cleared for takeoff board my mom
one of the most rugged planes ever built
nuclear pilots all called it the Jeep in the sky
crashes into the sea yet I ET
%um sick of a plane doesn't just crash for unknown reasons the
and traffic controllers have no idea what happened
Chris Paul Airport here we're not a couple radar
lefevre it looked like it was going to be a very difficult investigation
was it a medical emergency the road the pilot might have had a physical
breakdown
an active sabotage
or something even more alarming the Hayden right
that lurks a commercial airports around the world
%uh
up putt
pilot Michelle Sun tour and cruise is low over the islands a French Polynesia
hammer and requesting clearance for approach run 12
it's one of up to 40 flights a day between the islands of Moria
and Tahiti I'm air more you are clear for
final runway 12 it's a route Eric lamar knows well
mowlam
didn't you Maria is an island that's really close to be heeding
the distance between them isn't even twenty kilometers is just the channel
the cross
to ET and Maria up to have more than a hundred islands that make up French
Polynesia
halfway between Australia and South America
pristine beaches and lush mountain peaks attracts thousands of tourists a year
and Maria specializes in the short flights that provide a vital link
between the islands
I
moof and Maria and its planes were really part of the daily landscape for
the Polynesians
people working in Tahiti been living in Maria and for the tourists
it really was the quickest and most efficient lincoln's
the game michelle's on your enjoying de Maria just three months ago
think the passenger list legitimate threat after a career in the military
he's beginning a new life in paradise he'd taken care of everything to welcome
his family
his wife was joining him soon
on the whole world just the way we like it site tour and flies these short hops
on his own
with no copilot all cabin crew to help out
okay im and apply
time to waste paradise every 30 minutes he needs to be ready for another take
off
the captain presented the captain would quickly checked the plane to see if
there was anything alarming
a deflated tire to anything that might call their attention what your little
soon
the twin also a turbo prop is a rugged 19 passenger aircraft built in Canada
nuclear 20 in fact we pilots all called it the Jeep in the sky
shared in the previous session we would greet the passengers quickly in reboard
see it was very very short let's say
8 a.m. to spur the luggage in a scene from here
beautiful day to fly after less than 15 minutes on the ground
salt Iran is ready to go again
now ready to taxi on
pair Maria you are cleared for takeoff
from 11 cleared for takeoff forty
I want
the Twin Otter has little automation Sutter and flies this plane by hand
if you thought that young commit the majority of modern commercial planes are
loaded with help for the pilots
electronics screens but on this tape a plane you have the pleasure of handling
the plane and fully controlling and clean mom
at this Island Airport the ocean is just off the edge of the twelve hundred meter
run wild
costume for lasting when we fly over there it's magical
lula goons magnificent islands and
the greenery the mix of colors it certainly paradise
vacationers get to watch the regular takeoffs and landings
the flight is one of the shortest on earth
just seven minutes from takeoff to touchdown
time
but on flight 1121 something is wrong
the Twin Otter is losing altitude fast
it falls into a steep died
less than two minutes after takeoff flight 1121 crashes into the pacific
the tower is told what people have seen
is it floating ur has gone under
local fishermen rushed to help but they find no survivors
only bodies all twenty people on the flight
are dead
fiscal to email to check the two people yeah
the custom SMUD
motherhood I will always remember stick and it was terrible
because we were still hoping that despite what happened
people would come out alive or at least a couple
are
the disaster touches nearly everyone in the tiny island community
opportunity million Polynesia
everyone knows each other everyone is someone's cousin
or knows their family home so people were hit very hard by this accident
killed
p.m. maria fleet is grounded when pilots refused to fly
between auto until they know what caused the crash
and do some claim doesn't just crash for no reason to know that it was either due
to pilot error
were mechanical problem so before continuing to fly we passed but the
whole fleet be checked out
sheep in Needham
just hold
because Maria is a French territory east a team from France's Accident
Investigation Bureau
the Beej is sent from Paris it's their job to figure out what went wrong
tell me there's more ally we r
leads the investigation between a do it and have your own words como desde
the twin daughter was an extremely robust plane it was used in all the
difficult places
where other planes can't normally take off and land to get usually
use that the police that made us wonder what could have happened to this plane
that would have made it hit the water the issue for them investigators usually
rely on clues from the wreckage
