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  • 6/3/2025

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00:00Then I remember a very hard impact.
00:05We hit the ground.
00:06A commuter flight slams into a North Carolina neighborhood.
00:10What has just happened to us?
00:12Somehow the crew survives to explain what happened.
00:16The problem was the weather.
00:19All of a sudden they ran into this rain shaft.
00:22But for investigators, weather alone can't explain the deadly impact.
00:26Rain did not cause this crash.
00:28Left to 15. Down. Push it down.
00:32Wait, stop the tape.
00:34Did he just say push it down?
00:36Play it again.
00:37We replayed that a dozen times.
00:40Down. Push it down.
00:42Did he really say that?
00:44And what did he mean by that?
00:58U.S. Air flight 1016 is en route from Columbia, South Carolina to Charlotte, North Carolina.
01:23U.S. Air 1016.
01:27Good evening.
01:27Climate maintain 1,200.
01:291,2000. U.S. Air 1016.
01:32Captain Mike Greenlee is one of U.S. Air's top pilots.
01:36He's an Air Force veteran who still flies fighter jets in the reserves.
01:40I believe he flew the F-4 and then he flew the F-16.
01:45One, 2,000.
01:47Ten.
01:48The first officer, Phil Hayes, is a seasoned pilot who's dreamt of flying since he was a boy.
01:55And I went for a ride in an airplane when I was about 15, and 14 or 15, and the bug bit, and I wanted to fly after that.
02:06So, uh, how old are you, Mike?
02:0838.
02:09How about yourself?
02:11I'll be 42 on the 26th of July.
02:15Is that right?
02:16I had you figured about 35.
02:19Did you really?
02:20Oh, yeah.
02:22I knew there was something I liked about you.
02:24This is the first time the two pilots have flown together.
02:28Mike was a very affable, very likable fella, and we hit it off right away.
02:40Many of the 52 passengers are traveling for summer holidays.
02:47This was a Saturday prior to July 4th, so there were a lot of leisure travelers.
02:54Can I offer you a snack?
02:57Flight attendant Richard Dameri has been in the job for two years.
03:01He enjoys his work so much that he looks for ways to get more hours.
03:05I picked up this flight as part of a series of flights over a number of days.
03:12It was a three-day trip with multiple legs each day.
03:18Today's flight to Charlotte is on board a DC-9, one of the many aircraft types Greenlee and Hayes have flown.
03:25What kind of airplanes do you fly corporate?
03:28Wow, a few Lear, Cessna Citation, King Air Beechcraft.
03:33Oh, that's nice equipment.
03:35Yeah, yeah, pretty nice.
03:36Flight crews at U.S. Air typically were always very professional.
03:40I had a lot of piston bangers, Navajos and that stuff.
03:43Yeah, I got a lot of time in Navajos, Aztecs, Senecas.
03:49With that, there was a lot of trust in the individuals that you were working with, both from a flight attendant perspective as well as the pilots.
03:56The U.S. Air crew is on its fourth leg of the day.
04:02They started out this morning in Pittsburgh, flew to New York City, then Charlotte, and on to Columbia.
04:11Now they're on their way back to Charlotte.
04:16There was no weather, there were no thunderstorms, there was nothing.
04:21It was a completely benign, beautiful summertime day.
04:29The DC-9 is now roughly 15 minutes from landing.
04:36Ladies and gentlemen, we're 40 miles from Charlotte.
04:38At this time, we'd like to ask the flight attendants to secure the cabin for arrival.
04:45Here, let me clear this away for you.
04:47The flight between Columbia and Charlotte was normal.
04:54Yeah, it was short.
04:55You know, even though it was a 50-minute flight, the actual flight time was much less than that.
05:00As they approach the airport, the skies begin to darken.
05:07More rain out there than I thought there was.
05:10We could see one little, what we refer to in the aviation business as a build-up.
05:16It has a little rain in it, but it's not anything to be concerned about.
05:23It's just a little shower.
05:26Mike reached over and turned the radar on.
05:31Looks like it's sitting just off the edge of the airport.
05:34The radar shows some rain directly ahead.
05:36Charlotte, U.S. Air 1016.
05:41U.S. Air 1016, go ahead.
05:42We're showing a little build-up here.
05:45Looks like it's sitting on the radial.
