All language subtitles for Air Disasters S18E17 Lost 1080p PMTP WEB-DL DDP5 1 H 264-maldini_track3_[eng]

FLIGHT ATTENDENT:
Ladies and gentlemen,

we are starting our approach.

PILOT: We lost both engines.

MAN: Mayday.

Mayday.

FLIGHT ATTENDANT:
Brace for impact!

MAN: He's gonna crash!

Buenas noches, señor.

American 965 leaving 230--

NARRATOR: In 1995,
days before Christmas,

an American Airlines Boeing
757 is on its final approach

to Cali, Colombia.

Cali approach, American 965.

NARRATOR: The pilots
are calm and relaxed.

They don't know they've
made a terrible mistake.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL (ON
RADIO): 965, altitude?

965, 9,000 feet.

NARRATOR: They're more
than 10 miles off course

and have no clue where they are.

AUTOMATED VOICE: Too low.

Terrain.

Pull up, baby.

NARRATOR: In complete darkness,
the jet carrying 163 passengers

and crew is in mortal danger.

OK, easy.

I think we knew that
something imminent was--

was around the corner.

Up, baby.

More!
more!

OK.

Up, up, up!

NARRATOR: Flight 965 crashed
into a 9,000 foot mountain,

sending reverberations
through the aviation industry.

How could one of the world's
most technologically advanced

aircraft, with a state of
the art navigation system

and flown by some of
the most skilled pilots,

crash into a mountain?

On December 20, 1995,
American Airlines

flight 965 prepares
to depart from Miami

International Airport.

Its destination
is Cali, Colombia.

Flight 965 is scheduled to
depart Miami at 4:40 PM,

but has already been
delayed for 30 minutes

to allow for
connecting passengers.

Surely, gonna call
us any second now.

NARRATOR: The Dussans
only just make it.

In Miami they tell
us that we have to rush

because the plane gonna--

gonna leave to Cali very soon.

Definitely we were very
happy because we know

we're gonna fly that night.

So you made it.

Just in time.

NARRATOR: Mercedes Ramirez,
along with her mother

and father, managed to get on
the flight at the last minute.

We were on standby,
so we weren't sure

if our names were
gonna be called off

to actually get on that flight.

We heard our names, and we
were excited 'cause we're like,

yes, we got on the flight.

But it's very old
American, you know.

NARRATOR: Flight 965
finally leaves the gate

at 5:14 PM, 34 minutes late.

But the problems
aren't over yet.

As they taxi toward the
runway, the tower informs

them of yet another delay.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL (ON
RADIO): American 965, standby.

NARRATOR: Heavy seasonal
traffic clogs the runways,

and they're forced
to wait another hour

and 20 minutes on the tarmac.

We'll go when they're ready.

That's all there is to it.

Waiting and--

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL (ON
RADIO): American 965.

NARRATOR: Finally, two
hours late, flight 965

is cleared for takeoff.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL (ON
RADIO): Fly the runway heading.

Cleared for takeoff.

Merry Christmas.

Cleared for takeoff,
27 right, American 965.

You do a great job.

Good night.

NARRATOR: Captain
Nicholas Tafuri, aged 57,

is in charge of flight 965.

He's one of American
Airlines' premiere pilots

with more than 13,000 hours of
flying time, over 2,000 of them

in the 757.

He'd flown to Cali
only six days earlier.

200, the heading,
climbed to 16.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL (ON RADIO):
That's 16, American 965.

NARRATOR: At the
controls as first officer

Donnie R. Williams, age 39.

Although he's been flying
for American for nine years,

flight 965 is his
first trip to Cali.

MERCEDES RAMIREZ: Everybody
on that plane was either

going back home for
the Christmas holidays

to visit their family.

So I think everybody was just
happy and excited to go back.

NARRATOR: Today, December
20, is a very special day

for passenger Mercedes Ramirez.

Mercedes is a university
student from Missouri.

It's her 21st
birthday, and this trip

is a gift from her parents.