this tells us nothing but most have this plane is at the bottom of the ocean
we r will have little to go on unless he can get vital pieces back on dry land
we are going to need a lot more wreckage than this
there's another reason to find the play unlike large airliners 20 not as a not
required to carry a cockpit voice recorders
but de Maria installed one anyway it could hold the answers investigators are
looking for
they were hoping to get in addition to the boys from the cockpit voice recorder
any kind of the alarms they would sound
but we're covering the CVR from the deep waters off the coast of Moria
will be a huge challenge way too deep to send on that bus
this in dept this area was a around 700 meters
so obviously you cannot send any diver you need to send
remote control operated submarine
investigators arrange for a ship equipped with a remote-controlled
submersible to assist in the recovery
the eel to rate lemme
there's just one catch: it's more than 4,000 kilometers away
of the island at New Caledonia E
it could take weeks for the ship to get to Maria
flight 1121 CVR is equipped with a locator beacon
more pinga but the battery that powers in will only last 30 days
who try to send that recovery ship
as soon as possible and within the 30 days and
battery life of the finger
should take official skins aparece the it looked like it was going to be a very
difficult investigation
if we couldn't recover the cockpit voice recorder
the on this issue on to cook Peter
meanwhile investigators talk to the controller the airport
a radar track could provide some clues about what brought the plane down
home the first evidence that we like to get to win the investigation starts of
course it is a sense of the trajectory
the last departure point and the impact point
so we tried to get this type of information
but they're not going to get what they hope for
it for a small airport here were not a cop with radar
it's yet another setback when we discovered that we did not have any
radar data
we were slightly disappointed in the sense that
we knew you was gonna be harder to recreate the trajectory
on the aircraft
ice on a plane climbing and then suddenly
don't know more until the eel the rain arrives investigators must rely on the
only evidence they have
witness reports have the crash
even promised the we thought it was critical to gather all the eyewitness
accounts
to help us understand what happened upon but in
must have though witness
where you there on on beach a in my BR
or on the books fishing are on them
stated that there so the aircraft climbing normally
every day more than 500 twin daughters navigate some of the most challenging
routes on earth
from the Australian outback to the frozen tundra at the far north
if there's a fatal flaw in the famously sturdy Twin Otter
the aviation world needs to know as soon as possible
that fact increases pressure
on investigators to figure out what brought down flight 1121
he was climbing normally
then seems to lose control at the plate
maybe it was our way when you're the weight and balance
issue usually have you troublesome right after take-off
calculating the weight of cargo
passengers and fuel correctly is critical on small commuter planes
getting it wrong can be deadly as a crash in the United States demonstrated
in 2003
US Airways express flight 5481 departs from Charlotte North Carolina
just 30 seconds after take off the pilots lose control of their Beechcraft
1900
commuter plane plummeted to the ground getting an airport hangar
and killing all 21 people on board
investigators discovered the plane was dangerously overloaded
more than 250 kilograms over its maximum allowable takeoff weight:
the crew used incorrect estimates for passenger and baggage weight
it's very important to know the way to check with before you take off
and therefore we did investigate this issue very a very soon to the
investigation
19 passengers with fuel in cairo
the b18 checks the load and balance sheets from the emo RealFlight
and finds no issues we Canada everything was within the manufactory slim
they should have been funneled
whatever brought down the plane it had nothing to do with weight
until help arrives to search for the plane sunken cockpit voice recorder
there is no more evidence to go on your we r decides to take a chance on an
unusual tactic to try to figure out what went wrong yeah I need a
small plane that the good item
we'll see
about the island of Moria
island we r takes an unusual flight aboard a small commuter planes
a flight he hopes will enhance the memory of those who witnessed the crash
of flight 11 21
cock
this make a pass a little gonna
pilots have a specific task to do each stage at the flight
if witnesses can identify how high salt you're inclined
it might help investigators figure out what he was trying to do
when he lost control of the plane on
they ask witnesses to watch as we %ah plane climbs from the airport
she asked him why was the maximum altitude and might not be able to tell
you
for this course I haven't read or 1000 feet or two thousand feet
but a few actually sure them Netcraft
in the air and said this is 5mp didn't match what you sow
they can say more easily yes 1 a.m.
