WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:04.879 Imagine you are sitting in like a super comfortable upholstered seat, 2 00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:07.639 just cruising along at thirty thousand feet. 3 00:00:07.879 --> 00:00:09.400 That's pretty ideal, honestly, right. 4 00:00:10.160 --> 00:00:13.320 It is a beautiful sunny afternoon over the Gulf of Mexico. 5 00:00:13.439 --> 00:00:16.719 You're looking out the window, just watching these serene blue 6 00:00:16.719 --> 00:00:20.679 waters pass by way down below. But then in the 7 00:00:20.719 --> 00:00:23.920 stand of maybe just a few heartbeats, the sky outside 8 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:26.000 your window turns pitch black. 9 00:00:26.440 --> 00:00:28.480 And we're not just talking about a heavy rain cloud 10 00:00:28.519 --> 00:00:29.399 passing by. 11 00:00:29.160 --> 00:00:32.280 No, exactly. We're talking about with the absolute blackest sky 12 00:00:32.439 --> 00:00:34.640 you have ever seen, right in the middle of the day. 13 00:00:34.679 --> 00:00:37.759 And suddenly the plane is just getting violently tumbled around. 14 00:00:37.759 --> 00:00:40.000 It basically feels like you've hit a solid brick wall 15 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:40.920 in midair. 16 00:00:40.600 --> 00:00:42.399 Which is terrifying in a commercial jet. 17 00:00:42.520 --> 00:00:47.479 Completely and the noise becomes deafening. It's this relentless machine 18 00:00:47.520 --> 00:00:50.240 gun pounding against the hull of this brand new Boeing 19 00:00:50.320 --> 00:00:54.240 seven thirty seven. And then complete silence. Oh, the cabin 20 00:00:54.320 --> 00:00:57.520 lights just go out. The comforting constant hum of the 21 00:00:57.600 --> 00:01:01.280 jet engines stops. Everything goes black. Up in the cockpit. 22 00:01:01.280 --> 00:01:04.560 You can just imagine the sheer panic of alarms blaring, 23 00:01:04.599 --> 00:01:07.280 but outside it's just the sound of wind and extremely 24 00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:10.239 heavy hail. Both engines have totally died. 25 00:01:10.680 --> 00:01:13.359 Yeah, I mean, that is the ultimate nightmare scenario in 26 00:01:13.400 --> 00:01:17.280 commercial aviation. You've lost all thrust, you've lost all electrical power, 27 00:01:17.680 --> 00:01:21.640 and you were literally trapped inside a massive metal tube 28 00:01:21.959 --> 00:01:23.599 that's just falling out of the sky. 29 00:01:23.840 --> 00:01:26.319 Welcome to this deep dive today. Our mission is to 30 00:01:26.439 --> 00:01:30.599 unpack one of the most terrifying, miraculous, and honestly perplexing 31 00:01:30.840 --> 00:01:34.200 aviation mysteries and history. We're talking about the story of 32 00:01:34.280 --> 00:01:35.359 tak A Flight one ten. 33 00:01:35.560 --> 00:01:36.959 Such an incredible case, it. 34 00:01:36.879 --> 00:01:38.920 Really is, and we're going to explore not just how 35 00:01:38.959 --> 00:01:41.400 this flight crew managed to pull off the actual impossible 36 00:01:41.439 --> 00:01:44.480 to save everyone on board, but the stunning investigation that. 37 00:01:44.439 --> 00:01:47.400 Followed right because investigators had to figure out why a 38 00:01:47.519 --> 00:01:50.280 state of the art airliner suddenly became a forty three 39 00:01:50.319 --> 00:01:52.200 ton glider exactly. 40 00:01:52.359 --> 00:01:54.799 So, really put yourself in that cabin for a second. 41 00:01:54.840 --> 00:01:58.400 Feel that visceral terror of floating in the dark, falling 42 00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:01.120 toward the ocean, relying in entirely on the people up 43 00:02:01.120 --> 00:02:02.400 front to save you. 44 00:02:02.400 --> 00:02:04.920 You know, the true mechanical irony of this catastrophe is 45 00:02:04.959 --> 00:02:07.640 what makes it so fascinating to study. This wasn't a 46 00:02:07.680 --> 00:02:10.840 case of some old, decrepit airplane falling apart because of 47 00:02:10.879 --> 00:02:11.840 poor maintenance, right. 48 00:02:11.879 --> 00:02:13.759 I wasn't a rust bucket, not at all. 49 00:02:13.960 --> 00:02:17.439 This incident was caused by a highly specific engineering oversight 50 00:02:17.560 --> 00:02:20.639 on one of the most reliable engines ever built, an 51 00:02:20.680 --> 00:02:24.240 oversight that literally nobody in the entire world saw coming 52 00:02:24.479 --> 00:02:26.520 despite decades of rigorous testing. 