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Reporter: ...5191 crashed this morning shortly after take-off...

Reporter #2: ...begin an investigation of this crash,

a tragic ending to a Super Bowl junket...

Reporter #3: 321 plane crashed in the dense forest-laden

Margala Hills near...

Reporter #4: It seemed certain there were no survivors.

Then, they found Mohammed, crying, but alive.

The 2-year-old lay in the branches...

Reporter #5: ...but only one, George Lamson Jr.,

lived to tell the story...

Reporter #6: Her name is Bahia Bakhari...

♪♪

♪♪

George: I don't believe in random chance.

I know I go against the scientists on this.

I believe that...

I believe that my life was spared for a reason

either I wanted, or something that

a higher power than me wanted.

Man #2: George! Turn around, and wave goodbye!

♪♪

♪♪

It was early Monday morning.

A group of tourists boarded a plane

after a weekend of gambling, skiing,

and watching the Super Bowl in Reno.

The plane took off, but within minutes, it had crashed.

17-year-old George Lamson Jr., he was thrown from the plane,

but miraculously, he was able to walk away.

You weren't badly hurt at all, were you?

No.

I feel fine.

I just have a few sores along the side of my leg

and right here on my hand.

I feel just great, huh.

Reporter: Very few people have ever survived a plane crash, George.

Maybe you could tell us how -- how it went.

George: Well, we took off, and everything seemed okay

and we were fine.

And then, all of a sudden, we hit some turbulence.

And we started falling down from the sky,

and the pilot told us we were going to crash,

and we crashed.

The pilot told you?

What di-- What exactly did he say?

He says "We're going down."

"Going down."

And how much time do you think you had

between hearing that and actual impact?

It was about two seconds, at the very most.

What did you do in those two seconds?

Any thoughts of trying to save your life?

Yes. I covered up my body as much as possible.

I lifted my legs up, and hoped for the best.

Considering the, uh, impact of the, uh, of the crash

and what the crash site looks like,

the fact that he's in the condition that he is in

really is a miracle,

there -- there's no question about it.

Reporter: Well you are -- Of all the --

Of all the gamblers on that plane, sir,

you are the luckiest.

Reporter #2: In Reno, the world began to wonder at the luck

and poise of 17-year-old George Lamson Jr.

of St. Paul.

He lost his father in the debris

of the old Lockheed Electra airliner.

Tossed clear of the fireball, still strapped in his seat,

the Creton High senior assumed the blessing and burden

of being the only survivor.

So, I kicked the wall while we hit the ground.

So I was just sliding through all this fire and debris.

George's demeanor when he first came out --

when we first were seeing him in a hospital bed,

and then, later, when he came out in a wheelchair --

he was, uh, sort of surprised to see everybody there.

You know, there was this sort of excitement --

remember, he was 17 --

and all of the sudden, all these people

are there, with all these cameras,

and they're all for him, you know?

And, uh, you know, we were kinda conscious of that.

And yet, we knew he had been through this horrific accident.

When the images of that moment were carried back

around the country -- 'cause it was covered everywhere.

It was the biggest story of the country at the time.

People were stunned.

And he was completely composed, and had even a touch of humor.

Somebody asked him if he would fly again, and he said,

"Yeah. I just don't want to have an accident again."

I can notice that, uh, the condition I am in

compared to the other people, I feel very, very lucky.

♪♪

Being placed as a miracle boy or someone

that is a recipient of a miracle,

people look at you, and think that you --

you gotta destiny, there's something God saved you for.

There's a special reason for you to be here.

And that's unrealistic.

That's completely unrealistic.

But I look at my life, and I see my daughter,

I see my life...

it's -- it's definitely worth living for.

It's worth being here still.

And these other things that people place on me --

I can't live their fantasies or their expectations.

I'm gonna be okay the way I am.

I'm fine.

♪♪

Reporter: Now to a tragic crash at sea and one small miracle.

Officials say a 14-year-old girl was plucked alive

from the Indian Ocean when a Yemenia plane went down.

There were 153 people on board.

Reporter #2: The community of Comoros Islanders living in France

has been devastated by this accident.

Many lost loved ones who were going home for the holidays.

The 14-year-old who beat all the odds flew to Paris

on a French Government jet with a special medical team.

Bruised and cut, Bahia Bakhari was just able to talk.

In Paris, Kossim Bakhari said

the emotional trauma is just beginning.

[ Speaking French ]

"It will be very hard for her," he says.

"She survived, but her mother was killed in the crash."

[ Speaking French ]

♪♪

[ Speaking French ]

[ Indistinct conversations ]

[ Speaking French ]

There was nothing out of the ordinary.

There was nothing wrong with the plane.

there was nothing wrong with me or the captain.

So, they taxied out to where their map told them to go,

and, um, sat, actually, directly below the tower.

The tower, that morning, was understaffed.

It was a 6:00 a.m. flight.

There should have been two people in the tower.

There was only one.

They held short directly underneath him,

um, for about 15 seconds, I think.

He had his back turned, so he never saw

that they were headed out the wrong way.

And he cleared them without turning around, and looking.

The last thing I remember was when Captain Clay said, uh,

"You have the controls?"

I said, "Yes. I have the controls."

I said -- said, "Thrust."

He set the thrust, and away we went.

Reporter: Cleared for take-off on Runway 22,

the pilots take off from the much shorter Runway 26.

The pilots struggle to pull the plane into the air,

but simply run out of room.

♪♪

He wasn't scheduled to fly.

he was supposed to be commuting home.

I wa-- I was not supposed to be on the flight, but --

Neither was the captain.

♪♪

Reporter: The headline of the hour is what we feared --

that 49 of the 50 souls on board that aircraft have died.

Reporter #2: At least one confirmed survivor.

Yeah, one known survivor.

And we have an update on that man's situation

at the UK Hospital.

And I remember the news being on,

'cause I kept wanting to hear...

'possibly a survivor.'

"Is there a survivor?

'There's been confirmation that there's one survivor.'"

And it just -- "Let it be my mother.

Let it be my mother."

Matthew: My wife was sitting there with me when I answered the phone.

She saw me turn the channel on the TV, and --

and she immediately started dressing the kids.

All you could see was just helicopter footage

of smoldering ruins.

At this point, they were reporting that, you know,

the one person who had survived was a crew member.

So, I had a 50/50 chance that it was him.

And the coroner got in touch with my father and I, and...

I heard through his phone, standing next to him,

"I'm sorry."

I got the first call around 7:30, 8:00 in the morning.

And, I mean, it was about noon

when I finally found out that it was not --

that he had not lived, that Jim was --

was the survivor.

