Original subtitles

NARRATOR: A Boeing 767 is completely destroyed.

IK-SOO : People were on the ground, too weak to move.

NARRATOR: 129 people are dead.

AL: I was surprised that anybody survived.

NARRATOR: It's the worst air disaster in South Korean history.

HEUNG-OK: What are they doing here

when they should be all the way down there?

NARRATOR: Investigators face puzzling evidence.

CAPT. WU: Help me find the runway.

RON: And why he didn't say,

"Let's get out of here. Let's miss the approach"?

We don't understand that.

HEUNG-OK : Start from the timing again.

CAPT. WU: Timing.

NARRATOR: Could a few critical seconds

aboard Air China Flight 129

have made the difference between life and death?

FO. GAO: Must go around! Pull up! Pull up!

♪ ♪

HEUNG-OK: That's crazy!

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: Air China Flight 129 has been in the air

for a little less than two hours.

Among the 155 passengers is a group of Korean tourists

flying home from vacation.

Their tour guide is 28-year-old Seol Ik-Soo.

IK-SOO : I had just started a new job

and my wife was four months pregnant.

There were about twenty people traveling with our agency.

I had many things to take care of.

NARRATOR: Captain Wu Xinlu heads the Chinese flight crew.

He has more than six thousand hours in the cockpit.

FO. GAO: Eighteen degrees, dew point one six.

NARRATOR: First Officer Gao Liji has over twelve hundred hours

in the 767.

FO. GAO: Expect radar vectors to the left downwind.

NARRATOR: The most junior member of the team

is Second Officer Hou Xiangning.

RON: There was a third pilot in the cockpit,

a second officer who was doing the radio calls,

and that was because of his proficiency in English.

NARRATOR: They're piloting a Boeing 767-200.

Built in 1985, it's 17 years old.

Air China is the flagship carrier

of the People's Republic.

Its fleet of 68 planes flies routes across

all of Asia and beyond.

The airline has a stellar safety record

with no serious accidents.

♪ ♪

Flight 129 is flying southeast from Beijing

to Gimhae International Airport in Busan, South Korea.

It should be on the ground in less than 30 minutes.

FO. GAO: Approach checklist?

Cabin pressure set.

CAPT. WU: Okay.

FO. GAO: Targeting speed. CAPT. WU: One Two Seven.

FO. GAO: Altimeter setting? CAPT. WU: Set to 3,000.

NARRATOR: The crew is ready to descend.

They run through their approach checklist.

FO. GAO: Recall. CAPT. WU: Check complete.

FO. GAO: Approach checklist completed.

PASSENGER: I just can't believe that happened.

IK-SOO : I was working very hard because I had ambitions

to be promoted. I didn't take breaks and worked late.

I was trying my best.

NARRATOR: But for Seol Ik-Soo, who's trying to make

a good impression in his new job,

today is feeling like a disaster.

PASSENGER: I mean, what kind of person does that?

NARRATOR: It all started to go wrong this morning

when he made a mistake that he worries could get him fired.

IK-SOO : I had arranged for the group to sit in first class.

But right before we got to the airport I realized

that I'd left my passport and bag in the hotel lobby.

The bus driver had to turn around and go back to the hotel.

The good seats were first come first served.

Because we had to return to the hotel,

my group was pushed to seats at the very back of the plane.

Some of the travelers were very angry.

PASSENGER: Don't touch my purse.

IK-SOO : I even told the group that I would return my tips.

NARRATOR: Seol Ik-Soo has no way of knowing

the far more important impact of this minor mistake.

CAPT. WU: Ladies and gentlemen, we're about to begin

our approach to Gimhae Airport.

Local weather is foggy with some rain.

We'll be landing in approximately twenty minutes.

SO. HOU: Gimhae Tower, Air China 129, good morning.

With you now.

NARRATOR: Fifteen minutes before landing,

the crew contacts the airport approach controller.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: Air China 129, Gimhae approach.

Fly heading one nine zero. Descend to 6,000.

SO. HOU: Roger, turn heading one nine zero. Descend to 6,000.

RON: In this case the co-pilot started the approach.