53 00:02:26.879 --> 00:02:29.719 Well, before we get to the absolute chaos of the descent, 54 00:02:29.800 --> 00:02:31.719 let's set the stage a bit so you know exactly 55 00:02:31.800 --> 00:02:34.280 who is involved and you know what's at stake. 56 00:02:34.319 --> 00:02:35.120 Here sounds good. 57 00:02:35.719 --> 00:02:38.439 So the date is May twenty fourth, nineteen eighty eight, 58 00:02:38.879 --> 00:02:41.360 and we were talking about a Boeing seven thirty seven 59 00:02:41.520 --> 00:02:44.919 three hundred. This plane is incredibly new, like fresh off 60 00:02:44.919 --> 00:02:47.879 the factory floor new. It was delivered to Tacka Airlines, 61 00:02:47.919 --> 00:02:50.360 which is a smaller airline based in El Salvador, just 62 00:02:50.400 --> 00:02:51.439 two weeks prior to this. 63 00:02:51.400 --> 00:02:52.840 Flight, just two weeks. Wow. 64 00:02:53.080 --> 00:02:56.479 Yeah. The flight instructor on board, Captain Arturo Soli, was 65 00:02:56.520 --> 00:02:59.199 actually joking earlier in the flight about the weather. He 66 00:02:59.400 --> 00:03:01.719 was like worried the hail was going to scratch their 67 00:03:01.719 --> 00:03:03.759 brand new million dollar paint job. 68 00:03:03.879 --> 00:03:06.479 I mean, taking delivery of a jetliner worth tens of 69 00:03:06.520 --> 00:03:10.280 millions of dollars is a monumental event for a smaller airline. 70 00:03:10.400 --> 00:03:13.319 They were immensely proud of this machine. It represented the 71 00:03:13.360 --> 00:03:16.120 absolute cutting edge of aerospace technology at the time. 72 00:03:16.240 --> 00:03:19.479 Totally. Now back in the cabin, you have thirty eight passengers, 73 00:03:19.800 --> 00:03:22.080 and one of them is a woman named Lee Burmeister. 74 00:03:22.759 --> 00:03:25.719 Her situation makes this rough flight infinitely worse. 75 00:03:25.840 --> 00:03:28.280 Oh yeah, her story's so intense. 76 00:03:28.159 --> 00:03:31.199 It really is. She is desperately eager to get back 77 00:03:31.240 --> 00:03:33.439 to the United States. She had been staying in a 78 00:03:33.479 --> 00:03:35.759 small village in Costa Rica for about a month and 79 00:03:35.840 --> 00:03:38.240 while she was there, her appendix rupture. 80 00:03:38.960 --> 00:03:39.680 That's awful. 81 00:03:39.840 --> 00:03:42.039 Yeah, so she had to undergo emergency surgery in this 82 00:03:42.080 --> 00:03:46.080 tiny rural village clinic. It was a harrowing ordeal. And 83 00:03:46.120 --> 00:03:48.840 now she's sitting on this plane flying home with a 84 00:03:48.879 --> 00:03:51.599 line of fresh surgical stitches running right up the middle 85 00:03:51.639 --> 00:03:52.240 of her stomach. 86 00:03:52.360 --> 00:03:55.120 So the absolute last thing she wants is any turbulence. 87 00:03:55.560 --> 00:03:59.439 Exactly all she wants is a safe, smooth, gentle ride. 88 00:03:59.759 --> 00:04:02.000 Smooth ride that is about to become a fight for 89 00:04:02.039 --> 00:04:06.039 her life. And you know, The person guiding that fight 90 00:04:06.080 --> 00:04:09.240 from the cockpit is Captain Carlos Dardano. His presence in 91 00:04:09.280 --> 00:04:11.400 that seat is honestly a story all on its own. 92 00:04:11.400 --> 00:04:14.319 Oh totally. Carlos Stardano is only twenty nine years old, 93 00:04:14.360 --> 00:04:16.279 and being a captain of a major commercial jet at 94 00:04:16.279 --> 00:04:19.240 twenty nine is already super impressive. But his backstory sounds 95 00:04:19.279 --> 00:04:21.160 like it was ripped straight out of an action movie. 96 00:04:21.199 --> 00:04:24.480 It really does. He's a third generation pilot, practically born 97 00:04:24.519 --> 00:04:27.639 with a yoke in his hands. But six years before 98 00:04:27.680 --> 00:04:30.839 this flight, in nineteen eighty two, El Salvadora was in 99 00:04:30.879 --> 00:04:34.480 the grip of a brutal civil war. Dardana was running 100 00:04:34.480 --> 00:04:38.199 a small aero taxi business flying these light aircraft, and 101 00:04:38.279 --> 00:04:40.399 while he was on the ground at a small grass 102 00:04:40.480 --> 00:04:43.600 runway just repairing his plane, a firefight breaks. 103 00:04:43.399 --> 00:04:44.399 Out out of nowhere. 