All language subtitles for Air.Disasters.S11E04.The.Turning.Point.1080p.PMTP.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-maldini_track3_[eng]

NARRATOR: A Boeing 767
is completely destroyed.

IK-SOO :
People were on the
ground, too weak to move.

NARRATOR: 129 people are dead.

AL: I was surprised
that anybody survived.

NARRATOR:
It's the worst air disaster
in South Korean history.

HEUNG-OK: What
are they doing here

when they should be
all the way down there?

NARRATOR: Investigators
face puzzling evidence.

CAPT. WU: Help
me find the runway.

RON: And why he didn't say,

"Let's get out of here.
Let's miss the approach"?

We don't understand that.

HEUNG-OK : Start
from the timing again.

CAPT. WU: Timing.

NARRATOR: Could a
few critical seconds

aboard Air China Flight 129

have made the difference
between life and death?

FO. GAO: Must go
around! Pull up! Pull up!

♪ ♪

HEUNG-OK: That's crazy!

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: Air China
Flight 129 has been in the air

for a little
less than two hours.

Among the 155 passengers
is a group of Korean tourists

flying home from vacation.

Their tour guide is
28-year-old Seol Ik-Soo.

IK-SOO : I
had just started a new job

and my wife was
four months pregnant.

There were about twenty people
traveling with our agency.

I had many
things to take care of.

NARRATOR: Captain Wu Xinlu
heads the Chinese flight crew.

He has more than six
thousand hours in the cockpit.

FO. GAO: Eighteen
degrees, dew point one six.

NARRATOR: First Officer Gao Liji
has over twelve hundred hours

in the 767.

FO. GAO: Expect radar
vectors to the left downwind.

NARRATOR: The most
junior member of the team

is Second Officer Hou Xiangning.

RON: There was a
third pilot in the cockpit,

a second officer who
was doing the radio calls,

and that was because of
his proficiency in English.

NARRATOR: They're
piloting a Boeing 767-200.

Built in 1985,
it's 17 years old.

Air China is the
flagship carrier

of the People's Republic.

Its fleet of 68
planes flies routes across

all of Asia and beyond.

The airline has a
stellar safety record

with no serious accidents.

♪ ♪

Flight 129 is flying
southeast from Beijing

to Gimhae International
Airport in Busan, South Korea.

It should be on the
ground in less than 30 minutes.

FO. GAO: Approach checklist?

Cabin pressure set.

CAPT. WU: Okay.

FO. GAO: Targeting speed.
CAPT. WU: One Two Seven.

FO. GAO: Altimeter setting?
CAPT. WU: Set to 3,000.

NARRATOR: The crew
is ready to descend.

They run through
their approach checklist.

FO. GAO: Recall.
CAPT. WU: Check complete.

FO. GAO: Approach
checklist completed.

PASSENGER: I just
can't believe that happened.

IK-SOO :
I was working very hard
because I had ambitions

to be promoted. I didn't
take breaks and worked late.

I was trying my best.

NARRATOR: But for Seol
Ik-Soo, who's trying to make

a good
impression in his new job,

today is feeling
like a disaster.

PASSENGER: I mean, what
kind of person does that?

NARRATOR: It all started
to go wrong this morning

when he made a mistake that
he worries could get him fired.

IK-SOO :
I had arranged for the
group to sit in first class.

But right before we got
to the airport I realized

that I'd left my passport
and bag in the hotel lobby.

The bus driver had to turn
around and go back to the hotel.

The good seats were
first come first served.

Because we had to
return to the hotel,

my group was pushed to seats
at the very back of the plane.

Some of the
travelers were very angry.

PASSENGER: Don't touch my purse.

IK-SOO :
I even told the group
that I would return my tips.

NARRATOR: Seol Ik-Soo
has no way of knowing

the far more important
impact of this minor mistake.

CAPT. WU: Ladies and
gentlemen, we're about to begin

our approach to Gimhae Airport.

Local weather is
foggy with some rain.

We'll be landing in
approximately twenty minutes.

SO. HOU: Gimhae Tower,
Air China 129, good morning.

With you now.

NARRATOR: Fifteen
minutes before landing,

the crew contacts the
airport approach controller.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: Air
China 129, Gimhae approach.

Fly heading one nine
zero. Descend to 6,000.

SO. HOU: Roger, turn heading one
nine zero. Descend to 6,000.

