Original subtitles

NARRATOR: Every time you board a plane,

you put your trust in the pilots.

Morning.

Good morning, sir.

NARRATOR: And every time pilots enter the cockpit,

they put their trust in computers.

It's a complicated relationship between human and machine,

and when it doesn't work perfectly,

disaster can strike in an instant.

We're gonna turn over!

ROBOTIC VOICE: Terrain!

We didn't know if we're gonna live or die.

Autopilot!

NARRATOR: Life and death decisions

have to be made in a moment.

Confusion can kill passengers and crew.

Flying in today's world is a very complex task.

The pilot's always the last line of defense.

NARRATOR: When the worst happens,

the question is, who's flying the plane?

WOMAN: Ladies and gentlemen, we are starting.

PILOT: We lost both engines.

FLIGHT ATTENDANT: Brace for impact!

MAN: It's gonna crash!

NARRATOR: It's just after 8:30 in the morning

in Sanford, Florida.

These student pilots walk out to Ground School.

The topic today, a Cirrus SR20.

This is one of the newer models.

We can tell just from looking at it because of the lights

on the wingtips called recognition lights, or recog.

NARRATOR: Every year, dozens of students

enroll at the Delta Connection Academy,

hoping to become pilots with major airlines.

--before we alternate it.

And it's just--

NARRATOR: Their lives and the lives of their passengers

will depend on their deep understanding

of their airplane.

--on the alternator, to keep it cool.

From this side right here, you can see the propeller governor.

GARY BECK: The majority of our students come to us with zero

or very little flight time.

We want to run someone through our entire program

and end up placing them with one of the regional carriers.

NARRATOR: These flight students are getting

started on smaller aircraft.

In the years to come, they'll move into large commercial jets

boasting the latest technology.

Today's pilots share the cockpit with automated

computer systems that can control virtually

every aspect of flight.

It can do everything now up to and including

land the airplane.

Everything is set so that the autopilots and automation

systems are tools for the pilot to use,

but they're not a replacement.

NARRATOR: It's a critical lesson for student pilots to learn.

When I push it to the right--

NARRATOR: Safe flight is a balance between automation

and training.

If a pilot makes a mistake, or if an instrument malfunctions,

modern aircraft can turn into lethal machines

that can't be controlled.

Lima, Peru, October 2, 1996.

Aero Peru Flight 603 prepares for takeoff

for Santiago, Chile.

The plane is a four-year-old Boeing 757,

a highly sophisticated jet known for its reliability and safety.

Behind the controls, two of the national airline's

best pilots, Captain Eric Schreiber and First

Officer David Fernandez.

There are 61 passengers and 9 crew members on board.

The 757 is among a new generation of

computer-controlled aircraft.

Its pilots are trained to rely on its central data

system, designed to reduce errors

both mechanical and human.

Gear up.

All right!

NARRATOR: But within moments of takeoff,

this flight begins to go horribly wrong.

The altimeters are stuck.

NARRATOR: The altimeter indicates the aircraft's height

over the ground.

It reads zero, but the plane is clearly airborne.

This is really new.

Keep the feed 2 plus 10.

NARRATOR: The 757 is equipped with three altimeters--

one for the pilot, one for the copilot, and one for backup.

All three seem to be dead.

As the two men try to solve the first problem,

they lose another crucial instrument--

the airspeed indicator.

The speed.

Hey?

The speed.

That's going on?

We're not climbing.

No, I am climbing, but the speed.

Hold it.

Maintain speed.

NARRATOR: Bewildered by the host of confusing warnings,

Captain Schreiber decides to land.

Lima tower, Aero Peru 603.

We are in an emergency.

Aero Peru 603, Lima.

We are declaring an emergency.

We have no basic instruments, no altimeter,

no airspeed indicator.

Declaring emergency.

NARRATOR: To add to their problems,

Schreiber and Fernandez are flying at night over water

with no visual reference points.

Unable to trust their instruments,

the pilots are flying blind.

The airplane was controllable, but you first

have to diagnose what's wrong.

And it's very easy for 20/20 hindsight,

sitting here in a chair on a nice sunny day, to say,

this is what he should have done.