Usually we spent Christmas
in Kansas City at home,

but they wanted to
do something special.

And we had never
spent the holidays

with our family in Colombia,
so it was a big deal for us.

Since we flew standby, I
couldn't said with both my mom

and my dad all in one row.

So my mother and I were
seated next to each other.

I was by the window.

She was in the middle.

And then there was a
passenger who was about my age

who was in the aisle seat.

And then my father was
in another row behind us.

And so nothing out
of the ordinary

at all, just a normal flight.

NARRATOR: 19-year-old
Mauricio Reyes

sits beside Mercedes' mother.

Reyes is a student at the
University of Michigan.

You know, once we get there,
we have to go see Victor.

NARRATOR: Gonzalo Dussan
and his wife Nancy,

and their two children--

Michelle and Gonzalo Junior--

are seated nearby.

GONZALO DUSSAN: We were very
excited because the first time,

you know, we're going with
my family to pass, you know,

Christmas over there in Cali.

We wanted to see
our families members

and our brothers, sister, you
know, to see our city again.

NARRATOR: Two hours and 45
minutes into the flight,

the plane is cruising at 37,000
feet on a preprogrammed flight

path to Cali's airport.

Let's see.

We've got 136 miles.

NARRATOR: They're
flying a Boeing 757--

a state of the art
airplane equipped with

sophisticated computer systems.

When programmed, the onboard
computer-- known as the flight

management system--

can control the aircraft
from takeoff to landing.

It can be the
pilot's best friend

or, in the case of flight
965, their worst nightmare.

An awkward moment an hour
before they're scheduled arrival

makes Mercedes
Ramirez change seats.

MERCEDES RAMIREZ: My mother
had been talking to the college

student who was next to her, and
I think she was trying to kind

of set me up with him.
'Cause she kept on saying,

oh, my daughter's in college,
and my daughter is this,

and my daughter is that.

So I was very embarrassed.

I'm going to join Dad.

MERCEDES RAMIREZ (VOICEOVER):
So I got up from my seat

and moved to the row behind us.

And I sat with my father.

NARRATOR: The seemingly
trivial decision

will prove to be her lifesaver.

It's a clear, moonless
night with visibility

more than 6 miles.

And that's just how it works.

That's our scenario.

NARRATOR: But
Captain Tafuri is now

getting concerned about
their arrival time.

Debrief, one hour sign in, and
you can't move that up at all

because it's an FAA thing.

NARRATOR: FAA
regulations require

a minimum number of
hours on the ground

before the cabin
crew can fly again.

Any further delays will
jeopardize their return flight

the next day.

Well, let's see.

We got the 136 miles to
the VOR and 32,000 feet

to lose and slow down to boot.

So we might as well get started.

NARRATOR: If they land
within the next 25 minutes,

they'll beat the deadline.

All right, sir.

And if you'd keep the
speed up on the descent,

it'd help us too.

OK?

OK.

OK, Gonzalito, let your
sister sit beside the window.

NARRATOR: Gonzalo
Dussan's children

quarrel over the window
seat, not knowing that

the consequences will be dire.

And I remember I
told him before Cali,

when the-- when the plane
started to lose altitude,

so we're gonna see the
valley, the city, very nice

with a lot of lights on it.

Because usually by
December, by Christmas time,

they decorate, you
know, the mountains

with different colors,
lights, and everything.

Then they start to fight
for the window side.

OK, Gonzalito, let your sister
have a chance by the window.

And I'm like,
oh, I want to see.

I want to see the lights.

I want to see the airport.

And he got mad.

ACTOR AS GONZALO
DUSSAN: OK, Michelle,

you go sit by the window.

Ooh, sit with your cousin.

Good boy, Gonzalito.

OK, Michelle, take a
look at the lights.

That's it.

Come sit here.

Come sit beside me.

We are almost there.

Michelle, can you see the
lights outside the window?

ACTOR AS NICHOLAS TAFURI:
Ladies and gentlemen,

this is your captain speaking.

