Original subtitles

FLIGHT ATTENDENT (ON INTERCOM): Ladies and gentlemen,

we are starting our approach.

We lost both engines.

MAN: Mayday.

Mayday.

FLIGHT ATTENDANT: Brace for impact!

MAN: He's gonna crash!

NARRATOR: It was just a small commuter

plane buzzing back and forth from one town to another--

a journey of 86 minutes, one of many that day.

No one could ever have imagined that it would end like this--

in drama and in death.

Yet, in 1995, two pilots with 26 passengers

aboard defied gravity for more than nine minutes

when they lost the use of a wing,

struggling home like a wounded bird.

Help me.

Help me.

Help me hold it.

Help me hold it!

Brace positions!

Keep your heads down, everyone!

Hold on!

This is gonna be rough!

NARRATOR: But when their plane makes

a miraculous crash landing with all passengers alive,

their ordeal isn't over.

What awaits them is even more horrifying.

It's getting hot in here!

Get me out!

Tell my wife.

I love her!

I have never before or since dealt

with so much physical devastation, and emotional

upheaval, and so much sorrow.

NARRATOR: Atlanta Airport in Georgia

has become one of the busiest in the world.

In 1995, it was the home of a very successful

regional airline, Atlantic Southeast,

serving the Southeastern United States

with a fleet of 83 turboprops.

Most of them were Brasilias, built

by the Brazilian firm Embraer.

The Brasilia is a high performance aircraft

with state of the art avionics and a top speed

of 378 miles per hour.

Today, after 18,000 successful flights,

this Brasilia will take off for the last time.

Take off check--

below the line I've got your lights.

NARRATOR: Captain Ed Gannaway and First

Officer Matt Warmerdam have just flown in from Macon, Georgia.

Turn the lights on.

NARRATOR: Going through the departure checklist,

they are now ready for their second flight

of the day, flight ASA 529 to Gulfport, Mississippi.

Hi.

Hi, honey.

Hi, there.

Hi.

Oh, here you are, Mom.

NARRATOR: Flight attendant Robin Fech has been with ASA

for just over two years.

Her cabin is a cramped space, only 31 feet long.

Most of her 26 passengers are seasoned business travelers,

ranging in age from 18 to 69.

Among them are six engineers, two deputy sheriffs,

a minister, two Air Force personnel, and even

an aspiring flight attendant.

For them, the short trip to Gulfport, Mississippi

is a routine journey.

But they are half an hour late on their schedule already.

OK.

Power is set.

Autofeather is armed.

NARRATOR: Captain Ed Gannaway, who's

been with ASA for seven years, comes from a family of pilots.

He's a skilled and accomplished captain.

V1.

VR.

Pause right.

Gear up.

DISPATCHER (ON RADIO): AC 529, contact departure.

Fly heading 060 now.

We'll see you.

NARRATOR: The two men have been flying

together for four months.

060, switching.

See ya.

NARRATOR: At 6'3" and 200 pounds,

Matt Warmerdam is a tight fit in the Brasilia's cramped cockpit.

I think all pilots would agree that

the Brasilia was a constant love-hate relationship.

It was, at the time, the fastest,

sleekest turboprop around.

And it was also very tricky to master.

The thing was built like a Sherman tank.

ACTOR AS MATT WARMERDAM (ON RADIO): Hey, Robin.

Hi.

It'll just be a couple more minutes like this.

It's gonna smooth out.

OK.

Just a couple more minutes and I'll be able to get up?

Yes, ma'am.

All right.

Thank you.

ACTOR AS MATT WARMERDAM (ON RADIO): See you.

NARRATOR: David McCorkell is a frequent flier

and works in the software business.

He is on his way to an important meeting.

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

Welcome aboard Atlantic Southeast

Airlines flight 529, service to Gulfport, Mississippi.

NARRATOR: Chuck Pfisterer, a nervous flier,

works for a paper company, and is

on his way to visit a new mill.

DISPATCHER (ON RADIO): AC 529, climber

maintain flat level 200.

200, AC 529.

20.

