All language subtitles for Air.Disasters.S15E06.Icy.Descent.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP.2.0.H.264-OGRE_track4_[eng]

First Officer: Pull up, pull up! Pull up!

Mayday, mayday, mayday!

Captain: No!

[Crash]

Narrator: A turboprop
plane slams into a desert

in central Argentina.

Man: 22 fatalities.

My God.

[Speaking Spanish]

Man, Translated: The
aircraft was completely destroyed,

burned, and the debris was dispersed

approximately 200 meters.

[Speaking Spanish]

Narrator: Investigators are
mystified by what they uncover.

Captain: Pull back harder!

First Officer: I'm trying!

Man: Stop the playback.

Man: And then they drop like a rock.

Narrator: But exploring
all possible causes...

Man: Take a look. No failures.

Narrator:...turns up nothing...

Man: There's not a
single red flag in his record.

Narrator:...until a
single microscopic filament

provides the first
clue to solving the case.

[Alarm]

First Officer: What's wrong?

Captain: I don't know!

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 into this tragedy...

Man: He's gonna crash!

♪

Narrator: May 18, 2011.

Neuquen, Argentina.

Dispatcher: Okay, gentlemen,

so here's what we're
looking at for tonight.

Narrator: Sol Airline's flight dispatcher

is briefing the pilots on tonight's flight

to the port city of Comodoro Rivadavia.

Juan Raffo: So, what have we got?

Any problems along the way?

Dispatcher: Wind, five knots.
Visibility, eight kilometers.

Light icing. Nothing unusual.

I've filed a standard
cruising altitude of 19,000 feet.

Raffo: Okay.

Dispatcher: Have a good flight, gentlemen.

Adriano Bolatti: We will.

Narrator: Captain
Juan Raffo is flying tonight.

He's a seasoned pilot
with almost 7,000 flying hours.

First officer Adriano
Bolatti has flown with the airline

for six months.

He's monitoring flight instruments

and radio communication.

Raffo: You have plans in Comodoro?

Bolatti: I do,
so I'm glad Carlos let me take his shift.

Narrator: Tonight,
Bolatti has swapped shifts

with another Sol pilot, Carlos Picinato.

[Carlos Picinato, Translated]: I had been scheduled

to work on that flight,

but the co-pilot had requested
to work that flight instead.

The co-pilot and I got along very well.

He was very well versed
in the aircraft systems,

maintenance, and mechanics.

[Speaking Spanish]

Flight Attendant: Welcome back.
It's been three weeks already?

Narrator: There are 19 passengers

and one flight
attendant on tonight's flight.

Picinato: The typical passengers

are people who work in the oil wells,

people who we came
to know that traveled with us often,

from Neuquen to Comodoro.

Bolatti: Prop RPM.

Raffo: High.

Bolatti: Trim position?

Raffo: Check.

Bolatti: Anti-ice?

Raffo: As needed.

Air Traffic Controller: SOL Flight 5428,

you are clear for takeoff.

Bolatti: Roger.
SOL Flight 5428, clear for takeoff.

♪

V-1. Rotate.

Narrator: At 8:05 PM,
SOL Flight 5428 lifts off

from the airport in Neuquen.

Bolatti: Positive rate.

Narrator: The plane will fly directly south

from Neuquen to Comodoro Rivadavia

on the Patagonian coast.

Picinato: The route
that we flew in the south

was a regular route.

We usually flew it twice a week.

The landscapes are beautiful.

[Speaking Spanish]

Narrator: Tonight, the pilots are flying

A Swedish-made Saab 340 turboprop.

Sam Stoterau: The Saab
340 is a twin-engine turboprop

typically used for shorter flights

that are connecting to larger hubs.

Picinato: It lends itself to flying easily.

It is a wonderful aircraft to fly.

Raffo: Airspeed 140 knots.

Bolatti: Check.

Raffo: Gear up.

Bolatti: Gear up.

