All language subtitles for Air.Disasters.S11E06.Storming.Out.1080p.PMTP.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-maldini_track3_[eng]

GPWS: Pull up.

FO. HAYES: I
remember a very hard impact.

We hit the ground.

NARRATOR: A
commuter flight slams

into a North
Carolina neighborhood.

FO. HAYES: What has
just happened to us?

NARRATOR:
Thirty-seven souls are lost,

but the crew survives
to explain what happened.

FO. HAYES: The
problem was the weather.

GREG: All of a sudden
they ran into this rain shaft.

NARRATOR: But for
investigators, weather alone

can't explain the deadly impact.

NTSB INVESTIGATOR: Rain
did not cause this crash.

FO. HAYES: Flaps to 15.

CAPT. GREENLEE:
Down! Push it down.

NTSB INVESTIGATOR:
Wait. Stop the tape.

Did he just say push
it down? Play it again.

GREG: We replayed
that a dozen times.

CAPT. GREENLEE:
Down! Push it down.

GREG: Did he really say that?
And what did he mean by that?

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: US Air
Flight 1016 is en route

from Columbia, South Carolina,
to Charlotte, North Carolina.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
US Air 1016, good evening.

Climb and maintain
one two thousand. Twelve.

CAPT. GREENLEE: One
two thousand, US Air 1016.

NARRATOR: Captain Mike Greenlee
is one of US Air's top pilots.

He's an Air Force
veteran who still flies

fighter jets in the reserves.

FO. HAYES: I believe he flew the
F-4, and then he flew the F-16.

CAPT. GREENLEE:
One two thousand.

FO. HAYES: Ten.

NARRATOR: The first officer,
Phil Hayes, is a seasoned pilot

who's dreamed of
flying since he was a boy.

FO. HAYES: And I went
for a ride in an airplane

when I was about fifteen
and... fourteen or fifteen,

and the bug bit, and I
wanted to fly after that.

FO. HAYES: So, how
old are you, Mike?

CAPT. GREENLEE: Thirty-eight.
How about yourself?

FO. HAYES: I'll be
42 on the 26th of July.

CAPT. GREENLEE: Is that right?
I had you figured about 35.

FO. HAYES: Did you really?
CAPT. GREENLEE: Oh yeah.

FO. HAYES: I
knew there was something

I liked about you.

NARRATOR: This is the first time

the two pilots
have flown together.

FO. HAYES: Mike was a very
affable, very likeable fella,

and we hit it off right away.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: Many of
the fifty-two passengers

are traveling
for summer holidays.

RICHARD: This was a
Saturday prior to July 4th,

so there were a lot
of leisure travelers.

RICHARD: Can I
offer you a snack?

NARRATOR:
Flight attendant Richard
DeMary has been on the job

for two years. He
enjoys his work so much

that he looks for
ways to get more hours.

RICHARD: I picked up this flight
as part of a series of flights

over a number of days.

It was a three-day trip
with multiple legs each day.

NARRATOR: Today's flight to
Charlotte is on board a DC-9,

one of the many aircraft types
Greenlee and Hayes have flown.

CAPT. GREENLEE: What kind of
airplanes you fly corporate?

FO. HAYES: A few Lear, Cessna
Citation, King Air Beechcraft.

CAPT. GREENLEE: Oh,
that's nice equipment.

FO. HAYES: Yeah,
yeah, pretty nice.

RICHARD: Flight
crews at US Air typically

were always very professional.

FO. HAYES: And a lot of piston
bangers, Navajos and that stuff.

CAPT. GREENLEE:
Yeah? I got a lot of time
in Navajos, Aztecs, Senecas.

RICHARD: With that, there was a
lot of trust in the individuals

that you were
working with, both from

a flight attendant perspective
as well as the pilots.

NARRATOR: The US Air crew is
on its fourth leg of the day.

They started out this
morning in Pittsburgh,

flew to New York City, then
Charlotte and on to Columbia.

Now, they're on their
way back to Charlotte.

FO. HAYES: There was no weather.
There were no thunderstorms.

There was, there was nothing.

It was a completely benign,
beautiful summertime day.

NARRATOR:
The DC-9 is now roughly
fifteen minutes from landing.

CAPT. GREENLEE:
Ladies and gentlemen,
we're 40 miles from Charlotte.

At this time we'd like to
ask the flight attendants

to secure the cabin for arrival.

RICHARD: Here, let me
clear this away for you.

RICHARD:
The flight between Columbia
and Charlotte was normal.

