All language subtitles for Air.Disasters.S10E10.Afghan.Nightmare.1080p.PMTP.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-maldini_track3_[eng]

NARRATOR: At one of the
busiest airfields on Earth...

CPT. HASLER: Okay. He's
clear. Let's get going.

NARRATOR: ...a 747 cargo plane

is transporting a load
of military equipment.

Within seconds,
things go horribly wrong.

CPT. HASLER: Get the nose down!

FO. BROKAW: I'm trying!

STEVEN: It completely
foundered and stalled.

I remember thinking
he's lost all his engines.

NARRATOR: The
accident is caught on camera.

TIM: Holy cow. There it is.

NARRATOR: Leading investigators

to what seems like
an obvious conclusion.

TIM: Looks like a
problem with the cargo load.

TIM: We really thought that we
had the cause of the accident.

But later we found out
there was more to the story.

NARRATOR: It takes one
piece of overlooked evidence

to tell
investigators they were wrong.

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: Bagram Airfield
in northeastern Afghanistan.

It's a hive of activity.

FO. BROKAW: Bagram ground,
ISAF nine-five-alpha-Quebec

ready to taxi.

NARRATOR: The crew of
National Airlines Flight 102

is on the last leg
of a grueling shift.

FO. BROKAW: The air is
just billowing outta here.

CPT. HASLER: Yeah. Sure is.

NARRATOR: They're flying
cargo in a converted Boeing 747

and are parked on the
tarmac waiting to depart.

CPT. HASLER: Please
tell the flight attendant

I'm ready for my lobster dinner.

FO. BROKAW: I think
she's in First Class

handing out
caviar at the moment.

DON: Joking and
humor among air crews

is probably more
prevalent in times of stress

when you get into these
off-line unusual situations.

NARRATOR: The crew
members are all American.

Captain Brad Hasler is heading
home to his pregnant wife.

Beside him is First
Officer Jamie Brokaw.

Augment Captain Jeremy
Lipka is in the jump seat.

CPT. HASLER: Is Sheets
back there? I haven't seen him.

I hope he's in the back.

AC. LIPKA: Yeah,
he's back there.

NARRATOR: In a
cabin behind the cockpit

is loadmaster Michael Sheets,
along with two technicians

and an augment first officer.

With the additional
pilots, the plane can be flown

long distances non-stop.

NARRATOR: The crew
members are all civilians

on contract for the US
Department of Defense.

The United States
military and its allies

built more than fifty
bases across Afghanistan

during the war there.
Bagram was by far the biggest.

STEVEN: It's got gyms
and seven dining facilities

of enormous sizes. It's got
stores. It had a Burger King.

NARRATOR: At its peak, more
than 40,000 people lived here.

Now, after twelve
years of fighting,

the military is
scaling back their operation.

Troops, weapons and heavy
machinery are all on the move.

Every day, air traffic control
handles several hundred flights

coming in and
out of the airport.

Today, National Airlines
Flight 102 is just one piece

of a hugely complex puzzle.

♪

The flight plan has taken
it from Chateauroux, France,

to Camp Bastion, Afghanistan,
where the crew loaded up

207,000 pounds of cargo.

They were supposed to
take it straight to Dubai

but were rerouted via Bagram.

The crew has been waiting
more than an hour to depart.

AIR TRAFFIC
CONTROLLER: Five Alpha Quebec,

I have your clearance.
Advise when ready to copy.

CPT. HASLER: Yeah, let's do it.

NARRATOR: Finally,
they get clearance to go.

FO. BROKAW: Ready to
copy, Nine Five Alpha Quebec.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
Nine Five Alpha Quebec,

taxi to runway three.

NARRATOR: Controllers
need to keep a sharp eye

on the crowded taxiway
that the 747 freighter shares

with other military aircraft.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
Nine Five Alpha Quebec,

give way to the C-17.

CPT. HASLER: Let him go first.

FO. BROKAW: Roger.
We'll let him go first.

NARRATOR: A C-17 military
cargo plane moves to the runway

ahead of them.

Although the military effort
is winding down in Afghanistan,

this is not the kind of place
a civilian wants to linger.

Bagram is still a
favorite target of the Taliban.

STEVEN: It's a dangerous place.
I mean, it's not JFK airport.

It's JFK airport
surrounded by terrorists.

NARRATOR: For the crew
of Flight 102,

every delay means more risk.

CPT. HASLER: Okay, he's
clear. Let's get going.

FO. BROKAW: Following the C-17
for Nine Five Alpha Quebec.

