All language subtitles for Air.Disasters.S10E05.Deadly.Detour.1080p.PMTP.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-maldini_track3_[eng]

NARRATOR: A commuter
flight over France...

FIRST OFFICER: Look. We
can see the ship there.

CAPTAIN: There she is.

NARRATOR: ...gets a rare
view of a national treasure.

CAPTAIN: It's beautiful.

MORGAN: It's a clear blue day.

I'm sure both the crew
members were feeling good,

and maybe they were going to
have a little fun along the way.

PASSENGER: It's just stunning.

NARRATOR: Something
rips the plane to pieces.

JULIEN: I was shocked.

This was so quick
and it was so horrible.

NARRATOR: With an entire
nation looking for answers,

investigators struggle to
explain what really happened.

ALAIN: Stop it.

NARRATOR: They uncover an
unimaginable chain of events.

ALAIN: What were they thinking?

MORGAN: You really have to get
inside the mind of the pilots

to say whether or not you
would have done the same thing

in those circumstances.

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: In one of the
busiest weeks of summer,

Proteus Airlines
Flight 706 heads to the coast

of Brittany, Western France.

CAPTAIN: Flaps zero-plus-thirty.

NARRATOR: The 31-year-old
captain is an experienced pilot.

He's flown everything
from passenger planes

to water bombers.

FIRST OFFICER: Confirmed.
Descent in 10 nautical miles.

NARRATOR: His first
officer is just 27 years old,

but he has more than 300
hours' flight experience

in this same type of aircraft.

MORGAN: The skill on
these pilots in the Beech 1900

is very high. They're
professional aviators.

This is what
they're trained to do.

This is what they
do on a daily basis.

This was just a
normal day for them.

NARRATOR: The
captain and first officer

have divided their workload.

PATRICK: It's very
common in the industry

for the pilots to swap legs,

meaning one pilot will take
his turn flying the aircraft

and then the other
pilot will fly the next trip.

On this particular flight,
it was the first officer's turn

to fly the aircraft.

The captain was
the pilot monitoring,

and that involves communicating
with air traffic control,

doing checklists, managing
the systems on the aircraft.

NARRATOR: Flight
706 left Lyon Airport

a little more than an hour ago.

They're on
schedule to land at Lorient

in approximately 20 minutes,

and they're being
guided to their destination

by local air traffic control.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: I
authorize 3,700 feet in IFR.

CAPTAIN: Confirmed.

NARRATOR: The twin
engine Beechcraft 1900D

can carry 19 passengers.

Some are headed to the
beaches of southwest Brittany,

a popular tourist
destination in France.

And today they're
in for a treat --

the rare chance to
see a treasured piece

of French maritime history,

a luxury ocean liner formerly
known as the SS France.

JULIEN: People in France,
we are so proud of this boat,

because of mechanical
advancement but also,

it was a showcase of
French art and design.

NARRATOR: When put
into service in 1962,

this was the longest
passenger ship ever built,

more than 150 feet
longer than the Titanic.

The ship is a huge draw
whenever it's in French waters.

So journalist Julien Beaumont
is sent to cover the event

for the local press.

JULIEN: I went to
Quiberon Bay that day because

I was a young journalist,
that's my very first job,

and because it was the
main story at that time.

I decided to go
there and cover the story

and make some pictures.

NARRATOR: The young
journalist hires a small plane

to get a better view.

But he's not the only one
fascinated by the ocean liner.

FIRST OFFICER: Look. We
can see the ship there.

CAPTAIN: Yes, there she is.
I'll let the passengers know.

NARRATOR: As Flight
706 begins its descent

towards Lorient
airport, passengers and crew

are about to get a perfect
view of the famous ocean liner.

MORGAN: The pilots
definitely got caught up

in the excitement of,
let's go see the ship.

It's not just the
first-class service,

but I think there was elements
inside them as crew members

that also wanted
a front row seat

taking a look at
the ship itself.

CAPTAIN: Lorient,
706. We'll keep a visual

and we'll do a 360 for
the passengers in the back.

We'll resume contact after
for the approach to Lorient.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
706, Lorient confirmed.

CAPTAIN: Ladies and gentlemen,
on the left off the plane

you'll see the
ocean liner Le France.