RON: In this case the
co-pilot started the approach.

He was actually
the pilot flying.

The captain was really
monitoring his altitude

because the captain
is the non-flying pilot.

NARRATOR:
Captain Xinlu has landed
at Gimhae three times before.

It should be smooth
sailing on approach.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
Air China 129, turn
left heading one six zero.

Descend to 2,600.

SO. HOU: Turn left heading
one six zero. Descend to 2,600.

CAPT. WU:
Visibility is not very good.

NARRATOR: Gimhae airport is
near Korea's southern coast,

an area known for
unpredictable weather.

RON: Regarding the
weather at the airport,

I don't think there
was anything unique about

this particular day. There
were clouds. There was rain.

FO. GAO: Gear down?
CAPT. WU: Gear down.

FO. GAO: Flaps 20.

♪ ♪

CAPT. WU: Runway in sight.
FO. GAO: Runway in sight.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
Air China 129, contact
Tower 118.1, circle west.

RON: Circling
approach is a visual approach.

The pilot has to maintain sight
of the runway the entire time.

If the weather is
accurate he should be able to

conduct this approach and still
keep his eye on the runway.

NARRATOR: The controller
didn't get a response

to his last radio call.

♪ ♪

FO. GAO: The wind is too
strong. It's very hard to fly.

NARRATOR:
Changing weather conditions
are posing a challenge

for the crew.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: Cleared
to land runway one eight.

CAPT. WU: Reduce speed.
FO. GAO: Okay.

NARRATOR: Seol Ik-Soo
worries that the bad weather

will delay their
arrival in Busan.

IK-SOO : I
thought the plane was circling

because of foggy weather.

NARRATOR: The tower
controller struggles

to track the incoming
767 through thick clouds.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: Air
China 129, are you able to land?

♪ ♪

FO. GAO: Must go
around! Pull up! Pull up!

CAPT. WU: Ugh!

IK-SOO :
I heard people
screaming. I was sliding.

I couldn't keep my body straight

because the speed was too fast.

Then...

...bang!

♪ ♪

All of a sudden
the plane stopped.

♪ ♪

I thought I was dead.

♪ ♪

I wasn't able to think about
anything, not even my family.

♪ ♪

Light was coming through a gap.

I realized it was
coming from outside.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: Flight 129
crash survivor Seol Ik-Soo

inches his way through a tangle
of wires, crushed cabin debris

and razor sharp
aluminum fragments.

♪ ♪

Finally, he emerges
into daylight -- alive,

but still not sure
if he's out of danger.

IK-SOO : After
the crash, I smelled fuel.

I was certain it
was airplane fuel.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: Air China
Flight 129 has crashed into

the side of Mount Dotdae,
miles from the intended runway.

More than three
thousand emergency responders

swarm the site.

HEUNG-OK :
The crash site was horrible.

It was truly a miracle
that they were able to find

a number of survivors
from such a massive crash.

NARRATOR: Of the 166
people onboard, 37 survive.

Almost all those
who made it out alive

were seated near
tour guide Seol Ik-Soo.

IK-SOO : Ninety
percent of the tour group

I was traveling with survived.

NARRATOR:
The fact that the young tour
guide forgot his passport,

something he thought
was a shameful mistake,

will be remembered forever
as a lifesaving stroke of luck.

♪ ♪

Korean air
accident investigators

arrive on the scene, along
with American investigators

from the National
Transportation Safety Board.

AL: You could tell the
whole area had been cleared out

by the impact of
the whole aircraft,

and pieces were
spread all over the place.

I was surprised
that anybody survived.

HEUNG-OK: Let me borrow those.

NARRATOR: From the crash
site, investigators can see

the airport
nearly three miles away.

There is no simple
explanation for why Flight 129

hit terrain so
far from the runway.

HEUNG-OK: What
are they doing here

when they should be
all the way down there?

AL: It was
obviously in a landing mode.

What would cause him to
get this low this far out?

He should have been
well above this terrain.

You wondered: Why
did this guy hit a hill?

HEUNG-OK: Keep me
posted. The captain survived.

Let's hope he can
tell us something useful.

NARRATOR: Investigators learn
that the only surviving member

of the flight crew
is Captain Wu Xinlu.

RON: It was surprising that
the captain survived the crash

because the impact
forces are usually worse

in the front of the airplane.

