All language subtitles for Air.Disasters.S06E01.Hanging.By.A.Thread.1080p.PMTP.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-maldini_track3_[eng]

NARRATOR: A passenger plane
is torn apart in midair.

Lives hang in the balance.

There's not enough oxygen
to survive up here.

A freezing wind of hurricane
force is roaring to the cabin.

The flight crew calls
mayday, but nobody hears.

And the airplane is
headed for a mountain.

It sounds like a nightmare.

For everyone aboard Aloha
airlines flight 243,

this is no nightmare.

It's reality.

Aloha 243 still up.

NARRATOR: When crash detectives
discover what happened,

their verdict shakes
the airline business.

This accident changed
aviation history.

WOMAN: Ladies and gentlemen
we are starting our approach--

MAN: We lost both engines.

WOMAN:
emergency ..

MAN: Mayday, mayday.

WOMAN: Brace for impact.

MAN: I think I lost one.

MAN: Investigation
started from--

MAN: He's going to crash.

NARRATOR: At 1:00 PM,
Aloha Airlines flight

243 is preparing to depart.

A Boeing 737 is on the
tarmac at Hilo Airport

on Hawaii's big island,
the southernmost

of the Hawaiian chain.

Flight 243 will be just a
35-minute hop to Honolulu,

on the island of O'ahu.

Serving

The islands means that Aloha
works its airplanes hard.

They make short flights,
but plenty of them.

This airplane has been
shuttling between the islands

since early morning.

It'll be its ninth
flight today.

For the flight crew,
it's a routine they've

followed for many years.

Aloha 243, roger.

Anticipating startups--

NARRATOR: Captain
Bob Schornstheimer

has been flying for 11
years with Aloha Airlines.

Roger.

NARRATOR: His first
officer, Mimi Tompkins,

is hoping for a
promotion to Captain

after nine years with Aloha.

Did you hear any more about--

NARRATOR: Each of
the flight attendants

has a long service
record too, but none

so long as Clarabelle Lansing,
known to everyone as just CB.

Well, Mr. Kino, welcome.

Always good to see you, CB.

You fixed some good
weather for us.

Smooth all the way.

You bet.

NARRATOR: She's been
flying for 37 years since

before the days of the
first jet airliner.

- Let me help you with this.
- Yeah.

This is a heavy one.

NARRATOR: CB is the boss in the
cabin, first flight attendant.

Michelle Honda, a 14-year
veteran is number two.

Jane Sato-Tomita
has served 19 years.

This is one of the most
experienced crews you'll

find in an airplane that's
been crisscrossing Hawaii's

island safely for 19 years.

Circuit breakers.

NARRATOR: It's made more
than 89,000 flights.

On this day, only one other
737 in the entire world

beats that that record.

Flight recorder.

Checked.

NARRATOR: Passengers
have no reason

to doubt they're in
safe hands, until one

passenger, Gayle
Yamamoto, sees something

that makes her pause.

But what is she
concerned about?

And how worried should she be?

Do I say something?

NARRATOR: Patricia
Aubrey lives in Hilo

but has an appointment
today in Honolulu.

At first, she opts
for the very front

of the airplane in row one.

But somehow she feels
uneasy and decides

to move further back.

She chooses a free
seat in row 17.

At 1:25, flight 243
is ready for takeoff.

This airplane often rattles and
shakes on takeoff and landing,

but it's something the
crew and regular passengers

have grown used to.

What's there to worry about?

BOB SCHORNSTHEIMER (ON
RADIO): Hilo departure.

This is Aloha 243,
climbing through 3,000.

Roger, climbing to flight--

NARRATOR: Though
he's the captain,

Bob Schornstheimer has chosen
to take charge of radio links

with air traffic control.

It's Mimi Tompkins who will
fly the plane to Honolulu.

Most of the flight time
has taken up in climbing

to their cruising altitude.

It'll take 20 minutes
to climb to 24,000 feet.

For many passengers, soaring
high over the Pacific

is all part of the
daily routine--

people like salesman
Howard Kitaoka in row five.

He makes this trip often.

When you've seen
the view 100 times,

35 minutes is precious time
to catch up on paperwork.

The flight's so short that
attendants serve drinks

while they're still climbing.

They can move around.

But the passengers
are still strapped in.

It's 1:45, 20 minutes
into the flight,

the aircraft is at
cruising height.

Honolulu Center, Aloha
243, leveling off at 240.

NARRATOR: The crew relaxes.

See, where's that national--

NARRATOR: In perfect
flying weather,

everything is following
the familiar pattern.

