All language subtitles for Mayday.S05E03.Southern.Storm.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264-playWEB_track3_[eng]

New Hope, Georgia,
April 4th, 1977.

Hello?

My husband called me
and he said, "Honey,

"we've got some bad weather
coming in."

Boys, come on in now.

Nasty weather's comin'.

One of
the worst storms in years is
moving across the south.

Sadie Hurst rushes
her children to safety.

We heard
this tremendous noise.

When I got to the top
of the basement steps
to close the door,

I saw a red reflection
like fire in the door.

That's when I saw
what was happening.

72 people are killed

when a Southern Airways DC-9
falls from the sky.

Mayday. Mayday.

Boarding pass.

Thank you.

- Good afternoon, sir.
- Good afternoon.

- May I see
your boarding pass, please?
- Certainly.

Just down the aisle
on the right, sir.
Enjoy your flight.

Thank you.

Boarding pass.

81 passengers board
Southern Airways Flight 242,

a DC-9 bound
for Atlanta, Georgia.

Many of them are
military personnel
from nearby bases.

Captain Bill McKenzie
and First Officer
Lyman Keele

have been
shuttling passengers across
the American South all day.

Who's got the landing?

"Not me," says the captain.

Ignition, sir.

Pilots regularly
exchange tasks
on long days like this one.

First Officer Lyman Keele
will be handling
this leg of the flight.

He's an experienced
Navy pilot

who's been
with Southern Airways
for four years.

Before their last take-off,
the crew was handed

a weather report
for the airports
along their route.

Looks like you guys got
a good one comin'.

The DC-9
was introduced in 1965

to fly frequent short flights.

Both of its engines
are mounted
to the rear fuselage

rather than the wings.

It was designed for take-off
on shorter runways.

We had
a 13 landing day,

which was
a lot of small stops,
you know.

About 20 or 30 minute legs
in between,

and it was sort
of the tour to the south.

Skies have been
smooth all afternoon,

but the weather's worsening.

The flight crew is prepared
for turbulence.

It was
raining in Huntsville
and they said,

"Oh, it's going to be
some bad weather.
Don't serve."

So we did not serve
from Huntsville to Atlanta,

which is
a very short route,

and we were delighted
not to be serving.

I was
a little surprised

that we took off
when we did.

I really thought
we'd taxi out

to the end of the runway
and hold for a while,

because the weather
looked so bad.

But we taxied out
and immediately took off.

At 3:54 p.m.,
the DC-9 takes off
into a hard rain.

The short hop to Atlanta
should take just 25 minutes.

As Southern Airways 242 flies
away from Huntsville,

the National Weather Service
tracks weather that's far worse
than the pilots expect.

Tornadoes are touching down
all across the south.

The weather
in the South-Eastern
United States

can be very treacherous.

High humidities,
high temperatures are

a prescription
for thunderstorms.

And so,
with all of that kind
of moisture in the air,

and the high
convective heating,

you're going to have
very large thunderstorms

that are associated
with heavy rains, hail,

icing conditions,
and extreme winds.

And, of course, tornados
that will be spawned
from that kind of action.

Huntsville Air Traffic Control has

some concerns
about the gathering storm.

Southern Airways 242,
I'm painting a line of weather

which appears to be moderate
to-possibly-heavy precipitation

starting about
five miles ahead.

Okay, we're in
the rain right now.

Uh... it doesn't look
much heavier

than what we're in right now,
does it?

It's not a solid mass,

but it, uh, appears to be
a little bit heavier

than what
you're in right now.

In 1977,
most airliners are equipped
with the Bendix Weather Radar.

Pilots are trained to avoid
regions that appear bright.

Where there's light,
there's bad weather.

I can't read that.

It just looks like rain, Bill.
What do you think?

- There's a hole.
- There's a hole
right there.

That's all I see.

The pilots spot
a dark area on their radar,

a passageway
through the storm.

They plan to navigate
between towering thunderheads
over 14,000 meters.

Coming over, we had
pretty good radar.

I believe right
straight ahead. There.

The next few miles is probably
the best way we can go.

But as they head
towards the storm system,

they get an ominous report
from Memphis
Air Traffic Control.

Attention all aircraft.

SIGMET. Tennessee,
Southern Louisiana,
Mississippi...