♪

Before-takeoff checklist. Flaps?

CPT. HASLER: Ten, ten, checked.

DON: You're certainly thinking:

What do I do if somebody started
firing at us on the ground?

Well, that's a great
deal of mental pressure.

NARRATOR: The C-17
ahead has cleared the runway.

CPT. HASLER: How are
we looking on that wing?

Everything look clear?

FO. BROKAW: Everything's great.

CPT. HASLER: We
all happy with that?

FO. BROKAW: Yeah, I'm good.

NARRATOR: They must now
wait for takeoff clearance.

They've been on duty for more
than twenty straight hours.

Once in Dubai,
they'll get a rest break.

CPT. HASLER: We earned it
as far as I'm concerned, man.

Without minimum rest,
I'd be dead tomorrow.

FO. BROKAW: I think I'd have
to agree with that sentiment.

DON: It's a real
stress situation.

They were rightfully
ready for their day to be over.

NARRATOR: Finally, at 3:25 pm,
they are cleared for takeoff.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
Nine Five Alpha Quebec,

runway three full length.

CPT. HASLER:
Runway three is verified.

FO. BROKAW:
Prepare for departure.

NARRATOR: The first
officer is at the controls

for this final leg.

They're scheduled to arrive in
Dubai in two and a half hours.

DON: When you've been in a
long delay situation, when

you finally get the clearance
to go,

it's a great relief.

NARRATOR: At that same moment,

military
journalist Steven Hartov

is on the base's
perimeter road, returning from

a day's work taking
photographs for a magazine.

STEVEN: We decided we were
gonna go get something to eat

and I saw off to the left of the
truck

a white and purple 747.

And I remember thinking,
this is a beautiful airplane,

because it looked brand new.

CPT. HASLER: V-1.
Rotate.

Positive climb.

FO. BROKAW: Gear up.
CPT. HASLER: Gear up.

STEVEN: He pulled away
from us and started to rotate

and in this case there was
something immediately not right.

NARRATOR: The climb
is unusually steep.

STEVEN: What's going
on with that aircraft?

STEVEN: It was almost
stuttering in the air.

And I immediately said to Chris,

what's going on with that
aircraft? Is he taking fire?

♪

CPT. HASLER: Keep on
that! Get the nose down!

FO. BROKAW: I'm trying!

NARRATOR: The plane is
suddenly uncontrollable.

The nose won't drop.

CPT. HASLER: My airplane!

NARRATOR: In a
matter of seconds,

the crew is in emergency mode.

If they can't get the nose down
fast, the plane will stall.

DON: They're not very
high above the ground,

therefore don't have very much
time to try very many things.

AUTOMATION: Bank angle.
Bank angle.

Bank angle.

NARRATOR:
For a moment, the plane
hangs in the air, suspended.

STEVEN: And then the aircraft
seemed to sort of careen

in our direction.

Now you're looking
at a big 747 coming at ya.

STEVEN: Stop the car.

♪

STEVEN: And then it completely
foundered and stalled,

and I remember thinking,
he's lost all his engines.

AUTOMATION: Don't
sink. Don't sink.

STEVEN: And in very slow motion
it just went straight down

and pancaked into the ground.

The explosion was enormous.

It was a mushroom cloud like
a small atom bomb. It was huge.

The entire base, you
know,

thundered under our feet.

NARRATOR: The controller
also watches helplessly

as the aircraft comes down.

It is the worst
civilian aviation accident ever

at Bagram Airfield.

STEVEN: And I just pulled
a camera out with the lens

and just shot some pictures.

Instinct, you
know, trigger instinct.

Watching those people
die was tough. It was tough.

I still think about it.

Sometimes I wake
up thinking about it.

NARRATOR: Has a US
cargo plane been shot down?

The safety of thousands of
people now hinges on the answer.

NEWS ANCHOR (Archive):
Today officials identified

seven Americans killed Monday
in the crash of a cargo plane

in Afghanistan.

NARRATOR: National
Airlines Flight 102 crashed

at America's biggest Air
Force base in Afghanistan.

Remarkably, no one
on the ground was hit,

but the entire
flight crew is dead.

STEVEN: You think about
these poor seven people

who were there on a contract
job, you know, never went home.

DON: The loss of life is
tragic under any circumstance,

but when it's a
fellow pilot it's,

it's, it's really
hard to deal with.

NARRATOR: Within hours, the
Taliban claims responsibility.