He was actually the pilot flying.

The captain was really monitoring his altitude

because the captain is the non-flying pilot.

NARRATOR: Captain Xinlu has landed at Gimhae three times before.

It should be smooth sailing on approach.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: Air China 129, turn left heading one six zero.

Descend to 2,600.

SO. HOU: Turn left heading one six zero. Descend to 2,600.

CAPT. WU: Visibility is not very good.

NARRATOR: Gimhae airport is near Korea's southern coast,

an area known for unpredictable weather.

RON: Regarding the weather at the airport,

I don't think there was anything unique about

this particular day. There were clouds. There was rain.

FO. GAO: Gear down? CAPT. WU: Gear down.

FO. GAO: Flaps 20.

♪ ♪

CAPT. WU: Runway in sight. FO. GAO: Runway in sight.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: Air China 129, contact Tower 118.1, circle west.

RON: Circling approach is a visual approach.

The pilot has to maintain sight of the runway the entire time.

If the weather is accurate he should be able to

conduct this approach and still keep his eye on the runway.

NARRATOR: The controller didn't get a response

to his last radio call.

♪ ♪

FO. GAO: The wind is too strong. It's very hard to fly.

NARRATOR: Changing weather conditions are posing a challenge

for the crew.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: Cleared to land runway one eight.

CAPT. WU: Reduce speed. FO. GAO: Okay.

NARRATOR: Seol Ik-Soo worries that the bad weather

will delay their arrival in Busan.

IK-SOO : I thought the plane was circling

because of foggy weather.

NARRATOR: The tower controller struggles

to track the incoming 767 through thick clouds.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: Air China 129, are you able to land?

♪ ♪

FO. GAO: Must go around! Pull up! Pull up!

CAPT. WU: Ugh!

IK-SOO : I heard people screaming. I was sliding.

I couldn't keep my body straight

because the speed was too fast.

Then...

...bang!

♪ ♪

All of a sudden the plane stopped.

♪ ♪

I thought I was dead.

♪ ♪

I wasn't able to think about anything, not even my family.

♪ ♪

Light was coming through a gap.

I realized it was coming from outside.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: Flight 129 crash survivor Seol Ik-Soo

inches his way through a tangle of wires, crushed cabin debris

and razor sharp aluminum fragments.

♪ ♪

Finally, he emerges into daylight -- alive,

but still not sure if he's out of danger.

IK-SOO : After the crash, I smelled fuel.

I was certain it was airplane fuel.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: Air China Flight 129 has crashed into

the side of Mount Dotdae, miles from the intended runway.

More than three thousand emergency responders

swarm the site.

HEUNG-OK : The crash site was horrible.

It was truly a miracle that they were able to find

a number of survivors from such a massive crash.

NARRATOR: Of the 166 people onboard, 37 survive.

Almost all those who made it out alive

were seated near tour guide Seol Ik-Soo.

IK-SOO : Ninety percent of the tour group

I was traveling with survived.

NARRATOR: The fact that the young tour guide forgot his passport,

something he thought was a shameful mistake,

will be remembered forever as a lifesaving stroke of luck.

♪ ♪

Korean air accident investigators

arrive on the scene, along with American investigators

from the National Transportation Safety Board.

AL: You could tell the whole area had been cleared out

by the impact of the whole aircraft,

and pieces were spread all over the place.

I was surprised that anybody survived.

HEUNG-OK: Let me borrow those.

NARRATOR: From the crash site, investigators can see

the airport nearly three miles away.

There is no simple explanation for why Flight 129

hit terrain so far from the runway.

HEUNG-OK: What are they doing here

when they should be all the way down there?

AL: It was obviously in a landing mode.

What would cause him to get this low this far out?

He should have been well above this terrain.

You wondered: Why did this guy hit a hill?

HEUNG-OK: Keep me posted. The captain survived.

Let's hope he can tell us something useful.

NARRATOR: Investigators learn that the only surviving member

of the flight crew is Captain Wu Xinlu.

RON: It was surprising that the captain survived the crash

because the impact forces are usually worse

in the front of the airplane.

