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On 23 February 2008, a stealth bomber of the United States Air Force named the Spirit of Kansas enters a stall and crashes on the runway just moments after takeoff from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. Both crew members survive after successfully ejecting from the aircraft.
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00:00One of the world's most sophisticated warplanes speeds down the runway at Guam.
00:11Their mission that day was to return home.
00:17But the takeoff ends in disaster.
00:22A $2 billion stealth bomber goes up in flames.
00:26We want to know what the heck just happened.
00:30The entire fleet is grounded.
00:32This could be the end of the B-2 bomber program.
00:36Plane goes full nose up.
00:39Investigators analyze the flight second by second.
00:43What about this?
00:44And discover a hidden vulnerability in the B-2's electronic armor.
00:48There's no way a pilot would understand the system well enough to realize what could happen.
00:54What is going on?
00:58Mayday, mayday.
01:00We're good to go, sir.
01:30Major Ryan Link and Captain Justin Grieve are ending a four-month deployment in Guam.
01:38Better?
01:40Yeah, let's skip.
01:41Anderson Air Force Base is both a training facility and a launching point for US military operations in the Western Pacific.
01:55Generator one is on.
01:59Generator one is on.
02:03Engines ground idle, 25% confirmed.
02:06Free flight checklist is complete.
02:08Their mission that day was to return home.
02:13Our time was up in Guam and they were beginning a 16-hour continuous flight back to Knob Nost, Missouri, Whiteman Air Force Base, which was our home base.
02:25They're one of two crews returning home today in a unique war plane, the B-2 bomber.
02:32It was a flying wing design and really a marvel of engineering.
02:39The Air Force ended up spending $44 billion to develop and then field the fleet of B-2 bombers.
02:49Developed in the 1980s during the Cold War, the stealth bomber was designed to evade Soviet radar.
03:00There are only 21 of them in existence.
03:03It can sneak in with much less chance of being detected either by enemy surface-to-air missile defenses or enemy fighters.
03:19Tower of Death 5, startup is complete.
03:21You can activate our flight plan.
03:25Refueling number one will be at ARCP Charlie at 0735 Zulu.
03:30Expecting to onload 51,000 pounds.
03:32Control point Charlie, copy.
03:37Today, the 7,000-mile journey home from Guam will require the crew to refuel near the Hawaiian Islands
03:44and then over California before reaching Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri.
03:53Major Link is a qualified instructor on the B-2.
03:56Captain Grieve is an experienced pilot with more than 2,500 hours of military flying experience.
04:05They are among only 300 pilots qualified to fly the B-2.
04:11The aviators in the B-2 at that time were the absolute best of the best.
04:14They were hand-picked.
04:17They were vetted extensively.
04:19They were truly an elite group of aviators.
04:25Grieve and Link are second in line to take off.
04:28The plane they're flying is named Spirit of Kansas.
04:35Every B-2 bomber is named after an individual state, except for two.
04:40There's a Spirit of America and a Spirit of Kitty Hawk.
04:44That's 6 plus 1.
04:50Clear for takeoff.
04:52Maintain 5,000.
04:55Pitot heat is on.
05:00Clear right.
05:01Good to line up.
05:02The pilots must carefully maneuver the massive 168-ton bomber to the foot of the runway
05:10to ensure they don't put any dents in the B-2's shell.
05:15We try to taxi slowly because you're a low-observable platform.
05:21So, obviously, if you were to scrape the airplane,
05:24you'd degrade the capability of the warfighting machine.
05:32Death 5, go channel 5.
05:35Death 5, copy, channel 5.
05:38Death 5, check 5.
05:45Our lead is airborne.
05:46We go in 60.
05:48On this flight, Captain Grieve is the mission commander.
05:52What's different is the captain,
05:55like you would think the aircraft commander,
05:57is actually in the right seat.
05:59And we call him a mission commander.
06:00And the pilot is in the left seat.
06:05Best MCT.
06:11Good cues.
06:17The very first time I flew to B-2,
06:19I felt like I was a bird.
06:21It was so smooth.
06:24You just slightly touch the flight controls,
06:26and she does what she wants.
06:27100 knots.
06:38100 knots.
06:38What was that?
06:50FCS caution.
06:52Stop or go?
