All language subtitles for Air.Disasters.S02E03.Cruel.Skies.1080p.PMTP.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-maldini_track3_[eng]

Rain...

We're gonna
get our airplane washed.

Hail...

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

Wind...

On the brakes!

In a heartbeat...

He's gonna crash!

...bad weather can
turn an ordinary flight

into a fight for survival.

The pilots did
their very best to recover

from the situation,

and it didn't work out.

The right information,

the right equipment,

can be the difference
between life and death.

All four engines
have failed!

In a constant battle
between the planes we fly

and the weather
that batters them.

Brace for impact!

Ladies and gentlemen,

we are starting our approach.

We lost both engines!

Put the mask over your nose.

Emergency descent.

Mayday, mayday.

Brace for impact!

I think I lost one.

Investigation starting...

He's gonna crash!

It's early December.

A massive winter storm

is pounding
the eastern United States.

This is a pretty
interesting weather pattern

we have for this time of year.

We're getting a mixed bag
of precipitation and weather

across the eastern
United States.

For most people,

the winter weather is no more
than an inconvenience.

But for those who fly,
the bad weather can be deadly.

A continental
airlines commuter plane

with 48 people aboard crashed
into a home in suburban Buffalo.

No survivors.

People are making
life and death decisions

every day based on the weather.

Should I go,
or should I not go today?

And once they're up in the air,

how am I going to
make a decision

in the next five minutes
that's going to keep myself,

my passengers or my aircraft
out of harm's way?

On this day,
flights from New York to Houston

have been delayed and cancelled.

Thousands of travelers
are affected.

That's largely because
the people in this room

have decided that it's unsafe

for pilots to fly
in this weather.

Murphy: Our mission here is to
provide safety and safe flying.

Woman: What's happening now,
it's an existing condition, so.

Man: Looks like some discrete
super cells in there.

This room is every
pilot's first line of defense

against getting
caught in a storm.

It's the Federal Government's
Aviation Weather Center

in Kansas City, Missouri.

24 hours a day,
seven days a week,

the meteorologists in this room

scan the skies
across the United States

for the weather that can
bring down a plane.

The storm they're tracking today
is just that kind of weather.

What we're monitoring

is a lot of severe weather
in the Carolinas

and continuing to get
severe thunderstorm warnings

and tornado warnings there.

The meteorologists
have detected thunderstorms

moving towards Atlanta, Georgia.

They've warned pilots and
air traffic controllers

of the looming danger.

The result is immediate.

So you had planes
that were on the ground

that could not take off.

Then you had planes
that were arriving

that were unable to land.

And then you have to factor in

that they were going
several hundred miles

around this line
of thunderstorms.

Today, the people who work here

have to find a way to keep
planes out of the storms

that are rolling
through the south.

As traffic managers,
we need to work with the FAA

in routing safe routes
for aircraft

to go around
those thunderstorms,

because they just can't go
through them or over them.

So, using these
two images together,

we can get a good
three-dimensional

or even four-dimensional picture
of the atmosphere

and how moisture is
moving around in there.

Thunderstorms are
a lethal threat to pilots.

The clouds that contain them
are massive.

They're usually much too tall
to fly over,

and the weather inside them
can be treacherous.

In no instance
does any aircraft

want to go into a thunderstorm.

Lightning strikes, hail can
certainly damage the airframe,

and in the extreme cases,

there can be so much
liquid precipitation

in that thunderstorm

that it'll cause the jet engine
to flame out.

The meteorologists here

understand the danger
of thunderstorms.

And one devastating crash
has taught them

much of what they know.

It's April 4, 1977.

Good afternoon, sir.

Good afternoon.

May I see
your boarding pass, please?

Southern Airways Flight 242

is bound for Atlanta, Georgia.

Just down the aisle
on the right, sir,

enjoy your flight.

Thank you.

Boarding pass?

Here in the United States,

the weather in the southeast

usually consists of high
humidity and high temperature.

That's a perfect recipe
for thunderstorms.

Aircraft dispatchers
provide flight crews

with pre-flight
weather information.

Looks like you guys
got a good one coming.

Sure thing,
have a good one.

Feith: That weather
was two hours old.

It was no longer updated.

I was a little surprised

that we took off when we did.

I really thought we'd taxi out
to the end of the runway

and hold for a while because
the weather looked so bad.

But we taxied out and
immediately took off.

Before the pilots
get very far,

they receive an ominous
weather warning

from air traffic control.

