All language subtitles for Air.Disasters.S16E05.Cabin.Catastrophe.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP.2.0.H.264-OGRE_track4_[eng]

[Suspenseful Music]

[Ellisor] What the?

[John Cox] This flight became
a life-threatening crisis...

in seconds.

[Narrator] An explosion rocks
Southwest flight 1380.

The vibration was so severe I was not able

to see any of the instruments.

Throughout the airplane,
it was just screams of terror.

[Narrator] The cabin depressurizes.

I could feel the air being
sucked out of my lungs.

Everything became very,
very hot then very, very cold

at the same time.

[Narrator] As the pilots fight

to regain control of their airplane.

[Captain Shults] You've still got it!

[Narrator] Flight attendants
make a horrifying discovery.

[Wind Whooshing]

-[Plane Whooshing]
-[Suspenseful Music]

[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!

[Dramatic Music]

[Pilot] It's gonna crash!

[Melancholy Music]

[Narrator] Southwest Airlines flight 1380

is boarding for a trip to Dallas, Texas.

Andrew Needum is a firefighter

and paramedic on his way home

after a family vacation in New York City.

We took a trip kinda as a year end

to the completion of my
paramedic certification school.

And so we decided that
it would be a family getaway.

-Row 14, just on the right.
-Thank you.

[Narrator] Jennifer Riordan
is returning home

from a business trip to New York.

144 passengers settle in
to this sold-out flight.

[Suspenseful Music]

In the cockpit,

the flight crew prepares
the Boeing 737 for departure.

Let's start the pre-flight procedures.

[Ellisor] I'm on it.

[Narrator] Captain Tammie Jo Shults

has been flying 737s for 24 years.

Homeward bound.

[Narrator] She's no ordinary
flight commander.

[John Cox] Tammie Jo Shults.

She is a formal Naval Aviator.

Flew during the Gulf War,

Operation Desert Storm,

and also flew aerial firefighting aircraft

before joining Southwest.

[Narrator] First officer Darren Ellisor

has been with Southwest for ten years.

He's a former Air Force Major.

[Ellisor] I love to fly.

We get to see the most amazing sights

and be in a different place
every time you go fly.

-Your leg?
-This one's mine.

[Narrator] It's the second day
of a four day pairing

for the crew.

First Officer Ellisor will
be the pilot flying this leg.

[Ellisor] I was starting
my day in the cockpit,

ready to go fly.

It was a beautiful day
in LaGuardia actually.

The weather was fantastic.

[Narrator] The crew flew in
earlier today from Nashville.

The four hour trip to Dallas

will be their second
and final flight today.

[Flight Attendant]
In front of you, you'll find

a flight safety information
card. Please take it out...

[Narrator] Flight attendant
Rachel Fernheimer

started with Southwest Airlines
just two years ago.

[Rachel Fernheimer] I love my job.

I would have to say it's the people.

My favorite thing is to just
kind of just be there for them

and talk them through what they need me to

or even just to have a laugh
with them or cry with them.

[Narrator] Rachel is working
with her colleague,

Seanique Mallory.

[Peaceful Music]

[Plane Whooshing]

At 10:42 AM, flight 1380
takes off on time.

[Captain Shults] V-1.

Rotate.

[Narrator] Two turbofan engines power

the Boeing 737 into the sky.

[Ellisor] The airplane was

almost to maximum weight.

The gas tanks were near

full capacity.

And when you're in a heavy airplane,

it does affect your performance.

It makes the airplane

less responsive.

[Narrator] As flight 1380
climbs to cruising altitude,

controllers at LaGuardia
hand the flight over

to New York area controllers.

[Laguardia Atc] Southwest 1380,

contact New York Center, 133.47.

Copy that, 1380.

[Suspenseful Music]

[Plane Whooshing]

[Narrator] Twenty minutes after takeoff.

Thank you.

[Plane Rattling]

[Plane Whooshing]

Everything changed.

What the?

We had a...

very large bang.