06:53Go.
06:54Warning rescinded.
06:57In the B-2, there's two different kind of caution lines,
07:00the red one and a yellow one.
07:02In this case, it was yellow, which is just precautionary.
07:04A red caution light, you probably abort the takeoff.
07:08145, rotate.
07:11Spirit of Kansas lifts off the runway at Guam.
07:16Almost immediately, the massive bomber pitches up dramatically.
07:20Next thing they know, they're going straight up.
07:26The momentum of that maneuver up caused their pilots to experience about 1.6 Gs.
07:33The aircraft's no longer doing what it's supposed to be doing.
07:37Full power.
07:38The B-2 isn't gaining altitude.
07:44It's still only 80 feet off the ground and losing speed.
07:49Make believe you're in your automobile right now.
07:52You turn left, but the car turns right.
07:56What is going on?
07:58That's not the way it's supposed to work.
07:59That's the scenario these pilots were in.
08:01The pilots now feel their airplane shaking violently.
08:07And realize it's on the verge of stalling.
08:10From my 15 years of flying the B-2,
08:12the only time I felt the B-2 shake is in the simulator.
08:16That's the only scenario where you will feel that shake.
08:19You never feel it otherwise.
08:22The plane's left wing drops.
08:26Grieve knows the plane is heading for the ground.
08:29There's only one thing he can do to save his and Major Link's life.
08:35They are trained to have that gut feel of when to pull the ejection handle.
08:42And don't forget, the Air Force wants these pilots to eject and save themselves.
08:46There is no shame in ejecting ever, even from a billion-dollar bomber.
08:52Grieve doesn't have time to think about his decision.
08:55The B-2's left wing is now scraping the ground.
09:03We've got to get out.
09:05Explosives tear a hole in the fuselage above the cockpit,
09:08and rockets eject the pilots from the aircraft.
09:10The stealth bomber hits the ground and bursts into flames.
09:21Alert 1, alert 1, runway 6, Romeo, runway 6, Romeo.
09:28I'm stunned.
09:30The B-2 has gone through 19 years and three wars without a crash.
09:34This is unheard of.
09:35One of the world's most advanced warplanes has been incinerated during a routine take-off.
09:41The whole world is left wondering what went wrong.
09:45For two straight days, firefighters at Anderson Air Force Base in Guam
09:54battled the flaming wreckage of B-2 bomber Spirit of Kansas.
09:59With a price tag of $2 billion,
10:01this is the most expensive aviation accident of all time.
10:05The crash at Guam did shake us to the core,
10:09in that we want to know what the heck just happened.
10:13Operations of the entire B-2 fleet are suspended,
10:17even before an investigation is launched.
10:20It's bad to have to stand down the B-2 flying operations.
10:24On the other hand, they have no choice.
10:27They have no idea what's gone wrong inside that B-2,
10:31and they have to find out before they risk any more B-2s in flight.
10:37The U.S. Air Force appoints the well-respected General Floyd Carpenter
10:42to lead the investigation.
10:45Because of the high-profile nature of this accident,
10:48I think they expect a lot of media interest.
10:50And so as a senior Brigadier General,
10:53I was picked, I think, to get the airplanes back operational and clear to fly again.
10:58You're never going to believe this.
11:01Investigators watched the accident unfold on security video.
11:06Great to have the video,
11:08and we were able to glean a lot of information from it.
11:13Video of the take-off shows that as the plane lifted off,
11:16it pitched nose-high.
11:19Your first reaction when you see that airplane pitch up
11:22is like, what are they doing?
11:25The plane then drifts left
11:27before the left wing scrapes the ground.
11:29Left wing falls off and hits the ground.
11:33And through that whole thing,
11:35you're thinking, where is the crew?
11:38First time you see it,
11:39you probably don't realize the crew actually ejects.
11:43Can you take it back for me, please?
11:51Stop.
11:52That's the pilots.
11:56One and two.
12:00The video shows the pilots ejecting just as the plane hits the ground.
12:05Both pilots have been taken to hospital for evaluation.
12:11Justin Grieve has suffered a serious back injury from the forces of the ejection.
12:15It was a waiting process for us
12:20and gathering all the other information
12:21while we waited to talk to them
12:22and hear their side of what really happened.
