All language subtitles for Air Disasters S17E08 Pitch Black 1080p PMTP WEB-DL AAC2 0 H 264_track3_[eng]

NARRATOR: After losing
their electric generators--

OK, beacons off.

NARRATOR: The pilots of
Air Illinois flight 710

shut down one
system after another

to conserve their battery power.

It was probably
the most sickening

feeling for both of them.

NARRATOR: But efforts
proved futile.

All the passengers
and crew are killed.

NTSB investigators examine the
plane's electrical components

for clues.

There was no short circuit.

What about the batteries?

No signs of arcing.

NARRATOR: The cockpit
voice recording

raises more questions.

Are you using
these lights here?

I'll get that one down.

Well, they're doing
the right thing, turning

things off to reduce the load.

So what happened?

You got a flashlight?

Yep.

CREW (ON RADIO): Mayday, mayday.

NARRATOR: Air
Illinois flight 710

departs from capital airport
in Springfield, Illinois.

Gear up.

NARRATOR: 32-year-old Captain
Lester Smith has been with Air

Illinois almost five years.

He's one of its most
experienced pilots.

Gear is up.

NARRATOR: First Officer Frank
Tudor has been with the airline

for three years.

He's considered one of
its top first officers.

1,000 feet.

The pilots are flying
a Hawker Siddeley 748.

The rugged turboprop is designed
to land on shorter runways.

DAVE MINTY: These
Hawker Siddeley 748

was one of a number of aircraft
built to replace the DC3

as a commuter slash cargo
slash military-type aircraft

but primarily used as
a commuter aircraft.

NARRATOR: It's the ideal
plane for a regional airline

that connects big cities
to small towns in Illinois.

Illinois 710,
radar identified.

Continue to 3,000 feet,
clear to Carbondale.

TUDOR: Illinois 710, 3,000
feet cleared for Carbondale.

Thank you and good night.

Heading 175.

NARRATOR: Less than two
minutes after takeoff--

It's the generator again.

NARRATOR: A generator
warning light comes on.

The aircraft is equipped with
two nine-kilowatt generators

that supply power to the battery
banks and electrical systems.

One of the generators
has failed.

Isolating it now.

NARRATOR: The first officer
disconnects the right generator

to protect the rest of the
aircraft's electrical system.

SHAWN PRUCHNICKI: When
something like this

happens and you have
a generator failure,

one of the most
important steps is

to disconnect that
generator from the system

as quickly as possible.

Jeanene Urban is a
former Air Illinois

pilot who landed the
pain in Springfield

three hours earlier.

JEANENE URBAN: The
generators are each

rated to be able to
carry the entire load,

so if one generator
goes down, you can

continue to your destination.

It is not an emergency.

NARRATOR: Tonight's
40-minute flight

is taking seven passengers
146 miles from Springfield

to Carbondale, Illinois.

Springfield, Illinois
710, we've experienced

a slight electrical problem.

We'll keep you advised.

Illinois 710, do you intend
to return to Springfield.

SMITH: Negative.

Continuing to
Carbondale, 3,000 feet.

NARRATOR: The
captain decides it's

safe to continue the flight.

I understand you are
continuing to Carbondale.

Roger.

NARRATOR: There's dense
cloud cover this evening.

JEANENE URBAN: The
conditions at Carbondale

were what is called IFR,
instrument flight rules.

They would have been
operating in the clouds,

needed their instruments to
be able to fly the airplane.

DAVE MINTY: They were flying
into deteriorating weather

conditions.

It's something that
every airline pilot

is trained to handle,
but it doesn't

give you much room for error.

NARRATOR: Four
minutes after takeoff,

the first officer checks the
status of the generators.

Zero voltage in
amps on the left side.

NARRATOR: He discovers that
the left generator is dead.

TUDOR: The right generator's
putting out 27.5 volts.

NARRATOR: The right generator
now appears to be working,

but the first officer
is unable to reconnect

it to the electrical system.

Can't get it to come online.

NARRATOR: The right
generator is as good as dead.

DAVE MINTY: With
both generators out,

all the systems are
feeding off the batteries

instead of the generators.

It's not a good situation.

NARRATOR: The aircraft has
four nickel cadmium batteries.

