Original subtitles

I'll stop short of the terminal.

You can have the Secretary General disembark there.

NARRATOR: A top diplomat on a secret mission

flies into a mystery that will linger for decades.

[glass breaking]

Going down!

We're going down!

Brace!

Brace!

It's just not possible that Dag Hammarskjold was

killed in a common accident.

It had to be something more.

NARRATOR: Victory leads to tragedy.

My God! Please help us!

Please help us! Oh God!

Oh God, please!

NARRATOR: When pilots gamble with the lives of

celebrated football players--

[beeping]

Total electrical failure.

TODD CURTIS: The physics of flying

aren't going to change just because someone important

is in back of the airplane.

NARRATOR: A US Air Force jet carrying an American VIP

crashes in a war-torn country.

JOHN COX: Was there some political issues

that may have been involved?

Was the airplane shot down?

NARRATOR: Three crashes, all with high profile passengers--

can investigators withstand the scrutiny?

JOHN COX: That's what the investigators are facing.

They know that they'll get the answers,

but they need to be able to show the world the process

that led them to those answers.

FLIGHT ATTENDANT: Ladies and gentlemen,

we are starting our approach.

PILOT: We lost both engines.

WOMAN 1: Emergency descent. PILOT: Mayday!

Mayday!

WOMAN 2: Brace for impact!

MAN 1: Get the last one.

MAN 2: Investigations start.

MAN 3: It's going to crash!

NARRATOR: A United Nations transport plane, the Albertina,

is on a vital mission in Central Africa.

Estimate a B Ndola at 23:47.

Arrival time, 00:20.

NARRATOR: The destination is Ndola

airport in the British colony of Northern Rhodesia.

Controllers and local dignitaries

anxiously await the arrival of one of the most

important people in the world.

On board the DC-6 is United Nations Secretary-General Dag

Hammarskjold.

At least they're willing to talk.

What else do we know about their latest demands?

NARRATOR: He's flying in from Congo to hold peace

talks with a rebel leader.

HENNING MELBER: Hammarskjold and most likely members

of his entourage on board were pretty aware that this

is a difficult mission.

It was a Secretary-General for whom a physical risk was

an integral part of his job.

REPORTER (VOICEOVER): The United Nations Security Council

meeting again to deal with the difficult and dangerous Congo

situation.

HENNING MELBER: Congo in the early '60s

was of utmost priority in the Cold War.

It was of top tier strategic importance.

NARRATOR: A bloody civil war has erupted there.

[gunshots]

And world powers, including the US and the Soviet Union,

are backing opposing factions.

Hammarskjold hopes to resolve the deadly conflict

and help reunite Congo.

All right, descending to 6,000.

Nil traffic ahead.

6,000.

Yes, sir.

NARRATOR: The captain of the Albertina

is 35-year-old Per Hallonquist.

Our visibility should be pretty good

once we get down there.

NARRATOR: 29-year-old Lars Litton

is Hallonquist's first officer.

All right, give me 2,000 RPM and 20 inches.

LARS LITTON: Minimum descent altitude.

That's 5,000 feet, but we'll have the runway in sight

long before then.

NARRATOR: The flight left Congo's capital, Leopoldville,

just over six hours ago.

HENNING MELBER: They made arrangements

in the route of the plane to avoid any unpleasant surprises.

DAG HAMMARSKJOLD: We need to extend--

NARRATOR: To prevent an ambush, it's flown an indirect route,

and a flight plan has not been filed.

The pilots have maintained radio silence for most of the flight.

Are you staying in Ndola?

NARRATOR: They don't know who might be listening in.

Negative.

There were opportunities for counter-forces

to perhaps shoot at aircraft that were on final approach.

NARRATOR: The Secretary-General and his delegation

should be on the ground in about 10 minutes.

Your light's in sight.

Overhead, Ndola.

Descending.

Roger.

Report reaching 6,000 feet.

PER HALLONQUIST: Roger.

OK.

They're 10 minutes away.

NARRATOR: The plane needs to fly past Ndola Airport and circle

back to land on its only runway.

At that point, the peace mission can begin.

Moments later, controllers in Ndola

are becoming increasingly concerned.

Albertina, Ndola Tower, do you read?

NARRATOR: The Secretary-General's plane

is overdue.

Lusaka, Ndola Airport-- have you had

any contact with the UN flight?