It was short. Even though
it was a 50 minute flight,

the actual flight time
was much less than that.

NARRATOR: As they
approach the airport,

the skies begin to darken.

FO. HAYES: There's more rain out
there than I thought there was.

FO. HAYES: We could see one
little... what we refer to

in the aviation
business as a build-up.

It has a little rain in it.

But it's not anything
to be concerned about.

It's just a little shower.

Mike reached over
and turned the radar on.

CAPT. GREENLEE: It
looks like it's sitting

just off the
edge of the airport.

NARRATOR: The radar shows
some rain directly ahead.

CAPT. GREENLEE:
Charlotte, US Air 1016.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
US Air 1016, go ahead.

CAPT. GREENLEE: We're
showing a little build-up here.

It looks like it's
sitting on the radial.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
About how far ahead
are you looking, 1016?

CAPT. GREENLEE: About 15 miles.

NARRATOR:
The controller explains
that he'll be directing them

away from the rain shower.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
I'll turn you just
before you get there

about five miles northbound.

CAPT. GREENLEE: Okay.
FO. HAYES: Good call.

NARRATOR: US Air Flight 1016
is now less than ten minutes

from its destination.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: US Air
1016, Charlotte. Maintain 4,000.

Runway one-eight-right.

CAPT. GREENLEE:
4,000 for the right side.

FO. HAYES: That's one-eleven
and three and one-eighty-one.

NARRATOR: The pilots are
ready for final approach.

CAPT. GREENLEE: The cabin's
down. Seat belt signs on.

Hydraulics on.

Altimeters, flight
instruments thirty-oh-one, set.

FO. HAYES: Set.

NARRATOR: As promised, the
controller turns Flight 1016

away from the storm.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: US Air
1016, turn ten degrees right,

descend and
maintain 2,300.

Vectors to visual
approach to one-eight-right.

FO. HAYES: The controller
said descend to 2,300 feet.

He said, I'll turn you at the
marker for the visual approach.

CAPT. GREENLEE: Ten
right. Down 2,300, US Air 1016.

FO. HAYES: Another
confirmation that there was

absolutely nothing going on.

RICHARD: At that point
in the landing phase,

the cabin had been secured

and we were in our
seats ready for landing.

♪ ♪

FO. HAYES: Gear down.

Flaps 40, please.

CAPT. GREENLEE: Forty flaps.
FO. HAYES: Ugh.

FO. HAYES:
Suddenly this very heavy rain
seemed to come from nowhere.

It did not go light
rain, moderate rain,

heavy rain,
extreme. It didn't do that.

It was just all of a sudden like
you're in... under a waterfall.

CAPT. GREENLEE:
Here come the wipers.

FO. HAYES: That's,
10 knots right there.

FO. HAYES: Now we're
like, oh. What has happened?

You know, what changed?

RICHARD: In other rain events
you can see out the window.

You can make things out.

This rain completely obstructed
any view out of the window.

FO. HAYES: Whoa!

CAPT. GREENLEE:
Okay, you're plus twenty.

FO. HAYES:
Visibility had been reduced,
and with this heavy rain,

Mike and I made the same
decision at about the same time.

Let's go around.

CAPT. GREENLEE: Take it
around. Go to the right.

FO. HAYES: Let's play
it safe. So I reached up

and pushed the power
up, started a right turn,

and at this point Mike picked up
the microphone and he said...

CAPT. GREENLEE: US
Air 1016's on the go.

♪ ♪

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
US Air 1016, I understand
you're on the go, sir.

Fly runway heading,
climb and maintain 3,000.

NARRATOR: It's what
pilots call a missed approach.

RICHARD: You have the
noise of the engines.

You have the feeling on
your body that you're climbing.

Go-arounds are not that unusual.

I've been in go-arounds before.

NARRATOR: But this is
not a normal go-around.

GPWS: Pull up. Terrain! Terrain!

FO. HAYES: All of a sudden the
aircraft wasn't flying anymore.

It was just falling.

And we were losing
airspeed very, very rapidly.

GPWS: Terrain! Terrain!

RICHARD:
It was very alarming. This
was not part of a go-around.

CAPT. GREENLEE:
Ugh. Firewall power.

NARRATOR: Phil Hayes jams
the throttles to maximum.

RICHARD: We're sinking,
and I'm preparing myself.

♪ ♪

FO. HAYES: I
remember the stick shaker,

and I remember the ground
proximity warning system go off.

It said, pull up. Pull up.

