All language subtitles for Air.Disasters.S20E06.Perilous.Payload.1080p.SMIT.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-maldini_track3_[eng]

What's going on?

NARRATOR: In Miami,
a 140-ton cargo plane

pitches up suddenly on takeoff.

Oh, no!

How much weight
was on the airplane

might have affected the pitch
control of this aircraft.

NARRATOR: When a packed
commuter flight crashes,

it reveals that passengers
are at risk every day.

It was sitting
low when taxied out.

It looked heavy.

Baggage people said
it was hard to shut

the door because they thought
bags were going to come out.

NARRATOR: And a
jumbo jet heavily

loaded with armored vehicles--

Get the nose down!

I'm trying!

NARRATOR: --mysteriously
falls from the sky.

Holy crap.

One of those things
actually moved.

That cargo shifts,
you'll wind up

with a potential pitch problem.

NARRATOR: Three planes with
perilous payloads force

investigators to question
every calculation.

We know what to do.

We just don't do it.

FLIGHT ATTENDANT 1:
Ladies and gentlemen,

we are starting our approach.

PILOT: We lost both engines.

FLIGHT ATTENDANT 2: Put
the mask over your nose.

Emergency descent.
MAN 1: Mayday, mayday.

FLIGHT ATTENDANT 3:
Brace for impact!

MAN 2: I think lost one.

REPORTER: Investigation is
starting on the tragedy.

MAN 3: He's gonna crash!

NARRATOR: August 7, 1997,
Fine Air Cargo Flight 101

prepares for a flight
from Miami, Florida

to the Dominican Republic.

TOWER: Fine Air 101,
clear to Santo Domingo.

Where are you parked?

NARRATOR: Captain
Patrick Thompson

is a former Marine and
highly experienced pilot

specializing in cargo flights.

OK, 1407 on the
squawk, and we're

up in the northeast corner.

Thanks.

NARRATOR: First Officer Steve
Petrosky will be the pilot

flying during this leg.

All good out there.

OK.

Thank you.

NARRATOR: Flight
Engineer Glenn Millington

just finished his walk-around.

He still needs to
check the cargo.

They still got the belly open?

Yeah, I'll go back and
check out what's going on.

NARRATOR: Fine Air
is the largest cargo

airline flying into
and out of Miami,

a hub that's rapidly expanding.

Miami-Dade and literally
all the South Florida area,

the 90s was heyday.

There was this big economic boom
from trade with Latin America.

NARRATOR: Today's
route to Santo Domingo

is a two-hour 10-minute flight
southeast over the Atlantic.

In the cargo hold, Millington
checks to see if the pallets

holding the cargo are secure.

Looks like we're good to go.

NARRATOR: The DC-8
is loaded with more

than 87,000 pounds of denim.

Howdy.

NARRATOR: Cargo so valuable
it requires a security escort.

At 12:30 PM, Flight 101
taxis to its runway.

Fine Air 101, fly
heading two, seven, zero,

cleared for takeoff.

Clear takeoff 27 right.

Fine Air 101, heavy.

Four spooled and stable.

Max power.

OK, coming up on
60 knots, power set.

80.

NARRATOR: The takeoff
is going smoothly.

V1, rotate.

Hey, easy, easy, easy.

NARRATOR: Suddenly,
the nose pitches up.

Something is wrong.

The air traffic controller is
alarmed by what he now sees.

What's going on?

Whoa, whoa!

NARRATOR: The crew fights to
get the plane under control.

But they can't.

Too low.

Too low, terrain.

What's happening?

Up, up.

No!

Where is your emergency?

Yes, there's been a plane
crash at 72nd and 25th.

You need to roll
everything because it's

right down across the street.

NARRATOR: It's the unthinkable--

a plane crash in
the heart of Miami.

Everybody needs to move out of
the way, back off the sidewalk.

All the way back.

We need you to go
across the street, please.

NARRATOR: Hundreds of people
have witnessed the catastrophe.