MAN 4 (ON PHONE): Negative.

No contact here.

NARRATOR: The plane carrying one of the most important

people in the world is missing.

At first light, a search plane heads out.

On a slope nine miles from the airport,

searchers notice a gash in the trees.

The flight clearly ended with a violent impact

and an intense fire.

When local authorities arrive, they find bodies

amidst badly scorched wreckage.

Dag Hammarskjold is dead.

ROBERT MACINTOSH: The Secretary-General

had been a very famous guy, a champion of world peace.

So this was a major world event.

I know that I'm speaking for all of my fellow Americans

in expressing our deep sense of shock and loss in the untimely

death of the Secretary-General of the United Nations,

Mr. Dag Hammarskjold.

[planes flying]

NARRATOR: The Cold War politics surrounding the flight to Ndola

lead many to speculate that the Secretary-General's

plane was shot down.

HENNING MELBER: Was there anyone who wanted to see

Hammarskjold dead?

Where do you want me to start and where to end?

NARRATOR: Rhodesian investigators search

for clues--

a difficult task because 80% of the fuselage is melted.

Wristwatches damaged by the sudden impact

reveal the exact time of the crash.

12:13.

NARRATOR: The Secretary General's

plane hit the ground 3 minutes after its last radio

transmission.

Your light's in sight.

Overhead, Ndola.

Descending.

NARRATOR: Critical questions about

the flight's final moments cannot be answered

by a voice or data recorder.

The DC-6 was not equipped with either.

The only chance of getting a firsthand account of what

happened rests with the sole survivor,

Security Officer Harold Julien.

It blew up.

NARRATOR: He states that the plane

blew up before it crashed.

Then there was the crash.

SVEN HAMMARBERG: He was not in a good shape after the accident.

It's hard to measure the value of his statement.

NARRATOR: Investigators hope Julien

can provide more details, but he dies

five days after the accident.

Did it really blow up before the crash like he says?

NARRATOR: Investigators combed through the DC-6,

looking for evidence that may reveal

if it was ripped open by machine gun fire or a missile.

And they test for the presence of explosives,

but come up empty.

SVEN HAMMARBERG: They divided the metal parts in small pieces

and so on.

And they didn't find anything in that way.

NARRATOR: What's more, when investigators study key pieces

of wreckage from the DC-6, everything

indicates that the plane was making a routine landing.

Flaps 30.

Flaps 30.

ROBERT MACINTOSH (VOICEOVER): The landing gear was down.

The flaps were extended.

OK.

Speed down to 120 knots.

NARRATOR: Rhodesian investigators

find no evidence of an attack or any other type of foul play.

For now, the cause of the crash that killed Dag Hammarskjold--

Going down! NARRATOR: --remains a mystery.

We're going down! Brace!

have been 6,000 feet here.

NARRATOR: Investigators working on the crash

of Dag Hammarskjold's plane now study the navigational chart

for Ndola.

It tells them that at the location where

the Albertina crashed, it should have been

at an altitude of 6,000 feet.

He should have been nearly 1,700 feet above the tree tops.

NARRATOR: Damage to the trees indicates

the plane did not dive to the ground,

but rather came in at a shallow angle.

Investigators wonder how did the Albertina end up so low.

The transcript says, "Your light's in sight.

Overhead, Ndola.

Descending.

Roger.

Report reaching 6,000."

NARRATOR: The transcript of the radio conversation

between the pilots and the controller

clearly shows that less than 10 minutes before hitting

the ground, the crew had the airport in sight

from a safe altitude.

Your light's in sight.

Overhead, Ndola.

NARRATOR: But the transcript reveals something else.

A single unexpected word.

Descending.

NARRATOR: The Albertina was already descending when it flew

past the airport, but it should have

been maintaining its altitude.

INVESTIGATOR: He's continuing to shed altitude here

and keeps descending until he hits the hill here

at an altitude of 4,290 feet.

NARRATOR: For some reason, the pilots

began their descent too early.

ROBERT MACINTOSH: It's unfathomable that there was

any intention to be below 5,000 feet

at that point in the approach.

INVESTIGATOR: These guys are experienced.

It's tough to see how they could have screwed this up.

NARRATOR: Investigators can't explain

what they've just discovered.

Is it possible Dag Hammarskjold died

because the pilots were unaware of the elevation of the terrain

below them?