With no generators,
the batteries

are now powering
lights, instruments,

navigational equipment,
and everything

in the passenger cabin.

How were the bats there?

We're down to 22.5 volts.

SHAWN PRUCHNICKI: So now that
we're operating on only battery

power, the primary problem is
that the batteries are only

designed to operate
for about 30 minutes

under the best case scenario.

NARRATOR: Illinois 710 is now
32 minutes from its destination.

If they don't reduce the
drain on the batteries,

it will be almost impossible
to land without lights,

instruments, or a radio.

OK, beacons off.

OK.

SMITH: Nav lights are off.

Are you using these lights here?

I'll get that one down.

NARRATOR: The pilots quickly
shut down nonessential systems.

JEANENE URBAN: The sooner they
start shutting things down,

the longer the battery
is going to last.

How are the batteries?

Pretty good.

We're at 21.5.

NARRATOR: The efforts
to conserve battery

power seem to be paying off.

Should last to Carbondale.

Yeah.

NARRATOR: Midway to
their destination,

the weather deteriorates.

JEANENE URBAN: The weather
that Frank and Les encountered

trying to get down
to Carbondale was

much stormier than Springfield.

There were level two
and three thunderstorms.

Want me to tune in
to cabby real quick?

Sure.

Not gonna use that much power.

NARRATOR: 45 miles from
Carbondale, the crew

tunes into a signal that will
provide a precise bearing

to the airport.

Meanwhile, air traffic
control transfers

the flight to the
approach frequency

for Southern Illinois.

Air Illinois flight
710, contact Kansas

City center on frequency 125.3.

25.3, Roger.

Air Illinois 710.

They were getting
close to the airport,

and that approach control
facility would have lined them

up for an instrument approach.

NARRATOR: After contacting
approach control,

the situation worsens.

I don't know if we have
enough juice to get out of this.

NARRATOR: The radios and
transponder on flight 710

have shut down.

The pilots are now on their own.

Illinois 710, I've
lost radar contact.

NARRATOR: Flight 710
has disappeared from air

traffic control's radar.

Illinois 710, Kansas City.

They had no capability
at this point to like help.

It was probably
the most sickening

feeling for both of them
that you or I could imagine.

Watch my altitude.

Going down to 2,400 feet.

NARRATOR: Concerned their
instruments are about to fail,

the captain attempts to
get below the clouds.

JEANENE URBAN: He
was desperately

hoping that he could
see the airport

beacon or some runway lights
and land that airplane visually.

DAVE MINTY: Just eight
minutes from landing--

SMITH: You got a flashlight?

Yeah.

NARRATOR: The batteries
are almost depleted.

Here we go.

You want to shine it up here.

Trying to illuminate the
instruments with a flashlight

in a dark cockpit,
that is very abnormal,

and is he pointing it at an
instrument that's functioning

or one that's not?

We're losing everything
down to 13 volts.

Watch my altitude, Frank.

JEANENE URBAN: It would have
been a total panic situation

and realizing that they
were out of options.

OK, 2,400.

NARRATOR: Rapidly
losing electrical power

and operating in total darkness,
the pilots of Illinois flight

710 desperately try
to land their plane.

DAVE MINTY: The conditions
Carbondale were such

that one mile
visibility in light rain

and fog, his chances of seeing
anything were minimal at best.

Do you have any instruments?

Do you have a horizon?

DAVE MINTY: They're
in a dark cockpit.

Instruments are failing.

They can't see anything outside.

They were now into a
critical emergency.

TUDOR: OK, you're
banking left six degrees.

OK, correcting to the right.

A little more.

Illinois 710, Kansas
City, do you read?

DAVE MINTY: I would be very
surprised that they knew

that they were going to hit.

I would be very surprised
they saw the ground at all.

NARRATOR: Air Illinois flight
710 crashes 25 miles north

of Carbondale airport.

The wreckage is
scattered across farmland

near the town of Pinckneyville.

All seven passengers and
three crew members are dead.

The National Transportation
Safety Board, or NTSB,

begins an investigation
to determine

what happened to flight 710.

Let's see what we got here.

NARRATOR: They begin by
reviewing the debris pattern.

