Mayday Air Crash Investigation - S10 E01 - Cockpit Failure
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00:01Zurich Airport, November 2001.
00:05Crossair Flight 3597 is one of the few planes left to land.
00:10The commander was flying out of Zurich for the last 20 years,
00:15so he was really used in his airport.
00:18The lone controller in the tower tracks the approach.
00:21Approach runway 28 for you.
00:24I have ground contact. We're continuing on.
00:27Crossair 3597, continue speed reduction to final approach speed.
00:31But for some reason, the crew can't find the runway.
00:34Damn. He said he saw the runway 1.3 miles.
00:38And the flight ends in disaster.
00:44Crossair 3597, this is Zurich Tower. Do you copy?
00:47We have a possible emergency in approach...
00:49He collided with the hill, so obviously he was too low.
00:52A terrible mistake sent a passenger jet dangerously off course,
00:56killing 24 people.
00:58The clues will lead investigators to a trained professional
01:01with an astonishing past.
01:09Made it! Made it!
01:10Made it!
01:11Made it!
01:12Made it!
01:14Crossair Flight 3597 is cruising at 27,000 feet above
01:43Germany as the autopilot flies the plane the crew begins reviewing procedures
01:50for their landing according to the report the apron and taxiways are wet
01:55breaking actions not specified so the friction report is missing indeed that
02:01usually means they've been out to check lately indeed
02:13it's the last flight of the day on this busy European route the 660-kilometer
02:23journey from Berlin south to Zurich takes only an hour and a half there are many
02:28empty seats on board a group of 21 passengers never showed up for the flight
02:36internet entrepreneur Peter Hogenkamp is returning from a business trip in Germany
02:41with his partner Jacqueline Badran on that day we wanted to take the train but we
02:47had to be in Zurich for that opening ceremony of that trade show so we said
02:53okay so we need to go by plane got to get some sleep it had been a very busy day so
03:00we were very tired when we arrived at the airport among the passengers is the girl
03:06band passion fruit Germany's answer to the spice girls they're on their way to
03:12perform the last show of a concert tour I was shocked when suddenly all the
03:18passion fruits all the three of them are coming over and they were sitting right in
03:21front of us just what I needed flight 3597 is an Avro 146 airliner it's a British made jet popular with regional airlines like Crossair
03:36captain Hans Ulrich Lutz is in command he's been with the airline for more than 22 years having served as a pilot and as an instructor
03:47so tell me about the runway and the conditions overcast with light snowfall visibility three
03:55first officer Stefan Lehrer is a newcomer to the airline he's had his pilot's license for
04:00just a year and a half he was hired by Crossair right out of flight school
04:05the passion fruits were being quite noisy they were excited I think they went from one gig to the
04:18other so they were still in their stage clothes I said oh my god do I really need this can I just sleep
04:25we decided to move back a few rows and and change the side where we were sitting so we
04:38were in a very quiet area then
04:46Crossair 3597 clear to flight level 160
04:50the flight is slightly behind schedule it's due to land in Zurich in less than half an hour
04:56according to the latest information we'll be using runway 14 what kind of approach ILS okay an ILS or
05:10instrument landing system approach means the pilots will be guided to the runway by radio signals beamed from
05:16the airport and a decision altitude of 1602 feet call me a hundred above minimums okay I'll call 100 above minimums
05:27the plane's sophisticated computers will do most of the work getting them down
05:33at Zurich Airport the weather is getting worse it's snowing and visibility is dropping Crossair 3191 turn left
05:44heading 150 in the tower controllers have started a nightly routine a supervisor sends out a message
05:53notifying crews that runway 14 is being taken out of service because of a controversial new law
06:00planes landing on runway 14 must fly over Germany on their approach but people in Germany have long
06:10complained about the noise because of the political issue airplanes had to fly over Switzerland in their
06:20final descent to the airport of Zurich for noise reasons there was no other operational or weather reasons
06:33whatsoever it was purely political Switzerland has agreed to shut down runway 14 after 10 p.m. to keep
06:42landing planes out of German airspace and use runway 28 instead the crew hasn't received this information yet but
