All language subtitles for Mayday - S02E03 - Killing Machine (Hijacked) WEBDL-1080p_track3_[eng]

- Just another hazy day.
- Watch it!

(narrator): A high-speed
collision over the California
desert tears two planes apart.

- What the hell were those guys
doing up there?

- Tower, we're going down.

(narrator): Seven years later,
a 727 and a Cessna crash
into a San Diego suburb.

- How did this happen again?
(sirens wailing)

(shouting)

(narrator):
When two passenger jets collide
in India,

it's the world's
deadliest mid-air collision.

- Two fires on the ground.
Confirm?

(narrator): With thousands
of flights in the air every day,

investigators need to find out
where the system failed
before another disaster occurs.

- Forget the red tape.

This is in the interest
of aviation safety
and saving people.

- Mayday, mayday.

- It's going up!

(indistinct radio chatter)

(narrator): Los Angeles
International Airport.

Hughes Airwest Flight 706
prepares for takeoff.

There are 44 passengers
on board.

The flight is travelling
from Los Angeles to Seattle,

with several intermediate stops.

(Captain): Welcome aboard,
folks.

We'll be getting underway...
any minute now.

(narrator): Former Air Force
pilot Captain Theodore Nicolay
is in command today.

He has amassed
more than 15,000 flight hours.

(ATC): Airwest 706 red
cleared for takeoff,
runway 2-4 left.

Climb via heading 2-5-0.

- Roger, 2-4 left,
climb heading 2-5-0.

(narrator):
First Officer Price Bruner

has even more hours in the air
than Captain Nicolay.

- Weather's looking clear
all the way to Seattle.

- Throttles are all yours.

- Eighty knots.

(narrator): At 6:02 p.m.,
the DC-9 lifts off from LAX.

(beeping)
(ATC): Turn right,
heading 0-6-0.

- Airwest 706 red, right 0-6-0.

(narrator): The heading
takes the plane west
over the Pacific Ocean

before turning northeast towards
its first stop, Salt Lake City.

Four minutes after takeoff,

First Officer Bruner contacts
a different control centre
north of L.A.

- Los Angeles Center,
good evening.

- Airwest 706 red, turn left,

heading 0-4-0
until receiving Daggett.

(narrator):
The controllers guide the DC-9
out of Los Angeles.

- In addition to Airwest,
the radar controller
may have been talking

to five or six other jets
climbing up
towards the northeast,

in addition to a small number
of criss-crossers back and forth
through the airspace.

(alarm sounding)
(narrator): Suddenly,

an emergency alarm
warns the controllers

that a plane in their airspace
may be in trouble.

- At this point, we looked back
where Airwest 706 is;
the target's missing.

The radar controller said
something like:

- Hughes Airwest 706,
reset your transponder.
Radar contact lost.

- There's no answer.

(people screaming)
Airwest 706...

- Radio check.
How do you hear me?
- ...no answer.

This is getting bad now.
We've lost the target,

and we've got no communications
with the aircraft.

(narrator): Moments later,
the crew of a nearby military
plane calls in devastating news.

- Center,
we've just seen an explosion
on the side of a mountain.

(narrator): The DC-9
with 49 people on board

has slammed
into the California hills.

- Did Airwest just explode?

It had crashed for some reason
and we had no idea whatsoever.

(narrator): The National
Transportation Safety Board

assigns one of its top
investigators to the case...

- Yeah, got it.
Great. Thank you. Bye.

(narrator): ...Second World War
navy pilot Dick Baker.

(sighing)
- San Gabriel Mountains.

(narrator): The crash site
is in a remote area
of the San Gabriel mountains,

a few miles from the town
of Duarte, California.

In the hours after the crash,
witnesses come forward,

insisting they saw
a mid-air collision

between the DC-9
and a fighter jet.

Investigators are stunned.

How did a fighter jet
and a passenger plane
end up on a collision course?

- Okay. Thank you. Bye-bye.

(narrator): A call from a nearby
Marine Corps base
provides a key detail.

- El Toro's missing a jet.

