All language subtitles for Air.Disasters.S02E11.The.Plane.That.Flew.Too.High.1080p.PMTP.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-maldini_track3_[eng]

A scene of devastation

in a remote region of Venezuela

confirms the fate
of a missing passenger jet.

West Caribbean Airways
flight 708

has mysteriously dropped
from the sky

while flying
at over 30,000 feet.

It took off from Panama.

It's a Colombian operator.

There was 160 french citizens
on board.

It's the biggest accident
that has ever occurred

in Venezuelan territory.

Investigators hope

the crew's desperate
last words...

West 708.

Do you have
a problem on board?

...will help them
pinpoint the cause of the crash.

Affirmative.

Tell them we've had a flameout
on both engines.

But instead
the mystery deepens.

It's a stall, captain.

It's a stall.

The pilots can't agree

on why the plane is falling.

Now it's up to investigators
to figure it out.

Ladies and gentlemen,

we are starting our approach.

We lost both engines!

Put the mask over your nose.

Emergency descent.

Mayday, mayday.

Brace for impact!

I think I lost one.

Investigation starting...

He's gonna crash!

At Panama's
Tocumen International Airport,

West Caribbean Airways
flight 708

begins boarding
two hours behind schedule.

It's past midnight.

The 152 passengers
on this charter flight

are returning home
to Martinique.

They've been visiting
the Panama Canal.

Captain Omar Ospina
has just flown in

with his crew from Colombia.

As he's behind schedule, he must
turn the plane around quickly.

But there are more
unexpected delays.

First officer David Muñoz
informs the captain

that the flight is overbooked.

Even the jump seat
in the cockpit is filled.

Let me deal with it.

Alejo, I need you on board

to do the announcements
in Spanish and English.

Yes, sir.

Angela and Luisa
can stay behind.

I'll let them know.

Two of
the flight attendants

will stay in Panama

because there's not
enough room on board.

Sir, we just got
the final load sheet.

Checking the weight
of the aircraft...

Take off
from runway 21 left, sir.

3,050 meters.

...and the length of runway,

Captain Ospina calculates that
he can safely get airborne.

Their flight path will take them
through some heavy weather,

something crews are accustomed
to during hurricane season.

Okay, we're ready
for takeoff.

Request pushback clearance.

Ground,
West Caribbean Airways 708

request pushback clearance,
gate 28.

West Caribbean 708,
cleared for pushback, gate 28.

Proceed to runway 21 left.

West Caribbean 708
runway 21 left

cleared for takeoff.

V-1.

Rotate.

At 1:00 in the morning,

flight 708 begins
the journey to Martinique.

They took off
from Panama Airport,

Tocumen Airport,

with a heavy load for a long
flight for that aircraft.

The flight
should take three hours.

They climb
up to 31,000 feet,

their initial
assigned flight level.

They have filed a flight plan

with a final cruise level
of 3-3-0--

33,000 feet.

The crew
is flying an MD-80.

The plane is easily recognizable
by its two rear-mounted engines.

The MD-80 aircraft
is a very good aircraft.

It's a model that was derived
from the DC-9.

They made it longer,
more fuel efficient

and more modern
instrumentation and avionics.

Anti-ice on, please.

As altitude increases
and temperature drops,

they activate the plane's
anti-ice system.

Half an hour into the flight,
while cruising at 31,000 feet,

the weather ahead
is turning nasty.

A low-intensity hurricane
moving in from the Atlantic

is whipping up winds
across the region.

Request deviation left.

Barranquilla,
West 708, request deviation

to the left to avoid formation.

West Caribbean 708
cleared to deviate left.

In the kind of weather
they were flying,

it's common for pilots to
deviate from their initial route

to avoid this bad weather.

It should get better soon.

40 minutes into the flight

the plane has burned through
thousands of pounds of fuel,

allowing it to fly higher.

In order
to reduce weight,

they had to climb
to 31,000 feet,

wait until the weight goes down

and then do a step climb
up to 33,000 feet.

Let's do 3-3-0.

3-3-0.

Barranquilla, West 708
request level 3-3-0.

708 cleared
to level 3-3-0.

The captain
now begins the climb

to their scheduled altitude
of 33,000 feet.

Turn off
engine anti-icing.

I can't accelerate.

The captain notices
that the engines

don't seem to be responding.

I'm going to the bathroom.

The crew isn't
overly concerned.

Almost a third of the way
to Martinique,

West Caribbean flight 708
enters Venezuelan airspace.

