All language subtitles for Air.Disasters.S20E13.VIP.on.Board.1080p.SMIT.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-maldini_track3_[eng]

I'll stop short
of the terminal.

You can have the Secretary
General disembark there.

NARRATOR: A top diplomat
on a secret mission

flies into a mystery that
will linger for decades.

[glass breaking]

Going down!

We're going down!

Brace!

Brace!

It's just not possible
that Dag Hammarskjold was

killed in a common accident.

It had to be something more.

NARRATOR: Victory
leads to tragedy.

My God!
Please help us!

Please help us!
Oh God!

Oh God, please!

NARRATOR: When pilots
gamble with the lives of

celebrated football players--

[beeping]

Total electrical failure.

TODD CURTIS: The
physics of flying

aren't going to change just
because someone important

is in back of the airplane.

NARRATOR: A US Air Force
jet carrying an American VIP

crashes in a war-torn country.

JOHN COX: Was there
some political issues

that may have been involved?

Was the airplane shot down?

NARRATOR: Three crashes, all
with high profile passengers--

can investigators
withstand the scrutiny?

JOHN COX: That's what the
investigators are facing.

They know that they'll
get the answers,

but they need to be able to
show the world the process

that led them to those answers.

FLIGHT ATTENDANT:
Ladies and gentlemen,

we are starting our approach.

PILOT: We lost both engines.

WOMAN 1: Emergency descent.
PILOT: Mayday!

Mayday!

WOMAN 2: Brace for impact!

MAN 1: Get the last one.

MAN 2: Investigations start.

MAN 3: It's going to crash!

NARRATOR: A United Nations
transport plane, the Albertina,

is on a vital mission
in Central Africa.

Estimate a B Ndola at 23:47.

Arrival time, 00:20.

NARRATOR: The
destination is Ndola

airport in the British
colony of Northern Rhodesia.

Controllers and
local dignitaries

anxiously await the
arrival of one of the most

important people in the world.

On board the DC-6 is United
Nations Secretary-General Dag

Hammarskjold.

At least they're
willing to talk.

What else do we know about
their latest demands?

NARRATOR: He's flying in
from Congo to hold peace

talks with a rebel leader.

HENNING MELBER: Hammarskjold
and most likely members

of his entourage on board
were pretty aware that this

is a difficult mission.

It was a Secretary-General
for whom a physical risk was

an integral part of his job.

REPORTER (VOICEOVER): The
United Nations Security Council

meeting again to deal with the
difficult and dangerous Congo

situation.

HENNING MELBER: Congo
in the early '60s

was of utmost priority
in the Cold War.

It was of top tier
strategic importance.

NARRATOR: A bloody civil
war has erupted there.

[gunshots]

And world powers, including
the US and the Soviet Union,

are backing opposing factions.

Hammarskjold hopes to
resolve the deadly conflict

and help reunite Congo.

All right,
descending to 6,000.

Nil traffic ahead.

6,000.

Yes, sir.

NARRATOR: The captain
of the Albertina

is 35-year-old Per Hallonquist.

Our visibility
should be pretty good

once we get down there.

NARRATOR: 29-year-old
Lars Litton

is Hallonquist's first officer.

All right, give me
2,000 RPM and 20 inches.

LARS LITTON: Minimum
descent altitude.

That's 5,000 feet, but
we'll have the runway in sight

long before then.

NARRATOR: The flight left
Congo's capital, Leopoldville,

just over six hours ago.

HENNING MELBER: They
made arrangements

in the route of the plane to
avoid any unpleasant surprises.

DAG HAMMARSKJOLD:
We need to extend--

NARRATOR: To prevent an ambush,
it's flown an indirect route,

and a flight plan
has not been filed.

The pilots have maintained radio
silence for most of the flight.

Are you staying in Ndola?

NARRATOR: They don't know
who might be listening in.

Negative.

There were opportunities
for counter-forces

to perhaps shoot at aircraft
that were on final approach.