Reporter: Three first responders, tempting their own danger,

were able to rescue First Officer James Polehinke

from the cockpit.

No one else can be saved.

Hospital officials say they felt they were close to identifying

the girl when Anthony Sheehan called early this morning.

He said his granddaughter has brown hair,

brown eyes, a chipped tooth,

and was wearing purple nail polish.

The description matched.

Cecelia has burns over 30% of her body.

She lost her mother, father,

and 6-year-old brother in the fiery plane crash.

Cecelia's grandfather has been visiting her

several times a day.

Man: She asked the nurses for her mother.

Reporter: The hospital describes her as a talkative little girl

whose spirits are lifted by stuffed animals,

strawberry milkshakes, and bedtime stories.

The message has already arrived here loud and clear --

that the whole world is rooting for Cecelia.

Reporter #2: Cecelia has now received nearly 1,900 gifts,

18,000 letters, and 130,000 dollars.

And the latest gesture of good will

comes all the way from Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Reporter #4: Today, flowers came from the wife of the co-pilot

who died in flight 255.

Doctors say it will be a day or two until they know for sure

if Cecelia will require more skin grafts,

but the prognosis for the miracle girl is extremely good.

Cecelia: I'm happily married to my high school sweetheart.

I'm studying to get my Master's in Art Therapy.

I...am happy.

I've just...

I've never been happier.

I think about the accident every day.

It's kinda hard not to think about it.

When I look in the mirror, I have visual scars --

my arms and my legs,

and I have a scar on my forehead.

I have memories of my parents.

Not so much, like, how they talked,

but more like interactions with them.

Like, for example, I remember sitting in the car with my mom,

listening to the radio, and a song came on

that was called, um, "Broken Wings."

It was this big '80's song.

Clearly about, like, love, or a stalker or something.

But I asked her about the song, and I said,

"Mom, what's this song about?"

And she said, "Oh, it's about a bird

whose wings were broken."

She was trying to explain it to me, 'cause I was, like, 3.

And I said, "Oh, well, does the bird get better?"

And she said, "Yes. Yes. He got better."

♪♪

[ Indistinct talking ]

Man: Okay, that's right behind that, uh, buffet...

-Yes, sir. -...bulkhead.

You couldn't see any seats in front of you.

You could just see a bulkhead.

Is that correct? -Yes, sir.

George Jr. has spent a decade trying to make sense

out of that January night in Reno.

George: There's people in all walks of life

that have suffered loss like I have.

And it's just -- they don't get any recognition for it.

I think what makes me different is that,

when this tragedy struck, I was under the spotlight by media,

by everybody in my town.

Everybody knew who I was.

And it was a good feeling, to have people know

who you are, and care.

But when it stopped.

and people don't remember who you are, it...

it's a very big vacuum.

And that hurt.

That hurt a lot.

I would sleep a lot, and I would, uh...

I would eat a lot, too.

I mean, I'd do everything I could not to think about

what was going on in front of me.

Man: Those amazing hands.

George: March of that year, I dropped out of college.

Now you see it.

10 years from now, I'll be jammin' on stage.

This was, like, 1987.

I was driving, like, 150 miles an hour

in this particular car that I had, and, um...

...it was really -- I don't know why I did that.

I just liked the thrill of being on the edge of death.

I felt like that, you know, maybe I'm being protected,

you know, and I wanted to see if it was really true.

I received some settlement money in 1986 and some in 1987.

Um, I went through that money pretty quickly

because I was not thinking about tomorrow.

I didn't think I was gonna live to...

to five years from now.

Hannah was a good motivation for me to...

to get my-- myself straightened out.

So, once Hanna was born, I...

changed. I had to make a change.

And I -- that's what I did.

This, here, is, uh, my junior year in high school.

I went to an all-boys school,

totally unlike what you went through.

At that time in my life, I was, uh, working for my dad.

If he wasn't in the plane crash, I think he'd be more successful.

He was in a lot of sports back in high school,

and he was really good at it, and he had, like,

the life he always wanted, with the girlfriend,

the friends, and everything.

And he probably would still be in Minnesota now,

and not in Reno.

I probably wouldn't even be here.

This is the airport where we took off on, uh,

January 21st, 1985.

I didn't move here to be near the crash scene.

It was just more -- just more of a, um...

I don't know.

You think really deep about what you're doing

with your life, and...

and all the people that were involved with this accident

that may have done more with their life,

and you feel guilty that you're not using your life...

...to do something better.

Hannah: He always talks about it.

He's, like, sometimes always depressed about it,

and he's like, "Why am I still here?"

Like, "I made a fool of myself."

Like, "I'm not even doing anything with my life."

And it makes me sad.

George: During the course of my life, for the last 25 years,

I've been curious to know what makes a person heal from a...

a situation that happened to me.

I've never been able to find out,

or talk to anybody

that has been through what I've been through.

To my knowledge, there are 14 lone survivors

of airplane crashes of large magnitudes.

I would like to learn a little bit about what happened

to the others that have gone through what I've gone through.

The names of the 14 survivors that I know of are

Rubin Van Assau, Bahia Bakhari,

James L. Polehinke, Mohammed Al Fatta-Ossman,

Josef Jalai, Serge Petrov,

Erica Delgato, Annette Herfkins, Vesna Volovic, Cecelia Chihan,

Nuba Yassov, Julienne Kopke, and Juan Lu.

And I would really like to know how they're coming along,

what they've learned.

I'd like to be friends with these people,

to -- to let them know that I'm there for them,

to help them the best that I can from what I've learned.

[ Speaking French ]

[ Speaking French ]

[ Speaking French ]

♪♪

[ Dog barking ]

But the way -- it's built for a suitcase,

so you can fold up and carry it.

So, if I pick this side up...

and then, you know, if I try to pick it up like that,

that's what happens.

So, I can't do it myself.

Ida: It might slide off the edge

I mean, he was -- it was as if an angel

wrapped his wings around him, and held him,

'cause if you had seen the cockpit,

there's no way he could have gotten out of that.

There wasn't even room for his body to be there.

The only reason he survived, it was the quick action

on the part of the rescue workers,

the two public safety officers that found him.

And they actually stuck their heads up

into the remains of the cockpit, found him, removed him,

recognized that his injuries were so severe

and life-threatening

that they didn't have time to wait for an ambulance.

And they put him in the back of one of the, uh, SUVs --

the police SUVs -- and sped him to the hospital

Amy: It's a miracle, A, that anyone survived that accident,

but it is an incredible -- an astronomical miracle --

that a -- that a pilot survived that accident,

because let me tell you, the pilots always die.

Always.

Ida: They had cut all his clothes off,

and he always wore this cross on his tie.