AL: If he does
survive and he's truthful,

it can help an
investigation a lot

because then you find
out what really is going on.

NARRATOR: With the
captain on his way to hospital,

investigators focus on what
the crash site can tell them

about the accident.

Debris is scattered for hundreds
of yards down the hillside.

AL: It was over a large area.
I was surprised it was so big.

HEUNG-OK : Normally
when an incident occurs,

the wreckage and debris
tend to stay within the area

of their initial impact point.

NARRATOR:
The widely scattered wreckage
begins to paint a picture.

HEUNG-OK: Hey,
take a look at this.

The tail section
landed over there.

The front of the plane
is all the way over there.

The back of the plane
must have landed first,

meaning the pilot was pulling
up as the plane hit the ground.

NARRATOR: Flight 129 did
not nosedive into the ground.

Instead, the evidence suggests
that at the last moment

the crew was trying to
avoid hitting the mountain.

If that's the case, it
would help explain why

some people survived.

RON: If he hadn't have done
that it may have been worse,

but he... the airplane kind of
cushioned itself a little bit

into the trees and
impact forces were lessened

as the airplane hit the
ground, tore the engines off,

and slid through the trees,
and so the people survived.

NARRATOR: But the central
question remains unanswered.

Why did Flight 129,

in the midst of a
seemingly routine landing,

crash into a mountainside?

The answers
investigators need may lie with

the plane's black boxes.

Rescuers have pulled

the critical
devices from the wreckage.

But it will take expert lab
analysis before anyone knows

if the data can be recovered.

HEUNG-OK: I'm gonna
go down to the airport,

talk to air
traffic control and see

if they've got anything to say.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: After any
plane crash near a runway,

some of the first people
investigators want to speak to

are the air traffic controllers.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
They were slated to perform
a straight in approach,

but it was changed
to a circling approach.

HEUNG-OK: Why
the sudden change?

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
The wind changed direction.

I changed the approach so
they can land into the wind.

NARRATOR:
Switching from straight
in to a circling approach

is something that
happens routinely at airports

around the world.

RON: Some airports you
have to come one way in

because of
mountains or whatever,

and then once you get to
the airport because of winds

you may circle and land.

NARRATOR: Flight 129 was
originally scheduled to land

on Runway 36 Left
coming in from the south.

But after the change they were
headed for Runway 18 Right,

coming in from
the north instead.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
We're close to the sea.

The weather is always changing.
We do this all the time.

HEUNG-OK :
Air traffic control
gave them clearance

for a circling
approach, which was appropriate

for the weather
conditions at the time.

HEUNG-OK: Is there
anything else you can remember?

AIR TRAFFIC
CONTROLLER: Communications.

Their radio
communications were all wrong.

HEUNG-OK: How do you mean?

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
Air China 129, contact
tower at 118.1, circle west.

NARRATOR: Shortly after
he instructs Flight 129

to do a circling
approach, the tower controller

tells the pilots to switch
to a new radio frequency.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
Air China 129, contact
tower one eighteen one.

RON: When the
controller told the crew to

switch to the tower frequency,
they didn't acknowledge.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
Air China 129, please
contact one eighteen one.

RON: The tower had to remind
them, call them a couple times.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
This is Gimhae tower on guard.

Air China 129, if you
hear me please contact 118.1.

RON: The tower
eventually called the cockpit

on the emergency frequency.

NARRATOR:
All airports use a standard
frequency to communicate

in emergency situations.

If air traffic control even
suspects a plane is in distress,

they will use this
frequency to contact the crew.

SO. HOU:
Gimhae tower, Air China 129,
circle approach one eight right.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: Air
China 129, check wheels down,

wind two one zero
at one seven knots.

Cleared to land
runway one eight right.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
They finally called me back.

It seemed like we were
finally back on track.

Then less than a minute later
they crashed into the mountain.

The Air China crew was slow to
respond to air traffic control.

Investigators need to know what
was going on in the cockpit

during the unusual delay.

AL: If air traffic
controllers make a statement

and the crew either doesn't
answer or misinterprets it,

it can cause the
accident basically.

HEUNG-OK: Thank you. Oh.
Just a minute, please. Hello?

Thank you. The captain's okay.

Let's go see if
he's ready to speak.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Captain Wu Xinlu is the only
member of the cockpit crew

from Air China
129 to have survived.

