All language subtitles for Air.Disasters.S09E10.Deadly.Mission.1080p.PMTP.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-maldini_track3_[eng]

Narrator: Tragic accident
or calculated murder?

Man: Now let's see
the elevations.

Narrator: Investigators reopen
a 55-year-old mystery.

Man: This was
a major world event.

Man: We're going down.
Brace! Brace!

Narrator: What caused a crash

that killed
the U.N. Secretary general?

Man: It was devastating.

Man: This gentleman was
a champion of world peace.

Narrator: How did a top-secret
peace mission in Africa

end in death?

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

Man: Certain people believe
it's just not possible

that Dag Hammarskjold was killed
in a common accident.

It had to be something more.

Narrator: Controversial
theories abound.

Man: Dag Hammarskjold
was murdered. Period.

Narrator: But the truth may
finally be within reach.

Man: As an investigator,
I don't want to close any doors.

Flight attendant:
Ladies and gentlemen,
we are starting our approach.

Pilot: We lost both engines!

Flight attendant:
Put the mask over your nose.

Emergency descent.

Pilot: Mayday, mayday.

Flight attendant:
Brace for impact!

Controller: I think I lost one.

Man: Investigation starting
into this tragedy...

Man: He's gonna crash!

Narrator: Swedish air crash
investigator Sven Hammarberg

is entering a world of intrigue

and deadly cold war
conspiracies.

A special commission
reporting to the U.N.

Needs him to determine

whether a 1961 air disaster was
an accident or an assassination.

Sven Hammarberg: The commission
knew that I had some experience

in that field
of old aircraft accidents,

so they called me.

Narrator: The pressure is on
to get to the bottom

of an aviation mystery
that's as controversial today

as it was 55 years ago.

Henning Melber:
There's a wide range of things

that have never, ever been
adequately considered.

They might not bring
the ultimate truth,

but it requires to look
carefully again.

Narrator:
Hammarberg studies the events

from the night
of the fateful flight.

A united nations transport
plane, the Albertina,

is on a vital mission
in central Africa.

Pilot:
Estimate Abeam Ndola at 2347,

arrival time 00:20.

Narrator: The destination
is Ndola airport

in the British colony
of northern Rhodesia.

Controller: Roger.

Ndola weather,
wind 1-2-0 at seven knots,

visibility five to ten miles
with a slight smoke haze.

Narrator: Controllers and local
dignitaries anxiously await

the arrival of one of the most
important people in the world.

Controller:
Set altimeter to 30.15.

Pilot: Roger.

Request descent clearance
at 5-7.

Controller: Roger at 5-7.

Cleared to descend
to 6,000 feet.

Narrator: On board the dc-6

is U.N. Secretary general
Dag Hammarskjold.

Dag Hammarskjold: At least
they're willing to talk.

What else do we know about
their latest demands?

Narrator: He's flying in
from the Congo

to hold high-level peace talks
with a rebel leader.

Melber: Hammarskjold,

and most likely members
of his entourage on board,

were pretty aware that this is
a difficult mission.

It was a secretary general
for whom a physical risk

was an integral part of his job.

Pilot: Alright.

Descending to 6,000.

Nil traffic ahead.

Co-pilot:
6,000. Yes, sir.

Narrator: The captain is
35-year-old per Hallonquist.

Co-pilot: Our visibility
should be pretty good

once we get down there.

Narrator:
29-year-old lars Litton

is Hallonquist's first officer.

Robert Macintosh: The life
of flying a transport airplane

in the Congo during the 1960s,

during the decolonization era,

was indeed a fantastic
challenge for everyone.

Narrator: Former pilot and NTSB
investigator Robert Macintosh

flew transport missions for
the U.N. Throughout the '60s.

Macintosh:
During my time in the Congo,

I was probably a lucky guy

because there were
mercenaries around,

and I never found
any bullet holes

in the aircraft
that I was flying.

Lars Litton: 7,000.

Per Hallonquist: Alright.

Give me 2,000 rpm and 20 inches.

Litton:
Minimum descent altitude?

Hallonquist:
That's 5,000 feet,

but we'll have the runway
in sight long before then.

Narrator: The flight left
the Congolese capital,

Leopoldville,

a little more than
six hours ago.

For security reasons, it's flown
an indirect route to Ndola.

Melber: They made arrangements
in the route of the plane

to avoid any unpleasant
surprises.

