- vor 22 Stunden
On 6 February 1991, a military aerial refueling aircraft loses both engines from under the left wing while on a combat mission in Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War, forcing the pilots to make an emergency landing. The accident was attributed to severe wake turbulence from a passing KC-135.
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LernenTranskript
00:00A military KC-135 is on a dangerous refueling assignment over a war zone in the Middle East.
00:10Zero-fives level.
00:12They told us that 15% of us could possibly get shot down.
00:16What the?
00:17When suddenly the mission goes wrong.
00:20No good, we're losing it.
00:22We're going 110 degrees of bank in both directions.
00:25What the heck is happening?
00:26It's beyond the capability of the airplane to do that.
00:29Go get the parachutes and helmets.
00:30Roger.
00:31It became apparent pretty quickly that we weren't going to be able to complete our mission.
00:34The question is why.
00:37Mayday, mayday, mayday. This is wheel zero-five.
00:39Investigators must quickly determine if it was a mechanical failure.
00:43So this control cable snapped.
00:45Or enemy fire.
00:47Was this intentional?
00:48It's very critical to the entire operation to really figure out what happened.
00:55Mayday, mayday.
00:57It's late afternoon at King Abdulaziz Airport in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
01:26Dozens of U.S. Air Force KC-135 aircraft prepare for late-night missions during the Gulf War.
01:35Today, more than 90 large tanker jets are preparing to refuel combat missions over Iraq and Kuwait.
01:4490 knots, I'll hand it over to you.
01:46Roger.
01:46Major Kevin Sweeney and the crew of U.S. Air Force Flight Whale-05 review the final details of their mission.
01:57Start switches.
01:59He's the commander.
02:00It's a nice start.
02:01Sweeney has over 20 years of Air Force flying experience.
02:04It's his job to know the mission and his plane.
02:09The aircraft commander is just like the captain.
02:12If you haven't made any tough decisions, it's your responsibility.
02:14Although it's very important to take input from the rest of your crew members and listen to them.
02:21Set takeoff thrust at 1.82 EPR.
02:23EPR set for takeoff.
02:3690 knots.
02:38My airplane.
02:40Jay Salanders is Sweeney's trusted co-pilot.
02:44The aircraft commander is always responsible for the airplane, so you can't trade that.
02:51But specific duties, we would trade back and forth.
02:57At 5.25 p.m., Whale-05 lifts off from Jeddah.
03:08Coalition forces are two weeks into Operation Desert Storm.
03:12One of the largest bombing campaigns in aviation history.
03:18Hundreds of daily bombing runs drive Saddam Hussein's invading Iraqi army out of Kuwait.
03:24The size of the American air power contribution, if you will, in Desert Storm just can't be overstated.
03:32It was quite astounding.
03:36Sweeney and his crew are flying a Boeing KC-135 strato tanker.
03:41The aircraft is similar to Boeing's commercial 707, but is specially designed for mid-air refueling.
03:48It really began the jet era, and it is a great airplane.
03:53It's true, it's fast, it's strong.
03:56It's one of Boeing's best products, and once you become accustomed to a few of its idiosyncrasies,
04:02sweet airplane to fly.
04:03We'll take you a long way and bring you home.
04:05Steve, are you going to transfer from the center tank?
04:12Affirmative.
04:13Two units of trim should keep us within the limits.
04:16Senior Master Sergeant Steve Stuckey is the boom operator.
04:20He's critical to the refueling operation.
04:22During refueling, he guides the fuel boom to the receiving plane.
04:30Once he is within three to five feet of the boom from the receptacle,
04:35I'll guide that boom into the receptacle.
04:39Then we can transfer fuel from the boom into his airplane.
04:42The amount of fuel that you can carry, whether in a bomber or a fighter,
04:49becomes critical in terms of being able to get to the place that you need to go and bring them back.
04:54There simply isn't any other substitute for air refueling.
05:00Tonight's mission takes them along a tanker corridor,
05:04an aerial highway for tanker crews heading north from Jeddah.
05:07When they reach waypoint Rita, they'll turn east,
05:13before making their final turn to the rendezvous point
05:15less than 180 miles from combat zones near the Kuwaiti border.
05:21Transition altitude.
05:23Set altimeter 2992.
05:27Navigator Greg Mermis is in charge of keeping the mission safely on course.
05:32We are primarily responsible for running the rendezvous,
05:35joining up with the other aircraft to complete the refueling.
05:39I knew that Greg was going to do everything
05:41to put us in the right position at the right time.
05:45Tonight, they'll be refueling an AWACS plane,
05:48a radar surveillance and control unit,
05:51a prime target for enemy fire.
05:54I don't think any of us had any idea what to really expect.
05:58You know, they were estimating that 10% of the air refueling fleet
06:01was going to probably be shot down.
06:03So it was a little bit nerve-wracking.
06:06The crew faces Iraqi surface-to-air missiles
06:10and more than 700 enemy aircraft,
06:13including the dreaded Russian MiG-25.
