1 00:00:02,827 --> 00:00:06,896 New Hope, Georgia, April 4th, 1977. 2 00:00:09,655 --> 00:00:10,896 Hello? 3 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:12,551 My husband called me and he said, "Honey, 4 00:00:12,655 --> 00:00:13,862 "we've got some bad weather coming in." 5 00:00:16,793 --> 00:00:19,344 Boys, come on in now. 6 00:00:19,448 --> 00:00:21,931 Nasty weather's comin'. 7 00:00:22,034 --> 00:00:26,275 One of the worst storms in years is moving across the south. 8 00:00:26,379 --> 00:00:29,172 Sadie Hurst rushes her children to safety. 9 00:00:33,172 --> 00:00:34,965 We heard this tremendous noise. 10 00:00:39,689 --> 00:00:42,068 When I got to the top of the basement steps to close the door, 11 00:00:42,172 --> 00:00:46,379 I saw a red reflection like fire in the door. 12 00:00:46,482 --> 00:00:48,034 That's when I saw what was happening. 13 00:00:51,379 --> 00:00:53,137 72 people are killed 14 00:00:53,241 --> 00:00:57,068 when a Southern Airways DC-9 falls from the sky. 15 00:01:04,137 --> 00:01:05,172 Mayday. Mayday. 16 00:01:24,758 --> 00:01:25,689 Boarding pass. 17 00:01:27,310 --> 00:01:28,137 Thank you. 18 00:01:29,413 --> 00:01:31,379 - Good afternoon, sir. - Good afternoon. 19 00:01:31,482 --> 00:01:32,931 - May I see your boarding pass, please? - Certainly. 20 00:01:36,275 --> 00:01:38,827 Just down the aisle on the right, sir. Enjoy your flight. 21 00:01:38,931 --> 00:01:39,862 Thank you. 22 00:01:40,551 --> 00:01:41,448 Boarding pass. 23 00:01:43,827 --> 00:01:47,758 81 passengers board Southern Airways Flight 242, 24 00:01:47,862 --> 00:01:51,793 a DC-9 bound for Atlanta, Georgia. 25 00:01:51,896 --> 00:01:55,000 Many of them are military personnel from nearby bases. 26 00:01:58,551 --> 00:02:01,965 Captain Bill McKenzie and First Officer Lyman Keele 27 00:02:02,068 --> 00:02:05,275 have been shuttling passengers across the American South all day. 28 00:02:05,379 --> 00:02:06,965 Who's got the landing? 29 00:02:07,068 --> 00:02:08,965 "Not me," says the captain. 30 00:02:09,068 --> 00:02:10,620 Ignition, sir. 31 00:02:10,724 --> 00:02:15,103 Pilots regularly exchange tasks on long days like this one. 32 00:02:15,206 --> 00:02:18,896 First Officer Lyman Keele will be handling this leg of the flight. 33 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:21,137 He's an experienced Navy pilot 34 00:02:21,241 --> 00:02:24,413 who's been with Southern Airways for four years. 35 00:02:24,517 --> 00:02:26,758 Before their last take-off, the crew was handed 36 00:02:26,862 --> 00:02:29,137 a weather report for the airports along their route. 37 00:02:30,827 --> 00:02:32,344 Looks like you guys got a good one comin'. 38 00:02:38,655 --> 00:02:41,413 The DC-9 was introduced in 1965 39 00:02:41,517 --> 00:02:44,103 to fly frequent short flights. 40 00:02:44,206 --> 00:02:46,655 Both of its engines are mounted to the rear fuselage 41 00:02:46,758 --> 00:02:48,241 rather than the wings. 42 00:02:48,344 --> 00:02:51,000 It was designed for take-off on shorter runways. 43 00:02:54,689 --> 00:02:56,344 We had a 13 landing day, 44 00:02:56,448 --> 00:02:59,000 which was a lot of small stops, you know. 45 00:02:59,103 --> 00:03:01,965 About 20 or 30 minute legs in between, 46 00:03:02,068 --> 00:03:04,482 and it was sort of the tour to the south. 47 00:03:04,586 --> 00:03:06,724 Skies have been smooth all afternoon, 48 00:03:06,827 --> 00:03:08,241 but the weather's worsening. 49 00:03:08,344 --> 00:03:10,862 The flight crew is prepared for turbulence. 50 00:03:10,965 --> 00:03:13,620 It was raining in Huntsville and they said, 51 00:03:13,724 --> 00:03:15,758 "Oh, it's going to be some bad weather. Don't serve." 52 00:03:15,862 --> 00:03:17,586 So we did not serve from Huntsville to Atlanta, 53 00:03:17,689 --> 00:03:19,689 which is a very short route, 54 00:03:19,793 --> 00:03:21,517 and we were delighted not to be serving. 55 00:03:25,275 --> 00:03:26,517 I was a little surprised 56 00:03:26,620 --> 00:03:27,965 that we took off when we did. 57 00:03:28,068 --> 00:03:29,310 I really thought we'd taxi out 58 00:03:29,413 --> 00:03:31,655 to the end of the runway and hold for a while, 59 00:03:31,758 --> 00:03:33,620 because the weather looked so bad. 60 00:03:33,724 --> 00:03:37,206 But we taxied out and immediately took off. 61 00:03:37,310 --> 00:03:42,034 At 3:54 p.m., the DC-9 takes off into a hard rain. 62 00:03:42,137 --> 00:03:45,931 The short hop to Atlanta should take just 25 minutes. 63 00:03:46,034 --> 00:03:49,482 As Southern Airways 242 flies away from Huntsville, 64 00:03:49,586 --> 00:03:54,275 the National Weather Service tracks weather that's far worse than the pilots expect. 65 00:03:54,379 --> 00:03:58,103 Tornadoes are touching down all across the south. 66 00:03:58,206 --> 00:04:00,344 The weather in the South-Eastern United States 67 00:04:00,448 --> 00:04:01,931 can be very treacherous. 68 00:04:02,034 --> 00:04:03,931 High humidities, high temperatures are 69 00:04:04,034 --> 00:04:06,068 a prescription for thunderstorms. 70 00:04:06,172 --> 00:04:09,482 And so, with all of that kind of moisture in the air, 71 00:04:09,586 --> 00:04:11,344 and the high convective heating, 72 00:04:11,448 --> 00:04:13,482 you're going to have very large thunderstorms 73 00:04:13,586 --> 00:04:16,241 that are associated with heavy rains, hail, 74 00:04:16,344 --> 00:04:18,724 icing conditions, and extreme winds. 75 00:04:18,827 --> 00:04:23,241 And, of course, tornados that will be spawned from that kind of action. 76 00:04:23,344 --> 00:04:25,103 Huntsville Air Traffic Control has 77 00:04:25,206 --> 00:04:27,758 some concerns about the gathering storm. 78 00:04:27,862 --> 00:04:31,241 Southern Airways 242, I'm painting a line of weather 79 00:04:31,344 --> 00:04:35,551 which appears to be moderate to-possibly-heavy precipitation 80 00:04:35,655 --> 00:04:38,172 starting about five miles ahead. 81 00:04:38,275 --> 00:04:40,000 Okay, we're in the rain right now. 82 00:04:40,103 --> 00:04:42,068 Uh... it doesn't look much heavier 83 00:04:42,172 --> 00:04:44,241 than what we're in right now, does it? 84 00:04:44,344 --> 00:04:45,896 It's not a solid mass, 85 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:48,551 but it, uh, appears to be a little bit heavier 86 00:04:48,655 --> 00:04:50,482 than what you're in right now. 87 00:04:50,586 --> 00:04:55,034 In 1977, most airliners are equipped with the Bendix Weather Radar. 88 00:04:55,137 --> 00:04:58,172 Pilots are trained to avoid regions that appear bright. 89 00:04:58,275 --> 00:05:00,344 Where there's light, there's bad weather. 90 00:05:00,448 --> 00:05:01,586 I can't read that. 91 00:05:01,689 --> 00:05:04,137 It just looks like rain, Bill. What do you think? 92 00:05:04,241 --> 00:05:05,758 - There's a hole. - There's a hole right there. 93 00:05:06,379 --> 00:05:08,206 That's all I see. 94 00:05:08,310 --> 00:05:11,000 The pilots spot a dark area on their radar, 95 00:05:11,103 --> 00:05:13,206 a passageway through the storm. 96 00:05:13,310 --> 00:05:18,137 They plan to navigate between towering thunderheads over 14,000 meters. 97 00:05:20,724 --> 00:05:22,275 Coming over, we had pretty good radar. 98 00:05:22,379 --> 00:05:25,275 I believe right straight ahead. There. 99 00:05:25,379 --> 00:05:28,448 The next few miles is probably the best way we can go. 100 00:05:28,551 --> 00:05:30,379 But as they head towards the storm system, 101 00:05:30,482 --> 00:05:33,655 they get an ominous report from Memphis Air Traffic Control. 102 00:05:35,241 --> 00:05:37,068 Attention all aircraft. 103 00:05:37,172 --> 00:05:40,724 SIGMET. Tennessee, Southern Louisiana, Mississippi... 104 00:05:40,827 --> 00:05:45,137 SIGMET is short for Significant Meteorological Information. 105 00:05:45,241 --> 00:05:48,620 A warning to pilots that dangerous weather is in the region. 106 00:05:48,724 --> 00:05:51,551 Here we go. Hold 'em, cowboy. 107 00:05:51,655 --> 00:05:54,000 Pilots don't want to be within 50 miles 108 00:05:54,103 --> 00:05:56,103 of a lot of those types of thunderstorms, 109 00:05:56,206 --> 00:06:00,103 for the very reason that the airplane may not be able to handle it, 110 00:06:00,206 --> 00:06:03,103 and or the pilots may not be able to control 111 00:06:03,206 --> 00:06:07,034 the airplane flying into that kind of activity. 112 00:06:07,137 --> 00:06:10,206 McKenzie and Keele take a harder look at their weather radar. 