Hammarskjold: Number one,
we need to extend the ceasefire.

We can't be seen
as being the enemy here.

Narrator: To prevent an ambush,
no flight plan has been filed,

and the pilots have
maintained radio silence

for most of the flight.

The mission is
a closely guarded secret.

Controller: Are you proceeding
to Salisbury after Ndola?

Hallonquist: Negative.

Narrator:
Even at this late stage,

the crew needs to be secretive
about the mission.

Controller:
Are you staying in Ndola?

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

Hallonquist: Negative.

Controller:
Due to parking difficulties,

we'd like to know
your intentions.

Hallonquist: We will give them
on the ground.

Controller: Roger.

Macintosh: The security
of the airport

and of the flying environment

was sometimes in question.

There were, there were
opportunities for counter forces

to perhaps shoot at aircraft
that were on final approach.

Hallonquist: Pre-descent
checklist, please.

Litton: Anti-collision lights?

Hallonquist: On.

Litton: Cylinder head check?

Okay.

Speed to 1-8-0 knots.

Man: Go ask the pilots
how much longer till we land.

Narrator: The secretary general
and his delegation

should be on the ground
in about ten minutes.

Hallonquist:
Your lights in sight.

Overhead Ndola.

Descending.

Controller: Roger.
Report reaching 6,000 feet.

Hallonquist: Roger.

Controller: Okay.
They're 10 minutes away.

Narrator: Because of
the unusual flight path,

the plane now needs to fly
past Ndola airport

and circle back to touch down
on its only runway.

Macintosh: Ndola was a bit,
we say, out in the sticks,

with a little control tower
and with some surrounding hills.

And certainly at night
it was extremely difficult

to make approaches there.

Litton: 180 knots, sir.

Hallonquist:
Speed is good. Thank you.

Macintosh: You certainly
have to be extremely vigilant

to the hazards around
such a small airport.

Narrator: The crew begins the
final swooping left-hand turn

that will line them up
with the runway below.

The mission to Ndola
is about to begin--

a mission that could change
the fate of nations.

Newscaster: The united nations
security council meeting again

to deal with the difficult
and dangerous Congo situation.

It was resolved to
call upon Belgium

to withdraw her troops from...

Melber: The Congo
in the early '60s

was of utmost priority
in the cold war.

It was of top
geostrategic importance.

Narrator: The Congo recently won
its independence from Belgium.

But the new nation's
southern region of Katanga

has declared itself
an independent state.

A bloody civil war has erupted.

And with the world's richest
uranium mine in Katanga,

world powers, including the U.S.
And the Soviet Union,

are backing opposing factions.

The risk of a global
catastrophe is very real.

Melber: One needs to recall
that the nuclear bombs

that were thrown
on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

were supplied with uranium
from Katanga.

Narrator: Hammarskjold hopes
to resolve the deadly conflict

and help reunite the Congo.

But on the ground in Ndola,

controllers are
growing concerned.

Controller:
Albertina, Ndola tower.

Do you read?

Narrator: The secretary
general's plane is overdue.

Macintosh: Where did
the aircraft go?

Why, why have we not seen it?

Controller:
Albertina, Ndola tower.

Please acknowledge.

Macintosh: "Where are you?

Why am I not hearing from you?"

That would have been
very present

in the minds of the controller
at that point in time.

Narrator: The controller
contacts other airports

in the region.

Controller: Salisbury,
Ndola airport.

Have you had any word
from the U.N. Albertina?

Controller: Nothing at all.

Narrator: Perhaps
the Albertina's secret mission

has taken it to a different
destination at the last minute.

Controller:
Lusaka, Ndola airport.

Have you had any contact
with the U.N. Flight?

Controller: Negative.
No contact here.

Narrator: The plane carrying

one of the most important men
on the planet is missing.

It's a mystery that will haunt
Ndola and the world

for decades to come.

By dawn,

news of the U.N. Secretary
general's disappearance

is spreading fast.

Clyde Sanger: We heard
that he was missing,

so what were we to do?

We weren't going to
sit around Ndola.

Narrator: Clyde Sanger covered
Hammarskjold's mission in Africa

for the guardian newspaper.

Sanger: A number of journalists
got together

and chartered a plane
and flew over the area

and spotted where the plane
had come down.

Narrator: On the side of a hill
nine miles west of the airport,

journalists spot a gash
in the trees.

Sanger: And it was quite broad.