104 00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:47.120 Out of nowhere, he gets caught in the crossfire and 105 00:04:47.240 --> 00:04:49.480 is shot directly in the face by guerrillas. 106 00:04:49.560 --> 00:04:52.439 The bullet went straight through his face, and yet somehow 107 00:04:52.560 --> 00:04:54.480 he didn't just collapse and give up. 108 00:04:54.720 --> 00:04:58.839 No, despite being terribly wounded and bleeding profusely, his immediate 109 00:04:58.879 --> 00:05:02.199 instinct was to protect passengers. He managed to get the 110 00:05:02.240 --> 00:05:05.199 plane into the air, staying incredibly low to the ground, 111 00:05:05.519 --> 00:05:08.759 weaving between the trees to avoid taking more anti aircraft fire. 112 00:05:08.879 --> 00:05:10.160 That is just insane. 113 00:05:10.240 --> 00:05:12.240 He flew like that for twenty minutes back to the 114 00:05:12.240 --> 00:05:15.079 main airport and successfully saved his passengers. 115 00:05:15.600 --> 00:05:20.240 Unbelievable. So he survived the ordeal, but the gunshot wound 116 00:05:20.360 --> 00:05:23.240 cost him his left eye, and for almost anyone else, 117 00:05:23.319 --> 00:05:25.600 losing an eye means the end of a flying career, 118 00:05:25.720 --> 00:05:30.120 right because depth's perception is entirely dependent on having binocular vision. 119 00:05:30.199 --> 00:05:32.720 Yeah, exactly, Most people would never step foot in the 120 00:05:32.759 --> 00:05:36.199 cockpit again litt alone try to fly professionally. But Dodano 121 00:05:36.360 --> 00:05:38.279 just completely refused to give up his career. 122 00:05:38.360 --> 00:05:39.079 So what did he do. 123 00:05:39.639 --> 00:05:41.959 He learned to compensate for his impaired vision and lack 124 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:46.000 of depth perception using other visual cues. He passed all 125 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:49.639 the rigorous, unforgiving medical and flight tests required by aviation 126 00:05:49.720 --> 00:05:53.000 authorities and literally earned his way back to becoming a 127 00:05:53.079 --> 00:05:56.000 certicide commercial pilot for a major airline. 128 00:05:56.120 --> 00:05:58.079 Okay, so you have a twenty nine year old, one 129 00:05:58.079 --> 00:06:00.879 eyed civil war hero at the helm of the pristine 130 00:06:01.240 --> 00:06:05.480 brand new jet. They leave Belize, cruising smoothly. The weather 131 00:06:05.560 --> 00:06:09.600 is sunny, but then they hit the storm, and investigators 132 00:06:09.639 --> 00:06:13.360 later described the energy inside this particular weather system as 133 00:06:13.439 --> 00:06:16.079 being equivalent to an atomic bomb. 134 00:06:15.800 --> 00:06:19.120 Going on a massive, incredibly violent storm cell. 135 00:06:19.199 --> 00:06:21.839 Right, but wait, so, if this storm is packing the 136 00:06:21.959 --> 00:06:24.920 energy of a nuclear weapon, how on Earth does a 137 00:06:24.959 --> 00:06:26.879 state of the art radar system on a two week 138 00:06:26.879 --> 00:06:29.759 old jet completely miss it. I mean, they should have 139 00:06:29.759 --> 00:06:32.199 seen an angry red blob on their screens from fifty 140 00:06:32.199 --> 00:06:32.759 miles away. 141 00:06:32.879 --> 00:06:34.920 I'd think so. But the answer actually lies in the 142 00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:38.040 specific physics of how radar technology worked at the time. 143 00:06:38.959 --> 00:06:41.920 Airborne weather radar in the nineteen eighties typically operated in 144 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:44.079 what is called the X band frequency. 145 00:06:44.120 --> 00:06:45.759 Okay, what does that mean in plain English? 146 00:06:45.879 --> 00:06:49.439 To understand this, think about shining a flashlight. If you 147 00:06:49.480 --> 00:06:52.519 shine a flashlight into a thick fog, the light hits 148 00:06:52.519 --> 00:06:55.959 the water droplets and bounces back at you, illuminating the fog. 149 00:06:56.720 --> 00:07:00.360 X band radar works basically the same way. Sends out 150 00:07:00.360 --> 00:07:03.360 a pulsive energy that is fantastic at bouncing off liquid 151 00:07:03.360 --> 00:07:06.319 water like heavy rain, and returning a strong signal to 152 00:07:06.360 --> 00:07:07.680 the top bit display. 