I saw a plane
coming directly at me.

When it crossed
one of the freeways,

by chance the traffic
lights were red.

And so it managed to
cross the freeway with not

a huge amount of loss of life.

NARRATOR: The plane's three-men
crew and an onboard security

guard are confirmed dead.

And one victim on the ground
is killed in his parked car.

The National Transportation
Safety Board in Washington

rushes their go-team to Miami.

Former Air Force
pilot Bob Benson

is the lead investigator.

More than 48,000
pounds of jet fuel

turn the plane into a
mass of smoking debris.

There weren't a lot
of large parts left.

The engines were recognizable,
pieces of the tail perhaps.

But the rest of it
was a burnt up mess.

NARRATOR: Bob Benson is eager
to get data from the plane's

blackbox recorders.

I got them both.

Good work.

NARRATOR: They're sent to
Washington for analysis.

As investigators wait
for the flight data,

a witness account from the
plane's air traffic controller

gives them immediate insight.

Just after takeoff,
he went steeply nose up.

I could see the
tops of the wings.

What this told us early
in the investigation

was that we either had a problem
with the airplane, something

that the pilots did
during the takeoff,

or there may have been
something wrong with the load.

They were definitely spinning.

NARRATOR: Benson
and his team quickly

rule out a mechanical problem
with the plane's engines.

We looked inside them, and
it looked like they were all

operating at
high-power settings,

just from visual examination.

NARRATOR: They begin
scouring the scorched cargo

hold in search of answers.

Got something.

NARRATOR: Picking through
layers of torched debris,

Benson makes a
shocking discovery.

This bear claw is unlocked.

NARRATOR: Bear claws
physically clamp

pallets to the cargo hold.

We found a lot of these bear
claws, or cargo locks, open.

So they wouldn't have
been restraining cargo.

NARRATOR: Every
pallet in the hold

is supposed to be
locked before takeoff

to prevent cargo from shifting.

But at the crash scene,
investigators find even

more bear claws that are open.

We found 60 bear
claws, and like 57 or so

were actually open.

And that was not a good thing.

NARRATOR: It's a
disturbing discovery,

indicating the possibility
the cargo shifted on takeoff.

Hey, easy, easy.

Easy.

NARRATOR: A plane's cargo must
be carefully positioned to keep

its front and rear balanced.

The balancing point is
called the center of gravity.

The center of
gravity of an airplane

is a theoretical point at
which the airplane balances.

If you could hold up the
airplane by your finger,

it would be the one place that
it would be totally balanced.

NARRATOR: If the center of
gravity shifts mid-flight,

then the plane becomes unstable
and might be impossible to fly.

It's very important
that the center of gravity

stays within its
specified range.

If you have too many
pallets shifting

in the rear of the airplane,
it's going to be too tailheavy.

If they're in the forward
part of the airplane,

it'll be too noseheavy.

NARRATOR: If the cargo on Flight
101 shifted during takeoff--

Rotate.

NARRATOR: --the change in
the plane's center of gravity

could have been catastrophic.

Hey, easy, easy.

The airplane may
pick up very rapidly,

and they would
have to react very

quickly so that it doesn't
pitch up into a stall condition.

What's going on?

Whoa.

NARRATOR: And that's
exactly what the air traffic

controller reported seeing.

Just four days after
Flight 101 came down,

investigators are now
confident that shifting

cargo caused the crash.

Now all they have to do--

Oh, no.

No!

NARRATOR: --is prove it.

NARRATOR: Investigators need to
confirm if the cargo on board

Fine Air Flight
101 wasn't properly

secured, shifting the center
of gravity of the aircraft.

Hey, easy, easy.

That led us to start
talking to the folks

that actually loaded the cargo.

NARRATOR: Benson
discovers that Fine

Air had a partnership
with a Dominican

freight company, Aeromar.

There's no doubt most of
them were left unlocked.

NARRATOR: Investigators expect
the supervisor to admit fault.

But it's almost the opposite.

