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On 23 November 1996, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 is forced to ditch after running out of fuel. The aircraft breaks up as the wings hit the water, killing 125 people. The aircraft had been hijacked and ran out of fuel because the hijackers did not believe the pilot's insistence that there was not enough fuel aboard to make it to the hijackers' planned destination, Australia.
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00:02A crippled airliner falls towards the Indian Ocean.
00:06It has no fuel, no engine power at all.
00:12Both engines are out. That's it.
00:16The captain struggles to do what no one has ever done before.
00:20Safely land a passenger jet on the open ocean.
00:31One, two, three.
01:00The Comoros Islands, a remote holiday playground in the Indian Ocean.
01:06Days here are spent playing in the sand and splashing in the gentle waves.
01:12But in late 1996, the peace of the Comoros Islands is shattered.
01:19A plane is speeding towards the beach.
01:22It's a passenger jet hundreds of miles off course.
01:30There has been no explosion, no mechanical failure, yet the jet is falling out of the sky towards the ocean.
02:08Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 is on a routine trip from Addis Ababa to the Ivory Coast.
02:16The captain is Leul Abate. At 42, he's an extremely experienced pilot.
02:227,300 kilograms. Center tank is zero.
02:26He has more than 11,000 hours of flying time to his credit.
02:30Total fuel is 14,500 kilograms.
02:33Check.
02:35Ethiopian Flight 961 will stop briefly in Nairobi, Brazzaville and Lagos before it reaches its final destination of Abidjan.
02:46The plane has just enough fuel for the first leg of the trip.
02:49It will get more in Nairobi.
02:52Less fuel on board makes the plane lighter, increasing efficiency.
02:55Switches her off.
02:57Captain Abate and his co-pilot, Jonas Mercuria, expect their day's work will be over in about 12 hours, when
03:04they land in the Ivory Coast.
03:05All clear.
03:06The day was a bright day, clear skies. Everything was fine.
03:11The passengers on board 961 are a mix of Ethiopians and travellers from other countries, flying for business and pleasure.
03:23Michael Odenyo, seated in economy class, is a Kenyan businessman on his way home to Nairobi.
03:29I spent the whole of Friday trying to get on that flight, calling the airline every hour or so.
03:36I remember Friday night, about 11 o'clock, I called them again and they said,
03:41look, just come to the airport, we'll see if we can find a seat for you.
03:45So I sometimes feel I put myself on that aircraft.
03:50Near the front of the plane, American Frank Pancho Huddle is also getting settled in.
03:56He's the United States Consul General in Bombay.
03:59My wife, Mom, and myself decided to take a trip to Africa and go on safari.
04:06I wanted a daytime flight because it was safer.
04:10So I picked Ethiopian Airlines, which had a good reputation.
04:14It was one of the two carriers in all of Africa that was FAA certified.
04:19A few rows ahead of them is Mo Amin, a legendary news cameraman and journalist.
04:24He's a well-known personality, especially in Ethiopia.
04:29In 1984, Amin captured images which shocked the world.
04:34His pictures of the Ethiopian famine prompted an outpouring of aid,
04:38which helped pull Ethiopia back from the brink of starvation.
04:44Mo Amin was, I think, the most famous news cameraman of his time
04:51and also one of the strangest of characters.
04:56Amin is known for never backing down in a fight.
04:59He has stuck his nose and his camera into conflicts across Africa.
05:05While filming in Ethiopia, he had even lost an arm in a bomb blast.
05:11Today, he's returning home to Nairobi after a brief business trip.
05:21By the time all the passengers are on board,
05:24Flight 961 is carrying 175 people.
05:33Not only is Captain Abate used to this route,
05:37but he's also very comfortable with this aircraft.
05:45He and other members of Ethiopian Airlines call it Zulu.
05:57As the plane climbs into the sky,
05:59three Ethiopian men have settled into their seats.
06:03All are in their mid-twenties.
06:06The plane is bound for Nairobi,
06:08but it's not where these passengers are planning to go.
06:18We took off. Everything was fine.
06:22The cabin crew called us.
06:23She asked if we want to have coffee or tea or whatever.
06:26Yeah, thank you.
06:27Coffee?
06:28Make it two.
06:30The plane is flying at 12,000 meters
06:33when the three young Ethiopians make their move.
06:38When I heard a noise at the back,
06:40somebody shouting,
06:42and when I looked back,
06:43he was running up towards the front,
06:45pushing the air hostesses away.
06:55There were two guys sipping down the plane,
06:58telling something incomprehensible.
07:00Then a guy sort of gliding down silently
07:03came right after him,
07:04and I said,
07:05uh-oh, it's a hijacking
07:06because they're coordinated.
07:08Initially, we sort of just looked at each other
07:10and wondered what was going on.
07:12People didn't say much immediately.
07:13There was, uh, some kind of noise in the cabin,
07:18and I heard the cockpit door slamming open.
07:20Just, bang!
07:22Three men barged through the door
07:24and armed themselves with the cockpit's fire axe
07:27and fire extinguisher.
07:28Get out!
07:30Get out!
07:33There was, you know,
07:34a little confusion up in the front
07:35as if they were, you know,
07:38attacking the pilots.
07:40There were three guys.