SIGMET is short
for Significant Meteorological
Information.

A warning to pilots
that dangerous weather
is in the region.

Here we go.
Hold 'em, cowboy.

Pilots don't want to be
within 50 miles

of a lot of those types
of thunderstorms,

for the very reason
that the airplane may not
be able to handle it,

and or the pilots may not
be able to control

the airplane flying
into that kind of activity.

McKenzie and Keele take a harder look
at their weather radar.

Looks heavy.
Nothing's going through that.

Mysteriously,
the gap the pilots thought

they'd spotted
no longer seems to exist.

That's the hole,
isn't it?

It's not showing a hole,
is it?

The storm suddenly
gets much worse.

Never heard such loud hail
in my life.

And it beating on the,
you know,

the sides of the airplane was
extremely deafening.

The hail was
probably the loudest noise
I've ever heard.

It sounded like
I was in a metal barrel

with someone
throwing rocks at me.

Please keep
your seatbelts fastened!

We should be out
of this shortly.

Hail the size of baseballs
hammers the DC-9,

breaking the plane's
windshield.

The pilots of
Southern 242 had

to raise their voices audibly
to be heard

above the unholy tattoo
of this hail,

which was
buckshotting the airplane.

These pilots had never been
through anything like this
before in their lives.

Which way?
Do we cross here,
or go out?

I don't know
how we get
through here, Bill.

I know.
You're just gonna
have to go out.

Yeah, right across that band.

All clear left,
approximately right now.

I think we can
cut across there.

McKenzie and Keele
desperately seek

an escape route
from the storm.

But as they do,
the emergency escalates.

The plane loses
all electrical power.

Without power,
Keele must keep

the aircraft level
without an
artificial horizon.

Now the pilots are left
to look back out the window

and try and orient the airplane
with the horizon.

But surrounded
by thick cloud,
a horizon is difficult to find.

It's almost impossible
for Lyman Keele
to get his bearings.

Southern 242,
what's your speed?

Atlanta Air Traffic Control tries

to make contact
with Southern Airways.

They receive no response.

Southern 242, Atlanta.
What's your speed?

After I realized that we had
a disaster in progress,

or something was wrong,

I got up and started
briefing my passengers.

The flight attendants were
very quick

in giving us
emergency landing
instructions.

There was not very much time
for anyone to start panicking.

Got it. We got it back, Bill.
Got it back, got it back.

After 36 seconds
in the dark,

power returns.

The instruments come alive,
and the radio begins
working again.

Air Traffic Control
finally gets through
to McKenzie and Keele.

Maintain 15,000,
if you understand me.

Maintain 15,000,
Southern 242.

Southern Airways
Flight 242 has been

instructed to fly
at 4,600 meters.

But the plane has fallen
to almost 4,200 meters.

We're trying to
get it up there.

While I was lookin' out

at the front of
the left engine,

I could see the hail
continuing to put

more and more dents
into the cowling

around the engine
and into the cone

in the center of the engine,

and the engine was starting
to make sounds
like it was quitting.

Okay, uh, 242, uh,

we just got
our windshield busted.

We'll try to get it back
up to 15.

We're at 14.

Southern 242, you say
you're at 14 now?

Left engine won't spool!

Our left engine just cut out.

You say you lost an engine
and, uh, busted a windshield?

Yes, sir!

My God.

The other engine
is going, too.

Got the other engine
going, too.

Southern 242, say again.

Standby!

We lost both engines!

Both engines are now out.

This DC-9 is a glider,
and it's falling
at 56 feet per second.

They're at 14,000 feet.

They don't have
a lot of time.

Get us a vector
to a clear area, Atlanta.

Lyman Keele adjusts
his course

to navigate his plane
out of the storm.

Captain McKenzie must
restart the engines,

or they'll be forced
to make an emergency landing.

Without engines,
Southern Airways Flight 242
is plummeting from the sky.

There's also
another dire consequence
of the engine failure.

Normally,
the engines generate electricity
for the instruments,

radios, and hydraulics.

When the engines quit,
all of these systems fail.

APU deployed.

The APU,
the Auxiliary Power Unit,

is a back-up
power generator.

It will provide
electricity to the plane.

But it will take
more than two minutes
for it to power up.

