All language subtitles for Air.Disasters.S04E01.Fight.for.Control.1080p.PMTP.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-maldini_track3_[eng]

NARRATOR: 19,000 feet
above the Pacific Ocean,

a propeller cuts a hole
on a passenger plane.

As the prop came
off, I thought, Oh

crap, it's going to kill me.

It's going to cut me in two.

Heather.

Cabin pressure dropping.

NARRATOR: The pilots flight
to control their plane.

Well, we all knew
that, boy, this was

about as bad as it can get.

NARRATOR: They can
barely turn around.

There was no
way that we could

have landed the airplane.

Dispatch, Reeve 8.

We've got to get
some controls back

or I absolutely cannot land.

Turn off the autopilot.

Are you out of
your fucking mind?

NARRATOR: The pilots managed to
get within sight of a runway.

I mean, we're
essentially passengers now.

NARRATOR: But soon
discover that this landing

is impossible.

Brace yourselves, boys.

Son of a bitch.

I wish I'd have
called in sick.

FLIGHT ATTENDANT:
Ladies and gentlemen,

we are starting our approach.

PILOT: We lost both engines.

FLIGHT ATTENDANT: Put
the mask over your nose.

Emergency descent.
PILOT: Mayday!

Mayday!

FLIGHT ATTENDANT:
Brace for impact!

MAN: He's gonna crash.

NARRATOR: Cold Bay
Alaska, a frontier town

at the tip of the
Alaskan Peninsula,

surrounded by the Aleutian
mountains and hundreds

of miles of ocean.

Reeve Aleutian Airlines is
one of Cold Bay's only links

to the outside world.

It operates a small
fleet of rugged planes

carrying people and cargo
across the state and beyond.

Reeve Aleutian Airlines Flight
8 prepares to leave Cold

Bay for Seattle, Washington.

The route will take the
flight over a wide stretch

of the North Pacific Ocean.

54-year-old Captain
James Gibson

is a hardened Bush pilot with
more than 25 years experience

flying Alaska's tough terrain.

Set takeoff thrust.

NARRATOR: Gibson's
flight engineer--

Thruster.

NARRATOR: --is 45-year-old
Alaskan Gerald "Moose" Laurin.

His first officer is
39-year-old Gary Lintner.

GARY LINTNER: Generally we
flew that route once a week.

On this particular
day, we were scheduled

for five hours of flying time.

Gear up.

Gear up.

Flaps up good.

Flaps up.

Reeve 8 is off
the ground about 23.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
Reeve 8, Roger.

And have a good flight.

NARRATOR: There are 10
passengers on board,

mostly hunters and anglers.

Wendy Kroon is the
senior flight attendant.

WENDY KROON: We were
headed to Seattle.

It was a beautiful day.

It was clear, no
turbulence, highly unusual.

Highly unusual.

There should have
been turbulence.

NARRATOR: Pacific winds in
the nearby Aleutian mountains

often create turbulent skies.

Captain Gibson will
cross the North Pacific

aboard a Lockheed
L-188 Electra powered

by 4 turboprop engines.

They're just an
incredibly tough airplane.

Stronger than 10 acres of
garlic, I used to always say.

NARRATOR: Gibson finishes
turning his aircraft

on course towards
Seattle when he hears

an unusual buzzing sound.

Do you hear that, Gary?

I do.

Not sure.

And I noticed that the
vibration that I was feeling

in my feet and the vibration
that was in the glass

was different.

And that's the first time
I'd ever come across that.

And I thought, well, this
is a little different.

The hell?

Moose, have a look, will you.

Yeah, you bet.

NARRATOR: As Gibson and
Lintner wait for Moose Laurin

to report back, the vibrations
become more pronounced.

I distinctly remember
looking down and seeing

my control yoke shaking.

And I turned to Jim and I
said, Geez, look at this.

And Jim and I are
kind of looking

at each other
across the cockpit,

and finally, he
says, Oh, screw this.

Let's turn around.

NARRATOR: Meanwhile,
Wendy Kroon helps

Laurin check the engines.

The engineer said, I
want you to come back

and check number 4 engine and
see if you can see anything.

