All language subtitles for Air.Disasters.S04E06.Grand.Canyon.1080p.PMTP.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-maldini_track3_[eng]

Narrator: In 1956
Jack Parshall faces

one of the most challenging
air crash investigations

of all time.

Man: When you talk about
an accident in the Grand Canyon,

you're talking about
both hostile, inaccessible,

remote and dangerous.

Jack Parshall: Hot enough
to melt aluminum.

Man: This was the age
in which accident investigation

began to grow up.

Parshall: Now, let's see
what we got on the DC-7.

Pilot: Damn!

Narrator: The world expects
answers from Parshall.

Parshall: Right there.

Man: The consequences for
getting it wrong in any respect

could have tremendous
negative ramifications

for this fledgling industry.

Narrator: Parshall makes
a frightening discovery

about commercial aviation:
It isn't safe.

Man: It's not a matter
of the system being broken.

Guys, we don't have a system.

Pilot: Mayday, mayday!

Narrator: At Los Angeles
International Airport,

United Airlines flight 718 is
preparing to depart for Chicago.

The DC-7 is the newest
and fastest passenger plane

in America--

the pride of the united fleet.

Flight attendant:
I'm sorry, sir,

there's no smoking
until after takeoff.

Narrator: In 1956 airline travel

is something few people have had
a chance to experience.

There are only 117
commercial aircraft

in the entire state
of California.

Announcer: The girls were off,
bound for New York.

They were walking on air
even before they got on board.

John Nance: Flying had
a panache about it.

Now, part of this was because
it cost a lot

and there was a level
of exclusivity about it.

But there was also a level
of civility about it.

Announcer: Expertly prepared
and tastefully served.

Nance: It was a special deal.

Narrator: A DC-7 can carry
almost 100 passengers non-stop

from coast to coast.

Nance: It was no longer
a situation where people said,

well, you're going to go
fly commercially?

You're putting your life
on the line.

It was getting to be reliable.

It was getting to be,
if not ubiquitous,

then fairly common.

Bob Shirley: Chicago
for dinner, gentlemen.

Gerard Fiore: Dinner can't come
soon enough for me.

Flight attendant:
Door closed and secure, guys.

Narrator: The DC-7 is powered
by four huge engines.

Each one has 18 cylinders.

The wright 33-50 turbo compound
is a technical marvel.

But it demands
a lot of attention.

Flight attendant: Good morning,
ladies and gentlemen,

and welcome aboard
United Airlines 718.

Our captain today
is Bob Shirley.

You're in good hands.

Narrator: 48-year-old Captain
Bob Shirley

has more than 17,000
flight hours.

He's been on the plum
L.A.-Chicago route

for nearly a year.

Clay lacy: Bob Shirley
was an excellent pilot.

Narrator: Clay lacy
is a former united pilot

who was with another crew flying
out of Los Angeles that morning.

Lacy: He was highly regarded
as a pilot.

And he had his own airplane and
was a guy that loved aviation.

Shirley: TWA's running
a little late this morning, huh?

Robert Harms: Mm-hmm.

Narrator: The 36-year-old
first officer, Robert Harms,

is a world war ii veteran
and a former flight instructor.

Fiore: Well,
we're on time, guys.

Let's keep it that way.

I'm three pages
into the checklist.

Narrator: The third member of
the United Airlines cockpit crew

is flight engineer Gerard Fiore.

Fiore: Engine number one.

Shirley: Rpm to 2100.

Bob macintosh:
The flight engineer
was a busy fellow,

and he fine-tuned
the power plants individually

and even by cylinder.

Fiore: Checking magnetos.

Left. Both.

Right. Both.

Rpm is good for left and right.

Macintosh: The proper heat,
mixture controls

and cowl flaps
and so on, so forth

to keep those power plants
running at their best.

Fiore: Cylinder head temps
are in the zone.

Shirley: Well, Dr. Fiore,
we are blessed this morning.

Fiore: She's all yours, captain.

Narrator: While the united crew
waits to taxi,

the tower controller
gives instructions

to the plane ahead of them,

a TWA's flight to Kansas City.

Controller: TWA's 2 cleared
for takeoff

on runway 2-5-right.

Jack Gandy: Roger, copy,
cleared for takeoff 2-5-right.

Controller: United flight 718
taxi to position and hold.

You are next
on runway 2-5-left.

Harms: United 718 copy, taxi
and hold runway 2-5-left.

