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  • 6/19/2025

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00:00A military KC-135 is on a dangerous refueling assignment over a war zone in the Middle East.
00:08Zero-fives level.
00:09They told us that 15% of us could possibly get shot down.
00:13What the?
00:14When suddenly, the mission goes wrong.
00:17No good, we're losing it.
00:19We're going 110 degrees of bank in both directions.
00:22What the heck is happening?
00:23It's beyond the capability of the airplane to do that.
00:26Go get the parachutes and helmets.
00:28Roger.
00:28It became apparent pretty quickly that we weren't going to be able to complete our mission.
00:32The question is why.
00:34Mayday, mayday, mayday. This is wheel zero-five.
00:37Investigators must quickly determine if it was a mechanical failure.
00:40So this control cable snapped.
00:42Or enemy fire.
00:44Was this intentional?
00:46It's very critical to the entire operation to really figure out what happened.
00:53Mayday, mayday.
00:54It's late afternoon at King Abdulaziz Airport in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
01:23Dozens of U.S. Air Force KC-135 aircraft prepare for late-night missions during the Gulf War.
01:32Today, more than 90 large tanker jets are preparing to refuel combat missions over Iraq and Kuwait.
01:38Ninety knots, I'll hand it over to you.
01:42Roger.
01:45Major Kevin Sweeney and the crew of U.S. Air Force flight Whale-05 review the final details of their mission.
01:54Start switches.
01:55He's the commander.
01:57Flight start.
01:58Sweeney has over 20 years of Air Force flying experience.
02:02It's his job to know the mission and his plane.
02:05The aircraft commander is just like the captain.
02:09If you haven't made any tough decisions, it's your responsibility, although it's very important to take input from the rest of your crew members and listen to them.
02:18Set takeoff thrust at 1.82 EPR.
02:20EPR set for takeoff.
02:3390 knots.
02:35My airplane.
02:38Jay Salanders is Sweeney's trusted co-pilot.
02:41The aircraft commander is always responsible for the airplane, so you can't trade that, but specific duties we would trade back and forth.
02:54At 5.25 p.m., Whale-05 lifts off from Jeddah.
03:05Coalition forces are two weeks into Operation Desert Storm.
03:09One of the largest bombing campaigns in aviation history.
03:15Hundreds of daily bombing runs drive Saddam Hussein's invading Iraqi army out of Kuwait.
03:21The size of the American air power contribution, if you will, in Desert Storm just can't be overstated.
03:30It was quite astounding.
03:33Sweeney and his crew are flying a Boeing KC-135 strato tanker.
03:38The aircraft is similar to Boeing's commercial 707, but is specially designed for mid-air refueling.
03:46It really began the jet era, and it is a great airplane.
03:50It's true, it's fast, it's strong.
03:53It's one of Boeing's best products, and once you become accustomed to a few of its idiosyncrasies,
03:59sweet airplane to fly, we'll take you a long way and bring you home.
04:06Steve, are you going to transfer from the center tank?
04:09Affirmative.
04:10Two units of trim should keep us within the limits.
04:13Senior Master Sergeant Steve Stuckey is the boom operator.
04:17He's critical to the refueling operation.
04:19During refueling, he guides the fuel boom to the receiving plane.
04:27Once he is within three to five feet of the boom from the receptacle,
04:33I'll guide that boom into the receptacle,
04:36then we can transfer fuel from the boom into his airplane.
04:39The amount of fuel that you can carry, whether in a bomber or a fighter,
04:46becomes critical in terms of being able to get to the place that you need to go and bring them back.
04:51There simply isn't any other substitute for air refueling.
04:58Tonight's mission takes them along a tanker corridor,
05:01an aerial highway for tanker crews heading north from Jeddah.
05:05When they reach waypoint Rita, they'll turn east,
05:10before making their final turn to the rendezvous point
05:13less than 180 miles from combat zones near the Kuwaiti border.
05:19Transition altitude.
05:20Set altimeter 2992.
05:25Navigator Greg Mermis is in charge of keeping the mission safely on course.
05:29We are primarily responsible for running the rendezvous,
05:32joining up with the other aircraft to complete the refueling.
05:36I knew that Greg was going to do everything
05:38to put us in the right position at the right time.
05:42Tonight, they'll be refueling an AWACS plane,
05:45a radar surveillance and control unit,
05:48a prime target for enemy fire.
05:52I don't think any of us had any idea what to really expect.
05:55You know, they were estimating that 10% of the air refueling fleet
05:58was going to probably be shot down.
06:00So it was a little bit nerve-wracking.
06:04The crew faces Iraqi surface-to-air missiles
06:07and more than 700 enemy aircraft,
06:10including the dreaded Russian MiG-25.
06:14We had F-15s up there, F-16s,
06:16and their primary mission was air-to-air
06:18looking for enemy airplanes to come
06:21and possibly try to attack an American airplane.
06:23To be flying any sort of an airplane in a war zone is surreal.
06:30I don't care how much you prepared for it.
