All language subtitles for Air.Disasters.S04E08.Focused.on.Failure.1080p.PMTP.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-maldini_track3_[eng]

I was afraid.

I didn't know where I was.

NARRATOR: Lost and
disoriented, the strange crowd

makes its way through
a wooded suburb.

Just minutes ago, they
were aboard a flight

bound for Portland, Oregon.

All of a sudden,
there was a big crash.

The next thing I knew
I was standing outside.

I don't know how the
hell I got there.

A man with a flashlight--

Excuse me.

Came down the aisle.

They continued circling
for about an hour.

Was it a crew problem, or
was it an aircraft problem?

NARRATOR: The voice recorder--

OK, let's go.

Could provide the answer.

Reset that circuit
breaker momentarily.

I was very interested in how
a highly experienced captain

could fly around in sight of
the airport in good weather

and not put this airplane
on the ground safely.

OK, declare a mayday.

Ladies and gentlemen, we
are starting our approach.

We lost both engines.

Put the mask over your nose.

Emergency descent.

Mayday, mayday.

Brace for impact!

Here's the last one.

Investigation starting.

It's gonna crash!

NARRATOR: December 28, 1978--

We're losing an engine.

United Airlines flight
173 is less than 22 miles

from Portland
International Airport.

It's flamed out.

Why?

You can fly a DC 8 or
any transport airplane

with one engine inoperative.

NARRATOR: John Cox
as a commercial pilot

an aviation expert.

It requires a lot
of airmanship.

Pilots train every time
they're in a simulator in case

of a loss of an engine.

All right.

The thing to remember
is don't worry.

Captain Melbourne McBroom,
a veteran of the Second

World War, is one
of United Airlines'

most experienced pilots.

His first officer Rod
Bibby has more than 5,000

hours flying experience.

The first officer
was relatively new

on the airplane.

He had probably been on it
six months or maybe less.

He was an experienced
pilot, but he'd

been flying other equipment.

NARRATOR: Flight engineer
Forrest Mendenhall is

the third member of the crew.

OK.

NARRATOR: It's his job
to monitor the DC8's

three remaining engines.

The flight began
in New York City

with a stopover in Denver.

It's three days
after Christmas.

Many of the 189
people on board are

returning from their holidays.

17-year-old Amy Connor is
flying back to boarding

school in Washington State.

I picked up the
flight in Denver,

and everything seemed
to go normally.

I got to my seat.

I was sitting in between
two very nice people.

NARRATOR: In the cockpit--

All right.

NARRATOR: --the pilots
are focused on getting

their plane to the airport.

United 173 would like
clearance for an approach

in the 28 Left now.

NARRATOR: Air traffic
controller Ed Kingrey

is on duty at Portland Tower.

I was working radar that
night down in the radar room.

As I recall, it wasn't
all that busy at the time.

United 173, heavy.

OK, roll out heading
010 to runway 28 Left.

NARRATOR: He clears Flight
173 to land on the airport's

longest runway.

He said, we'll-- we'll be
heading in for a landing now.

In this case, he was
coming from the east,

so he lined him up
for a straight in.

You're going to lose number
three in a minute, too.

NARRATOR: The
plane's engines are

flaming out one after another.

I recall hearing the
captain tell the tower

they're losing engines.

NARRATOR: With
two engine's gone,

the autopilot can no
longer fly the plane.

McBroom must get the crippled
DC-8 to the airport himself.

You've got to keep
running, Frosty.

Yes, sir.

NARRATOR: The engineer
struggles to keep

the last two engines running.

How far do you show
us from the field?

I'd call it--

EDWARD KINGREY: I told him
it was 18 flying miles.

--18 flying miles.

Which would
include the base leg

to the final and then
the turn to final

to the end of the runway.

We just lost one and two.

NARRATOR: Flight 173 has
now lost all four engines.

The cabin lights
all went out.

That, we all assumed,
was an indicator

that something was wrong.

NARRATOR: With no
engines running,

back-up batteries
now provide power

to only critical instruments.

People started to shout.

MALBURN MCBROOM
(OVER PA): Brace!

Brace!
- Get your heads down.

Get into your brace positions.

MALBURN MCBROOM
(OVER PA): Brace!

NARRATOR: The 100-ton aircraft
is losing more than 3,000

feet of altitude a minute.

