WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.120 --> 00:00:04.040 Picture this. It is August two thousand and five. You 2 00:00:04.080 --> 00:00:06.960 are sitting in the cockpit of a Greek F sixteen 3 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:11.320 fighter jet. You're soaring high above the ancient city of Athens. Right. 4 00:00:11.359 --> 00:00:15.480 The Mediterranean sun is blinding. The sky is this piercing blue. 5 00:00:15.839 --> 00:00:18.719 But your focus is entirely locked on the aircraft cruising 6 00:00:18.800 --> 00:00:19.480 right in front. 7 00:00:19.239 --> 00:00:21.399 Of you, because you've been scrambled to intercept it. 8 00:00:21.640 --> 00:00:25.440 Exactly. It's a seven thirty seven passenger jet Helioserway is 9 00:00:25.480 --> 00:00:29.120 flight five twenty two. It has gone completely radio silent, 10 00:00:29.719 --> 00:00:33.039 so you ease the throttle forward, pulling up right alongside 11 00:00:33.079 --> 00:00:36.000 the commercial jets cockpit. Ok. You look through the glass 12 00:00:36.399 --> 00:00:39.359 and what you see makes your blood run cold. The 13 00:00:39.399 --> 00:00:42.119 copilot is slumped over the controls. The captain is just 14 00:00:42.200 --> 00:00:43.840 well completely missing from his seat. 15 00:00:43.920 --> 00:00:46.359 Wow. And then you swoop down to check the passenger windows. 16 00:00:46.399 --> 00:00:46.920 I imagine. 17 00:00:47.000 --> 00:00:48.960 Yeah, you bank the fighter jet to check the cabin 18 00:00:49.159 --> 00:00:52.679 and everyone inside is motionless. Yeah. Oxygen masks are dangling 19 00:00:52.719 --> 00:00:55.280 from the ceiling like you know, yellow plastic ghosts. 20 00:00:55.399 --> 00:00:57.240 It's basically a ghost plane. 21 00:00:57.280 --> 00:01:00.159 It is a ghost plane flying itself on autopilot. Or 22 00:01:00.240 --> 00:01:02.799 a bustling city of over three million people and then 23 00:01:02.880 --> 00:01:04.879 out of the corner of your eye you see it. Wait, 24 00:01:04.959 --> 00:01:08.599 see what one loan figure moving desperately inside the cockpit? 25 00:01:08.680 --> 00:01:11.480 Oh wow, welcome to this deep dive. Today, we are 26 00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:16.000 opening up a stack of real life aviation accident investigation files, 27 00:01:16.359 --> 00:01:19.159 flight data transcripts, and forensic reports that you've shared with us. 28 00:01:19.239 --> 00:01:22.560 Yeah, we are going to examine the harrowing hidden stories 29 00:01:22.599 --> 00:01:26.599 of what happens when giants of the skyfall, because, I mean, 30 00:01:26.719 --> 00:01:29.760 the stakes and aviation are just unbelievably high. 31 00:01:29.760 --> 00:01:32.280 Okay, let's unpack this. Yeah, when I hear ghost plane, 32 00:01:32.599 --> 00:01:36.200 my mind immediately goes to like a massive electrical failure 33 00:01:36.640 --> 00:01:39.359 or a deep pressurization caused by a bomb, or maybe 34 00:01:39.359 --> 00:01:40.079 a hijacking. 35 00:01:40.239 --> 00:01:42.760 Sure, the usual suspects, Right, How does. 36 00:01:42.640 --> 00:01:45.760 A massive modern machine like a seven thirty seven just 37 00:01:45.799 --> 00:01:49.040 go completely silent without the plane physically breaking apart. 38 00:01:49.159 --> 00:01:52.280 Yeah, it's an absolutely chilling scenario, and it forces us 39 00:01:52.280 --> 00:01:55.519 to look past the obvious Hollywood explanations. I mean, you 40 00:01:55.560 --> 00:01:58.640 have an entire commercial airliner that has effectively become a 41 00:01:58.680 --> 00:02:01.560 flying tomb save one person still fighting, and. 42 00:02:01.519 --> 00:02:04.480 From the outside, there's no fire, there's no structural. 43 00:02:04.120 --> 00:02:08.919 Damage exactly in aviation. Massive catastrophes are rarely the result 44 00:02:08.960 --> 00:02:12.879 of a single catastrophic blow from the outside. They're almost 45 00:02:12.919 --> 00:02:17.319 always the result of tiny, microscopic, easily overlook details. 46 00:02:16.840 --> 00:02:19.360 That cascade they just aligned perfectly. 47 00:02:19.039 --> 00:02:21.560 Right until the system breaks down completely from within. 