(narrator): An F-4 Phantom
hasn't made it back

to nearby
El Toro Marine Corps Airbase.

It's the military's
most advanced fighter,

capable of outmanoeuvring almost
everything else in the sky.

- In the '70s, there was lots
of military training going on
in Southern California,

because there were clear skies
and lots of desert out there
that they could train over.

(narrator): Investigators learn
the identities of the F-4's
two crewmen:

Marine pilot
James Richard Phillips,

and Radar Intercept Officer
Christopher Schiess.

- Watch it!
(narrator): Remarkably,
after the impact,

Lieutenant Schiess was able to
eject from the doomed fighter.

- Dick Baker.

(narrator): The Marines send
their own man to help
with the investigation:

Lieutenant Colonel Jack Zych.

Investigators hunt for clues
as to how these two planes
collided.

But recovering the wreckage
from the remote crash site
will take time.

(news): The first rescue workers
had to hike six miles
to get to the scene.

They reported
only the tail section intact,
no signs of life.

(narrator):
A day after the crash,

investigators get a chance
to talk to the accident's
sole survivor.

- The DC-9 hit us.

Like this.
His nose to our tail.

- Hold on. Back up a bit.

Tell me exactly what happened.

(narrator): Lieutenant Schiess
claims that his aircraft
was not at fault.

On the day of the crash,
Schiess was flying
in the rear seat of the F-4.

- Copy, Rick. Climb to 15,000.

(narrator):
Twenty-seven-year-old Lieutenant
Rick Phillips

is in the forward seat,
flying the jet.

They're on their way back
to home base:
El Toro, California.

- We climbed to 15,000 feet.
Here.

(narrator):
Schiess uses his radar
to scan the ground below.

- He would have his head down
in the radar scope
doing ground mapping,

and then the front-seater
would be primarily visual,

because he knew that he lost
that extra set of eyes

that was down in the radar
instead of looking out
for other aircraft.

(wind rushing)
- Watch it, Rick!

That's when I first saw
the DC-9.

Came out of nowhere
and slammed into us.

(narrator): Five seconds later,
Schiess ejects.

- I got out.

Rick didn't.

(narrator):
The F-4 was not equipped
with a black box

that can confirm
Schiess's story.

And the high-speed impact
obliterated the jet,
leaving no clues.

Luckily, the team recovers
some of the wreckage of the DC9,

including the black boxes.

But they're badly damaged
and offer little help.

Hughes Airwest engineer
Dave Knutsen is brought in

to see if the wreckage supports
the young lieutenant's story.

By reconstructing the DC-9,

Knutsen might be able
to explain the angle of impact.

- Climbing through 15,000 feet.

- Just another hazy day.

(narrator):
Ten days after the crash,

searchers find the nose
of the DC-9.

It's a critical piece
for the reconstruction.

It reveals a large gash
slicing through the cockpit.

- Looks like the stabilizer
cut the plane in two.

- So if they hit like this...

- The F-4 had actually...
penetrated...

the DC-9 on the left side,

a few feet from the nose.

So frankly,
the F-4 hit the DC-9,

rather than the DC-9 hitting
the F-4.

- Watch it, Rick!

- It cut off the nose
of the airplane.

And that took away
all the controls
and the airplane.

As some of the observers
on the ground said,

it was like a falling leaf
till it hit the ground.

(narrator): Investigators know
that Schiess was wrong
about who hit whom.

But why couldn't the pilots
see each other
and avoid a deadly collision?

(narrator): Investigators
are under pressure to explain
how a DC-9 and an F-4 fighter

collided over California.

They wonder how fast
the planes were travelling
at the moment of impact.

- The F-4...

is coming in at 420 knots...

...from the north slightly east.

The DC-9...

is coming in at...

320 knots...

...from the southwest.

This is the rate of closure.

- I was able to calculate
the closing speed
of these two planes

was roughly 1,000 feet
per second.

(narrator): In the seconds
before the crash,

Lieutenant Schiess
likely had his head down,

checking the ground below
on his radar.

Pilot Phillips is likely
scanning instruments.