But in the cold, dark night, with bells and whistles going

off, It's very difficult to analyze conflicting information

that you're getting.

NARRATOR: As they try to return to the airport,

the havoc in the cockpit gets worse.

Systems warn that they are over speed.

Over speed!

NARRATOR: They're flying too fast.

Extend the speed brakes.

NARRATOR: Now, the stall warning sounds.

And then?

What's happening?

Too low, terrain.

We have the terrain alarm.

We have the terrain alarm.

NARRATOR: The ground proximity alarm warns that they're

flying dangerously low.

Terrain Terrain.

Too low, terrain.

There is no checklist for, If you have these seven or eight

warnings going off-- which they did, and they

couldn't shut them off.

Hey, look!

NARRATOR: The pilots are bombarded

with conflicting warnings.

They have no idea what to believe.

Suddenly, they realize the horrible truth.

We're hitting water!

Pull it up!

NARRATOR: They're just feet above the water.

We're gonna turn over!

Aero Peru 603, Lima.

NARRATOR: There are no survivors from Flight 603,

all because something caused the onboard computers

to go haywire.

From the Pacific Ocean, investigators managed

to recover the data recorders.

It was clear to us that they were

really experiencing a problem with airspeed and altitude.

NARRATOR: On the 757, devices called

pitot static tubes measure the airspeed and altitude.

They're small external sensors which

relay that information to the plane's computerized systems.

The underwater search for the sensors

finds them covered with tape.

The tape points to the maintenance crew

at Lima Airport.

Just before Aero Peru 603 lifted off from Lima,

maintenance workers had cleaned the jet.

A worker had covered the static ports

with take to protect them.

This is standard.

But when the maintenance was complete,

the worker forgot to remove the tape--

a small oversight with tragic results.

The inspector who is supposed to quality check his work did

not do it, and the supervisor out on the line that night

was not there.

He was sick.

And there was a regular mechanic who was filling that role.

He did not see it.

In this case, the captain did the pre-flight.

They do a walk around looking for just that kind of thing.

The captain did the pre-flight that night,

and he did not detect it either.

NARRATOR: Blindsided by bewildering readings,

the pilots were completely lost.

Aero Peru 603--

NARRATOR: They had no idea where they were,

how high they were flying, or how fast they were going.

We're hitting water!

Pull it up!

Climb!

Climb, Aero Peru 603!

If you need to, pull up!

NARRATOR: Aero Peru was a deadly lesson

about how dependent pilots have become on automated flight data

and how helpless they can be without that information.

Even the most experienced pilot can rely too heavily

on computerized flight systems, and when he does,

disaster can be just seconds away.

All right, gentlemen, what we're going to do today

is practice rejected takeoffs.

It'll be engine fire, engine failure,

or loss of directional control.

NARRATOR: At the Delta Connection Flight School

in Sanford, Florida, students are facing the worst

in the safety of a simulator.

No pilot can graduate unless they

can deal with problems they may never

have to face in the real world.

The course that I teach, a week, typically--

they work as a crew, and they'll get 26 hours in the simulator,

13 hours in each seat.

All right, Connection 500, you're clear for takeoff.

Clear for takeoff, runway 4, Connection 500.

NARRATOR: Right after takeoff, the students

are faced with an emergency.

And we've got a left engine oil pressure.

When you get one of those warnings,

don't just punch it out.

Go ahead and acknowledge it so both pilots are in the loop

and you're both on the same page.

- All right. - All right.

We've got the left engine oil pressure.

I have flight controls

NARRATOR: They run through the drill

again and again because surviving in the air

depends on getting it right in the simulator.

In an actual cockpit, even a small inconvenience

can escalate into a desperate struggle to save the airplane.

February 19, 1985.

China Airlines Flight 006 is tumbling through the sky.

No response Captain!

Airspeed 80 knots and falling.

NARRATOR: One of the engines has failed.

No response.

NARRATOR: The instruments seem to be making no sense.

People just popped up like popcorn hitting the cabin.

We didn't know if we were gonna live or die.

NARRATOR: The 747 falls more than 6 miles in 2 minutes.

The pilots can barely keep it airborne.

You know, this airplane is totally out of control.

It is gonna crash.