We had multiple warnings
going off in the cockpit

and a very severe

vibration throughout the entire plane.

[Cox] This flight went from being

an absolutely routine flight into Dallas,

into a life-threatening

crisis in seconds.

[Narrator] The plane depressurizes.

I could feel the air being
sucked out of my lungs.

Immediately,

it was very disorienting.

It was something that I've never had

in my entire flying career.

[Narrator] First Officer Ellisor struggles

to control the aircraft as
it banks steeply to the left.

I immediately grabbed
the yoke to stop the roll.

You still got it!

I was not able to see any
of the engine instruments

because the vibration was so severe.

It was just a blur of colors.

And so I can't see anything.

Still got it.

Luckily it was a clear day,

a very clear horizon,

and I was able to roll out of the bank

and recover the airplane.

Okay, wings are back to level.
You're looking good.

[Narrator] At 32,000 feet,

the pilots need to determine
what's wrong with their plane.

[Cox] There's a lot of vibration.

The climb rate decreases.

The engine RPM was rolling back.

They very quickly knew that
they had an engine problem.

Emergency descent.

[Narrator] First Officer
Ellisor reduces engine power

and begins a steep descent.

I know that we have a
pressurization problem.

I know we have some
sort of engine problem.

I don't know what else is going on,

but I know we need to
start on our way down.

[Captain Shults] Southwest 1380
has an engine fire

and is descending

[Narrator] Captain Shults updates

New York Air Traffic Control.

Smoke in the cockpit could
indicate an engine fire.

[Ellisor] Tammie Jo thought it was smoke.

I did not think it was smoke at the time.

Explosive decompression causes
a condensation in the air,

which basically looks like a fog.

[Atc New York Center]
All right, Southwest 1380.

Okay, where would you like to go?

To which airport?

[Captain Shults] Give us a
vector to your nearest airfield.

[Atc New York Center] Okay.

We knew we needed to land the airplane

as soon as practical,

I looked on my map display

and saw two airfield circles

that were very close,

except they were very small airports.

They may not have the appropriate fire

and rescue crews there.

They may not have a long
enough runway for us.

[Dramatic Music]

[Narrator] First Officer Ellisor

sees another option 70 miles away.

It's an airport he knows well.

I just pointed on my map

to Philadelphia

and she saw it immediately.

[Captain Shults] Philadelphia.

[Narrator] Flight 1380
is now falling fast.

Unsure of what's wrong
with their aircraft,

the pilots update the passengers.

[Captain Shults] Ladies and gentlemen.

This is your captain.
We're going into Philadelphia.

Remain seated. Thank you.

I'll tell you what, I'm going to take it.

[Ellisor] All right.

[Narrator] As commander of the flight,

Captain Shults takes control.

[Ellisor] Whatever she told me
to do, I was going to do.

She wanted to fly and wanted me
to run the checklist

and I was fine with that.

[Narrator] First Officer
Ellisor begins checklists

for a severe engine failure or fire.

The problem engine,
engine one on the left side,

must be shut down before
it can do any more damage.

[Ellisor] Auto throttle,
if engaged, disengage.

That checklist calls for multiple steps.

[Captain Shults] Disengaged.

[Ellisor] You retard the throttle

for the affected engine

and then you have a fire warning switch

which you will pull.

[Cox] It's too easy to have
something get overlooked

in an emergency.

Checklists are designed
to be very efficient.

Also ensure that the airplane
remains in a safe state.

[Narrator] Flight 1380 is ten minutes away

from Philadelphia International Airport

and closing fast.

Controllers in Philadelphia

try to guide the flight to safety.

Southwest 1380, are you coming
right in or extended final?

[Narrator] And as the plane
drops below 10,000 feet,

the crew no longer needs
oxygen masks to breathe.

Extended final.

[Narrator] The captain
requests a longer approach

so she and Ellisor have time
to finish their checklists.

We got a couple of checklists to run.

I wanna talk to the girls as well.

We don't know what happened back there.

You go talk to the girls.
I've got everything here.