113 00:06:10,310 --> 00:06:13,517 Looks heavy. Nothing's going through that. 114 00:06:13,620 --> 00:06:15,827 Mysteriously, the gap the pilots thought 115 00:06:15,931 --> 00:06:18,586 they'd spotted no longer seems to exist. 116 00:06:18,689 --> 00:06:19,965 That's the hole, isn't it? 117 00:06:20,068 --> 00:06:21,586 It's not showing a hole, is it? 118 00:06:34,448 --> 00:06:36,862 The storm suddenly gets much worse. 119 00:06:38,172 --> 00:06:40,586 Never heard such loud hail in my life. 120 00:06:40,689 --> 00:06:42,551 And it beating on the, you know, 121 00:06:42,655 --> 00:06:46,448 the sides of the airplane was extremely deafening. 122 00:06:46,551 --> 00:06:49,517 The hail was probably the loudest noise I've ever heard. 123 00:06:49,620 --> 00:06:51,620 It sounded like I was in a metal barrel 124 00:06:51,724 --> 00:06:53,275 with someone throwing rocks at me. 125 00:06:54,827 --> 00:06:57,275 Please keep your seatbelts fastened! 126 00:06:57,379 --> 00:06:58,724 We should be out of this shortly. 127 00:07:02,793 --> 00:07:05,620 Hail the size of baseballs hammers the DC-9, 128 00:07:07,310 --> 00:07:08,655 breaking the plane's windshield. 129 00:07:11,172 --> 00:07:13,034 The pilots of Southern 242 had 130 00:07:13,137 --> 00:07:16,482 to raise their voices audibly to be heard 131 00:07:16,586 --> 00:07:18,862 above the unholy tattoo of this hail, 132 00:07:18,965 --> 00:07:21,413 which was buckshotting the airplane. 133 00:07:21,517 --> 00:07:25,068 These pilots had never been through anything like this before in their lives. 134 00:07:26,482 --> 00:07:28,896 Which way? Do we cross here, or go out? 135 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:30,103 I don't know how we get through here, Bill. 136 00:07:30,206 --> 00:07:32,103 I know. You're just gonna have to go out. 137 00:07:32,206 --> 00:07:33,517 Yeah, right across that band. 138 00:07:33,620 --> 00:07:35,586 All clear left, approximately right now. 139 00:07:35,689 --> 00:07:37,103 I think we can cut across there. 140 00:07:38,551 --> 00:07:40,310 McKenzie and Keele desperately seek 141 00:07:40,413 --> 00:07:42,586 an escape route from the storm. 142 00:07:42,689 --> 00:07:45,241 But as they do, the emergency escalates. 143 00:07:49,310 --> 00:07:51,482 The plane loses all electrical power. 144 00:08:01,068 --> 00:08:02,586 Without power, Keele must keep 145 00:08:02,689 --> 00:08:06,172 the aircraft level without an artificial horizon. 146 00:08:06,275 --> 00:08:08,724 Now the pilots are left to look back out the window 147 00:08:08,827 --> 00:08:12,137 and try and orient the airplane with the horizon. 148 00:08:12,241 --> 00:08:16,310 But surrounded by thick cloud, a horizon is difficult to find. 149 00:08:16,413 --> 00:08:19,620 It's almost impossible for Lyman Keele to get his bearings. 150 00:08:23,689 --> 00:08:26,551 Southern 242, what's your speed? 151 00:08:26,655 --> 00:08:28,586 Atlanta Air Traffic Control tries 152 00:08:28,689 --> 00:08:30,896 to make contact with Southern Airways. 153 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:33,103 They receive no response. 154 00:08:33,206 --> 00:08:36,620 Southern 242, Atlanta. What's your speed? 155 00:08:36,724 --> 00:08:40,413 After I realized that we had a disaster in progress, 156 00:08:40,517 --> 00:08:41,551 or something was wrong, 157 00:08:41,655 --> 00:08:43,931 I got up and started briefing my passengers. 158 00:08:46,413 --> 00:08:48,965 The flight attendants were very quick 159 00:08:49,068 --> 00:08:52,965 in giving us emergency landing instructions. 160 00:08:53,068 --> 00:08:57,172 There was not very much time for anyone to start panicking. 161 00:09:02,310 --> 00:09:06,241 Got it. We got it back, Bill. Got it back, got it back. 162 00:09:06,344 --> 00:09:08,862 After 36 seconds in the dark, 163 00:09:08,965 --> 00:09:10,758 power returns. 164 00:09:10,862 --> 00:09:15,068 The instruments come alive, and the radio begins working again. 165 00:09:15,172 --> 00:09:19,379 Air Traffic Control finally gets through to McKenzie and Keele. 166 00:09:19,482 --> 00:09:23,137 Maintain 15,000, if you understand me. 167 00:09:23,241 --> 00:09:27,482 Maintain 15,000, Southern 242. 168 00:09:27,586 --> 00:09:29,517 Southern Airways Flight 242 has been 169 00:09:29,620 --> 00:09:32,827 instructed to fly at 4,600 meters. 170 00:09:32,931 --> 00:09:36,517 But the plane has fallen to almost 4,200 meters. 171 00:09:41,344 --> 00:09:42,862 We're trying to get it up there. 172 00:09:45,689 --> 00:09:46,862 While I was lookin' out 173 00:09:46,965 --> 00:09:49,241 at the front of the left engine, 174 00:09:49,344 --> 00:09:51,482 I could see the hail continuing to put 175 00:09:51,586 --> 00:09:53,517 more and more dents into the cowling 176 00:09:53,620 --> 00:09:55,482 around the engine and into the cone 177 00:09:55,586 --> 00:09:57,034 in the center of the engine, 178 00:09:57,137 --> 00:10:00,758 and the engine was starting to make sounds like it was quitting. 179 00:10:09,137 --> 00:10:10,862 Okay, uh, 242, uh, 180 00:10:10,965 --> 00:10:12,517 we just got our windshield busted. 181 00:10:12,620 --> 00:10:14,448 We'll try to get it back up to 15. 182 00:10:14,551 --> 00:10:15,862 We're at 14. 183 00:10:15,965 --> 00:10:18,448 Southern 242, you say you're at 14 now? 184 00:10:21,275 --> 00:10:22,310 Left engine won't spool! 185 00:10:24,241 --> 00:10:26,103 Our left engine just cut out. 186 00:10:27,793 --> 00:10:30,793 You say you lost an engine and, uh, busted a windshield? 187 00:10:31,655 --> 00:10:33,275 Yes, sir! 188 00:10:33,379 --> 00:10:35,000 My God. 189 00:10:35,103 --> 00:10:37,206 The other engine is going, too. 190 00:10:37,310 --> 00:10:38,758 Got the other engine going, too. 191 00:10:39,586 --> 00:10:41,413 Southern 242, say again. 192 00:10:42,310 --> 00:10:43,241 Standby! 193 00:10:53,344 --> 00:10:54,379 We lost both engines! 194 00:10:56,206 --> 00:10:58,206 Both engines are now out. 195 00:10:58,310 --> 00:11:04,517 This DC-9 is a glider, and it's falling at 56 feet per second. 196 00:11:04,620 --> 00:11:06,241 They're at 14,000 feet. 197 00:11:06,344 --> 00:11:08,379 They don't have a lot of time. 198 00:11:10,758 --> 00:11:13,344 Get us a vector to a clear area, Atlanta. 199 00:11:13,448 --> 00:11:15,206 Lyman Keele adjusts his course 200 00:11:15,310 --> 00:11:18,241 to navigate his plane out of the storm. 201 00:11:18,344 --> 00:11:20,965 Captain McKenzie must restart the engines, 202 00:11:21,068 --> 00:11:23,655 or they'll be forced to make an emergency landing. 203 00:11:32,068 --> 00:11:36,586 Without engines, Southern Airways Flight 242 is plummeting from the sky. 204 00:11:36,689 --> 00:11:40,862 There's also another dire consequence of the engine failure. 205 00:11:40,965 --> 00:11:44,241 Normally, the engines generate electricity for the instruments, 206 00:11:44,344 --> 00:11:46,172 radios, and hydraulics. 207 00:11:46,275 --> 00:11:49,413 When the engines quit, all of these systems fail. 208 00:11:50,931 --> 00:11:52,344 APU deployed. 209 00:11:54,517 --> 00:11:57,068 The APU, the Auxiliary Power Unit, 210 00:11:57,172 --> 00:11:59,068 is a back-up power generator. 211 00:11:59,172 --> 00:12:01,586 It will provide electricity to the plane. 212 00:12:01,689 --> 00:12:04,551 But it will take more than two minutes for it to power up. 213 00:12:06,275 --> 00:12:08,482 Once they'd finished their instructions, 214 00:12:08,586 --> 00:12:12,310 and there was simply a waiting period before we landed, 215 00:12:12,413 --> 00:12:15,379 we turned to each other and said that we would 216 00:12:15,482 --> 00:12:17,034 all get through this together 217 00:12:17,137 --> 00:12:18,655 and we held hands for a moment. 218 00:12:21,448 --> 00:12:23,724 When the second engine quit, 219 00:12:23,827 --> 00:12:25,965 I wasn't aware of what was going on around me. 220 00:12:26,068 --> 00:12:29,793 I was so focused on trying to figure out a way to save myself. 221 00:12:29,896 --> 00:12:33,137 I knew that sometimes the tail breaks off in an accident, 222 00:12:33,241 --> 00:12:35,689 and I felt, the further back I could get, the better. 223 00:12:39,517 --> 00:12:40,620 There we go! 224 00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:46,172 After two minutes without systems, 225 00:12:46,275 --> 00:12:49,241 the Auxiliary Power Unit finally kicks in. 226 00:12:49,344 --> 00:12:50,862 The pilots may not have engines, 227 00:12:50,965 --> 00:12:52,896 but at least they now have power. 