06:32The ability to think in a volatile environment
06:35and to stay very calm
06:36is absolutely a requirement of the job.
06:410-5's level.
06:42Whale 0-5 reaches cruising altitude.
06:49As they get closer to enemy territory,
06:52the pilots reduce radio contacts to avoid detection.
06:57The only other plane in sight
06:59is another American KC-135
07:02flying ahead in the same flight corridor.
07:06Heading 0-8-8.
07:08The crew will keep this course for 45 minutes
07:18until they rendezvous with the AWACS plane.
07:23That was our time to maybe relax a little bit.
07:26Nothing really kind of happening
07:27except cruising at that point.
07:29So I always, you know,
07:30used to take the opportunity
07:31to go ahead and make my dinner.
07:35Stucky reviews his mission brief.
07:38Which involves delivering 125,000 pounds of fuel.
07:43There's times when desert air is very stable
07:46and it's like you're flying on glass.
07:49But while I'm working on the paperwork,
07:51I felt a little bounce.
07:56Solanders feels an abnormal movement in the yoke.
08:01The autopilot was on,
08:02but I saw the yoke deflect
08:03about 30, 35 degrees to the left
08:06and it was shaking just a little bit.
08:08Which is very odd.
08:10And just about the time
08:11I put my hands on the yoke
08:12thinking I was going to punch the autopilot off,
08:15it came back to neutral.
08:17Well, it's some anomaly.
08:19Moments later,
08:20things go very wrong.
08:32I got it.
08:32It takes just a second
08:35for the plane to roll 110 degrees to the left.
08:39What the heck is happening?
08:40The first thing to think about is fly the jet.
08:44The second thing is what the devil just happened.
08:48We really had no idea what was going on to the aircraft.
08:51I thought perhaps a missile had hit us.
08:55Did we get hit?
08:57Because it was violent.
08:58I can't tell.
08:59I'd been flying for probably 10 years at that point
09:02and been on a lot of missions,
09:04but never experienced anything like that.
09:06The crew can't tell if there's some kind of malfunction
09:12or if they're under attack.
09:15We're going to lose her.
09:18We've got to get her level.
09:20Just as it seems the plane
09:21is in an unrecoverable left bank,
09:23it snaps hard to the right.
09:26The airplane literally flipped.
09:28This is clearly unusual.
09:30It's beyond the capability of the airplane to do that.
09:34I mean, we're just totally out of control.
09:36We were going 110 degrees of bank in both directions.
09:39In the galley, Stucky is in trouble.
09:42I didn't know what was going on.
09:44It seemed like I would get to my feet
09:45and then I'd fall down again.
09:47It wasn't good.
09:49Now, there's too much stress.
09:52The airplane is very resilient,
09:54but it isn't resilient enough
09:55to overcome the stresses that would be put on it
09:58if you rolled it in the wrong direction
09:59and tried to get out of a high-speed dive.
10:02If the aircraft banks much further,
10:04it will be impossible to recover.
10:07If we didn't get this under control
10:09and out of these wild gyrations very quickly,
10:12this airplane was going to come apart.
10:14And then we're just history.
10:20The pilots of Whale 05
10:22are facing a crisis over the Saudi Arabian desert.
10:28The plane is rolling violently.
10:31It's no good.
10:32It's no good.
10:32We're losing it.
10:34I have got to focus on what I'm doing
10:36and I don't have any time
10:37for any extraneous thinking.
10:41Just when all seems lost,
10:43Major Sweeney plays a hunch.
10:45Speed brake.
10:46Speed brakes are devices on airplane wings
10:50designed to increase drag during descent and landing.
10:55Sweeney deploys the speed brakes on both wings,
10:58hoping it will level the airplane.
11:02What happens is,
11:03when the speed brakes come out,
11:05it gives you more roll capability
11:07that is manually at your command
11:08and less capability for the airplane
11:10to go off and do something on its own aerodynamically.
11:13It's a procedure Sweeney remembers from his training.
11:19It works.
11:21I remember leveling out.
11:23I was just amazed that the airplane was still flying.
11:26And, you know, everybody's still there.
11:29Incredibly, the pilots have managed to level the plane.
11:32But they're not out of trouble yet.
11:35All right, I have lateral control,
11:37but we're losing altitude.
11:42We've got firelights on engines one and two.
11:45The pilots discover a problem with the two left engines.
11:49Jay and I looked at the engine instruments
11:50and they are all over the place.
11:53These engine instruments make no sense.
11:55Both engines on the left wing have firelights on.
11:59And why that would happen to both of them at the same time
12:01is also going through your head.
12:03The plane is fully loaded with fuel.
12:06Steve, how bad are the fires on engines one and two?
12:10Checking.
12:11If there's a fire in the engines,
12:13it could lead to disaster.
12:15Oh, my God.
12:21The only thing I could see was pouring sheet metal
12:23on the wing where the engines were
12:25and fuel being vented over the top of the wing.
12:30They're not on fire.
12:32They're gone.
12:33No fire?
12:36Affirmative.