07:42They were shouting.
07:43They came straight to the copilot,
07:44and they started hitting him.
07:46Get up!
07:50There's 11 of us.
07:51If you don't do what we say,
07:53we'll pull this plane out of the sky.
07:56I told them,
07:56okay, don't hurt him.
07:58I'll do whatever you want.
08:01Passengers near the front of the plane are concerned,
08:03but have no idea what's going on.
08:07Captain Leol Abate is facing the hijackers alone.
08:11Unlike most pilots, though,
08:13Abate has some experience in a situation like this.
08:16He has been hijacked twice before.
08:19The first hijack was a local flight,
08:22and then two hijackers who had a hand grenade
08:27came into the cockpit,
08:29and they forced her to fly to Nairobi.
08:32Abate's second hijacking was just a few years later,
08:34when he was piloting a 737.
08:40Hijackers, again,
08:42held the hostess hostage,
08:44and they came into the cockpit.
08:46They told me to be hijacked,
08:47and they went to fly to Sweden.
08:50No one had been hurt or killed
08:52in either of those incidents.
08:54In both cases,
08:55Captain Abate had landed safely.
08:57But the turbulent political situation in the region
09:00means hijacking is an unpleasant reality.
09:04From 1990 to 1996,
09:0710 Ethiopian Airlines planes had been hijacked.
09:10This time, though,
09:11the hijackers make a very unusual request.
09:14Fly to Australia.
09:16What?
09:17Fly us to Australia.
09:18We don't have enough fuel to get to Australia.
09:21It's too far.
09:22We can go to Nairobi,
09:25or Zanzibar,
09:26or Dar es Salaam,
09:28and then refuel,
09:29and then go to Australia.
09:31In fact, the jet took off
09:33with just three and a half hours worth of fuel.
09:38But the hijackers don't know that.
09:41They've been reading the in-flight magazine,
09:43which tells them the maximum flying time of a 767.
09:4611 hours.
09:48It won't take more than 10 hours to get to Australia.
09:51I don't have 10 hours of fuel.
09:52It says 11 hours.
09:53We don't carry that much fuel.
09:55We only carry what we need.
09:57They thought I was bluffing.
09:59They were convinced that the airplane was able to fly to Australia.
10:03Abate is shocked.
10:04No one else on the plane knows what the hijackers are demanding.
10:08If he does what they say,
10:10his plane will crash in the ocean.
10:12If he doesn't,
10:13they say they'll blow it out of the sky.
10:21An Ethiopian Airlines jet has been hijacked in the skies above Africa.
10:26The hijackers want to be flown to Australia.
10:29It's a 10-hour flight,
10:31but the plane took off with just three and a half hours of fuel.
10:36The passengers have no idea what the hijackers are demanding.
10:42Word spreads of the hijacking, but not of their destination.
10:48It was as if nobody wanted to sort of rile the hijackers,
10:53because they hadn't slapped people around.
10:54It wasn't a sort of a Middle Eastern style
10:56where they shoot somebody in the head to make a point,
10:59or they were basically leaving the passengers alone,
11:02provided that we didn't do anything.
11:04And that was enough for us.
11:06There's so much fuel we have.
11:08If we had fuel for 11 hours,
11:09it would say 60,000 kilograms.
11:11But we don't carry that much fuel.
11:13We only carry what we need.
11:14The hijackers seem to think that Abate is bluffing.
11:17We have a bomb.
11:19Yes.
11:20If you don't do what we tell you to,
11:22we will blow this plane out of the sky.
11:25Abate knows he's trapped.
11:27If he fights the hijackers, they may blow up his plane.
11:30If he does what they want, he'll run out of fuel.
11:34My feeling tells me that it's not a real bomb,
11:37but there is no way that I can challenge that.
11:41One of them has a fire axe.
11:43That was good enough to do serious damage.
11:47If I'm not alive, everybody's not alive.
11:50That's it.
11:54I want to talk to the passengers.
11:58After about half an hour,
12:00the hijackers came on the public address system,
12:02and they made an announcement
12:03that they have taken over the plane.
12:08And if anybody tried anything,
12:11they had one bomb,
12:12and they were going to blow it up.
12:15The announcement is made in Amharic,
12:18French, and English.
12:22The policy at that time was
12:24we should follow the hijackers' instruction.
12:27That was before 9-11.
12:29And every action taken is to be taken on ground,
12:32not in flight.
12:34Pilots are trained to fly, not to fight.
12:37We were following sort of the standard script,
12:40as it were, for passengers,
12:41which was to stay out of it,
12:43keep quiet, keep cool,
12:44let them sort it out,
12:45get the plane on the ground.
12:46Some people said,
12:48oh, maybe we'll go to Sudan,
12:51land there and negotiate,
12:53and maybe they'll release us after that,
12:56or if not, move on to some other place.
12:59But it was all speculation.
13:01For years, Clint Van Zandt
13:03was the FBI's chief hostage negotiator.
13:06What made this hijacking so unique
13:09is that the pilot in command
13:10had been the victim
13:12of two previous hijackings.
13:15his success rate was 100%.
13:17He probably had a predisposition to,
13:21this will end like the other two did.
13:23I'll be able to get it on the ground.
13:25The authorities will deal with it.