Narrator: The united flight
is right on time this morning.

Keeping to schedule is important

in the small but growing
air travel business,

where many flights carry

at least some
first-time passengers.

Nance: As they kept adding
flights, passengers kept coming.

It was almost

an "if you schedule it,
they will come" situation.

Controller: United flight 718
cleared for takeoff.

Harms: Takeoff clearance
obtained.

Shirley: Takeoff thrust.

Harms: 80 knots.

Shirley: Check.

Harms: 120 knots.

V-1.

Rotate.

Narrator: At 9:04 in the morning

flight 718 lifts off
from Los Angeles.

The trip to Chicago
should take about 6 hours.

Captain Shirley must follow
an assigned corridor

through the airspace
around Los Angeles.

After that he's free to fly
wherever he wants,

as long as he reports in,
passing a series of waypoints

along the route to Chicago.

Nance: If you had to divert,
it was no real big deal.

We did not have
the sophistication

of the radar equipment
we have today.

Back in the '50s
there was a big sky out there,

and that was kind of the way
everybody thought of it.

There weren't that many
airplanes up there.

Shirley: The engines
sound good, Mr. Fiore.

How are the temps?

Fiore: They're holding steady,
skipper.

Still running a little rich.

Lacy: We were very interested
in those days

in pleasing the passengers.

Shirley: Well, time
for some introductions.

Harms: Knock yourself out.

Shirley: Good morning, folks,
Captain Bob Shirley here.

It is a beautiful, bright day.

We're almost at our cruising
altitude of 21,000 feet,

which is almost exactly
four miles.

Lacy: If only 10% of the people
had flown,

we were certainly trying to get
more people to fly,

so we tried to make it
a fun, interesting experience.

Narrator: 54 minutes
into the flight,

the DC-7 reaches
its second waypoint.

Harms: United 718, we're
at needles, 9:58, 21,000 feet,

clear skies, course direct
to Durango.

Estimate crossing
the painted desert line at...

Shirley: 10:31.

Harms: 10:31.

Narrator: The crew
will next check in

when they cross a point
on the map

known as
the painted desert line.

Shirley: I'll try to get you
some spectacular views

in the next half hour,

so I'd stay glued
to those windows.

We're just crossing
into Arizona.

On the right
you can see Lake Havasu.

Up where we are
it's about ten below zero,

so don't go rolling down
those windows now.

Narrator:
Cruising at 21,000 feet,

the crew spots thunderclouds
ahead and adjusts their course.

Lacy: Back in those days,
if we'd see a thunderstorm ahead

or a line of thunderstorms,

we'd turn and try and go
between two of the cells.

And without radar we didn't
have to tell anybody,

we'd just steer around it.

Shirley: Folks, we've got
a little weather,

so it could get a bit bumpy.

Nothing to worry about,
just keep your eyes peeled

and you'll get
a spectacular view

no matter where you're sitting.

How are we doing
on your side, Bob?

Harms: Thunderhead
five miles south.

We're clear of it.

Shirley: Damn!

Narrator: Shocked passengers
have no idea what's gone wrong.

Shirley: Oh, god!
Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank!

Come on, baby! Come on!

United dispatcher:
United dispatch to united 718,

do you copy?

Narrator: Flight 718
is overdue to check in.

Calls from dispatch
go unanswered.

United dispatcher:
United dispatch to united 718,

do you copy?

Narrator: Air traffic control
headquarters in Salt Lake City.

Controller: C.A. Salt Lake.

Narrator: Controllers here
don't normally communicate

directly with flight crews.

They get flight information by
phone from airline dispatchers

who are in radio contact
with their pilots.

At 10:51, they get
a disturbing call

from United Airlines dispatch.

Controller: Salt Lake.

Understand.

United 718 20 minutes overdue
at painted desert.

Narrator: Moments later,
another dispatcher calls.

More disturbing news.

TWA's dispatcher: Salt Lake
TWA's.

I'm getting no response
from flight 2.

Controller: Understand,
TWA's flight 2

20 minutes overdue
at painted desert.

We have had no contact here.

Narrator: Controllers now know
that two planes flying from L.A.

Have not reported crossing
a scheduled waypoint--

the painted desert line.

United flight 718
and TWA's flight 2 to Kansas
City

were both expected to reach
that waypoint at 10:31.

Controller: C.A.A. Salt Lake.

TWA's flight 2, do you copy?