♪

Amid the specter of
a terrorist attack,

the NTSB is assigned to
lead the US investigation.

♪

TIM: Although it wasn't ideal,
it was one of those things

that we had a job to do,
and so let's go get it done.

NARRATOR: Tim LeBaron heads up
the team of five investigators.

TIM: This investigation
was a lot different

because we were
flying into a war zone.

When we first got there, we
were given bulletproof vests

and Kevlar helmets to
wear into the accident site.

NARRATOR: As this
is an American base,

the civilian NTSB will have to
work closely with the military.

TIM: So what
have you got for me?

NARRATOR: A military
sweep of the crash site

has already turned
up the black boxes.

TIM: The US military had
found the flight data recorder

and the cockpit voice
recorder before we arrived

and had sent them
back to the United States

to the NTSB laboratory,

and so we were very hopeful that
we would get good information

from those recorders
that would help explain

why the airplane had crashed.

TIM: Is there a report for me?

NARRATOR: But there's another
surprising piece of news.

The sweep has uncovered no
evidence of a missile attack.

TIM: You're sure?

NARRATOR: The Taliban
claim was purely opportunistic.

TIM: Let's see what
we have here, okay?

NARRATOR: With the
most obvious explanation

for the crash eliminated, the
team must now take a new look

at the wreckage.

BRIAN: The damage
to this aircraft was

some of the most extensive fire
damage I've had to work with

in my career.

So we really
didn't have much to work with.

NARRATOR: Seventy-five
percent of the plane

has been consumed by fire
or destroyed by impact forces.

But the crucial tail
section is still almost intact.

The tail wings hold the plane's
flight control surfaces,

including the
all-important elevators,

which the pilots move up or down
to control the plane's pitch.

And pitch was a problem
from the start of Flight 102.

BRIAN: We had that
structure remaining,

so we did have
something of value to look at

with regards to a possible
scenario for the accident.

NARRATOR: They take a close look
at the tail wing mechanics.

TIM: We looked at the hydraulic
actuators for the elevators

and really couldn't
find any problems with that.

TIM: So everything seems to
check out. No problem here.

Why couldn't those
guys get that nose down?

NARRATOR: If the
flight controls were working,

then something else must have
made the plane uncontrollable.

♪

Every last scrap of evidence
is collected, including

a number of unidentified
parts found on the runway

more than a mile
from the crash site.

TIM: Anybody know what
this is? Let's find out.

TIM: Our team was in Afghanistan
one time and one time only.

So it was very
important for our team

that we document what we
could, find what we could,

because we knew that
we'd never be able to return

and see the wreckage again.

TIM: Let's get those
photos to Boeing right away.

NARRATOR: The pieces
of wreckage will be sent

to the United States,
where the manufacturer

will have to identify them.

♪

With all the evidence now
collected from the crash site,

investigators move
their operations indoors.

TIM: Our headquarters
was in the basement

of an old control tower.

TIM:
Okay. Let's clean this place
up. Okay. I'll set up there.

TIM: Yeah, there really
was no workspace down there.

There were a bunch of computers.

There were signs
that warned of asbestos.

And it was a
pretty rough environment.

NARRATOR: As they
are settling into

their temporary headquarters,
a video of the accident

appears on the Internet.

TIM: Holy cow. There it is.

♪

NARRATOR: Shot from an unknown
vehicle on the perimeter road,

it reveals a huge clue
about the plane's erratic climb

and fall.

♪

TIM: Looks like a
problem with the cargo load.

NARRATOR: The aircraft's
movement in the video

suggests it was
carrying too much weight

and that the load
threw the plane off balance.

BRIAN: The weight is very
important in a cargo accident

more so than a
passenger accident per se

because passengers have assigned
weights. It's very standard.

There's much more room,

margin of error to work with
passenger weights and baggage

than when you're flying cargo.

NARRATOR: A 747
freighter plane can carry

just about any type of load.

It is the cargo company's
responsibility to ensure

that the aircraft
is not overweight.

DON: I've heard it frequently
in the cargo business

about you call, we haul,
and sometimes the crew knows

in advance what
they're gonna be doing.

And sometimes
it's all last-minute.

BRIAN: Some of the early
questions were, you know,

what was the cargo in
the airplane? Was it full?

How heavy was the cargo?

NARRATOR: By
examining the cargo manifest,

investigators discover
that the plane was carrying

an unusual load:
armored vehicles called MRAPs,

or Mine-Resistant
Ambush Protected vehicles.

These massive, heavily armored
cars can sustain roadside bombs.

