All language subtitles for Mayday.S09E03.Pilot.vs.Plane.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264-playWEB_track3_[eng]

It's the first
public demonstration

of the world's most
sophisticated passenger jet.

Okay, you have 100 feet there.
100.

The Airbus A320
is being introduced
to the world.

That introduction
turns into a fatal calamity.
Thirty.

- It can't be!
- Thirty.

It could not possibly
have come at a worse time
for Airbus.

The crash
was a major embarrassment.

There's enormous pressure
on investigators.

If Airbus is to survive,
they must find the answer
to one crucial question:

Was it the pilot,
or was it the plane?

Mayday, mayday.

It's 2:30 in the afternoon
on June the 26th, 1988.

An unusual charter flight
prepares to depart

Basel-Mulhouse Airport
in France,

near the Swiss border.

Anti-ice.
Captain Michel Asseline

is one of Air France's
most distinguished pilots.

On.
Though only 44,

he's the head of pilot training
for the company's newest plane,

the Airbus A320.

It's only the third of its kind
to roll off the assembly line.

Captain Asseline flew
this very aircraft

from the factory in Toulouse
just two days earlier.

I was in charge
of the launching of the 320
in Air France.

The company used me
to promote the aircraft.

Speeches to make.
I was constantly on the...

on the television,
on newspaper.

- Air Charter, 296,
we'd like to roll, please.
- Air Charter, 296...

Asseline's first officer,
Pierre Mazières,

is also a senior
Air France pilot.

He's invited
two off-duty flight attendants

to come along for the ride
on this special flight.

The aircraft is booked
to perform a low-altitude
flyover at a local airshow.

There are 130 people
on board this A320...

...which is unusual
for an airshow
demonstration flight.

They have no luggage.

For some, it's their first time
on an airplane.

There are even children,
like seven-year-old
Mariama Barry,

unaccompanied by their parents.

After the flyover,

they will be taken
on a sightseeing tour
around Mont Blanc,

the highest peak
in Western Europe.

Most got their tickets
as promotional gifts
from a local bank and newspaper.

Jean-Marie Schreiber
is a young reporter covering
the launch of the new plane.

As a journalist,
I was thrilled
to be on the flight,

to have a chance to see how
people reacted inside the plane.

Another journalist aboard,
Jean-Claude Boetsch,

has been busy
recording the event.

As I got on the plane,
I thought: Great,

this is going to be
an unforgettable experience,
and it really was unforgettable.

The A320
is the first civil aircraft
to use fly-by-wire,

a cutting-edge technology that
computerizes flight controls.

The system had previously
mainly been used
by the military.

On the fly-by-wire system,

the pilot essentially flies
the computer,

and the computer flies
the aircraft.

Fly-by-wire alters
the relationship
between pilot and plane.

It gives computers the ability
to override human inputs
to prevent pilot error.

The A320's flight computer
won't let its human operators
do anything

it determines to be dangerous.

Airbus has become
the first civil-aircraft maker
to embrace this technology.

It hopes
this will give it an edge

over its long-time
American rival, Boeing.

In its first
public presentation,

Airbus has a lot on the line.

Okay, tell me what you want
in terms of speed and altitude.

Okay then, takeoff right turn.

We go nice and easy
to find our thing.

We tried to demonstrate
the capability
of this aircraft.

To say we wanted to show off?
Not exactly.

We wanted to make a good job
and were sure
to make a good job.

Once we identify the airfield,
we extend flaps to 3,

we'll do the flyover at 100,

uh... landing gear out.

And you just leave it up to me.
I'll give it Alpha Max.

I've done it 20 times.

Okay.

Captain Asseline is planning
a breathtaking manoeuvre,

a low-altitude nose-high fly-by
at Alpha Max.

This is the slowest a plane
can fly without stalling.

Ladies and gentlemen,

hello and welcome aboard
this Airbus A320,

which was put into service
just two days ago.

We will be shortly taking off
for a short sightseeing flight,

which we'll start
from the Habsheim Flying Club,

and then we'll be flying
around Mont Blanc.

I wish you
a very pleasant flight.

That's done.

ACF 296Q clear for takeoff.

Runway 16.

We're rolling.

Takeoff... go.

Parameters normal.