It had cut through
a lot of trees,

and it was an open space
like that, with stumps of trees.

Narrator: Whatever went wrong
in the skies above,

the flight clearly ended
with a violent impact...

Followed by intense fire.

When local authorities arrive,

they find bodies surrounded
by badly scorched wreckage.

Sanger: Northern Rhodesian
police said,

"No, stay back, stay back,"

and so we had only
a distant view.

They had found quite a large
fuselage in one place,

which we could see,

and we were told afterwards

that Dag Hammarskjold
was killed.

Newscaster:
For over eight years,

Dag Hammarskjold
spoke for and personified

the united nations organization.

An economist from Sweden,

he took over from
secretary general...

Macintosh: The secretary general
had been a very famous guy,

a champion of world peace,

so this was a major world event.

John F. Kennedy:
I know that I'm speaking

for all of my fellow Americans,

expressing our deep sense
of shock and loss

in the untimely death

of the secretary general
of the united nations,

Mr. Dag Hammarskjold.

Narrator: With the loss of Dag
Hammarskjold and his delegation,

prospects for peace
in the Congo fade.

Regional power brokers
have no interest

in following through on
the secretary general's mission.

Macintosh: His mission to
continue to attempt to reunite

the province that
he was concerned with,

Katanga province,

was counter to the interests
of a lot of people.

Melber: I think
it's pretty obvious

that there were a plethora
of interests out there

who were not really mourning
the death of Hammarskjold.

Narrator: The cold war politics
surrounding the flight to Ndola

lead many to speculate

that the secretary general's
plane was shot down.

Melber: Was there anyone who
wanted to see Hammarskjold dead?

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

Narrator: The world may soon
learn more about the crash

from a surprising source.

Incredibly,
there is a sole survivor.

Against all odds,

a 36-year-old
U.N. Security officer

lived through the heavy impact
and raging fire.

Harold Julian is
in critical condition.

But if he can recover
and tell his story,

he might provide
valuable evidence.

While they wait to hear
what Julian will say,

Rhodesian government
investigators begin searching

for clues in the wreckage.

They face a daunting task.

About 80% of the fuselage
is completely melted.

Macintosh:
Every air safety investigator

has a given set of things
that he's really looking for.

He wants to find out if
the whole airplane is there.

Is there something missing?

He's looking for the tail,
he's looking for the wingtips,

he's looking for
the power plants, et cetera.

All those basic things
are elemental.

Investigator: That's it, guys.

Slow and meticulous.

Narrator:
Amidst the burned wreckage

there are also
personal effects...

Poignant reminders
of lives cut short.

Even these can help
investigators learn more.

Wrist watches damaged
by the sudden impact

reveal the exact time
of the crash.

Investigator: 12:13.

Narrator:
The secretary general's plane
hit the ground

three minutes after
its last radio transmission.

Macintosh: What happened
in those three minutes?

Where were they
in those three minutes?

Do we have witnesses?

Do we have a direction?

What can we tell happened there?

And indeed was there a
possibility of some interdiction

from an outside force?

Perhaps ground fire,

somebody trying to
shoot down the airplane,

or from the air.

Hallonquist:
Your lights in sight.

Overhead Ndola.
Descending.

Narrator: Critical questions
about the flight's final moments

will not be answered
by a voice or data recorder.

The dc-6 was not equipped
with either.

The only chance of getting
a firsthand account

about what happened

rests with the badly injured
U.N. Security officer.

Harold Julian: Dag said...

Go back.

Narrator: Harold Julian's
few brief words are astounding.

Julian: It blew up.

Narrator: He suggests

that the plane blew up
before it crashed.

Hammarskjold:
We need to go back!

♪

Julian:
Then there was the crash.

Hammarberg:
He was not in good shape

after the accident.

He had heavy medicine and so on,

so, um, it's hard to,

to measure the value
of his statement.

Narrator: Investigators hope
Julian will provide more details

after he recovers,

but he never does.

He dies five days
after the accident.

Investigator: Did it really
blow up before the crash,

like he says?

Narrator: Could a missile
or bomb have taken down

the secretary general's plane?

The separatist rebels
do have a fighter jet

capable of shooting down a dc-6.

A french-made Fouga Magister
has been attacking planes

in the region.

Hammarberg: The Fouga could have
been waiting for the dc-6.

They could have used force.

Narrator: Investigators
study the pilot's handbook

for the Fouga.

