All language subtitles for Air.Disasters.S18E16.Deadly.Crossroads.1080p.SMIT.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-maldini_track3_[eng]

FLIGHT ATTENDANT:
Ladies and gentlemen,

we are starting our approach.

PILOT: We lost both engines.

[radio chatter]

PILOT: Mayday.

Mayday.

FLIGHT ATTENDANT:
Brace for impact!

[screaming]

MAN: He's gonna crash!

[ominous music]

NARRATOR: July
2002, over Germany,

the middle of the night--

What is it?

NARRATOR: A Russian plane is
taking children on holiday

to Spain.

But the pilots
can't believe what

they see heading toward them.

Get an eye on it!

[beeping]

Increase climb.

Climb, he said!

Climb!

Ah!

Climb!

[screaming]

NARRATOR: It's among
the most poignant air

disasters of recent times.

How could two planes collide
over one of the most closely

regulated areas in the world?

Bravo Tango Charlie.

NARRATOR: Faulty
technology or human error?

Oh!

[somber music]

NARRATOR: June 2002, the city
of Ufa in Western Russia.

Ufa is populated by both
Christians and Muslims.

This year, its most
outstanding teenagers

have been chosen
to go on a two week

vacation, organized by UNESCO,
near Barcelona in Spain.

They are among the
most clever, athletic,

or artistic children of Ufa.

Kiril Degtaryev is a
14-year-old prodigy.

He's been painting since
he was four years old,

and has already had
two public exhibitions.

He's halfway through
his new work.

[speaking russian]

INTERPRETER: He was
very good at painting.

He felt colors.

He received good reviews.

He just graduated
from grade nine.

He needed some rest, and
it was a good opportunity

for a summer holiday.

[somber music]

NARRATOR: Elena Khannanova
is a 12-year-old

who has won several
gymnastics competitions.

[speaking russian]

INTERPRETER: We were
very glad for her

because indeed very
smart and very talented

children were flying there--

all extraordinary children in
terms of their personalities.

She studied very well and
she got only excellent marks.

[somber music]

NARRATOR: The 46
children from Ufa,

accompanied by a few teachers,
leave on a train to Moscow.

There they're due to catch
their flight to Barcelona.

But in Moscow, things
start to go wrong.

The tourist agency
accidentally takes

the children to
the wrong airport,

so they miss their plane.

They're terribly disappointed.

While the agency tries
to sort out the mess,

the children go sightseeing
in the Russian capital.

It takes two days to
charter another jet,

but finally they're on
their way to Barcelona.

On July 1, 2002, the
children from Ufa

aboard their plane
at a Moscow airport.

The Kaloyevs are not
part of the school group.

They're going on
a holiday to meet

their father, who's an
architect and is finishing

a project near Barcelona.

No fewer than five Russians
are flying this plane.

The captain is
Alexander Gross, who's

been a pilot for over 30 years.

[speaking russian]

INTERPRETER: Alexander had a
good theoretical knowledge.

He was very smart.

NARRATOR: Today the first
officer is Oleg Grigoriev.

But, actually, Grivoriev is
the airline's chief pilot.

On this trip,
he'll be evaluating

Captain Gross's flying.

[speaking russian]

INTERPRETER: If you
did something wrong,

some captains would
criticize you very rudely.

Others would be very
formal and polite.

But Oleg Grigoriev would
express his disapproval

in a gesture, like that, meaning
why on Earth did you do that.

NARRATOR: Captain
Gross is in command,

but Captain Grigoriev
is his superior.

In case of emergency, who
will really be in charge?

Seated in the left rear
is Murat Itkulov, normally

the first officer, but who
is not officially on duty

because Grigoriev
is in his seat.

Nevertheless, since he'll
soon be promoted to captain,

his opinions are considered.

[speaking russian]

INTERPRETER: Murat was a
very professional pilot.

He loved to fly.

