Original subtitles

[intense music]

NARRATOR: A DC-9 crash lands on a highway

in the state of Georgia.

I decided I would do everything I could

to try to help my chances.

Brace for impact!

Damn it.

NARRATOR: Flight 1404 swerves off

the runway at Denver Airport.

I could see just flames coming from that right side engine.

NARRATOR: A jumbo jet crashes onto a hilltop in Guam.

[screaming]

MAN: It's just undescribable.

Get out of this thing before it burns up.

Absolutely, accidents are survivable.

Go!

It hit me that I'm gonna survive this.

NARRATOR: Three different crashes produce

three tales of survival.

SURVIVOR (VOICEOVER): I could not believe I was alive.

I just could not believe it.

FLIGHT ATTENDANT: Ladies and gentlemen,

we are starting our approach.

We lost both engines.

[radio chatter]

MAN: Mayday.

Mayday.

FLIGHT ATTENDANT: Brace for impact!

[chatter]

MAN: He's gonna crash!

[suspenseful music]

NARRATOR: Huntsville, Alabama.

81 passengers board Southern Airways flight 242, a DC-9

bound for Atlanta, Georgia.

Captain Bill McKenzie and First Officer Lyman

Keele have been shuttling passengers

across the US South all day.

Who's got the landing?

Not me, says the captain.

Ignition, sir.

NARRATOR: First officer keel will be operating

this leg of the flight.

We had a 13 landing day, which was a lot of small stops,

you know, about 20 or 30 minute legs in between.

NARRATOR: At 3:54 PM, the DC-9 takes off into heavy rain.

[thunder clap]

The short hop to Atlanta should take just 25 minutes.

As Southern Airways 242 flies away from Huntsville,

the weather deteriorates.

The weather in the Southeast in the United States

can be very treacherous.

High humidities, high temperatures are a prescription

for thunderstorms.

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

which appears to be moderate to possibly heavy precipitation,

starting about five miles ahead.

OK.

Yeah, we're in the rain right now.

It doesn't look much heavier than what we're in right now,

does it?

It's not a solid mass, but it appears

to be a little bit heavier than what you're in right now.

NARRATOR: The pilots use on-board weather

radar to navigate their course between two thunderheads.

I believe right straight ahead.

There.

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

NARRATOR: Suddenly--

[crash]

--hail the size of baseballs hammers the DC-9.

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

It sounded like I was in a metal barrel

with someone throwing rocks at me.

[thunder clap]

[hail pounding]

The pilots of Southern 242 had to raise their voices

audibly to be heard above the unholy tattoo

of this hail, which was buck shotting the airplane.

[intense music]

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

I know.

You're just gonna have to go out.

Yeah, right across that bay.

All clear left, approximately right now.

I think we can cut across there.

NARRATOR: Then the plane loses electrical power.

[hail pounding]

After I realized that we had a disaster in progress

or something was wrong, I got up and started

briefing my passengers.

Got it back.

Got it back, Bill.

Got it back.

Got it back.

NARRATOR: After 36 seconds in the dark,

electrical power resumes.

Maintain 15,000, if you understand me.

Maintain 15,000, Southern 242.

NARRATOR: Controllers in Atlanta instruct the crew

to maintain 15,000 feet.

But the plane has already dropped 1,000 feet below that.

We're trying to get it up there.

We just got our windshield busted.

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

We're at 14.

[intense music]

DON FOSTER: The engine was starting to make

sounds like it was quitting.

Left engine won't spool.

Our left engine just cut out.

My god.

The other engine's going too.

Got the other engine going too.

Southern 242, say again.

Stand by.

[beeping]

We lost both engines.

Both engines are now out.

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

They're at 14,000 feet.

They don't have a lot of time.

Get us a vector to a clear area, Atlanta.

NARRATOR: If Captain McKenzie is unable to restart the engines,

the crew will be forced to make an emergency landing.

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

I was so focused on trying to figure

out a way to save myself.

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

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

NARRATOR: Southern Airways 242 finally breaks

through the storm clouds.