12:28Investigators study the mechanical and computer systems
12:31that control the jet.
12:33Perfect.
12:33What about the actuator?
12:37We had so much of the aircraft already available,
12:39actuators, engines,
12:41all those things are what you're really looking for
12:42in this type of accident.
12:44They quickly determined
12:45that all of the plane's flight control surfaces
12:48were functioning on takeoff.
12:51Pretty quickly,
12:52we were able to rule out the fact
12:54that the engines were not a problem,
12:55the hydraulics weren't a problem,
12:56the flight controls were not a problem.
12:59We pulled these from the video.
13:00Up, up, up.
13:09It's a beautiful sunny morning.
13:11Why does a bomber pitch its nose up
13:13and crash in a fireball on the runway at Guam?
13:16Is this a weight and balance issue?
13:19In any deployment like that,
13:21it's not uncommon to load aircraft with spare parts
13:24or other equipment that you might want to get home
13:26and not wait to ship home.
13:28Some classified material going back to Whiteman,
13:32personal belongings, gear.
13:35So center of gravity became a big issue for us.
13:38Could it have been that?
13:41Not enough to disrupt their balance, sir.
13:45The B-2 is capable of carrying 40,000 pounds of weaponry.
13:50But Spirit of Kansas wasn't carrying any bombs
13:54or other heavy cargo that could have shifted on takeoff.
13:59We found out that there really wasn't a lot of equipment.
14:02There were no munitions being carried.
14:04So everything was in balance as it should have been.
14:06And so center of gravity was ruled out pretty quick.
14:12Investigators look more closely at the takeoff rolls
14:14of both B-2s on the day of the accident
14:17for clues as to why Spirit of Kansas couldn't get airborne
14:21like the plane just ahead of it, Spirit of South Carolina.
14:24Okay, pause it right here.
14:31Okay.
14:33So South Carolina lifts off just past that taxiway.
14:39Right about here.
14:42Because we did have video,
14:44we were able to look at the takeoff roll
14:46of the fleet aircraft compared to the second aircraft.
14:50And stop.
14:54Okay, our guys lift off just past that runway light,
15:01which is this guy right here.
15:05Look at that.
15:06We found out that Spirit of Kansas
15:08took off 1,500 feet shorter than its lead aircraft.
15:13What is going on?
15:15Again, video helped us understand
15:17that takeoff roll was shorter,
15:18but didn't understand why.
15:33The investigators turned to data
15:35from the bomber's flight recorder for answers.
15:40The plane is still on the ground,
15:42546 feet above sea level.
15:45Not 682.
15:47So the altitude is off by 136 feet.
15:53Now, sir, there is no way he got up to 145 knots
15:56using only this much runway.
16:00Agreed.
16:01Something happened to cause this airplane to pitch up,
16:03but so far we've ruled out all the easy stuff.
16:05And so now we start looking into other situations
16:08that could have caused an aircraft to do what it did.
16:10Now, here, sir, the nose is lifting off the ground,
16:16but the plane registers a pitch down of minus 8 degrees.
16:20Now, obviously, this plane is not pitching down,
16:25but the computer thinks it is.
16:27That is why I tried to lift the nose higher and higher and higher.
16:30Until it stalled.
16:33Once we got the performance parameters of the aircraft,
16:35and we were able to determine that the airplane
16:37thought that it was negative 8 degrees angle of attack,
16:41then you start going back to say,
16:42why did it think that?
16:46The heart of the B-2 bomber
16:48is its sophisticated on-board computer,
16:51known as its flight control system, or FCS.
16:55Without it, it would be impossible for pilots
16:57to make all the calculations necessary
16:59to keep the unusual aircraft flying.
17:04You don't have a tail.
17:06Think about that.
17:07You don't have any kind of vertical empennage.
17:09It's just a big flying wing.
17:13Accurate data is crucial.
17:16On a B-2, pilots tell the computer
17:18what they want the plane to do,
17:20and the computer determines how to accomplish that.
17:24The flight computers move the surfaces of this airplane
17:28in a way that's not intuitive
17:30to any pilot of any other aircraft.
17:35Simply put, it'd be nearly impossible
17:38to fly this airplane safely without flight computers.