Murat was interested in
the new stuff in aviation

and always kept up
to date on the most

progressive things brought in.

NARRATOR: Also on
the flight deck

are an experienced navigator
and a flight engineer.

Just before 11:00 that evening,
Bashkirian Airlines Flight 2937

leaves Moscow.

The plane is a Tupolev 154.

Like most modern
aircraft, it carries

collision avoidance equipment
called TCAS or traffic

collision avoidance system.

AUTOMATED VOICE: Descend.

Descend.

Descend.

NARRATOR: TCAS works because
all commercial aircraft carry

a transponder, which
sends a constant stream

of radio signals identifying
them and saying where they are.

TCAS listens in and calculates
whether any of the planes

is on a collision course.

If they are, it will tell
the pilot what action

to take to avoid collision.

AUTOMATED VOICE: Descend.

Descend.

NARRATOR: If air traffic control
should ever let them down,

TCAS will be their
last line of defense.

AUTOMATED VOICE:
Clear of conflict.

NARRATOR: Hundreds of miles
away, in Bergamo, Italy,

a Boeing 757 is
getting under way.

It's flying for DHL, the
international freight company,

and is heading for
their European base

at Brussels, in Belgium.

The Russian Tupolev will cross
its path over Southern Germany.

The Boeing has only
two people aboard--

Captain Paul Phillips,
who's British,

and First Officer
Brant Campioni,

who's Canadian and due to fly
the next leg of the journey.

The DHL takes off at 6
minutes past 11:00 on what

will be its last journey.

[somber music]

10 to 8:00 at the
Skyguide Area Control

Center in Zurich, Switzerland.

The busy day shift has
ended, and the night

shift is reporting for work.

Peter Nielsen is an
experienced controller.

He's been doing this
job for eight years.

The center regulates air
traffic in Southern Germany, as

well as northern Switzerland.

Tonight there are only
two controllers on duty.

But the traffic in
their sector is light,

and Nielsen's colleague decides
to take a lengthy break--

a common practice at Skyguide.

Peter Nielsen is now
responsible for all air

traffic on two radar screens
which sit several feet apart.

At 10 past 11:00, two
technicians arrive.

They inform Peter that
Skyguide Management

has authorized them to
carry out maintenance

work on the main radar.

While they do so, the screens
will work much more slowly

and will give no visual 2-minute
warning if planes are getting

too close to each other.

Tie into 933.

[non-english speech]

Bavarian 350, descend
flight level 270.

NARRATOR: The engineers
now tell Peter

Nielsen they have to shut down
the telephone system, as well.

They switch over to
the standby phones.

No one realizes it yet,
but the seeds of disaster

have been sown.

[somber music]

NARRATOR: The
Russian plane filled

with schoolchildren is
now over Central Germany

and flying toward Switzerland.

Captain Grivoriev
gets final clearance

from the last German
control center

before they cross
South into Switzerland.

128.05, Bravo
Tango Charlie 2937.

Goodbye.

NARRATOR: The German
controller hands

over the Russian plane
to Skyguide, where

Peter Nielsen is at the helm.

Meanwhile, the DHL plane is
climbing north over the Alps

and is now entering
Swiss airspace.

Zurich radar, good evening.

Dilmun 611.

I'm climbing flight
level 260 direct ABC.

NARRATOR: Captain Paul Phillips
of the DHL requests clearance

to climb to a higher altitude.

The thinner air there will
mean less air resistance,

and will save fuel.

Roger.

Climb flight level 320.

Direct Tango Golf
Oscar and requesting

360, thanks, if it's available.

Dilmun 611, climb
flight level 360.

NARRATOR: The DHL
reaches flight level

360, or 36,000 feet, the same
altitude as the Russian plane.

And they're on a
collision course.

But they're many miles apart.

So far, no danger.

[ominous music]

Now the assistant gives Peter
Nielsen a new flight strip--

an Airbus, Aero
Lloyd flight 1135

is flying to the airport
of Friedrichshafen, nearby.