Is there cake and coffee
for everybody?

Or are we expected
to share?

As the storm intensifies,

first officer Muñoz
worries about icing.

-Do I turn it on, captain?
-Do we have ice?

Put 'em on.

Soon the turbulence gets worse.

Man, that is a lot
of nasty weather.

Put the fasten seatbelt sign on.

Please stay in your seat.

I'm dimming the lights so
the passengers don't stand up.

Should we go down
to level 3-1-0?

Do it.

Maiquetia, Whisky-Charlie.

The Maiquetia
Air Traffic Control Station

in Venezuela
isn't equipped with radar.

Request descent
to level 3-1-0.

The controller
depends on pilots

to tell him where they are.

3-1-0.

Captain Ospina
turns off the autopilot...

Give me 3-1-0.

...and the plane
starts heading back down

to 31,000 feet.

The turbulence is getting
even heavier...

...and then suddenly
the stick shaker goes off.

It's the most serious warning
that a crew can get.

The captain's control column
starts to vibrate,

warning him the plane is flying
dangerously slow.

At close to 31,000 feet,
the plane suddenly drops.

It's a stall, captain!

It's a stall!

The plane is falling fast.

The crew has only seconds
to figure out why.

West 708,
level down to level 2-4-0.

Descending to 2-4-0.

Do you have a problem on board?

Affirmative.

Tell him we've had
a flameout on both engines.

We've had a flameout
on both engines.

Confirm?

We've had a flameout
on both engines!

Roger.

Confirm radial and distance
from Punto Cabello if possible.

The controller
needs to know where they are.

Negative! Negative!

We are at 14,000 feet.

We're about 14,000.

And going down.
The plane is uncontrollable.

Keep your
heads down. Stay down.

Keep your heads down.

Confirm people on board,

intention and distance
from NAVAID if it's possible.

152 people on board.

The plane is uncontrollable.

In just 30 seconds
the plane falls 9,000 feet.

I understand
152 people on board.

Affirmative.

Acknowledge.

Confirm at what level you
are crossing at this time

Whisky-Charlie.-Whisky.

Whisky-Charlie.-whisky 708,

confirm position if possible.

Whisky-Charlie.-whisky 708,
confirm position if possible.

While flying over
six miles above the earth,

West Caribbean 708 mysteriously
drops from the sky.

Air traffic control in Venezuela
doesn't know its location

or if anyone has survived.

The morning after
West Caribbean flight 708

goes missing,
Venezuelan villagers report

that a plane has crashed
on a remote farm.

Colonel Lorllys Ramos is
the lead air crash investigator

for the Venezuelan government.

She has never handled
a crash this big.

She's shocked by what she sees.

All 160 people on board,

most of them french citizens
from Martinique, have died.

It was a real shock for us

because it was our first
really big accident.

And it had the highest number
of deaths

for any crash in Venezuela.

We felt a lot of pressure
because of that.

The scope of
the investigation is daunting.

Lorllys Ramos knows that
the plane that has crashed

is one of the safest planes
in the world.

There are more than 3,000
such planes flying every day.

Investigating a crash

where an aircraft so popular
as the MD-80

is a great responsibility

because of the effects it could
have on the rest of the fleet.

The Colombian, Venezuelan

and french press from Martinique

all descend on the site
demanding answers.

The plane has crashed
in a lawless area

next to the Colombian border.

Kidnappings are common.

The Venezuelan army
informs investigators

that it can only protect them
during daylight hours.

We don't have
a lot of time.

Let's get everything
documented...

Certainly our team,

including myself,

wasn't prepared
for the emergency we faced.

This accident was complex.

And it was very difficult

to quickly figure out
what had happened.

After the victims
have been removed,

the investigators' first goal
is to determine

how much of the plane landed
intact at the crash site.

If it's all there, they can
rule out a mid-air break-up.

We could
observe the four corners

of the aircraft:

The tail, a part of the cockpit
and some remains of the wings.

And this suggested
that there were no explosions

or a collision that produced
the accident.

Investigators question

the Maiquetia
air traffic controller.

They told me
that they had a flameout

on both their engines.

Do you have
a problem on board?

Tell him we've had
a flameout on both engines.

When we learned that the crew

had reported a flameout
in both engines,

we immediately focused
on the function

of the airplane's engines.

Yeah, I'm just
getting up to speed now.

Joe Sedor
is a senior investigator

at the NTSB in Washington

specializing
in foreign assignments.