We have begun our descent
for landing at Cali.

It's a lovely evening.

As we'd expected, we'll pass
a shower or two on the way in.

NARRATOR: This lovely
evening is about to end.

In 30 seconds, the pilots will
make the first of a series

of mistakes, which will
result in the death

of nearly everyone on board.

American Airlines flight
965 is on its final descent,

roughly 63 miles
from Cali, Columbia.

Cali's Aragón
airport is situated

at the end of a long valley.

On both sides of the valley
are towering mountain ranges,

almost 14,000 feet high.

It's a formidable sight.

To follow its proper
pre-programmed flight path,

the aircraft must pass
over a series of waypoints.

These are generally
radio beacons at fixed

positions along the route.

The plane's computer picks up
the signals from these beacons

and then guides the plane
safely to its destination.

Flight 965 is now approaching
the waypoint called Tulua--

the radio beacon at
the head of the valley,

which leads to Cali.

After passing to
Tulua, the plane

should fly over the final
waypoint called Rozo.

Then it passes the
airport, turns right,

and lands from the south.

ACTOR AS NICHOLAS
TAFURI (ON RADIO):

Cali approach, American 965.

American 965, good evening.

Go ahead.

Buenos noches, señor.

American 965--

NARRATOR: Cali Air traffic
controller Nelson Rivera

will oversee the final
approach of flight 965,

but he has a problem.

Insurgents opposed to
the Colombian government

have blown up the
radar installation.

Rivera has no way of knowing
where planes are until they

radio their position.

Your distance DME from Cali?

NARRATOR: Without radar,
the air traffic controller

must rely on the
pilots to provide

their distance to the runway.

The DME is 63.

NARRATOR: The DME is the
distance measuring equipment

in the Boeing cockpit.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL
(ON RADIO): Roger.

American 965 is cleared to Cali.

Descend and maintain
one 5,000 feet.

Altimeter 3002.

Report on Tulua.

OK, understood.

Clear, direct to Cali.

VOR, report Tulua.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL (ON
RADIO): Affirmative.

NARRATOR: It's a
misunderstanding.

Captain Tafuri thinks he's
been told to fly direct to Cali

and forget about Tulua.

But the controller needs
him to report passing Tulua

so he knows where
the airplane is.

NELSON RIVERA:

INTERPRETER: To me,
the word directly means

that he was authorized
to go directly to Cali,

that there was no delay.

Therefore, he had to inform
us of his position in Tulua

because we don't have radar.

I needed him to inform me
of that exact location.

NARRATOR: Tafuri punches direct
to Cali into his computer.

Since the plane No longer
has to pass over them,

all the waypoints between
its present position and Cali

are erased, including
Tulua, which

the plane is now approaching.

I put direct Cali
for you in there.

OK.

Thank you.

Flight attendants,
please prepare for landing.

Thank you.

GONZALO DUSSAN: And I remember
they gave us the order to--

to put the back of
the seat straight.

I remember that.

And everybody was, you
know, so happy because we

were very close to the city.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL
(ON RADIO): 965.

NARRATOR: 11 minutes
before their estimated time

of arrival--

965.

Go ahead, please.

Sir, the wind is calm.

NARRATOR: --air
traffic control asks

the flight crew if they'd
like to land on runway 19--

You want to shoot
the 19 straight in?

NARRATOR: --instead of their
planned approach to runway 01.

Yeah.

We won't have to
scramble to get down.

We can do it.

Yes, sir, we'll need a lower
altitude right away, though.

Roger.

American 965 is
clear to VOR DME.

OK.

NARRATOR: The
pilots are pleased.

Runway 19 is a straight in
approach from the north.

They won't have to lose precious
time by circling the airport.

But there isn't much time.

They need to get the
plane down quickly.

Williams deploys
the speed brakes.

The brakes are flaps on
the top of the wings.

When raised they reduce
lift and increase

the plane's rate of descent.

Approach runway 19.

Rozo, number one arrival.

