1 00:00:02,071 --> 00:00:04,004 Pull the control! Pull! Just pull it! 2 00:00:04,107 --> 00:00:05,591 Guys! 3 00:00:05,695 --> 00:00:07,593 A Russian flight to Hong Kong 4 00:00:07,697 --> 00:00:09,457 is in serious trouble. 5 00:00:09,561 --> 00:00:12,046 The other way! The other way! 6 00:00:12,150 --> 00:00:15,118 To the left! Now to the right! 7 00:00:15,222 --> 00:00:17,155 Gravity has become a deadly force 8 00:00:17,258 --> 00:00:19,088 as the crew fight to keep the plane 9 00:00:19,191 --> 00:00:21,366 from falling to Earth from 10,000 metres. 10 00:00:21,469 --> 00:00:22,712 Get out! Get out! 11 00:00:22,815 --> 00:00:24,369 Back! 12 00:00:24,472 --> 00:00:25,749 The cause of all the chaos: 13 00:00:25,853 --> 00:00:28,407 a 15-year-old is at the controls. 14 00:00:33,516 --> 00:00:34,551 3,000. 15 00:00:35,380 --> 00:00:36,967 We're not getting any oxygen! 16 00:00:37,071 --> 00:00:38,279 We have the terrain alarm. 17 00:00:38,383 --> 00:00:40,178 Aero Peru 603. 18 00:00:40,281 --> 00:00:41,731 We are in an emergency. 19 00:00:52,914 --> 00:00:54,537 Come and sit in my seat. 20 00:00:56,159 --> 00:00:57,367 Go on. 21 00:00:58,196 --> 00:00:59,749 Pilot being filmed! 22 00:00:59,852 --> 00:01:02,096 Are you filming?! 23 00:01:03,235 --> 00:01:04,961 It's a family outing. 24 00:01:05,203 --> 00:01:08,620 A proud pilot taking his kids on their first trip abroad. 25 00:01:09,345 --> 00:01:11,347 But in just a few minutes, their vacation 26 00:01:11,450 --> 00:01:14,281 will turn into a terrifying fight for their lives. 27 00:01:24,912 --> 00:01:27,535 Hold the control column. Just hold it! 28 00:01:27,639 --> 00:01:29,158 Back, back! 29 00:01:29,261 --> 00:01:31,298 - Investigators would be amazed. - To the left! 30 00:01:31,401 --> 00:01:33,300 The other way! - I am turning it left! 31 00:01:33,403 --> 00:01:35,302 How did a 15-year-old kid end up in the pilot's seat, 32 00:01:35,405 --> 00:01:37,925 flying a brand new passenger aircraft? 33 00:01:41,204 --> 00:01:42,757 The other way! 34 00:01:43,413 --> 00:01:44,552 Back! 35 00:01:50,179 --> 00:01:55,080 March 22, 1994. Moscow. 36 00:01:55,184 --> 00:01:57,082 15-year-old Eldar Kudrinsky 37 00:01:57,186 --> 00:01:59,084 is going abroad for the first time. 38 00:01:59,188 --> 00:02:01,259 He needs every gadget he has. 39 00:02:01,362 --> 00:02:04,089 Eldar! Uncle Volodya is waiting! 40 00:02:04,193 --> 00:02:05,746 - I'm ready, I'm ready! - Come on. 41 00:02:05,849 --> 00:02:07,161 But this is no ordinary kid. 42 00:02:07,265 --> 00:02:09,819 Eldar's father is Captain Yaroslav Kudrinsky, 43 00:02:09,922 --> 00:02:12,201 an international airline pilot. - Come. 44 00:02:12,304 --> 00:02:14,548 In Russia, that means membership of a privileged 45 00:02:14,651 --> 00:02:16,584 group and access to luxuries 46 00:02:16,688 --> 00:02:18,655 most of the country can only dream of. 47 00:02:22,521 --> 00:02:24,385 Okay, let's go. 48 00:02:25,248 --> 00:02:28,458 Ah, Captain's here. Now we can take off. 49 00:02:28,562 --> 00:02:30,219 Hello, Uncle Volodya. 50 00:02:30,322 --> 00:02:31,530 Hello! 51 00:02:31,634 --> 00:02:34,292 Aeroflot allows pilots' families to travel once a year 52 00:02:34,395 --> 00:02:36,742 at a discount. So Captain Kudrinsky 53 00:02:36,846 --> 00:02:38,813 is taking his children on a four-day holiday 54 00:02:38,917 --> 00:02:39,780 to Hong Kong. 55 00:02:39,883 --> 00:02:41,851 Mom, it won't all fit. 56 00:02:42,472 --> 00:02:45,372 Anybody would think you were going for a year! 57 00:02:45,475 --> 00:02:47,305 Where's your daughter? 58 00:02:47,408 --> 00:02:49,445 Listening to music in the car. 59 00:02:49,548 --> 00:02:53,621 By the time they're our age, these kids are going to be deaf. 60 00:02:53,725 --> 00:02:55,623 - What? - Deaf! 61 00:02:55,727 --> 00:02:57,315 Pardon? 62 00:02:57,418 --> 00:02:58,799 Captain Vladimir Makarov, 63 00:02:58,902 --> 00:03:00,318 Volodya to his friends, 64 00:03:00,421 --> 00:03:02,320 is an Aeroflot pilot too. 65 00:03:02,423 --> 00:03:04,494 He's also going to Hong Kong on holiday, 66 00:03:04,598 --> 00:03:08,257 and will be keeping an eye on the kids during the flight. 67 00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:10,742 Mrs. Kudrinsky is only going as far as the airport 68 00:03:10,845 --> 00:03:11,743 to see them off. 69 00:03:11,846 --> 00:03:14,228 Eldar, Yana, 70 00:03:14,332 --> 00:03:16,437 promise you'll call as soon as you get there. 71 00:03:17,024 --> 00:03:19,682 Volodya, you will make them call me? 72 00:03:19,785 --> 00:03:21,580 Um... Yeah. 73 00:03:21,684 --> 00:03:23,755 We'll call as soon as we can, okay? 74 00:03:23,858 --> 00:03:25,584 Come on, come on, come on! 75 00:03:33,316 --> 00:03:35,422 Yaroslav and I loved to travel, 76 00:03:35,525 --> 00:03:37,251 and so did the kids. 77 00:03:37,355 --> 00:03:39,840 They loved seeing new places, 78 00:03:39,943 --> 00:03:41,497 learning new things. 79 00:03:43,499 --> 00:03:44,879 There was a chance for them to come along 80 00:03:44,983 --> 00:03:46,605 with their father, 81 00:03:46,709 --> 00:03:48,055 and they jumped at it. 82 00:03:54,475 --> 00:03:56,788 Eldar and Yana aren't the only one's boarding 83 00:03:56,891 --> 00:03:58,652 Flight 593. 84 00:03:58,755 --> 00:04:01,551 Most of the 63 passengers are businessmen 85 00:04:01,655 --> 00:04:03,346 from Hong Kong and Taiwan, 86 00:04:03,450 --> 00:04:06,004 looking for opportunities in the new Russia. 87 00:04:07,108 --> 00:04:10,457 Others, like Adrian Deaville, have come from London, 88 00:04:10,560 --> 00:04:12,666 flying Aeroflot because it offers a cheap connection 89 00:04:12,769 --> 00:04:14,254 to Asia. 90 00:04:14,357 --> 00:04:15,772 He's the manager of a camera shop 91 00:04:15,876 --> 00:04:18,706 in northern England, and has a passion for aircraft. 92 00:04:18,810 --> 00:04:21,709 In fact, he's going on a two-week holiday to Hong Kong 93 00:04:21,813 --> 00:04:24,540 to photograph the new airport they've just built. 94 00:04:27,991 --> 00:04:31,132 He'd go as far as he could if he thought there was a good 95 00:04:31,340 --> 00:04:32,582 airport somewhere in the world, 96 00:04:32,686 --> 00:04:34,895 he'd try his best to get to that airport, 97 00:04:34,998 --> 00:04:38,450 just to go and make some nice photographs. 98 00:04:38,554 --> 00:04:41,004 And the trip to Hong Kong grew from that, 99 00:04:41,108 --> 00:04:44,007 because he wanted to see this brand new airport 100 00:04:44,111 --> 00:04:47,045 which was a feat of engineering at the time. 101 00:04:49,116 --> 00:04:51,946 Mark Newport is a British Sports Promoter 102 00:04:52,050 --> 00:04:53,741 who lives in Hong Kong. 103 00:04:53,845 --> 00:04:57,331 Mark was in the army, he was in the forces. 104 00:04:57,435 --> 00:05:00,886 And he went to Hong Kong, and he just loved it. 105 00:05:00,990 --> 00:05:03,924 And he got married out there. 106 00:05:05,684 --> 00:05:08,584 He had chosen Aeroflot, I'd never heard of it until then 107 00:05:08,687 --> 00:05:11,034 because it was just a cheap flight home. 108 00:05:14,417 --> 00:05:16,764 In 1994, Russia is in a state 109 00:05:16,868 --> 00:05:18,628 of great change. 110 00:05:18,732 --> 00:05:20,975 Three years earlier, the old Soviet Union 111 00:05:21,079 --> 00:05:22,701 finally collapsed. 112 00:05:22,805 --> 00:05:24,634 A new Russia is bursting out 113 00:05:24,738 --> 00:05:26,947 from behind the torn Iron Curtain. 114 00:05:27,879 --> 00:05:30,502 Its people want the freedoms of the West, 115 00:05:30,606 --> 00:05:33,160 the lifestyle, the international travel. 116 00:05:35,438 --> 00:05:37,820 But Russia's state-owned airline, Aeroflot, 117 00:05:37,923 --> 00:05:40,063 is getting a make over too. 118 00:05:40,167 --> 00:05:42,549 They struggle to buy five new aircraft 119 00:05:42,652 --> 00:05:44,999 from the company Airbus Industrie. 120 00:05:45,103 --> 00:05:47,208 The $70 million state-of-the-art 121 00:05:47,450 --> 00:05:49,418 Airbus A310-300. 122 00:05:53,836 --> 00:05:56,459 Though it seats fewer than 200 passengers, 123 00:05:56,563 --> 00:05:58,703 it can fly three times further than any 124 00:05:58,806 --> 00:06:01,361 of Russia's biggest passenger aircraft. 125 00:06:01,464 --> 00:06:04,364 The A310 is a fully-automated aircraft, 126 00:06:04,467 --> 00:06:06,780 equipped with sophisticated fail-safe systems. 127 00:06:08,264 --> 00:06:10,439 Aeroflot hopes it will help improve the company's 128 00:06:10,542 --> 00:06:12,475 checkered safety reputation. 