All language subtitles for Air.Disasters.S04E03.Caution.to.the.Wind.1080p.PMTP.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-maldini_track3_[eng]

Man: I remember
that it was very windy.

Narrator: As a typhoon
bears down on Taiwan,

a 747 hurtles down the runway
at Chiang Kai-Shek Airport.

First officer: V-1.

Pilot: V-1.

Man: Your chances of being
in an airplane crash

are vanishingly small.

Man: At a certain time
the plane kind of lost it.

Narrator: On October 31, 2000,

159 passengers
could not beat the odds.

Man: The midsection people,

they were killed
by the fire and smoke.

Narrator: Many are left
wondering...

Man: I was in the rear section
of the aircraft.

Narrator: Could the key
to surviving a plane crash

be a matter of choosing
the right seat?

Flight Attendant:
Run as far away as you can.

Pilot: Mayday, mayday!

Narrator: Singapore Airlines
flight 6 taxis to the runway

through heavy wind and rain

at Taipei's
Chiang Kai-Shek Airport.

Taiwan sits inside Asia's
infamous Typhoon Alley--

and tonight the island nation
is bracing for the worst.

James fang: Every year we have
three to four typhoon.

It was a terrible night,
it was stormy weather,

strong wind, heavy rain.

Narrator: Typhoon Xangsane,
with winds of 99 miles an hour,

is closing in fast.

Flight 6 needs to get airborne

before the brunt
of the storm hits.

Jeff wise: Even a 747 can't
take off in an actual typhoon.

The closer the storms gets,
the more likely it is

that these guys are gonna
get stuck in Taipei.

Narrator: There are 179 people

on board the overnight flight
to Los Angeles,

including business traveler
Francois Parent.

Francois parent: Being
a frequent flyer,

I was not too concerned
about the weather

because that didn't bother me
in the past.

Narrator: Parent has requested
an aisle seat.

The only one available
on this flight is in row 65,

the second to the last row
of the plane.

He has no idea how important his
seating assignment will become.

Parent: As far as I could tell,
everything was normal

and we were gonna take off
as usual.

Controller: Singapore 6,
for your information,

surface winds 0-2-0
at 2-4, gusts 4-3.

Latiff Cyrano: Thank you, sir,
Singapore 6.

Foong Chee Kong: Let me know
when it hits 30.

Narrator: If the crosswind
hits 30 knots,

the crew will have to abandon
their takeoff.

Parent: As we were taxiing
down the runway, it was,

I remember that it was
very windy

and that the plane was moving
left to right.

Controller: Singapore 6,
you are cleared for takeoff,

runway 05-left.

Foong: Okay.
Thrust ref toga-toga.

Narrator:
Captain Foong Chee Kong

decides to proceed
with the takeoff.

Foong: Okay, my control.

Narrator: The 747 accelerates
towards takeoff speed,

180 miles an hour.

Cyrano: V-1.

Foong: V-1.

Parent: As the plane was
gaining speed to take off,

at a certain time the plane
kind of lost it.

What's happening?

I took the safety position.

Then I felt the airplane
spinning around.

It was like inside
of a merry-go-round.

I thought I was gonna die.

Narrator: The plane's tanks
are loaded

with 15,000 gallons of fuel.

It ignites immediately.

Parent: Then I opened my eyes

and I saw a fireball
coming at me.

I was lucky enough to bend down

and hide from the fire
coming by me.

I got burns on my hands
and my arm.

Controller: Direct emergency
vehicles to runway 05-left.

Singapore 6, do you read?

Singapore 6?

Cyrano: Let's go, go, go!

Parent: There was smoke
in the airplane.

It was, we couldn't breathe.

Flight Attendant: Everybody
move forward quickly.

Once you're off the plane,
run as far away as you can.

Go, go.

Parent: There was
an older person before me,

and he had difficulties moving,

and so I was able to lift him up
so that he could move his way.

Flight Attendant: Run away
from the plane.

Parent: There was
a stewardess there.

She showed me the direction
where to run,

and then we were asked
to run away as fast as possible.