13:28But Captain Abate knows
13:30this situation is different.
13:32Instead of another destination in Africa,
13:34the hijackers want to go to Australia.
13:37Abate knows that heading out into the open ocean
13:39could be a death sentence.
13:42Captain Abate decides to get help.
13:45I have to call air traffic control.
13:47Why?
13:49Because they will be asking
13:50why we are changing direction.
13:54Tell them you've been hijacked
13:55and tell them where we are going.
13:59As the aircraft flies south,
14:01Addis Ababa passes the captain
14:03over to Nairobi air traffic control.
14:06ETH Nairobi Center.
14:08Confirm you are going to land Australia.
14:11Gentlemen, we can't make Australia.
14:13We only have two hours of fuel.
14:16We can't make it Australia.
14:20We will make a water landing.
14:22ETH 961.
14:24Confirm you can't divert to Mombasa.
14:27They refuse to land anywhere other than Australia,
14:29so we have no choice.
14:32Except when we finish our fuel,
14:33we will land on water.
14:37But with two hours of fuel,
14:40you can't make Australia.
14:41Why don't you land Mombasa?
14:46OK, just a minute.
14:49Abate connects the air traffic control
14:51to the cockpit speakers.
14:52OK, I just wanted our hijackers
14:54to hear what you are communicating.
14:55OK.
14:56And if you have anything to say,
14:58go ahead and tell them.
14:59OK.
15:00I am advising you
15:02that with two hours of fuel,
15:04you will be unable
15:05to reach your destination.
15:07And probably,
15:08you would have to land on the water.
15:12The solution is for you
15:13to land in Mombasa.
15:15Go ahead.
15:18The hijackers of ETH 961.
15:21If you have copied, go ahead.
15:28Waiting to talk, standby.
15:30Do you want to talk to them?
15:36OK, they say they don't want to talk.
15:39They're not willing to negotiate
15:41on any terms.
15:43Confirm they are ready to land
15:45in the ocean and drown.
15:47Do you have another alternate aerodrome?
15:50Please advise.
15:51I have no alternate aerodrome.
15:55Sir, I'm in a very tight corner.
15:56Enough talk.
15:57We will not negotiate.
15:58Let's boom.
15:59Let's boom.
16:00They said follow our instruction.
16:02If you don't, we'll blow the airplane up.
16:05That's it.
16:10There would be no further communications
16:12between the aircraft and air traffic control.
16:17An hour has passed
16:19since the beginning of the hijacking.
16:21No one knows exactly
16:22what's going on in the cockpit.
16:24For the rest of the passengers and crew,
16:26the flight has settled
16:27into an uneasy routine.
16:30We went generally south.
16:33And there was an eerie, edgy, nervous calm.
16:37Nobody's talking much.
16:38People are in their own little individual worlds.
16:42With only a fraction of the fuel
16:44needed to get to Australia,
16:46Abate decides to defy the hijackers.
16:48Without their knowledge,
16:50he continues south
16:51instead of east towards Australia.
16:54I started following the African coastline
16:57because in case anything happens,
17:00we'll have a place to ditch or land safely
17:04because most of the cities are by the coastline.
17:07But with a glance out of the window,
17:09the hijackers suddenly realize
17:11they've been tricked.
17:12I still see land.
17:14Turn the plane.
17:16Now, Captain Abate has no choice.
17:19He turns his plane east over the open ocean.
17:31As the ocean unfolds below him,
17:33the captain begins forming another plan.
17:41I have no charts nearby
17:44because it was on the copilot's side.
17:46So I had a small atlas.
17:49So I took that atlas
17:50and I saw the Comoros Island.
17:54Nestled between the African continent
17:56and the island of Madagascar
17:57is their only hope,
17:59the Comoros Islands.
18:02A remote holiday playground
18:04in the Indian Ocean.
18:07I had no idea what that place was.
18:10I never heard of the word Comoros before.
18:13I just had to torch it.
18:15It was a gas.
18:18The Comoros Islands
18:19are his last chance to land safely.
18:25Suddenly, an alarm breaks
18:26the tense silence in the cockpit.
18:28It's a warning that the plane
18:30has less than 30 minutes of fuel left.
18:34I need to tell the passengers.
18:35There's no need.
18:37You know what I'm going to tell them?
18:39It's out of my control.
18:41The aircraft is going to crash.
18:43We're going to die.
18:43We're going to die anyway.
18:44So shall we kill you?
18:49Please.
18:51At least let us attempt
18:53a controlled landing.
18:56I will die along with him.
18:58I will show him
18:59that I have guts.
19:00It's finished.
19:02We will die together.
19:05With almost no fuel,
19:07Abate decides to make his stand.
19:09We came over the island.
19:11By then, fuel was running out.
19:13I decided, no,
19:15we should not go any further than this one.
19:17And I started circling that area.
19:22But how can he convince
19:24the hijackers to let him land?
19:26He'll have to find an answer soon,
19:28or Flight 961 will crash into the sea.
19:35They took whiskey
19:36from the duty-free
19:38and they wanted me to drink, actually.
19:41But I refused.
19:45Once again, alarm sound.
19:48One engine is now
19:49completely out of fuel.
19:51It's shutting down.