Once they'd finished
their instructions,

and there was
simply a waiting period
before we landed,

we turned to each other
and said that we would

all get through
this together

and we held hands
for a moment.

When the second engine quit,

I wasn't aware
of what was going on
around me.

I was so focused on trying
to figure out a way
to save myself.

I knew that sometimes
the tail breaks off
in an accident,

and I felt, the further back
I could get, the better.

There we go!

After two minutes
without systems,

the Auxiliary Power Unit
finally kicks in.

The pilots may not
have engines,

but at least
they now have power.

We've lost both engines.

How about getting us a vector
to the nearest place?

Captain McKenzie needs
directions to an airport.

The flight can
only stay airborne
for another six minutes.

Dobbins Air Force Base
is 32 kilometers away.

It has a runway
that's long enough for a DC-9.

It also has
full emergency services.

Southern 242, roger.

Turn right
heading one-zero-zero,

There will be vectors
for a straight-in approach

to Dobbins, uh,
runway 11.

What's Dobbins weather, Bill?
How far is it?

How far is it?

Lyman Keele knows

Dobbins Air Force
Base intimately.

He trained there,
and it's now his home base
as a Navy Reserve pilot.

He's landed there frequently.

Declare an emergency, Bill.

Right now,
Keele's familiarity

with Dobbins is
the only advantage
this crew has.

Less than
16 kilometers away lies

the town of
New Hope, Georgia.

Sadie Hurst sees no signs
of an advancing storm.

It was an absolutely
beautiful day.

The children were playing
laying outside.

They were
riding their bicycles

up and down the driveway.

Hello? Hey, you.

My husband worked in Atlanta
and he kept his radio
on the Huntsville radio station.

And he called me
and he said "Honey,

"we've got some bad weather
coming in."

He said, "You need
to get the kids in."

Boys! Come on in now!

Nasty weather's comin'.

Come in now.

All right. Flashlights
and batteries, Steven.

Ordinarily tornados come
with bad weather.

You know, dark clouds,
and rain and hail.

But we didn't see
any of that.

Southern Airways 242
finally breaks

through the storm clouds
into clear skies.

The plane descends steadily
through 2,100 meters.

Get those engines started!

Once the engines failed,

the workload in the cockpit
increased substantially.

In this particular instance,

the first officer was
the "pilot flying."

He was the one that was
actually manipulating
the flight controls

and maneuvering the airplane.

The captain, on the other hand,
was now running checklist

and trying to troubleshoot.

Listen, uh, we lost
both engines, and uh,

I can't, uh, tell you
the implications
of this, uh...

We only got two engines,

and how far is Dobbins now?

Southern 242, uh, 19 miles.

Do you have
one engine running now?

Negative.

No engines.

I didn't know
what was wrong,

but I could tell
something was wrong.

I went and opened
the cockpit door

simply to tell them
we're ready for whatever.

Just don't stall
this thing out.

No, I won't.

Bill, what's going on?

Not now, Cathy.
Sit down!

You could tell
they were afraid.

I understood that
they were afraid

just by the sound
of their voice.

So I understood that
there was something

very dangerous going on,
but I had no idea what.

Down to only 1,400 meters,

the plane is still 27 kilometers
from Dobbins Air Force Base.

Ask him if there is anything
between here and Dobbins.

- What?
- Ask him if there's anything

between here and Dobbins!

Uh, is there an airport between
our position and Dobbins?

Southern 242, uh, no, sir.
Closest airport is Dobbins.

First Officer
Lyman Keele doesn't think

he can get the DC-9 as far
as Dobbins Air Force Base.

He's lost
too much altitude.

I doubt we're
going to make it,

but we're trying everything
to get something started.

Uh, Roger. Well,
there is Cartersville.

You're about 10 miles
south of Cartersville,

fifteen miles
west of Dobbins.

Keele needs
a closer airport.

Cartersville seems
like a good choice.

We'll take a vector
to that, yes.
We'll have to go there.

Can you give us
a vector to Cartersville?

All right. Turn left,
heading 360
will be directly, uh...

direct vector
to Cartersville.

Air-traffic
controllers in Atlanta see

no other options.

They direct Flight 242
to Cartersville Airport.