06:16We had F-15s up there, F-16s,
06:19and their primary mission was air-to-air
06:21looking for enemy airplanes to come
06:23and possibly try to attack an American airplane.
06:25To be flying any sort of an airplane in a war zone is surreal.
06:33I don't care how much you prepared for it.
06:35The ability to think in a volatile environment
06:38and to stay very calm
06:39is absolutely a requirement of the job.
06:44Zero-five's level.
06:47Whale's zero-five reaches cruising altitude.
06:50As they get closer to enemy territory,
06:55the pilots reduce radio contacts to avoid detection.
07:00The only other plane in sight
07:02is another American KC-135
07:05flying ahead in the same flight corridor.
07:09Heading 088.
07:13Altitude hold on.
07:15Altitude hold check.
07:16The crew will keep this course for 45 minutes
07:21until they rendezvous with the AWACS plane.
07:25That was our time to maybe relax a little bit.
07:28Nothing really kind of happening
07:30except cruising at that point.
07:32So I always, you know,
07:33used to take the opportunity
07:34to go ahead and make my dinner.
07:38Stuckey reviews his mission brief,
07:40which involves delivering 125,000 pounds of fuel.
07:44There's times when desert air is very stable
07:48and it's like you're flying on glass.
07:52But while I'm working on the paperwork,
07:54I felt a little bounce.
07:59Salander's feels an abnormal movement in the yoke.
08:03The autopilot was on,
08:05but I saw the yoke deflect
08:06about 30, 35 degrees to the left,
08:08and it was shaking just a little bit,
08:10which is very odd.
08:12And just about the time
08:14I put my hands on the yoke,
08:15thinking I was going to punch the autopilot off,
08:17it came back to neutral.
08:20Well, it's some anomaly.
08:22Moments later...
08:23What the...
08:25...things go very wrong.
08:32I got it.
08:35It takes just a second
08:37for the plane to roll 110 degrees to the left.
08:41What the heck is happening?
08:44The first thing to think about is fly the jet.
08:47The second thing is what the devil just happened.
08:51We really had no idea
08:52what was going on to the aircraft.
08:55I thought perhaps a missile had hit us.
08:58Did we get hit?
08:59Because it was violent.
09:01I can't tell.
09:01I'd been flying for probably 10 years at that point
09:05and been on a lot of missions,
09:07but never experienced anything like that.
09:11The crew can't tell
09:13if there's some kind of malfunction
09:14or if they're under attack.
09:18We're going to lose her.
09:21We've got to get her level.
09:22Just as it seems the plane
09:24is in an unrecoverable left bank,
09:26it snaps hard to the right.
09:28The airplane literally flipped.
09:31This is clearly unusual.
09:33It's beyond the capability
09:34of the airplane to do that.
09:36I mean, we're just totally out of control.
09:38We were going 110 degrees of bank
09:40in both directions.
09:42In the galley, Stucky is in trouble.
09:45I didn't know what was going on.
09:47It seemed like I would get to my feet
09:48and then I'd fall down again.
09:50It wasn't good.
09:52Now, there's too much stress.
09:53The airplane is very resilient,
09:57but it isn't resilient enough
09:58to overcome the stresses
10:00that would be put on it
10:01if you rolled it in the wrong direction
10:02and tried to get out of a high-speed dive.
10:05If the aircraft banks much further,
10:07it will be impossible to recover.
10:10If we didn't get this under control
10:12and out of these wild gyrations very quickly,
10:15this airplane was going to come apart.
10:17And then we're just history.
10:18The pilots of Whale 05
10:25are facing a crisis
10:26over the Saudi Arabian desert.
10:31The plane is rolling violently.
10:34It's no good.
10:35It's no good.
10:35We're losing it.
10:37I have got to focus on what I'm doing,
10:40and I don't have any time
10:41for any extraneous thinking.
10:44Just when all seems lost,
10:46Major Sweeney plays a hunch.
10:48Speedbrake!
10:51Speedbrakes are devices on airplane wings
10:53designed to increase drag
10:55during descent and landing.
10:58Sweeney deploys the speedbrakes on both wings,
11:01hoping it will level the airplane.
11:05What happens is,
11:07when the speedbrakes come out,
11:08it gives you more roll capability
11:10that is manually at your command
11:12and less capability for the airplane
11:14to go off and do something
11:15on its own aerodynamically.
11:16It's a procedure Sweeney remembers
11:20from his training.
11:23It works.
11:25I remember leveling out.
11:26I was just amazed
11:27that the airplane was still flying.
11:29And, you know,
11:30everybody's still there.
11:32Incredibly,
11:33the pilots have managed
11:34to level the plane.
11:36But they're not out of trouble yet.
11:39All right,
11:39I have lateral control,
11:40but we're losing altitude.
11:45We've got firelights
11:46on engines one and two.
11:48The pilots discover a problem
11:50with the two left engines.
11:52Jay and I looked at the engine instruments,
11:54and they are all over the place.
11:56These engine instruments make no sense.