What was that?

We have to get down.

We've lost pressure.

I saw a brilliant
flash of light and boom.

Everything was gone, was
being sucked out of the plane.

NARRATOR: Here's
what's happened.

An explosive decompression
has torn away

375 square feet of a fuselage.

HOWARD KITAOKA: We were in
a tremendous blast of wind.

The wind blast is unbelievable.

A mass of things just
woosh out the plane.

Hair was up here.

Everybody was in their seat,
except the stewardesses.

I saw the stewardess
get smashed

down in the-- in the aisle.

I could see her hair blowing
and I could see blood,

but that's all I
could see of her.

NARRATOR: Jane
Sato-Tomita has been

struck by debris at row two.

Michelle Honda has been
thrown to the floor at row 15.

There's no sign at
all of CB Lansing.

I will take control column.

I can't hear you.

NARRATOR: Only seconds have
passed since the explosion,

the wind noise makes it
impossible for the flight crew

to communicate.

What did we lose back there?

- I can't hear you.
- We lost the pressure.

NARRATOR: Now, for
the first time,

they gain a sense
of what's happened.

Visible over a mound
of tangled debris,

there's blue sky, where the
airplane roof used to be.

The first five rows are now
completely exposed to the sky

on both sides of the plane.

The initial threat
of being sucked out

has passed since
the airplane is now

completely depressurized,
but passengers

are still in danger.

HOWARD KITAOKA: My
seatmate was flopping out

outside the aircraft
because at that point,

it was just the floor and
no walls are receding.

And so I grabbed him.

NARRATOR: The cold
and oxygen deprivation

are both potentially deadly.

GREG FEITH: Just imagine
the scene up there--

the top of the
airplane broken off,

the passengers don't
have any ability

to get supplemental oxygen
because the critical tubing

that feeds that
oxygen is now gone.

And at 24,000 feet with very
little to breathe up there,

the passengers
become incapacitated.

That's called hypoxia.

If you stay up at that
altitude for any prolonged

period of time, you become more
and more physically disabled.

With the top of
the airplane gone,

you now have 300 mile an hour
winds blowing into that cabin.

That's three times
hurricane force winds.

Those people were dressed for
Hawaii in the springtime, not

minus 50 degree temperatures.

Any period of time, at
24,000 feet, and those people

will die.

NARRATOR: High
above the Pacific

Ocean, an extraordinary
drama is unfolding.

An explosion at 24,000
feet aboard a Boeing 737,

bound for the Hawaiian
island of O'ahu,

tears 370 square feet of
fuselage from the airplane,

exposing passengers to the sky.

The cabin is depressurized with
no emergency oxygen supply.

Unless they rapidly
reach a lower

altitude, where they
can breathe again,

the passengers will die.

Captain Bob
Schornstheimer takes

over command of the aircraft
from first officer

Mimi Tompkins.

He begins an emergency
descent, dropping

nearly 4,000 feet per minute.

It speed now increasing to
more than 300 miles an hour.

As the aircraft hurtles down,
passengers face a new terror,

wreckage blocks their
view of the cockpit.

And when the
airplane split apart,

the nose dropped down
by nearly three feet.

The plane is held together by
just the narrow floor beams.

PATRICIA AUBREY: The
floor was buckling up.

And you could tell the plane
was bending in the middle.

NARRATOR: Michelle
Honda can't go

forward far enough to see
whether the pilots are

alive or dead.

Hello, flight deck.

NARRATOR: She tries to make
contact via the intercom.

Can anyone hear me?

NARRATOR: The
wires are severed.

As she struggles forward to
try to reach the cockpit,

she gets asked the one
question she can't answer.

Do we have a pilot?

I don't know.

Do we have a pilot?

I do not know.

Can you fly a plane?

NARRATOR: The terror
of those on board

can only be
imagined as she asks

the one question no airplane
passenger wants to hear.

Can you fly a plane?

PATRICIA AUBREY: Michelle
Honda was coming up

and cupping her hands and
yelling in everyone's

ear, individually.

Can you fly a plane?

It's like what?

You know, get out of here.

Is the-- is the pilot gone too?

You know, because
you couldn't tell

if there was anybody up there.

NARRATOR: First officer Mimi
Tompkins tries to alert air

traffic control at Honolulu.

Do you read me?

NARRATOR: Recordings from
the cockpit voice recorder,

the black box, analyzed later
by accident investigators,

provide a dramatic record
of exactly what took place.

Aloha
243, we're going down.

NARRATOR: The nearest place
where they can try to land

is the island of Maui.