AL: If he does survive and he's truthful,

it can help an investigation a lot

because then you find out what really is going on.

NARRATOR: With the captain on his way to hospital,

investigators focus on what the crash site can tell them

about the accident.

Debris is scattered for hundreds of yards down the hillside.

AL: It was over a large area. I was surprised it was so big.

HEUNG-OK : Normally when an incident occurs,

the wreckage and debris tend to stay within the area

of their initial impact point.

NARRATOR: The widely scattered wreckage begins to paint a picture.

HEUNG-OK: Hey, take a look at this.

The tail section landed over there.

The front of the plane is all the way over there.

The back of the plane must have landed first,

meaning the pilot was pulling up as the plane hit the ground.

NARRATOR: Flight 129 did not nosedive into the ground.

Instead, the evidence suggests that at the last moment

the crew was trying to avoid hitting the mountain.

If that's the case, it would help explain why

some people survived.

RON: If he hadn't have done that it may have been worse,

but he... the airplane kind of cushioned itself a little bit

into the trees and impact forces were lessened

as the airplane hit the ground, tore the engines off,

and slid through the trees, and so the people survived.

NARRATOR: But the central question remains unanswered.

Why did Flight 129,

in the midst of a seemingly routine landing,

crash into a mountainside?

The answers investigators need may lie with

the plane's black boxes.

Rescuers have pulled

the critical devices from the wreckage.

But it will take expert lab analysis before anyone knows

if the data can be recovered.

HEUNG-OK: I'm gonna go down to the airport,

talk to air traffic control and see

if they've got anything to say.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: After any plane crash near a runway,

some of the first people investigators want to speak to

are the air traffic controllers.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: They were slated to perform a straight in approach,

but it was changed to a circling approach.

HEUNG-OK: Why the sudden change?

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: The wind changed direction.

I changed the approach so they can land into the wind.

NARRATOR: Switching from straight in to a circling approach

is something that happens routinely at airports

around the world.

RON: Some airports you have to come one way in

because of mountains or whatever,

and then once you get to the airport because of winds

you may circle and land.

NARRATOR: Flight 129 was originally scheduled to land

on Runway 36 Left coming in from the south.

But after the change they were headed for Runway 18 Right,

coming in from the north instead.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: We're close to the sea.

The weather is always changing. We do this all the time.

HEUNG-OK : Air traffic control gave them clearance

for a circling approach, which was appropriate

for the weather conditions at the time.

HEUNG-OK: Is there anything else you can remember?

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: Communications.

Their radio communications were all wrong.

HEUNG-OK: How do you mean?

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: Air China 129, contact tower at 118.1, circle west.

NARRATOR: Shortly after he instructs Flight 129

to do a circling approach, the tower controller

tells the pilots to switch to a new radio frequency.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: Air China 129, contact tower one eighteen one.

RON: When the controller told the crew to

switch to the tower frequency, they didn't acknowledge.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: Air China 129, please contact one eighteen one.

RON: The tower had to remind them, call them a couple times.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: This is Gimhae tower on guard.

Air China 129, if you hear me please contact 118.1.

RON: The tower eventually called the cockpit

on the emergency frequency.

NARRATOR: All airports use a standard frequency to communicate

in emergency situations.

If air traffic control even suspects a plane is in distress,

they will use this frequency to contact the crew.

SO. HOU: Gimhae tower, Air China 129, circle approach one eight right.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: Air China 129, check wheels down,

wind two one zero at one seven knots.

Cleared to land runway one eight right.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: They finally called me back.

It seemed like we were finally back on track.

Then less than a minute later they crashed into the mountain.

The Air China crew was slow to respond to air traffic control.

Investigators need to know what was going on in the cockpit

during the unusual delay.

AL: If air traffic controllers make a statement

and the crew either doesn't answer or misinterprets it,

it can cause the accident basically.

HEUNG-OK: Thank you. Oh. Just a minute, please. Hello?

Thank you. The captain's okay.

Let's go see if he's ready to speak.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: Captain Wu Xinlu is the only member of the cockpit crew

from Air China 129 to have survived.

He may be the one person alive who knows

what led to the fatal crash.