We only log the
first and last pallets.

NARRATOR: The supervisor
shows investigators

another DC-8 which is being
loaded with 18 pallets.

Each pallet is wheeled
into place along a rail

built into the floor.

All of the spaces in
the hold get filled with

either empty or loaded pallets.

If the pallets at the front and
back of the plane are locked,

the cargo can't shift.

Records show that all 18
positions on Flight 101

were filled with either
full or empty pallets.

I can't see how it
would have shifted.

We knew that there
wasn't enough space

for cargo to have shifted.

NARRATOR: The tidy theory of
cargo shifting is shot down.

The investigation
needs a new angle.

If the cargo was secure,
Benson and his team

wonder if the pilots
misconfigured the plane

according to its load.

Let's get started.

NARRATOR: That could have
caused the plane to pitch up

and suddenly go out of control.

Before takeoff,
pilots pre-select

the pitch of the
play by adjusting

the rear horizontal stabilizer.

The angle of the stabilizer
is determined according to

the plane's weight and balance.

All good up there.

OK, Thank you.

NARRATOR: Now in possession
of the blackbox data,

investigators listen to the
cockpit voice recording.

2.4 indicated.

NARRATOR: They confirm the
pilots had configured the jet

according to the reported load.

So why the extreme pitch-up?

NARRATOR: Again,
investigators are stumped.

If the stabilizer setting
was configured according

to its weight and balance--

Max power.

NARRATOR: --investigators
need to develop a new theory.

Was the plane too heavy to fly?

We were focusing on
how much weight was

on the airplane, as it might
have affected the pitch

control of this aircraft.

NARRATOR: Benson and his
team compare the cargo

weight against
the manufacturer's

maximum weight specifications.

The plane was 32,000
pounds underweight.

NARRATOR: It's a dead end.

The plane wasn't overweight.

But Benson knows
something isn't adding up.

A lot of little things
built up to have us

believe that Fine Airlines
wasn't living up to its name.

NARRATOR: Desperate
to find a new clue,

Benson's team reviews
all of their evidence,

including security footage
of the plane loading.

Everything seems to be
routine until Benson

is struck by the sight of
cargo coming off the plane.

Take a look.

Any idea what's going on?

Me neither.

NARRATOR: Adding to the mystery,
the Aeromar and Fine Air

supervisors are in
a heated discussion.

Something was amiss.

We didn't know what, but
something was going on.

NARRATOR: Benson needs
to find out what.

So they pay another visit
to the loading teams.

Why did you remove those
pallets at the last minute?

The pallets didn't fit.

NARRATOR: Investigators now
learn that two of the pallets

couldn't fit their
assigned space

because their pre-wrapped
cargo spilled over the side.

They don't fit.

NARRATOR: The Fine
Air supervisor is

asked how he fixed the problem.

And his solution
shocks investigators.

Get these ones out so you
can push those ones back.

NARRATOR: They moved
several loaded pallets back

into the spaces designated
for empty pallets.

So all the pallets
were just moved back?

Yes, sir.

NARRATOR: But what's
even more troubling

is that no one thought
to tell the flight

crew that the center of gravity
had shifted to the back.

Looks like we're good to go.

NARRATOR: To
investigators, it looks

like the plane's
center of gravity

was now dangerously wrong.

They zero in on a new theory.

You can move cargo
around as much as you want,

but the flight crew
needs to know what

the final configuration is.

NARRATOR: Knowing
the configuration--

2.4 indicated.

NARRATOR: --allows the
pilots to properly set

their rear stabilizer
for takeoff.

They just weren't thinking.

NARRATOR: Now investigators must
prove whether the careless act

caused the accident.

They review the plane's
actual weight distribution.

13 moves to 14.

That's an extra 5,854
pounds to the back.

This shift of heavy
pallets to the rear

became a rather big deal,
because it ended up putting

the center of gravity
very, very far to the rear,

probably past the safe point.