129 00:06:13,373 --> 00:06:16,272 Any time there is a national carrier 130 00:06:16,376 --> 00:06:19,137 supported by their particular government, 131 00:06:19,240 --> 00:06:21,208 if that government is in turmoil, 132 00:06:21,311 --> 00:06:24,591 whether it's financially or political turmoil, 133 00:06:24,694 --> 00:06:27,041 it affects everything that's associated 134 00:06:27,145 --> 00:06:28,767 with that core government. 135 00:06:28,871 --> 00:06:31,045 Aeroflot is a national carrier, 136 00:06:31,149 --> 00:06:32,944 and so there is always the perception 137 00:06:33,151 --> 00:06:35,360 that they may not have had the monetary resources 138 00:06:35,464 --> 00:06:38,639 and the wherewithal to be a very structured carrier 139 00:06:38,743 --> 00:06:40,296 with a lot of oversight 140 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:43,161 to ensure a high level of safety at that time. 141 00:06:44,576 --> 00:06:46,371 Aeroflot has created a new, 142 00:06:46,475 --> 00:06:48,684 prestigious division around the Airbus fleet: 143 00:06:48,787 --> 00:06:50,755 Russian International Airlines. 144 00:06:52,342 --> 00:06:54,552 Pilots wear special uniforms, 145 00:06:54,655 --> 00:06:56,519 they fly state-of-the-art planes 146 00:06:56,623 --> 00:06:59,522 and travel to the world's top destinations. 147 00:06:59,626 --> 00:07:03,388 RIA represents a new, modern Russia to the world. 148 00:07:04,734 --> 00:07:07,219 After collapse of the Soviet Union, 149 00:07:07,323 --> 00:07:09,359 Aeroflot, 150 00:07:09,463 --> 00:07:12,190 still controlled by government, 151 00:07:12,293 --> 00:07:15,745 was forced to look for profits 152 00:07:15,849 --> 00:07:18,679 and develop a network 153 00:07:18,783 --> 00:07:22,165 which would be commercially justified. 154 00:07:22,269 --> 00:07:24,167 For Russia's premier airline, 155 00:07:24,271 --> 00:07:28,206 Aeroflot handpicks an elite corps of first-class pilots. 156 00:07:28,309 --> 00:07:31,278 Each of them has thousands of hours of flying time, 157 00:07:31,381 --> 00:07:34,315 impeccable safety records, and fluent English. 158 00:07:34,419 --> 00:07:36,835 They're given special training by the manufacturers 159 00:07:36,939 --> 00:07:38,906 of the aircraft, Airbus Industrie. 160 00:07:43,221 --> 00:07:46,673 The airline had around 3,000 pilots at that time. 161 00:07:46,776 --> 00:07:50,470 Only 16 men were to be sent to be trained first. 162 00:07:50,573 --> 00:07:53,196 Only the best of the best made it. 163 00:07:56,717 --> 00:07:59,789 Kudrinsky and I started working here at Sheremetyevo 164 00:07:59,893 --> 00:08:01,826 at the same time, and naturally, 165 00:08:01,929 --> 00:08:04,345 we first got acquainted simply as neighbours. 166 00:08:06,244 --> 00:08:08,764 Then we found out we were both pilots. 167 00:08:08,867 --> 00:08:11,594 Later, we both trained for the A-310. 168 00:08:11,698 --> 00:08:13,389 We studied together. 169 00:08:17,289 --> 00:08:20,396 I remember how hard it was for them to master it, 170 00:08:20,500 --> 00:08:23,123 because the technology was quite different, 171 00:08:23,226 --> 00:08:25,505 so they were working very hard. 172 00:08:25,608 --> 00:08:28,404 But they all got through it and started to fly. 173 00:08:34,410 --> 00:08:36,205 Yana and Eldar are finally 174 00:08:36,308 --> 00:08:38,587 on board the new plane they've heard so much about 175 00:08:38,690 --> 00:08:39,864 from their father. 176 00:08:39,967 --> 00:08:42,591 Hey. Now, you two behave, 177 00:08:42,694 --> 00:08:45,386 or Uncle Volodya will push the eject button. 178 00:08:45,490 --> 00:08:46,905 Voom! 179 00:08:47,009 --> 00:08:49,701 Kudrinsky has 900 hours 180 00:08:49,805 --> 00:08:51,565 of flying the A310 under his belt. 181 00:08:51,669 --> 00:08:54,326 I must go now, okay? See you later. 182 00:08:56,501 --> 00:08:58,261 It was their first trip abroad, 183 00:08:58,365 --> 00:08:59,608 but naturally, 184 00:08:59,711 --> 00:09:02,507 they had come along with him on other trips within Russia. 185 00:09:02,611 --> 00:09:05,441 They were quite well-traveled for their ages. 186 00:09:09,997 --> 00:09:12,897 First Captain Danilov will command the flight 187 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:15,624 through the busy flight corridors out of Moscow. 188 00:09:15,727 --> 00:09:18,765 Relief Captain Kudrinsky will then take over. 189 00:09:18,868 --> 00:09:20,870 When he does, First Officer Piskarev 190 00:09:20,974 --> 00:09:22,562 becomes his co-pilot. 191 00:09:22,665 --> 00:09:25,323 All three are first-class pilots. 192 00:09:27,601 --> 00:09:29,396 On this new A-310, 193 00:09:29,499 --> 00:09:31,847 the flight deck is fully computerized. 194 00:09:31,950 --> 00:09:33,849 Like other state-of-the-art aircraft, 195 00:09:33,952 --> 00:09:36,403 it's equipped with a sophisticated autopilot 196 00:09:36,506 --> 00:09:39,302 that can fly the plane for long stretches of the flight. 197 00:09:40,545 --> 00:09:43,065 International routes, like this one to Hong Kong, 198 00:09:43,306 --> 00:09:45,101 are Aeroflot's lifeline. 199 00:09:45,343 --> 00:09:47,103 They bring in precious hard currency 200 00:09:47,345 --> 00:09:48,795 at a time when the domestic market 201 00:09:48,898 --> 00:09:50,797 is struggling to turn a profit. 202 00:09:54,386 --> 00:09:58,598 Flight 593 takes off at 4:39PM local time. 203 00:10:02,567 --> 00:10:04,983 Then it will join the Trans-Siberian airway 204 00:10:05,087 --> 00:10:07,641 flying east towards Mongolia and China. 205 00:10:11,438 --> 00:10:12,991 It's a smooth flight. 206 00:10:13,095 --> 00:10:15,684 Only four hours into the ten-hour trip, 207 00:10:15,787 --> 00:10:18,410 they've just passed over Novosibirsk in Siberia, 208 00:10:18,514 --> 00:10:20,274 almost halfway. 209 00:10:20,378 --> 00:10:23,001 But Eldar and Yana are too excited to sleep. 210 00:10:28,558 --> 00:10:31,389 Having negotiated the busy airways out of Moscow, 211 00:10:31,492 --> 00:10:33,978 First Captain Danilov takes a rest break. 212 00:10:36,497 --> 00:10:39,397 He hands over control to Relief Captain Kudrinsky, 213 00:10:39,500 --> 00:10:41,364 who now becomes Acting Captain 214 00:10:41,468 --> 00:10:43,090 for the next leg of the journey. 215 00:10:44,022 --> 00:10:45,921 You have control. 216 00:10:46,024 --> 00:10:47,716 I have control. 217 00:10:54,861 --> 00:10:55,965 Still awake? 218 00:10:56,069 --> 00:10:57,829 Yes. Why? 219 00:10:58,658 --> 00:11:00,763 Shall we surprise your father? 220 00:11:00,867 --> 00:11:02,523 In the cockpit? 221 00:11:02,627 --> 00:11:04,560 Oh, yeah! - Would you like that? 222 00:11:09,634 --> 00:11:12,188 Aeroflot's most technically advanced aircraft 223 00:11:12,430 --> 00:11:15,709 is now cruising on autopilot at 10,000 metres. 224 00:11:15,813 --> 00:11:17,918 It's a calm, windless night. 225 00:11:18,022 --> 00:11:20,231 But the peace will not last. 226 00:11:20,472 --> 00:11:22,509 The pilots and crew will soon be fighting 227 00:11:22,612 --> 00:11:25,167 to save the lives of everyone on board. 228 00:11:29,481 --> 00:11:31,691 One of Aeroflot's new Airbuses 229 00:11:31,794 --> 00:11:34,901 is on a direct flight from Moscow to Hong Kong. 230 00:11:35,004 --> 00:11:37,351 Captain Kudrinsky is taking his children 231 00:11:37,455 --> 00:11:38,698 on their first trip abroad. 232 00:11:38,801 --> 00:11:41,355 They're about to pay him a surprise visit. 233 00:11:41,459 --> 00:11:43,426 Captain? You have some very important visitors. 234 00:11:43,530 --> 00:11:44,427 Shall I bring them in? 235 00:11:44,531 --> 00:11:46,188 Okay. 236 00:11:50,813 --> 00:11:52,642 Come on in! - Wow! 237 00:11:52,746 --> 00:11:53,747 Hi, Dad. 238 00:11:53,851 --> 00:11:54,783 This is First Officer 239 00:11:54,886 --> 00:11:56,336 Igor Vladimirovich Piskarev. 240 00:11:56,439 --> 00:11:57,855 - Hello. - Hi. 241 00:11:57,958 --> 00:12:00,409 So, what do you think of our new airplane? 242 00:12:00,512 --> 00:12:02,445 It's very nice. 243 00:12:02,549 --> 00:12:04,033 It's amazing! 244 00:12:04,137 --> 00:12:07,381 It's quite different from our old Russian planes. 245 00:12:07,485 --> 00:12:08,935 Daddy, what's that? 246 00:12:09,038 --> 00:12:11,696 Oh. This is the flight computer. 247 00:12:11,800 --> 00:12:14,734 It flies the plane, it does everything automatically. 248 00:12:16,736 --> 00:12:20,015 Now, come and sit in my seat. Would you like to? 249 00:12:20,118 --> 00:12:21,430 Come on. 250 00:12:24,226 --> 00:12:25,917 It's a quiet flight. 251 00:12:26,159 --> 00:12:27,747 Many passengers are sleeping, 252 00:12:27,850 --> 00:12:30,335 unaware of what is taking place on the flight deck. 253 00:12:34,684 --> 00:12:36,721 - Daddy, can I turn this? - Yes. 254 00:12:39,413 --> 00:12:43,624 Now, Yana, would you like to pilot the plane? 255 00:12:43,728 --> 00:12:45,247 No. 256 00:12:45,350 --> 00:12:48,491 Put your hands on the control column. 