NARRATOR: The Brasilia, on autopilot,

is climbing towards its cruising altitude of 24,000 feet.

24.

24.

NARRATOR: But the plane will never make it to this altitude.

AUTOMATED VOICE: Autopilot.

Engine control.

Oil.

The sound of that was tremendous.

It was as if someone had taken a baseball bat

and hit an aluminum garbage can as hard as they could.

It was just a--

a gigantic crashing sound.

And the airplane immediately lurched to the left.

DAVID MCCORKELL: I heard a loud bang.

And that's what, you know, just shot me awake.

Not knowing really what happened, I--

I looked over and noticed everyone

looking left out the window.

CHUCK PFISTERER: What I saw was very alarming.

The outer skin of the engine had been ripped off

or, as I determined later, had peeled

back because of some force.

I could see the--

the components of the engine itself.

And I could see fluid leaving the engine

and exiting the back of the wing.

AUTOMATED VOICE: Autopilot.

NARRATOR: Warning lights and chimes go off, signaling

trouble in the left engine.

The autopilot trips off as a result,

and Gannaway takes control of the plane.

Autopilot.

Engine Control.

Oil.

NARRATOR: The plane is falling 5,500 feet a minute--

the equivalent of over 90 feet every second.

Oil from the destroyed engine is seeping

into the air conditioning pack, bringing smoke into the cabin.

AUTOMATED VOICE: Autopilot.

Engine control.

Pack off.

We've got the left engine out.

Left power lever, flight idle.

NARRATOR: Unaware that the left engine is destroyed,

the pilot tries to adjust its propeller

to improve the plane's lift.

Left condition lever.

Left condition lever, feather.

NARRATOR: Warmerdam attempts to feather the propeller, which

means changing the angle of the blades

in order to minimize air resistance.

The warning light indicates fire in the left engine.

Left condition lever, fuel shut off.

NARRATOR: No matter what Gannaway

does, the plane is still pulling violently to the left.

He struggles to counteract it by pushing hard to the right,

using both rudder and control column.

I need some help here.

I need some help on this!

NARRATOR: The force of the crippled wing pulling

to the left is relentless.

Without the efforts of the pilots

to keep the plane stable, it would

roll into a spin and spiral down into the ground,

killing everyone on board.

Captain Gannaway is confused.

Feathering the propeller has not reduced the drag.

He's so preoccupied with handling the emergency,

he hasn't looked over his shoulder at the damaged engine

yet.

You said it's feathered?

I did feather.

What the hell is wrong with this thing?

I don't know.

NARRATOR: For now, the pilots are focused on the plane's

vital statistics-- heading, altitude, speed, and the power

setting of its one good engine.

Well, these planes were designed

to fly with one engine.

Let's close these.

Oh, sir, you don't need to be looking at that.

CHUCK PFISTERER: My reaction was, the hell with you.

If I want to look out the window,

I'm going to look out the window.

Because these are the last moments of my life.

Whoa.

It's all right.

That's just what turbulence feels like with one engine.

ACTOR AS CHUCK PFISTERER: Are we gonna make it?

ACTOR AS ROBIN FECH: Oh, sir, of course we're gonna make it.

We're not gonna make it.

CHUCK PFISTERER: What was important

wasn't the conversation between the two of us.

I think that it was what was in our eyes.

I think that she knew that I knew that this was

a huge problem, and that it probably

wasn't going to be something that was

going to end without tragedy.

AUTOMATED VOICE: Autopilot.

NARRATOR: The pilots of ASA 529 have slowed the plane's

catastrophic rate of descent.

But their airspeed has actually increased.

I can't hold this thing.

NARRATOR: Captain Gannaway has flown

to Brasilia on one engine before and landed it

without difficulty.

This plane has something very wrong.

Atlanta Center, AC 529 declaring an emergency.

We've had an engine failure.

We're out of 14-2 at this time.

AC 529, Roger.

Left turn, direct Atlanta.

NARRATOR: Flight 529, now flying over Alabama,

makes a left turn back towards Atlanta.

But the airport is almost 58 miles away.

Will they make it?