Air traffic control has
just given us permission

to do a 360 around her.

We'll resume our route to
Lorient immediately after

in approximately
five or six minutes.

♪

They descend to 2,000 feet
and begin circling the ship.

♪

PATRICK: Two thousand
feet is indeed quite low

for a commercial aircraft.

Now with that said,
this is a regional aircraft.

They tend to fly
into smaller airports.

So for them to go to
spend a little more time

at a lower altitude is not rare.

PASSENGER: Isn't she a beauty?

MORGAN: It would have
been a tremendous view

on a crystal clear day.

You could have seen
every detail of that ship

from two thousand feet.

NARRATOR: Not far
away, Julien Beaumont

is enjoying a similar view.

JULIEN: It was a perfect day.

I mean it was sunny, no
wind, beautiful weather,

high temperatures.

CAPTAIN: Look at the
number of yachts down there.

FIRST OFFICER: Amazing.
PASSENGER: Just stunning.

NARRATOR: As they
complete their 360-degree turn

around the ship, the
pilots begin preparations

for their landing
at Lorient Airport.

CAPTAIN: 706. If permitted,
we'll set direct course

for the airport.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
706, Lorient confirmed.

NARRATOR: Without any warning,

Flight 706
disintegrates in midair.

JULIEN: I didn't hear the
crash because the door was open

and I was taking my
pictures, you know,

and the pilot told me,
oh, look just in front of us.

So I just looked in front
and take my camera like this

and just shoot.

I was shocked because it was so
quick and it was so horrible.

I can see some big
parts, big wreckage pieces

just going under the sea,

and some personal
belongings like a jacket.

At that time you just
realize and say, wow...

a lot of people died there.

♪

NARRATOR: The coast
guard rushes to the crash site

hoping to rescue any survivors.
But they find no one.

Hundreds of tourists aboard
the ship and surrounding yachts

are stunned by
what they've just seen.

JULIEN: It was like we
are so happy to see the boat,

and in two minutes all
of this became a tragedy.

♪

NARRATOR: It's soon
clear there are no survivors.

All 14 passengers
and crew are dead.

The sad news stuns the nation.

JULIEN: It was the
big story in France.

All the journalists
were on this story,

and all the French people wanted
to know about this story.

It was really the main
story in France at that time.

♪

NARRATOR: As the
tragedy begins to sink in,

so the mystery deepens.

Despite hundreds
of eyewitnesses,

no one seems to know
what brought down Flight 706.

NARRATOR: The
morning after the crash

of Proteus Airlines Flight 706,

French air crash investigator
Alain Bouillard and his team

begin working the case.

ALAIN: So what knocked
this plane out of the sky?

NARRATOR: With the entire
country looking for answers,

there's immense
pressure to explain how and why

the passenger plane went down.

ALAIN:

All we knew
was that a plane had crashed

into the sea, and
there were no survivors.

It was up to us to
locate the wreckage,

first to recover
the flight recorders

and then to find any other parts
of the plane that we could.

♪

NARRATOR: The plane's
black boxes are crucial

to explain what
happened in the final moments

leading up to the crash.

But finding them won't be
easy, because the wreckage

is a few miles off shore at
the bottom of Quiberon Bay.

NARRATOR: The
job of locating them

is up to
investigator Sebastien David.

SEBASTIEN: I went to the
site with a beacon locator,

which receives signals
from beacons like the ones

that are
equipping flight recorders.

NARRATOR: Navy
divers waste no time

and begin scouring the seabed
searching for the wreckage.

While waiting for the
black boxes to be recovered,

Alain Bouillard interviews
the air traffic controller

in charge of
Flight 706's approach.

He's immediately
surprised by what he learns.

ALAIN: Here's the scheduled
route from Lyon to Lorient.

NARRATOR: Quiberon Bay was
not even on their flight path.

Bouillard wants to know
what they were doing there

in the first place.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
They requested a detour

to see Le France.

NARRATOR: It's a
shocking discovery.

A commercial airliner
should only request a detour

for safety reasons.

MORGAN: It's very, very
rare for a passenger aircraft

to deviate from their
standard flight plan.

ALAIN: Why would they
decide to go sightseeing?