GPWS: Pull up. Pull up.

♪ ♪

FO. HAYES: And then I
remember a very hard impact.

And we hit the ground.

RICHARD: We were
sliding along the ground,

and I started hearing
the snapping of trees.

FO. HAYES: And the
left wing sheared off.

And the cockpit came to
rest in the middle of a road.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
US Air Flight 1016 destined
for Charlotte, North Carolina,

has slammed into the ground less
than a mile from the airport.

Fight attendant Richard DeMary
has no idea how he survived.

RICHARD: There was a
tremendous amount of disbelief

and disorientation,

and it took a few
seconds to get my bearings.

And I
should say that I was scared.

You know, there
was a lot of fear

because of the smoke and the
heat coming off of the airplane.

And I remember the real thought
of, I've survived the accident.

I don't wanna die afterwards.

NARRATOR:
First Officer Phil Hayes
has also survived the crash.

FO. HAYES: I
remember looking to my left,

and there was nobody
in the captain's seat.

And in my mind I know I was
trying to put things together,

like, what has
just happened to us?

And so I got out of my harness
and crawled out of the opening,

and I found Captain
Mike Greenlee tending

to one of the flight attendants
who had been injured.

RICHARD: You know,
the full realization

that we had been in
an accident hit home.

So I thought, I gotta
do something to help.

So I start to yell,
release seat belts and get out.

Release seat belts and get out.
Release seat belts and get out.

NEWS ANCHOR (Archive):
Good evening.

Emergency workers in
Charlotte, North Carolina,

spent this Sunday pulling
bodies from the wreckage

of a US Air jet that
crashed there last night.

NARRATOR: The crash of Flight
1016 is the first accident

involving a major airline in
North Carolina in twenty years.

Both pilots and the
cabin crew have survived.

But of the fifty-two passengers,
thirty-seven are dead.

♪ ♪

FO. HAYES: As I
looked back at the wreckage,

it was just very surreal.

How could this have happened to
us when the day was so benign?

There was no
weather. There was no threat.

How could this have happened?

NARRATOR: Greg
Feith, senior investigator

with the National
Transportation Safety Board,

will lead the investigation.

GREG: Any time you go to
an airplane accident site,

a crash site, there's
always this wave of emotion.

I don't care how seasoned
an investigator you are,

because you know that people
have been seriously injured

or killed in that
particular event.

And so as the
investigator in charge,

you have to compartmentalize
that, because you can't

get emotionally attached and
still be able to do your job.

NARRATOR: Examining the wreckage
is the team's first task.

NTSB INVESTIGATOR:
So what have we got?

NARRATOR: They must determine
if a loss of engine power

was a factor in the crash.

They examine the DC-9's two
Pratt & Whitney power plants.

GREG: There are a
variety of things that

these power plant experts
are gonna be looking for

to determine if in
fact there was some sort of

operational issue, mechanical
malfunction or failure

with the engine or engines.

NARRATOR: Right away, they
spot something unexpected.

NTSB INVESTIGATOR: Look at that.

The thrust reverser on
this engine is deployed.

GREG: Their examination of
the right engine indicated that

the thrust reverser was
in the deployed position

and that the thrust
reverser on the left engine

was in the stowed position,

and of course that always starts
the red flag up the pole,

if you will, going, hmm.

Why is this one not in the
same position as the other?

Because they
should be symmetrical.

NARRATOR: Thrust reversers
are deployed upon landing

to help slow the plane down.

They work by
redirecting the engines'

high-powered
exhaust gasses forward.

GREG: If it happens in flight
that's detrimental, because

if it happens on one engine
on a multi-engine airplane

you create an
asymmetrical thrust situation.

NTSB INVESTIGATOR: Maybe that's
what brought this flight down.

Like Lauda Air 004.

NARRATOR: Three years earlier
in Thailand, Lauda Air Flight 4

crashed, killing 223 people.
A thrust reverser was to blame.

GREG: We've had thrust
reversers deploy in flight

and, depending on the
speed of the aircraft,

you can literally break that
engine right off the aircraft.

NARRATOR: Closer investigation
reveals abrasion marks

on the metal of the
right side reverser,

marks that suggest a
heavy impact with the ground.

It's an important clue.

Further analysis leads
to a definitive answer.

Investigators know
exactly when and how

the right side reverser opened.

GREG: They were able to
make a determination that the

reverser on that right engine,
even though it was deployed,

happened during the
course of the impact sequence

and did not happen in flight.