It's going to increase
Peter's workload dramatically

over the next five minutes,
and have him switching

from one screen to another.

Peter tries to dial the
airport control tower

at Friedrichshafen
to discuss handing

over the Aero Lloyd flight to
them, but the line is dead.

[ominous music]

He tries a second time.

The phones aren't working.

AERO LLOYD PILOT (ON
RADIO): [non-english speech]

NARRATOR: The Aero
Lloyd pilot is trying

to make contact with Peter.

He has to leave the
Russian pilots unattended.

ACTOR AS OLEG PAVLOVICH
(ON RADIO): Good evening.

Bravo Tango Charlie.

NARRATOR: But the Russian
pilot is also calling him

on the other screen.

Aero Lloyd 1135, Roger.

Call you back.

Station calling.

Say again, please.

Zurich, good evening.

Bravo Tango Charlie
2937, level 360.

Bravo Tango Charlie
2937, squad 7520.

AERO LLOYD PILOT (ON
RADIO): [non-english speech]

NARRATOR: The Aero
Lloyd is calling again.

Yeah.

Expect so.

Call you back shortly.

[radio chatter]

NARRATOR: Now another
plane needs him,

a Thai Airways
flight heading north.

Thai, enter 933.

Contact now on Munich 132.140.

Goodbye.

[radio chatter]

NARRATOR: Air traffic
controllers are used

to handling tricky situations.

But tonight Peter's equipment
isn't working properly,

and he's controlling two
screens at the same time.

Normally, his radar would warn
of any impending collision.

What he doesn't know is that
tonight it's out of action.

Correct.

What is your present heading?

AERO LLOYD PILOT (ON RADIO):
Present heading is 265.

Roger.

Right turn, heading
280, vector ILS 24.

AERO LLOYD PILOT
(ON RADIO): Right.

Heading 280 for two
expect us 24, Aero Lloyd.

NARRATOR: Peter wants
to get this Aero

Lloyd flight off his hands.

He tries dialing
the public number

for the Friedrichshafen control
tower for the third time.

AUTOMATED VOICE (ON PHONE):
[non-english speech]

[ominous music]

[phone dialing]

NARRATOR: Meanwhile, the Russian
airliner and the DHL plane

are still heading
towards each other

at a closing speed of
over 800 miles an hour.

Neither crew is
aware that they are

only 2 and 1/2 minutes apart.

[suspenseful music]

The DHL plane is now approaching
the Swiss border with Germany.

The Russian Tupolev is heading
for exactly the same spot

at the same altitude.

Finally, someone at another
air traffic control center

in Germany spots the danger.

AUTOMATED VOICE: Conflict.

Conflict.

[ominous music]

He grabs the phone to warn
Nielsen, but can't get through.

International air traffic
rules prevent him from talking

to the pilots directly.

[beep]

Look.

Look at that.

NARRATOR: Now, for
the first time,

the Russian pilots
can see the plane

on the screen of their TCAS
anti-collision computer.

But Peter Nielsen is still
focused on getting the Aero

Lloyd flight safely down.

Aero Lloyd 1135.

AERO LLOYD PILOT (ON
RADIO): Aero Lloyd 1135.

Go ahead, sir.

Yeah.

I lost my connection to
Friedrichshafen Airport.

Could you please call them
on your second set, 124.35?

Tell them you're coming in
ILS 24 with 20 miles now.

AERO LLOYD PILOT (ON RADIO): OK.

Will do.

Thank you.

OK.

Taking over.

NARRATOR: On the DHL cargo
plane the crew is relaxed.

They don't know they're
on a collision course.

Their TCAS hasn't
sounded a warning yet.

Stuff I can get you?

No.

NARRATOR: The first officer
goes to the washroom.

On the Russian plane, the
pilots are getting concerned.

The other plane is
getting closer and closer.

But they're not exactly
sure whether he's at

the same altitude as they are.