You guys there? Hello?

[Suspenseful Music]

I rang the flight attendants
and I didn't get any answer.

I didn't know what was
going on back there.

I got no reply from the back.

I'm really starting to get worried.

And I was so concerned
that I was ready to get up

to see what's going on back there.

[Narrator] Before First Officer
Ellisor can investigate,

there's a call from the cabin.

Hello?

[Seanique] A window is open
and somebody is out the window!

[Plane Whooshing]

-[Suspenseful Music]
-[Plane Whooshing]

[Narrator] Flight 1380 is just 20 minutes

into a four hour flight from
New York to Dallas, Texas.

Suddenly,

crisis strikes.

There's a very, very loud noise

that is repeating over and over again,

like a big loud pounding of the aircraft.

I didn't know what was happening.

[Andrew Needum] Just metal
on metal, shearing grinding,

a noise that I hope
I never have to hear again.

[Fernheimer] I didn't know if it was going

to be heavy turbulence,

if it was something wrong with the plane.

And I knew that something was not right.

[Narrator] The cabin
is rapidly decompressing

as the pressurized air inside
the cabin rushes to escape

to the low pressure atmosphere outside.

What happens is the air in your lungs

gets pulled out as well.

So you exhale a lot

and it's very surprising to you.

[Narrator] Passengers and crew
need oxygen masks

-to help them breathe.
-[People Screaming]

One passenger uses his phone

to film the chaos in the cabin.

It was just screams of terror

throughout the cabin of the airplane.

[People Screaming]

The noise was just immense

and the shaking was violent.

[Plane Rattling]

-[Seanique] What's happening?
-Jump seats.

[Fernheimer] And I see Seanique.

I didn't have time to really take a moment

to look around before I was telling her

to quickly take the jump seat.

My eyes got very heavy.

Everything became very, very hot,

then very, very cold at the same time.

As the warm air that the
airplane was making is evacuated

and the fact that it's
now 50 below zero outside,

it gets very cold very, very quickly.

[Fernheimer] I could just feel

a lack of oxygen surrounding me.

You just have to make sure
that you are getting oxygen.

I was able to take my
first good breath of oxygen

before going out into the cabin
without even thinking.

[Narrator] The cabin crew
checks on the passengers,

row by row.

[Plane Whooshing]

It's so noisy that it's nearly
impossible to communicate.

[Fernheimer] I looked every
single one of them in the eye

and I just said,

"You're going to be okay.

We are going to make it. I'm here."

And at that point, we didn't
even know if that was true.

[Narrator] At row 14,

the flight attendant is stopped cold.

We had a passenger that was
partially out of the aircraft.

Her seat belt was the only
thing that was holding her

into the plane at that point,

because everything from the waist up

was outside of the plane.

We're gonna be okay. It's okay.

[Cox] When an aircraft depressurizes,

all of that air is going to come out

this now hole that was a window
in the side of the airplane.

And it's an immense amount of force.

We're gonna be okay.

[Narrator] Passenger Jennifer Riordan

has been pulled part way out of the plane.

I was trying to pull
Jennifer back into the plane.

I remember saying out loud, "It's okay."

We have you. You're gonna be okay.

I just wanted her to somehow

know that we were with her.

It's okay.

It's okay, you're gonna be okay.

Help me!

[Narrator] Passenger Andrew Needum,

a firefighter and paramedic,
acts instinctively.

The thought process that
was going through my head

was that there was a passenger in need

and I was there to provide assistance.

[Narrator] Andrew Needum
joins fellow passenger,

Tim McGinty, in the struggle
to pull Jennifer Riordan in.

My immediate reaction was to just reach in

and grab for whatever I could

and I was able to grab
onto Mrs. Riordan's pants.

I was unable to get any leverage.

[Narrator] As passengers struggle

to save Jennifer Riordan,

the pilots are unaware of
what's happening in the cabin.

You guys there, hello?

-[Plane Whooshing]
-[Suspenseful Music]

They were actually trying to call us,

but we were unable to hear
that they were trying to do so.