That's a half a mile long
and roughly 200 feet wide.

NARRATOR: Investigators get a
sense of the vast impact area,

which extends across
two small wooded areas,

a field, and a pond.

They came in at
a shallow angle.

RON SCHLEEDE: The wreckage
pattern gave us the idea

that this was a fairly
high speed, low angle

impact to be able to
spread the wreckage

like this over a half a mile.

First point of impact
is right here with ground

scars and debris heading north.

Carbondale airport is
25 miles to the south.

NARRATOR: Investigators
determined

that at the time of
the crash, flight

710 was flying in the opposite
direction to its destination.

ROBERT WATSON: With the aircraft
traveling the way it was

at that speed and in
a wrong direction,

it made us wonder was
the aircraft actually

under control.

So first ground scar
here followed by a few

more and then 200 feet in front
of that, the right wing tip.

NARRATOR: Near the
first impact marks,

investigators discover
fragments of a green navigation

light from the plane's
right wing tip.

It was banked to the right
when it hit the ground.

RON SCHLEEDE: We had
the right wing tip.

We knew that was the first
thing to hit the ground,

and we could measure
approximately 30 degree right

bank.

Did the crew report any
issues to air traffic control?

Yeah, they did.

Springfield, Illinois
710, we have experienced

a slight electrical problem.

We'll keep you advised.

NARRATOR: Investigators learned
that 90 seconds after taking

off from Springfield, the crew
reported an electrical problem.

Anything else?

That's it, just the
electrical problem.

We'll need to take
a good look at all

the electrical components.

RON SCHLEEDE: The pilot reported
a slight electrical problem,

and it was up to us to figure
out what his problem was

and why they crashed.

Is this everything?

NARRATOR: Investigators
examine electrical components

for evidence of malfunctions.

The wires are clean.

There's no short circuit.

This inverter's in bad shape.

Hard to tell if they
were working or not.

What about the batteries?

NARRATOR: Four NiCad batteries
are powered by two generators.

Each battery contains 18
individual battery cells.

No signs of arcing or short
circuit as a result of impact.

ROBERT WATSON: We were able
to recover a total of 10 cells

from the batteries, and they
were all in decent shape.

Well, let's see if
they can hold a charge.

NARRATOR: Under
normal conditions,

the battery should
be fully charged.

Wow, they're dead.

ROBERT WATSON: The batters
are able to hold a charge,

but for some reason,
they were run down.

NARRATOR: Did the
generators malfunction

and fail to charge
the batteries?

Now the left generator.

NARRATOR: Aircraft
engines power a generator

shaft to rotate a metal
core wrapped in copper coil.

This is known as an armature.

The armature spins rapidly
between the poles of a magnet

to generate electricity.

Banding wire's come off.

NARRATOR: Banding
wire is used to hold

the armature together as it
spins inside the assembly.

If the banding wire comes
loose, the armature could jam.

The soldering is melted.

The motor must have overheated.

NARRATOR: Investigators
discover evidence

that the left generator failed.

This happened
before the crash.

ROBERT WATSON: We
know that there was

no fire on the aircraft, so
we believe that the solder

melted due to internal heating.

But we don't know why.

NARRATOR: They then inspect
the right generator.

Well, the banding
wire's intact on this one.

Looks fine.

ROBERT WATSON: We did a
resistance test, checked

the brushes, and we looked at
all the mechanical workings

of the generator.

We were not able to find any
reason why the right generator

would not charge the batteries.

How did they crash with
four working batteries

and one working generator?

RON SCHLEEDE: From
examination of the wreckage,

we were not able to find
any reason for the accident.

We were hoping that the voice
recorder would give us clues

as to what really happened.

The recording starts around
four minutes after takeoff.

NARRATOR: Investigators turn
to flight 710's cockpit voice

recorder to determine
how an aircraft

with one functioning
generator crashed

short of its destination.

Zero voltage and
amps on the left side.

Just like we suspected.

NARRATOR: The CVR
recording confirms

that the left generator
failed shortly after takeoff.

The right generator's
putting out 27.5 volts,

but I can't get
it to come online.

NARRATOR: Investigators
can't understand

why the right generator
was disconnected

from the electrical system
if it was operational.