And just as I looked out
the window, the engine went.

As the prop came
off, I thought, Oh

crap, it's going to kill me.

It's going to cut me in two.

But it flew
forward, and then it

came back and
slapped the engine,

and then went underneath.

NARRATOR: The prop tears a hole
in the bottom of the plane.

Heather.

There was a big huge bang.

Holy crap.

Wendy, are you OK?

Then of course, the
cockpit gets all foggy.

And there's almost no sound,
your eardrums are popping.

NARRATOR: The hole
in the fuselage

has caused an explosive
decompression.

Cabin pressure dropping.

NARRATOR: The rapid change in
air temperature and pressure

creates heavy fog, which
obscures vision, and starves

the plane of oxygen.

So when you try
to breathe it,

you end up getting lightheaded,
and you can actually pass out.

It's a little
disconcerting because the fog

and it's quiet, you think,
geez, am I dead or not?

Oh God.

Finally, when the fog
cleared, I saw out the window

that we were in a right turn.

NARRATOR: A right turn is
taking the flight Northwest

towards the Bering Sea.

And so I naturally
grab the yoke

to try to level the wings.

Jammed.

No ailerons either.

It felt like the
yoke was in concrete.

It just felt solid
as a concrete block.

NARRATOR: At the moment
that the propeller strikes

the fuselage, junior
flight attendant

Victoria Fredenhagen in
the back of the plane

springs into action.

VICTORIA FREDENHAGEN:
After the explosions,

I wasn't sure
what had happened.

But I got up and got the
oxygen walk-around bottle

and put that on.

I went to look
out the right side

and the passenger
there said to me,

you don't want to
look out the window.

And it was like, Oh, there's
no propeller on number 4.

NARRATOR: Wendy Kroon
and Moose Laurin

are dazed by the incident,
but they're not injured.

I've got ot go.

I had fallen all the
way back on my back.

So I jumped up, and
my first thoughts

were get the passengers to
the back of the airplane.

But I had a really bad feeling.

I stopped with one
foot still in the air,

and I grabbed a hold
of the cargo net,

and I was hanging on it,
and looked down at my foot.

And oh, my heart
dropped to my feet.

Fear just ran through me.

I'm looking straight down
at my foot over a hole,

straight down to the ocean.

I can actually to this day
see the ocean, that view,

the color, the white gaps.

NARRATOR: The hole is more
than 1 and 1/2 feet wide.

That scared the
crap out of me.

NARRATOR: In the cockpit,
the pilots still have

no idea what has happened.

Jim and I got our masks on.

And within seconds, Moose
came through the cockpit door

and said, Holy crap, we just
lost number four propeller.

Jim, he said, what
do you mean lost it?

Moose said, it's gone.

It went away.

So he reached up and pulled
the emergency shutdown

handle on the number 4 engine.

NARRATOR: But James Gibson
has a more immediate

problem, the loss
of cabin pressure

with a jammed control column.

Dammit.

NARRATOR: He can't descend
to a lower altitude

where there's more oxygen.

Everybody, calm down.

Just a second.

Jim saw that the autopilot
disconnect lights were on,

and he reached over and turned
the autopilot back on again.

NARRATOR: The Electra has
two sets of control cables.

The manual cables are jammed,
but the cables for the

autopilot seem to be working.

Wings level.

And I personally
thought that was probably

one of the smartest things
that anybody ever did

in the history of aviation.

Descending to 10,000.

NARRATOR: The autopilot
is now keeping

the plane on a
steady and descending

course over the North Pacific.

For the moment,
everything seems

to be under control, until.

There's a hole back there
I can see straight through.

What?

Yeah, right straight
through the plane.

I saw the ocean.

And then they go, wait,
a hole through the floor?

I go, Yeah, there's a
hole through the floor.

I wanted to yell at
them, like yes, I saw

a freaking hole on the floor.

Get in the seat
and put oxygen on.

OK.

NARRATOR: Gibson is flying
fast, over 200 knots.

He's down one engine, and
his control column is jammed.

He must find a way to slow down
or his plane will rip apart.

Hold power back to 2000.

.