As the pilots seek out
an airport,

the flight attendants
still don't know

what type of landing
to prepare for.

They wouldn't talk to me.

When I looked in the door,

the whole windshield
was cracked.

So what do we do?

I think we've lost
both the engines.

I thought so.

Okay.

Cathy, have you briefed
all your passengers?

Mm-hmm.

I realized I was
in an emergency situation,

and I felt
like I was going to die.

But I decided
I would do everything I could
to try to help my chances.

I had previously collected
some blankets and pillows

and had gotten
my leather jacket
off the overhead rack.

And I arranged
those in to make a nest

as much as I could
for myself.

With tornadoes
in the forecast,

the community
of New Hope is braced

for a different type
of danger.

After a couple of hours
of playing outside

my mother called us in to...

to come in,
because there was bad weather

coming our way.

We came into the house

and mother had told us
about what was going on,

and she said that we needed
to get downstairs

to prepare for the bad weather
that was coming.

Southern Airways
Flight 242 has lost
too much altitude.

The pilots come
to the frightening conclusion

that at the rate
they're falling,

they can't make it
to Cartersville.

They must
prepare to land now.

I'm picking out
a clear field.

Bill, you have to find me
a highway.

Let's get the next
clear open field.

No, Bill!

I see a highway
over there, no cars.

Right there,
is that straight?

No.

We'll have to take it.

Lyman Keele decides
to bring the plane down

onto a rural highway,
Georgia State Highway 92.

Captain Bill McKenzie radios
Atlanta Air Traffic Control
with the bad news.

We're putting it
on the highway.

We're down to nothing.

The clock runs out
on Southern Airways 242.

Sweet Jesus.

With no engines,
First Officer Lyman Keele

lines up the aircraft
for an emergency landing

on the highway that runs
through New Hope, Georgia.

In the last minute,
we did a steep left bank,

in which we were able to see

the pine trees that were
very close to the aircraft.

Flaps.

They're down to 50.

Oh, God, Bill,
I hope we can do it.

Without training
on how to land
a DC-9 with no engines,

First Officer Lyman Keele's
attempt is entirely improvised.

Lyman Keele is a young man
who has just come back

from the proving ground
of Southeast Asia,

where he was
a naval aviator.

He learned
the niceties of landing

on a rolling,
pitching aircraft carrier

in the South China Sea,
in the middle of the night.

What he was
confronted with right now
was even a greater test.

The greatest test
he had ever confronted

in his life as an airman.

I'm going to land
right over that guy.

There's a car ahead!

I got it. I've got it now.
I got it.

Brace for impact!

The Southern Airways flight

touches down
on State Highway 92.

When the aircraft
touched down,

the first touchdown
was very, very nice.

It was smooth. It seemed
like it was gonna work,

and everything was
gonna turn out okay.

And then
it immediately bounced
back up in the air

and then slammed down.

Each bump that we made
seemed to be harder

and louder
than the previous one.

The plane smashes
into New Hope.

Before the plane completely
stopped moving,

there was fire
blowing through the cabin.

I felt my face burning,

even though I tried to cover it
with my leather jacket.

We heard
this tremendous noise.

Large sections
of Southern Airways 242 litter

the entire length
of New Hope.

Come on, damn it.

I got my seat belt loose
after a few tries

and turned toward
the rear of the airplane

and I saw a spot of light.

I got up and
ran for that light.

I could not believe
I was alive.

I just could not
believe it.

Where I found myself
after we woke up,

was sort of indescribable.

I was sitting
by the front entry door.

We have a coat closet
that was adjacent to it

and the back wall that
the jump seat's strapped to.

All three
of those walls had collapsed

and rolled into like
a little triangle ball area.

And there was just enough room
for me inside.

And I could see
a crack of light,

and I thought I'm going
through that crack of light
come hell or high water.

In the very next instant,

as if I had just
blinked my eyes,

instead of seeing the carpet
between my feet,

I suddenly was looking
at blue sky above me.

I realized I was lying flat
on my back in the dirt.

Everything to
the left of me was
flaming wreckage.

I didn't even recognize it

as being the plane that I had
just been thrown out of.

I thought it was
maybe a house
that we had hit.

Stewardess Sandy Purl
also escapes safely.

She's able to help others.

Survivors flee
the flaming wreckage.