17:44So, airspeed, climate,
17:48angle, and altitude are all off.
17:53How does that happen on this plane?
17:58Investigators need to determine
17:59why the stealth bomber was getting faulty data.
18:04Let's see what the pilots can tell us.
18:07We weren't looking to blame them
18:10or, you know, point the finger at them.
18:11But there were tough questions to ask.
18:19Three weeks after the accident,
18:21the pilots of Spirit of Kansas
18:23agree to be interviewed by investigators.
18:25Okay, Captain, how about we take it from the top?
18:37We started up at 9.15.
18:39A few minutes later,
18:40Major Link saw the calibration message during startup.
18:42The pilots tell investigators
18:47that they received an unusual computer message
18:49shortly after startup.
18:51Never seen that.
18:53Me neither.
18:56Hey, Chief, we're seeing an Air Data Cal message.
18:59Can you send someone up here to clear that up?
19:02Air Data Cal stands for Air Data Calibration.
19:06In the simplest terms,
19:08the Air Data Calibration
19:10gives the aircraft its orientation to the universe.
19:15There are 24 sensors,
19:18flush-mounted near the nose of the B-2,
19:20that constantly measure air pressure.
19:23The plane's computer uses those readings
19:25to calculate altitude, airspeed, and angle of attack.
19:30All 24 systems have memory in them,
19:33and they're measuring themselves against all the others.
19:36And so if they get out of balance,
19:37if one is reading too low or too high,
19:39it calls for an Air Data Calibration,
19:41and the pilots see that.
19:43When that occurs, they call out maintenance.
19:49Okay.
19:51Let's see what we can do to clear this for you.
19:56Can you put it in maintenance mode for me?
20:04That's good.
20:05You're good to go, sir.
20:13So they have these 24 sensors.
20:15They make sure they're communicating correctly,
20:17and if they do, they let it go forward.
20:22Pedo heat is on.
20:25Less than an hour later...
20:27Clear right.
20:28Good to line up.
20:29...the pilots maneuver the massive bomber
20:31to the start of the runway.
20:35Okay.
20:37Go on.
20:38Everything was 100% routine until we had 100 knots.
20:41That's when we got the FCS master caution.
20:43You got a master caution while you were still on the ground?
20:47Yes, sir.
20:48Just a flicker.
20:49100 knots.
21:02Before I could even push the button, it rescinded itself.
21:06What was that?
21:06FCS caution.
21:10After 100 knots to our decision rotate speed,
21:13we will abort for safety of flight items.
21:16We define safety of flight as we are unable to control this airplane
21:19or there's something on the runway you're going to hit.
21:21Stop or go?
21:25Go.
21:26Warning rescinded.
21:28In that scenario, if I was the pilot in command, I would continue.
21:32Why?
21:32It's not safety of flight.
21:35145, rotate.
21:38When we hit 145, I called for Major League to rotate.
21:42Then it all very quickly went to hell.
21:46They lift off.
21:48The flight control computer senses a problem, so it pitches up.
21:51The pilot's trying to go nose down.
21:56Full power.
21:57They go max power, but the airplane is trying to stall again.
22:01Major League was trying to push it back down, but it wasn't working.
22:04It wasn't having any effect on the plane.
22:06We were basically just along for the ride.
22:11And then the left wing just drops.
22:13And I know we're done.
22:15We gotta get out.
22:17Then I pulled the handles.
22:21If the airplane did not perform as advertised, it was time for them to get out and give the aircraft back to the taxpayers.
22:32Thank you for your time today, Captain.
22:36Thank you, sir.
22:37They were extremely forthcoming in their testimony.
22:42They survived it, but they had no understanding of what happened either.
22:50Investigators need to know more about the calibration that Grieve reported in his testimony.
22:54It's not part of the plane's regular start-up procedure.
23:01If a sensor provides a reading that differs significantly from the others, a recalibration is done that tells the wayward sensors how much they're off in order to bring them back into agreement with the others.
23:12These three weren't just off by a little.
23:17They are way off.
23:19And they need a very big adjustment to get them in line with the rest.
23:24And we're not sure why, sir.
23:29100 knots.
23:30A master caution alarm that flickered on for a few seconds just before takeoff becomes a key piece of the puzzle.