know it's too high
okay let's make money while past this comment lower
we ask her witness to tell them which one
of the up the room we created flights much
the most when ban remember from the the
puff the accident
yes that's exactly what I saw the plane
right
thanks a lot
yeah down almost Paul and I am
okay
let's go back
the test flights give we are a good idea of how high
Michelle sought to rein managed to climb the world
you want if the the flights we did allowed us to estimate the altitude
in which the plane change the trajectory psychotic twirl
whatever went wrong it happened when he was still climbing
but he still doesn't know what caused the plane's sudden dived
all why the pilot couldn't recover
when you have and now playing going nose dime after take-off you can you can
think of for
engine failure modestly dual engine failure
a twin otter can fly safely with only one engine
but it both engines failed that could cause a steep died like the one the
witnesses saw
that was a possibility
I'm it would much in terms of trajectory
but having two engines fail at the exact same time
is an extremely rare
on do engine pill could be caused
of course by a furious starvation but that's a
quite unlike you I love to take off or it can be your so let's not forget
burned ingestion both engines but thats
quite unlucky or sumn
most witnesses also report hearing engines as the plane dove towards the
sea
dual engine failure now seems even more unlikely
I'm
sounds captured by the cockpit recorder could confirm if the engines were
running
not until it's recovered we r only has the unusual flight path to go on
0
said that these infamous shown to defeat the this information was certainly
important
bombs here me but it didn't explain what happened he did not
you knew that the it seemed to us
but the pilot might have had a physical breakdown ok
and probably some kinda incapacitation to put the plane
into it sends your on this song to see the only piece of the spread
these are planes that have flown by single pilot when a pilot is physically
incapacitated there's no one to take over control of the plane
you know Sun who upon the car on the road if
the Honda had been incapacitated to and then with that
just to you know really nor on flight controls indeed the weekend match
the trajectory up there
the captain's body has been recovered
and sent for autopsy home the coroner has checked for any signs have a medical
condition that might interfere with the captain's ability to fly
ok
but when we r reads the results
it wasn't a heart attack is back at square one
them yevgeny anti-police boziak
there was nothing to suggest that he had a health problem we have regular medical
checkups
he passed without any difficulties to team
love your fill me a sad book the we close the door
on pilot incapacitation as the cause of the accident did you pick 'em
we r must consider every possible cause for the crash
he explores a terrifying possibility what about a a deliberate act of
sabotage
did someone board the flight
intending to commit murder
Boone and your own discerned on intrusion into the cockpit
it's something that was plausible grows even
we r knows that it's happened before
December the seventh
1987 a disgruntled airline employees smuggles a handgun the board Pacific
Southwest Airlines flight 1771
in mid-flight he shoots his former boss
then rushes towards the cockpit where he shoots a flight attendant and both
pilots
it enforces the plane into a steep died
there's no hope for any of the forty three people aboard
the small jets slams into a california hillside
and disintegrates
campion black
do if someone on a Maria flight 1121 entered the cockpit
and attacked the pilot the sound of a struggle would be on the cockpit voice
recorder
this is that they don't get the the new Beith at this stage of the investigation
it was pretty obvious that we had to find the CVR
on august the twenty six 17 days after the accident
the French research vessel feel the rain finally arrives
that he knows the approximate location of the wreckage
but ocean currents may have shifted the sunken de Bry
we had narrow down the search zone
to our circle of about to end sixteen years in diameter
we're fairly confident he was going to be
in nineteen zone but we didn't know it was gonna be laying by itself
on the seabed where she was still in the to the large
other aircraft or
they zero in on the record is located bpm
that's the sound were looking for
technicians on the yield array launcher remotely operated underwater vehicle
or borrow the towards the sound
it could beat New the more likely we quickly located the area on the seafloor
with the wreckage was dispersed
there are some Toyota
the remains a family of light 1121
lie more than 650 meters below the waves
them we saw the detached wings we saw the engines
we saw a pardon the pun
see if you can find the damn this look like the third the
this the decision was quickly made to focus on the tail
with a cockpit voice recorder could be found Douglas assume
okay let's cut it open and get the CVR out there depends upon
repeated we decided to cut through the fuselage to recover
the flight recorder the competition