NARRATOR: The official flight
path should have taken

the airplane in a straight
line over land.

But at the time of the crash, it
was flying over the SS France

...many miles off course.

The captain's decision to
deviate from his flight path

for such a trivial
reason seems almost reckless.

But the controller in Lorient

saw no
conflicting traffic on radar,

so he had no reason
to deny the request.

CAPTAIN: Brest,
Proteus descending 7-0-6.

And one little special
request is to fly slightly west

over Quiberon Bay, sir, to go
see Le France anchored there.

ALAIN: The controller in Lorient

simply advised the
pilot of the Beechcraft

that he didn't have any
information on the traffic.

ALAIN: Thanks for your time.

NARRATOR: Investigators
now know Flight 706

was in an area where it
was never supposed to be.

But they don't know what
actually happened there.

NARRATOR: Bouillard begins
investigating eyewitnesses.

Maybe they saw something the
radar at Lorient didn't pick up.

ALAIN: So this is the
area that we're focusing on,

and we understand...

NARRATOR: Although all of
them saw burning wreckage

falling from the sky,
nobody saw what happened

to cause this accident.

But what they did see catches
Bouillard's full attention.

PATRICK: On this
wonderful day there were

many, many general
aviation aircraft sightseeing

over the SS France.

Eyewitnesses had
seen more than a dozen

pleasure-seeing aircraft
out on that nice afternoon.

ALAIN: You're positive?

NARRATOR: These aircraft
would have been flying too low

to be detected by
Lorient's radar, which explains

why the air traffic
controller never saw them.

And that opens up a
frightening possibility.

ALAIN: Is it
plausible this could have been

a midair collision?

NARRATOR: A midair collision
with a passenger plane

is so unusual it's
almost unthinkable.

ALAIN:
Air collisions with passenger
planes were very rare.

NARRATOR: If it was a collision
with another aircraft,

Bouillard knows the evidence
lies in whatever wreckage

they find on the seabed.

Two days after the
crash, Sebastien David picks up

a signal from Flight
706's homing beacon.

SEBASTIEN: The flight recorders
were found on the seabed

at around 16 or 18 meters.

NARRATOR: The
wreckage is finally located

and the bodies are found.

SEBASTIEN: This
accident was tragic

because two pilots from
the Beechcraft, 12 passengers,

including two babies, died.

NARRATOR: The nation is in
mourning and in need of answers.

Now that wreckage has
been pulled from the seabed,

accident investigators
begin to examine the pieces,

searching for clues.

PATRICK: The whole purpose
of accident investigation

is to determine the
root cause of the accident

so they can prevent other
accidents from happening.

Being able to
retrieve all of the wreckage,

the flight data recorder,
the instruments, the engines,

flight controls, the cables,

the accident investigators are
able to definitively rule out

factors that likely didn't
contribute to the accident

and allows you to focus on
something out of the ordinary.

ALAIN: What do we have here?

NARRATOR: Recovered along with
the wreckage of the Beechcraft,

they find pieces
of another aircraft.

ALAIN:

The
concentration of debris,

along with the
examination done by the divers,

clearly showed that the wreckage
was from two different planes.

So immediately we could
confirm that the accident

was caused by a collision.

NARRATOR: It's a huge discovery.

And the shape of
the recovered nose cone

is unmistakable
to investigators.

ALAIN: It's a Cessna,
but where did it come from?

NARRATOR:
Air crash investigators
now know they're dealing

with a midair collision.

They have a mystery
Cessna on their hands,

and they need to find
out where it came from.

NARRATOR: With no witnesses
to the actual collision

and no radar data
tracking the mystery plane,

they look for answers in
the cockpit voice recorder

found in the Beechcraft.

SEBASTIEN: The cockpit voice
recorder was in good condition.

We were really
relieved because we knew

that we could proceed
with the safety investigation.

ALAIN: Okay. Let's begin.

CAPTAIN: Flaps zero plus thirty.

SEBASTIEN: The
recording was very important

to determine the flight
path of the commercial aircraft

and to hear what
happened in the cockpit.

FIRST OFFICER:
Descent in 10 nautical miles.