Get those engines started.

DON FOSTER: I realized I was in an emergency situation,

and I felt like I was going to die.

But I decided I would do everything I could

to try to help my chances.

I had previously collected some blankets, and pillows,

and had gotten my leather jacket off the overhead rack.

And I arranged those in to make a nest as much as I could

for myself.

NARRATOR: Southern Airways flight

242 has lost too much altitude to make it to a runway.

The pilots need to land the plane now.

I'm picking out a clear field.

Bill, you have to find me a highway.

Let's get the next clear open field.

No, Bill!

I see a highway over there, no cars.

NARRATOR: Keele decides to bring the plane down

onto Georgia State Highway 92.

We're putting it on the highway.

We're down to nothing.

NARRATOR: The first officer lines up the aircraft

for the emergency landing.

[intense music]

Flaps.

They're down to 50.

Oh, god, Bill.

I hope we can do it.

There's a car ahead.

I got it.

I got it now.

I got it.

Brace for impact!

[intense music]

It was smooth.

It seemed like it was gonna work,

and everything was gonna turn out OK.

And then it immediately bounced back up in the air

and slammed down.

And before the plane completely stopped moving,

there was fire blowing through the cabin.

I felt my face burning, even though I tried to cover

it with my leather jacket.

[intense music]

[coughing]

Come on, damn it.

[groans]

DON FOSTER: I got my seat belt loose

after a few tries, and turned toward the rear

of the airplane.

And I saw a spot of light.

I got up and ran for that light.

[coughing]

[suspenseful music]

[explosions]

I could not believe I was alive.

I just could not believe it.

[intense music]

CATHY LEMOINE COOPER: I could see a crack of light.

And I thought, I'm going through that crack of light

come hell or high water.

I'll remember till the day I die.

Everything was on fire--

trees burning, and pieces of aircraft.

It was unreal.

I've never seen anything like it,

and never want to see anything like that again.

NARRATOR: 72 people, including pilots Lyman Keele

and Bill McKenzie, die in the crash

of Southern Airways flight 242.

[siren wailing]

On the highway, a family of seven

is killed instantly when the passenger jet hits their car.

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board

arrive within hours of the accident.

GREG FEITH: The two primary questions

that needed to be answered by the board

were what were the weather conditions,

and what caused both engines on a two-engine airplane

to flame out.

NARRATOR: Southern Airways 242 has crashed into the town

of New Hope, Georgia.

The captain and first officer tried to fly through a storm--

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

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

But turbofan engines are designed to ingest huge amounts

of rain and even hail.

What caused them to stop working?

Engine investigator Al Weaver examines

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

AL WEAVER: When they lifted the engines up,

I could hear the tinkling.

And pieces fell out through the front of the engine

under the floor.

[metal rattling]

I reached over and picked up those pieces,

and I recognized them immediately.

NARRATOR: Weaver discovers that the pieces

that fell from the engine were broken

blades from the compressor.

Compressors inside the engine are made

up of dozens of steel blades.

The rapidly spinning blades force air

into the back of the engine.

The pressurized air combines with fuel and ignites

in the combustion chamber, creating thrust.

Weaver notices that the compressor

blades from flight 242 are fatigued and badly bent.

AL WEAVER: And we know that that fatiguing, and the type

of fatigue that we could observe with our eye,

is caused by the repetitive surging of the engine,

over and over.

NARRATOR: A surge occurs when the air flow through an engine

is interrupted.

Pressure builds up between the compressors.

The engine briefly loses thrust.

But what caused the surges?

Weaver notices significant hail damage on both the plane's

engine cowlings.

AL WEAVER: That led us to suspect

that the existence of the hail might have

been a significant contributor.

NARRATOR: It's possible that massive pieces of hail

clogged the bleed valves--

a vital outlet in the plane's engines.

If the bleed valves were blocked,

the engine would have surged repeatedly.

Once the engine began to surge,

the action that the pilot should have taken

was to pull the throttles back to clear the surge.