- At 15 seconds,
the F-4 is 1/10 of an inch big
in the window: tiny.

Ten seconds, 3/10 of an inch.

Still tiny,
but maybe now he can see it.

Five seconds...
the entire window's filled.

- The probability
of these two aircraft, uh,

either one detecting
and avoiding the other...

was slim and none.

(narrator):
Investigators suspect the design
of the DC-9 cockpit,

with its wide window dividers,
may have made the visibility
problem even worse.

- You can't see it here...
nor here.

(narrator):
The F-4 would've been hidden...
- Or here.

I mean,
it's completely obstructed.

(narrator):
...for close to 25 seconds.

- Just another hazy day.
- Watch it!

(narrator): None of the pilots
had enough time
to see the oncoming plane.

But air-traffic controllers
are supposed to keep planes
a safe distance from each other.

So why did they fail
to separate the planes?

- Airwest 706 red, turn left,

heading 0-4-0,
until receiving Daggett.

(narrator): The controllers
reveal to investigators

they couldn't see the F-4,
either.

- Why did the F-4,
the Marine aircraft,

not show up on the radar?

- What the hell happened?

(narrator): Investigators
examine the radar equipment
used at the control centre.

What they discover is alarming.

- It was nothing more
than World War II technology,

and, uh, temperatures generated
by this equipment

would cause the equipment
to drift drastically.

(narrator): To better understand
what the controllers
could and could not see,

investigators test
the technology by flying an F-4
along the flight path

on that fateful day.

Did the outdated radar
pick up the F-4?

- Uh, was that something there?

The F-4's travelling
almost 500 miles an hour.

(narrator):
The F-4 does six runs.

But the controller
can barely track
the fast, stealthy fighter.

- It might've been a plane,
or...

maybe not.

It could just be interference
that was shown frequently
on the radar.

A single blip
means absolutely nothing.

We have to have
a history of blips to see
that it's actually traffic.

(narrator): Investigators
conclude it would've been
almost impossible

to detect the fighter jet
as it streaked across the sky.

- He's all alone...
and no one knows he's there.

(narrator):
To make matters worse, in 1971,

military pilots
were not routinely briefed
on civilian air-traffic routes.

(Schiess): We should stay clear
of traffic if we cut east
of Los Angeles.

(narrator): Schiess tells
investigators that they hoped

to avoid commercial air traffic
by skirting the city.

Unintentionally,
they flew into one
of the airport's busiest lanes.

- Why did the F-4 crew
not get a hold
of an Air Traffic Control guy

to let them know where they were
and what they were doing?

- The terminal area charts
would show those departures,

but the military
doesn't have those,

because they don't operate
out of Los Angeles
International Airport.

(narrator): Investigators
uncover a dangerous flaw
in the American aviation system:

The military and civilian
control centres

don't communicate
with each other.

- Bang.

(narrator): The pilots had no
idea they were flying towards
each other at the same altitude.

- Could've done
anything different?
No, absolutely not.

It was just something
that happened.

We could not have changed it.
Not us.

(narrator):
The exhaustive investigation
produces two separate reports,

one civilian and one military.

They cover every detail
of the deadly accident:

How military
and civilian authorities
failed to communicate

they had planes flying
in the same airspace.

- Was that something there?

(narrator):
How controllers couldn't track
the supersonic fighter jet.

And why the crew of a DC-9
with 44 passengers on board
never saw them coming.

The reports lead
to important changes
in the rules governing aviation.

- Military pilots,
as a result of this accident,

everybody had to be
on radar control,

and that means being controlled
by radar operators
on the ground.

(narrator): Military pilots
are now advised

of all restricted air-traffic
zones near commercial airports.

And the restricted airspace
at busy airports is expanded

to include more
of the surrounding area.

Hughes Airwest was sold in 1980
and eventually folded
into Northwest Airlines.

But the legacy of the company's
deadliest accident endures.

- One of the things
that came out of the Hughes
Airwest F-4 mid-air collision

was a need to have
better communication

between the aircraft
that are flying
and with Air Traffic Control.

Tragically, it wasn't one
that was implemented perfectly
in the future.