153 00:07:07.399 --> 00:07:09.759 So the radar tells them exactly where the heaviest. 154 00:07:09.519 --> 00:07:12.079 Rain is, right it sees the rain perfectly. Yeah, but 155 00:07:13.079 --> 00:07:16.040 it does not see solid ice very well. And hail 156 00:07:16.199 --> 00:07:16.920 is solid ice. 157 00:07:17.120 --> 00:07:18.920 Oh wow, I didn't know that. 158 00:07:19.000 --> 00:07:21.639 Yeah, radar waves don't reflect off solid dry ice the 159 00:07:21.639 --> 00:07:24.120 way they do off liquid water. The waves tend to 160 00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:27.319 just scatter or pass right through it differently. So imagine 161 00:07:27.319 --> 00:07:31.720 a storm violently churning with massive baseball size hailstones, but 162 00:07:31.839 --> 00:07:34.399 with very little liquid water in that specific. 163 00:07:33.959 --> 00:07:37.240 Core, because all the water is frozen into hail exactly. 164 00:07:37.160 --> 00:07:39.199 Because there is no liquid to bounce the signal back, 165 00:07:39.240 --> 00:07:42.399 the radar only registers a super weak return. On the 166 00:07:42.439 --> 00:07:45.079 pilot's screen, this atomic bomb of a storm just showed 167 00:07:45.120 --> 00:07:48.160 up as a mild green or yellow patch suggesting light rain. 168 00:07:48.879 --> 00:07:52.519 The storm essentially wore a mask completely disguising as violent core. 169 00:07:52.800 --> 00:07:54.839 So they fly right into the mouth of the beast, 170 00:07:54.920 --> 00:07:57.319 thinking they are just passing through a light summer shower, 171 00:07:57.920 --> 00:08:00.920 and they hit a wall of turbulence. The noise of 172 00:08:00.959 --> 00:08:03.839 the hail pounding the fuselage is so loud the pilots 173 00:08:03.879 --> 00:08:05.399 can't even hear each other shouting. 174 00:08:05.680 --> 00:08:07.439 Just absolute chaos in there. 175 00:08:07.519 --> 00:08:11.240 And then, at about sixteen five hundred feet, dropping at 176 00:08:11.240 --> 00:08:14.759 a terrifying rate of fifteen hundred feet per minute. All 177 00:08:14.800 --> 00:08:18.160 the power cuts out, the engines swallow the hail and 178 00:08:18.279 --> 00:08:18.720 just die. 179 00:08:19.279 --> 00:08:23.800 The lights die, the passengers are plunged into absolute darkness. 180 00:08:23.480 --> 00:08:27.439 Yes, entirely surrounded by the deafening roar of ice hitting metal. 181 00:08:27.759 --> 00:08:31.480 And you have to remember, without power, the aircraft loses 182 00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:35.759 all communication with New Orleans air traffic Control. Their transponder 183 00:08:35.799 --> 00:08:39.759 stops broadcasting, meaning they literally vanish from the radar screens on. 184 00:08:39.720 --> 00:08:42.279 The ground, so nobody knows where they are or what's happening. 185 00:08:42.360 --> 00:08:45.639 Nope, up in the air, this multimillion dollar airliner has 186 00:08:45.679 --> 00:08:49.879 just become a heavy forty three ton glider. And you know, 187 00:08:49.879 --> 00:08:52.039 if you're wondering why they don't just turn the key 188 00:08:52.080 --> 00:08:54.639 to restart the engines. Jet engines do not work like 189 00:08:54.679 --> 00:08:58.080 car engines. You can't just crank them with a small battery. 190 00:08:57.879 --> 00:09:00.320 Right, So to restart a jet engine in mid air, 191 00:09:00.559 --> 00:09:04.440 you need the auxiliary power unit. It's basically a small 192 00:09:04.519 --> 00:09:06.600 jet engine located in the tail of the plane that 193 00:09:06.639 --> 00:09:08.399 acts as a backup generator exactly. 194 00:09:09.080 --> 00:09:13.240 The APU provides the immense electrical and pneumatic power needed 195 00:09:13.279 --> 00:09:18.200 to physically spin the massive turbofan engines. Fast enough so 196 00:09:18.240 --> 00:09:21.759 you can actually inject fuel and attempt to restart. But 197 00:09:21.840 --> 00:09:24.320 booting up the APU is not instantaneous. 198 00:09:24.600 --> 00:09:27.360 It takes thirty seconds, which doesn't sound like a long 199 00:09:27.360 --> 00:09:29.399 time until you think about it from the perspective of 200 00:09:29.440 --> 00:09:32.120 the people in that cockpit. You're sitting in the dark, 201 00:09:32.200 --> 00:09:34.519 in silence, falling out of the sky toward the Gulf 202 00:09:34.519 --> 00:09:38.720 of Mexico, just counting the seconds, ten thirty. 