NARRATOR: This split
second decision

to land on runway 19 sets
off a chain of events

that will end in disaster.

We'll report VOR.

Thank you, sir.

Report Tulua, VOR.

Report Tulua.

I've got to give you
a Tulua first of all.

You want to go right
to Cali or to Tulua?

I thought he said
the Rozo one arrival.

Yeah, he did.

We got time to pull that out?

NARRATOR: Events
begin to unravel

very quickly in the cockpit.

The pilots have to locate the
new charts for the approach

to 19, enter the new
route into the computer,

and still fly the plane.

And Tulua one Rozo--

yeah, there it is.

See, that comes off Tulua.

NARRATOR: They are
getting totally confused.

The controller keeps
asking them to report

when they've passed Tulua.

But having erased it
from their computer,

they've no idea where it is.

It's on your map.

Should be.

NARRATOR: Captain
Tafuri asks the tower

if they can forget
Tulua and fly directly

to Rozo, their last
waypoint before the runway.

Can American Airlines
965 go direct to Rozo

and then do the
Rozo arrival, sir?

Affirmative.

Take the Rozo one and runway 19.

And the wind is calm.

All right, Rozo.

The Rozo one to 19.

Thank you, American 965.

Report Tulua at 21
miles and 5,000 feet.

OK.

Report Tulua--

NARRATOR: The controller is
still asking them to report

passing the Tulua beacon.

Without radar, he doesn't
realize they've already

passed it and are speeding down
the valley toward the airport.

Captain Tafuri now makes
another fateful decision.

What the-- what happened here?

NARRATOR: Having decided to
head for the Rozo waypoint,

he punches R into his computer.

The computer database responds
with a list of more than 10

waypoints to choose from.

Normally the nearest one,
Rozo, would be at the top.

But tonight It's not.

Captain Tafuri doesn't
notice, and pushes Execute.

At over 300 miles per hour,
and descending at a rate

of approximately
1,300 feet per minute,

flight 965 begins to veer off
on a new and deadly course.

INTERPRETER: I never imagined
that they were deflecting

the route in addition
to losing altitude,

because I didn't have radar.

NARRATOR: In the
cockpit of flight 965,

the pilots are completely
unaware of what they've done.

They're busy studying
charts as their plane

crosses the mountains
into unknown territory.

For more than a minute, American
Airlines flight 965 has been

turning into the mountains.

Captain Tafuri and
First Officer Williams

suddenly notice
that their aircraft

is taking them somewhere
they don't want to go.

We're going out to--

Let's go right to
Tulua first of all.

OK?

Yeah.

Where are we headed?

17, 7--

NARRATOR: Captain
Tafuri is floundering

in the pitch darkness.

What happened here?

NARRATOR: If he can
find the Tulua waypoint,

he can get his bearings.

He switches to another
computer system

and enters the radio frequency
for the Tulua beacon.

OK.

I'm getting it.

17, 7 just doesn't
seem right on mine.

I don't know why.

Left turn.

So you want a left turn
back around to ULQ.

Nah.

Hell, no.

Let's press on to--

Where we're-- press
on to where, though?

Tulua.

NARRATOR: Hopelessly lost
and less than two minutes

from impact, Tafuri
decides to press

on with his doomed approach.

Let's go to Cali
first of all, OK?

Come to the right, right now.

Come to the right, right now.

NARRATOR: The pilots
don't know it.

But when the plane
veered off course,

it crossed over the mountains.

They're now in another
valley, parallel

to where they should be.

The passengers are completely
unaware that in less than 60

seconds the aircraft, traveling
at more than 210 miles an hour,

is going to crash.

We're almost there, though.

Tulua, I'm not
getting for some reason.

See, I can't-- OK.

Now-- no.

We don't want Tulua.

Let's just go to the
extended center line of--

Which is Rozo.

--Rozo.

Well, why don't you just
go direct to Roao then.

All right?
- OK.

Let's--

I'm gonna put
that over to you.