Narrator: Rescuers must battle
both the flames

and the violent storm.

Fang: It takes about 15 minutes
to control the fire

and 45 minutes to extinguish
all of them,

so it's a difficult task
for the firefighters.

Narrator: The massive 747
has broken into pieces.

Of the 179 passengers and crew,
83 are dead.

Most victims were seated
in the middle of the plane

where the fuel-fed fire
was most severe.

Fang: Unfortunately
the midsection passengers,

they were killed
by the fire and smoke.

Narrator: The 96 survivors
include all three pilots,

some passengers in first class

and everyone
in the rear section,

where Francois Parent
was seated.

Fang: The tail section broken
apart from the midsection,

and there was less fire
in the tail section,

and most of the people survived.

Narrator: One of Asia's busiest
airports is immediately closed.

It is now up to the aviation
safety Council of Taiwan

to determine the cause
of the disaster.

Thomas Wang: When I went
to the crash site,

I can see all the wreckage
spread on the runway,

and most of the wreckage
were already burned

by the post-impact fire.

Narrator: Jeff wise is an expert

in aviation accidents
and their causes.

Wise: When you're
an investigator

looking at a crash scene,

you have to keep an open mind.

You have to assume it could be
any conceivable factor,

from the machinery
to the human factors

to the weather
to who knows what.

Narrator: Much of the wreckage
is on a runway

adjacent to five left.

Investigators' first thought is

did fierce winds blow
the plane off course?

Wang: The weather in Taiwan,
the whole Taiwan is very bad.

In CKS Airport, the gusts
up to 50 to 60 knots.

Narrator: As the typhoon
moves in,

the winds grow even stronger,

making the investigators' work
next to impossible.

Fang: During the stormy weather

it's difficult to do anything
outside at the accident site.

Wang: They can't even stand
on the runway

because the wind is very strong.

Fang: Let's get inside.
This will have to wait.

Narrator: Close examination
of the crash site is put off

until the storm passes.

But investigators want to talk
to the flight crew right away.

Thomas Wang is the ASC's lead
human factors investigator.

Wang: As investigators,
we believe

that we should interview
the pilots or operator

as soon as possible

because we believe that human
memory will fade over time.

Wise: Just as a machine
has certain failure modes,

ways in which it will
most likely break,

a human being has specific ways

in which they're more likely
to fail psychologically,

and this is what a human factors
investigator is looking for.

Narrator:
Captain Foong Chee Kong

is interviewed within hours
of the crash.

Wang: What happened?

Foong: We collided
with something on the runway

V-1.

Just as we hit V-1.

There's something there!

There was something
on that runway.

Wang: Could you tell
what it was?

Foong: No. We could not see
all the way down the runway.

Wang: What happened
after you collided?

Foong: We tried to pull up,
but it was too late.

We called for an evacuation,
but the intercom was dead.

Evacuate.

Let's go, go, go, go!

We attempted to get everyone
out of the plane

as quickly as possible,

but the fire was so intense.

There was something
on that runway

that should not have been there.

Narrator: The focus
of the investigation

now shifts from the weather

to a potential obstacle
on the runway.

But the search for answers
will have to wait

until calmer skies
return to Taipei.

Narrator: The morning after
a fiery crash

that claims 83 lives...

Chiang Kai-Shek Airport
remains closed.

Thousands of passengers
are stranded.

For Singapore Airlines,

the accident mars
an excellent safety record.

It's the company's first
fatal crash in 28 years.

Media speculation focuses
on the pilots' decision

to take off in the face
of an oncoming typhoon.

With the weather now improving,

investigators scour
the wreckage for clues.

If flight 6 collided
with something on the runway,

they need to figure out
what it was.

Fang: It's difficult for us to
collect all of the information,

all of the wreckage, because
it's blown to everywhere.

Narrator:
Accidents during takeoff

can involve
more than one aircraft.

In 1991, a Skywest Metroliner

preparing to take off
from Los Angeles

was crushed by a U.S. Air 737

attempting to land
on the same runway.

