All language subtitles for Air.Disasters.S05E05.Queens.Catastrophe.1080p.PMTP.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-maldini_track3_[eng]

Narrator:
Two months after 9-11...

Pilot: Get out of it!
Get out of it!

Narrator: A passenger jet...

Man: The house
started vibrating.

Narrator:
Slams into Queens, New York.

Man: The whole street
was covered in flames.

Narrator:
265 people are dead.

Man: What the hell happened?

Woman: I will never forget this.

It looked just like
september 11th.

Rudy giuliani :
We asked for air cover,

new york city has that.

Narrator: Many fear
the crash is no accident.

Woman: Everybody thought
it was a terrorist attack.

Man: This was probably
the most complex investigation

that I had ever directed.

It came in fast and steep.

Let's hope
it's not what we think.

Flight attendant:
Ladies and gentlemen,
we are starting our approach.

Pilot: We lost both engines!

Flight attendant:
Put the mask over your nose.

Emergency descent.

Pilot: Mayday, mayday.

Flight attendant:
Brace for impact!

Controller: I think I lost one.

Man: Investigation starting...

Man: He's gonna crash!

Narrator: November 12, 2001.

It's the veterans day holiday
in the united states--

a day off for many.

But at new york's
john f. Kennedy airport,

it's another busy day.

American airlines flight 587
is carrying 251 passengers

en route to the caribbean.

Woman:
I always pack too much.

Narrator: The crew is preparing
the plane for takeoff.

Pilot: Your leg.
You check the rudders.

Pilot: Rudders, check. Ok.

Taxi checklist is complete.

Narrator: Captain ed states
is a former military pilot

who joined american airlines
sixteen years ago.

Ed states: Bleeds...on.

Pilot: Temperature check.

I'm just gonna double check
the winds here.

Narrator:
First officer sten molin

will be the pilot flying today.

Sten molin: 101.1.

Winds checked.

He and the captain had flown
together quite a bit before

and liked flying together,

so in that aspect,
this was a normal trip.

States: Takeoff data set.

Controller: American 587,

follow japan air
boeing 747 ahead.

Molin: Follow japan air,
american 587.

States:
Well, ladies and gentlemen,

at long last
we're number two for takeoff.

Immediately after takeoff,

we will be in a left-hand turn
heading for the shoreline.

In about two or three minutes
it'll be our turn to go.

Narrator:
Flight 587's flight plan

takes it out
over new york's jamaica bay

before heading south
to the dominican republic.

Everyone on board

is looking forward to swapping
the bleak november weather

for the heat of the caribbean.

One passenger has even
more reason to be thankful.

Two months ago,
on september 11th,

hilda mayor survived the attack

on new york's
world trade center.

She was working
on the ground floor

when terrorists flew two
airliners into the twin towers,

killing more than 2,500 people.

Barry mawn: 9-11 was perhaps--

well, not perhaps--
was the biggest terrorism event

that had occurred
in u.s. Territory.

Lois shorr:
September 11th was a day

that I don't think anybody
who lives in new york

will ever forget.

It was a day that changed
not only the city,

but the whole world.

I think everybody
was in a total state of shock,

and I think that shock lasted

for months
and months and months.

Controller:
American 587, kennedy tower.

Caution, wake turbulence
runway 3-1 left.

Taxi into position and hold.

States: Flight attendants,
prepare for takeoff, please.

You have the airplane.

Brenner: The captain indicated

the first officer would be
the flying pilot on this leg.

The captain designated him
to fly the flight.

That's routine.

It's the captain's choice.

Controller: American 587.

Runway 3-1 left,
cleared for takeoff.

Narrator: The first officer
asks about their distance

behind the plane
that just took off.

Molin: You happy
with that distance?

States: Ah, we'll be all right
once we get rolling.

He's supposed to be five miles
by the time we're airborne.

That's the idea.

Molin: So you're happy.

Lights?

States: Yeah. Lights are on.

Molin:
Takeoff checks complete.

I'm on the roll.

Thank you, sir.

Brenner:
They perform the takeoff.

It's all done professionally.

It's all done
by standard procedures.

States: V-1.

Rotate.

Narrator: Flight 587
lifts off at 9:14 a.m.

Controller:
American 587, heavy.

Climb and maintain 1-3,000.