203 00:09:38.919 --> 00:09:40.399 Every second must have felt like an hour. 204 00:09:40.600 --> 00:09:44.639 Right. Finally the APU picks on. The cockpit instruments flicker 205 00:09:44.679 --> 00:09:47.519 back to life. They hit the ignition down at about 206 00:09:47.519 --> 00:09:50.000 five thousand feet. The left engine catches, then the right 207 00:09:50.039 --> 00:09:53.399 engine catches. You can hear the massive fans rubbing up. 208 00:09:53.720 --> 00:09:55.960 The passengers actually start cheering in the cabin. 209 00:09:56.279 --> 00:10:00.000 Oh, the relief must have been totally overwhelming. The pilot 210 00:10:00.159 --> 00:10:02.879 immediately get back on the radio and tel air draffic control. 211 00:10:02.919 --> 00:10:05.240 They have successfully restarted both engines. 212 00:10:05.440 --> 00:10:09.159 But then Captain Dardano looks closely at his instrument panels. 213 00:10:09.679 --> 00:10:12.320 He feels the yoke. He says, I don't feel any power. 214 00:10:12.320 --> 00:10:13.440 Why don't I feel any power? 215 00:10:13.480 --> 00:10:16.279 Because the engines are running, they're making noise, but they're 216 00:10:16.279 --> 00:10:17.559 producing zero. 217 00:10:17.360 --> 00:10:21.159 Thrust, and then the warning alarms starts screaming all over again. 218 00:10:21.600 --> 00:10:25.919 The exhaust gas temperature gauges are completely maxing out, just 219 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:27.399 pinning the needles to the red line. 220 00:10:27.480 --> 00:10:29.799 Yeah, when he looked at those maxed out heat gauges, 221 00:10:30.320 --> 00:10:33.279 he realized they were caught in what aviation engineers call 222 00:10:33.440 --> 00:10:34.279 a hot start. 223 00:10:34.600 --> 00:10:35.919 A hot start? What is that? 224 00:10:36.080 --> 00:10:39.960 Exactly understand how terrifying a hot start is. We need 225 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:41.720 to take a quick look at the anatomy of a 226 00:10:41.799 --> 00:10:48.279 jet engine. A jet engine essentially operates on four basic principles. Suck, squeeze, bang, 227 00:10:48.360 --> 00:10:48.759 and blow. 228 00:10:48.879 --> 00:10:50.759 Okay, suck, squeeze, bang, blow. 229 00:10:50.840 --> 00:10:54.080 Got it. The giant fan at the front sucks in air. 230 00:10:55.039 --> 00:10:58.120 The compressor section squeeze that air until it's highly pressurized. 231 00:10:58.799 --> 00:11:02.120 Then fuel is added in the combustion chamber where it ignites. 232 00:11:02.279 --> 00:11:07.039 That's the bang, and finally, that expanding burning gas shoots 233 00:11:07.039 --> 00:11:09.600 out the back, spinning a turbine on its way out. 234 00:11:09.600 --> 00:11:12.440 The blow, which is what actually produces the thrust. 235 00:11:12.559 --> 00:11:14.320 Okay, so think of it kind of like flooding a 236 00:11:14.360 --> 00:11:16.279 car engine when you pump the gas too much and 237 00:11:16.320 --> 00:11:19.080 it stalls out. But doing that in the sky has 238 00:11:19.200 --> 00:11:20.720 catastrophic consequences. 239 00:11:20.919 --> 00:11:24.639 Exactly when the engines flamed out in the storm, those 240 00:11:24.799 --> 00:11:28.360 massive fans at the front stop spinning properly. They were 241 00:11:28.399 --> 00:11:31.200 barely rotating, meaning they were no longer sucking in and 242 00:11:31.200 --> 00:11:34.000 squeezing enough air. So when the crew desperately hit the 243 00:11:34.039 --> 00:11:37.360 ignition to restart them, fuel flooded into the combustion chamber 244 00:11:37.399 --> 00:11:40.799 and ignited. But because there wasn't enough compressed air flowing 245 00:11:40.799 --> 00:11:43.639 through to push that massive fireball out the back, the 246 00:11:43.679 --> 00:11:45.480 intense fire just had nowhere to go. 247 00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:47.799 Oh man, so it just stays in there. 248 00:11:47.879 --> 00:11:51.000 It just sits there, migrating backward into the extremely delicate 249 00:11:51.000 --> 00:11:54.159 turbine section and literally begins melting the turbine blades from 250 00:11:54.159 --> 00:11:54.759 the inside out. 251 00:11:54.919 --> 00:11:58.320 So the engines are literally consuming themselves. They're melting their 252 00:11:58.360 --> 00:12:01.840 own vital components, and Captain Dardana realizes that if he 253 00:12:01.960 --> 00:12:06.559 lets this continue, the engines could catch fire, potentially burning 254 00:12:06.679 --> 00:12:10.840 right through the wing supports and destroying the entire aircraft, which. 