Nance: In the absence of a radar
beam hitting an airplane,

if the airplane disappears

you're not gonna know
that anything is wrong

until probably the second time

that they fail to hit
a reporting point.

They're supposed to get
on the radio

and report their position.

Controller: TWA's 2.
C.A.A. Salt Lake.

Do you copy?

Narrator: TWA's flight 2
is carrying 70 people.

There are another 58
aboard the united flight.

Controllers and dispatchers
can only wait

for some response
to learn their fate.

Lacy: I had a trip that morning
in a DC-6

from Los Angeles to Denver.

We got over Bryce Canyon
about the same time

that air rank
was calling united 718...

Controller: C.A.A. Salt Lake.
Do you copy?

Lacy: ...maybe twice a minute.

They were trying to get
a hold of 'em.

And I remember slim,
who was Bob Shirley's boss,

he says, "oh, that Bob
isn't listening

to the radio," you know.

Narrator: More than an hour
has passed

since the planes were last due
to check in.

Controllers send out a bulletin
asking local authorities

to keep an eye out
for the two missing planes.

Nance: Painted desert,
that's where you expected

to hear from at least one
of those two airplanes.

When neither of them
were heard from,

that's the time that the hair
is going to begin to stand up

on the back of the heads
of the controllers.

Narrator:
Two commercial airliners

are still missing somewhere
over the Arizona desert.

Macintosh: Finding an aircraft
in those days,

before we had the various
locator beacons,

before we had the radar systems
that we have today,

indeed was looking for a needle
in a haystack.

Narrator:
The next morning news comes

from authorities in Arizona

confirming everyone's
worst fears.

Controller: They found them?

Narrator: The remains
of two different planes

have been spotted
in Arizona's Grand Canyon.

Nance: There was a gentleman
named Palen Hudgins

who was an air tour pilot

who had heard that there
were missing airplanes,

and he was flying along

looking at anything
he could see down there.

And he sees some smoke
coming up from char butte.

Narrator: The twisted wreckage
of united 718

lies on a rocky ledge

688 feet up
the sheer canyon wall.

The air tour pilot
spots the second crash site

on the floor of the canyon
about one mile away.

Nance: He banks around,
comes in for a closer look,

and there is the most
distinctive structure

in commercial aviation
at the time:

The tail of a constellation
with the three prongs.

There's just no mistaking that.

Macintosh: We had one aircraft
up on a bluff.

We had pieces down in crevasses,

engines and parts lying
in various places.

Narrator: The immediate priority
is to get rescuers

into one of the least accessible
places in North America.

Richard Rodriguez: When you talk
about an accident

in the Grand Canyon,

you're talking about both
hostile, inaccessible,

remote and dangerous.

Narrator: Richard Rodriguez
is a former investigator

with the civil aeronautics
board.

Rodriguez: You're 1,000 feet
above riverbed, for instance,

depending upon where you are.

So it's a very dangerous
place to work.

Narrator: When rescuers
finally reach the crash area,

they first find the scattered
remains of TWA's flight 2.

Reaching the wreckage
of the other plane

will be even more difficult.

Reporter: These are mountaineers

from Denver's
rocky mountain rescue club.

Near the rim
of the Grand Canyon gorge

they collect their gear.

These mountaineers will attempt
to scale the steep walls

from the floor of the canyon

in order to reach an abutment

on which rests
the shattered wreckage

of the United Airlines DC-7.

Narrator: It's not long
before rescuers

come to a grim conclusion.

Everyone aboard both planes
is dead.

It is now up to investigators
from the civil aeronautics board

to piece together what happened.

Ed Herlihy: The Grand Canyon
is a graveyard

for 128 passengers and crew
of two airliners

which crashed on peaks
little more than a mile apart.

The impact reduced the wreckage

to carbonized smears
of paint and metal.

None survived.

Narrator: The sudden loss of two

of America's
most modern airplanes

shocks a country that has come
to think of air travel

as luxurious and safe.

Nance: We were not familiar
as a people

with having massive tragedies
like this and a huge body count,

especially in this
fledgling thing

called commercial aviation.

We were used to an airplane
crashing every now and then.

It was a fairly common
occurrence,

but not two very safe airliners.

Narrator:
Air accident investigators

are shuttled to the crash site
by helicopter.

Rodriguez: The investigator,
of course, is driven

by a desire to know
what caused the accident

for the simple reason

that we want to prevent it
from ever happening again.

