1 00:00:10,034 --> 00:00:11,965 They're the traffic cops of the skies. 2 00:00:16,413 --> 00:00:17,896 Keeping planes on course. 3 00:00:21,275 --> 00:00:23,172 Okay, you're right in the middle of the TCA, sir. 4 00:00:23,275 --> 00:00:24,965 Guiding them to safety. 5 00:00:25,068 --> 00:00:27,379 Avianca 052, look at your TCA chart. 6 00:00:27,482 --> 00:00:29,620 Charlie 2937 descend... 7 00:00:29,724 --> 00:00:31,000 And keeping them apart. 8 00:00:32,413 --> 00:00:34,689 But the system has reached a breaking point. 9 00:00:34,793 --> 00:00:35,931 Where is it? 10 00:00:36,034 --> 00:00:38,068 CO-PILOT: There! On the left! 11 00:00:44,827 --> 00:00:46,724 If there is another major airline accident, 12 00:00:46,827 --> 00:00:48,000 it's going to probably originate 13 00:00:48,103 --> 00:00:49,586 from an air traffic control problem. 14 00:00:49,689 --> 00:00:51,310 Yup, yup. We got it. 15 00:00:51,413 --> 00:00:52,827 There are too many planes. 16 00:00:54,931 --> 00:00:57,655 The tools controllers use to track them are inadequate. 17 00:00:59,793 --> 00:01:02,620 The failing system is putting passengers at risk. 18 00:01:02,724 --> 00:01:04,068 Monitor, vertical. 19 00:01:04,172 --> 00:01:06,206 Now, the race is on to fix it... 20 00:01:06,310 --> 00:01:08,000 Do you see him, Daniel? No. 21 00:01:08,103 --> 00:01:09,758 ...before disaster strikes again. 22 00:01:15,517 --> 00:01:16,448 Mayday! Mayday! 23 00:01:38,620 --> 00:01:42,172 Rush hour. John F. Kennedy International Airport. 24 00:01:43,620 --> 00:01:44,896 One of the busiest in the world. 25 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:49,896 More than 1,200 planes use JFK everyday. 26 00:01:51,310 --> 00:01:53,586 In the sky, they're stacked up for kilometers, 27 00:01:53,689 --> 00:01:54,827 waiting to land. 28 00:01:56,310 --> 00:01:58,896 On the ground, dozens more are waiting to take off. 29 00:02:00,448 --> 00:02:02,172 The constant stream of airliners 30 00:02:02,275 --> 00:02:03,517 can tax the abilities 31 00:02:03,620 --> 00:02:05,413 of even the most experienced controllers. 32 00:02:08,655 --> 00:02:09,965 The "picture", as it's called, 33 00:02:10,068 --> 00:02:11,551 that they have to maintain in their head 34 00:02:11,655 --> 00:02:13,689 of everything they're controlling, where everybody is, 35 00:02:13,793 --> 00:02:16,482 their speed, their altitude, their separation. 36 00:02:16,586 --> 00:02:19,862 Also includes constant back and forth talking to the pilots. 37 00:02:19,965 --> 00:02:23,689 And this is a matrix of information flow in and out of their brains. 38 00:02:23,793 --> 00:02:25,551 It's just amazing to watch. 39 00:02:25,655 --> 00:02:28,689 For the team of air traffic controllers in JFK'S tower, 40 00:02:29,758 --> 00:02:31,344 it's just another day at work. 41 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:34,724 It's a job that gets more demanding 42 00:02:34,827 --> 00:02:36,172 with each passing year. 43 00:02:37,793 --> 00:02:39,724 On a busy day in most centers 44 00:02:39,827 --> 00:02:41,965 and most departure and arrival controllers, 45 00:02:42,068 --> 00:02:43,068 you're saturated. 46 00:02:43,172 --> 00:02:45,068 You've got people talking as fast as they can. 47 00:02:50,689 --> 00:02:52,172 And that's where errors come in. 48 00:02:55,379 --> 00:02:56,379 Over the last decade, 49 00:02:56,482 --> 00:03:00,068 there's been a 25% jump in traffic at JFK. 50 00:03:01,793 --> 00:03:03,655 And New York's not alone. 51 00:03:03,758 --> 00:03:06,620 It's a trend that concerns some industry experts. 52 00:03:10,379 --> 00:03:12,241 One of the things that I do as an aviation analyst 53 00:03:12,344 --> 00:03:14,586 is try to keep a good lock on what's happening, 54 00:03:14,689 --> 00:03:16,827 watch where the weak spots are in the system. 55 00:03:18,758 --> 00:03:20,620 If there is another major airline accident, 56 00:03:20,724 --> 00:03:22,758 God forbid, it's going to probably originate 57 00:03:22,862 --> 00:03:24,000 from an air traffic control problem. 58 00:03:26,482 --> 00:03:29,965 The solution to the looming crisis is being developed here, 59 00:03:30,068 --> 00:03:32,862 The William J. Hughes Technical Center in New Jersey. 60 00:03:34,655 --> 00:03:36,034 It's the workshop of America's 61 00:03:36,137 --> 00:03:37,827 Federal Aviation Administration. 62 00:03:39,931 --> 00:03:43,896 The center has been involved in every major advance 63 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:48,344 in air transportation system technology since 1958. 64 00:03:48,448 --> 00:03:52,310 Airport design, aircraft safety and security... 65 00:03:55,310 --> 00:03:57,965 communications, navigation. 66 00:03:58,068 --> 00:04:00,000 Scientists at the William Hughes Center 67 00:04:00,103 --> 00:04:02,689 have tackled aviation's most difficult problems. 68 00:04:04,827 --> 00:04:06,655 Today, this plane is at the heart 69 00:04:06,758 --> 00:04:09,551 of one of the largest projects in the history of the FAA. 70 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:13,689 They're using it to design a new air traffic system 71 00:04:13,793 --> 00:04:16,034 that will help manage more traffic safely. 72 00:04:21,896 --> 00:04:23,793 A two or threefold increase in the number 73 00:04:23,896 --> 00:04:27,000 of aircraft flying is certainly within the, uh... 74 00:04:27,103 --> 00:04:28,551 within the range of possibility 75 00:04:28,655 --> 00:04:30,827 in the next couple of decades. 76 00:04:30,931 --> 00:04:33,034 Together, test pilots and researchers 77 00:04:33,137 --> 00:04:35,482 need to figure out a safer way to get airplanes 78 00:04:35,586 --> 00:04:37,586 into and out of America's airports. 79 00:04:39,551 --> 00:04:42,620 What they've come up with is a system called NextGen. 80 00:04:45,172 --> 00:04:47,862 NextGen will supply pilots with the tools and information 81 00:04:47,965 --> 00:04:49,655 they need to make many decisions 82 00:04:49,758 --> 00:04:51,275 that are now made by controllers. 83 00:04:53,241 --> 00:04:55,793 At its heart is a sophisticated piece of equipment 84 00:04:55,896 --> 00:04:59,068 that will soon be added, not to towers, but to planes. 85 00:05:01,482 --> 00:05:02,551 To see if it works, 86 00:05:02,655 --> 00:05:04,758 test pilots have to take it for a ride. 87 00:05:08,379 --> 00:05:12,241 We're liberating the airplane to do what it's designed to do 88 00:05:12,344 --> 00:05:15,000 and not constraining it by our management. 89 00:05:15,103 --> 00:05:18,172 Positive rate. Gear up. CO-PILOT: Here it comes. 90 00:05:18,275 --> 00:05:21,724 Researchers have installed a revolutionary navigational computer 91 00:05:21,827 --> 00:05:23,758 in the back of this executive jet. 92 00:05:23,862 --> 00:05:26,034 We're currently flying over Delaware. 93 00:05:26,137 --> 00:05:28,379 It's called ADS-B. 94 00:05:28,482 --> 00:05:32,413 It stands for Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast. 95 00:05:32,517 --> 00:05:36,344 It's a sophisticated GPS receiver that paints a detailed picture 96 00:05:36,448 --> 00:05:39,448 of any plane anywhere near this flight. 97 00:05:39,551 --> 00:05:43,655 So the pilot has what we call situational awareness of what's flying around him. 98 00:05:43,758 --> 00:05:45,172 Uh, the aircraft then broadcasts 99 00:05:45,275 --> 00:05:47,241 that position once a second, 100 00:05:47,344 --> 00:05:51,000 so any other aircraft flying within RF range of that aircraft 101 00:05:51,103 --> 00:05:53,758 now knows its position as well. 102 00:05:53,862 --> 00:05:57,034 There's nothing like this in any cockpit today. 103 00:05:57,137 --> 00:05:59,482 Because it's still experimental technology, 104 00:05:59,586 --> 00:06:03,482 the FAA is testing this system in the cabin of the aircraft. 105 00:06:03,586 --> 00:06:06,655 If tests like this succeed, it will someday be in the cockpit 106 00:06:06,758 --> 00:06:08,517 of every plane in America 107 00:06:08,620 --> 00:06:10,482 and eventually around the world. 108 00:06:12,689 --> 00:06:15,793 Once the ADS-B system is fully operational, 109 00:06:15,896 --> 00:06:18,965 everyone will know where you are, how high you're flying, 110 00:06:19,827 --> 00:06:21,034 and where you're headed. 111 00:06:21,137 --> 00:06:25,862 It's a key piece of the future because it is so accurate. 112 00:06:25,965 --> 00:06:29,206 The computer that researchers are putting to the test today 113 00:06:29,310 --> 00:06:32,172 is the central element in the most significant retooling 114 00:06:32,275 --> 00:06:35,275 of the American air traffic control system in half a century. 