Original subtitles

NARRATOR: A plane crash in the Andes--

EDUARDO ORTIZ: It was a challenge to get to the site.

NARRATOR: --pushes rescuers and investigators to the limit.

You guys OK to keep going?

ORANGEL LOZADA:

INTERPRETER: We were at an altitude of 14,000 feet.

NARRATOR: The location of the crash is baffling.

The aircraft was not in the route normally taken.

NARRATOR: How did two pilots familiar with the route--

-

GARANITO GOMEZ: Denis, Denis!

DENIS QUINTAL: We're at 074, aren't we?

NARRATOR: --become so lost--

EDUARDO ORTIZ: It was far away to the north.

NARRATOR: --that they flew straight into a mountain.

WILLIAM DUGARTE:

INTERPRETER: It was incredible to hear them talk

the way they were talking.

What a piece of junk.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are starting our approach.

We lost both engines.

- Put the mask over your nose. - Emergency descent.

Mayday, Mayday.

Brace for impact!

I think I lost one.

Investigations started in the tragedy.

He's going to crash!

NARRATOR: Mérida Airport, Venezuela.

On February 21, 2008, the crew of Santa

Bárbara Airlines Flight 518 arrives for the last

flight of the day.

Hello, sir.

Welcome aboard.

Yeah, so I told them upstairs that the standard operating

procedures in this place are all wrong.

NARRATOR: Captain Aldino Garanito Gomez

is a senior pilot and flight instructor

for the airline with over 5,000 hours in the air.

So I'm going to give the chief of operations

my manuals next week.

The captain's first officer today

is one of his closest friends.

DENIS QUINTAL: Yeah, well, sure things can get better.

Relax.

GARANITO GOMEZ: Mm-hmm.

NARRATOR: Denis Ferreira Quintal

has over 2,000 flying hours.

There are 43 passengers in the cabin,

including 11-year-old Eisber Quintero Herrera

and his father, Alexander.

WILLIAM DUGARTE:

INTERPRETER: Alexander was the mayor of Mucuchíes,

a town in the state of Mérida.

He was going to a meeting of his political party

because he was running for governor of the state.

NARRATOR: Today, they'll be flying

an ATR 42 twin turboprop.

The aircraft is popular with regional airlines.

Carlos Hopkins is a Venezuelan pilot

who knows the plane well.

INTERPRETER: It's an excellent airplane.

What we say in Venezuela is that they're

like a battle horse.

They're very dependable airplanes.

NARRATOR: The flight prepares to depart.

For your information, an Avior B190

checked in 2 minutes ago directly

over Lagunillas Station.

NARRATOR: The tower warns captain Garanito

Gomez that another plane is coming

in to land from the west.

Roger, Avior via Lagunillas.

Start up clearance received and doors closing.

NARRATOR: The single runway at Mérida Airport can only

handle one plane at a time.

If Flight 518 doesn't get off the ground soon,

it will have to postpone takeoff

until after the other plane has landed.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: Roger, clear for takeoff.

OK, we're ready to go.

You can have control if you want.

NARRATOR: This afternoon, First Officer Ferreira Quintal

is handling the flying.

GARANITO GOMEZ: 70 knots.

NARRATOR: The captain monitors the instruments.

V1 and rotate.

Gear up.

Check.

We're up.

NARRATOR: Flight 518 is bound for Venezuela's

capital, Caracas.

The airline operates this 90-minute flight

three times daily.

Navigating the mountainous terrain around Mérida

demands a lot from pilots.

EDUARDO ORTIZ: Mérida Airport is in the middle of a valley

in a high elevation sector of Venezuela, where

the Andean mountains finish.

There's only one way to get in and only one way to get out.

NARRATOR: The official flight plan takes plains southwest

through a river valley so they can gain height

before looping back to the north

and over the mountains towards Caracas.

Avior 1116, traffic airborne right now.

GARANITO GOMEZ (ON RADIO): Roger, 116 inbound

over Lagunillas.

NARRATOR: The crew of the inbound plane

reports their position.

Roger, for your information, we'll stay close

to the northern mountains.

Give you guys some room.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: Roger, my friend.

In that case, we'll keep closer to the southern mountains.

NARRATOR: The two crews must fly carefully to avoid

the mountains and each other.