19:52Captain Abate is quickly
19:54running out of time.
19:58With the airplane being
19:59at 39,000 feet,
20:00in cruise flight,
20:02the airplane is not going to run out of gas
20:05with each engine simultaneously.
20:07There'll probably be a bit of a lag,
20:09which in this case there was.
20:11The right engine
20:12stopped functioning first.
20:16First thing I noticed,
20:18the engines sound different.
20:21Because there's only one engine running.
20:24It had a much deeper sound.
20:29Abate follows standard emergency procedures.
20:32He starts the APU,
20:34or Auxiliary Power Unit.
20:36It's a generator
20:37that can supply extra electrical power
20:39when one engine is lost.
20:42Most of the passengers don't know
20:44how serious the situation is.
20:48But Captain Abate knows the plane
20:50is in grave danger.
20:53I lost the engine at 39,000 feet.
20:56I cannot keep on flying at 39,000 feet
20:58with engine failure.
21:00With thrust from only one engine,
21:02the aircraft immediately slows down.
21:05At a lower speed,
21:06the wings don't provide as much lift.
21:10The plane continues to descend.
21:13Even with only one engine,
21:14and despite the drop in altitude,
21:16the tiny Comoros Islands
21:18are still within reach
21:19of the crippled airliner.
21:21There is an airport
21:22at the capital, Moroni.
21:24If he can convince the hijackers,
21:26Abate could land there.
21:29It's gone down 1,000.
21:31When the engine stops,
21:32it descends.
21:33It will descend
21:34whether you like it or not.
21:38Alone in the cockpit,
21:40Captain Abate takes a dangerous chance.
21:42He explains the situation
21:44to everyone on board.
21:45Ladies and gentlemen,
21:46this is your pilot.
21:47We have run out of fuel,
21:49and we are losing an engine
21:50at this time.
21:52We are going to make
21:53a crash landing.
21:54When the pilot came
21:55onto the public address system
21:56and said that he had no alternative
21:58but to crash land,
22:00that is when it actually
22:02dawned on us,
22:03and we realized that
22:04this was a life and death situation.
22:07Captain Abate
22:07also makes a desperate
22:09call for help.
22:10We have already lost
22:11one of the engines.
22:13He wants the passengers
22:15to overpower the hijackers
22:16so he can land the plane.
22:18I ask all passengers
22:19to react to the hijackers.
22:21Captain Abate knows
22:22the call for help
22:23is a huge risk.
22:24Even though I was expecting
22:25some kind of movement
22:27in the cabin,
22:28but I had to do my job.
22:30I was doing what I had to do,
22:32you know,
22:33keep the airplane
22:34in control,
22:35fly it.
22:37While Captain Abate
22:38waits for action,
22:39the passengers
22:40are more confused
22:41than ever.
22:44He said,
22:45react against the hijackers,
22:47which is an odd phraseology.
22:51Nobody reacted.
22:52I think part of it
22:53was the way he said it.
22:54It was not sort of
22:55a normal way in English
22:56that you would ask someone
22:57to take on the hijackers.
22:58But he also was trying
23:00to do it enough
23:00so they wouldn't notice
23:01what he was saying.
23:03At least one of the passengers
23:05does understand.
23:06As a news cameraman,
23:08Mo Amin has never shied away
23:10from a challenge.
23:16Amin makes his way
23:17to the economy section
23:18in the rear of the plane.
23:21Here is a man
23:22who had spent
23:2320 or 30 years
23:25in some of the most
23:27difficult and dangerous
23:28war zones of the world,
23:30who'd been beaten up,
23:31who'd been shot at,
23:34who'd been jailed.
23:36He was a kind of alpha male,
23:38if you know what I mean.
23:39He could talk anybody
23:41into anything.
23:42He made it like
23:43he was going to the bathroom,
23:45and then he came back
23:45and he started talking
23:46to people who were
23:48three or four seats
23:50ahead of me.
23:51And from these gestures
23:52and actions,
23:53he was trying to get us
23:54to stand up
23:55against the hijackers.
23:56With your help,
23:57we can take them.
23:57There's only three of them.
23:59Come on.
24:00Come on.
24:06Not knowing what would happen,
24:07not knowing what these people
24:09were capable of doing,
24:11and of course,
24:12the fact that they had
24:13indicated that they
24:14would blow up the plane
24:15if anybody tried anything.
24:18Always, always have to measure,
24:20am I going to make
24:21the situation better,
24:22or am I going to make it worse?
24:25Who's ready to take the chance
24:27that your precipitous action
24:29against the hijacker
24:31might not cause him
24:32to set that explosive device off
24:35and take the life
24:36of everybody on board the plane?
24:39In the end,
24:40the passengers choose not to act.
24:42Captain Abate is still alone
24:44against the hijackers.
24:49In the cockpit,
24:50the hijackers
24:50tried to take control
24:51in a vain attempt
24:53to keep the plane in the air.
24:55It's descending.
24:56Don't worry.
24:57I'm not the one
24:58who's doing that.
24:59Inadvertently,
25:00one of the hijackers
25:01disconnects the autopilot.
25:02the plane swerves wildly.
25:10Don't move.
25:12Miss it.
25:12I am not applying any motion.