And they didn't know he was layin on his tie.

And she found the bleed.

And the cross came up on the x-ray right over his heart.

He had come to, and he's like, you know, "What happened?"

And, I said, "You were in a plane crash."

And he asked, "What happened to everybody else?"

I asked the doctor, "Can I tell him?"

And then, I told him, you know, "You're the only one."

And it was...

And he couldn't talk, or anything so he just...

he just wept.

My first concern was the passengers

that were my responsibility that day.

Ida: He by no means pulled the long straw

and won the lottery because he got to live.

First of all, he would've rather died.

No doubt about it, he would have rather died.

His conviction as a pilot was so great

that he would've rather gone down with the ship.

That's how he felt.

You know, this will never not be in our lives.

And it's such an emotional...

cross that he bears that no one really sees but me.

And he would've given anything to have gone with all of them,

rather than sitting here today, and doing this.

Reporter: The FAA has admitted it violated it's own policy

by having only one controller in that tower at Bluegrass Airport.

A second controller should have been in the tower

handling planes on radar

while the other worked with planes on the runway.

Everybody was really very focused on the tower,

and the fact that there was one controller

and that he had his back turned, and --

and that kinda thing.

And then, airline came out and announced,

proactively, that the pilots had violated sterile cockpit.

Shawn: Sterile cockpit rule is actually a federal air regulation

that pilots are required to follow that,

anytime you're below 10,000 feet,

and the airplane's under its own power,

you're only allowed to talk about

what is pertinent to the flight.

After the airline came out, and announced that they were --

that they had violated sterile cockpit,

then, the whole thing shifted towards the pilots.

When the public gets ahold of the cockpit

voice recorder transcripts,

and they see this 20 minutes of chatter,

I think there is some confusion,

saying, "Oh they were chattering about everything

that didn't ma-- no wonder they had a problem!"

That's not sterile cockpit.

Getting to know each other on a flight deck,

and this casual conversation that tends to proceed each,

uh, each flight is actually extremely important.

And what that does is it breaks down barriers.

As a human, kind of figure out how you tick,

and you need to figure out how I tick.

Violation of sterile cockpit is extremely common.

It happens all the time. It's happening right now.

That does not cause airplanes to crash.

However, what it does do is it removes one safety net.

Woman: There was windows, and the, um, head guy came in

to tell us to stay away from the windows.

So, someone had evidently made a threat.

Ida: And when something like that happens, you want somebody

to blame, you know, 'cause you're hurting, and it --

it helps the focus, and, um, you know.

I -- I totally, totally understand, and don't...

have no animosity towards any of them.

It was, you know, heartbreaking.

Unfortunately, it's easier to blame the person

who can take it

than the person who's no longer there.

Had he been killed in this thing, too...

...I don't want to say that would have caused

a lot of closure for anybody -- I'm speaking on me--

it would have stopped a lot of that, the anger,

'cause there's nobody to be angry to.

My feeling has always been if --

if Jeff had lived, um, while we would have taken him in any --

in any form, I think he would have either di--

we would have just lost him mentally,

or he would have found a way to --

to...commit -- to commit suicide,

I think, is where he would've wound up.

I just don't think he could've done it.

I think that, um, for him, it's a blessing that he's gone.

I have, uh, an article that the Kentucky Herald

had published that show faces of the people

who were on board, it -- it gives profiles.

And not that I go back and look at it just to...

torture myself, but just to...

to see who the people were on the plane,

and to see what they had done.

The -- The age range is so...

big, from 16 to, I think, 70.

But I don't think there'll ever be a time that...

maybe I can forgive myself,

because, again, going back to what I had mentioned

in earlier conversation,

the people that came onboard the plane

were my responsibility.

They were mine and Captain Clay's responsibility.

And if there's anything that I can say

to the family members, is that --

is that I'm sorry we made that mistake,

because they lost their loved ones that day.

And I just hope that God can give the family members

some comfort, some peace,

and some compassion, so that...

their burden gets less as time goes on.

♪♪

Hannah: I currently live with my dad.

I have one stepbrother,

but I call him my "real brother,"

'cause he's the only thing I really have, really.

And my mom basically lives, like, 10 minutes away from here,

so I see her, like, every day.

My dad doesn't like decorating at all

because he feels it's a man's house

and it's like a man cave.

And it's like he has no woman here besides me,

so, it's like, I don't really have

that much authority in the house.

George: "My name is George Lamson.

I'm also a sole survivor of a plane crash that happened

in Reno, Nevada in 1985.

I'm trying to reach out to the other sole survivors out there

in hopes to talk to you, and maybe someday meet you.

It's funny that there are so few of us

that have been through what we have been through,

and almost none of us have ever connected with each other."

I'm reaching out to everybody.

The reason why I'm doing this is to...

to try to help others, and that's my motivation.

Completely understand where you're coming from.

I was there.

But, uh, if you ever change your mind, please let me know.

-Are you okay? -Yeah.

I'm okay.

I spent some time on the phone with Erika Delgato.

Hannah: It's closure to him, so it's helping him cope

with everything, and getting to know

what other people are feeling, and...

I don't know. I just think it's really cool.

George: "Hello Bahia. My name is George Lamson.

I live in the United States.

I was 17 years old at the time of the accident.

All the people on that flight died, including my father."

I tried to contact Annette Herfkins.

She had decided not to get involved,

and she had written a book about her experience,

and I believe that she's probably just had enough

thinking about her ordeal,

and she just didn't wanna dwell on it too long.

He sends letters out to, hopefully, like,

get a response in return.

But usually, it comes out not getting any,

and he gets disappointed.

♪♪

[ Speaking French ]

♪♪

[ Speaking French ]

♪♪

[ Speaking French ]

George: "My name is George Lamson. I live in the United States.

I also lived through an airplane crash.

All the people on that flight died, including my father.

There's rarely a day that goes by

that I don't think about what happened.

I am reaching out to you to let you know

that I am here for you.

I now have a daughter your age, and her name is Hannah.

If you ever need to talk I am here fore you as a friend."

♪♪

♪♪

[ Speaking French ]

George: Who's that?

I hope you're not going out with that guy.

No. Oh, thank God.

I wrote and e-mail to Cecelia once.

And she's the one that I knew most about

because it happened so close to when my accident happened.

I felt so bad for her, you know, a 4-year-old girl

lost her entire family.

I got a reply back, and, I mean, I never heard from her again,

so I respected her privacy, and stayed away.

I...have read about other sole survivors,

especially that little girl two years ago.

Bahia?

I read about one woman who, like,

her plane crashed into, like, the forest,

and she had to survive for a few days.