NARRATOR: They decide
to give up on Tulua

and make straight
for the airport.

They don't realize that there
is now a wall of mountains

between them and Cali.

965, altitude?

965, 9,000 feet.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL
(ON RADIO): Roger.

Distance now?

NARRATOR: The plane's
ground proximity

warning system is telling
them they're about to crash.

965, this is Cali approach.

Can you hear me?

INTERPRETER: He didn't answer.

He never answered again.

Easy does it.

Easy does it.

Nope.

I could feel that we were
just violently just going up.

And I felt like
I was on a roller

coaster ride or something.

And the turbulence was
absolutely horrible.

And by that time,
people were screaming.

And everybody knew on the flight
that something was very wrong.

AUTOMATED VOICE: Too low.

Terrain.

Easy does it.

Easy does it.

Nope.

Up, baby.

MERCEDES RAMIREZ:
Instinctively, I reached over

and I grabbed my father's hand.

And I pull my head in my lap.

In my mind I just
kept on thinking, come

on, just straighten it out.

Straighten it out.

Up, baby.

More!

More!

Up!
Up!

Up!

NARRATOR: These
were the last words

on the cockpit voice recorder.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL (ON
RADIO): American 965,

this is Cali approach.

American 965, this
is Cali approach.

Can you hear me?

NELSON RIVERA:

INTERPRETER: I never experienced
anything like this before.

This was the first time that
I lost a plane and the crew

was not responding.

It is very difficult
to grasp the moment.

When the plane didn't
answer, I looked

outside from the control tower.

I could see from there the sky.

I started to look for the plane.

The night was
clear, and I thought

I could see the plane coming.

But in this case, I
never saw the plane.

NARRATOR: As the arrival
time comes and goes,

rumors begin to circulate
that air traffic control has

lost contact with flight 965.

In an instant,
joy turns to shock

as cries that the
plane is crashed

spread throughout the terminal.

Locals living near the town
of Buga, north of Cali,

report hearing a
massive explosion.

Rescue teams raced
to the town, which

lies near the base of a local
mountain range with peaks

as high as 10,000 feet.

At 3:00 AM, almost six hours
after the plane disappeared,

a search and rescue
team treks up the side

of El Diluvio Mountain.

In the midst of tons of
twisted and torn metal

lies 21-year-old
Mercedes Ramirez.

Her last memory prior to
impact is grabbing her father's

hand, and the deafening
sound of the tail

section striking trees.

MERCEDES RAMIREZ: The next
memory I have is the next day.

It's daylight.

I wake up and it's--

I see the sunlight around me.

And I don't know where I am.

And what's around me looks
like a-- like a landfill,

like a trash dump.

And so, as I'm laying there,
I'm thinking where in the world

am I.

NARRATOR: Mercedes is
critically injured,

with severe internal
injuries and a shattered leg.

Help!

Is anybody out there?

Help me!

NARRATOR: 19-year-old college
student Mauricio Reyes

also survives the impact--

Can you hear me?

NARRATOR: --and responds
to Mercedes' cry for help.

Can you move?

ACTOR AS MERCEDES
RAMIREZ: Um, I can try.

I'm not sure.

My leg is bent backwards.

OK.

ACTOR AS MERCEDES
RAMIREZ: Please help me.

OK.
Hold on.

Hold on.

OK.

Help me, please.

OK.

MERCEDES RAMIREZ: The
only way for me to get out

was having to drag
myself over people.

And I remember this lady who
I had to drag myself over.

And I'll-- I'll
never forget her.

Looking back, I
think, oh, my goodness.

That was someone's mom or
that was someone's sister

or someone's wife.

But at that time, she
was just an object that I

needed to get over to get out.

ACTOR AS MERCEDES
RAMIREZ:

Can you move?

Can you stand up?

I think my leg is broken.

- OK, well try--
- OK.

--on three.

OK.

One, two, three.

No, I can't!

I can't!

MERCEDES RAMIREZ: And when
he lifted me was when--

the first time I
actually felt pain.