NARRATOR: Weaver listens to the cockpit voice recorder.

Maintain 15,000, Southern 242.

NARRATOR: Weaver hears that, while the engines were surging,

the crew was instructed to climb.

We're trying to get it up there.

Advancing the throttles would only worsen the situation.

NARRATOR: With its bleed cavities blocked,

pressure built up inside the engines,

bending the compressor blades until they broke apart.

Our left engine just cut out.

AL WEAVER: And once the blades broke in the compressor,

then the engine has no hope of ever working again.

NARRATOR: Investigators conclude that hail crippled

the engines of Southern Airways 242,

forcing an emergency landing--

Brace for impact!

NARRATOR: --during which 72 people died.

[explosions]

After the crash, I had a hard time understanding

how I managed to survive.

I felt like I had a second shot at it.

[coughing]

NARRATOR: With the help of survivor stories,

the NTSB can recommend ways to make airliners

safer in an emergency.

JOHN COX: There is a misperception

that there are very rarely survivors

out of an airline accident.

Factually, that's not true.

There's about 85% of people involved in an accident end

up surviving it.

[suspenseful music]

NARRATOR: Continental Airlines flight 1404

is being prepped for its departure

from Denver International Airport.

It will fly two hours southeast to Houston, Texas.

Captain David Butler and First Officer Chad

Levang are at the controls.

All right.

Cue up ATIS.

NARRATOR: The pilots check the current weather conditions.

DISPATCH: Main departure, runway 34 right.

Wind, 280 degrees, 11 knots.

NARRATOR: The wind is a moderate 13 mile an hour,

breeze coming out of the west.

In terms of the weather, there's no indication

this should be anything other than a routine takeoff.

Among the 110 passengers on board

the Boeing 737 is Mike Wilson.

A flight he took four years ago turned into a brush with death.

MIKE WILSON: My father had actually

purchased a new aircraft, and he invited

me out to off flying with him.

You know, we'd taken off from a small airstrip

near Galveston Bay in Houston.

Once we got up flying out over the bay,

we were losing altitude.

As soon as we hit the water, the plane sank just like a stone.

So I got my harness off and popped out of the cabin.

And a bunch of boats were out, just pleasure boats, that day.

So one had been close by and seen it,

and they were there probably within a minute of the plane

hitting the water.

And they pulled us out and took us up to shore.

So it took me a little while to kind of get back on the horse,

I guess.

I remember one of the ways that I kind of coped

with it as I told myself, well, you know,

I've been in a plane crash.

I mean, what's the chances of being in two plane crashes?

That's just infinitesimal.

Right?

You know, kind of just convinced myself

that there's just no chance statistically that I'm going

to be in another plane crash.

[suspenseful music]

Flight attendants, please be seated for departure.

Continental 1404, wind 270 at 27.

Turn right heading 020, runway 34

right is cleared for takeoff.

NARRATOR: The wind has picked up to 27 knots, or a little

over 31-miles-per-hour.

Heading 020, cleared for takeoff, runway 34 right,

Continental 1404.

[ominous music]

MIKE WILSON: We accelerated up to takeoff speed.

Everything seemed like it was going just fine.

[thud]

NARRATOR: Suddenly, the plane veers hard to the left.

MIKE WILSON: I felt this sharp left turn.

And that's when things are definitely going wrong here.

Damn it.

[beeping]

NARRATOR: The 737 careens off the runway

at more than 100 miles an hour.

[beeping]

Reject!

Reject!

MIKE WILSON: Well, the first thought in my mind

was there's no way this is happening again.

NARRATOR: The jet hits a steep ridge and becomes airborne.

[beeping]

It felt like we just went off a cliff.

[screaming]

[groans]

We dropped 50 feet or so.

When we hit the bottom, that's when

things got much, much worse.

This can't be happening.

NARRATOR: Flight 1404 is out of control.

115 lives are in imminent danger.

NARRATOR: At Denver International Airport--

Reject!

Reject!