115 00:06:36,862 --> 00:06:39,862 Human beings cannot be perfect on a sustained basis, 116 00:06:39,965 --> 00:06:41,758 we can for certain periods of time. 117 00:06:41,862 --> 00:06:44,000 Therefore, we have to expect failure. 118 00:06:44,103 --> 00:06:46,241 People make mistakes. 119 00:06:46,344 --> 00:06:49,793 It's a lesson the airline industry has learned the hard way. 120 00:06:49,896 --> 00:06:51,724 A lesson that fundamentally shaped 121 00:06:51,827 --> 00:06:54,068 how planes travel across the skies today. 122 00:07:00,655 --> 00:07:02,724 In the few years in which they have been operating, 123 00:07:02,827 --> 00:07:04,655 the airlines have discovered that their efforts 124 00:07:04,758 --> 00:07:06,793 to improve comforts and services have... 125 00:07:06,896 --> 00:07:08,379 After the Second World War, 126 00:07:08,482 --> 00:07:11,275 Americans were traveling by air in booming numbers. 127 00:07:13,103 --> 00:07:16,758 The earliest air traffic controllers stood next to runways. 128 00:07:16,862 --> 00:07:18,965 They waved flags to guide planes in. 129 00:07:20,862 --> 00:07:22,068 As traffic increased, 130 00:07:22,172 --> 00:07:24,068 pilots also began to use radios 131 00:07:24,172 --> 00:07:25,896 to stay in touch with airports. 132 00:07:27,793 --> 00:07:29,586 The first air traffic control towers 133 00:07:29,689 --> 00:07:31,931 were built as more and more flights had to be handled. 134 00:07:35,137 --> 00:07:37,931 Airports have become very busy places. 135 00:07:38,034 --> 00:07:40,724 And air traffic was beginning to overwhelm controllers. 136 00:07:47,137 --> 00:07:49,758 June 30th, 1956. 137 00:07:49,862 --> 00:07:52,655 Los Angeles International Airport. 138 00:07:52,758 --> 00:07:56,172 TWA Flight 2 lifts off eastbound for Kansas City. 139 00:08:06,344 --> 00:08:09,206 Airline flying in the '50s was, uh, was really amazing. 140 00:08:09,310 --> 00:08:13,000 It was something you dressed up for. 141 00:08:13,103 --> 00:08:17,206 Only people who could afford a fairly high price could actually fly. 142 00:08:17,310 --> 00:08:20,379 The TWA Flight is a Lockheed Super Constellation... 143 00:08:22,689 --> 00:08:26,241 one of the most advanced commercial airliners of its time. 144 00:08:26,344 --> 00:08:28,689 You won't find any pilot who doesn't think the Super Connie 145 00:08:28,793 --> 00:08:30,724 is one of the sexiest airplanes ever designed. 146 00:08:36,517 --> 00:08:39,655 Just minutes behind TWA Flight 2, 147 00:08:39,758 --> 00:08:42,034 United Airlines Flight 718 148 00:08:42,137 --> 00:08:45,068 takes off from the same airport on its way to Chicago. 149 00:08:46,655 --> 00:08:50,586 The system to track both of the planes is far from high tech. 150 00:08:50,689 --> 00:08:53,931 The air traffic control center consisted of a room 151 00:08:54,034 --> 00:08:55,862 with a map spread out on a table 152 00:08:55,965 --> 00:08:58,586 and the air traffic controllers 153 00:08:58,689 --> 00:09:02,586 were moving markers on that map to indicate 154 00:09:02,689 --> 00:09:06,793 where each airplane was and its last known position. 155 00:09:06,896 --> 00:09:09,896 The pilots radio their positions to company dispatchers. 156 00:09:10,965 --> 00:09:12,482 Controllers use this information 157 00:09:12,586 --> 00:09:14,586 to get a rough idea of their flight paths. 158 00:09:16,275 --> 00:09:19,482 They were on radar for a while in Los Angeles, 159 00:09:19,586 --> 00:09:21,586 but once they got outside that area, there was no radar. 160 00:09:22,931 --> 00:09:25,000 They were flying under visual flight rules. 161 00:09:25,103 --> 00:09:27,620 The rule is called see and be seen. 162 00:09:28,620 --> 00:09:30,896 So, I see you, you see me, 163 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:33,827 we stay apart, and we're responsible for our own separation. 164 00:09:35,551 --> 00:09:38,379 And except for a few radars in certain parts of the country, 165 00:09:38,482 --> 00:09:40,206 controllers didn't really know where the airplanes were. 166 00:09:40,310 --> 00:09:42,689 They were estimating on their reports. 167 00:09:42,793 --> 00:09:45,931 As the two planes get closer to the Grand Canyon, 168 00:09:46,034 --> 00:09:47,965 the distance between them disappears. 169 00:09:49,689 --> 00:09:54,448 Both captains were used to showing the Canyon off on a clear day. 170 00:09:54,551 --> 00:09:57,586 They could move the airplane to the left, move it to the right a little bit, 171 00:09:57,689 --> 00:09:58,724 point out the Canyon to people 172 00:09:58,827 --> 00:10:01,137 and get them to ooh and ah. 173 00:10:01,241 --> 00:10:05,000 The United Flight closes in on the TWA plane from the right, 174 00:10:05,103 --> 00:10:07,241 unaware their paths are about to cross. 175 00:10:09,344 --> 00:10:12,068 People on one side of the DC-7 176 00:10:12,172 --> 00:10:15,689 would have been able to see the oncoming Constellation. 177 00:10:15,793 --> 00:10:17,862 Would have seen an airplane against an azure sky, 178 00:10:17,965 --> 00:10:20,586 with fluffy clouds, coming closer and closer. 179 00:10:21,758 --> 00:10:23,172 And they would have felt the impact. 180 00:10:25,931 --> 00:10:27,655 The Grand Canyon is a graveyard 181 00:10:27,758 --> 00:10:30,862 for 128 passengers and crew of two airliners 182 00:10:30,965 --> 00:10:33,724 which crashed on peaks little more than a mile apart. 183 00:10:33,827 --> 00:10:35,137 None survived. 184 00:10:35,241 --> 00:10:37,551 It was the worst commercial air disaster in history. 185 00:10:40,206 --> 00:10:44,862 The Grand Canyon crash created huge banner headlines across the nation 186 00:10:44,965 --> 00:10:47,827 and a lot of pressure on the government to do something. 187 00:10:47,931 --> 00:10:49,034 We needed radar. 188 00:10:49,137 --> 00:10:50,862 We needed to buy it and get it deployed 189 00:10:50,965 --> 00:10:52,655 throughout the United States immediately. 190 00:10:52,758 --> 00:10:55,896 We had to change the system. And we had to do it fast. 191 00:10:56,000 --> 00:10:59,551 The crash killed 128 people 192 00:10:59,655 --> 00:11:02,413 and changed the world of air traffic control forever. 193 00:11:07,275 --> 00:11:09,758 Following a lengthy investigation, 194 00:11:09,862 --> 00:11:12,310 the stark conclusion was that the crash happened 195 00:11:12,413 --> 00:11:15,965 because the two planes were outside of so-called controlled airspace. 196 00:11:19,758 --> 00:11:23,172 TWA and United collided over the Grand Canyon 197 00:11:23,275 --> 00:11:25,620 primarily because neither they nor the control system 198 00:11:25,724 --> 00:11:29,137 had the ability to know where both of those airplanes really were. 199 00:11:29,241 --> 00:11:31,172 Once the planes left the small area 200 00:11:31,275 --> 00:11:33,482 being monitored by controllers, 201 00:11:33,586 --> 00:11:37,241 no one was paying attention to where they were. 202 00:11:37,344 --> 00:11:40,724 The "See and Avoid" principle is a fraud, and it always has been. 203 00:11:40,827 --> 00:11:44,103 The fact is the faster you go, it's a big sky, 204 00:11:44,206 --> 00:11:46,931 you've only got 180 degrees of peripheral vision, 205 00:11:47,034 --> 00:11:49,206 and you can't see and avoid everything up there. 206 00:11:52,068 --> 00:11:54,137 In the wake of the Grand Canyon accident, 207 00:11:54,241 --> 00:11:58,793 American airspace was blanketed by radar. 208 00:11:58,896 --> 00:12:03,655 Planes were more stringently confined to air corridors, highways in the sky. 209 00:12:06,137 --> 00:12:09,517 The air traffic control system we have in the United States today 210 00:12:09,620 --> 00:12:14,172 was designed with the Grand Canyon accident in mind. 211 00:12:14,275 --> 00:12:17,931 That crash determined how far apart airplanes should be spaced 212 00:12:18,034 --> 00:12:21,310 and where radar dishes and air traffic control centers should be built. 213 00:12:23,482 --> 00:12:25,482 It also resulted in the formation 214 00:12:25,586 --> 00:12:28,482 of the Federal Aviation Administration, The FAA. 215 00:12:33,379 --> 00:12:36,137 But now, 50 years later, 216 00:12:36,241 --> 00:12:37,758 the system needs to change again. 217 00:12:41,482 --> 00:12:45,413 Today, the system falls short of the public's expectations, 218 00:12:45,517 --> 00:12:46,965 being congested... 219 00:12:49,068 --> 00:12:49,965 slow... 220 00:12:51,620 --> 00:12:52,620 clunky... 221 00:12:53,758 --> 00:12:54,586 unpleasant. 