257 00:12:48,595 --> 00:12:50,183 Go on, go on, go on. 258 00:12:50,286 --> 00:12:52,599 But don't touch any buttons, okay? 259 00:12:52,702 --> 00:12:55,360 Especially this red one, autopilot switch. 260 00:12:55,464 --> 00:12:57,259 You don't touch it. Alright? 261 00:12:58,639 --> 00:13:01,642 Kudrinksy turns the heading select knob. 262 00:13:01,746 --> 00:13:04,197 It doesn't disengage the autopilot, 263 00:13:04,300 --> 00:13:07,579 but allows him to turn the plane slightly to the left. 264 00:13:07,683 --> 00:13:10,790 It makes his daughter think she's flying the aircraft. 265 00:13:13,447 --> 00:13:16,105 The Artificial Horizon shows the plane is banking 266 00:13:16,209 --> 00:13:17,520 slowly left. 267 00:13:17,624 --> 00:13:20,351 This instrument is vital when you can't see the ground, 268 00:13:20,454 --> 00:13:22,836 as it shows the pilot how level the aircraft is 269 00:13:22,940 --> 00:13:24,665 in relation to the horizon. 270 00:13:24,769 --> 00:13:27,530 It was you! You turned the plane! 271 00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:31,086 Kudrinsky now puts the aircraft 272 00:13:31,189 --> 00:13:32,604 back onto its preset course, 273 00:13:32,708 --> 00:13:34,503 while First Officer Piskarev 274 00:13:34,606 --> 00:13:37,023 radios local air traffic control with their position. 275 00:13:37,264 --> 00:13:40,681 Novokuznetsk, this is SU 593. 276 00:13:40,785 --> 00:13:44,858 Flight Level three-three-zero. Heading one-zero-five. 277 00:13:47,033 --> 00:13:51,865 Flight 593 is now over 3,200 kilometres east of Moscow, 278 00:13:51,969 --> 00:13:53,729 near the middle of Siberia. 279 00:13:53,833 --> 00:13:55,696 Sierra Uniform 593, 280 00:13:55,800 --> 00:13:57,008 Novokuznetsk. 281 00:13:57,250 --> 00:14:00,322 Flight level three-five-zero. Heading 105. 282 00:14:00,425 --> 00:14:02,807 Sierra Uniform 593, 283 00:14:02,911 --> 00:14:06,569 estimating Zakir at 17:59. 284 00:14:07,950 --> 00:14:10,366 Now it's Eldar's turn at the wheel. 285 00:14:10,470 --> 00:14:13,473 He's been waiting a long time for this moment. 286 00:14:14,612 --> 00:14:16,856 Pilot being filmed! 287 00:14:16,959 --> 00:14:18,547 Are you filming? 288 00:14:18,650 --> 00:14:20,825 Yes, I am! 289 00:14:22,585 --> 00:14:23,552 Can I turn this? 290 00:14:23,655 --> 00:14:25,726 Yeah. But if you turn it to the left, 291 00:14:25,830 --> 00:14:27,763 where will the plane go? - Left. 292 00:14:27,867 --> 00:14:29,627 Right, look out to the left, 293 00:14:29,730 --> 00:14:31,940 watching for the ground when we're turning. 294 00:14:33,458 --> 00:14:36,461 Eldar finds the control column quite stiff. 295 00:14:36,565 --> 00:14:39,568 It seemed to move easily when his sister was doing it. 296 00:14:39,671 --> 00:14:41,535 So he tries harder. 297 00:14:41,639 --> 00:14:43,675 But he can't make the plane turn, 298 00:14:43,779 --> 00:14:46,023 because the autopilot is keeping it on course. 299 00:14:50,337 --> 00:14:51,856 Is the plane turning? 300 00:14:51,960 --> 00:14:54,307 Suddenly the column turns easily. 301 00:14:54,410 --> 00:14:55,618 Great! 302 00:14:55,722 --> 00:14:57,551 Is the plane turning to the left? 303 00:14:57,655 --> 00:14:59,657 Yes, yes, it is! 304 00:15:03,488 --> 00:15:06,422 Set the horizon to normal for him. 305 00:15:07,458 --> 00:15:09,253 Once again, his father switches 306 00:15:09,356 --> 00:15:12,256 the heading select knob back to its original setting, 307 00:15:12,359 --> 00:15:14,430 ending the turn and Eldar's illusion 308 00:15:14,534 --> 00:15:15,915 of flying the plane. 309 00:15:19,056 --> 00:15:21,921 Captain Kudrinsky then selects Navigation mode. 310 00:15:22,024 --> 00:15:24,613 It tells the autopilot to put the plane back 311 00:15:24,716 --> 00:15:26,546 on course to Hong Kong. 312 00:15:27,443 --> 00:15:28,824 Dad? Dad? 313 00:15:28,928 --> 00:15:32,448 But Eldar is still holding the wheel to the left. 314 00:15:32,552 --> 00:15:34,140 It's become stiff again. 315 00:15:34,347 --> 00:15:36,383 Can I go back to my seat? 316 00:15:36,487 --> 00:15:39,352 What for? You'll only go to sleep. 317 00:15:39,455 --> 00:15:43,218 And don't run in the first-class or they will fire us. 318 00:15:44,667 --> 00:15:46,600 Eldar now turns his control column 319 00:15:46,704 --> 00:15:47,877 slightly to the right, 320 00:15:47,981 --> 00:15:50,259 enjoying his time at the controls. 321 00:15:50,363 --> 00:15:52,917 Well, I am going shopping on Temple Street. 322 00:15:53,021 --> 00:15:55,437 It's a famous market that only opens at night. 323 00:16:09,658 --> 00:16:11,867 Why is it turning? 324 00:16:11,971 --> 00:16:13,731 Is it turning by itself? 325 00:16:13,834 --> 00:16:15,595 Yes, it is. 326 00:16:16,665 --> 00:16:18,805 It has just been over three minutes since Eldar 327 00:16:18,908 --> 00:16:20,945 sat down in the pilot's seat. 328 00:16:21,049 --> 00:16:22,982 The plane is tilting sharply, 329 00:16:23,085 --> 00:16:25,018 a turn that's getting steeper every second. 330 00:16:29,505 --> 00:16:32,025 The plane seems to be turning by itself. 331 00:16:32,129 --> 00:16:33,785 But no one seems to know why. 332 00:16:33,889 --> 00:16:35,511 We're going into some kind of zone. 333 00:16:35,615 --> 00:16:37,720 We've gone into a zone, a holding pattern. 334 00:16:37,824 --> 00:16:40,551 - Have we? - Of course we have! 335 00:16:41,448 --> 00:16:44,279 An arc has replaced the straight direction line 336 00:16:44,382 --> 00:16:45,625 on the screen. 337 00:16:45,728 --> 00:16:47,799 The arc looks like a plane in a holding pattern 338 00:16:47,903 --> 00:16:49,387 around an airport. 339 00:16:51,562 --> 00:16:55,393 As they study the screen, the plane continues to turn. 340 00:16:55,497 --> 00:16:57,982 It's now banked at 45 degrees, 341 00:16:58,086 --> 00:16:59,949 which is steeper than what it was built for. 342 00:17:01,089 --> 00:17:03,539 Suddenly the command bars disappear 343 00:17:03,643 --> 00:17:05,576 from the primary flight display. 344 00:17:05,679 --> 00:17:07,819 The crew no longer have any information 345 00:17:07,923 --> 00:17:09,614 about course or heading. 346 00:17:14,516 --> 00:17:17,691 The plane is flying at 650 kilometres an hour 347 00:17:17,795 --> 00:17:19,245 and banking hard. 348 00:17:19,452 --> 00:17:21,247 Like a quick turn in a sports car, 349 00:17:21,488 --> 00:17:23,214 the dramatic movement of the aircraft 350 00:17:23,456 --> 00:17:24,974 begins to push everyone into their seats. 351 00:17:25,941 --> 00:17:27,632 Guys! 352 00:17:33,535 --> 00:17:37,642 The A-310's autopilot works to keep the plane aloft. 353 00:17:38,816 --> 00:17:40,749 Suddenly the nose pitches up. 354 00:17:41,612 --> 00:17:43,683 The increased G-force makes it difficult 355 00:17:43,786 --> 00:17:46,099 for Piskarev to reach the controls. 356 00:17:46,203 --> 00:17:48,584 He does his best, but nothing happens. 357 00:17:55,350 --> 00:17:57,283 Piskarev's hard turn to the left 358 00:17:57,386 --> 00:17:59,319 has had no effect on the plane. 359 00:17:59,423 --> 00:18:01,632 Okay, hold it. Hold the control column! 360 00:18:01,735 --> 00:18:04,324 Eldar is the only one with both hands 361 00:18:04,428 --> 00:18:05,808 fully on the controls. 362 00:18:05,912 --> 00:18:08,501 He can only follow the most basic orders. 363 00:18:08,604 --> 00:18:11,193 He can't get up, because the speed of the turn 364 00:18:11,297 --> 00:18:12,470 is pushing him back in his seat. 365 00:18:12,574 --> 00:18:14,610 Turn it to the left! 366 00:18:14,714 --> 00:18:15,680 To the left! 367 00:18:15,784 --> 00:18:18,407 To the left! Not to the right! The other way! 368 00:18:18,511 --> 00:18:20,444 - I am turning it left! - Okay, get out! 369 00:18:21,479 --> 00:18:23,102 Eldar has been in the pilot's seat 370 00:18:23,205 --> 00:18:24,689 for just over four minutes, 371 00:18:24,793 --> 00:18:26,829 and now, he can't leave. 372 00:18:26,933 --> 00:18:29,315 His body feels twice its normal weight. 373 00:18:29,418 --> 00:18:30,592 Get out! Get out! 374 00:18:30,695 --> 00:18:32,939 Kudrinsky can do nothing but struggle against 375 00:18:33,181 --> 00:18:34,837 the crippling G-forces. 376 00:18:34,941 --> 00:18:38,255 The aircraft is plunging towards the snowy earth, 377 00:18:38,358 --> 00:18:40,360 and there's nothing anyone can do. 378 00:18:41,603 --> 00:18:44,399 Crawl out to the back! Get out! Get out! 379 00:18:44,502 --> 00:18:45,503 Get out! 380 00:18:45,607 --> 00:18:46,987 Russian International Airlines 381 00:18:47,195 --> 00:18:50,508 Flight 593 to Hong Kong is in serious trouble. 382 00:18:50,612 --> 00:18:52,200 There's the ground! 383 00:18:52,303 --> 00:18:54,202 The pilot's 15-year-old son 384 00:18:54,305 --> 00:18:56,411 has been at the controls for four minutes. 