NARRATOR: Investigators
head to a flight simulator

to do flight tests
with the actual cargo

arrangement on Flight 101.

OK, good to go.

NARRATOR: The
conditions at takeoff

are recreated as
accurately as possible.

[beeping]

Too low, terrain.

In the end, we were
able to determine

that the actual
center of gravity

for the accident airplane
was just beyond safe limit.

Pull up.

That's what
allowed the airplane

to pitch up so aggressively
just after takeoff.

They didn't stand a chance.

NARRATOR: Had the pilots
known of the change in balance

to the load--

2.4 indicated.

NARRATOR: --they
could have adjusted

their stabilizer setting
appropriately prior to takeoff.

Set for departure.

NARRATOR: Instead, Flight 101--

Hey, easy.

NARRATOR: --is
configured for disaster.

What's going on?

Whoa, whoa.

Pull up.

No!

NARRATOR: The NTSB's
conclusions are

a wake-up call for the cargo
industry in Southern Florida.

Fine Air is ordered to
overhaul their supervision

of the cargo loading process.

Weight and balance are
so fundamental to flight

that the lessons learned
from the Fine Air crash

should last throughout
the industry.

But they don't.

It's stunning that
they keep happening,

because that's no mystery.

That one has been solved.

We know what to do.

We just don't do it.

Go!

NARRATOR: In North Carolina,
just 6 and 1/2 years later,

an out-of-balance
commuter plane crashes.

You got it?

I'm trying.

NARRATOR: And
investigators uncover

how another perilous
payload takes

the lives of everyone onboard.

International Airport, Captain
Katie Leslie is at work early.

Only 25 years old, this Texas
native is one of the youngest

flight captains at her airline.

Air Midwest runs a
bustling commuter

service out of the airport.

Today, Captain Leslie
commands a Beechcraft 1900-D

on a 30-minute hop to
Greenville Spartanburg Airport

in Greer, South Carolina.

At 8:00 in the morning, 19
passengers board the flight.

Meanwhile, as part of
the standard checklist

before takeoff,
the crew calculates

the weight of all the
baggage passengers

and fuel on the plane.

So we got a full
house back there?

You can count 19
people in the back.

Cool.

17,018.

17,120 is our weight, huh?

Yeah, is our max.

So we're cool?

So yeah.

Good morning.

Welcome aboard US
Airways Express Service

to Greenville-Spartanburg.

It's a very short
flight, and we'll have

you there in a few minutes.

NARRATOR: Ready for
departure, the pilots

taxi on to the runway.

Air Midwest 5481, turn right
heading two, three, zero.

Cleared for takeoff.

Set takeoff power, please.

80 knots.

Cross-check.

NARRATOR: To air traffic
control, Flight 5481's takeoff

roll is perfectly normal.

Gear up.

What?

Whoa!

NARRATOR: Without
warning, the plane's nose

pitches dramatically upward.

Push the nose down!

Oh my god.

We have an emergency
on Air Midwest 5481!

NARRATOR: The plane
stalls, rolls to the left,

and begins falling from the sky.

Captain Leslie tries to
get the plane to climb,

but it's too late.

The plane dives towards
a US Airways hangar

with hundreds of
people working inside.

[phone ringing]

MAN (ON PHONE): Fire station.
WOMAN (ON PHONE): Emergency.

A plane just crashed.

MAN (ON PHONE): There's
a plane that's crashed?

WOMAN (ON PHONE): Yes, at
the US Air maintenance place.

It approached the building.

There's a fire.

NARRATOR: It's a total loss.

All 21 people onboard, including
the flight crew, are dead.

Remarkably, only one
person on the ground

is injured in the disaster.

It falls on NTSB lead
investigator Lorinda Ward

to figure out what
happened to the plane.

Due to the post-crash fire,
when you initially walked up

to it, it was hard to identify
that you had an airplane

that could hold 21 people.

NARRATOR: Within
hours of the crash,

investigators find
the blackboxes

from the charred remains
of Air Midwest Flight 5481.