It just felt like an
electrical current going up--

up and down my leg.

So he laid me back down.

And then he went off
to-- to try to find help.

I'm going to the village.

OK?
OK.

Just stay here.
- OK.

OK.

OK.

OK.

OK.

NARRATOR: At first light,
the Colombian Air Force

starts the search for the crash
site, delayed because they

have no night vision equipment.

GONZALO DUSSAN: When
I wake up, I start

to feel the pain in my back.

Then, when I hear this
sound of the helicopters,

I realize something happened.

I started, you
know, to feel panic.

Help me!

Someone please help me!

ACTOR AS MICHELLE
DUSSAN: Daddy, I'm here.

Papa!

Michelle?

NARRATOR: Gonzalo Dussan's
six-year-old daughter,

Michelle, still
strapped in her seat--

Michelle, call me.

NARRATOR: --answers her father's
desperate call for help.

Keep talking to me.

OK?

Michelle?

GONZALO DUSSAN: So I realized
that my daughter was alive too.

Then I started to
crawl to try to look

for my-- where the voice
of my daughter coming from.

Michelle, please.

I'm coming.

Where are you?

NARRATOR: Dussan
struggles to crossed

through the broken and twisted
cabin to reach his daughter.

Michelle.

NARRATOR: But she's pinned
beneath the wreckage.

- Let me help you.
- Ow.

Ow.

My leg hurts.

When the plane
crashed, my legs--

I had my seat belt on.

And I-- I guess the crash
were so deep that my legs,

like, speared into the ground.

You OK?

MICHELLE DUSSAN (VOICEOVER):
I'd try to move myself,

but my legs hurt.

They hurt really bad.

I couldn't pick myself up.
- Ow!

Daddy, it hurts.

OK.

OK, Michelle.

I'm going to get--
get some water for you

soon and bring it back.

OK?

Then I try to crawl
more to try to get out.

NARRATOR: Despite a
severe back injury,

Dussan manages to crossed
towards a small open section

of the fuselage.

GONZALO DUSSAN: I
saw a hole behind me,

and I said inside me--

I said, God, help me
to get out from here.

NARRATOR: The
survivors of flight 965

realize they have no option
but to wait for help, unsure

if it will arrive in time.

The temperatures have
fallen dramatically.

And without protective
clothing they could

die of exposure within hours.

Since beginning their
search at first light,

the Colombian Air Force has
yet to spot the crash site.

Michelle!

Over here!

Over here!

I could see the helicopters
perfectly from where I was at.

And even though I could
see them perfectly,

I didn't know if they
could-- if they could see me.

Help us!

When-- when I saw the
helicopter very close

to the trees, to the
top of the trees,

I start moving the blanket.

I start to move the
blanket, then so I say,

oh, they saw-- they saw me.

They saw me.

WOMAN: Here!

Help us!

Help us!

NARRATOR: More than
eight hours after impact,

and after enduring life
threatening injuries

and near-freezing temperatures,
the survivors of flight 965

are about to be rescued.

MERCEDES RAMIREZ: People
finally know that we're here,

and they're finally
here to-- to rescue us

after so many hours
of being stuck

on that side of that mountain.

So seeing them was one of
the greatest things ever.

GONZALO DUSSAN: They came
and they throw a rope,

and the people start to descend.

And, you know, I was so
happy because I feel,

you know, that they--

they're going to help us.

NARRATOR: College
student Mauricio

Reyes is the first to be
airlifted off the mountain.

But low cloud cover
delays the removal

of the remaining survivors.

Fearing that
six-year-old Michelle

Dussan may not
survive, volunteers

take a calculated risk.

They fashion a stretcher
from a piece of the wreckage

and begin to evacuate Michelle
off the mountain by foot.

Shortly after, the
weather clears.

And the remaining survivors
are airlifted to a base camp

halfway down the mountain,
and then to the hospital.

More than 13 hours after
the crash of flight 965,

Michelle Dussan is
the last survivor

to emerge from the jungle
of El Diluvio alive.