Look, nothing.

GARY LINTNER: When his hand
moved those throttles back

and the horsepower
gauges didn't move,

boy, I'll tell you
what I said, man,

I wish I'd have called in sick.

That's when I knew, well,
we all knew that, boy, this

is really a bad situation.

This was about as
bad as it can get.

The throttle
cables must be cut.

Son of a bitch.

NARRATOR: The pilots
can't slow the engines.

The speed could tear
apart the damaged plane.

It's also preventing
Gibson from descending

as quickly as he'd like.
- Come on.

Come on.

Still at 65.

Let's see if we can
get turned around.

NARRATOR: Gibson instructs
the autopilot to make

a right turn back to Cold Bay.

Oh God.

NARRATOR: It seems the
autopilot's lateral control

is also damaged.

And if we just cracked it to
the right just the slightest

bit, the airplane
would start immediately

rolling into a rapid
right hand turn. .

And it scared the living
crap out of all of us.

And the only way to get it out
of that rapid right hand turn

was to turn that control
knob all the way full left,

and then it would just
barely stop the right turn

and just slowly bring
the airplane back.

NARRATOR: Gibson has no way
of steering his airplane.

He can't descend quickly,
and his emergency

oxygen is running out.

The crew and passengers are
flying straight out to sea

with no way to return to
safety in a plane on the verge

of tearing itself apart.

Through terrifying
trial and error,

Captain James Gibson
discovers what his damaged

plane can and cannot do.

OK, stable.

NARRATOR: His autopilot has put
the plane into a slow descent,

but turning is
next to impossible.

Reeve 8 is stuck at
full throttle flying

further and further from land.

Declare an emergency.

Mayday!
Mayday!

This is Reeve Flight 8.
Number 4--

NARRATOR: Flight
dispatcher Richard

Huff receives the call of
the Reeve base in Anchorage.

RICHARD HUFF: Reeve 8 had
taken off out of Cold Bay

prior to my coming to work.

And probably 45 minutes
after I had gone on shift,

they called me.

Reeve 8, manual
flight control ceased.

Heading, 104, full throttle.

Unable to reduce speed.

Is that you Gary?

It's Huff.

Huff, no, we've got nothing.

Reeve 8, understand, no
flight control, confirm.

No, no, no, negative.

We got no manual control, but
autopilot vertical control

kind of working.

Approaching 10,000 feet.

Dropping to 10,000 feet.

OK, we got you.

It was the worst
damage report

I had ever had at our company.

NARRATOR: The autopilot
finally gets the Electra

down to 10,000 feet.

Captain Gibson activates
the autopilot's

altitude hold switch.

It works.

The plane holds at 10,000 feet.

Reeve 8, running
at 10,000 feet.

Over.

Thank God.

It's now safe to
remove your masks.

That's a whole lot better.

NARRATOR: Passengers are no
longer at risk of hypoxia,

but Gibson still can't slow
down or turn back to safety.

Reeve 8, you guys are
going back to Cold Bay?

We're working on it.

Trying to figure out
how to fly this thing.

Everybody wants to
know what's going on.

So I'm really busy
talking on the radio.

And I'm watching Jim try
to overpower the autopilot

or help the autopilot.

NARRATOR: The autopilot
won't turn the plane around.

Gibson still can't budge his
column to make a manual turn.

And I thought, well,
hell, maybe I can do that.

So I reached up and I grabbed
the yoke, and I moved it.

Whoa.

And it scared the
living hell out of Jim.

Christ, Gary, hold on.

He just about climbed
out of his seat, you know.

And I just-- Oh, I felt
terrible, but now at least

we knew that we could overpower
or help the autopilot.

So that meant that
probably our control

cables were not severed.

And that was really good news.

NARRATOR: The pilots
used their combined force

to muscle the plane
into a slow right bank.

They begin a long
turn back to Cold Bay.

The wide turns will get
the plane on course,

but won't provide the
precision needed to land.

The aircraft being a
1950s vintage aircraft

was not equipped with
auto land type autopilots.

It didn't have the
sophistication that

would allow it to
line up directly

on an airport and auto land.

We can't land like this.

