All language subtitles for Air.Disasters.S07E04.Missed.Approach.720p.AMZN

narrator: the crew
of a passenger jet

searches in vain
for their airport.

pilot: look carefully.

narrator: rain is making it
impossible to see.

first officer: not in sight.
missed approach.

pilot: go around!

narrator: more than 200
passengers are on board.

man: as i turned around,
a huge fireball came out.

[screaming]

narrator:
investigators search for clues.

could a vital missing piece
of equipment

be responsible for the crash?

man: i think the best way
to describe that

would have been irresponsible.

[shouting]

man: i know a lot of people

could have walked off that plane
that night.

nothing will change
my views on that.

flight attendant:
ladies and gentlemen,
we are starting our approach.

pilot: we lost both engines!

flight attendant:
put the mask over your nose.

emergency descent.

pilot: mayday, mayday.

flight attendant:
brace for impact!

controller: i think i lost one.

man: investigation starting...

man: he's gonna crash!

narrator: nimitz hill, guam.

once the site of fierce
american offensives

during world war two...

for over 50 years
there has been peace here.

[thunder]

now the peaceful hill
is used by hunters,

and the normal quiet is broken
by the roar of jumbo jets

as they fly overhead.

every night commercial pilots
must fly

over this tall, rocky outcrop

to land at guam's
agana international airport.

flights come from airports
all across asia.

just past midnight,
on august 6, 1997,

korean airlines flight 801

is on its way to guam
from seoul, south korea.

42-year-old captain
park yong-chol

is at the controls.

a former korea air force pilot,

park has been flying 747s
for more than six years.

just a few months ago, he
received a flight safety award

from the president of korean air

for successfully handling a 747
engine failure at low altitude.

park is supposed to be flying

to the united arab emirates
tonight,

but a schedule change
has put him in command

of this shorter flight to guam.

in the cabin, korean,
japanese and western tourists

are heading for guam's
pristine beaches.

guam is a u.s. territory
run under u.s. law.

the island is tiny,
just 212 square miles,

but there's enough sand
to keep people coming.

[sea gull calling]

24-year-old sean burke
and his girlfriend wendy bunten

are planning to make the most
of guam's beaches.

they're flying in from san diego
for a vacation.

william burke: sean and wendy
were going to guam

to do some scuba diving,
reef diving,

and at the same time they were
gonna visit her brother

who was in the navy over there.

he was a navy doctor.

narrator: flight 801 is taking
barry small back to work.

he is returning to guam
from new zealand

for another 6-month contract
as a helicopter pilot.

but he does it
with a heavy heart.

barry small:
the night before i left,

my father had a heart attack,

and i had to cpr him
until the ambulance arrived

and decided to cancel
the contract

so i could help him,

but he was insistent that you
must carry on with your job.

narrator: the flight is still
a couple of hours from guam

when the calm evening
is brutally interrupted.

park yong-chol: watch the speed.
it could be severe turbulence.

make an announcement to have
everyone in their seats

with seatbelts on.

first officer:
ladies and gentlemen, this is
your first officer speaking.

narrator:
even an experienced flyer
like barry small is surprised.

small: there was no lead-up
to this turbulence,

and anybody that wasn't
strapped down

was going to be airborne,
that's for sure.

the lockers were rattling,

and anything in those lockers
was bound to break.

it was a horrendous shudder.

narrator: it's heavy turbulence,
but the crew rides it out.

eventually the flight
returns to normal.

park: we're through it.

let the passengers know.

first officer:
ladies and gentlemen, this is
your first officer speaking.

we have cleared
the turbulent area.

narrator: but it's left
some of the passengers shaken.

woman: shhh.
it's okay, rika.

we'll be there soon.

flight attendant:
ma'am, if you don't mind,

i'm gonna move this duty-free
up here for you.

narrator:
the cabin crew cleans up,

and the passengers settle in
for the rest of the trip.

barry small: because of
the 12-hour stopover in seoul

and no change of clothes,

it was getting
rather uncomfortable

in a tropical environment,

and i took my shoes off
just to relax a little bit

and feel more comfortable.