ACTOR AS MICHELLE DUSSAN: Mommy.

I don't think that there
is any medical explanation

or scientific explanation.

There is no explanation that
out of people that were stronger

and, like, tough, that
me, a little girl--

a six-year-old girl-- could
survive out of so many people

that were so much
stronger than me.

I just thank God so much.

NARRATOR: Of the 163 aboard
flight 965, 159 were lost.

Only four survived.

All of the survivors
were seated within two

rows of one another--

just above the wing
and above huge girders,

that make the area the
plane's strongest section.

Despite this, Mercedes Ramirez
has lost both her parents

on her 21st birthday.

MERCEDES RAMIREZ:
December 20, 1995,

my life changed forever, and has
never been the same ever since.

There was 160 people
on that flight who,

the moment that plane hit
that mountain, all their hopes

and dreams were instantly lost.

But for some reason, I've been
given a second chance at life.

And so I'm gonna try
to make the best of it.

NARRATOR: The
evacuation of survivors

gives way to the gruesome
task of recovering

the bodies of the 159
souls who perished

on the summit of Mount Diluvio.

Investigators now descend to try
to find out how one of the most

sophisticated airliners
equipped with state of the art

technology could veer
off course and crash more

than 35 miles from the airport.

The investigation into
the crash of flight 965

was led by Columbia's
Aeronautica Civil.

Assisting the Colombians
were investigators

from the US National
Transportation Safety Board,

including Dave Ivey.

DAVID IVEY: The wreckage
and debris report indicated

that the airplane actually
impacted the eastern side

of the mountain as it was
trying to proceed back

west to get into the valley.

And the main body
of the wreckage

cleared the mountain
top or the ridge,

I should say, and landed over
on the western side, which

is inside the valley area.

NARRATOR: Also following
the investigation

was Dave Simmon, an
airline captain who

knew the Cali approach well.

DAVE SIMMON: In the days
that followed the crash,

the industry was shocked.

They were shocked
because they didn't know

how could a sophisticated
airplane like the 757,

flown by a well-respected
international carrier

like American Airlines,
with well-trained crews,

get so far off course.

Nobody could figure out how did
it happen, why did it happen.

NARRATOR: Sabotage and
mechanical malfunction

were soon ruled out.

Attention turned to the
actions of the flight crew.

The discovery of the black
boxes enabled investigators

to follow the final moments of
American Airlines flight 965.

There is never one
single item that--

or error that typically
brings an airplane down.

There's an error chain.

And a chain is made
up of many links.

The airplane was
en route to Cali.

As they were approaching
from a distance out,

the controller offered
them a straight in landing.

Are you able to
approach runway 19?

Would you like to
shoot the 19 straight in?

Uh, yeah.

We'll have to
scramble to get down.

We can do it.

When they first
accepted the approach,

the first officer
remarked that we

do need to get down in a hurry
in order to accomplish this.

Yes, sir.

We'll need a lower altitude
right away, though.

At the time the crew accepted
the approach to runway 19,

they were too high,
too fast, and too close

in to safely make this approach.

NARRATOR: To lose
altitude, the first officer

deploys the speed brakes--

an action that will prove
disastrous in the final segment

of the flight.

The fact that they accepted
that runway put the crew

in a rushed and hurried manner.

Maybe at Tulua first of all.

You want to go right
to Cali or to Tulua?

I thought he said
the Rozo one arrival.

Yeah, he did.

We got time to pull that out?

NARRATOR: The flight crew now
must study the approach charts

and reprogram the computer.

Meanwhile, the airplane
is moving at more

than 5 miles per minute.

Because they're rushed, and
in a hurry, and scrambling,

they then make a
dangerous request.

Can American Airlines
965 go director to Rozo

and then do the
Rozo arrivals, sir?

Affirmative.

Take the Rozo one and runway 19.

When the controller said
affirmative, take the Rozo one,

he meant use the
Rozo one arrival

procedure, although
the crew thought

he meant to go direct to Rozo.