255 00:12:10.759 --> 00:12:12.919 Leads him with an incredibly tough choice. 256 00:12:13.080 --> 00:12:16.159 Right so he is forced to make a gut wrenching decision. 257 00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:19.919 He reaches up and manually shuts down both engines for good. 258 00:12:20.320 --> 00:12:23.559 He purposely kills their only source of power. 259 00:12:23.840 --> 00:12:26.879 He turns his aircraft back into a dead stick glider, 260 00:12:27.240 --> 00:12:30.000 knowing full well they are now totally out of options 261 00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:33.639 for power. I mean it requires immense discipline to shut 262 00:12:33.679 --> 00:12:36.320 down an engine when you are already falling toward the ground. 263 00:12:36.440 --> 00:12:38.840 It really does. So we are now entering the final 264 00:12:39.080 --> 00:12:41.679 desperate phase of this flight. They are at three thousand feet, 265 00:12:41.720 --> 00:12:45.200 they are falling fast. New Orleans Lakefront Airport is eleven 266 00:12:45.320 --> 00:12:48.120 miles away. They just do not have the altitude to 267 00:12:48.159 --> 00:12:48.840 glide that far. 268 00:12:49.039 --> 00:12:50.120 No, not even close. 269 00:12:50.279 --> 00:12:52.480 Dardana gets back on the radio and tells the tower, 270 00:12:52.519 --> 00:12:54.200 I don't have any power in the engines. I guess 271 00:12:54.240 --> 00:12:54.919 we'll have to go down. 272 00:12:55.200 --> 00:12:58.840 And air traffic control is in an absolute panic, desperately 273 00:12:58.879 --> 00:13:01.919 scanning their maps for any stretch of concrete long enough 274 00:13:01.960 --> 00:13:05.919 to accommodate a Boeing seven thirty seven. They radio Dardano 275 00:13:06.080 --> 00:13:08.759 and tell him there's a straight stretch of Interstate Highway 276 00:13:09.159 --> 00:13:12.200 directly ahead of him at twelve o'clock, about seven miles out. 277 00:13:12.360 --> 00:13:14.840 But Dardana looks down through the weather and he knows 278 00:13:14.879 --> 00:13:17.879 that landing a commercial airliner on a freeway packed with 279 00:13:17.960 --> 00:13:20.360 cars is a recipe for absolute. 280 00:13:19.919 --> 00:13:21.480 Tragical it his aviation history. 281 00:13:22.120 --> 00:13:25.399 Eleven years prior, in nineteen seventy seven, a Southern Airways 282 00:13:25.399 --> 00:13:28.519 flight lost both of its engines in a massive thunderstorm 283 00:13:28.559 --> 00:13:31.240 and attempted to land on a rural highway in Georgia. 284 00:13:31.759 --> 00:13:33.120 It was a complete disaster. 285 00:13:33.240 --> 00:13:34.480 Yeah, that crash was horrific. 286 00:13:34.559 --> 00:13:36.799 The plane hit a gas station and a convenience store. 287 00:13:37.240 --> 00:13:39.679 Sixty three people died on the plane and nine people 288 00:13:39.759 --> 00:13:42.559 in cars on the ground were killed. Dardana refuses to 289 00:13:42.600 --> 00:13:45.360 repeat that history. He tells the tower no way. 290 00:13:45.559 --> 00:13:48.960 He makes the calculated, incredibly brave choice to aim away 291 00:13:49.000 --> 00:13:52.039 from populated areas. He informs a tower he's going to 292 00:13:52.120 --> 00:13:53.799 ditch the aircraft in a large canal. 293 00:13:54.159 --> 00:13:57.360 Back in the cabin, Liebermeister is watching the flight attendants. 294 00:13:57.840 --> 00:14:01.399 She sees their body language completely Lee change. She later 295 00:14:01.440 --> 00:14:04.360 described it as an unmistakable doomsday feeling. 296 00:14:04.720 --> 00:14:05.360 Oh wow. 297 00:14:05.639 --> 00:14:08.360 The crew yells for everyone to assume the crash position. 298 00:14:09.039 --> 00:14:12.000 Lee has to bend forward, pressing her chest toward her knees. 299 00:14:12.399 --> 00:14:15.399 She is absolutely terrified that the sheer force of a 300 00:14:15.440 --> 00:14:18.879 water landing is going to violently burst her fresh surgical 301 00:14:18.919 --> 00:14:20.559 stitches wide. 302 00:14:20.200 --> 00:14:23.840 Open and Meanwhile, the coastguard is immediately deployed. The control 303 00:14:23.879 --> 00:14:26.080 tower assumes the plane is going into the water, which 304 00:14:26.120 --> 00:14:30.720 is notoriously dangerous for airliners. I mean, water does not compress, 305 00:14:31.039 --> 00:14:32.879 and hitting it at one hundred and fifty miles per 306 00:14:32.879 --> 00:14:34.960 hour often tears airplanes to pieces. 