All language subtitles for Mayday.S09E04.Cleared.for.Disaster.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264-playWEB_track3_[eng]

Sundance 518,
taxi across Runway 24 Left.

Contact Ground,. 65...

February the 1st, 1991.

Los Angeles International
Airport, LAX.

246 heading 270,

contact Los Angeles Departure.

Thank you. USAir 1493,
you're cleared to land, 24 Left.

Cleared to land,
24 Left, 1493.

Travelling at 240 kph,

USAir Flight 1493 descends
towards Runway 24 Left.

What the hell?!

I pointed to the aircraft
and yelled: "USAir's crashing."

The aircraft was fully engulfed
in flames.

But the full scope
of this tragedy is far greater
than anyone can imagine.

Mayday, mayday.

We need more pressure!

At one of the busiest airports
in the world,

a Boeing 737 has just exploded
in flames upon landing.

I think the thought process
in the tower was... It was 1991,

it was one of the first nights
of the first Gulf War,

and I think the thing
that was foremost in our mind

was maybe it was a bomb
that went off in the aircraft.

As firefighters
bring the blaze under control,

rescuers begin searching
for survivors.

About five minutes
after the incident occurred,

we got a call
from an emergency vehicle.

Amid the wreckage,
they have made
an alarming discovery,

one that forces
everyone involved

to re-examine every detail
of the last 15 minutes.

USAir Flight 1493 cruises
towards Los Angeles
International Airport.

LAX is a central hub
for international travellers.

Just confirm
the visual approach
for USAir 1493 is 24 Left.

That's correct,
USAir 1493.

For the approach,
Captain Colin Shaw is managing
radio communications.

First Officer David Kelly
is at the controls.

With 89 passengers on board,

the flight isn't quite full.

Well, I'd been on a business
trip to Columbus, Ohio.

I went
from the business meetings
to Columbus Airport,

and got on a USAir flight
that was nonstop to Los Angeles.

I planned a lot of good things
and good times for that weekend.

USAir 1493,

expedite your descent through
4,000 as much as practical,
if you would.

There will be traffic
pass above you
on the south side.

As the Boeing 737
nears Los Angeles,

the approach controller
tells the pilots
to make a quick descent.

They will need to stay clear
of a flight passing above them.

Okay,
I'll expedite through four.
USAir 1493.

Landing at LAX
can be a challenge for pilots.

The airspace around the airport
is often thick with traffic.

On average, a plane arrives
or departs every 50 seconds.

Each of its four runways
handles both takeoffs
and landings.

Taxiways intersect the runways
at dozens of locations.

The airport can be a maze
of stops and starts

for pilots
following instructions
issued by controllers.

You got the left side
in sight?

Yeah.

We're out of four.

USAir 1493,
thanks for your help.

Contact Los Angeles Tower,
133.9. Good night.

Good night.

Gear down.

- Alright. You gave three bells?
- Yes, I did.

Perched 12 storeys
above the ground,

tower controllers have
a hawk's eye view of traffic

coming and going
from the airport.

It was a busy night,
there was a lot of airplanes.

We had numerous arrivals
and departures, uh,
during that time of the night.

So it was a typical day.

Elliot Brann is the clearance
delivery controller.

The primary duties
of the clearance delivery
controller

is issuing the routes of flight
and the flight plans
to the pilots

as they come out
of the computer.

A flight strip is printed out,
so you get a piece of paper
with the call sign,

type of aircraft,
route of flight.

I issue the clearance
to the pilot and then...

I pass the strips,
the flight information,
to the next controller.

Brann shares flight information
with four other controllers.

Two ground controllers,
who handle planes moving between
the gates and the runways;

and two local controllers,
who are responsible for planes
taking off and landing.

Tonight,
local controller Robin Wascher

is overseeing
the two north runways at LAX:

24 Left and 24 Right.

She uses the flight strips
to keep track of flights
departing and arriving.

USAir 23,
taxi into position and hold,
Runway 24 Left.

Position and hold,
24 Left, USAir 23.

4974 Zero Echo.

- 246, you still holding short
of 47?
- 246. Affirmative.

