it's, uh...
It was quite a day.

- Yeah.
(chuckles)

(soft music)

(theme music)

Sous-titrage: difuze