48 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:24.599 So let's jump right back into that cockpit of Helia's 49 00:02:24.599 --> 00:02:27.919 flight five twenty two to find that tiny detail. This 50 00:02:27.960 --> 00:02:30.960 is just after takeoff from the island of Cyprus. The 51 00:02:31.039 --> 00:02:34.599 crew is climbing toward their cruising altitude when a blaring 52 00:02:34.680 --> 00:02:35.560 alarm goes off. 53 00:02:35.719 --> 00:02:38.400 But from the transcripts, it's not an alarm they expect. 54 00:02:38.599 --> 00:02:40.759 It's the takeoff configuration warning. 55 00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:43.439 Now correct me if I'm wrong, But isn't that an 56 00:02:43.479 --> 00:02:46.960 alarm that tells pilots their jet isn't ready for takeoff 57 00:02:47.039 --> 00:02:48.360 while they are still on the runway. 58 00:02:48.479 --> 00:02:51.400 That is exactly what makes this so confusing. They are 59 00:02:51.479 --> 00:02:54.120 thousands of feet in the air, climbing rapidly, and an 60 00:02:54.199 --> 00:02:56.680 alarm is screaming at them that their flaps or gear 61 00:02:56.719 --> 00:02:57.479 aren't set for. 62 00:02:57.439 --> 00:02:59.639 Takeoff, so they must be totally bewildered. 63 00:02:59.719 --> 00:03:03.039 Totally. They radio the ground engineers, who were equally baffled. 64 00:03:03.319 --> 00:03:06.400 Then a master caution light illuminates, indicating that the cooling 65 00:03:06.400 --> 00:03:08.680 systems for the electronics are overheating. 66 00:03:08.879 --> 00:03:11.919 So they're distracted. I'm trying to put myself in their shoes. 67 00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:16.319 They are troubleshooting an electrical ghost. But what was actually happening. 68 00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:19.520 Well, the investigators eventually discovered a switch on a control 69 00:03:19.560 --> 00:03:22.759 panel above the pilot's heads. It's called the P five 70 00:03:23.120 --> 00:03:28.120 pressurization switch. Okay, During an early morning ground test, engineers 71 00:03:28.120 --> 00:03:31.199 were looking for a reported leak in the rear service door, 72 00:03:32.039 --> 00:03:35.400 so to test the seal without turning the massive jet 73 00:03:35.439 --> 00:03:40.639 engines on, they flipped that tiny pressurization switch from automatic 74 00:03:41.039 --> 00:03:42.080 to manual. 75 00:03:41.759 --> 00:03:44.159 Which allowed them to pump air into the cabin on 76 00:03:44.199 --> 00:03:44.599 the ground. 77 00:03:44.840 --> 00:03:47.159 Right, But they forgot to flip it back to automatic 78 00:03:47.199 --> 00:03:49.479 when they were done with the test. Oh no, and 79 00:03:49.520 --> 00:03:52.479 that is the fatal link. When the new flight crew 80 00:03:52.599 --> 00:03:55.919 boarded in the bright morning glare, they simply missed that 81 00:03:56.000 --> 00:03:58.240 the switch was in the wrong position. It's just a 82 00:03:58.280 --> 00:03:58.919 tiny dial. 83 00:03:59.080 --> 00:04:02.080 So as the plane climbed into the sky, the system 84 00:04:02.080 --> 00:04:05.840 that automatically pumps breathable air into the cabin was turned off. Yeah, 85 00:04:05.919 --> 00:04:09.680 the cabin simply never pressurized. The air just kept getting thinner. 86 00:04:09.759 --> 00:04:11.719 And thinner and thinner. Wait, if they were running out 87 00:04:11.719 --> 00:04:13.919 of air, why wouldn't the pilots just put on their 88 00:04:13.919 --> 00:04:17.600 oxygen masks. I mean, if my smoke alarm goes off 89 00:04:17.600 --> 00:04:19.759 in my house, I don't just sit there trying to 90 00:04:19.759 --> 00:04:22.920 fix the wiring of the alarm. I react to the danger. 91 00:04:22.959 --> 00:04:24.519 They had alarms going off. 92 00:04:24.360 --> 00:04:27.360 Because they didn't realize they were suffocating. Think about it 93 00:04:27.399 --> 00:04:30.560 this way. What if your house was filling with deadly 94 00:04:30.879 --> 00:04:35.000 odorless carbon monoxide, but the alarm that sounded was the 95 00:04:35.079 --> 00:04:39.000 exact same beep your microwave makes when your coffee is done. 96 00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:42.120 Oh, I see. You wouldn't think I'm suffocating any to escape. 97 00:04:42.199 --> 00:04:44.160 You'd think, why is my microwave broken? 98 00:04:44.240 --> 00:04:47.399 Precisely, the manufacture of that seven thirty seven used the 99 00:04:47.519 --> 00:04:51.279 exact same horn sound for the takeoff configuration warning as 100 00:04:51.319 --> 00:04:53.079 they did for the cabin altitude warning. 