They discover that the fighter's
maximum combat range

is 419 kilometers, or 260 miles.

It's a key finding, because
the nearest fighter base

is almost 260 miles away.

Investigator:
There's no way a fighter jet

took off from this base,

shot down a plane here,

and then made it back
to the base safely.

Macintosh: The possibility
of a Fouga fighter

in the middle of the night
finding this aircraft,

shooting it down,
returning to its base...

It didn't fit the conditions
that were there

on that given night.

Narrator: Investigators study
the metal skin of the dc-6,

looking for any evidence
that it was ripped open

by machine gun fire
or a missile.

They find none.

Going a step further,

they test ash
from the crash site

for the presence of explosives.

Hammarberg:
They tried to look for it.

They, they divided
the metal parts

and small pieces and so on,

and they didn't find
anything in that way.

Narrator: What's more,

when investigators
study key pieces of wreckage

from the dc-6,

everything points to a plane

that was coming in
for a routine landing.

Investigator:
Gear down, flaps out.

These guys were
getting ready to land.

Hallonquist: Flaps 30.

Litton: Flaps 30.

Macintosh:
The landing gear was down.

The flaps were extended.

Hallonquist: Okay.
Speed down to 120 knots.

Macintosh: If there
had been an attack,

they would have wanted to get
the heck out of there,

and consequently, the evidence
just doesn't speak of an attack

from ground or air.

Narrator:
Despite all the rumors,

Rhodesian investigators can find
nothing pointing to foul play.

The cause of the crash
that killed 16 people

on a secret U.N. Mission
remains a mystery.

Hallonquist: Going down!
We're going down!

Brace! Brace!

Narrator: 11 days after
the accident in Ndola,

dignitaries from
around the world

gather in Dag Hammarskjold's
hometown of Uppsala

for a state funeral.

The wreath placed by his family
contains a single word:

Why?

Melber: It was devastating.

Hammarskjold was a person
of utmost integrity.

He believed in justice.

He believed in equality.

He believed in solidarity.

Narrator: Digging into the
Albertina's maintenance records,

investigators make
a disturbing find.

Investigator: "Bullet hole
in engine number two."

That's not something
you see every day.

Narrator: Just hours before
the dc-6 took off for Ndola,

the plane was hit by gunfire.

Macintosh:
There were issues with groups

that would fire at aircraft
on the ground,

trying to disrupt things.

Narrator: Mechanics repaired
damage to an engine,

and the plane was deemed
fit to fly.

The discovery leads
investigators to wonder.

Investigator: So, just how badly
damaged was that engine?

Hallonquist: We lost
engine number two.

I need max power, number one.

Litton: Max on one.

Narrator: Perhaps
the damaged engine failed

at a critical moment,

causing the Albertina
to suddenly lose altitude.

If the theory is right,

investigators
should be able to confirm it

by taking a close look
at the propeller blades.

Macintosh: We have to check
each and every one,

see if there was
indications of bending

on those propeller blades

as they,
as they entered the forest.

Investigator: These things must
have been spinning mighty fast

to chew up this amount of wood.

Narrator: The damage to
the blades leaves no doubt.

They were spinning normally
when they hit the trees.

Macintosh: They were all
quite symmetrical

and indicative of power plants

that were fully operational as
the, as the crash took place.

Investigator: Well,
it can't be engine failure.

Narrator: The bullet damage
to the engine

did not cause the crash.

Investigator:
According to the chart,

they should have been
6,000 feet here.

Narrator: Next, investigators
study the navigational chart

for Ndola.

Investigator: The top of
the hill is 4,300 feet.

Narrator:
They calculate the altitude

the Albertina
should have been flying at

when it crashed.

Investigator:
Add 70 feet for the trees.

That means he should have been
nearly 1,700 feet

above the treetops.

Narrator: At the crash site,
damage to the trees shows

that the plane traveled forward
for more than 750 feet

before coming to a stop.

That distance means the plane
hit the treetops

at a shallow angle,

while descending gradually.

Hammarberg: The plane
went down in the trees

in, in a gentle angle
just like before landing.

Hallonquist: Okay.
I'll control.

You look for the lights.

Litton: Roger.

Narrator: Investigators wonder,

when did things start to
go wrong for the crew?

How did the Albertina
get too low?

Investigator:
The transcript says,

"Your lights in sight,
overhead Ndola.

Descending.

Roger. Report reaching 6,000."