Raffo: Flaps up.

Bolatti: Flaps up.

Raffo: Engage autopilot.

♪

Narrator: The passengers
settle in for the 90-minute flight.

Bolatti: Buenos Aires, SOL Flight 5428

reporting waypoint EKOPA.

We are climbing
through flight level five-zero

for one-nine-zero.

Controller: ATC Buenos Aires received.

Narrator: First officer Bolatti
relays the aircraft's position

to air traffic control.

Bolatti: I hope we don't get in too late.

The guys are waiting for us.
Tonight dinner's on them.

Raffo: We'll get there for dinner.

Don't worry.

Narrator: As per their flight plan,

the Saab 340 will
climb to a cruising altitude

of 19,000 feet.

Stoterau: When flying propeller aircraft,
they do fly lower.

They're not gonna get up

generally much above 25,000 feet,

although occasionally they're
certified for higher than that.

♪

Bolatti: It looks like we're
picking up some ice.

Stoterau: Oftentimes,

particularly in mountainous terrain,

turboprops will encounter icing conditions.

It's very common,
so it's generally not an issue.

Raffo: Nothing to worry about.

We were expecting some light icing.

It should be better when we get to 19,000.

Stoterau: When in icing conditions,

your first objective is to climb above it.

Narrator: At 19,000 feet,
water droplets freeze solid,

which keeps them
from clinging to the aircraft.

Stoterau: The challenge
of flying turboprop airplanes

is to evaluate the weather ahead of time

and really look at the paths of least risk

as it pertains to things
like icing and turbulence.

♪

Bolatti: We're building
up some ice on my wing.

Narrator: With the icing
conditions getting worse,

the captain changes the plan.

Raffo: Okay,
let's get it down to where it's warmer

to melt it off.

Ask to descend to a lower altitude. 14,000.

Bolatti: Roger.

Sol flight 5428 requesting descent

to flight level one-four-zero.

Controller: Sol flight 5428,

you are clear to one-four-zero.

Narrator: As Sol 5428
gets to the lower altitude...

Flight Attendant: All finished?

Narrator:...it's proving
to be an uneventful flight.

Then, in the cockpit...

Bolatti: You feel that?

Narrator:...the situation suddenly changes.

Raffo: The propeller's vibrating.

Narrator: The pilots feel some vibrations.

It could be a sign of ice
building up on the propellers.

Raffo: Put them on max.

Bolatti: Roger.

[Rattling]

Raffo: Ah, hell!

[Alarm]

♪

[Alarm]

Bolatti: What's wrong?

Raffo: I don't know!

[Crash]

[Screaming]

Narrator: The turboprop is suddenly

pitching down and banking.

[Screaming]

Bolatti: Pull back! Pull back!

Raffo: Pull back harder!
Bolatti: I'm trying!

Narrator: The pilots struggle
to get the plane under control.

Bolatti: Come on.

Raffo: Come on!

Bolatti: We gotta climb! Come on! Come on!

Raffo: Come on!

Come on! Come on!

Narrator: But they can't escape the dive.

Raffo: Come on! Come on! Radio!

Bolatti: Mayday, mayday, mayday!

SOL flight 5428.

Mayday, mayday, mayday!

[Screaming]

No! No! No!

Pull up! Pull up!
Pull up! Pull up! Pull up!

Raffo: No!

Automation: Terrain. Pull up!

[Crash]

Narrator: The turboprop
crashes and explodes

in a remote region of Patagonia.

News of the accident hits
Carlos Picinato especially hard.

He knew both the captain and first officer.

[Speaking Spanish]

Picinato: It was nighttime.

I received a call from a crewmember.

I realized something was wrong.

To get a call at 3:00 am was not normal.

There was just great
sorrow for our colleagues.

[Siren]

Narrator: Argentina's civil defense agency

sends emergency crews to the crash site.

But because of its remote location

on a desert plateau in Rio Negro province,

it takes hours for them to arrive.