Kahului Airport lies between
two volcanic mountains.

Between them and safety
lies a 10,000-foot summit.

To fly from the location
of the explosion

to the safety of
Kahului airport,

the pilot needs to
carefully maneuver,

avoiding this high ground.

Can the fragile
aircraft survive

the stresses of
turning or if they ever

reach the airport of landing?

And how can those
on board survive?

Jane Sato-Tomita is
barely conscious.

Howard Kitaoka
clutches her hand.

The only faint sign of life is
once when Jane squeezes back.

HOWARD KITAOKA: I'm not
exactly sure she was conscious,

but I did manage to
squeeze her hand.

And she responded by
squeezing my hand.

And we just held hands.

That simple squeeze of the
hand, at a time like that,

is very, very emotional.

Aloha 243, do you read me?

NARRATOR: Mimi
Tompkins is not getting

through to Honolulu
air traffic control,

so she switches to the
frequency for the tower

at Maui's Kahului Airport.

Maui tower, Aloha 243.

Maui tower, Aloha 243.

Aircraft calling tower.

Say again.

MIMI TOMPKINS (ON RADIO):
Aloha 243 for inbound landing.

NARRATOR: At 1:48,
three minutes

after the explosion, the
crew makes their first voice

contact with the ground.

We are unpressurized,
declaring an emergency.

Aloha 243, say your position.

MIMI TOMPKINS (ON RADIO):
We're just going to the East

of point.

Descending out of 11,000.

Request clearance
into Maui for landing.

Request the
emergency equipment.

Airport fire station.

We have an Aloha
737 five minutes out.

Approximately 20 miles.

Clear to runway 02,
decompression problems.

Pilot is declaring
an emergency.

We have a 737,
five minutes out,

20 miles, runway 2,
on board,

people board is .

It has a decompression
problem at this time.

Runway 2, Runway 2.

Aloha 243.

OK, the equipment
is on the field.

It's on the way.

NARRATOR: At 9,800 feet,
flying West of the mountain,

the pilot slows the aircraft.

And as gently as possible,
begins the right hand

turn towards Kahului.

Passengers sense
that someone must

be in control of the aircraft.

HOWARD KITAOKA: I've had
some training as pilot.

And we were wings level.

It wasn't a dive or roll.

It was wings level.

At that moment, I
thought, we have a chance.

NARRATOR: Meanwhile,
those in the ground

are unsure about what kind
of crisis they're facing.

It's a small airport.

An airliner in
trouble will test

the fire crews experience.

For the air controller,
it's hard to hear

the airplane at all.

Just to verify again,
you're breaking up.

Your call sign is 243.

Is that correct?

Or 244?

Aloha 243.

Aloha 243.

MAN (ON RADIO): Aloha 243.

Plan straight ahead
for runway 02.

I'll keep you advised
of any wind change.

NARRATOR: Four minutes
after the explosion--

Do you want me to
offer anything else?

No.

NARRATOR: At this
lower altitude,

they're able to remove
their oxygen masks.

Aloha 243, looks
like we've lost a door.

We have a hole in the
left side of the aircraft.

NARRATOR: But the tower can't
hear this new information.

They've lost contact
with the aircraft.

Aloha 243.

The transmissions
aren't being picked up.

Aloha 243, you still up?

NARRATOR: Hearing nothing
from the aircraft,

the controller fears the worst.

Aloha 243, if you still
hear, please, ident.

Affirmative.

Aloha 243, roger.

I got your idents.

Straight away.

Cleared to land.

Wind, 040 at 20 knots.

NARRATOR: Communication
is restored,

but the crew's ordeal
is far from over.

Cabin, do you hear?

NARRATOR: Now,
Mimi Tompkins tries

to contact the
cabin by intercom,

but there's no response.

GREG FEITH: Well, the
crew doesn't really know

what's going on behind them.

The airplane is still
flying, the captain now

has to maintain his focus
on flying that airplane,

but he doesn't know what real
damage exists behind him.

Tell them we'll need
assistance to evacuate.

Right.

Maui tower, Aloha 243, can you
hear me on tower frequency?

Aloha 243, I hear
you loud and clear.

Go ahead.

MIMI TOMPKINS (ON RADIO):
We're going to need assistance.

I can't communicate with
the flight attendants.

We'll need assistance with
the passengers when we land.

NARRATOR: During the descent,
passengers experience

moments of pure terror.

PATRICIA AUBREY: The plane
kept vibrating and shaking.

And the luggage
racks were falling in

and there was electrical
wires flying around zapping.