And as soon as we're
notified of an accident,

we contact the manufacturer

of both the airframe
and the engine.

Given the initial information
of a dual engine flameout,

this caused us to start getting

as much information
about the engines as possible.

No sign of fire
inside the engine.

Lorllys had her hands
full with this accident.

It was a remote location.

There was four countries
involved,

and she didn't have a big staff.

Let's see
what we can find out

about the weather
they flew through.

Colonel Ramos knows
that severe storms

can kill a plane's jet engines.

In 1977 a DC-9 with
similarly mounted rear engines

experienced a flameout while
flying through a thunderstorm.

Both engines were disabled.

The plane fell 17,000 feet,

slammed to the ground
and erupted in flames.

Investigators suspect
that the engines of flight 708

may have flamed out

either from heavy rain
entering them

or due to turbulent winds.

One way to think
of an engine flameout

is when you have a pilot light
go out on your furnace at home.

The engine is working properly

with combustion
going on internally,

and then the flame stops

and the engine quits.

If both engines flamed out,

it would explain why the plane
fell from the sky in one piece.

But colonel Ramos knows

that her best chance
of finding out

exactly what happened
to the engines

lies with the plane's
two black boxes.

They could hold critical
flight and voice data.

But retrieving that data
gets complicated

by political concerns.

The other difficulty
with this investigation

was the international aspect.

This was a Colombia operator
that took off from Panama,

was overflying Venezuela

and crashed on their soil.

So from the Venezuelan
standpoint

they had very little connection
with the actual flight

or the passengers
on the aircraft.

The Venezuelan government,

deeply mistrustful
of the United States,

has the final say on who
will examine the black boxes.

Since this is a United
States manufactured aircraft,

we offered our facility to them

to download
both the FDR and CVR.

But they requested
that they be downloaded

at the french facility
of the BEA,

our counterparts in Paris.

The black boxes are
sent to France

for expert analysis.

The French Aviation authorities

participated in
the accident investigation

because all the passengers
were french citizens

that lived in Martinique.

In the meantime,
investigators pursue

another possible cause
of engine failure:

Contaminated fuel.

They track down the fuel truck
that filled the plane in Panama.

It was
important to test the fuel

because it was a possible cause
for why the engines had failed.

We asked
the Panamanian authorities

to test the fuel
for contaminants,

but the results they obtained
were negative.

Hi. I hope I can be
of some help.

Joe Sedor arrives
from Washington

with two engine experts.

Once we arrived on scene,
that was one of the first things

that we wanted to look at
was the engines.

So my engine investigator

and the Pratt and Whitney
investigator

went to each engine
and examined them thoroughly.

What they find
is surprising.

Both engines
exhibited indications

of high-speed rotation
at impact.

That is to say that
the evidence indicated

that both engines were operating
at a very high power.

The investigators give

the engines a clean bill
of health.

When we
obtained the analysts' results

for the engines, we realized
that they worked perfectly.

You have
a problem on board?

Affirmative.

Tell him we've had
a flameout on both engines.

We've had a flameout
on both engines.

It sure looks like
those blades were turning

when the plane hit the ground.

And that the
flameout reported by the crew

never happened.

The main suspect
in the crash

of one of the most popular
planes on earth is ruled out.

Investigators need another lead.

It made us want to get
that FDR and CVR data

as quickly as possible.

The team is now counting on

the plane's two
black boxes

to shed light on the cause
of the crash.

They travel to France, where one
of the boxes has been opened.

When they listen to the plane's
cockpit voice recorder,

investigators are surprised
by what they hear.

It's a stall, captain!
It's a stall!

After listening to the

cockpit voice recordings,

we realized that the plane
had entered a stall.

How did this plane stall
at over 30,000 feet

with two working engines?

To create the lift
needed to fly,

a plane depends on
a very fast-moving stream of air

over the wings.

An airplane stall is
when the lift over the wings

is reduced to the point
that the lift

cannot support the weight
of the aircraft in the air.

It's unusual
for planes to stall

at such a high altitude.

Investigators hope the plane's
second black box

will reveal why that happened.

When we
opened the flight data recorder,

even though it was
really damaged,

the conditions inside were good,
and that was a huge relief.

But for some reason,

much of what's on the recorder
sounds like gibberish.

Unfortunately some
of the data was not usable.

And it was some very important
data points

that were not available,

such as elevator position,
rudder position, heading,

and the most important
parameters,

engine pressure ratios.

It's a disappointing
loss for Sedor.

We need
those engine parameters.