Narrator: The radio conversation

between the pilots
and the controller

clearly shows that the crew

had the airport in sight
from a safe altitude

less than ten minutes
before hitting the ground.

Hallonquist:
Your lights in sight.

Overhead Ndola.

Investigator: So we know
he's right here

when he spots the airport,
at around 6,000 feet.

Narrator: But the transcript
reveals something more--

a single, unexpected word.

Hallonquist: Descending.

Narrator: The Albertina
was already descending

when it flew past the airport.

It's a crucial lead.

Investigator: He's continuing
to shed altitude here

and keeps descending

until he hits the hill here

at an altitude of 4,290 feet.

Narrator: For some reason,

the pilots began their descent
much too early.

Macintosh: It's unfathomable
that there was any intention

to be below 5,000 feet at that
point in the, in the approach.

Narrator: Investigators
are at a loss to explain

how the pilots ended up

misjudging their altitude
so badly.

Investigator:
Something threw them off.

What?

Narrator: They consider
the possibility that the crew

was misled by an incorrect
altimeter reading.

Hallonquist: Estimate
Abeam Ndola at 2347.

Arrival time 00:20.

Narrator: Half an hour before
he expects to land,

Hallonquist makes contact
with the tower in Ndola.

Controller: Roger.

Narrator: Controllers give him

an important piece
of information.

Controller:
Set altimeter to 30.15.

Hallonquist: Roger.

Narrator: Pilots need to
calibrate their altimeters

for every airport they land at,

factoring in the runway's height
above sea level.

Macintosh: The settings
of the barometric pressure

around the airfield were
provided by the tower,

and that needed to be translated
from millibars to inches

and placed in the window,

the little adjustment window
of the altimeters.

Narrator: They examine
the instruments,

looking for any sign
that the crew dialed in

the wrong altimeter setting
for Ndola.

A set of numbers showing
barometric pressure

provides an answer.

Hammarberg: The investigators
checked the three altimeters

in the plane.

They found that the altimeters
were working at the time

and correctly set.

Narrator: There was nothing
wrong with the altimeters.

It's another dead end.

Investigator:
What do we focus on next?

Narrator:
While crash investigators

continue to search for answers,

medical examiners make
an astonishing discovery.

It looks like some
of the passengers

suffered gunshot wounds.

Hammarberg: Finding bodies in
the wreckage with bullet wounds

is of course very interesting
to look into.

Narrator: Perhaps there's
a sinister cause

to this accident after all.

Investigators sift through dirt
from the crash site

where a critical
U.N. Peace mission

ended in flames.

They find more evidence
of gunfire--

shell casings and
a total of 342 bullets

recovered from the bodies
of the victims or nearby.

Were they fired on board
the plane or from outside?

Investigators need to know.

Ballistics experts work
to find the answer.

When a bullet passes through
the barrel of a gun, it spins.

The spinning action
marks the bullet

with telltale marks
called rifling.

But ballistic testing reveals
yet another surprise.

None of the bullets have
any signs of rifling.

They were never fired
from any gun.

Investigator:
We tested every one?

Hammarberg: The persons who were
wounded by the bullets

also carried bullets,

because they were, like, guards,

so they had ammunition on them.

The investigation shows that the
most likely cause of the wounds

is that the bullets
somehow exploded

and went into the bodies.

Narrator: Rhodesian
investigators conclude

the bullets likely exploded in
the heat of the post-crash fire

and were propelled
into nearby bodies.

Without any evidence
of sabotage or attack,

nor any sign
of a mechanical failure,

the cause of the crash
is looking more and more

like pilot error.

Investigator:
These guys are experienced.

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

Narrator: Could the crew
have somehow been distracted

in the final moments of flight?

A discovery on day one
of the investigation

lends support to that idea.

When rescuers searched
the wreckage,

they found evidence that a U.N.
Bodyguard was in the cockpit

at the time of the crash.

Investigator:
So, this is the cockpit area,

and they found the security
officer's body here.

Julian: Go ask the pilots
how much longer till we land.

Narrator:
A visitor in the cockpit

can be dangerously distracting
for a crew...

Especially when they're
close to the ground.

Hallonquist: We'll be on
the ground in three minutes.

It's a few minutes early.

Flaps 30.

Litton: Flaps 30.

Hammarberg: You have to pay
attention to small movements

on, on the instruments.

Hallonquist: You can have your
guys standing by if you want.