25:15The aircraft is doing it by itself.
25:17He was trying to fly the airplane.
25:18He was trying to disconnect the autopilots.
25:21All sorts of things.
25:23It's all over.
25:24We will drop in the ocean.
25:2631!
25:28Abate makes another attempt
25:30to explain the desperate situation
25:32to the hijackers.
25:33Perhaps they will finally
25:34allow him to land
25:35at the nearby airport.
25:37This is zero.
25:38And this is coming to zero.
25:41I prayed to God.
25:43I wish I wasn't in this situation.
25:45Now I'm in it.
25:46that helped me
25:48to save these people.
25:49Ladies and gentlemen,
25:51please sit down
25:51and fasten your seatbelts.
25:53Do not panic.
25:54Please fasten your seatbelts.
25:54I'm starting to say,
25:55oh, I love you, dear.
25:56It's been a good ride.
25:58My wife is sort of
26:00unsentimental,
26:01psychiatric nurse.
26:03And she tells me,
26:05get up, stand up,
26:07get our bag down
26:07from the overhead,
26:08pull out your extra glasses,
26:10put them in your pocket,
26:12and get some food from me.
26:13And I want this,
26:14this, and this food.
26:15She had to carefully pick things
26:17that wouldn't make her thirsty.
26:19She said,
26:19there's not going to be
26:20any mail service
26:21once we hit the water.
26:24Finally, the plane
26:26runs out of fuel.
26:30So you're killing everybody.
26:31Sit down.
26:33From now on,
26:34you can't do anything to me.
26:35What?
26:36From now on,
26:37you can do nothing to me.
26:43The other engines thought
26:46and it sort of went quiet.
26:51Then it started to get hot
26:53within the cabin.
26:55The lights started to flicker.
26:58And gradually,
27:00it went out.
27:03That's it.
27:04Both engines are out.
27:05That's it.
27:06Is this what you wanted?
27:29Almost four hours after takeoff,
27:32Ethiopian Airlines flight 961
27:34has finally run out of fuel.
27:37Hijackers have taken over the plane
27:38and have forced the captain
27:40to fly over the ocean.
27:46The loss of engine power
27:47starts rippling through the plane.
27:49As well as driving the jet
27:51through the skies,
27:52the engines supply power
27:53to most of the electrical
27:54and hydraulic systems.
27:56Without the engines,
27:57the computer screens,
27:58automatic pilot,
27:59and many other functions
28:01of the plane stop working.
28:05Although the engines are now useless,
28:07a low-tech backup system
28:09allows the pilot
28:10to retain some control.
28:12The Ram Air Turbine,
28:14or RAT,
28:14is the last line of defense
28:16when all the engines fail.
28:18A small trapdoor
28:20automatically opens
28:21and the turbine,
28:22a small propeller,
28:23pops out.
28:24The rushing air
28:25turns the propeller
28:26like a windmill,
28:27generating just enough
28:28electrical power
28:29for basic flight instruments
28:30and controls,
28:32including airspeed.
28:35Since it was power off,
28:37that means there was no
28:39electrical or hydraulic power,
28:40the controls were heavy.
28:42The turbine doesn't provide
28:44enough power for Abate
28:45to operate the flaps,
28:47which would help
28:47slow the plane down
28:48for landing.
28:50Wherever he lands,
28:51Captain Abate will have to do so
28:53at a dangerously high speed.
28:58Power of landing
28:59is the power of ditching.
29:01Nobody's trained in the world.
29:04Flying over the water,
29:05you need accurate instruments.
29:08I didn't have any
29:09of the instruments.
29:13Without engines,
29:15a large passenger jet
29:16can glide 18 and a half kilometers
29:18for every thousand meters
29:19of altitude it loses.
29:25At 6,400 meters,
29:27the Ethiopian Airlines plane
29:29can travel for nearly 120 kilometers
29:31before it hits the ground.
29:34One of the things
29:35that the captain's
29:35got to worry about now
29:36is with both engines shut down,
29:39the airplane's going to go down.
29:40It's just a matter of where.
29:42And that's going to be controlled
29:43by the pilot flying.
29:46It's an extremely dangerous situation
29:48few pilots in the world
29:50have ever faced.
29:52In 1983,
29:54another 767 pilot
29:56found himself
29:57in a similar predicament.
29:59Air Canada Flight 143
30:00ran out of fuel
30:01and landed on an abandoned
30:03Air Force base,
30:04sustaining only minor damage.
30:07In the right circumstances,
30:09a safe landing without power
30:11is possible.
30:14Captain Abate hopes to land
30:15at the airport
30:16in the Comoros Islands.
30:17But struggling against
30:19the hijackers
30:19on the final turn,
30:21he loses his bearings
30:22and cannot visually locate
30:23the runway.
30:25I was within the vicinity
30:26of the airport.
30:28So I was keeping the airport
30:30in my side all the time.
30:31Then through the struggle,
30:33I lost my position.
30:36I lost where I was.
30:39In the critical seconds
30:40it takes to find the airport again,
30:42he loses too much altitude
30:44and doesn't know
30:45if he can make it to a runway.
30:47A water landing
30:48is now his only option.
30:52He knew that he was going
30:54to have to ditch the airplane.