NARRATOR: --Continental Airlines flight 1404 finally

stops 700 feet from the runway.

Fire engulfs the plane's right engine.

[screaming]

MIKE WILSON: The cabin was starting to fill with smoke.

I looked over at the left hand overwing exit

and it was already open.

Get out of this thing before it burns up.

Come on.

NARRATOR: Passengers have only seconds to escape.

Come on.

MIKE WILSON: I carefully made it down the wing,

got off onto the ground, and then turned.

And I immediately started walking up the hill.

[sirens wailing]

It hit me that, oh, I'm gonna survive this.

[sirens wailing]

NARRATOR: Firefighters reach the 737.

Fortunately, the leaking fuel has flowed down the slope,

away from the burning airplane and the escaping passengers.

Despite sliding off the runway and crossing

a taxiway and service road, all 110 passengers and 5 crew

are alive.

MIKE WILSON: It was amazing to me

that we all walked away the way we did.

NARRATOR: Investigators from the National Transportation Safety

Board arrive at the crash site.

They need to figure out why flight

1404 went off the runway.

It had gone off at a very high speed,

went over these other roadways.

It was mostly intact.

The fuselage was burned along most of the right side,

and some pretty significant impact damage

as it went across the infield.

NARRATOR: Investigators listened to the cockpit voice recorder.

DISPATCH (ON RECORDING): Continental 1404, Denver tower.

Runway, 34 right.

Position hold.

DAVID BUTLER (ON RECORDING): Position hold, 34 right.

Continental 1404.

NARRATOR: The conversation in the cockpit

is entirely routine, as the pilots

complete their checklists while taxiing to the runway.

DAVID BUTLER (ON RECORDING): Looks like you

got some wind out there.

NARRATOR: And then something grabs their attention.

Look at them clouds moving.

The pilots were looking up at the clouds

and reporting how these low clouds at 4,000 feet

were moving, like, at 50 knots.

NARRATOR: But no reports mentioned airport.

winds exceeding 27 knots.

So the captain proceeded as planned.

This airplane should be able to handle those kind of winds.

[thud]

A 737 500 can handle crosswinds up to 33 knots.

But if the gusts are stronger--

It might have been enough to blow the plane of the runway.

NARRATOR: Investigators look into how

winds are measured and reported at Denver

International Airport.

They start with the Automated Terminal Information Service

or ATIS.

So what were they being told about the winds?

Um, ATIS told them 11 knots.

AUTOMATED VOICE: Wind 280 degrees, 11 knots.

Well, where did that speed come from?

This weather tower, right here.

That is miles from the runway.

NARRATOR: In addition to ATIS, there

are also dozens of wind shear sensors

scattered around the airfield.

Controllers use their data to provide pilots with localized

wind information.

Continental 1404, wind at 270 at 27.

The controller gave them a wind speed of 27 knots.

Where does that rating come from?

This sensor here, at the departure end of 34 right.

It averages out wind speeds, sends 'em out every 10 seconds.

NARRATOR: That means the pilots weren't getting the speed

of every individual gust--

only the average of several.

The average was 27 knots, not enough

to blow a 737 off a runway.

Bet there's a heck of a gust in there.

NARRATOR: Did the airport censors miss

a far stronger gust of wind--

perhaps one coming down from the nearby Rocky Mountains?

Wind patterns created by the Rockies

can produce strong gusts called mountain waves.

Did a ferocious mountain wave blow

flight 1404 off the runway?

DON EICK: So we started looking at the upper air conditions,

and we determined that mountain wave

conditions with some strong downslope winds were occurring.

NARRATOR: Experts from the National Center for Atmospheric

Research create a computer model of the winds

at the exact moment the plane left the runway.

Using this model, we came into surprising findings.

Impressive.

And it did show strong winds reaching the surface.

Some of these winds were over 40 knots--

all associated with mountain wave conditions.

NARRATOR: None of the airport sensors

reported strong wind gusts, just averages every 10 seconds.

Well, the pilots wouldn't have known.