NARRATOR: The Secretary-General
and his delegation

should be on the ground
in about 10 minutes.

Your light's in sight.

Overhead, Ndola.

Descending.

Roger.

Report reaching 6,000 feet.

PER HALLONQUIST: Roger.

OK.

They're 10 minutes away.

NARRATOR: The plane needs to fly
past Ndola Airport and circle

back to land on its only runway.

At that point, the
peace mission can begin.

Moments later,
controllers in Ndola

are becoming
increasingly concerned.

Albertina, Ndola
Tower, do you read?

NARRATOR: The
Secretary-General's plane

is overdue.

Lusaka, Ndola
Airport-- have you had

any contact with the UN flight?

MAN 4 (ON PHONE): Negative.

No contact here.

NARRATOR: The plane carrying
one of the most important

people in the world is missing.

At first light, a
search plane heads out.

On a slope nine miles
from the airport,

searchers notice a
gash in the trees.

The flight clearly ended
with a violent impact

and an intense fire.

When local authorities
arrive, they find bodies

amidst badly scorched wreckage.

Dag Hammarskjold is dead.

ROBERT MACINTOSH:
The Secretary-General

had been a very famous guy,
a champion of world peace.

So this was a major world event.

I know that I'm speaking
for all of my fellow Americans

in expressing our deep sense of
shock and loss in the untimely

death of the Secretary-General
of the United Nations,

Mr. Dag Hammarskjold.

[planes flying]

NARRATOR: The Cold War politics
surrounding the flight to Ndola

lead many to speculate that
the Secretary-General's

plane was shot down.

HENNING MELBER: Was there
anyone who wanted to see

Hammarskjold dead?

Where do you want me to
start and where to end?

NARRATOR: Rhodesian
investigators search

for clues--

a difficult task because 80%
of the fuselage is melted.

Wristwatches damaged
by the sudden impact

reveal the exact
time of the crash.

12:13.

NARRATOR: The
Secretary General's

plane hit the ground 3
minutes after its last radio

transmission.

Your light's in sight.

Overhead, Ndola.

Descending.

NARRATOR: Critical
questions about

the flight's final
moments cannot be answered

by a voice or data recorder.

The DC-6 was not
equipped with either.

The only chance of getting
a firsthand account of what

happened rests with
the sole survivor,

Security Officer Harold Julien.

It blew up.

NARRATOR: He states
that the plane

blew up before it crashed.

Then there was the crash.

SVEN HAMMARBERG: He was not in
a good shape after the accident.

It's hard to measure the
value of his statement.

NARRATOR: Investigators
hope Julien

can provide more
details, but he dies

five days after the accident.

Did it really blow up
before the crash like he says?

NARRATOR: Investigators
combed through the DC-6,

looking for evidence
that may reveal

if it was ripped open by
machine gun fire or a missile.

And they test for the
presence of explosives,

but come up empty.

SVEN HAMMARBERG: They divided
the metal parts in small pieces

and so on.

And they didn't find
anything in that way.

NARRATOR: What's more, when
investigators study key pieces

of wreckage from
the DC-6, everything

indicates that the plane was
making a routine landing.

Flaps 30.

Flaps 30.

ROBERT MACINTOSH (VOICEOVER):
The landing gear was down.

The flaps were extended.

OK.

Speed down to 120 knots.

NARRATOR: Rhodesian
investigators

find no evidence of an attack
or any other type of foul play.

For now, the cause of the crash
that killed Dag Hammarskjold--

Going down!
NARRATOR: --remains a mystery.

We're going down!
Brace!

have been 6,000 feet here.

NARRATOR: Investigators
working on the crash

of Dag Hammarskjold's plane now
study the navigational chart

for Ndola.

It tells them that
at the location where

the Albertina crashed,
it should have been

at an altitude of 6,000 feet.

He should have been nearly
1,700 feet above the tree tops.

NARRATOR: Damage to
the trees indicates

the plane did not
dive to the ground,

but rather came in
at a shallow angle.