228 00:12:53,827 --> 00:12:55,413 We've lost both engines. 229 00:12:55,517 --> 00:12:58,482 How about getting us a vector to the nearest place? 230 00:12:58,586 --> 00:13:01,413 Captain McKenzie needs directions to an airport. 231 00:13:01,517 --> 00:13:04,310 The flight can only stay airborne for another six minutes. 232 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:09,103 Dobbins Air Force Base is 32 kilometers away. 233 00:13:09,206 --> 00:13:12,068 It has a runway that's long enough for a DC-9. 234 00:13:12,172 --> 00:13:14,620 It also has full emergency services. 235 00:13:14,724 --> 00:13:16,413 Southern 242, roger. 236 00:13:16,517 --> 00:13:19,000 Turn right heading one-zero-zero, 237 00:13:19,103 --> 00:13:21,137 There will be vectors for a straight-in approach 238 00:13:21,241 --> 00:13:24,448 to Dobbins, uh, runway 11. 239 00:13:24,551 --> 00:13:26,931 What's Dobbins weather, Bill? How far is it? 240 00:13:28,931 --> 00:13:30,068 How far is it? 241 00:13:31,551 --> 00:13:32,827 Lyman Keele knows 242 00:13:32,931 --> 00:13:35,172 Dobbins Air Force Base intimately. 243 00:13:35,275 --> 00:13:39,241 He trained there, and it's now his home base as a Navy Reserve pilot. 244 00:13:39,344 --> 00:13:41,586 He's landed there frequently. 245 00:13:41,689 --> 00:13:42,965 Declare an emergency, Bill. 246 00:13:44,931 --> 00:13:46,758 Right now, Keele's familiarity 247 00:13:46,862 --> 00:13:50,034 with Dobbins is the only advantage this crew has. 248 00:13:52,965 --> 00:13:55,103 Less than 16 kilometers away lies 249 00:13:55,206 --> 00:13:57,344 the town of New Hope, Georgia. 250 00:13:57,448 --> 00:14:00,965 Sadie Hurst sees no signs of an advancing storm. 251 00:14:02,137 --> 00:14:03,862 It was an absolutely beautiful day. 252 00:14:03,965 --> 00:14:05,344 The children were playing laying outside. 253 00:14:05,448 --> 00:14:07,034 They were riding their bicycles 254 00:14:07,137 --> 00:14:08,413 up and down the driveway. 255 00:14:15,068 --> 00:14:17,482 Hello? Hey, you. 256 00:14:17,586 --> 00:14:21,655 My husband worked in Atlanta and he kept his radio on the Huntsville radio station. 257 00:14:21,758 --> 00:14:23,344 And he called me and he said "Honey, 258 00:14:23,448 --> 00:14:25,172 "we've got some bad weather coming in." 259 00:14:25,275 --> 00:14:26,758 He said, "You need to get the kids in." 260 00:14:36,689 --> 00:14:39,172 Boys! Come on in now! 261 00:14:41,482 --> 00:14:44,034 Nasty weather's comin'. 262 00:14:45,344 --> 00:14:47,172 Come in now. 263 00:14:49,551 --> 00:14:52,241 All right. Flashlights and batteries, Steven. 264 00:14:55,724 --> 00:14:57,655 Ordinarily tornados come with bad weather. 265 00:14:57,758 --> 00:15:00,034 You know, dark clouds, and rain and hail. 266 00:15:00,137 --> 00:15:01,344 But we didn't see any of that. 267 00:15:02,724 --> 00:15:05,103 Southern Airways 242 finally breaks 268 00:15:05,206 --> 00:15:07,793 through the storm clouds into clear skies. 269 00:15:07,896 --> 00:15:11,103 The plane descends steadily through 2,100 meters. 270 00:15:11,206 --> 00:15:12,241 Get those engines started! 271 00:15:13,275 --> 00:15:14,724 Once the engines failed, 272 00:15:14,827 --> 00:15:18,482 the workload in the cockpit increased substantially. 273 00:15:18,586 --> 00:15:20,068 In this particular instance, 274 00:15:20,172 --> 00:15:23,000 the first officer was the "pilot flying." 275 00:15:23,103 --> 00:15:26,103 He was the one that was actually manipulating the flight controls 276 00:15:26,206 --> 00:15:27,931 and maneuvering the airplane. 277 00:15:28,034 --> 00:15:30,965 The captain, on the other hand, was now running checklist 278 00:15:31,068 --> 00:15:32,413 and trying to troubleshoot. 279 00:15:35,137 --> 00:15:38,793 Listen, uh, we lost both engines, and uh, 280 00:15:38,896 --> 00:15:41,965 I can't, uh, tell you the implications of this, uh... 281 00:15:42,068 --> 00:15:44,206 We only got two engines, 282 00:15:44,310 --> 00:15:46,172 and how far is Dobbins now? 283 00:15:46,275 --> 00:15:48,896 Southern 242, uh, 19 miles. 284 00:15:50,551 --> 00:15:52,000 Do you have one engine running now? 285 00:15:53,620 --> 00:15:54,517 Negative. 286 00:15:55,551 --> 00:15:57,000 No engines. 287 00:15:57,103 --> 00:15:58,758 I didn't know what was wrong, 288 00:15:58,862 --> 00:16:00,965 but I could tell something was wrong. 289 00:16:01,068 --> 00:16:02,448 I went and opened the cockpit door 290 00:16:02,551 --> 00:16:05,344 simply to tell them we're ready for whatever. 291 00:16:05,448 --> 00:16:06,655 Just don't stall this thing out. 292 00:16:06,758 --> 00:16:08,034 No, I won't. 293 00:16:08,137 --> 00:16:10,034 Bill, what's going on? 294 00:16:10,137 --> 00:16:11,793 Not now, Cathy. Sit down! 295 00:16:12,965 --> 00:16:15,241 You could tell they were afraid. 296 00:16:15,344 --> 00:16:16,931 I understood that they were afraid 297 00:16:17,034 --> 00:16:19,310 just by the sound of their voice. 298 00:16:19,413 --> 00:16:21,000 So I understood that there was something 299 00:16:21,103 --> 00:16:23,620 very dangerous going on, but I had no idea what. 300 00:16:25,758 --> 00:16:27,793 Down to only 1,400 meters, 301 00:16:27,896 --> 00:16:32,241 the plane is still 27 kilometers from Dobbins Air Force Base. 302 00:16:32,344 --> 00:16:34,620 Ask him if there is anything between here and Dobbins. 303 00:16:34,724 --> 00:16:36,551 - What? - Ask him if there's anything 304 00:16:36,655 --> 00:16:39,172 between here and Dobbins! 305 00:16:39,275 --> 00:16:42,275 Uh, is there an airport between our position and Dobbins? 306 00:16:42,379 --> 00:16:46,137 Southern 242, uh, no, sir. Closest airport is Dobbins. 307 00:16:47,620 --> 00:16:49,724 First Officer Lyman Keele doesn't think 308 00:16:49,827 --> 00:16:52,827 he can get the DC-9 as far as Dobbins Air Force Base. 309 00:16:52,931 --> 00:16:55,241 He's lost too much altitude. 310 00:16:55,344 --> 00:16:56,655 I doubt we're going to make it, 311 00:16:56,758 --> 00:16:58,586 but we're trying everything to get something started. 312 00:17:01,827 --> 00:17:04,931 Uh, Roger. Well, there is Cartersville. 313 00:17:05,034 --> 00:17:07,448 You're about 10 miles south of Cartersville, 314 00:17:08,482 --> 00:17:10,034 fifteen miles west of Dobbins. 315 00:17:11,448 --> 00:17:13,310 Keele needs a closer airport. 316 00:17:13,413 --> 00:17:15,827 Cartersville seems like a good choice. 317 00:17:15,931 --> 00:17:18,793 We'll take a vector to that, yes. We'll have to go there. 318 00:17:18,896 --> 00:17:21,275 Can you give us a vector to Cartersville? 319 00:17:21,379 --> 00:17:26,241 All right. Turn left, heading 360 will be directly, uh... 320 00:17:26,344 --> 00:17:27,448 direct vector to Cartersville. 321 00:17:30,517 --> 00:17:32,448 Air-traffic controllers in Atlanta see 322 00:17:32,551 --> 00:17:34,206 no other options. 323 00:17:34,310 --> 00:17:37,034 They direct Flight 242 to Cartersville Airport. 324 00:17:38,310 --> 00:17:40,517 As the pilots seek out an airport, 325 00:17:40,620 --> 00:17:41,862 the flight attendants still don't know 326 00:17:41,965 --> 00:17:44,344 what type of landing to prepare for. 327 00:17:44,448 --> 00:17:46,000 They wouldn't talk to me. 328 00:17:47,206 --> 00:17:48,931 When I looked in the door, 329 00:17:49,034 --> 00:17:51,275 the whole windshield was cracked. 330 00:17:52,586 --> 00:17:54,172 So what do we do? 331 00:17:54,275 --> 00:17:56,034 I think we've lost both the engines. 332 00:17:56,931 --> 00:17:58,448 I thought so. 333 00:17:58,551 --> 00:18:00,068 Okay. 334 00:18:00,172 --> 00:18:02,275 Cathy, have you briefed all your passengers? 335 00:18:02,965 --> 00:18:04,000 Mm-hmm. 336 00:18:15,241 --> 00:18:17,482 I realized I was in an emergency situation, 337 00:18:17,586 --> 00:18:19,827 and I felt like I was going to die. 338 00:18:19,931 --> 00:18:24,103 But I decided I would do everything I could to try to help my chances. 339 00:18:24,206 --> 00:18:27,655 I had previously collected some blankets and pillows 340 00:18:27,758 --> 00:18:32,172 and had gotten my leather jacket off the overhead rack. 341 00:18:33,172 --> 00:18:37,137 And I arranged those in to make a nest 342 00:18:37,241 --> 00:18:39,275 as much as I could for myself. 