narrator: captain park and
his crew begin looking ahead.

they know there's more
unsettled weather coming.

rain has been hitting guam
on and off all day.

in fact, august is the heart
of the island's rainy season.

small showers can pop up,
making visibility unpredictable.

greg feith: in that particular
part of the world

they have what's called
a top hat thunderstorm.

that is a very small
thunderstorm

that builds up all times
of the day,

and it's very short lived.

so it wouldn't hamper
the pilot's ability

to actually conduct
the approach.

it's gonna just obscure his view
for some period of time

while they're transiting
through it.

narrator: just past 1:00
in the morning,

korean air flight 801
makes initial radio contact

with kurt mayo,

the radar controller
at guam's airport.

first officer: guam center,
korea 801 leaving level 4-1-0

for 2,600.

kurt mayo:
korean air 801, roger.

narrator: the crew aren't
the only ones preparing to land.

after more than three hours
of flying through the night,

the passengers get ready
for the airport.

small: i saw the lights of guam,

and i knew exactly
where the aircraft was,

because i'd been there
many times before.

narrator: captain park
has navigated nimitz hill

nine times before,

but this time there's
a major difference.

at airports around the world,

pilots land with the help
of a glide slope,

an electronic system that helps
planes safely touch down.

if pilots follow the directions
given by the glide slope,

it guides them to the foot
of the runway.

the glide slope beacon
at guam airport has been removed

for extensive maintenance.

without the airport transmitter,

park's glide slope indicator
in the cockpit is useless.

landing without a glide slope
is rare, but it does happen.

in guam, the transmitter is
scheduled to be out of service

for more than two months.

but impaired navigation
is only part of the problem.

captain park
is fighting exhaustion.

park: they make us classic guys
work to the maximum.

probably this way hotel expenses
are saved on cabin crews,

and they maximize flight hours.

really sleepy.

narrator: now, as the plane
approaches guam,

clouds and rain block their way.

first officer: captain,
guam condition is no good.

park: it's raining a lot.

narrator:
it's been several hours

since captain park and his crew
left seoul.

now the rain is making
the late flight more difficult.

tired and fighting the weather,

the captain begins
the final approach

to agana airport
on the island of guam.

in the cabin, 237 passengers

are getting ready to begin
their vacations

or get back to work.

small: the flight,
other than the turbulence,

was totally normal.

we had our meals,

and it was just a totally normal
flight in every way.

narrator:
as the jet approaches guam,

an erratic storm pushes
rain and clouds

between the plane
and the airport.

it's hard to see.

the captain wants to make
a small change in course

to avoid the worst
of the weather.

park: request 20-mile deviation
to the left

as we are descending.

first officer: guam center,
korea 801 request deviation

1-0 miles left of track.

mayo: korean air 801, roger.

narrator:
veering around cloud cover,

captain park yong-chol struggles

to get a clear view
of his approach.

and finally he sees
what he's been looking for.

flight engineer: it's guam.

guam.

park: good.

flight engineer:
today the weather radar
helped us a lot.

mayo: korean air 801,

cleared for ils
runway 6 left approach.

glide slope unusable.

narrator: air traffic controller
kurt mayo reminds the crew

that the airport's glide slope
equipment is out of service.

it would normally help them
find the runway,

but since it's under repair

it isn't sending out
any signals.

then, with the crew
in the middle

of their landing sequence,

something unexpected happens.

computer: glide slope.

narrator: the glide slope
appears to come to life.

flight engineer:
is the glide slope working?

the glide slope?

park: yes.

yes, it's working.

first officer:
why is it working?

narrator:
it's a confusing moment.

unsure what's happening,

the crew continues to prepare
for their landing.

flight engineer: six d check.

gear down.

park: check.

first officer: approaching 1400.

park: since today's
glide slope condition

is not good,

we need to maintain 1,440.

please set it.

first officer: set.

narrator: at 40 minutes
after 1:00 in the morning,

guam controller kurt mayo

once again makes contact
with the crew.

mayo: korean air 801, contact
the agana tower at 118.1.

narrator: he passes the plane on
to the airport tower

and says goodbye in korean.

mayo: ahn nyung hee ga sea yo.

first officer:
soo ga ha sip is yo.