NTSB INVESTIGATOR: At least we
know it wasn't thrust reversers.

NARRATOR:
Eliminating one potential cause

is a step forward
for investigators.

But they're still a
long way from understanding

what brought down
US Air Flight 1016.

NTSB INVESTIGATOR: Keep
looking through this wreckage.

See if you can find any clues.
I'm gonna speak with the crew.

NARRATOR:
Perhaps the pilots can shed
some light on what happened.

GPWS: Pull up.

FO. HAYES: The impact broke
my foot and cut my head open,

and so I was in the hospital
about three days, I believe,

and when we were
released from the hospital

we were taken to a hotel.

NARRATOR: First Officer
Phil Hayes meets with the NTSB.

NTSB INVESTIGATOR: Thank you
so much for seeing us today.

We just have a few
questions. This won't take long.

BARRY: We recognize that this is
not a pleasant time for them.

They've been through what is
most likely the most difficult

professional event
they've ever been through.

NTSB INVESTIGATOR:
On the day of the crash,
can you tell us what happened?

FO. HAYES: The
problem was the weather.

NTSB INVESTIGATOR:
Tell me about the weather.

FO. HAYES: Flaps 40, please.
CAPT. GREENLEE: Forty flaps.

♪ ♪

GREG: All of a sudden
they ran into this rain shaft.

FO. HAYES: We
lost all visibility.

CAPT. GREENLEE: Take it
around. Go to the right.

GREG: That's when the captain
called for the first officer,

who in this case was the
flying pilot at the time,

to execute a go-around.

They were gonna climb to
3,000 feet, roll to the right

to turn right,
and of course you're

bringing the power
up at the same time.

FO. HAYES: The next thing I
knew the aircraft was falling.

FO. HAYES:
It's a terrible feeling
to feel the aircraft fall

and you realize it
isn't flying anymore.

NTSB INVESTIGATOR:
Why did you decide to fly into
the storm in the first place?

NARRATOR: Pilots
usually avoid thunderstorms

because they can
produce violent air currents

that can cause turbulence
or even damage the aircraft.

JOHN: You're always
respectful of thunderstorms.

The weather there was growing,
that was the big thing.

And it was growing quickly.

That's a key indicator that
the situation's deteriorating.

FO. HAYES: Well, air
traffic control told us

the weather was
nothing to worry about.

FO. HAYES: And the
controllers really did not

say anything to us about it.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: I'll
tell you what, US Air 1016.

You may get some rain
just south of the field.

There might be a
little coming off the north.

BARRY: In fact, some rain was
misleading. It wasn't some rain.

It was a very
heavy thunderstorm.

NARRATOR: Investigators have
learned that air traffic control

failed to warn the
crew of Flight 1016

that there was a
powerful storm in their path.

BARRY: They mistakenly
believed that it would be

safe for them to land.

NARRATOR: The
question now is why?

NARRATOR:
Investigators need to understand
why air traffic control

in Charlotte didn't
warn US Air Flight 1016

about a fierce
storm over the airport.

NTSB INVESTIGATOR: Oh,
hey. Good to meet you.

JOHN:
The air traffic controllers
had more information,

and they could see and they had
been watching this thunderstorm

for much longer than
the flight crew had.

So we knew very
early on it was gonna be

one of the central areas
of focus to understand it.

NTSB INVESTIGATOR: Why
did you tell the pilots

the weather was
good enough to land in?

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: The
weather reports told us it was.

NARRATOR: The controller reveals
that he relied on a bulletin

from the
National Weather Service.

It showed that conditions
were well within limits

for a safe landing.

JOHN: The reports on
the field were light winds.

There had been
some rain on and off.

There's nothing to
key them to say that

this is an unsafe condition

and that they
shouldn't continue to fly it.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
I even asked a pilot

who landed four
minutes earlier how it was.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
US Air 983, how was the
ride on your final approach?

PILOT: Smooth. US Air 983.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
US Air 1016, previous
flight just exited the runway.

He said it was a smooth ride.

♪ ♪

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
It was fine, no problems.

BARRY: That's
pretty significant in that

all the
information that crews have,

real-time information from
people flying for their airline,

carries a lot of weight.

NARRATOR: The weather
bulletin issued at 6:36 PM

was indeed correct.
Conditions were clear to land.

But minutes later, the
skies over the airport

opened up and
heavy rain poured down.

♪ ♪

CAPT. GREENLEE: Take it
around. Go to the right.

US Air 1016's on the go.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
US Air 1016, understand
you're on the go, sir.