343 00:18:41,310 --> 00:18:43,068 With tornadoes in the forecast, 344 00:18:43,172 --> 00:18:45,206 the community of New Hope is braced 345 00:18:45,310 --> 00:18:47,206 for a different type of danger. 346 00:18:47,310 --> 00:18:49,965 After a couple of hours of playing outside 347 00:18:50,068 --> 00:18:52,000 my mother called us in to... 348 00:18:52,103 --> 00:18:53,827 to come in, because there was bad weather 349 00:18:53,931 --> 00:18:55,206 coming our way. 350 00:18:55,310 --> 00:18:56,551 We came into the house 351 00:18:56,655 --> 00:18:59,482 and mother had told us about what was going on, 352 00:18:59,586 --> 00:19:02,137 and she said that we needed to get downstairs 353 00:19:02,241 --> 00:19:06,068 to prepare for the bad weather that was coming. 354 00:19:06,172 --> 00:19:09,586 Southern Airways Flight 242 has lost too much altitude. 355 00:19:09,689 --> 00:19:11,758 The pilots come to the frightening conclusion 356 00:19:11,862 --> 00:19:12,931 that at the rate they're falling, 357 00:19:13,034 --> 00:19:14,827 they can't make it to Cartersville. 358 00:19:14,931 --> 00:19:16,482 They must prepare to land now. 359 00:19:16,586 --> 00:19:18,241 I'm picking out a clear field. 360 00:19:18,344 --> 00:19:19,620 Bill, you have to find me a highway. 361 00:19:19,724 --> 00:19:21,137 Let's get the next clear open field. 362 00:19:21,241 --> 00:19:22,689 No, Bill! 363 00:19:22,793 --> 00:19:25,448 I see a highway over there, no cars. 364 00:19:25,551 --> 00:19:26,689 Right there, is that straight? 365 00:19:27,724 --> 00:19:28,620 No. 366 00:19:29,655 --> 00:19:30,827 We'll have to take it. 367 00:19:39,482 --> 00:19:41,896 Lyman Keele decides to bring the plane down 368 00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:46,344 onto a rural highway, Georgia State Highway 92. 369 00:19:46,448 --> 00:19:50,862 Captain Bill McKenzie radios Atlanta Air Traffic Control with the bad news. 370 00:19:50,965 --> 00:19:52,068 We're putting it on the highway. 371 00:19:52,758 --> 00:19:53,896 We're down to nothing. 372 00:19:55,448 --> 00:19:58,448 The clock runs out on Southern Airways 242. 373 00:19:59,379 --> 00:20:00,448 Sweet Jesus. 374 00:20:03,344 --> 00:20:05,724 With no engines, First Officer Lyman Keele 375 00:20:05,827 --> 00:20:07,896 lines up the aircraft for an emergency landing 376 00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:10,448 on the highway that runs through New Hope, Georgia. 377 00:20:11,827 --> 00:20:15,344 In the last minute, we did a steep left bank, 378 00:20:15,448 --> 00:20:17,965 in which we were able to see 379 00:20:18,068 --> 00:20:21,137 the pine trees that were very close to the aircraft. 380 00:20:24,758 --> 00:20:25,758 Flaps. 381 00:20:28,448 --> 00:20:29,758 They're down to 50. 382 00:20:29,862 --> 00:20:32,931 Oh, God, Bill, I hope we can do it. 383 00:20:33,034 --> 00:20:36,379 Without training on how to land a DC-9 with no engines, 384 00:20:36,482 --> 00:20:40,000 First Officer Lyman Keele's attempt is entirely improvised. 385 00:20:40,103 --> 00:20:42,482 Lyman Keele is a young man who has just come back 386 00:20:42,586 --> 00:20:44,758 from the proving ground of Southeast Asia, 387 00:20:44,862 --> 00:20:47,206 where he was a naval aviator. 388 00:20:47,310 --> 00:20:49,965 He learned the niceties of landing 389 00:20:50,068 --> 00:20:52,551 on a rolling, pitching aircraft carrier 390 00:20:52,655 --> 00:20:56,724 in the South China Sea, in the middle of the night. 391 00:20:56,827 --> 00:21:00,241 What he was confronted with right now was even a greater test. 392 00:21:00,344 --> 00:21:03,551 The greatest test he had ever confronted 393 00:21:03,655 --> 00:21:05,172 in his life as an airman. 394 00:21:06,931 --> 00:21:08,862 I'm going to land right over that guy. 395 00:21:08,965 --> 00:21:10,620 There's a car ahead! 396 00:21:10,724 --> 00:21:13,482 I got it. I've got it now. I got it. 397 00:21:18,965 --> 00:21:20,724 Brace for impact! 398 00:21:24,137 --> 00:21:26,068 The Southern Airways flight 399 00:21:26,172 --> 00:21:28,413 touches down on State Highway 92. 400 00:21:29,379 --> 00:21:30,448 When the aircraft touched down, 401 00:21:30,551 --> 00:21:33,344 the first touchdown was very, very nice. 402 00:21:33,448 --> 00:21:35,620 It was smooth. It seemed like it was gonna work, 403 00:21:35,724 --> 00:21:37,241 and everything was gonna turn out okay. 404 00:21:37,344 --> 00:21:38,827 And then it immediately bounced back up in the air 405 00:21:38,931 --> 00:21:40,034 and then slammed down. 406 00:21:42,586 --> 00:21:46,931 Each bump that we made seemed to be harder 407 00:21:47,034 --> 00:21:49,689 and louder than the previous one. 408 00:21:50,896 --> 00:21:52,965 The plane smashes into New Hope. 409 00:21:55,551 --> 00:21:58,172 Before the plane completely stopped moving, 410 00:21:58,275 --> 00:22:01,448 there was fire blowing through the cabin. 411 00:22:02,344 --> 00:22:03,620 I felt my face burning, 412 00:22:03,724 --> 00:22:05,758 even though I tried to cover it with my leather jacket. 413 00:22:10,931 --> 00:22:14,000 We heard this tremendous noise. 414 00:22:14,103 --> 00:22:17,206 Large sections of Southern Airways 242 litter 415 00:22:17,310 --> 00:22:18,758 the entire length of New Hope. 416 00:22:29,827 --> 00:22:31,862 Come on, damn it. 417 00:22:34,862 --> 00:22:39,448 I got my seat belt loose after a few tries 418 00:22:39,551 --> 00:22:41,000 and turned toward the rear of the airplane 419 00:22:41,103 --> 00:22:42,620 and I saw a spot of light. 420 00:22:44,724 --> 00:22:46,965 I got up and ran for that light. 421 00:23:03,931 --> 00:23:05,827 I could not believe I was alive. 422 00:23:06,965 --> 00:23:08,655 I just could not believe it. 423 00:23:12,413 --> 00:23:14,758 Where I found myself after we woke up, 424 00:23:14,862 --> 00:23:17,103 was sort of indescribable. 425 00:23:17,206 --> 00:23:20,413 I was sitting by the front entry door. 426 00:23:20,517 --> 00:23:23,068 We have a coat closet that was adjacent to it 427 00:23:23,172 --> 00:23:25,655 and the back wall that the jump seat's strapped to. 428 00:23:25,758 --> 00:23:27,206 All three of those walls had collapsed 429 00:23:27,310 --> 00:23:30,310 and rolled into like a little triangle ball area. 430 00:23:30,413 --> 00:23:32,275 And there was just enough room for me inside. 431 00:23:35,827 --> 00:23:37,689 And I could see a crack of light, 432 00:23:37,793 --> 00:23:41,413 and I thought I'm going through that crack of light come hell or high water. 433 00:23:45,172 --> 00:23:47,241 In the very next instant, 434 00:23:47,344 --> 00:23:49,448 as if I had just blinked my eyes, 435 00:23:49,551 --> 00:23:52,689 instead of seeing the carpet between my feet, 436 00:23:52,793 --> 00:23:56,724 I suddenly was looking at blue sky above me. 437 00:23:56,827 --> 00:24:00,413 I realized I was lying flat on my back in the dirt. 438 00:24:00,517 --> 00:24:05,172 Everything to the left of me was flaming wreckage. 439 00:24:05,275 --> 00:24:06,689 I didn't even recognize it 440 00:24:06,793 --> 00:24:10,379 as being the plane that I had just been thrown out of. 441 00:24:10,482 --> 00:24:13,724 I thought it was maybe a house that we had hit. 442 00:24:13,827 --> 00:24:17,137 Stewardess Sandy Purl also escapes safely. 443 00:24:17,241 --> 00:24:18,586 She's able to help others. 444 00:24:27,172 --> 00:24:29,620 Survivors flee the flaming wreckage. 445 00:24:53,793 --> 00:24:56,862 When I got to the top of the basement steps to close the door, 446 00:24:56,965 --> 00:24:59,206 I saw a red reflection 447 00:24:59,310 --> 00:25:00,758 like fire in the door. 448 00:25:10,379 --> 00:25:11,931 That's when I saw what was happening. 449 00:25:18,482 --> 00:25:21,137 I saw smoke and fire. 450 00:25:26,413 --> 00:25:28,862 And the people that were coming toward me, 451 00:25:28,965 --> 00:25:31,517 they weren't screaming, they weren't yelling, they were quiet. 452 00:25:31,620 --> 00:25:32,724 Everything was on fire 453 00:25:32,827 --> 00:25:35,448 and I could see people running toward a house. 454 00:25:47,310 --> 00:25:48,655 I need to use your phone. 455 00:25:53,586 --> 00:25:56,655 I wanted to call the local people, or Southern 456 00:25:56,758 --> 00:26:00,275 or somebody, and say we've just landed somewhere and we need help. 457 00:26:03,758 --> 00:26:06,379 It just became a blur. They just kept coming. 458 00:26:11,931 --> 00:26:13,448 You, help her. 459 00:26:31,689 --> 00:26:32,793 I got back to the kitchen 460 00:26:32,896 --> 00:26:35,413 and I was just circled by people. 