118.1.

narrator: it's the last time
he'll ever talk

to the crew of the jetliner.

flight engineer:
the guy working here probably
was a g.i. in korea before.

first officer: agana tower,
korean air 801

to intercept
the localizer 6 left.

tower: korean air 801 heavy,
agana tower.

runway 6 cleared to land.

first officer: korean 801,
roger, cleared to land 6 left.

park: flaps 30.

first officer: flaps 30.

narrator: as the plane descends,
clouds and rain close in again.

they've lost sight
of the airport.

park: look carefully.

first officer:
ladies and gentlemen,

we're preparing for landing

at agana international airport
in guam.

please return your seats
to the upright position,

fasten your seatbelts
and prepare for landing.

park: set 560 feet.

narrator: as the plane flies
closer to the ground,

the crew expects they'll see
the airport any second.

but the rain makes it hard
to see anything.

park: isn't the glide slope
working?

wiper on!

narrator: then a computerized
voice fills the cockpit.

computer: 500.

narrator: it's the ground
proximity warning system,

which tells the crew they're
just 500 feet in the air,

but they still can't see
the runway.

small: i'd done this flight
many, many times before,

and when i estimated we were
about 30 seconds from landing,

i bent down to put my shoes on.

flight engineer: 200.

narrator: the plane is now
just 200 feet above the ground,

but still the crew
can't see the runway.

they're quickly
running out of time.

first officer: let's make
a missed approach.

flight engineer: not in sight.

first officer: not in sight.
missed approach.

flight engineer: go around.

park: go around!

flaps.

computer: 100.

40.

30.

20.

small: i had no idea, thought it
was still just a normal landing

and the aircraft went on

and was decelerating
quicker than normal,

but nothing to really alarm me.

[screaming]

things were getting
pretty serious then.

the aircraft was starting
to break apart.

[screaming]

i forced myself up to look,

and there was just
bottles, bags,

everything you can imagine
was coming out.

the only way
i can really describe it

is like about a thousand 737s
landing all at once.

narrator:
on a wooded hillside in guam,

the shattered plane
finally grinds to a halt.

[explosion]

[people screaming]

[fire roaring]

[thunder]

small: i was too scared to undo
my seatbelt at that stage

'cause i was waiting
for the next bounce

to go over another ravine

or whatever was going
to happen next.

narrator: miraculously,
11-year-old rika matsuda

has survived
and is virtually unhurt,

but her mother is trapped
and injured.

rika matsuda: momma, momma.

small: hello!

narrator:
barry small is also injured

and terrified that fire
is sweeping through the plane.

small: the fire started
in the front

and proceeded from the front
to the back towards me.

there was no floor lighting
or anything like that,

but the fire was so intense

there was no problems
to see where i was going.

rika: momma! momma!

narrator:
if help doesn't arrive soon,

those who survived
the initial crash

may be trapped inside the cabin.

tower: korean air 801 heavy,
tower, how do you hear?

narrator: everyone
in the cockpit has been killed.

but airport authorities
still have no idea

what's happened
aboard flight 801.

tower: korean air 801 heavy,
tower, how do you hear?

narrator:
hurt by the crash and desperate
to escape the ruined plane,

barry small stumbles towards
an opening in the cabin.

small: i got back
these six seats, and then

there was about a six-foot drop
down to the ground.

the undercarriage
had gone completely.

i came across an obstacle
that i had to cross

because it was the only path
that wasn't burning.

go!

get over it!

rika: momma!

mother: rika.

rika: momma!

narrator: rika's mother
tells her daughter

to get out of the burning plane.

mother: go.

go, go now.

get out of here!

go!

now go, go!

you must go.

go!

you must go.
go now! go!

narrator: the fire
is spreading quickly.

as passengers struggle
to deal with the disaster,

rescue workers don't even know
the plane's gone down.