Narrator: In the homes below,
residents of queens, new york,

hear the familiar sound
of jets overhead.

Jason shorr: Planes, you know,
take off and land.

They fly right over
the peninsula every 45 seconds.

It was just a normal thing.

Narrator: A patch of turbulence
rocks the plane.

Hilda mayor: Oh, boy.

Molin: Max power.

States: You all right?

Molin: Yeah, I'm fine.

States: Hang on to it.
Hang on to it.

Molin: Let's go
for power, please.

Narrator:
2,300 feet above the ground,

disaster strikes.

Mayor: Oh, my god!
Oh, my god!

Narrator:
The plane is losing altitude

and falling out of the sky.

Molin: Holy crap!

Narrator: There are over
68,000 pounds

of flammable jet fuel
on board.

States:
What the hell are we into?

Narrator: And the plane is
heading straight for the houses

of queens, new york.

Jason: The sound at first

was just a normal airplane
flying above.

I was still in bed,

kind of half sleeping,
half awake.

As it started to get louder,

that's when you felt
a little vibration.

Mayor: Oh, my god!

Molin: We're stuck in it!

Pilot:
Tower, look to the south.

There's an aircraft crashing.

Controller:
Airplane going down.

States: Get out of it!
Get out of it! Get out of it!

Jason: The house started
vibrating very heavily.

You know, this all happened
really quick.

Narrator: The fuel
ignites a massive fireball,

engulfing several homes.

Jason: The plane crashed

pretty much like
in the backyard and the street,

exploded.

My whole window
was bright orange...

Really loud, really bright.

I just jumped up
looking for my glasses

and pretty much, with my dad,

ran out to
the front of the house.

Controller:
Are you missing any flights?

American airlines flight 587.

Jason:
We ran out the front door.

All I could see,
'cause I didn't have my glasses,

I couldn't find my glasses...

The whole street was
covered in flames.

My whole side of my house
was covered in flames,

and there was just black smoke
billowing up like really high.

What the hell happened?

I remember looking back
into my house,

and the whole kitchen area
was just black.

It was all
thick black smoke already.

Narrator: Fire rips through
the quiet neighborhood,

and a city still in shock
from the events of 9-11...

Man: It's a plane!

Narrator: Is plunged
back into fear and chaos.

Man: I see my eyes and I scream,
"everybody go out!"

Officer: Just back up.

Man: It looks like a war zone.

Narrator: Jason's mother, lois,
is driving to work

when she gets the most
terrifying call of her life.

Lois: My husband
was screaming hysterically

into the phone,
"the house is burning down!

The house is burning down!
Come home!"

And in those moments,
I went into a state of panic

thinking I didn't know
where jason was.

I drove towards rockaway,
and I will never forget this.

It looked just like
september 11th.

All I saw was the black smoke
and the flames

for what looked like a mile.

The whole area
looked like it was on fire.

Then I realized that my house
was like gone,

and I was just in...i can't...

I was in total shock.

Jason: We're over here!

Lois: I heard mark and jason
scream, "we're over here,"

and I turned around
and I saw them,

and I ran over
and I almost fainted.

Then I remember screaming
to them, "what happened?"

And they're telling me
a plane crashed.

Narrator: The horrific scene

seems to echo the events
of september 11th.

All 260 people
on board the plane are dead,

as well as five people
on the ground.

Lois: Everybody thought
it was a terrorist attack.

Narrator:
Many people fear the worst.

New york mayor rudy giuliani
tries to reassure the public.

Rudy giuliani: Just talked
to president bush

and we talked to
his chief of staff.

We asked for air cover,
new york city has that.

The airports have been
closed for a while,

and I talked to the governor
and just as a precaution,

we're gonna close the bridges
and tunnels for an hour or two.

Lois: I thought
it was a terrorist attack

'cause I couldn't
imagine a plane

just falling out of the sky.

Why would anybody want to crash
a plane into rockaway?

Narrator: For the second time
in two months,

new york airports are closed.

All flights are grounded,

stranding thousands
of terrified passengers.

Fearing the crash
is another act of terrorism,

the fbi immediately sends
a team of agents to investigate.

Mawn: Send anyone who saw
what happened over to me, ok?

Narrator: Barry mawn
is the assistant director

of the fbi's field office
in new york city.