ROBERT MACINTOSH: Your attention to detail,

your altitude awareness needs to be extremely high.

I'll stop short of the terminal.

You can have the Secretary-General

disembark there.

The margins are very small.

It's a matter of seconds before they hit the ground.

We're going down!

Brace!

Brace!

NARRATOR: The Rhodesian investigators

have reached a conclusion that will be debated for decades.

The pilots lost track of their altitude

and flew the plane into the ground.

Three other reports on the crash agree.

There's no evidence of an assassination.

The Hammarskjold file is closed.

It's a big thing when the Secretary-General

of the United Nations dies in an airplane crash,

a very big thing.

NARRATOR: 40 years later, in 2011, the mystery

is reignited when former US intelligence

officers make a stunning claim.

Dag Hammarskjold's death was no accident.

On the night of the crash, one of those officers, Paul Abram,

was working for the National Security Agency

at a signal monitoring base in Crete.

He claims to have heard a remarkable recording.

The most important chatter came down to "We

have the plane in sight.

Yes, we've checked.

It's the plane."

I've hit it.

There are flames.

It's crashing.

PAUL ABRAM: Dag Hammarskjold was murdered, period.

He was shot down.

NARRATOR: The claims lead to a fresh look at the evidence.

In 2013, Sven Hammarberg joins a new investigation,

looking for answers for the United Nations.

My task was to look into the details

and see if there were any new information available.

And I was asked to evaluate the investigations

that had been performed before.

When I looked into the basic facts around the crash,

I look at the trees and the crash site

and the statements over radio and so on.

OK.

NARRATOR: To reevaluate the previous investigations,

Hammarberg studies the terrain around Ndola airport.

He notes the heights of the hills.

He compares what he finds to what's shown on the chart used

by the UN pilots.

And he makes a shocking discovery.

There's a hill here, a hill here, a hill here,

but there's nothing marked here--

here, where the crash site is.

NARRATOR: The terrain around the airport

includes hills west of Ndola that

rise to more than 4,300 feet, but they're not on the chart.

SVEN HAMMARBERG: The crew might have been unaware of the height

west of the fields since there were no signs of it

on the chart.

NARRATOR: Sven Hammarberg believes he knows what went

wrong during the final 3 minutes of the flight,

and it has nothing to do with assassins.

Overhead, Ndola.

Descended.

NARRATOR: Passing the airport, the pilots

descend below the minimum safe altitude of 5,000 feet.

4,500.

NARRATOR: As they turned back toward the runway,

they suddenly lose sight of the runway lights.

I don't have the runway in sight.

NARRATOR: The pilots don't realize that a hill is

blocking their view because the hill

isn't marked on their chart.

Before they even know they're in danger,

it's too late to save themselves.

Going down!

We're going down!

Brace!

Brace!

ROBERT MACINTOSH: I think that all

the ingredients of a controlled flight into terrain,

they are there.

NARRATOR: To finally put the issue to rest,

investigators request NSA files and audio recordings

from the night of the crash.

HENNING MELBER (VOICEOVER): The answer

was that they remained classified as top secret

and will not be released.

Given my knowledge of the recordings,

tape logs, facsimiles, et cetera, that they

have concerning this incident.

MAN 5 (ON TAPE): Go down to make a run--

PAUL ABRAM (VOICEOVER): I'm not the least surprised that they

haven't been released.

MAN 5 (ON TAPE): I've hit it.

It's just in their nature.

NARRATOR: It's been over 50 years

since the mysterious crash.

And in 2019, a UN report accuses several nations,

including the United States, of withholding

critical information.

And without access to those records,

doubts about the cause of the crash remain.

The common thing about VIP flights, in general, is they

tend to be non-routine flights.

And oftentimes, the mission has a few nuances that make

it sometimes more dangerous.

And given that this was an airport where the crew had

never flown in before, there were several risk

factors involved here.

So in a sense, this was a more unsafe

flight than was necessary.

NARRATOR: But any lessons learned from the Albertina

crash are forgotten when a charter flight is within sight

of the runway and a football team's dream

comes to a horrifying end.

LaMia flight 2933 is about to take off.

On board is Brazil's underdog football team, Chapecoense.

Colombia, here we come!

NARRATOR: The team is heading to Colombia to play in their first

ever final in the prestigious Copa Sudamericana.