He may be the one
person alive who knows

what led to the fatal crash.

AL: It was hard to
tell what injuries he had,

but he was not in good shape.

It wasn't life
threatening, I don't think,

but it was not good.

It was gonna take
him a while to recover.

JENNY: When I went to interview
Captain Wu, he couldn't move,

but he was clearly conscious
to answer all the questions

that the, the
investigators asked.

JENNY:
Was there anything mechanically
wrong with the plane?

CAPT. WU: No.
Everything seemed fine.

♪ ♪

Then suddenly the mountain
seemed to come out of nowhere.

FO. GAO: Must go
around! Pull up. Pull up!

JENNY: It was the typical

CFIT, controlled flight
into terrain, accident.

That is to say when the
aircraft under pilot control

is unintentionally
flown into the ground,

and the flight crew
members are not aware

of the impending
disaster until too late.

JENNY:
Did you have any difficulty
communicating with the tower?

CAPT. WU: No.
Everything was normal.

NARRATOR: Controllers have
already told investigators

that the radio communication
was far from normal.

It's a troubling contradiction.

JENNY: Is there
anything else you can tell us?

NARRATOR: Investigators wonder
if the last-minute change

to the approach
presented any problems.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
Air China 129,

this time active runway
change one eight right.

Wind two one zero at one seven
knots. Expect circling approach.

FO. GAO: Circle approach
runway one eight right?

CAPT. WU: Using
runway one eight right.

AL: Pilots should
be alert for anything,

and they should
be thinking ahead.

They should be thinking: Well,
I'm gonna land on this runway,

but what happens if I have
to do a circling approach?

JENNY: Did this cause
you any difficulties?

CAPT. WU: No. It was fine. This
is what we're trained to do.

JENNY: Captain Wu stated
that all he could remember

was he saw a hill
before the crash.

And next he
found himself bleeding

around the accident aircraft.

AL: Nothing I heard in
the interview in the hospital

indicated that
there was anything wrong.

I mean aside from,
well, what happened.

NARRATOR: The crash near
Busan is the worst air disaster

ever on Korean
soil -- 129 fatalities.

As family members
mourn the victims,

pressure mounts on
the investigation.

How could a plane coming
in for a routine landing

suddenly hit a mountain?

REPORTER (Archive): Here
at the scene of the crash,

parts have been collected, and
an investigation is underway.

NARRATOR: Lab technicians
have managed to recover

all the data from the Air
China flight data recorder,

things like the plane's
speed, altitude, heading

and other
critical flight parameters

right up to the
moment of impact.

Investigators are
eager to learn more

about the circling approach,
an approach the captain says

posed no difficulties.

HEUNG-OK:
Around here they should be
circling in for a landing,

but they just keep going,

and then they
crash into the mountain.

Why didn't they turn here?

AL: They were a lot
farther out than they realized.

HEUNG-OK: How are they
supposed to do this approach?

Pass me the training manual.

NARRATOR: Every airport
has detailed procedures

on how to approach its runways.

Pilots are trained to follow
these procedures to the letter.

HEUNG-OK: Gears down. Flaps 20.

Turn 45 degrees parallel
to end of runway start timer.

Let's get this on the board.

NARRATOR: The landing procedure
for Busan calls for pilots

to use a cockpit chronometer to
aid with a circling approach.

By timing
maneuvers to the second,

they should be more precise.

But a cockpit timer can't
guarantee a safe landing.

AL: If you set a timer and
it's your procedure to do that

and you don't make sure that
that procedure is followed,

you're defeating your
whole purpose of having a timer

in the first place.

HEUNG-OK: So gear down here.

Then they're supposed
to do a 45-degree turn

for 20 seconds here.

Then they're supposed
to make a 45-degree turn

for 20 seconds here.

RON: You time it
out, 20 seconds.

You turn parallel to the
runway, and then you make a...

what's called a base
turn, 180 degree turn

and land on the runway.

HEUNG-OK: Here they should
see the end of the runway.

Twenty seconds later they should
have made their base turn.

NARRATOR: Despite what the
captain has said, it looks like

he got off to a bad
start on the approach.

RON: The flight
recorder showed that the pilot

did not execute his first turn.

He was supposed
to make a left turn

to begin the circling approach,

and he's supposed to
do that aggressively.