11:59Both engines on the left wing
12:00have firelights on,
12:02and why that would happen
12:03to both of them at the same time
12:04is also going through your head.
12:06The plane is fully loaded with fuel.
12:10Steve,
12:11how about are the fires
12:11on engines one and two?
12:13Checking.
12:14If there's a fire in the engines,
12:16it could lead to disaster.
12:23Oh, my God.
12:24The only thing I could see
12:25was pouring sheet metal
12:26on the wing
12:28where the engines were
12:29and fuel being vented
12:30over at the top of the wing.
12:33They're not on fire.
12:35They're gone.
12:36No fire?
12:39Affirmative.
12:40No fire.
12:42The engines are gone.
12:45Roger.
12:47There was a moment
12:48where that sentence
12:50didn't make a lot of sense to us.
12:53Wait a minute.
12:54They're gone.
12:56It takes just a moment
12:57for your mind to catch up to that,
12:59because now you've got
13:00really important pieces
13:02of the airplane not there.
13:05Even with no fire,
13:07the crew faces
13:08another urgent problem.
13:10We really got to get
13:11some fuel off here.
13:12Let's start dumping.
13:13Jay, you fly.
13:15Don't fight it.
13:16I have the aircraft.
13:19The two remaining engines
13:21can't provide enough power
13:22to keep the heavy aircraft airborne.
13:26Well, we had no time to relax,
13:28but I knew that we were
13:29in serious trouble
13:29and we had to come up
13:31with a lot of different procedures
13:32to keep us in the air.
13:33close, open, dump, pump.
13:40Close, open.
13:42The fuel dump checklist
13:44is one of many emergency procedures
13:46embedded in Sweeney's brain.
13:47He conducts it from memory.
13:53Sweeney starts shedding fuel.
13:57We had to get lighter
13:58so this baby would start to fly.
14:00Jay and I could kind of start to feel
14:02at 16,000 feet
14:04like she could start flying again.
14:06Okay, I got the airplane.
14:15Holding steady at 16,000.
14:18By dumping 50 tons of fuel,
14:21Sweeney has succeeded
14:22in stopping their descent.
14:23Good.
14:25Good.
14:26Hot and fuel dump.
14:28Even though the plane
14:30is maintaining its altitude,
14:31there's no guarantee
14:32it can make a safe landing.
14:35Go get the parachutes and helmets.
14:37If anything else goes wrong,
14:39we'll need to bail.
14:41Roger.
14:44Ditching over the desert at night
14:46is a terrifying option.
14:48But there may be no choice.
14:50No air crew wants to bail out,
14:54but I've got to get my crew back safely.
14:57That's my job,
14:58is to get my air crew back safely.
15:01The final methodology
15:02is to get everybody to jump out,
15:04but you may lose a crew member or two
15:05just in that process.
15:07So this is not a decision
15:08to be taken lightly.
15:14Greg, you get on the radio with AWACS.
15:16Call in the mayday.
15:17Roger.
15:18Looking for help,
15:19the crew contacts
15:20their rendezvous aircraft
15:22to advise them of the situation.
15:25It became apparent pretty quickly
15:26that we weren't going to be able
15:27to complete our mission.
15:28Mayday, mayday, mayday.
15:30This is Whale 05.
15:31We've had an in-flight upset,
15:32number one and two engines
15:33have departed the aircraft.
15:37I say again,
15:38mayday, mayday, mayday.
15:42There's no response.
15:45It's no good.
15:45I think our high-frequency radio is down.
15:47It should have worked,
15:49but it didn't.
15:51We couldn't reach anybody.
15:53Alone, with no radio contact,
15:56the crew will have to find
15:57their own way back to Jeddah.
15:59We like our radios,
16:01especially when something goes wrong,
16:03but they're not going to provide
16:05necessarily a hook
16:06to come out of the sky
16:07and save you.
16:07You've got to do that for yourself,
16:09including getting back to an airfield.
16:10Greg, are your nav instruments working?
16:16Yes.
16:16INS is functional.
16:17Radar is still up.
16:19Well, give me a heading back to Jeddah.
16:232-4-0?
16:2555 minutes.
16:25That's a long time to fly.
16:27Copy.
16:29Jay, take us to 2-4-0.
16:31The crew relies on the navigator's skills
16:34to find a safe route back.
16:35It was just under an hour
16:38to get back to Jeddah.
16:39It just seemed like an awfully long time
16:42to be in an airplane
16:43that you were very unsure of.
16:45Your airplane.
16:46My airplane.
16:48With great effort,
16:49Sweeney and Salander's wrestle
16:51to keep the plane on course to Jeddah.
16:54Without the weight and drag
16:55of the left engines,
16:57the plane wants to bank right.
16:59The ailerons and elevators
17:01in a KC-135 are not hydraulic.
17:03And so I had to fight her back
17:05to keep those wings level.
17:08But even if they make it back,
17:10there's no guarantee
17:11they can land the plane.
17:14We have to do a controllability check.