[speaking portuguese]

INTERPRETER: We were always a really united team, a team that

wanted the best for everyone.

We were a family, and that made us strong.

[cheering]

NARRATOR: The team has hired a small Bolivian airline called

LaMia to take it to Colombia.

V1, rotate.

NARRATOR: The plane departs Santa Cruz, Bolivia at 6:18 PM.

It's a 1,600-mile trip to Rio Negro,

just outside Medellin, Colombia, the site

of the championship game.

Captain Miguel Quiroga and first officer Fernando Goytia

are veteran Bolivian pilots with more

than 6,000 flight hours each.

You're up.

NARRATOR: The crew is flying an Avro 146 regional jet.

The 146 has always been a very, very sound airframe

and a very good design.

It's a little more expensive to operate

because you've got four engines, but that's

a lot of reliability.

NARRATOR: Just under 4.5 hours later.

Rio Negro, 2933.

Good evening.

NARRATOR: As they're approaching Rio Negro,

First Officer Goytia checks in with air traffic control.

LaMia 2933, Control.

Good evening.

Radar contact, maintain, and descend to flight level 2-3-0.

Join the Rio Negro VOR.

NARRATOR: The controller instructs the crew

to go into a holding pattern because other planes are

in a queue, waiting to land.

They choose a holding point called GEMLI.

Holding at GEMLI.

NARRATOR: 7 minutes later, a request from the LaMia cockpit

takes air traffic control by surprise.

LaMia 233.

Request priority for approach.

We have a fuel problem.

You ask for priority.

You're basically making the request

that if they can fit it in, get you in a little bit faster.

Standby.

I've got an aircraft below you on approach.

Additionally, they are doing a runway inspection.

NARRATOR: But within seconds, the situation in the cockpit

suddenly appears more urgent.

[beeping]

We have a fuel emergency.

That's why I'm asking you at once for final approach,

requesting immediate descent.

[speaking spanish]

INTERPRETER: It's very unusual to declare a priority,

and then 30 seconds later say they're out of fuel.

LaMia 2933, make a right turn now to begin your descent.

You have traffic one mile below.

When you declare an emergency, the Red Sea parts.

Now everybody is concentrating on doing exactly what

you need, especially to get to the airfield as

soon as possible.

FERNANDO GOYTIA (ON RADIO): We're

already starting to descend.

I'm heading for the runway.

NARRATOR: In the cabin, the lights go out

and the engines fall silent.

The team feels the plane descending.

[speaking portuguese]

INTERPRETER: Nobody said anything to us.

We didn't know anything.

2933.

Total electrical failure-- without fuel.

Runway's cleared.

Firefighters alerted.

Tell her we need vectors.

Vectors-- vectors to the runway.

NARRATOR: The crew needs the controller

to provide directions to the runway,

but the plane has disappeared from the radar.

I've lost your radar signal.

I don't have you.

Report heading now.

FERNANDO GOYTIA (ON RADIO): Heading 3-6-0, 3-6-0.

YANETH MOLINA: [speaking spanish]

INTERPRETER: When they told me their altitude was 9,000 feet,

I thought the worst.

My God! Please help us!

Please help us!

Oh God!

[speaking portuguese]

INTERPRETER: I remember asking God to make the lights

and motors turn back on.

[beeping]

[groaning]

NARRATOR: Emergency crews rush to the crash site.

They discover that seven passengers

are still alive, including four Chapecoense players.

[speaking portuguese]

INTERPRETER: You feel desperate.

I was terrified.

I didn't want to die.

I didn't want any of us to die.

NARRATOR: But 70 people are dead.

It's one of the worst tragedies in the history of sports.

The morning light reveals that the LaMia plane hit the crest

of an 8,700-foot mountain.

A team from the Colombian air accident investigation group

is already on the scene.

Landing gear was down.

NARRATOR: Investigators can see the plane

was configured for landing.

Look.

The flaps are extended.

JULIAN ECHEVERRI: [speaking spanish]

INTERPRETER: The wreckage showed the plane's position

in relation to the runway and the crew's

intentions of heading there.

NARRATOR: It's clear that the crew was

descending toward the airport.

No scorch marks.

NARRATOR: But their biggest clue is what they don't find.

No fuel smell either.

JULIAN ECHEVERRI: [speaking spanish]

There was a very light smell of fuel at the accident site.