12:37No fire.
12:38The engines are gone.
12:42Roger.
12:43There was a moment
12:45where that sentence
12:47didn't make a lot of sense to us.
12:49Wait a minute.
12:50They're gone.
12:52It takes just a moment for your mind
12:54to catch up to that
12:56because now you've got
12:57really important pieces of the airplane
12:59not there.
13:02Even with no fire,
13:04the crew faces another urgent problem.
13:07We really got to get some fuel off here.
13:09Let's start dumping.
13:10Jay, you fly.
13:12Don't fight it.
13:13I have the aircraft.
13:16The two remaining engines
13:18can't provide enough power
13:19to keep the heavy aircraft airborne.
13:23We had no time to relax,
13:24but I knew that we were in serious trouble
13:26and we had to come up
13:27with a lot of different procedures
13:29to keep us in the air.
13:31Close.
13:32Open.
13:33Dump.
13:34Pump.
13:36Okay.
13:37Close.
13:39Open.
13:39The fuel dump checklist
13:41is one of many emergency procedures
13:43embedded in Sweeney's brain.
13:46He conducts it from memory.
13:50Sweeney starts shedding fuel.
13:52We had to get lighter
13:55so this baby would start to fly.
13:57Jay and I could kind of start to feel
13:59at 16,000 feet
14:00like she could start flying again.
14:02Okay.
14:07I got the airplane.
14:12Holding steady at 16,000.
14:14By dumping 50 tons of fuel,
14:17Sweeney has succeeded
14:19in stopping their descent.
14:21Good.
14:22You got a hotly fuel dump?
14:23Even though the plane
14:26is maintaining its altitude,
14:28there's no guarantee
14:29it can make a safe landing.
14:32Go get the parachutes and helmets.
14:34If anything else goes wrong,
14:36we'll need to bail.
14:38Roger.
14:40Ditching over the desert
14:42at night
14:43is a terrifying option.
14:45But there may be no choice.
14:49No air crew wants to bail out,
14:51but I've got to get my crew back safely.
14:54That's my job,
14:55is to get my air crew back safely.
14:57The final methodology
14:59is to get everybody to jump out,
15:01but you may lose a crew member or two
15:02just in that process.
15:03So this is not a decision
15:05to be taken lightly.
15:10Greg, you get on the radio with AWACS.
15:12Call in the Mayday.
15:14Roger.
15:15Looking for help,
15:16the crew contacts
15:17their rendezvous aircraft
15:18to advise them of the situation.
15:21It became apparent pretty quickly
15:22that we weren't going to be able
15:23to complete our mission.
15:25Mayday, mayday, mayday.
15:26This is Whale 05.
15:28We've got an in-flight upset
15:29and number one and two engines
15:30have departed the aircraft.
15:34I say again,
15:35mayday, mayday, mayday.
15:39There's no response.
15:41It's no good.
15:42I think our high-frequency radio is down.
15:45It should have worked,
15:46but it didn't.
15:48We couldn't reach anybody.
15:49Alone,
15:51with no radio contact,
15:53the crew will have to find
15:54their own way back to Jeddah.
15:56We like our radios,
15:58especially when something goes wrong,
16:00but they're not going to provide
16:01necessarily a hook
16:02to come out of the sky
16:03and save you.
16:04You've got to do that for yourself,
16:06including getting back
16:06to an airfield.
16:09Greg,
16:10are your nav instruments working?
16:12Yes,
16:13INS is functional,
16:14radar is still up.
16:16Well, give me a heading back
16:16to Jeddah.
16:202-4-0?
16:2155 minutes,
16:22that's a long time to fly.
16:24Copy.
16:26Jay,
16:26take us to 2-4-0.
16:28The crew relies
16:29on the navigator's skills
16:31to find a safe route back.
16:33It was just under an hour
16:35to get back to Jeddah.
16:36It just seemed like
16:37an awfully long time
16:38to be in an airplane
16:39that you were very unsure of.
16:42Your airplane.
16:42My airplane.
16:44With great effort,
16:46Sweeney and Salander's
16:47wrestle to keep the plane
16:48on course to Jeddah.
16:50Without the weight and drag
16:52of the left engines,
16:53the plane wants to bank right.
16:56The ailerons and elevators
16:58in a KC-135
16:59are not hydraulic.
17:00And so I have to fight her back
17:01to keep those wings level.
17:05But even if they make it back,
17:07there's no guarantee
17:08they can land the plane.
17:09We have to do
17:12a controllability check.
17:14The crew must test
17:16their flaps and ailerons.
17:18Coming back to idle.
17:19The flight controls
17:20used to stabilize
17:21the plane on landing.
17:23A big airplane inherently
17:25has an ability to be landed
17:26if you can keep it under control.
17:29So the question is,
17:30are we safe to go ahead
17:31and try to land this airplane
17:33with what we've got?
17:34If we're going to do
17:36a controllability check
17:37and Jeddah and I determine
17:39that she's not flyable,
17:41we're going to have to bail out.