Eight weeks earlier,
he was at the scene

when the world trade center
collapsed.

He pulled his team out

just before
the twin towers came down.

Mawn: We were still
heavily involved

in the investigation of 9-11,

so when I heard about it,

I immediately got concerned

as to was this
another terrorist attack?

Narrator: But the fbi
isn't working alone.

This is first and foremost
a plane crash.

President george bush:
This investigation is being led

by the national transportation
safety board

to make sure that the facts
are fully known

to the american people.

Narrator: The ntsb sends its
own team of experts to queens.

They face a daunting challenge:

A passenger plane
and four houses demolished.

Man: Mawn.

Narrator: The two agencies
are searching for clues

that are going to be
very hard to find.

Robert benzon: This was probably
the most complex investigation

that I had ever directed.

Narrator: Robert benzon is
a 17-year veteran of the ntsb.

He's investigated
30 major accidents.

He's in charge of a team
of 21 investigators.

Benzon: We like to think

we enter any investigation
with an open mind,

but we're all human beings,

and this accident occurred
so close to the tragedy of 9-11

that we naturally
jumped to conclusions,

and we had to force ourselves
to back up

and carefully study
the evidence.

Make sure it's all in one place.

Murphy, how are ya?

Inspector murphy,
agent mawn, fbi.

Narrator:
Investigator brian murphy

is the ntsb's
structures and materials expert.

He's a veteran of many crashes,

but this one hits close to home.

He has close ties
to this neighborhood.

Brian murphy:
I hadn't given it much thought

until i'd seen the church
where we'd buried

both my grandfather
and my grandmother--

st. Dennis's right there, so...

And it came back--when I walked
over to 129th street,

I remembered, you know,
being a kid,

and my cousins and I
were all there.

Narrator: This neighborhood,

though far removed
from lower manhattan,

has a deep connection
to the 9-11 attacks.

Lois: There are a lot
of firemen and policemen

who live in this community,

and a lot of the firemen
did respond september 11th,

and a lot of the firemen
were killed.

Benzon:
It came in fast and steep.

Let's hope
it's not what we think.

Narrator: The ntsb and the fbi

will work the crash site
together

until one important question
is answered.

Was this terrorism
or was it an accident?

Murphy:
Airplane parts go in the bins.

Everything else
stays here for now.

Narrator: The crash site
is a chaotic mixture

of household debris
and plane wreckage.

Sorting one from the other
is a difficult task.

Murphy: Sorting between home
and airplane has to be done.

I don't want to take all of
the five homes home with me

to sort through.

You want to try and do
as best a job you can

while you're on site

to make sure
you isolate airplane,

and you also don't want to
leave any airplane behind.

Definitely not
from our plane. Thanks.

Benzon: We've been doing this
a long time, of course,

and we can recognize an airplane

by only looking
at about 10% of it.

But to a layperson,

the destruction of the fuselage
and the wings was so great

that I would venture to say

a layperson would have
trouble recognizing it

as an airplane crash.

Narrator: Flight 587

crashed into a densely
populated neighborhood.

Hundreds of people
saw the plane come down

and are eager
to tell their story.

Woman: I heard a noise,
I looked up in the sky,

I saw a plane,
I saw fire coming out of it.

Man: The plane blew up in half.

It blew in the air.

Jason: I was half asleep.

It's...it's the sound
that got me up.

It was real loud.

Narrator:
Witness reports fuel concerns

that this was
a terrorist attack.

Mawn: Some of the witnesses
were saying

they saw the plane
explode in the air,

that they saw a huge fireball,

and it's sounding like
it had been a bomb on board.

Narrator: If there was a bomb,

there should be evidence of it
in the debris.

Mawn: Experts would be
physically examining

all of the parts of the plane

to see if there was
any indentations

or outward movement
of the plane,

indicating that
the explosion was inside

and pushed everything out.

Any chance this plane exploded
from the inside out?

And they weren't finding
any of that.

Narrator:
The twisted metal reveals

no evidence of an explosion.

But there are
other signs to look for.

Mawn: They would be looking
for any explosive residue

in any parts of the plane,

which usually tells us
that this occurred

because of an explosion.

Narrator: Investigators
take swabs from the debris

and send them to be tested
for explosive material.

Mawn: We did a number
of other things, too.