Normally, when planes crash with fuel on board,

the smell is much stronger.

NARRATOR: The fuel level indicators are at zero.

The plane was out of fuel.

NARRATOR: Investigators wonder how did the fuel get to zero.

Was it a mechanical failure or human error?

of their beloved Chapecoense football team

in the crash of LaMia flight 2933,

investigators hope the flight data recorder contains clues

as to why the jet was completely out of fuel

when it hit the ground.

Let's isolate the fuel flow rate.

If there was a leak or some other problem,

it should show up here.

OK.

Let's go.

NARRATOR: They consider the possibility

that a fuel leak led to an unexpected engine shutdown.

They're consuming just over 1,000 pounds of fuel an hour

throughout their cruise--

very steady.

JULIAN ECHEVERRI: [speaking spanish]

The fuel consumption, according to the data recorder,

was normal for the duration of the flight.

The fuel system checks out.

Let's look at the warning system.

NARRATOR: If the fuel warning system malfunctioned,

the pilots may not have been aware there was a problem.

The warning goes on here at 9:15.

Well, that can't be right.

They don't declare the fuel emergency until 9:52.

They knew they were low on fuel for nearly 40 minutes

without declaring a fuel emergency.

NARRATOR: Investigators can't believe what they're seeing.

At 9:15, a low fuel warning light turns on.

That's got to be about 180 miles to Medellin.

They should have found somewhere closer to land.

They are here.

Bogota airport is here.

77 miles away.

Why didn't they land at Bogota?

JULIAN ECHEVERRI: [speaking spanish]

According to the manufacturer, when the low fuel warning comes

on in this aircraft, you are only guaranteed

23 more minutes of flight.

NARRATOR: But the pilots flew 13 minutes beyond that limit.

They should have rerouted the plane to Bogota,

but instead they continued to Medellin.

So you look at this, and you say, "Oh my God!

You violated the basic procedures.

We know how to stay safe.

We know how not to run out of gas in the air.

And you guys didn't do a single thing in accordance

with the rules."

NARRATOR: As Chapecoense's fans mourn their heroes--

It looks like we have a problem.

NARRATOR: --investigators turn to the plane's cockpit voice

recorder for answers, but they discover

it cut out 1 hour and 40 minutes before the end of the flight.

It's a huge setback.

Investigators still don't know why the plane ran out of fuel.

Did the pilots make mistakes calculating

their fuel load before the jet left Santa Cruz airport?

So they took off with about 20,000 pounds of fuel.

Should that do it?

Taxi before takeoff, 441 pounds.

NARRATOR: Julian Echeverri and his team

calculate how much fuel the plane legally needed to make

a direct flight to Medellin.

JOHN NANCE: You have to have enough fuel to take off, fly

to your destination and land.

You have to have enough fuel to go down and make an approach

and come back up.

And then you have to have enough fuel

to fly to an alternate destination

and to hold for 30 minutes, and then to descend and land.

Total?

26,570 pounds.

JULIAN ECHEVERRI: So they were short by about 6,570 pounds.

They left with enough to get to Medellin,

but barely a drop more.

NARRATOR: Investigators then discover a disturbing pattern.

MIGUEL QUIROGA: 100.

NARRATOR: Three times earlier in the year

this crew had made the same flight,

but in the opposite direction without any reserve fuel.

Each time they landed successfully.

MIGUEL COMACHO: [speaking spanish]

Less fuel is used because Rio Negro is higher in altitude.

You ascend a shorter distance, therefore saving more fuel.

No doubt that contributed to the flight

arriving safely at Santa Cruz.

NARRATOR: Investigators now see that in addition

to disregarding the need for reserve fuel,

the crew didn't account for the additional 6,000-foot climb.

JOHN NANCE: They didn't just press the limits.

They did something really criminal

because they put the airplane right

at the edge of its capability to burn fuel and get

back on the ground safely.

NARRATOR: Now, investigators need

to know why these pilots didn't follow

the most basic protocols.

The answer lies back in Bolivia.

It emerges that Captain Quiroga was

a LaMia co-owner with a financial stake in the company.

Did he gamble dozens of lives just to save money on fuel?

When you've got somebody who is flying the airplane

and responsible for the airplane, who also is a part

owner and knows the finances, you've

got a conflict of interest.

NARRATOR: When investigators get their hands

on company records--

It looks like they owed everybody.