34 people were killed.

Italy's worst
air disaster unfolded

on a foggy morning in Milan

when an SAS MD-87
collided on takeoff

with a Cessna that was
crossing the runway.

No one on either plane
survived the impact.

118 people died.

Fang: Any signs
of another plane?

And no other flights
unaccounted for.

Narrator: But at
Chiang Kai-Shek Airport

this is quickly ruled out.

All of the debris appears to be
from just one plane, flight 6.

Fang: He didn't hit a plane.

Narrator: Investigators need
to identify

the thousands of pieces
of mangled wreckage.

Fang: Part of the flap assembly,
the right wing.

Narrator: The precise location
of the pieces

should tell them
how the 747 came apart.

On closer inspection,
they make an unexpected find.

It looks like pieces
of construction equipment

are mixed in with
the aircraft debris

strewn across the pavement.

Wise: It wouldn't be hard
to imagine some large object

being blown into an engine
or knocking out the windshield.

There's lots of things
that could have happened.

Narrator: Chiang Kai-Shek
Airport has three runways.

Runway 6 is at the airport's
south end.

Runway 5-left is the one
flight 6 was using.

Parallel to that
is runway 5-right,

a runway closed
for construction.

Investigators consider
the possibility

that loose material
from the construction site

could be the culprit.

Wang: Maybe the heavy,
strong wind blow off something

and hit the aircraft
and the aircraft then,

then crashed just after takeoff.

Narrator:
If construction material

was not properly secured,

it might have blown
onto runway 5-left

directly into the plane's path.

Foong: There's something there!

Narrator: But investigators
soon find evidence

that tells a different story--

tire tracks on runway 5-right

heading straight towards
the construction equipment.

This runway has been closed
for weeks.

There should be
no fresh tracks on it.

Wang: We can actually see
the tire mark of this aircraft

starting from the takeoff point

all the way to the first
impact point.

We can still see that
gray tire mark on the runway.

Narrator: The tire marks
on runway 5-right

lead investigators
to a startling conclusion.

Fang: This is our point
of impact.

Narrator: It now seems
more likely

that some unimaginable error
occurred,

putting flight 6
on the wrong runway.

Wang: We have to compare
the tire mark

with the data we collect
from the flight data recorder

and then put it together.

Narrator: The only way
to confirm the flight's route

is to find the black boxes.

Wang: The black box
is the flight recorder

and the cockpit voice recorder.

If we have them,

then we can probably find out
what actually happened.

Narrator: Both
the flight data recorder

and the cockpit voice recorder

are stored in the rear
of the plane,

the least damaged section.

Investigators are able
to study the information

within a day of the crash.

Wang: When we get information
out of the recorder, we read it,

then we can know the exact
position of the aircraft.

Narrator: They compare
positioning information

from the flight data recorder

to a satellite image
of the airport.

It confirms their theory.

Fang: He's, he's lining up
with the wrong runway.

Narrator: Somehow
the plane ended up

on runway 5-right
instead of 5-left.

Fang: 1,243 meters
down the runway

he collides with
the construction equipment.

Wang: He was
supposed to be here.

How did they end up
here instead?

Wise: It doesn't seem
like a very obvious mistake

to take off on a wrong runway.

It seems like the kind of thing

that shouldn't happen ever
under any circumstances.

Narrator: For investigators,
it's hard to believe

that such a fundamental
error occurred.

Wang decides to interview
Captain Foong again.

Wang: Usually we'll do
an initial interview

right after the accident

and then maybe wait
for another day or two.

Then we will re-interview again.

Maybe at that time they can
tell more about what happened.

Did you receive this notice?

Foong: Of course I did.

Everyone did.

We discussed it
during our briefing.

Narrator: Wang learns
that the flight crew received

written notice that
runway 5-right was closed.

Foong: Tell them
we'll take 5-left.

Wang: According to
the flight data recorder,

you were not on 5-left.

The accident took place
on 5-right.

You collided with
the construction equipment

on 5-right.

Here's the point of impact.

You were taking off
from the wrong runway.