While they wait for the
blackbox data to be downloaded,

they begin interviewing
ground workers at the airport.

And did you notice anything
unusual before takeoff?

Well, it was sitting
low when taxied out.

It looked heavy.

We had a couple of witnesses
that were implying that we had

a very heavily loaded airplane.

NARRATOR: Every plane
has a maximum weight

it can handle before the engines
can't get it off the ground.

Before takeoff, it's the
pilots' job to calculate

the onboard weight.

So we got a full
house back there?

Yeah, you can count
19 people in the back.

NARRATOR: When investigators
review the cockpit voice

recorder, they get confirmation
that the crew of Flight 5481--

Cool.

17,018.

NARRATOR: --did perform
that calculation.

So we're cool?

So yeah.

NARRATOR: On any
plane, large or small,

the weight of cargo
and passengers

has to be distributed evenly.

And pilots work closely
with the loading team

to monitor the weight
and balance of the cargo.

I don't think we're going
to have to take anything off.

NARRATOR: Air Midwest
pilots are trained to make

weight calculations
using average weights--

175 pounds per passenger
and 20 pounds per bag.

Due to using
the average weight

and average calculations,
the paperwork

showed them being
within the range

that they needed to take off.

3, 200--

NARRATOR: But Ward needs
to know if the plane really

was within the proper range
of weight and balance.

What we did is we
looked at the weights

of the actual baggage
itself and then the weight

of the passengers and the crew.

Yes, could you tell me please
what the last recorded weight

of your patient is, please?

NARRATOR: Ward learns that
most passengers are now

heavier than the
average weight that's

guided pilots for decades.

And when all the
numbers are in--

212?

Thank you.

NARRATOR: --Ward discovers
the real weight of Flight 5481

is 17,700 pounds, some 580
pounds over its maximum takeoff

weight.

It's not right.

They would not have been
able to take off if they

had used actual weights.

They would have had to pull
either passengers or bags off.

NARRATOR: The excess weight
meant the plane was tailheavy,

and its center of gravity
was too far to the rear.

Gear up.

NARRATOR: The discovery explains
the plane's sudden pitch

upwards.

But flight data
reveals the pitch

was at an angle from
which the pilot should

have been able to recover.

For Lorinda Ward,
something doesn't add up.

She needs to know what
other factors contributed

to the catastrophic crash.

Flight 5481 didn't regain
control when their plane

pitched violently upwards.

Sifting through the
crash site wreckage,

they make a critical discovery--

the shredded remains of the
plane's elevator control

cables, vital to flight control.

They looked unusual.

They weren't like
the normal position

that you would find them.

In this case, we had one
adjusted all the way out

and then one adjusted
all the way in.

NARRATOR: The state of the
elevator cables is alarming.

These cables link the pilots'
control columns to the flight

elevator, an aerodynamic
panel that helps pilots climb

and descend.

Ward now believes that
the pilots' ability

to control the
plane's pitch could

have been severely compromised.

But she doesn't know why.

Puzzled, investigators dig into
the plane's maintenance history

and interview the
aircraft mechanics.

What they find strikes at the
very heart of what went wrong.

Once you have the rig pin set,
adjust the turnbuckle barrels

for more tension in the cable.

Yeah.

NARRATOR: In the days
before the crash,

during maintenance of the
plane's elevator cables--

Got it.

NARRATOR: --mechanics in
training skip some vital steps.

What about the other steps?

Yeah, don't worry about those.

NARRATOR: Skipping
critical steps--

- Oh.
- Help me!

NARRATOR: --put the elevator
cables out of alignment--

Oh my god.

NARRATOR: --and crippled
the pilots' efforts

to adjust the plane's pitch.

They lost the ability
to control the aircraft.

Oh my god!

They had no elevator
movement enough to bring

the nose back down.

Push the nose down!

Oh my god!

We have an emergency
on Air Midwest 5481.

Alert three standby,
runway one, eight, right.