222 00:12:58,862 --> 00:13:01,413 As planes fly faster and higher, 223 00:13:01,517 --> 00:13:04,344 it becomes harder for controllers to track their movements. 224 00:13:06,344 --> 00:13:08,068 I think, in many respects, we're in a, uh, 225 00:13:08,172 --> 00:13:11,413 a very similar situation to where we were in the '50s. 226 00:13:11,517 --> 00:13:14,379 The system has to change massively. 227 00:13:14,482 --> 00:13:17,241 And the change must happen soon 228 00:13:17,344 --> 00:13:19,689 before we are faced with a major air accident 229 00:13:19,793 --> 00:13:21,965 that could take the lives of hundreds of people. 230 00:13:26,827 --> 00:13:29,275 The technology onboard the FAA flight 231 00:13:29,379 --> 00:13:33,000 might be the solution to the overtaxed air traffic control system. 232 00:13:33,103 --> 00:13:35,310 Test pilots regularly take to the skies 233 00:13:35,413 --> 00:13:36,758 to help researchers prepare 234 00:13:36,862 --> 00:13:39,551 the new system for America's airliners. 235 00:13:39,655 --> 00:13:41,310 The beautiful thing about ADS-B is, 236 00:13:41,413 --> 00:13:44,034 is it gives the pilots in the cockpit 237 00:13:44,137 --> 00:13:46,793 and the air traffic controllers basically the same picture. 238 00:13:46,896 --> 00:13:50,344 ADS-B is more than a map of other planes. 239 00:13:50,448 --> 00:13:54,448 The idea is to show pilots what now only air traffic controllers can see... 240 00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:58,620 data about the planes that are in a pilot's airspace. 241 00:14:00,758 --> 00:14:03,931 With ADS-B, you'll see who that other aircraft is. 242 00:14:04,034 --> 00:14:05,275 You'll see an identifier on it. 243 00:14:07,862 --> 00:14:10,655 You'll be able to see planes on runways. 244 00:14:10,758 --> 00:14:12,689 You'll see planes in the traffic pattern. 245 00:14:12,793 --> 00:14:15,241 And you'll get a better feel for what's going on around you. 246 00:14:15,344 --> 00:14:17,586 Especially if you're at an uncontrolled airport. 247 00:14:17,689 --> 00:14:20,724 We can also see map information. 248 00:14:20,827 --> 00:14:22,827 We can see navigational aids. 249 00:14:22,931 --> 00:14:24,862 We can also see other airports. 250 00:14:24,965 --> 00:14:27,655 Giving pilots all that information in the cockpit 251 00:14:27,758 --> 00:14:29,448 will allow them to make decisions 252 00:14:29,551 --> 00:14:32,827 about how to get to their destinations quickly and safely. 253 00:14:35,068 --> 00:14:38,310 The current system relies on radars 254 00:14:38,413 --> 00:14:41,000 for the detection and tracking of aircraft. 255 00:14:41,103 --> 00:14:44,206 And radar was a great technology in 1940, 256 00:14:44,310 --> 00:14:47,206 but fundamentally, it's very sloppy. 257 00:14:47,310 --> 00:14:50,206 Today, ground-based radar bounces radio signals 258 00:14:50,310 --> 00:14:52,862 off an airplane to calculate its position. 259 00:14:52,965 --> 00:14:55,758 It can be off by as much as two miles. 260 00:14:55,862 --> 00:14:59,724 That's why we keep aircraft three miles or more apart, 261 00:14:59,827 --> 00:15:02,620 because we're just not that confident of the solution. 262 00:15:03,482 --> 00:15:05,137 With NextGen, 263 00:15:05,241 --> 00:15:09,241 an onboard GPS unit will constantly receive signals from a GPS satellite. 264 00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:13,034 This will tell pilots where they are 265 00:15:13,137 --> 00:15:15,379 down to within a few hundred feet. 266 00:15:18,482 --> 00:15:20,793 With a more accurate picture of airspace, 267 00:15:20,896 --> 00:15:23,103 airliners will be able to fly closer together. 268 00:15:25,172 --> 00:15:28,758 The FAA hopes this will help relieve the congestion at busy airports. 269 00:15:31,413 --> 00:15:36,103 Today, only controllers have an accurate picture of air traffic. 270 00:15:36,206 --> 00:15:39,517 They use this information to guide pilots around potential problems. 271 00:15:41,896 --> 00:15:45,275 The pilots themselves have no way to independently confirm 272 00:15:45,379 --> 00:15:48,310 where they are in relation to all other flights. 273 00:15:48,413 --> 00:15:50,310 They must rely on controllers to tell them. 274 00:15:51,517 --> 00:15:53,517 The weakness of the system was exposed 275 00:15:53,620 --> 00:15:56,172 years before NextGen tests began. 276 00:16:03,241 --> 00:16:05,862 Labor Day weekend, 1986. 277 00:16:05,965 --> 00:16:09,310 Aeromexico 498, traffic ten o'clock. One mile... 278 00:16:09,413 --> 00:16:11,103 Approach Controller Walter White 279 00:16:11,206 --> 00:16:14,379 guides Aeromexico Flight 498 in for a landing 280 00:16:14,482 --> 00:16:16,068 at Los Angeles International Airport. 281 00:16:19,517 --> 00:16:22,482 The airspace around LAX is very tightly controlled. 282 00:16:24,551 --> 00:16:27,827 It's called the TCA, the Terminal Control Area. 283 00:16:31,103 --> 00:16:35,000 As Aeromexico Flight 498 closes in on the airport, 284 00:16:35,103 --> 00:16:38,413 Walter White sees a plane he does not expect on his radar. 285 00:16:38,517 --> 00:16:41,551 Uh, one approach on a flight from Fullerton. 286 00:16:41,655 --> 00:16:43,793 Cruising altitude is 4,500. 287 00:16:43,896 --> 00:16:46,586 - We'd like following. - Okay. You're are right in the middle of the TCA, sir. 288 00:16:46,689 --> 00:16:48,172 Grumman six-six-Romeo, 289 00:16:48,275 --> 00:16:50,379 I suggest in future, you look at your TCA chart. 290 00:16:52,068 --> 00:16:54,482 There was an aircraft that was east of the airport 291 00:16:54,586 --> 00:16:56,758 which he became involved in. 292 00:16:56,862 --> 00:16:59,206 That was what they called a violator. 293 00:16:59,310 --> 00:17:00,931 In many cases, 294 00:17:01,034 --> 00:17:03,103 the air traffic that was crawling across his screen, 295 00:17:03,206 --> 00:17:05,517 even with transponders, were not reporting altitudes. 296 00:17:07,655 --> 00:17:09,275 Walter White hustles the small plane 297 00:17:09,379 --> 00:17:10,965 out of the controlled airspace. 298 00:17:12,448 --> 00:17:13,965 You just had an aircraft pass 299 00:17:14,068 --> 00:17:16,310 right off your left above you at 5,000 300 00:17:16,413 --> 00:17:20,137 and we run a lot of jets right through there at 3,500. 301 00:17:20,241 --> 00:17:22,793 But White doesn't realize that there's another plane 302 00:17:22,896 --> 00:17:25,206 dangerously off course. 303 00:17:25,310 --> 00:17:27,724 We should be able to see the ocean by now. 304 00:17:27,827 --> 00:17:29,758 Take a look at the map and look around the 405... 305 00:17:29,862 --> 00:17:31,206 A Piper Cherokee 306 00:17:31,310 --> 00:17:33,620 is cutting across the approach to LAX, 307 00:17:33,724 --> 00:17:35,172 oblivious to the danger. 308 00:17:37,551 --> 00:17:40,103 The Aeromexico Flight is just minutes from landing. 309 00:17:49,275 --> 00:17:50,827 Aeromexico 498. 310 00:17:50,931 --> 00:17:51,793 Los Angeles Approach. 311 00:17:52,448 --> 00:17:55,000 This can't be! 312 00:17:55,103 --> 00:17:57,379 The jet plunges towards Cerritos, 313 00:17:57,482 --> 00:17:59,655 a suburban community of Los Angeles. 314 00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:08,379 Aeromexico 498. Los Angeles Approach. 315 00:18:10,620 --> 00:18:13,000 I'm sitting there talking with the two departure controllers, 316 00:18:13,103 --> 00:18:14,862 and not really thinking. 317 00:18:14,965 --> 00:18:17,103 I hear Walter say something like... 318 00:18:17,206 --> 00:18:18,068 I think I lost one. 319 00:18:20,172 --> 00:18:22,482 Aeromexico 498, Los Angeles approach. 320 00:18:22,586 --> 00:18:24,689 That immediately got everybody's attention. 321 00:18:24,793 --> 00:18:26,034 So I looked at the radars, 322 00:18:26,137 --> 00:18:28,862 and could hear him calling Aeromexico 498. 323 00:18:28,965 --> 00:18:30,620 ...498, Los Angeles approach. 324 00:18:34,413 --> 00:18:37,724 The crash devastates the community of Cerritos. 325 00:18:37,827 --> 00:18:41,000 Fifteen people on the ground are killed in the disaster, 326 00:18:41,103 --> 00:18:44,413 along with all 64 people on the Aeromexico jet. 327 00:18:47,758 --> 00:18:51,413 The Piper Cherokee is found in a nearby schoolyard. 328 00:18:51,517 --> 00:18:53,758 All three people on the small plane have been killed. 329 00:18:55,275 --> 00:18:57,000 The fact of the matter is 330 00:18:57,103 --> 00:18:59,310 that the Cherokee flew into the TCA 331 00:18:59,413 --> 00:19:03,103 and hit the DC9 in restricted airspace without a clearance. 