Foong: Impossible.

We were on 5-left.

I'm sure of it.

Wang: The three pilots believed
they were on the correct runway,

05-left, even after
the accident happened.

What makes you so sure
you were on 5-left?

Foong: The controller
would have said if we weren't.

Controller: Singapore 6,
runway 05-left.

Winds 0-2-0 at 2-8.

Gusts 5-0.

Cleared for takeoff.

Narrator: With no planes
ahead of them,

the Singapore pilots
received advance clearance

to take off as soon as they
reach the runway.

Cyrano: Cleared for takeoff
runway 05-left, Singapore 6.

Narrator:
What puzzles investigators

is why air traffic controllers
didn't notice that the 747

had turned onto
the wrong runway.

Controller: I couldn't see them
in that weather.

Narrator: When interviewed,
the controllers describe

how the storm limited visibility
that night to about 2,000 feet.

Controller: And they confirmed
runway 5-left.

That's the last
I heard from them.

Fang: Hmm. 1,600 meters between
the runway and the tower.

There's no way he saw them.

Narrator: The crew assumed
that the tower

was monitoring their progress,

but the controller had lost
sight of the plane.

Investigators now try
to determine

if the pilots themselves
were lost in the storm.

Wang: How was the visibility?

Could you see where you were
going the whole time?

Foong: We couldn't see very far,
but we could see far enough.

Cyrano studied the map while
I followed the taxi lights.

It led us directly
to the runway.

Cyrano: Okay,
green lights are here.

Narrator: It appears
that the crew had no trouble

seeing their route
as they taxied,

yet flight 6 still ended up
on the wrong runway.

Wang: Was this the map
you were using?

Foong: Yes.

Wang: You didn't have
any trouble reading it?

Foong: I wasn't reading it.

My first officer
and the relief pilot

were following the map.

I only glanced at it
when the route changed.

Wang: They changed the route?

Foong: Yes.

Narrator: Wang learns
that the ground controller

issued a last minute change
for their route to the runway.

Cyrano: Singapore 6,
request taxi.

Controller: Singapore 6, taxi
to runway 06 via Taxiway--

correction, runway 05-left

via Taxiway Sierra Sierra
West Cross and November Papa.

Cyrano: I missed that.
What was it?

Foong: Sierra Sierra
West Cross and November Papa.

Wise: Pilots have to deal

with last minute changes
all the time.

The situation becomes
complicated, it becomes hairy.

Now you've got a typhoon
bearing down on you.

You've got time pressure.

You're also having to deal

with a difficult environment
for taxiing.

You've got crosswinds,
you've got gusts.

So you're under pressure.

Narrator: Investigators
need to understand

how the crew responded
to that pressure.

They turn to the cockpit
voice recorder.

If there was any confusion
in the cockpit

on the way to the runway,

the recording could reveal it.

Wang: CVR can provide
investigators a sense

of what the environment that the
pilots are actually working in.

Foong: Tell them
we'll take 5-left.

What's the latest weather?

NG Kheng Leng: This is
the latest: 0-2-0-3-6, gust 52.

Still within limits.

Foong: That's better.
More on the headwind side.

Narrator: The crew runs through
all the mandatory procedures.

Foong: Taxiing slowly.

Okay, turning left,
skidding right.

A lot of rudder work here.

NG: Crosswinds.

Foong: Yeah.

Wang: They don't seem confused.

Wise: What they heard was a crew
that was calm, that was focused,

that was doing
what they needed to do.

Wang: They're doing
a procedure checklist.

They check the weather.

They discuss the safety issues,

so if pilot doing everything
they're supposed to do,

why did the accident happen?

Foong: There's something there!

Narrator: Taiwanese
investigators still can't answer

why the crew of Singapore
Airlines flight 6

made the fatal error of turning
onto the wrong runway.

They hope the crew's
last moments of conversation

can provide a clue.

Foong: I'm going to go
very slow here.

Otherwise, we'll skid.

Cyrano: Okay, nine knots.

Wise: Normally a 747 taxis
about 25 knots.