Narrator: The team's
lead investigator

is well suited for the job.

Jack Parshall
is an aviation legend,

not only an experienced pilot,
but a crash survivor himself.

Nance: This was one
of the pioneers.

This is a guy
who's flown airmail.

He's done it all
over the years,

and he's also had
four crashes of his own.

You would want somebody
exactly like this on the job

of trying to piece together
the dynamics of a crash

as well as piece together
the metal.

Parshall: Alright,
let's figure out what's what.

Start mapping this out.

Narrator:
The pieces on the ground

will tell Parshall
what happened in the air.

Shirley: Folks, we've got
a little weather,

so it could get a bit bumpy.

How are we doing
on your side, Bob?

Harms: Thunderhead
five miles south.

Narrator:
Could a sudden thunderstorm

have produced turbulence
violent enough

to knock both planes
out of the sky?

Shirley: Damn!

Narrator: Jack Parshall
doesn't have any

of the advanced technology

or the considerable body
of knowledge

that modern-day investigators
have come to rely on.

Nance: It was night and day
between the tools

that the national transportation
safety board has now

and what they had then.

Just, it literally
was a different world.

They had very little.

Narrator: Broken fragments
of the plane

and his own expertise

are all he has
to solve this mystery.

Parshall: Here's what left
of the cockpit.

Nance: There were no black boxes
like there are today.

It really was a "by the seat
of your pants" situation.

And, in fact, this was the age

in which accident investigation
began to grow up.

Parshall: Hot enough
to melt aluminum.

Narrator: At the TWA's crash
site

Parshall finds evidence
of an intense post-crash fire.

But that doesn't tell him
what brought the plane down.

Parshall: Where's
the Connie's tail from here?

Okay. Let's take a look.

Narrator: Investigators locate

the constellation's
distinctive triple tail

about 1,500 feet
from the rest of the plane.

Parshall: Well, well, well.

Narrator: The distance
tells Parshall that the tail

came off the plane
before it hit the ground.

If he can figure out why
the tail came off in midair,

he'll be one step closer to
finding the cause of the crash.

Parshall: Check this out.

Narrator: The wreckage
of TWA's flight 2

shows clear evidence
of a catastrophic impact.

The plane's skin
has been shredded.

Parshall also finds
small streaks of blue paint.

Parshall: We're going to need
this brought up to the hangar.

Narrator: On the canyon floor

over 2,000 feet
from the constellation

lies a piece of the other plane.

The DC-7's wingtip is streaked
with red paint

and is nowhere near
the rest of the plane.

It also came off in midair.

Nance: It was a smoking gun.

When you find red on an airplane
that has no red,

that pretty well
proves the point

that something happened up there

that was not part
of that airplane

as it took off from Los Angeles.

This was one of the things
that cinched the deal.

Narrator: The evidence points

to an incredibly rare,
almost unheard-of event.

Parshall: They definitely
swapped some paint up there.

Narrator: It wasn't severe
weather that brought down

two planes from two
of America's largest airlines.

Shirley: Damn!
What's he doing there?

Narrator: It was
a midair collision.

Nance: For a DC-7 crew
to look up

and see a white constellation
right in their face,

first of all there's going to be
a nanosecond or two

of absolute, complete disbelief.

Shirley: Oh, god!

Bank, bank, bank, bank!

Come on, baby! Come on!

Nance: Muscle memory kicks in
for any experienced pilot.

And that's when the yoke
gets grabbed

and thrown
in whatever direction,

raising the wing,
trying to get out of the way.

But the dynamics at that point
in time are too late.

Narrator: The collision
over the Grand Canyon

is one of the most significant
accidents

in the history
of commercial aviation.

Macintosh: It was
an earthshaking event

that took place there that day.

Narrator:
What Jack Parshall uncovers
through his investigation

could affect commercial aviation
across the country.

Already certain there's been
a midair collision,

he now needs to figure out

exactly how the two planes
collided and why.

Parshall: Can we get that piece
over there, please?

Thanks, guys.

Narrator:
Parshall has to recreate

the final moments
of the two flights

based on bent metal
and streaks of paint.

Macintosh: It was one heck
of a challenge

to match those two aircraft up

and come to a deduced conclusion
as to what happened.

They start to look at models
in a midair collision

to put things together
and figure out

could this wing have interfered

with this horizontal stabilizer,
et cetera?

Parshall: Now, let's see
what we got on the DC-7.