The plane has begun to descend again, and at breakneck speed.

Warmerdam cancels the master caution warning, finally

silencing the plane's alarms.

Captain Gannaway experiments with his controls,

trying everything.

Suddenly, the Brasilia's nose lifts up

and the plane's speed slows.

AC 529, say altitude descending to.

ACTOR AS ED GANNAWAY (ON RADIO): We're

at 11,600 at this time, AC 529.

All right.

It's getting more controllable here.

The engine-- let's watch our speed.

NARRATOR: For the first time since the crisis began,

the pilots can now turn their attention to the passengers.

We're trimmed completely here.

I'm gonna tell Robin what's going on.

Hi.

ACTOR AS MATT WARMERDAM (ON PHONE): OK.

We had an engine failure, Robin.

We declared an emergency.

We're diverting back to Atlanta.

Go ahead and brief the passengers.

This will be an emergency landing back in.

All right.

Thank you.

NARRATOR: Fech hasn't told the pilots what she's

seen of the destroyed engine.

She assumes they already know.

AC 529, can you level off or do you need to keep descending?

NARRATOR: The plane is descending again

at about 3,000 feet a minute.

Gannaway suddenly realizes they won't make it to Atlanta.

We're gonna need to keep descending.

We need an airport quick.

OK.

We're gonna need to keep descending.

We need an airport quick.

Roll the trucks and everything out for us.

DISPATCH (ON RADIO): AC 529, West Georgia.

The regional airport is at your 10 o'clock position

and about 10 miles away.

NARRATOR: But the air traffic controller, too preoccupied

with handling the crisis aboard flight 529,

fails to notify emergency services.

Flight 529 makes another wide left turn

that brings it on course to land at West

Georgia Regional Airport.

Let's get out the engine failure checklist, please.

Engine failure in flight.

NARRATOR: But they don't get a chance

to diagnose their problem.

AC 529, say heading.

ACTOR AS MATT WARMERDAM (ON RADIO): Turning to about 310

right now.

AC 529, Roger.

You need to be on a 030 for West Georgia Regional, sir.

ACTOR AS MATT WARMERDAM (ON RADIO): Roger.

We'll probably turn right.

We're having difficulty controlling right now.

Let me see your brace positions.

Brace position.

Good.

Good.

APU-- if available, start.

You want me to start it?

We got to bring this thing down.

Put that off.

Get-- bring the ice off.

AUTOMATED VOICE: Caution.

Caution.

AC 529, say your altitude now, sir.

Out of 7,000, AC 529.

AUTOMATED VOICE: Trim fail.

Trim fail.

Oh, good start.

AC 529, I missed that.

I'm sorry.

We're at a 6.9 right now, AC 529.

OK.

It's up and running, Ed.

All right, go ahead.

AC 529, West Georgia Regional is your closest airport.

What kind of runway they got?

Yeah.

What kind of runway does West Georgia Regional got?

West Georgia Regional is--

it's 5,000 feet and it's asphalt, sir.

OK.

Now, I want you to remove any pens or sharp objects

from your pockets.

I want you to take off your glasses.

And pour any drinks into the pocket

of the seat in front of you.

DAVID MCCORKELL: We had to put the drinks

in our pocket in front of us.

I think that shook a few of us.

And I kind of noticed it wasn't going too well.

But most folks on that flight were business

folks that flew real frequent.

So, you know, there was no screaming

or panicking of any sort.

CHUCK PFISTERER: Based on the fact that I was going to die,

I dealt with it in the best way that I could,

which was just to try to absorb it,

accept it, and deal with it.

NARRATOR: The plane is still losing

altitude far too quickly.

Can it make it to the airport in time?

Atlanta Center normally only controls flights

at altitudes over 11,000 feet.

For the last 7 minutes, flight 529

has been under this altitude.

And now the controller is having trouble locating them.

AC 529, I've lost your transponder.

Say altitude.

ACTOR AS MATT WARMERDAM (ON RADIO): We're at a 4.5

at this time.

AC 529, I've got you now.

And the airport's at your.

