- hace 10 horas
On 21 August 1995, a blade on the left-side propeller of Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 529 breaks off. The imbalance of the rotating propeller causes the engine to partly tear itself from its mounting, creating excessive drag. The aircraft rapidly loses altitude and crashes, killing nine people. Chlorine deposits in the blade led to the development of corrosion pits and fatigue cracks, causing it to weaken and break.
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00:20It was just a small commuter plane, buzzing back and forth from one town to another.
00:26A journey of 86 minutes, one of many that day.
00:32No one could ever have imagined that it would end like this, in drama and in death.
00:38Yet in 1995, two pilots with 26 passengers aboard managed to defy the laws of gravity
00:44for 9 minutes and 20 seconds when their aircraft in effect lost the use of a wing, struggling
00:50home like a wounded bird.
01:02But when their plane makes a miraculous crash landing with all passengers alive, their
01:07ordeal isn't over.
01:08What awaits them is even more horrifying.
01:11It's getting harder to get me up!
01:14Tell my wife I love her!
01:16I have never before since dealt with so much physical devastation and emotional upheaval and
01:26so much sorrow.
01:37Flying isn't always glamorous.
01:39Regional airlines are like the buses of the air, trundling back and forth from one small
01:44city to another.
01:45Crews operate several flights a day, working for up to 15 hours.
01:49They face interminable ground delays and often surly passengers.
01:53If a flight gets cancelled, they don't get paid.
01:56But they enjoy their work.
02:01Atlanta Airport in Georgia has become one of the busiest in the world.
02:05It's the home of a very successful regional airline, Atlantic Southeast.
02:10ASA serves every town and city of the southeastern United States with a fleet of 83 turboprops.
02:18In 1995, most of them were Brasilias, built by the Brazilian firm Embraer.
02:23The Brasília is a high-performance aircraft with state-of-the-art avionics at a top speed
02:28of 378 miles per hour.
02:31Today, after 18,000 successful flights, this Brasília will take off for the last time.
02:40Takeoff check below the line.
02:42I've got your lights.
02:43Captain Ed Gannaway and First Officer Matt Warmerdam have just flown in from Macon, Georgia.
02:49Going through the departure checklist, they're now ready for their second flight of the day,
02:54flight ASA-529 to Gulfport, Mississippi.
02:58Hi.
03:01Hi.
03:01Hi there.
03:03Flight attendant Robin Feck has been with ASA for just over two years.
03:07Hi there.
03:09Her cabin is a cramped space, only 31 feet long.
03:12Most of her 26 passengers are seasoned business travelers, ranging in age from 18 to 69.
03:19Among them are six engineers, two deputy sheriffs, a minister, two Air Force personnel,
03:25and even an aspiring flight attendant.
03:27For them, the short trip to Gulfport, Mississippi is a routine journey.
03:32But they're half an hour late on their schedule already.
03:35Okay, power's set.
03:43Auto feathers armed.
03:45Panels clear.
03:45Captain Ed Gannaway, who's been with ASA for seven years, comes from a family of pilots.
03:50He's a skilled and accomplished captain.
04:06The two men have only been flying together for four months, but get along well.
04:11At 6'3 and 200 pounds, Matt Wormadam is a tight fit in the Brasilia's cramped cockpit.
04:17I think all pilots would agree that the Brasilia was a constant love-hate relationship.
04:24It was, at the time, the fastest, sleekest turboprop around.
04:32And it was also very tricky to master.
04:37The thing was built like a Sherman tank.
04:44Hey, Robin?
04:45Hi.
04:47It'll just be a couple more minutes like this. It's going to smooth out.
04:50Okay, just a couple more minutes and I'll be able to get up?
04:53Yes, ma'am.
04:55All right, thank you.
04:56See you.
05:14David McCorkill is a frequent flyer and works in the software business. He's on his way to an important meeting.
05:21Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome aboard Atlantic Southeast Airlines, flight 529, service to Gulfport, Mississippi.
05:28We're passing through 13,000 feet. The captain has turned off the fasten seatbelt signs.
05:33However, if you are in your seats, we suggest you do so with your seatbelt loosely around your waist, just
05:39in case we encounter any turbulence en route.
05:43Chuck Pfisterer, a nervous flyer, works for a paper company and is on his way to visit a new mill.
05:51AC 529, climb and maintain, flight level 200.
05:56200, AC 529.
05:5920.
06:04The Brasilia, on autopilot, is climbing towards its cruising altitude of 24,000 feet.
06:1224.
06:1324.
06:14But the plane will never make it to this altitude.
06:18Autopilot, engine neutral, oil.
06:21The sound of that was tremendous.
06:23It was as if someone had taken a baseball bat and hit an aluminum garbage can as hard as they
06:30could.
06:31It was just a gigantic crashing sound.
06:35And the airplane immediately lurched to the left.
06:38I heard a loud bang.
06:40And that's what, you know, just shot me awake.
06:43Not knowing really what happened, I looked over and noticed everyone looking left out the window.
06:55What I saw was very alarming.
07:01The outer skin of the engine had been ripped off or, as I determined later, had peeled back because of
07:11some force.