I got no reply from the back.

[Narrator] Finally,

flight attendant Seanique Mallory tries

to make contact with the pilots.

[Ellisor] Hello?

A window is open

and somebody is out the window!

Everything pretty much just stopped.

[Suspenseful Music]

It's not something that
you're prepared to hear at all.

Tammie Jo and I just looked at each other

in basically shock and disbelief.

Okay, we're coming down.

-[Suspenseful Music]
-[Plane Whooshing]

[Narrator] The life of a
passenger is in grave danger.

You want the airplane on the ground,

you want it stopped,

and you want medical people
on board to help.

[Narrator] The pilots must get flight 1380

on the ground as soon as possible.

-[Suspenseful Music]
-[Plane Whooshing]

[Narrator] 6,000 feet over Pennsylvania,

Southwest flight 1380
has lost its left engine

and suffered a rapid decompression.

Is everyone else still
in a seat, strapped down?

Everybody is still in their seats.

[Narrator] But now the pilots face

another terrifying problem.

We've tried to help get her in.

I don't know what her situation is.

But the window is completely out.

[Narrator] Passengers are still struggling

to pull Jennifer Riordan inside the cabin.

We were pulling with everything we had.

We weren't getting anywhere.

[Cox] The big factor for the passenger was

that they went into very high energy air.

It's a 300 plus mile an hour wind.

They would be subjected to brutal forces.

Slow it down to 210 knots right now.

[Narrator] In the cockpit,

First Officer Ellisor has thought of a way

he can help with Riordan's rescue.

I turned to Tammie Jo and I said,

we need to slow down to 210 knots.

I knew that the speed of the aircraft

was actually the thing

that was preventing the people in the back

from getting that passenger
back in the plane.

[Dramatic Music]

We got her!

We got her!

[Narrator] First Officer Ellisor's hunch

pays off.

The slower speed allows rescuers to pull

the passenger back in.

The pilots reduced speed

and it was only at that point where

we were able to pull her back in.

[Narrator] Jennifer Riordan's
condition is dire.

There was no signs of life.

I felt for a pulse

and started chest compressions.

It was never a sense of,
"Is she still with us?"

It was a

"She's with us.

What can we continue to do
to try to keep it this way?"

Let's get her turned in.

[Narrator] The pilots
are doing everything they can

to save Riordan.

Philadelphia International
Airport is still 30 miles away.

We knew that we needed
to get on the ground

as fast as we could.

Everything was time critical.

[Fernheimer] I see a lady
come help us, a nurse,

and Andrew, who is a EMT and firefighter,

was starting to do compressions.

I knew that they were able
to handle the situation.

Can we have medical meet us at the runway.

We have injured passengers.

Injured passengers, okay.

And is your plane physically on fire?

No, it's not on fire,
but parts of it are missing.

They say there's a hole
and someone went out.

Sorry, there was a hole
on someone went out?

[Ellisor] Yes.

Southwest 1380.

It doesn't matter.
We'll work it out there.

The airport's just off to your right.

[Suspenseful Music]

[Narrator] Flight 1380 descends
to 3000 feet.

All right, set flaps to five.

[Narrator] Still 20 miles
away from the airport,

the pilots prepare for landing.

You fly at a higher speed with flaps five.

She had less drag and less lift

being produced out of the flaps.

[Narrator] As an ex fighter pilot,

Captain Shults knows how speed
will give her more control.

The captain elected to
use a reduced flap setting

and a higher approach speed

so that she was guaranteed,

in her mind, a higher level
of controllability.

Flaps five, are you sure?
How about just 15?

That's something we know.

Tammie Jo initially asked
for a flaps five landing.

I questioned this
because a flaps 15 landing

is what we normally would do

in a single engine situation.

[Cox] The captain is the final authority.

She had been flying the airplane,

so she knew how the airplane felt.

And so she said, well, we're
gonna land with flaps five.

-Give me a speed for flaps five.
-148.