No chance in hell.

Without manual
control, there's

no way to land the airplane.

NARRATOR: Even if
Gibson beats the odds

and manages to line up
with a runway at Cold Bay,

he's traveling
too fast to land.

Good chance it would have
gone off the end of the runway

if we'd have landed it
to 200 and some knots.

NARRATOR: Gibson won't
be able to slow down.

He needs a longer runway.

Dispatch, Reeve 8.

How long is that runway in
King Salmon, about 9,000 feet?

NARRATOR: King Salmon
Airport Is more than 310

miles Northeast of Cold Bay.

It's farther away, but
has a longer runway.

Reeve 8, King Salmon
runway is 8900 feet long.

Over.

Close.

If we land at 200 knots, is
8900 feet going to do it?

No.

No, not even close.

NARRATOR: Gibson considers
a measure of last resort,

ditch the plane in the Pacific.

Dispatch, Reeve 8.

I may have to ditch it in
the water at Bristol Bay.

NARRATOR: 217 miles from
Cold Bay, Bristol Bay

is close to emergency
rescue support.

But Richard Huff is
against Gibson's plan.

This is the ocean.

And unlike a river,
it's got swells and--

No.

Uh-uh.

I was totally
against on an ocean ditching.

NARRATOR: Like the 1996
ditching of Ethiopian Airlines

Flight 961, Gibson
risks cartwheeling,

and killing everyone on board
if he doesn't land perfectly.

Reeve 8, strongly advise,
do not landed at Bristol Bay.

Oh, no kidding.

NARRATOR: In
Anchorage, Richard Huff

proposes another risky plan,
fly Northeast towards home

base at Anchorage Airport.

Anchorage International had
two runways that were 10,500.

Plus all the medical facilities
that were in the area

made it a better,
more viable operation.

Reeve 8, dispatch.

Consider flight
direct to Anchorage.

Over.

NARRATOR: Flying to
Anchorage is risky.

The towering mountains
rise to nearly 10,000 feet.

The 434 mile passage would
take the crippled electorate

through unpredictable weather
over the Aleutian mountains.

If Gibson encounters turbulence
en route to Anchorage,

it could cause more damage to
his already vulnerable plane.

FLIGHT DISPATCHER: Reeve 8,
strongly suggest Anchorage.

Over.

Dispatch, Reeve 8.

I heard you the first time.

And this will be my decision.

Over.

Moose, we got enough
fuel to get to Anchorage?

Yeah.

Yeah, we're good.

More than enough.

Dispatch, Reeve 8.

Confirm weather
conditions in Anchorage.

Light surface winds
260 degrees at 9 knots

at Anchorage.

This thing's damn tank.

We'll make it.

OK, dispatch, we are
flying to Anchorage.

Roger, Reeve 8.

Inbound to Anchorage.

Standing by.

NARRATOR: By experimenting,
Gibson has slowly mastered

the damaged autopilot.

He delicately adjusts
the lateral control,

and then adds muscle
to the column,

forcing the plane on a
new heading to Anchorage.

OK.

Stable.

Don't touch a thing.

NARRATOR: For now, Gibson
has luck on his side.

There is no turbulence
as they pass

over the Aleutian mountains.

But his engines are still
stuck on full throttle.

In Anchorage, ground crews
prepare for a disaster.

After four anxious hours,
Reeve flight 8 approaches

the airport from the West.

Captain Gibson carefully
adjusts the autopilot

and begins circling
the airport.

His only hope is
that he can somehow

regain enough control
to attempt a landing

before running out of fuel.

But controls were
just real stiff,

and all we knew
was that as long

as we tried to
use the autopilot

and manually helped,
that we could fly

the airplane a little bit, make
some turns, and a little bit

of pitch control.

NARRATOR: At Reeve
headquarters,

flight engineer John
Minton is called in

to help the pilots find a
way to land their plane.

JOHN MINTON: I was walked
through the scenario

by the people that
were already there,

and asked to help any way
I could with my knowledge

of the aircraft.

JAMES GIBSON:
Dispatch, Reeve 8.

Hang on

I've got to get
some controls back

or I absolutely cannot land.