Even the employees weren't getting paid.

NARRATOR: --they discover the company

was in big financial trouble.

The captain likely skimped on fuel to save money.

MIGUEL COMACHO: [speaking spanish]

INTERPRETER: I think the crew knew they

were doing something illegal.

The crew knew they were below the appropriate fuel

levels from the beginning of the flight.

This is a sad and unfortunate part of the accident.

NARRATOR: LaMia's co-owner, Vargas Gamboa,

is charged with manslaughter, and the airline's

operating license is suspended.

LaMia is out of business by the end of the year.

Surviving player Jakson Follmann is walking again

with a prosthetic leg, but the pain and memories of that night

endure.

JAKSON FOLLMANN: [speaking portuguese]

INTERPRETER: I want people to pray for us

and remember all of those people that left us,

those fighters who fought until the end.

I'd like to see everyone honor the people who unfortunately

left us that night.

JOHN COX: Those decisions to press the airplane

beyond its limits and the unwillingness

to advise air traffic control of the criticality

of their fuel situation directly resulted in the accident.

And it's one that I could not believe

a professional pilot would do.

NARRATOR: But when pilots flying a high level delegation

make a bad decision, the top official on board

never reaches his final destination.

Heading towards it is a US Air Force 737, carrying

35 people on a trade mission.

Leading the delegation, US Secretary of Commerce Ron

Brown, a star in the Democratic party

who helped Bill Clinton get elected.

PETER GALBRAITH: Ron Brown was a Washington insider,

and he had all the skills that go with that.

[sirens]

NARRATOR: The goal of his mission

is to help Croatia and Bosnia rebuild their economies.

A destructive war in that region has

just ended in an uneasy truce.

The pressures to get the passengers

to scheduled news conferences and other activities

were probably pretty high.

Departure, IFO-21.

NARRATOR: Ashley J. Davis is the captain.

He's a military pilot who flew mid-air refuellers

high above the Persian Gulf.

Tonight the bad weather is just one of the challenges

the crew is facing.

PETER GALBRAITH: The airport was totally

trashed by the Serbs, who had taken over the airport

during the '91 war.

They destroyed the instrument landing system.

NARRATOR: The crew must rely on a signal

from a navigational beacon to guide them to the airport.

TIM SCHAFER: Hey, AJ.

At Kilo Lima Papa, we're tracking

outbound at 1-1-9 degrees.

1-1-9 confirmed.

Mr. Secretary, we're landing.

We'll take this up later, Adam.

[thunder]

It sounds very broken up down there.

I can't see through it.

Tim?

NARRATOR: The clouds are thick.

The crew can't see the ground.

They have to trust their instruments as they

descend through the storm.

IFO-21.

Sir, we are inside the locator inbound.

IFO-21, roger.

Cleared for beacon approach.

NARRATOR: For now, AJ Davis is flying blind,

but he expects to see the airport soon.

[beeping]

[screaming]

ASHLEY DAVIS: Pull up!

Pull up!

IFO-21, do you read?

NARRATOR: Just before 3 o'clock in the afternoon,

Dubrovnik Tower loses all contact with IFO-21.

IFO-21, Dubrovnik approach.

Do you read?

IFO-21, do you read?

NARRATOR: With no radar to track the plane,

controllers have no idea where it is.

4.5 hours later, it's confirmed that IFO-21 crashed

into a nearby mountain range.

35 die as a result of the accident.

The fatal flight of the US Air Force jet carrying

Commerce Secretary Ron Brown becomes

a high profile investigation.

BILL CLINTON: The vice president and I wanted to come here

to be with the employees of the Commerce Department

at this very difficult hour.

HOWARD SWANCY: In every accident,

there's always a lot of speculation.

In this particular case, you had a high-ranking US government

official.

So my idea was to get as much information, physical evidence,

as I could.

NARRATOR: The investigation team is at a disadvantage.

They discover that there is no cockpit

voice recorder or flight data recorder on the plane.

It's not required on Air Force jets.

PETER GALBRAITH: I had assumed that the Air Force

and these VIP flights had higher safety standards

than commercial flights.

And so I was really shocked to learn

that the standards were generally lower than those

for commercial aviation.

[thunder]

NARRATOR: The crash site is just over 2 miles from the airport.

Investigators wonder what happened during the flight's

final moments.