Alright, you're next.

SkyWest 569,
taxi up and hold short
of Runway 24 Left.

Roger. Hold short.

2785.

Good night, ma'am.

USAir Flight 1493
is about 13 kilometres from LAX.

The pilots configure their plane
for landing.

Speed brakes.
♪ Still workin' for a livin' ♪

Alright.

Flaps a-goin': 1.

Flaps.

Now the pilots radio
the LAX tower
for landing instructions.

USAir 1493... inside Roman.

Wings 5006,
Ground, uh, Tower.

Robin Wascher
is busy with other planes.

She doesn't respond
to their radio call.

SkyWest 569,
taxi into position and hold,
Runway 24 Left.

Traffic will cross downfield.

Okay, 24 Left,
position and hold. SkyWest 569.

Wings West 5006, Tower.

Nav 2166... approach, 164.5.

Thirty.

Green light. Detent.

Gear. Flaps.

Landing clearance remains.

Just six kilometres
from the airport,

the USAir jet still doesn't have
the okay to land.

Sundance 518,
taxi across Runway 24 Left.

Contact Ground,. 65,
when you're off the runway.
Good night.

Captain Shaw contacts the tower
for the second time

in less than a minute.

He needs Wascher's permission
to land.

USAir 1493 for the left side,

24 Left.

246 heading 270,
contact Los Angeles Departure.
Good night.

But she's still
focused on other planes.

Out of 1,000 feet.

Flight 1493 is now one minute
from the runway.

It's what pilots call
"short final."

Sometimes due to other
priorities that take place,

an aircraft might not get
a landing clearance
until short final.

Thank you, USAir 1493,
you're cleared to land,

24 Left.
- Cleared to land,

24 Left, 1493.

Looks real good.

Ah...

You're coming out of 500.

What the hell?!

The USAir 737
has barely touched down.

It erupts in flames and crashes

through Los Angeles
International Airport.

I saw USAir touch down
and as he got about mid...

about third-way down
the runway at taxiway 45,

the aircraft was fully engulfed
in flames.

The supervisor ran past me
to pick up the crash phone

and alert the emergency vehicles
to respond.

Aboard the flight,
sheer terror.

There was a tremendous, uh,
crunching sensation.

And there was this
extraordinary shower of sparks

that shot by my window.

Good God.

Rosa Reynoso
is a plainclothes officer
with the Airport Police.

We see the aircraft
engulfed in fire.

My partner and I were probably
about 500 yards from it.

Alert 33, Runway 24L.

Affirmative. Alert 33.

The initial moments
were very scary,

um, very chaotic.

I remember just thinking
to myself: Oh, God,

please get some more people
out here.

Get me fire, get me officers,
get me somebody,

'cause this is not good.

In the tower,
there's no time to dwell
on what's happened.

Other aircraft
are still coming in to land.

Controllers must direct them
to safety.

Wings West 5212,

wind 240 at 8.

You are cleared to land,

Runway 24 Right.

Use caution.

We just had an aircraft
go off the runway in flames.

The cabin of Flight 1493
is filling with toxic smoke.

Some passengers rush to a door
at the rear of the plane.

I probably got seven
or eight rows down the aisle,
and, uh,

and then I encountered a cluster
of passengers standing in the...

in the aisle, not moving.

I thought to myself:

There must be an opening
in the front of the plane

that allowed
for this tremendous quantity
of smoke

to roll into the plane
so quickly.

And so I stumbled forward
to the... the cockpit area,

and there was tremendous fire
on both sides of the plane.

I said to myself: My gosh,

there's no way you're gonna get
out of this airplane, David;
you're trapped.

Outside,
some have escaped the plane.

Rosa Reynoso is the first
emergency responder
to arrive at the scene.

The fire was intense,
uh, it was very, very hot.

I mean, almost singeing us.

She needs to act fast

to help passengers away
from the burning wreckage.

The passengers were trying
to escape the plane, uh,
from the emergency-exit doors.

However, the fire had engulfed
the doors,

so some of the people
that were fine

jumped out of the plane
and into the fire.