Investigators wonder how did
the Albertina end up so low.

The transcript says,
"Your light's in sight.

Overhead, Ndola.

Descending.

Roger.

Report reaching 6,000."

NARRATOR: The transcript
of the radio conversation

between the pilots
and the controller

clearly shows that less than
10 minutes before hitting

the ground, the crew
had the airport in sight

from a safe altitude.

Your light's in sight.

Overhead, Ndola.

NARRATOR: But the transcript
reveals something else.

A single unexpected word.

Descending.

NARRATOR: The Albertina was
already descending when it flew

past the airport,
but it should have

been maintaining its altitude.

INVESTIGATOR: He's continuing
to shed altitude here

and keeps descending until
he hits the hill here

at an altitude of 4,290 feet.

NARRATOR: For some
reason, the pilots

began their descent too early.

ROBERT MACINTOSH: It's
unfathomable that there was

any intention to
be below 5,000 feet

at that point in the approach.

INVESTIGATOR: These
guys are experienced.

It's tough to see how they
could have screwed this up.

NARRATOR: Investigators
can't explain

what they've just discovered.

Is it possible Dag
Hammarskjold died

because the pilots were unaware
of the elevation of the terrain

below them?

ROBERT MACINTOSH: Your
attention to detail,

your altitude awareness
needs to be extremely high.

I'll stop short
of the terminal.

You can have the
Secretary-General

disembark there.

The margins are very small.

It's a matter of seconds
before they hit the ground.

We're going down!

Brace!

Brace!

NARRATOR: The
Rhodesian investigators

have reached a conclusion that
will be debated for decades.

The pilots lost track
of their altitude

and flew the plane
into the ground.

Three other reports
on the crash agree.

There's no evidence
of an assassination.

The Hammarskjold file is closed.

It's a big thing when
the Secretary-General

of the United Nations
dies in an airplane crash,

a very big thing.

NARRATOR: 40 years later,
in 2011, the mystery

is reignited when
former US intelligence

officers make a stunning claim.

Dag Hammarskjold's
death was no accident.

On the night of the crash, one
of those officers, Paul Abram,

was working for the
National Security Agency

at a signal monitoring
base in Crete.

He claims to have heard
a remarkable recording.

The most important
chatter came down to "We

have the plane in sight.

Yes, we've checked.

It's the plane."

I've hit it.

There are flames.

It's crashing.

PAUL ABRAM: Dag Hammarskjold
was murdered, period.

He was shot down.

NARRATOR: The claims lead to
a fresh look at the evidence.

In 2013, Sven Hammarberg
joins a new investigation,

looking for answers
for the United Nations.

My task was to
look into the details

and see if there were any
new information available.

And I was asked to
evaluate the investigations

that had been performed before.

When I looked into the basic
facts around the crash,

I look at the trees
and the crash site

and the statements
over radio and so on.

OK.

NARRATOR: To reevaluate the
previous investigations,

Hammarberg studies the
terrain around Ndola airport.

He notes the heights
of the hills.

He compares what he finds to
what's shown on the chart used

by the UN pilots.

And he makes a
shocking discovery.

There's a hill here, a
hill here, a hill here,

but there's nothing
marked here--

here, where the crash site is.

NARRATOR: The terrain
around the airport

includes hills
west of Ndola that

rise to more than 4,300 feet,
but they're not on the chart.

SVEN HAMMARBERG: The crew might
have been unaware of the height

west of the fields since
there were no signs of it

on the chart.

NARRATOR: Sven Hammarberg
believes he knows what went

wrong during the final
3 minutes of the flight,

and it has nothing
to do with assassins.

Overhead, Ndola.

Descended.

NARRATOR: Passing the
airport, the pilots

descend below the minimum
safe altitude of 5,000 feet.

4,500.

NARRATOR: As they turned
back toward the runway,

they suddenly lose sight
of the runway lights.

I don't have the
runway in sight.

NARRATOR: The pilots don't
realize that a hill is

blocking their view
because the hill

isn't marked on their chart.