We went over to the airport

and we talked
to the baggage handlers,

we talked
to the airline personnel.

You know, did they note
anything suspicious

pertaining to the passengers
on this flight?

Narrator: The two agencies could
soon get the answers they need.

Within a day of the crash,

searchers find both
the cockpit voice recorder

and the flight data recorder.

Benzon: Hallelujah.

Now let's see what secrets
those boxes hold.

Narrator:
While investigators wait

for the data to be downloaded,

they continue examining
the wreckage for clues,

but not all of it
is at the crash site in queens.

Benzon: We found
the vertical stabilizer

miles and miles away.

Narrator:
The vertical stabilizer

has been found in jamaica bay,

between the airport
and the crash site.

The location tells investigators

it broke off while the plane
was still in the air.

Benzon: So, that was
a good first step for us.

Narrator:
The vertical stabilizer

is part of the tail.

Along with
the horizontal stabilizer,

it's critical for stable flight.

Benzon:
The horizontal stabilizer

and the vertical stabilizer

are almost like
feathers on a dart.

They keep the aircraft going
in a straight direction.

Brenner:
You can't fly without a tail.

I mean, you can't.

The airplane's gonna go down.

There's nothing
you can do about it.

Benzon: Get that tail
to the hangar

so we can get
a good, close look.

Narrator: To seasoned
air crash investigators,

the discovery hints

that terrorism
did not cause the crash.

Benzon: The fact
that we saw early on

the vertical stabilizer
separated from the wreckage

by many miles,

led us to an initial hope
that it wasn't a terrorist act

because it would be very
difficult for a terrorist

to manage to blow
the vertical stabilizer

off of an aircraft.

Narrator:
Ntsb investigators

are under pressure
to find answers.

If this wasn't
an act of terrorism,

there could be a flaw
with the a300,

one of the world's
most popular planes.

It's a frightening prospect.

Benzon: That caused us,
in our minds,

to accelerate the pace
of the investigation a bit,

because the aircraft
was not grounded.

We had reason
to do the investigation

thoroughly but quickly.

Let me see rudder, airspeed,

and yaw in real time.

Narrator:
Investigators pin their hopes

on the flight data recorder.

They immediately notice
something unusual.

Benzon: Look at
these rudder inputs.

Narrator: The rudder helps
pilots turn the plane

by deflecting the oncoming air.

The more it pivots,
the more the air is deflected

and the sharper the turn.

Benzon: What is going on?

From the flight data recorder,
we discovered that the rudder

had been moved back and forth
rapidly several times.

We didn't know why.

Could have been caused
by the pilots--

one or both, perhaps,
reacting to something.

We had to keep an open mind
until we had more evidence.

Narrator:
Investigators are intrigued.

It looks like the pilots

were having trouble
controlling the plane

during the last
30 seconds of the flight.

A few seconds later,

the plane pitches down suddenly
and accelerates.

The dramatic motion
can only mean one thing:

This is the moment
the tail came off the plane.

Benzon:
Here they go with the rudder,

and then seven seconds later,
the stabilizer snaps off.

I don't get it.

Narrator: Investigators hope

the plane's
cockpit voice recorder

will tell them why the pilots
were having so much trouble

controlling their plane...

Benzon: We ready to go?

Narrator: And why the plane's
tail came off in midair.

Benzon:
The cvr is an amazing device.

It's a digital tape recorder

that records
all noises in the cockpit

and noises,
even some outside the cockpit.

Narrator: They listen to the
last few moments of the flight.

If a bomb
brought down the plane,

they should hear
the sound of the explosion.

States:
A little wake turbulence, huh?

Molin: Yeah.

Narrator: Investigators listen

as the pilots discuss hitting
the wake from another plane.

It seems molin wants more speed
to help them fly through it.

Molin: 250 knots.
Thank you.

Max power.

States: You all right?

Molin: Yeah, I'm fine.

States: Hang on to it.

Narrator:
The investigators listen

for the sound of an explosion.

Benzon: We heard
loud pops and snaps,

an especially loud noise.

Benzon: 15:58.
That's the tail coming off.

Narrator: They match the timing
of that sound to the fdr data.

Benzon: And we could pinpoint
exactly to the second

when the vertical stabilizer
came off.

Molin: Holy crap!

What the hell are we into?

We're stuck in it!