[screaming]

small: the fire engulfed both
the asian gentleman and myself

to the extent
that it burnt my arms,

and my watch got that hot

it was melting into my flesh
and i had to flick it off.

narrator:
minutes earlier, kurt mayo
had passed the passenger jet on

to the local tower controllers.

now he learns that
it hasn't landed yet.

tower: approach agana,
did korean air come back to you?

mayo: no.

tower: i cleared him to land,
and i don't know where he's at.

mayo: he didn't land?

tower: negative.

mayo: oh, my god!

[door chime beeping]

narrator: within minutes,
guam fire chief chuck sanchez

is en route.

chuck sanchez: i was thinking
my god, the 747, where's it at?

is it on the island?
is it on the sea?

what is the plan here?

[siren]

[screaming]

small: we both fell off the side
of the container,

and the asian gentleman
disappeared into the jungle.

so i rolled over onto my back

and i managed to crawl
with my elbows.

there was still a little bit
of skin on my elbows left.

narrator: small has
a badly broken right leg.

he crawls away
from the wreckage.

many more people
remain trapped inside.

small: lying there, it just
sounded like a battlefield.

it was just like a movie.

things were exploding
short of me,

going over top of me.

things were landing
beside us on fire.

it was just indescribable.

narrator: there is only one way
for emergency crews

to get to the scene of the crash
of flight 801.

the route is
a single access road

that runs beside nimitz hill.

as they race
to the accident scene,

rescue workers discover
a major obstacle.

a pipeline has been ripped
out of the ground by the crash

and thrown across the road.

there's no way around it.

having heard about the crash,

the island's governor,
carl gutierrez,

has joined the rescue team.

sanchez: engine company 7,
get this thing out of the way.

you guys, get the medic kits
and come with me.

we reached the closest point
of approach to the crash site,

which was up the hill,

and probably about
another 150 yards downhill.

i go, gentlemen, turn on
whatever lights you got

to guide us down this path
and let's do it.

carl gutierrez:
we started running and
just listening to the screams

so that we can guide ourselves

because there was just
nothing but overgrowth

on the side of the road.

sanchez: at one point
i stopped him.

i go, governor, sir, i need you
to make some serious decisions

in this operation.

i don't think i want you
to move further.

i'd like for you to stay
on this side,

and, you know, i don't
want you to get hurt.

let us do this job.

and he goes no,
i want to help you guys.

[moaning]

narrator:
at the site of the crash,

flames are devouring
the wreckage.

hampered by his broken leg,

small can only look on
as people cry out for help.

small: i lay on that bank
for the whole night,

during that time hearing people
call out in a foreign language,

which initially sounded like
good, healthy calls for help,

then turned into screams
as the fire got more intense...

and after a period of time
the fire even grew worse

and the screams faded away.

narrator: finally, almost
an hour after the accident,

sanchez's crew reaches the site.

rika: momma!

narrator:
guam's governor carl gutierrez

sees rika matsuda all alone
and crying out for her mother.

gutierrez:
don't cry, little angel.

everything will be okay.

i did not dare let her go.

it's something that i almost,

like there was a bond between me
and that young little girl,

and i found out later
she was 11,

but she looked really smaller
than 11 years old.

narrator:
fire chief chuck sanchez finds
barry small in the sword grass.

sanchez: take my jacket.

small:
he gave me his fire jacket

and put it under my head
to comfort me.

small: yeah, go.
i'm all right.

sanchez: let's go.

small: later on
he was very distressed

that he had to come back
and get it back

'cause he was getting burnt

dragging people and bodies
out of the aircraft.

narrator: it's clear
to rescue personnel

that for many
they have arrived too late.

but sanchez isn't giving up.

he sends a team to search
further into the wreckage.

sanchez: group two, start
at the tail and work forward.

go.

what i heard was
this large explosion, man,

right where they were at.

no radio transmission at all.
we lost all transmission.

then finally somebody came out.

sir, we're okay.

we survived the explosion.

everybody's accounted for.

narrator: it's not until
the dawn finally comes

that rescue workers can see
the extent of the damage.

the plane has spilled
down the mountain

and broken into several
large pieces.

only 26 people
survive the disaster.

