All language subtitles for Air.Disasters.S02E08.System.Breakdown.1080p.PMTP.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-maldini_track3_[eng]

They're
the traffic cops of the skies.

Keeping planes on course.

Ok, you're right in
the middle of the TCA, sir.

Guiding them to safety.

Avianca 052...

Charlie 2937, descend...

...and keeping them apart.

But the system has reached
a breaking point.

Where is it?

There on the left!

If there is another
major airline accident,

it's going to probably originate

from an air traffic control
problem.

There are too many planes.

The tools controllers use
to track them are inadequate.

The failing system is putting
passengers at risk.

Now the race is on to fix it...

Do you see him, Daniel?

...before disaster
strikes again.

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!

Rush hour.

John F. Kennedy
international airport...

one of the busiest in the world.

More than 1,200 planes
use JFK every day.

In the sky, they're stacked up
for miles waiting to land.

On the ground, dozens more
are waiting to take off.

The constant stream of airliners
can tax the abilities

of even the most experienced
controllers.

The picture, as it's called,

that they have to maintain
in their head

of everything they're
controlling, where everybody is,

their speed, their altitude,
their separation,

also includes constant back
and forth talking to the pilots.

And this is a matrix
of information flow

in and out of their brains.

It's just amazing to watch.

For the team of
air traffic controllers

in JFK's tower,

it's just another day at work.

It's a job that
gets more demanding

with each passing year.

Over the last decade,

there's been a 25% jump
in traffic at JFK.

And New York is not alone.

It's a trend that concerns
some industry experts.

One of the things that
I do as an aviation analyst

is try to keep a good lock
on what's happening,

watch where the weak spots
are in the system.

If there is another major
airline accident, god forbid,

it's going to probably originate

from an air traffic control
problem.

The solution
to the looming crisis

is being developed here,

the William J. Hughes
technical center in New Jersey.

It's the workshop of America's
Federal Aviation Administration.

The center
has been involved

in every major advance

in air transportation system
technologies since 1958.

Airport design,
aircraft safety and security...

Communications, navigation.

Scientists at
the William Hughes center

have tackled aviation's
most difficult problems.

Today, this plane
is at the heart

of one of the largest projects
in the history of the FAA.

They're using it to design
a new air traffic system

that will help manage
more traffic safely.

Together, test pilots
and researchers

need to figure out a safer way

to get airplanes into and out of
America's airports.

They have come up with
a system called Nextgen.

Nextgen will supply pilots with
the tools and information

they need to make many decisions

that are now made
by controllers.

At its heart is a sophisticated
piece of equipment

that will soon be added
not to towers, but to planes.

To see if it works, test pilots
have to take it for a ride.

We're liberating
the airplane

to do what it's designed to do

and not constraining it
by our management.

Positive rate gear up.

Here it comes.

Researchers have installed

a revolutionary
navigational computer

in the back of
this executive jet.

We're currently flying
over Delaware.

It's called ADS-B.

It stands for

automatic dependent
surveillance broadcast.

It's a sophisticated
GPS receiver

that paints a detailed picture
of any plane

anywhere near this flight.

So the pilot has what we call

situational awareness
of what's flying around him.

The aircraft then broadcasts
that position once a second.

So any other aircraft flying
within RF range of that aircraft

now knows its position as well.

There's nothing like
this in any cockpit today.

Because it's still
experimental technology,

the FAA is testing this system
in the cabin of the aircraft.

If tests like this succeed,

it will someday be in
the cockpit of every plane

in America, and eventually
around the world.

Once the ADS-B system
is fully operational,

everyone will know
where you are,

how high you're flying,
and where you're headed.

It's a key piece of the future
because it is so accurate.

The computer the
researchers

are putting to the
test today

is the central element in
the most significant retooling

of the American aircraft
control system

in half a century.

Human beings cannot be
perfect on a sustained basis,

we can for certain
periods of time.

Therefore, we have
to expect failure.

People make mistakes.

It's a lesson the airline
industry has learned

the hard way.

A lesson that
fundamentally shaped

how planes travel across
the skies today.

In the few years in
which they have been operating,

the airlines have discovered
that their efforts to improve

comforts and services have...

After the second world war,

Americans were traveling by air
in booming numbers.

The earliest
air traffic controllers

stood next to runways.

They waved flags
to guide planes in.