Total power loss in a DC-8
would be very catastrophic.

NARRATOR: At this rate, they
will be lucky to stay airborne

for as long as 90 seconds.

Now Captain McBroom makes
a horrifying calculation.

We can't make it.

NARRATOR: The airport
is too far away.

We can't make anything.

NARRATOR: The jetliner
is dropping fast

over a city of 350,000 people.

McBroom needs to
find a safe place

to put the aircraft
down and try to save

the lives of all onboard.

To land a transport
jet off an airport

is a situation that no
pilot wants to face.

Putting it into
a populated area

would be an absolute
last choice.

OK.

Declare mayday.

Portland Tower, United
173, heavy mayday.

He declared mayday,
and then in a very--

what seemed to me like a--

a calm, matter-of-fact voice,
I could hear the pilot.

Engines are flaming out.
We're going down.

We're not going to be able
to make it to the airport.

We lost power.

We're going down.

NARRATOR: Emergency services
are told what's happening.

Flight 173 is flamed-out.

They're going down.

NARRATOR: Kingrey tries to
figure out where they'll hit.

I could see him coming
in from the south, his

navigational lights flashing.

I could tell he was quite low.

NARRATOR: The DC-8
is coming down

over a densely-populated
suburb.

And I can no longer see him.

I was, of course,
expecting the worst.

NARRATOR: Suddenly,
Captain McBroom sees

what he's been looking for--

a dark area up ahead.

It looks like an empty field.

The place that you want
to put it is where there--

there's minimum buildings,
the most open area possible

because the 200,000 pounds-plus
jet arriving at 140 knots,

which is 160-plus
miles an hour--

it's going to do
a lot of damage

to the things on the ground.

NARRATOR: Putting the plane
on this narrow strip of land

is McBroom's best bet.

But as he gets
closer, he realizes

it isn't an open field.

We can't make it.

NARRATOR: It's a
heavily wooded suburb,

and he's headed
straight for it.

JOHN COX: If they're woods
and that's all you have,

then you're going to
have to deal with it.

The tops of trees
are pretty soft.

As you settle into
the trees, they

get progressively less soft.

They're going to
do a lot of damage.

NARRATOR: McBroom
doesn't give up.

He actually tries to steer
the plane between the trees.

The passengers still assume
they're about to touch down

on a runway.

We clipped the
top of a few trees,

and that felt like we were
making the initial landing

at the airport.

So my first sense was,
hooray, we're there.

And then all hell broke loose.

It was this enormous noise.

I can't even begin to describe
what kind of noise it is.

It's physical.

You can feel it in your bones.

I saw the bright
flash out there and--

and knew he had gone down.

NARRATOR: The plane
carves a 1,600-foot-long

path through the trees.

After the plane stopped
moving, it was pretty calm.

There was no fire.

People just wanted to get out
and very polite, taking turns.

There was no hurry.

I remember seeing
a lot of people

with the same expression
of stunned disbelief.

You know, where are we?

And how did we get here?

NARRATOR: Incredibly, the
DC-8 has crashed-landed

in the middle of a
major American city

without injuring a single
person on the ground.

Most of the 189
passengers and crew

are alive, including
Captain Malburn McBroom.

The captain flying
the airplane--

he kept it under control,
and that's a big,

big, big positive.

NARRATOR: But he can't
understand why his plane

lost power and crashed.

I was afraid.

I didn't know where I was.

I was only 17.

I also realized that
my parents in Minnesota

needed to hear from me.

I walked into this home.

Hello?

And I said, I need
to use your telephone.

I need to use your telephone.

My parents' initial
reaction was to listen

and kind of blow me off.

I was a teenage drama
queen, and 17-year-olds

do tend to exaggerate.

But a few minutes later,
they got the news they broke

into their television program.

REPORTER: The plane
crashed 5 miles

southeast of the airport
in a residential area.

Two homes were hit,
one disintegrated.

Rescue workers worked
through the night.

They carefully picked
through the wreckage,

looking for bodies.

They won't know the exact
number of dead until

sometime today.

The news teams found
us before the emergency

crews did, and so there were
cameras, there was lights.

The next thing I know it
was boom, boom real hard,

and we were shaking.

And we were down
in the position.