When I got to the top
of the basement steps
to close the door,

I saw a red reflection

like fire in the door.

That's when I saw
what was happening.

I saw smoke and fire.

And the people
that were coming toward me,

they weren't screaming,
they weren't yelling,
they were quiet.

Everything was on fire

and I could see
people running
toward a house.

I need
to use your phone.

I wanted to call
the local people,
or Southern

or somebody, and say we've
just landed somewhere
and we need help.

It just became a blur.
They just kept coming.

You, help her.

I got back to the kitchen

and I was just
circled by people.

They knew
they were in a house,

and I guess
they felt safe

and they needed somebody
to help them.

I was still frantic.

I was still trying to move
as quickly as possible

and do as much as I could
at the time.

I'll remember
to the day I die

just staring there

at the, you know,
trees burning

and pine trees burning

and pieces of aircraft.
It was so unreal.

Never seen anything like it,

and never want to see
anything like that again.

72 people,
including pilots Lyman Keele

and Bill McKenzie,
die in the crash

of Southern Airways
Flight 242.

Investigators would
soon uncover
a tragic series of miscues

and coincidences
that caused
the plane to crash.

Southern Flight 242 crashed

after the DC-9 jet lost power
in both engines.

The plane had just flown
through a violent hailstorm

on a flight from Huntsville,
Alabama to Atlanta.

I saw the plane as it came
veering down, hit the treetops.

We thought it was
a tornado at first.

Vehicles, people who was
in the grocery store,

yard and vehicles,
it actually hit them.

A family
of seven is killed instantly

when the plane
hit their car.

They were just leaving the store

about the time the flight tried
to land on the highway

and then... 'course the...

I think they hit the gas pumps
and they exploded,

and everything around
was on fire.

And actually they were
in the car
and perished during the...

during the explosion
and fire.

Investigators
from The National Transportation
Safety Board arrive

within hours of the accident.

This is the second major blow

to Southern Airways'
Safety Record.

In 1970, Flight 932, carrying
the Marshall University
football team,

crashed in West Virginia.

Everyone on board was killed.

There are always
many questions

that investigators have
to find answers to.

The two primary questions
that needed to be answered

by the Board were
what were
the weather conditions,

and what caused
both engines

on a two-engine airplane
to flame-out

that resulted
in the pilots having

to make an emergency landing
on a highway in a small town.

The storm
that Flight 242 flew into
was a monster.

Why had a crew so familiar
with weather in the south
flown headfirst into it?

That's a hole, isn't it?

It's not showing a hole,
is it?

Investigators listen
to the cockpit voice recorder

for any clues
about the decisions made

by the crew as they were
entering the thunderstorm.

That's a hole, isn't it?
It's not showing
a hole, is it?

They learn
that the pilots relied heavily

on their weather radar
as they approached the storm.

But it appears
to have deceived them.

All clear left,
approximately right now.

I think we can cut across there.

One of the limitations
of the radar

that the crew of Flight 242
was using
is signal attenuation.

That is that the beam
that is projected

from the radar unit out
to look at the weather
and return is diffused.

So that the picture
that is depicted
in the cockpit

that the crew is looking at
may not be accurate.

Weather radar
sends out radio waves.

Those waves bounce
off storm clouds ahead
and return to the aircraft.

But if precipitation is
extremely intense,

the radio waves can
be deflected away.

The radar unit might
then interpret

the lack of returning waves
as a clear path ahead.

Those inaccuracies are
hard to decipher.

And if the crew is
depending solely,

or very intently
on the radar

to guide them
through the precipitation,

they may be
making decisions

that aren't based
on accurate information.

The storm that entangles
Southern Airways 242 is

one of the worst to hit
the United States
in three years.

The crew didn't
encounter a tornado,
but it was battered

by torrential rain
and heavy hail.

Which way?
Do we cross here,
or go out?

I don't know
how we get
through here, Bill.

What Keele
and McKenzie read
as a clear area ahead

was, in fact,
the heaviest part
of the storm.

They flew straight for it.

The other engine's
going, too.

Got the other engine
going, too.

Southern 242, say again.

Standby.

We lost both engines!

Once inside the storm,
the DC-9's engines failed.

But a turbofan engine is
designed to ingest

huge amounts of rain
and even hail.