NARRATOR: The jet nosedives toward the Pacific Ocean.

Then, just moments away from impact, the crew

regained control of the plane.

ACTOR AS PILOT: Oakland Center, Dynasty 006.

We're declaring an emergency.

Dynasty 006, Oakland Center, you are now cleared.

You are free to descend at pilot's discretion.

NARRATOR: After surviving a tremendous fall,

Captain Min-Yuan Ho makes a smooth, textbook landing.

I thought he was a hero.

He saved my life.

And we thought he was a hero.

And everything was fine.

NARRATOR: Two dozen passengers have suffered minor injuries.

One crew member is hospitalized and soon released.

But the 747 looks like it's been through a war zone.

Parts of the entire tail plane at the end

were ripped off, as though a tornado had come through

or a crane had been in and ripped pieces out of it.

NARRATOR: Investigators soon realized

the damage to the plane wasn't the cause of the problems

but the result of the plane's wild plunge.

They pore over maintenance records

and flight logs to try to determine the cause

of the near-fatal incident.

Inside the plane, investigators find a worn valve.

It led directly to the failure of the jet's fourth engine.

But this shouldn't have caused the plane

to fall through the sky.

The loss of thrust on a four-engineer

plane is a minor event.

It's an event.

You have to take care of it.

But the airplane will fly on three

engines with no difficulty.

I do not think I was fatigued.

NARRATOR: The captain tells investigators

that while the air crew were dealing with a faulty engine,

he left the autopilot in control.

But on this 747, the autopilot does not control the rudder.

Autopilots are set to maintain stable flight.

If something goes wrong, the system will try to correct it.

With more engine power on the left wing,

the China Airlines jet began turning right.

The autopilot reacted by using the plane's ailerons

to try to keep the 747 flying straight.

But the ailerons weren't up to the job.

The jet kept turning.

In order to keep it from turning to the right,

the proper thing to do would have

been to step on the rudder.

Now, it's possible that he'd forgotten that the autopilot

didn't use the rudder.

He may have been assuming all along that the autopilot was

just flying the airplane the way a human being would have,

which it wasn't.

NARRATOR: Focused on his malfunctioning engine,

Captain Ho left the autopilot in control.

But without the help of the rudder,

the ailerons were losing their battle to keep the plane level.

The gentle turn got steeper.

The airplane started to lose speed, and in the end,

it was really that little error of airmanship--

the failure to step on that left rudder pedal--

that triggered everything else.

We're banking right, captain.

Airspeed 230.

NARRATOR: Facing mounting problems,

the captain finally takes complete control

of his aircraft.

We're banking right, captain!

I'm disengaging autopilot.

NARRATOR: When the autopilot snaps off,

the situation only gets worse.

Without the ailerons to control the jet's bank,

the plane flips over.

It plunges into thick clouds, and Captain Ho

is unable to get his bearings.

The crew have no visual reference point.

They have no idea which way is up.

They're totally dependent on their attitude indicators.

But they don't think they're working properly.

I've lost ADI.

The ADIs have malfunctioned.

It's going out of limits!

NARRATOR: The instruments had not malfunctioned.

They told the crew an unbelievable truth--

they were falling toward the Pacific Ocean.

They simply didn't believe what they were seeing,

and they thought they had lost their altitude instruments.

They hadn't lost their altitude instruments.

The airplane was, in fact, embarking

on an aerobatic maneuver.

You can see the stewardesses, all

these people who didn't have their seat belt on,

they were flying.

NARRATOR: Only when the plane drops below the clouds

does Captain Ho regain control--

I can see the horizon!

NARRATOR: --because he now has a visual reference.

By the time Captain Ho takes full control,

it's almost too late.

The near-fatal dive highlights the need for pilots

to keep a sharp eye on their computers.

You really are just sitting there with your arms folded.

And this goes on for hour, after hour, after hour.

And, understandably, people become stupefied.

NARRATOR: But whatever mistakes the flight crew made,

they did succeed in their ultimate task.

The one big thing they did right is they

saved the airplane.

And in principle, that's all you ever need to do right.

You need to save the airplane, and you

need to save the passengers.

And that's what they did.