They even have
bulletproof wheels.

DON: The crew had never
flown these type of vehicles

in this charter.

In fact, the airline had not
carried these kind of vehicles

that were loaded
on the airplane.

NARRATOR: The plane
was carrying five MRAPs

weighing between
twelve and eighteen tons.

Each vehicle was chained
to a custom-built pallet

and secured with straps
to the plane's main deck.

BRIAN: The cargo in this
particular case was very heavy.

It was the first
time they'd ever flown

five vehicles this heavy.

FO. BROKAW: Ready to
put some numbers in there?

CPT. HASLER: Yeah. Go ahead.

NARRATOR: The crew
landed at Bagram Air Base

with a full cargo
load of 207,000 pounds.

Then they refueled,
increasing the fuel load

to 106,000 pounds.

FO. BROKAW: Zero
fuel weight is 2-5-9-2.

♪

NARRATOR: Investigators
calculate the precise weight

being carried.

TIM: Max takeoff
weight is 870,000 pounds.

We have 207,000
pounds of cargo, plus fuel.

NARRATOR: They learn that

even with the heavy
cargo and fuel load,

the plane was not overweight.

It was almost 200,000
pounds under the safe limit.

TIM: Weight was
definitely not an issue.

NARRATOR: Something
else must have brought

the 747 cargo plane down.

♪

NARRATOR: Even if the weight of
the cargo was not responsible

for the crash of Flight
102, the balance of the load

could be the problem.

DON: If the aircraft is loaded
from the outset out of balance,

then that affects the
performance of the airplane.

TIM: Bring up the schematics.

NARRATOR: Investigators map
out the placement of the MRAPs

in the hold to study
the balance of the load.

TIM: Fill it with our cargo.

NARRATOR: Three
MRAPs weigh 18 tons each.

On the ends are similar versions
that weigh 12 tons apiece.

TIM: The center of gravity
with their vehicles in position

looks like 30.4 percent.

NARRATOR: After a
few calculations,

they determine the
balance of the load.

TIM: The airplane
actually could carry the weight

and, as loaded, was
within the center of gravity.

NARRATOR: It's a
puzzling assessment.

But there's another possibility.

Even if the load was
balanced before takeoff,

it could have shifted as
the plane was lifting off.

The focus now turns to
the loading procedures.

Specifically, were the
MRAPs properly secured?

Standard cargo containers are
locked into a hardware system

built on tracks in the floor.

But oddly shaped oversized
cargo, like the MRAPs,

can't use these locks.

Heavy nylon straps are
secured to tie-down points

around the hold.

BRIAN: What became
critical to me was the process

of calculating the
number of straps necessary

to restrain
these five vehicles.

NARRATOR: The
loadmaster on board the plane

used a National
Airlines manual to calculate

how many straps were
needed to secure the vehicles.

BRIAN: Based on their
cargo operations manual,

the numbers were
determined to be 24 straps

for the 28,000-pound MATVs

and 26 straps for the
three 40,000-pound Cougars.

And seeing his rationale
for calculating those numbers,

all seemed to make sense to me.

NARRATOR: Despite the appearance
of the dash cam video,

analysis has shown that
the plane was not overweight,

it was properly balanced,
and the load was secured

according to company standards.

Investigators need to
find out what was going on

inside the plane.

Information from the
black boxes will be crucial.

CPT. HASLER: My airplane!

TIM: Flight data
recorders record

what the
elevator and the ailerons

and what the
control pitches are doing.

And so we were very hopeful that
we would get good information

from those recorders
that would help explain

why the airplane had crashed.

TIM: Hello?

NARRATOR: A call comes in
from the NTSB's head office

in Washington, D.C.

TIM: Hey. You have the readouts?

NARRATOR: The
black box data is in.

TIM: That's great!

NARRATOR: But there's a problem.

TIM: Really?

TIM: I got a call from
our director, John DeLisi.

And he informed me that
unfortunately the flight data

recorder and the cockpit
voice recorder had quit working

shortly after takeoff.

NARRATOR: Things started to
go wrong shortly after liftoff,

known as the point of
rotation, but this is precisely

the moment when the
black boxes stopped recording.

TIM: Having the FDR, CVR
after the point of rotation

would have been very helpful. We
had none of that information.

TIM: Thank you.

TIM: We really had to
revert back to old methods

of investigating. So I
call it old-school methods.

NARRATOR: Investigators
decide to contact eyewitnesses

who might have seen
the plane take off.