05:48About how far ahead are you looking, 1016?
05:51About 15 miles.
05:53The controller explains that he'll be directing them away from the rain shower.
05:57I'll, uh, turn you just before you get there, about 5 miles northbound.
06:03Okay.
06:05Good call.
06:09U.S. Air flight 1016 is now less than 10 minutes from its destination.
06:16U.S. Air 1016, Charlotte.
06:18Maintain 4,000.
06:19Runway, 1-8 right.
06:204,000 for the right side.
06:23That's 1-11 and 3.
06:271-81.
06:28The pilots are ready for final approach.
06:31Cabins down, seatbelt signs on, hydraulics on, altimeters, flight instruments, 30-01, set.
06:42Set.
06:43As promised, the controller turns flight 1016 away from the storm.
06:48This air 1016 turned 10 degrees, right?
06:50Descend and maintain 2,300.
06:52Vectors to visual approach to 1-8 right.
06:55The controller said descend to 2,300 feet.
06:59They said, uh, I'll turn you at the marker for the visual approach.
07:0310 right, down 2,300.
07:05U.S. Air 1016.
07:07Another confirmation that there was absolutely nothing going on.
07:13At that point in the landing phase, cabin had been secured.
07:18We were in our seats ready for landing.
07:20Gear down.
07:32Gear down.
07:39Flaps 40, please.
07:4540 flaps.
07:46Suddenly, this very heavy rain seemed to come from nowhere.
07:55Did not go light rain, moderate rain, heavy rain, extreme.
07:59It didn't do that.
08:00It was just all of a sudden like you're under a waterfall.
08:03Here come the wipers.
08:04That's, uh, 10 knots right there.
08:12Now we're like, oh, what has happened?
08:15You know, what changed?
08:16In other rain events, you can see out the window.
08:23You can make things out.
08:26This rain completely obstructed any view out of the window.
08:31Whoa.
08:32Okay, you're plus 20.
08:34Visibility had been reduced.
08:36And with this heavy rain, Mike and I made the same decision at about the same time.
08:43Let's go around.
08:43Take it around.
08:45Go to the right.
08:46Let's play it safe.
08:51So I reached up and pushed the power up, started a right turn.
08:55And at this point, Mike picked up the microphone, and he said,
09:01U.S. Air 1016's on the go.
09:09U.S. Air 1016, understand you're on the go, sir.
09:11Fly runway heading, climb, and maintain 3,000.
09:15It's what pilots call a missed approach.
09:19You have the noise of the engines.
09:21You have the feeling on your body that you're climbing.
09:28Go-arounds are not that unusual.
09:30I've been in go-arounds before.
09:34But this is not a normal go-around.
09:40All of a sudden, the aircraft wasn't flying anymore.
09:43It's just falling.
09:44And we were losing airspeed very, very rapidly.
09:49It was very alarming.
09:51This was not part of a go-around.
09:57Firewall power!
09:59Phil Hayes jams the throttles to maximum.
10:05We're sinking, and I'm preparing myself.
10:09I remember the stick shaker, and I remember the ground proximity warning system go off.
10:19It said, pull up, pull up.
10:20Pull up!
10:22Pull up!
10:27Then I remember a very hard impact.
10:31We hit the ground.
10:33We were sliding along the ground, and I started hearing the snapping of trees.
10:47We hit the ground, and the left wing sheared off.
10:58And the cockpit came to rest in the middle of a road.
11:06U.S. Air flight 1016, destined for Charlotte, North Carolina, has slammed into the ground less than a mile from the airport.
11:26Flight attendant Richard DeMerry has no idea how he survived.
11:34There was a tremendous amount of disbelief and disorientation.
11:40And it took a few seconds to get my bearings.
11:51And I should say that I was scared.
11:56You know, there was a lot of fear because of the smoke and the heat coming off of the airplane.
12:05And I remember the real thought of, I've survived the accident.
12:10I don't want to die afterwards.
12:17First officer Phil Hayes has also survived the crash.
12:21I remember looking to my left, and there was nobody in the captain's seat.
12:30And in my mind, I know I was trying to put things together, like, what has just happened to us?
12:37And so I got out of my harness and crawled out the opening.
12:42And I found Captain Mike Greenlee tending to one of the flight attendants who had been injured.