385 00:18:56,514 --> 00:18:59,483 The plane is turning steeply and losing altitude. 386 00:18:59,586 --> 00:19:01,416 The other way! 387 00:19:01,519 --> 00:19:03,418 Captain Kudrinsky desperately needs to get back 388 00:19:03,521 --> 00:19:04,798 into the pilot's seat, 389 00:19:04,902 --> 00:19:06,490 but he can barely move. 390 00:19:06,593 --> 00:19:09,389 The plane is turning so steeply and so quickly, 391 00:19:09,493 --> 00:19:11,564 the G-forces on his body make it feel like 392 00:19:11,667 --> 00:19:13,290 it's twice its normal weight. 393 00:19:17,017 --> 00:19:19,399 Everyone on board now feels the force 394 00:19:19,503 --> 00:19:21,160 of the plane's dramatic movements. 395 00:19:22,575 --> 00:19:24,784 This plane is in a serious crisis. 396 00:19:24,887 --> 00:19:27,511 But Captain Danilov can't get to the cockpit. 397 00:19:28,650 --> 00:19:31,273 He too is squashed by the powerful forces 398 00:19:31,377 --> 00:19:33,379 created by the plane's extreme bank. 399 00:19:35,035 --> 00:19:37,348 The plane still isn't responding. 400 00:19:37,452 --> 00:19:40,765 To add to their confusion, an alarm begins to sound. 401 00:19:40,869 --> 00:19:43,665 It signals the complete shut down of the autopilot. 402 00:19:43,768 --> 00:19:46,668 The plane is now completely in the hands of Piskarev 403 00:19:46,771 --> 00:19:47,841 and Eldar. 404 00:19:49,947 --> 00:19:52,294 And to make matters even worse, 405 00:19:52,398 --> 00:19:54,054 there's another alarm. 406 00:19:54,296 --> 00:19:56,056 The other way. The other way! 407 00:19:56,264 --> 00:19:57,679 The plane is about to stall. 408 00:19:59,577 --> 00:20:01,303 An automatic safety system kicks in 409 00:20:01,407 --> 00:20:02,891 to keep the plane flying. 410 00:20:02,994 --> 00:20:04,789 It lowers the nose, 411 00:20:04,893 --> 00:20:06,722 and puts the Airbus into a steep dive 412 00:20:06,826 --> 00:20:08,207 to regain speed. 413 00:20:08,310 --> 00:20:09,656 Get it to the left! There's the ground! 414 00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:11,624 The plane dives at a frightening 415 00:20:11,727 --> 00:20:13,695 40 thousand feet per minute. 416 00:20:13,798 --> 00:20:16,076 For the people on board, it's like having an elevator 417 00:20:16,318 --> 00:20:18,527 fall out from under them. - Daddy! 418 00:20:18,631 --> 00:20:20,288 In just seconds, the heavy pressure 419 00:20:20,391 --> 00:20:21,703 of the high-speed turn 420 00:20:21,806 --> 00:20:23,532 is replaced by near weightlessness. 421 00:20:25,431 --> 00:20:27,433 As the plane suddenly drops away. 422 00:20:27,536 --> 00:20:29,711 It's now a very dangerous environment. 423 00:20:29,814 --> 00:20:31,851 People and objects that are not secured 424 00:20:31,954 --> 00:20:34,336 will land anywhere once gravity returns. 425 00:20:38,547 --> 00:20:40,480 They'd been flying at 10,000 metres 426 00:20:40,584 --> 00:20:43,103 but now they're falling fast. 427 00:20:43,345 --> 00:20:44,691 Unless they do something quickly, 428 00:20:44,795 --> 00:20:47,625 they will hit the ground in less than a minute. 429 00:20:49,006 --> 00:20:51,664 Piskarev pulls back on the control column 430 00:20:51,767 --> 00:20:52,837 as hard as he can 431 00:20:52,941 --> 00:20:55,046 to bring the Airbus out of the dive. 432 00:20:57,532 --> 00:20:59,810 The nose finally comes up, 433 00:20:59,913 --> 00:21:02,778 and the aircraft begins climbing quickly. 434 00:21:05,436 --> 00:21:07,749 Gravity now returns with a shock. 435 00:21:08,439 --> 00:21:10,993 As the plane climbs, the rapid acceleration 436 00:21:11,097 --> 00:21:12,857 pushes people down relentlessly. 437 00:21:12,961 --> 00:21:14,825 The dramatic change in speed 438 00:21:14,928 --> 00:21:17,828 makes everyone feel four times heavier than normal. 439 00:21:21,383 --> 00:21:23,385 Meanwhile, First Officer Piskarev 440 00:21:23,489 --> 00:21:25,767 is still trying to gain control of the aircraft. 441 00:21:25,870 --> 00:21:27,907 Thrust levers to slow! 442 00:21:28,873 --> 00:21:31,497 Piskarev has pulled the airplane out of the dive, 443 00:21:31,600 --> 00:21:33,602 but it's climbing too quickly. 444 00:21:33,706 --> 00:21:36,709 The engines on the A-310 don't have enough power 445 00:21:36,812 --> 00:21:39,125 to push it almost vertically into the sky. 446 00:21:41,541 --> 00:21:43,543 The airspeed drops dramatically. 447 00:21:45,165 --> 00:21:48,652 The plane strains to climb, but it's been pushed too far. 448 00:21:50,861 --> 00:21:52,966 As the force of the acceleration eases, 449 00:21:53,070 --> 00:21:55,383 Kudrinsky leaps into action. 450 00:21:57,454 --> 00:22:00,008 But Piskarev has stalled the plane. 451 00:22:00,111 --> 00:22:02,700 The nose drops into a corkscrew dive. 452 00:22:06,463 --> 00:22:08,844 Now the Airbus is twisting towards the ground 453 00:22:08,948 --> 00:22:10,294 from 6,000 metres 454 00:22:10,398 --> 00:22:13,159 at a breathtaking 70 metres a second. 455 00:22:13,401 --> 00:22:14,505 Full throttle! 456 00:22:14,609 --> 00:22:17,232 For the first time since the crisis began, 457 00:22:17,439 --> 00:22:20,200 Captain and co-pilot can work together to save the plane. 458 00:22:20,442 --> 00:22:21,616 Full throttle, no? 459 00:22:21,719 --> 00:22:24,032 I got it, I have full throttle! 460 00:22:24,135 --> 00:22:26,034 Kudrinsky pumps the rudder, 461 00:22:26,137 --> 00:22:27,967 the vertical surface on the tail, 462 00:22:28,070 --> 00:22:30,038 to help break out of the spin. 463 00:22:30,141 --> 00:22:32,040 - What's the speed? - I don't see it. 464 00:22:32,143 --> 00:22:35,077 At last, the plane seems to be responding. 465 00:22:37,459 --> 00:22:39,219 Working the rudder, Kudrinsky has nearly 466 00:22:39,461 --> 00:22:41,877 stopped the corkscrew dive. 467 00:22:43,051 --> 00:22:45,847 Coming out, coming out. 468 00:22:47,435 --> 00:22:49,747 Too much speed, ease back on throttle a bit. 469 00:22:50,507 --> 00:22:51,922 After a desperate struggle, 470 00:22:52,025 --> 00:22:54,511 the two pilots have managed to pull the plane out 471 00:22:54,614 --> 00:22:55,857 of its terrifying spin. 472 00:22:55,960 --> 00:22:58,031 - Take it easy. - They're starting to level out, 473 00:22:58,135 --> 00:23:00,517 but still not completely in control. 474 00:23:00,620 --> 00:23:02,726 We'll get out of this. Everything is fine. 475 00:23:03,727 --> 00:23:05,211 Pull backwards a little bit. 476 00:23:06,557 --> 00:23:08,732 In all of the chaos of the past few minutes, 477 00:23:08,835 --> 00:23:11,459 the pilots don't know exactly how far they've fallen. 478 00:23:11,562 --> 00:23:14,151 Suddenly, they run out of time. 479 00:23:24,955 --> 00:23:26,646 Sierra Uniform 593, 480 00:23:26,750 --> 00:23:28,579 this is Novokuznetsk Area Control, 481 00:23:28,683 --> 00:23:30,270 please come in. 482 00:23:30,512 --> 00:23:33,377 500 kilometres north of the Mongolian border, 483 00:23:33,481 --> 00:23:35,621 air traffic controllers in Novokuznetsk 484 00:23:35,724 --> 00:23:38,382 wait for Flight 593 to radio that it's left 485 00:23:38,486 --> 00:23:39,901 their control area. 486 00:23:40,004 --> 00:23:41,730 ...control. Please come in. 487 00:23:46,217 --> 00:23:48,150 Less than two hours later, 488 00:23:48,254 --> 00:23:50,946 the first search party goes out to look for the Airbus 489 00:23:51,050 --> 00:23:53,570 in the frozen, rugged Siberian wilderness. 490 00:23:54,605 --> 00:23:57,677 They finally locate the remains of Flight 593 491 00:23:57,781 --> 00:24:00,542 on a wooded hillside about 100 kilometres east 492 00:24:00,646 --> 00:24:02,095 of Novokuznetsk. 493 00:24:03,649 --> 00:24:05,823 It's soon clear there are no survivors 494 00:24:05,927 --> 00:24:08,619 among the 75 passengers and crew. 495 00:24:09,517 --> 00:24:11,553 This was a brand new aircraft, 496 00:24:11,657 --> 00:24:14,142 fitted with the latest technology. 497 00:24:14,245 --> 00:24:16,109 What could have brought it down? 498 00:24:16,213 --> 00:24:17,594 Why was there no warning? 499 00:24:17,697 --> 00:24:19,630 Not even a distress signal? 500 00:24:19,734 --> 00:24:22,391 The Russian media are quick to speculate. 501 00:24:22,495 --> 00:24:24,463 Could it have been a terrorist bomb? 502 00:24:28,190 --> 00:24:31,400 When I was in Moscow, the news we had 503 00:24:31,504 --> 00:24:33,782 was that it could have been a terrorist act. 504 00:24:33,886 --> 00:24:37,441 Because we had terrorist acts on aircraft previously. 505 00:24:38,442 --> 00:24:40,996 We was completely unaware 506 00:24:41,238 --> 00:24:42,964 other than nobody survived it. 507 00:24:52,456 --> 00:24:55,666 For some time, they wouldn't tell me anything specific. 