Before they even know
they're in danger,

it's too late to
save themselves.

Going down!

We're going down!

Brace!

Brace!

ROBERT MACINTOSH:
I think that all

the ingredients of a
controlled flight into terrain,

they are there.

NARRATOR: To finally
put the issue to rest,

investigators request NSA
files and audio recordings

from the night of the crash.

HENNING MELBER
(VOICEOVER): The answer

was that they remained
classified as top secret

and will not be released.

Given my knowledge
of the recordings,

tape logs, facsimiles,
et cetera, that they

have concerning this incident.

MAN 5 (ON TAPE): Go
down to make a run--

PAUL ABRAM (VOICEOVER): I'm not
the least surprised that they

haven't been released.

MAN 5 (ON TAPE): I've hit it.

It's just in their nature.

NARRATOR: It's
been over 50 years

since the mysterious crash.

And in 2019, a UN report
accuses several nations,

including the United
States, of withholding

critical information.

And without access
to those records,

doubts about the cause
of the crash remain.

The common thing about VIP
flights, in general, is they

tend to be non-routine flights.

And oftentimes, the mission
has a few nuances that make

it sometimes more dangerous.

And given that this was an
airport where the crew had

never flown in before,
there were several risk

factors involved here.

So in a sense, this
was a more unsafe

flight than was necessary.

NARRATOR: But any lessons
learned from the Albertina

crash are forgotten when a
charter flight is within sight

of the runway and a
football team's dream

comes to a horrifying end.

LaMia flight 2933 is
about to take off.

On board is Brazil's underdog
football team, Chapecoense.

Colombia, here we come!

NARRATOR: The team is heading to
Colombia to play in their first

ever final in the prestigious
Copa Sudamericana.

[speaking portuguese]

INTERPRETER: We were always a
really united team, a team that

wanted the best for everyone.

We were a family, and
that made us strong.

[cheering]

NARRATOR: The team has hired a
small Bolivian airline called

LaMia to take it to Colombia.

V1, rotate.

NARRATOR: The plane departs
Santa Cruz, Bolivia at 6:18 PM.

It's a 1,600-mile
trip to Rio Negro,

just outside Medellin,
Colombia, the site

of the championship game.

Captain Miguel Quiroga and
first officer Fernando Goytia

are veteran Bolivian
pilots with more

than 6,000 flight hours each.

You're up.

NARRATOR: The crew is flying
an Avro 146 regional jet.

The 146 has always been
a very, very sound airframe

and a very good design.

It's a little more
expensive to operate

because you've got four
engines, but that's

a lot of reliability.

NARRATOR: Just under
4.5 hours later.

Rio Negro, 2933.

Good evening.

NARRATOR: As they're
approaching Rio Negro,

First Officer Goytia checks
in with air traffic control.

LaMia 2933, Control.

Good evening.

Radar contact, maintain, and
descend to flight level 2-3-0.

Join the Rio Negro VOR.

NARRATOR: The controller
instructs the crew

to go into a holding pattern
because other planes are

in a queue, waiting to land.

They choose a holding
point called GEMLI.

Holding at GEMLI.

NARRATOR: 7 minutes later, a
request from the LaMia cockpit

takes air traffic
control by surprise.

LaMia 233.

Request priority for approach.

We have a fuel problem.

You ask for priority.

You're basically
making the request

that if they can fit it in,
get you in a little bit faster.

Standby.

I've got an aircraft
below you on approach.

Additionally, they are
doing a runway inspection.

NARRATOR: But within seconds,
the situation in the cockpit

suddenly appears more urgent.

[beeping]

We have a fuel emergency.

That's why I'm asking you
at once for final approach,

requesting immediate descent.

[speaking spanish]

INTERPRETER: It's very
unusual to declare a priority,

and then 30 seconds later
say they're out of fuel.

LaMia 2933, make a right
turn now to begin your descent.

You have traffic one mile below.

When you declare an
emergency, the Red Sea parts.