Macintosh: To try and build
a scenario that matches

some of the minute clues
that they may have

like impact marks,
like paint transfer marks.

Parshall:
Take a picture, please.

Narrator: The paint transfer
evidence tells Parshall

that the DC-7's left wing hit
the constellation from behind.

Macintosh: It was obvious
that the DC-7

had probably overrun
the constellation

from the right rear side.

Macintosh: Had come apart,
literally,

knocked the tail off.

Narrator:
The constellation plummets

towards the Grand Canyon
more than 17,000 feet below.

United 718 has lost half
of its left wing

but not all of its engines.

Shirley: What's our damage?

Fiore: Number one engine is out.

Shirley: Airspeed?
Harms: 260.

Shirley: Come on, level out.

Fiore: 8,000 now.

Lacy: If anyone survives
a midair collision, it's luck,

because it depends on what
the damage to their airplane.

You have to have enough left
to control the airplane.

Narrator: Less than a minute
after the collision,

TWA's flight 2 slams
into the canyon floor.

In the DC-7,
Bob Shirley and his crew

struggle to avoid the same fate.

Shirley: Come on, pull up!
Pull up!

Rodriguez: This airplane
is gonna be rolling

rapidly to the left.

And it has no control.

Narrator: Parshall
now understands the mechanics

of how the two planes collided.

But he still doesn't know
why their flight paths crossed.

They were supposed to be flying
different routes

at different altitudes.

They should not have been in
the same place at the same time.

Shirley: Damn!
What's he doing there?

Narrator: Parshall now needs
to know how that happened.

Reporter: Today the only
three bodies found

from the United Airlines plane

were brought up by helicopter.

Here army, C.A.B.
And airline officials

talk over future operations

as this somber announcement
is made,

that next Monday

a single reverent burial service
in three faiths

is planned
at flagstaff, Arizona,

for the unidentified victims
of the two planes.

Nance: This crash
in the Grand Canyon

startled everybody
and galvanized the country.

I would just imagine that
Parshall was very cognizant

of the fact that
this was probably

the most critical investigation
he had ever been involved with

and that the consequences for
getting it wrong in any respect

could have tremendous
negative ramifications

for this fledgling industry.

Radio announcer:
Investigators continue climbing

through the wreckage
of two passenger planes

that collided
over the Grand Canyon.

Narrator: Jack Parshall reviews
the plane's flight plans.

Parshall: So they both
start the day at lax.

Controller: United flight 718,
taxi to position and hold.

Parshall: Let's see, 718
was cleared

green airway five out of L.A.

Direct to palm springs junction,
to needles,

then on to painted desert line
here at 21,000 feet.

TWA's was cleared
amber airway five,

green airway two
direct to Daggett

and crossing painted desert line
at 19,000 feet.

Man: Neither one of them should
have been over the canyon.

Narrator: It's clear
both planes diverted

from their original flight plan,

but Parshall knows
that's not uncommon.

Rodriguez: What you would find
pilots doing

is they would file a flight plan
along the airways,

and once you get airborne
and you're more or less

out of the heavy congested area
of an airport,

then you re-file your,
what you really want to do,

which is direct here,
direct there,

direct someplace else.

Narrator: With no cockpit
voice recorder to help them,

investigators turn
to radio dispatch recordings

and transcripts.

The radio calls
between the pilots

and their company dispatchers

may hold clues about the routes

the two planes
actually took that day.

Harms: United 718,
we're at palm springs junction.

United 718,
we're at needles, 9:58,

21,000 feet, clear skies.

Parshall: That's the last one
they reported.

Harms: Course direct to Durango.

Estimated crossing
the painted desert line at...

Shirley: 10:31.

Harms: 10:31.

Parshall: They had 33 minutes
to get there.

So how come they never made it?

Narrator: To answer
that question,

Parshall needs to learn more

about the movements
of the other plane

now lying at the bottom
of the Grand Canyon.

Parshall:
Let's see what TWA's did.

Controller: TWA's 2 cleared for
takeoff on runway 2-5-right.

Gandy: Roger, copy,
cleared for takeoff 2-5-right.

Narrator: TWA's flight 2 took
off

three minutes ahead
of the united flight

in a different direction.

It was to fly northeast towards
its first checkpoint, Daggett.

Gandy: TWA's 2 en route
Kansas City

passing Daggett at 19,000.

Controller: Roger TWA's 2.
One-nine-thousand at Daggett.