On this night, they're going
nine knots.

They were doing exactly
what they should have done,

taking it nice and slow.

When you've got really
strongly gusting winds,

you want to taxi slowly.

You've not only got to deal
with the massive surface area

of the tail fin behind you,

but you've got a very slick,
slippery runway.

Cyrano: Okay. Winds okay.

Wang: From our view, the pilot

is pretty much follow
the procedure

and they follow
what they have to do.

Cyrano: Next one,
next one's N-1.

Foong: Okay, second right.

Cyrano: Second right.
That's right.

Narrator: The plane must now
taxi 850 feet further

before turning onto
runway 5-left, but it doesn't.

Fang: So why did they turn here?

Narrator: Investigators study
the pilots' work records,

looking for anything that could
help explain their mistake.

Wang: We will collect
the pilots' training record,

at least for three years
before the accident.

Narrator:
Captain Foong Chee Kong

started with Singapore Airlines
as a cadet

over 20 years ago.

He'd flown out of this airport
more than ten times.

First officer Latiff Cyrano

was a former officer
in the Singapore Army.

Fang: He's flown
with Captain Kong

several times before.

Wang: Almost all his hours
were on the 747.

Narrator: The relief pilot,
Captain NG Kheng Leng,

had eight years experience
and was used to long flights.

Wang: So for a commercial pilot

they were
a very experienced team.

Wise: Every one of them was
a better than average pilot.

Wang: They all had
excellent records.

Fang: And yet somehow they made
an unbelievable mistake.

Wang: Why the three pilots
cannot tell the difference

when they take off
from 05-right?

Narrator: Something must have
led the crew

to take a wrong turn.

But exactly what
remains a mystery.

Determined to find out
what went wrong on flight 6,

investigators decide to put
themselves in the pilot's seat--

the cockpit of a 747
at Chiang Kai-Shek Airport.

Wang: All right.
Let's get going.

Narrator: In similar
weather conditions,

they follow the route
taken by flight 6.

Wang: We want to know what
the pilots' working environment

and what outside environment
may affect their decision,

situational awareness
or their decision making

during that night.

Narrator: They taxi slowly
towards runway 5-left,

matching Captain Foong's speed.

Wang: Okay, take the turn
on N-1 nice and slow.

Narrator: The plane turns
onto the final Taxiway.

From this point,
the flight 6 crew

should have taxied
past runway 5-right

towards the turn
for runway 5-left.

Wang: Now we continue
onto 5-right.

How could they have missed
that sign? It's huge.

Narrator: Signs marking 5-right

are clearly visible
from the cockpit.

But investigators see nothing
that would tell a pilot

the runway is out of service.

Wang: There is no indication
that this runway's closed.

Green lights
as far as I can see.

Wise: They were seeing
ambiguous information.

There were some signs that
it was a runway.

There were some signs
it wasn't a runway,

but because they were expecting
to see a runway,

that's what they saw.

Narrator: But inside
the cockpit,

there is an indication that the
plane is on the wrong runway.

The instrument landing system
isn't locking on to a beacon

that should be dead ahead.

Wang: This should tell you
something's not right.

Narrator: If the plane had been
on the correct runway,

the display would have
been centered.

Before departing, pilots program
the plane's computer

to lock on to a beacon at the
end of their designated runway.

Flight 6's navigation system
would have been scanning

for that signal
just before takeoff.

The beacon was clearly off to
their left, not ahead of them.

Investigators need to know
how the pilots

could have missed
this obvious sign.

They once again study
the information from the FDR

and compare it to
the cockpit voice recorder.

Wang: Okay.

NG: It's coming in fast.

The longer we delay,
the worse it's gonna get.

Foong: Agreed.

Narrator: The voice recording
reveals that the crew

wanted to get off the ground
before conditions got any worse.

Wise: It's a challenging
environment,

and the longer they wait,

the more challenging
it's gonna get.

Narrator: Typhoon Xangsane
is bearing down on Taipei,

threatening to ground
all flights

at Chiang Kai-Shek Airport.