Now everybody is concentrating
on doing exactly what

you need, especially to
get to the airfield as

soon as possible.

FERNANDO GOYTIA
(ON RADIO): We're

already starting to descend.

I'm heading for the runway.

NARRATOR: In the cabin,
the lights go out

and the engines fall silent.

The team feels the
plane descending.

[speaking portuguese]

INTERPRETER: Nobody
said anything to us.

We didn't know anything.

2933.

Total electrical
failure-- without fuel.

Runway's cleared.

Firefighters alerted.

Tell her we need vectors.

Vectors-- vectors
to the runway.

NARRATOR: The crew
needs the controller

to provide directions
to the runway,

but the plane has
disappeared from the radar.

I've lost your radar signal.

I don't have you.

Report heading now.

FERNANDO GOYTIA (ON RADIO):
Heading 3-6-0, 3-6-0.

YANETH MOLINA:
[speaking spanish]

INTERPRETER: When they told me
their altitude was 9,000 feet,

I thought the worst.

My God!
Please help us!

Please help us!

Oh God!

[speaking portuguese]

INTERPRETER: I remember
asking God to make the lights

and motors turn back on.

[beeping]

[groaning]

NARRATOR: Emergency crews
rush to the crash site.

They discover that
seven passengers

are still alive, including
four Chapecoense players.

[speaking portuguese]

INTERPRETER: You feel desperate.

I was terrified.

I didn't want to die.

I didn't want any of us to die.

NARRATOR: But 70
people are dead.

It's one of the worst tragedies
in the history of sports.

The morning light reveals that
the LaMia plane hit the crest

of an 8,700-foot mountain.

A team from the Colombian air
accident investigation group

is already on the scene.

Landing gear was down.

NARRATOR: Investigators
can see the plane

was configured for landing.

Look.

The flaps are extended.

JULIAN ECHEVERRI:
[speaking spanish]

INTERPRETER: The wreckage
showed the plane's position

in relation to the
runway and the crew's

intentions of heading there.

NARRATOR: It's clear
that the crew was

descending toward the airport.

No scorch marks.

NARRATOR: But their biggest
clue is what they don't find.

No fuel smell either.

JULIAN ECHEVERRI:
[speaking spanish]

There was a very light smell
of fuel at the accident site.

Normally, when planes
crash with fuel on board,

the smell is much stronger.

NARRATOR: The fuel level
indicators are at zero.

The plane was out of fuel.

NARRATOR: Investigators wonder
how did the fuel get to zero.

Was it a mechanical
failure or human error?

of their beloved
Chapecoense football team

in the crash of
LaMia flight 2933,

investigators hope the flight
data recorder contains clues

as to why the jet was
completely out of fuel

when it hit the ground.

Let's isolate
the fuel flow rate.

If there was a leak
or some other problem,

it should show up here.

OK.

Let's go.

NARRATOR: They consider
the possibility

that a fuel leak led to an
unexpected engine shutdown.

They're consuming just over
1,000 pounds of fuel an hour

throughout their cruise--

very steady.

JULIAN ECHEVERRI:
[speaking spanish]

The fuel consumption,
according to the data recorder,

was normal for the
duration of the flight.

The fuel system checks out.

Let's look at the
warning system.

NARRATOR: If the fuel
warning system malfunctioned,

the pilots may not have been
aware there was a problem.

The warning goes
on here at 9:15.

Well, that can't be right.

They don't declare the
fuel emergency until 9:52.

They knew they were low on
fuel for nearly 40 minutes

without declaring
a fuel emergency.

NARRATOR: Investigators can't
believe what they're seeing.

At 9:15, a low fuel
warning light turns on.

That's got to be about
180 miles to Medellin.

They should have found
somewhere closer to land.

They are here.

Bogota airport is here.

77 miles away.

Why didn't they
land at Bogota?

JULIAN ECHEVERRI:
[speaking spanish]

According to the manufacturer,
when the low fuel warning comes

on in this aircraft,
you are only guaranteed

23 more minutes of flight.