And you know, pretty
much pandemonium,

but it looked like the
plane was ripping in half.

NARRATOR: And suddenly,
there's a new problem

for the flight crew to handle.

It feels like
annual reversion.

What?

The flight control feel
like manual reversion.

NARRATOR: It feels
to the pilot as

though hydraulic
systems, like power

steering in an automobile,
have now failed.

The airframe is
under great stress.

They need to land
as soon as possible.

Can we maintain altitude OK?

There are so many thoughts
that go through your head.

Like one of my
thoughts was man,

don't put this
thing in the water.

NARRATOR: The crew fears that
critical wiring and control

cables may have been severed.

Have any of the airplane's
vital parts been damaged?

Let's try flying
with the gear down.

All right.

You've got it.

NARRATOR: There are
lights to indicate

whether or not the landing
gear has safely deployed.

The main undercarriage
has extended as normal.

But the light showing that
the nose wheel has extended,

doesn't come on.

GREG FEITH: The last
thing the pilot wanted

to see, especially
with his airplane,

in the condition it
was in, was that he

didn't have a nose gear.

Because when the nose
touched down on the runway,

it would have broken
the airplane apart.

Therefore, breaking probably
the fuel tanks apart,

which could lead to a very
dramatic fire and explosion.

NARRATOR: A second attempt
to extend the landing gear.

The nose gear
light is still out.

But the radio link is so bad,
the tower is still trying

to assimilate the crisis.

MAN (ON RADIO): Aloha 243,
just to verify, you do need

an ambulance, is that correct?

I still don't understand.

Affirmative.
MAN (ON RADIO): Roger.

How many do you
think are injured?

We have no idea.

We can't communicate with
the flight attendants.

OK, we'll have the
ambulance on the way.

There's a possibility that
we won't have a nose gear.

NARRATOR: Now, Bob
Schornstheimer has

to make a critical decision.

Should he wait for confirmation
that the undercarriage is down

or land anyway?

The textbook in this
case would tell the pilots

to overfly the airfield so that
the air traffic controllers

can look at the landing
gear and give them a report

whether it's up or down.

The pilots would then have
to maneuver the airplane all

the way around the airfield,
come in for an approach,

and land.

NARRATOR: But with
an airplane, which

might break apart
at any moment,

that's out of the question.

Tell him we've got problems,
but we're going to land anyway

even without a nose gear.

But they should be
aware that we don't have

a nose gear indication down.

MAN (ON RADIO): Aloha
243, wind now, 050.

The emergency
equipment is in place.

MIMI TOMPKINS (ON RADIO): OK.

Be advised we
have no nose gear.

We are landing
with no nose gear.

NARRATOR: Maui is not
an ideal place to head

for with a damaged airplane.

The island's
exposed north shore

lies directly in the
path of the trade winds.

HOWARD KITAOKA: I've done
that landing a lot of times.

And that particular
approach corridor

is very windy because of
the mountain on one side

and mountain to the other.

So it's a very bumpy approach.

But that's basically
all we had.

FLIGHT ATTENDANT: Get
in the right position.

Brace yourself.

Brace yourself.

Get down.

GREG FEITH: Any kind of
in-flight turbulence, that

would have put great
stresses on the front end

of the airplane.

And there's a high
probability that the cockpit

would have separated from
the rest of the fuselage.

Catastrophic loss of the
airplane and a loss of life.

NARRATOR: With the
airfield now in sight,

Bob Schornstheimer has a
critical decision ahead.

He begins to slow the
aircraft for landing.

Let's try flaps 15.

NARRATOR: An airplane's
flaps are sliding panels

at the back of the wings.

They increase lift
at low speeds.

They need to be extended
during takeoff and landing.

MIMI TOMPKINS: Is it easier
to control with the flaps up?

Yeah.

Put them back to five.

Can you give me a B speed
for a flaps five landing?

NARRATOR: No two aircraft
landings are the same.

Pilots have to factor
in many things.

The wind speed and direction,
passenger and fuel load,

and the length of the
runway before them.

Do you want the flaps
right down as we land?

What?

Do you want the flaps
right down as we land?

Yeah.

But after we touch down.

OK.

NARRATOR: A complicated formula
provides the vref, indicating

the safe landing speed.

Even in a crisis
like this, pilots

have to reach for the manual.

Extending the flaps fully
will help act as a brake

once they touch down.

But to do it earlier
could stress the airframe

to the breaking point.

GREG FEITH: What
you have to remember

is that the pilots
weren't trained to handle

a situation like this.

With the top of their
airplane missing,

they became test pilots.