Fly runway heading,
climb and maintain 3,000.

NARRATOR: At the same time,
the controller acknowledges

the crew's missed approach.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
US Air 1016, understand you're
turning right? Go ahead, 1016.

NARRATOR: He
never gets a response.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
By the time I got to the
next bulletin, it was too late.

NTSB INVESTIGATOR: Listen, I
really appreciate your help.

If I have more
questions, is it all right

if I call you, all right?

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: Sure.
NTSB INVESTIGATOR: Thanks.

NARRATOR: It's now
clear to investigators

that weather conditions
at the Charlotte Airport

changed very quickly.

What's unclear is why the
controller's weather report

failed to forecast the change.

NTSB INVESTIGATOR:
Let's see what we have here.

NARRATOR:
They study the reports that
the National Weather Service

issued for
Charlotte Airport that day.

6:36 PM. Light rain showers.
6:40 PM. Heavy rain showers.

It seems the weather
service correctly identified

the change in conditions.

But then investigators
make an important discovery.

It took two minutes
for the weather service

to transmit the new information
in an updated bulletin.

GREG: The problem came from
the air traffic controllers

not having a full
body of information

from the
National Weather Service.

FO. HAYES: Flaps 40, please.

GREG: So they weren't
providing real-time information

to the flight crew.

CAPT. GREENLEE: Forty flaps.

GREG: They were very delayed in
providing essential information

that would have assisted this
crew in their decision-making

as they progressed
towards the airport.

NARRATOR: Weather radar images
soon lead to another discovery.

NTSB INVESTIGATOR: This
is crazy. Look at that.

There are two storm
cells moving in here.

As the US Air pilots were trying
to avoid one storm formation...

NTSB INVESTIGATOR: 18:40.

NARRATOR: Another storm cell...
NTSB INVESTIGATOR: 18:42.

NARRATOR: ... suddenly
increased in intensity.

NTSB INVESTIGATOR:
They were blindsided.

CAPT. GREENLEE:
Here come the wipers.

NARRATOR: The late
weather report left the crew

unprepared for
the sudden downpour.

The critical question now:
Was the rainstorm strong enough

to knock Flight
1016 out of the sky?

GREG: We had to look
at that to see if in fact

this heavy rain
shower had any kind of cause

or contributing
factor in this accident.

NTSB INVESTIGATOR:
NASA has studied this.

NARRATOR: Investigators
review NASA research

that shows heavy rain can stick
to a wing, increasing drag

and increasing the
chance of an aerodynamic stall.

GREG: If the volume of
rain striking the aircraft

is sufficient, it will
disrupt the smooth airflow and

decrease the efficiency, the
lifting capability of the wing.

NARRATOR: Testing has shown
that the amount of rain needed

to stall a wing and
cause a crash is huge --

thirty to forty inches per hour.

Investigators
examine precipitation data

from the day of the crash.

They want to know just
how bad the rain really was.

What they find is surprising.

The rate of precipitation
during the downpour

was only ten inches per hour.

NTSB INVESTIGATOR: Not
enough to bring the plane down.

GREG: We were able to
determine that there was

a negligible effect of
this heavy rain shower

on the
performance of the airplane.

NTSB INVESTIGATOR: Rain
did not cause this crash.

NARRATOR: If it wasn't the
sudden downpour that caused

Flight 1016 to fall
out of the sky, what did?

♪ ♪

NTSB INVESTIGATOR:
Can you bring up the FDR?

NARRATOR: Evidence
recovered from US Air 1016's

flight data recorder is
now ready to be examined.

NTSB INVESTIGATOR:
So what have we got?

NARRATOR: The device
captures critical indicators

such as airspeed, altitude

and the position of
key flight controls.

NTSB INVESTIGATOR:
Can you blow this up?

NARRATOR:
Almost immediately, they
come across something puzzling.

NTSB INVESTIGATOR: Look at that.

NARRATOR: The data shows
that seconds before impact,

the airspeed inexplicably
begins to fluctuate.

NTSB INVESTIGATOR: The
airspeed's all over the place.

FO. HAYES: Ugh.
That's 10 knots right there.

NARRATOR: First, it
falls by ten knots.

FO. HAYES: Whoa.

NARRATOR: Then it
increases by thirty knots.

CAPT. GREENLEE:
Okay. You're plus 20.

JOHN: You could see
the change on the airplane

because the
airspeed started jumping.

NARRATOR: Airspeed is
the speed on an aircraft

relative to the air
it's flying through.