461 00:26:35,517 --> 00:26:37,000 They knew they were in a house, 462 00:26:37,103 --> 00:26:38,655 and I guess they felt safe 463 00:26:38,758 --> 00:26:40,379 and they needed somebody to help them. 464 00:26:41,344 --> 00:26:43,000 I was still frantic. 465 00:26:43,103 --> 00:26:44,827 I was still trying to move as quickly as possible 466 00:26:44,931 --> 00:26:46,586 and do as much as I could at the time. 467 00:26:55,448 --> 00:26:57,172 I'll remember to the day I die 468 00:26:57,275 --> 00:26:59,137 just staring there 469 00:26:59,241 --> 00:27:00,724 at the, you know, trees burning 470 00:27:00,827 --> 00:27:02,655 and pine trees burning 471 00:27:02,758 --> 00:27:07,137 and pieces of aircraft. It was so unreal. 472 00:27:07,241 --> 00:27:08,379 Never seen anything like it, 473 00:27:08,482 --> 00:27:10,137 and never want to see anything like that again. 474 00:27:16,689 --> 00:27:20,034 72 people, including pilots Lyman Keele 475 00:27:20,137 --> 00:27:22,000 and Bill McKenzie, die in the crash 476 00:27:22,103 --> 00:27:25,448 of Southern Airways Flight 242. 477 00:27:25,551 --> 00:27:29,275 Investigators would soon uncover a tragic series of miscues 478 00:27:29,379 --> 00:27:32,034 and coincidences that caused the plane to crash. 479 00:27:34,482 --> 00:27:36,344 Southern Flight 242 crashed 480 00:27:36,448 --> 00:27:40,206 after the DC-9 jet lost power in both engines. 481 00:27:40,310 --> 00:27:42,758 The plane had just flown through a violent hailstorm 482 00:27:42,862 --> 00:27:45,827 on a flight from Huntsville, Alabama to Atlanta. 483 00:27:45,931 --> 00:27:49,172 I saw the plane as it came veering down, hit the treetops. 484 00:27:49,275 --> 00:27:50,655 We thought it was a tornado at first. 485 00:27:50,758 --> 00:27:52,862 Vehicles, people who was in the grocery store, 486 00:27:52,965 --> 00:27:55,068 yard and vehicles, it actually hit them. 487 00:27:56,758 --> 00:27:58,862 A family of seven is killed instantly 488 00:27:58,965 --> 00:28:01,137 when the plane hit their car. 489 00:28:01,241 --> 00:28:02,965 They were just leaving the store 490 00:28:03,068 --> 00:28:06,482 about the time the flight tried to land on the highway 491 00:28:06,586 --> 00:28:09,655 and then... 'course the... 492 00:28:09,758 --> 00:28:12,413 I think they hit the gas pumps and they exploded, 493 00:28:12,517 --> 00:28:15,172 and everything around was on fire. 494 00:28:15,275 --> 00:28:18,758 And actually they were in the car and perished during the... 495 00:28:18,862 --> 00:28:20,344 during the explosion and fire. 496 00:28:22,931 --> 00:28:26,310 Investigators from The National Transportation Safety Board arrive 497 00:28:26,413 --> 00:28:27,862 within hours of the accident. 498 00:28:33,241 --> 00:28:35,172 This is the second major blow 499 00:28:35,275 --> 00:28:37,655 to Southern Airways' Safety Record. 500 00:28:37,758 --> 00:28:42,793 In 1970, Flight 932, carrying the Marshall University football team, 501 00:28:42,896 --> 00:28:44,931 crashed in West Virginia. 502 00:28:45,034 --> 00:28:46,655 Everyone on board was killed. 503 00:28:48,931 --> 00:28:50,413 There are always many questions 504 00:28:50,517 --> 00:28:52,827 that investigators have to find answers to. 505 00:28:52,931 --> 00:28:55,310 The two primary questions that needed to be answered 506 00:28:55,413 --> 00:28:58,310 by the Board were what were the weather conditions, 507 00:28:58,413 --> 00:29:00,068 and what caused both engines 508 00:29:00,172 --> 00:29:02,000 on a two-engine airplane to flame-out 509 00:29:02,103 --> 00:29:03,827 that resulted in the pilots having 510 00:29:03,931 --> 00:29:07,172 to make an emergency landing on a highway in a small town. 511 00:29:13,689 --> 00:29:17,931 The storm that Flight 242 flew into was a monster. 512 00:29:18,034 --> 00:29:22,000 Why had a crew so familiar with weather in the south flown headfirst into it? 513 00:29:23,275 --> 00:29:24,620 That's a hole, isn't it? 514 00:29:24,724 --> 00:29:25,896 It's not showing a hole, is it? 515 00:29:30,275 --> 00:29:32,620 Investigators listen to the cockpit voice recorder 516 00:29:32,724 --> 00:29:35,137 for any clues about the decisions made 517 00:29:35,241 --> 00:29:37,448 by the crew as they were entering the thunderstorm. 518 00:29:37,551 --> 00:29:40,827 That's a hole, isn't it? It's not showing a hole, is it? 519 00:29:40,931 --> 00:29:42,758 They learn that the pilots relied heavily 520 00:29:42,862 --> 00:29:45,413 on their weather radar as they approached the storm. 521 00:29:46,482 --> 00:29:49,000 But it appears to have deceived them. 522 00:29:49,103 --> 00:29:50,965 All clear left, approximately right now. 523 00:29:51,068 --> 00:29:52,896 I think we can cut across there. 524 00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:54,827 One of the limitations of the radar 525 00:29:54,931 --> 00:29:59,310 that the crew of Flight 242 was using is signal attenuation. 526 00:29:59,413 --> 00:30:01,551 That is that the beam that is projected 527 00:30:01,655 --> 00:30:07,448 from the radar unit out to look at the weather and return is diffused. 528 00:30:07,551 --> 00:30:10,620 So that the picture that is depicted in the cockpit 529 00:30:10,724 --> 00:30:13,275 that the crew is looking at may not be accurate. 530 00:30:15,482 --> 00:30:18,379 Weather radar sends out radio waves. 531 00:30:18,482 --> 00:30:22,724 Those waves bounce off storm clouds ahead and return to the aircraft. 532 00:30:22,827 --> 00:30:25,551 But if precipitation is extremely intense, 533 00:30:25,655 --> 00:30:28,241 the radio waves can be deflected away. 534 00:30:28,344 --> 00:30:30,172 The radar unit might then interpret 535 00:30:30,275 --> 00:30:33,068 the lack of returning waves as a clear path ahead. 536 00:30:34,482 --> 00:30:37,448 Those inaccuracies are hard to decipher. 537 00:30:37,551 --> 00:30:40,000 And if the crew is depending solely, 538 00:30:40,103 --> 00:30:42,000 or very intently on the radar 539 00:30:42,103 --> 00:30:44,517 to guide them through the precipitation, 540 00:30:44,620 --> 00:30:46,379 they may be making decisions 541 00:30:46,482 --> 00:30:49,620 that aren't based on accurate information. 542 00:30:49,724 --> 00:30:52,758 The storm that entangles Southern Airways 242 is 543 00:30:52,862 --> 00:30:56,827 one of the worst to hit the United States in three years. 544 00:30:56,931 --> 00:31:00,103 The crew didn't encounter a tornado, but it was battered 545 00:31:00,206 --> 00:31:02,551 by torrential rain and heavy hail. 546 00:31:02,655 --> 00:31:05,103 Which way? Do we cross here, or go out? 547 00:31:05,206 --> 00:31:07,068 I don't know how we get through here, Bill. 548 00:31:07,172 --> 00:31:10,275 What Keele and McKenzie read as a clear area ahead 549 00:31:10,379 --> 00:31:12,965 was, in fact, the heaviest part of the storm. 550 00:31:13,068 --> 00:31:14,758 They flew straight for it. 551 00:31:17,034 --> 00:31:18,758 The other engine's going, too. 552 00:31:18,862 --> 00:31:20,241 Got the other engine going, too. 553 00:31:22,103 --> 00:31:23,896 Southern 242, say again. 554 00:31:24,000 --> 00:31:25,793 Standby. 555 00:31:26,896 --> 00:31:27,965 We lost both engines! 556 00:31:30,379 --> 00:31:34,482 Once inside the storm, the DC-9's engines failed. 557 00:31:34,586 --> 00:31:36,896 But a turbofan engine is designed to ingest 558 00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:39,655 huge amounts of rain and even hail. 559 00:31:39,758 --> 00:31:43,310 Precipitation alone should not have shut them down. 560 00:31:43,413 --> 00:31:47,793 Investigators study what's left of the DC-9's engines for clues. 561 00:31:47,896 --> 00:31:50,137 They need to know if some mechanical failure 562 00:31:50,241 --> 00:31:53,896 caused both engines to fail inside the storm. 563 00:31:54,000 --> 00:31:56,931 Well, initially I was puzzled as to how the engines could 564 00:31:57,034 --> 00:31:59,827 be involved in the cause of this accident, 565 00:31:59,931 --> 00:32:01,551 but I was very anxious to get there 566 00:32:01,655 --> 00:32:04,034 to see the engines myself to find out if there was 567 00:32:04,137 --> 00:32:07,620 any sort of visible failure in the engines. 568 00:32:07,724 --> 00:32:10,310 Pratt and Whitney, the manufacturer of the engines, 569 00:32:10,413 --> 00:32:14,517 assigns Al Weaver to advise the NTSB investigation. 