NARRATOR: The
recording might also reveal

if the pilots of
Flight 706 made a fatal error

as they were flying
over the SS France.

FIRST OFFICER: Pass over
the outer marker at 1,440 feet.

CAPTAIN: Thank you.

ALAIN:

From analyzing
the cockpit voice recorder,

you could tell that there was a
good atmosphere in the cockpit.

The weather was
good, the crew was relaxed

but still conducting
themselves professionally.

NARRATOR: Then, as they
listen to the recording,

investigators hear something
completely unexpected.

PASSENGER: You're not
flying over Quiberon Bay?

ALAIN: Who's that?

PASSENGER: Because Le
France is moored there.

CAPTAIN: Is that right?

PASSENGER: Yeah.
Right over here.

CAPTAIN: Lorient's
here. Quiberon Bay is here.

ALAIN: There's somebody else
in the cockpit with the pilots.

PASSENGER: You're not
flying over Quiberon Bay?

Because Le
France is moored there.

CAPTAIN: Is that right?

PASSENGER: Yeah.

ALAIN:

We were
surprised that a passenger

was able to step
into the pilot area.

As a general rule, the
presence of a third person

is not allowed.

NARRATOR:
On most commercial airlines,
it's strictly forbidden

for passengers to
enter the cockpit.

But that rule doesn't
apply to small aircraft.

MORGAN: The Beechcraft
1900 is an aircraft designed

for short flights.

Because there is
no flight attendants,

the crew is going to
have open communications

between the passengers and
the crew throughout the flight.

PATRICK: Look, it's a
small regional aircraft.

There's no door in between
the cabin and the flight crew.

It's just rather natural.

A passenger felt that they
were going to be fairly close

to this scenic event,

and he saw no harm
in them deviating away.

CAPTAIN: Brest,
Proteus descending 7-0-6,

and one little special
request is to fly slightly west

over Quiberon Bay, sir, to go
see Le France anchored there.

NARRATOR: It's now clear
why the captain decided to make

that fateful detour.

ALAIN: He did it because
a passenger asked him to.

SEBASTIEN: Without
the CVR recording,

we would never have
known this information.

FIRST OFFICER: Look.
You can see the ship there.

PATRICK: The captain
had made the decision

to try to comply with
the passenger request.

Pilots like to
please their passengers.

CAPTAIN: Yeah. There she is.

NARRATOR: As investigators
continue listening,

it becomes clear how the
desire to entertain passengers

leads Flight 706 into danger.

♪

They approach the
bay at 5,000 feet,

but the ocean liner
below is difficult to see.

CAPTAIN: Ask them
if we can go lower,

3,000 feet if it's possible.

FIRST OFFICER: Can we
descend lower please?

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: I
authorize 3,700 feet in IFR.

NARRATOR:
Air traffic control gives
them permission to descend

to 3,700 feet,
but it's not enough.

The pilots want
to go even lower.

PATRICK: In order for all
the passengers in the cabin

to see the ship, they
would have had to come down

to a lower altitude
because the passengers

really don't like
steep bank angles.

Coming down to a lower
altitude allowed them to fly

at a shallower bank angle,
getting a much better view.

NARRATOR: The
captain decides to descend

all the way down
to two thousand feet.

At this point,
everything is about to change.

The pilots are entering

unrestricted airspace
and cannot be seen

by Lorient's radar.

They are no longer
guided by air traffic control.

They're on their own.

CAPTAIN: Listen.

What we're going to do
if possible is cancel IFR.

We'll keep the visual.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
706, Lorient confirmed.

Your IFR is
canceled at 15:54 local.

ALAIN: Stop it. He canceled
instrument flight rules.

MORGAN: It's very, very
rare for a commercial airline

to cancel IFR.

FIRST OFFICER: Look, we
can see the ship there.

CAPTAIN: Yes, there she is.

ALAIN:
The decision to cancel
instrument flight rules

and switch to visual
flight rules did surprise us.

CAPTAIN: Lorient, 706.

We'll keep a
visual and we'll do a 360

for the passengers in the back.

We'll resume contact after
for the approach to Lorient.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
706, Lorient confirmed.

NARRATOR: In order
to avoid a collision,

the pilots must now rely
solely on what they can see

with their own eyes.