[Narrator] There's no
guidance in the manuals

for a flaps five single-engine landing.

The pilots need to calculate

the right airspeed for the maneuver.

148, 160 plus 20.

180!

[Ellisor] The only thing
I knew was a flaps 15 speed

and I added 20 knots.

Probably that was too much,

but a little bit of extra speed
is better than being slow.

[Plane Whooshing]

[Narrator] At an altitude
of just 1000 feet

and three miles from

Philadelphia International Airport,

the pilots prepare for
an emergency landing.

In the cabin,

two passengers are still trying

to revive Jennifer Riordan.

[Fernheimer] I start seeing, you know,

trees and grass very, very quickly.

I realized that we were landing soon

and we were landing very fast.

Keep going.

The thought that crossed my mind
was, why am I not bracing?

But at the same time,
I didn't wanna give up.

[Fernheimer] Andrew continued
to do compressions.

I just remember looking outside,

turning around,

and just screaming.

Everybody heads down, stay down!

And I walked a few rows at a time

and showed the passengers
their brace positions.

Then once I realized we were landing,

you know, much sooner than anticipated,

I started very quickly running
to the front of the plane

to try to get in my jump seat.

[Philadelphia Tower]
Southwest 1380, runway 27 left.

Cleared to land.

27 left cleared to land, Southwest 1380.

[Narrator] It's seconds before touchdown.

Flight 1380 is flying towards the runway

at breakneck speed.

The approach speed was about
50 miles an hour faster

than a traditional 737 landing,

because of the reduced flap setting.

[Suspenseful Music]

Speed brake?

Armed with a green light.

[Narrator] The pilots are unsure

of the damage to the plane.

They're making a high-speed
approach with a reverse thrust

from only one engine to slow them down.

They might not have enough
runway to stop safely.

[Ellisor] 50 feet.

[Narrator] The fate of 144 passengers

hangs in the balance.

We were coming in much faster than normal.

I anticipated the landing
was gonna be rough.

[Suspenseful Music]

[Fernheimer] Anything could
happen to this plane right now.

We don't know the damage.

Is there going to be an explosion?

-[Suspenseful Music]
-[Plane Whooshing]

[Narrator] Flight 1380 races
towards an emergency landing

at Philadelphia International Airport.

30 feet.

[Narrator] Captain Shults
is a veteran Navy pilot.

She's landed F-18 Hornets in war zones,

but this is a landing unlike any other.

Ten.

We did not wanna do a go around.

We wanted to make sure we
were on the ground as fast

as possible so that we
could get medical attention

to our injured passengers.

[Fernheimer] I was not able
to make it to a jump seat

before I could feel
the wheels touching down.

I braced myself with the passengers help

of holding on to me.

[Dramatic Music]

[Ellisor] Speed brakes up.

[Narrator] The thrust reverser

on their only engine deploys.

If the reverser doesn't work,

the plane could overshoot the runway.

[Fernheimer] We just had to be prepared

for absolutely anything.

In my mind, I had to say,

"Okay, these are my exits.
These are my people."

We touched down.

It was a great landing.

Thank you Lord, thank you.

Thank you, thank you, Lord.

[Melancholy Music]

Just gonna pull her around
here to the fire trucks.

[Narrator] Flight 1380 rolls to a stop.

I knew in that moment that,
okay, we made it.

We survived.

[Narrator] But the crisis isn't over.

The critically injured passenger

needs urgent medical attention.

Okay, listen up, listen up.
This is the flight deck.

Please stay in your seats.

Emergency equipment is pulling up.

Please stay in your seats.

[Ellisor] I really didn't have
much of a sense of relief.

I was still trying to
maintain communications

with the flight attendants,

as well as the crash and fire crew.

[Narrator] Rescuers rush onto the plane.

They try to help Jennifer Riordan,

but it's too late.

[Melancholy Music]

Jennifer Riordan is the first fatality

on an American airliner
in more than nine years.