That's not a good idea.

Because to proceed
direct to Rozo

is the last point just
before the runway.

And Rozo is the last
point before landing, not

the first point that
you should be targeting.

And this miscommunication
really dealt with the pilot

believing one thing and
the air traffic controller

believing another.

That was another
link, in my view--

ACTOR AS NICHOLAS TAFURI:
What happened here?

DAVID IVEY: --that was
part of the error chain.

Where are we?

DAVE SIMMON: The
crew looks at their--

at their charts
in front of them,

and they see the fixed Rozo.

And it is identified
by the letter R.

So they naturally put
R into the computer

thinking it will take
them directly to Rozo.

NARRATOR: The computer
offers a list to choose from.

But, unbeknownst to the
pilots, none is Rozo.

Habit has shown--

and the system is designed
to place the one that is

closest to your airplane first.

And so here was an R that showed
up first and he selected that.

NARRATOR: A display
in front of the pilot

shows the proposed course
to the waypoint selected.

It will take the plane
left, into the mountains.

DAVID IVEY: According to
American Airlines procedure,

prior to executing
an input such as this

to select the R, you confirm
with the other pilot,

does this look correct to you.

965, 9,000 feet.

This clearly was not done.

If it had been, they would
have seen a dotted line

showing a provisional path
from the nose of the airplane,

turning, and going back to
about their 7 o'clock position.

NARRATOR: Captain Tafuri hastily
presses the Execute button.

DAVE SIMMON:
Unfortunately, the crew

does not know that R
stands for another fix that

is 132 miles away, behind
them, at about their 7

o'clock position.

And that's where the
airplane starts to go to.

DAVID IVEY: The plane
was simply doing

what it was programmed to do.

In this case it's to fly out
of Bogota, 130 miles away.

NARRATOR: More than a
minute into the turn,

the pilots are unaware
they're flying away from Cali

and dangerously off course.

DAVE SIMMON: The first officer
is getting the charts out.

The captain's getting
the charts out.

They don't know
where we're headed.

DAVE SIMMON: They're
trying to tune radios.

No one's flying the airplane.

No one's watching what happens.

And they assume
that the automation

is gonna take care of 'em.

Sometimes it will, but
in this case it didn't.

Uh, where are we?

We're going out to--

Let's go right to
Tulua first of all, OK?

DAVID IVEY: In this case, the
airplane got in front of them.

It was flying what was selected.

And, in fact, it was
flying beyond the pilot's

recognition of where it was
supposed to be traveling.

NARRATOR: The pilots
had lost what's referred

to as situational awareness.

Left turn, so you want
a left turn back around.

No.
Hell, no.

Let's press onto--

Well, we're pressing
to where, though?

Tulua.

That's a right U and--

Well, where are we going?

DAVE SIMMON: Once they became
unsure of their position--

once they became confused
and disoriented--

that's the time to
click off the automation

and to basically
abandon the approach,

climb to the minimum safe
altitude, and to go to Cali.

965, altitude?

NARRATOR: Instead of
abandoning the approach

and gaining altitude, flight 965
continued its deadly descent.

When the warning sounded that
the plane was about to crash--

--First Officer Williams
disengaged the autopilot

within one second, but
forgot to retract the speed

brakes he deployed earlier.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL (ON RADIO):
965, this is Cali Approach.

Can you hear me?

NARRATOR: According to
the official report,

had he remembered to
lower the speed brakes,

the plane could have cleared
the mountain with room to spare.

A court eventually ruled
that the pilots of flight 965

had shown willful misconduct
on the approach to Cali.

Survivor Mercedes Ramirez,
who lost both her parents,

continues to deal
with the crash.

I think this was
a classic textbook

case of everything you should
not do when flying a plane.

Hopefully it's a wake
up call to pilots that,

no matter how many times
you've flown to a city,

you just have to
be alert and aware.

Because every little
move that you make,

you have the lives of
people in your hands.