Narrator: The TWA's pilot
was Jack Gandy.

With 15,000 hours as captain,

he was nearly as experienced
as united's Bob Shirley.

Gandy knew these skies well.

He'd flown this route
nearly 200 times.

Gandy: Good morning,
TWA's dispatch, TWA's 2.

We've got a little bit
of weather here

we want to get on top of.

Be a good man and ask Salt Lake
to clear us to 21,000.

TWA's dispatcher: Roger, TWA's
2, requesting clearance

at 21,000 feet.

Parshall: So TWA's asked
for 21,000.

So Salt Lake clears them?

Man: No. Request denied
due to conflicting traffic.

Controller: Advisory, TWA's 2,
unable to approve 21,000

due to traffic.

TWA's dispatcher:
That's a no-go on 21,000.

United 718 is there.

Narrator: Captain Gandy wants
to avoid the clouds in his path,

and in 1956 he has another way
to accomplish that.

Gandy: Let's just get
on top of this stuff.

Narrator: He uses
visual flight rules, or VFR.

Gandy: Roger that.

Advise Salt Lake I'm going
to VFR and 1,000 on top.

TWA's dispatcher: Salt Lake.

TWA's 2 requesting 1,000 on top.

Controller: Maintain
at least 1,000 on top.

Advise TWA's 2 his traffic
is united 718 direct Durango.

Narrator: The TWA's crew
was cleared to fly

a thousand feet above the clouds

but warned to look out
for united 718.

Lacy: Well, they used to have
a procedure

to operate
a thousand feet on top.

It meant you stayed a thousand
feet away from clouds.

But you stayed in the clear,
and you were supposed to be VFR

looking around for traffic.

Parshall: So at Daggett
he asked for 1,000 on top.

That's all fine.

So where does that get him?

Man: His next report
is from Mojave at 9:59.

Gandy: TWA's 2 passing Lake
Mojave 1,000 on top at 21,000.

Estimate painted desert
at 10:31.

Narrator: Half an hour
after requesting 1,000 on top,

Gandy reports
his actual altitude.

Parshall: 21,000 feet.

Now they're both there.

Rodriguez: They could fly
at any altitude they wanted

as long as it was
a thousand feet separation

from those clouds.

So they took a thousand on top

and then selected to fly
at 21,000 feet.

Narrator: Investigators now
understand how the TWA's flight

ended up at the same altitude
as united 718.

As for why both planes diverted

from their scheduled routes
at the same time...

Shirley: Damn!
What's he doing there?

Come on, pull up!
Pull up!

Narrator: ...the answer
is the crash site itself...

An awe-inspiring natural wonder.

Shirley: Let's give them
a look, shall we?

Harms: Aye, captain.

Lacy: It was common of making

a few turns
over the Grand Canyon

to show people the Grand Canyon.

I mean, that happened
every flight

because the Grand Canyon's
such a spectacular site.

Announcer: Wonderful sites
to see way down below.

The Grand Canyon, for instance,

one of the seven wonders
of the world.

Nance: Sightseeing in terms

of what you could show
to the passengers

was something that really lit up
the senior flight crew.

I can actually show you
something

that nobody else can show you.

I can dazzle you
with things that you,

as an ordinary human being
who doesn't fly,

would never see.

Shirley: Just keep
your eyes peeled

and you'll get
a spectacular view

no matter where you're sitting.

How are we doing
on your side, Bob?

Harms: Thunderhead
about five miles south.

We're clear of it.

Shirley: Okey-dokey.
We've got some room.

Lacy: You were free, if you
wanted to deviate a little bit

for sightseeing, that you could.

It wasn't dangerous,
nothing dangerous about 'em.

Shirley: Damn!

Narrator: But on June 30, 1956,
it proves fatal.

Shirley: Oh, god!

Narrator: Jack Parshall
needs to find out

how such a common practice
killed 128 people.

Rodriguez: From the very
beginning of aviation

we had the concept
of "see and avoid"

or "see and be seen."

The responsibility
for separation of aircraft

was still the pilot's
responsibility.

Narrator: Parshall knows
that united hit TWA's

on the right side
coming from behind.

One of the pilots failed
to see and avoid.

Parshall needs to figure out
which one.

Shirley: What's he doing there?

Narrator: The answer will lead
to sweeping changes

in the rules governing
commercial aviation.

Parshall: Alright. Let's see
what Captain Shirley

could see out there.