When I read about things like that,

it makes me feel almost inferior, like,

she had to work to survive,

and I just woke up in a hospital, you know?

I just lied there, and everybody else did the work.

I got this tattoo as a reminder of where I've come from,

and I see it as, you know, so many things --

scars, you know, whatever --

were put on my body against my will,

and I decided to put this on my body for myself.

I think that me surviving was random.

I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

But it was my wake-up call.

I...am enjoying every day of my life now.

Man: ...156 loved ones who perished

August 16, 1987 at 8:46 p.m. Northwest Airlines flight 255

who we remember by name.

Joan: But I come out all the time, every year, you know.

It's my one thing I do.

But, um, they were home on vacation,

like I said, and little Billy had climbed the tree,

and my father had hollered at him -- told him,

"Get out of that tree before you break a leg."

And we wish now that he'd broke a leg,

because they would've stayed back.

Cecelia: I've never been to the memorial.

I've never been a part of...

I feel like I am part of the family

but I've never, like, actively been a part.

Um, I feel like maybe

I would just get way too much attention.

The family members of Flight 255,

they know that I like to be private.

They understand that I --

I don't want to be in the spotlight.

I think I'm the only one who's ever met the survivor.

I went to a meeting in New York for two days,

and she was on the list, and I didn't know it.

When I met her, all I did was cry, cry cry cry.

She never cried, but I cried like a little baby.

Because, to me, that was a part of this whole episode

that was missing, is her.

And it was like, when I met her,

it put that little piece of the puzzle in place.

♪♪

Cecelia: When I realized that I was the only person

to survive that plane crash...

I was maybe in middle school, high school maybe,

being an adolescent, and confused.

So, it was just extra, um, stress for me.

And, um, I remember feeling angry, and survivor's guilt.

"Why didn't my brother survive?

Why didn't anybody?

Why me?"

♪♪

John: So, I was working the night of the crash.

One of the guys I was with, Dan Kish,

actually heard a moaning.

After a few minutes, we saw a chair

that was laying upside down, and we picked up the chair,

and underneath it was, uh, little Cecelia, the survivor.

John really makes an effort to be active in my life.

We talk all the time on the Internet.

Um, he came to my wedding, and we danced at my reception.

John: I didn't think that nobody would survive.

I guess the feeling of it...

I guess, with 156 people perishing that night,

I went home with, you know, uh, I guess a little glimmer of hope

whereas the other guys on my crew

really didn't go home with anything.

Cecelia: I feel like I --

I need to keep in touch with John,

because he's almost like a link to...

the void that I mentioned earlier,

where I don't remember what happened.

Um..

Maybe one time, I asked him in detail, I was like,

"Oh, you know, what did my mother's body look like?

She must have looked not so good."

And he didn't really want to tell me.

I'm sure that would be traumatizing.

But, you know, he knows the things that I don't know.

And, uh, it's...

it's a link between the before and the after.

♪♪

As of now, I plan on going to the memorial service,

um, for 2012.

I may have been quiet over the years,

and I continue to -- to want to be private,

but I do think about you guys,

and what you must have gone through.

♪♪

♪♪

Jason: The morning of the funeral procession

people were coming out of the buildings,

lowering their heads, crying.

They did it for every single family.

It was the biggest outpouring of love, compassion, empathy.

It wasn't just people who knew Dad,

or knew me, or knew my family, or -- or knew of us.

Amy: And this whole box is full of cards and letters.

It's just so much stuff that came, for so many months.

No one in Lexington has forgotten the accident,

but we've lived through it, and -- and we've...

we've picked back up.

Woman: Are you squirting Daddy?

[ Laughter ]

No. No. No.

Shelby: That is Daddy, that is Mama, that is Sarah,

and that is me, Shelby.

Amy: The girls actually don't have any memory of him.

I mean, they were -- Sarah was 3 months old when he died,

so, you know, what are you gonna remember from being a newborn?

Shelby had just turned 2.

I get a lot of questions about, you know, about Heaven,

about, you know, "Did daddy love us?"

I try very hard to weave him into our --

just into our everyday existence.

If, you know, somebody eats like --

like cookie dough, you know, "Daddy loved cookie dough."

Shelby: "But we..."

"We have a wump with just one hump."

And unfortunately, in this day and age,

everything is preserved forever.

Everything is on the Internet --

so, every damning headline,

every nasty thing that was said.

One of these days,

somebody's gonna Google his name, and he's --

your gonna find 15,000 pages, literally.

So, someday, I'm going to have to have

some pretty tough conversations with them, um,

about what was said about their dad.

It's not gonna be a fun part.

One, and put both ends of the string through each bead,

or you can do two separate ones.

♪♪

Man: Okay, let's go through the rest of the, uh,

single-engine emergency action items, please,

and we'll just take --

Woman: "Did you turn the engine off, Captain?"

-"Yes. The engine's off." -"Okay. Good."

Ida: When he first was in school, he made the whole cockpit,

and even went so far as to screw in all the switches.

-"Confirm?" -"Confirmed."

-"Condition lever. Confirm?" -"Confirmed."

"Feather. Electrical feather switch.

Confirm?" -"Confirmed."

We used to sit together,

and do callouts in the hot garage,

'cause he'd built it -- it was so big

we couldn't get it in the door in the house.

Man: "Co-pilot ejection seat. Confirm?"

[ Laughter ]

Ida: "No. That'd be negative, Captain."

[ Laughter ]

-"Confirmed."

And it was his dream, and, you know, to --

to be able to live it was amazing.

And how it had to end was...

But at least he got to do it.

Jim: Well, I -- I built it to be as realistic as possible,

so when I...

when I did upgrade at Gulf Stream,

I just wanted my flows, and my captain callouts

and everything to be as concise as possible.

A good pilot is always learning, and they always are.

I would be doing it in my sleep, all the procedures,

or the movings of the -- of the handles,

or the switches, and stuff and she'd be like, the next day,

"You know, you were talking in your sleep,

and you were doing them --

some single-engine emergency procedures."

I'm like, "Oh, really?" But that's --

that's how ingrained it needs to be,

so that, when the situation does arise,

it comes natural to you, and --

and the other person flying the plane.

To keep this leg straight, so that I can walk.

[ Woman speaking indistinctly ]

Yeah, this -- this would go down.

It would bend.

Pins up there would come in here,

and I would lock it.

'Cause if I didn't have this on, I would be using

just all upper body strength just to bend,

and push my back forward.

"Whenever you face trials or struggles of any kind,

know that the trusting of your faith develops perseverance."

So, well, if God -- going back to what I originally -- if God

is just such a loving God, we should already have it good.