07:12I could see the components of the engine itself.
07:17And I could see fluid leaving the engine and exiting the back of the wing.
07:24Autopilot, engine.
07:24Warning lights and chimes go off, signaling trouble in the left engine.
07:29The autopilot trips off as a result, and Ganaway takes control of the plane.
07:33Autopilot, engine control, oil.
07:36The plane is falling 5,500 feet a minute, the equivalent of over 90 feet every second.
07:46Oil from the destroyed engine is seeping into the air conditioning pack, bringing smoke into the cabin.
07:55Autopilot, engine control, oil.
07:57Pack off.
07:58We've got the left engine out.
08:00Left power lever.
08:02Autopilot.
08:02Flight idle.
08:04Oil.
08:04Unaware that the left engine is destroyed, the pilot tries to adjust its propeller to improve the plane's lift.
08:10Left condition lever.
08:12Left condition lever.
08:13Feather.
08:14Warmerdam attempts to feather the propeller, which means changing the angle of the blades in order to minimize air resistance.
08:21The warning light indicates fire in the left engine.
08:24Left condition lever.
08:25Fuel shut off.
08:26No matter what Ganaway does, the plane is still pulling violently to the left.
08:30He struggles to counteract it by pushing hard to the right, using both rudder and control column.
08:36I need some help here.
08:37Autopilot.
08:38I need some help on this.
08:40The force of the crippled wing pulling to the left is relentless.
08:43Without the efforts of the pilots to keep the plane stable, it would roll into a spin and spiral down
08:49into the ground, killing everyone on board.
08:53The engine has turned into a mass of misshapen twisted metal, fatally weakening the wing's aerodynamic capabilities and dragging it
09:01down.
09:01The plane wants to keep turning left.
09:04The pilots must push hard right on the rudder to the limit to keep them flying straight.
09:09Captain Ganaway is confused.
09:11Feathering the propeller has not reduced the drag.
09:14He's so preoccupied with handling the emergency, he hasn't looked over his shoulder at the damaged engine yet.
09:20You said it's feathered?
09:22It did feather.
09:23What the hell is wrong with this thing?
09:25I don't know.
09:26For now, the pilots are focused on the plane's vital statistics.
09:30Heading, altitude, speed, and the power setting of its one good engine.
09:39All these planes were designed to fly with one engine.
09:43The airplane is capable of flying on one engine.
09:46However, in the case of 529, not only do you have an engine that has malfunctioned and stopped running,
09:52but now it has broken from its normal mounted position and canted,
09:56which creates a very increased or dramatic aerodynamic effect on the airplane.
10:04Let's close these.
10:06Oh, sir, you don't need to be looking at that.
10:09My reaction was, the hell with you.
10:12If I want to look out the window, I'm going to look out the window,
10:15because these are the last moments of my life.
10:19Whoa, it's all right.
10:21That's just what turbulence feels like with one engine.
10:23Are we going to make it?
10:24Oh, sir, of course we're going to make it.
10:28How can the plane fly like that?
10:30Well, these planes were designed to fly with only one engine.
10:34We're not going to make it.
10:37What was important wasn't the conversation between the two of us.
10:42I think that it was what was in our eyes.
10:45I think that she knew, that I knew, that this was a huge problem,
10:51and that it probably wasn't going to be something that was going to end without tragedy.
10:59The pilots have managed to slow the plane's catastrophic rate of descent, but not halt it.
11:04In fact, the airspeed has actually increased to 224 miles per hour.
11:09Captain Ganaway is puzzled.
11:11He's flown a Brasilia on one engine before, and landed it without difficulty.
11:16This plane has something very wrong.
11:18Atlanta Center.
11:19AC 529 declaring an emergency.
11:22We've had an engine failure.
11:24We're out of 14-2 at this time.
11:26AC 529, roger.
11:28Left turn direct, Atlanta.
11:29Flight 529, now flying over Alabama, makes a left turn back towards Atlanta.
11:35But the airport is almost 58 miles away.
11:38Will they make it?
11:40The plane has begun to descend again, and at breakneck speed.
11:44Warmer Dam cancels the master caution warning, finally silencing the plane's alarms.
11:49Captain Ganaway experiments with his controls, trying everything.
11:52Suddenly, the nose of the Brasilia lifts up, and the plane's speed slows to 186 miles per hour.
11:58AC 529, say altitude descending to.
12:01Right of 11, 600 at this time, AC 529.
12:10All right, it's getting more controllable here.
12:13The engine.
12:15Let's watch our speed.
12:18For the first time since the crisis began, the pilots can now turn their attention to the passengers.
12:23It trim completely here.
12:26I'm going to tell Robin what's going on.
12:31Hi.
12:32Okay, we had an engine failure, Robin.
12:34We declared an emergency.
12:35We're diverting back to Atlanta.
12:37Go ahead and brief the passengers.
12:39This will be an emergency landing back in.
12:42All right, thank you.
12:44Feck hasn't told the pilots what she's seen of the destroyed engine.
12:47She assumes they already know.
12:49AC 529, can you level off, or do you need to keep descending?