All of a sudden, there was
a big-- you know, a big crash.

One thump I remember,
and then the next thing

I knew I was standing outside.

I don't know how the
hell I got there.

NARRATOR: Confronted by such
an unprecedented disaster,

the entire airline
industry needs an answer.

How could a DC-8 crash 6
miles short of the airport

on a calm, clear night?

The morning after the crash
of United Airlines Flight 173.

NTSB investigators
are on the scene.

One of the members of
the team is human factor

specialist Alan Diehl.

We needed to get out
and document the wreckage,

take photographs, take
measurements, and so on, very

critical that you do that.

NARRATOR: It's
apparent to Diehl

that this disaster could
have been much worse.

How the hell did
they miss those?

NARRATOR: Captain
McBroom somehow

managed to shoehorn the plane
into a narrow strip of woods

in the middle of Portland.

When I saw how close he'd
come to apartment complexes,

I realized this could
have been one of the worst

accidents in history.

NARRATOR: The main
cabin of Flight 173

has survived the
crash largely intact,

but the nose of the plane
is completely destroyed.

It looked to me like
the front of the airplane

almost opened up like
a banana when it plowed

through the woods and
couldn't believe that anybody

had survived this.

NARRATOR: Eight passengers
and two members of the crew

are dead.

ALAN DIEHL: A flight engineer
had died in the crash, as had

the lead flight attendant.

NARRATOR: Investigators
hope survivors

can provide some insight into
what brought this jet down.

When did you first notice
something out of the ordinary?

NARRATOR: They learn that just
over an hour before the crash

the passengers heard
a terrifying sound.

We heard a loud thud
and felt the plane jolt.

The whole plane just shook.

It was-- it was a
jarring sensation.

What was that?

AIMEE CONNER: And
of course, everybody

wanted to know what it was.

What was that?

Lots of conversation-starters.

What do you think that was?

Lots of guessing.

A man with a flashlight
came down the aisle.

NARRATOR: One of
the pilots comes

back to the passenger cabin.

At this point, I started
realizing something

really was wrong.

Excuse me.

Can I look out the window here?

AIMEE CONNER: That
something wasn't working

the way it should
be and they weren't

telling us about it yet.

NARRATOR: The
pilot is searching

for something in the darkness.

We're all wanting to
know what was going on.

Then the captain
came on the PA.

MALBURN MCBROOM (ON PA):
Ladies and gentlemen,

this is your captain speaking.

The pilot finally
got on and said,

we're having trouble
with the landing gear.

We're not sure whether or
not it's working correctly.

We'll be running a
few routine checks.

Captains are always
focused on the safety

of the passengers.

It comes with the job.

That is, if the airplane is
experiencing an abnormality,

what's the effect on
the passengers and crew?

Do we need to descend?

What do we need to do to
make sure that everybody

gets through this
abnormality with

the minimum negative effects?

How did the cabin crew react?

They told us to prepare
for an emergency landing.

NARRATOR: Passengers are
told to remove their jewelry

and securely stow
any loose items.

It's clear that the
captain is concerned

that his landing gear might
collapse on touchdown.

But something isn't
making sense to Diehl.

ALAN DIEHL: Crash
landings on-airport

are eminently survivable.

First of all, you've
got all the equipment

to handle the fire, the fire
engines and the rescue people.

But if you have
to go off-airport,

it's a whole
different situation.

How does a landing gear
problem bring down a plane?

NARRATOR: At the crash site
of United Airlines Flight 173,

investigators retrieve the
plane's flight recorders.

One contains flight data.

The other records
voices in the cockpit.

ALAN DIEHL: I've always said
that the flight data recorder

tells you what
happened, but you

have to listen very carefully
to the cockpit voice recorder

to understand why things
happen the way they did.

NARRATOR: The recorders
will be analyzed

at National Transportation
Safety Board headquarters

in Washington.

One of the most
important witnesses

is Ed Kingrey,
the controller who

handled Flight 173's approach.

I cleared him for an
approach to runway 28.

I was about to hand him off
to the tower controller.

He basically said he'd stay
with me, that he was having

some kind of unsafe
gear indication

and he didn't know if one of
the landing gear were down.

Negative.

We'll stay with you.

When we've got a gear
problem we'll let you know.

NARRATOR: Flight 173 did
not want to come in to land.