He didn't turn steep enough,
with a steep enough bank.

HEUNG-OK: How
fast were they going?

NARRATOR: They soon
learn that bank angles

weren't the only problem
on the approach to Busan.

HEUNG-OK: A hundred
and fifty-eight knots?

That's much too fast.

AL: The aircraft was flying
about twenty knots faster

than it should have.

NARRATOR:
Flying at too high a speed,
they covered the downward leg

more quickly than expected,
which left them less time

to prepare for the final turn.

AL: It's interesting that such
a thing as twenty knots fast

can make such a difference.

But the truth is it
does make a difference.

HEUNG-OK: They're
doing this all wrong.

What were the pilots thinking?

NARRATOR: It's now clear
that the crew of Air China 129

mishandled the early stages
of their approach to Busan.

But what's still a mystery
is why the experienced pilots

failed to correct the problem
in time to make a safe landing.

In 1992, an Air Inter flight
bound for Strasbourg, France,

met a tragic end
similar to Air China 129.

Flying in low clouds on final
approach, the Airbus A-320

plowed into a mountainside
twelve miles from the runway.

♪ ♪

Eighty-seven people died.

The investigation revealed
that the crew was unfamiliar

with the plane's sophisticated
computer interface.

The pilots accidentally
selected a dangerously fast

descent speed, thirty-three
hundred feet per minute.

By the time they realized they
were in danger, it was too late.

Were the Air China
pilots unfamiliar with some

critical task, something that
might explain why they failed

to execute a
fairly routine approach?

Korean investigators dig
into their work histories

in search of clues.

HEUNG-OK: Certified as a
first officer in January 2002.

Completed his first flight
on the Boeing 767 in February.

That's just two months
ago. What about the captain?

♪ ♪

He had close to almost
6,300 hours on the 767.

They learn that while the first
officer was relatively new

to the 767 cockpit,

the captain was very
familiar with the plane.

But then, they
uncover something remarkable.

HEUNG-OK: He's never
done a circling approach

at Gimhae Airport before.

NARRATOR: Records show
that the captain had not even

attempted the approach
in his simulator training.

RON: His training was
only done in the simulator

simulating a circling
approach at Beijing Airport.

That doesn't get you prepared
for an airport like this

with the high terrain around it.

AL: They had plenty of flight
time, but I guess they never

encountered this
kind of a situation.

To me the fact that the crew had
never done a circling approach

is not good.

NARRATOR: Still, pilots
have charts in the cockpit

that explain landing procedures.

Crews land at unfamiliar
airports all the time.

There must be
something more to the story.

HEUNG-OK: Is the cockpit
voice recorder ready yet?

NARRATOR: So far, investigators
have uncovered evidence

of a crew flying too fast
on approach and mishandling

an initial turn.

Now they need to figure out
why the rest of the approach

went so catastrophically wrong.

HEUNG-OK: Everybody ready?

Let's start from the very
beginning of their approach.

NARRATOR: They hope the
cockpit voice recording

will provide some answers.

FO. GAO: Approach
checklist. Cabin pressure set.

CAPT. WU: Okay.

FO. GAO: Targeting speed?
CAPT. WU: One two seven.

HEUNG-OK: Everything
seems to be in order so far.

Let's keep listening.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: Air
China 129, Gimhae approach.

Fly heading one nine
zero, descend to 6,000.

SO. HOU: Roger, turn heading one
nine zero. Descend to 6,000.

HEUNG-OK: So now they're on
approach about nine minutes

from scheduled landing.

Up to now they think
they're coming in here.

But the controller
changes it to here.

Remember, the pilots
have never done this before

at this airport.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
Air China 129, this time active
runway change one eight right.

Wind two one zero at one seven
knots. Expect circling approach.

FO. GAO: Circle approach,
runway one eight right.

CAPT. WU: We are using
runway one eight right.

HEUNG-OK:
So they immediately acknowledge
their circling approach.

NARRATOR: The flight is now
just minutes from disaster.

Investigators listen
closely for anything

that might explain
the fatal flight path.

FO. GAO: Minimum descent
altitude is seven hundred feet?

CAPT. WU: Six hundred.
Seven... seven hundred feet.

NARRATOR: The pilots
continue their checklist.

FO. GAO: Do we exit on this
side taxiway? What's it called?