Southern Airways 242,

I'm painting a line of weather

which appears to be moderate to
possibly heavy precipitation

starting about five miles ahead.

Okay, uh,
we're in the rain right now.

It doesn't look much heavier

than what we're in right now,
does it?

Back in 1977,
pilots were more reliant

on their own skills,
abilities and knowledge

than they were on
air traffic control.

In this particular instance
they had onboard weather radar.

I can't read that,
it just looks like rain, Bill.

What do you think?
There's a hole.

There's a hole
right there.

That's all I see.

Pilots use their
radar to avoid bad weather.

They stay away from regions
that are illuminated

on the display screen.

Coming over
we had pretty good radar.

I believe right
straight ahead, there.

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

So between
that information

and looking out the window,
they were able to make

what they believed were
the right decisions

about traversing the weather.

As the pilots of
Southern Airways Flight 242

attempt to carve a path
through the thunderstorms,

they encounter
a wall of storm cells.

It looks heavy.
Nothing's going through that.

The storm closes in
on the aircraft.

That's a hole, isn't it?

It's not showing a hole, is it?

The gap between
the thunderheads

the pilots thought they had seen
on their radar

no longer seems to exist.

Pilots don't like
thunderstorms

in any way, shape or form,

only because it poses a threat

to the safe operation
of the airplane.

Because of
the high velocity winds,

the potential for hail,
wind shear--

that all has a dramatic effect
on the capabilities

of not only the pilot, but,
of course, the aircraft as well.

The hail was probably
the loudest noise

I have ever heard.

It sounded like
I was in a metal barrel

with someone
throwing rocks at me.

The DC-9 plunges
into the storm clouds.

Which way
do we cross here or go out?

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

Enormous hailstones
continue to pound the aircraft.

You're just gonna
have to go out.

Yeah,
right across that band.

All clear left,
approximately right now.

The pilots try
to escape the storm.

They use their radar to
guide them through it.

I think
we can cut across there.

But their radar
is deceiving them.

What they think is a hole

is in fact the most intense part
of the storm ahead.

The pilots of
Southern Airways 242

ended up flying
into an environment

where multiple thunderstorms
came together

and created a line,
or what they call a squall line.

That's an area of
fast-moving thunderstorms,

the weather system was
moving very quickly,

and that created
not only tornadoes,

but high velocity winds
and hail.

Ok, uh, 242, we just got
our windshield busted.

We'll try to get it back up
to 15, we're at 14.

While I was looking out
at the front of the left engine,

I could see the hail continuing
to put more and more dents

into the cowling
around the engine

and into the cone
in the center of the engine.

And the engine was
starting to make sounds

like it was quitting.

The torrent of hail
and water overwhelms the engines

of the DC-9.

It clogs the critical
airflow passages

and causes the engines
to break apart.

Left engine won't spool!

Our left engine just cut out.

You say you lost an
engine and busted a windshield?

Yes, sir.

My god.

The other engine's going, too!

Got the other engine
going, too.

Southern 242, say again.

Stand by.

We lost both engines!

What happens next leads to

one of the most horrific crashes
in aviation history

and spurs fundamental changes

to the way weather forecasts
are made.

Brace for impact!

Got the other engine going, too!

High above Georgia,

Southern Airways Flight 242
is falling from the sky.

We lost both engines.

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.

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.

The plane emerges
from the storm

with two dead engines.

Get those engines started!

Bill, you have to
find me a highway.

Let's get the next clear,
open field.

No, Bill!

Lyman Keele is a young man

who has just come back from the
proving ground of southeast Asia

where he was a naval aviator.

He learned the niceties
of landing

on a rolling, pitching
aircraft carrier

in the south China sea
in the middle of the night.

What he was confronted with
right now

was even a greater test--

the greatest test
he had ever confronted

in his life as an airman.

Flaps.

They're down to 50.

Unable to
restart the engines,

Lyman Keele prepares
to land his aircraft

on Georgia state highway 92
without power.

I'm going to land
right over that guy.

There's a car ahead!

I got it.
I got it now, I got it.

Brace for impact!

The aircraft
touches down on the highway

running through the town
of new hope, Georgia.

Before the plane
completely stopped moving,

there was fire blowing
through the cabin.

The plane clips
a utility pole...

...and slams into a gas station.

I saw a red reflection

like fire in the door.

That's when I saw
what was happening.

I saw smoke and fire.