Say-- say you're heading now, sir.

We are heading 080.

Roger.

You need about 10 degrees left.

NARRATOR: West Georgia Regional Airport is only 8 miles away,

2 minutes flying time.

But they're not sure they can keep airborne that long.

I'll tell you what.

Let me put you on approach.

He works that airport and will be able to give you

more information.

Contact Atlanta Approach at 12.0.

NARRATOR: Atlanta Approach air traffic control--

it monitors planes within a much smaller airspace, including

West Georgia Regional Airport.

The Brasilia, now at 3,400 feet, has slowed its descent

to 1,800 feet per minute.

But that's still too fast.

They won't make it to the airport.

7 minutes have passed.

For the first time, Captain Gannaway manages to catch

a glimpse of the left engine.

The engine is exploded.

It's just hanging out there.

NARRATOR: This was something his instruments hadn't told him.

The engine is just dangling off the wing.

He knows he could land a Brasilia with a failed engine,

but not when it's torn apart.

This is something his training hasn't prepared him for.

He wishes he could see through the clouds.

ACTOR AS MATT WARMERDAM (ON RADIO):

Atlanta Approach, SC 529.

AC 529, Atlanta Approach here.

ACTOR AS MATT WARMERDAM (ON RADIO): Yes, sir.

We're with you declaring an emergency.

AC 529, Roger.

Expect localizer runway 34 approach.

And could you fly heading 180?

No, sorry, 160.

NARRATOR: The controller's flight

path will take the Brasilia several miles

south before landing.

Gannaway knows he doesn't have the extra minutes

that this will take.

We can get it in on a visual.

Just give us the vectors.

We'll go the visual.

NARRATOR: He asked for directions

to take the plane straight in using

the shortest possible route.

They are out of the clouds, but a shocking sight greets them.

Ahead, no airport, only forest and towns.

Gannaway, who never stutters, does now.

S-single engine checklist, please.

Where the hell is it?

NARRATOR: Robin Fech is puzzled.

6 minutes earlier, Warmerdam told her the plane

was turning back to Atlanta.

But all she can see it now is Georgia countryside.

We're at 1,900 at this time.

We're below the clouds. Tell 'em.

CONTROLLER (ON RADIO): You route at 1,900 now?

Yeah.

We're VFR at this time.

Could you give us a vector to the airport?

Turn left.

And fly hitting 040.

There, the airport's at your about 10 o'clock and 6 miles,

sir.

Radar contact lost at this time.

NARRATOR: The plane's low altitude shocks the controller,

1,900 feet.

Only a minute earlier it had been at 3,400 feet.

The descent is far too fast.

Remember, brace yourselves.

And once we get out to where we're going,

wait till the plane comes to a complete stop

before we can get out.

OK?

Brace positions, please!

Brace positions!

Sir, heads down.

Heads down, please!

NARRATOR: Robin Fech, too preoccupied by the safety

of her passengers, looks out a window

and suddenly sees the tops of the trees.

She has but a few seconds left to strap herself into her jump

seat before impact.

Brace positions!

Keep your heads down, everyone!

Hold on!

This is gonna be rough!

NARRATOR: With the airport out of reach,

the pilots must attempt a crash landing in a field.

Help me hold it.

Help me hold it.

Help me hold it.

Over there.

Help me hold it. Help me.

Help me hold it.

AUTOMATED VOICE: Low gear.

500.

Low gear.

NARRATOR: The plane's altitude voice alarm

sounds, warning the pilots that they're

flying too close to the ground without their landing

gear lowered.

AUTOMATED VOICE: 200.

Low gear.

NARRATOR: The pilots will attempt

to land on the plane's belly.

AUTOMATED VOICE: 100.

Low gear.

Help me.

Help me.

Help me hold it!

Help me hold it!

Amy, I love you.

NARRATOR: These are the last words

on the cockpit voice recorder.

The plane is flying at 138 miles per hour,

and only seconds away from impact.

AUTOMATED VOICE: Low gear.

Warning, low gear.

30.

Low gear.

20.

Low gear.