PATRICK: This is
see-and-avoid country.

That means that each aircraft
is entirely responsible

for seeing and avoiding any
other aircraft in that airspace.

They're not under radar control.

There's no coordination of
altitudes or flight patterns.

So when you put
high-speed traffic --

the Beechcraft in this case --

in a mix of all of these other
general aviation aircraft,

it greatly increases the
risk of midair collision.

MORGAN: You don't have
that extra set of eyes

looking out after you.

You don't have anyone
else specifically putting you

on a course that they
know is going to be clear

of other air traffic.

Once that IFR
clearance is canceled,

it absolves the controller
of all responsibility

for any traffic avoidance.

CAPTAIN: Ladies and gentlemen,
on the left off the plane

you will see the
ocean liner Le France.

Air traffic control has
just given us permission

to do a 360 around her.

We'll resume our route to
Lorient immediately after

in approximately
five or six minutes.

ALAIN: What were they thinking?

NARRATOR: They have just
entered a high traffic zone

and are only
seconds from colliding

with an unidentified aircraft.

Now Bouillard needs to know
who was flying the other plane

and where it came from.

NARRATOR: As investigators
struggle to explain

a deadly midair collision,
they search for answers

in the final minutes of
the cockpit voice recorder.

ALAIN: Let's continue.

CAPTAIN: Lorient, 706.

We'll keep a
visual and we'll do a 360

for the passengers in the back.

NARRATOR: They
learn that as Flight 706

descended into
uncontrolled airspace,

the pilots had no trouble
spotting and identifying

other planes nearby.

FIRST OFFICER:
We've got a DR400. It's
pretty much beneath us.

CAPTAIN: There's a Cessna.
I've got it in my sights.

ALAIN: They were
doing their jobs.

The captain followed
the rules of see and avoid.

NARRATOR: But for some
reason there's one Cessna

they didn't see, nor did
anyone at air traffic control.

ALAIN: Okay. Here's our
Beechcraft that we know

saw the traffic in the area.

Why didn't they see the
Cessna they collided with?

NARRATOR: To find
out more, investigators

have been working to identify
this mystery aircraft...

until they finally
make a breakthrough.

ALAIN: Bouillard. We found it.

NARRATOR: They get a
report from a small airfield

10 miles inland
from Quiberon Bay.

The air traffic controller
there has a missing plane.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
This plane left here shortly

before the accident.

NARRATOR: Just nine minutes
before Flight 706 went down,

a private Cessna took
off and it never returned.

ALAIN: Yeah, that
looks like our plane.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
He was planning to fly
over to see Le France.

NARRATOR: The Cessna
pilot is Francis Gilibert.

He's a retired airline pilot

with more than 15,000
hours of flight time.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
He was highly experienced

and a well respected pilot.

PATRICK: For a pilot to reach
15,000 hours with an airline,

you can assume he
was a very skilled pilot

in every aspect of aviating,

not only his stick-and-rudder
skills, his decision making,

all of the attributes necessary

to be a successful
professional pilot.

NARRATOR: Even though the Cessna
was flying at an altitude

where it should have
been detected on radar,

for some reason the
air traffic controller

was never able to see him.

ALAIN: Why didn't the Cessna
show up on Lorient's radar?

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
It looks like he didn't
have his transponder on.

ALAIN: It wasn't on?

NARRATOR: The transponder
allows air traffic control

to identify and track the
exact location of an airplane.

PATRICK: A transponder
is absolutely critical.

The radar may show
very little, if anything,

from a small aircraft.

NARRATOR: In 1998,
French aviation rules

don't mandate the use of
transponders on small aircraft,

so Francis Gilibert
wasn't breaking any rules.

MORGAN: He didn't
turn the transponder on

for his flight that day,

and this is an
incredible surprise because

certainly he wouldn't have flown
many of those 15,000 hours

without that
transponder being on.

There's many things that
could have played a factor

in why he didn't
turn the transponder on.

It could have been
just his mindset of hey,

I'm going on a pleasure flight.

I'm going on a
visual flight plan.

It's not going to
make any difference.

NARRATOR:
Without the transponder,

Lorient's air traffic
control had no way of knowing

the Cessna was even in the sky.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: Your
IFR is canceled at 15:54 local.