And the people that
were coming toward me.

They weren't screaming,
they weren't yelling,

they were quiet.

I got back to the kitchen, and
I was just circled by people.

They knew they were in a house,
and I guess they felt safe,

and they needed
somebody to help them.

I'll remember
to the day I die

just staring there at the trees
burning, pine trees burning,

and pieces of aircraft,
and it's, it was so unreal.

22 people survive
the crash of Flight 242.

72 people were killed.

Southern Flight 242 crashed

after the DC-9 jet lost power
in both engines.

The tragedy involving
Flight 242 was avoidable,

had the crew been provided
up-to-date weather information

when they were in Huntsville.

Had they had an understanding
of the area of thunderstorms,

how they were starting
to come together,

and how it was going to affect
their route of flight,

they probably either would have
found an alternate place to go,

or they would have
stayed in Huntsville.

The importance of
timely weather information

makes the Aviation
Weather Center critical.

After Southern Airways 242
crash in 1977,

the NTSB, after their research,

came out with
two recommendations.

One was to improve
the resolution of the convective

or the thunderstorm
forecast information.

And the other was to put
weather service meteorologists

in each of the air traffic
control centers.

And within a year, we did that.

At the time of
the Southern Airways crash,

the weather center issued
thunderstorm advisories

every four hours.

And in the United States,

that's just too long of a window

to capture the rapid development
that we see in thunderstorms.

So what they recommended, and
which we have done ever since,

is communicate to controllers
and to pilots

that are en route every hour,
and if need be,

we can do it in between
those hourly observations

if conditions are developing
fast enough.

As a result of the crash,

the weather center
created a new position--

a meteorologist who does nothing
but monitor the skies

above the United States
for thunderstorms.

On this December day,

the meteorologists tracking
thunderstorms are very busy.

Storms that had battered Atlanta
are on the move.

And you can see up in here,

there's a minimum of aircraft,

especially where
those heavier storms were

over eastern North Carolina.

In addition to
providing weather reports,

the people here perform
other crucial tasks.

When the weather
gets bad enough,

they can also shut down
huge areas of air space.

They do that by issuing warnings
called SIGMET.

It's short for Significant
Meteorological Information.

It's an advisory to pilots to
steer clear of the bad weather.

Right now on radar.

Once we become aware
or are highly confident

that there will be
some dangerous weather

or severe turbulence
or severe icing,

then we will issue
what's called a sigmet.

Today's storms are so severe

that the meteorologists at
the aviation weather center

are declaring areas of air space
out of bounds for aircraft.

We issued a large area

from Norfolk down through
the coastal waters of Georgia

for severe thunderstorms.

Issuing a sigmet is simple.

The meteorologists highlight the
area that planes are to avoid

on their computers.

The information is passed on
to dispatchers,

air traffic controllers,
and pilots around the country.

Planes are diverted immediately.

The sigmet issued by
the aviation weather center

affects hundreds of flights
along the eastern seaboard.

Once it's issued,

pilots often have to find a way
around the danger zone.

It's no longer
just a suggestion.

There are legal
consequences to people

to adhere to what we've put out.

They're just legally not allowed
to go into that airspace

while that sigmet's in effect.

Declaring a SIGMET
has enormous implications.

Shutting down
a volume of space

that's the size of,
say, Georgia.

So that severely
impacts traffic.

The FAA and
the air traffic controllers

now need to decide how
they're going to, as a system,

move these routes
and these aircraft,

which can be hundreds of them
operating in this space,

around this particular hazard

over the next four to six
or even longer hours.

Planes can fly around
the area affected by a SIGMET,

but that increases travel time,

and costs the airlines
in extra fuel.

The alternative is to keep
planes on the ground

until the SIGMET is lifted.

They may increase safety,

but SIGMET are a headache

for airlines and
air traffic controllers.

It averages out about
7,000 planes to 8,000 planes

at any moment being managed.

And so when you start shutting
down large areas of airspace,

which we certainly can do on
a very active thunderstorm day,

it leaves very little
operating room

for air traffic controllers
to put planes through.

Technology allows
the meteorologists here

to keep planes away
from dangerous weather.

But in aviation, some of
the most dangerous weather

is all but invisible.

August 2, 1985.

10 degree flaps, please.

Delta Airlines Flight 191

is approaching Dallas/Fort Worth
International Airport.

Contact departure
when airborne.

Texas heat has turned
into afternoon storms.