Well, but then, how do we develop faith in Him

to know that, at the end, we're gonna live in,

you know, eternal peace forever.

I don't know. Can you measure forever?

How long is forever?

"But be joyful always, pray continuously,

give thanks in all circumstances,

for this is God's will for you."

I'm -- I'm supposed to be joyful that I'm paralyzed,

and I can't walk, and I can't do the things.

But...

I should, because I'm alive,

and I can still do the things --

almost all the things that I could do prior to the accident,

except for stand and walk.

And fly.

So, there's that constant human struggle that we have.

God, that's my religious thing for the day.

♪♪

♪♪

Hannah: Packing up for France, to see Bahia.

I hope she likes my outfits.

Well, she lives in Paris,

but we're going to Normandy for the weekend.

Gonna be pretty cool.

-How ya doing, kid? -Good.

Daddy, will this look good on me?

Yeah. I think so. That looks really cute.

Oh, yay!

Let's go.

But, uh, I'm excited.

It's gonna be really cool.

...electronic devices.

Again, this is very important that you turn off

your cellular telephones.

They must be completely turned off.

Will you eat a snail with me?

If it's good, yeah, I'll eat it.

Throw some garlic and butter on it, oh yeah.

[ Laughs ]

I'd read so much about Europe.

I've never seen it in person, though.

It'll be nice to see it.

You know, I could go weeks without thinking about

what happened to me,

but it either comes up in a dream,

comes up in conversation, comes up in just normal life.

I'll see something, and I'll remember.

Sometimes, it puts me in a bad state of mind,

and makes me very depressed.

At the end of the day, the whole thing was just a perfect storm.

Reporter: 31 investigators would spend 13,000 hours

examining every facet of the crash.

The NTSB was created to investigate accidents,

and really, the important part of that

is to have an independent organization

that's not connected to any group or organization.

We're not the regulator.

We wanna make sure, through our investigations,

that we're really finding out the truth.

From an investigator's standpoint,

as I looked at the stuff, and I see the systems picture,

in some ways, how things were set up there,

it is kind of amazing to me that it took seven days

before somebody -- before we had this accident.

Shawn: Well, what happened that morning was

they ended up stopping here, thinking they were over here.

The turn to this runway --

if you notice this angular relationship --

is almost identical to what they've done in the past.

So, the picture of turning onto the runway

was basically identical.

The mechanisms that are in place to advise the crew

that that section of taxi-way is closed was not provided to them.

These low barricade lights were actually not that visible.

Several of the other crews we interviewed

had mentioned that they did not see these.

These lights, we found, were turned 90 degrees.

They were turned the wrong way.

One of the more poignant events

that took place in this investigation, for me,

I was approached by a Comair employee

saying that some mechanics wanted to talk to us.

They were worried for quite some time

that an accident could happen,

that they found that area confusing.

Um, so I obviously found that this was very important,

and brought this to the attention of the NTSB person

that I was responsible for reporting to.

And I was told we don't need to talk to them

because we already have enough evidence

showing this is confusing.

Reporter: Even though the construction project

altered the taxi-ways, new maps and charts

used in cockpits at Comair and other airlines were not updated.

Shawn: A, uh, Jefferson map or chart is, um,

the maps and charts that pilots use to navigate

not only the airways or the sky,

but also the surface of an airport.

The Jefferson map was actually incorrect that morning.

What was on the chart did not match the signs

that the pilots were seeing outside the window.

With us not knowing that there was construction going on

on Bluegrass Lexington Airport that day,

we did not have the appropriate information to do our jobs

in a manner to get passengers from point A to point B safely.

We interviewed numerous people

that had flown with Jeff and Jim

prior to the accident -- in fact, including check airmen,

or individuals that grade them, and rate their abilities.

And what we found across the board was terms like

"professionalism," "great guys," "very standard,"

uh, "highly competent," was one that I heard.

Um, It was the same thing

for every single person that we interviewed.

We heard nothing negative at all.

Going up, 'cause I have this-- unlike my brother's house,

that didn't have the railings, and me trying to go down

and I fall -- I fell down.

And I have this, so I'm really -- not going anyplace.

Well, here down, it's practically nil.

I mean, and this -- this leg always feels so good.

I'm -- I'm playing with you, because, you know, no leg.

Because the pain medicine's kicked in,

I don't feel the pain.

When I push down you know,

all my back muscles are being used.

That's, uh...

I was going up to New York for Christmas to visit my --

my brothers, and my nieces and nephews.

I was happy, and excited, and in a split second

I went back to the family members

that lost somebody on Flight 5191.

"What are they thinking about, and what are they going through

with Christmas coming up?"

They -- They don't have that person there anymore.

This is my home, which is mostly full of animals,

which I take a big part from my mother.

She was a dolphin lover -- whales, dolphins, manatees.

And she was standing out on the dock,

and there was a dolphin that just popped up,

and Daddy got a picture of her with it.

The photos of my mom would be that one,

because it just captured her smile

that I do miss quite a bit.

I mean, it's...

I have a hard time walking by it

without even getting a little choked up.

There's still those "I wanna call Mom."

And even after 5 years, there's still that...

"I wanna call Mom."

And I can't do it.

Oh -- okay. That's enough.

Alright. That's enough.

No, it's not.

You forget you can't, you know, smell and stuff.

Yes. Can I smell?

No, he can't. He over-seasons everything.

I couldn't imagine, 1, somebody doing this on their own.

And 2, I just -- I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.

I've cried harder than any man has ever cried, or --

or should be able to cry.

And my wife was there to support me

to where I could just put my head on her shoulder and cry.

It's that constant struggle where,

my inner voice wants to keep going forward.

And the good voice says,

"Yeah, come on, you have that inner strength to do that."

But the bad voice says, "No. Stay here.

Have another shot of liquor."

I was doing a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

And her being my caregiver at the time,

being with me 24 hours, she would be the one

that would have to put up with the intense rollercoaster ride,

if you will, of my feelings.

So, has it gotten better in the five years?

Yes. But do I still have the bad days

that she still has to put up with?

Yes.

Am I heavy? [ Laughs ]

No? I'm not heavy?

Oh, my gosh! This hurts my booty.

Oh, we gotta go up a hill, and take a right.

Oh, I think I'm making the tires crunch.

Actually, I don't really want

to tell her anything right off the bat.

I'd like to listen to her first,

see where she's at, and then go from there.

Because...what -- what I know now,

everybody's experience is different.

Well, it's 9:00 p.m. and, as you can see,

it's still bright outside.

And we're on our way to see Bahia and her dad

at the train station. I'm excited.

I said just to be yourself,

and just express the way you want to.