332 00:19:03,206 --> 00:19:06,482 The National Transportation Safety Board questions Walter White 333 00:19:06,586 --> 00:19:09,620 about what he saw on his radar display. 334 00:19:09,724 --> 00:19:14,344 At any time, did you see the Piper Cherokee on your scope? 335 00:19:15,068 --> 00:19:15,896 No. 336 00:19:16,793 --> 00:19:18,241 No, sir. 337 00:19:18,344 --> 00:19:20,758 The Piper's target was not displayed. 338 00:19:20,862 --> 00:19:24,206 It is my belief that it was not on my radar scope. 339 00:19:24,310 --> 00:19:27,793 He, uh, was positive 340 00:19:27,896 --> 00:19:29,965 that the aircraft was not there for him to see. 341 00:19:31,586 --> 00:19:33,310 But when investigators finally get 342 00:19:33,413 --> 00:19:35,931 the air traffic control radar records, 343 00:19:36,034 --> 00:19:38,137 they conclude the Piper should have been visible. 344 00:19:41,137 --> 00:19:42,655 We were able to determine 345 00:19:42,758 --> 00:19:44,862 that the aircraft that collided 346 00:19:44,965 --> 00:19:47,758 with Aeromexico was there to be seen. 347 00:19:49,137 --> 00:19:50,620 Controllers had been complaining 348 00:19:50,724 --> 00:19:52,034 about the radars for a long time. 349 00:19:53,620 --> 00:19:55,827 We had reported problems with the radar 350 00:19:55,931 --> 00:19:59,413 not picking up targets several times. 351 00:19:59,517 --> 00:20:03,482 You may lose one target, you may lose two targets. 352 00:20:03,586 --> 00:20:07,896 It may not be presented for one sweep. 353 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:11,137 Did you see the Piper Cherokee 354 00:20:11,241 --> 00:20:13,206 - on your scope? - No, sir. 355 00:20:13,310 --> 00:20:15,724 But that doesn't mean that the target isn't there. 356 00:20:15,827 --> 00:20:20,068 A blind spot is only an instantaneous thing. 357 00:20:20,172 --> 00:20:22,689 It's not a continuous thing. 358 00:20:22,793 --> 00:20:25,034 He was looking at one and trying to keep it clear. 359 00:20:26,965 --> 00:20:29,724 Lost track of another one that just happened to be at the same altitude 360 00:20:29,827 --> 00:20:31,689 as the approaching Aeromexico jet. 361 00:20:37,413 --> 00:20:39,137 It was a one in a billion chance, 362 00:20:39,241 --> 00:20:41,482 but that one in a billion came up that particular day. 363 00:20:46,689 --> 00:20:48,034 The collision over Los Angeles 364 00:20:48,137 --> 00:20:49,620 drew attention to weaknesses 365 00:20:49,724 --> 00:20:53,482 in the radar systems used by air traffic controllers 366 00:20:53,586 --> 00:20:55,551 and led to some much-needed improvements. 367 00:20:56,827 --> 00:20:59,482 Mode C Intruder is an automated program 368 00:20:59,586 --> 00:21:00,862 that is now incorporated 369 00:21:00,965 --> 00:21:03,655 in all our major radar facilities. 370 00:21:03,758 --> 00:21:07,758 That, if an aircraft should inadvertently intrude, 371 00:21:07,862 --> 00:21:10,241 the controller will now be given 372 00:21:10,344 --> 00:21:12,862 a visual and an aural alert, 373 00:21:12,965 --> 00:21:15,310 thus giving him time to provide 374 00:21:15,413 --> 00:21:18,448 a timely warning to the pilot. 375 00:21:18,551 --> 00:21:20,655 After the collision over Los Angeles, 376 00:21:20,758 --> 00:21:23,172 radar systems at the airport were upgraded. 377 00:21:27,379 --> 00:21:30,758 The next generation of air traffic management will only use radar 378 00:21:30,862 --> 00:21:32,862 if the GPS system fails. 379 00:21:34,758 --> 00:21:38,034 NextGen is also targeting another weakness in the current system, 380 00:21:38,758 --> 00:21:39,620 the radio. 381 00:21:41,482 --> 00:21:45,206 Today, pilots and controllers use radios to talk to one another. 382 00:21:45,310 --> 00:21:47,827 We're now descending to one-niner-zero... 383 00:21:47,931 --> 00:21:51,000 The system depends on clear, precise language. 384 00:21:51,103 --> 00:21:52,965 Misunderstandings are common. 385 00:21:53,068 --> 00:21:56,172 And they've caused some of the most tragic air disasters in history. 386 00:21:59,068 --> 00:22:03,206 As the FAA test flight flies high west of Atlantic City, 387 00:22:03,310 --> 00:22:07,103 its radio keeps the pilots in touch with controllers. 388 00:22:07,206 --> 00:22:09,241 Vector for sequence for the downwind runway 22. 389 00:22:10,241 --> 00:22:12,724 Okay, 1-0-0, clear for the ILS. 390 00:22:12,827 --> 00:22:15,379 But in the air traffic system of the future, 391 00:22:15,482 --> 00:22:19,034 pilots and controllers will communicate less frequently. 392 00:22:19,137 --> 00:22:21,620 The controller and the pilot can now work together 393 00:22:21,724 --> 00:22:24,034 to resolve issues instead of wasting a lot of time 394 00:22:24,137 --> 00:22:26,103 explaining what the issues are. 395 00:22:26,206 --> 00:22:29,862 Mistakes can be made for a number of reasons. 396 00:22:29,965 --> 00:22:33,724 English is the international language of aviation. 397 00:22:33,827 --> 00:22:38,241 But pronunciation, accent and emotion alter the way any language is spoken. 398 00:22:40,137 --> 00:22:41,758 Nowhere is this better understood 399 00:22:41,862 --> 00:22:43,655 than in the air traffic control tower 400 00:22:43,758 --> 00:22:46,034 at John F. Kennedy International Airport. 401 00:22:47,931 --> 00:22:50,103 If you listen on any control frequency, 402 00:22:50,206 --> 00:22:52,137 you're going to hear a lot of people say, "Would you say that again?", 403 00:22:52,241 --> 00:22:53,310 "Say again, over, please." 404 00:22:54,344 --> 00:22:55,931 The airspace above JFK 405 00:22:56,034 --> 00:22:58,000 is frequented by one of the most international 406 00:22:58,103 --> 00:23:00,344 collections of pilots in the world. 407 00:23:01,482 --> 00:23:03,758 Maintaining clear radio communications 408 00:23:03,862 --> 00:23:06,068 can prove challenging to controllers here. 409 00:23:08,206 --> 00:23:10,551 There's pressure, because that's the business they're in. 410 00:23:10,655 --> 00:23:13,310 The business is moving passengers from A to B. 411 00:23:13,413 --> 00:23:14,586 That's what the airlines are paid, 412 00:23:14,689 --> 00:23:17,689 and the controllers are paid to help that work. 413 00:23:17,793 --> 00:23:19,206 When pressure mounts, 414 00:23:19,310 --> 00:23:22,137 small misunderstandings can have enormous consequences. 415 00:23:25,241 --> 00:23:27,482 January 25th, 1990. 416 00:23:28,551 --> 00:23:30,379 In the skies over New York... 417 00:23:30,482 --> 00:23:34,827 Avianca 052, expect further clearance time in 20 minutes. 418 00:23:34,931 --> 00:23:37,310 I think we need priority. We are passing out of fuel. 419 00:23:37,413 --> 00:23:39,965 Avianca 052, roger, how long can you... 420 00:23:40,068 --> 00:23:43,103 Avianca Flight 52 is trying to land in New York. 421 00:23:45,172 --> 00:23:48,689 But a driving rain is delaying air traffic into and out of the area. 422 00:23:50,517 --> 00:23:52,896 The flight began in Colombia. 423 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:56,413 On its way to New York, it's been routed through a series of holding patterns 424 00:23:56,517 --> 00:23:57,655 by air traffic controllers. 425 00:23:59,413 --> 00:24:02,655 Bad weather is delaying landings all along the Northeastern Seaboard. 426 00:24:05,172 --> 00:24:08,482 There was a system moving through the Great Lakes moving East. 427 00:24:08,586 --> 00:24:11,448 There were a couple other systems converging. 428 00:24:11,551 --> 00:24:13,827 And a lot of times, they'll converge in the New York Area there 429 00:24:13,931 --> 00:24:15,517 and the whole Northeast will go down. 430 00:24:18,655 --> 00:24:20,172 Is it okay if I send four more your way? 431 00:24:21,379 --> 00:24:23,068 Casino, I'm back in the hold again. 432 00:24:23,172 --> 00:24:25,068 I got full in the stack and there's no end in sight. 433 00:24:27,034 --> 00:24:29,931 Avianca 052, I might be able to get you in right now, 434 00:24:30,034 --> 00:24:31,034 stand by. 435 00:24:31,137 --> 00:24:32,206 Thank you. 436 00:24:32,310 --> 00:24:34,965 They were progressively moving towards JFK, 437 00:24:35,068 --> 00:24:37,931 and they were held in the air for three times. 438 00:24:38,034 --> 00:24:40,758 This certainly would put some stress on the crew, 439 00:24:40,862 --> 00:24:44,482 uh, as to fact they want to go from A to B. 440 00:24:44,586 --> 00:24:48,137 They don't want to fly in a racetrack for an hour, just holding. 441 00:24:52,068 --> 00:24:53,551 Avianca 052, roger. 442 00:24:53,655 --> 00:24:54,689 And what's your alternate? 