NARRATOR: Shouldn't an experienced pilot

like Captain Butler have been able to keep

the plane under control?

How far outside the range of normal experience

is this for airline pilots?

And in order to answer that question,

we had to actually get operational data.

Hey, Bill, you're not gonna believe this.

NARRATOR: Investigators learn that the vast majority

of pilots have never had to deal with this situation.

Out of 250,000 takeoffs in the 737, only four

were hit with crosswinds stronger than 30 knots

or close to 35 miles per hour.

The pilots on flight 1404 faced gusts in excess of 40 knots

or a little over 46 miles per hour.

WILLIAM BRAMBLE: The odds that a pilot is going to encounter

that kind of crosswind--

it's not even guaranteed that they

will encounter it in their career as an airline pilot.

Damn it!

[beeping]

NARRATOR: Despite the extremely rare crosswind--

[explosion]

--everyone on board Continental flight 1404 survived the crash.

[sirens wailing]

Investigators recommend new Federal Aviation Administration

guidelines requiring air traffic controllers

to provide wind data to pilots from multiple sources.

The crew made a prudent decision,

once they realized that they were losing control

of the airplane, to take the necessary steps to ensure

the best outcome for the passengers.

Yes, it's off the runway.

But they're survivors, and that's the important part.

NARRATOR: 11 years before all these passengers escaped death,

passengers on a Korean Airlines flight

suffered a very different fate.

[screaming]

Hello!

[coughing] Help!

NARRATOR: Korean Airlines flight 801 is on its way to Guam

from Seoul, South Korea.

The 42-year-old Captain Park Yong-chul is at the controls.

A former Korean Air Force pilot, Park has been flying

747s for more than six years.

There are 254 passengers and crew on board tonight.

Barry Small is returning to Guam from New Zealand.

BARRY SMALL: The flight was totally normal.

We had our meals, and it was just a totally

normal flight in every way.

I took my shoes off, just to relax a little bit

and feel more comfortable.

NARRATOR: As the plane nears Guam,

clouds and rain obscure the approach.

Captain, ground condition is no good.

It's raining a lot.

[ominous music]

NARRATOR: Finally, Captain Park sees his destination.

It's Guam.

Good.

NARRATOR: But there's a technical problem

at the airport.

Korean Air 801, cleared for ILS runway 6, left approach.

Glideslope, unusable.

NARRATOR: Air traffic control tells the crew

that the airport's glide slope equipment,

which would normally guide planes to the runway,

is not working.

[suspenseful music]

But then something odd happens during the landing sequence.

AUTOMATED VOICE: Glide slope.

Glide slope.

Is the glide slope working?

Yes.

Yes, it's working.

Why is it working?

NARRATOR: It's a confusing development.

60 check, gear down.

Check.

Approaching 1,400.

Flaps, 30.

Flaps, 30.

Look carefully.

NARRATOR: The pilots expect to see the airport any second now.

Set 562.

NARRATOR: Though the runway's still not in sight,

they proceed with their approach.

Isn't the glide slope working?

AUTOMATED VOICE: 500.

NARRATOR: The ground proximity warning system alerts the crew

there at just 500 feet.

But they still can't see the runway.

Wiper on.

BARRY SMALL: I'd done this flight many, many times before.

And when I estimated we were about 30 seconds from landing,

I bent down to put my shoes on.

200.

NARRATOR: The plane is now 200ft above the ground.

Let's make a missed approach.

Not in sight.

Not in sight.

Missed approach.

Go around.

Go around.

Pull up.

AUTOMATED VOICE: 100.

50.

40.

[screaming]

NARRATOR: The 747, carrying 254 people, hits the ground hard.

[screaming]

BARRY SMALL: The aircraft was starting to break apart.

There was just bottles, bags--

everything you could imagine was coming out.

[screaming]

DISPATCH: Korean Air 801, heavy tower.

How do you hear?

Korean 801, heavy tower--

NARRATOR: Everyone in the cockpit is dead.

[groans] Hello!