23:39At that point, we really didn't know how they're related, but we figured they might be.
23:43There was too much coincidence starting to happen that pointed to these things.
23:47What was that?
23:49FCS caution.
23:52The recalibrated sensor started providing faulty air data again.
23:56Six seconds later...
23:58Stop or go?
23:59Go.
24:00The flight computer resolved the discrepancy between the sensors and canceled the warning.
24:06What is going on with this plane's sensors?
24:10To have a mystery flaw in the B-2 puts the 509th and the Air Force under a lot of pressure.
24:18They have to find out exactly what went wrong with the flight controls in order to return that fleet to safe operations.
24:27And the world will be watching them.
24:30Okay.
24:30So, let's start at the top.
24:36So, let's start at the top.
24:39Why the need to recalibrate in the first place?
24:43It was a procedure that a lot of pilots had never seen,
24:46and maintainers didn't do very often.
24:51Investigators look for any abnormalities in the mission
24:54that might have had an effect on the B-2's sensors.
24:59Huh. So, they got delayed by a day.
25:03What had happened was, Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri
25:07had a severe snowstorm.
25:09It was snowing quite heavily, visibility was near zero.
25:13So, what we did is we delayed the mission to come home 24 hours.
25:20Spirit of Kansas was left on the tarmac
25:22while the pilots waited to resume their mission.
25:25Okay.
25:30So, the jet was left outside for 24 hours because of the delay.
25:36So, what?
25:37Check the weather.
25:39Second to last page.
25:45Holy smokes.
25:47That is one hell of a lot of rain.
25:49Weather records show that a tropical rainstorm
25:55settled over the airbase the night before the accident.
26:01Tell me a rainstorm didn't take down a $2 billion airplane.
26:08Decisions were made,
26:10and these B-2's were left outside
26:13in this particularly heavy rainstorm.
26:16Okay.
26:22Let's flood these two.
26:26Investigators run tests on B-2 sensors
26:29to determine the effect rain may have had on them.
26:35And stop.
26:40Gotta be kidding me.
26:41Tests confirmed that the sensors exposed to the heaviest rainfall
26:46got saturated and needed recalibrating.
26:51Even prior to that,
26:53when it was in test and development,
26:55we'd never experienced that much rain on the system,
26:57so no one really knew
26:59how that would adversely affect
27:02the operations of the B-2.
27:04The reason no one realized
27:07how heavy rain affects the B-2
27:09is that it's almost always
27:10parked inside a hangar
27:12at Whiteman Air Force Base overnight.
27:15Even if it's flying a mission
27:17over Afghanistan or Libya,
27:19it returns to Missouri.
27:21The B-2's occasional deployment to Guam
27:27presented different weather conditions.
27:31Could heavy rain be the simple explanation
27:34for this accident?
27:35This would not have happened
27:37in a desert environment.
27:39This would not have happened at Whiteman.
27:41But Guam is very unique.
27:43They left the B-2 parked out all night in the rain.
27:45The moisture got in there.
27:47You see, something just doesn't add up.
27:54They did the recalibration.
27:57You're good to go, sir.
27:59But they still ended up with faulty data.
28:02They nearly killed it.
28:03Yeah.
28:05Full power!
28:07A state-of-the-art military jet
28:10put itself into a stall
28:11because it was getting faulty data
28:13about its climb angle.
28:14Investigators still don't know why.
28:19The B-2 has always operated
28:21under so much pressure and scrutiny.
28:25If they can't figure out
28:27what went wrong that morning on Guam,
28:30honestly, this could be the end
28:32of the B-2 bomber program.
28:33They recalibrate at 0-9-34.
28:45Nearly an hour later,
28:48the master caution lights up
28:50because of an air data issue.
28:52So, what happens
28:54in those 56 minutes?
28:57Investigators review
28:58what the pilots told them
29:00about the flight.
29:00routine taxi,
29:04they hit the pitot heat,
29:06wait for the timer,
29:07and they're off.
29:10So,
29:11what about this?
29:14There are small heaters
29:20connected to each
29:21of the plane's sensors.
29:22Just before takeoff,
29:24the pilots activate the heaters
29:26so the sensors don't freeze up
29:27when the plane reaches
29:28cooler temperatures
29:29at higher altitudes.