12:53The plane is descending again at about 3,000 feet a minute.
12:57Ganaway suddenly realizes they won't make it to Atlanta.
13:01We're going to need to keep descending.
13:04We need an airport quick.
13:06Okay, we're going to need to keep descending.
13:09We need an airport quick.
13:10Roll the trucks and everything out for us.
13:13AC 529, West Georgia.
13:15The regional airport is at your 10 o'clock position and about 10 miles away.
13:21But the air traffic controller, too preoccupied with handling the crisis aboard flight 529,
13:27fails to notify emergency services.
13:30Flight 529 makes another wide left turn that brings it on course to land at West Georgia regional airport.
13:36Let's get out the engine failure checklist, please.
13:41Engine failure in flight.
13:43But they don't get a chance to diagnose their problem.
13:47AC 529, say heading.
13:48Uh, turning to about 310 right now.
13:51AC 529, Roger, you need to be on a 030 for West Georgia regional, sir.
13:56Roger, we'll probably turn right.
13:57We're having difficulty controlling right now.
13:59Let me see your brace positions.
14:02Brace position.
14:04Good.
14:05Good.
14:07Ma'am, will you accept responsibility for opening the door when the plane stops?
14:11No, okay.
14:23APU, if available, start.
14:25You want me to start it?
14:26We've got to bring this thing down.
14:28Put that off.
14:29Get, get, bring the ice off.
14:31Caution.
14:34Caution.
14:35AC 529.
14:36Uh, say your altitude now, sir.
14:38Uh, out of 7,000, AC 529.
14:41Trim, fail.
14:43Trim, fail.
14:43Oh, good start.
14:45AC 529, I missed that.
14:46I'm sorry.
14:47We're at a 6.9 right now.
14:48AC 529.
14:51Okay, it's up and running it.
14:53All right, go ahead.
14:53Caution.
14:54AC 529.
14:55West Georgia regional is your closest airport.
14:58What kind of runway they got?
14:59Caution.
15:00Yeah, what kind of runway has West Georgia regional got?
15:02West Georgia regional is, it's 5,000 feet.
15:08And it's asphalt, sir.
15:10Okay, now I want you to remove any pens or sharp objects from your pockets.
15:13I want you to take off your glasses and pour any drinks into the pocket of the seat in front
15:18of you.
15:25We had to put the drinks in our pocket in front of us.
15:29I think that shook a few of us.
15:31And I, I kind of noticed it wasn't, uh, going too well.
15:37But most folks on that flight were business folks that flew real frequent.
15:42So, you know, there was no screaming or panicking of any sort.
15:47Based on the fact that I was going to die, I dealt with it in the best way that I
15:52could,
15:52which was just to try to absorb it, accept it, and deal with it.
16:04Okay, Mom, practice.
16:05Take your seatbelt off and on, okay?
16:07That's it.
16:10Okay, if there's smoke and the door in front of us is blocked,
16:13you've got to get down on your hands and knees and crawl to the back, okay?
16:16So count the rows.
16:18We've got to get out of the fifth row.
16:20Okay, Mom.
16:24The plane is still losing altitude far too quickly.
16:27Can it make it to the airport in time?
16:31Atlanta Center normally only controls flights at altitudes over 11,000 feet.
16:36For the last seven minutes, flight 529 had been under this altitude,
16:40and now the controller is having trouble locating them.
16:50AC529, I've lost your transponder.
16:52Say altitude.
16:53We're at a 4.5 at this time.
16:56AC529, I've got you now, and the airport's at your...
16:59Say you're heading now, sir.
17:01We are heading 080.
17:04Roger.
17:04You need about 10 degrees left.
17:06West Georgia Regional Airport is only 8 miles away, beneath the clouds.
17:10Two minutes flying time, but they're not sure they can keep airborne that long.
17:14I'll tell you what, let me put you on approach.
17:16He works that airport, and we'll be able to give you more information.
17:20Contact Atlanta Approach at 12.0.
17:24Atlanta Approach Air Traffic Control.
17:26It monitors planes within a much smaller airspace, including West Georgia Regional Airport.
17:33The Brasilia, now at 3,400 feet, has slowed its descent to 1,800 feet per minute,
17:39but that's still too fast.
17:40They won't make it to the airport.
17:49On some passengers' faces, looks of despair.
17:52Others are angry and bitter.
17:54But most are thinking about their loved ones.
17:57One woman writes a goodbye note to her children on a torn book cover.
18:01She writes,
18:02I love you.
18:03You are the lights of my life.
18:05Always.
18:06Mommy.
18:20I think we should pray.
18:26Seven minutes have passed.
18:28For the first time, Captain Ganaway manages to catch a glimpse of the left engine.
18:34The engine's exploded.
18:35It's just hanging out there.
18:37This was something his instruments hadn't told him.
18:40It's no simple engine failure.
18:42The engine is just dangling off the wing.
18:45He knows he could land a Brasilia with a failed engine, but not when it's torn apart.
18:50This is something his training hasn't prepared him for.
18:53He wishes he could see through the clouds.