Then they hear an
astonishing statement

from the first officer
to the captain.

TUDOR: When we
lost the left one,

I reached up and shut
off the right generator

because I assumed the
problem was the right side.

Isolating it now.

NARRATOR: There are two shutoff
switches for the generators,

one for the left generator
and one for the right.

The first officer
disconnects the right one

to protect the rest of the
aircraft's electrical system,

but he soon realizes that
it's the left one that

has the issue, not the right.

Why doesn't he
just reconnect it?

He tries, but it doesn't work.

ROBERT WATSON: The
right generator

was not charging the battery
so that we know all they had

to power the aircraft was the
charge remaining on the battery

shortly after takeoff.

Maybe there was a problem
with the switching unit?

ROBERT WATSON: If the generator
switching unit is not working,

then the generator will
not come back online.

So we were quite
interested in learning what

we could about this component.

It's in pretty rough shape.

NARRATOR: Looking for
signs of a malfunction,

investigators examine the
right generator control switch.

I can't tell 100%.

It's possible it failed
before the crash.

ROBERT WATSON: The
switching unit was

heavily damaged from the crash.

We were not able to determine
if that's even why the generator

would not come online.

Even if the switch
was broken, it doesn't

explain the pilot's actions.

The first officer says
I assumed the problem

was with the right side.

Why would he assume
something like that?

ROBERT WATSON: Made
us wonder if there

was a problem with that
generator in the past.

Take a look at these
maintenance reports.

NARRATOR: The team
reviews the maintenance

records for the Hawker
Siddeley's generators.

Check it out.

No less than eight separate
pilot complaints and repairs

on the right generator.

There were voltage
fluctuations and recurring

problems at the regulator.

Causing the right
generator shut down.

NARRATOR: Two weeks
before the crash,

there were issues with a right
generator almost every day.

RON SCHLEEDE: They
were doing maintenance,

they were troubleshooting
it, they were changing parts,

and they couldn't fix it.

Air Illinois had one
Hawker Siddeley and three

flight crews flying that plane.

ROBERT WATSON: I'm
sure that they all

knew that the right generator
had had problems in the past,

and they probably
all experienced

it at one time or another.

JEANENE URBAN: The
first officer had

been on some of those flights
where the right generator

had actually disconnected.

Thank goodness I was not.

The most I ever saw it do
was flicker a time or two.

That would explain
why the first officer

disconnected the right generator
instead of the left one.

NARRATOR: Investigators
suspect that

on the night of the crash--

It's the generator again.

NARRATOR: The first officer
made the immediate assumption

that the right generator
had malfunctioned.

ROBERT WATSON: The reaction
that the first officer had

about taking the right
generator offline

probably falls into a phenomenon
that's called expectation bias.

He has experienced
this in the past

and assumed that that was
going to be the problem

without really looking
at the indications

they had available to him.

Still doesn't
explain the crash.

NARRATOR: Even though both
generators were offline,

investigators know the
aircraft's batteries

were in working order.

How are the batteries?

Pretty good.

They're at 21.5.

Should last to Carbondale.

Yeah.

ROBERT WATSON: It was
really important to know

did the batteries
have enough endurance

to get to the airport.

Let's see how they
manage their battery power.

NARRATOR: Investigators return
to the cockpit voice recorder

to determine why flight 710
ran out of battery power

before reaching Carbondale.

SMITH: How are the bats there?

We're down to 22.5 volts.

OK, beacons off.

OK.

SMITH: Nav lights are off.

NARRATOR: Just minutes after
discovering both generators

are down, the pilots turn
off nonessential systems

to save their batteries.

They were doing the
right thing turning

things off to reduce the load.

But is it enough?

According to the manufacturer,
they needed to reduce

their load to 70 amps.

NARRATOR: Amps
measure the strength

of an electrical current.

The more amps
drawn on a battery,

the faster the battery
will discharge.

ROBERT WATSON: If the crew would
have reduced the load to 70

amps, that would have
given them a minimum

of 30 minutes of endurance.

That might have been
enough time to get

them to the Carbondale airport.

Let's see if they got
their load down to 70 amps.