12:52You know, the full realization that we had been in an accident hit home.
12:57So I thought, I've got to do something to help.
13:00So I start to yell, release seat belts and get out.
13:05Release seat belts and get out.
13:09Release seat belts and get out.
13:12Good evening.
13:15Emergency workers in Charlotte, North Carolina, spent this Sunday pulling bodies from the wreckage of a U.S. air jet that crashed there last night.
13:23The crash of Flight 1016 is the first accident involving a major airline in North Carolina in 20 years.
13:33Both pilots and the cabin crew have survived.
13:37But of the 52 passengers, 37 are dead.
13:42As I look back at the wreckage, it was just very surreal.
13:53How could this have happened to us when the day was so benign, there was no weather, there was no threat?
14:03How could this have happened?
14:04Greg Fythe, senior investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, will lead the investigation.
14:13Any time you go to an airplane accident site, a crash site, there's always this wave of emotion.
14:19I don't care how seasoned an investigator you are, because you know that people have been seriously injured or killed in that particular event.
14:27And so as the investigator in charge, you have to compartmentalize that, because you can't get emotionally attached and still be able to do your job.
14:37Examining the wreckage is the team's first task.
14:40So what do we got?
14:42They must determine if a loss of engine power was a factor in the crash.
14:46There are a variety of things that these power plant experts are going to be looking for to determine if, in fact, there was some sort of operational issue, mechanical malfunction or failure, with the engine or in GINs.
15:05Right away, they spot something unexpected.
15:08Look at that.
15:11The thrust reverser on this engine is deployed.
15:17Their examination of the right engine indicated that the thrust reverser was in the deployed position and that the thrust reverser on the left engine was in the stowed position.
15:29And, of course, that always starts the red flag up the pole, if you will, going, hmm, why is this one not in the same position as the other?
15:37Because they should be symmetrical.
15:40Thrust reversers are deployed on landing to help slow the plane down.
15:45They work by redirecting the engine's high-powered exhaust gases forward.
15:50If it happens in flight, that's detrimental.
15:53Because if it happens on one engine, on a multi-engine airplane, you create an asymmetrical thrust situation.
16:01Maybe that's what brought this flight down.
16:05Like Lauda Air 004.
16:08Three years earlier, in Thailand, Lauda Air Flight 4 crashed, killing 223 people.
16:15A thrust reverser was to blame.
16:20We've had thrust reversers deploy in flight.
16:23And depending on the speed of the aircraft, you can literally break that engine right off the aircraft.
16:29Closer investigation reveals abrasion marks on the metal of the right-side reverser.
16:35Marks that suggest a heavy impact with the ground.
16:39It's an important clue.
16:42Further analysis leads to a definitive answer.
16:46Investigators know exactly when and how the right-side reverser opened.
16:52They were able to make a determination that the reverser on that right engine, even though it was deployed,
16:59happened during the course of the impact sequence and did not happen in flight.
17:05At least we know it wasn't thrust reversers.
17:07Eliminating one potential cause is a step forward for investigators.
17:13But there's still a long way from understanding what brought down US Air Flight 1016.
17:19Keep looking through this wreckage. See if you can find any clues.
17:26I want to speak with the crew.
17:28Perhaps the pilots can shed some light on what happened.
17:31The impact broke my foot and cut my head open.
17:40And so I was in the hospital about three days, I believe.
17:45And when we were released from the hospital, we were taken to a hotel.
17:48First Officer Phil Hayes meets with the NTSB.
17:54Thank you so much for seeing us today.
17:57We just have a few questions. This won't take long.
18:00We recognize that this is not a pleasant time for them.
18:06They've been through what is most likely the most difficult professional event they've ever been through.
18:13On the day of the crash, can you tell us what happened?
18:18The problem was the weather.
18:21Tell me about the weather.
18:23Flaps 40, please.
18:2840 flaps.
18:29All of a sudden, they ran into this rain shaft.
18:37We lost all visibility.
18:40Take it around. Go to the right.
18:42That's when the captain called for the first officer, who in this case was the flying pilot at the time, to execute a go around.
18:48They were going to climb to 3,000 feet, roll to the right to turn right, and of course, you're bringing the power up at the same time.
18:57Next thing I knew, the aircraft was falling.