NARRATOR: But the pilots flew
13 minutes beyond that limit.

They should have rerouted
the plane to Bogota,

but instead they
continued to Medellin.

So you look at this,
and you say, "Oh my God!

You violated the
basic procedures.

We know how to stay safe.

We know how not to run
out of gas in the air.

And you guys didn't do a
single thing in accordance

with the rules."

NARRATOR: As Chapecoense's
fans mourn their heroes--

It looks like
we have a problem.

NARRATOR: --investigators turn
to the plane's cockpit voice

recorder for answers,
but they discover

it cut out 1 hour and 40 minutes
before the end of the flight.

It's a huge setback.

Investigators still don't know
why the plane ran out of fuel.

Did the pilots make
mistakes calculating

their fuel load before the
jet left Santa Cruz airport?

So they took off with
about 20,000 pounds of fuel.

Should that do it?

Taxi before
takeoff, 441 pounds.

NARRATOR: Julian
Echeverri and his team

calculate how much fuel the
plane legally needed to make

a direct flight to Medellin.

JOHN NANCE: You have to have
enough fuel to take off, fly

to your destination and land.

You have to have enough fuel
to go down and make an approach

and come back up.

And then you have
to have enough fuel

to fly to an
alternate destination

and to hold for 30 minutes,
and then to descend and land.

Total?

26,570 pounds.

JULIAN ECHEVERRI: So they were
short by about 6,570 pounds.

They left with enough
to get to Medellin,

but barely a drop more.

NARRATOR: Investigators then
discover a disturbing pattern.

MIGUEL QUIROGA: 100.

NARRATOR: Three times
earlier in the year

this crew had made
the same flight,

but in the opposite direction
without any reserve fuel.

Each time they
landed successfully.

MIGUEL COMACHO:
[speaking spanish]

Less fuel is used because Rio
Negro is higher in altitude.

You ascend a shorter distance,
therefore saving more fuel.

No doubt that
contributed to the flight

arriving safely at Santa Cruz.

NARRATOR: Investigators
now see that in addition

to disregarding the
need for reserve fuel,

the crew didn't account for the
additional 6,000-foot climb.

JOHN NANCE: They didn't
just press the limits.

They did something
really criminal

because they put
the airplane right

at the edge of its capability
to burn fuel and get

back on the ground safely.

NARRATOR: Now,
investigators need

to know why these
pilots didn't follow

the most basic protocols.

The answer lies back in Bolivia.

It emerges that
Captain Quiroga was

a LaMia co-owner with a
financial stake in the company.

Did he gamble dozens of lives
just to save money on fuel?

When you've got somebody
who is flying the airplane

and responsible for the
airplane, who also is a part

owner and knows the
finances, you've

got a conflict of interest.

NARRATOR: When investigators
get their hands

on company records--

It looks like
they owed everybody.

Even the employees
weren't getting paid.

NARRATOR: --they
discover the company

was in big financial trouble.

The captain likely skimped
on fuel to save money.

MIGUEL COMACHO:
[speaking spanish]

INTERPRETER: I think
the crew knew they

were doing something illegal.

The crew knew they were
below the appropriate fuel

levels from the
beginning of the flight.

This is a sad and unfortunate
part of the accident.

NARRATOR: LaMia's
co-owner, Vargas Gamboa,

is charged with manslaughter,
and the airline's

operating license is suspended.

LaMia is out of business
by the end of the year.

Surviving player Jakson
Follmann is walking again

with a prosthetic leg, but the
pain and memories of that night

endure.

JAKSON FOLLMANN:
[speaking portuguese]

INTERPRETER: I want
people to pray for us

and remember all of those
people that left us,

those fighters who
fought until the end.

I'd like to see everyone honor
the people who unfortunately

left us that night.

JOHN COX: Those decisions
to press the airplane

beyond its limits
and the unwillingness

to advise air traffic
control of the criticality

of their fuel situation directly
resulted in the accident.