it's a delicate operation one false move and the Saab could damage
or destroy the crucial recorder nice and easy
on we're really hoping to funny their
a and damage or dislike E damage
and therefore increase your chance of success for the readout process
on
the salvage operation demands incredible patience
to provide the coup the with this job of cutting out or the
are all be chewing open a hole in the plane took five or six hours at work
before we could get to the cockpit voice recorder square heard the competition
finally the team freeze the CVR
we got it excellent work
global cycle we felt a great sigh of relief
my so in a sense of satisfaction
and then also worries because me if you have the required that
very good thing then you have to have the data in it so we were
the next yr faced to organized was there shipping the recorder back to the lab
had to be
for read out as soon as possible
do
along with the voice recorder the salvage effort brings up other key
pieces of wreckage
these are the only the this didn't we decided to recover some other pieces
that we thought would be needed
in addition to the information from the CD arms from severe
they want to get the engines
you want to get as much cockpit arm
panel ice as possible they quickly download the CVR data
alone pilot hardly speaks at all
investigators must listen for other sounds that could provide leads
in on the copy was reported we could do it here and there
the no more takeoff roll and then the climb
basins to be unwilling wrongly
they can hear the sound of the plane as soldier and lifts off and adjusts his
controls
met with a local heated 13 you put the kid did an intrusion into the cockpit
was still an open hypothesis we waited for the CVR
to close that door summitted got there's no sound of an intruder
in the cockpit upon up with some good news that the new the first impression
we got from listening to the CVR
was that there was no intrusion into the cockpit there had been no other people
in the cockpit
then they hear the pilot cry out in surprise
did give profit mall or not everything was perfectly normal
until the moment when the pilots war sees social
this sound recorded in the cockpit
allows investigators to rule out another theory as well
engine some fun
the senior prom yeah other maximum a
a takeoff power all the way to to impact sounds like
he said pulling the flaps the pilots cry of surprise comes just after he adjusts
the flaps on his twin otter
again please you can't he on the CVR
the flap being retracted you can also hear the pilot breathe a bit heavier
like yours
putting on the front controls at that time 9
immediately after that hear him being very surprised
moments later the plane slams into the sea
here in with the
experience cockpit voice recorders are a so hard to
to hear especially when you know there's a tragic tragic ending
is committed to the flaps
just sad
I don't understand
them
investigators learned that on flights to Tahiti Twin Otter pilots retract their
flaps when they reach about 400 feet
the same altitude where flight 1121 began to dive
they wonder if the flaps malfunctioned
ok before takeoff pilots routinely extend their wing flaps to increase lift
while they climb
0 prefers to close your
once the plane approaches cruising altitude well I extended flaps increase
drag
so pilots must retract them when they approach cruising altitude
on
home
investigators study the mechanism that operates the flaps
I'm read it will cover the truck trailer and we were able to
analyze it they find it in the correct position
and shows no sign of any malfunction
for himself fine results objects emission show that the flats where
retracted an impact
home
after weeks of work we are still can't explain why flight 1121 fell out of the
sky
now let's take a good
close look at these cables he focuses on the cables that operate crucial control
services in the tail of the plane
North death knell pussy bata doon defame we were left with the possibility of a
mechanical breakdown or failure
ok
the control surfaces in the Taylor between auto are activated by just four
cables
to move the plane's rudder right and left
and to move the elevator up and down all four were damaged in the crash
the we r looks for anything that might tell him when and how they snapped on
aviation cables are made up of multiple strands have thin wire that a twisted
and then braided together for extra strength ok
it three cables have unraveled clear indication that they were ripped apart
suddenly on impact
and impact damage but one cable
looks different now this this is interesting
this one did not snap on the impact one cable
was broken in a different manner and the
three other ones so there was a the something about it we had to investigate
two cables run to the elevator on the tail
one pulls it down to page the nose down I'll
the other cable pulls it up I'll to pitch the nose
up that's the one that broke before impact
on if it snapped in flight
the plane would have been thrown into a severe died
no to the Cabinet Committee the failure of the picture cable
was consistent with the trajectory that was described by the eye-witnesses
into the water
finally investigators understand why Michelle soldier and lost control of his