States: Get out of it!
Get out of it! Get out of it!

Benzon: Onboard explosions also
have a distinct sound pulse.

I didn't hear anything
that sounded like a bomb.

And we didn't hear that
on the cvr.

Narrator:
There's nothing on the recording

to indicate a bomb
exploded on the plane.

Not only that,

but lab results confirm

there's no trace of explosives
on any of the debris.

Mawn: No signs of an incendiary
device being on board,

no claims of credit,

no suspicious activity
either at the airport

or even with
the passengers themselves.

Benzon:
Nothing on the flight recorder.

No explosions.

Mawn: This was in all likelihood

either a mechanical error
or a pilot error.

I'm not surprised.

It seems consistent
with what we're finding.

Once determination is made that
it's not a criminal matter...

Let's wrap it up, guys.
We're done here.

Then we totally go away,
actually.

Narrator: The fbi
leaves the investigation

in the hands of the ntsb.

Benzon: Once we could eliminate
a terrorist act,

then the investigation
took on a different focus.

We were sure now
it was an aircraft accident.

Benzon: Alright,
back to the wreckage.

Let's figure this thing out.

Narrator: Investigators are
faced with a puzzling question.

Benzon: How does a vertical
stabilizer just fall off?

I'd been investigator in charge
with the ntsb

for, at that time...
Oh, gosh, 20 years or so,

and I had never seen
anything quite like this.

Narrator: Investigators study
the vertical stabilizer

recovered from jamaica bay.

They look for any clues that
might explain why it broke off.

Brenner: Here's a case where
the vertical stabilizer failed

during a routine flight.

And it's a very rare event,

and we're trying to understand

what are the factors
involved in it.

Narrator:
As they take a closer look

at the edge that broke away
from the rest of the plane,

they make
a surprising discovery.

Murphy:
The fitting just ripped apart.

Narrator:
The vertical stabilizer

is attached to the plane mainly
by three pairs of fittings.

For some reason,
they all failed.

It's a confounding discovery.

The stabilizer is made
of a modern composite material

that's designed
to be stronger than steel.

Perhaps its strength
has been overestimated.

Benzon: It was actually
the first accident

that we had investigated

where a large composite
component had failed,

so that became
a question in our minds.

Narrator: Composites are made

by fusing
more than a hundred layers

of carbon and glass fiber.

Because they're both
strong and lightweight,

they're increasingly common
in aircraft designs.

Murphy: On almost all aircraft

you're gonna find some type
of composite material

on that airplane somewhere.

Narrator: Industry manufacturers

plan to increase
the use of composite materials

for new aircraft.

But if composites
can fail so easily,

it could jeopardize the lives
of thousands of people

and cripple
the airline industry.

Benzon: If it was
a structural failure,

it would affect
not only the accident aircraft,

but the entire
airbus a300 fleet,

so if there was a design flaw
in the aircraft,

we needed to know that
very, very quickly.

Narrator:
Investigators comb through

the manufacturing records
of the downed a300.

They discover
some disturbing information

about the stabilizer mounts.

Murphy: An investigation

of the early
manufacturing build records

from this vertical stabilizer

did reveal that after
it went through its inspection,

it actually was noted
and determined

that there was
a large delamination.

Narrator: Delamination

is the separation
of the hundreds of layers

which make up the composite.

In other words, the material
literally begins to peel apart.

Murphy:
You would see a reduction

in the strength of
the overall piece of structure,

quite possibly
due to that delamination.

Narrator:
Airbus had to repair the part

before the plane was delivered
to american airlines.

If the laminate failed before,
perhaps it failed again.

Murphy:
What you're worried about

in your composite structure

is barely visible
impact damage...

Cut it here.
Send it to the lab.

Damage that's not able
to be seen by the naked eye.

Narrator: Investigators study

microscopic scans
of the composite material,

looking for evidence
of delamination.

Murphy:
It looks fine to me.

Narrator:
They come up empty.

There's no sign that
the composite is peeling apart.

If the material
wasn't the problem,

then perhaps it's the design
of the mounts that's faulty.

Murphy: Now that we know
the material system is ok

and that there are
no manufacturing defects,

you know,
now we have to make sure,

well, did they miss it?

Did airbus drop the ball,

and the tail was just
under-designed from day one?