As traffic increased,
pilots also began to use radios

to stay in touch with airports.

The first air traffic
control towers were built

as more and more flights
had to be handled.

Airports became
very busy places.

And air traffic was beginning
to overwhelm controllers.

June 30, 1956.

Los Angeles
international airport.

TVA flight two takes off
eastbound for Kansas City.

Airline flying in
the '50s was really amazing.

It was something
you dressed up for.

Only people who could afford
a fairly high price

could actually fly.

The TVA flight is
a lockheed super constellation.

One of the most advanced
commercial airliners

of its time.

Just minutes behind
twa flight two,

united airlines flight 718
takes off from the same airport

on its way to Chicago.

The system to track both of the
planes is far from high-tech.

The air traffic control center

consisted of a room with
a map spread out on a table,

and the air traffic controllers
were moving markers on that map

to indicate where
each airplane was

in its last known position.

The pilots radio
their position

to company dispatchers.

Controllers use this information

to get a rough idea
of their flight plans.

They were on radar
for a while in Los Angeles,

but once they got outside
that area, there was no radar.

They were flying
under visual flight rules.

The rule is called
see and be seen.

So, I see you, you see me,
we stay apart,

and we're responsible
for our own separation.

As the two planes get
closer to the Grand Canyon,

the distance between
them disappears.

Both captains were used
to showing the canyon off

on a clear day.

They could move the airplane
to the left,

move it to the right
a little bit,

point out the canyon to people
and get them to "ooh" and "ahh".

The united flight closes in

on the twa plane
from the right...

unaware their paths
are about to cross.

People on one side
of the dc-7

would have been able to see
the oncoming constellation.

Would've seen an airplane
against an azure sky

with fluffy clouds,
coming closer and closer.

And they would have
felt the impact.

The Grand Canyon
is a graveyard

for 128 passengers and crew
of two airliners

which crashed on peaks
little more than a mile apart.

None survived.

It was the worst commercial
air disaster in history.

The Grand Canyon crash
created huge banner headlines

across the nation and a lot of
pressure on the government

to do something.

We needed radar.

We needed to buy it
and get it deployed

throughout the United States
immediately.

We had to change the system,
and we had to do it fast.

The crash
killed 128 people

and changed the world of
air traffic control forever.

Following a lengthy
investigation,

the stark conclusion was
that the crash happened

because the two planes
were outside

of so-called
controlled airspace.

Once the planes left
the small area

being monitored by controllers,

no one was paying attention
to where they were.

The "see and avoid"
principle is a fraud,

and it always has been.

The fact is, the faster you go,
it's a big sky,

you've only got 180 degrees
of peripheral vision,

and you can't see and avoid
everything up there.

In the wake of
the Grand Canyon accident,

american airspace was
blanketed by radar.

Planes were more stringently
confined to air corridors...

highways in the sky.

The air traffic
control system

we have in the United States
today was designed

with the Grand Canyon
accident in mind.

That crash determined

how far apart airplanes
should be spaced

and where radar dishes and
air traffic control centers

should be built.

It also resulted
in the formation

of the federal aviation
administration, the FAA.

But now, 50 years later, the
system needs to change again.

Today,
the system falls short

of the public's expectations,

being congested,

slow,

clunky,

unpleasant.

As planes fly
faster and higher,

it becomes harder
for controllers

to track their movements.

I think in many respects,

we're in a very
similar situation

to where we were in the '50s.

The system has to
change massively.

And the change
must happen soon

before we are faced with
a major air accident

that could take the lives
of hundreds of people.

The technology
on board the FAA flight

might be the solution

to the overtaxed
air traffic control system.

Test pilots regularly
take to the skies

to help researchers
prepare the new system

for america's airliners.

The beautiful thing
about ads-b is,

is it gives pilots
in the cockpit

and the air traffic controllers

basically the same picture.

Ads-b is more than
a map of other planes.

The idea is to show pilots

what now only air traffic
controllers can see...

data about the planes that
are in a pilot's airspace.

With ads-b, you'll see
who that other aircraft is.

You'll see an identifier on it.

You'll be able
to see planes on runways.

You'll see planes in
the traffic pattern.

And you'll get a better feel
for what's going on around you.

Especially if you're at
an uncontrolled airport.