NARRATOR: ASA flight 529 landed in a small field

in Burwell, a sleepy farming community

near Carrollton, Georgia.

Many witnessed the plane coming down.

Bill Jeters and his wife lived in this house,

directly in the plane's path.

My wife was sitting at the kitchen table reading.

And she said, Bill, we'd better get out of here because

a plane's gonna hit the house.

So about that time it started stopping.

I said, well, you call 911 and I'm going to see

if I can help with the plane.

911 DISPATCHER (ON PHONE): Emergency.

MRS. JETERS (ON PHONE): Yes.

We have a plane crashed in our backyard.

911 DISPATCHER (ON PHONE): A plane crashed?

MRS. JETERS (ON PHONE): Yes. Get somebody out here.

Hurry.

NARRATOR: 8 minutes have passed since first officer Warmerdam

had declared an emergency and asked Atlanta Center for rescue

vehicles to be alerted.

But the controller hadn't passed on the message.

Minutes would make the difference

now between life and death.

The local emergency services respond quickly,

but are still many miles away.

For almost a minute after impact,

there's an eerie silence.

The plane fuselage is broken in two.

Did anyone survive?

As the dust settles, all 29 people on board

are miraculously alive, with only a handful seriously

injured by the impact.

CHUCK PFISTERER: It was an amazing situation

only because I just couldn't even believe

that I was alive at that point.

And I couldn't believe that I was looking at something that--

that was real.

NARRATOR: But a new disaster is looming.

Fuel from the shattered wing tanks

is pouring onto the ground.

The last thing I remember is--

is the sound of hitting the trees.

And then I honestly don't recall impact.

NARRATOR: Captain Ed Gannaway has

been knocked unconscious by a blow to the head during impact.

When first officer Matt Warmerdam

regains consciousness, he realizes they're stuck.

The cockpit door is jammed, and smoke is slowly seeping in.

He reaches for the emergency crash ax.

The cockpit window is the only way out.

DAVID MCCORKELL: The next immediate thought I had

was now we're gonna blow up.

So get out of there.

It was burning, you know, right in the opening.

You know, so I just jumped over.

CHUCK PFISTERER: And I headed towards the opening.

And I walked out of the aircraft,

and I walked away from it.

NARRATOR: The sparks ignite the fuel vapors,

creating a blazing fire.

Within seconds, the fire spreads to the fuselage.

In the rear, passengers are trapped by flames burning

at 3,200 degrees Fahrenheit.

They hear screams of others outside who've

suffered terrible burns.

They'll have to run through the fire and hope for the best.

I turned back and I looked at the aircraft.

And what I saw was that the opening that I had come through

was basically fully engulfed in flames,

and that the people that were exiting the aircraft

were all on fire.

DAVID MCCORKELL: Some of them would, you know,

roll in the grass to try and put the fire out.

And sometimes that made it worse, because it was spent--

or spilt fuel.

And then they would get even more ignited.

And the whole situation got uglier and uglier in the sense

that you would, all of a sudden, see people

with their clothing burned off.

You would see people with--

with-- with red--

red skin that you could see was burn-- you could actually

see some people whose flesh was, like, dropping off

of their bodies or their faces.

It was just a horrible situation that was taking place.

And it was getting worse and worse.

NARRATOR: Matt Warmerdam, his right shoulder dislocated,

is banging the axe against the window with his left hand.

BILL JETERS: One gentleman I saw was crawling,

completely engulfed in flames.

And another one that was--

most of his clothes was torn off.

Now, whether they got torn off in the crash

or he tore 'em off himself, I don't know.

I helped him away from the airplane

and brought him up towards my brother-in-law's house.

And all he had on was his shorts.

And his skin was--

excuse me.

MATT WARMERDAM: Aircraft glass is much thicker

than what you would see on, like, a-- like, an automobile

windshield.

It's several different composite layers

that have been tempered treated together to make

it a very, very tough surface.

And with each swing of the crash axe,

I was only able to chip away a small piece of glass.

I need some help!

I really did feel kind of alone there.

I'm looking around left and right and there's--

there's no other fools that close, you know,

at that second.