United 173 heavy,
turn left, heading 100.

I'll just orbit you out there.

NARRATOR: Kingrey
cleared Flight 173

to fly a holding pattern
south of the airport

over the Portland suburbs.

Captain McBroom wanted time to
troubleshoot the gear problem

and give his flight attendants
time to prepare the cabin

for an emergency landing.

If they have opportunity
to plan and prepare

people, things such as
where the exits are,

the quality and success
of the evacuation

goes up dramatically.

A holding pattern
would basically

give him his own
air space there

to do whatever he had to do.

I didn't hear much
from him after that.

NARRATOR: Investigators learn
that after they begin circling

Kingrey only speaks
to Flight 173

to warn them of other
nearby aircraft.

I would give him traffic,
and he would acknowledge it.

There's traffic
out there about 9:30.

I see somebody out
there with a light on.

EDWARD KINGREY: But no
indication to me what was

going on inside the cockpit.

NARRATOR: The crew of Flight
173 is given as much time

as it needs in the
holding pattern.

EDWARD KINGREY: It's
up to the captain

to decide when it's time for
them to come in and land.

They continued circling
for about an hour.

NARRATOR: Investigators learned
Flight 173 circled Portland

for an unusually long time.

There was no
indication to me the--

the gravity of the situation.

NARRATOR: They now
wonder what happened

during that hour
of circling to turn

a landing gear malfunction--

We've got a gear problem.

We'll let you know.

NARRATOR: --into
catastrophic engine failure.

The engines are flaming out.

We're going down.

We're not going to be able
to make it to the airport.

I was clearly very interested
in how a highly experienced

captain could fly
around for over an hour

inside of the airport
in good weather

and not put this airplane
on the ground safely.

NARRATOR: Investigators
find the plane's

right side landing gear.

A rusted bolt has pulled
free of the mechanism that

raises and lowers the gear.

This could explain it.

NARRATOR: The landing
gear would have

dropped suddenly into place.

JOHN COX: The free
fall of the gear

would be very apparent to
everyone on the airplane.

What was that?

JOHN COX: You would get a very
large thump or clunking sound.

You'd feel the gear slam
up against the lock,

and so you'd get
this reverberation

through the airplane.

ALAN DIEHL: And we learn
that, due to corrosion,

the extension
mechanism had failed,

and that's what caused
the gear to slam down.

NARRATOR: The discovery
explains the troubling sound--

--heard in the cabin an
hour before the crash.

But it still doesn't explain
the massive engine failure.

The NTSB brings another
investigator into the Portland

crash, Dennis Grossi.

DENNIS GROSSI: I was assigned
to be the aircraft performance

engineer for this accident.

Basically, it's
pulling together

all the information that's
available to determine

the aircraft's performance.

NARRATOR: If there
was a malfunction,

Grossi hopes the Cockpit
Voice Recorder or CVR picked

up the pilots discussing it.

OK.
Let's go.

NARRATOR: The
recording begins 30

minutes before the crash as the
pilots circle over Portland.

MALBURN MCBROOM (ON RECORDING):
Ladies and gentlemen,

this is your captain speaking.

NARRATOR: In the era
of analog recording,

the CVR uses a 30-minute-long
loop of magnetic tape

that keeps recording over
itself throughout the flight.

Most air disasters
unfold in a matter

of minutes or even seconds.

So having the last half
hour of cockpit sounds

and conversation should
give investigators

enough material to work with.

DENNIS GROSSI: There's four
channels, one cockpit area

microphone and then
a channel for each

of the three crew members.

FORREST MENDENHALL
(ON RECORDING):

--because I only got this
thing to shine down there.

NARRATOR: They hear
the flight engineer

leave the cockpit
to troubleshoot

the landing gear problem.

In the early
generation jets, it

was very common to have
mechanical indications

that the landing gear was,
in fact, down and locked.

NARRATOR: When the
landing gear is lowered,

a small rod pops
up on the wing,

providing visual confirmation
that the gear is in place.

The flight engineer would
be asked by the captain

to go back and check the
mechanical indicators

for the position of the landing
gear, walk down the aisle

to about the
center of the wing.

Excuse me.

Can I look out the window here?

JOHN COX: And he
could look over,

and there are tabs that
actually come up and go down.