Narrator: Using a scale model
of a DC-7 cockpit

and airspeed estimates
for both planes,

Parshall tries to calculate
the distance

at which the united pilots

could have first spotted
the constellation.

Macintosh: What were the views
of the flight crew members

from each one of the aircraft?

Could they have seen each other?

Did they try
and avoid each other?

Parshall: So if they ended up
like this,

let's go back
a couple of minutes.

Macintosh: Those are the kinds
of things

that that investigator in charge
I'm sure was asking himself

and getting his team together

to try and deduce
from the evidence.

Parshall: I'm gonna need you
over there.

Narrator: Investigators
begin to suspect

that there may be
serious problems

with the whole idea
of see and avoid.

Parshall: Alright, keep going.

Keep going.

Nance: Let me tell you one
of the dirty little truths

of commercial aviation from
the '50s all the way to now.

We have been under
"see and avoid,"

but you can't see in most cases
even to avoid.

And that's because
the windows are very small.

Parshall: Alright, keep going.

A little bit further.

Keep going.

Stop!

Come back half a step.
Right there.

That's where Shirley would have
first seen the Connie's.

Narrator: Since the DC-7
was behind the constellation,

it was Captain Shirley's
responsibility to avoid it.

Shirley: Oh, god!
Bank, bank, bank!

Come on, baby!
Come on!

Narrator:
Parshall wants to find out

if he had enough time
to do that.

Macintosh:
There are basic rules,

and those basic rules
are to indeed

if you see
an impending situation,

the overtaking aircraft
will give way

to the aircraft in front.

Narrator: The six pilots
in both planes were preoccupied

with the demanding job
of flying their aircraft.

Lacy: In a piston plane
you had the throttles,

you had the propeller, rpm,
to adjust your rpm.

Shirley: The engines sound good,
Mr. Fiore.

How are the temps?

Fiore: They're holding steady,
skipper.

Still running a little rich.

Lacy: There's really
a lot more to do,

a lot more to do
flying a piston airplane.

Man: That'd be 53 miles.

Narrator: Parshall's test shows
that in theory the constellation

would have been visible
to the DC-7 crew

when it was 53 miles away.

The numbers suggest
that Captain Shirley

had two full minutes
to avoid a collision.

That's more than enough time
to safely change course.

Shirley: Damn!

Oh, god!

Come on, baby!
Come on!

Narrator: Parshall needs to know
why that didn't happen.

The answer becomes clear

when he reviews
the radio recordings.

Gandy: Good morning,
TWA's dispatch, TWA's 2.

We've got a little bit
of weather here

we want to get on top of.

Be a good man and ask Salt Lake
to clear us to 21,000.

Narrator: On June 30th the skies
over Arizona were not clear.

Shirley: Folks, we've got a bit
of weather over the canyon,

so it could get a bit bumpy,
nothing to worry about.

How are we doing
on your side, Bob?

Harms: Thunderhead
about five miles south.

We're clear of it.

Shirley: Okey-dokey.

We've got some room.

Nance: They were flying,

I hate to say
"fat, dumb and happy,"

but in effect
that's a phrase we use

when you think everything's
Copacetic.

Narrator: When he factors
cloud cover into the equation,

Parshall reaches
a stunning conclusion.

The crew of flight 718
had just seconds

to recognize and avoid
the plane ahead of them.

Parshall: Boom.

Narrator: The collision
was unavoidable.

Rodriguez: You have seconds
to respond, to identify,

to develop or formulate
an evasive maneuver

and execute it

and for the aircraft to respond

to any control inputs
that you put in there.

Nance: There was no indication
in the heads

of any of the pilots on either
of those two flight decks

that they were in proximity of
anybody else in a dangerous way

until they came around a cloud

and all of a sudden
the DC-7 crew

has a Connie's
right in their face.

And the Connie's crew,
I'm sure that they,

to the moment of death,
had no idea whatever hit 'em.

Narrator:
When Jack Parshall sits down
to report his findings,

he faces intense pressure.

The reputation of an industry
hinges on what he has to say.

Macintosh: We're really there

to try and prevent
the next accident,

a recurrence of
similar circumstances

that set up an accident.

But certainly
with the high death toll,

128 people died that day,

two major airlines of America
running into each other,

there was a call to find out
who was guilty,

who was to blame.

Narrator: The obvious conclusion

is that the pilots
were to blame.

TWA's dispatcher:
That's a no-go on 21,000.