♪

Pamela Suarez,
Translated: The accident took place

in a very complex area of
the Argentinean Patagonia.

The cold weather and the mountainous range

made it very difficult for us
to have safe land access.

[Speaking Spanish]

Narrator: When the crews do arrive,

they find there are no survivors.

♪

Argentinean investigators
examine the crash site

of Sol Flight 5428.

They need clues that might explain

what brought the plane down.

Augusto de Santis: 22 fatalities.

My God.

It's always a shock to have
an accident of this magnitude.

One has to set their emotions
aside and be professional

and serious about the
job one has to perform.

Narrator: Augusto de Santis is
coordinating the technical teams

from Argentina's Civil Aviation
Accident Investigation Board,

or JIAAC.

De Santis: All right.

Let's start here, work our way out.

Narrator: It's De Santis' job

to determine what brought
down SOL Flight 5428,

but it will be challenging.

There is little of the
turboprop left to examine.

De Santis: The aircraft was
completely destroyed, burned,

and the debris was dispersed
approximately 200 meters

from the first point of impact.

[Speaking Spanish]

It doesn't look good.

Narrator: Two key components,

the flight data recorder
and cockpit voice recorder,

are found intact,

but they are severely damaged.

De Santis: Okay,
let's ship these out and see what we get.

♪

The first thing we did
was send the data recorders

and the cockpit recordings
to the NTSB in the United States.

Narrator: Next,
investigators look for signs

that indicate how the plane hit the ground.

De Santis: It was very complex.

Every accident,
every case is absolutely unique.

Most of the debris is
in front of the impact point.

The aircraft's initial impact

left a four-to five-meter crater.

That indicates a very hard initial impact.

It must have crashed
at a pretty steep angle.

This pattern showed that the aircraft

was out of control when it crashed,

with a great dive angle,
which is what caused the crater.

The debris field was relatively small.

[Speaking Spanish]

Catalog every piece, no matter how small.

Narrator: Wreckage is
brought to a temporary facility

near the accident site.

Because the crash was so catastrophic,

many of the pieces are
almost unrecognizable.

Identifying each and every
one is a painstaking process.

The first priority for investigators

is to determine if certain
parts of the plane are missing.

A key component like an aileron

detaching from the plane mid-flight

could have caused the crash.

De Santis: So, it's all here?

Okay, then.

Engines.

Narrator: With no evidence
of a breakup before the crash,

the investigators focus on the engines.

[Speaking Spanish]

De Santis: We initially tried
to evaluate the engine damage

to determine if they were
providing power to the aircraft

at the moment of impact.

Narrator: The remains of
the turboprop's two engines

are sent for analysis.

Technicians examine their turbines,

looking for the type of
damage that would indicate

they were not working
when the crash occurred.

De Santis: Both engines presented

A similar damage pattern.

The visible damages, the torsion damage,

led us to think that both engines

were powering the aircraft
at the moment of impact.

[Speaking Spanish]

Narrator: Investigators
rule out engine failure,

but did some other key
component break down in flight?

Horacio Larrosa: Okay, thanks.

Narrator: JIAAC
investigator Horacio Larrosa

joins the investigation.

Larrosa: Okay. Let's dig into maintenance.

Narrator: Since the plane
hit the ground nose first,

the team wonders if a propeller malfunction

could have brought the plane down.

They dig into the maintenance records.

Larrosa,
Translated: As an aeronautical engineer

and manager of the technical research,

the main role was to review
the technical documentation.

It says the prop
maintenance was incomplete.

Narrator: Investigators have discovered

An airworthiness directive
that wasn't carried out.

The order required the
base of the propeller blades

to be inspected for cracks.

Larrosa: Hey, I got something.

They missed an inspection.

Narrator: Could a missed
crack at the base of the propeller

be the culprit?

Investigators inspect
what's left of the propellers

to see if they were
working at the time of impact.

De Santis: The prop
blades are pretty charred.