Precipitation alone should not
have shut them down.

Investigators study what's left
of the DC-9's engines for clues.

They need to know
if some mechanical failure

caused both engines to fail
inside the storm.

Well, initially I was puzzled
as to how the engines could

be involved
in the cause of this accident,

but I was very anxious
to get there

to see the engines myself
to find out if there was

any sort of visible failure
in the engines.

Pratt and Whitney,
the manufacturer of the engines,

assigns Al Weaver to advise
the NTSB investigation.

The engines are moved
to Atlanta airport
for a closer inspection.

And when they lifted
the engines up

in the vertical direction

in the hangar,

I could hear the tinkling
and pieces fell out

through the front
of the engine
on to the floor.

I reached over
and picked up
those pieces

and I recognized them
immediately as part

of the high compressor blading
deep inside the engine.

Al Weaver discovers
that the pieces

that fell from the engine
were broken blades
from the compressor.

Jet engines need
pressurized air
for combustion.

Two separate compressors
inside the engine are

made up
of dozens of steel blades.

The rapidly spinning blades
force air
to the back of the engine.

The pressurized air
is ignited

in the combustion chamber
creating thrust.

Weaver notices
that the compressor blades

from Flight 242 are
badly bent, or fatigued.

The way they're bent
tells him

they were damaged
in the air,

not when the plane hit
the ground.

And we know that,
that fatiguing

and the type of fatigue
that we could observe
with our eye...

is caused
by the repetitive surging

of the engine
over and over.

A surge occurs
when the airflow through
an engine gets interrupted.

Pressure builds up
between the compressors

instead of behind them.

Without the back pressure,

air from
the combustion chamber moves

to the front of the engine.

The engine briefly
loses power.

Next, investigators need
to find out

if the repetitive surging
was caused

by the engines inhaling
massive amounts of rain.

When an engine ingests rain,
it has to convert it into a gas

before it can pump it out
as exhaust.

That process uses energy
and slows down the engines.

Investigators conclude that
with so much rain to convert,

the engines couldn't
maintain enough power
to run the generators.

That's what caused
the first power outage.

But it doesn't explain why
the engines failed completely.

Al Weaver wants to know
if the sheer volume of rain

the engines were forced
to ingest could have
caused their failure.

The same engine model
that powered
Southern Airways 242

is run with up to
14 percent water to air.

Okay.

Engine's at three-quarters
throttle.

Let's begin.

Investigators ultimately throw

monsoon level rains
against the engine.

They run it from idle
up to full throttle.

Okay, that's it.
Shut it down.

The rain was
not enough to cause

the kind of surge
that tore the engines

on Flight 242 to pieces.

Thanks very much, gentlemen.

And the engine
operated normally.

No abnormalities.

So our judgment was

we could not conceive
of a rainstorm

that would put more water in.

So we knew we were
going in the wrong direction
with more water.

The water ingestion
test points investigators
to another suspect.

That's a hole, isn't it?

It's not showing
a hole, is it?

Hail.

People who survived
the crash describe

seeing hail
the size of baseballs.

It was powerful enough
to break

the plane's
three-and-a-half centimeter
thick windshield.

Al Weaver discovers
significant hail damage

on both of the plane's
engine cowlings.

Starting at the front of the engine,

we noted that
the inlet cowl

and the center-body
that streamlines

the airflow going
into the engine,

which are parts
of the aircraft structure

and made out of aluminum,

were all dented
from both engines.

And that led us to suspect

that the existence
of the hail
might have been

a significant contributor.

Weaver knows that it would
take a powerful force

to damage the hard metal
compressor blades.

We knew from the examination,
mechanically, of the engines

that the hail itself did not
cause any damage
to the engine.

It only dented the outside
of the covering over the engine.

Heavy precipitation
and a damaged cowling

could have interrupted
the engine's airflow
and caused a surge.

But one surge shouldn't tear
an engine apart.

Weaver suspects
that massive
pieces of hail may

have clogged a vital outlet
in the plane's engines.

The bleed valves.

When pressure builds
between the two compressors,

bleed valves should
open automatically

to release that pressure,
and clear the surge.

If the bleed valves
were blocked,

the engines would have continued
to surge over and over again.