508 00:24:56,874 --> 00:24:59,739 And only on the next day, the airline director told me 509 00:24:59,843 --> 00:25:02,190 there was no hope whatsoever. 510 00:25:03,432 --> 00:25:06,194 It was a horrible moment, of course. 511 00:25:09,611 --> 00:25:10,992 Horrible. 512 00:25:13,028 --> 00:25:14,892 It's hard to believe. 513 00:25:19,863 --> 00:25:22,624 Aeroflot flies the families of the deceased 514 00:25:22,728 --> 00:25:24,281 out to Moscow. 515 00:25:24,384 --> 00:25:25,834 Among them is Brenda Clark, 516 00:25:25,938 --> 00:25:28,492 the mother of British passenger, Mark Newport. 517 00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:31,391 We met my daughter-in-law there. 518 00:25:31,495 --> 00:25:35,223 They told us it's cordoned off, we can't go down there. 519 00:25:35,326 --> 00:25:37,190 And she said, "You can go down there, Bren, 520 00:25:37,294 --> 00:25:40,366 because the Chinese are down there. 521 00:25:40,469 --> 00:25:43,852 They have to do rituals and things." You know. 522 00:25:45,544 --> 00:25:47,684 And, um... 523 00:25:47,787 --> 00:25:49,720 So she said they're down there. That's when I knew 524 00:25:49,824 --> 00:25:52,171 they'd lied to me and said it was cordoned off. 525 00:25:52,274 --> 00:25:54,276 And that's when I told them... 526 00:25:55,105 --> 00:25:57,417 I want to go down, and if you don't take me down, 527 00:25:57,521 --> 00:25:59,419 then I'll thumb a lift. 528 00:26:01,318 --> 00:26:04,839 The authorities take them to where the plane crashed. 529 00:26:07,427 --> 00:26:10,223 Relatives of Chinese victims drop pieces of paper 530 00:26:10,327 --> 00:26:11,811 with messages written on them. 531 00:26:11,915 --> 00:26:13,641 Others throw flowers. 532 00:26:14,780 --> 00:26:16,954 Yeah, that was really moving. 533 00:26:17,852 --> 00:26:19,716 We had the flowers, they had the little... 534 00:26:19,819 --> 00:26:23,720 They wrote messages, I think, on these pieces of paper. 535 00:26:23,823 --> 00:26:25,549 And they threw them out. It was lovely. 536 00:26:25,653 --> 00:26:27,033 Yeah. 537 00:26:28,587 --> 00:26:30,761 The Russians take the families to a morgue 538 00:26:30,865 --> 00:26:32,418 in a town near the crash site, 539 00:26:32,521 --> 00:26:34,662 where the recovered bodies are being held. 540 00:26:34,765 --> 00:26:38,286 Many are too badly mutilated to be identified. 541 00:26:38,389 --> 00:26:40,529 They ask the families to look at recovered items 542 00:26:40,633 --> 00:26:43,671 of clothing to help identify the bodies. 543 00:26:43,774 --> 00:26:46,812 Brenda Clark finds her son's family photographs. 544 00:26:46,915 --> 00:26:49,400 It sends a chill through her. 545 00:26:49,504 --> 00:26:51,471 For the first time, she knows for certain 546 00:26:51,575 --> 00:26:53,404 he was on the flight. 547 00:26:59,583 --> 00:27:02,448 The recovery operation gets underway. 548 00:27:02,551 --> 00:27:05,831 The Russian government mobilizes 238 soldiers, 549 00:27:05,934 --> 00:27:08,350 police, investigators and rescuers. 550 00:27:08,454 --> 00:27:11,181 Everyone in the aviation world wants to know 551 00:27:11,388 --> 00:27:13,562 how a brand new, state-of-the-art Airbus 552 00:27:13,666 --> 00:27:16,462 could fall out of the sky without any warning. 553 00:27:16,565 --> 00:27:19,707 Does the A310 have problems no one knows about? 554 00:27:19,810 --> 00:27:22,019 They need to find out, fast. 555 00:27:25,057 --> 00:27:29,130 Chief Accident Investigator Ivan Mashkivsky is in charge. 556 00:27:30,165 --> 00:27:32,754 The crash site itself offers few clues. 557 00:27:32,858 --> 00:27:34,825 The ones he does have are puzzling. 558 00:27:34,929 --> 00:27:37,310 Unbroken bottles of Champagne, 559 00:27:37,414 --> 00:27:39,692 a flight attendant in an oxygen mask, 560 00:27:39,796 --> 00:27:42,350 and finally, the body of at least one child 561 00:27:42,453 --> 00:27:44,663 thrown into the cockpit. 562 00:27:47,562 --> 00:27:49,668 The plane's Digital Flight Data Recorder 563 00:27:49,771 --> 00:27:51,531 indicates the engines were running 564 00:27:51,635 --> 00:27:52,809 when it hit the ground. 565 00:27:52,912 --> 00:27:54,811 He rules out engine failure. 566 00:27:54,914 --> 00:27:57,537 Mashkivsky needs the expertise of a man 567 00:27:57,641 --> 00:27:59,885 who knows the A310 well, 568 00:27:59,988 --> 00:28:02,784 someone who can also recreate the fatal flight 569 00:28:02,888 --> 00:28:05,614 and find out what exactly went wrong. 570 00:28:08,687 --> 00:28:11,759 Vladimir Biriukov is an experienced test pilot 571 00:28:11,862 --> 00:28:13,243 and crash investigator 572 00:28:13,450 --> 00:28:15,590 at the Gromov Institute in Moscow. 573 00:28:15,694 --> 00:28:18,627 He's an expert on the A310 Airbus. 574 00:28:18,731 --> 00:28:21,354 Biriukov was directly involved in testing 575 00:28:21,458 --> 00:28:24,323 and certifying the airplane prior to the Russians buying it. 576 00:28:28,085 --> 00:28:29,984 Because of the fate of this plane, 577 00:28:30,087 --> 00:28:33,090 the fate of this airline, my first reaction was shock. 578 00:28:35,817 --> 00:28:37,785 How could such a thing happen? 579 00:28:40,442 --> 00:28:42,375 All I knew was that the plane had crashed 580 00:28:42,479 --> 00:28:43,998 somewhere over Siberia. 581 00:28:46,725 --> 00:28:48,865 I remember spending a sleepless night, 582 00:28:48,968 --> 00:28:50,798 distraught and trying to figure out 583 00:28:50,901 --> 00:28:54,042 what might have happened and what could have caused it. 584 00:28:58,115 --> 00:28:59,668 Yeah, come. 585 00:29:04,777 --> 00:29:06,986 I think you should come and listen to this. 586 00:29:08,712 --> 00:29:11,128 Each investigation begins with a complete analysis 587 00:29:11,232 --> 00:29:13,648 of the plane's cockpit voice recorder. 588 00:29:13,752 --> 00:29:16,720 This time, it reveals something disturbing. 589 00:29:16,824 --> 00:29:18,757 Now, come and sit in my seat. 590 00:29:18,860 --> 00:29:21,242 Would you like to? Come. 591 00:29:24,693 --> 00:29:26,972 Daddy, can I turn this? - Yeah. 592 00:29:30,078 --> 00:29:32,771 Kudrinsky was in the pilot's seat, wasn't he? 593 00:29:32,874 --> 00:29:35,497 According to the diagram. 594 00:29:40,779 --> 00:29:42,677 Can I turn this a bit? 595 00:29:42,781 --> 00:29:44,713 Yeah. If you turn it to the left, 596 00:29:44,817 --> 00:29:45,991 where will the plane go? 597 00:29:46,094 --> 00:29:48,062 - Left. - Right, look out. 598 00:29:48,165 --> 00:29:50,029 Oh no... 599 00:29:51,893 --> 00:29:53,170 Again. 600 00:29:55,172 --> 00:29:57,105 Can I turn this a bit? 601 00:29:57,209 --> 00:30:00,350 Yeah. If you turn it left, where will the plane go? 602 00:30:00,453 --> 00:30:02,801 Ten years ago, it wasn't unusual 603 00:30:02,904 --> 00:30:05,562 for people to be invited up to the cockpit. 604 00:30:05,665 --> 00:30:08,220 Of course since 9/11, it has become a lot tighter, 605 00:30:08,323 --> 00:30:10,774 and you will find cockpit doors 606 00:30:10,878 --> 00:30:13,432 are locked generally throughout the flight. 607 00:30:13,535 --> 00:30:15,883 Every country sets its own rules as to 608 00:30:15,986 --> 00:30:19,127 who has the authority or the access to the cockpit. 609 00:30:19,231 --> 00:30:22,027 In some countries, it's up to the captain, 610 00:30:22,268 --> 00:30:25,547 so the captain can invite guests up to the cockpit. 611 00:30:25,651 --> 00:30:29,034 But to have them actually manipulate the controls 612 00:30:29,241 --> 00:30:30,794 of an airplane, regardless of whether 613 00:30:30,898 --> 00:30:32,451 they have people on it or not, 614 00:30:32,554 --> 00:30:34,729 the fact that this was allowed to occur 615 00:30:34,833 --> 00:30:37,697 is definitely an exception in the industry. 616 00:30:37,801 --> 00:30:39,561 Can I go back to my seat? 617 00:30:39,665 --> 00:30:41,460 The two investigators are stunned 618 00:30:41,563 --> 00:30:43,911 by what they hear on the cockpit voice recorder. 619 00:30:44,981 --> 00:30:46,568 It's unbelievable! 620 00:30:46,672 --> 00:30:50,503 These two youngsters, the ones who we couldn't identify. 621 00:30:50,607 --> 00:30:54,335 They were not thrown into the cockpit by the crash. 622 00:30:55,612 --> 00:30:57,303 They were his kids! 623 00:30:58,235 --> 00:31:00,375 And they were flying the plane. 624 00:31:03,344 --> 00:31:05,933 The investigators are speechless. 625 00:31:06,036 --> 00:31:09,177 How could three experienced pilots allow children 626 00:31:09,281 --> 00:31:11,455 to fly a commercial airliner? 627 00:31:11,559 --> 00:31:13,872 They're about to learn something even worse: 628 00:31:13,975 --> 00:31:16,702 the children are only part of the problem. 629 00:31:16,805 --> 00:31:20,568 A little-known feature of the plane proved deadly. 