MANUEL PUERTA:

INTERPRETER: The captain had vast experience

operating at this airport.

He probably had more than 1,000 landings there.

Climbing through 6 to 7,000 feet.

Eh, same crap as the other day.

If you want, you can start to turn, Denis.

Turning now.

NARRATOR: Flight 518 turns left as it

climbs out of the valley.

GARANITO GOMEZ: Yeah, this way is better.

Let's keep this heading, OK, Denis?

NARRATOR: As they climb, the crew must continually

adjust their course.

Denis, a bit more to the right.

To the right?

Yeah, get to 067.

NARRATOR: Then 6 minutes into the flight,

something begins to go wrong.

An alarm is sounding a warning that the plane is dangerously

close to the ground.

EDUARDO ORTIZ: The ground proximity warning system

just gave out a warning to the pilots indicating

that the terrain was coming in front of them

in a very rapid way.

GARANITO GOMEZ: Denis, Denis!

DENIS QUINTAL: We're at 074, aren't we?

NARRATOR: The captain takes control of the plane.

Denis. Denis, I have it.

I have it.

NARRATOR: The passengers are unaware of the growing

danger, while in the cockpit, confusion mounts.

AUTOMATED VOICE: Too low terrain.

Too low terrain.

Aldino!

Hold on.

Hold on.

Easy, Denis, easy.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: Santa Bárbara 518, do you copy?

Santa Bárbara 518, please respond.

NARRATOR: 15 minutes later, Flight 518 hasn't

checked in as scheduled.

Flight 518 is missing.

43 passengers on board.

NARRATOR: The news that a plane has gone missing spreads

quickly in the small town.

WILLIAM DUGARTE:

INTERPRETER: We had hope that if the plane did crash,

it crashed in a place that allowed for some survivors.

There was a feeling of optimism.

NARRATOR: As daylight fades at Mérida Airport,

a search and rescue team gets ready to launch.

Orangel Lozada joins the team in Mérida.

ORANGEL LOZADA:

INTERPRETER: Initially, we got information

about the aircraft.

We also asked how many people were on board.

From that moment, we started to prepare ourselves

both mentally and physically for the rescue

of possible survivors.

NARRATOR: When a flight goes missing,

rescuers often use a plane's radar track

to pinpoint its last position, but Mérida

Airport has no radar.

The rescuers don't know where to find Flight 518.

OK, we don't have a last known position.

So the search radius here is going to be large, OK?

NARRATOR: With no other clues to follow,

they start their search by air.

Following the plane's intended route,

they discover something.

ORANGEL LOZADA:

INTERPRETER: The search was done by helicopter.

We discovered that the plane wasn't on the planned route.

NARRATOR: Due to the captain's excellent reputation

as a pilot, rumors began to spread that the missing plane

may not have crashed at all.

CARLOS HOPKINS:

INTERPRETER: Once I learned that the crew is headed

by Captain Aldino Garanito, first thing I thought

is that they had been hijacked.

That airplane was really missing because the airplane

was hijacked.

NARRATOR: Then comes distressing news

from high in the Andes.

Mountain villagers have reported a plane

crash 6 miles from Mérida.

There's no word about any survivors.

ORANGEL LOZADA:

INTERPRETER: Until we arrive at the site,

we cannot give up hope.

NARRATOR: If any passengers are still alive,

they're now in a new fight for survival,

against the elements.

The morning after the crash of Santa Bárbara Airlines Flight

518, rescuers carried by helicopter

arrive at Los Conejos, a remote Andes mountain top.

The air is thin.

The temperature near freezing.

Let's leave our gear over there,

and we're going to need a shelter to keep warm.

ORANGEL LOZADA:

INTERPRETER: There was a lot of fog and it was cold.

We were at an altitude of 14,000 feet.

NARRATOR: The thin air makes even

the slightest physical exertion a huge effort.

ORANGEL LOZADA:

INTERPRETER: The location, the altitude,

and the site of impact are contrary to human physiology.

So the work doubles or triples.

NARRATOR: Hope of finding survivors in the wreckage

fades quickly.

The crash has killed all 46 people on board.

ORANGEL LOZADA:

INTERPRETER: These are images that are imprinted

on your memory for life.

But in this kind of work, you have to know how

to get through it and move on.