NARRATOR: 10 years after the China Airlines mishap,

another crew are baffled by a more complicated autopilot

and fail to take control until it's too late.

March, 1994, Siberia.

Search parties comb through the wreckage

of Russian International Airlines Flight 593.

All 75 people on board are lost.

The plane was one of the newest in the fleet--

a European-built Airbus A310.

Listening to the cockpit recording,

investigators are shocked by what they hear.

CHILD (ON RECORDING): I am turning it left!

MAN (ON RECORDING): OK, get out!

Get to the left or get out of this--

NARRATOR: The voices of children.

MAN (ON RECORDING):

NARRATOR: They are completely stunned--

CHILD (ON RECORDING): Help me!

NARRATOR: --when they realize a child had

operated the flight controls.

Investigators begin to piece together

an almost unbelievable story.

On the evening of March 22, 1994,

Flight 593 begins its scheduled 10-hour journey to Hong Kong.

I think it's going to be nice trip.

NARRATOR: Several hours into the jet's flight, the aircraft

is cruising on autopilot.

On board are two children taking their

first international flight--

Yana and Eldar Kudrinsky.

A family friend and fellow pilot brings the children

in to see their father.

Hey!

Whoa, hi, dad.

This is First Officer Igor Vasilyevich Piskaryov

NARRATOR: It's the beginning of a deadly chain of events.

What do you think of our new airplane?

It's very nice.

It's amazing!

NARRATOR: Flight 593 is now more than 2,000 miles

east of Moscow, near the middle of Siberia.

Secure in the knowledge that the autopilot is flying the plane,

Captain Kudrinsky allows his children to sit in the pilot's

seat and hold the controls.

Unlike the China Airlines 747, the more sophisticated

autopilot on this jet can control

every part of the plane, including the rudder.

Eldar's small pressure on the controls

actually turns off part of the autopilot.

Eldar is now manually controlling the jet's ailerons.

Imperceptibly at first, the plane begins to bank.

The autopilot is still controlling

the plane's other functions.

NARRATOR: Only the ailerons are in Eldar's hands,

but it's enough to affect the plane's flight.

Moments later, the Airbus is banking at 45 degrees.

The force of the turn pushes everyone into their seats.

Guys!

NARRATOR: The increased G-Force makes it difficult to reach

the controls.

Call it!

Call the control column!

NARRATOR: Eldar is the only one with both hands

on the controls.

To the left, go back!

NARRATOR: The speed of the turn is

pushing him back in his seat.

To the other side!

The other way!

Turn it to the left!

I am turning to the left!

OK, get out!

NARRATOR: But Eldar can't leave.

His body feels twice its normal weight.

Suddenly, an alarm sounds.

The autopilot is shutting down.

When the jet reaches such an extreme position,

the autopilot is designed to completely disengage.

It's a safety feature to put the pilot back in control.

But, in this case, a teenager is in the captain's seat.

The plane begins to dive toward the ground .

Get it to the left!

There's the ground!

NARRATOR: It plummets at an incredible speed,

more than 650 feet per second.

For the passengers, it's as if an elevator suddenly

falls out from under them.

Get off, get off!

NARRATOR: Captain Kudrinsky fights his way

back to the pilot's seat, but it's

too late to save Flight 593.

As in the China Airlines incident

almost a decade before, the Russian crew didn't

know their autopilot's limits.

But in this case, they couldn't regain

control until it was too late.

Tragically, the accident began, not with a mechanical failure,

but with an inexplicable decision

by an experienced pilot.

I've never heard of anything like that before or since.

It was very unprofessional on the part of the captain.

The first officer also bears some responsibility

for not raising major objections immediately.

To allow someone unqualified to sit

in the seat of a commercial airliner is unthinkable.

NARRATOR: That mistake was compounded

because the pilots didn't fully understand

their computerized systems.

We've gone into a zone, a holding pattern.

NARRATOR: Paul Mauro is an instructor at the Delta

Connection Academy in Florida.

His job is to put students in extremely

uncomfortable situations and then get them to land safely.

Upset recovery is where we take a student-- or any pilot--

and we try to get them the ability to recover

their aircraft from an unusual attitude or an upset,

such as weak turbulence, wind shear, unintentional stall.