Over.

Roger, Reeve 8.

We're working on that.

The Electra has two separate
flight control systems

that work side by side
but are completely

separate from each other.

They have the autopilot,
and then they have manual.

So if one is damaged,
the other is there.

In this scenario, the
mechanical side was damaged,

and the autopilot
side was not damaged.

NARRATOR: Minton
considers his options.

His conclusion shocks everyone.

Disconnect the autopilot
and see what happens.

All of us wanted to see if
manual control of the airplane

was an option.

And the only way to do that
is take the autopilot out

of the system and see if the
normal manual hydraulic system

was workable in any
way, shape, or form.

Reeve 8, John Milton suggests
turn off the autopilot.

Are you out of
your freaking mind?

NARRATOR: If any of the
manual flight cables

were severed
during the accident

and Gibson disconnects
the autopilot,

they may be left with
no control at all.

Yeah, we thought the
airplane could possibly

just go out of control.

And then if we couldn't
reengage the autopilot,

then we'd really be
in for a thoroughly

entertaining afternoon.

NARRATOR: In what could be
his last flight command,

Gibson hits the
autopilot disconnect.

Disconnecting autopilot.

For him to put his
thumb on that button

and disconnect that
autopilot was just

about the bravest thing
I think he thought

he ever did in his life.

NARRATOR: The plane
remains steady.

With the autopilot
disconnected,

Gibson checks to see if his
manual controls have loosened.

Nothing.

Dammit.

NARRATOR: They're still jammed.

Jim immediately turned
the autopilot back on again.

And by this time, we
were pretty depressed.

This was not
looking good at all.

There was no way that we
could have landed the airplane

just using the autopilot.

There just was not
enough control.

NARRATOR: The lives of
the 15 people on board

depend on the pilots getting
more control of the plane.

But having spent hours
struggling with jammed

manual controls and
a crippled autopilot,

Captain Gibson needs a rest.

Gary, I'm done.

You got to take it.

He was just done in.

And he said, Gary,
you take the airplane,

I'm going to take a break.

NARRATOR: The crew is
exhausted and out of options.

Then Lintner notices
something that

changes the entire situation.

I looked down
at the autopilot,

and I suddenly saw that
the autopilot was off.

Its turned off.

And I'm sitting here making
turns with the airplane.

Hell, I've got a good 3
degree bank going, you know?

NARRATOR: He is steering
the plane without any help

from the autopilot.

And I turned to Jim and I said,
hey, I've got control here.

What?

GARY LINTNER:
Yeah, ..

Man, immediately he grabbed
the yoke and the two of us

got on it.

With the two of us, hell,
we had pretty good control.

And that's when
we said, Oh man,

this is a whole
different ballgame now.

NARRATOR: Somehow the pilots
have gained enough manual

control to pitch the
nose up and steer

a course for the runway.

As long as we have manual
control over the airplane

without the autopilot,
it would have been OK.

You give us three degrees of
bank and one degree of pitch,

we'll deal with the rest.

Huff, I don't know how,
but we got some control back.

We're coming in.

NARRATOR: But Gibson still
faces one major problem.

It's a 10,000 foot runway,
but you can still run out

of runway for going too fast.

NARRATOR: He's traveling
far too quickly to land.

Captain James Gibson is about
to try landing his badly

damaged Lockheed Electra.

The plane's four engines
are numbered left to right.

The first three are
stuck on full throttle.

Gibson needs to shut one of
them down to slow his plane.

Huff, we'll kill number 1 to
offset the loss on number 4.

No, no, no.

They shut down number 1,
they shut down everything.

Negative, Reeve 8.

Engine number 1
now controls power

generator for all hydraulics.

Do not shut down number 1.

The loss of number 1
engine and the probable loss

of the hydraulic system
would have caused

the crash of the airplane.

OK, Moose, kill number 2.

Reeve 8 shut down
engine number 2.

NARRATOR: Their speed
drops, but not enough.

185 knots.

It's too fast.

NARRATOR: If Gibson
overshoots the runway,

he could kill more than
his crew and passengers,

there's a residential
neighborhood just

beyond the end of the runway.