17:49All right, Jeddah,
17:49I want you to slowly
17:50bring them down.
17:52Roger that.
17:53Flying a severely damaged plane
17:55near enemy territory,
17:57the crew of Whale-05
17:59carefully check
18:00that the control surfaces
18:01on their plane
18:02are safe for landing.
18:04There's a moment
18:05right before you begin
18:06the check
18:07that you don't obviously
18:08know exactly
18:08what's going to happen.
18:10If the flaps are damaged,
18:12Flaps 10.
18:13it could cause an imbalance
18:14and make the plane
18:15impossible to control.
18:17We didn't know
18:18if the flaps
18:19would come down symmetrically.
18:20We didn't know
18:20if they'd come down at all.
18:21Nice and easy.
18:24We're going to start
18:25milking the flaps down
18:26and we see if we can
18:27maintain control
18:28of the airplane.
18:29Jay is an integral part of this,
18:31so he's going to slide
18:31the flaps down
18:32to like 30 degrees
18:33and be watching me
18:34and watching everything.
18:36Flaps 30.
18:38I'm going to do
18:39a small turn left
18:40and right.
18:41If I start to lose it,
18:43I'll say up
18:43and you slam them back up.
18:49You're a test pilot
18:50at this particular point
18:51in time
18:51and you don't want
18:52to be testing
18:53on the actual approach
18:54because there can be
18:56no recovery
18:56if you've made
18:57the wrong move.
18:57I can land
19:05this airplane.
19:08Okay,
19:08bring the flaps
19:09back up to zero.
19:12We're going to go home.
19:14It was a big deal
19:15because at that point
19:16we thought
19:16we could actually
19:17land the airplane.
19:19The pilots now know
19:21they can slow down
19:22the plane enough
19:23to get it on the ground,
19:24but they need
19:25to get it
19:26to a runway first.
19:28130 miles to Jetta.
19:29We might be in range now.
19:32Jetta Whale 05,
19:34how copy on Victor?
19:36They attempt
19:37to contact
19:37the controller
19:38for assistance.
19:40Whale 05, Jetta.
19:41You're out and clear.
19:42Go ahead.
19:43Ah.
19:44Yes, sir.
19:45This is Whale 05,
19:47inbound to Jetta,
19:49declaring an emergency.
19:51Engines 1 and 2
19:52are out.
19:52Whale 05,
19:55see soles on board
19:55and fuel remaining.
19:57We have four soles
19:58on board.
20:00Currently
20:0155,000 pounds of gas.
20:03Roger.
20:04We are preparing
20:05the airport
20:05for your arrival now.
20:0705, thank you, sir.
20:10With the airport
20:11on standby,
20:12the crew begins
20:13its landing preparations.
20:16Let's look at
20:16two engines
20:17and operative landing.
20:20One of the things
20:21that I always loved
20:21about Air Force
20:22flying was our
20:23operations manual
20:24covered literally
20:25everything.
20:26Every procedure
20:27that you could
20:27possibly think of
20:28in an emergency
20:29and including,
20:30in this case,
20:30the loss of two
20:31engines on the airplane.
20:33One step
20:34will pose a big challenge.
20:37Allow time
20:38for manual landing
20:39gear extension.
20:40When you lose
20:40two engines like that,
20:41it affects
20:42a lot of the hydraulics
20:44as well.
20:45We lost the left side
20:46hydraulics,
20:47which means the gear
20:48have to be lowered
20:48manually.
20:49without hydraulic
20:51power to lower
20:52the landing gear,
20:53Stucky will have
20:54to do it manually.
20:56It's a complicated task.
20:58It's a real
20:58emergency situation,
21:00and you have to do
21:02each step
21:02in the checklist right.
21:04All right,
21:05we need to lower
21:06by final descent.
21:07Can you do it?
21:09Yes, sir.
21:10I'll get him down.
21:11It's a procedure
21:12he's only done
21:13in training.
21:13I'm allowing him
21:16to do a stellar job
21:16of getting the landing
21:17gear down.
21:18This is a tight mission.
21:20One more thing.
21:22Sweeney has
21:23an important realization.
21:25We've got to pull
21:26the anti-skid
21:26or we lose
21:27our brake pressure.
21:28Steve,
21:29it should be
21:29on the TR bus
21:30two behind you.
21:32There's only enough
21:34hydraulic pressure left
21:35to apply the brakes
21:36once.
21:37Sweeney decides
21:38to disengage
21:38the anti-skid
21:39braking system.
21:40The anti-skid system,
21:42which is similar
21:43to the automatic
21:44braking system
21:45on today's
21:46Martyr and cars,
21:47that don't allow
21:48you to lock up
21:48the brakes.
21:49They'll release,
21:49brake, release,
21:50and brake,
21:50and that's what
21:52that anti-skid system is.
21:54Got the anti-skid.
21:56Confirmed.
21:58Confirmed.
22:00Disengaging the system
22:01will ensure
22:02that the remaining
22:03hydraulic pressure
22:04is used to keep
22:06the brakes applied.