And it's one that
I could not believe

a professional pilot would do.

NARRATOR: But when pilots
flying a high level delegation

make a bad decision, the
top official on board

never reaches his
final destination.

Heading towards it is a
US Air Force 737, carrying

35 people on a trade mission.

Leading the delegation, US
Secretary of Commerce Ron

Brown, a star in
the Democratic party

who helped Bill
Clinton get elected.

PETER GALBRAITH: Ron Brown
was a Washington insider,

and he had all the
skills that go with that.

[sirens]

NARRATOR: The goal
of his mission

is to help Croatia and Bosnia
rebuild their economies.

A destructive war
in that region has

just ended in an uneasy truce.

The pressures to
get the passengers

to scheduled news conferences
and other activities

were probably pretty high.

Departure, IFO-21.

NARRATOR: Ashley J.
Davis is the captain.

He's a military pilot who
flew mid-air refuellers

high above the Persian Gulf.

Tonight the bad weather is
just one of the challenges

the crew is facing.

PETER GALBRAITH: The
airport was totally

trashed by the Serbs, who
had taken over the airport

during the '91 war.

They destroyed the
instrument landing system.

NARRATOR: The crew
must rely on a signal

from a navigational beacon
to guide them to the airport.

TIM SCHAFER: Hey, AJ.

At Kilo Lima Papa,
we're tracking

outbound at 1-1-9 degrees.

1-1-9 confirmed.

Mr. Secretary, we're landing.

We'll take this
up later, Adam.

[thunder]

It sounds very
broken up down there.

I can't see through it.

Tim?

NARRATOR: The clouds are thick.

The crew can't see the ground.

They have to trust their
instruments as they

descend through the storm.

IFO-21.

Sir, we are inside
the locator inbound.

IFO-21, roger.

Cleared for beacon approach.

NARRATOR: For now, AJ
Davis is flying blind,

but he expects to
see the airport soon.

[beeping]

[screaming]

ASHLEY DAVIS: Pull up!

Pull up!

IFO-21, do you read?

NARRATOR: Just before 3
o'clock in the afternoon,

Dubrovnik Tower loses
all contact with IFO-21.

IFO-21, Dubrovnik approach.

Do you read?

IFO-21, do you read?

NARRATOR: With no radar
to track the plane,

controllers have no
idea where it is.

4.5 hours later, it's
confirmed that IFO-21 crashed

into a nearby mountain range.

35 die as a result
of the accident.

The fatal flight of the
US Air Force jet carrying

Commerce Secretary
Ron Brown becomes

a high profile investigation.

BILL CLINTON: The vice president
and I wanted to come here

to be with the employees
of the Commerce Department

at this very difficult hour.

HOWARD SWANCY: In
every accident,

there's always a
lot of speculation.

In this particular case, you
had a high-ranking US government

official.

So my idea was to get as much
information, physical evidence,

as I could.

NARRATOR: The investigation
team is at a disadvantage.

They discover that
there is no cockpit

voice recorder or flight
data recorder on the plane.

It's not required
on Air Force jets.

PETER GALBRAITH: I had
assumed that the Air Force

and these VIP flights had
higher safety standards

than commercial flights.

And so I was really
shocked to learn

that the standards were
generally lower than those

for commercial aviation.

[thunder]

NARRATOR: The crash site is just
over 2 miles from the airport.

Investigators wonder what
happened during the flight's

final moments.

The team plots the
plane's fatal descent

using data from a
surveillance plane

that was patrolling the region.

NELSON SPOHNHEIMER: The
radar track that I was given

showed that the route
portions of the flight

from about 100 miles
prior to the airport

were entirely nominal.

NARRATOR: But on
its final approach,

the plane begins to head
off course and straight

toward the mountains.

NELSON SPOHNHEIMER (VOICEOVER):
My initial look at the flight

track of the aircraft
showed a 7-degree bearing

error in the final
segment of the approach.