Once the engine
began to surge,

the action
that the pilot should
have taken was

to pull the throttles back
to clear the surge.

Al Weaver turns
to the Cockpit Voice Recorder

and discovers that circumstances
may have caused the crew

to do the exact opposite.

Maintain 15,000,
Southern 242.

We're trying
to get it up there.

Weaver learns
that the crew was asked

to climb
while in the heart
of the storm.

Maintain 15,000,
if you understand me.

Maintain 15,000,
Southern 242.

In order to climb,
the captain had to increase
thrust to his engines,

which would have
made matters worse.

But if the surge
was not cleared

and allowed to continue,

then the engine would
simply break itself
internally.

We're trying to
get it up there!

Advancing the throttles would
only worsen the situation.

With its
bleed cavities blocked
by hail,

pressure built up
inside the engines,

bending the compressor blades
until they shattered.

Left engine won't spool!

Our left engine just cut out.

And once
the blades broke
in the compressor,

then the engine has no hope

of ever working again.

Investigators now understand

how the pilots misread
the storm,

and how their engines failed
as a result of it.

But they don't know
why the pilots weren't warned

that there was
such a severe storm
in their path.

Who's got the landing?

"Not me,"
says the captain.

Ignition, sir.

As the pilots prepared
to depart Huntsville,

they did have a weather report
from Southern Airways.

But the information was
already hours old.

Looks like you guys
got a good one comin'.

Southern Airways dispatch
did not have

updated information.

They didn't subscribe
to the National Weather
Services update system.

They did have
a subscription to a service

that required them to dial-up
and receive the information.

When the dispatcher called
the phone number

to get the updated information
it was busy,

and never pursued it,

and was not able to provide

any kind of update information

to the crew of 242.

Southern Airways 242,

I'm painting a line of weather

which appears to be moderate
to-possibly-heavy precipitation,

starting about
five miles ahead.

Could Huntsville
have provided

better weather information?
Absolutely.

But in the course
of doing their job,

they provided
localized weather information

about an
intense thunderstorm,
or rain shower

that was moving
over the airport.

They were only responsible,

really, for about
40 nautical miles.

What the crew
of Flight 242
was looking at

was well beyond 40 miles.

With little information
on the storm,

and having misread
their weather radar,

Bill McKenzie
and Lyman Keele
flew blindly

into massive thunderheads.

The heavy rain and hail
crippled their engines.

The crew decided
that their only option was
an emergency landing.

We've lost both engines.

How about getting us a vector
to the nearest place?

Southern 242, roger.
Turn right, heading

one-zero-zero.

Will be vectors
for a straight-in approach

to Dobbins, runway 11.

When investigators
analyze the flight path

of Southern Airways 242,

they discover
one more deadly oversight.

From the time
the crew realized

that they had no engine power

till the time of touch-down
was about nine minutes.

So, in looking
at the critical decision making,

they had about seven minutes

of solid,
critical decision-making

before they were committed

to that emergency landing
on the highway.

Get us a vector
to a clear area, Atlanta.

After the engines failed,

the pilots made
a 180 degree turn

towards the west

looking for an escape
from the storm.

That takes them directly away
from Dobbins Air Force Base.

The turn takes the pilots
out of the hailstorm

but leaves them further away
from a runway.

They also lose minutes
of valuable flying time.

Only once the pilots escape
the hailstorm,

do they turn again
towards Dobbins.

Uh, is there an airport between
our position and Dobbins?

Southern 242, uh, no, sir,
closest airport is Dobbins.

Had they maintained
that course to Dobbins

rather than make the turns
or try to find another airport,

they probably would have had
a better success rate

and definitely
a better survival rate.

Southern 242, roger.
Turn right, heading 100,

will be vectors
for a straight-in approach

to Dobbins, uh,
runway 11.

By the time
McKenzie received
the instructions,

Southern Airways 242 had
been flying away
from Dobbins for too long.

The plane was simply too far

and flying too low
to make it there.

Declare an emergency, Bill.

But there was
one last missed opportunity
to save Flight 242.

Investigators learn that just as
McKenzie and Keele were

directed towards
Dobbins Air Force Base,

they were right above
another runway.

Cornelius Moore Airport.

I thought we would land
at Cornelius Moore Airport,

because I was familiar
with that airport.