Well, we know they
turned off the beacons,

navigation lights--

NARRATOR: Investigators make
an inventory of the instruments

the crew turned
off and what they

left on in order to calculate
the load on the batteries.

What else?

SMITH: Are you using
these lights here?

TUDOR: I'll get that one down.

RON SCHLEEDE: We were
not able to determine

what was powered up or on or off
based on the flight recorder.

TUDOR: Should last
the Carbondale.

RON SCHLEEDE: So we had to
rely on the conversations

between the two pilots what to
leave on and what to turn off.

Want me to tune
into cabby real quick?

Sure.

Not gonna use that much power.

The DME instruments, weather
radar, main cabin lights, one

of the main radios, cooling
fan, and the transponder.

RON SCHLEEDE: The weather
radar and the radios

draw a lot of power, and
so shedding those if you

can is a prudent thing to do.

Looks like they kept the rest
of the flight instruments on

and that's it.

They used 110 amps.

NARRATOR: Investigators
discover the crew

did not properly reduce the
draw on their batteries.

No wonder they didn't
make it to Carbondale.

SHAWN PRUCHNICKI: This
importance with load shedding

and getting down to 70 amps
seems to be lost on the crew

as there seems to be no
discussion whatsoever

about amperage to
determine if their changes

in the electrical
system were actually

making a difference in the
longevity of the batteries.

NARRATOR: So why did the pilots
believe they had enough power

to reach their destination?

The team checks to see
how the pilots monitored

the state of their batteries.

It says here fully charged,
the batteries are 24 volts.

Let's see how they did.

SMITH: How are the bats there?

We're down to 22.5 volts.

Eight minutes into the
flight, they used up 1.5 volts.

Seven minutes later--

SMITH: How are the batteries?

Pretty good.

We're at 21.5.

The battery charge drops
another volt to 21.5.

The first officer
says the battery

should last to Carbondale.

They're halfway through the
flight, he's feeling good.

And then nine minutes
later, he checks again.

It's 20 volts.

So they think they're
doing all right.

And then minutes later,
the radios go dead.

We're losing everything
down to 13 volts.

SHAWN PRUCHNICKI: They're
talking about having 20 volts,

and then they all of a
sudden, they have 13 volts.

So they're
monitoring the volts,

but it's as if the sudden
drop caught them by surprise.

SHAWN PRUCHNICKI: The reason
this is significant is

because NiCad
batteries will maintain

their voltage almost
right until the end

that the batteries are dead.

Much different
than lead acid type

batteries, which
is where you see

a gradual decline in voltage.

NARRATOR: That characteristic
of NiCad batteries

may explain why there
was such a sudden drop

in the battery voltage.

I don't know if we have
enough juice to get out of this.

ROBERT WATSON: If they would
have known the characteristic

of a NiCad battery, it might
have sent them a message

saying we better
get on this right

away and get this load reduced.

NARRATOR: Investigators
find another reason why

the crew may have missed how
fast their batteries were

discharging.

They never
mentioned their amps.

Looks like the only thing
they monitored were the volts.

NARRATOR: Volts measure the
potential output of a battery,

not how long it will last.

Amps tell you how much
electricity is being drawn.

ROBERT WATSON: It was very
surprising that they weren't

monitoring the
amperage because that

was going to tell them
how much longer they

had on the batteries.

NARRATOR: Did the crew have
the proper training to monitor

the endurance of the batteries?

Investigators interview
other Air Illinois pilots--

So what'd you find out.

NARRATOR: To determine
their ability

to monitor and calculate
battery endurance.

Well, we know that they're all
trained on battery management

for a dual generator problem.

But when I asked them how long
they thought the batteries

would have lasted on the flight,
some calculated 30 minutes,

others less than an hour.

Five pilots gave us
five different answers,

and they were not all correct.

ROBERT WATSON: It
became obvious to us

there was definitely a
training issue involved here.

Are you using
these lights here?

I'll get that one down.

NARRATOR: The lack of training
explains why the pilots thought

they had enough power
to reach Carbondale,

but that doesn't solve
a bigger mystery.

This is their flight path.

NARRATOR: Why didn't
the pilots land the pain

at another airport
before completely

running out of battery power?

1, 2, 3, 4, 5
different airports.