17:17The crew must test
17:19their flaps and ailerons.
17:21Going back to idle.
17:22The flight controls
17:24used to stabilize the plane on landing.
17:27A big airplane inherently
17:28has an ability to be landed
17:29if you can keep it under control.
17:31So the question is,
17:33are we safe to go ahead
17:35and try to land this airplane
17:36with what we've got?
17:39If we're going to do
17:40a controllability check
17:40and Jay and I determine
17:42that she's not flyable,
17:45we're going to have to bail out.
17:52Jay, I want you to slowly
17:54bring them down.
17:55Roger that.
17:56Flying a severely damaged plane
17:59near enemy territory,
18:01the crew of Whale-05
18:03carefully check
18:04that the control surfaces
18:05on their plane
18:06are safe for landing.
18:08There's a moment
18:09right before you begin
18:10the check
18:10that you don't obviously know
18:11exactly what's going to happen.
18:13If the flaps are damaged,
18:15Flaps 10.
18:16it could cause an imbalance
18:18and make the plane
18:19impossible to control.
18:21We didn't know
18:22if the flaps would come down
18:23symmetrically.
18:23We didn't know
18:24if they'd come down at all.
18:25Nice and easy.
18:28We're going to start
18:29milking the flaps down
18:30and we see if we can
18:31maintain control
18:32of the airplane.
18:33Jay is an integral part of this,
18:34so he's going to slide
18:35the flaps down
18:35to like 30 degrees
18:37and be watching me
18:38and watching everything.
18:40Flaps 30.
18:42I'm going to do
18:43a small turn left and right.
18:45If I start to lose it,
18:46I'll say up
18:47and you slam them back up.
18:52You're a test pilot
18:53at this particular point
18:55in time
18:55and you don't want
18:56to be testing
18:57on the actual approach
18:58because there can be
18:59no recovery
19:00if you've made
19:00the wrong move.
19:07Well,
19:08I can land this airplane.
19:12Okay,
19:12bring the flaps
19:13back up to zero.
19:16We're going to go home.
19:17It was a big deal
19:18because at that point
19:19we thought
19:20we could actually
19:21land the airplane.
19:23The pilots now know
19:25they can slow down
19:25the plane enough
19:26to get it on the ground,
19:28but they need to get it
19:30to a runway first.
19:31130 miles to Jeddah.
19:33We might be in range now.
19:36Jeddah,
19:36whale 05.
19:37How copy on Victor?
19:40They attempt to contact
19:41the controller
19:42for assistance.
19:43Whale 05, Jeddah.
19:45You're live and clear.
19:45All right.
19:46Ah,
19:48yes, sir.
19:49This is whale 05,
19:51inbound to Jeddah,
19:52declaring an emergency.
19:55Engines one and two
19:55are out.
19:58Whale 05,
19:58see souls on board
19:59and fuel remaining.
20:01We have four souls on board.
20:04Currently,
20:0555,000 pounds of gas.
20:07Roger.
20:08We are preparing
20:08the airport
20:09for your arrival now.
20:1105, thank you, sir.
20:12With the airport
20:14on standby,
20:16the crew begins
20:17its landing preparations.
20:19Let's look at
20:20two engines
20:21and operative landing.
20:24One of the things
20:25I always loved
20:25about Air Force flying
20:26was our operations manual
20:28covered literally everything.
20:30Every procedure
20:31that you could possibly
20:31think of in an emergency,
20:33and including,
20:33in this case,
20:34the loss of two engines
20:35on the airplane.
20:36One step
20:38will pose
20:39a big challenge.
20:41Allow time
20:42for manual
20:42landing gear extension.
20:43When you lose
20:44two engines like that,
20:45it affects
20:45a lot of the hydraulics
20:47as well.
20:49We lost
20:49the left side hydraulics,
20:50which means
20:51the gear
20:51have to be lowered
20:52manually.
20:54Without hydraulic power
20:55to lower the landing gear,
20:57Stuckey will have
20:58to do it manually.
20:59It's a complicated task.
21:01It's a real
21:02emergency situation,
21:03and you have to do
21:05each step
21:06in the checklist right.
21:08All right,
21:09we need to lower
21:09by final descent.
21:11Can you do it?
21:13Yes, sir.
21:14I'll get him down.
21:15It's a procedure
21:16he's only done
21:17in training.
21:19I'm allowing him
21:19to do a stellar job
21:20of getting the landing gear down.
21:22This is a tight mission.
21:24One more thing.
21:26Sweeney has
21:26an important realization.
21:28We've got to pull
21:29the anti-skid
21:30or we lose
21:30our brake pressure.
21:32Steve,
21:32it should be
21:33on the TR-Bus 2
21:34behind you.
21:36There's only
21:37enough hydraulic
21:38pressure left
21:39to apply the brakes
21:40once.
21:41Sweeney decides
21:41to disengage
21:42the anti-skid
21:43braking system.
21:44The anti-skid system,
21:46which is similar
21:47to the automatic
21:48braking system
21:49on today's
21:49Martyr and cars,
21:50that don't allow
21:51you to lock up
21:52the brakes.