The aerodynamic
effects of the airplane

were drastically different
than they were used to.

They really had to fly by
the seat of their pants.

Aloha 243, wind
now, 050 at 20.

Vref 40 plus 30 flap
1 through flaps 15.

120.

NARRATOR: Using
her flight manual,

the first officer makes
the complicated calculation

that will give their
correct landing speed.

552.

Right.

NARRATOR: The safe speed for
landing, taking into account

the length of Kahului's runway
two is calculated to be 152

knots or 175 miles an hour.

Get down.

NARRATOR: As the
airplane slows,

it becomes much
harder to control.

And so the pilot has to
make another crucial call.

Don't let go.

Get down.

NARRATOR: Speeding
up to keep control

means he'll hit the runway
faster than he should.

He gambles that the
higher speed landing

is still the best option.

HOWARD KITAOKA: Our approach
speed, I felt, was hot.

I mean, we were coming in hot.

I don't know.

Don't ask me how
many miles an hour

it was because I don't know.

But from other landings, we
were coming in fairly hot.

Crash

NARRATOR: Rescue team
is prepare themselves

for a worst case scenario.

At high speed, and
without the nose gear,

a crash landing followed
by a catastrophic fuel

fire now seems inevitable.

GREG FEITH: Under
these conditions,

the lack of a nose
gear could have

been a death sentence
for everybody

aboard this aircraft.

NARRATOR: In the 12 horrifying
minutes since the explosion,

some passengers are
convinced they're

not going to make it alive.

PATRICIA AUBREY: I thought it
was going to go in the water.

And I was eaten by sharks.

And then we saw the mountain.

And I didn't think we were
going to make it over it.

I just knew we were going
to crash into that mountain.

And then what we could tell,
we could see the airport.

And then you know,
then I burned

to death because the
plane blew up when

we-- when we hit the runway.

NARRATOR: Suddenly,
the news that pilots

have been praying for--

The gear is down.

Hit a phone call with command.

The gear is down.

MAN (ON RADIO): Gear is down.

Do you want me
to go to flaps 40?

Help you?

No.

On the ground.

NARRATOR: The crew has had to
make life or death decisions.

In the next few
seconds, they'll

find out whether
they're the right ones.

Michelle Honda cradles
her injured colleague

as the critical
moment approaches.

Passengers comfort
one another in what

may be their last
moments alive.

PATRICIA AUBREY: The
woman that was sitting

next to me and her
husband, he was

on the other side in the next
row up, she was next to me.

And they were reaching
their hands out

and they were trying to
touch fingers to say goodbye.

I was-- that was a
really touching moment.

For me, it was
when I really knew

I was going to die
because they were

saying goodbye to each other.

NARRATOR: Though the forward
undercarriage has extended,

the crew still can't be certain
whether it's locked in place

or whether it'll
collapse on landing.

If it doesn't hold
firm, the aircraft,

traveling at close
to 200 miles an hour,

will smash nose down
onto the tarmac.

One reverse.

OK.

Thrust reverser.

Aloha 243, just shut
it down where you are.

OK.

Everything's fine.

The gear did it.

OK.
Shut it down.

Good enough?

Yeah.

NARRATOR: In this extraordinary
video captured moments

after landing, the amount of
damage the airplane suffered

is difficult to comprehend.

An emergency evacuation of
passengers who escaped injury

has just been completed.

Some injured
passengers have still

to be helped from the plane.

How it flew for those
13 terrifying minutes

seems astonishing.

Captain Bob Schornstheimer
is thanked by passengers,

who, just minutes before,
had expected to die.

The tension is released.

HOWARD KITAOKA: Oh, I
just said, yes, baby.

That's all I said.

The pilot did a tremendous job.

NARRATOR: Patricia Aubrey hugs
her heroine, Michelle Honda.

PATRICIA AUBREY: I was crying.

Of course, everybody
was traumatized,

looking at the
plane and looking

at the people bleeding.

And just-- I kept touching
myself going, I'm here.

I can't believe
I'm still alive.

NARRATOR: A final desperate
head count by Michelle Honda

confirms the
crew's worst fears.

CB Lansing, the veteran of 37
years flying for this airline,

is missing.

A sea search begins
in the area of ocean,

where the explosion took place.

Neither body nor
wreckage are found.

Jane Sato-Tomita has
started to recover.

Seven passengers
are seriously hurt.

The worst injury,
a skull fracture.

But how have the rest survived?

At the moment of
decompression, it's

just their belts, which
make the difference

between life and death.

It went poof, loud noise,
and it just the-- the whole

thing come apart.