570 00:32:14,620 --> 00:32:18,517 The engines are moved to Atlanta airport for a closer inspection. 571 00:32:18,620 --> 00:32:20,517 And when they lifted the engines up 572 00:32:20,620 --> 00:32:22,034 in the vertical direction 573 00:32:22,689 --> 00:32:24,103 in the hangar, 574 00:32:24,206 --> 00:32:26,689 I could hear the tinkling and pieces fell out 575 00:32:26,793 --> 00:32:28,758 through the front of the engine on to the floor. 576 00:32:32,551 --> 00:32:34,275 I reached over and picked up those pieces 577 00:32:34,379 --> 00:32:36,620 and I recognized them immediately as part 578 00:32:36,724 --> 00:32:40,241 of the high compressor blading deep inside the engine. 579 00:32:42,793 --> 00:32:44,586 Al Weaver discovers that the pieces 580 00:32:44,689 --> 00:32:48,689 that fell from the engine were broken blades from the compressor. 581 00:32:48,793 --> 00:32:51,931 Jet engines need pressurized air for combustion. 582 00:32:52,034 --> 00:32:54,241 Two separate compressors inside the engine are 583 00:32:54,344 --> 00:32:56,551 made up of dozens of steel blades. 584 00:32:58,344 --> 00:33:02,068 The rapidly spinning blades force air to the back of the engine. 585 00:33:02,172 --> 00:33:03,827 The pressurized air is ignited 586 00:33:03,931 --> 00:33:06,172 in the combustion chamber creating thrust. 587 00:33:08,689 --> 00:33:10,620 Weaver notices that the compressor blades 588 00:33:10,724 --> 00:33:14,655 from Flight 242 are badly bent, or fatigued. 589 00:33:14,758 --> 00:33:16,206 The way they're bent tells him 590 00:33:16,310 --> 00:33:17,620 they were damaged in the air, 591 00:33:17,724 --> 00:33:19,413 not when the plane hit the ground. 592 00:33:21,551 --> 00:33:23,241 And we know that, that fatiguing 593 00:33:23,344 --> 00:33:26,689 and the type of fatigue that we could observe with our eye... 594 00:33:26,793 --> 00:33:29,344 is caused by the repetitive surging 595 00:33:29,448 --> 00:33:32,827 of the engine over and over. 596 00:33:32,931 --> 00:33:37,000 A surge occurs when the airflow through an engine gets interrupted. 597 00:33:37,103 --> 00:33:39,206 Pressure builds up between the compressors 598 00:33:39,310 --> 00:33:41,137 instead of behind them. 599 00:33:41,241 --> 00:33:42,620 Without the back pressure, 600 00:33:42,724 --> 00:33:44,413 air from the combustion chamber moves 601 00:33:44,517 --> 00:33:45,965 to the front of the engine. 602 00:33:46,068 --> 00:33:48,000 The engine briefly loses power. 603 00:33:49,241 --> 00:33:51,137 Next, investigators need to find out 604 00:33:51,241 --> 00:33:53,137 if the repetitive surging was caused 605 00:33:53,241 --> 00:33:56,827 by the engines inhaling massive amounts of rain. 606 00:33:56,931 --> 00:34:00,137 When an engine ingests rain, it has to convert it into a gas 607 00:34:00,241 --> 00:34:02,896 before it can pump it out as exhaust. 608 00:34:03,000 --> 00:34:06,275 That process uses energy and slows down the engines. 609 00:34:08,172 --> 00:34:11,137 Investigators conclude that with so much rain to convert, 610 00:34:11,241 --> 00:34:15,137 the engines couldn't maintain enough power to run the generators. 611 00:34:15,241 --> 00:34:18,344 That's what caused the first power outage. 612 00:34:18,448 --> 00:34:21,000 But it doesn't explain why the engines failed completely. 613 00:34:23,413 --> 00:34:26,172 Al Weaver wants to know if the sheer volume of rain 614 00:34:26,275 --> 00:34:30,034 the engines were forced to ingest could have caused their failure. 615 00:34:30,137 --> 00:34:33,655 The same engine model that powered Southern Airways 242 616 00:34:33,758 --> 00:34:36,551 is run with up to 14 percent water to air. 617 00:34:39,034 --> 00:34:40,275 Okay. 618 00:34:40,379 --> 00:34:41,965 Engine's at three-quarters throttle. 619 00:34:52,344 --> 00:34:53,517 Let's begin. 620 00:35:01,965 --> 00:35:03,448 Investigators ultimately throw 621 00:35:03,551 --> 00:35:05,793 monsoon level rains against the engine. 622 00:35:07,931 --> 00:35:10,275 They run it from idle up to full throttle. 623 00:35:11,379 --> 00:35:13,482 Okay, that's it. Shut it down. 624 00:35:13,586 --> 00:35:15,275 The rain was not enough to cause 625 00:35:15,379 --> 00:35:17,000 the kind of surge that tore the engines 626 00:35:17,103 --> 00:35:18,862 on Flight 242 to pieces. 627 00:35:18,965 --> 00:35:20,689 Thanks very much, gentlemen. 628 00:35:20,793 --> 00:35:23,551 And the engine operated normally. 629 00:35:23,655 --> 00:35:25,000 No abnormalities. 630 00:35:25,103 --> 00:35:26,103 So our judgment was 631 00:35:26,206 --> 00:35:28,241 we could not conceive of a rainstorm 632 00:35:28,344 --> 00:35:31,000 that would put more water in. 633 00:35:31,103 --> 00:35:35,379 So we knew we were going in the wrong direction with more water. 634 00:35:35,482 --> 00:35:39,068 The water ingestion test points investigators to another suspect. 635 00:35:41,827 --> 00:35:43,103 That's a hole, isn't it? 636 00:35:43,206 --> 00:35:44,620 It's not showing a hole, is it? 637 00:35:47,448 --> 00:35:48,413 Hail. 638 00:35:56,551 --> 00:35:58,620 People who survived the crash describe 639 00:35:58,724 --> 00:36:00,724 seeing hail the size of baseballs. 640 00:36:01,862 --> 00:36:03,241 It was powerful enough to break 641 00:36:03,344 --> 00:36:06,172 the plane's three-and-a-half centimeter thick windshield. 642 00:36:09,655 --> 00:36:12,103 Al Weaver discovers significant hail damage 643 00:36:12,206 --> 00:36:14,655 on both of the plane's engine cowlings. 644 00:36:14,758 --> 00:36:17,034 Starting at the front of the engine, 645 00:36:17,137 --> 00:36:19,793 we noted that the inlet cowl 646 00:36:19,896 --> 00:36:22,000 and the center-body that streamlines 647 00:36:22,103 --> 00:36:24,379 the airflow going into the engine, 648 00:36:24,482 --> 00:36:26,896 which are parts of the aircraft structure 649 00:36:27,000 --> 00:36:28,758 and made out of aluminum, 650 00:36:28,862 --> 00:36:31,551 were all dented from both engines. 651 00:36:33,275 --> 00:36:35,206 And that led us to suspect 652 00:36:35,310 --> 00:36:37,827 that the existence of the hail might have been 653 00:36:37,931 --> 00:36:41,034 a significant contributor. 654 00:36:41,137 --> 00:36:43,551 Weaver knows that it would take a powerful force 655 00:36:43,655 --> 00:36:46,758 to damage the hard metal compressor blades. 656 00:36:46,862 --> 00:36:50,482 We knew from the examination, mechanically, of the engines 657 00:36:50,586 --> 00:36:54,620 that the hail itself did not cause any damage to the engine. 658 00:36:54,724 --> 00:36:59,413 It only dented the outside of the covering over the engine. 659 00:36:59,517 --> 00:37:01,862 Heavy precipitation and a damaged cowling 660 00:37:01,965 --> 00:37:05,896 could have interrupted the engine's airflow and caused a surge. 661 00:37:06,000 --> 00:37:08,310 But one surge shouldn't tear an engine apart. 662 00:37:11,551 --> 00:37:14,172 Weaver suspects that massive pieces of hail may 663 00:37:14,275 --> 00:37:16,931 have clogged a vital outlet in the plane's engines. 664 00:37:17,758 --> 00:37:20,172 The bleed valves. 665 00:37:20,275 --> 00:37:22,517 When pressure builds between the two compressors, 666 00:37:22,620 --> 00:37:24,517 bleed valves should open automatically 667 00:37:24,620 --> 00:37:26,931 to release that pressure, and clear the surge. 668 00:37:28,000 --> 00:37:29,586 If the bleed valves were blocked, 669 00:37:29,689 --> 00:37:33,310 the engines would have continued to surge over and over again. 670 00:37:34,413 --> 00:37:36,689 Once the engine began to surge, 671 00:37:38,310 --> 00:37:40,931 the action that the pilot should have taken was 672 00:37:41,034 --> 00:37:45,241 to pull the throttles back to clear the surge. 673 00:37:45,344 --> 00:37:48,103 Al Weaver turns to the Cockpit Voice Recorder 674 00:37:48,206 --> 00:37:51,137 and discovers that circumstances may have caused the crew 675 00:37:51,241 --> 00:37:52,758 to do the exact opposite. 676 00:37:55,413 --> 00:37:59,137 Maintain 15,000, Southern 242. 677 00:37:59,241 --> 00:38:01,724 We're trying to get it up there. 678 00:38:01,827 --> 00:38:03,758 Weaver learns that the crew was asked 679 00:38:03,862 --> 00:38:05,965 to climb while in the heart of the storm. 680 00:38:07,931 --> 00:38:11,000 Maintain 15,000, if you understand me. 681 00:38:11,896 --> 00:38:16,655 Maintain 15,000, Southern 242. 