Everything I had was crossed,
fingers, toes, eyelashes,

because this was a
no kidding backed

up against the wall situation.

There was no fooling around,
and lives were at stake,

on the ground and in the air.

NARRATOR: Gibson speeds
toward the runway still unsure

how to stop his plane
once he gets there.

At 8:13 PM, he risks it
all and attempts a landing.

Let's do this.

Anchorage, Reeve 8.

Ready to land, runway 6 right.

AIR TRAFFIC
CONTROLLER: Reeve 8,

clear to land, runway 6 right.

You might want to go
in the back for this.

NARRATOR: Wendy Kroon returns
to the passenger cabin

to make final
preparations for landing.

I really had that
strong tow to do my duty

and get to the back.

NARRATOR: To do so, she
must cross the gaping hole

in the cabin floor.

I jumped across up onto
the seats with my arms

trying to hold on to
the overhead bins,

trying to hold up as
much weight as I could.

And I went about
four rolls before I

went down onto the
floor, and then

crossed and got to the back.

NARRATOR: With barely any
control, and too much speed,

Gibson begins the approach.

Shoes off.

Place all sharp objects
in the air sickness bags.

This too?

Yeah.

Approach flaps.

Approach flaps.

Gear down.

Gear down.

NARRATOR: The pilots pulled
back on their columns

to raise the nose for landing.

Seconds before touchdown, they
cross the foot of the runway--

170 knots.

NARRATOR: --50 knots
faster than normal.

Sink rate 800 feet a minute.

I'd never had had to myself,
or watched anybody else try

to land an airplane that fast.

They can do this.

They can do this.

NARRATOR: News crews
capture the attempt.

But at the last minute, Gibson
realizes he's still going too

fast and can't land safely.

Son of a bitch.

Go around.

Go around.

We're good.

We're good, yeah.

When we made that first
pass, it was too fast.

And they were not
going to land.

And so it was exciting
when the gear went down

and it came back up.

That was good.

MAN: Oh, they're
going to go around.

They're going to go around.

The airplane was very
low above the trees

as we were going up and around.

And you could see houses and
people down in their yards.

NARRATOR: The failed
approach proves Gibson may

be attempting the impossible.

Our problem was that
we're just going too fast.

We were doing 170
knots all the way down.

NARRATOR: Gibson must find
a way to reduce his speed

by at least 10 knots.

But shutting down the remaining
engines is not an option.

The Electra short wings
get most of their lift

from air pushed back
by the propellers.

You can't just
turn the airplane

engines off and glide.

There was just too much drag
from those large propellers,

and so the lift of the wing
would be gone completely.

So the airplane would
just fall out of the air.

NARRATOR: With two
engines at full throttle,

and too much speed to land,
Gibson loops out to sea

and begins a second approach.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
Reeve 8, Tower.

Clear for second
approach, runway 6 right.

Gear down.

Gear down.

NARRATOR: Planes pick up
speed as they descend.

To reduce his
landing speed, Gibson

decides to start his second
approach from a mere 800 feet.

He also makes a bold decision
that will make a second go

around impossible,
on touchdown,

he's going to kill the
two remaining engines.

Last chance, guys.

Come on.

Come on, come on, come on.

146 knots.

NARRATOR: The plane
hits the ground.

Cut all engines.

Emergency shut
down engines 1 and 3.

Once the E
handles were pulled,

the airplane was committed.

There was no turning back.

140.

NARRATOR: With all the engines
cut, the plane slows down.

But there's a
high price to pay.

It's the engines that provide
the electrical and hydraulic

power that controls the
steerings and brakes.

Now we're a
hurtling projectile

down the runway with
no hydraulic control

of the airplane.

Well, now isn't
this something.

We got no control,
directional control

at all on this airplane.

I mean, we're essentially
passengers now.

We've become passengers
with front row seats.

NARRATOR: Aborting the
landing is now impossible.

The plane speeds at 140 knots
towards the neighborhood

beyond the airport.

Gibson has no hydraulic breaks.

All he has are
emergency brakes,

and they don't have nearly
as much stopping power.