21:52They'll release,
21:53brake, release,
21:54and brake,
21:54and that's
21:55what that anti-skid
21:56system is.
21:58Got the anti-skid.
21:59Confirmed.
22:01Confirmed.
22:02Disengaging the
22:05system will ensure
22:06that the remaining
22:07hydraulic pressure
22:08is used to keep
22:10the brakes applied.
22:11If I pull that
22:12circuit breaker
22:13and just put the
22:14brakes on once
22:14and hold them,
22:16I'm going to have
22:16full braking power.
22:19Without the anti-skid,
22:20you're going to blow
22:20a few tires,
22:21but that's not going
22:22to take you off
22:23the runway,
22:23and it is going
22:24to be a safe
22:25methodology of
22:26bringing this
22:26airplane back
22:27to the surface.
22:2850 miles.
22:31The crew is ready
22:32to begin
22:33the final approach.
22:35Steve,
22:35get into position.
22:36Roger.
22:43The longer
22:44they struggle
22:45with the controls,
22:46the more tired
22:47the pilots become.
22:49Jay,
22:50it's your turn.
22:51I'll take comms.
22:52Sweeney takes
22:58one last break
22:59to save his
23:00strength for landing.
23:03Jetta,
23:04approach whale 05.
23:05Whale 05,
23:06go ahead, sir.
23:08Jetta,
23:08approach 05.
23:09We have the city
23:09in sight.
23:10We're going to fly
23:11in south of your field
23:12from the east here
23:12and come into runway
23:143-4 left.
23:16No other traffic
23:16for the airport
23:17at this time.
23:19It's all yours.
23:19All righty.
23:21We'll use it
23:21and we'll get
23:22out of your way
23:22shortly.
23:24Sweeney briefs
23:25the team
23:26on his plan
23:26for the approach.
23:28Okay,
23:28we're going to start
23:28high and fast,
23:30210 knots.
23:31Jay,
23:32you start
23:32just slowly.
23:34Don't drop the flaps
23:35unless everything's
23:35looking good.
23:37Any questions?
23:39No questions.
23:41Okay,
23:42Steve,
23:42drop the nose gear.
23:44Standing nose gear.
23:46Whale 05
23:48is less than
23:48eight minutes
23:49from landing.
23:49nose gear down
23:52and locked.
23:54Roger is showing down.
23:57Seating to right
23:57and left main gear.
24:00Throughout the flight
24:00it seemed like
24:01we just continually
24:02had these dragons
24:03come over the hill
24:04and the last one
24:05is this landing gear.
24:07Once we put
24:08the landing gear down,
24:09we're going down.
24:09We're committed to land.
24:11We don't get a go-run
24:12because we're not
24:12going to have enough
24:12thrust on two engines.
24:15With all three
24:16landing gear down,
24:17the crew of Whale 05
24:18now has no option
24:20but to try landing
24:21the severely damaged plane.
24:24Six miles,
24:25speed 210.
24:27Flaps 20.
24:28Minutes from touching down,
24:30all their skill
24:31and planning
24:32is about to be tested.
24:34I mean,
24:34it was very important
24:35that each one of us
24:36clearly knew
24:37what we're going to do.
24:39We're going to have
24:39one shot at it.
24:40Minimums, runway in sight.
24:48With two engines missing,
24:50Whale 05
24:51is about to attempt
24:52a landing
24:53at King Abdulaziz airport.
24:55Runway in sight.
24:57It was one of his
24:58best approaches
24:59probably ever.
25:00He was on center line,
25:02he was exactly
25:02on glide slope.
25:03100 feet.
25:06Coming back to idle.
25:09Flaps 50.
25:14Flaps 50.
25:16Looking real good.
25:1950.
25:2040.
25:2230.
25:2320.
25:24Reverse thrust
25:31center line.
25:32Major Sweeney
25:33begins to deploy
25:33the reverse thrust
25:35on the inboard right engine
25:36to help slow the plane.
25:39But it has
25:40an unintended outcome.
25:42As soon as he did that,
25:43the left wing
25:43started to rise.
25:45The powerless
25:46left wing is lifting.
25:48The right wing
25:48could scrape the runway
25:49and cause the plane
25:50to cartwheel.
25:53You're not there.
25:54nothing now.
25:55And I remember thinking
25:56I'm not going to lose it now
25:57and slammed it down.
25:59Without the braking action
26:01from full reverse thrust,
26:03the plane is quickly
26:04running out of runway.
26:06He immediately
26:06put it back down
26:07and we relied
26:08on the brakes.
26:10Brakes!
26:12Jay was going to
26:12put his brakes on too
26:13and we were going to
26:14blow a couple tires.
26:15The crew of Whale 05
26:28is safely on the ground.
26:32We did it!
26:34I think we blew
26:35three or four tires
26:36before it was over
26:37because of the lack
26:38of anti-skid
26:38but extraordinary job
26:39really under the circumstances.