682 00:38:16,758 --> 00:38:20,206 In order to climb, the captain had to increase thrust to his engines, 683 00:38:20,310 --> 00:38:22,034 which would have made matters worse. 684 00:38:23,137 --> 00:38:25,344 But if the surge was not cleared 685 00:38:25,448 --> 00:38:27,413 and allowed to continue, 686 00:38:27,517 --> 00:38:30,344 then the engine would simply break itself internally. 687 00:38:30,448 --> 00:38:32,103 We're trying to get it up there! 688 00:38:32,206 --> 00:38:36,482 Advancing the throttles would only worsen the situation. 689 00:38:36,586 --> 00:38:38,965 With its bleed cavities blocked by hail, 690 00:38:39,068 --> 00:38:40,965 pressure built up inside the engines, 691 00:38:41,068 --> 00:38:43,586 bending the compressor blades until they shattered. 692 00:38:44,241 --> 00:38:45,172 Left engine won't spool! 693 00:38:47,206 --> 00:38:48,793 Our left engine just cut out. 694 00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:54,655 And once the blades broke in the compressor, 695 00:38:54,758 --> 00:38:56,689 then the engine has no hope 696 00:38:56,793 --> 00:38:58,000 of ever working again. 697 00:38:59,689 --> 00:39:01,517 Investigators now understand 698 00:39:01,620 --> 00:39:03,724 how the pilots misread the storm, 699 00:39:03,827 --> 00:39:07,068 and how their engines failed as a result of it. 700 00:39:07,172 --> 00:39:09,482 But they don't know why the pilots weren't warned 701 00:39:09,586 --> 00:39:11,827 that there was such a severe storm in their path. 702 00:39:17,827 --> 00:39:19,344 Who's got the landing? 703 00:39:19,448 --> 00:39:21,000 "Not me," says the captain. 704 00:39:21,517 --> 00:39:22,482 Ignition, sir. 705 00:39:25,551 --> 00:39:27,689 As the pilots prepared to depart Huntsville, 706 00:39:27,793 --> 00:39:30,758 they did have a weather report from Southern Airways. 707 00:39:30,862 --> 00:39:33,172 But the information was already hours old. 708 00:39:33,275 --> 00:39:35,034 Looks like you guys got a good one comin'. 709 00:39:35,137 --> 00:39:37,862 Southern Airways dispatch did not have 710 00:39:37,965 --> 00:39:39,517 updated information. 711 00:39:39,620 --> 00:39:43,931 They didn't subscribe to the National Weather Services update system. 712 00:39:44,034 --> 00:39:46,517 They did have a subscription to a service 713 00:39:46,620 --> 00:39:50,931 that required them to dial-up and receive the information. 714 00:39:51,034 --> 00:39:53,413 When the dispatcher called the phone number 715 00:39:53,517 --> 00:39:55,620 to get the updated information it was busy, 716 00:39:55,724 --> 00:39:57,137 and never pursued it, 717 00:39:57,241 --> 00:39:58,655 and was not able to provide 718 00:39:58,758 --> 00:40:00,206 any kind of update information 719 00:40:00,310 --> 00:40:01,655 to the crew of 242. 720 00:40:02,551 --> 00:40:04,275 Southern Airways 242, 721 00:40:04,379 --> 00:40:05,931 I'm painting a line of weather 722 00:40:06,034 --> 00:40:10,379 which appears to be moderate to-possibly-heavy precipitation, 723 00:40:10,482 --> 00:40:12,551 starting about five miles ahead. 724 00:40:12,655 --> 00:40:14,000 Could Huntsville have provided 725 00:40:14,103 --> 00:40:16,379 better weather information? Absolutely. 726 00:40:16,482 --> 00:40:18,758 But in the course of doing their job, 727 00:40:18,862 --> 00:40:21,068 they provided localized weather information 728 00:40:21,172 --> 00:40:23,517 about an intense thunderstorm, or rain shower 729 00:40:23,620 --> 00:40:25,241 that was moving over the airport. 730 00:40:25,344 --> 00:40:26,551 They were only responsible, 731 00:40:26,655 --> 00:40:29,137 really, for about 40 nautical miles. 732 00:40:29,241 --> 00:40:31,413 What the crew of Flight 242 was looking at 733 00:40:31,517 --> 00:40:33,034 was well beyond 40 miles. 734 00:40:35,103 --> 00:40:37,206 With little information on the storm, 735 00:40:37,310 --> 00:40:39,310 and having misread their weather radar, 736 00:40:39,413 --> 00:40:42,068 Bill McKenzie and Lyman Keele flew blindly 737 00:40:42,172 --> 00:40:43,896 into massive thunderheads. 738 00:40:45,586 --> 00:40:48,310 The heavy rain and hail crippled their engines. 739 00:40:53,931 --> 00:40:57,896 The crew decided that their only option was an emergency landing. 740 00:40:58,000 --> 00:40:59,517 We've lost both engines. 741 00:40:59,620 --> 00:41:01,379 How about getting us a vector to the nearest place? 742 00:41:02,862 --> 00:41:05,620 Southern 242, roger. Turn right, heading 743 00:41:05,724 --> 00:41:07,310 one-zero-zero. 744 00:41:07,413 --> 00:41:09,137 Will be vectors for a straight-in approach 745 00:41:09,241 --> 00:41:11,931 to Dobbins, runway 11. 746 00:41:18,448 --> 00:41:20,551 When investigators analyze the flight path 747 00:41:20,655 --> 00:41:22,448 of Southern Airways 242, 748 00:41:22,551 --> 00:41:25,034 they discover one more deadly oversight. 749 00:41:29,310 --> 00:41:30,862 From the time the crew realized 750 00:41:30,965 --> 00:41:33,137 that they had no engine power 751 00:41:33,241 --> 00:41:35,344 till the time of touch-down was about nine minutes. 752 00:41:35,448 --> 00:41:38,275 So, in looking at the critical decision making, 753 00:41:38,379 --> 00:41:40,172 they had about seven minutes 754 00:41:40,275 --> 00:41:42,068 of solid, critical decision-making 755 00:41:42,172 --> 00:41:43,620 before they were committed 756 00:41:43,724 --> 00:41:46,517 to that emergency landing on the highway. 757 00:41:46,620 --> 00:41:48,517 Get us a vector to a clear area, Atlanta. 758 00:41:50,034 --> 00:41:51,517 After the engines failed, 759 00:41:51,620 --> 00:41:54,103 the pilots made a 180 degree turn 760 00:41:54,206 --> 00:41:55,137 towards the west 761 00:41:55,241 --> 00:41:57,827 looking for an escape from the storm. 762 00:41:57,931 --> 00:42:02,344 That takes them directly away from Dobbins Air Force Base. 763 00:42:02,448 --> 00:42:05,137 The turn takes the pilots out of the hailstorm 764 00:42:05,241 --> 00:42:08,034 but leaves them further away from a runway. 765 00:42:08,137 --> 00:42:10,689 They also lose minutes of valuable flying time. 766 00:42:12,310 --> 00:42:14,724 Only once the pilots escape the hailstorm, 767 00:42:14,827 --> 00:42:16,551 do they turn again towards Dobbins. 768 00:42:17,896 --> 00:42:20,827 Uh, is there an airport between our position and Dobbins? 769 00:42:20,931 --> 00:42:24,482 Southern 242, uh, no, sir, closest airport is Dobbins. 770 00:42:25,758 --> 00:42:28,448 Had they maintained that course to Dobbins 771 00:42:28,551 --> 00:42:32,068 rather than make the turns or try to find another airport, 772 00:42:32,172 --> 00:42:34,103 they probably would have had a better success rate 773 00:42:34,206 --> 00:42:36,000 and definitely a better survival rate. 774 00:42:37,275 --> 00:42:41,448 Southern 242, roger. Turn right, heading 100, 775 00:42:41,551 --> 00:42:43,379 will be vectors for a straight-in approach 776 00:42:43,482 --> 00:42:46,793 to Dobbins, uh, runway 11. 777 00:42:46,896 --> 00:42:49,034 By the time McKenzie received the instructions, 778 00:42:49,137 --> 00:42:52,862 Southern Airways 242 had been flying away from Dobbins for too long. 779 00:42:52,965 --> 00:42:54,517 The plane was simply too far 780 00:42:54,620 --> 00:42:56,482 and flying too low to make it there. 781 00:42:56,586 --> 00:42:58,344 Declare an emergency, Bill. 782 00:42:58,448 --> 00:43:02,724 But there was one last missed opportunity to save Flight 242. 783 00:43:07,275 --> 00:43:10,241 Investigators learn that just as McKenzie and Keele were 784 00:43:10,344 --> 00:43:12,896 directed towards Dobbins Air Force Base, 785 00:43:13,000 --> 00:43:14,965 they were right above another runway. 786 00:43:17,103 --> 00:43:20,379 Cornelius Moore Airport. 787 00:43:20,482 --> 00:43:24,275 I thought we would land at Cornelius Moore Airport, 788 00:43:24,379 --> 00:43:26,206 because I was familiar with that airport. 789 00:43:26,310 --> 00:43:28,896 I had flown many times in our airplane 790 00:43:29,000 --> 00:43:32,413 back and forth between Decatur and Atlanta. 791 00:43:32,517 --> 00:43:34,896 Investigators learn that Cornelius Moore was 792 00:43:35,000 --> 00:43:38,965 just out of range of radar at Atlanta Approach Control. 793 00:43:39,068 --> 00:43:41,172 They didn't know it existed. 794 00:43:41,275 --> 00:43:44,137 They could not direct Southern Airways 242 there, 795 00:43:44,241 --> 00:43:47,103 because they couldn't see it on their screens. 