Narrator:
The vertical stabilizer

must withstand huge forces

when the rudder deflects
fast-moving air in flight.

To test the design
of the stabilizer mounts,

investigators enlist the help
of the manufacturer.

Murphy: Airbus was a great party
to the investigation.

They were very eager
to get an answer,

very eager
to defend their product.

Benzon: Alright,
ready to start the test?

Let's go.

Narrator:
Investigators want to know

if the fittings
can really withstand

100,000 pounds of force,

as they're meant to.

Benzon: Stop it there.

100,000 pounds and holding.

So far, so good.

Narrator: The fitting has met
its design requirements.

Benzon: So this, in essence,
confirmed the fact

that the design of the vertical
stabilizer attach points

was good.

Narrator:
But the test isn't over.

Benzon: Let's keep going.

Narrator: Investigators
apply more pressure.

Benzon: That's 150,000.

Narrator: They want to know

exactly how much force
it must have taken

to snap the tail on flight 587.

Benzon: Let's keep going.

Narrator: In dramatic fashion,
they have their answer.

Murphy: At the time
the vertical stabilizer failed,

the right rear lug
was experiencing a load

of about 200,000
pounds of force.

Narrator:
That's twice the force

that the mounts
were designed to handle.

Benzon: So what would cause
that kind of pressure?

Narrator: Somehow, more than
200,000 pounds of pressure

ripped the tail fin
from the plane...

A force far stronger

than anything an a300
should normally encounter.

Benzon: We knew, of course,

from listening to
the air traffic control tapes

that the accident aircraft
took off

a minute and a half
or two minutes

after a jal,
japanese airline boeing 747.

States: A little bit
of wake turbulence, huh?

Molin: Yeah.

Brenner: The captain says,
"a little wake turbulence, huh?"

Molin: Holy crap!

Narrator: Could that turbulence
have been strong enough

to tear the tail from the plane?

States:
What the hell are we into?

Narrator: Wake turbulence

is caused by the movement
of air over and under the wing.

When the two streams of air meet
at the wing tips,

they combine to create
a powerful vortex

that trails behind the plane.

Benzon: So you can almost
imagine two tornados

coming off the wing tips
of an airplane.

The effects
of wake turbulence vary

upon the size of the aircraft
encountering the turbulence.

Narrator: Small planes
face the greatest risk,

especially when flying behind
large airliners.

The powerful turbulence
can be catastrophic.

Pilots are trained

to avoid the wakes
coming off planes ahead of them

by staying back a safe distance.

Investigators wonder
if the pilots of flight 587

miscalculated that distance

as they waited to take off
behind a jumbo jet.

Controller:
Japan airlines, 47 heavy,

runway 3-1 left,
cleared for takeoff.

Narrator:
The jal flight took off

at 11 minutes after 9:00.

Controller:
American 587, kennedy tower.

Caution, wake turbulence
runway 3-1 left.

Taxi into position and hold.

States:
You have the airplane.

Brenner: They had been cautioned

about wake turbulence
behind the 747 by air traffic,

so they would all have been
aware of it.

Narrator:
A minute and a half later,

flight 587 was cleared to
take off in the same direction.

Controller: American 587,

runway 3-1 left,
cleared for takeoff.

Narrator: Investigators know
the first officer was concerned

about their distance
from the 747.

Molin:
You happy with that distance?

States: Uh, we'll be ok
once we get rolling.

He's supposed to be five miles
by the time we're airborne.

That's the idea.

Molin: So you're happy.

Lights.

Benzon:
Maybe they got too close.

Narrator: If the pilots
misjudged the distance

to the plane ahead...

Molin: I'm on the roll.

Narrator:
Airport radar information

should reveal their mistake.

Investigators plot the paths and
distance between the two planes.

Benzon:
Never closer than five miles.

They should have been fine.

Narrator: Their calculations
show that flight 587

was flying at a safe distance.

The wake should be too weak
to be dangerous.

Benzon: The separation
was entirely within

federal aviation
administration regulations.

But after they hit the wake,
the tail falls off.

Was this some kind
of super wake?

Narrator: Something put more
than 200,000 pounds of pressure

onto the tail to make it snap.

If the wake
was unusually strong,

it might explain it.

Benzon: Our job then
became to figure out

how strong the wakes were.