26:40Woo!
26:43Yeah, in a sense
26:44that, oh my God,
26:44we managed to get back here
26:46and live through this.
26:47Who would have thought that?
26:50There was that one moment
26:51when you actually
26:51stop moving
26:52and feel like
26:53we've made it.
26:55And I think we enjoyed that
26:56for maybe a second
26:57and then got out
26:58of the airplane.
27:10I remember
27:10looking back
27:11at the wing
27:12and, oof,
27:14that was just a shock.
27:16I mean,
27:16they're gone
27:17and there's big holes
27:18in the wing
27:19and parts hanging out
27:20and, wow.
27:24Within a day,
27:26the U.S. Air Force
27:27launches an
27:27investigation.
27:30Lieutenant Colonel
27:30Ike Stokes
27:31is the lead investigator.
27:34The fleet of KC-135s
27:37is indispensable
27:37to the war effort.
27:40Did the plane malfunction?
27:43Did it come
27:44under enemy fire?
27:46There was truly
27:46more external pressure
27:48than I've experienced
27:49in the past
27:50because they're flying
27:5290 to 100 missions
27:53out of Jeddah
27:54on a daily basis
27:56so it's very critical
27:58to the entire operation
28:00of the war
28:01to really figure out
28:02what happened.
28:08Hard to believe
28:09both engines are gone.
28:10You're gathering the information,
28:14you're analyzing
28:15the information.
28:16It was just
28:17a wonderment
28:18to see something
28:19like this.
28:22Stokes checks
28:23for scorch marks
28:24and residue
28:24from explosives.
28:27One thing
28:28investigators always
28:29consider
28:29was this
28:31intentional?
28:32Did someone
28:33shoot at the plane?
28:34If this was
28:36an enemy missile
28:37it could mean
28:38the threat
28:39from Iraq
28:39is escalating
28:40putting the entire
28:41refueling fleet
28:42and the outcome
28:44of the war
28:44at risk.
28:46Let's face it,
28:47we're fighting a war,
28:49we have a critical asset,
28:51these are combat
28:52air refueling missions
28:53so if the fighters
28:54and bombers
28:55do not get the fuel
28:56they can't complete
28:58the mission.
28:59But evidence
29:00of enemy fire
29:01is not what Stokes finds.
29:03There's no scorch marks
29:04or explosive residue.
29:08There's no evidence
29:10of an enemy attack.
29:12These engines
29:13were ripped right off.
29:16Stokes wonders
29:17what kind of force
29:18tore off the plane's
29:19left engines.
29:20One of the things
29:22that we really wanted
29:23to do
29:23was to find the engines.
29:26But at the time
29:27we had no idea
29:29as to where
29:30to exactly look.
29:31We're going to need
29:33those missing engines.
29:35Although the navigator
29:36did record
29:37where the mishap occurred,
29:39those engines
29:40could be spread over
29:41quite an area
29:42of desert.
29:49Fortunately,
29:50a group of Bedouins
29:51discovered the engines
29:53and reported the find.
29:55They said,
29:56what do you want us
29:57to do with them?
29:58And we immediately said,
30:00get a truck,
30:01flatbed,
30:01and a crane
30:02and go out to the desert
30:03and let's get the engines
30:05recovered.
30:07Accident investigation
30:08can do incredible things
30:09by piecing together
30:11from very small bits
30:12of evidence
30:13what happened.
30:14But it's so much easier
30:15when you can actually
30:16go out and get these things
30:17and thank goodness
30:18they were able
30:19to find them
30:19in the desert.
30:22Nice work.
30:24A big thing
30:25that helped us out
30:26in the investigation
30:26was getting the engines
30:28back to the location.
30:31Stokes notices
30:32something unusual.
30:36They find it like this?
30:38One of the thrust reversers
30:40is partially deployed.
30:41Of course,
30:42we need to explain
30:43or understand
30:44why that was open.
30:47Thrust reversers
30:48changed the direction
30:49of exhaust air
30:50flowing from the back
30:51of the engine
30:51to slow the plane down.
30:55The idea
30:56that the thrust reverser
30:57could come open
30:58in flight
30:59at cruise speed
31:00of over 80%
31:01of the speed of sound
31:02is a very important
31:03consideration
31:04because that could create
31:05an upset situation.
31:08Did the thrust reverser
31:10deploy mid-flight?
31:11and cause the engines
31:12to rip off the plane?
31:14This control cable snapped.
31:18But in looking at it,
31:20you could see
31:20how the cables
31:21that operated
31:22the thrust reverser
31:23ripped out
31:24as the engine
31:26was departing
31:26from the airplane.
31:28There's nothing wrong
31:29with the engines.
31:31Deployment
31:31of the thrust reversers
31:32didn't rip
31:33the engines
31:34off the plane.
31:35See what the crew
31:36has to say.
31:41Investigator Ike Stokes
31:45wonders if the crew
31:46can shed some light
31:47on why a KC-135
31:49lost two engines
31:50mid-flight.