Overwhelmed by the
speed of the plane

the emergency brakes
burst into flames.

MAN(ON RADIO): We have
fire on the nose wheel.

We are fire on the nose wheel.

Now we're going
off the runway.

We're definitely
going off the runway.

We're just looking straight
into that ditch, and Jim says,

brace yourselves, boys.

Brace yourself.

Nice.

I think we're there.

There was no real emergency
because we could sense

that everything was good.

Everybody's fine back here.

Well, there's, of
course, adrenaline

running at that point.

It just felt-- it felt good.

I think it was just
surreal because we were OK.

They did it.

We're all good.

Heck of a landing, guys.

Heck of a landing.

And as soon as I hit the
ground, one of the pastors

come up to me and goes, when's
the next flight to Seattle.

I'm
looking at him like,

I don't think you realize
how bad the situation was.

I'm still amazed that
they got it on the ground

without hurting
anybody or anything.

They didn't even put a
scratch on the airplane.

We just sat there and
watched them foam the airplane.

There was foam all
over the airplane

from the fire
trucks and firemen,

and the airplane
was reasonably OK.

NARRATOR: Passengers
exit the plane.

But Gibson has one last command
before he releases his crew.

That's Coach Brice, boys.

Jim said, well, boys,
I think we handled that

like real true professionals.

I think we ought to
get our hats, coats,

and ties on for our departure.

NARRATOR: After a
six-hour ordeal,

Captain Gibson
and his crew have

landed a badly crippled
plane and saved the lives

of everyone on board.

The company was always
telling us that we're a bunch

of unprofessional .

I guess you can't probably
print that, but anyway.

NARRATOR: It's now up to NTSB
investigator Ron Schleede

to find out what went wrong.

RON SCHLEEDE: The loss
of a propeller in flight

is a very serious event.

It can lead to
catastrophic accident,

has led to catastrophic
accidents in the past.

NARRATOR: Though
the Reeve Aleutian

accident was not
catastrophic, it

is part of a disturbing trend.

Since 1965, there
have been four

cases of spontaneous propeller
loss on the Electra L-188.

We had an airplane that
nearly went into the ocean

because a propeller came off.

So we needed to find
out as best as we could

what caused this accident.

NARRATOR: In Washington,
investigator Dennis Grossi

reviews the cockpit
voice recording

to understand the
challenges faced by the crew

as they tried to land.

DENNIS GROSSI: Shortly after
takeoff, the flight crew

detected a vibration.

That vibration continued
on and until the propeller

departed the aircraft,
damaging the fuselage,

causing a rapid
decompression of the cabin,

a loss of engine
controls, and the limited

flight control authority.

Dammit.

NARRATOR: For Schleede,
there are only

two possible causes
that can explain

the loss of the propeller.

RON SCHLEEDE:
With fatigue crack

or some other
preexisting damage

would cause the whole
propeller assembly to separate.

And that has happened before.

The other possibility is the
gearbox, the powered gears

that drive the propeller, if
there's a catastrophic failure

there, that can also
cause the engine

or the propeller assembly
and gearbox to separate.

That has also
happened in the past.

NARRATOR: His team
studies what's

left of the damaged engine.

Right away, it's clear
his investigation

will be difficult.

The wreckage really didn't
give us much of a clue

because what we needed
to look at was gone.

NARRATOR: The propeller and
the gearbox it was attached to

or lost at sea.

The parts that likely
caused the vibration

are gone for good.

Without them, the case may
be impossible to solve.

With no physical
evidence to examine,

Schleede's team
studies the plane's

flight data recorder hoping
it can explain the vibration.

RON SCHLEEDE: The flight
recorder on this airplane

was a very
rudimentary recorder.

It records by a stylus
scraping a metal foil.

And so it's not a very
scientific thing compared

to what we have today.

So we could not on
the flight recorder

determine where the
vibration came from.

NARRATOR: The Electra has a
history of engine vibration,

vibrations so serious,
it's been known to tear

the plane apart at high speed.

Investigators examine the
rubber mounts designed

to absorb those vibrations.

If they're worn down, it
could explain the accident.

But the mounts check out.