Traffic at the airport
is beginning to back up

as the weather gets worse.

We're gonna get
our airplane washed.

Nothing seemed unusual,

other than the fact that
we were starting to get busy,

and aircraft were
starting to pile up.

Tower, Delta 191 heavy,
out here in the rain.

Feels good.

191 heavy.

We're not getting any
bad warnings from the weather

or from other pilots which we
rely on as they come through it.

As the pilots of
Delta 191 prepare for landing,

the rain begins to fall harder.

It seemed like
the closer we got into DFW,

the worse the weather got.

And it was turning into the rain
instead of going around it.

At the foot
of the runway,

one of the most ferocious
types of storm clouds

stands in their way.

Before landing check.

Landing gear.

Down, three green.

At the time,
the type of storm

the Delta crew is approaching
barely has a name.

John McCarthy is one of
the world's leading experts

on these storms.

It is a tiny thing,

meteorologically speaking,

compared to a big storm
or a snowstorm or a hurricane,

it's just like a needle
in a haystack.

The needle
is a microburst.

One of the deadliest,
and at the time,

most poorly understood
weather phenomena.

They've taken down
airliners before.

But as Delta 191
makes its approach,

there are no warning systems

that can effectively alert the
pilots of the danger they're in.

Prior to 1985, the radars
on board the aircraft

were built to detect
thunderstorms.

Essentially, heavy areas
of precipitation.

They were not effective,

they were not even designed
to detect the microburst.

If you're
at the kitchen sink

and you turn on the water,
and it goes straight down

and splashes out
in all directions.

And that's kind of
what a microburst is,

except that it is
extremely bad news

if you're an airplane
flying through it.

When a plane
hits a microburst,

it encounters a complex and
powerful set of conditions.

Downdrafts and tailwinds
batter a plane.

It's a deadly combination.

Just short of the runway,

Delta 191 flies
into the microburst.

You're gonna lose it
all of a sudden.

There it is.

Push it up!
Push it way up! Way up!

Way up.

Way up!

I pulled my seatbelt
tight as I could,

but at the same time,

you could hear a pin drop,
nobody was talking.

Hang on
to the son of a...

He's gonna crash!

Damn it!

The pilots of Delta
Flight 191 did their very best

to recover from the situation.

And it didn't work out.

I must have
caught sight of him

just at the last millisecond.

And he cartwheeled into the tank
in just an instant.

And then, of course,
there was fire.

Not a ball of fire,
but a wall of fire.

It seemed like
it was only a few seconds.

Five seconds at the most.

I don't know how long it was.

We was, everything was stopped.

Then all of a sudden,
you look up.

And it's just nothing there.

Everything's gone.

You see just the whole
big picture outside,

like the plane just opened up.

People just thrown
around on the ground.

Some with clothes on,
some without clothes on,

some were burned.

Just 27 people
survive the crash of Delta 191.

Help! Over here!

137 people are killed.

It's hard to blame
the air crew.

Their job is to avoid
thunderstorms.

And there's probably a forecast
for thunderstorms every day

at Dallas in the summertime.

Which ones do you avoid, and
it's a very difficult problem.

After the crash
of Delta 191,

the Federal Aviation
Administration races

to develop technology that
can prevent microbursts

from killing again.

If there is one crash
that we can look back on now

and say this made things safer
because we learned from it,

it was Delta 191.

One of the most
important lessons--

that the technology
in use at the time

simply wasn't good enough.

What we found out
is that Doppler radar,

which is on the ground,

is incredibly effective
in detecting microbursts.

Unlike weather radar in use

at the time of the crash
of Delta 191,

Doppler radar can also detect

the direction of winds
inside a storm.

And if you look
at the Doppler radar,

you see a part of it that's
going away from the radar,

and a part that's coming
towards the radar.

And if it's small,
its absolutely a microburst.

It can be nothing else.

So it has what we call

an unambiguous signature
of a microburst,

which means we got it.

When the Doppler
radar system at an airport

detects a microburst,

it sends an alert to
air traffic controllers.

The controllers relay the
warning to pilots on approach.

Flight 236
microburst alert...

One mile final, say intentions.

After the crash of Delta 191,

terminal Doppler weather radar
was installed in airports

across the United States.

Dallas/Fort Worth was one of
the first to apply the system.

But technology is only
one link in the chain.

Sometimes even with all
the right information,

pilots make
disastrous decisions.

There's your big wadiddily.