With the tragic loss of one passenger,

this would have been a major event,

but investigative agencies look

at a major failure of this nature,

with or without a fatality,
as being very serious.

[Narrator] The National
Transportation Safety Board,

the NTSB, dispatches
a team to Philadelphia.

Structures team, start on that window.

Come with me.

[Narrator] The lead investigator
coordinates a team

of air crash experts.

Flashlight, please.

[Cox] They were quite surprised
to see the amount of damage.

I think it was very
surprising to everyone.

[Narrator] Investigators
quickly determined

why the window in row 14 burst.

The left engine close
by is blown to pieces.

[Cox] It almost looked as though
there had been an explosion

in the front of the engine.

You don't typically
see this sort of damage

and it was extensive.

[Narrator] The investigators
closely examine

the destroyed engine.

There's no sooting in the engine

so it's clear there was no in-flight fire.

It's quickly obvious to investigators

what tore the engine apart.

-Fan blade did this.
-[Suspenseful Music]

[Narrator] During normal operation,

a fan at the front of the engine

rotates approximately
5,000 times per minute.

24 fan blades force air backwards

to feed the engine's turbines.

It's a crucial part of a jet engine.

The fan at the front of
the engine is responsible

for 90% of the thrust of the engine.

[Plane Whooshing]

[Narrator] But one of the 24 blades

of the fan on the left side
broke off mid-flight.

[Investigator] Got impact markings here.

[Narrator] When investigators look closely

at the remains of the broken fan blade,

they find markings they recognize.

You got beach marks here.

They're called beach marks
because it's like

the marks left by a tide on the beach.

They're the most obvious things to see.

[Narrator] The beach marks at the base

of where the fan blade broke
off can only mean one thing.

[Jim Wildey] This is
most likely fatigue cracking.

Fatigue cracking is insidious.

It starts at a very small
location, very small crack,

and it continues to grow over time

and unless this crack is detected,

it's gonna lead to
the failure of the part.

Get me the maintenance
records for the left engine,

as far back as you can go.

[Narrator] A metal fatigue
crack on a fan blade

can grow slowly over time.

Airlines are supposed
to make periodic checks

so that no plane flies
with a weakened fan blade.

Fan blades are routinely removed

and inspected on all aircraft.

And if they're damaged in
any way, they're replaced.

And they're also checked

to make sure that the metal fatigue

has not set in and that there's cracks.

This is an ongoing process.

-[Plane Whooshing]
-[Suspenseful Music]

[Narrator] But a fatigue crack
in a single fan blade

caused catastrophic damage to flight 1380,

resulting in the death of passenger.

How could that have happened?

[Suspenseful Music]

NTSB investigators wondered
if engineers were doing

the proper maintenance
to prevent a fan blade

from breaking mid-flight.

Which blade is it?

Thirteen.

[Moss] Catching a fatigue
crack at an early stage

is absolutely critical

because it will only get longer and longer

as the engine continues operating.

Eventually, the crack will become so long

that the part is no longer
able to hold itself together.

And that's when failure occurs.

[Narrator] Airlines execute inspections

during scheduled maintenance

to look for any defects in the fan blades.

Investigators study the inspection history

for the fan blades in the
left engine to flight 1380.

They did a full overhaul in 2012.

Let me see.

[Narrator] They learn
that all the fan blades,

including fan blade 13,

were inspected during
a major overhaul in 2012,

six years before the
incident on Southwest 1380.

During the overhaul,
the protective coating

on each of the blades is stripped.

Then a fluorescent dye is used

to help identify any fatigue cracking.

[Moss] The fluorescent dye
penetrates into the crack

and the crack is visible as a sort of thin

glowing line under ultraviolet light.

[Narrator] Investigators review
the work orders done

on the fan blades during
the 2012 overhaul.

This checks out.

Says they did a full
inspection of blade 13.

[Wildey] Fan blades on this
engine were overhauled in 2012

and that means they were all removed.

The coatings were stripped,
they were inspected,

and then everything was reapplied

and they were reinserted.