He's going below us.

Why below?

500-- no, 100 meters.

AUTOMATED VOICE: Traffic.

Traffic.

- Now [bleep] traffic.
- Why?

Traffic.

Traffic.

NARRATOR: TCAS, the
collision avoidance computer,

is warning the Russian pilots
that the other plane is

getting too close for comfort.

[beep]

At the same moment, the
TCAS in the DHL cockpit

detects the Russian plane.

AUTOMATED VOICE: Descend.

Descend.

[ominous music]

NARRATOR: Peter Nielsen finally
realizes what's happening.

Bravo Tango Charlie 2937,
descend flight level 350.

Expedite.

I have crossing traffic.

Descend.

NARRATOR: Captain Gross
disengages the autopilot

and starts to descend.

[beep]

AUTOMATED VOICE: Climb.

Climb.

NARRATOR: TCAS is
telling them to climb.

The controller is
telling them to descend.

It says climb.

He is guiding us down.

Descend?

Bravo Tango Charlie,
2937, descend level 350.

Expedite descent.

Expedite descent level 350.

Bravo Tango Charlie 2937.

[suspenseful music]

NARRATOR: Peter
Nielsen thinks he's

averted a collision by telling
the Russian plane to descend.

But what he doesn't
know is that the DHL

pilots have received
a TCAS instruction

telling them to descend.

Increase!

Dilmun 600, TCAS descent.

NARRATOR: They're
trying to tell Nielsen

that they have a TCAS
instruction to descend,

but Peter can't hear them.

If both planes obey TCAS,
there'd be no problem.

But the Russians,
instead of climbing,

have followed the
controller's orders.

Now both planes are
diving toward each other.

He is going below us!

What is it?

Here on the left!

AUTOMATED VOICE: Increase climb.

Increase climb.

Climb, he says!

Climb.

[groans]

Descend.

Descend hard!

Climb!

Ah!

[screaming]

[crash]

NARRATOR: The tail of the DHL
clips the belly of the Tupolev,

tearing it apart.

The pilots soon
lose consciousness.

[screaming]

The DHL struggles on
for another two minutes.

[ominous music]

It will crash four miles away.

AERO LLOYD PILOT (ON RADIO):
Can we go over to 33,000?

Affirming.

Bye-bye.

AERO LLOYD PILOT
(ON RADIO): Bye-bye.

NARRATOR: Peter is unaware
of what just happened

Bravo Tango Charlie 2937.

Bravo Tango Charlie 2937.

[ominous music]

Bravo Tango Charlie--

NARRATOR: This is the
nightmare that every controller

hopes will not happen to him.

Two of his aircraft collided,
killing scores of people.

Oh!

NARRATOR: Peter Nielsen
leaves the control

room for the last time, but
his story is far from over.

[somber music]

[siren wailing]

NARRATOR: The wreckage
of the two planes

has fallen just outside the
small city of Uberlingen,

on the German-Swiss border.

Wreckage is scattered
over 130 square miles.

It's the worst midair collision
in German postwar history.

[siren wailing]

Debris comes raining
down around a school

for handicapped children run
by Bruno and Stella Vegmula.

STELLA VEGMULA: The sky
was orange-red, flaming.

And we saw these
pieces falling down,

and detonations again and again.

And we realized it couldn't
have been a normal thunderstorm.

It was something we had
never heard and seen before.

BRUNO VEGMULA: It was
incredible because it--

there are many, many
houses here and there

was nothing on this place.

But around our school we
find the bodies, children.

STELLA VEGMULA: We very
soon also realized that we

couldn't do anything, really.

We couldn't save anyone.

We couldn't help anyone.

INTERPRETER: Yhe problem
was that the bodies

and debris were dispersed
over a very, very wide area--

approximately 40
square kilometers--

a corridor 20 kilometers
long and 2 kilometers wide.