31:51Okay.
31:54So, tell me what happened
31:56when the event started?
31:58Knowing, in this case,
31:59that we had a crew
32:01that survived the mishap,
32:02it was invaluable
32:04because you really
32:05do need
32:06the initial inputs
32:07of what those
32:09crew members experienced
32:10to put the whole
32:11story together.
32:11Well, the yoke
32:14moved for a second
32:15and it corrected itself.
32:17Then, out of nowhere,
32:19it cranked itself left.
32:21Now, what point
32:22in the flight was this?
32:24Oh, shortly after
32:25reaching cruising altitude.
32:27Then another KC-135
32:29passed us.
32:30Wait, so another plane
32:32was passing you?
32:33It was on the same
32:34flight path,
32:35but it had further to go,
32:37so we let it pass through.
32:38And it felt like
32:41we had heavy turbulence.
32:44It's a significant clue.
32:47How far away
32:48was the other aircraft
32:49when it passed your plane?
32:51Oh, I'd say
32:52a quarter of a mile,
32:53half a mile
32:54to the left of us.
32:58Heavy aircraft
32:59leave powerful wake turbulence
33:00behind them
33:01when they fly.
33:03Stokes wonders
33:04if Sweeney's plane
33:05was close enough
33:06to get caught
33:07in the other KC-135.
33:08wake.
33:10We're talking about
33:11very strong
33:12circular wind
33:14coming off
33:15of this airplane wing,
33:17and it can cause
33:18the upset
33:19of another airplane,
33:20regardless of its size,
33:22if it hits it just right.
33:24And how far away
33:26was the other plane
33:26when the turbulence started?
33:28Well, they were at least
33:30two miles ahead of us.
33:32If this was indeed
33:34wake turbulence,
33:35investigators wonder
33:36why only the left engines
33:37were affected.
33:38Thank you, Major.
33:41Thank you, sir.
33:47An examination
33:48of the right engines
33:49might help
33:50to reveal what happened.
33:53Right engine bolts?
33:56Each KC-135 engine
33:58is attached to the wing
33:59with three large bolts.
34:01These four
34:04are completely severed.
34:06Stokes discovers
34:08that two bolts
34:09on each right engine
34:10were sheared in half.
34:12How did those engines
34:13stay attached?
34:14They were one bolt
34:16away from actually
34:17losing the engines
34:19off of the right wing,
34:21which would have made them
34:21nothing more than
34:22a high-speed glider.
34:23with wake turbulence
34:30looking more and more
34:31a likely cause.
34:32The whale
34:330-5
34:34is at 25,000 feet.
34:38Investigators
34:38compile the critical
34:40data needed
34:40to calculate
34:41the forces
34:42that whale 0-5
34:43may have passed through.
34:44Whale 2-0
34:46is at 25,500 feet.
34:52That's everything.
34:55But they need help
34:56from the plane's
34:57manufacturer
34:57to analyze the data.
35:00Let's talk to Boeing.
35:02Understanding how
35:03the two airplanes
35:03affected their separation
35:05gave us the data
35:06necessary to talk
35:08with the engineers
35:09at Boeing.
35:14Wow, the left-wing
35:21G-forces
35:22were 2.88.
35:28That exceeded
35:29the structural capability
35:30of the pylons,
35:32and so they separated
35:33from the airplane.
35:35And the right wing,
35:372.61.
35:44The extreme lateral
35:47G-forces
35:48on the left side
35:49of the plane
35:50were enough
35:50to tear the left
35:51engines off.
35:53But not quite strong
35:55enough to rip them
35:55off the right side.
36:000.14 more Gs
36:02on the right side.
36:04This plane would have
36:05been nothing more
36:06but a massive glider.
36:09They were very,
36:10very close
36:10to coming off.
36:12The G-force loading
36:13was just not enough
36:14to sling them
36:15off of the airplane.
36:17It was said
36:17that we had
36:18one more gyration,
36:20and we might have
36:21been a high-speed
36:21heavyweight glider,
36:23but we made it.
36:26This leaves investigators
36:27with one burning question.
36:30These guys
36:31train for lead changes.
36:35Why did this mission
36:36go sideways?
36:37U.S. Air Force
36:43investigator Ike Stokes
36:45tries to understand
36:46how wake turbulence
36:47nearly destroyed
36:48a gigantic tanker aircraft.
36:50Separation between
36:51the two planes
36:52by the book.
36:58That's it.
37:01The wind was 85 knots
37:04from the west.
37:05The wind was blowing
37:07enough at altitude
37:08to push the wing-cut vortices
37:10from the preceding airplane
37:12into the flight path
37:13of the mishap aircraft.
37:16I mean,
37:16they accounted
37:16for everything.
37:18They were foiled
37:19by the direction
37:20of the wind.
37:22Perfect storm.
37:24But Stokes
37:25still doesn't know
37:26how this perfect storm
37:28ever got a chance
37:29to form.