More emergency personnel arrive
within minutes.

Most passengers are jumping
out of that door.

Some people were on fire.

Some of them were scratched,
cut up.

Some of them had broken legs.

It was pretty traumatic.

And I think you just start
operating on knowing
you have to do the right thing

and try and save these people.

David Koch is still inside.

I suddenly saw
a crack of light.

And my god...
it was a miracle.

The crack opened up,

and I suddenly realized

that I had opened
the galley door.

But now he faces another hurdle.

He can't even see the ground
through the fire and smoke.

And I said to myself:

What the hell.
And jumped out.

I landed on the ground,

and then started crawling
on my hands and knees

away from the airplane.

I had a great sense of guilt.

Why did I not go back
into the airplane
and say "follow me"?

And I think if I'd gone back
into the cabin,

I might've passed out and fallen
on the floor and died.

And that's how I've come
to terms with the fact that, uh,

I... I got out, but didn't help
anybody else out.

As the search
for survivors continues,

firefighters make
a stunning find.

This is Rescue 1.
We've got a propeller down here
in the wreckage.

The discovery of a propeller
has horrifying implications.

There's two planes down here.

As soon as we found out
that information,
we started actively...

looking to see,
uh, what aircraft, if any,
were missing.

So we started looking
at the flight strips
that were already departed,

and then we looked at the ones
that were still pending.

And then we called
the Departure Control,
radar controller,

to find out which ones
they've talked to in the last
five, six minutes.

What about SkyWest 5569?

No, we haven't heard
from them.

SkyWest 5569,
taxi into position, hold,
Runway 24 Left.

Okay, 24 Left,
position and hold.

SkyWest 569.

Staff can account
for all of the aircraft
except for SkyWest 5569,

a Fairchild Metroliner bound
for Palmdale, California.

Emergency personnel find parts
of the smaller plane
strewn across Runway 24 Left.

There were 20 people
on board the flight.

None have survived.

What's left of their plane
is crushed between USAir 1493...

...and an abandoned building
near the runway.

My first thought was:
Oh, my God...

there's someone else
under there,
and we didn't even realize it.

There's even more loss of life
on board the larger plane.

Twenty are dead.
Two others are mortally wounded.

First Officer Kelly
has survived,

but Captain Shaw has not.

The disaster thrusts LAX
into the media spotlight.

America's runways,
according to the nation's
pilots:

The most dangerous part
of the flight.

In the months and years
leading up to the crash,

increasing traffic
was becoming a safety concern

at Los Angeles
International Airport.

The most close calls:
Los Angeles
International Airport.

Thirty-three near-collisions
over the last four years.

That's one
every month and a half.

The accident confirms safety
issues need to be addressed.

The National Transportation
Safety Board sends its Go Team
to LAX to investigate.

It was kind
of a horrific scene.

The front end of the airplane
was, uh,

was impaled on the captain's
side against the building.

And with close inspection,

we could see parts
of another aircraft underneath.

Investigators can
see that the two planes collided

at an intersection
on Runway 24 Left.

The scenario of the accident,
uh...

resulted in two planes
being on the runway
at the same time.

The runway was occupied.

And that's something
that should never happen

when a landing clearance
is granted.

Reducing collisions
on U.S. runways is a priority
for investigators from the NTSB.

We had runway incursions
on the Most Wanted List
from 1990,

here at the Safety Board,

and it's a major concern
for, uh...

the whole industry.

A runway incursion is simply
when an inappropriate object

is out on a runway
that's gonna be used
for a takeoff or landing.

Some of the world's
worst airline disasters
have taken place on runways.

In March 1977,

on the island of Tenerife,

583 people died
when two Boeing 747s collided
on the runway.

In January 1990,

a Beechcraft King Air 100
was struck by a Boeing 727
attempting to land in Atlanta.

Later that year in Detroit,

another Boeing 727 smashed
straight into a DC-9
carrying 44 people.

Runway incursions, uh...

...occur due to some failure
in the existing system.

Something has happened.