NARRATOR: It was the
largest police operation

in the province of
Baden-Wurttemberg,

lasting a week and
involving over 6,000 people.

INTERPRETER: The people
were all very sad.

They were you're in a
state of extreme shock.

And, naturally, the rescue
team could feel that

and empathized with
their suffering.

NARRATOR: The
policeman is standing

where the DHL plane crashed.

INTERPRETER: Here you
see no more trees.

The trees have
completely burned down.

We assume that the
turbines of the Boeing

separated first, approximately
700 to 800 meters high,

before this plane crashed.

One landed 300 meters that
way, and the other turbine was

another 500 meters that way.

NARRATOR: In this garden
lay many of the bodies

of the children of Ufa.

In this part died 28 children.

In this field there was a child.

More over here in this
field, there was a--

here.

[somber music]

[speaking russian]

INTERPRETER: When they showed
a close up of an airplane,

I saw an emblem of
our Bashkir Airlines

on the rear of the aircraft.

I was in the kitchen.

Everybody was still asleep.

I nearly fainted.

I leaned to the table.

I didn't know what to do.

NARRATOR: The Khannanov family
lost their only daughter.

Irina Degtaryeva
lost her only child.

IRINA DEGTARYEVA:
[speaking russian]

INTERPRETER: We hoped for
some kind of a miracle,

that he missed the plane.

In a word, we didn't want
to believe in this news.

It was like thunder
in a clear sky,

and God forbid anyone
gets news like this.

[somber music]

NARRATOR: Vitaly Kaloyev,
a Russian architect,

was awaiting his
family in Barcelona.

He is one of the first
to arrive in Uberlingen.

Although the relatives
are not encouraged

to participate in this search,
Vitaly cannot help himself.

[suspenseful music]

Vitaly finds a broken
pearl necklace.

He recognizes it as his
four-year-old daughter's.

My angel.

NARRATOR: Amazingly,
amidst all the carnage,

Vitaly finds his
daughter's body intact.

She did not suffer at all.

NARRATOR: The mutilated
bodies of his wife and son

won't be found until later.

[somber music]

Over six days of searching,
the rescue workers

gathered bodies and
body parts scattered

all over the Southern
German countryside.

INTERPRETER: By Thursday of
that week, two days later,

the relatives started arriving.

They could not
all see the bodies

we'd found because most of
the bodies were badly charred

or mutilated.

We didn't permit the
relatives to view

the bodies in that condition.

[somber music]

[crying]

NARRATOR: In Ufa,
in Western Russia,

both the Christian and Muslim
communities are devastated

by the loss of their children.

In a cemetery, where 53 of
the people in the Tupolev

are buried, there are two
double rows of gravestones,

with the Christian
Orthodox on one side

and the Muslims on the other.

This is Kiril's grave,
the young talented artist.

And this is Elena's,
the 12-year-old gymnast.

[somber music]

Vitaly Kaloyev, who
lost his entire family,

has designed and built a huge
monument in their memory.

Day and night he lingers at
the cemetery, inconsolable.

[somber music]

At Skyguide in Zurich,
after the collision,

work all but comes
to a standstill.

PATRICK HERR: People
were in a state of shock.

They were shocked.

They were helpless.

There was a lot of
sadness, people crying.

One of the biggest tasks
was to maintain operations,

because there were
planes coming in,

going out after this tragedy.

And that was a
very, very difficult

situation for everybody.

[ominous music]

NARRATOR: For three weeks
after the collision,

capacity is reduced for lack
of available controllers.

Peter Nielsen never again worked
on an air traffic workstation.

If you go through
something like that,

you're not able to come back.

It's too deep in, and
it's too, too big.

[suspenseful music]

NARRATOR: The hunt
begins for a scapegoat.

Blame for the
collision initially

falls on the Russians.

REPORTER (VOICEOVER): The
pilot of the Russian plane

is said to have ignored
repeated instructions

from air traffic controllers.