[coughing] Help!

[intense music]

NARRATOR: Some of the passengers survived the impact.

But can they now endure the inferno that follows?

NARRATOR: On Nimitz Hill, in Guam,

fire sweeps through the wreckage of Korean Airlines 801.

BARRY SMALL: The fire started in the front,

and proceeded from the front to them back towards me.

NARRATOR: A badly injured Berry Small stumbles

toward an opening in the cabin.

BARRY SMALL: There was about a 6 foot drop down to the ground.

It was the only part that wasn't burning.

[yells]

[yells]

The fire burnt my arms.

And my watch got that hot that was melting into my--

into my flesh.

NARRATOR: Small's right leg is broken.

[groaning]

And I managed to crossed with my elbows.

NARRATOR: Many more passengers are trapped inside.

[groaning]

NARRATOR: The plane has crashed into thick forest, 3 miles

from the airport.

It takes rescuers almost an hour to reach the site.

A first responder finds Barry Small nearby.

[breathing heavily]

BARRY SMALL: He gave me his fire jacket,

and put it under my head to comfort me.

[groans]

NARRATOR: Of all those on board, only 26 survive.

[somber music]

At dawn, the full extent of the damage is apparent.

The 747 has slid down a steep hill

and broken up into large pieces.

Since Guam is an American territory,

the responsibility for investigating the crash

falls to the National Transportation Safety Board.

Lead investigator Greg Feith discovers

large sections of the plane almost completely intact.

GREG FEITH: The airplane landed relatively under control.

That is, that the pilot basically

landed the airplane into the trees and into that terrain.

Unfortunately, it was 3 miles from the airport.

NARRATOR: If the flight was under control,

why did it crash before reaching the airport?

Korean Air 801, cleared for ILS, runway 6, left approach.

Glide slope, unusable.

NARRATOR: The crew was told that the airport's

glide slope was not working.

It meant that the captain had to navigate the approach unaided.

Flaps, 30.

GREG FEITH: It is now up to the pilot to fly an established

procedure called a step down, where he starts at an altitude

of, say, 2,000 feet.

When he gets to a particular point located by what they call

DME, or distance measuring equipment,

he then starts a descent to another prescribed altitude.

NARRATOR: If the crew was following the step

down procedure, its flight path would resemble a set of stairs.

But instead, after the first step,

the plane descends steadily.

GREG FEITH: If you don't hit those step downs,

you run the risk of flying into an obstruction or high terrain.

NARRATOR: Feith and his team analyzed the cockpit voice

recorder, hoping to better understand

what happened in the cockpit.

[sighs] I'm really sleepy.

GREG FEITH: Well, one of the key elements that we ain't fogged

was that the flight crew appeared to be tired.

They make us classic guys work to the maximum.

GREG FEITH: And this was a chartered flight,

so it would have put them on what we call

backside of the clock flying.

That is, they wouldn't be normally flying during the day.

They are now flying at night.

And, typically, your body says you should be

asleep when it's dark outside.

NARRATOR: Feith focuses on the captain's discussion

concerning the glide slope.

PARK YONG-CHUL (ON RECORDING): Is the glide slope working?

Yes.

Yes, it's working.

Why is it working?

NARRATOR: Feith doesn't understand

why Park's glide slope display appear

to be receiving a signal, since the transmitter at Guam

was out of service.

It turns out that there's a potential flaw

in the glide slope system.

Glide slope receivers can respond to non-glide slope

signals, particularly when the intended

glide slope signal is absent.

If there are spurious signals on the channel,

they can cause intermittent movements

of the glide slope needle.

AUTOMATED VOICE: Glide slope.

Set, 560 feet.

NARRATOR: Investigators build a troubling picture

of a tired and confused captain trying to land

at night in a rainstorm.

It became very apparent, listening

to the cockpit voice recorder, that in fact he got fixated.

NARRATOR: But that's still not enough to explain

why the plane crashed.

There are other instruments pilots

can use to help them land.

Go around to the side.