We're going to do a low-level pass

and bring it right down to the edge of the runway.

And then, just about halfway down,

we're going to break up and demonstrate

how quickly we can get the aircraft

into a nose-high situation.

At that point, we're experiencing--

in that first portion of the pull-up,

we're experiencing the max G-load in that turn.

We're hitting just about 6, 6 and 1/2 Gs for that pull.

6 Gs, you're experiencing 6 times your body weight.

I weigh 200 pounds, so six times that, at that point,

I feel like I weigh 1,200 pounds to my body.

It feels like I'm being squeezed completely

all over my entire body.

It feels like your face is kind of peeling down over you,

and it's just a--

once you get used to it, it's kind of fun.

NARRATOR: In a tightly-controlled situation,

with an instructor in the next seat,

a student pilot learns to cope with

intense physical sensations that can disorient and confuse.

Pilots have to endure these sensations,

and even ignore them.

Trusting what your body is telling you

can have deadly results.

January 3, 2004-- a Flash Airlines charter flight

is preparing to depart from the popular tourist resort

of Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

148 people are on board.

The captain is 53-year-old Khadr Abdullah, a former officer

in the Egyptian Air Force.

He has over 7,000 hours of flying experience.

CONTROL TOWER: Clouds and sky, clear.

NARRATOR: In the darkness before dawn,

Captain Khadr and his crew execute a smooth takeoff.

They're flying manually with the autopilot turned off.

But while climbing, the flight plan is already

beginning to fall apart.

Turning right, sir.

What?

Aircraft is turning right.

Turning right?

How, turning right?

Autopilot.

Autopilot is in command.

Autopilot, autopilot!

Full autopilot, commander!

Oh, god!

NARRATOR: The morning after the Flash

Air flight's horrific crash, investigators

find no survivors.

Soon after, French and American teams join the investigation.

It takes two weeks to recover the cockpit voice and flight

data recorders from the Red Sea.

Investigators explored dozens of possibilities,

including the idea the crash was caused by vertigo.

Vertigo is a physiological condition,

and it's based on the inner ear.

Over a dark ocean without a defined visual horizon,

no ground lights, the pilot may not

be able to perceive visually whether he was flying up,

down, left or right.

And if the fluid in his inner ear was moving,

or he tilted his head, that may induce a sensation--

a physiological sensation-- that may cause the pilot to believe

the airplane is flying straight and level

when it's actually turning.

Roger, when ready, in sha'Allah,

left turn to establish 306 Sharm 0R.

NARRATOR: As the plane banks over the Red Sea

after takeoff, it slowly begins to go off course,

but the pilot says nothing.

It seems that he's unaware of the changes to the flight path.

It is actually a very high workload situation.

And when there are no visual cues outside because it's

a moonless night and you're over featureless territory

with no lights in it, you really,

as a professional pilot, should be totally aware of the fact

that this is a situation in which

you could get disorientated.

NARRATOR: The recorded flight data indicate the pilot turned

his control wheel to the right.

Turning right, sir.

What?

Aircraft is turning right.

How, turning right?

NARRATOR: In this particular instance,

not only are you trying to fly the airplane

and understand situationally what's happening,

but you're going through the mental gymnastics

because your expectations are one way.

Meanwhile, you have the first officer

who's telling him something that's totally different.

Even with all the conflicting information he was getting,

investigators discover that Captain Khadr almost

recovered control of his plane.

It is interesting that the recovery starts as the airplane

turns towards the coastline.

The lights on the shore would have given

the pilots a clear and unmistakable view

of the aircraft's attitude.

This is the moment that the disorientation disappears,

and this is the moment that the recovery begins.

Sadly, there isn't enough time to save the aircraft.

NARRATOR: The tragic fact remains that Captain Khadr had

all the information he needed to save the plane

right in front of him.

The thing that is important when you're experiencing

spacial disorientation or vertigo

is to put absolute implicit trust in your instruments

that they are telling you the truth,

and that whatever your sensation is is

a limitation of human beings.

Trust the instruments.

NARRATOR: It's a lesson that's hammered home every day

at the Delta Connection Academy.

Relying on your instruments, trusting your automation,

is one of the most fundamental lessons of flight training.