100.

It's already requesting climb.
You see that?

Yes, that happens.
I know the bug.

V1.

Rotate.

Gear up. Flaps: 1.

After Takeoff checklist
completed.

It's only a five-minute flight
to Habsheim Airfield,

where the airshow is being held.

For this sleepy Alsatian town,
the airshow is the highlight
of the summer.

The airshow drew
more than 5,000 people.

There was significant interest
from the public.

The airfield is so small,

its coordinates aren't stored
in the plane's
navigation database,

so the pilots must find it
by sight.

You're at 8 nautical miles.
You'll soon see it.

There's the highway.

We leave the highway
to the left, don't we?

No, to the right
of the highway.

Uh, it's slightly to the right
of the highway.

There's the airfield!
You've got it, have you?

The pilots have spotted
the airfield late.

They will have to hurry
to descend
to the planned altitude

for the flyover at the airshow.

A crowd is forming
at the runway.

Air Charter 296,
good afternoon.

Habsheim, hello.
We're coming into view
of the airfield for the flyover.

Yes, I can see you.

You're cleared.
The sky is clear.

Gear down.

Okay, we're going in
for low-altitude,
low-speed flyover,

296.

Roger.

2.

Quebec November Hotel,
Habsheim, Fox Echo 984.

Okay.

984. Put in 984.

3.

3.

That's the airfield.
You confirm?

Affirmative.

Flight 296 makes a gentle turn
to line up with the runway.

The pilots must now lose
more altitude and speed

to get into position
for the flyover.

200.

200.

Okay,
you're at 100 feet there.

100.
- Watch it, watch it.

The aircraft is now
at the planned altitude.

For Asseline,
this will be the most delicate
part of the manoeuvre.

He must keep the plane
in a stable position,

with the nose up,
but not too high.

I looked at the ground and said,
"Look, he's not high enough,"

because you could see the grass
right out your window.

Okay, I'm okay there.

Disconnect autothrottle.

He disables one of the plane's
safety features

so that the computer
won't speed up
the slow-moving plane.

Only now,
Captain Asseline sees a danger

that threatens the lives
of everyone on board.

The A320's low-speed flyover
at the Habsheim Airfield

is suddenly not going
according to plan.

There's a forest in the path
of Captain Asseline's plane.

30.
- Takeoff, go-around power!

He selects
the highest thrust setting
and pulls back on the controls,

expecting the aircraft
to pull up.

But the plane keeps dropping.

It can't be!

I started to see
through the window
tree branches.

I was astonished.

You can imagine being
on a trail in a large vehicle,
a bumpy trail,

driving at 80 or 100 kph
and you're shaking
from all sides.

It was like that.
I was saying to myself:

The plane has to stay
in one piece,

because if the plane
stays whole, we'll be okay.

If it breaks up, we're done for.

Oh, no. Oh, no.
Oh, no. Oh, no.

Still full of fuel,
the right wing of the jet
is sheared off.

The fuel ignites
immediately on impact.

Oh!

We stopped very quickly.

And on the ground,
I broke my seat.

Just because I was holding
very firmly, I broke my seat,

and I could see a lot of flames
all over.

There was about 20-metre-high
flames around the cockpit,
smoke coming from everywhere.

The first officer
is badly injured.
- And he has a lot of blood.

And even with a full harness,
he hit something
in front of him.

What the hell have you done?

I don't know.
I don't understand.

There was a moment of silence
when the plane finally stopped.

Incredibly, the fuselage
is still in one piece.

Everyone has survived
the impact.

But they're not
out of danger yet.

So I lean to the right
and I see red flames.

The windows were red.

And I think: We held together,

but we're going
to burn to death.

Then we heard somebody say,

"Get out, get out!
There's a fire!"

Evacuate the aircraft!

Hurry! I'll deal with him.
Come on.

Only two exits
can be used for evacuation.
The rest are engulfed in flames.

But thick branches block
one of the doors,
making evacuation difficult.

In the chaos of the cabin,
some passengers struggle
with their seatbelts.

Marie-Francoise Froesch
is one of the last passengers
to leave her seat.

She comes across Mariama Barry,
who's trapped in her seat.

Mariama Barry,
she was seven, eight.