22:08If I pull that
22:09circuit breaker
22:09and just put the
22:10brakes on once
22:11and hold them,
22:12I'm going to have
22:13full braking power.
22:15Without the anti-skid,
22:16you're going to blow
22:16a few tires,
22:17but that's not going
22:18to take you
22:19off the runway,
22:20and it is going
22:20to be a safe methodology
22:22of bringing this
22:23airplane back
22:23to the surface.
22:2650 miles.
22:27The crew is ready
22:29to begin the final
22:30approach.
22:31Steve,
22:31get into position.
22:33Roger.
22:33Roger.
22:40The longer
22:41they struggle
22:41with the controls,
22:42the more tired
22:43the pilots become.
22:46Jay,
22:46it's your turn.
22:47I'll take comms.
22:49Okay,
22:50I got the airplane.
22:51Your airplane.
22:53Sweeney takes
22:54one last break
22:55to save his strength
22:56for landing.
22:5710 to approach
23:00whale 05.
23:02Whale 05,
23:03go ahead,
23:03sir.
23:0410 to approach
23:0505.
23:05We have the city
23:06in sight.
23:07We're going to fly in
23:07south of your field
23:08from the east here
23:09and come into runway
23:103-4 left.
23:12No other traffic
23:13for the airport
23:13at this time.
23:15It's all yours.
23:17All righty,
23:17we'll use it
23:18and we'll get
23:18out of your way
23:18shortly.
23:19Sweeney briefs
23:21the team
23:22on his plan
23:23for the approach.
23:24Okay,
23:24we're going to start
23:25high and fast,
23:26210 knots.
23:28Jay,
23:28you start
23:28just slowly.
23:30Don't drop the flaps
23:31unless everything's
23:32looking good.
23:33Any questions?
23:36No questions.
23:38Okay,
23:38Steve,
23:38drop the nose gear.
23:40Stand your nose gear.
23:43Whale 05
23:44is less than
23:44eight minutes
23:45from landing.
23:48Nose gear
23:48down and locked.
23:51Roger is showing
23:51down.
23:53Seating to right
23:54and left main gear.
23:56Throughout the flight
23:57it seemed like
23:57we just continually
23:58had these dragons
24:00come over the hill
24:01and the last one
24:01is this landing gear.
24:04Once we put
24:04the landing gear
24:05down,
24:05we're going down.
24:06We're committed
24:06to land.
24:07We don't get a go-run
24:08because we're not
24:08going to have enough
24:09thrust put on two engines.
24:11With all three
24:12landing gear down,
24:14the crew of Whale 05
24:15now has no option
24:16but to try landing
24:18the severely damaged
24:19plane.
24:20Six miles,
24:21speed 210.
24:23Flaps 20.
24:25Minutes from
24:26touching down,
24:27all their skill
24:27and planning
24:28is about to be tested.
24:30I mean,
24:31it was very important
24:32that each one of us
24:32clearly knew
24:34what we're going to do.
24:35We're going to have
24:36one shot at it.
24:41Minimums.
24:42Runway in sight.
24:43With two engines
24:45missing,
24:46Whale 05
24:47is about to attempt
24:48a landing
24:48at King Abdulaziz
24:50Airport.
24:51Runway in sight.
24:53It was one of his
24:54best approaches
24:55probably ever.
24:56He was on center line,
24:58he was exactly
24:58on glide slope.
25:00100 feet.
25:02Coming back to idle.
25:05Flaps 50.
25:10Flaps 50.
25:11Looking real good.
25:1550.
25:1640.
25:1830.
25:1920.
25:26Reverse thrust center line.
25:28Major Sweeney
25:28begins to deploy
25:29the reverse thrust
25:30on the inboard
25:31right engine
25:32to help slow
25:33the plane.
25:34But it has
25:35an unintended outcome.
25:37As soon as he did that,
25:39the left wing
25:39started to rise.
25:41The powerless
25:42left wing
25:42is lifting.
25:43The right wing
25:44could scrape
25:45the runway
25:45and cause the plane
25:46to cartwheel.
25:49Nothing out.
25:50Nothing out.
25:51And I remember
25:52thinking,
25:52I'm not going to lose it
25:53now,
25:53and slammed it down.
25:55Without the braking
25:56action from full
25:57reverse thrust,
25:58the plane is quickly
25:59running out of runway.
26:01He immediately
26:02put it back down,
26:03and we relied
26:04on the brakes.
26:05Brakes!
26:07Jay was going
26:08to put his brakes
26:09on too,
26:10and we were going
26:10to blow a couple
26:11of tires.
26:21The crew
26:22of Whale 05
26:24is safely
26:24on the ground.
26:28We did it.
26:30I think we blew
26:31three or four tires
26:32before it was over
26:33because of the lack
26:33of anti-skid,
26:34but extraordinary job
26:35really under
26:36the circumstances.
26:39Yeah, in a sense
26:40that, oh my God,
26:40we managed to get
26:42back here
26:42and live through this.