TIM: Okay. What
else did you see?

NARRATOR: On a
base of this size,

there may be thousands
of people who could provide

potential clues.

TIM: All right,
well, thanks very much.

TIM:
You need really to interview
many different witnesses

and listen for the
common thread that's the same

through all of the
witness statements.

TIM: Sorry. What did you see?

NARRATOR: One witness
reports an unusual sight.

A runway sweeper is
sure he saw puffs of smoke

trailing behind the
airplane after liftoff.

TIM: And it wasn't coming off
the wings or out of the engines?

NARRATOR: His testimony
raises the possibility

that a fire inside the plane
may have caused the crash.

♪

If a fire had started inside
the cargo hold during liftoff,

there would be evidence of
this on the pieces of wreckage

from the interior of the plane.

TIM: The interesting
thing was, the tail portion,

the aft pressure bulkhead,
which is white in its color,

did not have any
evidence to support

that we had a fire on board
the airplane before the impact.

TIM: There's no sign
of any smoke residue.

There couldn't have
been a fire on board.

NARRATOR: Investigators
are at another impasse.

They still have no hard evidence
about the final fatal moments

of Flight 102.

TIM: When you go
to an accident scene

where everything
appears to be burned up

and there's not a lot left,

how in the world can
you do an investigation?

One thing for sure is
there's always evidence.

TIM: Bring up the CVR. Stand by.

NARRATOR: In a
search for answers,

investigators turn to
the cockpit voice recorder.

It cut out just three
seconds after liftoff.

But it was recording during
the crew's hour-long wait

on the tarmac.

TIM: What the heck. Let's
hear the whole two hours.

There might be something there.

FO. BROKAW: There's
your trouble, Brad.

CPT. HASLER: What is it?

TIM: Sounds like
the first officer

is showing
something to the captain.

FO. BROKAW: There's
your trouble, Brad.

CPT. HASLER: What is it?

FO. BROKAW: One of the
damn straps is busted.

TIM: Pause it there.

NARRATOR: The CVR
suggests the first officer

found a broken strap
inside the cargo hold.

TIM: Play.

CPT. HASLER:
So are you gonna be throwing
more straps on that thing?

FO. BROKAW: Well, it
just shifted apparently.

CPT. HASLER: Did the truck move?

FO. BROKAW: Yeah. I just
tightened up on the straps.

TIM: Holy crap. One of
those things actually moved?

TIM: So we're
hearing the crew talk about

that the load had shifted,
also that a strap had broken.

Definitely piqued our interest.

TIM: Go again.
FO. BROKAW: All the straps

that were keeping them from
moving backwards were loose.

TIM: Those things
shouldn't budge an inch.

NARRATOR: Despite investigators'
earlier conclusion

that the heavy load
was properly secured

and therefore could not shift,
the CVR recording indicates

that the opposite was true.

TIM: So from that
information we know

that they had a load shift
when they came in and landed,

and that was very important
to us in our investigation.

FO. BROKAW: All the
straps that were keeping them

from moving
backwards were loose.

AC. LIPKA: What the hell
do you think's gonna happen

when you slam it on the
runway, slam on the brakes

and don't use reverse?

FO. BROKAW: Well, there
ain't nothing you coulda done

about that.

AC. LIPKA: I'm getting
off this plane. I'm scared!

TIM: They have no idea
how serious this really is.

DON: Really the crew is
not trained or equipped

to actually be involved in
knowing whether the restraints

are proper for the load.

CPT. HASLER: I hope instead
of just replacing that strap

he's beefing the strap up more.

FO. BROKAW: Yeah, he's
cinching them all down.

TIM: Stop. "He" would be
Loadmaster Michael Sheets.

DON: The loadmaster
in a cargo operation

is the one that's responsible
for the security of the load.

So everyone is
depending upon them.

CPT. HASLER: What's up, dude?

FO. BROKAW: Did you
throw that other strap away?

CPT. HASLER:
Did you put a couple more
on? How far did it move?

A couple inches?

LOADMASTER: Yeah. They
just moved a couple inches

'cause it's nylon, you know?

CPT. HASLER: Those
things are so heavy you'd think

they probably wouldn't
hardly move no matter what.

LOADMASTER: They always
move. Everything moves.

TIM: So if those straps
weren't fixed right then

the back vehicle could
have come loose on takeoff.

BRIAN: If that cargo
shifts during rotation

you'll wind up with a
potential pitch problem.

NARRATOR: Did the
MRAPs shift after takeoff?