NARRATOR: Meanwhile at Mérida Airport,

investigators from Venezuela's Aviation

Accident Investigation Board begin setting up a base.

It will take time before they can

get to the remote crash site.

So what exactly is the crash site?

NARRATOR: It's their task to figure out why

Flight 518 ended in tragedy.

OK, you have a team already there?

MANUEL PUERTA:

INTERPRETER: One of the things we wondered the most was why

the aircraft ended up in that location

since it was not on the route that they

should have been following when they left the airport.

NARRATOR: Controllers in the tower provide some insight.

We're trying to figure out why they

weren't on the official route.

Oh, because they were flying observatorio.

It's not an official route, but everyone flies it.

NARRATOR: Investigators learn that instead of flying

the usual loop around the valley,

Flight 518 was taking a popular but unofficial shortcut.

It's known as observatorio because it

passes over an astronomical observatory.

EDUARDO ORTIZ: It was normal common practice to do it

direct over the observatory.

And there was only one reason, time.

INTERPRETER: Following the established procedure

took them at least 10 or 15 minutes longer of flight time.

This departure route via the observatory

allowed them to save that time.

For the company, it means a lot, 15

minutes of fuel in this case.

NARRATOR: Though unofficial, the shortcut

is so common the tower cleared them for the route.

518 airborne.

Contact me again when you cross observatory.

This way is better.

NARRATOR: It's now clear why the plane was not found

along the official route.

Keep this heading, OK, Denis?

OK.

NARRATOR: But the discovery still

doesn't explain why the plane crashed at Los Conejos.

That location isn't along the official

or the unofficial flight path.

What are they doing over there?

EDUARDO ORTIZ: The aircraft was not

in the route normally taken to go over the observatory.

It was far away to the north.

So that was something that raised

a concern and the initial step of the investigation.

NARRATOR: Only rescue workers have reached

the top of Los Conejos.

It's up to them to continue the difficult task

of sorting through the debris.

You guys OK to keep going?

NARRATOR: The search and rescue mission

is now a recovery effort, and the team is struggling.

INTERPRETER: We prepare for all kinds of situations,

but this case in particular was much

more difficult than others.

It pushed us almost to the limit of our preparation.

NARRATOR: The tragedy hits home as remains are brought

down from the mountain.

ORANGEL LOZADA:

INTERPRETER: There had never been such a large

plane crash in Mérida before.

It touched the entire city.

WILLIAM DUGARTE:

INTERPRETER: It was also shocking

because Eisber was an 11-year-old boy,

and that news was some of the hardest

that we ever received as a family.

NARRATOR: Investigators know the pilot

set out to fly over the mountaintop observatory.

They know the plane veered off course with tragic results,

but they don't know why.

Was it pilot error, a mechanical problem, poor

weather, or something else?

The answers may lie in the wreckage thousands of feet

above sea level, but so far the investigators haven't

been able to get near it.

Before they can ascend to such a dangerously high altitude,

they must first pass a physical exam.

ORANGEL LOZADA:

INTERPRETER: The situation was quite extreme.

There were some people that suffered from disorientation.

So you had to be very careful with the people in your team.

I'm OK?

I'm ready.

Let's get up there.

I'm on my way.

NARRATOR: Finally, air crash investigators

are able to join the rescuers at the crash site.

Their first priority is to learn as much as they can

from the wreckage.

Left wing, 35.

NARRATOR: They hope that the pattern of debris

can tell them something about how the plane was

flying in the final moments.

So it slid up on its belly.

EDUARDO ORTIZ: The debris path showed that the aircraft hit

the ground in a kind of an upward trajectory

and not direct against the mountain

because the debris hit the ground

and started a slight slope up.

As a matter of fact, some parts of the aircraft

and some bodies were found a little bit higher

from the point of impact.

MANUEL PUERTA:

INTERPRETER: That shows that the aircraft was climbing

at the moment of impact.

AUTOMATED VOICE: Too low terrain.

Too low terrain.

Denis, Denis, I have it.

I have it.

NARRATOR: Investigators conclude

that the pilots of Flight 518 must

have put their plane into a climb

before they hit the mountain.

Aldino!

Hold on.

Hold on.

Easy, Denis, easy.