The crew of flight 6 knows their
14-hour journey to Los Angeles

is on the verge
of being cancelled.

NG: 2-4 gust, 4-3.

Narrator: Relief pilot NG

needs to carefully calculate
the crosswinds,

checking to see if they've
exceeded 30 knots--

the point at which they'll
have to abort the flight.

Wind direction during takeoff
is critical.

Pilots want to fly
into a headwind

to attain maximum lift.

A strong crosswind can literally
blow a plane off the runway.

Controller: Singapore 6,
runway 05-left,

winds 0-2-0 at 2-8, gusts 5-0.

Cleared for takeoff.

Narrator: Right now, the pilots
are passing signs

that clearly identify
the runways.

What happens in the next
few seconds

is the key
to why they missed them.

Foong: 0-2-0 from the left.

Cyrano: 0-2-0.

Narrator: The winds consume
the crew's attention.

Wise: They were scrupulously
looking at the tables

to figure out
if they had exceeded

the crosswind component.

They were checking it
so meticulously,

they weren't paying attention
to something else.

NG: 28.5.

It's getting close to 30, sir.

Foong: Okay.

Wang: The captain was taxiing
the aircraft in very slow speed

and the first officer is doing
the before-takeoff checklist

and the relief pilot is working
on the crosswind component,

so all pilots, they are occupied
by something.

They do not have
enough attention

to actually check which runway
they are taxiing onto.

Foong: I'm gonna go
very slow here.

Otherwise we'll skid.

Cyrano: Okay, 9 knots.

Fang: Doesn't sound like
anyone's tracking their route.

Narrator:
The crew was so concerned

with taxiing safely
to the runway

that they stopped
paying attention

to where they were headed.

Wang: They believe
they are making a right turn

onto the correct runway.

Unfortunately, that's not
the correct runway.

That's 05-right.

Wise: What you've got here is
a classic case of tunnel vision.

You've got pilots who are
working under enormous stress,

time pressure, the safety of
their passengers is of concern,

and so their ability to deal

with multiple streams
of information

is becoming narrower
and narrower.

Narrator: Investigators
also consider the possibility

that Captain Foong's
extreme caution

might in fact
have worked against him.

Cyrano: Okay, nine knots.

Fang: The captain
intentionally taxis slowly.

Wise: The captain says
to the crew,

"keep it slow. Be careful.

Let's really focus
on what we're doing,"

and they do, but they focus
on the wrong things.

Narrator: Captain Foong
was taxiing

at a speed of 9 knots,
about 9 miles an hour.

Because the turn took so long,
Captain Foong might have thought

he'd gone further
than he really did.

So much time had passed
that he may have thought

he had already reached
runway 5-left.

Wise: One of the real
heartbreaking moments

of this tragedy

is that instant when they come
so close to noticing

that something's wrong.

Narrator: Just before takeoff,

the crew had one last chance
to avoid disaster.

Wise: The first officer
points out

they're nowhere near
the center line of the runway.

Cyrano: The PVD hasn't lined up.

Narrator: It should have been
a warning to the crew

that something was wrong.

Foong: Never mind.
We can see the runway just fine.

Narrator: Captain Foong
ignores the warning.

Wise: The big irony
of this crash

is that they were taking off
in very dangerous circumstances,

near the limit of what their
plane was capable of handling,

but it wasn't the weather
that did them in,

but rather the pressure
of dealing with the storm

distracted them from what turned
out to be the real question--

were they in the right place?

Cyrano: Ready, sir.

Foong: Left aileron into wind.

Wise: The human brain is always
trying to convince itself

that it has a complete picture
of what's going on,

and so that when contradictory
information comes in

there's a tendency
called confirmation bias

to ignore it

and to concentrate
on what you think is happening.

Foong: Okay, my control.

Cyrano: V-1.

Foong: V-1.

Narrator: What happened next
was inevitable.

Foong: There's something there!

Fang: There's the point
of impact.

The clues were there.
They ignored them.

Wise: The entire tragedy
would have been avoided

if the crew had picked up
even one of these clues.