Giving pilots all
that information in the cockpit

will allow them to
make decisions

about how to get to their
destinations quickly and safely.

The current system
relies on radars

for the detection and
tracking of aircraft.

And radar was a great technology
in 1940,

but fundamentally,
it's very sloppy.

Today,
ground-based radar

bounces radio signals
off an airplane

to calculate its position.

It can be off
by as much as two miles.

That's why we keep aircraft

three miles or more apart,

'cause we're just not that
confident of the solution.

With Nextgen,
an onboard gps unit

will constantly receive signals
from a gps satellite.

This will tell pilots
where they are,

down to within
a few hundred feet.

A more accurate picture
of airspace

will mean airliners are able
to fly closer together.

The FAA hopes this will help
relieve the congestion

at busy airports.

Today, only controllers have an
accurate picture of air traffic.

They use this information
to guide pilots

around potential problems.

The pilots themselves have
no way to independently confirm

where they are in relation
to all other flights.

They must rely on controllers
to tell them.

The weakness of the system
was exposed

years before
Nextgen tests began.

Labor day weekend, 1986.

Aeromexico 498
traffic ten o'clock.

Approach controller
Walter White

guides aeromexico flight 498
in for a landing

at Los Angeles
international airport.

...maintain 6,000.

The airspace around
lax is very tightly controlled.

It's called the tca...
the terminal control area.

As aeromexico flight 498
closes in on the airport,

Walter White sees a plane
he does not expect on his radar.

Uh, one approach on
a flight from Fullerton.

Cruising altitude is 4,500,
we'd like following.

Ok, you're right in
the middle of the tca, sir.

Grumman 66 romeo,

I suggest in the future
you look at your tca chart.

There was an aircraft

that was east of the airport
which he became involved in.

That was what
they called a violator.

In many cases,

the air traffic that was
crawling across his screen,

even with transponders,
were not reporting altitudes.

Walter White
hustles the small plane

out of the controlled airspace.

You just had an aircraft
pass right off your left,

above you at 5,000,

and we run a lot of jets
right through there at 3,500.

But white
doesn't realize

that there's another plane,
dangerously off course.

We should be able
to see the ocean by now.

Take a look at the map
and look around the 405...

A piper cherokee
is cutting across

the approach to lax,
oblivious to the danger.

The aeromexico flight is
just minutes from landing.

Aeromexico 498,
Los Angeles approach.

This can't be.

The jet plunges
towards Cerritos,

a suburban community
of Los Angeles.

Aeromexico 498,
Los Angeles approach.

I'm sitting there talking with
the two departure controllers,

and not really thinking, I hear
Walter say something like...

I think I lost one.

Aeromexico 498,
Los Angeles approach.

The crash devastates
the community of Cerritos.

15 people on the ground
are killed in the disaster,

along with all 64 people
on the aeromexico jet.

The piper cherokee is found
in a nearby schoolyard.

All three people on the small
plane have been killed.

The fact of the matter is

that the cherokee flew
into the tca and hit the dc-9

in restricted airspace
without a clearance.

The national
transportation safety board

questions Walter White

about what he saw
on his radar display.

At any time
did you see the piper cherokee

on your scope?

No.

No, sir.

The piper's target
was not displayed.

It is my belief that
it was not on my radar scope.

He was positive
that the aircraft was not there

for him to see.

But when
investigators finally get

the air traffic control
radar records,

they conclude the piper
should have been visible.

We were able to determine

that the aircraft that collided
with aeromexico

was there to be seen.

Controllers had been
complaining about the radars

for a long time.

We had reported problems

with the radar
not picking up targets,

several times.

You may lose one target.

You may lose two targets.

It may not be presented
for one sweep.

Did you see the piper
cherokee on your scope?

No, sir.

But that doesn't mean
that the target isn't there.

A blind spot is only
an instantaneous thing.

It's not a continuous thing.

He was looking at one
and trying to keep it clear,

lost track of another one

that just happened to be
the same altitude

as the approaching
aeromexico jet.

It was a one in a billion
chance,

but that one in a billion
came up that particular day.

The collision
over Los Angeles

drew attention to weaknesses
in the radar systems

used by air traffic controllers

and led to badly needed
improvements.

Mode c intruder
is an automated program

that is now incorporated in all
our major radar facilities.

That if an aircraft should
inadvertently intrude,

the controller will now be given
a visual and an oral alert.