Some directive
has not been followed,

some inattention is present
in the scenario
of a runway incursion.

Which one of these planes
was cleared for 24 Left?

Investigators need to find out
why there were two planes

on Runway 24 Left
at the same time.

One of the principal
objectives was to, uh,

immediately see
if we could find out
what error had taken place

that would allow
that situation to occur.

Part of that answer
may lie in the wreckage.

But 24 hours after the crash,
the investigation
is at a near standstill.

There's too much fuel
on board the 737.

Crawling through the wreckage
would be dangerous.

The aircraft had, uh,

about, uh...

6,000 pounds,

maybe 1,000 gallons of fuel
on board.

How long is this going to take?

The, uh, the Saturday was spent
defueling the aircraft,

and that's a very slow process.

That took almost all day, uh,
before, uh...

the fire department
could declare that the, uh,
the scene was safe.

With airplane parts
littering the airport,

LAX is running at half-capacity.

Two of the four runways
are shut down.

That's causing chaos
for travellers.

When the NTSB team finally gets
access to the wreckage,

they're under enormous pressure
to act quickly.

They must gather
all the information they need

so the airport
can be fully reopened.

Their investigation
has a dual purpose.

They must figure out
what caused the collision.

They also want to know
why so many passengers
got trapped

and died
in the burning aircraft.

We're not sure what went on,
we don't have a recording of it,
but, uh,

there were some altercations
with people trying to get ahead
of other people.

Making matters worse,

one of the emergency-exit doors
is inside the plane,

partially blocking the exit.

If you follow the instructions
on the card,

the exit card, it will tell you
to throw that exit out.

This did not take place,
so the right over-the-wing exit

was, uh,
I would say partially obstructed
by that large hatch.

The NTSB concludes
that a reduced number
of exit doors

made it impossible for many
of the passengers to escape.

With no way out,

they were overcome
by toxic smoke
as it filled the cabin.

While some investigators analyze
wreckage at the crash site,

others focus
on Air Traffic Control.

Well, first and foremost,
we look at the communications.

Then we also look
at the procedures
within the facility,

and how those were applied,
and were they indeed followed?

To learn more,

the NTSB collects the audiotapes
of the controllers'
communications with the planes.

Investigators wonder
what instructions were given
to the pilots

in the moments leading up
to the crash.

They also want to know
what the flight crews
were saying

during those crucial seconds.

Did the pilots follow
their instructions?

The cockpit voice recorders
should provide investigators
with the answer.

But then,
Bob McIntosh gets some bad news
about the SkyWest Metroliner.

No voice recorder?

Great.

We recognized, looking
at the onboard equipment,

that SkyWest 569 did not have
a CVR flight recorder installed.

And that was disappointing
to us.

At the time of the crash,

commuter planes
were not required to carry
cockpit voice recorders.

This means the only SkyWest
conversations caught on tape

are radio communications
recorded in the control tower.

Okay, 24 Left,
position and hold,

SkyWest 569.

The two cockpit crew members
would have exchanged words,

would've been listening
to the air-traffic information

that was coming
into their cockpit all the time.

And we recognized
that was a valuable piece
of data that we had lost.

Using the Air Traffic Control
tapes and just one CVR,

investigators try to find out
which of the two aircraft
in the collision

was actually cleared
to use Runway 24 Left.

The answer will raise
alarming questions
about the safety

of all passengers
flying to and from LAX.

246 East,
holding short of 47.

The investigation
into the deadly collision
on Runway 24 Left

focuses on Robin Wascher's conversations
with the two planes involved.

Investigators begin
with the smaller plane.

Minutes before the accident,

the pilots of the Metroliner
waited for permission
to take off.

SkyWest 569,

taxi into position and hold,
Runway 24 Left.

Traffic will be crossing
downfield.

We use the tapes
to try to visualize,
like a local controller would,

where the aircraft would be
on the runway.

The pilots
of the SkyWest Metroliner turned
their plane onto the runway

and stopped at intersection 45.

They had to wait
for another plane
to cross the runway downfield.

Okay, 24 Left,
position and hold.
SkyWest 569.