Some markings here.

It's tough to say for sure
if they were spinning at impact.

Let's see where the propellers ended up.

Based on the position
the components were found

and on their condition,

we could check if they
had been working or not

at the moment of impact.

Narrator: If an engine's propeller blades

are working at impact,

they are projected
away from the crash site.

If they aren't working, they stay near.

De Santis: Left engine prop is here.

Narrator: Investigators
discover that the broken propellers

were some distance
from the rest of the wreckage.

De Santis: The prop blades
are some of the furthest pieces

from the point of impact.

They were spinning.

[Speaking Spanish]

The great distance
in which the fragments landed

gives the impression that the propellers

were functioning at impact.

Back to square one.

Narrator: Investigators
are no closer to explaining

why Sol Flight 5428
plummeted violently to the ground...

Raffo: No, no, no, no!

[Crash]

Narrator:...killing everyone on board.

De Santis: Okay. Let's add the flight path.

Narrator: Investigators
now turn their attention

to the weather conditions
on the night Sol 5428 crashed.

De Santis: This is the flight
path from Neuquen to Comodoro.

Look what's waiting for them here.

They flew right into this cold front.

The information showed
that there was severe icing.

Narrator: Ice on a
plane can lead to disaster.

In 1997, Comair Flight 3272 was on approach

to Detroit Metropolitan
Airport in near freezing weather...

Automation: Pull up.

Narrator:...when the Embraer
turboprop stalled and crashed.

[Crash]

All 29 people on board were killed.

After months of investigation,
the cause was finally revealed.

A thin layer of ice had
formed on the plane's wings,

causing it to lose lift.

De Santis: Did the pilots
know what they were in for?

Narrator: Investigators
wonder if the pilots were aware

of the icing conditions

and took the proper
steps to protect the plane.

It's something only one person can answer.

Larrosa: You were the
flight's dispatcher that night.

Narrator: The airline's flight
dispatcher provided the crew

with crucial information.

Picinato: A dispatcher tells you

about the passengers
you will have on board,

the amount of fuel you will need

to go from one destination to another,

and they provide you
with weather conditions

for the entire route.

[Speaking Spanish]

Larrosa: You didn't know
there was severe icy weather?

Dispatcher: I told the
pilots to expect only light icing.

Raffo: So, what have we got?
Any problems along the way?

Dispatcher: Wind, five knots.
Visibility, eight kilometers.

Light icing. Nothing unusual.

Larrosa: Can I take a look

at the meteorological report you gave them?

There you go.

Thank you.

Narrator: Investigators discover
the report the flight dispatcher

provided did not indicate
the potential for severe icing.

Larrosa: The report you gave them

suggested icing would be mild.

But it was actually severe.

[Speaking Spanish]

De Santis: They had been
dispatched with information

that did not indicate
this weather condition

and were told that if there was

a possibility of encountering icing,

it would not be severe.

The information in the
meteorological report

showed a possible icing situation,

but not as critical as they found it to be.

Larrosa: Where did you get your report?

Narrator: Investigators need to find out

why the dispatcher didn't
have the right information.

The team learns that because

the airport's meteorological
office closed at 4:00 PM,

the weather report the dispatcher provided

was more than five hours
old and no longer accurate.

[Speaking Spanish]

De Santis: The departure airport

did not have a 24-hour
meteorological service,

so they departed with a weather forecast

that did not anticipate severe icing.

[Speaking Spanish]

Bolatti: It looks like we're
picking up some ice.

Raffo: Nothing to worry about.

We were expecting some light icing.

[Speaking Spanish]

Larrosa: I believe the crew was surprised

by the severe icing conditions.

They were not expecting
to find such conditions

during their flight.

[Speaking Spanish]

Narrator: But establishing
that the pilots encountered

more severe weather than they expected

is not enough to prove
that ice brought down their plane.

In icing conditions, pilots use
the plane's anti-ice protection.