And I, personally,
thought we were all gone.

And we were fastened there,
all had our seatbelts fastened.

Well, most of us, evidently,
would have lost a lot more.

NARRATOR: But there
is something else.

At the most critical moment,
Maui's notorious high winds

died away.

I was amazed to see the
front of the fuselage missing.

What's so funny about the whole
thing is that when it came in,

had no wind.

I believe if you
did had that wind,

the aircraft wouldn't
have made it.

It would have split
into two pieces.

And it's a miracle.

It's very much a miracle.

GREG FEITH: This is one
of the most remarkable

flying events in history.

No airplane has ever landed
with this amount of damage.

The only thing that was
holding the forward section

cockpit to the rest of the
fuselage were the floor beams.

Basically, they were
hanging by a thread.

NARRATOR: From a close
study of a fuselage crash

investigators try to determine
how the airplane structure

remained in one piece.

The critical factor proves
to be the precise location

of the explosion.

The thing that saved them
was that because the damage was

across the top of the airplane,
as the nose tried to bend

down, these members
through here are in tension

and it kept them in line,
it kept them straight.

So even though it was
almost ready to break off,

the structure was still
strong enough here

to keep it together.

If this damage had
been along the bottom

and the nose is trying
to bend down this way,

the structure would have been--
this similar structure would

have been in compression
and it would have buckled,

and the nose would have
certainly come off.

So it was fortunate that the
damage was across the top.

NARRATOR: How does the
roof of a jet airliner

simply blow away?

The US National
Transportation Safety

Board, NTSB, is tasked with
discovering what happened.

Investigators pulled the
airplane's records, something

like an automobile
service history,

and suspicion falls right
away on the airplane itself.

Since its launch in
1967, the Boeing 737

has become the best
selling commercial aircraft

in aviation history.

Over 10,000 737s
have been sold.

The accident airplane was
number 152 off the production

line, delivered in May 1969.

The airplane was designed
for a 20-year service

life and 75,000 flights.

This one had exceeded
that number, though,

many were of short duration.

Its fuselage was
under constant stress

because of pressurization.

The fuselage of the airplane
is actually breathing.

It expands and contracts,
depending on altitude.

When it's on the ground,
it's in a contracted status.

When it's at altitude 24,000
feet, the fuselage expands.

So the airplane is
constantly cycling.

That's pressurization.

That will weaken the structure
over a long period of time.

And given the history
of this airplane,

being a very high
cycle airplane, that,

probably, had something
to do with weakening

the structure of the fuselage.

NARRATOR: With
thousands of 737s

taking to the skies
every day, investigators

need to be certain what
made this one burst apart.

In Washington DC, Jim Wildey
is one of the NTSB team

who worked the case.

His expertise as a
metallurgist proves crucial.

I got a call about
2:00 in the morning,

in the middle of the
night, from my boss

and there had been an
accident in Hawaii.

They were putting
the team together.

And I hopped on a plane
and went to Hawaii.

NARRATOR: He takes samples
from the remaining fuselage,

and back in the lab,
discovers something barely

visible to the naked eye.

Hairline cracks like
this between the holes

where rivets had been.

Figuring out how those
cracks came to be there

means going back to basics,
to the way the Boeing

737 was put together.

Airplanes are built from
many separate panels.

Where they overlap,
they're bonded

together by a powerful
adhesive known as epoxy.

Rivets hold the
panels tight together,

while the epoxy sets hard.

On the Aloha airplane,
there's telltale discoloration

inside the overlapping joints.

Here is the vital clue.

You can see now where the
dark material is the epoxy

that was used to bond the
two layers of the lap

joint together.

The white material you see
here is corrosion damage

of the aluminum fuselage skin.

So the original intent
was to the stress that's

trying to pull one skin away
from the other skin piece,

the stresses would go
through the bonding and not

through the rivets.

Of course, as this
thing becomes disbonded,

now the rivets,
themselves, are loaded.

And especially this
top row of rivets.

And this is the row of rivets
we think that had the fatigue

cracking in it that led to the
eventual opening of the roof

structure on the
Aloha 737 airplane.

NARRATOR: The files
reveal that Boeing

warned airlines, including
Aloha, a problems

with some early 737s.

If the epoxy isn't applied at
exactly the right temperature,

if the panels have
moisture or dirt on them,

the bonding can fail.

In warnings and
service bulletins,

some issued over
15 years earlier,

Boeing spells out the danger.

The Hawaii climate, with
humid and salt-laden air,

helps corrosion to occur.