These switches are on.

Insert the ignition key, clear the propeller area,

and then start the engine.

NARRATOR: Every safe flight, from small planes

to jumbo jets, depends on pilot and plane working together.

But even if the technology of a well-built modern jet

is crippled, a skilled pilot can still land it safely.

August 24, 2001, Air Transat Flight 236

is carrying 306 passengers and crew.

Bound for Portugal, the Airbus is in serious trouble

over the Atlantic Ocean.

You can literally hear a pin drop.

The exterior was no sound in that plane, in that cabin,

at all.

The

NARRATOR: Airplane is so silent because it's run out of fuel.

A state of the art jet is now a very heavy glider.

List of functions we've lost.

We have no more stabilizer, no more and yellow hydraulics,

no AVR 2 and 3, no anti-skid reversers--

NARRATOR: The technology that normally keeps planes

flying has deserted the crew.

The jet is 6 miles in the sky without the most

essential instruments.

Captain Robert Piché and co-pilot

Dirk DeJager have to find a way to get it safely back to Earth.

For the first four hours of their journey

from Canada to Portugal, the flight is unremarkable.

We're getting to our next checkpoint.

NARRATOR: Every 30 minutes across the Atlantic, the crew

check their position and their fuel consumption

against their flight plan.

11.2 tons on the right, 11.2 tons on the left.

NARRATOR: Despite the computerized systems,

some procedures, like checking the fuel on board,

are done by hand.

Fuel check complete.

Levels normal for the distance flown.

NARRATOR: All right.

But then, a small alarm breaks the air

of routine in the cockpit.

Look, we're getting a warning signal.

Oil temp low and oil pressure high in number two.

NARRATOR: The computer display shows that the oil temperature

is low in engine number two.

Oil pressure is within normal limits on number one.

NARRATOR: But it also shows that the oil pressure is high.

I'll look in the QRH for more information.

A low oil temperature indication

is normally indicative of bad readings and bad sensor.

Oil temperatures don't decrease, normally.

They increase.

A low oil temperature would be of no concern.

The high oil pressure is a very strange indication.

It's very rare.

In fact, I've never actually heard of one.

MAN (ON RADIO): --oil levels and see what happens.

NARRATOR: The oil readings are so unusual,

the pilots believe they might indicate a computer error.

236, standing by.

NARRATOR: But the captain and first officer

keep monitoring the oil levels.

30 minutes after the first alarm goes off,

another warning sounds inside the Airbus.

Fuel imbalance warning.

I haven't seen that before.

Follow all ECAM action.

I have air traffic control.

NARRATOR: In the Airbus 330, most of the fuel

is contained in large tanks on the wings.

The computer is detecting that the fuel level on the right

is significantly lower than the level on the left.

Looking it up in the QRH.

NARRATOR: The flight manual recommends

transferring fuel through a special cross-feed valve.

Fuel will then flow from one tank to the other.

Once you begin a cross-feeding procedure to correct a fuel

imbalance, a restorative action should commence quite quickly.

In other words, the situation would

not continue to get worse.

NARRATOR: The crew are following proper procedures,

but the situation gets worse.

Fuel quantity isn't rising in the tanks of the right wing.

Check fuel quantity.

Looks very low.

Hold on, that's much less fuel than we should have.

It looks like a fuel leak!

Check again.

NARRATOR: But in fact, the reading is accurate.

There is a serious fuel leak in the right wing,

and Piché has been transferring precious

fuel into the leaking tank.

The fact is confirmed when copilot DeJager

completes another fuel check.

According to all the gauges, all the tanks in the right wing

are way below the level they should be according

to the flight plan and there's hardly

anything in the other ones.

What about the trim tank?

There's nothing there either.

NARRATOR: With every passing second,

the leak drains the tanks of their remaining fuel

until, finally, the jet is running on empty.

We're losing engine number two.

I don't believe this.

OK, maximum thrust on number one.

What's going on?

Uh-oh!

Try to transfer fuel from center tank and the trim tank.

Transferring.

Fuel quantities reaching zero.

This can't be!

We're not gonna go completely dry on this airplane.