Yeah, we got to get
over there real quick.

This December day's
been a long one

for thousands of airline
passengers across North America.

A winter storm is moving across
the southeastern United States.

The meteorologists at
the aviation weather center

have shut down a large area
of airspace.

Hundreds of flights
have been grounded

or forced to divert
around the storm.

But shutting down that airspace
doesn't take the pressure off.

If thunderstorms
do start to develop

and become very strong
and organized,

we can't let that distract us
from other hazards

such as icing, turbulence,
or even strong surface winds,

or low-level wind shear.

The meteorologists here can see

troubling weather ahead

and let pilots know
how to avoid it.

But sometimes, what pilots do
with that information

can lead to disaster.

June 1, 1999.

American airlines flight 1420
has been delayed by weather.

Dispatch, please.

Yeah, it's Michael Origell.

Storms threaten
this flight's destination,

Little Rock National Airport
in Arkansas.

The pilots of 1420
had received a briefing

from their dispatch department

about all of
the thunderstorm activity

that they were
going to encounter

between Dallas and Little Rock.

Two hours
behind schedule,

the pilots decide
to make the flight.

They race to fly through a gap
in the storm system.

Whoa.

Looks like it's moving
this way, though.

Yeah, just some
lightning, straight ahead.

I think we're going
to be ok, though.

Right there.

If they don't
make it in time,

they will either have to
divert to another airport

or land in severe
weather conditions.

They were made aware
by dispatchers

that they were going to

have to get into this alley,
or this area of clear weather,

and they didn't have
a lot of time to do it.

But as they near
the airport,

the weather gets even worse.

American 1420,

it appears we have a second part
of this storm moving through.

The wind now is 340 at 16,
gusts 34.

Ok, did you notice something?

Did you see the airport there?

Where?

There, ok, right...

You're on a base for it, ok?

It's, it's right there.

I'm on a base now?

It's like a dog leg.

We're coming in,
and there it is, right there.

I lost it.

I don't see how
we can maintain visual.

Mark Schmidt:
The plane was rocking

and rolling at that point.

It was pretty doggone unstable.

I don't know what made me aware,
so doggone aware,

that we were going
to have a problem.

I don't know what did that.

One of the things that
we analyzed was a statement

by the captain that was recorded
on the cockpit voice recorder.

See, I hate droning
around visual at night

in weather without having
any clue where we are.

It gave us an indication

that they didn't have
situational awareness.

They didn't really understand
the gravity of the environment

that they were flying into.

American 1420,

right now we have heavy rain
on the airport.

I don't have
new weather for you,

but visibility is
less than a mile.

And the runway four right RVR
is 3,000.

As the pilots of
American Airlines Flight 1420

attempt to land, visibility has
been reduced even further.

Four right cleared to land.

The wind's now is 350 at 30,
gusts 45.

Can we land?

030 at 45,
American 1420.

3,000 RVR,
we can't land on that.

No, 3,000 is...

What do we need?

No, it's 2,400 RVR.

Ok, right.

Yeah, we're fine.

The stress level
of a pilot increases,

especially in an environment
where there's thunderstorms,

only because multiple decisions
are having to be made

in very short periods of time.

15.

Landing gear down.

Lights, please.

The pilots could
divert to another airport,

but they decide to
attempt the landing.

Air traffic controllers
have detected

a dangerous crosswind
on the runway.

Wind shear alert,
center field wind.

350 at 32, gusts 45.

This is a can of worms.

Wind is 330 at 28.

I 'm gonna stay
above it a little.

There's a runway
off to your right, you got it?

No.

I got the runway in
sight, you're right on course.

I got it. I got it, I got it!

Winds 330 at 23.

Damn, we're off course!

Now I can't see it.

Way off!

I can't see anything!

-Got it?
-Got it!

With winds
pounding the airport

and the runway slick with rain,

the pilots make
their final approach.

40.

30.

20.

10.

We're down!

We're sliding!

Oh, no!

They lose control
of the aircraft

as they speed down the runway.

Put on the brakes!

Other one!

Other one, other one!

The plane runs
off the end of the runway

and crashes into
several steel columns.

11 people are killed

in the crash of
American Airlines Flight 1420,

including captain
Richard Bushman.

Did they really know

what they were getting
themselves into?

That was a key point
for us as investigators.

They went into an environment

that was detrimental
to their safety.

The National
Transportation Safety Board

rules that the pilots' decision
to land at little rock airport

was the primary cause
of the accident.