101 00:04:53.360 --> 00:04:57.560 That is terrifying. It's a design flaw masquerading as pilot error. 102 00:04:57.680 --> 00:05:01.120 It really highlights the subtle horror of high poxia. When 103 00:05:01.199 --> 00:05:03.600 your brain is deprived of oxygen, it acts a lot 104 00:05:03.639 --> 00:05:06.879 like alcohol intoxication. You don't feel like you are choking. 105 00:05:06.560 --> 00:05:08.279 You feel a little giddy. Maybe your ears. 106 00:05:08.079 --> 00:05:10.519 Pop right your vision tunnels, and then you just lose 107 00:05:10.560 --> 00:05:14.000 the ability to think coherently. You become confused, lethargic, and 108 00:05:14.040 --> 00:05:15.399 then you just quietly fall asleep. 109 00:05:15.720 --> 00:05:19.240 But what about the passengers. You mentioned the oxygen masks 110 00:05:19.319 --> 00:05:21.959 dangling from the ceiling when the fighter pilot looked in. 111 00:05:22.199 --> 00:05:25.560 Well, those drop automatically when the cabin pressure drops. But 112 00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:29.519 here is the chilling part about passenger aircraft design. Those 113 00:05:29.639 --> 00:05:33.279 chemical oxygen generators above your seat are only designed to 114 00:05:33.319 --> 00:05:35.720 provide about twelve minutes of air. 115 00:05:35.879 --> 00:05:38.639 Twelve minutes that doesn't seem like anywhere near enough for 116 00:05:38.639 --> 00:05:39.920 a flight that takes hours. 117 00:05:40.040 --> 00:05:43.079 It's not meant to be. That twelve minute window is 118 00:05:43.120 --> 00:05:46.120 calculated to keep you alive, just long enough for an awake, 119 00:05:46.480 --> 00:05:48.800 alert pilot to put on their own mass to clear 120 00:05:48.839 --> 00:05:51.879 an emergency and dive the plane down to ten thousand 121 00:05:51.920 --> 00:05:53.879 feet where the outside air is breathable. 122 00:05:54.319 --> 00:05:57.519 But on helios five twenty two, the pilots were already 123 00:05:57.519 --> 00:05:59.160 incapacitated exactly. 124 00:05:59.360 --> 00:06:03.480 The plane was lying perfectly on autopilot, maintaining its high altitude. 125 00:06:03.720 --> 00:06:05.600 Once those twelve minutes were up, the one hundred and 126 00:06:05.639 --> 00:06:08.680 fifteen passengers and most of the crew simply drifted into 127 00:06:08.720 --> 00:06:10.439 an irreversible. 128 00:06:09.759 --> 00:06:12.759 Coma, which brings us back to that lone figure the 129 00:06:12.800 --> 00:06:14.800 fighter pilot saw moving in the cockpit. 130 00:06:15.040 --> 00:06:17.000 Yes, that was Andreas per Dromo. 131 00:06:17.279 --> 00:06:19.680 He was a twenty five year old flight attendant on board, 132 00:06:20.199 --> 00:06:21.879 and he wasn't even supposed to be working that day. 133 00:06:21.920 --> 00:06:24.519 He just picked up the shift to be with his girlfriend, 134 00:06:24.560 --> 00:06:25.519 who was also on the crew. 135 00:06:25.759 --> 00:06:28.920 But Andreas was a scuba diver and a former soldier 136 00:06:29.079 --> 00:06:32.279 in the Cypriot Special Forces, so he had training right. 137 00:06:32.519 --> 00:06:35.000 His background gave him an edge that no one else 138 00:06:35.079 --> 00:06:37.920 on board had. He understood how to manage his breathing 139 00:06:38.040 --> 00:06:39.959 under extreme physical stress, so. 140 00:06:39.920 --> 00:06:42.720 When the masks dropped and the pilots didn't initiate a dive, 141 00:06:43.160 --> 00:06:45.519 he realized something was catastrophically wrong. 142 00:06:45.680 --> 00:06:48.720 Yeah, he managed to stay awake by moving through the cabin, 143 00:06:48.959 --> 00:06:52.160 breathing from the portable oxygen bottles meant for the flight attendants, 144 00:06:52.519 --> 00:06:54.959 eventually making his way to the cockpit and using the 145 00:06:54.959 --> 00:06:57.600 emergency entry code to get in and. 146 00:06:57.560 --> 00:07:00.920 Reading this file. He actually had a commercial pilot's license. 147 00:07:01.600 --> 00:07:04.560 It was his dream to fly for Helios. He finally 148 00:07:04.600 --> 00:07:07.560 gets into the captain seat, the military f sixteen's right 149 00:07:07.600 --> 00:07:11.120 outside his window. He puts on a headset and calls 150 00:07:11.160 --> 00:07:13.160 may Day five times. 