NARRATOR: Investigators realize the pilots

were desperately trying to get over the mountain.

So it merely cleared the top.

NARRATOR: They came tragically close to succeeding.

The site of the crash where the aircraft hit the mountain,

it was about 300 meters to the top of the mountain.

NARRATOR: Rescuers have recovered Flight

518's two flight recorders.

Good.

NARRATOR: The flight data recorder and the cockpit voice

recorder capture important details of what

the pilots did and said--

We need to get these down the mountain right away.

NARRATOR: --but it will take time to recover the data.

MANUEL PUERTA:

INTERPRETER: Since Venezuela doesn't have a laboratory

for analyzing black boxes, we contacted

the French government through the manufacturer

of the aircraft and they offered to give us support

in analyzing both recorders.

NARRATOR: Investigators wonder if a problem with either

of the plane's two turboprop engines

might explain the crash.

Maybe they had an engine failure and just lost power

and didn't have enough power to go over the mountain

and crashed.

NARRATOR: The engines themselves are too badly

damaged to provide any clues--

It's completely melted.

NARRATOR: --but the propeller blades do tell a story.

MANUEL PUERTA:

INTERPRETER: We were able to determine

by the damage to the propellers that they were rotating

at the time of impact.

NARRATOR: The way they're bent reveals

that the blades were spinning normally

when they hit the ground.

Clear evidence that the engines were working

at the time of the crash.

The engine were burning and turning.

NARRATOR: Instruments from the cockpit

are brought down from the mountain for analysis.

MANUEL PUERTA:

INTERPRETER: We recovered instruments like the altimeter

and the airspeed indicators, and they

had remained in optimal condition

for post-crash analysis.

NARRATOR: The instruments confirm the plane was

under control just before the crash,

but they hold few other clues.

So far, everything points to a plane

that was operating normally.

EDUARDO ORTIZ: There was no malfunctions.

Everything was working well, and they just

crashed against the mountain.

NARRATOR: Why that happened remains

a baffling question for the Venezuelan investigators.

The search for answers takes them

to Paris to the French accident investigation

authority, the BEA.

Technicians download data from the flight

data recorder or FDR.

It reveals that the doomed plane

hit the mountain just 6 minutes and 47 seconds after takeoff.

If a mechanical failure was to blame,

the FDR should have a record of it.

What is this?

NARRATOR: But investigators face a huge problem.

Certain information simply isn't there.

MANUEL PUERTA:

INTERPRETER: The data we obtained from the aircraft's

flight recorder was good.

However, certain parameters were missing.

NARRATOR: Strangely, the FDR lacks any navigational data.

MANUEL PUERTA:

INTERPRETER: The information on the aircraft's

position and course wasn't being sent

to the flight data recorder.

NARRATOR: It's a major setback, one

that puts even more pressure on investigators

to find the answers for the mourning families.

WILLIAM DUGARTE:

INTERPRETER: When you find yourself a victim of an air

disaster for the first time, you really

feel angry and powerless.

The accident could have been avoided.

You want to know why it happened.

NARRATOR: They need to piece together

some of the missing flight data,

and come up with an unorthodox way of doing it.

Tell me when you're ready, OK?

NARRATOR: They try to figure out

the movements of the plane.

Eh, same crap as the other day.

If you want, you can start to turn, Denis.

Turning now.

NARRATOR: Investigators are able to study every movement

of the control column, the one thing

that was properly recorded.

MANUEL PUERTA:

INTERPRETER: This allowed us to establish

the aircraft's altitude at the moment of impact.

And it also helped us recreate the path

that the aircraft took from the moment of its departure.

Pitch up 10 degrees.

NARRATOR: Step by step, they pieced together the flight.

Left, 15 degrees now.

NARRATOR: The recreation shows that the plane was flying

normally as it flew away from the airport,

but then it began to veer off course.

You see?

Right here.

This is when it went off course.

NARRATOR: The finding confirms that there was a problem

with navigation, but investigators

can't be sure if that was due to pilot

error or mechanical failure.

EDUARDO ORTIZ: Apparently, they continued

turning more than they needed.

And instead of heading to the observatory, that's

an east heading, they turned to the north

directly to the mountain.

Aldino!

Hold on.

Go ahead, please.