[girl crying]

narrator: friends and family
are desperate for any news.

many bodies are badly burned.

although most of the passengers
are korean,

sean burke and
his girlfriend wendy bunten

are among the few americans
on the flight.

thousands of miles away,

news of the crash
reaches sean's parents.

when she hears about the crash,

sean burke's stepmother doesn't
know if sean is alive or dead.

kathy burke: he could have been
burned in the crash.

he could be unconscious
in a local hospital there,

and we just wanted to go over
and bring him back.

so, i mean, 'cause that kept
going through our minds, that...

he possibly could be
laying on the hillside.

narrator: since guam
is an american territory,

the responsibility
for investigating the crash

falls to the national
transportation safety board.

greg feith is
the lead investigator.

when he arrives on the site,
he has to contend

with more than just the carnage
of the plane crash.

grieving family members
surround the scene,

making it especially difficult
for investigators to work.

feith:
as an accident investigator

you have to keep
your emotions in check.

it's like being a doctor
in an e.r. room.

you see this devastation,

you see this tragedy unfolding
in front of you,

and as an accident investigator

you have to keep those emotions
in check

because you have to remain
objective.

you have to remain emotionless

to be able to do
your job effectively.

narrator: during the preliminary
investigation, feith finds

that large sections of the plane
are almost completely intact.

feith: the airplane landed
relatively under control.

that is that the pilot
basically landed the airplane

into the trees
and into that terrain.

unfortunately, it was
three miles from the airport.

narrator: investigators find
a number of items

that survived the crash
and the fire that followed...

including the landing chart
the crew was using

as it approached guam airport.

investigators also find
captain park's travel bag,

and in it they discover
a small plastic pill container.

captain park had been prescribed
a variety of drugs,

including pills
containing benzodiazepine,

a class of drugs often used
as a sedative.

the pills and tissue samples
from captain park's remains

are sent for analysis.

that, and the landing chart

become part of a growing pile
of evidence.

using the jet's
flight data recorder,

investigators recreate
the plane's flight path.

the relatively gentle slope
of its descent

supports investigator
greg feith's belief

that the jet all but landed
on the hillside.

but the flight path
shouldn't look like this.

mayo: korean air 801

cleared for ils
runway 6 left approach.

glide slope unusable.

first officer:
korean 801, roger.

cleared for ils runway 6 left.

narrator: the crew had been told

that the glide slope
at the airport wasn't working.

it meant that the captain

had to take more manual control
of his plane.

feith: it's now up to the pilot

to fly an established procedure
called a step-down,

where he starts at an altitude
of, say, 2,000 feet.

when he gets
to a particular point

located by what they call dme,
or distance measuring equipment,

he then starts a descent
to another prescribed altitude.

narrator:
if the crew was following
the step-down procedure,

its flight path would resemble
a set of stairs.

but after the first step,

the plane enters
a long, slow descent.

feith: if you don't hit
those step-downs,

and those altitudes
are prescribed

to give you terrain clearance,

if you don't fly that as
depicted on the approach chart,

you run the risk of flying into
an obstruction or high terrain.

narrator: the plane's
cockpit voice recorder

has also been recovered
from the debris.

feith and his team
begin to analyze it,

hoping to better understand
what happened in the cockpit.

park: set 560 feet.

narrator:
on two separate occasions,

captain park gave orders
to descend

long before he was supposed to.

but there are other clues
on the tape as well.

feith: the cockpit voice
recorder provided us,

the investigators,
quite a bit of information.

one of the key elements
that we found

was that the flight crew
appeared to be tired.

park: very sleepy.

feith:
this was a chartered flight,

so it would have put them

on what we call
"back side of the clock" flying.

that is, they wouldn't be
normally flying during the day.

they are now flying at night,

and typically your body says
you should be asleep

when it's dark outside.

narrator:
the sedatives could have made

a difficult situation
even worse,

but when the lab results
come back, they're conclusive.