The engine pressure
numbers would tell investigators

how much power the engines
were generating.

They would paint a picture
of how the airplane was flying

in its final minutes.

In Washington
the NTSB offers to help.

Sophisticated software
may be able to recapture

some of the lost data.

We wanted to work
with what data we had

to recover any engine data
that we could.

Meanwhile, investigators

look for other clues about what
may have caused the stall.

That's quite a storm,
probably very heavy rain.

They discover that
the plane flew

through freezing, wet weather
capable of causing ice to form.

Ice on the wings
can cause a plane to stall.

When ice accumulates
on an airplane,

it will have increased drag

and increased weight
and decreased lift.

The MD-80 is equipped
with an anti-icing system.

When turned on it blows hot air
from the engines onto the wings,

preventing ice from forming.

Let's see what they did
about the ice.

Put on
the fasten seatbelt sign.

Man, that is
a lot of nasty weather.

As the plane rose
to 33,000 feet,

Captain Ospina made
an unusual decision.

Turn off
engine anti-icing.

A short while later
First Officer Muñoz

wants to know if the anti-icing
system should be turned back on.

Should I
turn it on, captain?

Do we have ice?

Pilots generally

examine the outside
metal windowsill

to see whether ice
is forming there.

Put 'em on.

It appears
the captain saw ice.

Since they were flying
through cold and wet conditions,

investigators don't know
why the crew

didn't simply turn on
the anti-icing system

and leave it on.

With the
weather conditions they had,

they should have been using
the anti-ice systems

during the entire flight.

Investigators wonder
if the crew made an error

that allowed ice to build up
on the plane's wings,

causing it to stall
and fall from the sky.

Promising new evidence

in the crash of
West Caribbean flight 708

may help the investigative team

to zero in on the cause
of the disaster.

The NTSB has managed to recover
missing data

about the MD-80's engines.

This was
very important for us

because it allowed us
to understand the operation

of the engine
throughout the flight.

If there had been
ice on the wings,

the engines would have had
to work harder

to overcome the friction
it creates.

The engine power numbers
would have gone up.

Look at this.

Engine power wasn't going up,
it was actually going down.

Therefore that showed

that there was no ice
on the airframe.

Ice didn't
cause the stall.

So what did?

Investigators must determine
why the engines

weren't providing
the power needed

to keep the MD-80 in the air.

The airline's troubled history
of safety violations

gives investigators
a possible lead.

It had been cited
for flying overweight planes.

Colombian authorities
used to bring the aircraft

to a scale they have
at Bogota Airport

and compare against
the manifest.

And on some occasions they found
that the aircraft was heavier

than what was reported.

Did flight 708
stall in mid-air

because it was too heavy?

During our visit to Panama,

we observed that West Caribbean

didn't have
very rigorous control

over the checking of passengers'
luggage and their weight.

If a plane is too heavy,

it may not be able to fly
at higher altitudes

where the air is less dense.

Pilots need to make
these calculations carefully.

The pilot
knows at what altitude

he can fly by studying the
aircraft's performance tables

and inputting the plane's weight
and the temperature.

What investigators don't know

is whether Captain Ospina
did the math correctly.

Stand by.

They now try
to calculate whether flight 708

was too heavy to avoid stalling
at 33,000 feet.

So we went back and looked

at the number
of passengers on board,

the number of crew on board

and the weight of the aircraft
itself along with the baggage.

They already tested the plane

at its reported weight
of 148,000 pounds.

Alright, let's add
a few thousand pounds:

Heavier luggage,
mis-weighed cargo.

Uh, let's try
155,000 pounds.

Investigators now
make the calculations

for a plane that's
grossly overweight.

They're in for a surprise.

And even with a heavier
aircraft at takeoff,

the aircraft could maintain
level flight at 3-3-0.

It's a setback
for the investigation.

We're missing something.

Let's go back
to the beginning.

After much research,

investigators still
can't figure out

what caused the plane to stall.

Thanks.

The answer
has to do with

how a plane distributes power.

When it's turned on,

the anti-icing system
draws energy from the engines,

reducing power for thrust.

This decrease in thrust

can affect the performance
of the airplane

depending on the weight
and the altitude.

So the performance study showed

that the airplane was perfectly
safe to fly at 33,000 feet

with the anti-ice off.

Anti-ice on, please.

However, it could only
fly as high as 31,900 feet

with the anti-ice on.

It was the anti-icing.

It robbed them
of the power they needed.