Narrator:
Many factors can influence

the intensity and direction
of wake turbulence,

the strongest of which
is weather.

Benzon:
Weather and wake turbulence

go hand in hand, in a sense.

In fact, wake turbulence
is almost a weather phenomenon.

I mean, it's air movement.

In a perfectly calm
wind condition, for instance,

the wake turbulence
off of an aircraft

goes straight back and affects
anything straight behind it.

If you have a cross wind,

the wakes
off the tips of the wings

actually blow with the wind.

They remain rotating,
but they move.

Winds were just 11 knots.

Narrator:
Investigators discover

that there was very little wind
as flight 587 took off.

That may have made things worse.

There was no wind
to help dissipate the vortex.

Nasa scientists conduct a study

to determine exactly how strong
the wake would have been.

Benzon: They said at the time
of the encounter

by the accident aircraft,

the wake from the 747
had dissipated 20 to 40% or so.

Narrator:
The vertical stabilizer

can withstand almost
200,00 pounds of bending force.

Even at full strength,
the wake from a 747

should not be strong enough
to snap the tail off an a300.

At 80% of its strength,

it could not have done
any damage at all.

Benzon: Not even close
to what it would take

to rip the tail off an airbus.

The overall strength
of the wake itself

was not capable of upsetting
a large aircraft like an a300.

Narrator: Investigators return
to the best clue they have--

the unusual rudder movements.

Benzon: 11 degrees left.

11 degrees right.

We saw the rudder
go back and forth

to its maximum deflection

several times
very, very rapidly.

As of this point,
we still didn't know why,

but that was something
that raised our eyebrows.

11 degrees left.

11 degrees right.

Could he have ripped the tail
off his own plane?

We needed to determine whether
that particular motion

would be violent enough to snap
the vertical stabilizer off.

Narrator: Normally,
pilots only move the rudder

a couple of degrees in either
direction to steer the plane.

Investigators wonder

if the extreme rudder movements
on flight 587

created the aerodynamic force

needed to tear
the stabilizer off.

Benzon: You ready?

Narrator: To find out,

they create a computer
simulation of an a300

and fly it the same way
as first officer molin,

moving the rudder 11 degrees
back and forth three times.

Murphy:
With each rudder deflection,

the aerodynamic loads
on the tail increase.

There.

Benzon:
That would have done it.

Murphy: And it was
those increasing loads

that caused this.

Brenner: They concluded
that it was the inputs

that were being made
on the controls

that led to
the structural failure,

and no other factor.

Benzon:
He was doing it to himself.

By way of analogy,

you stick your hand
out a car window

going 60 miles an hour,

and you can feel it
being pushed backwards.

Well, try sticking your hand
out the window

when you're going
250 miles an hour.

Well, you'd probably
lose your hand.

Benzon:
What was he thinking?

Narrator:
The discovery finally explains

what happened to
american airlines flight 587,

but it doesn't explain why.

Benzon: So now...now we've
eliminated several items,

and we're starting
to look at the actions

of the flight crew
very carefully.

Narrator: It's clear the pilots
should have had no trouble

handling the amount
of wake turbulence

they experienced on takeoff.

Benzon: Our studies
through nasa indicated

that the strength of the wakes
were not that severe.

They were easily manageable.

Brenner: Normally
in wake turbulence,

an airplane,
especially as large as an a300,

can respond itself
to the wake turbulence.

There's a momentary discomfort.

Mayor: Oh, boy.

Brenner: And then the airplane
resumes normal flight.

Narrator: But that's not
what happened on flight 587.

States: A little
wake turbulence, huh?

Brenner: The captain commented,
"a little wake turbulence."

Molin: Yeah.

Brenner:
He may have been questioning

the first officer's response,

and he was just saying, "it was
not that big a thing, was it?"

States: You all right?

Molin: Yeah, I'm fine.

Brenner: What's surprising was
the first officer's response.

There really
should not be a call

to have that kind of
aggressive actions to it.

Narrator: They don't understand
why an experienced pilot

would move his rudder
so violently

to fly out of the wake.

Investigators talk to pilots
who flew with molin.

Benzon: You can take a seat.

Narrator: They make
a surprising discovery.

Benzon: We began to suspect that
the first officer overreacted.

Tell me what happened.