while he had the pills with him,

there are no traces of them
in captain park's system.

when lead investigator
greg feith returns

to the cockpit voice recorder,

he focuses on the captain's
discussion of the glide slope.

flight engineer:
is the glide slope working?

the glide slope?

park: yes.

yes, it's working.

first officer:
why is it working?

feith: he started to see
the glide slope needle

move a little bit

and started to question
the other crew members

as to whether or not
the glide slope

was actually working or not.

narrator: but feith still
doesn't understand

why park's glide slope
appeared to be working.

was there a problem
on this plane,

and is the equipment
susceptible to problems

that could affect
other jets as well?

to find out, he brings in

navigation expert
nelson spohnheimer.

nelson spohnheimer: i spent some
time looking at the transcript

trying to determine
what the navigation issues were,

and why a good airplane
was in the wrong place.

narrator: spohnheimer sends
a team of investigators to guam.

they fly over the island
trying to determine

whether radio signals
from a nearby military base

could have affected the plane,

making it seem like
the glide slope was working.

spohnheimer: my conclusion
was that spurious signals,

whether they be
from other transmitters

or failed ground equipment
such as personal walkie-talkies,

could not cause a sustained
warning flag movement.

narrator: if the glide slope
was not fully operating,

why did park believe it was?

and even if he did believe
it was working,

why did he crash
into nimitz hill?

park:
isn't the glide slope working?

wiper on.

narrator: as investigators
continue to try

to piece together
the causes of the crash,

barry small
is trying to understand

why he and 25 others survived.

small: i went to touch my shoes,
we hit the ground,

and i was accidentally
in the perfect crash position

by some sort of miracle.

narrator: an airline engineering
apprentice and helicopter pilot,

small understands airplanes.

small: i do firmly believe
there are some changes

that could be made
to the aircraft.

narrator: small believes
that the way crossbars

are built into aircraft seats

caused one of his legs to break.

but luck saved his other leg.

small: my right leg went forward

and crashed into the bar
in front of the seat and broke,

and my left leg was saved
by my carry bag

stopping my leg going forward
at that bar.

narrator: still able to walk
on his one good leg,

small escapes while others
remain trapped inside.

small: aah!

narrator: since she's young,
rika matsuda's legs

are shorter
than a normal adult's.

sitting normally, her legs
wouldn't have been pressed

against the crossbar on impact,

so she was able
to escape the plane

while her mother died.

small is also convinced
that the flames

that first spread
through the cabin

of korean air flight 801
were preventable.

small: they estimate
that those top lockers

had over 462 liters
of burnable alcohol on board.

had the plane been full,

it could be at least twice
that amount.

narrator: during the crash,

small believes
that the duty-free alcohol

mixed with oxygen
in the overhead bins.

the combination ignited
with deadly results.

it's a fire he thinks
could have been prevented.

small: why have this risk,
alcohol and oxygen?

i thought, you know,
for aircraft it's about safety,

and this is just a blatant
breaking of the rules of safety

as far as i'm concerned.

narrator: as he continues
to recover from the accident,

small is determined to prevent
what happened to him

from happening to others.

he decides to push for changes
on how seats are made,

and how duty-free alcohol
is stored.

for ntsb investigator
greg feith,

the biggest question
still remains.

how did an experienced pilot,

one recently honored by his
company for his safety record,

crash his plane three miles
short of the airport?

as the investigation continues,

he discovers that the landing
chart the crew was using

was more than six months old
and out of date.

it's an indication that the crew

could have been better prepared
for the landing.

when he reviews the training
practices for korean airlines,

feith uncovers more gaps

in the information
that the crew received.

feith: we found that
the korean airlines flight crew

had all of their training based
on airports with approaches

where the dme was always
co-located at the airport.

narrator: dme is
distance measuring equipment,

electronic beacons that
tell pilots where they are

in relation to the airport.

often the final beacon is found
at the foot of the runway.

that was not the case in guam.

the airport was in fact
three miles further on.

flight engineer: 200.

narrator: struggling to see
through the rain,

park was unable
to find the airport.