twin
auto an extremely rare mechanical failure
that came without warning
it's a revelation that leads to a more urgent question okay let's
send these 2s then in Paris and see what she thinks
they must now figure out why the cable snapped
before it happens to someone else home
on
when the pitch up cable arrives in Paris material specialist estelle marcia rail
examines it closely she sees something strange
the cable shows clear evidence that different strands broke a different
times
and for different reasons
you extend your songs the externals transfer worn in those on the inside
were not they had snapped
distinctive damage on the out a store and suggest something has been rubbing
against the cable
clint's a fifty-percent and all the time
the schools I'm gonna this week upswing
was cool when we look at this cable under the microscope we were able to see
that
every external stranded show the signs of wear them
his own which added up to very substantial damage
the pitch up cable runs from the control column in the cockpit
to the elevator passing through a series a plastic guides
every time the pilot pulls the nose of the cable rubs against the guides
planes experience the most wear and tear
during takeoff and landing it's important for mechanics to monitor the
number of flights
to help assess where on
48 airline records provided trouble include
mouth and 50 flights here air more you were clear for
and Maria planes make frequent short hops
and make many more takeoffs and landings than most large airliners
when on average it perform 50 to 70 take off today and landings to
the same plane
investigators need to know how all that back and forth movement
could have affected the pitch up cable they devise a test
that replicates the friction on the cable but there's another factor that
must be taken into account
this is the only plane in the air lauria fleet with stainless steel cables
we found out the there was a different type of control cable
use for this particular aircraft the accident plane is a new addition to the
Emory a fleet
the airlines other planes have control cables made of carbon steel
but flight 11 21's cables are made of stainless steel
stainless steel withstand salt corrosion better than carbon steel we would make
sense
to make that decision to Houston steel
so that you can both with cordless inner
very sideline in my mint keyboard
could be susceptible to grows and more and she would cooperate
over them
but stainless steel cables also have a disadvantage
they wear down more quickly from friction
something and Maria fail to take into account when drawing up the maintenance
schedule for the Twin Otter
the crash on have long mona Singh
a stainless steel cable contains chrome menu which makes a better at resisting
corrosion
I know him it also contains nickel which can make it more sensitive to wear
museum lab results confirm that the frequent short flights helped where our
way
the outsider the stainless steel cable the still still is worn
just like longer Maria to use you put in a difficult to wear with the result
rubbing against parts of the plane
it could be a crucial discovery
one that finally explains why a critical control cable broke
in flight no
investigators suspect friction weaken the cable so much that it snapped a song
to rain was pulling his elevator optic line
when I double ballsy cool at first we thought that the cable broke because of
the way right
that was our first impression because the where was significant
basha rail puts the theory to the test
she recreates the force used by song to rent to pull up the nose of the plane
if she's right the wall on cable should snap
but it doesn't break not in the office it is seeing someone
want to perform this test we saw that with fifty percent where
he still needed much more force the foreperson a forced ten times stronger
than what you'd find in played during this phase a flap retraction
Nuzzo whom don't you thanks to the tests
we realize the even a cable worn down by fifty percent
could have withstood the stress at the entire flight cable remains intact
you finish up shit Gill we had to figure out what phenomenon
could weaken the cable guy something as
help to snap at cable what
investigators know the planes sometimes sustain hard to detect damage from small
impact with ground vehicles
if an airport vehicle accidentally ran into the plains elevator
the impact may have broken more wires in the already warned pitch up cable
C
we are checked the records at both airports on the twin otters route
Morea and the large airport in tahiti where he parks overnight
thank you he needs to know if the plane was ever involved in an accident
nothing
no impact reported no
long by holding the cause the show good we didn't find any evidence have impact
on the control services
which eliminated the possibility of contact with another vehicle
during overnight parking on a station on him
it's another dead end there seems to be no way to explain why a cable would snap
in flight
until we r notices something on the taxiway
at the busy too he thier port
Tammy how close to those jets get to the El Morya planes
love you more we targeted the phenomenon