NARRATOR: How could a military
crew flying a very high profile

government official end
up 7 degrees off course

and headed towards
elevated terrain?

Investigators need
to find out why

US Air Force jet
IFO-21 veered off

course just before it crashed.

An important clue turns
up in the wreckage.

It's the plane's ADF, or
Automatic Direction Finder.

The device listens
to signals put out

by two navigational beacons.

The first beacon transmits
Morse code to the plane.

When the crew hears the signal,
they follow a heading specified

on their landing chart.

That should take them
straight to the runway.

But if the crew hears the
second beacon before they see

the runway, they must declare
a missed approach and circle

around to try landing again.

To land in Dubrovnik safely, a
plane needs two ADF receivers--

one for each beacon.

We're still not past it.

I'm tuning back to KLP.

NARRATOR: But
investigators discover

this jet had only one receiver.

HOWARD SWANCY: And
only having one

ADF restricted their ability to
follow the approach accurately.

NARRATOR: The crew would have
to switch the ADF back and forth

between the two signals, adding
a complication to an already

difficult landing.

HOWARD SWANCY: It's going
to become rather difficult

in trying to dial both to
keep listening to the code

if you're also trying to search
for your course and heading.

NARRATOR: In fact,
flight IFO-21's

erratic flight path suggests to
investigators that the flight

crew gave up on
the ADF navigation

and used an even older
piece of technology

to find the runway, the INS,
or Inertial Navigation System.

NELSON SPOHNHEIMER (VOICEOVER):
An INS system uses gyroscopes

to maintain an awareness of
how much the airplane turns

and banks.

NARRATOR: But the INS
has a potential flaw.

If the gyroscopes
don't calculate

each maneuver perfectly, a
pilot can drift off course.

It sounds very
broken up down there.

I can't see through it.

Tim?

INS drift, in this
case, was probably,

in my view, the primary
reason the aircraft

ended up where it was.

NARRATOR: Investigator
Howard Swancy recovers

the Jefferson approach chart.

Hampered by poor visibility
and relying on the INS,

the chart would have been
a key aid to the crew.

On close inspection, Swancy
notices something peculiar.

A key figure, the minimum
descent altitude, is wrong.

Given the height of the
surrounding mountains,

they should have been
flying at 2,800 feet,

but the chart's minimum
descent altitude

is 700 feet lower than that.

The chart made the
pilots think they were

still safely above
the mountains as they

searched for the airport.

[beeping]

ASHLEY DAVIS: Pull up!

Pull up!

Pull up!

Pull up!

[screaming]

NARRATOR: Investigators now
understand the circumstances

that led to the
crash that killed

Commerce Secretary Ron Brown.

In the end, a fatal combination
of factors caused the accident.

Dubrovnik approach,
IFO-21, level 1-0-0.

Dubrovnik approach,
good afternoon.

Maintain 10,000 feet
for beacon approach.

IFO-21.

NARRATOR: The crew was
fighting bad weather.

They were landing in
an unfamiliar airport

and hampered by old technology.

In the final report,
Dubrovnik Airport

is singled out for an improperly
designed approach procedure.

I got a CB.

NARRATOR: AJ Davis and his
crew are found responsible

for flight errors they
made in their push to get

their mission on the ground.

In response, the Air
Force also orders

all military aircraft to
carry flight data recorders

and cockpit voice recorders.

Tim?

NARRATOR: And prohibits
aircraft, including those

for high-ranking diplomats,
from flying into an airport

without approval from the
Department of Defense.

JOHN COX: In all three of
these cases where you have VIPs

on the airplane, there was a
complex environment and also

the desire to get
these important people

where they need to be on time.

And the crew put
pressure on themselves

to push the edges of
their capabilities

to make sure that these
people arrived on time.

TODD CURTIS: The
basics for flying

an airplane doesn't change
based on who's on the airplane.

Whether there's a VIP or a
regular everyday passenger,

the same risks have
to be dealt with.

The physics of
flying aren't going

to change just because
someone important

is in back of the airplane.