(narrator): Seven years later,

California residents face
another disaster as two planes
collide over San Diego.

(narrator): Pacific Southwest
Airlines Flight 182

is on an early-morning run
down the coast of California,

from Sacramento to San Diego.

- Approach, PSA 182,
coming out of 9-5,

descending to 7,000.

Airport is in sight.

(narrator):
First Officer Bob Fox is at
the controls of the Boeing 727.

Captain Jim McFeron
has been with the airline
for 17 years.

(ATC): PSA 182,
cleared visual approach,
runway 2-7.

- Thank you.
Cleared visual approach, 2-7.

(narrator):
There are 128 passengers
on board,

including 30 Pacific Southwest
employees.

An approach controller
at a facility
north of the airport

monitors Flight 182's approach.
(indistinct chatter)

- The Approach Control Facility
is quite busy,
and that's stressful,

because you're handling
so many different airplanes
in the same airspace.

(narrator): When the controller
spots a Cessna flying
ahead of the 727,

he makes sure they can see it.

- PSA 182, traffic's at 12:00,
three miles out, 1,700.

- Ah. Got it.

- Traffic in sight.

- Okay, sir.

Maintain visual separation.
Contact Lindbergh Tower,

133.3.
Have a nice day.
- Okay.

- Visual separation means
the pilot has another aircraft
in sight and acknowledges it.

- Got it.
- Once the visual approach
is accepted by the pilot,

uh, he's then responsible
for maintaining separation
from that traffic.

(narrator): With the plane
now less than five miles
from the runway,

a controller in the airport's
tower takes over to guide
the flight in for landing.

- PSA 182, cleared to land.

- 182 is cleared to land.

- Gear down.

(narrator): Suddenly,
First Officer Bob Fox spots
a distant plane.

- There's one underneath.
I was looking at that inbound
over there.

(all screaming)

- Tower, we're going down.

This is PSA.
(alarm sounding)
- Okay.

- We'll call the equipment
for you.
(alarm sounding)

- Get over here.

(narrator):
The approach controller's radar
reveals

that the 727 has collided
with the Cessna.

(bleep)

- Brace yourself.

(sirens wailing)

(news): Hundreds of people
watched in horror

as the two planes collided and
crashed into a quiet San Diego
residential neighborhood.

(narrator): 144 people are dead,

including seven on the ground.

Twenty-two homes are destroyed.

It's the biggest airline
disaster in American history
to date.

- The PSA accident in 1978
I think was the lynchpin,

when the United States
government

and the aviation world
in general figured out:

We have to do something
about this.
(sirens wailing)

(narrator):
Two hours after the crash,

NTSB investigator Wally Funk
arrives from Los Angeles.

(Funk): The accident scene
was horrendous.

There was... so many bits
and parts and pieces...

around, not only the aircraft,
but the homes.

(narrator): Funk needs
to confirm that the wreckage
of a small plane

found six blocks away

is in fact what collided
with the 727.

- We had paint transfers,

we had pieces and parts
from the two different aircraft.

Yes, this was an absolute
mid-air collision.
There's no doubt about it.

(narrator): But how did
these two planes end up
on a fatal collision course?

- We had to visualize,
from a very mangled mess
of metal,

where the two came together.

(narrator): Fortunately,
the 727's black boxes are
recovered from the crash site,

and rushed back to Washington,
DC, for analysis.

Meanwhile, senior NTSB
investigator Philip Hogue
joins the team.

He's eager to speak
with the approach controller.

- Can you show us
the two flight paths?

- So the 727 was flying east
to do...

a turnaround
and land on runway 27.

And the Cessna
was flying northeast,

but it was miles ahead
of the 727.

- They should've missed
each other by over a mile.

(narrator): To verify
the approach controller's
account,

investigators review
a transcript of his conversation
that day.

It confirms that both pilots
knew each other's positions.

- PSA 182, traffic's at 12:00,

three miles out, 1,700.

- Ah. Got it.

(narrator): But if both planes
knew of each other,
why did their aircraft collide?