On the day of the crash,

the pilots of flight 1420
had to rely on controllers

to relay information about
conditions on the runway.

At the Aviation Weather Center,

meteorologists are trying to
get rid of that middleman.

MWe can provide a picture
right in the cockpit

and the pilot can navigate
looking at a picture,

as opposed to trying to
translate some words

that they've heard
read to them over radio.

They can see what the hazard's
gonna be in relation to aircraft

and start making decisions
immediately

as opposed to decoding,
drawing where that hazard is,

thinking about where they are
in relation to the hazard,

and then trying to
make that decision.

It will speed up the process.

Throughout the day,
meteorologists in this room

have been tracking a band
of fierce thunderstorms

in the southern United States.

These storms are
beginning to die down.

Meteorologists have started
to reopen airspace

they had previously closed.

Air traffic is
returning to normal.

The thunderstorms in
the southern United States

are dying down.

But the meteorologists
are now keeping a close eye

on a very dangerous
new development.

A volcano south of
the United States.

Volcanic ash clouds
can be a hazard

and do a lot of damage to
the aircraft and to engines.

Nolan Duke
is tracking weather

in the Gulf of Mexico.

This is Soufriere Hills,

this is near Antigua
in the Windward Islands,

southeast of Puerto Rico,
and it blew its stack.

Soufriere hills
volcano has been venting ash

for the past week.

The volcanic ash cloud it's been
releasing could prove deadly

if pilots were
to fly through it.

The Aviation Weather Center
has issued a SIGMET

to keep planes away
from the plume.

We have 30,000 people
living on platforms,

drilling platforms out here
at any given time.

And they have 650 helicopters
that fly every day

over the northern
gulf of Mexico,

delivering people,
materials and food

to keep these drilling
operations going.

We thought
it would end yesterday,

and they forecasted it
to puff and disappear,

but it's still going today.

As long as we can see ash plume,

we will continue to
issue the SIGMET.

Unlike ash
that you might see in a chimney

or after a fire in a forest,

this is not
soft material at all.

This is very fine,
ground up particles

of solid rock and minerals.

But that fine dust
has the power

to stop a 300-ton airliner.

On June 24, 1982,

the devastating effects
of an ash cloud

took the crew of
a British Airways jet

completely by surprise.

Barry and I
were just sitting there

minding the shop.

Pitch dark night, of course.

And then we started to get
these pinpricks of light

on the windscreen.

Mount Galunggung on
the island of Java has erupted,

but no warnings have been
issued to pilots.

When the 747 flies
into the cloud,

it collides with the volcanic
ash particles inside.

The friction creates
a bright shimmering glow

on the windscreen.

Because it's such
a dry environment up there,

that frictional electrification
produces the glow

that we refer to
as St. Elmo's fire.

Same on my side.

But the crew had no
idea what they were looking at.

This light show, if you
like, it became more intense.

In fact, we ended up
sitting there

with two sheets of brilliant
white light in front of us

in place of the windscreens.

Passengers aboard the
flight also see a strange glow

around the plane's jet engines.

Smoke begins to seep into
the cabin around them.

Volcanic ash has been sucked

into the aircraft's
ventilation system.

With ash particles clouding the
cabin and the aircraft lit up,

the volcanic cloud deals
its most deadly blow.

Engine failure,
number four.

Fire action number four.

The ash has snuffed out

one of the jet's four
massive engines.

Closed. Start lever, off.

There were huge flames coming

out of the back of the engines.

20, some people
said 40 feet long,

shooting out of the back
of all the engines.

Is it going to penetrate from
the outside of the aircraft?

Is it going to come
into the cabin?

Are we going to burn to death?

Are we going to choke to death
on the smoke?

Number two engine's gone.

Alright then,
begin the engine shutdown drill.

No, wait!

They've all gone!

All four engines have failed!

The other three just
went out almost immediately.

And that's when it begins
to be a serious emergency.

In a minute and a half,

we had gone from four engines
running normally to having none.

The 747 is
suddenly powerless,

and it's quickly
falling to the sea.

Starting the engines has become
the crew's only priority.

But volcanic ash is making
that task impossible.

The temperature in

the combustion chamber

where this ash is
flowing through

are around 2,000 degrees
centigrade.

And so the volcanic ash,
we know, melts

at about 1,300, 1,400 degrees.

The volcanic ash
transforms into molten goo

within the jet engines.