NARRATOR: With no hard answers from the flight data recorder,

investigators in Venezuela consider

some conversations captured on the cockpit voice recorder.

They focus in on the last moments of the short flight

hoping to hear something that might explain why

the plane veered off course.

GARANITO GOMEZ (ON SPEAKER): Yeah, get to 067.

NARRATOR: The pilots discuss their compass heading.

AUTOMATED VOICE: Windshear.

Low terrain.

Denis, Denis!

We're at 074, aren't we?

MANUEL PUERTA:

INTERPRETER: It was evident that there

was a panic among the crew.

The co-pilot started to worry about the position

and heading that they were on at that moment.

NARRATOR: What investigators hear

next provides a disturbing glimpse into the flight's

final seconds.

DENIS QUINTAL (ON SPEAKER): Damn, Aldino, we're at 318.

NARRATOR: The pilots couldn't agree

on where they were headed.

They have no idea where they are.

NARRATOR: It's a key finding in the investigation.

Aldino!

NARRATOR: A clearer picture of the flight's final moments

is slowly emerging.

Aldino!

Hold on.

NARRATOR: Investigators now know the pilots were

in control of the aircraft--

Hold on.

Easy, Denis, easy.

NARRATOR: --but the question remains, why

were they so badly off course?

Investigators scrutinize every word

of the cockpit voice recorder from Santa

Bárbara Airlines Flight 518.

OK.

NARRATOR: The recording begins as soon as the plane's

battery is turned on.

They're surprised to hear the pilots

start the engines before asking the tower for permission.

DENIS QUINTAL (ON SPEAKER): Mérida Tower, good afternoon.

Santa Bárbara 518 requesting a start up and clearance

for our flight to Maiquetía.

EDUARDO ORTIZ: One of the pilots

was asking for authorization for engine start.

The other pilot was already starting the engines.

NARRATOR: But what they don't hear is truly surprising.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: For your information,

an Avior B190 checked in 2 minutes

ago directly over Lagunillas Station.

Roger, Avior via Lagunillas.

Start up clearance received and doors closing.

NARRATOR: There's no sound of the pilots

running through their pre-flight checks.

They're skipping a lot of steps here.

NARRATOR: Getting a passenger plane off the ground

requires dozens of small steps.

Missing any one of those could be deadly.

That's why pilots are trained to follow checklists.

CARLOS HOPKINS:

INTERPRETER: On those checklists,

you confirm that all parameters are within normal range

to avoid failure during the flight.

Not only do you activate the engines,

you activate the propellers, brakes, spoilers.

Various different systems must be

verified when making a flight.

NARRATOR: This would not be the first time

that failing to complete a checklist ended in tragedy.

In 1987, Northwest Airlines' Flight 255 crashed in Detroit

after the crew failed to configure the plane properly

for takeoff.

The pilots missed a single crucial step on

their pre-takeoff checklist.

More than 10 years later, American Airlines Flight 1420

careened off the runway while trying to land

in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Investigators later found that the crew didn't complete

a checklist that would have reminded them to arm

their brakes and spoilers.

CARLOS HOPKINS:

INTERPRETER: Pre-flight checklists

can be completed without a problem in 5 minutes.

Do your checklist.

Not to is to play Russian roulette.

DENIS QUINTAL (ON SPEAKER): Roger, Avior via Lagunillas.

Start up clearance received and doors closing.

NARRATOR: The Santa Bárbara crew

is clearly rushing through their takeoff procedure.

Then as the pilots are taxiing to the runway--

Ah, these gyros are messed up again.

NARRATOR: --the captain tells his first officer

that the plane's motion sensors are not functioning.

The motion sensors or gyros are a critical part

of the aircraft's navigation system.

They keep track of the plane's position

as it moves through the sky.

Despite the equipment problem, the crew carries on.

V1 and rotate.

NARRATOR: The plane lifts off less than 3 minutes

after it started to taxi.

Now that's a first.

NARRATOR: Venezuelan investigators

wonder if missing a step in one of the checklists

could have affected the plane's navigation system.

The Attitude Heading Reference System or AHRS

gives pilots critical information

they need to fly the plane.

Let me see that.

EDUARDO ORTIZ: The AHRS is a system developed

to reduce the complexity of the navigation

system of the aircraft, the attitude of the aircraft,

the bank and the heading.