29:31We can't take off,
29:33advance the power,
29:34and go down the runway
29:35until we put the pitot heat on.
29:37Pitot heat is on.
29:39It's essential
29:40that those sensors
29:42are getting heated.
29:45Investigators wonder
29:46if the pitot heat
29:48could have affected
29:48the recalibrated sensors.
29:51Clear right.
29:52Get to line up.
29:53We didn't know enough
29:54to really put them together,
29:56and so we had to go get
29:57a better understanding
29:58of the system,
29:59and we did that
30:00through engineers
30:00that actually built the system.
30:04When he saw the frequency
30:05of our calibrations,
30:06he was surprised and concerned.
30:09And then they turn on pitot heat
30:12when they get to the runway.
30:13And then he was really concerned
30:15when he saw and understood
30:18like he only could
30:19that with moisture in the system
30:21and the data that we were
30:22putting into it to fix it
30:23could cause such a problem.
30:27On the day of the accident,
30:29turning on the pitot heat
30:30had a consequence
30:31that no one anticipated.
30:36Recalibrating the sensors
30:37brought the three wet ones
30:39in line with the others.
30:41But turning on the pitot heat
30:43boiled away the moisture,
30:45bringing the sensors
30:45back out of alignment.
30:47First MCT.
30:49So the data that was put in
30:51on the calibration
30:52now is invalid again,
30:53and the flight computers
30:54are now trying to resolve
30:55the issue with these sensors.
30:58But the discovery
30:59doesn't explain another key event
31:01during the short flight.
31:02What was that?
31:08FCS caution.
31:11Why did the faulty
31:12air data warning disappear
31:14six seconds after it came on?
31:17Stop or go?
31:19Go.
31:19Warning received it.
31:20It's seconds from takeoff.
31:32U.S. Air Force investigators
31:33look into the logic
31:34guiding the B-2's flight computer.
31:37So it has to make a choice.
31:40The flight data computer
31:41needs a solution.
31:42And what we mean by that
31:44is it can't spend
31:45even a second or a millisecond
31:47wondering where it is
31:49and what needs to be done.
31:52The B-2's flight computer
31:54is constantly receiving
31:55four separate data streams
31:57from all 24 sensors.
32:00If there's a discrepancy
32:01in the values of those channels,
32:03the computer is programmed
32:04to select any two
32:06of the channels to proceed.
32:10It just chose wrong.
32:11Yeah, we should fix that.
32:15Now it's voting
32:16as to throw out bad data,
32:18what they think is bad data,
32:19keep the good data,
32:20and it resolves the issue.
32:22The light goes away.
32:23The flight computers
32:24are now good to go.
32:26And so the pilots are now,
32:27okay, well,
32:28that must have just been a glitch.
32:29Let's keep going.
32:31Stop or go?
32:32Go.
32:33Warning rescinded.
32:34The flight computer
32:36chose the two channels
32:37that included
32:38the faulty sensor data.
32:401.45, rotate.
32:4512 seconds later,
32:47the plane pitched up abnormally
32:48because of the faulty
32:49air data readings.
32:52Once they rotated the aircraft
32:54on speed, as they thought,
32:56and left the ground,
32:58they were along
32:58for the ride at that point.
32:59But if recalibrating
33:02the plane's sensors
33:03before turning on
33:04the pitot heat
33:05can be catastrophic,
33:07why was that
33:08the official procedure?
33:12So hardly any at all?
33:16Investigators learned
33:17that recalibrations
33:18are rarely done
33:19while the B-2
33:20is at its home base
33:21in Missouri.
33:23But during a deployment
33:25in Guam in 2006,
33:27maintenance personnel
33:28were performing
33:29frequent recalibrations.
33:32Copy that.
33:33I'm on my way.
33:35They knew there was a challenge,
33:36but they didn't know
33:37what it was.
33:38And they did speculate
33:39that because of the weather
33:41in Guam,
33:41raining a lot more
33:42than at home,
33:44that it might be
33:45an issue of moisture.
33:48Technicians in Guam
33:49spoke to an engineer
33:50in the U.S.
33:51who suggested a procedure
33:53to remedy
33:53the frequent air data
33:55calibrations.
33:57Yeah.