If the plane encounters
a tailwind, airspeed drops

because the rate of airflow
over the wings decreases.

A headwind has the opposite
effect, increasing airspeed

by accelerating the
airflow over the wings.

GREG: What happens is you
have a performance increase

because you're
flying into a headwind.

NTSB INVESTIGATOR: Maybe the
wind brought this plane down.

NARRATOR: Could
strong winds be the culprit?

NTSB INVESTIGATOR:
Where's that airport map?

To answer that question,
investigators will need

precise wind data from
the time of the crash.

NTSB INVESTIGATOR:
Yeah, thank you.

NARRATOR: Like dozens
of other US airports...

NTSB INVESTIGATOR: One here.

NARRATOR: ...
Charlotte Airport is equipped

with a system of
special wind sensors.

NTSB INVESTIGATOR:
One here. One here. Here.
Here. And here. Six in total.

JOHN: The low level wind
shear alert system is a number

of anemometers, wind speed
and direction sensors, that

are placed in various places
around and near the airport.

And they compare the winds
at one part of the airport

with winds at another part.

NTSB INVESTIGATOR: Okay. Run it.

NARRATOR: Investigators
hope the combined data

from all six sensors at
Charlotte Airport will tell them

just how dangerous the winds
were on the day of the crash.

JOHN: There was light wind
which was not at all severe.

NARRATOR: They
discover that top wind speeds

were not very high that day.

NTSB INVESTIGATOR: Wait a
second. Look at that wind.

It's blowing all over the place.

NARRATOR:
But the changes in wind speed
and direction were extreme.

NTSB INVESTIGATOR: Look at that.

NARRATOR: Less than two
minutes before the accident,

four of the six sensors
signaled a weather event

known as wind shear.

Wind shear is a sudden shift
in wind direction and velocity

that can cause a
plane's airspeed

to become dangerously erratic.

FRED: What makes the wind
shear events near the airports

at low levels very hazardous is

because the aircraft
coming in for landing

have very low airspeeds
and are close to the ground.

So there's not
much room for managing

the energy state
of the aircraft.

NARRATOR:
Investigators may finally
be close to a breakthrough.

NTSB INVESTIGATOR:
Let's get this data to NASA,
see what they make of it.

NARRATOR: But they won't
know if it was wind shear

that brought down the DC-9

until experts analyze
the weather data in detail.

♪ ♪

NASA meteorologist Fred
Proctor gets the assignment.

♪ ♪

FRED: I was asked by the
NTSB to help them understand

what happened in this event

and whether or not wind shear
was a factor in the accident.

FRED: Okay, let's see
what the data tells us.

Adding temperature. Humidity.

NARRATOR: Using a weather
simulator, Proctor enters

the airport wind data,
along with other key variables.

FRED: I used a model
that I had developed earlier

and used in wind shear studies

to recreate the thunderstorm
that occurred on that day.

FRED: That should be it. Let's
check out this simulation.

FRED: And so from there
I began to piece together

or reconstruct
the accident event.

NARRATOR: The simulation renders
the forces within the storm

in precise detail.

FRED: That's incredible.

NARRATOR: Proctor
makes a startling discovery.

The DC-9 didn't just
encounter wind shear.

It flew into
something even more deadly.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
NASA meteorologist Fred Proctor
now has the complete picture

of the violent weather event
that blindsided US Air 1016.

FRED: That's no wind
shear. That's a microburst.

FRED: A microburst is a
strong low-level downdraft

that spreads out at the ground

and creates strong
low level wind shear.

NARRATOR: The microburst
downdraft hits the ground

with tremendous force,
spreading out in all directions

and creating wind shear.

JOHN: You can think of it as
suspending a cold block of air

like an anvil and then pulling
that support out from under it.

When it starts down
it has enormous force.

FRED: When you hit the shear
it's like you're coming to

the top of a roller coaster.

And then it's like
the bottom drops out.

NARRATOR: It has long been known
that these powerful downdrafts

can be lethal for aircraft
during takeoff or landing.

GREG:
There were a number of accidents
in the '60s and in the '70s

that were
attributed to a microburst

or wind-shear type environment.

We just didn't know
what to call it then.

We hadn't had a
lot of information.

Nobody really studied it.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: In 1985, a
microburst caused the crash

of Delta Airlines Flight
191 at Dallas/Fort Worth.

One hundred and
thirty-five people died,

spurring a major effort to
find ways to reduce the threat.