307 00:14:35.080 --> 00:14:37.879 But then, at the very last second, First Officer Dionysio 308 00:14:37.919 --> 00:14:41.080 Lopez looks out the right window and spots something running 309 00:14:41.120 --> 00:14:43.120 parallel to the canal they are aiming for is a 310 00:14:43.200 --> 00:14:46.440 narrow grass levee. Lopez points it out and Dardana makes 311 00:14:46.440 --> 00:14:49.480 a split second decision. He says, that's where we're going 312 00:14:49.480 --> 00:14:49.799 to go in. 313 00:14:50.240 --> 00:14:53.559 But here's the massive problem with that plan. They're only 314 00:14:53.559 --> 00:14:56.759 at seven hundred feet. The ground is literally rushing up 315 00:14:56.799 --> 00:14:59.080 at them, the levee is off to their right, and 316 00:14:59.080 --> 00:15:00.720 they are moving way too fast. 317 00:15:00.879 --> 00:15:01.879 So how do they get there? 318 00:15:02.000 --> 00:15:05.120 To make this landing? Dardano has to execute a violent, 319 00:15:05.279 --> 00:15:07.879 dramatic maneuver known as a side slip. 320 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:09.960 Okay, hang on a side slip. If you know anything 321 00:15:09.960 --> 00:15:13.360 about commercial aviation, A side slip and a forty three 322 00:15:13.399 --> 00:15:17.360 ton airliner so completely impossible. Isn't that a trick reserved 323 00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:19.879 for tiny stunt planes? Or small gliders. 324 00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:23.720 Yes, attempting a side slip in a commercial airliner borders 325 00:15:23.720 --> 00:15:27.320 on aerodynamic madness. To perform a side slip, the pilot 326 00:15:27.399 --> 00:15:30.759 deliberately crosses the flight controls. They press the rudder pedal 327 00:15:30.799 --> 00:15:33.440 hard in one direction to yaw the nose away from 328 00:15:33.440 --> 00:15:36.200 the flight path, while simultaneously turning the yoke in the 329 00:15:36.200 --> 00:15:38.679 opposite direction to roll the wings, so. 330 00:15:38.559 --> 00:15:42.799 He's basically sliding the massive plane sideways through the air exactly. 331 00:15:42.600 --> 00:15:45.240 This points the side of the airplane's fuselage directly into 332 00:15:45.240 --> 00:15:48.320 the oncoming wind. The massive side profile of a Boeing 333 00:15:48.360 --> 00:15:51.480 seven thirty seven acts like a giant air brake. It 334 00:15:51.519 --> 00:15:54.960 creates tremendous aerodynamic drag, allowing the plane to bleed off 335 00:15:55.000 --> 00:15:58.360 altitude extremely rapidly without picking up forward air speed. 336 00:15:58.759 --> 00:16:01.799 So to muscle a f forty three ton jet into 337 00:16:01.840 --> 00:16:05.240 a side slip, drop it precisely onto a narrow strip 338 00:16:05.279 --> 00:16:08.320 of grass, all while missing an eye, dodging a high 339 00:16:08.320 --> 00:16:10.960 concrete wall at the front of the levee, and knowing 340 00:16:11.000 --> 00:16:13.960 you have absolutely no engine thrust a throw into reverse 341 00:16:13.960 --> 00:16:15.960 to slow you down on the wet grass. I mean, 342 00:16:16.000 --> 00:16:18.799 it demands an almost superhuman level of piloting skill. 343 00:16:18.919 --> 00:16:20.159 It really does. It's legendary. 344 00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:22.879 He holds the slip until the last possible second, kicks 345 00:16:22.879 --> 00:16:25.399 the nose straight, and touches down. One wheel hits the grass, 346 00:16:25.440 --> 00:16:28.320 then the other. The automatic spoilers pop up on the 347 00:16:28.320 --> 00:16:31.720 wings to kill the remaining lift. The passengers brace for 348 00:16:31.840 --> 00:16:35.480 a horrific impact, but Lee Burmeister later described the touchdown 349 00:16:35.519 --> 00:16:37.200 as unbelievably smooth. 350 00:16:37.279 --> 00:16:38.000 That's incredible path. 351 00:16:38.080 --> 00:16:40.559 There wasn't even a heavy bump. The plane skids along 352 00:16:40.600 --> 00:16:42.879 the wet grass. The pilot's just standing on the wheel 353 00:16:42.879 --> 00:16:46.159 brakes and comes to a complete safe halt just before 354 00:16:46.200 --> 00:16:49.759 the end of the levee. Everyone is alive. Lee's surgical 355 00:16:49.840 --> 00:16:53.440 stitches are perfectly intact. It is nothing short of a miracle. 