30:55He was going to have to put
30:55the airplane down in the water.
30:57How he was going to do that
30:59was now a different plan
31:00because he'd never been trained
31:01to do that,
31:02not with two engines out.
31:04Landing on the ocean
31:05is even more dangerous
31:07than bringing a plane
31:08down on the ground.
31:12If you were trying
31:12to crash land on the ground,
31:14the airplane would have
31:15a surface to stop
31:16flight across.
31:17That surface does not exist
31:19when you're ditching
31:20the airplane in water.
31:21The airplane is going
31:23to touch down on the water
31:24and then at some point
31:26it's going to dig in
31:27to that water.
31:29When that happens,
31:30the airplane's going
31:31to try to stop instantly.
31:33In trying to bring
31:34his plane down safely,
31:35Abate faces unique challenges.
31:39Planes such as the DC-9
31:40have flat bottoms
31:41which would skim
31:42the surface of the ocean
31:43on landing,
31:44slowing down more smoothly.
31:46But the engines on
31:48Abate's 767
31:49hang below the body.
31:51They could act
31:52as enormous scoops,
31:54grabbing hold of the water
31:55as the rest of the plane
31:56plows ahead.
31:57The force will tear
31:59the jet apart.
32:02It was getting hotter and hotter
32:03so we started to sweat
32:04because I guess
32:05the air conditioning system
32:06was not working
32:07since there was no power.
32:09And that's when
32:11people started to scream.
32:14Started to panic.
32:16Looking for life jackets.
32:20Praying to Jesus,
32:22praying to Allah.
32:25Some ladies were asking people
32:26to go and plead
32:27with the hijackers,
32:28not realizing
32:29that it wouldn't make
32:30any difference
32:30at this particular time.
32:31We didn't have any fuel
32:32and that was it.
32:33We're going down
32:34but I guess
32:34at that time
32:35your hope
32:37is all you have.
32:42Descending fairly rapidly.
32:44The plane is lurching wildly
32:46a couple of times.
32:47They're fighting up
32:48in the cockpit
32:48for the controls.
32:50It's my responsibility.
32:52The passengers must know
32:54what's going on.
32:55Descend and increase the speed.
32:57It doesn't make any difference.
33:01Please.
33:02All the same,
33:03we're going to die.
33:11Please maintain calm.
33:13Prepare for an emergency landing.
33:16Put on your life jackets
33:18but do not inflate them.
33:20Some passengers
33:21either don't hear
33:22the captain's instructions
33:23or decide to ignore them.
33:25They inflate their life jackets.
33:32I heard a pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop
33:34back in the tourist class
33:35and everybody panicked
33:37and inflated their life jackets.
33:39I actually got up on my seat
33:41and told people
33:44don't inflate your life jackets
33:46inside the plane.
33:47At the front of the plane
33:48Mo Amin tries a last ditch attempt
33:51to negotiate with the hijackers.
33:53Don't.
33:54Sit down.
33:56Mo had a desire to dominate
33:58every situation he was in.
34:00In a situation like that
34:02it would be Mo
34:03talking to the hijackers.
34:04He would be negotiating
34:05with the hijackers.
34:06He would be, I'm sure
34:08trying to get the other passengers
34:10to face these guys down.
34:12But Amin's efforts
34:13have no effect.
34:15The hijackers are determined
34:16to let the aircraft crash.
34:22Then, for the first time
34:24since the hijacking began
34:25Captain Abate gets some help.
34:34The controls.
34:35I need help.
34:37They're too heavy.
34:41We told them,
34:42guys, now we are on the last point.
34:44We should sit down
34:46and fasten your seatbelts.
34:48They refused.
34:52I never thought
34:53I would ditch
34:54in my lifetime.
34:56I never thought
34:57I would lose
34:57two engines
34:58and ditch
34:59in the middle
35:00of an ocean.
35:03I never thought
35:04anything would like
35:05that happen
35:05in my life.
35:07Last few seconds
35:08I remember
35:09looking out
35:10both sides of the window.
35:11I could see water.
35:14And then I took
35:15the crash landing position.
35:18All these things
35:19go through your mind.
35:22I guess,
35:22having been brought up
35:24in a Christian family
35:25I said my last prayers.
35:26I said,
35:27well,
35:28if there is heaven
35:29I hope I get out
35:30on the right side of things.
35:35Outside in the window
35:36you could see land
35:37at the last minute.
35:38And we realized
35:39that we were,
35:40for the first time
35:41that we were near land
35:42but over water.
35:45I used to love
35:46that airplane.
35:47We used to call it
35:48Zulu.
35:50In my heart
35:51I was talking to it.
35:53So I said,
35:54Zulu,
35:55you can make it.
35:55Now we should be able to.
35:57I know you'll make it.
35:58You know,
35:58I was talking to it.
36:00On the beach
36:01tourists are stunned.
36:03The horror of the crash
36:05is captured
36:05on one of their video cameras.
36:08The plane is flying
36:09at more than
36:10370 kilometers per hour
36:12when it hits the water.
36:15The first bump
36:15fairly gentle.
36:17And I sort of breathed
36:18a sigh of relief.
36:19Wow.
36:20As soon as we touched
36:20the water
36:21it was quite violent.