19:01It's a terrible feeling to feel the aircraft fall, and you realize it isn't flying anymore.
19:09Why did you decide to fly into the storm in the first place?
19:20Pilots usually avoid thunderstorms because they can produce violent air currents that can cause turbulence or even damage the aircraft.
19:27You're always respectful of thunderstorms. The weather there was growing, that was the big thing. And it was growing quickly. That's a key indicator that the situation's deteriorating.
19:40Well, air traffic control told us the weather was nothing to worry about.
19:45And the controllers really did not say anything to us about it.
19:48I'll tell you what, US Air 1016, you may get some rain just south of the field. Might be a little coming off the north.
19:58In fact, some rain was misleading. It wasn't some rain, it was a very heavy thunderstorm.
20:05Investigators have learned that air traffic control failed to warn the crew of Flight 1016 that there was a powerful storm in their path.
20:13They mistakenly believed that it would be safe for them to land.
20:19The question now is why?
20:23Investigators need to understand why air traffic control in Charlotte didn't warn US Air Flight 1016 about a fierce storm over the airport.
20:36Oh, hey. Good to meet you.
20:37The air traffic controllers had more information and they could see and they had been watching this thunderstorm for much longer than the flight crew had.
20:50So we knew very early on was going to be one of the central areas of focus to understand it.
20:56Why did you tell the pilots the weather was good enough to land in?
21:00The weather reports told us it was.
21:02The controller reveals that he relied on a bulletin from the National Weather Service.
21:09It showed that conditions were well within limits for a safe landing.
21:13The reports on the field were light winds, there had been some rain on and off.
21:19There's nothing to key them to say that this is an unsafe condition and that they shouldn't continue to fly it.
21:25I even asked a pilot who landed four minutes earlier how it was.
21:30US Air 983, how was the ride in your final approach?
21:33Smooth, US Air 983.
21:36US Air 1016, previous flight just exited the runway.
21:40He said it was a smooth ride.
21:42It was fine, no problems.
21:49That's pretty significant in that all the information that crews have, real-time information from people flying for their airline carries a lot of weight.
22:00The weather bulletin issued at 1836 was indeed correct.
22:05Conditions were clear to land.
22:09But minutes later, the skies over the airport opened up and heavy rain poured down.
22:16Take it around, go to the right.
22:23US Air 1016 is on the go.
22:27US Air 1016, understand you're on the go, sir.
22:31Fly runway heading, climb and maintain free mount.
22:34At the same time, the controller acknowledges the crew's missed approach.
22:38US Air 1016, understand you're turning right.
22:42Go ahead, 1016.
22:44Go ahead, 1016.
22:46He never gets a response.
22:58By the time I got to the next bulletin, it was too late.
23:02Listen, I really appreciate your help.
23:05If I have more questions, is it all right if I call you, all right?
23:07Sure, thanks.
23:08It's now clear to investigators that weather conditions at Charlotte Airport changed very quickly.
23:14What's unclear is why the controller's weather report failed to forecast the change.
23:24Let's see what we have here.
23:25They study the reports that the National Weather Service issued for Charlotte Airport that day.
23:351836, light rain showers.
23:461840, heavy rain showers.
23:48It seems the Weather Service correctly identified the change in conditions.
23:52But then they make an important discovery.
23:53It took two minutes for the Weather Service to transmit the new information in an updated bulletin.
24:01The problem came from the air traffic controllers not having a full body of information from the National Weather Service.
24:11Flaps 40, please.
24:12So they weren't providing real-time information to the flight crew.
24:2140 flaps.
24:24They were very delayed in providing essential information that would have assisted this crew in their decision-making as they progressed towards the airport.
24:39Weather radar images soon lead to another discovery.
24:42This is crazy. Look at that. There are two storm cells moving in here.
24:49As the U.S. air pilots were trying to avoid one storm formation.
24:531840.
24:55Another storm cell.
24:571842.
24:58Suddenly increased in intensity.
25:00They were blindsided.
25:02Here come the wipers.
25:03The late weather report left the crew unprepared for the sudden downpour.
25:09The critical question now.
25:12Was the rainstorm strong enough to knock Flight 1016 out of the sky?
25:17We had to look at that to see if in fact this heavy rain shower had any kind of cause or contributing factor in this accident.
25:27NASA has studied this.