AL: It was hard to tell what injuries he had,

but he was not in good shape.

It wasn't life threatening, I don't think,

but it was not good.

It was gonna take him a while to recover.

JENNY: When I went to interview Captain Wu, he couldn't move,

but he was clearly conscious to answer all the questions

that the, the investigators asked.

JENNY: Was there anything mechanically wrong with the plane?

CAPT. WU: No. Everything seemed fine.

♪ ♪

Then suddenly the mountain seemed to come out of nowhere.

FO. GAO: Must go around! Pull up. Pull up!

JENNY: It was the typical

CFIT, controlled flight into terrain, accident.

That is to say when the aircraft under pilot control

is unintentionally flown into the ground,

and the flight crew members are not aware

of the impending disaster until too late.

JENNY: Did you have any difficulty communicating with the tower?

CAPT. WU: No. Everything was normal.

NARRATOR: Controllers have already told investigators

that the radio communication was far from normal.

It's a troubling contradiction.

JENNY: Is there anything else you can tell us?

NARRATOR: Investigators wonder if the last-minute change

to the approach presented any problems.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: Air China 129,

this time active runway change one eight right.

Wind two one zero at one seven knots. Expect circling approach.

FO. GAO: Circle approach runway one eight right?

CAPT. WU: Using runway one eight right.

AL: Pilots should be alert for anything,

and they should be thinking ahead.

They should be thinking: Well, I'm gonna land on this runway,

but what happens if I have to do a circling approach?

JENNY: Did this cause you any difficulties?

CAPT. WU: No. It was fine. This is what we're trained to do.

JENNY: Captain Wu stated that all he could remember

was he saw a hill before the crash.

And next he found himself bleeding

around the accident aircraft.

AL: Nothing I heard in the interview in the hospital

indicated that there was anything wrong.

I mean aside from, well, what happened.

NARRATOR: The crash near Busan is the worst air disaster

ever on Korean soil -- 129 fatalities.

As family members mourn the victims,

pressure mounts on the investigation.

How could a plane coming in for a routine landing

suddenly hit a mountain?

REPORTER (Archive): Here at the scene of the crash,

parts have been collected, and an investigation is underway.

NARRATOR: Lab technicians have managed to recover

all the data from the Air China flight data recorder,

things like the plane's speed, altitude, heading

and other critical flight parameters

right up to the moment of impact.

Investigators are eager to learn more

about the circling approach, an approach the captain says

posed no difficulties.

HEUNG-OK: Around here they should be circling in for a landing,

but they just keep going,

and then they crash into the mountain.

Why didn't they turn here?

AL: They were a lot farther out than they realized.

HEUNG-OK: How are they supposed to do this approach?

Pass me the training manual.

NARRATOR: Every airport has detailed procedures

on how to approach its runways.

Pilots are trained to follow these procedures to the letter.

HEUNG-OK: Gears down. Flaps 20.

Turn 45 degrees parallel to end of runway start timer.

Let's get this on the board.

NARRATOR: The landing procedure for Busan calls for pilots

to use a cockpit chronometer to aid with a circling approach.

By timing maneuvers to the second,

they should be more precise.

But a cockpit timer can't guarantee a safe landing.

AL: If you set a timer and it's your procedure to do that

and you don't make sure that that procedure is followed,

you're defeating your whole purpose of having a timer

in the first place.

HEUNG-OK: So gear down here.

Then they're supposed to do a 45-degree turn

for 20 seconds here.

Then they're supposed to make a 45-degree turn

for 20 seconds here.

RON: You time it out, 20 seconds.

You turn parallel to the runway, and then you make a...

what's called a base turn, 180 degree turn

and land on the runway.

HEUNG-OK: Here they should see the end of the runway.

Twenty seconds later they should have made their base turn.

NARRATOR: Despite what the captain has said, it looks like

he got off to a bad start on the approach.

RON: The flight recorder showed that the pilot

did not execute his first turn.

He was supposed to make a left turn

to begin the circling approach,

and he's supposed to do that aggressively.

He didn't turn steep enough, with a steep enough bank.