NARRATOR: But even though passenger David McCorkell

believes that the plane might blow up at any second,

he goes to Matt Warmerdam's rescue.

Can you help me?

I haven't got enough room inside to swing it.

Where should I hit?

Hit here.

Hang on a second.

Hang on.

Hang on.

I got to get some air.

NARRATOR: The oxygen cylinder in the closet behind the copilot's

seat punctures.

It will make the cockpit fire much worse.

OK.

Go ahead.

Go ahead.

OK.

Stop a second.

Let me if I can squeeze out.

Let's get you out of here.

Stop pulling me! No, no.

It's too small.

Go ahead.

NARRATOR: By now, the rescue crews of the area

have been notified.

Firemen, police officers, paramedics, all are hurrying

their way to the crash site.

Will the fire trucks arrive on time

to save Matt Wermerdam before the cockpit

is engulfed in flames?

David McCorkell is exhausted trying

to break the strong glass.

Suddenly, a heat flame pops at him from below the cockpit.

He backs off, scared for his life.

You aren't gonna let me die, are you?

NARRATOR: He has children, and he must think of them as well.

How can he sacrifice his life for a man he does not know?

Now, more determined than ever, he

bangs even harder and faster.

Then, suddenly, the weakened axe head flies off.

It's getting hot in here!

Get me out!

NARRATOR: Guy Pope, a police officer,

is the first rescue worker to reach the burning plane.

GUY POPE: I was about three miles from here

when I received the call.

And about halfway here I could see

the smoke, pretty heavy smoke.

And I got out of the car, and I ran up to the plane.

And when I went around the nose of the plane,

one of the passengers handed me a hatchet

and said that the pilot was inside.

And I took the hatchet and started

trying to cut a bigger hole.

I couldn't get around behind the cockpit because of fire.

It was still burning pretty heavy

and there, was an oxygen bottle there blowing the fire.

And, you know, it's just one of them things.

You see a man burn, it's--

you don't forget it.

NARRATOR: This is actual video footage taken

from the windshield of a Georgia State Police car,

as rescue workers are arriving at the site.

At this moment, all passengers are out of the two sections

of the broken plane except pilots Ed

Gannaway and Matt Warmerdam, who remain

prisoners of their cockpit.

STEVE CHADWICK: Well, first off, I had to tear

the back of the cockpit out.

It had burnt and there was no door--

visible door or anything like that.

So I actually took my hands and tore it out.

When I started to pull him out, he looked up

and he said, tell my wife, Amy, that I love her.

I said, no, sir.

You tell her that you love her, 'cause

I'm getting you out of here.

JOAN CRAWFORD: Inside the ambulance, I worked with him.

And I thought that probably he would not make it.

I took his name badge and pinned it on his underwear,

which was the only thing I had left on him,

trying to cool him down.

'Cause I thought that if he died, at least someone

would know who he was.

Surprisingly, Matt was aware of everything around him.

And he kept trying to assure me that things

were going to be OK.

He was comforting me. 'Cause at that particular time,

I was crying.

Matthew actually took his burned hand and wiped a tear away.

NARRATOR: They found Captain Gannaway dead in the cockpit.

He had struck his head on impact and never

regained consciousness.

He died of burns and smoke inhalation.

The crash survivors-- some with broken bones and others

with burns-- are rushed to various hospitals in Georgia.

13 passengers are brought to Tanner Hospital in Carrolton,

15 minutes away, where Code Black is immediately applied,

meaning everybody helps.

Dr. Bobby Mitchell will be responsible for treating

four survivors, including flight attendant Robin Fech.

BOBBY MITCHELL: When I got to the hospital,

some of the people that had survived the plane crash

were already here.

The smell was initially just a wave of jet fuel

that just hit you as the door opened.

And then that was mixed with just a pungent horrible odor

of burned flesh.

Miss Fech, she had a cut on her scalp

and a couple of broken bones, like a collar bone and an arm.

And she was in a great deal of pain herself,

although she-- she didn't particularly

want me to be dealing with her.