26:43Who would have
26:44thought that?
26:46There was that one
26:46moment when you
26:47actually stop moving
26:48and feel like
26:49we've made it,
26:50and I think we
26:51enjoyed that
26:51for maybe a second
26:53and then got out
26:53of the airplane.
26:54whoo!
26:54Who?
26:55Whoo!
26:57I remember looking
27:07back at the wing
27:08and oof,
27:09that was just a shock.
27:12I mean,
27:12they're gone,
27:13and there's big holes
27:14in the wing
27:15and parts hanging out
27:16and...
27:17Wow!
27:20Within a day,
27:21the U.S. Air Force
27:22launches an investigation.
27:25Lieutenant Colonel
27:26Ike Stokes
27:27is the lead investigator.
27:30The fleet of KC-135s
27:32is indispensable
27:33to the war effort.
27:36Did the plane malfunction?
27:38Did it come
27:39under enemy fire?
27:40There was truly
27:42more external pressure
27:44than I've experienced
27:45in the past
27:46because they're flying
27:4890 to 100 missions
27:49out of Jeddah
27:50on a daily basis,
27:52so it's very critical
27:54to the entire operation
27:56of the war
27:57to really figure out
27:58what happened.
28:03I'm hard to believe
28:05both engines are gone.
28:08You're gathering
28:09the information.
28:10You're analyzing
28:11the information.
28:12It was just a wonderment
28:14to see something like this.
28:18Stokes checks
28:19for scorch marks
28:20and residue
28:20from explosives.
28:23One thing investigators
28:24always consider
28:25was this intentional.
28:28Did someone shoot
28:29at the plane?
28:31If this was
28:32an enemy missile,
28:33it could mean
28:34the threat from Iraq
28:35is escalating,
28:36putting the entire
28:37refueling fleet
28:38and the outcome
28:39of the war
28:40at risk.
28:42Let's face it,
28:43we're fighting a war,
28:44we have a critical asset.
28:47These are combat
28:48air refueling missions,
28:49so if the fighters
28:50and bombers
28:51do not get the fuel,
28:53they can't complete
28:54the mission.
28:55But evidence
28:56of enemy fire
28:57is not what Stokes finds.
28:59There's no scorch marks
29:00or explosive residue.
29:03There's no evidence
29:05of an enemy attack.
29:08These engines
29:09were ripped right off.
29:12Stokes wonders
29:12what kind of force
29:14tore off the plane's
29:15left engines.
29:16One of the things
29:17that we really wanted
29:18to do
29:19was to find the engines.
29:21But at the time,
29:23we had no idea
29:25as to where
29:26to exactly look.
29:28We're going to need
29:29those missing engines.
29:30Although the navigator
29:32did record
29:33where the mishap occurred,
29:35those engines
29:36could be spread
29:37over quite an area
29:38of desert.
29:45Fortunately,
29:46a group of Bedouins
29:47discovered the engines
29:49and reported the find.
29:51They said,
29:52what do you want us
29:53to do with them?
29:54And we immediately said,
29:55get a truck,
29:56flatbed,
29:57and a crane
29:58and go out to the desert
29:59and let's get
30:00the engines recovered.
30:03Accident investigation
30:03can do incredible things
30:05by piecing together
30:07from very small bits
30:08of evidence
30:08what happened.
30:10But it's so much easier
30:11when you can actually
30:12go out and get these things
30:13and thank goodness
30:14they were able
30:14to find them
30:15in the desert.
30:17Nice work.
30:19A big thing
30:21that helped us out
30:21in the investigation
30:22was getting the engines
30:24back to the location.
30:27Stokes notices
30:27something unusual.
30:31Can I find it like this?
30:34One of the thrust reversers
30:35is partially deployed.
30:37Of course,
30:38we need to explain
30:39or understand
30:40why that was open.
30:43Thrust reversers
30:44change the direction
30:45of exhaust air
30:46flowing from the back
30:47of the engine
30:47to slow the plane down.
30:51The idea
30:52that the thrust reverser
30:53could come open
30:54in flight
30:55at cruise speed
30:56of over 80%
30:57of the speed of sound
30:58is a very important
30:59consideration
30:59because that could create
31:01an upset situation.
31:04Did the thrust reverser
31:05deploy mid-flight
31:06and cause the engines
31:08to rip off the plane?
31:09This control cable
31:11snapped.
31:14But in looking at it,
31:15you could see
31:16how the cables
31:17that operated
31:18the thrust reverser
31:19ripped out
31:20as the engine
31:21was departing
31:22from the airplane.
31:24There's nothing wrong
31:24with the engines.
31:27Deployment
31:27of the thrust reversers
31:28didn't rip
31:29the engines
31:30off the plane.
31:31See what the crew
31:32has to say.
31:33Investigator Ike Stokes
31:40wonders if the crew
31:41can shed some light
31:42on why a KC-135
31:44lost two engines
31:45mid-flight.
31:47Okay.
31:50So tell me
31:51what happened
31:51when the event started?