37:31When you're taking off
37:33between 90 to 100 airplanes
37:36on a daily basis,
37:38the arrival and departure
37:39from the base
37:40is very critical.
37:41And in this particular case,
37:44the mishap aircraft
37:45was parked in such a way
37:46that it had to go first
37:48and be followed
37:49by the second airplane,
37:51the one that had further to go.
37:54The solution
37:55that they came up with
37:56was a perfectly
37:57responsible solution,
37:58and that was
37:59we're going to take off
37:59individually
38:00and then you're going
38:02to pass me.
38:04Had the number two plane
38:06been parked
38:06to the left
38:07of the mishap airplane,
38:09the mishap
38:09never would have occurred.
38:12Investigators
38:12finally understand
38:13what happened
38:14to Whale 05.
38:1705's level.
38:19On a wartime mission
38:20over the Saudi Arabian desert,
38:22two KC-135s
38:24switched position
38:25mid-flight.
38:25altitude hold
38:28on.
38:30Altitude hold
38:31check.
38:34The wake turbulence
38:35generated by the passing plane
38:37is blown into the path
38:39of Whale 05.
38:41It creates a tremendous force
38:44that flips the plane
38:45so violently,
38:47G-forces rip both engines
38:48off the left wing.
38:49often heard flying
38:53described as
38:54hours and hours
38:55of sheer boredom
38:56followed by moments
38:57of stark raving terror.
38:59In this case,
39:00the crew experienced
39:01that stark raving terror.
39:02the oscillations
39:07almost pushed
39:08the right engines
39:09and the aircraft
39:10beyond the point
39:11of recovery.
39:12Speedbrake!
39:14But with the quick thinking
39:15of a seasoned
39:16wartime commander,
39:17the plane levels off.
39:21Coming back
39:21to level flight
39:22was a true feat
39:23of airmanship.
39:24Break,
39:25are your nav instruments
39:26working?
39:28Yes,
39:28INS is functional,
39:29radar is still up.
39:30Well, give me
39:31a heading back
39:32to Jeddah.
39:34The coordination
39:35of a well-trained crew
39:36nose gear down
39:37and locked.
39:38Runway in sight.
39:41Brings Whale 05
39:42back home safely.
39:44Aircraft commander
39:45was an excellent airman,
39:46but the fact is
39:47he had every brain
39:49in that airplane
39:50working in tandem
39:51with him side by side
39:52to make sure
39:53they didn't miss anything.
39:54Thanks!
39:57I was very fortunate
39:59to fly one of the best
40:00crews in the Air Force
40:00in my humble opinion.
40:03They did their job
40:04in a critical situation
40:05and it wasn't just me
40:08getting back
40:08to the airplane,
40:10it was the team
40:11got back to the airplane.
40:13We did it.
40:14Whether it's
40:15a refueling plane
40:16in wartime
40:17or a routine
40:18domestic flight
40:19in a 747,
40:21the importance
40:22of teamwork
40:23can never be overstated.
40:24Why this crew succeeded
40:27is because
40:27they were thoroughly
40:28imbued with the idea
40:29that they had to talk
40:30to each other seamlessly
40:31and all of them
40:33put their minds
40:33to the task of
40:34what are the proper procedures,
40:36what are we facing,
40:37what do we need to do,
40:39and that I think
40:39is still one of the
40:40many lessons
40:41that comes out of this.
40:44Kevin and I
40:45have gone through this
40:46numerous times
40:47over barbecue and beer
40:48and tried to figure out
40:50is there anything
40:50we could have done better?
40:52Are there steps
40:53that we missed?
40:54And we're pretty satisfied
40:55that as a crew,
40:56we took the actions
40:57that needed to be taken
40:58when they needed to be taken
40:59and probably wouldn't
41:01change a thing.
41:03The crew's handling
41:04of the crisis
41:05earned them each
41:06the distinguished
41:07flying cross
41:08for heroism
41:09or extraordinary achievement
41:10while participating
41:12in aerial flight.
41:14It's like a purple heart
41:15almost.
41:15You don't want it
41:16because you're in a situation
41:17you probably don't want to be in,
41:18but we're very thankful,
41:20very, very happy
41:21with that.
41:24The Air Force trains you
41:25that every day
41:27is not going to be
41:28a perfect day.
41:31There's going to be a day
41:32that you're going to get
41:33in the bucket.
41:35And when that day comes,
41:36if you've done your homework,
41:39you'll be good enough
41:40to make it.
41:41And I think the Air Force
41:42does an outstanding job
41:43of this.
41:45Amazingly,
41:46the same KC-135
41:48went on to fly
41:49for another 13 years.
41:51I do remember
41:52seeing the airplane
41:53sitting over by itself
41:54thinking,
41:55you know,
41:55that'll never fly again.
41:58And as it turns out,
41:58Boeing came out,
41:59put a laser on it
42:00and said it was still straight,
42:01it hadn't been bent,
42:03it was repaired,
42:03flown back from Jeddah
42:04and flew a number of missions
42:06and it soldiered on
42:07for quite a while.