[Narrator] Investigators determine that

at the time of the 2012 overhaul,

all the fan blades were found
to be in good condition.

But how were the fan blades maintained

by Southwest Airlines after the overhaul?

They're supposed to be lubricated

and visually inspected
between 1500 and 3000 flights.

There's seven more routine checks here.

They're all comprehensive,
all done on time.

[Suspenseful Music]

[Cox] This was the appropriate

and approved maintenance process

that all technicians used at that time.

[Suspenseful Music]

[Narrator] If fan blade 13
was checked routinely

for six years and passed
all its inspections,

investigators wonder when the crack began.

So what do you got?

Have a look.

[Narrator] A microscopic examination

of the fracture surface
might tell them more

about when the metal fatigue started.

I see.

A crack was growing.

A fatigue crack is a
brittle fracture mechanism.

The part looks perfectly good
in terms of it's not deformed,

it's not bent, but there's
a small defect growing.

[Suspenseful Music]

During the life of these fan blades,

they're subjected to stress.

The engine is started up.

The stress is increased to full power.

The fan blade is being pulled apart

as it tries to go centrifugally outward.

This puts a lot of stress on the root.

The engine is shut down,
the stresses go away.

This is one cycle of loading

and it's equitable to one flight cycle.

How long was the crack growing?

Can you tell?

Yeah.

Let's take this up a notch.

Here, look.

[Narrator] Using high magnifications,

investigators can see tiny
tracings called striations.

There's thousands of them.

Investigators determined that
each striation corresponded

with one flight cycle of the engine.

Therefore, the number of
striations matched a number

of flights that had
been done by the engine.

[Narrator] Investigators tally
the striations

on the fractured blade.

That means counting tens of thousands

of microscopic marks on
a tiny piece of metal.

There's over 32,000 striations.

What's that tell you?

[Narrator] By counting the striations

on the base of fan blade number 13,

investigators are able to date
the beginnings of the crack.

This crack could've started
more than six years ago.

[Narrator] It's an important development.

The fatigue crack on fan blade 13

likely began before
the engine overhaul in 2012,

when the blades were
under close inspection.

The investigators concluded
that the crack was present,

but had been missed at its last overhaul

and during the subsequent
visual inspections.

-[Suspenseful Music]
-[Plane Buzzing]

[Narrator] The pressure
on investigators mounts.

There are more than 4,000
Boeing 737s in service,

using the same type of fan blades.

The same inspection regime

that missed the growing crack is also used

throughout the aviation industry.

[Plane Rattling]

The catastrophe that struck
flight 1380 could happen again.

Once a fatigue crack
has started or initiated,

you could liken it to a ticking time bomb.

[Suspenseful Music]

[Narrator] Investigators need to know

why engineers didn't find the crack

on the fan blade that caused
the tragedy on Southwest 1308.

The last major inspection
that was done was

with a dye penetrant check

that was the approved and appropriate test

at that time.

[Narrator] The NTSB discoveries
that industry regulators

were slow to adopt new,
more powerful technologies.

It's unfortunate that
technologies existed that time

but they weren't used.

And it's arguable whether
had they been used,

the crack would definitely have
been picked up before failure.

[Narrator] Ultrasonic probes
allow inspectors

to detect growing fatigue
cracks far more effectively.

An ultrasonic inspection
shoots a sound wave

into the part and this sound
wave can reflect off

of any kind of defect that might be there.

So this can detect internal defects,

as well as surface defects.

[Narrator] If a fatigue
crack in fan blade 13

had been detected by inspectors
using this new technology,

the catastrophe on flight 1380
could have been prevented.

[Wildey] Whether another
inspection would've

found the crack,

it's possible, but this
wasn't approved at the time

and it wasn't applied.

[Narrator] But the missed crack

doesn't explain why
the shattered fan blade

caused so much damage to the engine.

To have a fan blade fail is
not an impossible condition.

It doesn't happen very often,

but it does happen

and typically what will occur
is the engine contains it

and the airplane lands normally.