After the accident,

people pushing toward the exit
pushed on the backs
of the seats,

the backs that folded over her,
and then she was trapped
by her seatbelt.

No one saw her.
She was forgotten.

Let me help you.
Let me help you. Oh!

But it's too late.
- We'll be okay.

Both are overcome by smoke

before they can get
off the plane.

In the cockpit,
Captain Asseline struggles

to get his injured first officer
out of the burning aircraft.

I took him from his seat,
unbelt him, carried,

I don't know how,
and I put him on the slide.

When the passengers,
all of them, the last one,
was out of the plane,

I saw my crew.

They told me: "Captain, Captain,
they are all out."

I couldn't believe it.

But the crew is wrong.

Not all the passengers
have made it out.

Marie-Francoise Froesch,

Mariama Barry
and another young boy are dead.

In addition
to the tragic loss of life,

the accident is a PR disaster
for Airbus.

The crash could not possibly
have come at a worse time
for Airbus.

They were trying out
this new concept,

which they had touted
very widely...

as a new level of safety
for civil flight,

and here's a pilot
going and crashing one.

For those who actually saw
the accident,

and it was broadcast
on the news media
throughout the world

the same evening
that it happened,

there was amazement.

Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no.

The crash
was a major embarrassment.

Investigators from France's
Accident Investigation Bureau

are on the scene of the crash
within hours.

They need to know
why this demonstration flight
ended in disaster.

They recover the plane's
data and voice recorders.

Claude Bechet will head
the investigation.

Was it the pilot,
or was it the plane?

We need to know.

Like the pilots of Flight 296,

he also works for Air France
as an airline captain...

- Let's get to work.
- ...which is unusual
for a state investigator.

At that time,
I was still, uh...

an airline pilot.

And I was in New York
when the accident happened,

and they sent me
a telegram to...

,,,ask me to come back to Paris
as soon as possible.

Apart from the flight recorders,

investigators have
a remarkable piece of evidence
to consider.

A high-quality video
of the accident has been
recorded by a French cameraman.

It was the first time
we had a video of an accident,
you know.

Normally, an accident happens...

in the middle of nowhere.

Nobody is there
with a camera to film it.

The tape clearly shows the plane
flying right at the trees

at the end of the runway.

It doesn't seem
to be climbing at all.

The cockpit voice recorder
offers a confounding clue.

Takeoff, go-around power!

30.

30.

It can't be!

It's clear.

The crew had no idea
there was an obstacle
at the end of the runway.

Investigators are puzzled.

How could a forest
take a pilot by surprise?

Bechet brings Captain Asseline
in for questioning
about the flyover at Habsheim.

They need to know
what his plan was.

My intention was to carry out
a flyover at slow speed.

As a qualified A320 pilot,

Claude Bechet is familiar
with the plane's capabilities.

...over the airstrip
and we go to Alpha Max.

Very good.

He sees nothing wrong
with Captain Asseline's plan.

It was not bad.

Making a slow pass
was well-planned.

And he seemed to me
to be very...

open...

and ready to help to work...

with the investigation
commission.

Investigators turn their attention

to how Air France prepared
the flight crew for the airshow.

They discover a memo
setting out the rules
for all airshow flights.

What draws the attention
of investigators

is the minimum altitude
Air France had selected
for airshow flyovers:

100 feet.

It was in violation
of national regulations.

He should have been
at 500 feet,
as a matter of fact.

But there had, at the time,

a tendency for pilots
who were...

making airshows like that

to go a little bit lower
and sometimes much lower.

Chief investigator Claude Bechet
now wonders

if there were any other mistakes
in the planning of the flight.

He soon learns that Air France's
flight division didn't start

drawing up a flight plan
for the demonstration

until less than 48 hours
before the airshow.

An Air France employee
had prepared maps
of the airfield

for the crew of Flight 296.

Investigators find
a serious problem.

The forest
around Habsheim Airfield

did not show up
on the photocopies.

The employee
who had put together
the flight package

didn't have an opportunity
to discuss it with the crew.

You were using
a navigation chart?

While questioning Asseline,

Bechet discovers that the pilots
were also given little time
to prepare.

- Here's the flight package.
- Thanks.

That's highly unusual
for an airshow.