630 00:31:21,638 --> 00:31:23,502 Why is it turning? 631 00:31:23,605 --> 00:31:25,366 Is it turning by itself? 632 00:31:27,782 --> 00:31:29,888 Turn it to the left! 633 00:31:29,991 --> 00:31:32,235 The other way! The other way! 634 00:31:32,338 --> 00:31:33,753 To the left, not to the right! 635 00:31:33,857 --> 00:31:34,858 The other way! 636 00:31:34,962 --> 00:31:36,480 I am turning it left! 637 00:31:36,584 --> 00:31:38,689 Get out! Get out! 638 00:31:40,795 --> 00:31:42,486 Get out! Get out! 639 00:31:42,590 --> 00:31:44,350 Get it left. the ground is right there! 640 00:31:46,456 --> 00:31:47,940 Russian Investigators listen 641 00:31:48,044 --> 00:31:50,701 to the Cockpit Voice Recorder of an Aeroflot Airbus 642 00:31:50,805 --> 00:31:52,703 that has crashed in Siberia. 643 00:31:53,601 --> 00:31:56,397 What they hear makes their blood run cold. 644 00:31:57,639 --> 00:32:00,504 - Full throttle! - Got it. I have full throttle! 645 00:32:00,608 --> 00:32:01,954 Full throttle now! 646 00:32:05,924 --> 00:32:08,823 You should understand the frame of mind of the father. 647 00:32:08,927 --> 00:32:10,790 He is very proud of what he is doing, 648 00:32:10,894 --> 00:32:13,759 he invites his kids into his cockpit. 649 00:32:13,862 --> 00:32:17,280 Strictly speaking, it's a violation, of course, 650 00:32:17,383 --> 00:32:20,869 but I know such violations do occur in real life. 651 00:32:20,973 --> 00:32:24,218 I am not condemning him or defending him here. 652 00:32:24,321 --> 00:32:26,772 What I am trying to say is that no disaster 653 00:32:26,875 --> 00:32:29,430 occurs for just any single reason. 654 00:32:29,533 --> 00:32:32,674 There are always more than one, all coming together. 655 00:32:33,399 --> 00:32:35,298 But this time, it really does look 656 00:32:35,401 --> 00:32:36,782 like a single cause: 657 00:32:36,885 --> 00:32:39,026 a child flying the plane. 658 00:32:39,129 --> 00:32:42,788 And it sends shock waves through Aeroflot's higher echelons. 659 00:32:42,891 --> 00:32:45,480 No. I think it would benefit the-- 660 00:32:45,584 --> 00:32:48,000 Investigators feel the pressure. 661 00:32:48,104 --> 00:32:51,348 The media has learned that Eldar was at the controls. 662 00:32:51,452 --> 00:32:54,834 Aeroflot, trying to improve on its Soviet-era image, 663 00:32:54,938 --> 00:32:57,044 wants to minimize the damage. 664 00:32:57,837 --> 00:33:01,634 Boris Rybak is an aerospace consultant in Moscow. 665 00:33:01,738 --> 00:33:04,810 Aeroflot managers and executives 666 00:33:04,913 --> 00:33:08,987 indeed tried to conceal results 667 00:33:09,090 --> 00:33:12,956 and tried to downplay 668 00:33:13,060 --> 00:33:16,028 the importance of this accident, 669 00:33:16,132 --> 00:33:19,687 because it was very embarrassing. 670 00:33:21,723 --> 00:33:23,794 Managers at Aeroflot aren't the only ones 671 00:33:23,898 --> 00:33:25,934 following the investigation. 672 00:33:26,038 --> 00:33:29,007 Airbus, the European company which made the plane, 673 00:33:29,110 --> 00:33:31,078 is also intensely interested. 674 00:33:34,460 --> 00:33:36,083 What's wrong? 675 00:33:36,704 --> 00:33:38,706 Nothing, nothing. 676 00:33:39,569 --> 00:33:41,536 If the accident was caused by Eldar, 677 00:33:41,640 --> 00:33:43,469 it will vindicate Airbus. 678 00:33:43,573 --> 00:33:45,023 At the same time, 679 00:33:45,126 --> 00:33:48,060 grieving families are also clamouring for answers. 680 00:33:48,164 --> 00:33:49,751 Are you sure? 681 00:33:49,855 --> 00:33:52,823 For Mashkivsky and his team, it's a delicate balance. 682 00:33:52,927 --> 00:33:54,825 There is always more than one reason 683 00:33:54,929 --> 00:33:56,379 for a plane to crash. 684 00:33:56,482 --> 00:33:57,966 We must find it. 685 00:33:58,070 --> 00:33:59,727 I'll do my best. 686 00:34:00,831 --> 00:34:03,662 His reputation, the reputation of Airbus, 687 00:34:03,765 --> 00:34:05,802 as well as Aeroflot, all now depend 688 00:34:05,905 --> 00:34:08,149 on finding this other cause. 689 00:34:09,668 --> 00:34:11,670 This was an international flight. 690 00:34:11,773 --> 00:34:13,948 It was a Western-built aircraft, 691 00:34:14,052 --> 00:34:17,641 and it was inevitable that the investigation 692 00:34:17,745 --> 00:34:19,816 that would be conducted by the authorities 693 00:34:19,919 --> 00:34:21,887 and the inquiries that would be conducted 694 00:34:21,990 --> 00:34:25,787 by claimant lawyers would expose information. 695 00:34:26,478 --> 00:34:29,481 As the same time, manufacturer of the aircraft, 696 00:34:29,584 --> 00:34:32,484 Airbus Industrie, was very keen 697 00:34:32,587 --> 00:34:35,487 to get... 698 00:34:37,489 --> 00:34:40,423 ...as much realistic explanation 699 00:34:40,526 --> 00:34:41,976 of what happened, 700 00:34:42,080 --> 00:34:46,601 because reputation of this aircraft was at stake. 701 00:34:46,705 --> 00:34:49,604 What I objected to was the way we was treated 702 00:34:49,708 --> 00:34:52,090 by Aeroflot after the accident. 703 00:34:52,193 --> 00:34:54,782 They wouldn't tell us anything what was going on. 704 00:34:54,885 --> 00:34:56,404 They denied everything. 705 00:34:56,508 --> 00:34:58,544 I wanted to know why my son died. 706 00:34:58,648 --> 00:35:00,788 I wanted to know why these men 707 00:35:00,891 --> 00:35:02,928 had been allowed to do such a thing. 708 00:35:03,031 --> 00:35:06,138 But all we got from Aeroflot 709 00:35:06,242 --> 00:35:07,898 was blank, blank, blank, 710 00:35:08,002 --> 00:35:10,798 every time we tried to find something out. 711 00:35:10,901 --> 00:35:13,041 They just didn't want to know. 712 00:35:13,145 --> 00:35:14,871 Families aren't the only ones 713 00:35:14,974 --> 00:35:16,562 desperate for answers. 714 00:35:16,666 --> 00:35:19,600 Vladimir Biriukov continues trying to learn all he can 715 00:35:19,703 --> 00:35:21,981 about why the Airbus fell out of the sky. 716 00:35:22,085 --> 00:35:24,984 Analyzing information from the Flight Data Recorder, 717 00:35:25,088 --> 00:35:27,780 he can trace, and repeat, every command given 718 00:35:27,884 --> 00:35:29,575 to the aircraft during the flight. 719 00:35:32,923 --> 00:35:37,135 We were trying to get as close to the truth as possible. 720 00:35:38,826 --> 00:35:40,655 To find the cause, 721 00:35:40,759 --> 00:35:42,761 because that was the precedent: 722 00:35:42,864 --> 00:35:44,901 the first foreign-produced plane 723 00:35:45,004 --> 00:35:47,766 to crash while flying for a Russian airline. 724 00:35:49,595 --> 00:35:52,702 he investigation confirms the autopilot was on 725 00:35:52,805 --> 00:35:54,497 when the plane got into trouble. 726 00:35:54,600 --> 00:35:56,568 Even with the children in the cockpit, 727 00:35:56,671 --> 00:35:58,880 the plane should have flown on course. 728 00:35:58,984 --> 00:36:01,124 What went so terribly wrong? 729 00:36:01,849 --> 00:36:04,748 So, any new developments? 730 00:36:04,852 --> 00:36:07,751 We can discount Kudrinsky's daughter. 731 00:36:07,855 --> 00:36:10,720 She sat in the chair, but she didn't fly the plane. 732 00:36:13,895 --> 00:36:17,244 At 17:47 and six seconds, 733 00:36:17,347 --> 00:36:18,762 Captain Kudrinsky tells her 734 00:36:18,866 --> 00:36:20,661 not to touch the autopilot switch. 735 00:36:21,524 --> 00:36:24,320 Her father gave the autopilot the command to turn, 736 00:36:24,423 --> 00:36:27,564 while Yana just rested her hands lightly on the controls. 737 00:36:27,668 --> 00:36:30,567 It was you! You turned the plane! 738 00:36:32,535 --> 00:36:34,330 But when Eldar took the controls, 739 00:36:34,433 --> 00:36:37,678 Biriukov discovers something dramatically different happened. 740 00:36:40,508 --> 00:36:42,752 No one could possibly have guessed, 741 00:36:42,855 --> 00:36:45,203 not even the three pilots in the cockpit. 742 00:36:45,306 --> 00:36:48,447 Biriukov may have found the key to the puzzle. 743 00:36:49,414 --> 00:36:51,899 The plane's Flight Data Recorder shows that two-and-a-half 744 00:36:52,002 --> 00:36:53,521 minutes before the crash, 745 00:36:53,625 --> 00:36:55,523 while Eldar was at the controls, 746 00:36:55,627 --> 00:36:58,664 the autopilot partially disconnects. 747 00:36:58,768 --> 00:37:01,495 This is the start of all of the plane's troubles. 748 00:37:01,598 --> 00:37:03,393 But how did that happen? 749 00:37:05,292 --> 00:37:07,777 The autopilot is a sophisticated computer 750 00:37:07,880 --> 00:37:11,332 which manages an aircraft's speed, altitude and heading. 751 00:37:11,436 --> 00:37:13,058 Altitude and heading are controlled 752 00:37:13,300 --> 00:37:14,646 by three key functions: 753 00:37:15,681 --> 00:37:18,753 The rudder, which controls sideways movement; 754 00:37:18,857 --> 00:37:22,170 the elevators, which control vertical movement; 755 00:37:22,274 --> 00:37:24,621 and the ailerons, which are for turning. 