[Narrator] The accident on
flight 1380 reveals a weakness

in the Boeing 737's turbofan engines.

When the fan blade departed,
it damaged the cowl latches.

[Narrator] There are three
latches on the underside

of the cowlings that
secure it to the engine.

The latches are what
maintenance needs access

to work on the engine.

So these cowlings will actually open up.

[Narrator] Investigators determine

that when the 11-pound
fan blade broke off,

it was propelled downward,

striking the underside of the latches.

One of the most vulnerable
places of the engine.

The impact opened the cowl
enough for the incoming air

to rip the housing from the engine,

sending shrapnel everywhere.

[Cox] One of the questions
was, why didn't we see

this sort of failure during
certification testing?

This engine was certified in 1997.

The computer modeling
available in those days

never predicted that this
sort of failure could happen.

[Narrator] Investigators now
understand what happened

on Southwest flight 1380.

[Suspenseful Music]

Row 14, just on the right.

[Narrator] A small fracture
in fan blade 13

had been slowly growing
for more than six years.

When flight 1380 reaches
cruising altitude,

the fan blade finally breaks.

It strikes a weak spot in the casing

and starts a chain reaction

that tears the engine apart,

sending a piece of the engine cowl

into the window at row 14.

It causes a rapid
decompression in the cabin.

[Plane Whooshing]

Jennifer Riordan sitting in seat 14A

is sucked out the window.

It's okay.

You're gonna be okay, it's okay.

[Fernheimer] When I first saw
a passenger out the window,

it was a shock.

It's not anything that I ever

in a million years thought I would see.

Help me!

[Needum] I said, you know, to myself,

"It's time to go to work."

And so I positioned myself accordingly

and I had another passenger
in row 15 who was assisting me.

And the two of us were pulling
with everything we had.

Fifty feet.

[Narrator] Years of training

and experience help
Captain Tammie Jo Shults

and First Officer Darren Ellisor

get their badly-damaged plane
safely on the ground.

This entire flight crew
performed extremely well.

Everyone did their job and did it well.

A lot of good aviation techniques,

a lot of training came into play.

[Ellisor] I definitely
had a lot of anxiety

from the time that the engine exploded

and it really didn't even stop

once we got the airplane on the runway.

[Narrator] A high pressure
emergency landing

saves the plane,

but the accident takes
Jennifer Riordan's life.

[Melancholy Music]

[Suspenseful Music]

The NTSB's report recommends

that Boeing redesign engine cases

so a detached fan blade can't
cause a catastrophic accident.

The aviation industry expands
the use of ultrasonic testing.

With the implementation
of this new technology,

similar incidents are averted.

[Tool Beeps]

Technicians found 23 fan blades

that exhibited some form
of potential cracking

and they were removed from service.

[Narrator] The skilled airmanship

of Captain Tammie Jo Shults

and First Officer Darren Ellisor

is recognized around the world.

We're not heroes, no.

Tammie Jo and I,
we were only doing our jobs.

Everything that we were trained to do.

I do consider the passengers

and the flight attendants heroes.

They put their own lives on the line,

that is being a hero right there.

[Narrator] The actions
of the flight attendants

are also honored.

That day in April,

it was our very last day
we were going home

so it was "Go Home Day," as we call it.

In my mind, that day was
going to go very differently.

I did what I needed to do.

That day was definitely not
the day that we had expected.

It's okay, you're gonna be okay.

As humans, when things are at their worst,

we are at our best.

The flight attendants and the passengers.

When it was really the darkest of times,

they rose to the occasion.

We did everything
we could with what we had.

There's people around us
that are willing to help

and want to help.

You know, we're all here for a reason.

And for some of us,

that is to serve.

[Melancholy Music]

[Fernheimer] I was able to
really learn about Jennifer

and learn who she is as a person

and learn how wonderful
she is in the community

and the foundation
that she has in her name.

The one thing that she wanted to do

in this world was to spread kindness.

And even though she's no longer with us,

she's still doing that
through other people.