The investigation
hits another dead end.

RON SCHLEEDE: We could
not determine even

a probable cause in this case.

When you can't do that and
have to say, I don't know,

that's very hard for
an investigator to say.

NARRATOR: But there
is another question

Schleede hopes he can answer,
why was Gibson's plane so hard

to land.

In four other cases when an
Electra's propeller separated,

the planes landed
without incident.

RON SCHLEEDE: The
loss of a propeller

is not necessarily
catastrophic.

It's designed to fly with
only half its engines.

NARRATOR: If with
three engines intact,

Gibson could barely maintain
control of his plane,

something made
this case unique.

NTSB investigators examine
the gash where the propeller

punctured the hull.

Doesn't look like
any cables are cut.

NARRATOR: The hole explains
the decompression, but not

the complete lack of control.

It's only by taking a closer
look from inside the cabin

that they finally discover the
root of the control problem,

the badly damaged cabin floor.

That buckling of the
floor from the explosive

decompression jammed
the flight controls,

where the cables ran through
holes in the floor structure.

NARRATOR: The autopilot control
cables and the manual cables

were both pinched by
the collapsed floor.

Jammed.

NARRATOR: But because only
the autopilot uses hydraulics

to move the cables, it
can apply far more force

on them than a human pilot.

This is why the autopilot
was able to control

the plane ever so slightly.

RON SCHLEEDE: They were
able to get the autopilot

to move the control surfaces
to make minimal corrections

and keep the airplane stable.

Hey, I've got
some control here.

What?

NARRATOR: But with the manual
cables so badly jammed,

investigators
wonder why the crew

was suddenly able to
regain enough control

to land the plane.

A closer look at
the pinched cables

explains why they
eventually came free.

Looks like they sawed
their way out of this mess.

They kept pulling as hard
as they could on the yoke,

pushing and pulling, turning--

NARRATOR: Deep scars in the
hole's joists tell the tale.

The pinched control
cables gradually carved

channels into the airframe.

They were actually
cutting right into the metal

during the long flight
before they landed.

NARRATOR: That
gave the crew just

enough control to get the
plane lined up with the runway.

Let's do this.

Anchorage, Reeve 8.

Ready to land, runway 6 right.

NARRATOR: Dennis
Grossi believes

brute force was
only part of what

made this flight exceptional.

I've listened to a lot
of CVRs in my 35 years

with the NTSB, and
there's nothing that

even comes close to this one.

And the crew was
quite exceptional.

JAMES GIBSON:
Anchorage, Reeve 8.

Ready to land, runway 6 right.

AIR TRAFFIC
CONTROLLER: Reeve 8,

clear to land, runway 6 right.

Gear down.

Gear down.

170 knots.

Sink rate 800 feet a minute.

They were able to regain
control of the aircraft

and start a descent,
which is extraordinary.

NARRATOR: Once in Anchorage,
Gibson resisted the temptation

to land on his first approach.

Son of a bitch.

Quite often when
pilots are on approach

and things start to
go wrong, the instinct

is to get the
airplane down and land

it in spite of the conditions.

Go around.

Go around.

The captain showed
extraordinary airmanship

and leadership.

NARRATOR: Gibson's
last flight command may

have distinguished him most.

Cut all engines.

Emergency shut
down engines 1 and 3.

Then of course, the
decision by the captain

to cut the power
once they touch down,

that eliminated the
possibility of a go around.

So he knew at that
point that this is it.

NARRATOR: In 1983, US
President Ronald Reagan

recognized Captain James
Gibson and his crew

for their heroic landing.

I said you too,
what does it feel

like when a propeller
starts to come

through the side of the plane?

Well, it was a
few moments there

that I wouldn't want to repeat,
sure, but it was exciting.

NARRATOR: James Gibson flew
with Reeve for six more years

before retiring.

He died in 2010.

Gary Lintner retired from
Reeve and professional flying

in 1996.

Victoria Fredenhagen
left aviation and opened

her own business in Anchorage.

Two years after
their fateful flight,

Moose Loren and
Wendy Kroon married.

Reeve Aleutian
Airlines folded in 2000

after 68 years of service.