06:54first officer Lara is familiar with the new rule should I ask if it's still runway 14
07:01it's almost 10 o'clock yes I'm pretty sure it's still 14
07:10sirk approach crosshair 3597 please confirm the approach in use is the ILS 14 crosshair 3597 you're identified it
07:24will be a v o r d m e approach runway 28 for you hell next okay fine unlike runway
07:4014 with its sophisticated instrument landing system runway 28 is not equipped for ILS landings
07:46instead it has a less accurate navigational system it's called v o r d m e a radio beacon sends
07:57information to an aircraft about its distance from the runway and whether it's left or right of it it
08:02provides no guidance on the plane's altitude
08:04pilots would rather not make v o r approaches because they place a greater workload on the flight crew
08:12he would always prefer an ILS approach because he gets guidance on the approach slope and he can
08:23also use his autopilot to guide him down literally on ground to the runway because of its less precise
08:31technology runway 28 was rarely used for landings before the new noise law okay then rebriefing for
08:43runway 28 that would be chart 13-2 now captain lutz abandons the ILS approach he was planning and prepares
08:53his first officer for the new non-precision approach are you familiar with the 28 approach yes I've done
09:01it a couple of times the crew goes over every detail of how they will approach Zurich Airport
09:08there are only a few planes left to land tonight including flight 3597 and two other cross-air flights
09:24just ahead of it as the aircraft approach the runway controllers need to keep them apart
09:31cross-air 3597 reduce speed to 180 or less speed 180 or less cross-air 3597
09:41captain lutz makes the final turn to line his jet up with the runway 160 knots
09:49the plane is now in the thick of the heavy weather surrounding Zurich
09:56at the airport the second last cross-air flight touches down on runway 28 now with only flight 3597 to land
10:08the supervisor decides to head home early the controller handling the aircraft is the only controller left in
10:17the tower cross-air 3597 continue speed reduction to final approach speed
10:26sir tower this is cross-air 3891 she gets a report from the plane that just landed visibility approaching 28
10:35was borderline we could only see the runway from 1.3 miles out but captain lutz knows Zurich Airport well
10:42he continues towards the runway gear down the plane begins the final stage of its approach
10:50cabin crew prepare for landing
10:53captain lutz begins slowing the jet and puts it into a steep descent
11:02six miles check yes flaps three three flaps three three selected final check final check confirmed three greens
11:25is checked 116 knots the descent gets even steeper
11:36full flaps set checked flight 3597 is about three minutes from the runway
11:48captain lutz expects it to come into view any second now
11:56uh 100 above do we have ground contact
12:03yes
12:07passengers prepare themselves for landing
12:15we were pretty close to the airport so uh you think okay this is going smoothly but it was dark and it was snowing so we couldn't see anything
12:26in the tower the controller monitors the flight to make sure it's lined up with the runway
12:33across air 3597 cleared to land runway 28
12:37two four the minimum two four the flight has hit decision height
12:482400 feet above sea level 1000 feet above the ground near Zurich
12:53decision height is the minimum uh height you can descend before you need to decide whether you can see the runway and continue the approach visually or you have to make a decision to go around
13:10I have ground contact we're continuing on
13:21Captain Lutz still can't see the runway lights but knows that the flight ahead of him had the same problem
13:26damn he said he saw the runway 1.3 miles
13:30they should almost be on top of the runway by now but for some reason they still can't see it
13:36make a go around
13:38cross air 3597
13:41the crew decides to abort the landing
13:44go around go around
13:46and pushes the plane to its limits in an effort to get it to climb
13:51Captain Lutz throttles up his plane's four jet engines as he aborts his landing at Zurich airport
13:59but it's too late
14:05there's not enough time for the engines to get to full power and clear a tree-covered hill suddenly looming dead ahead
14:13residents of a nearby village witness flight 3597's final moments
14:20I was walking down with my dog
14:24all of a sudden I saw that aircraft coming from behind the forest the little hill and