Thus, giving him time to provide
a timely warning to the pilot.

After the collision
over Los Angeles,

radar systems at the airport
were upgraded.

The next generation of
air traffic management

will only use radar
if the gps system fails.

Nextgen is also targeting
another weakness

in the current system...
the radio.

Today, pilots and controllers
use radios

to talk to one another.

We're now descending
to one-niner-zero...

The system depends on
clear, precise language.

Misunderstandings are common ,

and they've caused some of
the most tragic air disasters

in history.

As the FAA test flight flies
high west of atlantic city,

its radio keeps the pilots
in touch with controllers.

Vector for sequence
for the downwind runway 22.

Ok, 100, clear for
the...

But in the air
traffic system of the future,

pilots and controllers will
communicate less frequently.

The controller and
the pilot can now work together

to resolve issues, instead of
wasting a lot of time

explaining what the issues are.

Mistakes can be made
for a number of reasons.

English is the international
language of aviation.

But pronunciation,
accent, and emotion

alter the way
any language is spoken.

Nowhere is this
better understood

than in the air traffic
control tower

at John F. Kennedy
international airport.

If you listen on
any control frequency,

you're going to hear
a lot of people say,

"would you say that again?
Say again over, please".

The airspace above
JFK is frequented

by one of the most international
collections of pilots

in the world.

When pressure mounts,

small misunderstandings can have
enormous consequences.

January 25, 1990,
in the skies above New York.

Avianca 052 expect
further clearance times

in 20 minutes.

I think
we need priority,

we are passing out of fuel.

Avianca 052, roger,
how long can you...

Avianca flight 52 is
trying to land in New York.

But a driving rain is
delaying air traffic

into and out of the area.

The flight began in Colombia.

On its way to New York,

it's been routed through
a series of holding patterns

by air traffic controllers.

Bad weather is delaying landings

all along
the northeastern seaboard.

Is it ok
if I send four more your way?

Casino,
I'm back in the hold again.

I got four in the stack,
and there's no end in sight.

Avianca 052, I might be able to
get you in right now, stand by.

Thank you.

They were
progressively moving toward JFK.

And they were held in the air
for three times.

This certainly would put
some stress on the crew.

Avianca 052, roger.
And what's your alternate?

We said Boston,
but we can't do it now.

We'd...we'll run out of fuel.

The pilots are
growing increasingly desperate

for clearance to land.

Avianca 052...

They've used up
almost all their fuel

while waiting their turn.

What is his speed now?

I'm not sure
to be honest.

Slow him to
180 knots, and I'll take him.

After more than
an hour in holding patterns,

controllers finally give
the pilots of the Avianca flight

permission to land.

Avianca 052,
descend and maintain 3,000.

Descend and maintain 3,000.

But in this critical
hand-off

from one controller to another,

no one mentions that the plane
is running out of fuel.

Avianca 052 heavy,

contact Kennedy tower 119.1,
good day.

It was
extremely important

that Avianca 52 landed on
their first approach to JFK.

The voice recorder revealed that

the captain was certainly quite
concerned about the fuel state.

At JFK, only one
runway is

being used for landings.

Weather at the airport is
making approaches difficult.

Avianca 052 heavy
Kennedy tower, 2-2 left,

you are number three
following 727 traffic

on a niner mile final.

Avianca 052 heavy, roger.

Avianca 052, say airspeed.

145 knots.

Are we cleared
to land, no?

Yes, sir,
we are cleared to land.

Stand by.

The Avianca crew,

when they felt that
they were being handed off

to an approach controller now

and given a heading
and a lower altitude,

I'm sure in their minds,
they thought...

"Well, they even commented on
the cockpit voice recorder...

we're being handled,
we're being taken care of".

Two and a half miles
from runway 22l,

with fuel running
dangerously low,

the flight hits ferocious winds.

This is the wind shear.

A dramatic wind
change throws the aircraft

off its descent path
on its approach.

Glideslope!

Glideslope, glideslope,
glideslope...

The runway...where is
it?!

I don't see it, I don't see it.

The plane is thrown
towards the ground by the winds.

Pull up, pull up...

The airplane was
about 200 feet above the ground,

about two miles from the runway,

so the airplane almost crashed
on its first approach.

Give me the landing
gear up! Landing gear up!