Okay, stop it right there.

From the Air Traffic
Control tapes,

the NTSB can tell
that the pilots
of the Metroliner

followed all their instructions
correctly.

Alright, let's keep going.

Responsibility for the accident
must lie elsewhere.

Investigators probe the tapes
further.

They look
at Wascher's communications
with the USAir pilots.

USAir 1493,

for the left side, 24 Left.

Thank you, USAir 1493.
You're cleared to land, 24 Left.

USAir 1493 was cleared to land

on the same runway
during the time

that SkyWest 5569
was still sitting in position
on that same runway.

Cleared to land, 24 Left,

1493.

SkyWest 569,
right at intersection 45.

- How long's it been there?
- Uh...

One minute... seven seconds.

The Air Traffic
Control tapes reveal

that Robin Wascher instructed
both the SkyWest Metroliner
and the USAir flight

to use Runway 24 Left
at the same time.

...contact Ground,

...65, when you're...

What the hell?!

When we're examining
the recorded voice
communications,

what we try to do...

is to put ourselves
in the position
of the controller.

What would she have seen?
What would she have heard?

What would she have done?

Investigators need to know
what Robin Wascher was doing

at the time of the crash.

They look at the other flights
that she had under her control.

Wings West 5006,
taxi across Runway 24 Left.

They learn that in the moments
before the collision,

Wascher began to lose track
of some of those flights.

- Is that for Philippine 102?
- No, sir. Hold short.

Wings West 5006,
taxi across Runway 24 Left.

Wings West 5006...

...was an aircraft
that was on the north side
of Runway 24 Left...

...who wanted to cross
to the south side.

Wings West 5006,
Ground, uh, Tower.

And when she was ready
to cross the aircraft,

the crew did not respond.

Wascher spent
nearly a full minute of her time

trying to re-establish
radio contact with the flight
crossing the runway.

Can I hear the rest
of that exchange?

Wings West 5006
on frequency again.

Changed radios.
Sorry about that.

They advised her
they had inadvertently been
on another frequency.

5006, you're back with me.

Yeah, we didn't mean
to switch radios.
We're on now.

And that created a distraction
for the local controller.

Okay, I thought I lost you.

Sorry. We thought we lost you.
We apologize.

Not a problem.

But investigators
discover that flight
wasn't the only aircraft

Robin Wascher was fixated on
in the moments before the crash.

Tower, Wings West 5072
is ready for takeoff.

Wings West 5072?

With USAir 1493 less
than a minute from touchdown,

Wascher hears from another
Wings West aircraft,
Flight 5072.

When Wings West 5702 called
to say that he was ready
for departure,

it was obvious to us
that she didn't understand
who this aircraft was.

Wings West 5072,
are you at 47 or full length?

- We're at full length.
- Okay, hold short.

Roger. Holding short.

Investigators need to hear
from Wascher herself.

I couldn't find
the flight-progress strip.

They hope to learn
why she didn't recognize

a flight
that was under her control.

I couldn't find the strip,
so I asked my supervisor
to help me.

Francita?

I need a strip
for Wings West 5072.

She explains that as the pilots
of the Metroliner

waited on the runway
for permission to take off,

she was searching for another
flight's progress strip.

Before she could get
back on track,

USAir Flight 1493 crashed
into the back of the Metroliner.

What the hell?!

NTSB investigators now know

that human error
played a major role
in the collision at LAX.

Remarkably, when she cleared
the USAir flight to land,

Robin Wascher simply forgot
about the Metroliner
waiting on the runway.

This situation that occurred

is a situation
that no controller wants
to go through.

You train your whole career
for this not to happen,

and when it does happen,
it's...

you can't even describe
the feelings
that you go through.

A situation like this...

could potentially happen
to anybody.

We are all human.

After the accident,
Wascher left her job at LAX,

and never worked as
an air-traffic controller again.

But investigators believe
there are likely more causes
to this accident

than one person's fatal error.

Any time that you do
an investigation,

it's easy to point the blame
at one individual.