And he could see if the gear
was extended and locked.

NARRATOR: It's exactly
what Aimee Connor

described to investigators--

A man with a flashlight
came through the aisle.

--in her
post-crash interview.

How's that main
gear back there?

Both appear to
be down and locked.

NARRATOR: Despite his
engineer's report,

Captain McBroom is
still concerned.

If the gear is locked, none of
the lights should be flashing.

And the touchdown if that
gear folds or something.

Obviously the lights were
affected, the electronics that

tell the crew members whether
or not the gear is down

and locked.

NARRATOR: Landing
gear failure is

rare in commercial aviation.

When it does happen,
statistics show that most

passengers survive unscathed.

In 2008, engine failure
forced British Airways Flight

38 to make a crash-landing.

The impact ripped the
Boeing 777 landing

gear from the fuselage.

The plane was totaled,
but no one was killed.

There's one check
we missed, checking

the gear warning horn.

- Right.
- Correct.

Right.

Normally when we see these
problems of a gear light

not coming on, it's a light
bulb or some minor piece

of circuitry.

NARRATOR: It appears that
a minor electrical problem

had become a major distraction
for Captain McBroom.

So how do we do that?

NARRATOR: That still
doesn't explain

why the plane lost power.

But what investigators hear
next could explain everything.

RODERICK BEEBE (ON
RECORDING): Losing an engine.

It's flamed out.

Why?

Fuel.

NARRATOR: First officer
Beebe's answer is chilling.

After nearly an hour
in a holding pattern,

Flight 173 is simply
running out of gas.

RODERICK BEEBE (ON RECORDING):
We're losing an engine.

NARRATOR: NTSB investigator
Alan Diehl has discovered

something crucial on the CVR.

It's flamed out.

What?

NARRATOR: Less than eight
minutes before the DC-8

crashes into a Portland
suburb, the captain

seems unconvinced that low fuel
is behind his engine failure.

He was asking what
was causing that,

and he got a very adamant
answer saying "fuel."

Fuel.

As if to say, we've
been trying to tell

you about this all along.

Open those crossfeeds
there or something.

JOHN COX: There are cross
feed valves that are opened

in a specific sequence
to let one tank feed

one or more engines, and
it's the job of the flight

engineer, in the
case of a DC-8,

to know exactly how to do that.

Showing fumes.

NARRATOR: Though the
crew couldn't agree on

exactly how much was left--

No, it's showing
1,000 or better.

I don't think it's in there.

NARRATOR: --one
thing is certain--

there isn't enough to
keep the engine's running.

Losing an engine.

It's flamed out.

It takes a few things
to make an engine run.

One of them is fuel.

MALBURN MCBROOM (ON RECORDING):
You got that crossfeed open?

NARRATOR: Captain
McBroom is desperate.

He needs to get more fuel
to the remaining engines.

No, I haven't got it open.

Which one?

Open them both.

Damn it, get some
fuel in there.

NARRATOR: Each of the
plane's four engines

has its own fuel tank.

Opening the crossfeeds
should allow fuel to flow

between the four main tanks.

Number two is empty.

NARRATOR: But it's not working.

You're going to lose number
three in a minute, too.

NARRATOR: One by one, fuel
starvation shuts down all the,

engines leaving the
DC-8 without any power.

MALBURN MCBROOM
(ON RECORDING): OK.

Declare mayday.

The engines didn't
have any fuel.

We knew that the
aircraft ran out of fuel.

So then became
the question, why?

Why would a modern
transport aircraft

like this run out of fuel?

NARRATOR: Investigators
focus on two possibilities--

mechanical failure
or human error.

Was it a crew problem, or
was it an aircraft problem?

NARRATOR: McBroom
may be the only one

who can give the answer.

I wanted to be on final with
as much fuel as I could have.

You've got to keep
them running, Frosty.

NARRATOR: Recovering
from his injuries

in an Oregon hospital,
he's now well enough

to tell his side of the story.

We finally sat down
with Captain McBroom

and asked the tough questions.

JOHN COX: A pilot takes
the responsibility

for the passengers and
his fellow crew members

extremely seriously, and to
be involved in an accident

where there are
fatalities is something

that never leaves you.

It would be with a pilot the
remainder of their lives.