NARRATOR: In her report, Ward
concludes that before takeoff,

Flight 5481 was 580
pounds overweight

and slightly tailheavy.

Then careless
maintenance meant pilots

did not have sufficient
control of the elevators

to fight the problem.

Loaded with a perilous
payload, the plane was doomed

the moment it left the ground.

They didn't know
that they had these two

hidden latent failures
that were waiting for them.

NARRATOR: The NTSB
states the need

for more thorough and supervised
maintenance of small aircraft.

Ward's investigation also
makes the stunning revelation

that average weight calculations
put passengers at risk.

She recommends the Federal
Aviation Administration

review how the weight of
people and their baggage

is calculated.

When you see a weight
and balance accident,

it's a failure of the system.

We have the knowledge to
safely load airplanes.

It's an accident type
we've seen before.

And those are the worst
type for an investigator.

Bagram Airfield in Northeastern
Afghanistan, the US

military base is
a hive of activity

with troops, weapons,
and heavy machinery

constantly on the move.

Bagram ground, ISAF.

95 Alpha, get back,
ready to taxi.

NARRATOR: The crew of
National Airlines Flight 102

is flying cargo in a
converted Boeing 747.

Air is just
billowing out of here.

Yeah, sure is.

NARRATOR: They're in the
last leg of a grueling shift.

After flying from
Chateauroux, France

to Camp Bastion where they
loaded 207,000 pounds of cargo,

it was a quick hop to Bagram.

Once the plane is
refueled, they'll

fly 2 and 1/2 hours to Dubai.

Captain Brad Hasler is heading
home to his pregnant wife.

Beside him is first
officer Jamie Brokaw.

Augment Captain Jeremy
Lipka is in the jump seat.

Sheets back there?

I haven't seen him.

I hope he's in the back.

Yeah, he's back there.

NARRATOR: In a cabin
behind the cockpit

is loadmaster Michael Sheets
along with three other crew

members.

The loadmaster is
double checking

that the flight cargo is
properly stowed and ready

for the flight.

At 3:25 PM, the flight crew
are cleared for takeoff.

Nine, five, alpha, Quebec,
runway three, full length.

Prepare for departure.

NARRATOR: At the same moment,
military journalist Steven

Hartov is returning to
the base from a day's work

taking photographs
for a magazine.

I saw, after I left the
truck, a white and purple 747.

And I remember thinking
this is a beautiful airplane

because it looked brand new.

V1 rotate.

Positive climb.

What's going on
with that aircraft?

It was almost
stuttering in the air.

And I immediately
said to Chris, what's

going on with that aircraft?

Is he taking fire?

Keep on that.

NARRATOR: The plane is
suddenly uncontrollable.

Get the nose down!

I'm trying.

NARRATOR: The nose won't drop.

My airplane!

NARRATOR: If they can't
get the nose down fast,

the plane will stall.

[alarm buzzing]

For a moment, they hang
in the air as suspended.

And then the
aircraft seemed to sort

of careen in our direction.

Stop the car.

Now, you're looking at
a big 747 coming at you.

NARRATOR: A 747 cargo plane
falls from Afghan skies.

And in a very slow motion,
it just went straight down

and pancaked into the ground.

It was a mushroom cloud
like a small atom bomb.

It was huge.

The entire base
thundered under our feet.

NARRATOR: National Airlines
Flight 102 is obliterated.

It's the worst aviation accident
ever at Bagram Airfield.

Remarkably, no one
in the ground is hit.

But the entire
flight crew is dead.

Watching those
people die was tough.

It was tough.

NARRATOR: Amid the specter
of a terrorist attack,

the NTSB is assigned to
lead the investigation.

This investigation was
a lot different because we

were flying into a war zone.

When we first got
there, we were given

bulletproof vests
and Kevlar helmets

to wear into the accident site.

So what do you got for me?

NARRATOR: The NTSB will have to
work closely with the military.

A sweep of the crash
site has already

turned up the blackboxes.