JOHN: Following Delta 191,
NASA and a number of people

within the industry
started to study thunderstorms

and this microburst, and they
found that the microbursts were

far more prevalent and numerous
than previously thought.

NARRATOR: The NASA simulation
not only confirms that

the DC-9 was hit by a
microburst, it reveals that

it was one of the most powerful
researchers have ever seen.

FRED: This wind shear event
would have been in the top 1%

of most intense microbursts
that we had looked at.

I've only seen
maybe one or two cases

where microburst wind
shear was actually stronger.

NARRATOR: Investigators
now know that it was

an extreme microburst
that brought down Flight 1016.

But their
questioning doesn't end there.

CAPT. GREENLEE: Firewall power!

NARRATOR: They also
know that pilots are trained

to deal with such events.

JOHN: If you do find yourself in
a microburst, what do you do?

Max power. Get as much lift
out of the wings as you can.

Try to keep it flying because

you'll be through
it fairly quickly.

NARRATOR: Why weren't
the pilots of Flight 1016

able to recover
and avoid disaster?

The NTSB gathers pilot
training materials from US Air

in the hope of
answering that question.

GREG: Those pilots had
been trained in the simulator

to a variety of
different types of scenarios

that were based on accidents
and incidents in the past.

BARRY: And at this
point crews had been trained.

In the event that they
encounter a microburst they

were trained to traverse them
safely and get out of there.

NARRATOR: Investigators learn
that US Air trains its pilots

to do two things in
the event of a microburst:

apply firewall power and
raise the nose into a climb.

GREG: If you're gonna do
this wind shear environment

escape maneuver, you go
full power and nose up.

You get maximum performance to
fly through this environment.

NARRATOR:
But did the pilots even know
there was a risk of wind shear?

NTSB INVESTIGATOR:
We need to know what was
going on in that cockpit.

Ready? Okay, let's hear it.

CAPT. GREENLEE:
Ladies and gentlemen,
we're 40 miles from Charlotte.

NARRATOR: Flight 1016's
cockpit voice recording

is the investigators' best
hope of finding an answer.

FO. HAYES: There's more rain out
there than I thought there was.

CAPT. GREENLEE:
It looks like it's hitting just
off the edge of the airport.

NARRATOR: The
recording reveals that the crew

saw the storm
forming over the airport.

The pilots were
confident they could handle it.

CAPT. GREENLEE: If
we have to bail out,

it looks like we'll
bail out to the right.

FO. HAYES: Amen.

CAPT. GREENLEE: So I
think we should be all right.

Chance of shear. Heads up.

FO. HAYES: Roger that.

NARRATOR:
Captain Greenlee not only
knew wind shear was possible,

he was ready with
a plan of action.

BARRY: And they were fully
prepared to abort the landing,

perform what's
called a missed approach

should the weather
deteriorate at any point

before they touch down.

NARRATOR:
Investigators also discover
that when the microburst hit,

the pilots initially
did the right thing.

CAPT. GREENLEE: Max power.
FO. HAYES: Max power.

JOHN: They initiated a
normal missed approach

and started to accelerate,
pitched the nose up, increased

the power on the engines,
a normal routine go-around.

CAPT. GREENLEE: Max power.

NARRATOR: But as
they continue listening,

they hear something
completely unexpected.

CAPT. GREENLEE:
Down! Push it down!

NTSB INVESTIGATOR:
Wait, stop the tape. Does
he just say, push it down?

Play it again.

GREG: When we heard the
captain say down, push it down,

we replayed that
statement a dozen times

trying to put it in context
as to, did he really say that,

and what did he mean by that?

ROBERT: Flaps to 15.

CAPT. GREENLEE:
Down. Push it down.

NARRATOR: Based on their
training, they should keep

the plane's nose up to climb.

But the captain tells his
first officer to drop the nose.

CAPT. GREENLEE:
Down! Push it down.

BARRY: We were all
surprised when that came out.

None of us were expecting that.

It goes against what
pilots are supposed to do

in a wind shear escape maneuver.

GWPS: Terrain. Terrain.

GREG: If he didn't
push the nose over,

they wouldn't have
flown into the ground.

GWPS: Terrain. Terrain. Terrain.

CAPT. GREENLEE:
Ugh. Firewall power!

GWPS: Terrain. Terrain.

♪ ♪

NTSB INVESTIGATOR:
What was he thinking?

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: Investigators
return to the US Air pilots,

hoping to learn why they didn't
keep the plane's nose up

as they were trained to do.