When you get a missed approach,

it changes the whole ball game.

Request another
traffic pattern.

Executing a missed
approach, Avianca 052 heavy.

The fuel tanks aboard
Avianca flight 52

are all but empty.

Another approach on the airport
will be nearly impossible.

Controllers in New York

will have to try once more

to get Avianca flight 52
safely to the ground.

...180 on the heading, we'll try
once again.

We are running out of fuel!

These guys were out,
and they didn't say we were out.

And they allowed
the approach control

to vector him way out
in the original pattern

and 15 miles north to
the outer marker again.

Advise him we are in an
emergency! Did you tell him?

Yes, sir, I already advised him.

But the first officer
neglects

to use the word "emergency"

in his radio transmissions
to the tower.

He only mentions
that his fuel is low.

...contact approach
on 118.4.

Approach Avianca 052 heavy...

It was apparent from
the voice recorder transcript

and tape that the captain
was not understanding

the first officer's
radio communications

that were being made in English.

Flame out!
Flame out on engine number four!

The engines quit when
they're finally starved of fuel.

Flame out
on engine number three!

Show me the runway.

We just lost
two engines,

and we need priority, please.

Avianca 052,
turn left heading 250.

Without engine power ,

Avianca flight 52 crashes into
a residential neighborhood

on long island.

Avianca 052,
radar contact lost.

85 of the 158 on
board survive the crash.

Throughout the night,

rescue workers pull them
from the wreckage.

Investigators from the national
transportation safety board

arrive within hours.

The NTSB investigation
reveals that controllers

didn't transmit vital
information to one another.

Radio communication,
one of the most vital parts

of air traffic control,
failed the passengers and crew.

Trying to avoid
those kinds of mistakes

is a key component of Nextgen.

Radio communication
will largely be replaced

by an exchange of
electronic data.

Automation is
extremely important.

And in the future,
it's going to be able

to get rid of
the type of errors that occur

when you put massive pressure
on a human being

to be 100% perfect.

With the elimination
of radio chatter,

air traffic control towers
of the future

will be very quiet places.

Controllers on the ground
will still be needed

to move planes
in and out of airports.

But with more accurate
information at their disposal

and less need to talk to pilots,

they'll be able to handle far
more flights than they do today.

On board the FAA's flight,

the new GPS-based technology
gets the ultimate test.

Without any warning from
air traffic control...

Do you see him, Daniel?

No, I don't see him yet.

- There he goes.
- There he is!

They notice another
plane, just 400 feet below.

In the back of the jet,

the Nextgen system
detects the other plane.

Had the system been
in the cockpit,

it would have shown the pilots
its precise location.

Without it, they rely on a piece
of technology called TCAS

to warn them of the danger.

Using signals transmitted
from plane to plane,

the traffic collision
avoidance system warns pilots

when other planes are too close.

TCAS gives
the pilot a traffic advisory

45 seconds before
the potential collision.

And then at approximately
25 seconds or so

before the potential collision,
a resolution advisory is given

to actually tell the pilots
to climb or descend

to avoid the altitude
of the other aircraft.

Normally, air traffic
will call that to us,

but they didn't even
call the traffic,

so that TCAS helped a lot.

TCAS can help pilots
of approaching planes

avoid collisions.

But with the new system,

pilots will be able to
prevent their planes

from getting dangerously close
in the first place.

You know, with ADS-B,

we're going to be able to see
that traffic on the display.

Today,
the system works perfectly.

The pilots of the test flight
see the danger and avoid it.

TCAS can help pilots
avoid a collision,

but having it on board
is no guarantee

that an accident won't happen.

September 29, 2006.

A small business jet flies high
above the Brazilian countryside.

The pilots will fly
to Manaus in Brazil

before taking off again
for New York city.

Brasilia,
November 600...

In the cockpit,
co-pilot Jan Paladino

is having trouble maintaining
radio contact

with air traffic controllers.

Brasilia,
November 600 x-ray lima.

He tries
different channels,

but still no one responds
to his radio calls.

Brasilia,
November 600...

It's unusual for
pilots and

air traffic controllers

to be out of contact for such
an extended period of time.

Brasilia,
November 600 x-ray lima.

November 600
x-ray lima.

Finally,
after 12 attempts,

Paladino gets through
to controllers.