But there's not much else for
investigators to work with.

Except for the tail
section, much of the plane

has been consumed
by the inferno.

Soon after the team starts
sifting through the wreckage,

a video of the accident
appears on the internet.

Holy cow.

There it is.

NARRATOR: It reveals a huge clue
about the plane's erratic climb

and fall.

Looks like a problem
with the cargo load.

NARRATOR: The aircraft's
movement in the video

suggests the flight may
have been out of balance.

Some of the early
questions were what

was the cargo in the airplane?

How heavy was the cargo?

NARRATOR: By examining
the cargo manifest,

investigators discover
that the plane

was carrying an unusual load--

five armored vehicles called
MRAPs, or mine-resistant

ambush-protected vehicles.

These massive,
heavily-armed cars each way

between 12 and 18 tons.

Each vehicle was chained
to a custom-built pallet

and secured with straps
to the plane's main deck

by the loading crew.

The cargo in this particular
case was very heavy.

It was the first
time they'd ever

flown five vehicles this heavy.

NARRATOR: Investigators
calculate the precise weight

carried on board.

Max takeoff weight
is 870,000 pounds.

We have 207,000 pounds
of cargo plus fuel.

NARRATOR: They learn that with
the heavy cargo and fuel load,

the plane was not overweight.

Weight was definitely
not an issue.

NARRATOR: But it's not just
the onboard weight that

investigators need to analyze.

The balance of the load
could be the problem.

Bring up the schematics.

We fill it with our cargo.

NARRATOR: After a
few calculations,

investigators have their answer.

The airplane
actually could carry

the weight, and as loaded, was
within the center of gravity.

NARRATOR: It's a dead end.

Investigators explore
another angle.

Even if the load was
balanced before takeoff,

it could have shifted as
the plane left the ground.

The focus now turns to
the loading procedures.

Specifically, were the
MRAPs properly secured

by the loadmaster and his crew?

Now, I flew
transports for the US

Air Force for many,
many years, 23

years in the Lockheed C-1-41.

We were totally dependent on
our loadmasters to get it right.

They were the ones
who could kill us

or not if they put the
load in the wrong position.

NARRATOR: Investigators study
the manual the loadmaster used

to calculate how many
heavy nylon straps are

needed to secure the vehicles.

And seeing his rationale
for calculating those numbers

all seemed to make sense to me.

NARRATOR: But it adds yet more
mystery to the investigation.

If the plane was underweight
with a cargo secured

and balanced in line
with company standards,

what else could possibly
have caused the crash?

Desperate for a new
theory, the investigators

hope the data retrieved
from the 747's blackboxes

will shed some light
on the horrific crash.

Flight data
recorders record what

the elevator and the
ailerons and what

the control pitches are doing.

You have the readouts?

And so we were very
hopeful that we would get

good information
from those recorders

that would help explain why
the airplane had crashed.

Thank you.

NARRATOR: But the team is
hit with another problem.

The cockpit voice recorder
stopped recording mere seconds

after takeoff.

Bring up the CVR.

Stand by.

NARRATOR: Fortunately, it was
recording during the crew's

hour-long wait on the tarmac.

There's trouble, Brad.

What is it?

NARRATOR: Sounds like the
first officer's showing

something to the captain.

One of the damn
straps is busted.

Pause it there.

NARRATOR: The CVR suggests the
first officer found a broken

strap inside the cargo hold.

Did the strap move?

Yeah, just tighten
up on the straps.

Holy crap.

One of those things
actually moved?

So from that information, we
know that they had a load shift

when they came in and landed.

And that was very important
to us in our investigation.

NARRATOR: Investigators now
wonder whether the loadmaster

properly tied down the MRAPs.

How far did it move?

A couple inches?

Yeah, it just moved a couple
inches because it's nylon,

you know?

They have no idea how
serious this really is.

That cargo shifts
during rotation,

you'll wind up with a
potential pitch problem.

NARRATOR: The discovery changes
the face of the investigation.