But instead of grounding
airplanes for a nose

to tail examination,
Aloha has inspectors

make occasional checks, often
at night when those on duty

are least alert.

Working under artificial
light, those tiny cracks

escaped detection.

GREG FEITH: These
cracks go unrepaired

and now you have an airplane
that is a ticking time bomb.

NARRATOR: There
are other problems.

Boeing's service
bulletins, and what

are called airworthiness
directives issued

by the Federal Aviation
Administration,

are often difficult
to understand.

GREG FEITH:
Airworthiness directives

are very complex and read
like a legal document.

Aloha needed to have someone
who could read that document

and interpret it into plain
English for the mechanics,

the wrench turners.

That never happened.

NARRATOR: An airplane that's
been worked so hard serviced

by mechanics who don't fully
understand the briefings is

a recipe for disaster.

Investigators now
believe they know

why the airplane burst open,
but they don't yet know how.

JIM WILDEY: I was flying back
from Hawaii to Los Angeles.

And while I was in the
air, I got a message that--

that we needed to interview
this passenger who

had apparently seen a
crack as she was getting

on the accident flight.

You saw something, as you got
on this airplane, which you

pointed out to your roommate--

Cynthia Johnson.

Yeah, Cynthia.

Talk me through it.

What did you see?

What I saw was to
the right of the door

where the paint was white,
well, it was a crack.

It was like not a hole
exactly, but the metal on top

had come away from
the metal below.

I was going to tell
the flight attendant,

you know, but they were busy
and we had to take our seats.

Oh, yeah.

You figured they know
what they're doing.

It's their airplane.

I didn't want to make
a fuss or anything.

No, no, no, no, absolutely.

The witness saw
cracking in this area.

And we found fatigue
cracking back in here.

So this is the line where
the cracking joined up.

One piece came down
this way and folded off,

and the other piece
went across the top

and came off to the right side.

NARRATOR: But something
still doesn't make sense.

Boeing designed the 737
and other of its aircraft

so that this should
never happen.

Every 10 inches
along the airplane

are what are called tear
straps inside the fuselage

to strengthen it.

If a tear begins,
it should only

reach the next strap
before shooting

off at a 90 degree angle.

Though there's a
hole in the aircraft,

it acts like a safety valve.

GREG FEITH: The purpose
of the tear strip

is to confine any
kind of rip or tear

in the fuselage skin to a
10-inch square, basically.

If you allow it to propagate
beyond this 10-inch square,

you could then
compromise larger

sections of the fuselage
and cause a blowout.

The 10-inch square allows
a controlled decompression

and confines any structural
damage to a very small area.

NARRATOR: So why has the
safety valve failed here?

The NTSB believes there were
so many cracks in the fuselage

that they simply joined
together, running

right through the tear straps.

JIM WILDEY: The Aloha
airplane was kind

of unique in a couple of ways.

The way it was operated was
with very short flights.

So you had large numbers of
these pressurization cycles

and stress was going on and
off on these rivet locations.

And secondly, with
the disbonding,

all this stress is now
going through the rivets.

And that led to the
linking up of these cracks,

and then the roof
coming off the airplane.

NARRATOR: But is that
the final answer on what

happened to flight 243?

A new theory claims
to shed fresh light

on those dramatic events.

Matt Austin is an engineer
who lives in Honolulu.

The story of flight 243 both
appalls and fascinates him.

MATT AUSTIN: I flew very
regularly on Aloha airlines

and I've been on that plane
about a week before it

actually lost the roof.

You could tell that something
was loose in the airplane.

It's just like when you're in
an old car and you hit a bump,

you can hear the
rattles in it that you

won't hear in a new aircraft.

In this case, when
the aircraft landed

there would be
noises and rattles

you wouldn't hear on
the newer aircraft.

NARRATOR: He begins
his own investigation,

scrutinizing the 4,000
pages of evidence

and photographs gathered
during the official inquiry.

MATT AUSTIN: I am an expert
in explosion dynamics

and how pressure
vessels explode,

what causes them to explode,
which way the cracks

run as they're coming apart.

In the case of the
Aloha accident,

the main focus from the
aeronautical industry

was they were looking at as an
airplane structural failure,

whereas I analyzed it
from the point of view

of a pressure vessel failure.

NARRATOR: As he
reviews the evidence,

one question keeps recurring.

Why is CB Lansing sucked
out of the aircraft

and not her colleague
Jane Sato-Tomita?

Jane was further forward than
CB at the crucial moment.

Jane was at row two,
CB was at row five.

The NTSB believes
the roof separation

began near row three.