151 00:07:12.839 --> 00:07:15.920 But no one hears him. Why because the radio was 152 00:07:15.959 --> 00:07:19.079 still tuned to the departure airport back in Cyprus, which 153 00:07:19.160 --> 00:07:21.800 was now hundreds of miles out of range. That's just 154 00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:25.439 But what's fascinating here is the brutal irony of a situation, 155 00:07:26.240 --> 00:07:29.680 all of Andreas's pilot training, all of his incredible resilience 156 00:07:29.720 --> 00:07:32.800 to stay awake for nearly three hours while everyone else perished. 157 00:07:33.439 --> 00:07:36.360 His heroic effort to take the controls, it was all 158 00:07:36.519 --> 00:07:39.879 entirely useless because of the fuel. Precisely by the time 159 00:07:39.920 --> 00:07:43.079 he got into that seat and disengaged the autopilot to 160 00:07:43.079 --> 00:07:45.319 try and save the plane, it had been circling in 161 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:48.199 a holding pattern for so long that the engines were 162 00:07:48.240 --> 00:07:49.240 already flaming out. 163 00:07:49.319 --> 00:07:50.600 He was completely out of fuel. 164 00:07:50.759 --> 00:07:53.800 Yeah, the plane crashed into a hillside north of Athens, 165 00:07:53.920 --> 00:07:56.079 killing all one hundred and twenty one people on board. 166 00:07:56.120 --> 00:07:59.399 It's just devastating. A single switch left in the wrong 167 00:07:59.439 --> 00:08:03.639 position brought down an entire airliner. But you know, if 168 00:08:03.639 --> 00:08:06.639 Helios was brought down by an individual's micro error, a 169 00:08:06.680 --> 00:08:09.319 pilot missing a switch, Our next file shows how a 170 00:08:09.360 --> 00:08:13.279 plane can be doomed by a macrosystem error. We're shifting 171 00:08:13.319 --> 00:08:17.160 from a mechanical oversight to a massive institutional blind spot. 172 00:08:17.279 --> 00:08:20.199 This is the tragic story of IPO twenty one, and 173 00:08:20.279 --> 00:08:22.959 it requires us to look at how an entire military 174 00:08:22.959 --> 00:08:25.560 command structure can effectively ignore a mountain. 175 00:08:25.879 --> 00:08:28.879 I want you to transport yourself to a raw, storm 176 00:08:28.920 --> 00:08:33.440 battered spring day in April nineteen ninety six, especially designed 177 00:08:33.559 --> 00:08:36.840 US Air Force seven thirty seven is flying through torrential 178 00:08:36.919 --> 00:08:39.600 rain into the airport of Dubrovnik, Croatia. 179 00:08:39.639 --> 00:08:42.919 And this plane is carrying US Commerce Secretary Ron Brown 180 00:08:43.000 --> 00:08:46.679 and thirty four other distinguished visitors, business leaders, and crew. 181 00:08:47.159 --> 00:08:49.720 They are on a vital trade mission to help rebuild 182 00:08:49.759 --> 00:08:52.120 the economy of a region that had just been torn 183 00:08:52.159 --> 00:08:55.360 apart by a brutal four year civil war in the Balkans. 184 00:08:55.799 --> 00:08:58.720 The context of that war is crucial here. The Dubrovnik 185 00:08:58.759 --> 00:09:02.840 airport was totally dubh stated retreating forces had intentionally destroyed 186 00:09:02.840 --> 00:09:06.039 the modern instrument landing systems and the approach radar, so. 187 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:07.519 They had basically nothing to work with. 188 00:09:07.639 --> 00:09:11.000 Pretty much the airport was essentially operating on aviation technology 189 00:09:11.000 --> 00:09:15.159 from the nineteen forties, specifically two non directional beacons or 190 00:09:15.240 --> 00:09:18.440 NDBs located on the ground, which just send out simple 191 00:09:18.559 --> 00:09:19.960 radio pulses in all directions. 192 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:22.240 Okay, so how do they navigate through a storm without 193 00:09:22.279 --> 00:09:24.399 radar just following radio beams? 194 00:09:24.799 --> 00:09:29.200 Essentially, Yes, to navigate using those two beacons safely, a 195 00:09:29.200 --> 00:09:33.440 plane needs two automatic direction finders or adfs in the cockpit. 196 00:09:34.080 --> 00:09:36.720 These are instruments that listen to those radio pulses. 197 00:09:37.000 --> 00:09:38.919 You need too so you can listen to both signals 198 00:09:38.960 --> 00:09:40.440 simultaneously exactly. 199 00:09:40.559 --> 00:09:42.879 One beacon tells you the path to the runway, the 200 00:09:42.960 --> 00:09:44.919 other tells you when you've gone too far, need to 201 00:09:44.960 --> 00:09:49.360 pull up. But this highly specialized military vip jet only 202 00:09:49.399 --> 00:09:51.480 had one ADF installed. 