HEUNG-OK: How fast were they going?

NARRATOR: They soon learn that bank angles

weren't the only problem on the approach to Busan.

HEUNG-OK: A hundred and fifty-eight knots?

That's much too fast.

AL: The aircraft was flying about twenty knots faster

than it should have.

NARRATOR: Flying at too high a speed, they covered the downward leg

more quickly than expected, which left them less time

to prepare for the final turn.

AL: It's interesting that such a thing as twenty knots fast

can make such a difference.

But the truth is it does make a difference.

HEUNG-OK: They're doing this all wrong.

What were the pilots thinking?

NARRATOR: It's now clear that the crew of Air China 129

mishandled the early stages of their approach to Busan.

But what's still a mystery is why the experienced pilots

failed to correct the problem in time to make a safe landing.

In 1992, an Air Inter flight bound for Strasbourg, France,

met a tragic end similar to Air China 129.

Flying in low clouds on final approach, the Airbus A-320

plowed into a mountainside twelve miles from the runway.

♪ ♪

Eighty-seven people died.

The investigation revealed that the crew was unfamiliar

with the plane's sophisticated computer interface.

The pilots accidentally selected a dangerously fast

descent speed, thirty-three hundred feet per minute.

By the time they realized they were in danger, it was too late.

Were the Air China pilots unfamiliar with some

critical task, something that might explain why they failed

to execute a fairly routine approach?

Korean investigators dig into their work histories

in search of clues.

HEUNG-OK: Certified as a first officer in January 2002.

Completed his first flight on the Boeing 767 in February.

That's just two months ago. What about the captain?

♪ ♪

He had close to almost 6,300 hours on the 767.

They learn that while the first officer was relatively new

to the 767 cockpit,

the captain was very familiar with the plane.

But then, they uncover something remarkable.

HEUNG-OK: He's never done a circling approach

at Gimhae Airport before.

NARRATOR: Records show that the captain had not even

attempted the approach in his simulator training.

RON: His training was only done in the simulator

simulating a circling approach at Beijing Airport.

That doesn't get you prepared for an airport like this

with the high terrain around it.

AL: They had plenty of flight time, but I guess they never

encountered this kind of a situation.

To me the fact that the crew had never done a circling approach

is not good.

NARRATOR: Still, pilots have charts in the cockpit

that explain landing procedures.

Crews land at unfamiliar airports all the time.

There must be something more to the story.

HEUNG-OK: Is the cockpit voice recorder ready yet?

NARRATOR: So far, investigators have uncovered evidence

of a crew flying too fast on approach and mishandling

an initial turn.

Now they need to figure out why the rest of the approach

went so catastrophically wrong.

HEUNG-OK: Everybody ready?

Let's start from the very beginning of their approach.

NARRATOR: They hope the cockpit voice recording

will provide some answers.

FO. GAO: Approach checklist. Cabin pressure set.

CAPT. WU: Okay.

FO. GAO: Targeting speed? CAPT. WU: One two seven.

HEUNG-OK: Everything seems to be in order so far.

Let's keep listening.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: Air China 129, Gimhae approach.

Fly heading one nine zero, descend to 6,000.

SO. HOU: Roger, turn heading one nine zero. Descend to 6,000.

HEUNG-OK: So now they're on approach about nine minutes

from scheduled landing.

Up to now they think they're coming in here.

But the controller changes it to here.

Remember, the pilots have never done this before

at this airport.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: Air China 129, this time active runway change one eight right.

Wind two one zero at one seven knots. Expect circling approach.

FO. GAO: Circle approach, runway one eight right.

CAPT. WU: We are using runway one eight right.

HEUNG-OK: So they immediately acknowledge their circling approach.

NARRATOR: The flight is now just minutes from disaster.

Investigators listen closely for anything

that might explain the fatal flight path.

FO. GAO: Minimum descent altitude is seven hundred feet?

CAPT. WU: Six hundred. Seven... seven hundred feet.

NARRATOR: The pilots continue their checklist.

FO. GAO: Do we exit on this side taxiway? What's it called?

CAPT. WU: Charlie Six.