Investigators question
why the approach controller
didn't warn the pilots

when they were
dangerously close,

especially since his radar
would've sounded
a proximity alarm.

- Didn't you get any warning?

- We did. We ignored it.

Well, when the alert sounded,
I mentioned it to my supervisor.
(alarm sounding)

It's the alarm again.
I talked to both planes.

PSA 182 has confirmed
a visual sighting of the Cessna.

We're not expected to contact
the pilots if they're flying
by visual rules,

not to mention we get
about 13 alarms a day, so...

(narrator):
The approach controllers
overlook the alert,

but they contact the Cessna
and remind them
of the nearby 727.

- Traffic in your vicinity.
PSA jet has you in sight.
He's descending for Lindbergh.

(narrator):
But at that exact moment,
the planes collide.

(alarm sounding)
- Get over here.

(narrator):
Investigators now interview
the tower controller

to better understand
why he also failed to warn
both pilots.

They discover he relied
on an even less sophisticated
radar.

- The tower controller did not
have the collision alert system
at the time.

(narrator): When the controller
saw the planes
within a mile of each other,

he made contact,
warning the 727.

- PSA 182, traffic 12:00,
one mile, a Cessna.

- I think he's passing off
to our right.
- Yeah.

- If the pilot says,
"He's passing off to our right,"

this implies that he's still
maintaining visual separation.

It was his responsibility,
and you would not worry
about it.

(narrator): After talking
to both controllers,

investigators still have
no answer to the key question
in the mid-air collision:

Who crashed into whom?

- Now, let's have
the next acetate, please.

(narrator): But when
they calculate the two planes'
actual radar tracks,

the answer becomes clear.

- For some reason,
the 727 has rear-ended
the Cessna.

- The Cessna never passed off
to the right.

He was always in front of PSA.

- I was looking at that inbound
over there.

(narrator): The 91-ton aircraft
flying at 160 knots

slammed into the much slower
and lighter Cessna.

- The PSA crew,
when they acknowledged
they had the Cessna in sight,

at that moment became
responsible for keeping
the airplanes separate.

- Traffic in sight.

(narrator):
So how did the veteran 727 crew

lose sight of a plane
directly in front of them?

(narrator): In Washington,

NTSB investigators review
the recovered cockpit voice
recording of PSA Flight 182.

- Alright, hit it.
(narrator): They hope
the pilots' conversation

will explain how they lost sight
of the Cessna.

- Are we clear of that Cessna?
- Supposed to be.

(Captain): Oh, yeah.
Before we turned downwind,

I saw him about 1:00.
Probably behind us now.

- Stop it.
(narrator): Thirty-five seconds
before impact,

the PSA crew think
they've passed the Cessna.

- It was right in front of them
the whole time.

(narrator): Investigators wonder
if something was preventing
the pilots

from seeing
the much smaller plane.

- The 727, when it's flying
in level flight,
is a slightly nose-up condition,

so that the pilots,
as they look out,

they're looking over the nose
of the airplane.

(Funk): Was the nose
of the aircraft high
and they didn't see the Cessna?

They may not have realized
the Cessna was as close
as it was.

(narrator): The team conducts
a visibility study

to determine how long
the PSA crew could see the
Cessna through their windscreen.

After measuring
and photographing
each pilot's view,

they plot the Cessna's location
on the photos
in 10-second intervals.

What they find is surprising.

The PSA crew
could see the Cessna

for a much longer period
than they expected.

- 170 seconds of clear view.

(narrator): How did the pilots
lose track of the Cessna

when it was in view
for almost three minutes?

Searching for answers,

investigators go back
further in time
on the cockpit recording.

- PSA 182, traffic's at 12:00,

three miles out, 1,700.

- Ah. Got it.

- Traffic in sight.

(narrator): Eighty-five seconds
before impact,

the 727's pilots spot the Cessna
flying ahead of them.

- Okay, sir.

Maintain visual separation.
Contact Lindbergh Tower,

133.3.

(narrator): The crew must now
keep the Cessna in view

while performing other tasks
in preparation for landing.