She said, you get back with them.

And the orthopedist soon took over her care.

She was clearly still trying to care for her passengers.

I have never before or since dealt with so much

physical devastation, and emotional upheaval,

and so much sorrow, and horror, and sadness in one place at one

time then-- then we did on that day

in this-- this little small town hospital.

NARRATOR: In the United States, the National Transportation

Safety Board is responsible for investigating air disasters.

Its go team is on duty 24 hours a day

to fly to the scene of any major crash.

The NTSB will have several subgroups working

at the same time, each examining a particular part of the plane.

In 1995, Gordon Jim Hooky, an aerospace engineer,

was in charge of the propeller maintenance group.

We went out to the crash site.

And, in the usual fashion, you just

kind of look around and get a feel

for where all the pieces are.

We came along the propeller assembly that was missing.

Looking down through the dirt, we

could see the telltale marks, the beach marks, around--

along the fracture surface that indicated it might

have been a fatigue fracture.

NARRATOR: No one saw the propeller blade break, only

the resulting damaged engine.

Hooky has good reason to be concerned

by the broken propeller blade.

Four years earlier, another ASA Brasilia

had crashed in woods in Georgia, killing all 23 aboard,

including former US Senator John Tower and NASA

Astronaut Manley Sonny Carter.

The NTSB's investigation of that incident

found the crash was caused by a badly designed

propeller control unit.

And they blamed the manufacturer,

Hamilton Standard.

Then, in March 1994, just 17 months before ASA 529,

propeller blades broke on commercial flights

over Canada and over Brazil.

In both cases, the aircraft landed safely.

These accidents pointed to serious flaws

in Hamilton's standard propellers.

And the government ordered airlines to inspect all 15,000

propeller blades in service.

Flight 529's propeller had been declared suspect

and sent back to Hamilton Standard.

When the ASA mechanics took the blade off the hub--

as soon as they turned it over we marked down

the serial number, so when we went back to do the records

we could immediately go to that particular blade.

NARRATOR: Investigator Jim Hookey takes the broken blade

stub to Atlanta Airport.

From there, it is sent to the NTSB laboratory in Washington.

By the next morning, blade number 861398 is being examined

under a scanning microscope.

Investigators find telltale deposits of chlorine,

a corrosive substance known to eat into the inner walls

of the propeller blade.

So then the question becomes where

did the chlorine come from.

NARRATOR: In two of the previous propeller failures,

the problem had been traced to corrosion caused by chlorine

in the inner wall of the blade.

Flight 529's blade had also snapped off 13.2 inches

from the hub, very similar to the two

previous blade failures.

Under the microscope, NTSB scientists

see that two cracks along the inner wall of the blade

have joined to form a single fissure.

This had grown and grown until it circled

the blade, at which point it snapped under the stress

of normal operation.

The draft accident report we present to you today

involves Atlantic Southeast Airlines flight 529.

NARRATOR: In its final report, the NTSB

blames Hamilton Standard for failing to detect the corrosion

inside the propeller blade.

It cites inadequate and ineffective inspection

and repair techniques, training, documentation,

and communication.

Some final questions were still unanswered.

Why had the broken propeller blade destroyed the engine?

In previous incidents, the propeller

had fallen away harmlessly.

But on flight 529, blade loss unbalanced the propeller--

I need some help here.

I need some help on this.

NARRATOR: --and caused the engine

to shudder in its mountings.

The shuddering literally ripped the engine open.

The NTSB finds that rescue services might have arrived

more quickly if controllers had heeded Matt

Warmerdam's request, given by radio 6 and 1/2

minutes before the crash.

Another key NTSB recommendation is to replace the flimsy crash

axe that had failed in Warmerdam's rescue

with a sturdier model.

Investigators praised the crew of flight 529

for the way they dealt with the crisis, calling their reactions

reasonable and appropriate.

Yeah.

NARRATOR: But the board offers little advice on the one thing

that caused all these deaths--

fire.

The conundrum is, how do you make a fuel burn in an engine

but not ignite when it is spilled.