36:22Then the second bump
36:24was like a 30 mile an hour
36:25auto accident.
36:26I had a feeling
36:27the plane
36:28was not going to hold.
36:30The third bump
36:31and I said,
36:32oh,
36:33I'm dead.
36:34And I blacked out.
36:39Oh my God.
36:42Oh no.
36:46The ditching
36:47was very rough.
36:49The aircraft
36:50broke apart
36:51into three pieces.
36:52The cockpit broke off
36:54and the tail end broke off
36:55so we went
36:55started to go down.
36:57There was water
36:58gushing in
36:59on both sides.
37:03Passengers
37:04who survived
37:05the initial impact
37:06struggle to escape
37:07from the shattered wreckage.
37:09As water pours in
37:11people who've already
37:12inflated their life jackets
37:14become trapped.
37:15The water pushes them
37:16towards the ceiling
37:17of the plane.
37:18Oh my God.
37:22Oh my God.
37:22Oh my God.
37:23Oh my God.
37:23Oh my God.
37:23In that kind of panic
37:24people do all sorts
37:26of things
37:27that maybe
37:27are not rational.
37:28Oh my God.
37:33The life jackets
37:34make it very difficult
37:35to swim underwater.
37:37Many passengers
37:38can't escape
37:38the sinking cabin.
37:44The aircraft
37:44was full of water.
37:47I have no fear
37:48of water
37:48having done
37:49competitive swimming
37:50in school.
37:51And I went
37:52for my seat belt
37:53and I couldn't
37:54find a buckle.
37:55So I moved
37:56my hand down
37:56to my knee
37:57and found it
37:58and pulled it open
37:59and I pushed out
38:02and I looked
38:03at the back
38:04of the aircraft.
38:04I could see
38:05some light
38:06at the end
38:08and I decided
38:09to swim out
38:09in that direction.
38:17As I swam out
38:18one of the passengers
38:19trying to get out
38:20of the seat
38:20grabbed my leg
38:22and I said
38:23to myself
38:23oh my God
38:24this can cause
38:24me to drown.
38:25But I decided
38:26not to fight back
38:27and I pulled
38:29themselves out
38:29and let go
38:30of my leg
38:31and then I
38:32continued to
38:32swim out
38:33to the back
38:34of the aircraft
38:34and swam
38:35to the surface.
38:38I was really
38:39exhausted
38:39I felt very tired.
38:43When I looked up
38:44I said
38:45okay
38:45could this be heaven?
38:47Because I wasn't
38:48really sure
38:49whether I was
38:50alive or
38:51or dead.
38:53I was trying
38:54to tell the cop
38:55I had to get out
38:56then he was not there.
38:58Then I said
38:59okay
38:59then it's about time
39:00for me to go out.
39:02I woke up
39:03floating in the water
39:04and I went
39:05hey I'm alive.
39:07I looked for my wife
39:08who'd been sitting
39:08on my right
39:09and she was gone.
39:11My heart sank.
39:13Then I looked
39:13to my left
39:14and she was now
39:15on my left
39:15she had swirled
39:16around and swat.
39:18We were out
39:18floating in the ocean
39:19you can see
39:21what looks like
39:22an uninhabited cliff
39:23might be a tropical island
39:25it's like a movie
39:26you know.
39:28When I looked
39:30around me
39:30I could see
39:31all these people
39:31life jackets
39:32and bits and pieces
39:34of debris
39:35broken seats
39:37floating bodies.
39:41I saw things
39:42scattered around me
39:44the tail of the airplane
39:45far away from me
39:47I never expected
39:48something like
39:50would happen.
39:51All I was expecting
39:53was to evacuate
39:53the passengers
39:54safely and myself.
39:57Abate swims to safety
39:59but he has no idea
40:00how successful he's been.
40:02He doesn't know
40:03whether any of his
40:04passengers have survived
40:05or what's happened
40:07to the hijackers.
40:13After a four hour
40:14struggle with hijackers
40:16Captain Leol Abate
40:17crash lands
40:18his passenger jet
40:19in the Indian Ocean
40:20near the Comoros Islands.
40:23Oh my god!
40:25His plane is shattered
40:26but his skill
40:27may have saved
40:28the lives
40:29of many on board.
40:32For those
40:32who survived
40:33the crash
40:34Abate's decision
40:35to ditch the plane
40:36near the shore
40:37means that although
40:38the airliner
40:38breaks into pieces
40:39it doesn't sink
40:41very far.
40:43Fortunately
40:43the water
40:44was very shallow.
40:45In some cases
40:46people were able
40:47to get out.
40:49Locals and tourists
40:51swarm out
40:52to the downed aircraft.
40:55A group of scuba divers
40:56who narrowly missed
40:57being hit by the aircraft
40:59help with the rescue effort.
41:02In an amazing stroke
41:04of good luck
41:05some French doctors
41:06are staying at the resort.
41:08They offer
41:09immediate medical assistance.
41:12In the end
41:13of the 175 people
41:16on board the plane
41:1750 survive.
41:19Without the actions
41:20of Abate
41:20many more
41:21could have died.
41:24Without power
41:26and unable
41:26to use his flaps
41:28Captain Abate
41:29lands at
41:30370 km per hour
41:32over 100 km per hour
41:34above the normal
41:35landing speed
41:36of a 767.