Missed approach.

Go around.

NARRATOR: For investigator Greg Feith,

the biggest question about Korean Air 801

remains unanswered.

How did an experienced pilot crash his plane

3 miles short of the airport?

Feith uncovers a gap in the critical information

the crew had to work with.

GREG FEITH: We found that the Korean Airlines flight crew had

all of their training based on airports

with approaches where the DME was always

co-located at the airport.

NARRATOR: DME, the distance measuring equipment,

are electronic beacons that tell pilots where they

are in relation to the airport.

Often, the final beacon is found at the foot of the runway.

But that was not the case in Guam.

The airport was actually 3 miles further on.

Go around to the side.

Missed approach.

Go around.

We think that, based on fatigue and some

of their training, that in fact, when the flight crew crashed

the airplane, when the counter got to zero,

they thought the airport should be there.

AUTOMATED VOICE: 100.

NARRATOR: When they realized something was wrong,

it was already too late.

[screaming]

Three incredible tales of survival

suggest three different strategies for surviving.

Just before landing, Barry Small leaned

forward to put on his shoes.

BARRY SMALL: I went to touch my shoes.

We hit the ground, and I was accidentally

in the perfect crash position by some sort of miracle.

My right leg went forward and crashed into the bar

in front of the seat and broke.

And my left leg was saved by my carry bag

stopping my leg going forward to hit that bar.

NARRATOR: Still able to walk on his one good leg,

Small managed to get to safety.

On Southern Airways flight 242, Don Foster survived

by protecting his body.

GREG FEITH: He put a leather jacket over his head,

and used a pillow as a buffer between the seat

in front of him and his face.

That probably saved his life from the standpoint

that it minimized any injuries he would have suffered.

NARRATOR: On Continental 1404, Mike Wilson kept calm.

Come on. Past

MIKE WILSON: Every was remaining, I have to say,

remarkably calm.

And so the line moved relatively quickly.

People were getting out that left overwing exit.

NARRATOR: By listening to survivor stories

over the years, investigators and the industry

have learned how passengers can better protect

themselves during an emergency.

[sirens wailing]

BARBARA DUNN: Most of our accidents

take place during takeoff or landing,

and they are unprepared.

You don't know it's going to happen.

Often passengers bury themselves in a newspaper or a book.

Some of them would go to sleep.

And that's when you need to have your wits about you.

You need to have a rough idea of how many feet

it is to your nearest exit and to an alternate exit,

and how you're going to get there

if the cabin is full of smoke.

[bell dings]

MARY SCHIAVO: On takeoff and landing, not only should

your feet be on the floor, your feet in your shoes,

and you paying attention.

But if you put your legs slightly back,

that avoids you being injured by your own legs.

And there are a lot of studies that

show that injuries happen when your legs fly up and hit you.

So just tuck your legs just a little bit back,

and that adds another measure of safety.

NARRATOR: For every flight, passengers should carefully

choose on-board clothing.

Something that's made out of polyester, or nylon,

or a synthetic fabric of some description--

when it gets hot, it melts.

It sticks to my skin.

But if I'm wearing cotton, or wool, or a natural fiber,

my chances of getting burned are far less.

NARRATOR: In the unlikely event of an emergency landing,

passengers need to know and assume

the proper brace position.

Brace for Impact!

NARRATOR: Most airlines suggest passengers sit as far back

in their seats as possible--

knees together, feet flat on the floor,

bend their bodies forward, backs of their heads

resting against the seat in front,

arms holding their lower legs or resting on top of their heads.

Your body is going to be thrown forward.

So if you can get yourself into that position beforehand,

the amount of movement back and forth is going to be reduced.

And the level of injury will be less.

You also need to do your seat belt up so

tight that it's uncomfortable.

Because that's the only thing that's

going to keep you in your seat and keep

you restrained properly.

MARY SCHIAVO: And those kinds of things

are now embedded in aviation safety recommendations.

And so we learn, as time goes on, what helps you survive

and what are the survivability factors.