443 00:24:54,793 --> 00:24:57,689 We said Boston, but we can't do it now. 444 00:24:57,793 --> 00:24:59,655 We'd... We'll run out of fuel. 445 00:25:01,379 --> 00:25:03,379 The pilots are growing increasingly desperate 446 00:25:03,482 --> 00:25:04,827 for clearance to land. 447 00:25:05,551 --> 00:25:07,241 Avianca 052, just... 448 00:25:07,344 --> 00:25:10,068 They've used up almost all of their fuel while waiting their turn. 449 00:25:10,172 --> 00:25:11,275 ...set him up for his alternate. 450 00:25:11,379 --> 00:25:13,482 - What is his speed now? - I'm not sure, to be honest. 451 00:25:13,586 --> 00:25:16,482 Slow him to 180 knots and I'll take him. 452 00:25:16,586 --> 00:25:19,344 After more than an hour in holding patterns, 453 00:25:19,448 --> 00:25:21,137 controllers finally give the pilots 454 00:25:21,241 --> 00:25:24,000 of the Avianca flight permission to land. 455 00:25:24,103 --> 00:25:25,931 Avianca 052 descend and maintain 3,000. 456 00:25:26,034 --> 00:25:27,413 Descend and maintain 3,000. 457 00:25:27,517 --> 00:25:28,724 But in this critical hand-off 458 00:25:28,827 --> 00:25:30,448 from one controller to another, 459 00:25:30,551 --> 00:25:33,517 no one mentions that the plane is running out of fuel. 460 00:25:33,620 --> 00:25:35,275 Avianca 052 heavy, 461 00:25:35,379 --> 00:25:38,689 contact Kennedy Tower one-one-niner point one. Good day. 462 00:25:38,793 --> 00:25:41,206 It was extremely important that Avianca 52 463 00:25:41,310 --> 00:25:43,482 landed on their first approach to JFK. 464 00:25:43,586 --> 00:25:46,241 The voice recorder revealed that the Captain was certainly 465 00:25:46,344 --> 00:25:48,000 quite concerned about the fuel state. 466 00:25:51,103 --> 00:25:54,965 At JFK, only one runway is being used for landings. 467 00:25:55,068 --> 00:25:57,413 Weather at the airport is making approaches difficult. 468 00:26:00,896 --> 00:26:02,241 Avianca 052 heavy, 469 00:26:02,344 --> 00:26:03,655 Kennedy tower two-two left, 470 00:26:03,758 --> 00:26:06,517 you're number three, following seven-two-seven traffic 471 00:26:06,620 --> 00:26:08,344 on a niner mile final. 472 00:26:08,448 --> 00:26:10,482 Avianca 052 heavy, roger. 473 00:26:10,586 --> 00:26:12,896 Avianca 052, say airspeed. 474 00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:14,241 One-four-five knots. 475 00:26:14,344 --> 00:26:15,551 Are we clear to land? No? 476 00:26:15,655 --> 00:26:16,862 Yes, sir. We are clear to land. 477 00:26:16,965 --> 00:26:18,689 Standby. 478 00:26:18,793 --> 00:26:21,931 The Avianca crew, when they felt that they were being handed off 479 00:26:22,034 --> 00:26:24,172 to an approach controller now and given a heading 480 00:26:24,275 --> 00:26:25,241 and a lower altitude, 481 00:26:26,517 --> 00:26:28,758 I'm sure In their minds they thought, 482 00:26:28,862 --> 00:26:31,620 well, they even commented on a cockpit voice recorder. 483 00:26:31,724 --> 00:26:33,689 "We're being handled," or, "We're being taken care of." 484 00:26:37,344 --> 00:26:40,241 Four kilometers from Runway 22L 485 00:26:40,344 --> 00:26:42,689 and with fuel running dangerously low, 486 00:26:42,793 --> 00:26:45,137 the flight hits ferocious winds. 487 00:26:45,241 --> 00:26:48,206 They were getting, like, 60 knots of wind on the nose, 488 00:26:48,310 --> 00:26:49,586 and then, as they descended on down 489 00:26:49,689 --> 00:26:52,310 through about 500 feet to the ground, 490 00:26:52,413 --> 00:26:53,586 they were down to 20 knots. 491 00:26:55,344 --> 00:26:59,379 So that's a 40-knot change in 1,000 feet of elevation. 492 00:26:59,482 --> 00:27:01,931 That's a lot. 493 00:27:02,034 --> 00:27:03,827 - This is the wind shear. - A dramatic change 494 00:27:03,931 --> 00:27:07,413 of winds throws the aircraft off its descent path as it makes its approach. 495 00:27:09,241 --> 00:27:11,068 - Glideslope! - Glideslope. 496 00:27:11,172 --> 00:27:13,896 Glideslope. Glideslope. 497 00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:15,896 The runway. Where is it? 498 00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:17,758 - I don't see it. Pull up. Pull up. 499 00:27:17,862 --> 00:27:20,827 The plane is thrown towards the ground by the winds. 500 00:27:20,931 --> 00:27:22,344 Pull up. Pull up. 501 00:27:25,620 --> 00:27:28,034 The airplane was about 200 feet above the ground, 502 00:27:28,137 --> 00:27:30,172 about two miles from the runway, 503 00:27:30,275 --> 00:27:32,896 which was well below the glideslope and very dangerous. 504 00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:36,620 So, the airplane almost crashed on its first approach. 505 00:27:36,724 --> 00:27:38,103 Give me the landing gear up! Landing gear up! 506 00:27:42,068 --> 00:27:44,827 When you get a missed approach, 507 00:27:44,931 --> 00:27:45,965 it changes the whole ball game. 508 00:27:47,068 --> 00:27:49,241 Request another traffic pattern. 509 00:27:49,344 --> 00:27:52,896 Executing a missed approach. Avianca 052 heavy. 510 00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:55,448 The fuel tanks aboard Avianca Flight 52 511 00:27:55,551 --> 00:27:57,379 are all but empty. 512 00:27:57,482 --> 00:28:00,517 Another approach on the airport will be nearly impossible. 513 00:28:03,689 --> 00:28:06,275 Controllers in New York will have to try once more 514 00:28:06,379 --> 00:28:08,965 to get Avianca Flight 52 safely to the ground. 515 00:28:09,068 --> 00:28:10,344 ...to one-eight-zero 516 00:28:10,448 --> 00:28:12,517 on the heading, and we'll try once again. 517 00:28:12,620 --> 00:28:14,206 We are running out of fuel! 518 00:28:14,310 --> 00:28:17,482 These guys were out and they didn't say, "We were out." 519 00:28:17,586 --> 00:28:20,724 And he allowed the approach control to vector him 520 00:28:20,827 --> 00:28:22,482 way out in the original pattern 521 00:28:22,586 --> 00:28:24,758 and 15 miles north to the outer marker again. 522 00:28:26,068 --> 00:28:27,793 Advisor, we are in an emergency! Did you tell him? 523 00:28:27,896 --> 00:28:30,137 Yes, sir! I already advised him. 524 00:28:30,241 --> 00:28:33,068 But the First Officer neglects to use the word "emergency" 525 00:28:33,172 --> 00:28:35,068 in his radio transmissions to the tower. 526 00:28:36,793 --> 00:28:38,793 He only mentions that his fuel is low. 527 00:28:38,896 --> 00:28:42,068 ...zero-five-two heavy, contact approach on one-one-eight point four. 528 00:28:42,172 --> 00:28:44,448 Approach Avianca 052 heavy... 529 00:28:44,551 --> 00:28:48,482 And it was apparent from the voice recorder transcript and tape, 530 00:28:48,586 --> 00:28:50,827 that the Captain was not understanding 531 00:28:50,931 --> 00:28:55,000 the First Officer's radio communications that were being made in English. 532 00:29:01,758 --> 00:29:05,310 Flame out! Flame out on engine number four! 533 00:29:05,413 --> 00:29:08,068 The engines quit when they're finally starved of fuel. 534 00:29:08,172 --> 00:29:10,172 Flame out on engine number three! 535 00:29:12,413 --> 00:29:13,482 Show me the runway. 536 00:29:15,034 --> 00:29:17,620 We just lost two engines and we need priority please! 537 00:29:17,724 --> 00:29:19,103 Avianca zero-five-two, 538 00:29:19,206 --> 00:29:20,827 turn left heading two-five-zero. 539 00:29:28,310 --> 00:29:29,827 Without engine power, 540 00:29:29,931 --> 00:29:33,931 Avianca Flight 52 crashes into a residential neighborhood on Long Island. 541 00:29:45,206 --> 00:29:47,379 Avianca zero-five-two, radar contact lost. 542 00:29:49,758 --> 00:29:53,000 Yes. Hello, I live in Cove Neck in Oyster Bay 543 00:29:53,103 --> 00:29:57,448 and there is a plane crashed in our yard in front of our house. 544 00:30:00,551 --> 00:30:05,689 Eighty-five of the 158 people onboard survive the crash. 545 00:30:05,793 --> 00:30:08,586 Throughout the night, rescue workers pull them from the wreckage. 546 00:30:14,931 --> 00:30:17,482 Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board 547 00:30:17,586 --> 00:30:19,034 arrive within hours. 548 00:30:21,758 --> 00:30:24,172 They remove the cockpit voice recorder from the wreckage. 549 00:30:31,310 --> 00:30:33,586 The condition of the aircraft was 550 00:30:33,689 --> 00:30:37,517 really astonishing to see that that much of the structure 551 00:30:37,620 --> 00:30:39,793 was left in the condition that it was in. 552 00:30:41,172 --> 00:30:44,724 It hit right on a, about a 28-degree embankment. 553 00:30:44,827 --> 00:30:47,862 And with the wings and all the other trees, it only slid 28 feet, 554 00:30:47,965 --> 00:30:50,413 so it hit and stopped instantly. 