756 00:37:25,657 --> 00:37:27,693 On Flight 593, 757 00:37:27,797 --> 00:37:30,938 the autopilot had disconnected itself from the Ailerons. 758 00:37:31,041 --> 00:37:33,906 The autopilots that were used in transport airplanes 759 00:37:34,010 --> 00:37:36,737 years ago were an on-off. 760 00:37:37,807 --> 00:37:40,879 In today's sophisticated flight management systems, 761 00:37:40,982 --> 00:37:44,262 you can literally take fragments of the autopilot 762 00:37:44,365 --> 00:37:45,642 and disengage them, 763 00:37:45,746 --> 00:37:47,334 but not necessarily turn the switch off 764 00:37:47,437 --> 00:37:50,095 and turn it all off, unless you want to. 765 00:37:52,408 --> 00:37:53,926 The question that really worries 766 00:37:54,030 --> 00:37:56,274 accident investigator Biriukov 767 00:37:56,377 --> 00:37:59,760 is how did the autopilot become partially disconnected? 768 00:37:59,863 --> 00:38:02,866 There is no mention of it in the cockpit voice recording. 769 00:38:02,970 --> 00:38:05,421 If this is a fault with the aircraft, 770 00:38:05,524 --> 00:38:07,768 it could prove fatal to future flights. 771 00:38:11,944 --> 00:38:13,843 The only way to know for certain 772 00:38:13,946 --> 00:38:16,811 is to reconstruct the accident on a flight simulator 773 00:38:16,915 --> 00:38:18,503 at Airbus Industrie's headquarters 774 00:38:18,606 --> 00:38:20,298 in Toulouse, France. 775 00:38:22,507 --> 00:38:24,647 Biriukov's experience as a test pilot 776 00:38:24,750 --> 00:38:27,408 and his detailed knowledge of the A310 777 00:38:27,512 --> 00:38:29,099 is crucial to the investigation. 778 00:38:30,238 --> 00:38:32,758 Using information from the Flight Data Recorder, 779 00:38:32,862 --> 00:38:34,829 Biriukov reconstructs the events, 780 00:38:34,933 --> 00:38:36,659 beginning at the moment Captain Kudrinsky 781 00:38:36,762 --> 00:38:39,834 allows his son to sit at the controls. 782 00:38:39,938 --> 00:38:42,906 A co-pilot will help replicate Piskarev's actions 783 00:38:46,496 --> 00:38:47,704 Look out to the left, 784 00:38:47,808 --> 00:38:50,086 watching for the ground when we are turning. 785 00:38:52,606 --> 00:38:53,779 Unlike his sister, 786 00:38:53,883 --> 00:38:56,195 Eldar turns the wheel before his father 787 00:38:56,403 --> 00:38:58,646 can tell the autopilot to turn the plane. 788 00:38:58,750 --> 00:39:00,061 The controls are stiff 789 00:39:00,165 --> 00:39:02,063 because he is fighting the autopilot. 790 00:39:05,929 --> 00:39:08,311 In the simulator, Biriukov reproduces 791 00:39:08,415 --> 00:39:09,933 Eldar's every movement 792 00:39:15,491 --> 00:39:16,699 Now... 793 00:39:17,872 --> 00:39:19,598 ...it's starting to go. 794 00:39:20,806 --> 00:39:22,636 Going... 795 00:39:23,671 --> 00:39:25,501 Going... 796 00:39:26,087 --> 00:39:27,468 There. 797 00:39:28,193 --> 00:39:30,437 Hold it long enough, and it disconnects. 798 00:39:30,540 --> 00:39:31,714 How long? 799 00:39:32,887 --> 00:39:34,579 30 seconds. 800 00:39:34,682 --> 00:39:37,754 And it disconnects smoothly. 801 00:39:38,859 --> 00:39:41,448 - No warning. - No. 802 00:39:43,829 --> 00:39:45,797 No one in the cockpit knows it, 803 00:39:45,900 --> 00:39:47,764 but this is critical moment. 804 00:39:47,868 --> 00:39:51,561 Eldar's resistance actually turns part of the autopilot off. 805 00:39:51,665 --> 00:39:54,115 It takes just half a minute, but from here on, 806 00:39:54,219 --> 00:39:56,394 Eldar is controlling the ailerons, 807 00:39:56,497 --> 00:39:59,397 Eldar is actually steering the plane. 808 00:39:59,500 --> 00:40:00,812 Why is it turning? 809 00:40:00,915 --> 00:40:02,641 Is it turning by itself? 810 00:40:02,745 --> 00:40:03,815 Yes, it is. 811 00:40:03,918 --> 00:40:05,989 What seemed like an open and shut case 812 00:40:06,093 --> 00:40:07,853 is suddenly much more complex. 813 00:40:07,957 --> 00:40:10,442 To the left! The other way! 814 00:40:10,546 --> 00:40:12,237 The 15-year-old flying the plane 815 00:40:12,479 --> 00:40:14,964 isn't the only reason they crashed. 816 00:40:15,067 --> 00:40:17,000 The discovery highlights an apparent flaw 817 00:40:17,104 --> 00:40:20,245 in how pilots are trained on the A-310. 818 00:40:20,487 --> 00:40:22,420 I got it! I have full throttle! 819 00:40:26,147 --> 00:40:27,459 Accident Investigator 820 00:40:27,563 --> 00:40:29,806 Vladimir Biriukov has finally discovered 821 00:40:29,910 --> 00:40:31,532 the terrifying sequence of events 822 00:40:31,636 --> 00:40:35,156 that made Aeroflot's Flight 593 fall to Earth. 823 00:40:35,847 --> 00:40:38,263 Captain Kudrinsky's 15-year-old son 824 00:40:38,366 --> 00:40:40,161 had turned the plane's control column 825 00:40:40,265 --> 00:40:42,578 against the programmed flight settings. 826 00:40:42,681 --> 00:40:45,650 This disconnected the autopilot, without warning, 827 00:40:45,753 --> 00:40:47,652 from the ailerons, which turn the plane. 828 00:40:47,755 --> 00:40:49,239 There. 829 00:40:50,240 --> 00:40:52,242 Hold it long enough and it disconnects. 830 00:40:52,346 --> 00:40:53,485 How long? 831 00:40:53,589 --> 00:40:55,763 The aircraft then began an uncontrolled turn 832 00:40:55,867 --> 00:40:58,766 to the right, which got steeper and steeper. 833 00:40:59,767 --> 00:41:03,219 But why didn't anyone realize the autopilot had disconnected? 834 00:41:04,220 --> 00:41:06,187 Another peculiarity of the plane 835 00:41:06,291 --> 00:41:08,742 is that it has no alarm signalling the disengaging 836 00:41:08,845 --> 00:41:11,261 of the autopilot in the list channel. 837 00:41:14,506 --> 00:41:17,958 While our Russian planes have an alarm sounding 838 00:41:18,199 --> 00:41:19,477 in such an event. 839 00:41:21,893 --> 00:41:24,585 So, I think that the captain allowed the boy to do it, 840 00:41:24,689 --> 00:41:27,208 irregular as it was, 841 00:41:27,312 --> 00:41:31,247 believing that even if the autopilot got disengaged, 842 00:41:31,350 --> 00:41:33,491 the crew would be alerted to the fact. 843 00:41:39,393 --> 00:41:42,430 The A310 Airbus has only a small light 844 00:41:42,534 --> 00:41:44,571 to tell the crew the autopilot has disconnected. 845 00:41:44,674 --> 00:41:46,538 There's no alarm. 846 00:41:46,642 --> 00:41:49,265 And the Russian crew was obviously unaware of it. 847 00:41:50,266 --> 00:41:51,543 But there's also another reason 848 00:41:51,647 --> 00:41:53,683 why no one realized what was happening. 849 00:41:53,787 --> 00:41:56,755 The autopilot still appears to be working normally 850 00:41:56,859 --> 00:41:59,482 because it's controlling the plane's other functions. 851 00:42:00,690 --> 00:42:02,623 Although the plane is now banking, 852 00:42:02,727 --> 00:42:04,867 the situation isn't yet critical. 853 00:42:04,970 --> 00:42:07,594 At this point, if the crew takes the proper action, 854 00:42:07,697 --> 00:42:09,561 they can still stabilize the plane. 855 00:42:10,838 --> 00:42:12,460 Eldar is the first to notice 856 00:42:12,564 --> 00:42:14,359 that the Artificial Horizon is at an angle. 857 00:42:14,462 --> 00:42:16,741 Why is it turning? 858 00:42:16,844 --> 00:42:18,570 Is it turning by itself? 859 00:42:18,674 --> 00:42:20,468 Yes, it is! 860 00:42:21,297 --> 00:42:23,644 The three pilots don't understand this at all. 861 00:42:23,748 --> 00:42:25,508 After all, Kudrinsky returned the flight 862 00:42:25,612 --> 00:42:27,717 to its autopilot heading. 863 00:42:28,476 --> 00:42:30,306 Makarov offers an explanation. 864 00:42:31,410 --> 00:42:33,551 Looks like it's going into some kind of zone. 865 00:42:33,654 --> 00:42:35,760 We've gone into a zone, a holding pattern. 866 00:42:35,863 --> 00:42:38,314 - Have we? - Of course we have! 867 00:42:39,418 --> 00:42:42,767 Increasing at one degree per second 868 00:42:45,390 --> 00:42:47,599 27 degrees. 869 00:42:47,703 --> 00:42:50,360 Now, we should be entering into the zone. 870 00:42:51,948 --> 00:42:53,087 What's that? 871 00:42:54,330 --> 00:42:57,851 A strange arc now appears on the navigation panel. 872 00:42:57,954 --> 00:42:59,784 It looks like the course a plane would take 873 00:42:59,887 --> 00:43:01,889 circling an airport, waiting to land. 874 00:43:05,997 --> 00:43:08,586 There appeared an arc very much resembling 875 00:43:08,689 --> 00:43:10,588 the arc that appears on the display 876 00:43:10,691 --> 00:43:13,245 when the plane enters a waiting zone. 877 00:43:13,349 --> 00:43:15,972 There are waiting zones around airports. 