I had flown many times
in our airplane

back and forth
between Decatur and Atlanta.

Investigators learn
that Cornelius Moore was

just out of range of radar
at Atlanta Approach Control.

They didn't know it existed.

They could not direct
Southern Airways 242 there,

because they couldn't see it
on their screens.

When I learned
that the controllers

in Atlanta didn't know

about the Cornelius Moore
Airport in Cartersville,

I was upset.

Because we went within,

I think,
three or four miles
of that airport.

It had a 4,000 foot runway.

And even though some
of the controllers thought
it was too short,

it sure would have been better
than that highway we landed on.

I was very, very angry.
It was such a futile reaction.

You know, it was
such a waste of life that...

I was sad.

The NTSB investigation concludes

that the catastrophic failure
of the turbofan engines

and the failure to convey
sufficient information

on the storm
to the pilots,
are the causes

of the crash
of Southern Airways 242.

The NTSB acts immediately.

It issues a recommendation

that weather radar systems
aboard planes

and in air-traffic
control centers
be upgraded

to better portray
weather systems.

In today's
commercial aircraft,

pilots have available to them
color weather radar.

It's radar that will depict
in various colored bands

the intensity
of the precipitation.

The crash
of Southern Airways 242

also leads
to a better understanding

of how engines should be managed
in heavy precipitation.

We once again reaffirmed
to the pilots the importance

not to allow the engine
to continue operation

in continual surging.

If there is a surge condition,
for any reason,

you should
clear the surge.

Because if you didn't
clear the surge

and allowed it to operate
it would break eventually.

In every air crash,
investigators try

to determine whether or not
the accident was survivable.

When you look
at the survivability
in an aircraft accident,

you can definitively say

that the design
of the seat contributed

to the survival
factors aspects,

but the statistics
that bear out

whether sitting in the front
of the airplane is safer,

the middle,
of the airplane is safer,

or the back of the airplane
is safer, don't exist.

In this particular instance,

a surviving passenger,
Don Foster,
was quick-thinking.

He put a leather jacket
over his head,

and used a pillow
as a buffer

between the seat
in front of him
and his face.

That probably
saved his life

from the standpoint

that it minimized
any injuries

he would have suffered.

In fact,
the NTSB believes

that if flight attendants
had distributed
blankets and pillows

to the passengers,
there would have been
fewer injuries

as a result of the crash.

We learn
from every airplane crash.

We learned from this one.

We learned that
the communication
broke down

within the FAA,
within Southern Airways,

even within the cockpit
of that DC-9.

What we didn't
ultimately learn though is

the most important lesson,

and that is awesome respect
for Mother Nature,

and what Mother Nature
can do.

30 years have passed

since Southern
Airways 242 crashed

through the small community
of New Hope, Georgia.

Every 10 years
since the crash,

survivors of the tragedy gather
at a church in New Hope.

They remember those
that were lost,

and help one another cope
with the tragedy.

It's one of the longest-running
survivors group of its kind.

I want to welcome you
to this service today

in remembering
April the 4th, 1977,

when the Southern Airways
Flight 242 crashed here

in the New Hope community.

Earl D. Johnson.

Lyman Keele Junior.

William Wade McKenzie.

Earl C. Griffin Junior.

After the crash, I had...

a hard time understanding
how I managed to survive.

And after a couple of months,
I quit worrying about it.

I felt like I had
a second shot at it.

I felt like that...

family was
more important,

uh, having fun was
more important.

It took a pretty deep toll
on our family,

my mother,
my father especially.

They lost
two of their children

and all their grandchildren
all at one time.

And I can,
still to this day,

I can smell the odors,

and I can...
hear the sounds

and I can see those people.

So many things will bring back
those smallest memories.

And every time
it's triggered,

the emotions come back.

You don't want them to.
You don't ask for them.

But you can't stop them.

I believe
it's important

for the survivors
to get together,

so that they can share
their experiences,

know that there are
other people

that went through
the same feelings
that they did.

I mean, I've had
a great life because of this,
in a way.

That makes no sense,

but it's changed me
for the better.

I think I've done better
and had a better life,

because of how
I grew from that.

May this service do honor
to these dear loved ones,

And may it bring
comfort and peace

to we who remain.