18:57Atlanta Approach AC 5.9.
19:00AC 529.
19:01Atlanta Approach here?
19:02Yes, sir.
19:03We're with you.
19:03Declaring an emergency.
19:07AC 529.
19:08Roger.
19:09Expect localizer runway 3-4 approach.
19:11And could you fly heading 1-8-0?
19:15No, sorry.
19:161-6-0.
19:17Localizer frequency.
19:19The controller's flight path will take the Brasilia several miles south before landing.
19:23Ganaway knows he doesn't have the extra minutes that this will take.
19:26We can get it in on a visual.
19:28Just give us the vectors.
19:29We'll go the visual.
19:30He asks for directions to take the plane straight in using the shortest possible route.
19:39Suddenly, they're out of the clouds.
19:40But the sight that greets them couldn't be worse.
19:44In front of them, no airport.
19:46Only forest and villages.
19:48Captain Ganaway, who never stutters, does now.
19:50Single engine checklist, please.
19:54Where the hell is it?
20:07Robin Feck is puzzled.
20:09Six minutes earlier, Warmerdam had told her the plane was turning back to Atlanta.
20:13But all she can see now is Georgia countryside.
20:17We're out of 1900 at this time?
20:19We're below the clouds.
20:20Tell them.
20:21You're out of 1900 now?
20:23Yeah, we're VFR at this time.
20:25Could you give us a vector to the airport?
20:27Turn left.
20:28Fly hitting 040.
20:31Bear the airport's at your about 10 o'clock and six miles, sir.
20:38Radar contact lost at this time.
20:40The plane's low altitude shocks the controller.
20:431900 feet.
20:44Only a minute earlier, it had been at 3,400 feet.
20:47The descent is far too fast.
20:50Remember, brace yourselves.
20:52Now, once we get out to where we're going, wait till the plane comes to a complete stop before we
20:56can get out.
20:57Okay?
20:58Brace positions, please.
20:59Brace positions.
21:03Sir, heads down.
21:05Heads down.
21:05Please.
21:08Robin Feck, too preoccupied by the safety of her passengers, looks out of a window and suddenly sees the tops
21:14of the trees.
21:15She has but a few seconds left to strap herself in her jump seat before impact.
21:22Brace positions.
21:24Keep your heads down, everyone.
21:26Hold on.
21:27This is going to be rough.
21:28The airport is only four miles away, but too far for the crippled plane.
21:33The pilots have to attempt a crash landing in a field.
21:36Help me hold it.
21:37Over there.
21:43Help me hold it.
21:44Help me.
21:44Help me hold it.
21:45Gear 500.
21:48Gear 500.
21:49The plane's altitude voice alarm sounds, warning the pilots that they're flying too close to the ground without their landing
21:55gear lowered.
21:56Fucking land on plane.
21:57The pilots will attempt to land on the plane's belly.
22:01100.
22:02Hold.
22:02Gear 100.
22:03Help me.
22:04Help me.
22:05Help me hold it.
22:05Help me hold it.
22:06Gear 100.
22:08Amy.
22:09I love you.
22:10These are the last words on the cockpit voice recorder.
22:13The plane is flying at 138 miles per hour and only seconds away from impact.
22:1950.
22:20Hold.
22:20Gear 40.
22:22Hold.
22:22Gear 30.
22:24Hold.
22:24Gear 20.
22:28Gear.
22:29Gear 70.
22:32Ones.
22:37Gear 42.
22:37Coming.
22:38Yeah.
22:38Yeah.
22:53Yo.
22:54We're at the canyon.
22:54You're on raft.
22:54We're at the snow.
22:54You're on rafts.
22:55We're actually getting you.
23:22The plane had landed in a small field in Burwell,
23:25a sleepy farming community near Carrollton, Georgia,
23:28where nothing major ever happens.
23:30Many neighbors witnessed the plane coming down.
23:33Bill Jeters and his wife lived in this house at the end of this field,
23:36angled directly in the plane's path.
23:39My wife was sitting at the kitchen table, reading.
23:44And she said, Bill, we'd better get out of here
23:46because the plane's going to hit the house.
23:48So about that time it started stopping.
23:51I said, well, you call 9-1-1 and I'm going to see if I can help the plane.
23:58Emergency?
23:59Yes, we have a plane crashed in our backyard.
24:02A plane crashed?
24:03Yes.
24:04Somebody out here.
24:07Eight minutes had passed since First Officer Warmerdam
24:10had declared an emergency
24:11and asked Atlanta Center for rescue vehicles to be alerted.
24:14but the controller hadn't passed on the message.
24:17Minutes would make the difference now between life and death.
24:21The local emergency services responded quickly
24:23but were still many miles away.
24:31For almost a minute after impact, there's an eerie silence.
24:34The plane fuselage is broken in two.
24:38Could anyone survive?
24:47As the dust settles, all 29 people on board are miraculously alive
24:52with only a handful seriously injured by the impact.
25:02It was an amazing situation only because I just couldn't even believe that I was alive at that point
25:09and I couldn't believe that I was looking at something that was real.
25:17But a new disaster is gathering.