I recall seeing
the number one

and number two warning
lights come on,

but I knew we had fuel.

ALAN DIEHL: He was still
convinced that somehow

the fuel had either
leaked out of the tanks,

or the fuel burn was too high,
or the gauges were wrong.

No, it's showing
1,000 or better.

I don't think it's in there.

NARRATOR: Meanwhile,
in Washington,

Dennis Grossi digs deeper in
search of a mechanical cause.

He studies Flight
173's flight plan.

He uses it to calculate
the amount of fuel

the DC-8 should have burned.

JOHN COX: A DC-8
burns somewhere

in the neighborhood of 13,000
pounds of fuel an hour.

The question is,
did this aircraft

burn fuel faster than normal?

NARRATOR: If the data
shows any discrepancy,

it could mean the
captain was right.

DENNIS GROSSI: There
must have been a problem

that the engines were burning
a lot more fuel than normal

or there was some
anomaly in the aircraft.

NARRATOR: His analysis
finds no problem.

Flight 173 took off with
more than enough fuel

to reach Portland
and was consuming

it at the standard rate.

The fuel burn is
completely normal.

The conclusion was that
the aircraft performance was

normal and that there was
no anomalies in the amount

of fuel consumed.

Showing films.

NARRATOR:
Investigators are left

with a troubling question.

How could an experienced crew
lose track of how much fuel

they had onboard and, in fact,
run out of fuel when they

were in view of the airport?

NARRATOR: Grossi considers the
possibility that the plane's

fuel gauges malfunctioned.

He studies the CVR transcript,
focusing in on the crew's

discussion of fuel levels.

DENNIS GROSSI: Fuel
gauges are not known

for being all that precise.

That's why it was so important
for the performance study

to correlate the amount
of fuel that was actually

on the aircraft with
what was actually

being indicated to the crew.

How not sure we got, Frosty?

NARRATOR: If the gauges
weren't working properly--

5,000.

NARRATOR: --it could
explain why the crew let

the fuel levels fall so low.

The crew discuss, how
much fuel do you have?

We got 5,000 pounds.

NARRATOR: By matching the
time and the transcript

with the fuel
burn chart, Grossi

can determine if the gauges
were working accurately.

You take the data and
apply the time factor to it,

and you can figure
out how much fuel they

should have had remaining.

NARRATOR: He discovers
the flight engineer--

FORREST MENDENHALL: 5,000.

NARRATOR: --had
the correct reading

5,000.

That's exactly right.

There was nothing wrong
with the gauges either.

He said that they
saw 5,000 pounds.

That was consistent with what
the fuel burn study showed.

NARRATOR: Investigators
are convinced

that Flight 173's
fuel system was

working exactly as it should.

Lights in the fuel pump.

NARRATOR: 35 minutes after
the captain put his plane

into a holding
pattern, a warning

light tells the flight engineer
that fuel is dangerously low.

That's about right.

The feed pumps are
starting to blink.

ALAN DIEHL: Fuel
pump lights come on.

This means that the-- they're
literally sucking air.

As the fuel sloshes
around in tanks,

this plane should have been
headed for the airport soon.

NARRATOR: But captain McBroom
still isn't ready to land.

JOHN COX: To be in an airplane
with that little fuel, it's

something that, as a pilot--

I've never been
in that position,

and I would be
extraordinarily uncomfortable.

NARRATOR: His
reaction is puzzling.

I figure about
another 15 minutes.

ALAN DIEHL: The flight engineer
said, Captain, 15 minutes?

That's going to run us kind
of close on fuel out here.

Not enough.

15 minutes is really going
to run us low on fuel here.

That was his one definitive
statement to the captain

that things were not right.

NARRATOR: The captain
wants more time to prepare

for the emergency landing.

Call around.

Give them our passenger
count and them him to give

that to the fire department.

NARRATOR: Instead of heading
straight for the runway,

he turns the plane into one
last circle over Portland.

I kept thinking,
why isn't this guy

turning in to the
airport at this time?

NARRATOR: The plane has
been in a holding pattern

for more than 40 minutes.

It will take at least
15 more to land,

but the aircraft has only
14 minutes worth of fuel.

A crash landing
is now inevitable.

Engines are flaming out.

We're going down.

We're not going to be able
to make it to the airport.