The material blocks
key air passages

and causes the engines
to surge and shut down.

Roger, declare emergency!

Mayday, mayday, mayday,
speed bird nine.

We have lost all four engines
out of 370.

Without the engines,

the 747 begins to
fall from the sky.

At an altitude of 35,000 feet,

the pilots have
less than half an hour

before their aircraft will crash
into the Indian Ocean.

Alright, begin restart drill.

Battery.

Check, on.

The standard restart drill takes

three minutes to complete.

Anything? Anything!?

No.

Again.

Alright, then,
from the top--battery.

The crew will have
fewer than 10 attempts

to start the engines.

Fire switch.

In.

British Airways
Flight 009's dead engines

are having an effect
inside the cabin.

The engines usually
maintain air pressure.

Without them,
the pressure is dropping.

Passengers are having
difficulty breathing.

Here we go. Breath
normally, mum, not deeply.

Standby power.

Open.

Cross feed valve.

In.

Fire switch.

Closed.

We hadn't had any
success with the drill at all,

despite all the efforts
we were putting in.

But it was the only thing
we had left to cling on to,

so that's what we did.

From the top again--battery.

Check, on.

Standby ignition on.

Start lever on.

Alright,
are we getting something?

It's not starting.

I knew
it was so difficult

to land airplanes on the sea,

even when you had everything
going for you.

And I thought, well, we haven't
got much going for us here.

I'd never done it before.

Ladies and gentlemen,
this is your captain speaking.

We have a small problem,
all four engines have stopped.

We are doing our damnedest
to get it under control.

I trust you are not
in too much distress.

Alright,
from the top then, battery.

Check, on.

Standby power.

On.

Start lever?
Well, anything?

No.

Alright then,
from the top again--battery.

Then, with just 12,000 feet

separating British Airways
flight 009 from the ocean,

engine number four
roars to life.

Engine four,
back on line!

The noise that
a Rolls-Royce engine makes

when it starts up,
this low rumbling noise,

well, it was wonderful
to hear it.

The glass now is
half full, it's not half empty.

We're now in with a real chance.

And I tell you what,

the three of us would have
dragged that airplane

around the whole island of Java.

Thrust lever.

Closed.

Start lever?

Cut off.

Fuel pressure?

Available.

Standby ignition on.

Start lever on.

Engine three,
back on line!

I don't believe it.

Engines one and two,
both back on line!

As soon as you
came out of the volcanic ash,

and the engines were
not running, remember,

so everything cooled down.

It was enough for this stuff
to break off

and allow the engines
to restart.

We say right, let's
get this thing on the ground

as quickly as we can.

Ladies and gentlemen,
this is your captain speaking.

We seemed to have
overcome that problem

and have managed to start
all the engines.

We are diverting to Jakarta

and expect to land
in about 15 minutes.

British Airways
Flight 009 landed safely.

No one was injured, and
an important lesson was learned.

We have learned quite a bit,

and we've incorporated this
learning into pilot training.

Pilots now, for example,
know what signs to look for.

After British Airways
Flight 009's emergency landing

in Jakarta,
communications were improved

between the geologists who watch
volcanoes on the ground

and the pilots who must
avoid the ash clouds.

During the day,

they are plainly visible
to pilots.

And then at nighttime,

they're relying a lot
on their onboard radars.

And that's not going
to detect volcanic ash.

Anything on the radar?

No.

So they're completely
blind to it.

And they just blindly fly
right into the ash cloud.

Today, meteorologists were

forced to shut down airspace

due to violent thunderstorms
and volcanic ash.

The weather on the east coast
is now clearing,

and the volcanic plume
is starting to thin.

We never really
seem to get a break

where we can sit back and put
our feet on the desk and relax.

There's always something going,

and there's always the next
storm coming down the pipeline,

and we got to address it.

The next storm
has begun to appear.

Pilots in the Seattle region
are calling in

with reports of
severe turbulence.

We 've got two systems
actually over the west

that we're watching, one over,
now over central California

and what looks like it's
a little bit more powerful storm

coming onshore into
Washington and Oregon.

That's certainly going to be
our attention-getter

for the next day and a half.

More than a million
people got on an airplane

on this stormy December day.

Some planes were delayed,

but there wasn't a single
accident due to weather.

That's the kind of result

these meteorologists
hope for every day.

We're here to
help people be safe,

and when that duty calls,
we're prepared.

We'll catch our breath today

and get ready for tomorrow.