Narrator: It's finally clear
why Singapore Airlines flight 6

ended up on the wrong runway.

But with hundreds of planes
taking off

during the annual
typhoon season,

the challenge now is to make
sure it never happens again.

Taiwan's aviation safety council
recommends

swift changes to pilots'
procedures and training.

They recommend more frequent
communication

between controllers

and pilots who are taxiing
in poor weather.

Pilots must now report
each of their movements

to the controller
as they make them.

Pilot: Currently turning left
onto Taxiway November-1.

Narrator: New checklists
are also designed,

which include a visual
confirmation step,

forcing pilots to confirm that
they're on the correct runway

before they take off.

Chiang Kai-Shek Airport
comes under criticism

for keeping an out-of-service
runway lit

and for failing
to either barricade

or clearly mark it closed.

Wise: Chiang Kai-Shek
was not compliant

with current International
Airport regulations.

They didn't have
the ground radar

that would have told the tower
where this plane actually was.

Narrator: In aviation,
fatal crashes

are the most powerful catalysts
for change.

Following the disaster,

authorities install ground radar
at the airport in Taipei.

It allows the tower to track
a plane's position,

even in bad weather.

Singapore Airlines
comes down hard

on the pilots of flight 6.

The captain and first officer
both lose their jobs.

Wise: One of the lessons
of this accident

is that you can have
an exemplary crew

performing their duties
with utmost care,

and they still make a mistake
with fatal consequences.

Narrator: The crash of flight 6
also highlights another lesson--

the decisions passengers make
before takeoff,

including where to sit,

can sometimes make
the difference

between life and death.

Following his brush with death

at Taipei's
Chiang Kai-Shek Airport,

Francois Parent has reason
to take credit

for his own survival.

Parent: It was just
basic survival instinct,

and we had no time to think
about what's happening.

When I realized that my life
was at risk,

I had a thought for my family,

and that gave me the energy
to do something to save my life.

Flight Attendant:
Run as far away as you can.

Go, go!

Wise: They say that fear
is contagious,

and that's particularly true
in a closed environment

where people are fairly densely
clustered together.

Flight Attendant:
Move forward quickly.

Wise: Fear is contagious,
but so is courage.

Parent: Come.
Come with me.

Narrator: The accident in Taiwan
raises the question--

what can passengers do
to improve their odds

of surviving
when disaster strikes?

Although experts
do not all agree,

statistics suggest some seats
are safer than others.

Wise: Studies have found
that there is

a slightly higher percentage
of survival

in the back of an aircraft.

Narrator: During a crash,
the tail section can break away

from the main fuselage
and the wings

where fuel is stored.

Though opinions vary,
some statistics show

that passengers seated
at the rear of the plane

have the highest
average survival rate, 69%.

In the over wing section,
that number drops to 56%.

In the forward section,
your odds of surviving a crash

are less than even, 49%.

Many experts believe
that sitting

within five rows of an exit

gives you the best chance
of survival.

Also, aisle seats are slightly
safer than window seats.

Parent: I was sitting
in an aisle seat

in the rear of the aircraft.

Wise: Most accidents take place
on takeoff and on landing,

so if you're concerned
about surviving on an airplane,

that's the time
to pay attention.

Flight Attendant: This plane
is equipped with ten exits--

four at the font,
four at the back

and one over each wing.

Fang: If the passengers listen
to the safety briefing,

they know what they have to do
in the first seconds.

They know how to get out
of the aircraft.

Wise: In the seat pocket
in front of you

there's a safety card.

On it there's a diagram

that shows you how to get
to the exits.

Look at it.

Just put in your mind what you
have to do to get there,

because when things go crazy
in the smoke and the darkness,

you won't be able
to figure it out.

Narrator: But one statistic
stands out above all others.

Wise: Your chances of being
in an airplane crash

are vanishingly small.

They say it's probably true
that you're more likely

to get into an accident
driving to the airport

than you are in the airplane.

I think there are better
things to worry about

than where you're sitting
when an airplane crashes.