25:29Investigators review NASA research that shows heavy rain can stick to a wing, increasing drag and increasing the chance of an aerodynamic stall.
25:42If the volume of rain striking the aircraft is sufficient, it will disrupt the smooth airflow and decrease the efficiency, the lifting capability of the wing.
25:51Testing has shown that the amount of rain needed to stall a wing and cause a crash is huge.
25:5930 to 40 inches per hour.
26:06Investigators examine precipitation data from the day of the crash.
26:10They want to know just how bad the rain really was.
26:13What they find is surprising.
26:17The rate of precipitation during the downpour was only 10 inches per hour.
26:22Not enough to bring the plane down.
26:25We were able to determine that there was a negligible effect of this heavy rain shower on the performance of the airplane.
26:33Rain did not cause this crash.
26:35If it wasn't the sudden downpour that caused flight 1016 to fall out of the sky, what did?
26:47Can you bring up the FDR?
26:52Evidence recovered from US Air 1016's flight data recorder is now ready to be examined.
27:02So, what do we got?
27:04The device captures critical indicators such as airspeed, altitude and the position of key flight controls.
27:12Can you blow this up?
27:14Almost immediately, they come across something puzzling.
27:18Look at that.
27:19The data shows that seconds before impact, the airspeed inexplicably begins to fluctuate.
27:28The airspeed's all over the place.
27:35That's 10 knots right there.
27:37First it falls by 10 knots.
27:41Then it increases by 30 knots.
27:44Okay, you're plus 20.
27:45You could see the change on the airplane because the airspeed started jumping.
27:50Airspeed is the speed on an aircraft relative to the air it's flying through.
27:55If the plane encounters a tailwind, airspeed drops because the rate of airflow over the wings decreases.
28:03A headwind has the opposite effect, increasing airspeed by accelerating the airflow over the wings.
28:09What happens is you have a performance increase because you're flying into a headwind.
28:15Maybe the wind brought this plane down.
28:18Could strong winds be the culprit?
28:21To answer that question, investigators will need precise wind data from the time of the crash.
28:26Yeah, thank you.
28:31Like dozens of other US airports.
28:34One here.
28:35Charlotte Airport is equipped with a system of special wind sensors.
28:38One here.
28:39One here.
28:40One here.
28:41Here.
28:42Here.
28:44And here.
28:46Six in total.
28:49The low level wind shear alert system is a number of anemometers, wind speed and direction sensors,
28:56that are placed in various places around and near the airport.
29:00And they compare the winds at one part of the airport with winds at another part.
29:05Okay, run it.
29:07Investigators hope the combined data from all six sensors at Charlotte Airport will tell them just how dangerous the winds were on the day of the crash.
29:17There was light wind, which was not at all severe.
29:21They discover that top wind speeds were not very high that day.
29:25Wait a second.
29:27Look at that wind.
29:29It's blowing all over the place.
29:30But the changes in wind speed and direction were extreme.
29:34Look at that.
29:36Less than two minutes before the accident, four of the six sensors signaled a weather event known as wind shear.
29:47Wind shear is a sudden shift in wind direction and velocity that can cause a plane's airspeed to become dangerously erratic.
29:54What makes the wind shear events near the airports at low levels very hazardous is because the aircraft coming in for landing have very low air speeds and are close to the ground.
30:10So there's not much room for managing the energy state of the aircraft.
30:14Investigators may finally be close to a breakthrough.
30:19Let's get this data to NASA, see what they make of it.
30:23But they won't know if it was wind shear that brought down the DC-9 until experts analyze the weather data in detail.
30:29NASA Meteorologist Fred Proctor gets the assignment.
30:44I was asked by the NTSB to help them understand what happened in this event and whether or not wind shear was a factor in the accident.
30:55Okay, let's see what the data tells us.
30:59Adding temperature.
31:01Humidity.
31:03Using a weather simulator, Proctor enters the airport wind data along with other key variables.
31:10I used a model that I had developed earlier and used in wind shear studies to recreate the thunderstorm that occurred on that day.
31:22That should be it.
31:25Let's check out this simulation.
31:27And so from there I began to piece together or reconstruct the accident event.
31:35The simulation renders the forces within the storm in precise detail.
31:40That's incredible.
31:42Proctor makes a startling discovery.