NARRATOR:
Investigators now know

that Captain McBroom
received clear warnings

about low fuel levels.

This didn't have to happen.

NARRATOR: What they
don't understand

Is why he ignored them.

ALAN DIEHL: And this
was not an act of God.

This was not a massive
mechanical failure.

This was an airplane that was
perfectly flyable, good night,

within sight of the airport.

This accident should
never have happened.

RODERICK BEEBE (ON RECORDING):
How much fuel we got now?

NARRATOR: The NTSB's Al Diehl
returns to the CVR looking

for anything that might shed
some light on the captain's

state of mind.

When you listen to the
tapes over and over again,

you can detect things
like voice inflections,

subtle voice mannerisms that
are trying to communicate

to other members of the crew.

NARRATOR: Diehl is struck by
an unusual aspect of McBroom's

behavior in the cockpit.

RODERICK BEEBE (ON RECORDING):
How much fuel we got now?

NARRATOR: His crewmates
tried more than once to alert

him to the fuel situation.

How much fuel we've got now?

4-- 4,000, in each, pounds.

Both the first officer
and the second officer

were acutely aware
of the fuel status.

NARRATOR: But
McBroom is focusing

on the broken landing gear.

There's-- there's one
check we missed, checking

the gear whirring horn.

Right.

Correct.

Right.

So how do we do that?

JOHN COX: Flying with a
very senior captain, it

would be very difficult to--

to challenge that Captain in
those days about something

like fuel.

ALAN DIEHL: The
other crew members

are trying to get this
captain's attention,

but he was apparently totally
focused on the gear problem

to the exclusion of all else.

NARRATOR: Even after the
engines begin to flame out,

McBroom is still trying
to fix the malfunctioning

landing gear.

McBroom was not
going to give up.

He was going to find a--
what we sometimes called

the golden BB, the one
thing that would answer

the riddle as to why
this light is not on,

and of course that
never happened.

NARRATOR: McBroom
is determined to fix

a mechanical problem that could
threaten the plane's safety.

On the touchdown, if that
gear folds or something--

NARRATOR: As a result,
he misses a far

bigger and deadlier threat.

The gear problem is really
a distraction for the crew.

You had a small problem with
a small potential consequence,

the gear collapsing on landing.

But the captain
was so focused on

that he lost the big picture.

Reset that circuit
breaker momentarily.

See if we get gear lights.

DENNIS GROSSI: They lost
sight of the real emergency,

which was the lack of fuel.

NARRATOR: Al Diehl
now understands

how Captain McBroom's obsession
with the malfunctioning

landing gear led to disaster.

JOHN COX: After this accident,
the National Transportation

Safety Board said
flight crew members need

to be better trained to
communicate when they

have safety of flight issues.

NARRATOR: What happened
aboard Flight 173

is, alarmingly, not
an isolated case.

Just a year earlier, another
DC-8 crashed in almost

identical circumstances.

ALAN DIEHL: It was a United
crew, same kind of aircraft,

gear unsafe light, entered
a holding pattern at night,

flew around, troubleshooting
the gear problem.

They flew into a mountain
and killed everybody aboard.

NARRATOR: It was one of a
string of deadly crashes

during the 1970s involving
a lack of communication.

The list includes
Eastern Airlines

Flight 401, a Lockheed
L-1011 bound for Miami.

Here, too, they had
a gear unsafe light.

They ended up descending into
the Everglades, crashing,

and killed over 100 people.

NARRATOR: The
deadliest air disaster

in history at Tenerife
in the Canary Islands.

It was caused by
poor communication.

The collision
claimed 583 lives.

ALAN DIEHL: There
was a pattern here

where we're having the same
types of accidents where

other flight deck crewmembers
were having a difficult time

getting the captain's
attention and making

him do the right thing.

NARRATOR: Al Diehl is
convinced that the way pilots

communicate with each
other is now a growing

threat to commercial aviation.

A lot of people
at NTSB elsewhere

thought we were going to
be headed for a bloodbath

if we didn't get a handle on
the causes of human error.

Diehl learns about an
experimental pilot training

program developed by
NASA that could help

solve the growing problem.

Known as Cockpit Resource
Management or CRM,

it's a system of training
designed to improve

the way pilots communicate.

It helps to improve
crew coordination

and improve collective
decision-making

on the cockpit.