203 00:09:51.320 --> 00:09:54.039 Meaning they could only listen to one beacon at a time. 204 00:09:54.440 --> 00:09:57.879 Imagine trying to tune an old analog car radio to 205 00:09:57.960 --> 00:10:00.240 a faint station, but you have to do but for 206 00:10:00.320 --> 00:10:03.759 two different stations, back and forth every few seconds while 207 00:10:03.840 --> 00:10:06.960 driving a bus down a twisting mountain road in a hurricane. 208 00:10:07.080 --> 00:10:08.840 That sounds absolutely impossible. 209 00:10:09.039 --> 00:10:11.919 That was the frantic cockpit workload for these pilots. They 210 00:10:11.960 --> 00:10:14.399 had a frantically tune a single dial back and forth 211 00:10:14.440 --> 00:10:17.080 between the two frequencies while flying blind through a heavy 212 00:10:17.159 --> 00:10:20.440 thunderstorm in a mountainous region they had never flown into. 213 00:10:20.399 --> 00:10:23.320 Before, with a cabin full of VIPs, expecting to land 214 00:10:23.360 --> 00:10:23.799 on time. 215 00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:26.639 Yeah, And to make matters worse, as they were struggling 216 00:10:26.679 --> 00:10:29.639 with this ancient navigation, they were relying on a commercial 217 00:10:29.720 --> 00:10:32.879 Jepson approach chart to tell them how low they could 218 00:10:32.919 --> 00:10:35.320 safely fly without seeing the ground. 219 00:10:35.840 --> 00:10:38.480 I'm looking at the file here, says The chart listed 220 00:10:38.519 --> 00:10:42.960 the minimum descent altitude at just over twenty one hundred feet, 221 00:10:43.919 --> 00:10:47.639 But for that mountainous terrain, American safety standards dictate it 222 00:10:47.679 --> 00:10:49.639 should have been at least twenty eight hundred feet. 223 00:10:49.759 --> 00:10:52.240 Right, They were flying seven hundred feet too low into 224 00:10:52.240 --> 00:10:55.320 a mountain range. The plane veered slightly off course in 225 00:10:55.360 --> 00:10:58.440 the storm, and because they were too low, it crashed 226 00:10:58.480 --> 00:11:01.080 into Saint John's Hill, killing everyone on board. 227 00:11:01.440 --> 00:11:04.159 So how does a US military flight end up using 228 00:11:04.200 --> 00:11:06.919 a chart that is mathematically guaranteed to fly them into 229 00:11:07.000 --> 00:11:07.399 a mountain. 230 00:11:07.799 --> 00:11:11.240 Well, the investigation revealed a stunning failure of command. That 231 00:11:11.320 --> 00:11:14.840 approach chart for Dubrovnik had never been reviewed or approved 232 00:11:14.879 --> 00:11:18.240 by the US military. You're kidding, No, The military commanders 233 00:11:18.240 --> 00:11:22.080 in Europe had essentially just waived the safety requirements. Checking 234 00:11:22.120 --> 00:11:25.519 every foreign airport's civilian charts took too much time and budget, 235 00:11:25.600 --> 00:11:28.000 so they just skipped it. They were suffering from what 236 00:11:28.080 --> 00:11:33.519 aviation experts call get their itis, the intense institutional pressure 237 00:11:33.600 --> 00:11:39.200 to deliver high profile diplomats on schedule, overwriting fundamental safety protocols. 238 00:11:39.440 --> 00:11:41.879 But wait here is the detail that actually made me 239 00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:45.519 gasp when I read the source material. Oh, the investigators 240 00:11:45.639 --> 00:11:48.799 arrive at the crash site. They're digging through the wreckage 241 00:11:48.879 --> 00:11:51.279 looking for the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice 242 00:11:51.279 --> 00:11:54.759 recorded the black boxes, and they realized they aren't there. Yeah, 243 00:11:54.840 --> 00:11:57.720 not because they were destroyed, but because this VIP plane 244 00:11:58.120 --> 00:12:01.200 carrying one of the most important politicians in America didn't 245 00:12:01.200 --> 00:12:04.000 even have them installed. How is that legally possible? 246 00:12:04.080 --> 00:12:08.200 It reveals a shocking paradox about institutional arrogance. At the time, 247 00:12:08.440 --> 00:12:13.000 military VIP flights actually had lower safety requirements than your standard, 248 00:12:13.080 --> 00:12:14.799 run of the mill commercial passenger jet. 249 00:12:14.919 --> 00:12:15.759 That's just wild. 250 00:12:16.080 --> 00:12:18.759 They weren't legally required to have black boxes. They weren't 251 00:12:18.759 --> 00:12:22.639 held to the same rigid safety oversight. The military assumed 252 00:12:22.679 --> 00:12:27.080 their inherent operational excellence, their elite pilot training would compensate 253 00:12:27.120 --> 00:12:29.279 for older equipment and unapproved charts. 