14:30I thought oh it's very it's very low and it's not on the same route as
14:35aircrafts normally are coming to land at the airport of Zurich the jet clips the treetops
14:42suddenly it was it was shaking very hard what's happening something is wrong
14:54moments later the aircraft plunges into the hillside
15:07cross air 3597 this is Zurich tower do you copy cross air 3597 this is Zurich tower do you copy
15:22all of a sudden the whole sky in the west was getting really orange like a big fire like an explosion
15:31the impact tears the aircraft apart the wings broke off and the fuel is in the wings so the flames really sort of shot inside the plane
15:44cross air 3597 this is Zurich tower do you copy
15:53this is Zurich tower we have a possible emergency in approach sector east I repeat approach sector east
16:03cross air flight 3597 has crashed near the village of bassesdorf northeast of Zurich
16:14some people have survived the accident including peter hogen camp and jacqueline badran
16:22I don't have any any memory of how we really walked out because the the bag was cut off and and we were just able to to walk out there
16:34one member of passion fruit also survives but her two bandmates seated just one row ahead of her have been killed
16:42I thought you know when they give you these instructions in the beginning when you get on the plane
16:50how come they never tell you how far you have to run away from a burning plane because they never tell you
16:56get away from here so we thought I don't know a hundred meters
17:02within minutes emergency workers get to the crash site
17:0924 of the 33 people on board flight 3597 are dead including captain lutz and first officer Stefan Lehrer
17:28Daniel connect an investigator from Switzerland's aircraft accident investigation bureau arrives at the scene
17:41I got the call from our rescue service about half past 10 in the evening half an hour later I was on the accident site
17:50the rear part of the fuselage was quite intact it was also the the region where most of the survivors step out without injury
17:59for peter hogen camp and his partner it appears that moving to the rear of the plane saved their lives
18:07I think it was just good luck I think it would have been a whole different story if we wouldn't have changed seats
18:14so the passion fruit may have saved their lives while rescuers care for the survivors
18:23connect and his team survey the crash site
18:29the location of the wreckage far from the airport is of interest to the investigators
18:35four kilometers and 50 meters from the runway
18:38the aircraft was not where he was intended to be
18:42he collided with a hill east of runway 28 so obviously he was too low
18:48and the first question was why was this aircraft too low
18:54the black box flight recorders are found in the wreckage
18:57they're in good condition
19:10investigators are well aware that this is the worst aviation disaster on Swiss territory in over a decade
19:16they're under pressure to find answers fast
19:21while work continues at the crash a command post is established nearby
19:28John Overnay heads the Swiss investigation bureau
19:36he takes charge of the crosshair file
19:38the public was very anxious about this crash
19:43the media were raising many questions so we naturally had to open a more in-depth investigation
19:48the accident happened at the end of a long day for Captain Lutz
19:55but given his background investigators must consider other causes
20:00we knew that the captain was very experienced
20:03he had about 17,000 flight hours during his whole career
20:08flight instructor flight examiner within the company for more than 20 years
20:13the flight recorders are sent to a lab in Paris to extract their data
20:20at the same time investigators have begun retrieving fragments of wreckage from the crash site
20:26they look for telltale signs of trouble
20:30the position of switches is very important
20:33also if you have some indication panels for example with bulbs in it
20:37you can after a crash you can analyze the different wires in the bulbs and then you can determine which for example indications or even warnings were active at the moment of the impact
20:54an investigator comes across an intriguing piece of wreckage
21:01oil gauges provide information about the oil flowing to the planes for turbofan engines
21:07curiously one of them is installed upside down
21:13this raised a lot of questions for us and for the media
21:19everyone wanted to know how you could fly a plane with an instrument installed upside down
21:24it wasn't a very important instrument
21:28you could still read it even if it was installed upside down