But Paladino can't understand
the garbled radio transmission.

Brasilia,
November 600 x-ray lima.

Then, the signal
disappears altogether.

The jet follows the Brasilia
air corridor en route to Manaus.

But traffic along this corridor
runs in both directions.

The airway system

between Brasilia and Manaus
is very simple.

It makes airplanes
fly northbound

maintaining even levels

and airplanes flying southbound
maintaining odd levels.

A little more than
two hours into the flight,

disaster strikes.

The concussion itself

seemed to affect
every atom in my body.

The end of the wing was
chopped off and it was serrated,

it looked like
it had been chewed off.

The legacy jet has
struck an oncoming Boeing 737,

gol flight 1907.

With 154 people on board,

the gol flight spirals
out of control.

The pilots of the smaller jet
don't know what they've hit,

but their business jet
is still flyable.

Sit down back there!

I got it, I got it.

Just let me fly the thing, dude.

We're descending,
I want to get down.

Ok, it's yours,
it's yours.

The crew locates
a runway at a military base

in the middle of the jungle.

November 600 x-ray lima
declaring an emergency.

We need to land at
zero bravo Charlie Charlie,

is that your airport?

Affirmative.

The pilots
of the executive jet

attempt an emergency landing.

Everyone sit down back there.

When you land under
those sort of circumstances,

you're landing faster than
you normally would.

You're coming down
like gangbusters.

Good. You got it.

Hold it. You're good.

Woo!

Good job.

Oh, man!

At Brasilia
air traffic center,

controllers have lost track
of gol flight 1907.

Manaus, there isn't any gol.

I can't see anything here.

It's on its way.

So it's already in my area?

For over half an hour.

Troops locate
the wreckage of gol flight 1907

deep in the Amazon jungle .

There are no survivors.

Investigators learn that the
legacy jet and the gol flight

were flying along
the same corridor

in opposite directions.

1,000 feet of altitude is
supposed to separate them.

Investigators interview
the pilots of the business jet.

We were proceeding
northwest,

on course to Manaus
at 37,000 feet.

Ok, we were attempting to
contact Brasilia control...

Did you say
you were flying at 37,000 feet?

Yes, that's right.
Flight level 370.

We never moved from that.

The pilots
of the executive jet

filed a flight plan in which
they would fly at 37,000 feet

until they reached Brasilia.

There, they would descend
to 36,000.

The flight plan
calls for you to descend to 360

at Brasilia...why didn't you?

We weren't told to.

Before we took off,

we were cleared for 370
all the way to Manaus.

That's what we did, sir.

Air traffic control
can always deviate

from the flight plan, because
they have best knowledge

of the actual traffic situation.

We were not told to
descend, and we did not descend.

:
Once we knew for sure

that both planes were flying
at the same altitude,

we knew there would be
a lot to investigate

on the side of
air traffic control.

Can you call up
the legacy jet screen for me?

Images show investigators

what air traffic controllers
saw on their radar screen

before the accident.

One symbol stands out.

The Z on the air traffic
controller's screen

indicates that the airplane
he's looking at

has lost its transponder.

Transponders give
controllers exact information

on the altitude of the flights
they monitor.

Investigators learn that the
transponder aboard the legacy

had been turned off...

Possibly due to the captain's
inexperience with the new jet.

Still working out the kinks

on how to work
this flight management system.

Without information
coming

from the jet's transponder,

the air traffic computer
displays the altitude

the plane is supposed to be at
according to the flight plan.

But it's actually flying
1,000 feet higher,

right in the path
of the gol flight.

The Brazilian controllers
did not verify

the legacy jet's real altitude.

Nobody did anything
from the ground,

which is where
we expect it to happen,

to save these two airplanes

from being head-on
at the same altitude.

Back over
Atlantic City,

pilots are preparing to bring
their test flight in

for a landing.

Today, the flight has to stay

within tightly
confined boundaries

set out by air traffic
controllers.

But when all aircraft
are equipped with ADS-B,

that won't be the case.

We're going
to have airplanes

flying directly to
where they need to fly

and computers
keeping them apart.

At the FAA,

researchers have been
designing systems

that get flights from a to b
in a whole new way.

Right now there's no way
for controllers to know

the exact location of a plane .

That's why flights are confirmed
to preset highways

to keep them from colliding .