CAPT. WU: Charlie Six.

NARRATOR: It soon becomes clear
they've missed a critical step.

CAPT. WU: After we land
we can leave directly using

taxiway Charlie Six.

HEUNG-OK: Stop. They're
talking about what to do

after they land,

but they never did a proper
briefing for the actual landing.

NARRATOR: Flight rules require
commercial pilots to review

every aspect of a
landing beforehand.

It's called the
approach briefing.

AL: The approach briefing
should have every eventuality

that could take
place during the approach.

Now switching from a straight
in to a circling is unusual,

but it should have
still been discussed.

HEUNG-OK: They didn't fully
review their landing procedure,

let alone what they had to do to
execute their final approach.

RON: Someone's
supposed to call a checklist

and say approach briefing.

And then someone's supposed
to give an approach briefing.

When that didn't happen
somebody's supposed to speak up

and say hey
captain or first officer.

We didn't do an
approach briefing.

That's crew coordination.

NARRATOR: The missed
briefing helps explain why

the crew botched
their initial turn.

It also points to a level of
carelessness in the cockpit.

But what the CVR reveals
next will leave investigators

in total dismay.

HEUNG-OK: Okay. Let's
see what else they say.

CAPT. WU: Runway in sight.
FO. GAO: Runway in sight.

NARRATOR: Investigators
listen as the Air China crew,

now just moments from a fatal
impact, continue an approach

that they never
discussed in advance.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
Air China 129, contact
tower 118.1. Circle west.

CAPT. WU: Do you see
the end of the runway?

FO. GAO: End of
runway is to the right.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
This is Gimhae tower on guard.

Air China 129, if you
hear me contact 118.1.

NARRATOR:
The crew is overwhelmed
by the unfamiliar approach

and fails to
respond to the controller.

CAPT. WU: Timing.

HEUNG-OK: Wait.
Where's my stopwatch?

NARRATOR: Investigators
know that a circling approach

demands precise timing
of the turning maneuvers.

HEUNG-OK: Okay. Start
from the timing again.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: If
you hear me, contact 118.1.

HEUNG-OK: Here's
where they start the timer.

CAPT. WU: Timing.

NARRATOR: The captain relies
on his cockpit chronometer.

In exactly twenty seconds
he must begin his final turn.

AL: They had to fly the aircraft
away from the airport and then

turn onto final and then
land in the opposite direction.

FO. GAO: The wind is too
strong. It's very hard to fly.

CAPT. WU: I have control.

NARRATOR: Remarkably,
Captain Wu Xinlu responds to

his first officer's
concern over wind speed

by taking over
the flying duties.

He makes the switch at
the worst possible moment.

HEUNG-OK: What is
happening in that cockpit?

AL: One of the critical things
in this particular accident

was the switching of control
during the twenty seconds.

HEUNG-OK: In the middle
of the twenty-second timer

he decides to take
control. That's crazy.

NARRATOR: By suddenly
taking control of the plane,

the captain increases his
workload at a critical moment

and diverts his
attention from the timer.

RON: Not only does he
have to fly the airplane,

he's gotta manage the crew
and, and other activities.

He's got to
monitor the radio calls.

AL: It confused
the first officer.

It made the division
of duties uncertain.

They didn't know what, what
person was supposed to do what.

NARRATOR: When he takes
control, the captain should

clearly spell out
the division of duties.

Most critically, he needs
to tell the first officer

to keep track of the
timer. But that never happens.

HEUNG-OK: Once he gets
to the end of the timer

he said he's gonna
turn but he doesn't.

RON: There was a lot of
confusion listening to the CVR,

a lot of confusion and a lack
of coordination in the cockpit.

CAPT. WU: Turning right.

NARRATOR: The U-turn back
to the runway should begin

at the twenty-second mark.

But with the captain now flying

and the first officer
looking for the runway,

no one starts the turn.

RON: The whole idea of timing
on this, on a circling approach

is to get your certain
spacing from the runway.

And, again, if there's winds,

you have to adjust your timing
and your, your angles of turns.

CAPT. WU: Turning right.

RON: In this case, the
breakdown in communications

within the cockpit, they did
not take account of the timing

and they just kind of
maneuvered the airplane

where they thought it should go.

It was a total breakdown
in approach procedures.

NARRATOR: And as investigators
are about to discover,

the confusion in the
cockpit only gets worse.