♪♪

Hello. Nice to meet you.

[ Indistinct talking ]

It's nice to meet you.

♪♪

♪♪

Hannah: We went to this house that has, like,

all these American games, French games,

that we can just, like,

incorporate in our language to communicate.

George: Most, uh, sole survivors are young --

under the age of 17.

I don't know why.

We'll never know the answer to this.

This is a miracle.

I believe it's a miracle what happened to me.

I believe it's a miracle what happened to these other folks.

If I had no media attention, there would have been less pain.

In today's Internet age, I --

I could not imagine what it would be like

to have all that recognition placed upon you, and...

It would just be awful.

[ Indistinct talking ]

♪♪

[ All cheering, laughing ]

At first, she was, like, avoiding everyone,

and then, later on, she, like, started just,

like, coming out to everyone.

I don't know, I'm glad I got her out of her shell.

George: Bahia's going to go visit her mother's grave

for the first time since the accident happened.

Ironically, she was gonna be flying out on the same date

that she flew out two years before.

And she was very frightened to be on a plane again after that.

Bahia, I miss my father, too.

These -- These things take time.

These things take a lot of time.

It's a good step, going to visit your mother's grave,

and your wife's grave.

♪♪

[ Speaking French ]

I was burned on my -- my right hand, here.

And, uh, this, here, is later on.

This is from sunburn.

But here, this is the burn, here.

My -- My face was burned.

Um, I had a cut on my forehead.

[ Speaking French ]

What was that like, being by yourself

out there, for nine hours?

can you explain that?

[ Translator speaking French ]

[ Speaking French ]

♪♪

Trying to remember your family is really a good thing to --

to, uh, help you heal.

Like, with my father,

I try to remember my father, and...

and positive things.

[ Speaking French ]

Even though it makes you cry, it helps you move on.

[ Speaking French ]

Hannah: When I saw Bahia cry, it, like, really made me sad,

because she lost, like, everything, and her mom,

and she's only, like, 14.

[ Speaking, toasting in French ]

[ Speaking French ]

Translator: She would like to say something

[ Speaking French ]

Aww.

I love you guys.

And I'm -- I feel very fortunate.

♪♪

Bahia got me this necklace, right here,

and I got her the same one,

because her favorite color was pink.

She has like the same, like, characteristics as me.

So, it's, like, kind of weird seeing myself in her, you know?

Bahia and her dad are, like, really close, like me and him,

so it's kinda ironic how we're both the same.

♪♪

I'm George. Nice to meet you.

I think -- I think of you as family, now.

I'm gonna get it. I promise. I'm gonna practice French.

[ Speaking French ]

Bye.

♪♪

Reporter: In the pre-dawn darkness,

the plane with 50 people on board

began racing down the wrong runway.

11 seconds into the roll, with the jet gathering speed,

the co-pilot suspected trouble.

"That is weird with no lights," he said.

"Yeah," responded the captain.

What they imply is that, "Well, Jesus Christ,

if you thought it was weird, why didn't they --

they could have stopped, at that point.

Why didn't they stop?"

Well, he wasn't...

It wasn't like, "Oh, my God, that's weird!"

It was, "Look, check that out, that is really kinda strange."

When Jim came in to the --

when he flew into the airport two nights earlier,

um, there were problems with the runway lights.

The lights on the right side of the runway,

uh, were not working.

That night, I made a comment to the captain,

"There are no lights lit up.

How are we supposed to find, uh, the runway, or..?

It's like flying into a black hole."

Which, we knew where we were, so...

And we had no issues, or no problems, coming in that night,

and flying, and landing.

But at the same time,

I now already have a preconceived notion

that there are no lights lit up to identify runways.

Amy: So, they had several notices informing them

that there would be lights out on their runway,

so they completely expected to see a dark runway.

That was what they were told.

I mean, if you -- you know,

you walk into a room, and somebody says,

"Oh, lightbulb's out," and you turn it on,

and the lamp doesn't come on, are you shocked?

Well, no, because I just told you the light's out.

That's as big as you are tall.

And I'm glad --

Actually, I think God gave me a few extra inches,

'cause, um...

if I didn't have the reach, I'd be in big trouble.

The memorial, five years,

where they have a statue of the 49 doves,

which was very well done.

It -- It's 49 birds taking off, upward motion,

and they spread out, and --

I'll show you a... a video of it.

It affected everything, because everything

that I knew that was normal

prior to August 27th was not normal anymore.

Just everything changed.

And the first couple of years were probably not good years.

Ida: He was just emotionally devastated, ruined.

But he still, like he says, goes back.

There's times when he doesn't get out of bed for a week.

And people don't know that.

Even now, you know, it hits him like it was yesterday.

Just the getting acclimated to my new body was --

was hard.

♪♪

George: I think I connected with Bahia real closely

because she was...

she reminded me of you.

She -- She really liked you.

And, I mean, the thing is that, you know,

when she bonded with you, I --

I felt like she bonded with me because you are a part of me.

Hannah: Yeah, last time I talked to her,

we were just saying we miss each other, and stuff.

♪♪

George: Survivor's guilt is a monster.

I still have not figured out how to completely

absolve myself from that burden.

There were so many people in one area in Minneapolis --

St. Paul, and the surrounding area --

that had people on this flight.

I'm pretty sure it was here.

I've been a little fearful of meeting relatives of this --

of this, uh...

of this tragedy, because I was afraid that they'd judge me,

you know?

Being that I was the only one

to walk away from this accident without --

without the loss of my life.

I mean, there'd be some high expectations of me

to be somebody I may not be.

Meeting up with other people that have lost people in our...

in our accident might help me out quite a bit.

♪♪

Amy: The hearing was -- was...

to say it was a difficult day

is just such an understatement.

Welcome to the board room

of the National Transportation Safety Board.

Amy: We expected to hear that there was a certain amount

of responsibility lying with the pilots.

That's the way that it is. That's the way that it goes.

We were well prepared for that.

What we did not expect was for there to be nothing else.

Man: The National Transportation Safety Board

determines that the probable cause of this accident

was the flight crew members' failure to use available cues

and aids to identify the airplane's location

on the airport surface during taxi,

and their failure to cross-check and verify

that the airplane was on the correct runway before take-off.

Shawn: You could actually hear an audible gasp.

Most of the investigative team

was all sitting there, making eyes, like, you know,

"Can you believe they just said that?"

Amy: They literally threw out the fact

that all their directional information

was wrong in the first five minutes.

And I scratch my head to understand,

after the thousands of take-offs that these men have done,

over the hours that they had been flying,

how they couldn't see the difference at the moment

they were beginning, as they lined up on the runway.