NARRATOR: But even
without air traffic control,

why didn't the pilots hear
each other over the radio?

Bouillard studies the
different approach charts

that would have been
used aboard each aircraft,

and he uncovers a
startling detail.

The pilots were communicating
on different radio frequencies.

ALAIN:

It was a
big discovery to know

that in such tight airspace
there could be two planes

on totally
different frequencies.

CPT. GILIBERT:
Position report Juliette Echo

is 3,000 abeam Arradon.

ALAIN:
The pilot of the Cessna
had not been in contact

with control at Lorient.

He was in contact with
the tower at Quiberon,

and so both planes were
on different frequencies

with different controllers.

CPT. GILIBERT: I am
descending from 3,000 to 1,500.

NARRATOR: With no transponder

and no radio
communication between them,

there's no way the pilots could
have known about each other

in advance.

CAPTAIN: Ask him
if we can go lower.

NARRATOR: As Flight 706
descended into traffic,

Francis Gilibert never
would have heard their calls.

But that still doesn't explain

why such
experienced pilots collided.

♪

Bouillard orders the full
reconstruction of both planes

to determine who hit who
and where they were positioned

moments before the crash.

ALAIN: Let's see
what this can tell us.

ALAIN:
Rebuilding the plane is
always extremely difficult,

but it's necessary in
order to understand the events.

PATRICK: Imagine
dumping a puzzle box on a table

and trying to figure
out where do I begin?

It's the same way except
now imagine taking tin foil

and wrapping it up,
squeezing it, compressing it,

unwrapping it and
doing that a dozen times

and now trying to figure
out where do those pieces

go back together,
because all of this wreckage,

especially in a violent
midair like this, was mangled.

It was shredded, sheared apart,
small pieces, large pieces.

NARRATOR:
Eventually, the tireless
efforts of investigators

begin to pay off.

ALAIN: What's this?

PATRICK: By
reconstructing the aircraft,

they were able to find
key pieces of evidence

and, in this case, it was
the paint transfer marks.

ALAIN: This paint is
definitely from the Cessna.

PATRICK: A paint
transfer is like, well,

when you have two cars
that bump up against each other

and one car
leaves paint on another.

Same thing happened here.

NARRATOR: Alongside
the paint transfer,

investigators also
find distinctive marks

on the Beechcraft's
wing caused by a propeller.

ALAIN: This is the
Cessna's point of contact.

PATRICK: So the Cessna initially
struck out at the wingtip.

As it continued moving forward,
the heavier parts of the Cessna

continued and struck the
rear part of the aircraft.

That part of the tail was
found over 400 meters away.

That tells you this would have
been a very violent impact.

ALAIN: I'd say this confirms it.

The Cessna's point of impact

above
Beechcraft's seventh porthole

causing catastrophic failure

and the Beechcraft
tail to break off.

NARRATOR: The evidence is clear.
The Cessna hit the Beechcraft.

The marks also reveal the exact
position of the two planes

at the moment of impact.

PATRICK: By the red paint going
at that angle across the wing,

the accident
investigators can determine

what the direction of
the two aircraft were,

what the relative
converging pattern flight pass

would have been,

and that opens up a
whole new set of questions.

NARRATOR: Bouillard now knows

how the Beechcraft
and Cessna collided.

What he still doesn't understand
is why on such a clear day

the pilots failed
to see each other.

Armed with physical
evidence of the collision,

French investigators
now want to find out

what the two pilots
could see in the last moments

leading up to the crash.

ALAIN: Why didn't they
just look out the window?

NARRATOR: Bouillard turns
to the flight data recorder

recovered from the Beechcraft.

ALAIN: Play it, please.

NARRATOR: It records
the plane's every move

as well as the
inputs from the pilots.

ALAIN: The flight
data recording allowed us

to reconstruct the 360

and the different altitudes
and tilts of the plane

during the turn.

PATRICK: The
flight data recorders

allowed the accident
investigators to figure out

what the approximate
geometry of both aircraft

at the time of the impact.

ALAIN: The Beechcraft
was on a bank to the left.

NARRATOR: The flight data
recorder tells investigators

the Beechcraft was still turning
when the two planes collided.