My co-pilot told me:
"Okay, we make a flight
around Mont Blanc,

and then we have
to make two low pass
over a small airport,

Habsheim.

Told me
there is nothing special.

So for me,
it was a normal flight,
a normal day.

The preparation
had not been complete,

and there had been no briefing
of the crew by the staff.

Investigators then make an intriguing
discovery at the crash site.

They measure the height
of the trees hit by Flight 296.

They discover
the average height of the forest
to be only 40 feet.

This poses an urgent question.

How could an Airbus
that was supposed to be flying
at 100 feet

hit trees
less than half that height?

It is clear to investigators
that Flight 296 fatally deviated
from its original flight plan,

losing altitude
before plunging into a forest.

But only the black-box data
can help them understand
how and why this had happened.

Information from the A320's
flight data recorder

is recovered within hours
of the crash.

The device records information
about 200 aircraft functions.

It paints a detailed picture
of how Flight 296 was operating

in the final minutes
of its journey.

It can't be!

We could reconstruct...

the entire accident.

We could live with the crew...

...as the accident
was happening.

Investigators make
two striking observations
from the data.

The first
is that Flight 296 suffered
no mechanical breakdowns.

The second is that the A320
followed a very different
flight path

than the one
Captain Asseline had planned.

Instead of maintaining
a stable airspeed and altitude,

Flight 296 had slowed down
and lost altitude
as it performed the flyover.

As the A320 crossed
the Habsheim Airfield,

its speed dropped
to only 112 knots.

That's about as slow
as an A320 can fly.

The plane's deceleration
was so dramatic,

it was even visible
on the video.

Michel Asseline was one
of Air France's top pilots.

Claude Bechet is hard-pressed
to understand

how he could've mishandled
such a high-profile flight.

Pressed further,
Asseline explains
how the trouble started.

- You were using
a navigation chart?
- Yes.

We had some difficulty
locating the airfield.

We leave the highway
to the left, don't we?

No, to the right of the highway.

Uh, it's slightly to the right
of the highway.

There's the airfield.
You've got it, have you?

They spotted the airfield
too late.

So when they did,

they reduced the power
and they descended.

So they rushed their descent
in order to get into position

for the flyover.

And they were still
slowing down

when they reached the airfield.

That's the airfield.
You confirm?

Affirmative.

But then,
another problem emerged.

The spectators were lined up
on a different runway

from the one
the crew was heading for.

The crew
of Air France Flight 296

is ill-prepared
for their demonstration flight.

In planning for the airshow,

Air France only provided
the crew with information
for runway 2,

Habsheim's only paved airstrip.

But Captain Asseline sees
the crowds aligned

on a much shorter,
adjacent grass field.

I was expecting
a normal runway.

And at the last moment, I saw
that it was a grass runway.

Captain Asseline
lined up with the grass strip.

I had no idea that at the end
of the runway was a forest.

For me it was bushes only,
or something.

Okay,
you're at 100 feet there.

100.
- Watch it, watch it.

Because they had to rush
their descent,

by the time Flight 296
got to the airfield,
it was flying too fast.

To lose speed,
Captain Asseline kept the thrust
on its lowest power setting,

well below the setting
pilots normally use
for Alpha Max flight.

But another serious problem
was developing.

The aircraft had dropped
below 100 feet
and was continuing to fall.

And the crew
didn't seem to notice.

50.
- I'm okay there.

Disconnect autothrottle.
In a matter of seconds,

the altitude had fallen
to only 30 feet.

What was extremely clear...

is that airplane was flying...

at approximately 30 feet...
above the ground.

Regardless of any other data,

this data
was extremely important.

Takeoff, go-around power!

No airplane of that size,

or of any other size,

should make a flight pass
that low.

The data is clear.
You were 30 feet, not 100.

I believed I was at 100 feet.

Claude Bechet
is still uncertain

how the A320 ended up
so dangerously close
to the ground.

Captain Asseline insists
his instruments failed him.

2.

Quebec November Hotel,
Habsheim, Fox Echo 984.

Okay, 984.

Captain Asseline was relying
on his barometric altimeter.

It uses air pressure
to measure the plane's distance
from the ground.

It had to be set
to local atmospheric pressure
to be accurate.