but the exhaust from a jet engine a phenomenon
call jet lost
jet blast is the powerful exhaust expelled from jet engines
the hurricane force winds can reach speeds over a hundred and sixty
kilometers per hour
and hadn't been peaceful soon at you
a plane at full power a plane like an Airbus are like a Boeing
whose power conflict the plane a few dozen feet behind it
it's a phenomenal force phenomenon
I'm
investigators study the layout have to haiti's airport
they need to know if the and Maria planes could have been damaged by jet
blast
okay the El Morya twin otters
party a they learn the damn Maria pox its planes very close to a taxiway
used by powerful jets airports routinely set up jet blast barriers to protect
planes from the dangerous force
there should be barriers to protect the twin otters at two he tees airport
but they've been removed now look at this
it's an important discovery the Jets
the back out here to buy up all the committee did
these barriers were removed to make it easier to go from one parking lot to
another
the reputed Diana there was no longer this physical barrier to protect the
Twin Otter planes
DJ Tuesday do
the Airbus or Boeing jets were found let's say
about 50 meters away from pair Maria sparking very close
social the El Morya planes
part right in the path at the jet blast
said that you want the back issue on but this plane had been parked in an area
that was prone to recede in class
from the large carriers during their departure the
you some money they don't guess we therefore arrived at this hypothesis
that there was a very high probability that the cable was weekend
by jet blasted home
an amp we r learns the de Moraes planes are especially vulnerable to jet blast
because of an airline policy designed to prevent accidents
the twin otters are parked with the elevators locked in a nose down position
it makes it impossible to get off the ground with the elevators locked
it'd look at times but it was locked by a device that stopped the cables for
moving in prevented the elevator from moving
do
but the nose down position likely increase the damaging effects at the jet
blast
investigators suspect that like a sail in the wind.
the Tilted elevators court the full force of the blast
putting extra strain on the locked pitch up cable see people want
if the controls are locked the polls and transfers energy directly to the cable
and they now want
if the force of the jet lost is enough to break a warner cable even further
another cable test provides the answer
Louis oh my god we'll keep it because the there was a cable worn down by fifty
percent
with a cable that was still able to resist a hefty amount of strain
at period I'm and then a jet blast phenomenon
left the cables so fragile that it only had one or two strands left intact
then rather than tearing the cable completely apart
the jet blast left a few strands of wire just enough for flight 1121 to take off
but not enough to survive the rigors of a seven minute flight
they were hanging by a thread if the jet blast had severed the cable completely
captain soldier and would not have been able to get his plane off the ground on
but once airborne captains on tour and and his nineteen passengers
a one thin strand of wire away from disaster
investigators reproduce the forces created as the pilot adjusts his
controls
captains on tour and reaches four hundred feet
and retracts his flaps
causing his twin otter to page down slightly he adjusts his elevator to page
back up
it's enough to snap the final surrender the warning damaged cable
he didn't have a chance
long who you are we determined that the force
needed to correct the picture the plane was strong enough to break the last
rather than you do
there was nothing the pilot could do to save his plane and his nineteen
passengers
you can imagine his reaction
what's going on the cable broke
the control column came back and by the time you analyze what happened
the plane drops very quickly in a few seconds later get beer
to happen
the Emory accident killed 20 people
and forever changed the lives of the victims families
we r and his team
lean French Polynesia determined to make it safer to fly on twin daughters
Inc on your commander so for the third the the first recommendation was an
urgent request to check the cables on all planes equipped
with stainless steel cables today there are tougher maintenance and inspection
standards around the world
for stainless steel control cables the main lesson from this investigation
yessss the
risk of didn't last at airports
the AM only a disaster raised awareness throughout the industry
have the vital safety role played by jet blast barriers
especially at airports that handle both large jets
and small commuter planes every
lamar hopes it will be enough to stop such an accident from happening again
has been shimon Acworth
I dare to hope if not what purpose did this accident served
to have 19 passengers die and have the same thing happen again without learning
anything
it would be a shame to diminish don't
meet passionate people and their unusual collections in a brand new Clash of the
collectors double-bill
there can be only one winner the judging starts tomorrow at nine