33:58Then we have to do
33:58an onboard recalibration.
34:01They were able
34:03to talk to an engineer
34:04that said,
34:04well, before you do
34:05a data calibration,
34:06try turning on
34:07the pitot heat
34:08and burning that water
34:10out of the system
34:10and see if that'll
34:11take care of it.
34:12I haven't tried that.
34:14Good idea, though.
34:15The technician passed on
34:19the suggestion
34:19to the B-2 pilots
34:20in Guam.
34:22Try turning on
34:23your pitot heat
34:24for 40 seconds instead.
34:26Copy.
34:27Apparently,
34:28I should do it.
34:34Yeah,
34:35but our guys
34:36didn't do that.
34:38Can you think
34:39of a reason why?
34:42Investigators learn
34:43from technicians
34:43at Whiteman Air Force Base
34:45that the procedure
34:46for activating pitot heat
34:47in response
34:48to an air data
34:49calibration message
34:50was not officially adopted.
34:53Really?
34:56Why the heck not?
34:58Some crews knew about it.
35:00Some did not.
35:02Pilots back at Whiteman
35:03who were not there,
35:04never heard of it,
35:05and maintainers
35:05had never heard of it.
35:06There's nothing.
35:17There's nothing anywhere
35:19about using pitot heat
35:20when a calibration
35:21message appears.
35:28You're good to go, sir.
35:29Neither Ryan Link,
35:31Justin Grieve,
35:32nor the maintainer
35:33assigned to their plane
35:34was ever told
35:35about the moisture issue
35:37or the informal procedure
35:38for rectifying it.
35:40Better?
35:42Yeah, it looks good.
35:44The maintainers
35:45that morning
35:46were following
35:47the tech orders
35:48which tell them
35:49exactly what to do
35:50in the pre-flight.
35:51But for some reason,
35:53this new workaround
35:54to compensate
35:55for the moisture
35:56just hadn't made it
35:57into the manual.
35:59And that's a little bit
36:00of a tragedy.
36:00So, these three
36:03are wrong.
36:05What if they'd used
36:06pitot heat
36:06instead of recalibrating?
36:10It would have burned
36:11off the excess moisture.
36:13It would have solved
36:13the problem.
36:15No faulty air data.
36:17No accident.
36:19If information
36:20had been shared
36:21from previous deployment
36:222006 to 2008,
36:25this accident
36:25could have been prevented.
36:26Hey, Chief,
36:28we're seeing
36:29an air data Cal message.
36:30Can you send someone
36:31up here to clear that up?
36:32The maintenance personnel
36:33that came out
36:34to the aircraft
36:34that day
36:35of the accident
36:36did everything
36:37exactly right.
36:38They were just doing
36:39the procedure
36:40they were taught.
36:44It doesn't seem
36:45like anybody understood
36:46what these recalibrations
36:48could do.
36:50The investigation
36:51has uncovered
36:52a catastrophic gap
36:53in the B-2 crew's
36:55understanding
36:55of the link
36:56between calibrating
36:57sensors
36:58and flight controls.
37:00145, rotate.
37:02There's no way
37:03a pilot
37:04or a maintainer
37:05would understand
37:06the system well enough
37:07to realize
37:08what could have happened
37:09when they did
37:10that data calibration.
37:12That lack
37:13of understanding
37:13left the crew
37:14of Spirit of Kansas
37:16vulnerable
37:16to the effects
37:17of the faulty data.
37:20Investigators
37:21now wonder
37:22if there was something
37:23the pilots could have done
37:24to save their plane.
37:3318 seconds
37:34to get this plane
37:36under control.
37:39Was it even possible?
37:41Investigators re-examine
37:43the crash sequence
37:44to see if the pilots
37:45of the B-2 bomber
37:46Spirit of Kansas
37:47could have prevented
37:49their aircraft
37:49from crashing
37:50at Guam.
37:52145, rotate.
37:56Certainly
37:57no B-2 pilot
37:59wanted to be
38:00the first
38:00to eject
38:02from a B-2.
38:04Plane goes
38:05full nose up.
38:08He pushes
38:09full forward
38:09and goes
38:10full power.
38:11plane starts
38:17yawing
38:18and rolling left.
38:20He applies
38:21right stick.