With GPS-based Nextgen, a pilot
can follow any route he chooses,

provided there aren't any other
planes in his path.

He can choose a much more direct
route to his destination.

If we could have airplanes going
in all directions

and more efficiently, directly
to where they want to go,

we would be able to double,
triple, maybe even quadruple

the number of aircraft
that we could safely handle

in the skies at one time.

By charting
their own route,

ads-b will allow pilots
to keep a safe distance

from other planes,

without having to stick to
a preset highway in the sky.

Maintaining that distance
is important,

because even the best technology
can't keep airplanes apart.

July 2002.

Bashkirian airlines flight 2937
cruises westbound

through the night sky
for Barcelona.

The Tupolev 154M
carries 69 people.

Most of the passengers
are Russian children

traveling on a summer holiday.

Meanwhile, a DH1 cargo aircraft
travels north towards Brussels.

The two flights are supposed
to pass each other

over lake Constance
in southern Germany.

But air traffic controllers
have failed to notice

that both flights
are at the same altitude .

The controller is distracted
by another flight.

At a second station,
he assists a late arrival.

What is your present heading?

Present heading is...

:
It was a standard practice

at the ATC company,
that at night

one air traffic controller
was responsible

for controlling the entire
airspace of ATC Zurich.

Aboard the Tupolev,

the pilots have spotted
an intruder.

Look, look at that.

And it's closing in fast.

500 meters.

On board
the DHL cargo plane,

the TCAS computer is issuing
an urgent warning.

The system is designed to warn
pilots of an oncoming flight...

Increase descent.

...and what to do
to avoid collision.

...600, TCAS descent.

When the air traffic
controller

returns to his position,

he sees the conflict.

The flights will cross paths
in less than a minute.

...descend
flight level 350.

Expedite,
I have crossing traffic.

The Russian captain obeys

the controller's instruction
to descend.

But his TCAS system
is telling him to climb.

It says climb.

The Russian crew
has 35 seconds

to decide whether to obey
the air traffic controller

or the computer.

Descend level 350.
Expedite descent.

He is guiding us down.

:
We are not accustomed

to not trusting controllers.

:
In civil aviation,

there were lots of situations

when pilots didn't follow
instructions of the controller,

and that led to plane crashes
or other accidents.

Expedite descent level...

Under pressure,
with just seconds to decide,

the Russians pilots follow
the controller's direction.

At the same time, the DHL jet
is also descending.

Increase descent,
increase descent.

Increase!

He's going below us.

Increase climb,
increase climb.

Where is it?

Here on the left!

Climb!

Climb!

Descend! Descend hard!

Bravo tango Charlie 2937.

Bravo tango Charlie...

Both flights crash
near lake Constance in Germany.

71 people are killed.

There are no survivors.

The collision leaves
air traffic experts

at a critical crossroads.

If I have to summarize

the advice that
we gave the world...

if a warning comes from ACAS,

pilots should immediately
follow it at all times.

If the Russian pilots
had followed

the computer's instructions,

the accident would
not have happened.

With the benefit
of hindsight,

you always ask yourself,
could we have done more?

And an accident is
a wake-up call for everybody.

The disaster
highlighted the potential value

of automated systems

and proved again how fatal
human errors can be.

It's an important lesson
for the developers of Nextgen.

Technology can provide humans
with information,

but can't control
what they do with it.

Over Atlantic City, the FAA jet
is on its final approach.

Runway is clear.

Bring the flaps to, uh, 16...

Its two-hour test flight

has brought Nextgen
one step closer

to being installed on
commercial airplanes.

Nice job, guys.

Two reversers.

Speed's at 90.

I got the yoke.

When ads-b is
everywhere

and the data is being displayed
in the cockpit,

that will allow the airlines
to fly hugely more efficiently.

Over the past 50 years,

air traffic control has
evolved tremendously.

Human error...

Technical difficulties...

And poor communication

have taken the lives
of hundreds of people

and uncovered deadly weaknesses
in the current system.

Today, those weaknesses are
one step closer to being fixed.

I think the Nextgen
system, as it has evolved now,

is really going to be excellent.

It's going to start
in the direction

that we need to go
for the future.

The elements
that make up Nextgen

will be introduced slowly
over the next decade.

Piece by piece, a whole new
system of air traffic control

will take shape in the U.S.

And ultimately around the world.