distracted by the unexpected
glide slope reading,

park used the final beacon
as a guide,

expecting it to take him
right to the runway.

first officer: let's make
a missed approach.

flight engineer: not in sight.

first officer: not in sight.
missed approach.

flight engineer: go around.

park: go around.

flaps!

spohnheimer: it's clear
that flight 801 flew an approach

about three miles premature.

in other words, the descent
was about three miles early.

it was a nominal approach
otherwise,

just to the wrong location.

feith: we think that
based on fatigue

and some of their training,

that in fact when the flight
crew crashed the airplane,

when the counter got to zero

they thought the airport
should be there.

narrator: a fully loaded 747
weighs more than 44,000 pounds.

like an enormous ocean liner,
it can't change course quickly.

computer: 100.

50.

narrator: blinded by rain
and relying on their equipment,

the crew of korean air
flight 801

thought they were heading
straight at the runway.

when they realized something
was wrong, it was too late.

as the investigation continues,

feith and his team
make a startling discovery.

equipment that would have given
the crew more time to react

had been disabled...

on purpose.

the final accident
investigation report

is published more than two years
after the crash.

it lays blame on the korean
airlines' training methods

and the crew's over-reliance
on the jet's automation.

but it also has sharp words
reserved for the faa,

the body that regulates
air travel in the united states.

because of an faa decision,

a critical piece of technology
that could have saved flight 801

was intentionally disabled.

the minimum safe altitude
warning system, or msaw,

is a standard piece of equipment
at major american airports.

but in guam, the faa had made
a critical alteration

to the way it was used.

mayo: contact the agana tower...

narrator: msaw uses radar
to watch the planes

as they come into the airport.

if they're too low,

a warning is given
to air traffic controllers,

who can then relay it
to the crew.

but in guam, the system
kept giving nuisance readings

to controllers.

feith: the controllers kept
getting these nuisance warnings.

they redesigned the software

and moved the limitations
of the msaw

further away from the airport,

where it afforded no one
a level of protection.

narrator:
instead of watching the planes
as they neared the airport,

the system in guam
now tracked them

when they were some 50 miles
away, over the ocean.

feith: i think the best way
to describe that

would have been and should be
irresponsible,

because you've taken this system
that was designed

as a level of protection
not only for the controller,

but you've taken the protection
away from the flying public.

narrator: for the passengers
and crew of flight 801,

the lack of the msaw system
sealed their fate.

if the system had been working,

the crash could have
been avoided.

without it, the crew
had no warning at all.

kathy burke: the two pilots
didn't want to die.

they had families.

no one wanted to die.

we still do not blame them.

i guess the bottom line is

nobody wanted to be
in that situation.

it was just something
that happened.

narrator: for barry small,

the years since the crash
of flight 801

have been emotional
and frustrating.

the civil aviation authority
in his homeland of new zealand

has acknowledged
the potential danger posed

by duty-free liquor on board.

but so far, no policies
have been changed.

his desire to modify
airplane seat design

has also been ignored.

sean burke was never
officially identified

as a victim of flight 801.

wendy bunten
was positively identified,

but dna samples only proved

that a white male was
on the plane near her.

kathy burke: bill and i
never gave up hope

that sean had survived
the crash.

even after we came home for,
i would say, a year or two,

every time the phone rang,

every time somebody knocked
on the door,

we expected a phone message

saying hi, dad,
this is your son sean.

narrator: for sean's father,
the deep sorrow of the crash

will never completely leave.

william burke: for me, the grief
of sean's loss never ends.

hasn't gotten better,
hasn't gotten worse.

just another day.

uh...for everybody else,
it's gone.

i expect people to move on,

but i'll be this way till
the day i'm with him again.

narrator: for barry small
there is anger, too,

but also incredible gratitude
for surviving.

small: so many people
have told me

that i survived for a reason.

i've been searching for that
reason for nine years now,

and i truly believe if someone
would listen to my story

about the oxygen and the alcohol

and the improvement
of the seats,

that i could justify
in my own mind

that i don't need to feel guilty
about surviving.