Macintosh: Your attention
to detail, to the altitude,

your altitude awareness,
needs to be extremely high.

Hallonquist: I'll stop short
of the terminal.

You can have the secretary
general disembark there.

Hammarberg: The margins
are very small.

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

Hallonquist: We're going down!
Brace! Brace!

Narrator: For the Rhodesian
investigators,

the evidence is clear.

The pilots simply lost track
of their altitude

and flew their plane
into the ground.

No sabotage,
no missiles, no murder.

Hammarberg: They go into
the, the questions

about sabotage and attacks,

but they conclude that the most
probable cause to the accident

is some kind of pilot error.

Narrator: Those who believe
this was an assassination

aren't swayed by
the official findings.

Melber: It's a big thing

when a secretary general
of the united nations

dies in an airplane crash.

A very big thing.

Macintosh: Certain people
believe it's just not possible

that Dag Hammarskjold was killed
in a, in a common accident.

It had to be something more.

Narrator: But three subsequent
reports on the crash all agree.

There's no evidence
of an assassination.

The Hammarskjold file is closed.

Then, in 2011,

50 years after the crash,

stunning new claims
come to light.

Author Susan Williams
interviews Charles Southall,

a former
U.S. Intelligence officer

with an astounding story.

Southall was working

in a signals monitoring base
in Cyprus

the night Hammarskjold's plane
went down.

Pilot: I see the transport plane
coming low.

Narrator: He claims he heard
a remarkable recording.

Pilot: I'm going down
to make a run on it.

Narrator: What could be
the voice of a pilot

launching an attack
on the Albertina.

Pilot: Yes.
It's the Trans air dc-6.

Hammarberg: There is
a possibility that there was

a listening station recording
the radio transmissions

and sending them to the NSA.

Pilot: I've hit it.

There are flames.
It's crashing.

Narrator: Is this proof
of what really happened?

Evidence of a cold-blooded
assassination

of the U.N. Secretary general?

There's more to the
NSA officer's intriguing story

about the mysterious radio call
on the night of the crash.

Pilot: Going down
to make a run on it.

Narrator: He says the voice
on the recording that night

was not unknown.

It was identified as
a notorious Belgian pilot,

a mercenary who flew
Magister fighter planes

for the rebel Katanga air force.

Paul Abram: The night that the
plane was actually shot down,

I was working a night shift.

Narrator: Paul Abram was also
with the NSA at the time,

stationed on the island
of Crete.

He claims he heard
a similar radio call.

Abram: NSA was telling us
on a daily basis,

these are the places

that Hammarskjold
will probably travel.

These are the frequencies

that the ground stations
would be using.

Here is the tail number
of his plane.

The idea being that they wanted
to know how close he was

to signing a peace agreement

and for us to know
exactly where he was going

and what he was doing.

Pilot: I'm going down
to make a run on it.

Abram: On September 18, 1961,

the most important chatter
came down to,

"We have the plane in sight.
Yes, we've checked.

It's the plane."

Pilot: I've hit it.

Abram: "It's going down."

Narrator: The shoot-down theory
is given added weight

when Williams reviews
witness statements

that the original investigation
discounted as unreliable.

They describe
a second plane approaching

the secretary general's dc-6
at great speed,

guns firing.

Abram: Dag Hammarskjold
was murdered. Period.

He was shot down.

Narrator: Williams lays out
her shocking theory

in an eye-opening book called
"Who killed Hammarskjold?"

Melber: The book itself,
I think wisely so,

stopped short
of a definite conclusion.

All the book wanted to achieve,
and it managed to achieve,

is to say there are
a lot of questions

which are not yet
sufficiently answered.

Narrator: The book's
stunning claims lead to action.

In 2013, Sven Hammarberg joins
a new search for the truth,

gathering evidence to be
presented to the united nations.

Hammarberg: My task was
to look into the details

and see if there were any
new information available,

and I was asked to evaluate
the investigations

that had been performed before.

Narrator: He's part of a special
commission of inquiry.

It includes a group
of distinguished judges

who travel to Ndola
to meet witnesses

from the night of the crash.

Many repeat their claim

that they saw two planes
in the air over Ndola.

Melber: I think most importantly

there are still eyewitnesses,

and many of them seem to be
very credible eyewitnesses,

who were just ignored.

Narrator: Could the death
of the U.N. Secretary general

really be an assassination?

Hammarberg digs deeper,

trying to answer that question
once and for all.