To answer this question,
the team must find a way

to piece together
events in the cargo hold

in the moments before the crash.

TIM: So there's
no evidence of a...

NARRATOR: Investigators
need to prove that

one of the heavy Mine-Resistant
Ambush Protected vehicles

shifted during the flight.

Clues might be hard to find

in the minimal and scattered
remains of the aircraft.

TIM: But the one thing
as investigators that we do

is we go into a
very chaotic environment

and we bring order to it.

TIM: Okay guys, great.

Just put that down
right in the center there.

BRIAN: So I gathered as much

of the aft pressure
bulkhead structure as I could,

and I believe we came up
with at least 90 to 95% of it.

NARRATOR: The aft pressure
bulkhead is an airtight wall.

It protects the cargo area

from the non-pressurized
tail section of the aircraft.

♪

Investigators sort
out pieces of the liner

that covers the cargo
hold side of the bulkhead.

TIM: You definitely go with this
guy here. Take a look at this.

I can guess what that is.

BRIAN: And you could
read the words Goodyear.

What became obvious was
that the tire from the aft MATV

had impacted the
aft pressure bulkhead

and left that tire
impact on the liner.

TIM: Bam!

TIM: It looked as if
that tire had pressed up

like a rubber stamp on
the aft pressure bulkhead.

TIM: Only one tire
capable of doing that.

NARRATOR: The mark
matches the spare tire

in the top right
corner of the rear vehicle.

The vehicle itself was found
tipped over in the wreckage,

damaged but not
destroyed by fire.

TIM: Pass me that
flashlight, will you? Thanks.

NARRATOR: The metal antenna box
from the rear of the same MRAP

is damaged and
provides another big clue.

♪

TIM: Look at
that, paint transfer!

NARRATOR: The box sits up
high at the back of the MRAP.

TIM: That looks
like a direct hit.

TIM: The only place
that we could think of

where there was orange paint
was the cockpit voice recorder

and the flight data recorder.

NARRATOR: To hit the
flight recorders, the MRAP

would have had to
shift at least twelve feet.

Could it have moved that far?

NARRATOR: A few quick
measurements show that

the height of the paint
transfer on the antenna box

lines up neatly with the
location of the orange recorders

inside the plane.

BRIAN:
The antennae box sat about
104 inches above floor level,

and where the CVR and FDR
are located is 104 inches

above the floor of the aircraft.

Now you're starting
to see a chain of events

that this vehicle had to be
moving in an aftward direction.

NARRATOR: Both black
boxes stopped recording

seconds after takeoff
because a twelve-ton MRAP

knocked them out.

But even if the heavy vehicle
damaged the flight recorders,

would it have been able to
somehow bring down a huge 747?

NARRATOR: Investigators
turn to the only wreckage

left to examine, the collection
of unidentified parts

found on the runway.

BRIAN: These items were
all recovered from the runway

in the area near the point
of rotation for the flight.

CPT. HASLER: Rotate.

♪

NARRATOR: At Bagram
Airfield, the runway stretches

for over two miles.

The parts were
discovered at the spot

where the aircraft
lifted off, one mile

from the site of the crash.

It is uncertain what
relevance, if any, they have.

BRIAN: Where were
these parts on the airplane?

Did they come
from the nose section?

Did they come from the
aft section of the airplane?

What function did they
serve on the airplane?

NARRATOR: Experts at Boeing have
been able to identify them.

TIM: There we go.
Hydraulic return tubing.

NARRATOR: One of the parts,
a broken piece of tubing,

comes from
Hydraulic System Number Two.

TIM: Bring up the
hydraulic system schematic.

NARRATOR: The 747
has four hydraulic lines

that power the control
systems of the aircraft.

Hydraulic System
Number Two carries fluid

along the deck floor and through
the aft pressure bulkhead

at the back of the plane.

TIM: The tube runs through here.

TIM: The number two
hydraulic system operates

one of the four
airplane elevator panels.

NARRATOR: The
elevator panels control pitch

from the tail of the aircraft.

If the rear vehicle shifted
backwards through the bulkhead,

it could have hit
the hydraulic tubing,

affecting
control of the airplane.

TIM: Okay, let's play it.

NARRATOR: Investigators
decide to take a closer look

at the dash cam video.

♪

♪

TIM: Play it again,
this time in slow motion.

NARRATOR:
Upon close examination,
they notice something odd.

TIM: Freeze.

Something's not
right. Advance a few frames.

A little more. A little
more. Stop.

What's going on?