They referred to them as "these two cowboys," which just...

I mean, really?

Cowb-- really? I mean, is that necessary?

This is supposed to be a professional environment.

That's how you talk?

The NTSB actually put up two photos --

one of what it looked like down Runway 26,

and one of what it looked like Runway 22,

and actually had the audacity to make the comment,

"Look at these two pictures.

How could they have gotten it wrong?"

Yeah I'm willing to bet that, if the crew had those

two pictures to choose from,

they would have chose the right one.

It was not a matter of choosing between

two different choices,

it was a matter of why they thought

they were in the position they were.

That should have been the focus.

There were too many times

that I really wanted to stand up, and go,

"How can you say that?"

And I listened to them dismiss the tower from the whole thing,

and I got up and walked out.

I didn't know what to do.

And the fact that I couldn't -- I couldn't say anything.

I couldn't go, "Wait a minute!"

You know, none of us could say anything.

You couldn't question anything.

But I got up, and I walked out.

The NTSB is mandated by Congress to find a cause of the accident.

Shawn: We're actually on of the last industrial nations

that determine a single probable cause.

Deborah: When Congress created us,

one of the things that they asked us to do

was to determine the probable cause.

That's been a part of our statute for over 40 years.

And when you look at a complex accident like this,

you can't look at one individual thing.

You have to look at the interactions.

Once we can put that term, "pilot error,"

it makes us feel better that we found what went wrong.

We don't need to look any further.

We have our scapegoat, and we can all take comfort

in the system, and move forward from here.

"This person is bad. This person did bad things.

If I just remove him from the system, now I've made it safer."

We've gotten what we also typically term

"the low-hanging fruit" -- the easy stuff to fix.

We can't take all the pilots out, so we need to move

so that we can actually create real safety.

Human error is a symptom of something much deeper

in the system that is not correct.

And until we recognize that,

we're gonna have a really hard time bettering the system.

Congress has to act, and say,

"We will change our NTSB charter,

and we will say,

'Now you need to find the contributors

rather than going after a single cause.'"

Shawn: I do not think this accident was due to pilot error.

This was a complex morning,

and there were numerous little things that went wrong.

And the margin of safety was eroded by all of them,

to the point where the system became brittle, and it broke.

And I'm just --

I'm sorry for everyone who has that empty space at the table,

and that empty spot by the Christmas tree.

And I'm just...

I'm just sorry, and...

"sorry" is not a big enough word.

I can honestly say to her, "I'm sorry

that she's had to live through what we've had to live through,"

because, long and short, she lost somebody, too.

♪♪

Do you know if this is an experimental plane, or...?

♪♪

It's getting ready to take off.

But these others, they're just experimental planes.

♪♪

At a certain speed, we --

we pull back on another piece of equipment,

and the next thing you know, we're off the ground,

and we're flying,

which I just believe is a gift that has been given to us.

It is feasable to be in a wheelchair,

to still be able to fly, as long as you have met

all the requirements the FAA has, you know,

required of you -- medical, and equipment, stuff like that.

But no, my commercial aviation career is pretty much done.

♪♪

Hey, it's me.

Yeah I'm coming up to Minneapolis.

Yeah, I'll be up there in...

in about a month -- December, right after Christmas.

I'm driving home for Christmas. First time in 22 years.

I always felt a little hole in myself

when I thought about family meetings during the holidays.

And it's, uh...it's hard.

And, on top of that, I'm going to meet, uh, victims' families.

The last time I spoke to somebody

that was a victim, or had a --

had a family member pass away in the accident

was back in 1987.

I'm afraid that, if I...

if I showed myself to a person...

I could upset them more then they already are.

I didn't jump out of the gates,

and make a success out of my life right away.

I thought they'd be angry with me

because their family members may have, uh, rebounded quicker,

or made their life better quicker.

I just didn't know how to deal with

the judgement of, uh, somebody that was in grief.

No matter how bad your situation is,

there's always somebody else

that has it worse than you.

And I think it's important that...

that people reach out to one another,

and help each other out.

Well, uh, I'm Dan Monroe.

And my mom and dad, Dave and Arlene Monroe,

were both on the flight,

died simultaneously in the crash.

This is my wife, Sue, who I met four months

after the crash.

Do you live in the Twin Cities or Chicago?

-I live in Reno. -Oh, you live in Reno?

I've been there for 20 years.

Sue: You went out there and stayed out there?

I stayed out there. And...

Do you ever drive on that highway that you landed on?

Um, yes.

But I remember waking up at 5:00,

when my alarm went off, on that Monday morning.

And they said there's been a terrible plane crash in Reno.

And I said, "Mom and Dad are gone."

Nice to meet you.

Come on in.

Sarah: And I was so young -- I was 6.

So, you know,

there was quite a bit I didn't know at the time, even.

You know, I always thought that my path

would cross with George's,

and that we would have the opportunity to talk.

My parents and my grandparents were on the Galaxy crash.

Jean: You know. I'm so happy to see you, George.

George: Likewise. How are you?

I wish I'd had the courage to come to you

20 years ago.

Well, I'm glad you're here now.

Thank you.

And my husband, Bill Kaski, was on the plane.

For my, uh, 21st birthday, my dad took me to a dude ranch.

And this was out on the front porch of that dude ranch.

This was out of my dad's wallet.

And here's another one of them.

He had this with him on the...?

Mmm-hmm. ...on the plane?

I wish I could just say, "Ah, I remember!"

You know? I wish I could have that.

Yeah, but there was a lot of people on that flight,

and you would've maybe gotten close to a few.

I know I interacted with just about everybody on that plane,

one way or another.

And going -- going forward to Sunday,

that was Super Bowl Sunday.

And we ended up watching the game

in the theater of Caesar's Palace.

And everybody was laughing. We're having a good time.

Drove in, and we headed into the terminal.

And spirits were high, you know?

We were tired, you know?

It was getting close to 1:00 in the morning West Coast time.

I got on the plane, took the first seat I could get.

Sat down. My dad sat next to me.

Not too long after that, uh, two guys come up to us

and say, "Hey, you're in our seats."

And my dad didn't take "no" for an answer very good.

Or didn't like confrontation, so he'd stand up to people.

But his, uh, his initial and only reaction was,

"Yeah, no problem. I'll get up for you."

And it was just totally weird.

And I didn't want to get up. I was like, "Come on!

You'll let these guys push us around?"

And he said, "No, let's get up. Let's go."

No. no. It was free seating, so...

♪♪

Jean: How...

How hard was the impact?

Do -- Do you remember that?

I do. But I only have my point of view, you know?

I mean, it was sudden.