Hammarberg: When I look into the
basic facts around the crash,

I look at the trees
and the crash site

and the statements over radio
and so on...

Okay.

Now let's see the elevations.

Narrator: He studies the terrain
around Ndola airport.

He notes the height
of the hills.

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

used by the U.N. Pilots.

And he makes
a shocking discovery.

Hammarberg: There's a hill here,
a hill here, a hill here,

but there's nothing marked here.

Here, where the crash site is.

The Ndola chart does not show
any obstacle or higher ground

west of the field.

Narrator: The local terrain
includes hills west of Ndola

that rise to over 4,300 feet,

but they're missing
from the chart.

Hammarberg: This hill could have
blocked his view of the runway.

The crew might have been unaware
of the height west of the field

since there were no signs
of it on the chart.

Narrator: Hammarberg
also discovers

that members of the crew
flying the secretary general

to high-level peace talks

had been on duty for
17 of the past 24 hours.

Hammarberg: That's a long day
for these guys.

Fatigue is an important
factor here.

The flight had lasted
for six and a half hours,

and there are signs that some
of the crew were quite exhausted

even before the flight.

Hallonquist: Alright.

Descending to 6,000,
nil traffic ahead.

Litton: 6,000. Yes, sir.

Narrator: For Hammarberg, the
clues are beginning to add up.

He feels close to solving
a 50-year-old aviation mystery

that has generated heated
controversy the world over.

After carefully reviewing
all the evidence

surrounding the crash
of the Albertina in 1961,

Sven Hammarberg believes
he now knows what went wrong

in the final three minutes
of flight.

And it has nothing to do
with murder.

Hallonquist: Overhead, Ndola.

Descending.

Hammarberg: Reaching
the airfield and see the lights

when you have been flying
for six and a half hours,

I think it's very easy for
a pilot to get thinking that,

"oh, we are here.
We are just going to land."

Narrator: Passing the airport,
the pilots descend below

the minimum safe altitude
of 5,000 feet.

Litton: 4,500.

Narrator: As they turn back
towards the runway,

they suddenly lose sight
of the runway lights.

Hallonquist: What the hell?

Hammarberg:
You go into the dark,

and then you completely
miss your references,

and that is a dangerous
situation.

Hallonquist: I don't have
the runway in sight.

Narrator: The pilots
don't realize

that a hill is blocking
their view,

because the hill
isn't on their chart.

Hammarberg: Losing the visual
sight of the airport

would cause the pilots
to look even further

and lose more altitude.

Narrator: Before they even know
they're in danger,

it's too late.

Hallonquist: Going down!

We're going down!
Brace! Brace!

Narrator: A fatigued crew
descending too soon

over hilly terrain that wasn't
marked on their chart.

Those factors combined to
cause the fatal crash.

Hammarberg: I think that
all the ingredients

of controlled flight
into terrain, they are there.

Macintosh: We still have that
issue in aviation today.

Even with all
the preclusive education

and equipment that we have,

there are still cases

where we have a controlled
flight into terrain.

Narrator: To finally put
the issue to rest,

there's one last piece
of evidence

that investigators want to see--

NSA records
from the night of the crash.

Melber: They asked the NSA
to release these documents,

and the answer was that they
remain classified as top secret

and will not be released.

Abram: Given my knowledge
of the recordings, tape logs,

facsimiles, et cetera, that they
have concerning this incident,

I'm not the least surprised
they haven't been released.

Pilot: I've hit it.

Abram: Uh, it's just
in their nature.

Narrator: It's been
more than 50 years

since the mysterious crash
in Ndola.

Without the NSA documents,

doubts about the crash
still linger,

but efforts to uncover
the truth continue.

Melber: For me, personally,

the biggest reason that
justifies all these efforts,

that there are still
family members, relatives,

close colleagues

who still live with the doubt.

Narrator:
Though Hammarskjold died

before he could stop
the fighting in Katanga,

many believe his efforts
prevented the conflict

from raging out of control.

Melber: If it wouldn't have been

for Hammarskjold's intervention
in the Congo,

it could have easily escalated
into a third world war.

Narrator: Just a few months
after his death,

Dag Hammarskjold became
the first person

to be honored posthumously
with the Nobel peace prize.

Melber: We should remember
Dag Hammarskjold and the others

as human beings who were willing
to risk their lives

on a dangerous mission

to contribute to more peace
on our earth.