CAPT. WU: Do you
have the runway in sight?

FO. GAO: No. I can't see out.

NARRATOR:
A low cloud is now blocking
the pilots' view of the runway.

FO. GAO: Turn. Turn now!

NARRATOR: A circling approach
falls under visual flight rules.

If pilots lose sight of
the runway at any time,

they are trained to
immediately abort the landing,

circle and try again.

HEUNG-OK :
Passenger safety should
have been the pilots'

primary concern, and so
maintaining visual contact

with the runway
the highest priority.

I was truly surprised to find
out that they proceeded with

the landing approach without
having the runway in sight.

FO. GAO: Turn. Turn now!

RON: It was getting pretty
nasty and why he didn't say,

let's get out of here.
Let's miss the approach,

that's... we don't, we
don't understand that.

AL: Flying a 767 into a
cloud on a visual circling,

which all circling approaches
are, is unacceptable.

It's not professional.
This shouldn't have happened.

HEUNG-OK: And they've
just lost sight of the runway

and they're here
seconds from the mountain.

NARRATOR: Investigators have
discovered that the pilots of

Air China Flight 129 continued
with their approach to Busan

even though they could
no longer see the runway.

RON: The captain is supposed
to go around when he can't

see the airport
and he didn't do that.

He continued turning and
following the instructions

trying to get back to the
runway, which is totally wrong.

CAPT. WU: Help
me find the runway.

NARRATOR:
They have dropped below
the minimum safe altitude,

but only the first
officer seems to have noticed.

FO. GAO: Pay
attention to your altitude.

RON: They were supposed to level
off at a certain altitude.

They went right through it.

FO. GAO: It's getting hard
to fly. Watch your altitude!

NARRATOR: The
captain continues to descend

for almost 30 seconds
before his first officer

finally speaks up.

FO. GAO: Must go
around! Pull up. Pull up! No!

CAPT. WU: No!

♪ ♪

AUTOMATION:
Pull up. Terrain. Terrain
Terrain. Terrain. Pull up.

♪ ♪

AL: This is an anatomy
of a botched approach.

You never fly into a
cloud on a circling approach.

If you do you should
be initiating a go around

to get out of that situation.
It's pretty basic stuff.

It really is.

It's something a Cessna
172 pilot should be able to do

as well as a 767 pilot.

NARRATOR: The captain
is interviewed eight times

over the next three months.

CAPT. WU: I told
you the same thing.

NARRATOR:
Investigators never learn why

he failed to
initiate a missed approach

after losing
sight of the runway,

the most basic of
all visual flight rules.

AL: Who knows what
the captain was thinking.

It's just hard to tell.

JENNY: Humans can make mistakes.
All of us are human beings.

NARRATOR: Though investigators
can't know for sure,

the captain might have been able
to react to his mistake sooner

if he'd been flying a newer
version of the Boeing 767.

His seventeen-year-old
plane was not equipped

with the latest
technology used to warn pilots

if they are flying too low.

RON: This airplane had in it a
ground proximity warning system.

Unfortunately, this was an
older model and it did go off.

It gave a warning
but it was way too late

for the pilot to react.

In this accident airplane,
Air China did not have

the enhanced GPWS
that was recommended.

They just hadn't done it.

If it had been installed they
may have missed the mountain.

IK-SOO : After the
accident my life changed a lot.

Instead of being
happy about being alive,

I had to live for the
people who died in the crash.

It has been very difficult.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: Three years
later, on March 4th, 2005,

the Korean Aviation
Accident Investigation Board

finally publishes
its accident report.

RON: The causes of this accident
are basically human factors.

It was poor crew coordination.

It was poor
communications intra-cockpit

and between the
tower and the cockpit.

It reinforced the need for
proper training of flight crews.

NARRATOR: Key
recommendations include:

providing better training for
pilots on circling approaches

and a review of
in-flight briefing procedures.

In the aftermath of
the Flight 129 disaster,

Air China designates
Gimhae as a special airport.

All pilots are now taught how
the area's challenging terrain

may affect takeoffs,
landings and go-arounds.

AL: This should be used as a
teaching point for aviators why

you give an approach briefing,
and a thorough one, not a...

just a standard one.

And the hard part is if you're
flying day in and day out,

to do this again and again
and again, but it's necessary.

It really is. You can see why.