796 00:43:47,206 --> 00:43:49,068 When I learned that the controllers 797 00:43:49,172 --> 00:43:50,655 in Atlanta didn't know 798 00:43:50,758 --> 00:43:53,827 about the Cornelius Moore Airport in Cartersville, 799 00:43:53,931 --> 00:43:55,034 I was upset. 800 00:43:55,724 --> 00:43:57,137 Because we went within, 801 00:43:57,241 --> 00:43:59,689 I think, three or four miles of that airport. 802 00:43:59,793 --> 00:44:02,344 It had a 4,000 foot runway. 803 00:44:02,448 --> 00:44:06,172 And even though some of the controllers thought it was too short, 804 00:44:06,275 --> 00:44:08,275 it sure would have been better than that highway we landed on. 805 00:44:10,655 --> 00:44:13,965 I was very, very angry. It was such a futile reaction. 806 00:44:14,068 --> 00:44:16,172 You know, it was such a waste of life that... 807 00:44:17,862 --> 00:44:18,758 I was sad. 808 00:44:20,896 --> 00:44:23,137 The NTSB investigation concludes 809 00:44:23,241 --> 00:44:26,275 that the catastrophic failure of the turbofan engines 810 00:44:26,379 --> 00:44:28,413 and the failure to convey sufficient information 811 00:44:28,517 --> 00:44:30,827 on the storm to the pilots, are the causes 812 00:44:30,931 --> 00:44:33,448 of the crash of Southern Airways 242. 813 00:44:34,827 --> 00:44:37,137 The NTSB acts immediately. 814 00:44:37,241 --> 00:44:38,551 It issues a recommendation 815 00:44:38,655 --> 00:44:41,172 that weather radar systems aboard planes 816 00:44:41,275 --> 00:44:44,000 and in air-traffic control centers be upgraded 817 00:44:44,103 --> 00:44:46,413 to better portray weather systems. 818 00:44:46,517 --> 00:44:48,000 In today's commercial aircraft, 819 00:44:48,103 --> 00:44:50,965 pilots have available to them color weather radar. 820 00:44:51,068 --> 00:44:54,206 It's radar that will depict in various colored bands 821 00:44:54,310 --> 00:44:56,241 the intensity of the precipitation. 822 00:44:58,034 --> 00:45:00,241 The crash of Southern Airways 242 823 00:45:00,344 --> 00:45:02,241 also leads to a better understanding 824 00:45:02,344 --> 00:45:06,448 of how engines should be managed in heavy precipitation. 825 00:45:06,551 --> 00:45:10,413 We once again reaffirmed to the pilots the importance 826 00:45:10,517 --> 00:45:13,448 not to allow the engine to continue operation 827 00:45:13,551 --> 00:45:15,586 in continual surging. 828 00:45:15,689 --> 00:45:17,931 If there is a surge condition, for any reason, 829 00:45:19,448 --> 00:45:21,034 you should clear the surge. 830 00:45:21,137 --> 00:45:23,034 Because if you didn't clear the surge 831 00:45:23,137 --> 00:45:26,275 and allowed it to operate it would break eventually. 832 00:45:27,827 --> 00:45:30,379 In every air crash, investigators try 833 00:45:30,482 --> 00:45:34,068 to determine whether or not the accident was survivable. 834 00:45:34,172 --> 00:45:37,241 When you look at the survivability in an aircraft accident, 835 00:45:37,344 --> 00:45:38,655 you can definitively say 836 00:45:38,758 --> 00:45:40,896 that the design of the seat contributed 837 00:45:41,000 --> 00:45:43,793 to the survival factors aspects, 838 00:45:43,896 --> 00:45:46,137 but the statistics that bear out 839 00:45:46,241 --> 00:45:48,172 whether sitting in the front of the airplane is safer, 840 00:45:48,275 --> 00:45:49,448 the middle, of the airplane is safer, 841 00:45:49,551 --> 00:45:52,172 or the back of the airplane is safer, don't exist. 842 00:45:53,206 --> 00:45:54,931 In this particular instance, 843 00:45:55,034 --> 00:45:57,931 a surviving passenger, Don Foster, was quick-thinking. 844 00:45:58,034 --> 00:45:59,896 He put a leather jacket over his head, 845 00:46:00,000 --> 00:46:01,655 and used a pillow as a buffer 846 00:46:01,758 --> 00:46:04,103 between the seat in front of him and his face. 847 00:46:04,206 --> 00:46:06,034 That probably saved his life 848 00:46:06,137 --> 00:46:07,241 from the standpoint 849 00:46:07,344 --> 00:46:08,965 that it minimized any injuries 850 00:46:09,068 --> 00:46:11,034 he would have suffered. 851 00:46:11,137 --> 00:46:12,965 In fact, the NTSB believes 852 00:46:13,068 --> 00:46:15,827 that if flight attendants had distributed blankets and pillows 853 00:46:15,931 --> 00:46:18,586 to the passengers, there would have been fewer injuries 854 00:46:18,689 --> 00:46:19,896 as a result of the crash. 855 00:46:20,000 --> 00:46:21,827 We learn from every airplane crash. 856 00:46:21,931 --> 00:46:23,517 We learned from this one. 857 00:46:23,620 --> 00:46:25,620 We learned that the communication broke down 858 00:46:25,724 --> 00:46:27,827 within the FAA, within Southern Airways, 859 00:46:27,931 --> 00:46:30,620 even within the cockpit of that DC-9. 860 00:46:30,724 --> 00:46:32,827 What we didn't ultimately learn though is 861 00:46:32,931 --> 00:46:34,551 the most important lesson, 862 00:46:34,655 --> 00:46:38,724 and that is awesome respect for Mother Nature, 863 00:46:38,827 --> 00:46:40,344 and what Mother Nature can do. 864 00:46:42,620 --> 00:46:43,862 30 years have passed 865 00:46:43,965 --> 00:46:46,172 since Southern Airways 242 crashed 866 00:46:46,275 --> 00:46:49,379 through the small community of New Hope, Georgia. 867 00:46:49,482 --> 00:46:51,413 Every 10 years since the crash, 868 00:46:51,517 --> 00:46:54,965 survivors of the tragedy gather at a church in New Hope. 869 00:46:55,068 --> 00:46:57,000 They remember those that were lost, 870 00:46:57,103 --> 00:46:59,482 and help one another cope with the tragedy. 871 00:46:59,586 --> 00:47:02,586 It's one of the longest-running survivors group of its kind. 872 00:47:04,620 --> 00:47:07,517 I want to welcome you to this service today 873 00:47:07,620 --> 00:47:10,586 in remembering April the 4th, 1977, 874 00:47:10,689 --> 00:47:14,551 when the Southern Airways Flight 242 crashed here 875 00:47:14,655 --> 00:47:15,931 in the New Hope community. 876 00:47:16,965 --> 00:47:19,000 Earl D. Johnson. 877 00:47:23,103 --> 00:47:25,586 Lyman Keele Junior. 878 00:47:28,344 --> 00:47:30,448 William Wade McKenzie. 879 00:47:33,551 --> 00:47:35,413 Earl C. Griffin Junior. 880 00:47:39,413 --> 00:47:41,931 After the crash, I had... 881 00:47:42,034 --> 00:47:45,000 a hard time understanding how I managed to survive. 882 00:47:46,517 --> 00:47:50,482 And after a couple of months, I quit worrying about it. 883 00:47:50,586 --> 00:47:53,034 I felt like I had a second shot at it. 884 00:47:54,241 --> 00:47:55,482 I felt like that... 885 00:47:57,068 --> 00:47:59,172 family was more important, 886 00:47:59,275 --> 00:48:03,931 uh, having fun was more important. 887 00:48:17,413 --> 00:48:20,448 It took a pretty deep toll on our family, 888 00:48:20,551 --> 00:48:22,000 my mother, my father especially. 889 00:48:22,862 --> 00:48:25,103 They lost two of their children 890 00:48:25,206 --> 00:48:28,103 and all their grandchildren all at one time. 891 00:48:33,068 --> 00:48:35,068 And I can, still to this day, 892 00:48:35,172 --> 00:48:37,275 I can smell the odors, 893 00:48:37,379 --> 00:48:40,689 and I can... hear the sounds 894 00:48:40,793 --> 00:48:42,931 and I can see those people. 895 00:48:43,034 --> 00:48:45,517 So many things will bring back those smallest memories. 896 00:48:46,448 --> 00:48:48,931 And every time it's triggered, 897 00:48:49,034 --> 00:48:50,931 the emotions come back. 898 00:48:51,034 --> 00:48:53,689 You don't want them to. You don't ask for them. 899 00:48:53,793 --> 00:48:55,448 But you can't stop them. 900 00:48:58,379 --> 00:49:00,482 I believe it's important 901 00:49:00,586 --> 00:49:02,965 for the survivors to get together, 902 00:49:03,068 --> 00:49:06,000 so that they can share their experiences, 903 00:49:06,103 --> 00:49:08,586 know that there are other people 904 00:49:08,689 --> 00:49:10,758 that went through the same feelings that they did. 905 00:49:14,241 --> 00:49:17,344 I mean, I've had a great life because of this, in a way. 906 00:49:17,448 --> 00:49:18,827 That makes no sense, 907 00:49:18,931 --> 00:49:21,172 but it's changed me for the better. 908 00:49:21,275 --> 00:49:23,275 I think I've done better and had a better life, 909 00:49:23,379 --> 00:49:24,965 because of how I grew from that. 910 00:49:32,344 --> 00:49:35,827 May this service do honor to these dear loved ones, 911 00:49:36,931 --> 00:49:39,241 And may it bring comfort and peace 912 00:49:40,000 --> 00:49:41,241 to we who remain.