What you want to do is to say:

"Why did this occur,

and what can we do
to prevent a reoccurrence?"

Answers to those questions
begin to emerge

as the NTSB examines
the daily routine
in the control tower

in the weeks
before the accident.

It was one of those "you don't
know you have a problem
until you have a problem."

It turns out another disaster
was narrowly averted

seven months
before the collision.

A landing DC-10
flew just over an Airbus
waiting on the runway

to take off at LAX.

Los Angeles Airport
has always been known

as one of the number-one
runway-incursion airports
in the system,

and changes were overdue.

Controllers at LAX
produced documentation

showing that immediately
after that close call,

they alerted officials
that the control tower
was understaffed.

They also explained that regions
around the northern runways
were invisible to controllers,

because their view was blocked
by a light tower.

We went up in the tower,
climbed the stairs,

and asked
the air-traffic controllers
to step aside

while we sat in their chairs
and looked out the window.

The view that the, uh,
air-traffic controller
was presented with had...

an obstruction,

a light pole that, uh,
produced a... a glare.

And it was a light that lit up
the airport ramp.

Robin Wascher
may not have been able to see
the SkyWest Metroliner

as it sat out on the runway.

NTSB investigators look
at other tools

she could've used to detect
the forgotten plane.

Surface radar is generally
used during periods
of low visibility.

It is a tool
by which the local controller,

should they so choose,

be able to visually confirm
on that scope

that an aircraft
is indeed where it says it is.

Ground radar displays
all aircraft and ground vehicles

moving around the airport.

But on the night
of the accident,
that system wasn't working.

You're holding short.
Is that correct, sir?

Yes, ma'am,
we're holding short.

It was in constant, uh,
out-of-service, in-service,
out-of-service, in-service,

and gave the management, uh,
a lot of trouble.

The system
was not very reliable
and we did lodge complaints

to have it fixed
and to upgrade the system
as soon as we could.

Investigators learn
that just four days
before the accident,

officials at LAX
had formally asked the FAA

to treat
the failing ground radar
with the highest priority.

The radar drive
and some of the drive mechanism

had some rings gears
and spur gears

that they had to
go to machine shops
and literally make that part,

because it would wear out
on a regular basis,

trying to rotate the antenna.

We looked
into this particular problem

and learned that Los Angeles
had been slated to receive
a new system in 1988.

However, that date had slipped,

and at that time,

they were not sure
when they were going to get
a new radar system.

With the ground-radar system
out of commission,

and with her view of the runway
impeded by blinding lights,

Robin Wascher's chances
of discovering her error
were slim.

Investigators turn
their attention to the cockpit
of the USAir flight.

They wonder why the pilots
didn't see the Metroliner
out on the runway

and abort their landing.

Well, most of us
in the pilot community
would recognize

that it's our job
to scan that runway
and find aircraft

that might be out there
or anything else prior
to landing.

Like all planes,
the Metroliner is equipped
with lights

to make it more visible
at night.

There are strobe lights
on the wingtips and the tail,

navigation lights on the wings

and a coloured
anti-collision beacon on top
of the vertical stabilizer.

We were concerned
about the SkyWest lighting,

and had to look
at the flight-operations manual.

And we found
that the operating procedure
for that company

was to turn on the strobe lights
only after clearance
for takeoff.

So no other lights
were required?

Okay, thank you.

The Metroliner
wasn't yet cleared for takeoff.

So the only lights
that would've been lit
while it waited on the runway

were the navigation lights
on the wings and tail,

and the anti-collision beacon
on the tail.

NTSB investigators
then use a helicopter

to put themselves
in the position
of the USAir pilots

as they were making the approach
to Runway 24 Left.

We went up
and we actually flew
that final approach

in order to verify what we, uh,

what we thought might be
the condition of obscuration.

They positioned a Metroliner
on the runway

in the same spot
where the collision occurred.

And sure enough,
we could not see that, uh,

that aircraft parked out there
at spot 45 and 47.

You just couldn't see it.

Looks real good.

Ah...

The investigation determines
the lights on the Metroliner

were the same colour
and brightness
as the runway lights.