Repeatedly, they
contacted the Russian pilot

and asked him to change
altitude because he

was flying at a level where
he should not have been.

Now, the Russian pilot never
responded to those warnings

from air traffic control.

As Russian pilots,
particularly in Soviet times--

and also now but to
a lesser extent--

were extremely well-trained.

I have no concerns about
the training of pilots.

They've been trained for almost
every operational possibility

that could happen.

Why did the TCAS device,
meant to avoid collisions,

in this case maybe
help cause one?

And why didn't the Russian plane
descend when first ordered?

A language problem?

Controller commands
are always in English.

I knew everybody
from that crew,

and everybody knew
English enough

to speak with controller.

NARRATOR: So who is to blame?

The media spotlight now falls
on controller Peter Nielsen.

He was the man who
had guided the two

planes toward each other.

They were under his control.

He must have caused
them to collide.

I was as shocked as I could
have been with any other name

or any other colleague.

I was just very sorry for him.

The media coverage
about the incident

very often makes you angry
because these statements

are taken out of context.

You really get the
impression that they just

want to fill the newspaper.

They write whatever they get.

And what more do we know
about this Swiss controller

at the center of
the investigation?

He was chased by the media.

He was accused of
being a murderer.

He's the man, obviously,
everyone wants to talk to.

But at the moment, the Swiss
say he's in no position to talk.

And we heard today the Swiss
authorities have opened

an investigation to see
whether there's enough evidence

for charges of manslaughter.

NARRATOR: Meanwhile, a
forensic investigation

is also underway, headed by
Germany's air crash detectives,

the BFU.

This is the hangar where
wreckage of the planes

was examined.

This one here is the lowest
surface of the right wing

of the Tupolev.

And that remaining stump
here went below the Tupolev

and caused these scratches.

That top part of
the vertical tail

remained at the accident
site on the main wreckage

of the Boeing.

NARRATOR: But could this
accident have been avoided?

TCAS normally has a safeguard
mechanism called a reversal.

If an alert is issued
and one aircraft crew

ignores an instruction,
TCAS orders a reversal.

If the TCAS on Aircraft A sense
is that Aircraft B is still

on a collision
course, it will tell

it to go in another direction.

But it didn't.

Why?

[speaking german]

INTERPRETER: One of the
major requirements for that

is that both planes
have to be at least

100 feet apart in altitude.

But this requirement
was not met at the time.

That's why no
reversal was given.

NARRATOR: When the DHL's TCAS
saw that the Tupolev wasn't

climbing, it could only tell its
pilots to descend even faster.

AUTOMATED VOICE:
Increase descent.

[somber music]

NARRATOR: If the reversal
had been possible,

the children of Ufa
might have lived.

[somber music]

July 2003, many parents return
to Uberlingen in Germany

for the first anniversary.

[somber music]

The Germans built a Memorial
on the site of the tragedy.

It's made up of a series
of giant silver pearls

on a broken necklace.

[somber music]

The head of Skyguide
is in the crowd.

INTERPRETER: Can you tell us,
what are the mistakes you made?

INTERPRETER: I don't think this
is the time to talk about it.

I'm sure you'll understand.

INTERPRETER: Have
you apologized?

INTERPRETER: OK, thank you.

[ominous music]

NARRATOR: Among the
parents is Vitaly Kaloyev.

He asks the head of Skyguide
which controller was

responsible for the accident.

Yes, in fact, the man asked
if it is possible to meet

the controller, to meet Peter.

And the answer was
it is not possible.

NARRATOR: The request
passes almost unnoticed.

But Vitaly Kaloyev
is not satisfied.

AUTOMATED VOICE: Descend.

NARRATOR: Meanwhile, as
the investigators work,

they discover a fog of
confusion surrounding TCAS.

When it was introduced
20 years before,

there had been a fatal omission.

Descend, flight level 350.

Expedite.

NARRATOR: No one said, what
should happen if there was

a conflict between
what TCAS was saying

and what the
controller was saying.