254 00:12:29.639 --> 00:12:31.879 It took the death of a Commerce secretary for the 255 00:12:31.919 --> 00:12:36.080 Air Force to instantly change their rules, mandate black boxes 256 00:12:36.120 --> 00:12:40.320 on all aircraft and absolutely forbid landing at unapproved airports. 257 00:12:40.440 --> 00:12:42.879 If we connect this to the bigger picture, it highlights 258 00:12:42.879 --> 00:12:46.799 how safety regulations are so often written in blood. Institutions 259 00:12:46.919 --> 00:12:50.200 rarely fixed blind spots until a high profile tragedy forces 260 00:12:50.240 --> 00:12:50.960 them into the light. 261 00:12:51.360 --> 00:12:55.879 With IFO twenty one, the military's blind spot was accidental arrogance. 262 00:12:56.360 --> 00:12:58.960 But what happens when a blind spot is entirely intentional? 263 00:13:00.039 --> 00:13:03.600 Factuer knows their plane has a fatal flaw and actively 264 00:13:03.679 --> 00:13:07.159 chooses to hide it. We are moving from bureaucratic oversight 265 00:13:07.679 --> 00:13:09.559 to known corporate compromise. 266 00:13:09.720 --> 00:13:12.919 We are looking at the McDonnell Douglas DC ten, specifically 267 00:13:12.919 --> 00:13:14.480 the mechanics of its cardodors. 268 00:13:14.639 --> 00:13:18.480 It's June nineteen seventy two, high above Windsor Ontario American 269 00:13:18.480 --> 00:13:21.440 Airlines Flight ninety six, a brand new DC ten has 270 00:13:21.559 --> 00:13:24.279 just taken off. Suddenly, the floor of the passenger cabin 271 00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:25.320 completely caves in. 272 00:13:25.440 --> 00:13:28.039 A massive hole opens up, A coffin falls out of 273 00:13:28.080 --> 00:13:30.679 the cargo hold into the sky, and the pilots are 274 00:13:30.679 --> 00:13:32.360 suddenly flying a crippled giant. 275 00:13:32.639 --> 00:13:35.720 Because the floor collapsing had severed the hydraulic cables connecting 276 00:13:35.759 --> 00:13:38.600 the pilots to the tail, rudder and the elevators, they 277 00:13:38.639 --> 00:13:39.879 had almost no control. 278 00:13:40.799 --> 00:13:45.080 This was an explosive decompression at thirty one thousand feet. 279 00:13:45.399 --> 00:13:48.960 The air pressure inside the cabin is artificially kept dense 280 00:13:49.120 --> 00:13:52.320 and warm so you can breathe, while the air outside 281 00:13:52.399 --> 00:13:54.879 is unimaginably thin and freezing. 282 00:13:55.039 --> 00:13:57.720 The plane's metal skin is the only thing holding that 283 00:13:57.799 --> 00:13:58.759 high pressure. 284 00:13:58.440 --> 00:14:01.720 In Exactly if a the door suddenly gives way, all 285 00:14:01.759 --> 00:14:05.240 that high pressure air rushes out instantly to seek equilibrium. 286 00:14:05.919 --> 00:14:08.159 The air and the passenger cabin pushed down with such 287 00:14:08.200 --> 00:14:10.960 immense force to get out the open cargo door that 288 00:14:11.039 --> 00:14:13.240 it crushed the floor into the cargo. 289 00:14:13.000 --> 00:14:16.000 Hold, taking the vital flight control cables down with it. Yeah, 290 00:14:16.039 --> 00:14:18.960 but Captain Bryce McCormick was an absolute legnand with no 291 00:14:19.080 --> 00:14:21.919 rudder and hardly any elevators, he used the thrust of 292 00:14:21.919 --> 00:14:24.559 the engines on the wings, powering up one side and 293 00:14:24.559 --> 00:14:26.320 powering down the other to steer the plane. 294 00:14:26.559 --> 00:14:28.159 That's incredible airmanship. 295 00:14:28.480 --> 00:14:31.120 He somehow managed to nurse this broken jet back to 296 00:14:31.200 --> 00:14:34.759 Detroit and landed at three hundred kilometers an hour, saving 297 00:14:34.799 --> 00:14:39.159 everyone on board. It was miraculous. But how does the 298 00:14:39.200 --> 00:14:41.879 door just pop off in mid air? Doesn't the pressure 299 00:14:41.879 --> 00:14:43.159 inside keep it sealed? 