United 718 is there.

Narrator: A lot of people
want to lay the blame

on TWA's Captain, Jack Gandy.

Gandy: Roger that.

Advise Salt Lake I'm going
to VFR and 1,000 on top.

Narrator: It was Gandy's
decision to switch altitudes

that put his plane
in the path of united 718.

But a strict interpretation
of the rules

would put the blame on united
pilot Captain Bob Shirley.

Shirley: Damn!
What's he doing there?

Nance: In a perfectly sterile
analysis of this,

the overtaking aircraft,

the one who's overtaking
the other aircraft,

has the legal responsibility

of avoiding the aircraft
they're overtaking.

Parshall: Right there.

Narrator: But Parshall's
calculations have shown

there was no way
for Captain Shirley

to avoid the collision.

Nance: I think
it's not only fair to say

that these two crews
were following the rules

and doing everything the way

that they understood
it should be done...

Parshall: 21,000 feet.

Now they're both there.

Nance: ...but that this was
the way society in aviation

viewed the right way
to do it at the time.

Narrator: There is
one last possible culprit:

The air traffic controller

who told TWA's about
the united flight

but didn't advise the DC-7 crew
about the constellation.

Controller: Maintain
at least 1,000 on top.

Advise TWA's 2 his traffic
is united 718.

Nance: There was an attempt to
throw blame in all directions--

very human, very understandable.

By the same token,

when it came to the blame put
on the air traffic controllers,

it was very misplaced.

Narrator:
With no radar coverage,

air traffic controllers could
not visually track flights.

It was impossible for them to
advise every company dispatcher

on the precise location
of every plane in the sky.

Macintosh: I think if we try
and pin the issue down

to who was to blame,

we're probably looking
at this accident

in an inappropriate way.

Narrator: It has become clear
to Parshall

that no one person is to blame
for the midair collision.

Macintosh: Those two aircraft

were put in the proximity
of each other

by the rules
and the regulations.

Narrator: The real cause of the
crash is something much bigger,

something that goes to the very
heart of aviation in America.

Jack Parshall concludes

that blame for
the Grand Canyon disaster

lies not with the pilots,

not with the controllers,

but with a completely inadequate
air traffic control system.

Nance: The subtext
in that report

had to be very delicately placed

in front of the congress
and the American public,

but the subtext is very clear,

and that is, you know,
it's not a matter

of the system being broken.

Guys, we don't have a system.

This is a great non-system
of air traffic control.

And until we get
a handle on that,

we are not going to be able
to rise to the level

of assurance of separation
in any degree

that the public
is obviously expecting.

Narrator: The Grand Canyon crash
and Jack Parshall's report

provoke dramatic changes
in American aviation.

Macintosh: As a result of
the event in the Grand Canyon,

something new was born.

There was a new awareness

to the public's right, desire
and interest in air travel.

And that was fostered by lots
of very innovative designs

in traffic collision
avoidance systems

that are present
in today's environment.

Narrator: The main outcome
of the Grand Canyon collision

is that the united states now
has a nationwide radar system.

Controllers can now track
the movements of planes

in even the most remote parts
of the country.

Nance: The only way
you're going to assure

that this will
never happen again

is if you've got somebody

positively controlling
whoever's up there

to where they cannot get
too close to each other.

They can't change altitudes
at the right time.

You can't mix the traffic.

And that meant radar coverage

across the entirety
of the country.

Narrator:
Despite all the advances,

air traffic controllers
still face challenges:

More planes in the sky

flying faster and higher
than ever before.

And though extremely rare,

midair collisions
still do occur.

In response, aviation officials
are developing a system

that could transform
air traffic control in America.

The next generation
air transportation system,

or Nextgen, will use
GPS satellites

to give pilots
the precise location

of the traffic around them.

By the year 2020
pilots will know

exactly how close they are
to all other aircraft

without air traffic controllers
having to tell them.

Macintosh: Hopefully
the next generation

of air traffic control

will look back on that event
of the Grand Canyon

and will try and get ahead of it

before such another tragedy
does recur.

Narrator: As the era of romantic
air travel fades into history,

the lessons learned from the
Grand Canyon disaster remain.

Flying can always be made safer.

Nance: I'm reminded constantly

anytime I study
an older accident

of something that was said

by George Santayana in 1917,

an American philosopher

who said those wonderful words:

He who cannot remember the past

is condemned to repeat it.