878 00:43:16,076 --> 00:43:18,803 When too many planes accumulate, they enter such a zone 879 00:43:18,906 --> 00:43:21,322 and circle around while they wait. 880 00:43:21,426 --> 00:43:25,430 But there could be no such zone at that point on the route, 881 00:43:25,533 --> 00:43:28,226 and yet we hear in the voice recording, 882 00:43:28,329 --> 00:43:30,435 "Hey, we're entering a zone!" 883 00:43:33,369 --> 00:43:35,751 This false Holding Zone distracts the crew 884 00:43:35,854 --> 00:43:37,615 for nine seconds. 885 00:43:37,718 --> 00:43:40,721 In that time, the plane crosses a critical threshold. 886 00:43:42,102 --> 00:43:44,967 The Airbus is now banking at 45 degrees. 887 00:43:45,070 --> 00:43:46,865 Far beyond its design limits. 888 00:43:48,453 --> 00:43:52,008 It cannot turn this steeply and maintain height. 889 00:43:52,112 --> 00:43:53,838 It's now losing altitude. 890 00:43:53,941 --> 00:43:55,633 Guys! 891 00:43:56,392 --> 00:43:57,773 But the Airbus autopilot is no longer 892 00:43:57,876 --> 00:43:59,498 controlling the ailerons. 893 00:43:59,602 --> 00:44:01,673 Its other functions try to compensate 894 00:44:01,777 --> 00:44:03,848 by pulling the plane's nose up and increasing power 895 00:44:03,951 --> 00:44:05,401 to maintain altitude. 896 00:44:06,022 --> 00:44:07,990 Passengers are pushed back into their seats. 897 00:44:08,093 --> 00:44:10,026 It's on the verge of stalling. 898 00:44:10,130 --> 00:44:12,270 It starts to shake like a leaf. 899 00:44:12,373 --> 00:44:14,824 Hold it! Just hold it! 900 00:44:14,928 --> 00:44:18,414 Part of the flight control panel now goes dark. 901 00:44:18,517 --> 00:44:20,174 It's a warning sign that the plane has gone 902 00:44:20,416 --> 00:44:21,935 beyond its design limits. 903 00:44:22,038 --> 00:44:24,765 From here on, the Airbus is out of control. 904 00:44:28,493 --> 00:44:30,633 By recreating the fatal flight, 905 00:44:30,737 --> 00:44:33,291 Biriukov has worked out how a lapse in judgment 906 00:44:33,394 --> 00:44:36,777 and concentration has resulted in a catastrophic crisis. 907 00:44:38,089 --> 00:44:40,988 But could the crew have saved the plane and its passengers? 908 00:44:43,611 --> 00:44:45,683 The pilots of Flight 593 909 00:44:45,786 --> 00:44:47,685 tried to bring the plane out of its fatal dive 910 00:44:47,788 --> 00:44:51,033 by pulling up, but they go too far. 911 00:44:51,136 --> 00:44:53,725 The plane climbs steeply and stalls. 912 00:44:54,657 --> 00:44:56,107 We're losing altitude! 913 00:44:57,177 --> 00:45:00,628 Now we've started to spin. So, what do we do? 914 00:45:07,705 --> 00:45:09,672 It's coming out of the corkscrew. 915 00:45:10,673 --> 00:45:12,882 Now we're levelling out. 916 00:45:13,780 --> 00:45:15,989 In a moment, we'll come out of the dive. 917 00:45:17,231 --> 00:45:19,993 All they had to do was let go. 918 00:45:20,096 --> 00:45:22,789 The plane has an in-built survival mechanism 919 00:45:22,892 --> 00:45:26,137 which won't allow it to stall, even at very low speed. 920 00:45:26,827 --> 00:45:28,864 But the pilot has to know that. 921 00:45:30,624 --> 00:45:33,075 But the situation is totally new to them, 922 00:45:33,178 --> 00:45:35,629 something they weren't accustomed to handling. 923 00:45:35,733 --> 00:45:39,633 A stressful and incomprehensible situation. 924 00:45:39,737 --> 00:45:41,531 It would have taken special skills 925 00:45:41,635 --> 00:45:44,224 to act correctly in such a difficult situation. 926 00:45:45,466 --> 00:45:47,952 It was not the crew's fault, but their misfortune, 927 00:45:48,055 --> 00:45:50,644 because if a person doesn't know how to do something 928 00:45:50,748 --> 00:45:52,577 because he was never taught to, 929 00:45:52,680 --> 00:45:54,475 you can't really blame him. 930 00:45:59,964 --> 00:46:02,035 The team's perseverance in an open 931 00:46:02,138 --> 00:46:04,313 and honest investigation did show 932 00:46:04,554 --> 00:46:05,970 that there was more than one simple cause 933 00:46:06,073 --> 00:46:07,972 behind the accident. 934 00:46:08,075 --> 00:46:10,595 Their findings benefited the whole industry, 935 00:46:10,698 --> 00:46:12,839 especially the revelation that the autopilot 936 00:46:12,942 --> 00:46:14,668 can partially disconnect. 937 00:46:15,669 --> 00:46:17,982 This remains a feature of the A310, 938 00:46:18,085 --> 00:46:21,433 as it enables pilots to control certain elements of a flight 939 00:46:21,537 --> 00:46:23,850 while leaving the rest to the computer. 940 00:46:23,953 --> 00:46:26,680 But crews are now made aware of this. 941 00:46:27,577 --> 00:46:29,683 Captain Kudrinsky's misfortune is that it was triggered 942 00:46:29,787 --> 00:46:33,135 in a way that was unexpected and difficult to detect. 943 00:46:37,864 --> 00:46:39,727 The crash of the Russian plane 944 00:46:39,831 --> 00:46:42,109 comes at a troubling time for the airline industry. 945 00:46:44,042 --> 00:46:48,495 In 1994, the same year that Flight 593 went down, 946 00:46:48,598 --> 00:46:50,773 a series of crashes in the United States 947 00:46:50,877 --> 00:46:53,465 raised questions about how commercial pilots 948 00:46:53,569 --> 00:46:56,158 handle upsets, situations in which an aircraft 949 00:46:56,261 --> 00:46:59,092 finds itself in extreme flying conditions. 950 00:47:00,956 --> 00:47:03,199 When we think about an upset in a large airplane, 951 00:47:03,303 --> 00:47:05,546 we think about an attitude of the airplane 952 00:47:05,650 --> 00:47:08,687 that's beyond what normal flight regimes would be. 953 00:47:08,791 --> 00:47:11,587 That is greater than 20 degrees nose up, 954 00:47:11,690 --> 00:47:13,485 greater than 10 degrees nose down, 955 00:47:13,589 --> 00:47:16,626 and bank angles greater than 25 degrees. 956 00:47:17,696 --> 00:47:20,354 Within a year, the industry had begun offering pilots 957 00:47:20,596 --> 00:47:22,011 upset recovery training, 958 00:47:22,115 --> 00:47:25,428 teaching them skills to handle extreme situations 959 00:47:25,532 --> 00:47:28,017 like the one on Flight 593. 960 00:47:28,811 --> 00:47:31,020 The tragedy of one trip to Hong Kong 961 00:47:31,124 --> 00:47:32,850 may have contributed something to the safety 962 00:47:32,953 --> 00:47:34,990 of other passengers and crew. 963 00:47:36,025 --> 00:47:38,579 For parents and friends of those on board, though, 964 00:47:38,683 --> 00:47:41,617 what happened that night is never far from their minds. 965 00:47:44,792 --> 00:47:47,485 Adrian Deaville's body was one of 22 966 00:47:47,588 --> 00:47:49,625 that were never identified. 967 00:47:49,728 --> 00:47:51,523 Their remains were cremated together 968 00:47:51,627 --> 00:47:53,111 by the Russian authorities. 969 00:47:54,285 --> 00:47:56,666 In my mind, he was asleep, 970 00:47:56,770 --> 00:47:58,599 and that's the way I deal with it, 971 00:47:58,703 --> 00:48:01,809 and you know, he didn't know much about it. 972 00:48:06,780 --> 00:48:08,575 The crew of the Airbus are buried 973 00:48:08,678 --> 00:48:10,888 in Mitinskoe Cemetery in Moscow, 974 00:48:10,991 --> 00:48:13,683 in a hero's grave, next to the fire fighters 975 00:48:13,787 --> 00:48:15,996 who died at the Chernobyl nuclear plant. 976 00:48:17,653 --> 00:48:20,759 Yana and Eldar lie next to their father. 977 00:48:28,871 --> 00:48:30,908 I can imagine the horror they experienced 978 00:48:31,011 --> 00:48:32,633 in their last moments. 979 00:48:34,290 --> 00:48:36,775 He knew there were not only all those people 980 00:48:36,879 --> 00:48:38,294 depending on him... 981 00:48:39,778 --> 00:48:41,884 but also his own kids. 982 00:48:46,889 --> 00:48:48,718 Yes, it was a violation. 983 00:48:48,822 --> 00:48:50,444 Yes, he did it. 984 00:48:50,686 --> 00:48:52,170 But how it all happened... 985 00:48:52,274 --> 00:48:55,933 It was just a freak accident, a bizarre coincidence. 986 00:48:59,729 --> 00:49:02,698 I can forgive the pilot. 987 00:49:02,801 --> 00:49:05,839 I can forgive the children, 988 00:49:05,943 --> 00:49:07,806 because they were innocent. 989 00:49:07,910 --> 00:49:10,602 This man was 39 years old, 990 00:49:10,706 --> 00:49:12,742 and for those 39 years, 991 00:49:12,846 --> 00:49:15,953 he had an exemplary flying career. 992 00:49:16,056 --> 00:49:18,231 He had a family, and he was proud of them, 993 00:49:18,334 --> 00:49:21,648 and it was the final five minutes 994 00:49:21,751 --> 00:49:24,789 of those 39 years that went array. 995 00:49:27,102 --> 00:49:29,069 Children shouldn't have been allowed in the cockpit, 996 00:49:29,173 --> 00:49:30,381 I don't believe, but... 997 00:49:32,038 --> 00:49:33,729 Me saying that now won't matter, 998 00:49:33,832 --> 00:49:36,214 won't bring Mark back, will it? 999 00:49:36,318 --> 00:49:39,355 But it might stop things happening in the future. 1000 00:49:46,121 --> 00:49:48,019 difuze