Brenner:
There was one unusual aspect

that was disturbing,

that he had a history
of responding very aggressively

to wake turbulence.

Benzon: He did the same thing
seven years ago.

Brenner: He moved the rudder
pedal quickly back and forth.

The captain said
that he was shocked by this.

Benzon: He was
overworking the rudders.

Brenner: He said,
"why did you do that?

Why did you respond like that?"

And according to the statement,
the first officer said,

"they taught us to respond
like that in the training."

Narrator: Is it possible

that the airline
is teaching their pilots

such a dangerous maneuver?

Investigators have to find out

before another pilot
makes the same mistake.

Investigators believe

the first officer
was following his training

when he overreacted
to wake turbulence.

They discover that one of
the situations molin trained for

likely taught him
a dangerous lesson.

American airlines pilots

are trained to recover
from steep rolls

up to 90 degrees wing down--

an almost unheard-of occurrence.

Benzon: This isn't
what happens in flight.

You recover much quicker.

You roll the airplane
five degrees,

and then you put her back.

You never let it
get to 90 degrees.

There's no history of this.

Simulator: Wait, wait.
Wait for 90 degrees.

Brenner: To make the exercise
more effective,

unfortunately the simulator
was programmed not to respond

to any pilot inputs
within the first few moments.

Simulator:
Recover now. Recover now.

Narrator:
The only way to recover

is with sustained rudder inputs.

Molin: That's a situation
I never want to be in.

Narrator: Investigators wonder
what trainees were told

about the cause
of the sudden upset.

Benzon: Mm-hmm.

And what did they say
would cause such a situation?

Well, that explains everything.

It was an example of training
that did not equate to reality.

Narrator:
They learn that some trainees

were presented with
an impossible scenario.

Simulator: For this drill,

there's a boeing 747
just ahead of you.

When you encounter his wake,
the upset will begin.

Narrator: They were told
that wake turbulence

would induce the sudden roll.

Benzon: Wake turbulence
rarely tilts you

more than 10 degrees
in any direction,

and it's easily recoverable.

Brenner: Unfortunately,
the exercise was exaggerated.

The airplane banked
one direction a little bit

and then went very strongly
to 90 degrees,

which is tremendous bank,
in the opposite direction.

Benzon: We determined that
they were actually providing,

inadvertently providing
some negative training

to their pilots.

That led us to the conclusion
that he overreacted,

and we had the reasons why.

States: A little
wake turbulence, huh?

Molin: Yeah.

Narrator: First officer molin
was trained to believe

that severe wake turbulence

could cause
a catastrophic upset.

Molin: Max power.

States: You all right?

Brenner: The captain asks him,
"are you all right?"

And it's noteworthy

that the captain
does not add max power.

In the captain's opinion,

max power is not appropriate
in this situation.

The first officer
began responding

with wheel back and forth

and accompanied by rudder...
Back and forth rudder.

States: Hang on to it.
Hang on to it.

Brenner: He thought it was
some outside turbulence

or something else
that was happening,

and he was making
opposite controls

and was fighting himself

and didn't know that it was
actually his inputs

that were causing the problem.

Benzon: The first officer
overreacted on the rudders.

He didn't
let the aircraft stabilize

in one position or the other,

so it hits a stop
and then whips itself back...

Back and forth, back and forth,

and this creates huge loads
on the vertical part of the fin.

Narrator:
The first officer's actions

stress
the vertical stabilizer...

Until it breaks
under the strain.

Molin:
What the hell are we into?

States: Get out of it!
Get out of it! Get out of it!

Narrator: After the accident,

american airlines
changes its training procedures

dealing with wake turbulence.

Benzon: Once it became clear

that some negative training
was going on,

american airlines,
to their credit,

revamped the program to prevent
this type of activity.

Narrator:
The training simulator

has been modified
to be more realistic.

Inputs have an immediate effect.

Pilots are now taught not to use
the rudder at high speed.

A new warning light
is also installed in the cockpit

to help prevent pilots from
deflecting the rudder too far

during flight.

Benzon: When people ask me
about the effects of 587,

I hark back on
the incredible loss of life.

It's the second worst accident
in u.s. History.

Brenner: Since this accident,

the industry made major changes
in terms of pilot training

and made a big effort

to help pilots
understand the situation

so that they will not
be caught by surprise

so this
will never happen again.