They combine everything into one unit that

gives all that information.

Those right here.

Denis, a bit more to the right.

To the right?

Yeah, get to 067.

NARRATOR: An inoperative navigation system

could explain why Flight 518 took a deadly turn

toward the mountains.

The question now is how a hurried take off

could lead to such a dangerous malfunction.

Let me see those specs again.

Gracias.

NARRATOR: To find out, investigators

travel to Santa Bárbara Airlines

Headquarters in Caracas.

They want to see what happens to the navigation system

when procedures are rushed.

OK, let's try one.

NARRATOR: Did recklessness cause a failure?

MANUEL PUERTA:

INTERPRETER: We decided to conduct

tests in a similar aircraft to the one

that was in the accident.

We wanted to understand how the AHR

system was working when the crew

took off from Mérida Airport.

NARRATOR: First, investigators try starting the plane using

all the correct procedures.

Battery?

On.

NARRATOR: They run all the checklists.

Flaps lever?

Check.

Levers?

Check.

NARRATOR: They time how long it takes for the navigation

system to come to life.

3 minutes.

EDUARDO ORTIZ: The system needs an initializations process.

And the process begins when you turn the battery switch on.

You have to wait around 3 minutes

to synchronize and stabilize the gyros and everything.

And the aircraft must be still without any kind of movement.

OK.

Now let's try it that way.

NARRATOR: Investigators also recreate the procedure

used on the day of the crash.

Battery.

EDUARDO ORTIZ: Due to their hurry,

they started engines and immediately started

taxiing to the runway in use.

And doing that, they forgot to check

their flight instruments.

They started moving now.

NARRATOR: The test confirms that Flight

518's hurried takeoff left the navigation system offline.

Less than 30 seconds, that's all they had to wait.

70 knots.

V1 and rotate.

NARRATOR: They took off with no accurate way

to track the direction they were flying.

EDUARDO ORTIZ: If they would have checked that,

they would have noticed that the 3 minutes waiting time

had not passed and they had their-- their screens

blank without any navigational information.

INTERPRETER: All the conditions for the accident to occur

existed on the ground.

They were created on the ground.

NARRATOR: Investigators now know why flight 518's

navigation system wasn't working,

but the pilots were extremely familiar with the terrain

and should have been able to see the mountain in time

to avoid it.

Mérida Airport is a visual airport, isn't it?

Mm-hmm.

NARRATOR: At Mérida Airport, planes operate

under visual flight rules.

Pilots look out the window to watch for any obstacles

in their path.

Why didn't it work this time?

EDUARDO ORTIZ: It's curious because they've

done that route many times.

INTERPRETER: All of us flew that route,

and Aldino, especially, was one of the ones

who flew it the most.

GARANITO GOMEZ: Climbing through 6 to 7,000 feet.

We're visual.

NARRATOR: Investigators study weather records

from the day of the crash.

They learn there were thick clouds in the plane's path

when it reached 10,000 feet.

Definitely not clear sailing up there.

OK.

All right.

Now, they would have entered the clouds

when they got to 10,000 feet.

So that would be around here.

NARRATOR: It's exactly the point where Flight

518 began to veer off course.

Well, look at that.

NARRATOR: Once the pilots flew into the clouds,

it was impossible for them to see where they were going.

INTERPRETER: Evidently, once in the air, they entered a cloud

and became disoriented.

Denis, it's a bit more to the right.

WILLIAM DUGARTE:

INTERPRETER: The alarm started to sound.

That indicated that they were near land.

They didn't have the slightest idea where that mountain was.

It was the final straw.

EDUARDO ORTIZ: You start to think,

why did this experienced pilot in a place where he goes more

often than the majority of the pilots

get into this situation?

GARANITO GOMEZ (ON SPEAKER): These gyros

are messed up again.

NARRATOR: The CVR points to the reason

for the pilot's blunder.

Oh, crap, Aldino.

Yeah, we can't see anything.

We'll have to reset it during flight.

What a piece of junk.

DENIS QUINTAL: We'll go visual.

NARRATOR: They believe they could reset their instrument

during the flight.

We'll take off in the dark.

The conversation reveals they'd done it before.

Same thing happened last time and we

had to take off like this.

NARRATOR: But this time, their luck didn't hold.