NARRATOR: It soon becomes clear they've missed a critical step.

CAPT. WU: After we land we can leave directly using

taxiway Charlie Six.

HEUNG-OK: Stop. They're talking about what to do

after they land,

but they never did a proper briefing for the actual landing.

NARRATOR: Flight rules require commercial pilots to review

every aspect of a landing beforehand.

It's called the approach briefing.

AL: The approach briefing should have every eventuality

that could take place during the approach.

Now switching from a straight in to a circling is unusual,

but it should have still been discussed.

HEUNG-OK: They didn't fully review their landing procedure,

let alone what they had to do to execute their final approach.

RON: Someone's supposed to call a checklist

and say approach briefing.

And then someone's supposed to give an approach briefing.

When that didn't happen somebody's supposed to speak up

and say hey captain or first officer.

We didn't do an approach briefing.

That's crew coordination.

NARRATOR: The missed briefing helps explain why

the crew botched their initial turn.

It also points to a level of carelessness in the cockpit.

But what the CVR reveals next will leave investigators

in total dismay.

HEUNG-OK: Okay. Let's see what else they say.

CAPT. WU: Runway in sight. FO. GAO: Runway in sight.

NARRATOR: Investigators listen as the Air China crew,

now just moments from a fatal impact, continue an approach

that they never discussed in advance.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: Air China 129, contact tower 118.1. Circle west.

CAPT. WU: Do you see the end of the runway?

FO. GAO: End of runway is to the right.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: This is Gimhae tower on guard.

Air China 129, if you hear me contact 118.1.

NARRATOR: The crew is overwhelmed by the unfamiliar approach

and fails to respond to the controller.

CAPT. WU: Timing.

HEUNG-OK: Wait. Where's my stopwatch?

NARRATOR: Investigators know that a circling approach

demands precise timing of the turning maneuvers.

HEUNG-OK: Okay. Start from the timing again.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: If you hear me, contact 118.1.

HEUNG-OK: Here's where they start the timer.

CAPT. WU: Timing.

NARRATOR: The captain relies on his cockpit chronometer.

In exactly twenty seconds he must begin his final turn.

AL: They had to fly the aircraft away from the airport and then

turn onto final and then land in the opposite direction.

FO. GAO: The wind is too strong. It's very hard to fly.

CAPT. WU: I have control.

NARRATOR: Remarkably, Captain Wu Xinlu responds to

his first officer's concern over wind speed

by taking over the flying duties.

He makes the switch at the worst possible moment.

HEUNG-OK: What is happening in that cockpit?

AL: One of the critical things in this particular accident

was the switching of control during the twenty seconds.

HEUNG-OK: In the middle of the twenty-second timer

he decides to take control. That's crazy.

NARRATOR: By suddenly taking control of the plane,

the captain increases his workload at a critical moment

and diverts his attention from the timer.

RON: Not only does he have to fly the airplane,

he's gotta manage the crew and, and other activities.

He's got to monitor the radio calls.

AL: It confused the first officer.

It made the division of duties uncertain.

They didn't know what, what person was supposed to do what.

NARRATOR: When he takes control, the captain should

clearly spell out the division of duties.

Most critically, he needs to tell the first officer

to keep track of the timer. But that never happens.

HEUNG-OK: Once he gets to the end of the timer

he said he's gonna turn but he doesn't.

RON: There was a lot of confusion listening to the CVR,

a lot of confusion and a lack of coordination in the cockpit.

CAPT. WU: Turning right.

NARRATOR: The U-turn back to the runway should begin

at the twenty-second mark.

But with the captain now flying

and the first officer looking for the runway,

no one starts the turn.

RON: The whole idea of timing on this, on a circling approach

is to get your certain spacing from the runway.

And, again, if there's winds,

you have to adjust your timing and your, your angles of turns.

CAPT. WU: Turning right.

RON: In this case, the breakdown in communications

within the cockpit, they did not take account of the timing

and they just kind of maneuvered the airplane

where they thought it should go.

It was a total breakdown in approach procedures.

NARRATOR: And as investigators are about to discover,

the confusion in the cockpit only gets worse.