25:20Fuel from the shattered wing tanks is pouring onto the ground.
25:25The last thing I remember is the sound of hitting the trees
25:32and then I honestly don't recall impact.
25:36Captain Ed Gannaway has been knocked unconscious by a blow to the head during the impacts.
25:41When First Officer Matt Warmerdam regains consciousness, he realizes they're stuck.
25:45The cockpit door is jammed and smoke is slowly seeping in.
25:49He reaches for the emergency crash-axe.
25:52The cockpit window is the only way out.
25:58The next immediate thought I had was now we're going to blow up.
26:04So, get out of there.
26:06It was burning, you know, right in the opening.
26:09You know, so I just jumped over.
26:12And I headed towards the opening and I walked out of the aircraft.
26:17And I walked away from it.
26:19The sparks ignite the fuel vapors creating a blazing fire.
26:24Within seconds the fire spreads to the fuselage.
26:29In the rear section of the plane, the passengers are now trapped by flames burning at 1800 degrees centigrade.
26:35They can hear screams from the field outside where some passengers are already suffering from terrible burns.
26:41To escape, they too have to run through the fire, not fall in it, hoping for the best.
26:46I turned back and I looked at the aircraft.
26:50And what I saw was that the opening that I had come through was basically fully engulfed in flames.
26:57And that the people that were exiting the aircraft were all on fire.
27:02Some of them would, you know, roll in the grass to try and put the fire out.
27:07And sometimes that made it worse because it was spent, or spilt fuel.
27:13And then they would get even more ignited.
27:15The whole situation got uglier and uglier in the sense that you would all of a sudden see people with
27:23their clothing burned off.
27:24You would see people with red skin that you could see was burnt.
27:32You could actually see some people whose flesh was like dropping off of their bodies or their faces.
27:44It was just a horrible situation that was taking place and it was getting worse and worse.
27:50No!
27:52No!
27:54No!
27:54No!
27:54Don't!
28:03Matt Warmerdam, his right shoulder dislocated, is banging the axe against the window with his left hand.
28:20The person's clothes were on fire and she was on the ground.
28:25I think it was a woman.
28:26She was on the ground.
28:27And Robin said to me, she says, take off your shirt, take off your pants, try to beat the flames
28:34out.
28:34And I did that.
28:36One gentleman I saw was crawling, completely engulfed in flames.
28:42And another one that was, most of his clothes was torn off.
28:47Now, whether they got torn off in the crash or he tore them off himself, I don't know.
28:53I helped him away from the airplane and brought him up towards my brother-in-law's house.
28:59And all he had on was his shorts and his skin was, excuse me.
29:11Well, being a paralyzed person myself, I knew that I could do much for them.
29:16I was looking and I thought to myself, that'll be the, these people that are on that airplane
29:22are seeing the last seconds of a normal life that they'll ever live.
29:45Aircraft glass is much thicker than what you would see on like a, like an automobile windshield.
29:52It's, uh, several different composite layers that had been temper-treated together to make it a very, very tough surface.
30:01And with each swing of the crash-axe, I was only able to chip away a small piece of glass.
30:10I need some help!
30:14I really did feel kind of alone there.
30:16I'm looking around left and right and there's, there's no other fools that close, you know, at that second.
30:23But even though passenger David McCorkle believes that the plane might blow up at any second,
30:28he goes to Matt Warmerdam's rescue.
30:30Can you help me?
30:31I haven't got enough room inside to swing it.
30:33Ah!
30:35I'm just gonna hit!
30:37In here!
30:38Ah!
30:40Ah!
30:40Hang on a second here!
30:41Hang on, I gotta get some air!
30:44Yeah!
30:45The oxygen cylinder in the closet behind the co-pilot's seat punctures.
30:49It'll make the cockpit fire much worse.
30:54Okay!
30:55Go ahead, go ahead!
30:56Okay!
31:02Stop a second!
31:04Let me see if I can squeeze out.
31:06Ah!
31:08Ah!
31:08Ah!
31:08Ah!
31:09Ah!
31:09Ah!
31:10Ah!
31:32Ah!
31:33Ah!
31:34Ah!
31:35Ah!
31:35Ah!
31:35Ah!
31:36Ah!
31:36Ah!
31:37Ah!
31:38Ah!
31:39Ah!
31:41Ah!
31:47Ah!
31:55Ah!
31:55even harder and faster.
31:57Then suddenly, the weakened axe head flies off.
32:01It's getting hotter than it!
32:03Get me out!
32:05Guy Pope, a police officer,
32:07is the first rescue worker to reach the burning plane.
32:10I was about three miles from here
32:12when I received the call.
32:14And about halfway here, I could see the smoke,
32:17pretty heavy smoke, and I got out of the car
32:20and I ran up to the plane.
32:23And when I went around the nose of the plane,
32:27one of the passengers handed me a hatchet
32:32and said that the pilot was inside.
32:34And I took the hatchet
32:37and started trying to cut a bigger hole.
32:41I couldn't get around behind the cockpit because of fire.
32:45It was still burning pretty heavy
32:46and there was an oxygen bottle there blowing the fire.