Quebec November Hotel,
Habsheim, Fox Echo 984.

Okay, 984. Put in 984.

The cockpit recorder
proves that the tower provided
the pressure reading,

and the crew
set their instrument.

But Asseline insists
the altimeter was giving him
a false reading.

I tell you, the altimeter
said the plane was at 100 feet!

Michel Asseline stated...

that the barometric altimeter
was in fact,

to be precise, 67 feet out.

And that is something
that he claims...

uh, led him to be flying
at 30 feet instead of 100 feet.

Investigators are skeptical.

Asseline had more
than one instrument to give him
altitude information.

The A320 has a second altimeter
that uses radio waves

to calculate the plane's
distance from the ground.

That altimeter displays
the altitude
on a digital display.

But Captain Asseline claims
it was difficult to read.

We could not use
the radio altimeter,

because this radio altimeter
is digital,

and nobody can fly
by reading numbers.

I try that later,
in a simulator;
I never succeed to do it.

But the radio altimeter has
another way of alerting pilots.

I'm okay there.
50.

A digital-voice callout.

Disconnect autothrottle.
50.

But Asseline claims
he and his first officer,

Pierre Mazières,
could not hear it.

Some people said,
"But you could've heard
the radio altimeter saying:

'30, 30, 50, 40, 30.' "

No, because at that time,
this aircraft
was very, very noisy.

And we have the headsets.
And we have demonstrated,
at that time,

that the radio-altimeter
warnings, the callouts,

they were not going
through the headset.

Despite Asseline's defence,

investigators are certain
that the crew of Flight 296
mishandled a risky manoeuvre.

Bechet has more questions
for Captain Asseline.

What did you do
when you saw the trees?

I did what any pilot would do.
I tried to climb over them.

Investigators learn
that in the final moments
before the crash...

Takeoff, go-around power!

...Captain Asseline applied
full throttle.

It was when I was waiting
for the engine to spool up

that I realized
in front of me there were trees.

Then I was waiting,
waiting, waiting, waiting.

But he claims
the engines did not respond.

And when they finally kicked in,
it was too late.

I tell you!
The engines did not come on
when I gave it full throttle!

Captain Asseline's testimony
raises a troubling prospect.

If there was a prolonged delay
in engine response,

it could indicate
a critical problem
with the A320's turbojets.

Captain Asseline is convinced
the engines didn't respond
quickly enough

in the final seconds
of the flight.

He makes it his mission
to prove it.

He uncovers an Airbus document
warning of a defect on the A320.

It says the plane's engine speed
could stagnate at low altitude,

a condition caused
by poor airflow.

When this occurs,
the engine cannot accelerate.

But investigators can find
no evidence of such a failure

in any of the data
from the plane.

30.
- Takeoff, go-around power!

In the five seconds
after Captain Asseline applied
full power on the thrust levers,

the A320's twin engines
had begun to spool up.

They reached 84% thrust...

...close to full power,

just before the plane
hit the trees.

When you put from idle
to full power...

...you have the impression
that nothing happens...

...for a few seconds, you know,

and then the power comes.

That was normal,

exactly as predicted
by the certification.

Investigators are
increasingly certain the engines
on Flight 296 didn't fail.

They find a novel way
to verify the data.

Video of the crash picked up
the distinctive sound

of the A320's engines
accelerating.

By studying that sound,

engineers can determine
how much power the engines
were generating

in the final seconds
before the crash.

We were able to compare
the RPM of the engines

from that film...

and from
the flight-data recorder.

There was nothing wrong
with the engines,
any of the two engines.

Why? Why?

Chief investigator Claude Bechet
has a new headache.

Captain Asseline is convinced
there is a conspiracy
against him.

He cuts off all cooperation
with the investigation.

- Very well.
- The investigation committee,

I tried to cooperate with them,
but I began to be suspicious.

In the press each week,
the aircraft is good,

the aircraft has nothing,
pilot error, pilot error,
pilot error.

All that was a big, big,
big cover-up. My opinion.

Captain Asseline
begins a campaign to challenge
the French investigation.

He appears on British television
to make a dramatic assertion.

When I pull the stick
to up position,

the flight controls,
the limiter control
go to down position.