555 00:30:54,931 --> 00:30:56,965 The NTSB investigation reveals 556 00:30:57,068 --> 00:30:58,655 that controllers didn't transmit 557 00:30:58,758 --> 00:31:00,689 vital information to one another. 558 00:31:05,517 --> 00:31:07,103 Radio communication, 559 00:31:07,206 --> 00:31:10,103 one of the most vital parts of air traffic control, 560 00:31:10,206 --> 00:31:12,034 failed the passengers and crew. 561 00:31:13,931 --> 00:31:17,586 Trying to avoid those kinds of mistakes is a key component of NextGen. 562 00:31:21,620 --> 00:31:24,310 Radio communication will largely be replaced 563 00:31:24,413 --> 00:31:26,344 by an exchange of electronic data. 564 00:31:28,206 --> 00:31:29,827 Automation is extremely important. 565 00:31:29,931 --> 00:31:31,724 And in the future, it's going to be able 566 00:31:31,827 --> 00:31:34,000 to get rid of the type of errors that occur 567 00:31:34,103 --> 00:31:36,551 when you put massive pressure on a human being 568 00:31:36,655 --> 00:31:38,068 to be 100% perfect. 569 00:31:42,206 --> 00:31:44,448 With the elimination of radio chatter, 570 00:31:44,551 --> 00:31:48,103 air traffic control towers of the future will be very quiet places. 571 00:31:52,724 --> 00:31:54,758 Controllers on the ground will still be needed 572 00:31:54,862 --> 00:31:56,689 to move planes in and out of airports. 573 00:31:58,379 --> 00:32:01,344 But with more accurate information at their disposal 574 00:32:01,448 --> 00:32:04,068 and less need to talk to pilots, 575 00:32:04,172 --> 00:32:06,724 they'll be able to handle far more flights than they do today. 576 00:32:11,758 --> 00:32:14,517 On board the FAA's flight, 577 00:32:14,620 --> 00:32:18,068 the new GPS-based technology gets the ultimate test. 578 00:32:20,413 --> 00:32:22,413 Without any warning from Air Traffic Controls... 579 00:32:22,517 --> 00:32:23,689 Do you see them yet, Daniel? 580 00:32:23,793 --> 00:32:24,793 CO-PILOT: No, I don't see them yet. 581 00:32:26,862 --> 00:32:29,000 - There he goes! - There he is! 582 00:32:29,103 --> 00:32:32,620 They notice another plane just 400 feet below. 583 00:32:33,827 --> 00:32:35,413 In the back of the jet, 584 00:32:35,517 --> 00:32:37,586 the NextGen system detects the other plane. 585 00:32:39,034 --> 00:32:40,689 Had the system been in the cockpit, 586 00:32:40,793 --> 00:32:43,068 it would have shown the pilots its precise location. 587 00:32:45,448 --> 00:32:47,586 Without it, they rely on a piece of technology 588 00:32:47,689 --> 00:32:49,827 called TCAS to warn them of the danger. 589 00:32:51,862 --> 00:32:54,862 Using signals transmitted from plane to plane, 590 00:32:54,965 --> 00:32:56,586 the Traffic Collision Avoidance System 591 00:32:56,689 --> 00:32:59,241 warns pilots when other planes are too close. 592 00:33:01,379 --> 00:33:03,655 A TCAS gives the pilot a traffic advisory 593 00:33:03,758 --> 00:33:06,517 at 45 seconds before the potential collision. 594 00:33:06,620 --> 00:33:08,689 And then, at approximately 25 seconds or so 595 00:33:08,793 --> 00:33:09,931 before the potential collision, 596 00:33:10,034 --> 00:33:11,482 a resolution advisory is given 597 00:33:11,586 --> 00:33:13,482 to actually tell the pilots 598 00:33:13,586 --> 00:33:16,448 to climb or descend to avoid the altitude of the other aircraft. 599 00:33:19,344 --> 00:33:21,103 Normally, air traffic will call that to us. 600 00:33:21,206 --> 00:33:22,724 - Yeah. - But they didn't even call the traffic. 601 00:33:22,827 --> 00:33:24,586 - No. - So that TCAS helped a lot. 602 00:33:24,689 --> 00:33:28,000 TCAS can help pilots of approaching planes avoid collisions. 603 00:33:28,931 --> 00:33:30,172 But with the new system, 604 00:33:30,275 --> 00:33:32,379 pilots will be able to prevent their planes 605 00:33:32,482 --> 00:33:35,586 from getting dangerously close in the first place. 606 00:33:35,689 --> 00:33:39,517 You know, with ADS-B, we're going to be able to see that traffic on the display. 607 00:33:39,620 --> 00:33:43,034 So the avionics can have smarts built into it to 608 00:33:43,137 --> 00:33:46,103 warn the pilot when he's approaching another aircraft. 609 00:33:46,206 --> 00:33:48,000 Today, the system works perfectly. 610 00:33:49,482 --> 00:33:52,551 The pilots of the test flight see the danger and avoid it. 611 00:33:53,896 --> 00:33:56,724 TCAS can help pilots avoid a collision, 612 00:33:56,827 --> 00:33:59,241 but having it onboard is no guarantee 613 00:33:59,344 --> 00:34:00,586 that an accident won't happen. 614 00:34:05,965 --> 00:34:08,931 September 29th, 2006. 615 00:34:10,793 --> 00:34:14,034 A small business jet flies high above the Brazilian countryside, 616 00:34:16,413 --> 00:34:18,862 The pilots will fly to Manaus in Brazil, 617 00:34:18,965 --> 00:34:21,103 before taking off again for New York City. 618 00:34:23,793 --> 00:34:25,137 CO-PILOT: [ON RADIO] Brasilia, November six-zero-zero... 619 00:34:25,241 --> 00:34:28,137 In the cockpit, co-pilot Jan Paladino 620 00:34:28,241 --> 00:34:30,551 is having trouble maintaining radio contact 621 00:34:30,655 --> 00:34:32,068 with air traffic controllers. 622 00:34:32,172 --> 00:34:33,931 ...November six-zero-zero, X-ray Lima. 623 00:34:34,034 --> 00:34:36,241 He tries different channels, 624 00:34:36,344 --> 00:34:38,896 but still no one responds to his radio calls. 625 00:34:40,551 --> 00:34:42,379 Brasilia, November six-zero-zero... 626 00:34:42,482 --> 00:34:45,000 It's unusual for pilots and air traffic controllers 627 00:34:45,103 --> 00:34:47,793 to be out of contact for such an extended period of time. 628 00:34:47,896 --> 00:34:51,551 Brasilia, November six-zero-zero X-ray Lima. 629 00:34:51,655 --> 00:34:53,275 November six-zero-zero X-ray... 630 00:34:53,379 --> 00:34:55,724 Finally, after 12 attempts, 631 00:34:55,827 --> 00:34:57,620 Paladino gets through to controllers. 632 00:34:59,103 --> 00:35:01,000 Contact one, two, three, 633 00:35:02,310 --> 00:35:05,586 two, six, decimal 45. 634 00:35:05,689 --> 00:35:09,241 Sorry, say frequency one more time for November six-zero-zero X-ray Lima. 635 00:35:09,344 --> 00:35:12,586 But Paladino can't understand the garbled radio transmission. 636 00:35:15,172 --> 00:35:18,137 Brasilia November six-zero-zero X-ray Lima. 637 00:35:18,241 --> 00:35:20,137 Then, the signal disappears altogether. 638 00:35:22,655 --> 00:35:25,758 The jet follows the Brasilia air corridor en route to Manaus. 639 00:35:27,517 --> 00:35:28,931 But traffic along this corridor 640 00:35:29,034 --> 00:35:30,413 runs in both directions. 641 00:35:30,517 --> 00:35:31,793 ...six-zero-zero X-ray Lima. 642 00:35:31,896 --> 00:35:34,758 The airway system between Brasilia and Manaus 643 00:35:34,862 --> 00:35:35,931 is very simple. 644 00:35:36,586 --> 00:35:37,931 It makes airplanes 645 00:35:38,034 --> 00:35:42,344 fly northbound maintaining even levels, 646 00:35:42,448 --> 00:35:44,206 and airplanes flying southbound 647 00:35:44,310 --> 00:35:45,551 maintaining odd levels. 648 00:35:48,517 --> 00:35:52,206 A little more than two hours into the flight, disaster strikes. 649 00:35:58,344 --> 00:36:01,758 The concussion itself seemed to affect every atom in my body. 650 00:36:03,275 --> 00:36:05,413 The end of the wing was chopped off 651 00:36:05,517 --> 00:36:09,241 and it was serrated. It looked like it had been chewed off. 652 00:36:09,344 --> 00:36:12,724 The Legacy Jet has struck an oncoming Boeing 737... 653 00:36:12,827 --> 00:36:15,172 Keep calm! ...GOL Flight 1907. 654 00:36:16,172 --> 00:36:18,551 With 154 people onboard, 655 00:36:18,655 --> 00:36:20,724 the GOL flight spirals out of control. 656 00:36:23,482 --> 00:36:26,793 The pilots of the smaller jet don't know what they've hit, 657 00:36:26,896 --> 00:36:30,896 - but their business jet is still flyable. - Sit down back there! 658 00:36:31,000 --> 00:36:33,827 I got it. I got it. Just let me fly the thing, dude. 659 00:36:33,931 --> 00:36:35,758 - All right. - We're descending. I want to get down. 660 00:36:35,862 --> 00:36:37,448 Okay, it's yours. It's yours. 661 00:36:39,482 --> 00:36:43,517 The crew locates a runway at a military base in the middle of the jungle. 662 00:36:43,620 --> 00:36:46,103 November six-zero-zero X-ray Lima declaring an emergency. 663 00:36:46,206 --> 00:36:49,103 We need to land at zero bravo Charlie Charlie, is that your airport? 