CAPT. WU: Do you have the runway in sight?

FO. GAO: No. I can't see out.

NARRATOR: A low cloud is now blocking the pilots' view of the runway.

FO. GAO: Turn. Turn now!

NARRATOR: A circling approach falls under visual flight rules.

If pilots lose sight of the runway at any time,

they are trained to immediately abort the landing,

circle and try again.

HEUNG-OK : Passenger safety should have been the pilots'

primary concern, and so maintaining visual contact

with the runway the highest priority.

I was truly surprised to find out that they proceeded with

the landing approach without having the runway in sight.

FO. GAO: Turn. Turn now!

RON: It was getting pretty nasty and why he didn't say,

let's get out of here. Let's miss the approach,

that's... we don't, we don't understand that.

AL: Flying a 767 into a cloud on a visual circling,

which all circling approaches are, is unacceptable.

It's not professional. This shouldn't have happened.

HEUNG-OK: And they've just lost sight of the runway

and they're here seconds from the mountain.

NARRATOR: Investigators have discovered that the pilots of

Air China Flight 129 continued with their approach to Busan

even though they could no longer see the runway.

RON: The captain is supposed to go around when he can't

see the airport and he didn't do that.

He continued turning and following the instructions

trying to get back to the runway, which is totally wrong.

CAPT. WU: Help me find the runway.

NARRATOR: They have dropped below the minimum safe altitude,

but only the first officer seems to have noticed.

FO. GAO: Pay attention to your altitude.

RON: They were supposed to level off at a certain altitude.

They went right through it.

FO. GAO: It's getting hard to fly. Watch your altitude!

NARRATOR: The captain continues to descend

for almost 30 seconds before his first officer

finally speaks up.

FO. GAO: Must go around! Pull up. Pull up! No!

CAPT. WU: No!

♪ ♪

AUTOMATION: Pull up. Terrain. Terrain Terrain. Terrain. Pull up.

♪ ♪

AL: This is an anatomy of a botched approach.

You never fly into a cloud on a circling approach.

If you do you should be initiating a go around

to get out of that situation. It's pretty basic stuff.

It really is.

It's something a Cessna 172 pilot should be able to do

as well as a 767 pilot.

NARRATOR: The captain is interviewed eight times

over the next three months.

CAPT. WU: I told you the same thing.

NARRATOR: Investigators never learn why

he failed to initiate a missed approach

after losing sight of the runway,

the most basic of all visual flight rules.

AL: Who knows what the captain was thinking.

It's just hard to tell.

JENNY: Humans can make mistakes. All of us are human beings.

NARRATOR: Though investigators can't know for sure,

the captain might have been able to react to his mistake sooner

if he'd been flying a newer version of the Boeing 767.

His seventeen-year-old plane was not equipped

with the latest technology used to warn pilots

if they are flying too low.

RON: This airplane had in it a ground proximity warning system.

Unfortunately, this was an older model and it did go off.

It gave a warning but it was way too late

for the pilot to react.

In this accident airplane, Air China did not have

the enhanced GPWS that was recommended.

They just hadn't done it.

If it had been installed they may have missed the mountain.

IK-SOO : After the accident my life changed a lot.

Instead of being happy about being alive,

I had to live for the people who died in the crash.

It has been very difficult.

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NARRATOR: Three years later, on March 4th, 2005,

the Korean Aviation Accident Investigation Board

finally publishes its accident report.

RON: The causes of this accident are basically human factors.

It was poor crew coordination.

It was poor communications intra-cockpit

and between the tower and the cockpit.

It reinforced the need for proper training of flight crews.

NARRATOR: Key recommendations include:

providing better training for pilots on circling approaches

and a review of in-flight briefing procedures.

In the aftermath of the Flight 129 disaster,

Air China designates Gimhae as a special airport.

All pilots are now taught how the area's challenging terrain

may affect takeoffs, landings and go-arounds.

AL: This should be used as a teaching point for aviators why

you give an approach briefing, and a thorough one, not a...

just a standard one.

And the hard part is if you're flying day in and day out,

to do this again and again and again, but it's necessary.

It really is. You can see why.