So on any aircraft,
if you ask up...

...following the order
of the pilots,
the limiter control goes to up.

And on that one,
it went to down.

Why?
That will be the good question.

His accusations go to the heart
of doubts about the aircraft:

That Airbus fly-by-wire system
had given the A320's computers
too much control.

Asseline's claim that the plane
didn't follow his instructions

is supported by data
from the plane's
flight recorder.

The black box recorded
every movement

of the pilot's
sidestick controller.

It does show
that seconds before the crash,

Captain Asseline pulled it back
to get the plane's nose up.

Investigators compare it
with what the plane did
in response.

They make
a perplexing discovery.

He's telling the truth.
The elevator moved down.

In the final seconds
before the accident,

the pilots had desperately tried
to pull up.

The sidestick controls
the plane's elevator.

Pulling back on it
should raise the elevator
and pitch the plane upwards.

30.

But that's not what happened
on this flight.

One of the strange things
about the crash flight,

which became apparent
when the...

digital flight recorder
was, uh, analyzed...

...was that during
the last few seconds
prior to contact with the trees,

the pilot was dragging back
on the stick
as hard as he could,

but the...

flight surfaces
were moving into a position
to put the nose down.

Captain Asseline believes
the plane's descent

triggered an automatic response
by the flight computers.

Asseline inadvertently brought
his plane to within 30 feet
of the ground

with his landing gear down
and his flaps extended.

Investigators now wonder
if the plane's computer
determined

that Asseline was landing

and initiated the necessary
steps to accomplish that.

As the plane levelled up
with the airfield,

it overflew a little copse
of trees,

which took the radar altitude

momentarily below 30 feet.

That would've been sufficient

to trigger
the flight-control system
to enter landing mode.

It's possible that,

in spite of what
Captain Asseline was commanding
the plane to do,

the computer brought the plane's
nose down for landing.

Investigators must try
to determine

whether the A320 overrode
its pilot at a critical moment.

They analyze the data
from the flight recorder.

Stop it there.

But to their disappointment...

So was the plane
in landing mode, or not?

...the flight-data recorder
can't confirm if the plane
went into landing mode.

The A320's systems
are so advanced

that the recorder can't track
all of the plane's functions.

Investigator Claude Bechet
comes up with another way
to find out.

He replicates
Asseline's approach
to the Habsheim Airfield

to see how the A320 responds.

Okay, let's start the descent.

Power to flight idle.

Now put it into Alpha Max.

That's it. Gently.

I replayed the accident,

but on the long...

longest runway in Toulouse.

40 feet.

Thirty-five feet.

We replayed the accident
exactly what it was.

Bechet's plan
is to descend to 30 feet,

as Asseline's A320 did.

Now pull up slightly
to level off.

Hold it there.

Bechet wants to see
if the flight computer
puts the plane in landing mode.

Okay, now full thrust.

Did you feel that?

Alpha protection.

The test flight has triggered
a nose-down response

from the plane's computers,

like the crash of Flight 296.

But the plane hadn't gone
into landing mode.

Instead,
the flyover had activated

one of the A320's
main safety features:

Stall protection.

Due to a lack of airflow
over the wings,

flying slowly
in a nose-high position
can cause a plane to lose lift.

The A320's computer
has been programmed

to bring the plane's nose down
when it gets close to stalling.

This means that, in theory,

as long
as the flight-control system
is in operation...

...the pilot cannot stall
the plane.

Bechet concludes
the flight computers
did override

Captain Asseline's command.

But he believes
that by doing so,

it had prevented the plane
from stalling and crashing
just short of the treeline.

That airplane didn't stall
and...

...let's say landed
on the trees.

The investigation
into the crash at Habsheim
is coming to an end.

Claude Bechet prepares
to deliver his verdict.

The conclusion of my report
was that the airplane

was too low...

too slow,

and was not enough power.

As far as Claude Bechet
is concerned,

the report is the final word
on the Habsheim tragedy.

The case, however,
is far from over.

The French justice system
is moving towards a judgment
of Captain Asseline.

He is charged
with involuntary homicide

in the deaths
of three passengers,

and faces the prospect
of a long prison sentence.

But Captain Asseline believes
he has found evidence
that will exonerate him.