The team plots the plane's fatal descent

using data from a surveillance plane

that was patrolling the region.

NELSON SPOHNHEIMER: The radar track that I was given

showed that the route portions of the flight

from about 100 miles prior to the airport

were entirely nominal.

NARRATOR: But on its final approach,

the plane begins to head off course and straight

toward the mountains.

NELSON SPOHNHEIMER (VOICEOVER): My initial look at the flight

track of the aircraft showed a 7-degree bearing

error in the final segment of the approach.

NARRATOR: How could a military crew flying a very high profile

government official end up 7 degrees off course

and headed towards elevated terrain?

Investigators need to find out why

US Air Force jet IFO-21 veered off

course just before it crashed.

An important clue turns up in the wreckage.

It's the plane's ADF, or Automatic Direction Finder.

The device listens to signals put out

by two navigational beacons.

The first beacon transmits Morse code to the plane.

When the crew hears the signal, they follow a heading specified

on their landing chart.

That should take them straight to the runway.

But if the crew hears the second beacon before they see

the runway, they must declare a missed approach and circle

around to try landing again.

To land in Dubrovnik safely, a plane needs two ADF receivers--

one for each beacon.

We're still not past it.

I'm tuning back to KLP.

NARRATOR: But investigators discover

this jet had only one receiver.

HOWARD SWANCY: And only having one

ADF restricted their ability to follow the approach accurately.

NARRATOR: The crew would have to switch the ADF back and forth

between the two signals, adding a complication to an already

difficult landing.

HOWARD SWANCY: It's going to become rather difficult

in trying to dial both to keep listening to the code

if you're also trying to search for your course and heading.

NARRATOR: In fact, flight IFO-21's

erratic flight path suggests to investigators that the flight

crew gave up on the ADF navigation

and used an even older piece of technology

to find the runway, the INS, or Inertial Navigation System.

NELSON SPOHNHEIMER (VOICEOVER): An INS system uses gyroscopes

to maintain an awareness of how much the airplane turns

and banks.

NARRATOR: But the INS has a potential flaw.

If the gyroscopes don't calculate

each maneuver perfectly, a pilot can drift off course.

It sounds very broken up down there.

I can't see through it.

Tim?

INS drift, in this case, was probably,

in my view, the primary reason the aircraft

ended up where it was.

NARRATOR: Investigator Howard Swancy recovers

the Jefferson approach chart.

Hampered by poor visibility and relying on the INS,

the chart would have been a key aid to the crew.

On close inspection, Swancy notices something peculiar.

A key figure, the minimum descent altitude, is wrong.

Given the height of the surrounding mountains,

they should have been flying at 2,800 feet,

but the chart's minimum descent altitude

is 700 feet lower than that.

The chart made the pilots think they were

still safely above the mountains as they

searched for the airport.

[beeping]

ASHLEY DAVIS: Pull up!

Pull up!

Pull up!

Pull up!

[screaming]

NARRATOR: Investigators now understand the circumstances

that led to the crash that killed

Commerce Secretary Ron Brown.

In the end, a fatal combination of factors caused the accident.

Dubrovnik approach, IFO-21, level 1-0-0.

Dubrovnik approach, good afternoon.

Maintain 10,000 feet for beacon approach.

IFO-21.

NARRATOR: The crew was fighting bad weather.

They were landing in an unfamiliar airport

and hampered by old technology.

In the final report, Dubrovnik Airport

is singled out for an improperly designed approach procedure.

I got a CB.

NARRATOR: AJ Davis and his crew are found responsible

for flight errors they made in their push to get

their mission on the ground.

In response, the Air Force also orders

all military aircraft to carry flight data recorders

and cockpit voice recorders.

Tim?

NARRATOR: And prohibits aircraft, including those

for high-ranking diplomats, from flying into an airport

without approval from the Department of Defense.

JOHN COX: In all three of these cases where you have VIPs

on the airplane, there was a complex environment and also

the desire to get these important people

where they need to be on time.

And the crew put pressure on themselves

to push the edges of their capabilities

to make sure that these people arrived on time.

TODD CURTIS: The basics for flying

an airplane doesn't change based on who's on the airplane.

Whether there's a VIP or a regular everyday passenger,

the same risks have to be dealt with.

The physics of flying aren't going

to change just because someone important

is in back of the airplane.