INTERPRETER: It's practically impossible

to maintain a flight straight and level

enough for the gyroscopes to synchronize in the air.

NARRATOR: A tiny sound on the CVR

also suggests that the pilots had an unconventional

strategy for navigating while they waited for the system

to reboot.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

What was that sound?

Can I hear it again?

GARANITO GOMEZ: Turn a bit more.

See if this works and keep it right there.

I think he's using a standby compass.

NARRATOR: Instead of relying on their electronic systems,

the captain needed to use an old-fashioned magnetic compass

to plot their course.

CARLOS HOPKINS:

INTERPRETER: We would be going back to the '30s era

flying with the basic instruments.

NARRATOR: The pilot's reliance in the compass

suggests he was extremely confident in his abilities,

maybe too confident.

INTERPRETER: In a way, that excess of confidence

on the part of the captain led him to skip certain steps

in the procedures.

What do you want?

Turn to the right.

- Aldino, take that way. - Damn it, Denis.

Aldino, turn around.

We're going down.

EDUARDO ORTIZ: The only reference

they had was the compass.

And at that moment, they started

to worry trying to find the correct path

or route without the basic instruments

that they normally have.

DENIS QUINTAL (ON SPEAKER): Aldino!

GARANITO GOMEZ (ON SPEAKER) : Hold on.

Hold on.

Easy, Denis, easy.

They were flying blind.

NARRATOR: It is now clear that a dangerous combination

of failed instruments and poor decisions

caused the crash of Flight 518.

The only remaining question is, what pushed the pilots

to take such great risks?

Now that investigators have pieced together

what happened during the flight,

they want to focus on what happened before it.

I need to know what these guys were thinking.

NARRATOR: They start to examine what the pilots did

prior to boarding Flight 518.

Do you remember what time they were here?

You know, the problem with this company

is that they don't listen to their employees.

When the pilots arrived to Mérida, they

decided to go to the terminal.

High enough so that when you stand up--

NARRATOR: They learn the pilots left

the plane in-between flights to relax

over coffee in the terminal.

The good friends got to talking and lost track of time.

The passenger department sent the passengers

on board without having the pilots at the aircraft.

You cannot have the passengers embark

until at least there's one pilot aboard of the aircraft.

Oh, Denis, come on.

It's late.

We got to go.

NARRATOR: From this moment on, the pilots are rushing

to get back on schedule.

INTERPRETER: In aviation, rushing doesn't end well.

It never ends well.

NARRATOR: The pilots entered the cockpit just 7 minutes

before their scheduled takeoff and 1/2 an hour

after the last passenger boarded the plane.

INTERPRETER: To do it faster means

you're doing it too rushed.

Something can happen.

Something can fail.

GARANITO GOMEZ: Yeah, we can't see anything.

We'll have to reset it during flight.

What a piece of junk.

DENIS QUINTAL: We'll go visual.

Same thing happened last night

and we had to take off this way.

NARRATOR: The pilots make a rash

decision to take off quickly.

They know the area well, and it's

not the first time they've flown without the instrument.

CARLOS HOPKINS:

INTERPRETER: The worst risk and the worst

mistake that a pilot can make is

to feel confident in a flight.

No two flights are the same.

All they needed was a little more time.

NARRATOR: The pilots of Flight 518

only had to wait another 28 seconds before moving,

and their navigation system would have worked perfectly.

GARANITO GOMEZ: Denis, Denis!

DENIS QUINTAL: We're at 074, aren't we?

NARRATOR: Instead, they hoped to troubleshoot the problem

in the air while they navigated without the vital piece

of equipment.

Damn, Aldino.

We're at 318.

This didn't have to happen.

NARRATOR: Soon after the crash of Flight 518,

Venezuelan authorities decide Mérida

Airport is just too dangerous.

They close it to commercial traffic.

INTERPRETER: Without a doubt, the investigation

helped public awareness and promoted change

within the aviation community.

I am 100% sure that this prevented

other accidents in Venezuela.

NARRATOR: The lesson from this crash is clear,

rushing puts everyone at risk.

EDUARDO ORTIZ: Once you start doing things the wrong way

without following procedures, you

start getting rid of those safety nets,

and you become vulnerable.

So that's-- that's the rules of the game.

Follow the procedures.