41:38Once the captain
41:39made the decision
41:40that he had to ditch
41:41the best thing
41:42that he could do
41:43was keep the airplane
41:44as close to land
41:45as possible.
41:47Abate also
41:48tried to make
41:49the landing
41:49as smooth as possible.
41:51At the last moment
41:52he turned the jet
41:54hoping to land
41:55parallel to the waves
41:56instead of crashing
41:57into them.
41:58As soon as the plane
42:00hit the water
42:00it was ripped
42:01out of Abate's control.
42:05The airplane
42:06touched down
42:06left wing low
42:07so the left wing
42:09actually grabbed
42:10the water.
42:11The 767's
42:12massive low slung
42:14engine dug into
42:14the water
42:15spinning the plane
42:16around.
42:18The airplane
42:19would have wanted
42:19to turn around
42:21that left wing
42:22or cartwheel.
42:23That's a lot of energy
42:25to dissipate very quickly.
42:27That's what caused
42:28the breakup sequence.
42:29The airplane broke up
42:29into four or five pieces
42:31and that's what caused
42:32a lot of the fatalities.
42:34Panic may also
42:35have contributed
42:35to the number of deaths.
42:39Disregarding
42:39Abate's instructions
42:40many passengers
42:42inflated their life jackets.
42:45The life vest
42:46wants to keep you buoyant
42:47or try to drive you
42:48straight up
42:48and that could hamper
42:50and restrict
42:50your ability
42:51to get out
42:52of your seat.
42:54In some cases
42:55people were still
42:56strapped in their seat
42:57when the airplane sank
42:58and they unfortunately
42:59drowned.
43:03Mo Amin
43:05who had tried
43:05to rally the passengers
43:06against the hijackers
43:08was standing up
43:09when the plane crashed.
43:10He was probably
43:12thrown against a vault head
43:13when the plane crashed
43:14dying instantly.
43:19Mo had survived everything.
43:21He had more than nine lives
43:23and the idea
43:24that he should just be
43:25on an ordinary
43:26standard flight
43:28when the kind of news story
43:29that he wasn't aware of
43:30hadn't been assigned to
43:31caught up with him
43:32and to be killed
43:33in this way
43:34has a kind of
43:35horrid irony about it.
43:39The hijackers
43:39who refused to sit
43:41for the landing
43:42also died in the crash.
43:53In the days
43:54after the disaster
43:55other pieces
43:56of the puzzle
43:57became clearer.
43:58Despite claims
43:59by the hijackers
44:00that there were
44:0111 of them
44:01in fact
44:02there were only 3
44:03but who were
44:05these desperate men
44:06and what were
44:07their motives?
44:08They were
44:09imprisoned
44:11thrown in jail
44:12persecuted
44:13and tortured
44:14by the government
44:15they didn't specify
44:16which government
44:17at least to the best
44:18of my understanding
44:20and that they had
44:20escaped from jail
44:22and that they were
44:23going to make history.
44:24They said they have
44:25friends in Australia
44:25and they want to
44:27get united with them
44:28and they wanted to go
44:30into a second country
44:31where they get
44:32the refugee status
44:34and have a better living.
44:37Before 9-11
44:39it was remarkably easy
44:40for hijackers
44:41to gain access
44:42to pilots.
44:43If you don't do
44:43what we say
44:44we'll blow this plane
44:46out of the sky.
44:48Despite numerous
44:49hijackings
44:49over the previous
44:50two decades
44:51most airlines
44:52made no attempt
44:53to secure the cockpit.
44:54Do you want to die?
44:56We're going to die anyway.
44:57Shall we kill you?
44:58The hijackers
44:59of flight 961
45:00were never linked
45:01to any terrorist group
45:02or political organization.
45:04Whatever their reasons
45:05their crime
45:06demonstrated
45:07the great danger
45:08posed by a hijacker
45:09who places no value
45:11on his own life.
45:12We will die
45:13together.
45:14For years
45:15there were people
45:16in security
45:16saying we have
45:17to strengthen
45:18that cockpit door.
45:19We have to be able
45:21to exclude anyone
45:23from coming
45:24through that door
45:25and getting control
45:26of that aircraft
45:27whatever the reason
45:28whether the airlines
45:29didn't want to spend
45:30the money
45:31they didn't see it
45:31as a threat
45:33it didn't happen.
45:35After 9-11
45:36every aircraft
45:38now has done that
45:39that carries passengers
45:41that has that capability
45:42of being hijacked.
45:48Nothing is inevitable.
45:50Nobody is immune
45:52to anything.
45:54It could be one
45:55in a million
45:55but it can happen.
45:58Both Captain
45:59Leola Bhate
45:59and his co-pilot
46:01Jonas Mercuria
46:02received many tributes
46:03for their actions
46:04on flight 961
46:05including a flight
46:07safety foundation award.
46:09I said
46:10it's good
46:11that I am alive
46:12and the world
46:14has understood
46:15what I had gone through.
46:19Despite their ordeal
46:21both Captain
46:22Abate
46:22and his co-pilot
46:23Mercuria
46:24continue to work
46:25for Ethiopian airlines.