32:49And, you know, it's just one of them things.
32:58You see a man burn, you don't forget it.
33:05This is live footage taken with a video from the windshield
33:08of a Georgia State Patrol police car
33:10as rescue workers are arriving at the site.
33:14At this moment, all passengers are out of the two sections
33:17of the broken plane, except pilots Ed Gannaway
33:20and Matt Warmerdam, who remain prisoners of their cockpit.
33:23Well, first off, I had to tear the back of the cockpit out.
33:26It had burnt and there was no door or visible door
33:29or anything like that.
33:30So I actually took my hands and tore it out.
33:33When I started to pull him out, he looked up and he said,
33:36tell my wife, Amy, that I love her.
33:39I said, no, sir, you tell her that you love her
33:41because I'm getting you out of here.
33:43Inside the ambulance, I worked with him
33:46and I thought that probably he would not make it.
33:49I took his name badge and pinned it on his underwear,
33:53which was the only thing I'd left on him trying to cool him down
33:55because I thought that if he died,
33:58at least someone would know who he was.
34:00Surprising when Matt was aware of everything around him
34:03and he kept trying to assure me that things were going to be OK.
34:07He was comforting me because at that particular time, I was crying.
34:11Matthew actually took his burned hand and wiped a tear away.
34:16They found Captain Gannaway dead in the cockpit.
34:19He had struck his head on impact and never regained consciousness.
34:23He died of burns and smoke inhalation.
34:28The crash survivors, some with broken bones and others with burns,
34:31ranging from minor to 92%, are rushed to various hospitals in Georgia.
34:3713 passengers were brought to Tanner Hospital in Carrollton, 15 minutes away,
34:41where code black was immediately applied, meaning everybody helps.
34:45Dr. Bobby Mitchell, after working a night shift, was awakened.
34:48He was responsible for treating four survivors,
34:51including flight attendant Robin Feck.
34:53When I got to the hospital,
34:55some of the people that had survived the plane crash were already here.
34:59The smell was initially just a wave of jet fuel that just hit you as the door opened,
35:05and then that was mixed with just a pungent, horrible odor of burned flesh.
35:13Ms. Feck, she had a cut on her scalp and a couple of broken bones, like a collarbone and an
35:18arm,
35:18and she was in a great deal of pain herself, although she didn't particularly want me to be dealing with
35:24her.
35:24She said, you get back with them, and the orthopedist soon took over her care.
35:30She was clearly still trying to care for her passengers.
35:38When a patient suffers a severe burn, the skin is violated,
35:42and the skin really is the major part of your immune system.
35:45So people that have been horribly burned, that initial defense is violated, and infection,
35:52infectious organisms, organisms harmful to the body, can very easily get in,
35:56and your immune system can just handle so much.
35:59When they are able to survive for a period of weeks,
36:02it is not uncommon for them to die from other organ failure,
36:06which is what happened to a lot of the people that were on flight 529.
36:10I have never before since dealt with so much physical devastation and emotional upheaval,
36:21and so much sorrow and horror and sadness in one place at one time than we did on that day
36:34in this little small town hospital.
36:37After a long day treating the horribly burned passengers,
36:41and witnessing the courage of some of them,
36:43Dr. Mitchell was asked to assist the autopsy on Captain Ed Ganaway.
36:47I looked down at him and kind of put my hand over on...
36:50I told everybody, I thought, I hope wherever his spirit is that he knows what a good job he did,
36:56and I just said, you know, you're the hero.
37:00I hope you know it, Captain Ganaway.
37:09Regional airlines are a North American phenomenon.
37:12In the early 1960s, a small band of independent airlines first became known as air taxis,
37:18which in time became commuter airlines, then finally regional airlines.
37:22In 1978, the US deregulated the airlines, and as the small and mid-sized cities became the economic engine of
37:29the country,
37:30regional airlines prospered as never before.
37:33The National Transportation Safety Board in the United States is responsible for investigating air disasters.
37:39Its GO team is on duty 24 hours a day to fly to the scene of any major crash.
37:45The NTSB will have several subgroups working at the same time, each examining a particular part of the plane.
37:52Gordon Jim Hookie, an aerospace engineer, was in charge of the propeller maintenance group.
37:57We went out to the crash site, and in the usual fashion, you just kind of look around and get
38:05a feel for where all the pieces are.
38:06We came along the propeller assembly that was missing, looking down through the dirt.
38:13We could see the tell-tale marks, the beach marks, along the fracture surface that indicated it might have been
38:21a fatigue fracture.
38:24During the last ten minutes of Flight 529, no one on board the plane suspected that the engine failure had
38:30been caused by a propeller blade fracture.
38:33Hookie had good reason to be concerned by the broken propeller blade. He'd seen it all before.
38:38Four years earlier, another ASA Brasilia had nose-dived and crashed in woods in Georgia, killing all 23 people aboard,
38:46including former U.S. Senator John Tower of Texas and space shuttle astronaut Manly Sonny Carter.