On the Saab 340A,

that consists mostly of
pneumatic boots made of rubber.

The boots inflate and break up the ice

on the wing's leading edge.

To determine if the
anti-icing system was activated

on the night of the crash,
investigators examine

a key component
recovered from the wreckage,

the Saab's central warning panel.

[Speaking Spanish]

De Santis: It's a panel
located at the center of the cockpit

that both pilots can see.

It's composed of a
series of light indicators

that warn if there's an abnormality

in any of the plane's systems.

[Speaking Spanish]

Narrator: Investigators
analyze tiny filaments

attached to each of the indicators.

When they are lit,
electricity is sent through the filaments.

If they were on during impact,

the hot filaments would stretch, not break.

The team discovers a filament is stretched.

♪

De Santis: Ice protection was on.

Narrator: It's a tantalizing
lead for investigators.

But did a malfunction of the ice protection

bring down Sol Flight 5428?

Automation: Terrain.

Raffo: Radio!

Bolatti: Sol Flight 5428,
Mayday, Mayday, Mayday!

Automation: Pull up.

Narrator: Investigators of Sol
Flight 5428 scour the wreckage

for confirmation that a
failure in the ice protection system

brought the plane down.

Larrosa: All that survived are the valves.

De Santis: Okay.
Let's get them checked out.

Larrosa: Yeah.

♪

Narrator: The primary
function of the valves

is to control the flow of pressurized air

that inflates the ice protection boots.

Was there a problem with the valves?

[Speaking Spanish]

De Santis: We isolated the anti-ice valve,

and we analyzed what was left of it.

[Air Hisses]

Narrator: When they
test the valve components,

it's discovered that enough pressurized air

was passing through the
valves to inflate the boots.

Larrosa: Take a look.

No failures.

[Speaking Spanish]

So, there was no doubt that the
systems were being operated

and that they were working.

Narrator: If the pilots
knew they were flying in ice

and the ice protection system was working,

then ice alone doesn't
explain the accident.

The team has finally received

the flight data recordings from Washington.

This information is crucial

for uncovering the true cause of the crash.

De Santis: Let's see their airspeed.

Larrosa: Okay.

[Speaking Spanish]

De Santis: The information
from the recorders was vital

to figuring out a lot of the
things that the naked eye

or the elements picked
up and analyzed at the crash site

could not reveal.

Okay, look here.

Their airspeed dropped to 129 knots,
then 126 knots.

Larrosa: They're in ice.

They should be speeding up,
not slowing down.

♪

The cruising altitude is
supposed to be 19,000 feet.

Instead,
they level out just under 18,000 feet

and slow down to less than 130.

♪

De Santis: The aircraft flight manual

says that when climbing
in icing conditions,

the minimum speed is 160 knots.

They're 30 knots below that.

Larrosa: Then they descend to 14,000 feet

and slow again to 138 knots.

And then they drop like a rock.

Narrator: It's immediately
obvious to investigators

why the plane crashed.

De Santis: They lost so much speed,
they stalled.

The speed was progressively decreasing,

which harmed the aircraft aerodynamically.

[Alarm]

Raffo: Ah, hell!

De Santis: And took it to a
final stall and loss of control.

Larrosa: You pick up ice,
you should increase your speed.

Pretty basic.

Why didn't these guys do that?

If the speed decreases,

the pilot must increase all power

to try and get out of the situation

to maintain the speed of flight.

De Santis: Let's see their power settings.

Narrator: The
investigators need to find out

how the pilots could
have let the plane slow

to the point of stalling.

♪

Larrosa: 15,000 feet.

This is where they should start
increasing power for the climb.

De Santis: But engine power barely budges.

They don't even have
enough power to finish the climb.

Raffo: Nothing to worry about.

We were expecting some light icing.

It should be better when we get to 19,000.

[Speaking Spanish]

De Santis: Once they stabilized
on the one-seven-zero level,

which was not the cruising level

that had been planned for this flight,

they did not increase the power.