300 00:14:43.639 --> 00:14:47.279 Usually? Yes, most airplane doors are plug doors, meaning they 301 00:14:47.320 --> 00:14:51.080 open inward, so the pressure inside the plane actually acts 302 00:14:51.080 --> 00:14:53.639 like a witch, pushing the door tighter against the frame 303 00:14:53.679 --> 00:14:54.519 the higher you go. 304 00:14:54.759 --> 00:14:57.200 But to maximize space for luggage in the cargo hold, 305 00:14:57.639 --> 00:15:00.600 McDonald Douglas designed the DC ten cargo door to open 306 00:15:00.639 --> 00:15:01.480 outward right. 307 00:15:01.639 --> 00:15:04.240 That meant the door constantly fought against the internal pressure 308 00:15:04.279 --> 00:15:06.840 of the plane trying to blow open, so it relied. 309 00:15:06.559 --> 00:15:09.480 On heavy locking pins to stay shut rather than. 310 00:15:09.399 --> 00:15:13.960 Physical exactly, and investigators found a terrifying mechanical flaw. A 311 00:15:14.039 --> 00:15:17.639 baggage handler could physically force the external locking lever closed 312 00:15:17.639 --> 00:15:20.240 with his knee, which would bend the internal metal linkages 313 00:15:20.279 --> 00:15:22.600 and turn off the warning light in the cockpit. 314 00:15:22.679 --> 00:15:25.919 Even if the heavy internal locking pins hadn't actually engaged. 315 00:15:26.120 --> 00:15:28.639 The door looked locked. The pilot's light said it was locked, 316 00:15:28.639 --> 00:15:30.679 but it was just barely hanging on. It was a 317 00:15:30.799 --> 00:15:32.159 ticking time bomb. 318 00:15:32.080 --> 00:15:36.000 And this is where the scandal erupts. During a later lawsuit, 319 00:15:36.399 --> 00:15:40.399 a smoking gun document was discovered in the files. It 320 00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:42.159 was known as the Applegate Memo. 321 00:15:42.519 --> 00:15:46.000 Yes, written by Dan Applegate, the director of product engineering 322 00:15:46.039 --> 00:15:48.639 for the company that built the fuselage. He wrote it 323 00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:51.919 right after the winds aor near miss, and he explicitly 324 00:15:52.080 --> 00:15:56.320 warned management that the plane demonstrated an inherent susceptibility to 325 00:15:56.440 --> 00:15:57.600 catastrophic failure. 326 00:15:57.919 --> 00:16:00.159 He stated plainly that it was only a matter of 327 00:16:00.159 --> 00:16:01.799 time before a major disaster happened. 328 00:16:01.840 --> 00:16:04.360 The manufacturer and knew the floor would collapse if the 329 00:16:04.399 --> 00:16:07.159 door blew out. They even knew about the door failing 330 00:16:07.240 --> 00:16:11.399 during ground pressure tests years before the plane ever flew passengers. 331 00:16:11.519 --> 00:16:13.600 That's like ignoring the check engine light on a school 332 00:16:13.600 --> 00:16:15.840 bus full of kids. I mean, it's one thing to 333 00:16:15.879 --> 00:16:18.879 miss a flaw on a complex machine. It's another to 334 00:16:18.919 --> 00:16:22.519 see the glaring defect, read a memo detailing exactly how 335 00:16:22.559 --> 00:16:24.799 it will kill people, and agree to just put a 336 00:16:24.840 --> 00:16:26.919 piece of tape over it so you don't slow down production. 337 00:16:27.240 --> 00:16:29.639 And the tape in the scenario was a gentleman's agreement. 338 00:16:30.120 --> 00:16:34.320 The National Transportation Safety Board demanded immediate design changes, but 339 00:16:34.399 --> 00:16:37.240 they didn't have the regulatory power to ground the planes. 340 00:16:37.639 --> 00:16:41.320 Only the Federal Aviation Administration the FAA could do that 341 00:16:41.639 --> 00:16:45.240 by issuing an airworthiness directive, which have the force of law. 342 00:16:45.559 --> 00:16:47.120 But the head of the FAA and the head of 343 00:16:47.200 --> 00:16:50.639 McDonald douglas made a backroom deal. They wanted to avoid 344 00:16:50.639 --> 00:16:53.360 the directive because it would be terrible pr for this 345 00:16:53.480 --> 00:16:56.399 brand new billion dollar jet program. 346 00:16:56.120 --> 00:16:59.039 So they agreed to voluntary confusing fixes instead. 347 00:16:59.320 --> 00:17:02.279 Think about that for a second, because it was voluntary. 348 00:17:02.679 --> 00:17:06.680 A Turkish airline's DC ten in Paris two years later 349 00:17:06.759 --> 00:17:10.960 in nineteen seventy four didn't have the proper support plate installed. 