They shouldn't have gone
higher than 31-9.

We concluded
that the aircraft

was flown too high
for its weight

and the weather conditions
it faced.

Put 'em on.

The airspeed started
to decelerate

when the flight crew turned on
the anti-ice system.

This reduced the thrust
of the engine.

Investigators
conclude the reduction in thrust

led the plane to stall.

Sir, we just got
the final load sheet.

They now assume that
when Captain Ospina

calculated his
maximum cruise altitude,

he failed to factor in
the need for anti-icing.

There are many factors

you have to take into account
when planning,

and apparently, they did not
do it in this case.

But if low thrust
led to a stall,

why didn't the crew notice?

Part of the answer is that while
the problem was developing,

they weren't flying the plane.

They had their autopilot on.

The autopilot
should not let a plane stall.

Investigators wonder why
this particular autopilot

let that happen.

While researching
the autopilot on the MD-80,

investigators discover
a bulletin

from the plane's manufacturer.

It was sent to the airline
three years earlier.

"Under some conditions

airspeed could decay
to stall warning

before the autopilot
disconnects."

In the bulletin issued by Boeing

it described another incident
with an autopilot

that was almost the exact same

as what had happened
with West Caribbean .

The bulletin warned crews

that if they set the autopilot

to maintain
the plane's altitude,

they should keep a close eye
on their airspeed.

The operation bulletin warned

that with the autopilot on
and at altitude

that a similar situation
could occur

where the aircraft
could maintain altitude

and airspeed could decrease

if the pilots were not
monitoring the airspeed.

So in order to maintain altitude

as the speed goes down

the aircraft starts to pitch up,
nose up attitude,

increasing the angle of attack

to have a better lift.

But that has a problem because
you cannot exceed certain angle

because you can enter
a stall condition.

In this case
the autopilot led the aircraft

into a condition that caused
an excessive angle of attack.

That generated the stall.

As important
as the bulletin was,

there's no evidence that it ever
reached West Caribbean pilots.

Investigators now have
a deeper understanding

of the events causing the stall.

The crew wasn't monitoring
their instruments,

believing that the autopilot

would maintain
the correct speed.

They were wrong.

It was at this moment
that the captain began to notice

that something wasn't right.

I can't accelerate.

I'm going
to the bathroom.

They were aware
that they had a problem,

but they didn't know why.

The captain decided
to descend to an altitude

where the engines
would perform better.

And descending to 31,000 feet
was the right choice.

That's why he disconnected
the autopilot

to begin the descent.

Give me 3-1-0.

The plane
is very close to stalling.

But the crew is
just seconds away

from overcoming the problem.

If he would have attained
31,000 feet during that descent,

the speed would have gone up

and he would have
recovered the lift.

And after leveling off

there would have been
no problem at all.

They almost made it.

But the captain was oblivious
to his biggest threat.

The plane is still
traveling slowly

with its nose raised
at a dangerously high angle.

That's when the crew
experienced some bad luck.

The weather they were
flying through was turbulent.

Winds were intense
and the plane was vulnerable.

Our study showed
that it would only take

a 20-mile-an-hour updraft to
push the aircraft into a stall.

Investigators
conclude that the plane was hit

with a ferocious updraft
that lifted the plane's nose

just enough to put it
into a stall--

a crisis the crew
then mishandled.

There was very little

communication between them.

The captain thought he was
having a flameout

in both engines.

Tell him we've had
a flameout, both engines.

We have...

We have a flameout
on both our engines.

The captain was not
telling the first officer

what to do.

The captain was only fixating,

or, if you will, have
tunnel vision, on the engines,

which is a very big problem
in this situation.

As the investigation
into the crash of flight 708

nears completion, only one
mystery remains unsolved.

It's a stall.

Muñoz seems to know
what was happening.

Why did the crew
fail to recover from a stall

that they'd been trained
to overcome?

To get out of a stall

a pilot should increase thrust
and pitch over,

that is, push forward
on the control column.

But as the recovered
flight data shows,

that's not what
Captain Ospina did.

There is no indication

that the pilot pushed forward
on the control column

to reduce the angle of attack
and to increase speed.

He's pulling back
on the control column.

At that point it was impossible

to recover from the stall.

The captain
should have pushed forward.

The question remains:
Why didn't he?

Investigators get
their first clue

when they re-examine
the engine data

at the precise moment
of the stall.

That's what distracted
the captain.

At the time that
the airplane stalled,

we also saw that both engines
rolled back at the same time.