- Lindbergh, PSA 182 downwind.

- The wings need
to be configured,

the landing gear
must be lowered,
systems have to be adjusted,

so it's a busy place.

(narrator):
But at this critical moment,

no one is keeping an eye
on the Cessna.

- Is that the one
we're looking at?
- Yeah, but I don't see him now.

- The Cessna should be
right here in front of them.
- The Cessna was visible...

just at about the windshield
level of PSA,

and it's really incredible
that somehow
they lost sight of it.

- Okay. Can you show me
how you normally adjust
your seat, please?

(narrator): To better understand
how the PSA crew lost sight
of the Cessna,

investigators take another look
at the cockpit visibility.

- Pilots come
in all sizes and shapes.

They learn quickly to adjust
the seats to the position
that's comfortable.

- Some pilots want to sit lower
so they can see
their instruments better.

(narrator):
When they recalculate
the Cessna's location

on the windshield
based on the crew's
seat positions,

they make
a shocking discovery.

Instead of three minutes,

the crew would only have seen
the Cessna for 5 to 10 seconds.

Even if the crew
had leaned forward
to check for the plane,

investigators believe
the smaller plane may have been
camouflaged by the background.

- They become harder to see,
and the terrain
makes it even more so.

- Is that the one
we're looking at?

- Yeah, but I don't see him now.

(narrator):
The fate of Flight 182
now depends

on the captain
clearly communicating this
to the tower.

- I think he's passed off
to our right.

(narrator): The controller
would've been able to see

that the Cessna had not passed
the 727 on his radar.

So why didn't he take action?

(Captain): Okay,
we had him there a minute ago.

(narrator): Investigators
compare two separate recordings
of the conversation

between the captain
and the controller.

- Okay, Chris,
let's hear the cockpit first.

- I think he's passed off
to our right.

- Passed. I thought
I heard "passing" before.
Double-check that, please.

- I think he's passed off
to our right.
- He's still saying "passed."

Let's compare it with the tower,
because I think
I heard "passing."

(narrator): Investigators make
a startling discovery.

- He's passing off to our right.

- "Passing." I was right.

It does sound like "passing."

(narrator): Radio static caused
the radio controller to hear
the word "passing,"

not "passed."

- The air-traffic controller
heard it as:
"He's passing off to our right."

That indicated that they still
had visual contact with it.

- You would believe
that the pilot was being able
to maintain the separation.

It was his responsibility,
and you would not worry
about it.

(narrator):
In the spring of 1979,

investigators finally conclude
who was at fault.

- The determination
of the board's report

is very clear...

that the crew obviously...

did not see the aircraft,
the Cessna,

in time to divert it away
from a catastrophic accident.

(narrator): Recommendations
in their report

focus on improving
the air-traffic control system
in San Diego.

PSA 182 also helped fuel
the search for new technology.

Three years after the accident,
a safety device called TCAS,

or Traffic Collision
Avoidance System,

is developed and later installed
in all passenger aircraft.

- All airliners are now equipped
with fairly sophisticated
Collision Avoidance Systems.

They have the ability,
in the cockpit...

...to get instant feedback
to avoid other airliners,

including instructions

as to what they should do
to avoid that airliner.

- 279. Good day.

(narrator): Unfortunately,
in some corners of the world,

aviation developments
don't come soon enough.

In 1996, tragedy strikes again
when two passenger jets
collide over India.

(screaming)

(narrator): Indira Gandhi
International Airport,
New Delhi.

A gateway to India.

(horns honking)

Just past 6:00,

Saudi Arabian Airlines
Flight 763 takes off
into the sunset.

- Gear up.

- Gear up.
- Clear on left.

(narrator):
Captain Khalid Al-Shubaily
powers the Boeing 747

away from the runway.

His co-pilot, Nazir Khan,
handles all radio communication.

289 passengers on board
are travelling to Dhahran,
Saudi Arabia.

- 279. Good day.

(narrator):
Shortly after takeoff,

Approach Controller VK Dutta
guides the plane
away from the airport.

- Saudi 763,
approaching flight level 1-0-0.