The plane may have been
all but invisible
to the pilots of USAir 1493.

You're coming out of 500.

The anti-collision beacon
in particular

would've been lost
in a sea of lights.

When the National
Transportation Safety Board
releases its report,

controller error is determined
to be a cause
of the runway collision.

We're in the business
of determining, uh,

why something happened.

You may call it a cause
or causes
or contributing factors,

but our job ends
when the next accident
is prevented.

Preventing accidents
on the runways of LAX

would prove to be
a much greater challenge

than investigators
could imagine.

The collision
between USAir Flight 1493
and a SkyWest Metroliner

alarms the public.

The accident seems to prove
that controllers
cannot safely handle

the increasing traffic
at Los Angeles
International Airport.

The NTSB investigation points
to Robin Wascher's failure
to maintain awareness

of the flights under her control
as one cause of the accident.

But the report also points
to a failing system

in the Air Traffic Control
facilities at LAX.

In the months and years
following the accident,

improvements are made
to air-traffic facilities

in an attempt to make
the airport a safer place.

The failing ground-radar system
is finally replaced
with a newer model.

Today, at Los Angeles Tower,
we have the newest system
out there.

Each arrival or departure
taxiing on the taxiways
or on the runways

have a call sign and type
aircraft associated with it,

so you have positive
identification of all aircraft
at all times.

New policies
governing the way
flight-progress strips

are handled in the tower
are put in place.

Ground controllers
now organize the strips

before they make their way
to the local controller.

The extra set of eyes reduces
the local controller's workload.

Five years after the crash,
a new Air Traffic Control tower
is built at LAX.

The tower is 16 storeys higher,
three times larger,

and offers controllers clear,
unobstructed sightlines.

New regulations
concerning aircraft lighting
are also put in place.

It becomes mandatory for pilots
to turn on all their lights

before they move out
onto a runway.

But despite the improvements,

the rate of runway incursions
at LAX only goes up.

Throughout the '90s
and even into the 2000s...

...I would describe it
as a common event.

LAX certainly was one
of the worst airports we had

for a number of incursions.

Ten years after the accident,

more serious runway incursions
were happening at LAX

than at any other airport
in the United States.

They had double-digit
runway incursions

and serious runway incursions
almost every year.

And, in fact, in 2007,

they actually had
21 runway incursions.

In an attempt
to reduce the problem
once and for all,

the Federal Aviation
Administration begins work
on a new system of runway lights

to keep planes apart
on the ground.

The Runway Status Light System
is a series of...

runway-entrance lighting
that we put at taxiways,

or takeoff hold lighting
that we actually put
on the runway itself.

The system is fully automatic.

It uses a series of red lights
embedded in the runways
and taxiways.

The lights warn pilots
if there is conflicting traffic.

If the runway status lights
illuminate red,

it tells a pilot
that it is unsafe,
or a vehicle driver,

that it is unsafe to either
cross or enter that runway.

And it triggers
because there is an aircraft
landing or departing,

there's some other traffic
on the runway.

The runway status lights seems
to be one of the most effective
systems we have

for preventing runway incursions

and certainly
the serious runway incursions.

In April 2009,

the technology was installed
at Los Angeles
International Airport.

Prototypes of the system
have also been installed

at Dallas-Fort Worth
and San Diego.

By 2011, runway status lights
will be a key feature

at dozens of airports
across the United States.

The equipment we're using
at Los Angeles Tower today

is much better
than the equipment we used
back in 1991.

It's been upgraded,
it's much more reliable,

and it gives the controllers
the tools they need

to make sure
that the runways are clear
and to keep the aircraft moving.

Though new technology
can never guarantee 100% safety,

the improvements at LAX
have restored public confidence
in the airport,

even among those who survived
Flight 1493.

I spent a couple of days
in intensive care
at the local hospital and...

I had nightmares, by the way,

following, uh, uh...

my release from the hospital
for quite a number of days.

Uh, but I'm doing fine now.
I have no problem, uh,

with getting on airplanes
and flying,

and I've got great confidence
in the airline system.

difuze