It says climb.

NARRATOR: There is no hard and
fast rule to guide the pilots.

He is guiding us down.

AUTOMATED VOICE:
Increase descent.

NARRATOR: Pilots in the West
are taught to obey TCAS.

Dilmun 600, TCAS descent.

NARRATOR: In the rest of the
world, it was anyone's guess.

[speaking russian]

INTERPRETER: We're
not accustomed

to not trusting controllers.

[speaking russian]

INTERPRETER: In
civil aviation, there

were lots of situations
when pilots didn't follow

instructions of the controller.

And that led to plane
crashes or other accidents.

NARRATOR: The potential for a
terrible accident was there.

And a year and a half
before the collision

over Uberlingen,
it nearly happened.

Over Japan, two jumbo
jets with 677 people

aboard came so close
that they filled

each other's windscreens.

The violent avoidance
maneuver caused 100 people

to be injured, some
of them seriously.

This was seconds away from
being the worst plane crash

in aviation history,
because a pilot

had listened to the controller
instead of his TCAS.

AUTOMATED VOICE: Descend.

NARRATOR: It should have served
as a warning to everyone.

Yet, from ICAO, the
International Civil Aviation

Organization, there
was only silence.

ICAO is responsible for
drawing up the rules

of commercial aviation.

[speaking russian]

INTERPRETER: If ICAO had carried
out a detailed investigation

of the incident in Japan and
made recommendations that led

to changes in
procedures, this probably

would not have happened.

NARRATOR: The
Japanese government

immediately asked for ICAO's
guidance after their near-miss.

But, unfortunately, ICAO
only acted on the request

18 months later, after the
collision over Uberlingen.

German investigators say
that ICAO's vagueness on TCAS

was one reason for the
Uberlingen disaster.

Perhaps the ICAO
procedures and standards--

but in particular operating
procedures for airborne

collision avoidance--
were somewhat ambiguous

or open to interpretation.

NARRATOR: The Japanese
incident was not

the only warning ICAO received.

In the two years before
the Uberlingen collision,

four other near-misses
occurred over Europe alone

because one set of
pilots obeyed air traffic

control instead of their TCAS.

If I have to summarize the
advice that we gave the world--

if a warning comes from TCAS,
pilots should immediately

follow it at all times.

With the benefit of hindsight,
you always ask yourself could

we have done more.

And an accident is a wake
up call for everybody.

[somber music]

NARRATOR: All of these
regrets are little comfort now

to the grieving parents of Ufa.

[speaking russian]

INTERPRETER: Everything
that was good is in the past

and was connected with my child.

All the hopes,
dreams, were connected

with him, with his future.

And now, nothing left.

At least I've got nothing left.

So the right way to put it
is my life didn't change.

It stopped.

[somber music]

[speaking russian]

INTERPRETER: Our pain doesn't
go away, you know, it's

getting stronger every year.

It's getting hard to live.

At first we had
a hope that she'd

come back, that time
would pass and things

would fall into right places.

And now the hope is gone.

NARRATOR: The architect
Vitaly Kaloyev

has lost his entire family
and is obsessed with revenge.

[ominous music]

He decides to travel
to Zurich to play

out the last tragic chapter
in the Uberlingen story.

[thunder clap]

NARRATOR: On February
24, 2004, a stranger

calls at the house of the
controller Peter Nielsen.

[suspenseful music]

[knock on door]

Yeah?

Get out of my face.

Just go away.

Ah!

[groans]

[suspenseful music]

It was just the saddest
thing you can imagine.

I knew his family.

I know-- I knew how much he
loved his kids and his wife.

And-- and--

[speaking german]

INTERPRETER: The
presumed perpetrator

is apparently 48 years
old and of Eastern origin.

He is likely the father
of one of the families

that was killed at the crash.

He likely lost his wife
and both their children.