664 00:36:49,206 --> 00:36:50,241 Affirmative. The pilots 665 00:36:50,344 --> 00:36:53,241 of the executive jet attempt an emergency landing. 666 00:36:53,344 --> 00:36:54,482 Here we go. Hold it. 667 00:36:54,586 --> 00:36:56,034 Let's dump the flaps at the top of the flare. 668 00:36:56,137 --> 00:36:57,827 Right. So give me nine on the flare. 669 00:36:57,931 --> 00:36:59,793 - Could you give me nine. - Yeah, you've got nine. 670 00:36:59,896 --> 00:37:01,965 Everyone, sit down back there. 671 00:37:02,068 --> 00:37:03,724 When you land under those sort of circumstances, 672 00:37:03,827 --> 00:37:05,931 you're landing faster than you normally would. 673 00:37:06,034 --> 00:37:07,689 You're coming down like gangbusters. 674 00:37:17,172 --> 00:37:18,862 Good. You got it. 675 00:37:20,448 --> 00:37:22,275 Hold it. You're good. 676 00:37:27,068 --> 00:37:30,000 Whoo! Oh, man. 677 00:37:31,172 --> 00:37:33,379 Good job. Oh, man! 678 00:37:41,413 --> 00:37:44,034 At Brasilia Air Traffic Center, 679 00:37:44,137 --> 00:37:47,448 controllers have lost track of GOL Flight 1907. 680 00:37:47,551 --> 00:37:49,724 Manaus. There isn't any GOL. 681 00:37:49,827 --> 00:37:51,034 I can't see anything here. 682 00:37:51,137 --> 00:37:52,862 It's on its way. 683 00:37:52,965 --> 00:37:54,517 So it's already in my area? 684 00:37:54,620 --> 00:37:55,517 For over half an hour. 685 00:37:58,827 --> 00:38:02,862 Anxiety was high and controllers were confused about what to say. 686 00:38:02,965 --> 00:38:04,103 They didn't know what was happening. 687 00:38:07,931 --> 00:38:11,103 Troops locate the wreckage of GOL Flight 1907 688 00:38:11,206 --> 00:38:12,482 deep in the Amazon jungle. 689 00:38:14,551 --> 00:38:15,793 There are no survivors. 690 00:38:22,689 --> 00:38:25,620 Investigators learned that the Legacy Jet and the GOL Flight 691 00:38:25,724 --> 00:38:29,000 were flying along the same air corridor in opposite directions. 692 00:38:30,655 --> 00:38:33,448 One thousand feet of altitude is supposed to separate them. 693 00:38:35,655 --> 00:38:38,517 Investigators interview the pilots of the business jet. 694 00:38:38,620 --> 00:38:40,206 We were proceeding northwest, on course 695 00:38:40,310 --> 00:38:42,448 to Manaus at 37,000 feet. 696 00:38:42,551 --> 00:38:44,344 Okay? We were attempting to contact Brasilia control... 697 00:38:44,448 --> 00:38:47,896 Did you say you were flying at 37,000 feet? 698 00:38:48,000 --> 00:38:50,275 Yes, that's right. Flight level three-seven-zero. 699 00:38:50,379 --> 00:38:51,344 We never moved from that. 700 00:38:56,551 --> 00:38:59,413 The pilots of the executive jet filed a flight plan 701 00:38:59,517 --> 00:39:02,034 in which they would fly at 37,000 feet 702 00:39:02,137 --> 00:39:03,206 until they reached Brasilia. 703 00:39:06,310 --> 00:39:08,551 There, they would descend to 36,000. 704 00:39:09,655 --> 00:39:11,517 The flight plan calls for you 705 00:39:11,620 --> 00:39:14,724 to descend to three-six-zero at Brasilia. 706 00:39:14,827 --> 00:39:16,793 - Why didn't you? - We weren't told to. 707 00:39:16,896 --> 00:39:19,103 Before we took off, we were cleared for three-seven-zero 708 00:39:19,206 --> 00:39:21,896 all the way to Manaus. That's what we did, sir. 709 00:39:22,000 --> 00:39:24,310 Air traffic control can always 710 00:39:24,413 --> 00:39:26,068 deviate from the flight plan, 711 00:39:26,172 --> 00:39:28,482 because they have best knowledge 712 00:39:28,586 --> 00:39:30,655 of the actual traffic situation. 713 00:39:30,758 --> 00:39:33,137 We were not told to descend and we did not descend. 714 00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:41,103 Once we knew for sure that both planes were flying 715 00:39:41,206 --> 00:39:42,620 at the same altitude, 716 00:39:42,724 --> 00:39:44,103 we knew there would be a lot 717 00:39:44,206 --> 00:39:46,344 to investigate on the side of Air Traffic Control. 718 00:39:49,758 --> 00:39:52,413 Can you call up the Legacy Jet screen for me? 719 00:39:56,724 --> 00:39:59,448 On the radar screen, we see the altitude, the speed 720 00:39:59,551 --> 00:40:01,689 and the transponder information of each plane. 721 00:40:06,172 --> 00:40:09,172 Images show investigators what air traffic controllers saw 722 00:40:09,275 --> 00:40:11,206 on their radar screen before the accident. 723 00:40:12,655 --> 00:40:15,310 One symbol stands out. 724 00:40:15,413 --> 00:40:18,586 The "Z" on the air traffic control screens indicates 725 00:40:18,689 --> 00:40:19,896 that the airplane 726 00:40:20,000 --> 00:40:22,310 he's looking at has lost its transponder. 727 00:40:24,310 --> 00:40:25,482 Roger. 728 00:40:25,586 --> 00:40:27,068 Transponders give controllers 729 00:40:27,172 --> 00:40:30,000 exact information on the altitude of the flights they monitor. 730 00:40:32,413 --> 00:40:34,758 Investigators learned that the transponder aboard 731 00:40:34,862 --> 00:40:36,344 the Legacy had been turned off, 732 00:40:40,413 --> 00:40:44,275 possibly due to the captain's inexperience with the new jet. 733 00:40:44,379 --> 00:40:46,724 Still working out the kinks on how to work this flight management... 734 00:40:46,827 --> 00:40:50,206 Without information coming from the jet's transponder, 735 00:40:50,310 --> 00:40:52,482 the air traffic computer displays the altitude 736 00:40:52,586 --> 00:40:55,103 the plane is supposed to be at, according to the flight plan. 737 00:40:57,379 --> 00:41:00,241 But it's actually flying 1,000 feet higher, 738 00:41:00,344 --> 00:41:02,103 right in the path of the GOL flight. 739 00:41:04,586 --> 00:41:09,586 The Brazilian controllers did not verify the Legacy Jet's real altitude. 740 00:41:09,689 --> 00:41:11,620 Nobody did anything from the ground, 741 00:41:11,724 --> 00:41:13,137 which is where we expect it to happen, 742 00:41:13,241 --> 00:41:16,482 to save these two airplanes from being head on at the same altitude. 743 00:41:16,586 --> 00:41:17,379 ...zero X-ray Lima. 744 00:41:33,068 --> 00:41:36,137 Back over Atlantic City, pilots are preparing to bring 745 00:41:36,241 --> 00:41:37,827 their test flight in for a landing. 746 00:41:39,448 --> 00:41:42,655 Today, the flight has to stay within tightly confined boundaries 747 00:41:42,758 --> 00:41:46,000 set out by air traffic controllers. 748 00:41:46,103 --> 00:41:50,413 But when all aircraft are equipped with ADS-B, that won't be the case. 749 00:41:52,137 --> 00:41:54,000 If the aircraft could fly 750 00:41:54,103 --> 00:41:57,310 on a path that was optimum for them, 751 00:41:57,413 --> 00:42:00,000 and optimum for the traffic system, 752 00:42:00,103 --> 00:42:02,689 we could use a lot more of the airspace 753 00:42:03,724 --> 00:42:04,689 than we do today. 754 00:42:04,793 --> 00:42:06,137 We're going to have airplanes 755 00:42:06,241 --> 00:42:08,068 flying directly where they need to fly, 756 00:42:08,172 --> 00:42:10,758 and computers keeping them apart. 757 00:42:10,862 --> 00:42:14,034 At the FAA, researchers have been designing systems 758 00:42:14,137 --> 00:42:17,862 that get flights from A to B in a whole new way. 759 00:42:17,965 --> 00:42:20,137 Right now, there's no way for controllers to know 760 00:42:20,241 --> 00:42:21,586 the exact location of a plane. 761 00:42:23,103 --> 00:42:25,724 That's why flights are confined to pre-set highways 762 00:42:25,827 --> 00:42:26,931 to keep them from colliding. 763 00:42:28,620 --> 00:42:30,862 With GPS-based NextGen, 764 00:42:30,965 --> 00:42:33,655 a pilot can follow any route he chooses, 765 00:42:33,758 --> 00:42:37,379 provided there aren't any other planes in his path. 766 00:42:37,482 --> 00:42:40,275 He can choose a much more direct route to his destination. 767 00:42:42,034 --> 00:42:44,103 If we could have airplanes going in all directions 768 00:42:44,206 --> 00:42:46,862 and more efficiently directly to where they want to go, 769 00:42:46,965 --> 00:42:50,172 we would be able to double, triple, maybe even quadruple 770 00:42:50,275 --> 00:42:52,620 the number of aircraft that we could safely handle 771 00:42:52,724 --> 00:42:53,931 in the skies at one time. 772 00:42:55,172 --> 00:42:57,896 By charting their own route, 773 00:42:58,000 --> 00:43:02,103 ADS-B will allow pilots to keep a safe distance from other planes 774 00:43:02,206 --> 00:43:05,586 without having to stick to a pre-set highway in the sky. 775 00:43:05,689 --> 00:43:07,965 Maintaining that distance is important, 776 00:43:08,068 --> 00:43:09,448 because even the best technology 777 00:43:09,551 --> 00:43:11,000 can't keep airplanes apart. 