38:52The NTSB's investigation of that incident had found the crash had been caused by a badly designed propeller control unit,
38:58and they blamed the manufacturer, Hamilton Standard. Then in March 1994, just 17 months before ASA 529,
39:06on two separate commercial flights, identical propeller blades broke from metal fatigue over Canada and over Brazil.
39:13In both cases, the aircraft involved managed to land safely.
39:17These accidents pointed to serious problems in Hamilton Standard propellers and became a major crisis for the company.
39:23Airlines were ordered by the government to carry out an inspection of all the 15,000 propeller blades in service.
39:29Investigators found that the broken propeller had been declared suspect and sent back to Hamilton Standard for inspection.
39:35When the ASA mechanics took the blade off the hub, as soon as they turned it over, we marked down
39:43the serial number.
39:45So when we went back to do the records, we could immediately go to that particular blade.
39:52Investigator Jim Hookie took the broken blade stub to Atlanta Airport.
39:56From there, it was sent to the NTSB laboratory in Washington.
40:01By next morning, blade number 861398 was being examined under a scanning microscope.
40:07Investigators found telltale deposits of chlorine, a corrosive substance known to eat into the inner walls of the propeller blade.
40:15So then the question becomes, where did the chlorine come from?
40:23In two of the previous propeller failures, the problem had also been traced to corrosion caused by chlorine in the
40:28inner wall of the blade.
40:30Flight 529's blade had also snapped off 13.2 inches from the hub, very similar to the two previous blade
40:37failures.
40:42Under the microscope, NTSB scientists saw that two cracks along the inner wall of the blade had joined to form
40:48a single fissure.
40:49This had grown and grown until it circled the blade, at which point it snapped under the stress of normal
40:54operation.
40:57But the NTSB scientists noted something else.
41:00On the inner surface extending about one and a half inches from the fracture, there was a series of sanding
41:06marks.
41:08Hookie set off to Hamilton Standard, intent on getting the maintenance records for the propellers.
41:13What had been done to the blade when it had been recalled?
41:17At the factory, Hookie examined the blade's repair reports.
41:20He noted the initials of the technician who did the work, CSB Christopher Scott Bender.
41:26He was a young technician who worked at a Hamilton Standard propeller repair facility.
41:31Christopher Bender had watched the news of the accident on television, little realising how he was involved in the accident.
41:39I saw the Hamilton Standard prop on it, and I was like, I hope this is not a prop failure.
41:45It was just kind of the back of my mind.
41:47And in that morning, they were like, you know, the NTSB is down there, FAA is investigating.
41:53And they've called in some of our engineers to go also down there, and it might be a prop failure.
41:59And as soon as I heard that, my heart just sank.
42:04I was like, you know, I think I might have even cried a little bit.
42:07I was just, you know, just emotionally overwhelmed that, you know, something I had put my hands on,
42:11and the procedure that somebody trusted me to do failed, and because that somebody had died.
42:17After discovering the technician who had last worked on the propeller blade that caused the crash of ASA 529,
42:23the NTSB now had to find out how the blade had passed inspection.
42:29Propeller blades are hollow.
42:30Inside, weights are inserted to balance the prop.
42:33They're kept in place by a cork soaked in chlorine.
42:36It was the chlorine that had caused the corrosion in the previous accidents.
42:40However, on this blade, Bender had been unable to detect any evidence of corrosion.
42:45He then did what he'd been told to do, polish the inside of the blade.
42:50The draft accident report we present to you today involves Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 529.
42:56The NTSB found that by polishing the blade, Hamilton Standard had unwittingly removed all traces of the crack,
43:03and a later, more thorough ultrasound examination couldn't detect it.
43:07The NTSB asked for more accountability for management at Hamilton Standard.
43:12And so the final report read,
43:14The fracture was caused by a fatigue crack from multiple corrosion pits that were not discovered by Hamilton Standard,
43:21because of inadequate and ineffective corporate inspection and repair techniques, training, documentation and communications.
43:29Some final questions still needed to be answered.
43:33Why had the broken propeller blade destroyed the engine?
43:36In previous incidents, the entire propeller had fallen away harmlessly.
43:40But on Flight 529, blade loss unbalanced the propeller and led to uncontrollable high-speed shaking as the engine shuddered
43:48in its mountings.
43:48This was the ominous hammering sound heard by the passengers.
43:51It literally ripped the engine open and left the useless propeller jammed against the wing.
43:57The flight crew weren't handling the engine failure as a true engine failure in that some mechanical malfunction occurred and
44:04the engine stopped running.
44:05They didn't know that the engine actually had vibrated significantly and broken from its mount and actually canted or twisted
44:12on the wing.
44:14The NTSB found that the rescue services might have arrived more quickly if controllers had heeded Matt Warmerdam's request for
44:21help on the ground given by radio six and a half minutes before the crash.
44:25Another key NTSB recommendation was to replace the flimsy crash axe that had failed in Warmerdam's rescue with a sturdier
44:33model.
44:35Investigators praised the crew of Flight 529 for the way they dealt with the crisis, calling their reactions reasonable and
44:41appropriate.
44:44But the board could offer little advice on the one thing that had caused all these deaths, fire.