They were only five minutes
away from Springfield,

yet they elected to go
40 minutes to Carbondale.

And there were several airports
in between that they missed.

They could have landed
any time along the way.

NARRATOR: Their
decision not to land

calls the pilots'
judgment into question.

It's time to look
into their backgrounds.

Here's the captain's file.

NARRATOR: Investigators dig into
the backgrounds of flight 710's

pilots for clues that explain
their unusual reaction

to an electrical failure.

The captain was
perfectly qualified.

Same with the FO.

Gear up.

NARRATOR: The two pilots were
among the most experienced

flight crew in the roster--

Gear is up.

NARRATOR: With a combined
5,000 flying hours between them

on the Hawker Siddeley.

Here's something.

The captain lived in Carbondale.

Maybe he wanted to get home.

SHAWN PRUCHNICKI:
In aviation, what we

describe as get home itis
is when we try to make it

to the destination because of
our strong desire to do so,

and it plays a significant
role in our decision making.

NARRATOR: Investigators
talk to other pilots

at the company including
first officer Jeanene Urban.

How well did you
know the pilots?

I flew with the captain,
and I was good friends

with the first officer.

JEANENE URBAN: I
thought very highly

of the first officer Frank.

I knew the flight attendant
Barbie and liked her a lot.

It was a very emotional thing
to hear that both of them

had been killed.

What sort of pilot
was the captain?

I'd say average.

ROBERT WATSON: In the aviation
community, when someone is

characterized as
an average pilot,

that usually means
he's not too good.

Why is that?

The captain really
prided himself

on getting there on time.

JEANENE URBAN: It was not
uncommon for him to take risks.

Looks like we've
got some weather.

Shall I call for deviation?

SMITH: Doesn't look too bad.

We'll be fine.

NARRATOR: According to
Air Illinois pilots,

the captain would
often fly too close

or through dangerous
storms to save flight time.

JEANENE URBAN: If I made
any comments or suggestions

about a safety issue like the
thunderstorms or anything else,

he would do something
spiteful just to prove

that he was the captain.

In order to keep schedule,
he'd also speed up, which would

set off the overspeed alarm.

Pull the circuit
breaker, would you?

What?

Really?

NARRATOR: Pilots
said he would order

them to disable the
overspeed warning

so that they could fly faster.

It was always about
getting there faster.

NARRATOR: The captain's
behavior is troublesome.

RON SCHLEEDE: We wanted to know
if the company, the airline,

was putting undue
pressure on the pilots

to make the schedule.

This pressure to get there on
time, was it from management?

No.

It was all the captain.

The interviews
with the other pilots

indicated that there
was no undue pressure

to skirt the rules.

In the case of the captain,
that pressure was self imposed.

NARRATOR: Investigators
conclude that Captain Smith

often stretched the rules.

And what about
the first officer?

Frank was the best.

And he knew the plane and
its systems really well.

NARRATOR: So why didn't
the first officer

speak up when Captain Smith
made the decision to carry on.

DISPATCH: Air Illinois
710, do you intend

to return to Springfield?

Negative continuing to
Carbondale, 3,000 feet.

ROBERT WATSON:
And at no time did

we hear the first
officer challenge

the captain's decision
to go on to Carbondale.

We found this very perplexing.

I asked how he could
fly with the captain

because he took
so many chances--

JEANENE URBAN: And
he said, oh, I just

try to keep an eye
on the situation

and not let him get
us into anything

that I can't get us out of.

We're losing everything
down to 13 volts.

Watch my altitude, Frank.

JEANENE URBAN: Boy, that didn't
work out very well at all.

SHAWN PRUCHNICKI: The captain
should have made the decision

to return to the Springfield
airport, and if so none of this

would have happened.

Thank you.

NARRATOR: Investigators conclude
that the risk-taking captain

and an unassertive first officer
was a dangerous combination.

Let's pick it
up from where they

realize they don't have enough
power to make it to Carbondale.

NARRATOR: The team returns to
the cockpit voice recording

to see if they can
uncover why the plain

ended up so far off course.

SMITH (ON RECORDING):
Watch my altitude.

Going down to 2,400 feet.

OK.

Stop the tape.