- Roger.
Climb flight level 1-4-0.

- Clear to climb 1-4-0,
Saudi 763.

(narrator):
After reaching 14,000 feet,

the crew request permission
to continue their ascent.

- Roger.
Maintain flight level 1-4-0.
Stand by for higher.

(narrator):
In order to coordinate
incoming and outgoing traffic,

Dutta wants the Saudi flight
to stop climbing.

- Saudi 763 will maintain 1-4-0.

(narrator):
The controller is concerned
about another plane,

a Kazakhstan Airlines
Ilyushin-76 passenger jet,

which is coming in for landing
at Indira Gandhi Airport.

He wants it to pass 1,000 feet
above the Saudi flight
before landing.

After that, he'll let the Saudis
continue their climb.

- Kazakh 1907...
now reaching 150.

Forty-six miles
from Delta Papa November.

- Roger.
Maintain flight level 1-5-0.

Identify traffic
12:00 reciprocal,
Saudi Boeing 747.

(narrator):
Dutta warns the Kazakh flight
of the nearby Saudi jet.

- How many miles?

- Traffic is at eight miles,

level 1-4-0.

(narrator): But seconds later...

...a massive explosion
tears through the Saudi jet.

(alarm sounding)
(shouting)

(narrator): Both the Saudi
and Kazakh flights have vanished
from the controller's radar.

- Saudi 763?

Kazakh 1907, report position.

So I watched the sweep again.

They were not there at all.

(narrator): A call from a nearby
U.S. Air Force pilot
confirms the worst.

- Two distinct fires
on the ground.

- Two... two planes have gone
down over Charkhi Dadri.

(narrator):
In the hours following
the horrific collision,

recovery teams find the wreckage
of the Kazakh
and Saudi aircrafts

4.5 miles apart.

The two planes were carrying
349 people.

There are no survivors.

It's the worst mid-air collision
of all time.

- The death toll is terrible.

It's terrible
if it's several hundred.

It's terrible
if it's even one person.

But what has to be true,
no matter how many people
are killed in an event, is:

What are we gonna do about it?

(narrator): The next morning,

Captain KPS Nair is one
of the first investigators
on the scene.

- I was aghast. Horrified.

It is something...

...which I can't explain.

(narrator): Investigators have
two separate crash sites
to examine.

But they know one cause
will explain both accidents.

Thankfully, the black boxes
from both aircraft are found.

While investigators wait
for the data to be recovered,

they focus on conversations
between the two planes
and the air-traffic controller.

- Hi. I'm VK Dutta.
- Have a seat.

(narrator): They want to know
everything that Dutta did
on the night of the crash.

- Was traffic heavy?

- Evenings are always busy.

(narrator):
Unlike most modern systems,

Dutta's radar doesn't track
a plane's altitude.

Instead, controllers write
a plane's last-reported position
on a strip of paper.

- This is the Kazakh one,
and this is the Saudi one.

- Kazakh 1907...

now reaching 1-5-0.

(narrator): Dutta was supposed
to ensure that the two planes
were 1,000 feet apart

as they approached each other.

- Roger.
Maintain flight level 1-4-0.
Standby for higher.

(narrator):
To confirm Dutta's instructions,

investigators review
the Air Traffic Control
transcripts.

They learn that Dutta
gave the two planes
the proper directions.

- Roger.
Maintain flight level 1-4-0.
Standby for higher.

(narrator):
Since his radar system
doesn't display altitude,

there was no way for him
to tell if the planes
followed his orders.

- Mostly there... and there.
As close as you can get it.

(narrator): One of the planes
must have drifted
from their assigned altitude,

but which crew is responsible
for the fatal collision?

(narrator):
Investigators in India
catch a break

when engine pieces
of the Saudi aircraft are found

near the beginning
of the debris field.

It reveals that they were some
of the first pieces

to come off the plane
after the collision.

- The significant
point of contact

was between the tail end of...

...the IL-76...

and the wing portion of...

...the Boeing 747 of Saudi Air.

(narrator):
The tail of the Kazakh plane
appears to have pierced

through the left wing
of the Saudi jet.