This most likely
confused the pilots.

When airflow
to the engines is disrupted,

it causes a rollback,
reducing thrust.

Because of the updrafts
in the area,

it most likely increased
the angle of attack

of the engine inlet,

which then caused the engines
to roll back.

With his engine power
temporarily reduced,

the captain wrongly concluded
that his engines had quit.

It's a stall!

The first officer yelled:

It's a stall, cappy,
it's a stall.

There was no response
from the captain.

This showed that the captain

was fixating most likely
on the engines.

Unaware he had stalled,

the captain made things worse

by pulling back
on his control column.

That kept the nose of the plane
angled dangerously high.

Tell him we've had
a flameout on both engines.

We've had a flameout
on both engines.

The crew couldn't understand

the situation presented to them.

West 708,
go down to level 2-4-0.

Do you have a problem
on board?

We've had a flameout
on both engines.

They had a heavy buffet
from the stall.

They were looking at the engines
which were rolled back,

and they were also communicating
with the air traffic controller.

During that time there was not
much troubleshooting going on

in the cockpit.

This was a very, very difficult
time for the pilot.

It is very important

that the crews communicate
in an effective way.

And in this case you don't hear

the two pilots communicating
between themselves.

It was an almost silent cockpit

until the time
just before the accident

when they realized they were
in deep trouble.

But by that time
it was already too late.

They were past
the point of no return.

During that descent,

according to
the flight data recorder,

they reached a rate of descent

an average of more than
12,000 feet per minute.

At that rate of descent,
not only the G-force

will prevent them
from any coordinated action,

the vibration in the aircraft
would be a lot.

That's why when you hear
the voice recorder,

you hear the voice trembling.

Negative! Negative!

- We are at 14,000 feet.
- We're about 14,000.

We're going down.
The plane is uncontrollable.

And that's because of
high vibration in the aircraft.

For everyone on board,

the final plunge was a nightmare
lasting almost three minutes.

Whisky-Charlie.-whisky...

When colonel
Lorllys Ramos and her team

interview friends and family
of the pilots

of West Caribbean flight 708...

How was he
when he was at home?

...they uncover
other longstanding issues

that may help explain
the crew's behavior.

West Caribbean Airline

was going through a very
critical financial status.

Because of West Caribbean's

economic struggles,

the crew members hadn't been
paid for six months.

And this could have influenced
the captain's concentration.

Investigators
discover that Captain Ospina

was forced to take a second job
moonlighting in a bar

in order to make ends meet
for his family.

The level of stress

that the captain was under

because of his financial
situation was huge.

Have we solved
the fuel situation yet?

I think we're
getting close, captain.

Before the accident

the crew was delayed
in Colombia for hours

because the airline
couldn't pay for their fuel.

That was their third
of four flights that day.

The crew
was under a lot of stress

because they were already late

and they didn't know if
their flight would be canceled.

It's a stall, captain!

It's a stall!

Investigators also believe

that the 21-year-old
first officer

should have voiced his opinions
more clearly.

There was
a considerable age difference

between the captain
and the copilot,

and this might have
intimidated the copilot

when he needed to speak up.

Do I turn it on, captain?

Do we have ice?

No matter how young

the copilots
and the first officers are,

how old and experienced
the captain is,

they have the right
to preserve their life

if they see something
that's going wrong.

It's a stall, captain!

It's a stall!

And they alert the
captain and he does not react,

they should react by themselves.

The investigation's
official report concludes

that there was an insufficient
level of situational awareness

in both pilots.

Although the pilot's actions

are in question in this flight,

we also have to look
at the operator.

Did the operator provide
proper training?

We found that the training
was insufficient,

that they did not receive
proper CRM training,

and they did not
receive proper stall training.

This accident happened

as a result of numerous factors

that aren't only attributable
to the crew.

There were deplorable conditions
in the operation of the airline.

And over time, these faults
can lead to accidents.

- Negative! Negative!
- We're at 14,000 feet.

-We're going down.
-The plane is uncontrollable.

The report makes
a long list of recommendations

to ensure that the tragedy of
flight 708 never happens again.

We made recommendations

to the Colombian
Aviation authorities

to improve pilot training.

Specifically, better training
in crew communication

and having a better awareness

about the use
of the plane's autopilot.

After this accident occurred,

the airline was grounded
and it never operated again.

It went bankrupt
and simply disappeared.

But West Caribbean Airways

did leave a valuable legacy--

better safety measures

for every other MD-80

taking to the skies today.