350 00:17:10.759 --> 00:17:13.400 And a baggage handler who couldn't read the English warning 351 00:17:13.440 --> 00:17:16.200 signs forced the lever closed with his knee. 352 00:17:16.359 --> 00:17:19.559 Nine minutes after takeoff, the door blew off, the floor collapse, 353 00:17:19.680 --> 00:17:22.880 the control cables were severed, and there was no miraculous save. 354 00:17:22.960 --> 00:17:23.440 This time. 355 00:17:23.559 --> 00:17:26.519 The plane plunged into a forest at eight hundred kilometers 356 00:17:26.559 --> 00:17:29.039 ersn hour. All three hundred and forty six people on 357 00:17:29.079 --> 00:17:29.640 board died. 358 00:17:29.960 --> 00:17:32.759 It remains one of the darkest chapters in aviation history. 359 00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:36.400 It proves that when corporate interests compromise absolute safety when 360 00:17:36.480 --> 00:17:39.880 legal mandates are traded for handshakes. The cost is ultimately 361 00:17:39.920 --> 00:17:41.119 paid in human lives. 362 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:46.559 We've covered mechanical failures, bureaucratic arrogance, and corporate negligence. But 363 00:17:46.640 --> 00:17:49.960 what happens when the systems actually functioned exactly the way 364 00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:54.440 they're supposed to, but a malicious external force exploits a 365 00:17:54.519 --> 00:17:55.440 tiny loophole? 366 00:17:55.640 --> 00:17:58.680 What happens when our own convenience is weaponized against us? 367 00:17:58.839 --> 00:18:02.400 Exactly? That brings us to our final file. Air India 368 00:18:02.440 --> 00:18:05.759 Flight one eighty two in June nineteen eighty five. 369 00:18:06.039 --> 00:18:09.559 This was a seven forty seven nicknamed Kanishka, flying from 370 00:18:09.559 --> 00:18:12.720 Canada to London, high over the Atlantic. It had three 371 00:18:12.759 --> 00:18:15.400 hundred and twenty nine people on board, mostly families going 372 00:18:15.400 --> 00:18:18.559 on vacation, lots of children. Right at eight fourteen in 373 00:18:18.599 --> 00:18:21.480 the morning, Shannon Air Traffic Control in Ireland is tracking 374 00:18:21.480 --> 00:18:23.839 the flight. Everything is totally normal. 375 00:18:23.640 --> 00:18:27.200 And then the radar blip just vanishes. In less than 376 00:18:27.240 --> 00:18:30.680 sixty seconds, without a single distress call, A massive seven 377 00:18:30.759 --> 00:18:32.079 forty seven falls out of the sky. 378 00:18:32.240 --> 00:18:34.920 The initial investigation was mind boggling because there was almost 379 00:18:35.039 --> 00:18:38.400 zero physical evidence. At first, the wreckage was sitting six 380 00:18:38.480 --> 00:18:40.480 thousand feet below the surface of the ocean. 381 00:18:40.519 --> 00:18:44.079 Early on, investigators were distracted by a red herring. The 382 00:18:44.119 --> 00:18:46.799 plane was carrying a massive fifth engine strapped under its wing, 383 00:18:47.440 --> 00:18:50.759 a routine procedure for transporting a broken engine back for repairs. 384 00:18:51.039 --> 00:18:54.000 They wondered if the drag or a structural failure from 385 00:18:54.000 --> 00:18:56.039 that fifth engine ripped the wing. 386 00:18:55.880 --> 00:18:58.880 Off, but the flight data recorder showed the pilots were 387 00:18:58.920 --> 00:19:02.799 perfectly compensated for the drag. The plane was flying fine. 388 00:19:03.240 --> 00:19:06.039 So they send a deep sea submersible down to the 389 00:19:06.039 --> 00:19:07.839 wreckage field, and out. 390 00:19:07.680 --> 00:19:10.519 Of hundreds of thousands of shattered pieces, they pull up 391 00:19:10.519 --> 00:19:12.880 a section of the floor from the front cargo. 392 00:19:12.640 --> 00:19:16.519 Bay, and that single piece of metal told the entire story. 393 00:19:17.279 --> 00:19:19.319 It had holes in it where the metal was violently 394 00:19:19.319 --> 00:19:22.240 pushed upward and curled outward like the petals of a flower. 395 00:19:22.400 --> 00:19:25.920 It was the classic forensic signature of a high exclusive 396 00:19:25.920 --> 00:19:27.839 detonation from inside the luggage hold. 397 00:19:28.079 --> 00:19:30.519 But how does a bomb get onto a passenger plane 398 00:19:30.640 --> 00:19:32.559 if the terrorist isn't on board to blow it up. 399 00:19:33.000 --> 00:19:36.000 This takes us back to the terminal in Vancouver and 400 00:19:36.160 --> 00:19:40.079 a masterclass in exploiting human nature. A man named Em 401 00:19:40.160 --> 00:19:43.680