Surprisingly, the Kazakh flight
wasn't above the Saudi jet
when they collided,

as air-traffic controllers
thought.

(alarm sounding)

- Between two aircraft,

the requirements specify
a vertical minimum separation

of 1,000 feet.

(narrator):
Investigators wonder which plane
was at the wrong altitude.

Unfortunately, the recovered
cockpit instruments
provide little help

in verifying the aircrafts'
positions at impact.

- I can't find anything.
Too much damage.

- I agree. Look at this.

(narrator):
Having learned all they can
from the crash site,

the fate of the investigation
now lies

in what details are stored
in the flight-data recorders.

Three months later,

data from both the Kazakh
and Saudi black boxes
is successfully downloaded.

In order to avoid
any suggestion of bias,

the boxes are analyzed
in England by the experts

at the Air Accidents
Investigation Branch.

- 279. Good day.

(narrator):
They concentrate on the data
from the Saudi Flight 763 first.

- Saudi 763 approaching 1-4-0
for higher.

- Roger.
Maintain flight level 1-4-0.
Standby for higher.

- Saudi 763 will maintain 1-4-0.

(narrator): Both the CVR
and the flight-data recorder
reveal that the Saudi pilots

received clear instructions
from the controller
and followed them meticulously.

- It had levelled
at its assigned altitude of, um,

14,000 feet, uh,
and continued to fly level.

(narrator):
But when investigators examine
the Kazakh's flight data,

they discover that it descended

to just over 1,000 feet
below assigned altitude,

putting it within 10 feet
of the Saudi flight.

To understand
why the Kazakh plane
was below its assigned altitude,

investigators turn
to the cockpit voice recorder.

- Kazakh 1907,
report level passing.

- Passing 2-4-0, Kazakh 1907.

(narrator): Because the Ilyushin
is a modified military plane,

it has another unusual feature:

a position for a radio operator
in the cockpit.

Egor Repp handles
all communications
for the Kazakh flight.

As they near the airport,

Repp gets in touch
with Approach Controller Dutta.

- I told, uh, Kazakh to descend
and maintain flight level 1-5-0.

That is 15,000 feet.

(Repp):
Kazakh 1907 now reached 1-5-0.

(narrator): It's one minute
before the impact,

and the Kazakh plane
is in position,

1,000 feet higher
than the Saudi plane.

But investigators know
that instead of levelling off,

the plane continued to descend.

As it does,
Dutta issues a traffic warning
to the Kazakh pilots.

- Identified traffic
12:00 reciprocal,

Saudi Boeing 747 and...
10 miles.

Likely to cross
in another five miles.
Report if in sight.

(narrator):
He tells them to watch out
for the Saudi flight,

but the Kazakh jet
just keeps flying lower.

- Ahead?
- Ahead.

(narrator): Suddenly,
the radio operator recognizes
the plane is flying too low.

- Keep the 150! Do not descend!
- Accelerate, Sanya!

(narrator):
But his warning comes too late.

- Get to the 150
because at the 140... that one!

(narrator):
Investigators are stunned.

Why weren't the pilots
monitoring their altitude?

- Report eight miles.

(narrator): They go back
to earlier in the recording.

While Repp communicates
with the ground,

neither the pilot nor co-pilot
confirm the altitude
instructions.

- Switch on. Engine...

(narrator): The pilots are busy
discussing arrival procedures.

Repp appears to be the only one
focused on their altitude.

- Hold the level!
- What level were we given?

(narrator): The final report
points a finger squarely
at the crew of the Kazakh plane.

The Kazakh pilots' failure
to maintain altitude

led to the deaths of 349 people.

Investigators are also critical
of the outdated radar

that was being used
in New Delhi.

Today, new radar systems
allow controllers
across the country to see

an airplane's flight number,
altitude and heading,

preventing mid-air collisions
from ever happening again.

- It's not a matter
of who did something wrong,

it's a matter of how can
we change the way we do business

to make sure
this can't happen again -

not that it is unlikely,
but that it can't.

Subtitling: difuze