Instead,
they let the aircraft reach that level

and remain there.

Let's check their autopilot settings.

Narrator: The investigators
now wonder if the pilots used

the correct setting for the
weather conditions they were in.

De Santis: The autopilot
selects what the crew needs.

For instance...

The route, the speed, different parameters.

Larrosa: It was set to vertical
speed after they leveled off.

Narrator: Vertical speed is
one of the autopilot modes

used to gain altitude during flight.

Stoterau: Vertical speed
mode is going to allow you

to climb or descend at its
pre-determined foot-per-minute,

so if you select 700 foot-per-minute,

it'll climb at 700 foot-per-minute.

Narrator: The purpose is
to make climbs and descents faster,

but to do this, the autopilot will maintain

a steep climb angle
at the expense of speed.

De Santis: Vertical speed?

Does that make sense?

[Speaking Spanish]

In this flight, we found that the
vertical mode was selected,

and we compared this
information to the aircraft's manual

on how to fly under these conditions.

Narrator: When investigators
dig into the flight manual,

they discover that the
autopilot setting the pilots chose

was wrong.

Larrosa: That's their mistake.

Narrator: The pilots should have selected

a different autopilot mode

that maintains airspeed, not rate of climb.

♪

In vertical speed mode,

the autopilot put the
aircraft in a higher pitch

in order to maintain
the desired rate of ascent.

In icing conditions, that's a problem.

Stoterau: It's gonna expose
the whole underside of the wing,

and you're just gonna
pack on ice even faster.

Narrator: The situation is made worse

by the lack of anti-ice protection

on the belly of the aircraft.

De Santis: This ice buildup

adds weight on different
parts of the aircraft,

which makes it less controllable.

It becomes a major effort
for the crew or the autopilot

to control the aircraft.

The performance is not the same.

Narrator: Investigators
conclude a heavy buildup of ice

caused the plane to lose speed.

De Santis: The captain
had almost 7,000 flight hours,

more than 2,000 on the Saab 340,

and he flew this route often.

He should have had the experience

to handle this situation.

Larrosa: Only 1,300
hours for the first officer,

but there's not a single
red flag in his record.

It looks like they both check out.

Narrator: This raises
a perplexing question.

Picinato: They were a
very qualified cabin crew.

Juan had flown similar aircraft.

The first officer had
many hours of experience

in flying under those conditions.

Raffo: It should be better
when we get to 19,000.

Narrator: Investigators can't figure out

why two experienced pilots
used the wrong autopilot setting

to fly through the icing conditions.

Bolatti: I can put it on vertical.

Raffo: Okay. The sooner, the better.

Bolatti: Roger.

Narrator: Why did the
pilots made such a big mistake?

De Santis: Okay,
from the top right after takeoff.

Raffo: Airspeed 140 knots.

Bolatti: Check.

Narrator: Investigators
hope the cockpit voice recording

of Sol Flight 5428 will shed light

on why the pilots chose
the wrong autopilot setting

for the icing conditions.

Raffo: Flaps up.

Engage autopilot.

Narrator: The team wants to know,

were the pilots aware of ice early enough

to prevent a dangerous level of buildup?

De Santis: It was crucial
for us to obtain that information.

It was one of the most essential elements

for us to understand what was happening

and also in providing us
with information to analyze.

Bolatti: I hope we don't get in too late.

The guys are waiting for us.
Tonight dinner's on them.

Raffo: We'll get there for dinner.

De Santis: Initially,
what we heard could be said

to be a normal operation.

They had a personal conversation

that had nothing to do with the operation.

So, when did they hit the ice?

Narrator: Investigators
listen for confirmation

that the pilots were
aware of the icy conditions.

Bolatti: It looks like we're
picking up some ice.

De Santis: There it is.

Raffo: Nothing to worry about.

We were expecting some light icing.

Bolatti: I don't know, Juan.