778 00:43:15,793 --> 00:43:17,344 July 2002. 779 00:43:18,793 --> 00:43:22,034 Bashkirian Airlines Flight 2937 cruises 780 00:43:22,137 --> 00:43:24,413 westbound through the night sky for Barcelona. 781 00:43:26,448 --> 00:43:30,965 The Tupolev 154M carries 69 people. 782 00:43:31,068 --> 00:43:34,241 Most of the passengers are Russian children traveling on a summer holiday. 783 00:43:36,793 --> 00:43:39,206 Meanwhile, a DHL cargo aircraft 784 00:43:39,310 --> 00:43:40,965 travels north towards Brussels. 785 00:43:42,793 --> 00:43:46,000 The two flights are supposed to pass each other over Lake Constance 786 00:43:46,103 --> 00:43:48,068 in southern Germany. 787 00:43:48,172 --> 00:43:49,724 Climb flight level... 788 00:43:49,827 --> 00:43:52,275 But air traffic controllers have failed to notice 789 00:43:52,379 --> 00:43:54,275 that both flights are at the same altitude. 790 00:43:55,655 --> 00:43:58,827 The controller is distracted by another flight. 791 00:43:58,931 --> 00:44:01,310 At a second station, he assists a late arrival. 792 00:44:01,413 --> 00:44:02,793 Two-nine-three-seven. 793 00:44:02,896 --> 00:44:03,896 What is your present heading? 794 00:44:05,000 --> 00:44:06,689 Present heading is... 795 00:44:06,793 --> 00:44:08,206 It was a standard practice 796 00:44:08,310 --> 00:44:10,793 at the ATC company that at night, 797 00:44:10,896 --> 00:44:13,827 one air traffic controller was responsible for controlling 798 00:44:13,931 --> 00:44:18,068 the entire airspace of ATC Zurich. 799 00:44:18,172 --> 00:44:21,103 Aboard the Tupolev, the pilots have spotted an intruder... 800 00:44:22,551 --> 00:44:25,413 - Look. Look at that. - ...and it's closing in fast. 801 00:44:25,517 --> 00:44:26,413 Five hundred meters. 802 00:44:31,482 --> 00:44:34,344 Onboard the DHL cargo plane, the TCAS computer 803 00:44:34,448 --> 00:44:35,793 is issuing an urgent warning. 804 00:44:36,551 --> 00:44:38,103 Descend. 805 00:44:38,206 --> 00:44:41,137 The system is designed to warn pilots of an oncoming flight. 806 00:44:42,413 --> 00:44:43,482 Increase descent. 807 00:44:43,586 --> 00:44:45,379 And what to do to avoid collision. 808 00:44:46,103 --> 00:44:47,103 Six hundred. 809 00:44:47,206 --> 00:44:48,206 TCAS descent! 810 00:44:51,896 --> 00:44:54,137 When the air traffic controller returns to his position, 811 00:44:54,241 --> 00:44:56,344 he sees the conflict. 812 00:44:56,448 --> 00:44:59,413 The flights will cross paths in less than a minute. 813 00:44:59,517 --> 00:45:02,241 Descend flight level three-five-zero. 814 00:45:02,344 --> 00:45:04,448 Expedite. I have crossing traffic. 815 00:45:04,551 --> 00:45:06,482 The Russian captain obeys the controller's 816 00:45:06,586 --> 00:45:07,758 instruction to descend. 817 00:45:09,103 --> 00:45:12,103 But his TCAS system is telling him to climb. 818 00:45:12,206 --> 00:45:14,172 Climb. Climb. - It says climb. 819 00:45:14,275 --> 00:45:17,448 The Russian crew has 35 seconds to decide whether to obey 820 00:45:17,551 --> 00:45:20,310 - the air traffic controller or the computer. - Descend level three 821 00:45:20,413 --> 00:45:22,793 - five-zero Climb. Climb. 822 00:45:22,896 --> 00:45:24,068 - Climb. - Descend level 823 00:45:24,172 --> 00:45:26,000 three-five-zero. Expedite descent. 824 00:45:26,103 --> 00:45:27,413 He's guiding us down. 825 00:45:28,931 --> 00:45:32,172 We're not accustomed to not trusting controllers. 826 00:45:34,724 --> 00:45:35,724 In civil aviation, 827 00:45:35,827 --> 00:45:38,241 there were lots of situations when pilots didn't follow 828 00:45:38,344 --> 00:45:40,310 instructions of the controller, 829 00:45:40,413 --> 00:45:43,000 and that led to plane crashes or other accidents. 830 00:45:45,448 --> 00:45:46,758 Expedite descent level 831 00:45:46,862 --> 00:45:48,241 - to three-five-zero - Under pressure, 832 00:45:48,344 --> 00:45:50,310 with just seconds to decide, 833 00:45:50,413 --> 00:45:53,827 the Russian pilots follow the controller's direction. 834 00:45:53,931 --> 00:45:56,862 At the same time, the DHL jet is also descending. 835 00:45:58,000 --> 00:45:59,275 Increase descent. 836 00:46:00,103 --> 00:46:01,448 Increase descent. 837 00:46:02,034 --> 00:46:02,931 Increase! 838 00:46:07,000 --> 00:46:08,241 He's going below us. 839 00:46:09,379 --> 00:46:11,310 Increase climb. 840 00:46:11,413 --> 00:46:12,793 - Increase climb. - Where is it? 841 00:46:14,620 --> 00:46:15,758 Here on the left! 842 00:46:17,344 --> 00:46:18,551 - Climb! - Climb! 843 00:46:19,586 --> 00:46:21,034 Descend! Descend hard! 844 00:46:35,137 --> 00:46:37,172 Bravo Tango Charlie two-nine-three-seven. 845 00:46:38,448 --> 00:46:40,344 Bravo Tango Charlie. 846 00:46:45,896 --> 00:46:48,586 Both flights crash near Lake Constance in Germany. 847 00:46:49,413 --> 00:46:51,655 Seventy-one people are killed. 848 00:46:51,758 --> 00:46:52,896 There are no survivors. 849 00:46:55,344 --> 00:46:58,448 The collision leaves air traffic experts at a critical crossroads. 850 00:47:02,241 --> 00:47:07,344 If I have to summarize the advice that we gave the world, 851 00:47:07,448 --> 00:47:10,103 if a warning comes from ACAS, 852 00:47:10,206 --> 00:47:14,344 pilots should immediately follow it at all times. 853 00:47:14,448 --> 00:47:17,758 If the Russian pilots had followed the computer's instructions, 854 00:47:17,862 --> 00:47:19,413 the accident would not have happened. 855 00:47:21,275 --> 00:47:25,827 With the benefit of hindsight, you always ask yourself, "Could we have done more?" 856 00:47:25,931 --> 00:47:29,758 And an accident is a wakeup call for everybody. 857 00:47:29,862 --> 00:47:31,931 The disaster highlighted the potential value 858 00:47:32,034 --> 00:47:33,758 of automated systems. 859 00:47:33,862 --> 00:47:36,586 And proved again how fatal human errors can be. 860 00:47:40,724 --> 00:47:43,172 It's an important lesson for the developers of NextGen. 861 00:47:45,103 --> 00:47:47,724 Technology can provide humans with information, 862 00:47:47,827 --> 00:47:49,275 but can't control what they do with it. 863 00:47:50,896 --> 00:47:52,344 ...before landing? 864 00:47:52,448 --> 00:47:56,206 Over Atlantic City, the FAA jet is on its final approach. 865 00:47:56,310 --> 00:47:58,793 Runway is clear. Bring the flaps to 16... 866 00:47:58,896 --> 00:48:00,482 Its two-hour test flight has brought 867 00:48:00,586 --> 00:48:02,275 NextGen one-step closer 868 00:48:02,379 --> 00:48:04,000 to being installed on commercial airplanes. 869 00:48:11,241 --> 00:48:12,275 Nice job, guys. 870 00:48:12,379 --> 00:48:13,931 CO-PILOT: Two reverses. 871 00:48:14,034 --> 00:48:16,655 Speeds at 90. I got the yoke. 872 00:48:18,448 --> 00:48:20,103 When ADS-B is everywhere 873 00:48:20,206 --> 00:48:21,965 and the data is being displayed in the cockpit, 874 00:48:23,000 --> 00:48:24,862 that will allow the airlines to fly 875 00:48:24,965 --> 00:48:26,655 hugely more efficiently. 876 00:48:29,827 --> 00:48:31,413 Over the past 50 years, 877 00:48:31,517 --> 00:48:33,862 air traffic control has evolved tremendously. 878 00:48:38,655 --> 00:48:39,517 Human error... 879 00:48:42,793 --> 00:48:44,034 technical difficulties... 880 00:48:46,206 --> 00:48:47,379 and poor communication... 881 00:48:49,448 --> 00:48:52,482 have taken the lives of hundreds of people 882 00:48:52,586 --> 00:48:55,103 and uncovered deadly weaknesses in the current system. 883 00:48:59,103 --> 00:49:02,965 Today, those weaknesses are one step closer to being fixed. 884 00:49:03,068 --> 00:49:05,551 I think the NextGen system, as it has evolved now, 885 00:49:05,655 --> 00:49:06,827 is really going to be excellent. 886 00:49:06,931 --> 00:49:09,379 It's going to start in the direction that we need to go 887 00:49:10,068 --> 00:49:11,931 for the future. 888 00:49:12,034 --> 00:49:13,931 The elements that make up NextGen 889 00:49:14,034 --> 00:49:16,068 will be introduced slowly over the next decade. 890 00:49:17,413 --> 00:49:19,758 Piece by piece, the whole new system 891 00:49:19,862 --> 00:49:23,068 of air traffic control will take shape in the US, 892 00:49:23,172 --> 00:49:24,655 and ultimately around the world. 893 00:49:27,034 --> 00:49:30,586 That's what airplane people do. 894 00:49:30,689 --> 00:49:35,379 They react to the challenge and develop a new way of flying. 895 00:49:35,482 --> 00:49:37,862 If NextGen lives up to its promise, 896 00:49:37,965 --> 00:49:41,482 that new way will mean fewer delays 897 00:49:41,586 --> 00:49:43,413 and ultimately, fewer accidents.