And the way it does that is
it teaches captains to listen

better, and it teaches
the other members

of the flight deck to be
respectfully assertive.

NARRATOR: In a
move that will have

a lasting impact
on airline safety,

the FAA adopts deals
CRM recommendation.

From here on, the job of
flying a commercial airliner

will never be the same.

United Airlines is
one of the first

to implement a CRM training
program for its pilots.

It's still in use today.

United's director of
flight training operations

is Marc Champion.

The principles of
Crew Resource Management

are that no one
individual in the cockpit

can possibly understand
or see all of the threats

that are out there.

It requires the entire crew
to really foresee and manage

the various threats that
happen to be in play

when an airplane is in flight.

NARRATOR: Today, United
pilot Sheri Rutledge--

Also I'm having a hard time
maintaining my speed here.

--is undergoing CRM training.

Let me talk to the
flight attendant.

You continue to
steer the airplane.

DENNIS GROSSI: I
got the airplane.

NARRATOR: In this simulation,
she and her captain

are dealing with an emergency.

Engine oil low pressure.

If oil is less than 60 PSI--

NARRATOR: A mechanical
problem has forced a shutdown

of one of their two engines.
- --level one to idle.

Confirm to us.

Engine one shut down, engine
mode selector to ignition.

It's designed to mimic
the situations that I will

see in actual airplane flying.

Yes.

Oakland Center, United 1916,
we're declaring an emergency.

We've had an engine
failure at altitude.

There are specific
threats that we

have to deal with as a crew,
be able to communicate,

plan, decision-make
through to a safe outcome.

So it's a problem-solving
type of scenario,

and you're very focused.

It doesn't look to me as
though we've got a fire

issue, though.

We've shut it down
quickly enough.

All the flight crew
comes together, agrees on,

yes, this is the way--

everything's appropriate, and
then you go to the next step.

Yeah, pull the book out.

Let's take a look at that.

OK.

It's very easy sometimes to
know what your intention is

and think that the
people around you

will also know what
that intention is.

But that's not
usually the case.

I'm going to go off and
talk to dispatch to maintain

flying the airplane.

How are we doing on altitude?

NARRATOR: They keep each
other informed every

step of the way, exactly
as the exercise intends.

--San Jose as well.

I wanted to--

Ladies and gentlemen,
your captain speaking.

We're now in our descent
into San Francisco

this ERM training makes every
difference in every flight.

It has empowered
me as a crew member

and reminded me to speak up.

We're getting a
little close in here.

To help with
decisions, to maintain

my situational awareness,
and that, I think,

is the most
important part of it.

ALAN DIEHL: In the States,
we've literally gone a decade

without losing a
single passenger

at a major carrier accident.

Many of the experts have
concluded that that was

at least partly due to CRM.

NARRATOR: Had the
crew of Flight 173

received such training--

I figure about
another 15 minutes.

NARRATOR: --they might have
expressed their concerns

more forcefully,
insisting Captain

McBroom land immediately.

Not enough.

15 minutes is really going
to run us low on fuel here.

Instead, they
expected their captain

to make the right decision.

OK, declare mayday.

NARRATOR: Melburn
McBroom was held

responsible for the crash.

He retired shortly afterwards.

Flight 173 passenger
Aimee Connor

met Captain McBroom in 1998,
six years before his death.

The man that I
saw at the reunion

was very broken, very
broken, and yet so willing

to be there for
us under whatever

circumstances there were.

MALBURN MCBROOM: Call around.

Give them a passenger count.

AIMEE CONNER: If I had
had any anger toward him

before the reunion, I sure
didn't after I met him,

I know that he truly
believed he had more

fuel onboard than he did have.

MALBURN MCBROOM:
Tell him to pass that

on to the fire department.

I always said that pilot
air is not an answer.

It's only a symptom of
some underlying problems.

MALBURN MCBROOM: The thing
to remember is, don't worry.

ALAN DIEHL: McBroom was
flying under the cockpit

culture of the time.

This was an accident
waiting to happen.

They were a product
of their times,

and we have to judge those
men by the environment

they operated in.

You don't do that sort
of thing on purpose.

We can't make it.

He was devastated.

He lost his license.

He lost his family.

The rest of his life
was just shattered.