NARRATOR: One way to reduce the severity of fires

after a plane crash is to use less flammable fuel.

In 1984, the Federal Aviation Administration and NASA

decided to test a new, safer fuel

by staging an accident using a remote controlled plane.

Unfortunately, it was not a conspicuous success.

But the US Navy has been using a safer form of jet fuel called

JP-5 since the 1950s, yet it's not

used in commercial aviation.

The primary reason that civilian sector

or commercial aviation has not gone to a lower flammability

fuel is the question of availability,

and distribution, and the cost.

It costs more to produce a JP-5.

NARRATOR: Until a solution is found,

there will continue to be stories like ASA 529.

On impact, everyone on the flight survives.

But the subsequent fire becomes the killer.

For the victims of the fire, recovery

has been a slow, painful, and excruciating process.

First Officer Matt Warmerdam was burned on 42% of his body.

Some other survivors suffered up to 90% burns.

Treatment included daily baths and removal of dead skin

from burn wounds.

There would be years of skin graft operations, the 24-hour

a day wearing of pressure garments

to minimize scarring, chronic itching, and soreness,

and daily physical therapy.

Your ability to sense and feel through those areas

is permanently changed for the worse.

Temperature control is lost.

When you walk from an air conditioned building

into the outside, you take for granted that your body starts

accommodating that either by sweating

or redirecting blood flow.

People with burns, especially horrible, large,

surface area burns--

that's lost forever.

They have to plan everything they do.

They have to plan where they're going to be and the clothing

much more carefully.

So there are emotional and physical things,

both, that are lost forever.

My medical treatments were quite extensive.

I think I'm--

I honestly have lost count how many surgeries

I had to go through to-- to get back to the point

where I could fly again.

But it's got to be somewhere near 50, including all the skin

grafting things that they had to do in the hospital,

and as such.

Psychologically, it was-- it was tough in the beginning.

There I was, happy to be finally starting my career

as I had dreamed it from my childhood,

and it was suddenly ripped away.

And that was tough.

It was a lot of long nights talking with Amy,

trying to get over the--

the pain and despair of all that.

I did have trouble getting my life back in order.

It-- it caused me to drink more than I had before.

I think the plane crash, it just took the last bite.

And I stayed in the fire service for a while after that,

but my heart was never in it again.

I quit my job as--

I was a vice president of a software company,

traveling a lot, making very good money.

And I went to work as a buyer in Alaska.

I also reconnected with my ex-wife.

And we got remarried, moved down to South Carolina,

and had all our kids move in with us.

So, yeah, I did change my life.

It helped me to kind of put a lot of things in perspective,

including not only how I acted myself,

but also how I treated other people.

First Officer Matthew Warmerdam.

NARRATOR: One year after the crash, the Military

Professional Organization of Pilots bestowed

its prestigious medallion on Matt Warmerdam for his part

in saving the lives of his passengers.

He accepted it in honor of the crew.

Seeking closure on the trauma of the crash,

residents built a memorial to the victims of flight 529

behind Shiloh United Methodist Church,

a short distance from the accident site in Burwell.

Much has changed for the company that manufactured

flight 529's propeller.

Now renamed, it is part of Collins Aerospace,

within the giant United Technologies

Aerospace and Defense Group.

Flight 529 was the last time that one of its propellers

failed in flight.

Its inspection and repair process

was made more stringent, in some cases

exceeding FAA requirements.

Since the three blade failures, there have been no more.

Of the 29 people aboard ASA flight 529, only eight

escaped with minor injuries.

Of the 21 others who received major injuries and burns,

10 subsequently died.

Flight attendant Robin Fech declined to be

interviewed for this film.

Still suffering from the pain and anguish

of that terrible day, she's never again

worked as a flight attendant.

MATT WARMERDAM: The best that I ever could have done for myself

was that day two years ago, when I'd finished training

and took the controls of a ASA plane and flew again.

I stubbornly recaptured my dream.

And now that I'm doing it again, it's-- it's just been a joy.

It's what I do.

It's what I love.

It's what I always wanted to do with my life,

and I'm doing it again.