44:51The problem is, how do you make a fuel burn in an engine but not ignite when it's spilled?
44:57One way to reduce the severity of post-crash fires is by utilizing less flammable fuel.
45:03In 1984, the Federal Aviation Administration and NASA decided to test a new, safer fuel by staging an accident using
45:11a remote-controlled plane.
45:13Unfortunately, it was not a conspicuous success.
45:24But the US Navy has been using a safer form of jet fuel called JP5 since the 1950s, yet it's
45:31not used in commercial aviation.
45:32The primary reason that civilian sector or commercial aviation has not gone to a lower flammability fuel is the question
45:43of availability and distribution and the cost.
45:46It costs more to produce the JP5.
45:51Everything comes down to money.
45:53What's it going to cost to develop a system?
45:56What's it going to cost to implement the system?
45:58What's it going to do for the overall safety of the airplane and who's going to pay for it?
46:04Personally, from a safety standpoint, I'll pay $2 extra in my ticket to know and to have that security.
46:12Until a solution is found, there will continue to be stories like ASA-529.
46:17On impact, everyone on this flight had survived, but the subsequent fire became the killer.
46:24For the victims of the fire, recovery has been a slow, painful and excruciating process.
46:30First Officer Matt Warmerdam was burned on 42% of his body.
46:34Some other survivors suffered up to 90% burns.
46:38Treatment included daily baths and removal of dead skin from burn wounds.
46:43There would be years of skin graft operations, a 24-hour-a-day wearing of pressure garments to minimize scarring,
46:49chronic itching and soreness, and daily physical therapy.
46:53Your ability to sense and feel through those areas is permanently changed for the worse.
47:00Temperature control is lost.
47:03When you walk from an air-conditioned building into the outside, you take for granted that your body starts accommodating
47:09that either by sweating or redirecting blood flow.
47:11People with burns, especially horrible, large surface area burns, that's lost forever.
47:17They have to plan everything they do.
47:19They have to plan where they're going to be and the clothing much more carefully.
47:23So there are emotional and physical things both that are lost forever.
47:27My medical treatments were quite extensive.
47:34I think I honestly have lost count of how many surgeries I had to go through to get back to
47:40the point where I could fly again.
47:41But it's got to be somewhere near 50, including all the skin grafting things that they had to do in
47:49the hospital and as such.
47:52Psychologically, it was tough in the beginning.
47:55There I was, happy to be finally starting my career as I had dreamed it from my childhood.
48:02And it was suddenly ripped away.
48:05And that was tough.
48:07There was a lot of long nights talking with Amy, trying to get over the pain and despair of all
48:17that.
48:18I did have trouble getting my life back in order.
48:24It caused me to drink more than I had before.
48:30I think that the plane crash, it just took the last bite.
48:34And I stayed in the fire service for a while after that, but my heart was never in it again.
48:40I quit my job as I was a vice president of a software company, traveling a lot, making very good
48:48money.
48:48And I went to work as a buyer in Alaska.
48:53I also reconnected with my ex-wife, and we got remarried, moved down to South Carolina, and had all our
49:05kids move in with us.
49:06So, yeah, I did change my life.
49:10And it helped me to kind of put a lot of things in perspective, including not only how I acted
49:18myself, but also how I treated other people.
49:24One year after the crash, the military fraternal organization of pilots bestowed its prestigious medallion on Matt Wormadam for his
49:32part in saving the lives of his passengers.
49:34He accepted it in honor of the crew.
49:40Seeking closure on the trauma of the crash, residents built a memorial to the victims of Flight 529 behind Shiloh
49:48United Methodist Church, a short distance from the accident site in Burwell.
49:53You know, I wish this had never happened.
49:55I wish I could go back in time and fix it and take care of it, that it didn't happen.
50:00You know, I don't know if they believe in God or not, but I pray for them that God comforts
50:04them through the hurt that they've had in their lives.
50:08Much has changed for the company that manufactured Flight 529's propeller.
50:12Now renamed Hamilton Sunstrand, it's part of the giant United Technologies Aerospace and Defense Group.
50:20Flight 529 was the last time that one of its propellers failed in flight.
50:24Its inspection and repair process was made more stringent, in some cases exceeding FAA requirements.
50:31Since the three blade failures, there have been none whatsoever.
50:36Of the 29 people aboard ASA Flight 529, only 8 escaped with minor injuries.
50:43Of the 21 others who received major injuries and burns, 10 subsequently died.
50:50Flight attendant Robin Feck declined to be interviewed for this film.
50:54Still suffering from the pain and anguish of that terrible day, she's never worked as a flight attendant again.
51:02The best thing I ever could have done for myself was that day, two years ago,
51:07when I'd finished training and took the controls of an ASA plane and flew again.
51:15I stubbornly recaptured my dream.
51:18And now that I'm doing it again, it's just been a joy.
51:21It's what I do, it's what I love, it's what I always wanted to do with my life, and I'm
51:26doing it again.
51:33All right, now.
51:36And let me battery prove it that way, it was a feeling that moved to f elas via a bus,
51:58I couldn't give him something else.
51:58It's because I need some attention.