It might be more than we thought.

This ice makes me a bit nervous.

De Santis: He's definitely worried.

[Speaking Spanish]

Larrosa: They were aware
that there was ice buildup

and that it was progressing.

Raffo: It should be better
when we get to 19,000.

De Santis: They're gonna
try and get above the icing.

Larrosa: If they're
so worried about the ice,

they should focus on the airspeed.

De Santis: Keep going.

Narrator: Now investigators
listen for indications

that the pilots knew their
airspeed was a problem.

Raffo: I want it to gain speed.

Bolatti: I can put it on vertical.

Raffo: Okay. The sooner, the better.

Bolatti: Roger.

De Santis: They're covered in ice,
losing speed,

and not climbing.

Larrosa: And what do they do?
Switch to vertical speed mode.

De Santis: Big mistake.

Narrator: Vertical speed
mode actually does the opposite

of what the pilots needed.

It prevents the plane
from picking up the speed

they need to stop ice buildup.

[Speaking Spanish]

De Santis: This shocked us a lot

because a person won't make a mistake

because they want to.

This indicates that there
was a root problem

that led them to make
an inadequate decision

in something as crucial as losing speed

under icing conditions.

Larrosa: They're just focused
on getting above the bad weather.

♪

De Santis: They can't.

They're carrying too
much ice to climb any higher.

Keep going.

Bolatti: We're building
up some ice on my wing.

[Speaking Spanish]

Larrosa: That's when the
crew began to observe

the ice buildup on both wings.

Raffo: Okay.
Let's get it down to where it's warmer

to melt it off.

Ask to descend to a lower altitude. 14,000.

Bolatti: Roger.

SOL FLIGHT 5428, requesting descent

to flight level one-four-zero.

Larrosa: Go to 14, melt the ice.

Not a bad idea.

Stoterau: Once it became apparent

that they were picking up ice quickly

and they were unable to climb,
they make a decision to descend

and reduce the amount of ice
accumulation on the airframe

and find an altitude
where the temperature was such

that that ice would melt.

♪

Bolatti: I don't think
that helped very much.

Narrator: The CVR reveals that conditions

are no less treacherous
when the pilots get to 14,000 feet.

Raffo: Ice is hitting everywhere.

Bolatti: Can you imagine
how the aircraft's belly is looking?

Raffo: It's okay.

We're gonna stay at this altitude for now.

We'll keep de-icing until we get there.

Narrator: But the pilots
can't rely entirely on de-icing.

They also need to push
the throttles forward

to increase power.

[Speaking Spanish]

Larrosa: It was noted
that while they were aware

of the ice buildup and how
things were progressing...

[Speaking Spanish]

...they were not taking strong measures

to change the situation.

[Speaking Spanish]

Bolatti: Feel that?

Raffo: The propeller's vibrating.

De Santis: The first sign of stalling.

Narrator: The turboprop is on the verge

of an aerodynamic stall.

Raffo: It's because there's
too much ice on the propellers.

Put them on max.

Bolatti: Roger.

Larrosa: Propellers?

They're misreading the
signals from the plane.

They believe that the
cause of the vibrations

was that the propellers
had too much ice buildup.

Narrator: When an aircraft's propeller

accumulates too much ice,

the plane can begin to shake or buffet.

Increasing the propeller's speed

can be effective in dislodging it.

[Speaking Spanish]

Larrosa: What was actually happening

was a structural
vibration of the entire aircraft.

The aircraft was virtually dying.

It was at a speed
threshold where the next thing

was the loss of control
due to the loss of lift.

[Speaking Spanish]

Bolatti: What's wrong?

Raffo: I don't know!

De Santis: That's the stick shaker.

How do they not
realize that they're stalling?

Stoterau: The stick shaker is a device

that actually will shake the control yoke

in order to very viscerally
communicate to the pilot

That you have a low-speed
event and prompt the pilot to action.

Narrator: But what the
investigators hear next

is the most troubling of all.