PATRICK: The
accident investigation team

was able to determine
is at the time of the impact

the Beechcraft was
in a gentle bank angle,

the Cessna in a gentle descent.

NARRATOR:
Bouillard knows the Cessna

was descending on the right

because its propeller struck
the Beechcraft's right wing.

From the flight data, he also
knows that at the time of impact

the Beechcraft was
still banked to the left

at a 17-degree angle.

He combines the data to find
out what the Beechcraft pilots

could see out of their windows.

CAPTAIN: Look at the
number of yachts down there.

FIRST OFFICER: Amazing.

NARRATOR: The first
officer is in a better position

to see the Cessna
approaching on the right.

But today he's
busy executing the turn

and preparing for landing.

MORGAN:
The pilot flying is actually
going to be very focused

and very concentrated.

It's a very high
workload ensuring that

he's staying on his
altitude that he's limited to

and he's looking in the
direction on his instruments

in the direction of which
he's going to be turning.

So he's not going to be
looking out the window at all.

NARRATOR: With the first
officer flying, the captain

was the one responsible
for scanning the sky.

Why didn't he see the Cessna?

Bouillard uses the flight data

to reconstruct what the captain
could see at different stages

during their
turn around the ship.

ALAIN: Okay. Let's
start just before the 360

and go up until the collision.
Now we're entering our turn.

NARRATOR: They
discover the Cessna

was in the captain's line
of sight for several seconds,

but it was much
too far away to see.

MORGAN: The size of the
Cessna is a tremendous factor.

It's a very,
very small aircraft,

and in fact the difference
between that and say a 757,

which would be huge
in your windscreen --

this would be the size of
an ant on your windscreen.

NARRATOR: As they
continue the banking turn,

the Cessna drops below
the captain's line of sight.

ALAIN: We know the Cessna would
have approached from his right.

NARRATOR: By the
time the smaller Cessna

is close enough to be seen,
just seconds before impact,

it remains hidden from view.

MORGAN: The captain
sitting in the left seat

would have had to look
across the first officer

out the right window
to see the Cessna coming.

And in this case that
just was not possible at all.

ALAIN: There's no way he
would have seen anything

from that direction.

NARRATOR: It's now clear
why the Beechcraft pilots

didn't see the Cessna.

But why didn't the Cessna
pilot see the Beechcraft?

ALAIN: That Beechcraft's
a pretty big plane.

NARRATOR: The 19-passenger
commercial aircraft

was almost 60 feet long.

ALAIN:

We tried to understand
why the pilot of the Cessna

hadn't been able
to detect anything,

since he was in a better
position to see the other plane.

CPT. GILIBERT: No!

♪

NARRATOR: Using the same
model as the crashed Cessna,

Bouillard tries to
figure out how the pilot

could have missed what
was directly in front of him.

ALAIN: Okay. Now start
walking around the cockpit.

PATRICK: They would walk around
the aircraft holding objects

to find out if the pilot sitting
there could see the object,

and this would
help them to determine

what the blind spots would be

and where the good-visibility
spots would have been for him.

ALAIN: Continue.

NARRATOR: As
Bouillard directs the marker

to where the
Beechcraft would have been

as it came out of its
final turn, it disappears.

ALAIN: That's it! We found it.

NARRATOR: It's a
major breakthrough.

The side blind spot covers
a zone from 35 to 55 degrees,

which means it would
have blocked the Beechcraft

for as long as 30
seconds before impact.

MORGAN: Even the best
pilot would likely not be able

to see something coming
from their side window to them.

NARRATOR: Then,
investigators discover that,

just as the Beechcraft exited
the blind spot on the side,

it entered an
even bigger blind spot

right in front of
the Cessna pilot.

MORGAN: The engine is
directly in front of you,

so you would have to look around
over the top of the cowling

of the engine as well as
the large instrument panels,

and those would also be a factor

in being able to see around
from the pilot's position.

NARRATOR: Even in those final
seconds when the Beechcraft

was directly in
front of the Cessna,

it was blocked from
the pilot's line of sight.

CPT. GILIBERT: I'm
descending from 3,000 to 1,500.