31:44The DC-9 didn't just encounter wind shear.
31:47It flew into something even more deadly.
31:49NASA Meteorologist Fred Proctor now has the complete picture of the violent weather event that blindsided US Air 1016.
32:01That's no wind shear.
32:03That's a microburst.
32:05A microburst is a strong low-level downdraft that spreads out at the ground and creates strong low-level wind shear.
32:12The microburst downdraft hits the ground with tremendous force spreading out in all directions and creating wind shear.
32:22You can think of it as suspending a cold block of air like an anvil and then pulling that support out from under it.
32:30When it starts down it has enormous force.
32:32When you hit the shear it's like you're coming to the top of a roller coaster and then it's like the bottom drops out.
32:42It has long been known that these powerful downdrafts can be lethal for aircraft during takeoff or landing.
32:48There were a number of accidents in the 60s and in the 70s that were attributed to a microburst or wind shear type environment.
32:59We just didn't know what to call it then.
33:01We hadn't had a lot of information. Nobody really studied it.
33:03In 1985 a microburst caused the crash of Delta Airlines Flight 191 at Dallas Fort Worth.
33:14135 people died spurring a major effort to find ways to reduce the threat.
33:22Following Delta 191 NASA and a number of people within the industry started to study thunderstorms and this microburst.
33:31And they found that the microbursts were far more prevalent and numerous than previously thought.
33:39The NASA simulation not only confirms that the DC-9 was hit by a microburst.
33:45It reveals that it was one of the most powerful researchers have ever seen.
33:50This wind shear event would have been in the top 1% of most intense microbursts that we had looked at.
33:57I have only seen maybe one or two cases where microburst wind shear was actually stronger.
34:06Investigators now know that it was an extreme microburst that brought down Flight 1016.
34:11But their questioning doesn't end there.
34:20Firewall power!
34:22They also know that pilots are trained to deal with such events.
34:25If you do find yourself in a microburst, what do you do?
34:30Max power!
34:32Get as much lift out of the wings as you can.
34:35Try to keep it flying because you'll be through it fairly quickly.
34:38Why weren't the pilots of Flight 1016 able to recover and avoid disaster?
34:45The NTSB gathers pilot training materials from US Air in the hope of answering that question.
34:52Those pilots had been trained in the simulator to a variety of different types of scenarios that were based on accidents and incidents in the past.
35:04And at this point, crews had been trained in the event that they encounter microbursts.
35:11They were trained to traverse them safely and get out of there.
35:13Investigators learn that US Air trains its pilots to do two things in the event of a microburst.
35:21Apply firewall power.
35:24And raise the nose into a climb.
35:28If you're going to do this wind shear environment escape maneuver, you go full power and nose up.
35:34Get maximum performance to fly through this environment.
35:38But did the pilots even know there was a risk of wind shear?
35:41We need to know what was going on in that cockpit.
35:46Ready?
35:48Okay, let's hear it.
35:50Ladies and gentlemen, we're 40 miles from Charlotte.
35:53Flight 1016's cockpit voice recording is the investigator's best hope of finding an answer.
35:59More rain out there than I thought there was.
36:01Looks like it's sitting just at the edge of the airport.
36:04The recording reveals that the crew saw the storm forming over the airport.
36:07The pilots were confident they could handle it.
36:11We have to bail out. Looks like we'll bail out to the right.
36:14Amen.
36:16So I think we should be alright.
36:18Chance of shear, heads up.
36:22Roger that.
36:23Captain Greenlee not only knew wind shear was possible, he was ready with a plan of action.
36:30And they were fully prepared to abort the landing.
36:35Performance called a missed approach.
36:37Should the weather deteriorate at any point before they touch down.
36:40Investigators also discover that when the microburst hit, the pilots initially did the right thing.
36:48Max power.
36:50Max power.
36:52They initiated a normal missed approach.
36:54And started to accelerate, pitch the nose up, increase the power on the engines.
36:59A normal routine go around.
37:02Max power.
37:03But as they continue listening, they hear something completely unexpected.
37:08Down!
37:10Push it down!
37:11Wait, wait, stop the tape.
37:13Did he just say, push it down?
37:16Play it again.
37:18When we heard the captain say, down, push it down, we replayed that statement a dozen times.