38:23He's fighting.
38:25Investigators
38:26determined
38:26that Major Link
38:27took the correct action
38:29to save
38:29the B-2 bomber.
38:32But because of
38:33its low altitude
38:34and slow speed,
38:36disaster
38:36was unavoidable.
38:37Ultimately
38:39this was a
38:40no-win situation
38:41for the crew.
38:42As we determined
38:44with hundreds
38:45and hundreds
38:45of simulations
38:46afterwards,
38:47no one
38:48could have flown
38:48this aircraft
38:49out of that situation.
38:54The data
38:55also shows
38:56just how close
38:58the pilots came
38:58to losing their lives.
39:01They are seconds
39:03away from impact
39:04and
39:05they still
39:07hadn't pulled
39:07the handle.
39:08If they had
39:09delayed even
39:09a fraction
39:10of a second
39:10later
39:11to eject,
39:12they
39:13most likely
39:15would not
39:16have survived.
39:17The video
39:18of the accident
39:19shows that
39:20the plane's
39:20left wing
39:21was already
39:21scraping the ground
39:23when the pilots
39:23ejected.
39:26We've got to
39:27get out.
39:37They are heroes
39:38in the sense
39:39that these guys
39:40waited until
39:41the very last
39:41possible second.
39:43I don't know
39:44of many other
39:44people that can
39:45say that they
39:46waited until
39:46the wingtip
39:47hit the ground
39:48before ejecting.
39:49Can you imagine
39:50that?
39:51All pilots
39:52in the Air Force
39:53are good
39:54or maybe even
39:54great,
39:56but these guys
39:57were truly
39:58outstanding
39:58and they
40:00were very,
40:01very close
40:01despite everything
40:02to actually
40:04saving that
40:04aircraft.
40:07One of the
40:08most sophisticated
40:09warplanes on
40:10Earth was
40:10brought down
40:11by a combination
40:12of poor weather
40:13who would have
40:13guessed that a
40:14bit of moisture
40:15would have led
40:16to all this?
40:18And poor
40:18communication,
40:19which left
40:20Grieve and Link
40:21without an
40:21understanding of
40:22how recalibrating
40:23their sensors
40:24could lead to
40:25a serious
40:25flight control
40:26issue.
40:27100 knots.
40:31This accident
40:32didn't happen
40:33because of
40:34bad data,
40:35not because
40:35of bad software,
40:36not because
40:37of bad weather,
40:38not because
40:38of bad decision
40:39making.
40:40145, rotate.
40:41It happened
40:42because of
40:42bad communication.
40:45In the end,
40:46safety is
40:46everything.
40:47It doesn't
40:48matter if it's
40:49an airliner,
40:50a fighter jet,
40:51a space plane,
40:52or a stealth
40:53bomber.
40:53Full power.
40:54Safety is
40:55critical and
40:56safety is
40:57depends on
40:58communication.
41:01The Air Force
41:02investigation
41:03underscores the
41:04need for pilots
41:05to be kept
41:05informed about
41:06the technology
41:07controlling
41:08their airplanes.
41:10Do you really,
41:12really want
41:13to leave the
41:13defense of your
41:14families,
41:15your children,
41:15your grandchildren
41:16to a computer,
41:18or do you want
41:19to leave it to
41:20the greatest
41:21asset that we
41:22have, and that
41:24is the human
41:25brain?
41:28In spite of
41:29being involved
41:29in the most
41:30expensive aviation
41:31disaster in
41:32history, Major
41:33Ryan Link and
41:35Captain Justin
41:35Greave went on
41:36to have successful
41:37military careers.
41:40The B-2 was
41:40back in the air
41:41two months after
41:42the crash.
41:43The flight computer
41:44was redesigned
41:45to prevent
41:46faulty air data.
41:47The procedure for
41:51using pitot heat
41:52instead of
41:52recalibrating the
41:53sensors is
41:55documented in
41:56Air Force manuals
41:57and technical
41:57documents.
41:59There hasn't been
42:01an issue with
42:01faulty air data
42:02since.
42:04Northrop produced
42:05an amazing aircraft
42:07and I commend them
42:08and the maintainers
42:09and the aviators
42:10that continue to
42:12make the B-2
42:13the envy of the
42:13world.