ALAIN: By the time he came
out of that last blind spot,

he didn't have a chance.

CPT. GILBERT: No!

NARRATOR: Investigators
believe they now understand

the unusual sequence of
events that led to tragedy

in the sky over Quiberon Bay.

ALAIN: I think we
now know what happened.

NARRATOR: The Beechcraft is
nearing the airport in Lorient.

At the request of a passenger,

the captain asks to
deviate from the flight path.

CAPTAIN: ...06 and one
little special request

to fly slightly west
over Quiberon Bay, sir.

ALAIN:
They decide to take a look
at the ocean liner Le France.

NARRATOR: Proteus
Airlines Flight 706

diverts over the bay
and descends to 3,700 feet.

CAPTAIN: Ladies and gentlemen,
on the left off the plane

you will see the
ocean liner Le France.

Air traffic control has
just given us permission

to do a 360 around her.

We'll resume our route to
Lorient immediately after,

in approximately
five or six minutes.

MORGAN: You know, you really
have to get inside the mind

of the captain to
say whether or not

you would have done the same
thing in those circumstances.

It's a clear blue day.

I'm sure both the crew
members were feeling good,

and maybe they were going to
have a little fun along the way.

ALAIN: Once near the
ship they decide to descend

to get a closer look.

But to go below 3,700 feet, they
cancel instrument flight rules

and go visual.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
706, Lorient confirmed.

NARRATOR: Now the Beechcraft
is in uncontrolled airspace,

below radar.

With no guidance
from air traffic control,

it's up to the captain to
visually scan for nearby planes.

CAPTAIN: There's a Cessna.

ALAIN: And
once at 2,000 feet,

they decide to do a 360
degree turn around the ship.

♪

NARRATOR: With the
360 almost complete,

the pilots begin to
prepare for landing at Lorient.

ALAIN: At the same moment,
the Cessna is approaching

from the right.

NARRATOR: The Cessna does
not have its transponder on,

and it's communicating on
a different radio frequency

than the Beechcraft.

CPT. GILIBERT: I am
descending from 3,000 to 1,500.

NARRATOR: Lorient air traffic
control has no idea it's there.

CAPTAIN: It's beautiful.

NARRATOR: The bank
angle of the Beechcraft,

combined with the fact
that the pilot responsible

for scanning the skies
was sitting in the left seat,

makes the approaching
Cessna impossible to see.

ALAIN: They can see only
sky out of the right-hand side

of the plane.

NARRATOR: By
terrible coincidence,

the Cessna pilot can't
see the Beechcraft either.

ALAIN: But the structure of the
aircraft creates a blind spot,

and the pilot is
unable to see the Beechcraft.

PATRICK: During the
last 10 seconds of flight,

the pilot of the Cessna
was likely paying attention

to his sightseeing
over the SS France.

The Beechcraft was coming in
from this approximate position

in his peripheral vision.

ALAIN: At the last
moment the Beechcraft

comes out of the blind
spot. And it's too late.

CPT. GILIBERT: No!

MORGAN: This was
a perfect storm.

That crash at the speeds
that they were traveling

would have been catastrophic.

It would have completely
torn apart both of the aircraft

into pieces.

NARRATOR: While the crash of
Flight 706 remains a tragedy,

what was learned through the
course of this investigation

would lead to significant
innovations in airline safety.

They include the
mandatory use of transponders

in small aircraft
such as the Cessna and

limited access to the cockpit
on all commercial flights.

PASSENGER: You're not
flying over Quiberon Bay?

CAPTAIN: Listen.

What we're going to do
if possible is cancel IFR.

We'll keep the visual.

NARRATOR: Finally, it is now
prohibited for commercial pilots

to cancel Instrument Flight
Rules unless it's an emergency.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
IFR is canceled 15:54 local.

MORGAN: As a result
of this investigation,

the skies have been made safer.

This catastrophe
could have been avoided

with the use of the automation
that we now have available

and is now in use today.

PATRICK:
Fortunately, midair collisions

involving commercial airliners
are almost nonexistent anymore.

And the reason for
that is that we've employed

a multi-layered system,
airspace regulations, radar,

air traffic control, traffic
collision and avoidance systems

to prevent this from
ever happening again.

♪