Something's wonky
with the landing gear.

DON: Large aircraft like the 747

have a very
complicated landing gear system

to carry the
loads that they carry.

They come down together
and they go up together,

and it takes several hydraulic
systems to make that happen.

NARRATOR: The hydraulic systems
that control landing gear

also regulate various
other parts of the plane,

including control
surfaces that affect pitch.

♪

Using animation software,
the investigators create

a match for the 747 with
its five sets of landing gear.

TIM: Now let's compare
the model to the video.

♪

These are down and
this one here is up.

That shouldn't happen.

CPT. HASLER: Positive climb.

NARRATOR:
On National Airlines Flight
102, one of the last commands

recorded refers
to the landing gear.

FO. BROKAW: Gear up.
CPT. HASLER: Gear up.

NARRATOR:
But after that exchange,
not all the gear retracted.

DON: When I see a
configuration of an airplane

with part of the landing
gear up, part of it down,

I immediately think that
they've had a hydraulic failure

of one or more of
the hydraulic systems.

NARRATOR: It looks like damage

to one of the
four hydraulic lines

may have happened in the air.

TIM: Now, which systems
are out?

Body landing gear.

TIM: Now which systems
are out? Body landing gear.

The nose and body
landing gear didn't retract.

It must have been system one.

TIM: We were able to determine

that the number one hydraulic
system had been damaged

at some point before the
airplane hit the ground.

NARRATOR: The discovery
of the broken hydraulic line

explains the
eyewitness account of smoke.

TIM: As hydraulic fluid
vaporizes behind the airplane,

it appears to look like smoke.

NARRATOR: Investigators think

they have finally
cracked the mystery.

The heavy armored
vehicle came loose,

smashed through
the back of the plane

and took out the
hydraulic lines,

making the plane uncontrollable.

♪

NARRATOR: After
eleven days in Bagram,

the investigators
are ready to head home.

All that's left to
do is wrap up the case

with a simulation
test back in Washington.

TIM: We really thought that we
had the cause of the accident,

but there was more to the story.

♪

NARRATOR: At NTSB headquarters
in Washington, D.C...

TIM: Glad to be back.

NARRATOR: ...investigators are
preparing to finalize the case.

All they have to do is
to verify their theory

that damaged
hydraulics made it impossible

for the pilots to
recover from the steep climb.

TIM: So once we got
back to the United States,

the next step was
to do simulations,

reenact the accident scenario.

NARRATOR: First,
they model the 747

with two broken hydraulic
systems

to test the cargo shift.

Airplane performance
group chairman Tim Burtch

oversees the simulations.

TIM: If I had one of these
armored vehicles move back

and there was an associated
center of gravity shift,

is the airplane controllable?

TIM: Okay. What else do we know?

Let's try the
new balance numbers.

TIM: Let's take what
we know up to a point

and then start doing the what-if
scenarios with the simulation

to see if we can put together
a story that makes sense.

TIM: Okay, plane.
Let's see what you do now.

NARRATOR: But when
they run the simulation

of the rear
vehicle coming loose,

something totally
unexpected happens.

TIM: Nose comes down
and flies out of trouble.

Let's shift even
more weight back.

♪

Let's push the center of gravity
even further. Let's try that.

♪

NARRATOR: Even with two
hydraulic systems broken

and an MRAP crushed
into the back of the plane,

the simulations show that
the aircraft can be controlled.

TIM: All right.
We're missing something.

NARRATOR: The theory that
seemed so solid in Afghanistan

is now a bust.

TIM: So we started
scratching our heads.

There was something
more that we were missing.

NARRATOR: Most of the airplane
wreckage now lies buried near

the crash site in Afghanistan,
thousands of miles away.

Only selected parts have
been sent to the United States

for analysis.

Investigators must sift through
photographs from the site

to search for new
evidence that might explain

what caused the crash.

♪

TIM: Hmm. I wonder.

BRIAN: So we needed to look
further, and the next thing

behind the aft pressure bulkhead

that control pitch on the
aircraft is the jackscrew.

♪

TIM: Hey. Where'd that
stabilizer jackscrew end up?

NARRATOR:
The horizontal stabilizer
is a large control surface

that helps balance
the plane in the air.

The jackscrew, about six
feet tall, lowers and raises

the edge of the stabilizer

in response to
the pilot's commands.

The jackscrew
found at the crash site

was bent and severed
right near its base.

The most likely
explanation seemed to be

that the damage
occurred on impact.

But just to make sure, it
was sent to the US for testing.