NTSB INVESTIGATOR:
Hey. Good to see you.

Listen, I need your
help with one thing

I just can't understand.

Why did the captain
decide to push the nose down?

FO. HAYES: I, I
don't really remember.

FO. HAYES:
I'm not sure if I have a
clear recollection of that,

of him saying that or if it was,

or if I just
remember listening to it

on the cockpit voice recorder.

All I remember is that
we were losing airspeed.

We could have stalled.

BARRY: They were
re-interviewed about that,

why the captain called for that.

And I don't believe
that we got an answer,

though that explained it.

GREG: And when we
showed them the data,

and we let the
captain and the first officer

listen to the
cockpit voice recorder.

It's like, that's you.
Why'd you say that? Don't know.

NTSB INVESTIGATOR:
Okay. Well thanks again.

JOHN: Trying to get
precise information from them

in an interview
proved to be pretty hard,

not because they were
withholding anything;

just because humans don't
always remember great detail

under high-stress events.

NTSB INVESTIGATOR:
Next slide, please.

NARRATOR: Investigators
can only speculate

about why the
captain reacted as he did.

NTSB INVESTIGATOR: And
the next slide, please.

NARRATOR: It suggests
he fell into the grip

of a deadly
phenomenon that aviators call

spatial disorientation.

GREG: How we maintain
our orientation in space

is with our feet on the ground,
basically the force of gravity,

and the fluid in our inner
ear and primarily our eyes.

So when you look out at the
horizon you know what is up,

what is down.

FO. HAYES: Whoa.

CAPT. GREENLEE: Okay,
you're plus 20. Take it around.

Go to the right. US
Air 1016's on the go.

NARRATOR: In flight,
extreme changes in speed,

direction and altitude create
physical forces on the body

that can confuse the senses.

This may cause the
pilot to lose track

of the plane's orientation.

GREG: What happens
with pilots is that

during the course of
acceleration and deceleration

the fluid in their
inner ear starts to move.

CAPT. GREENLEE:
Down! Push it down!

GREG: And so your
body will fool you,

because all you have is
basically the body sensation.

NTSB INVESTIGATOR: He's
coming in for his landing

and he gets hit
by the thunderstorm.

So he decides to
do a missed approach.

But just as they're climbing,

the microburst pushes the plane
down. It slows the airspeed.

Now the captain
believes that the plane is

about to stall and
that they're pointed up.

JOHN: And a stall
that close to the ground

would have been catastrophic.

NTSB INVESTIGATOR: But in
reality they're nearly level.

So he tells the first
officer to push the plane down.

CAPT. GREENLEE:
Down! Push it down!

NARRATOR: For
Captain Greenlee...

CAPT. GREENLEE: Firewall power!

NARRATOR: ... it would
have felt like the DC-9

was in a
dangerously steep climb,

a false sensation
called somatogravic illusion.

GREG: The somatogravic illusion

is a very
disconcerting illusion because

your body
sensations can trick you.

He thought, we're
pitching too fast,

when in fact it was perfect.

JOHN: Had they been able to
just sustain the flight for

another thirty seconds, they'd
have been out the backside.

NARRATOR: In their final
report, investigators highlight

the need for
prompt weather updates

whenever there's a
risk of thunderstorms.

They also call on the
FAA to make sure that

controllers are
displaying the highest level

of precipitation intensity
on their radar screens

and relaying that
information to flight crews.

Finally, since the
Flight 1016 tragedy,

a more sophisticated type
of radar called Doppler radar

has become standard
equipment at most airports

and on board many aircraft.

GREG: You can see the
intensities of the wind,

the vertical and the
horizontal velocities.

That's great information.

JOHN: They have predictive
wind shear, and so it can

actually look and predict
before the airplane arrives

so that you get a
much earlier warning.

FRED: Because of our increased
understanding of wind shear

and the development of new
technologies, there has not been

a case in the United
States of a wind shear accident

since the Charlotte event.

NARRATOR: Both Mike
Greenlee and Phil Hayes

resumed their flying careers,
eventually becoming pilots

for American Airlines

when American merged
with US Airways in 2013.

As for flight
attendant Richard DeMary,

his brave actions in
the immediate aftermath

of the Flight 1016 crash earned
him no fewer than five awards,

including the US
Department of Transportation's

Award for Heroism.

RICHARD: I
believe that while I was

the individual in the event,
the awards really represent

a recognition of the
flight attendant profession,

and that flight attendants play
a role of extreme importance

on each and every flight.