NARRATOR: But in fact, the Air Transat

has run out of fuel some 6 miles over the Atlantic Ocean.

No fuel means no power to control the plane.

The jet has one last trick up its sleeve,

one last source of power.

The crew deploy a rarely-used backup system.

It's called a ram air turbine.

It will deploy from underneath the fuselage

near the wing fairing.

And it's a small propeller that deploys

out the bottom of the fuselage, and it spins in the wind.

And that small propeller will provide

very limited electrical and hydraulic

systems to run the aircraft.

In other words, although it's a glider,

at least it's a controllable glider.

NARRATOR: When it took off, this Air Transat jet

was a state of the art marvel.

Now, it's falling from the sky, and the pilots

have to hope this last piece of technology

will help them get down in one piece.

A passenger plane has run out of fuel.

The Air Transat jet is now an enormous glider with more

than 300 people on board.

The crew have diverted their flight from its destination

in Portugal.

They're now heading for a military base

on the tiny island of Terceira in the Azores.

I saw flight attendants with life jackets

in their hand running down the aisles.

And, obviously, that was a sign of fear.

What was happening was the first question

that popped in my mind.

NARRATOR: If Captain Robert Piché

can't make it to the airport, his

only other option is the ocean.

But Piché doesn't want to risk it.

Planes aren't designed to survive landing on water.

In 1996, a Boeing 767 ran out of fuel

off the coast of East Africa.

Its last moments were caught on video.

Of the 175 people on board the Ethiopian Airways jet, only 50

survived.

Without vital controls, Captain Piché

and co-pilot Dirk DeJager have to rely on each

other like never before.

The thought that a commercial airliner is going to find

itself out of fuel with all the safeguards and all the

redundancies is hard to fathom.

This crew faced it together.

Slats out and locked.

NARRATOR: The very design of the plane

prevents it from dropping like a stone.

Even without engines, the plane's forward momentum

gives it some lift.

It's falling fast, but it's still flying.

Can you give me a landing speed, please?

No engine, no flaps, ideal approach speed is 170 knots.

We're too fast!

Yes.

But the runway is very long.

NARRATOR: But at the end of the runway,

there's a very steep cliff.

Using the power available from the ram air turbine,

Captain Piché forces the plane to turn

steeply to burn off some speed.

The plane was almost on like a 45-degree angle.

I thought it was just gonna--

we were just gonna flip over and just nosedive straight down.

Oh!

Everybody, I need you to brace!

WOMAN: Hang on!

The tires have blown!

Oh my god!

NARRATOR: After bursting eight tires,

the plane finally stops in the middle of the runway.

Yeah! We are safe!

We made it!

Everyone on board survives.

He got that plane down safely, only blew

out eight of the 12 tires--

--and saved 300 people.

He saved 300 people's lives.

NARRATOR: Piché and DeJager have flown

the Airbus without power farther than

any passenger jet in history.

News of their remarkable achievement

spreads around the world.

You don't have time, really, to think about anything else

than taking care of the safety of your passengers, you know?

That's your main goal.

And since we didn't have any engine,

the other main goal was to make the landing safely.

So at that time, I guess, the experience came in.

NARRATOR: Investigators discover that the leak on board the jet

had been set in motion when the right engine had been replaced

five days before the crash.

We have to realize that there was a small mistake made

in terms of changing the pump.

We installed it, but then some pipes, so to speak,

were needed to be connected to the pump,

and there was a mismatch.

NARRATOR: The small mistake had crippled

this highly engineered machine.

But its very design left the pilots enough control to steer

the plane away from disaster.

Very proud.

Now we have a pilot.

NARRATOR: At the Delta Connection

Academy in Sanford, Florida, another student

has earned his wings.

After 14 months of training, he's one step closer

to becoming a commercial pilot.

We don't take everybody here at the Academy.

We want people that are motivated, that want to come,

that have a passion for flying.

It's a career that you've got to want deep inside to accomplish.

Otherwise, you'll never make it through.

NARRATOR: To be successful today,

pilots have the added burden of understanding their

complicated onboard computers.

The lives of countless people depend on it.

Automated systems make flying more

predictable and dependable, but it's the marriage of computers

and crew that ultimately makes flying one of the safest ways

to travel.