Raffo: Pull back!

Bolatti: Pull back!

[Alarm]

Automation: Bank angle.

Raffo: Pull back!

Bolatti: Pull back!

Automation: Bank angle.

Narrator: Investigators are surprised

by how the pilots respond
when the plane begins to stall.

Raffo: Pull back!

Bolatti: Pull back!

De Santis: They're
trying to level the plane.

Larrosa: Unbelievable.

They're making the stall even worse.

Narrator: It's a shocking revelation.

The pilots are doing the exact opposite

of what they should be doing.

Stoterau: When they
encountered that stall event,

what they should have
done is pushed forward enough

to break that stall and not been so worried

about losing altitude,
but rather regaining their airspeed.

Narrator: Investigators suspect
the pilots' last-minute attempt

to climb slowed them even more,
making the stall unavoidable.

Bolatti: We gotta climb! Come on, come on!

Raffo: Come on! Come on!

Come on!

Bolatti: Mayday, mayday, mayday!
SOL flight 5428.

Mayday, mayday, mayday!

De Santis: As soon
as they fight the stick shaker,

they're too far gone. They can't recover.

Narrator: Investigators
now know why SOL 5428 crashed

into a desert plateau in Patagonia.

De Santis: A wrong autopilot setting here,

a misread of the plane's vibrations here,

and when they finally stall,

they try to pull the nose up to level off

instead of trying to gain speed.

Larrosa: What kind of
training did these guys get?

De Santis: We realized
that we had to dig deeper

in terms of training,

how the company prepared
two people who faced a situation

they could not adequately manage.

Narrator: Investigators pore through

the pilots' training records.

[Knocks]

Larrosa: Yeah?

De Santis: So, this is a regular route

where bad weather is common, right?

Larrosa: Right.

De Santis: Guess what's
left out of the training program.

Training on the anti-ice system.

The flight simulator they
used couldn't even simulate

flying in icing conditions.

Narrator: It's a stunning discovery.

[Speaking Spanish]

Larrosa: There was only training done

on how to turn on the different systems,

To manage the formation of ice,
and how to de-ice the plane,

but no training is done on what to do

once the ice buildup has advanced

and how to get out
of that situation by increasing speed.

Narrator: The revelation that the pilots

were not adequately
trained to fly in icing conditions

is the last piece of the
puzzle in this horrifying crash.

Raffo: It should be better
when we get to 19,000.

Narrator: Investigators conclude

the airline's lack of proper training

led directly to the pilots

selecting the wrong autopilot setting...

Bolatti: I can put it on vertical.

Raffo: Okay. The sooner, the better.

Bolatti: Roger.

Narrator:...and to their
failure to increase speed

in icing conditions.

[Shaking]

[Alarm]

Raffo: Ah, hell!

Bolatti: What's wrong?

Raffo: I don't know.

Narrator: The result was a stall,
which they mishandled...

Raffo: Pull back! Bolatti: Pull back!

Narrator:...by fighting the plane's

stick pusher safety feature.

De Santis: They understood
the situation they were in

because they were
aware of the ice at all times.

Raffo: Pull back harder!

De Santis: The problem
was that the actions they took

were not effective enough
in order to mitigate the situation.

Bolatti: Pull up! Pull up! Pull up!

Raffo: No!

[Screaming]

[Alarm]

AAH!

Bolatti: No, no, no, no!

[Crash]

♪

Narrator: In the final report,

Investigators recommend
sweeping changes to training

at all levels of commercial
aviation in Argentina.

♪

[Speaking Spanish]

Suarez: The most important recommendation

that this accident generated

is about the pilots' training
process in emergency situations

and how to handle the
aircraft in icing conditions.

[Speaking Spanish]

De Santis: There's a lot of work being done

to prevent this from happening again.

We can't say we'll avoid all accidents,

but our goal is to have the
least number of accidents

and the least number of casualties.

That is the most important thing.