NARRATOR: They
find Vitaly Kaloyev

nearby in a hotel,
suspected but not

yet charged with the murder.

He is sent to a
psychiatric clinic

while they decide if
he's fit to stand trial.

[speaking russian]

INTERPRETER: Did he have
the capacity to discern?

Was it an impulse or did he have
the capacity to commit a crime?

[speaking german]

INTERPRETER: Certain
traces and police evidence

were found which
seemed to indicate

that he could be the murderer.

INTERPRETER: We are
working on this theory

after the accused
himself conceded

that he could be the murderer.

[speaking russian]

INTERPRETER: We didn't
want him to be killed.

We didn't want to
have more victims

related to that catastrophe
because of our children.

NARRATOR: Convicted
of murder in 2005,

Vitaly Kaloyev served two
years in a Swiss prison.

The killing of the
flight controller

was a very, very sad event.

And the saddest thing of all
was that he was not actually

responsible for the accident.

The system responsible
for the accident

was the poor Skyguide
management and quality

control of their system.

[ominous music]

NARRATOR: The investigators
worked out exactly what went

wrong that night at
Skyguide, and how

an unfortunate
series of events made

disaster almost inevitable.

First Peter's colleague
goes for a break,

leaving him alone
to watch two radar

screens several feet apart.

INTERPRETER: It was a standard
practice at the ATC company

that, at night, one
air traffic controller

was responsible for controlling
the entire airspace of ATC

Zurich.

NARRATOR: Then, following
management instructions,

the maintenance men start
to switch things off.

Peter's radar screen
is working more slowly

and will not warn him if two
planes are about to collide.

He doesn't know that.

[speaking german]

INTERPRETER: During
the maintenance work

the radar system had to
be run in fallback mode.

In fallback mode, the controller
has no STCA available.

NARRATOR: STCA is short-term
collision alert, a warning

on the radar screen that
planes are in imminent danger

of collision.

[speaking german]

INTERPRETER: He did
not know that the STCA

system would not be available.

NARRATOR: Then, by chance,
an unexpected aircraft--

the Aero Lloyd tourist plane--

arrives at a critical moment
and needs a lot of attention.

It completely distracts Peter.

He tries to get outside
help, but the main phone

system has been
accidentally disconnected

by the maintenance crew.

And the backup
phone isn't working.

The controller has
been robbed of all

the technical support he needs.

[speaking german]

INTERPRETER: The phone link
with Friedrichshafen was down.

At this time there were
various radio transmissions,

and the controller
had to answer them

on the different frequencies.

NARRATOR: Finally, when
both planes are descending,

the DHL pilots
cannot tell him what

is happening because the
radio frequency is busy.

600 TCAS descent!

[speaking german]

INTERPRETER: The earliest they
could do that was 23 seconds

later, because until
then the frequency

was blocked by the ATC
Zurich transmission

to the Tupolev crew.

NARRATOR: May
2004-- it had taken

the German BFU
investigators 22 months

to publish their final report.

The Boeing--

NARRATOR: They found that the
disaster had two major causes.

First, Peter Nielsen
was too late in noticing

the danger of a collision.

Second, the Russian crew was
wrong to obey him when he told

them to descend rather than
their own TCAS equipment

telling them to climb.

[somber music]

Finally, the report
severely criticized

Skyguide for leaving a lone
controller on duty that night.

We have learned our lesson,
and we don't have single-manned

operations or only
one controller

in front of a monitor anymore.

INTERPRETER: Why
didn't they provide

safety during that flight
when my child was on board?

They must take
the responsibility

for not providing
security for that flight.

INTERPRETER: Mistakes
were made by us also,

and we regret them deeply.

We acknowledge
our responsibility

as set out in the BFI report,
and we ask the families

of the victims for forgiveness.

NARRATOR: At
Skyguide in Zurich, a

rose now sits in a vase
in memory of Peter Nielsen

and the tragedy of Uberlingen.

[somber music]