He is convinced
there was a conspiracy to tamper
with the plane's black boxes

to conceal problems
with the A320's
fly-by-wire technology.

There has been a cover-up
with some phony recorders.

That's the first point.
The second point:

They have been changing
the content of the recorders.

It all begins,
according to Asseline,
at the crash site.

An employee of France's
Civil Aviation Authority
is photographed

carrying the A320's
flight recorders from the scene.

Those same black boxes
are presented as evidence
at Asseline's trial.

But inexplicably,
they look different.

I had a chance
to see the black boxes
held by the court,

but when I see the state
they're in, they're old boxes,

full of scratches, dusty,
with chipped paint.

I think: Wait, these can't be
the boxes from the crash;

the plane was new;
they're not the right ones.

Captain Asseline hires
a Swiss criminology institute

to compare the two photographs.

Its conclusion:
They're not the same
flight recorders.

Captain Michel Asseline
claims the black-box data

from his flight
has been tampered with.

But Investigator Claude Bechet
rejects the accusations
as outrageous.

They were trying to...

prove that the tapes...

had been tampered with...

...which we could not
understand,

because every recorder expert...

knew that it was physically
impossible.

But there is one expert
who believes

the black boxes are suspicious.

Ray Davis is a former head
of flight-recorder analysis

at Britain's Air Accidents
Investigation Branch.

He has been hired
by British television to review
the French investigators' work.

It was a bit
of an eye-opener in a way,

in that prior to...

reading the report...

...um, I had
a totally different impression

of the possible causes
of this accident.

Whereas when I read the report,

there were so many anomalies
and questions
raised by the report

that my whole attitude towards
the accident changed completely.

Davis discovers evidence
that could vindicate Asseline.

It raises questions about
when the crew applied power

to try to overfly the trees.

30.
- Takeoff, go-around power!

30.

While studying
the black-box data,

Davis comes across
a curious inconsistency.

French investigators
had synchronized the black boxes

with a transcript
of Air Traffic Control
communications.

Davis examines
the last conversation
the pilots had with the tower

before the crash.

It was recorded
by both Air Traffic Control
and the plane's own black box.

Quebec November Hotel,
Habsheim, Fox Echo 984.

Ray Davis discovers
a time discrepancy
between the two recordings,

amounting to a loss
of several seconds.

According to the black-box data,

the aircraft was five seconds
from impact with the trees

when Captain Asseline commanded
full thrust from the engines.

But according to Ray Davis's
analysis,

this actually took place
four seconds earlier.

This four-second gap
dramatically changes
the calculus of the accident.

It's the difference
between a normal delay
in engine response

and a serious malfunction.

Asseline claims that,
on this particular occasion,

the delay was more
than he expected.

And...

...uh, depending upon which side
of the argument
you come down at,

as to whether or not the, uh,

four-second delay
in the digital flight-data
recording was, uh, real or not,

then, you know, uh...

...he's either an idiot,
or you know,

he's... he's right.

The French justice system
does not believe

that Asseline is right.

After multiple appeals,

Michel Asseline is convicted
of involuntary homicide

and sentenced to 10 months
in prison.

Still, the controversy
over the black boxes

and the missing four seconds
lingers on.

It promises to forever cloud
the results of
Claude Bechet's investigation.

The public opinion thought,
probably: Oh, well...

There was so much at stake,
you know.

It was the future of all...

European aviation industry

which was at stake.

So they managed
to tamper the tapes

so they could blame the pilot
and not the airplane.

But this is just impossible.

The investigation
into the Habsheim accident
made several recommendations.

It calls for passengers
to be banned
on all demonstration flights.

It also calls
for better reconnaissance
of airfields by flight crews.

And they want airline procedures
to be reviewed

to ensure they conform
with official regulations
concerning altitude.

Michel Asseline
went on to a career as a teacher
and inventor

in the aviation industry.

He continues to appeal
his conviction,

and has devoted much of his life
to clearing his name.

The tragedy at Habsheim
would have little impact
on Airbus Industrie.

The A320 would go on to become
one of the most successful
commercial aircraft in history,

selling over 750 planes
in its first 10 years.

And fly-by-wire technology
would be safely adopted

by a new generation
of passenger aircraft.

difuze