I was extremely flexible back then, so I was able

to put my legs up as high as I could, to protect my face

from going into the wall that was in front of me.

I did everything I could to live.

I wanted to live, you know?

And I think everyone else on the plane did, too.

By some miracle, I ended up flying out onto the street.

And I thought I was in -- I thought I was in Heaven,

that I had died, you know?

And then, I turned my head, and I saw a billboard.

Saying, "I'm not dead. I gotta get up."

Then, um, you know, that question, "Well, what now?

Who's my family," you know?

I mean, of course, I had the extended family,

but where do I go, how do I...you know?

Jean: So, for you, then, you just struggle

with survivor's guilt, huh?

Later that year, they dropped a ton of money on my lap,

said, "Here you go.

This is for the loss of your father."

I was, all the sudden, happy again,

'cause I could focus on having fun

rather than thinking about, uh...what happened,

and what my -- what my promise was.

I mean, that was in the back of my head the whole time.

I made a promise to God that I was gonna do good, and be a --

be a force of His will.

Jean: But really, what's to judge?

I mean, you -- you survived.

When I was sitting in those news conferences

with a big grin on my face, what were you thinking?

I mean...

-That's what I was thinking. -That's what I was feeling.

Yeah, none of us perceived you that way.

And I just, you know, thought, your dad,

he would've been glad to see his kid made it.

♪♪

♪♪

When I come to Minnesota,

one thing I always try to do is, uh,

pay my respects to my...

my father.

The reason that I moved to Reno

is because the last place that I saw my father alive.

My father meant a lot to me,

and just being close to where he was kinda gives me comfort

to know that I'm there with him.

The loss of a dad is...

one of the hardest things a son can go through.

Sometimes, we're hard as a rock, stoic,

you know, brave, do anything.

And sometimes, men are --

are supposed to be soft, and, uh, gentle, and caring.

And without a role model, it's hard to be able to tell

what times you're supposed to do what types of things.

♪♪

♪♪

Jason: We're out at Keenland, which is right across the street

from the Lexington Bluegrass Airport,

where the accident occurred.

And Keenland has been, always, a big part of my mom's life

because of the horses that she dealt with.

Her and her sister would come out here during the meets

and the sales, and just sit to watch the horses all day long.

She, back in her earlier years, took her horse,

and snuck in on the track, and took her horse for a lap.

Upon doing it, one of the guards or maintenance men caught her,

and they threatened to take her horse

and my aunt said she put up a little bit of a fight,

saying they weren't gonna take her horse from her.

From what I gathered,

I'm thinking she jumped over the rail.

She couldn't have snuck in any other way.

So, she got the horse through the railing,

and then just took it for the full mile and a half lap

around this track.

And for her, I'd say that was probably a highlight

in her life.

♪♪

Ida: He had the most fatalistic attitude.

It was all about a death wish.

Angry, angry, angry.

And he wouldn't get out of be-- I mean, we talked --

we call it "going over to the dark side."

He was over in the dark side

much more than ever the light side.

Jim: If I'm not doing something,

and I'm not involved with an activity,

my mind goes back to August 27, 2006,

because there are a lot of "why" questions that are not answered,

and probably will never get answered...

just because.

So, I just continually, with my wife's support,

do things that I'm actively involved with

that have my mind on that instead of on the accident.

Ida: I've always tried to look for things for him to do --

you know, the biking, or whatever.

And then it got to where, we were in Florida,

there was nothing -- you know, he got --

the bike, the shine had kinda wore off.

Then, I see this thing, this skiing thing --

this adaptability skiing thing, and I'm like,

"That's it. We're going."

And I made the reservation before he could even say "no."

He just rocked the skiing.

We were there five days.

That is the happiest -- longest period of time

he has been happy in 5 years.

It was amazing to watch.

And I said, "that's it. That's the ticket."

Went home, put the house on the market,

and that's why we're here.

We're talking five months out of almost six years

that he finally has a reason to get up every day.

Jim: Did you see I made the paper?

Regardless of how catastrophic one's event might be,

you can still push forward.

♪♪

My goal is to go to the Paralympics.

So, to have this goal in front of me...

it's a feeling you can't describe.

I have taken steps, and I've strived to go forward.

I don't want it to destroy my marriage.

I don't want it to destroy me.

And I want to be a role model for other people

that are at that crossroads, and might not have hope,

might not have the belief that things will get better.

George: Two days after my trip to France, Bahia took off,

flew to Comoros Islands from Paris.

And she was able to fulfill what she wanted to do.

And she didn't let her fears get the best of her.

♪♪

♪♪

Cecelia: The media's kind of quieted down over the years.

Usually around maybe the beginning of August every year,

I kinda...

maybe an e-mail, or a phone call, or something.

My family was really cautious about keeping the media away,

and keeping my life private,

because there's so much that could go wrong,

um, with being in the spotlight.

♪♪

George: Well, they may not get it this year, but...

they're in the top of the city.

She earned he way on the team, too.

I mean, all these girls that are on it are pretty much...

been together for a while.

Go away.

Dad!

His depression has gone away quite a bit.

I mean, he's actually, like, opening up,

and not closing everything in in a bottle anymore.

George: This 27th anniversary of the accident

felt very different than others,

because I was able to communicate with

so many people that I haven't communicated with before,

'cause I've been separated from -- from the others.

These people made me feel

as though I was a part of a community.

And that was something that burdened me for years,

because I was afraid that I would be judged harshly

for not making the most of my life.

Hannah: His diet has changed a lot.

He's been losing a lot of weight.

Um, he's focusing more now on, like, his goals --

his life-long goals, and taking care of me.

I don't know, I think he feels more happy.

He's not holding in anymore, you know?

He's, like, not in his own hell.

♪♪

♪♪

George, one of the other sole survivors, is coming over.

I haven't met him yet, and I'm anticipating that,

just to see if we have any differences, any opinions,

just what's on his mind, what's on my mind.

I'm really hopin' the Olympic thing really happens.

I don't care if it's on the moon, if he gets to go.

It's almost a Job-type feeling, Biblicly-wise, to...

everything was taken away from him -- everything.

He always had his faith. he always had his belief.

More positiveness that the negativity,

'cause the negativity can just suck you in.

I've been there.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

I can count to six in French --

un, doix, trois, quatre, cinq, six.

Flying doesn't scare me.

I have this mentality where, if it happened to me once --

if something bad happened to me once on a plane,

it's not gonna happen again.

Like, the odds are just astronomical.

Between 85% and 90% of all aircraft accidents

are survivable.

We are enjoying the safest period in aviation.

And that is largely because of improvements that we've learned

from investigating accidents and making changes.

♪♪

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