Bam.

NARRATOR: Did the MRAPs
shift after takeoff--

Get the nose down!

I'm trying.

NARRATOR: --throwing the 747
dangerously out of balance?

Searching for evidence that
the cargo of National Airline

Flight 102 shifted on takeoff--

Take a look at this.

NARRATOR: --investigators look
more closely at the wreckage

from the rear of the aircraft.

Bam.

What became obvious was that
the tire from the aft M-ATV

had impacted the aft
pressure bulkhead

and left that tire impact.

NARRATOR: The metal antenna box
from the rear of the same MRAP

provides another big clue.

Look at that--

paint transfer.

NARRATOR: Orange
paint on the box

comes from the flight recorders.

That looks like a direct hit.

NARRATOR: The flight
recorders are located

at the rear of the plane.

To hit them, the MRAP would have
had to shift at least 12 feet.

Where the CVR
and FDR are located

is 104 inches above the
floor of the aircraft.

NARRATOR: That's
exactly the same height

as the metal antenna box
from the rear of the MRAP.

Now you're starting
to see a chain of events

that this vehicle had to be
moving in an outward direction.

NARRATOR: Could the shifting
cargo bring down a huge 747?

To find out, investigators take
another look at the few pieces

of salvaged wreckage
they have, including

the horizontal stabilizer
from the rear of the plane.

The horizontal stabilizer
is a large control

surface that adjusts the pitch
of the plane during flight.

It's controlled by a jackscrew,
which lowers and raises

the edge of the
stabilizer in response

to the pilot's commands.

What we were
surprised to find out

was that that jackscrew had
actually been pushed aft

and had broken loose
from the airplane.

NARRATOR: Without
the jackscrew, pilots

would have had no control
of the horizontal stabilizer

and therefore no ability
to balance the jet.

Hmm.

I wonder.

NARRATOR: The question now
is, did the jackscrew snap

before or during the crash?

Closer analysis
reveals it snapped

in the opposite direction than
if it were broken in the crash.

It was through here.

NARRATOR: Investigators
wonder what could have caused

the jackscrew to snap off.

They take some
careful measurements

and make a vital discovery.

Straight hit.

I was able to determine that
the bumper of the M-ATV lines

up directly with the
motor of the jackscrew

in the area where it detached
from the lower fuselage.

NARRATOR: The results
point to a clear suspect.

OK, let's play it.

NARRATOR: And based
on this new evidence,

investigators finally
have a theory to prove.

As the jet began its takeoff
roll, the weight of the vehicle

strains the nylon strap.

An 18-ton MRAP comes
loose and hurtles

to the back of the plane.

It smashes the rear jackscrew,
destroying the pilots' control

of the horizontal
stabilizer, making

the plane impossible to fly.

Back in Washington,
D.C. the theory

is examined using a
detailed simulation.

One MRAP at the back.

The two elevators down equals
one uncontrollable plane.

NARRATOR: Investigators
finally know

that an MRAP crashing into the
jackscrew crippled the plane.

Keep on that.

You take away the
horizontal tail,

you're not going to be able to
control this airplane in pitch.

This was an
uncontrollable event.

Come on!

NARRATOR: In the
wake of the accident,

the NTSB recommends mandatory
certification of all cargo

handling personnel,
a move that would

standardize their procedures,
training, and workloads.

The organization had looked
at the capacity of the 747

and said, we can put
five MRAPs in there,

and without considering
not only the weight

but how they were going
to safely secure it.

NARRATOR: History
shows that a plane that

flies with a perilous payload--

What's happening?

NARRATOR: --flirts
with catastrophe.

But it's a flight risk
that's entirely preventable.

You can't take weight
and balance for granted.

Oh my god!

We have an emergency
on Air Midwest 5481.

We are aiming
for zero accidents.

Humans can't do that.

But humans with systems
and backup systems can.

That's what makes aviation
safe when it's safe.

And that's what
screws it up when

we don't do it the right way.