TIM: What we were surprised to
find out was that that jackscrew

had actually been pushed
aft and had broken loose

from the airplane.

Results show that the
jackscrew was bent backwards,

the opposite of how it
would have bent in the crash.

TIM: So that raised
the big question -- why?

What could have pushed it aft?

♪

TIM: Do we have a
printout of this?

NARRATOR: To find out what
could have hit the jackscrew,

investigators consult a diagram
of the airplane's aft section.

TIM: Okay.

They take some
careful measurements

and come up with a match.

TIM: Yep. Straight hit.

BRIAN: I was able to determine
that the bumper of the MATV

lines up directly with
the motor of the jackscrew

in the area where it detached
from the lower fuselage.

NARRATOR: They
input the new data.

The simulation now
includes a broken jackscrew

that makes the
stabilizer free-floating.

TIM: One MRAP at the back.

So two elevators down

equals
one uncontrollable plane.

NARRATOR: Investigators
finally know that an MRAP

crashing into the jackscrew is
what brought the airplane down.

But there's still
one major mystery.

TIM: We're not done yet.
There's one more question.

How did that MRAP come loose?

NARRATOR: In Bagram, the
loadmaster had calculated

the correct number of
straps to use on each vehicle.

He based his
calculations on the company's

cargo operating manual.

How could the
cargo have come loose

if he followed
the right procedure?

BRIAN: I immediately began
contacting other cargo operators

to understand what
is supposed to be done

to restrain free-floating
cargo using straps.

NARRATOR: When executives from
Boeing review the procedures,

they're less than impressed.

BRIAN: The manufacturers
were quite shocked

at how they were
interpreting the requirements.

NARRATOR: To get the maximum
load capacity out of each strap,

it has to be tied
down at a precise angle.

Changing the angle
changes the strap's capacity.

The airline had not
spelled this out in its manual.

TIM: Boeing, when you
look at their manual,

they say that if you
pull on a strap directly...

let's say that it's
worth 3,500 pounds.

But if you go up on a 45-degree
angle, it's worth even less.

And if you pull on it
on a 90-degree angle,

it's worth zero.

National Airlines'
manual said regardless of angle

each strap could be
counted for 5,000 pounds.

NARRATOR: Boeing's
own calculations found

that National
Airlines Flight 102 took off

with less than half the straps
required on each vehicle.

TIM: At the most they could
have carried one MATV vehicle.

CPT. HASLER: What's up, dude?

NARRATOR:
Investigators find no fault

with flight
loadmaster Michael Sheets.

He had little
training. He wasn't certified.

Without knowing it,

he'd based his calculations
on a faulty manual.

TIM: My heart goes out the
loadmaster in this situation.

The data, the manuals that
he had to go by were incorrect.

So he was really in
a no-win situation.

NARRATOR: But the
cargo shift itself

would not have
brought down the plane.

The crash ultimately occurred

because the sliding MRAP damaged
the horizontal stabilizer.

TIM: You take away
the horizontal tail

you're not gonna be able to
control this airplane and pitch.

This was an
uncontrollable event.

NARRATOR: Without the
horizontal stabilizer,

the pilots' inputs made the
plane do the exact opposite

of what they wanted.

A command to lower nose suddenly
caused the plane to pitch up.

TIM: There's a total disconnect
between what you're doing

as a pilot and what
the airplane's doing.

DON: And it must
have been terrifying.

I can't truthfully imagine
it other than just sheer panic.

♪

NARRATOR: The
NTSB's final report finds

that the probable
cause of the accident

was National
Airlines' inadequate procedures

for restraining
special cargo loads.

It concludes that the improper
restraint of the rear vehicle

allowed it to move back,
hit the aft pressure bulkhead,

and knock out the
two hydraulic systems

and the horizontal stabilizer,

making it impossible for
the crew to regain control

of the airplane.

♪

One of the key
recommendations is

for mandatory certification of
all cargo handling personnel,

a move that would standardize
their procedures, training

and workloads.

DON: I know that there
are economics involved

in using more certified people.

But I certainly hope that they
end up making loadmasters in

these cargo operations certified
just like anybody else.

TIM: So reflecting
back on this investigation,

there were many hurdles.

We had went into Afghanistan
with a very, very small team.

We had to go back
to old school methods.

But at the end we actually came
out with safety recommendations

that I believe
are going to prevent

an accident like this
one from happening again.

I don't forget the tragedy,
but I also have a lot of pride

that I believe that we've
been able to make a difference.