37:25Trying to put it in context as to, did he really say that?
37:30And what did he mean by that?
37:34Left to 15.
37:36Down!
37:38Push it down!
37:40Based on their training, they should keep the plane's nose up to climb.
37:43But the captain tells his first officer to drop the nose.
37:48Down!
37:50Push it down!
37:51We were all surprised when that came out.
37:53None of us were expecting that.
37:55It goes against what pilots are supposed to do in a wind shear escape maneuver.
38:03If he didn't push the nose over, they wouldn't have flown into the ground.
38:06Firewall power!
38:07Firewall power!
38:08Firewall power!
38:10Firewall power!
38:11Firewall power power!
38:12Firewall power!
38:16Firewall power!
38:21What was he thinking?
38:28Investigators return to the U.S. Air pilots, hoping to learn why they didn't keep the plane's nose up, as they were trained to do.
38:35to do hey good to see you listen i need your help with one thing i just can't understand
38:41why did the captain decide to push the nose down i don't really remember i'm not sure if i
38:49have a clear recollection of that of him saying that or if it was or if i just remember listening
38:57to it on the cockpit voice recorder all i remember is that we were losing air speed
39:02it could have stalled they were re-interviewed about that and why the captain called for that
39:07and i don't believe that we got an answer that that it that explained it and when we showed them
39:14the data and and we let the captain and the first officer listen to the cockpit voice recorder it's
39:21like that's you why'd you say that don't know okay well thanks again trying to get precise information
39:30from them in an interview proved to be pretty hard not because they were withholding anything just
39:35because humans don't always remember great detail under high stress events next slide please
39:44investigators can only speculate about why the captain reacted as he did the next slide please it
39:50suggests he fell into the grip of a deadly phenomenon that aviators call spatial disorientation
39:56how we maintain our orientation in space is with our feet on the ground basically a force of gravity
40:05and the fluid in our inner ear and primarily our eyes so when you look out at the horizon
40:10you know what is up what is down whoa okay you're plus 20 take it around go to the right
40:16us air 1016 is on the go in flight extreme changes in speed direction and altitude create physical
40:26forces on the body that can confuse the senses this may cause the pilot to lose track of the plane's
40:33orientation what happens with pilots is that during the course of acceleration and deceleration
40:41the fluid in their inner ear starts to move down push it down and so your body will fool you because
40:48all you have is basically the body sensation
40:54he's coming in for his landing and he gets hit by the thunderstorm so he decides to do a missed
40:59approach but just as they're climbing the microburst pushes the plane down and slows the air speed now
41:06the captain believes that the plane is about to stall and that they're pointed up and stall that
41:13close to the ground would have been catastrophic but in reality they're nearly level so he tells the
41:21first officer push the plane down down push it down
41:28for captain greenlee firewall power it would have felt like the dc9 was in a dangerously steep climb
41:38a false sensation called somatographic illusion the somatographic illusion is is a very uh disconcerting
41:47illusion because your body sensations can trick you he thought were pitching too fast when in fact it was
41:54perfect had they been able to just sustain the flight for another 30 seconds they'd have been out the
42:02backside in their final report investigators highlight the need for prompt weather updates whenever there's
42:13a risk of thunderstorms they also call on the faa to make sure that controllers are displaying the highest
42:20level of precipitation intensity on their radar screens and relaying that information to flight crews
42:29finally since the flight 1016 tragedy a more sophisticated type of radar called doppler radar
42:36has become standard equipment at most airports and on board many aircraft you can see the intensities
42:43of the wind the vertical and the horizontal velocities that's great information they have predictive
42:50wind shear and so it can actually look and predict before the airplane arrives so that you get a much
42:57earlier warning because of our increased understanding of wind shear and the the development of new
43:06technologies there has not been a case in the united states of a wind shear accident since the charlotte event
43:15both mike greenlee and phil hayes resumed their flying careers eventually becoming pilots for american
43:23airlines when american merged with u.s airways in 2013 as for flight attendant richard de mary his brave
43:32actions in the immediate aftermath of the flight 1016 crash earned him no fewer than five awards including
43:39the u.s department of transportation's award for heroism i believe that while i was the individual in the
43:47event the awards really represent a recognition of the flight attendant profession and that flight attendants
43:55play a role of extreme importance on each and every flight