356 00:16:53.159 --> 00:16:56.039 It really is. Once the adrenaline wears off and the 357 00:16:56.039 --> 00:17:00.639 passengers evacuate down the emergency slides, the immediate crisis concludes. 358 00:17:01.559 --> 00:17:05.319 But you know, the arrival of the federal investigators signals 359 00:17:05.359 --> 00:17:08.039 the beginning of a massive, industry wide mystery. 360 00:17:08.400 --> 00:17:11.400 Totally, and the actual location of their landing adds a 361 00:17:11.440 --> 00:17:14.319 bizarre twist to the story. They managed to land on 362 00:17:14.359 --> 00:17:16.640 a grass levee that just happened to be located on 363 00:17:16.680 --> 00:17:20.240 the grounds of the NASA Micheaux Assembly Facility, which is 364 00:17:20.400 --> 00:17:24.200 the exact location where they manufacture the massive external fuel 365 00:17:24.240 --> 00:17:25.400 tanks for the Space Shuttle. 366 00:17:25.480 --> 00:17:26.839 Yeah, talk about a coincidence. 367 00:17:27.160 --> 00:17:30.920 So you have this pristine, multimillion dollar Boeing seven thirty 368 00:17:30.920 --> 00:17:33.880 seven sitting on NASA's front lawn like a parked car. 369 00:17:34.400 --> 00:17:37.079 But the problem is it's incredibly heavy and it's slowly 370 00:17:37.119 --> 00:17:40.920 starting to sink into the soft, muddy earth of the levee. 371 00:17:40.759 --> 00:17:43.240 Right, So the airline and the investigators had to figure 372 00:17:43.240 --> 00:17:46.680 out how to retrieve the aircraft. Disassembling a brand new 373 00:17:46.759 --> 00:17:49.799 jet would cause millions of dollars in damage. Putting it 374 00:17:49.839 --> 00:17:53.319 on a barge to float it away proved logistically impossible, So. 375 00:17:53.319 --> 00:17:56.440 They decign on the most outrageous solution imaginable. They are 376 00:17:56.480 --> 00:17:57.799 going to fly it off the grass. 377 00:17:57.880 --> 00:17:58.559 I love this part. 378 00:17:58.759 --> 00:18:02.240 Mechanics actually replaced the cooked right engine right there in 379 00:18:02.279 --> 00:18:04.759 the mud. They strip the plane of every single outs 380 00:18:04.759 --> 00:18:08.039 of excess weight, removing passenger seats, galley equipment, and dreading 381 00:18:08.079 --> 00:18:10.839 all but the absolute minimum amount of fuel needed. 382 00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:13.920 Just getting it as light as physically possible exactly. 383 00:18:14.319 --> 00:18:19.200 They bring in specialized Boeing test pilots and incredibly they 384 00:18:19.240 --> 00:18:22.359 spool up the engines, tear down this short three hundred 385 00:18:22.400 --> 00:18:25.519 and sixty five meter grass strip, and successfully take off, 386 00:18:25.920 --> 00:18:28.400 flying the plane the short distance to the airport in 387 00:18:28.440 --> 00:18:31.799 New Orleans. It is the wildest epilogue to a crash 388 00:18:31.920 --> 00:18:33.519 landing in aviation history. 389 00:18:33.680 --> 00:18:35.960 It is wild. But while the plane is saved, the 390 00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:39.200 investigators in the National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA 391 00:18:39.480 --> 00:18:42.160 are deeply troubled. The engines in that plane were the 392 00:18:42.200 --> 00:18:45.880 CFM fifty six model. These engines were renowned for their reliability. 393 00:18:45.880 --> 00:18:48.160 They were used everywhere, right everywhere. 394 00:18:48.240 --> 00:18:50.839 Yeah, they powered not just the Boeing seven thirty seven, 395 00:18:50.880 --> 00:18:54.119 but airbus airliners and military tanker planes around the globe. 396 00:18:54.400 --> 00:18:56.519 So flying through heavy rain and hail can cause a 397 00:18:56.599 --> 00:19:00.000 dual engine failure. Thousands of planes flying every single time, 398 00:19:00.079 --> 00:19:02.480 they are at immediate catastrophic risk. 399 00:19:02.720 --> 00:19:06.000 To solve this, investigators ship the damaged engines to the 400 00:19:06.079 --> 00:19:10.880 General Electric Testing Finality in Ohio. GE designed these engines 401 00:19:10.920 --> 00:19:14.759