31:53Knowing in this case
31:55that we had a crew
31:56that survived the mishap,
31:58it was invaluable
31:59because you really
32:01do need
32:01the initial inputs
32:03of what those
32:04crew members
32:05experienced
32:05to put the whole
32:06story together.
32:08Well, the yoke
32:09moved for a second
32:10and it corrected itself.
32:13Then out of nowhere
32:14it cranked itself left.
32:17Now, what point
32:18in the flight
32:18was this?
32:19Oh, shortly
32:20after reaching
32:21cruising altitude
32:22and another KC-135
32:24passed us.
32:26Wait, so another
32:27plane was passing you?
32:28It was on the same
32:30flight path
32:31but it had further
32:31to go
32:32so we let it
32:33pass through.
32:36It felt like
32:37we hit heavy turbulence.
32:40It's a significant clue.
32:43How far away
32:44was the other aircraft
32:44when it passed your plane?
32:46Oh, I'd say
32:47a quarter of a mile,
32:49half a mile
32:49to the left of us.
32:53Heavy aircraft
32:54leave powerful
32:55wake turbulence
32:56behind them
32:56when they fly.
32:59Stokes wonders
32:59if Sweeney's plane
33:01was close enough
33:01to get caught
33:02in the other
33:03KC-135's wake.
33:05We're talking
33:06about very strong
33:07circular wind
33:09coming off
33:10of this airplane wing
33:12and it can cause
33:14the upset
33:14of another airplane
33:16regardless of its size
33:17if it hits it
33:18just right.
33:20And how far away
33:21was the other plane
33:22when the turbulence
33:22started?
33:23Well, they were at least
33:25two miles ahead of us.
33:27If this was indeed
33:29wake turbulence,
33:30investigators wonder
33:31why only the left
33:32engines were affected.
33:35Thank you, Major.
33:37Thank you, sir.
33:42An examination
33:43of the right engines
33:45might help to reveal
33:46what happened.
33:46right engine bolts.
33:51Each KC-135 engine
33:53is attached to the wing
33:55with three large bolts.
33:56These four
34:00are completely severed.
34:02Stokes discovers
34:03that two bolts
34:04on each right engine
34:05were sheared in half.
34:07How did those engines
34:08stay attached?
34:10They were one bolt
34:11away from actually
34:13losing the engines
34:14off of the right wing
34:16which would have made them
34:17nothing more than
34:18a high-speed glider.
34:18with wake turbulence
34:25looking more and more
34:26a likely cause.
34:28The whale 05
34:29is at 25,000 feet.
34:33Investigators compile
34:34the critical data
34:35needed to calculate
34:37the forces that
34:38whale 05
34:39may have passed through.
34:41Whale 2-0
34:42is at 25,500 feet.
34:44That's everything.
34:50But they need help
34:51from the plane's
34:52manufacturer
34:53to analyze the data.
34:55Let's talk to Boeing.
34:57Understanding how
34:58the two airplanes
34:59affected their separation
35:00gave us the data
35:01necessary to talk
35:03with the engineers
35:05at Boeing.
35:14Wow, the left-wing
35:16G-forces
35:17were 2.88.
35:23That exceeded
35:24the structural capability
35:26of the pylons
35:27and so they separated
35:28from the airplane.
35:30And the right wing
35:312.61.
35:36Let's see what
35:37that looks like.
35:44The extreme lateral
35:45G-forces
35:46on the left side
35:47of the plane
35:47were enough
35:48to tear the left
35:49engines off.
35:51But not quite strong
35:52enough to rip them
35:53off the right side.
35:580.14 more G's
36:00on the right side.
36:02This plane would have
36:03been nothing more
36:04but a massive glider.
36:07They were very,
36:08very close to coming off.
36:09The G-force loading
36:10was just not enough
36:12to sling them
36:13off of the airplane.
36:15It was said
36:15that we had
36:16one more gyration
36:17and we might have
36:18been a high-speed
36:19heavyweight glider
36:20but we made it.
36:24This leaves investigators
36:25with one burning question.
36:28These guys
36:28train for lead changes.
36:33Why did this mission
36:34go sideways?
36:40US Air Force
36:41investigator Ike Stokes
36:42tries to understand
36:43how wake turbulence
36:44nearly destroyed
36:45a gigantic tanker aircraft.
36:48Separation between
36:48the two planes
36:49by the book.
36:56That's it.
36:59The wind was 85 knots
37:01from the west.
37:03The wind was blowing
37:04enough at altitude
37:06to push the wing-cut vortices
37:08from the preceding airplane
37:09into the flight path.
37:10into the flight path
37:10of the mishap aircraft.
37:13I mean,
37:13they accounted for everything.
37:16They were foiled
37:17by the direction
37:17of the wind.
37:19Perfect storm.
37:21But Stokes
37:22still doesn't know
37:23how this perfect storm
37:25ever got a chance
37:26to form.
37:28When you're taking off
37:30between 90 to 100 airplanes
37:33on a daily basis,
37:35the arrival and departure
37:36from the base
37:37is very critical.