Passenger testimony gathered
shortly after the incident

suggests that CB Lansing was
sucked upwards into the left,

but not forward.

I was on the
aisle on the right.

So I look up from my
magazine, I see a pair of legs

go up and out on the left.

Just back a first class from
where I was if the nose was

12, this is at 11.

Yeah.

NARRATOR: Forensic
evidence suggests

another possible scenario.

Michael Sweet, an ex-cop,
is now a specialist

in blood spatter analysis.

He examines
official photographs

of the 737 fuselage.

This is a-- a large
photograph of the left

side of the airplane.

The front would be
in this location.

There's a-- what
we suspect to be

a bloodstain pattern on the--

right beside the
window right here.

NARRATOR: Could
this bloodstain be

where CB Lansing's head
impacted with the outside

of the fuselage?

The analysts believe so.

MICHAEL SWEET: Well, the fact
that there are blood stains

on the side of this
airplane suggest to me

that the blood
source in this case

was momentarily trapped
when it came into contact

with the side of the airplane.

If the flight
attendant, in this case,

was ejected outside
of a gaping hole,

I would expect her to
disappear almost immediately

and not leave any bloodstains
on the side of the airplane.

NARRATOR: This
analysis suggests

only that she was trapped, but
without explaining how or why.

Matt Austin believes
he has the answer.

What if a safety hole is opened
up as it was designed to do,

but directly above
the flight attendant?

Matt Austin thinks CB Lansing
is sucked into the safety

hole, momentarily blocking it.

MATT AUSTIN: All of the
air that's trying to escape

has no place to go.

So it builds up a
huge pressure spike

and that's what blew the roof
off the top of the airplane.

NARRATOR: What he's describing
is known as a fluid hammer.

In scientific terms, air
is fluid as is water.

Here's a simple
demonstration in a bathtub.

The water is in fact
escaping through the drain.

As we move the drain plug
back down toward the hole,

it will immediately
slam shut and create

a force which is a simple
example of fluid hammer.

NARRATOR: He believes, this
phenomenon, on a giant scale,

caused the accident.

MATT AUSTIN: It's very tragic.

But if we don't look at the
forensic evidence that's left,

then we won't understand
exactly what caused

the explosive
decompression and possibly

prevent a future occurrence.

NARRATOR: The NTSB says
the fluid hammer theory

is valid, scientifically.

But for them, the
evidence still

points to something simpler--

a virtually simultaneous
failure in the airplane's

many weak spots.

The safety board's
investigations

are never really closed.

And we always would take into
account any new information

that comes out.

I believe in the case of the
Aloha accident, we have--

we have not changed
our probable cause

and we still are sticking
with the probable cause

as we determined back in 1988.

NARRATOR: Since the crucial
physical evidence was never

found, what happened on
board at the precise moment

of explosion will
probably never be known.

Aloha Airlines management
took most of the blame

for their poor
maintenance regime.

The NTSB demanded that
the Federal Aviation

Administration do a much
better job enforcing

maintenance standards.

Boeing had already improved
their manufacturing process

to prevent the
adhesive from becoming

so easily contaminated.

What happened on flight
243 made flying safer.

Soon after, Congress passed the
Aviation Safety Research Act.

This accident had a
very profound effect

on the aviation industry.

And the way we look at aging
airplanes, old aircraft,

we changed the way we
monitor how they age,

the way we inspect them.

And of course, now, how
we manufacture them,

we use different processes.

This was a very critical
accident for aviation history.

NARRATOR: Those 13
terrifying minutes

also left their impact on
the survivors of flight 243.

I had to go through
a healing process.

I took fear of flying classes.

And the old saying of
you fall off a horse

and you get back on
it is very accurate,

but it's a lot tougher
to actually do it.

NARRATOR: Patricia Aubrey
also had to find a way

of dealing with the memories.

Her way was to revisit
the same piece of airspace

where the terror unfolded.

PATRICIA AUBREY: I'll
co-flying with my psychologist.

You go through what they call
desensitization, where you

confront your fear and you
just do it so many times

that you can do it without
having a bad reaction.

Before that happened, if
something bad happened to me,

I'd go, I hate life.

But I don't hate life.

I can deal with it.

Bring it on.

I'll-- I'll take care of it.

I'd much rather be alive.

NARRATOR: There's one further
legacy of that fateful day.

The ocean never did surrender
the body of CB Lansing.

Instead, a memorial garden
honoring the veteran flight

attendant was planted
at Honolulu Airport,

beneath the big Hawaiian
sky where she spent

the better part of
her life, and where

it was so suddenly ended.