Why would the captain decide
to drop down to 2,400 feet?

The cloud ceiling
near Carbondale

was almost 2,000
feet, so maybe he

was popping in and
out of the clouds

to see something on the ground.

Play on.

SMITH (ON RECORDING):
You got a flashlight?

Yeah.

Here we go.

You want to shine it up here.

NARRATOR: Just as the captain
tries to see the ground,

the cockpit lights
go out and plunge

them into total darkness.

We're losing everything
down to 13 volts.

Watch my altitude, Frank.

OK, 2,400.

They make it to 2,400 feet.

The captain plans to level
off, spot the runway,

and continue his descent.

But that's not what happens.

OK, you're banking
left, six degrees.

OK, correcting to the right.

ROBERT WATSON:
Just minutes later

they ended up
crashing in completely

the opposite direction.

A little more.

So the question
is what happened.

How do you go
from leveling off

at 2,400 feet to then
hitting the ground

in the opposite direction?

NARRATOR: Investigators examine
the final moments of flight 710

to determine what ultimately
brought the plane down.

How does the recording end?

NARRATOR: The recording
eerily slows down.

And then silence.

Their batteries just died.

NARRATOR: The captain is
asking for a horizon reading

on the attitude directional
indicator or ADI.

The ADI uses an
electrically-powered gyroscope

to indicate the aircraft's
pitch and roll relative

to the Earth's horizon.

SHAWN PRUCHNICKI:
It's nighttime,

no discernible horizon,
low visibility.

Your ADI is everything that
you need to be able to keep

the airplane wings level.

They've lost the lights
on their instruments.

Some of them are
starting to fail.

He asked the first officer to
shine a light on their ADI.

TUDOR: OK, you're banking
left, six degrees.

OK, correcting to the right.

NARRATOR: Investigators can
only surmise what happened next.

Even if all the
instruments had failed,

the ADI would still
look like it's working.

NARRATOR: The ADI gyroscope
spins at about 15,000 RPM.

Even after the power shuts
down, it will continue

rotating for several minutes.

So it looks like it's
working, but it really is not.

NARRATOR: As the ADI winds down,
it slowly tilts to one side.

Imagine that ADI starts
slowly falling to the left.

They correct by
rolling to the right.

OK, you're banking
left six degrees.

OK, correcting to the right.

A little more.

ROBERT WATSON: It may have
appeared to them that the ADI

was working
correctly, but they're

really banking to the
right and losing altitude.

They probably
followed that failing

ADI right into the ground.

RON SCHLEEDE: They couldn't
see where they were,

they couldn't see
any lights, and it

would be over in an instant.

NARRATOR: In their final
report, investigators

conclude that the fatal
accident was a consequence

of a captain's decision
to continue the flight

toward Carbondale
instead of returning

to the nearby departure airport
after the loss of power.

RON SCHLEEDE: The
cause of this accident

was not a catastrophic
failure that suddenly

caused the airplane to crash.

It was the decision
by the captain

to continue flight
on battery power

after they lost the generators.

NARRATOR: Also
adding to the problem

was a lack of crew
resource management or CRM.

RON SCHLEEDE: Now part of crew
resource management training

is that crews are
trained to act as a team,

and first officers are
taught and encouraged

to question the captain's
decision making and actions

if they do not agree.

JEANENE URBAN: Speak up.

Don't worry about if it
upsets somebody's ego.

It's not worth dying over.

NARRATOR: Investigators
cite inadequate crew

training to assess
battery endurance

as another contributing factor.

RON SCHLEEDE: It
should have been

discussed in their training.

It should have been in
their training materials

and in the flight manual.

NARRATOR: As a result
of this accident,

the NTSB also recommends
independently powered ADIs

on all transport airplanes.

ROBERT WATSON: So that
if all power was lost,

they still had the ability to
keep the airplane straight and

level for at least 30 minutes.

NARRATOR: This recommendation
was implemented in 1997.

Flight 710 brought
national attention

and increased scrutiny of
small commuter airlines.

Six months after the
accident, Air Illinois

filed for bankruptcy
and ceased operations.

DAVE MINTY: It's something
where we learn by our mistakes.

The first priority is the safety
of the passengers is got to be

the most important factor.