37:39And in this particular case,
37:41the mishap aircraft
37:42was parked in such a way
37:44that it had to go first
37:45and be followed
37:46by the second airplane,
37:48the one that had further to go.
37:50The solution
37:52that they came up with
37:53was a perfectly
37:54responsible solution
37:55and that was
37:56we're going to take off
37:57individually
37:57and then you're going
37:59to pass me.
38:01Had the number two plane
38:03been parked
38:03to the left
38:05of the mishap airplane,
38:06the mishap
38:06never would have occurred.
38:09Investigators finally understand
38:11what happened
38:11to Whale-05.
38:140-5's level.
38:16On a wartime mission
38:17over the Saudi Arabian desert,
38:19two KC-135s
38:21switch position
38:22mid-flight.
38:25Altitude hold.
38:26On.
38:27Altitude hold.
38:28Check.
38:31The wake turbulence
38:33generated by the passing plane
38:34is blown into the path
38:36of Whale-05.
38:39It creates a tremendous force
38:41that flips the plane
38:42so violently.
38:44G-forces rip both engines
38:46off the left wing.
38:49Often heard flying
38:50described as
38:51hours and hours
38:52of sheer boredom
38:53followed by moments
38:55of stark raving terror.
38:57In this case,
38:57the crew experienced
38:58that stark raving terror.
39:00There's too much threat.
39:03The oscillations
39:04almost push
39:05the right engines
39:06and the aircraft
39:07beyond the point
39:08of recovery.
39:09Speed break.
39:10But with the quick thinking
39:12of a seasoned
39:13wartime commander,
39:15the plane levels off.
39:18Coming back
39:19to level flight
39:19was a true feat
39:20of airmanship.
39:22Greg,
39:22are your nav instruments
39:23working?
39:25Yes,
39:26INS is functional,
39:27radar is still up.
39:28Well,
39:28give me a heading
39:29back to Jeddah.
39:31The coordination
39:32of a well-trained crew
39:34nose gear down
39:35and locked.
39:36Runway in sight.
39:38Brings whale 05
39:39back home safely.
39:41Aircraft commander
39:42was an excellent airman,
39:44but the fact is
39:45he had every brain
39:46in that airplane
39:47working in tandem
39:48with him
39:49side by side
39:50to make sure
39:50they didn't miss anything.
39:52Brakes!
39:55I was very fortunate
39:56to fly one of the best crews
39:57in the Air Force
39:58in my humble opinion.
39:59and they did their job
40:01in a critical situation
40:03and it wasn't just me
40:05getting back
40:06to the airplane,
40:07it was the team
40:08got back to the airplane.
40:10We did it.
40:12Whether it's
40:12a refueling plane
40:13in wartime
40:14or a routine
40:16domestic flight
40:17in a 747,
40:18the importance
40:19of teamwork
40:20can never be overstated.
40:22Why this crew
40:23succeeded
40:24is because
40:25they were
40:25thoroughly imbued
40:26with the idea
40:27that they had
40:27to talk to each other
40:28seamlessly
40:29and all of them
40:30put their minds
40:31to the task
40:31of what are
40:32the proper procedures,
40:33what are we facing,
40:35what do we need to do
40:36and that I think
40:37is still one of the
40:38many lessons
40:38that comes out of this.
40:42Kevin and I
40:42have gone through this
40:43numerous times
40:44over barbecue and beer
40:46and tried to figure out
40:47is there anything
40:48we could have done better?
40:49Are there steps
40:50that we missed?
40:51And we're pretty satisfied
40:52that as a crew
40:53we took the actions
40:55that needed to be taken
40:55when they needed
40:56to be taken
40:56and probably wouldn't
40:58change a thing.
40:59The crew's handling
41:01of the crisis
41:02earned them each
41:03the distinguished
41:04flying cross
41:05for heroism
41:06or extraordinary achievement
41:08while participating
41:09in aerial flight.
41:11It's like a purple heart
41:12almost.
41:12You don't want it
41:13because you're in a situation
41:14you probably don't want
41:15to be in
41:15but we're very thankful
41:17very, very happy
41:19with that.
41:21The Air Force
41:22trains you
41:23that every day
41:24is not going to be
41:25a perfect day
41:27there's going to be
41:29a day
41:29that you're going to get
41:30in the bucket
41:31and when that day comes
41:33if you've done
41:35your homework
41:35you'll be good enough
41:37to make it
41:38and I think the Air Force
41:39does an outstanding job
41:40of this.
41:42Amazingly
41:43the same KC-135
41:45went on to fly
41:46for another 13 years.
41:49I do remember
41:49seeing the airplane
41:50sitting over by itself
41:51thinking
41:52you know
41:53that'll never fly again
41:54and as it turns out
41:56Boeing came out
41:56put a laser on it
41:57and said it was still straight
41:58it hadn't been bent
42:00it was repaired
42:00flown back from Jetta
42:02and flew a number of missions
42:03and it soldiered on
42:04for quite a while.