21:31but if this obvious problem was never fixed
21:36what else could be wrong with the plane
21:38obviously there were maintenance issues here
21:43we looked at how the company was doing the maintenance of the planes
21:47while this review is being launched investigators study the plane's engines to determine if they were running at the time of the crash
21:59soil tree branches and other debris lodged inside the engines suggest they work
22:07we checked them out visually and we saw that the four engines were turning in the moment of the accident
22:16authorities need to be sure
22:19they will have to check their findings against data from the flight recorders
22:23in the meantime the location of the crash suggests something may have tragically misled the crew on their descent towards Zurich airport
22:33connect focuses on the flight charts they use to plan their approach
22:38is the problem with the approach or is the problem with the aircraft this kind of question was dominant when we started the investigation
22:48are you familiar with the 28 approach
22:55the approach chart provides pilots with directions to the runway
22:59details about radio frequencies as well as altitudes and speed for various stages of the landing
23:05when investigators study an approach chart like the one the crew used they make a shocking discovery
23:12the chart does not show the hill that the plane hit
23:17an approach chart is a very important thing because an indication which is not correct on this approach chart could mislead
23:24lead a crew and so easily make them do something wrong
23:30so tell me about the runway and the conditions
23:35uh... overcast with light snowfall
23:37a faulty chart would certainly have been a danger to a crew unfamiliar with Zurich airport
23:43but Lutz had flown in and out of Zurich countless times
23:47he and his first officer were both based in the city
23:50the commander was flying out of Zurich I think for the last 15 to 20 years
23:59so he was really used to this airport
24:02investigators conclude that the approach chart while faulty could have tripped up some crews but not this one
24:10some definitive news finally arrives
24:17the engine data from the black box confirms the observations of the crash site
24:23we could see quite easily that the engines worked absolutely normal
24:29another potential cause of the accident is eliminated from the list
24:34mechanical failure
24:37investigators now consider a different possibility
24:41I was covering the approach west position on the night of the accident
24:44could air traffic control have somehow mishandled the plane
24:48investigators study records from the night of the accident
24:52and make a disconcerting find
24:55Zurich airport's control tower was understaffed at the time of the accident
25:00he left before his shift ended
25:02the supervisor in the tower went home early
25:05leaving a lone controller to guide flight 3597 in for its landing
25:12she was relatively young and let's say she didn't have that much experience
25:18investigators now study transcripts of conversations between that air traffic controller and the flight crew
25:24looking for signs she made a mistake
25:27cross air 3597 you're identified
25:30cross air 3597
25:31cross air 3597
25:33speed 180
25:34or less
25:35cross air 3597
25:37cross air 3597
25:39clear to land
25:40they have no indication the controller gave the crew faulty instructions
25:43but they do come across the radio call by the pilot of the cross air flight that landed minutes earlier
25:47that pilot warned of poor conditions on the approach to runway 28
25:54she had options
26:03they wonder why the controller didn't shut the runway down
26:07because of poor visibility she could have reopened runway 14 in spite of the noise bylaw
26:14this would have allowed the crews to make an instrument approach
26:18but she didn't do that
26:20thank you cross air 3891
26:22have a good evening
26:24it would have been much easier to fly Alice approaches in this kind of weather regardless of this political issue
26:31it's suspected that without her supervisor present the controller lacked the experience to make such an important call
26:38is it clear to do
26:40so it's clear that to make the decision not to allow an approach on runway 28 and instead make it on runway 14 demanded a certain kind of confidence a certain kind of courage
26:51a certain determination
26:53however captain Lutz also heard the same warning
26:58we could only see the runway from 1.3 miles out
27:01gear down
27:02he kept going in spite of it
27:06investigators are now certain that the controller was in no way responsible
27:12the pilot can always say no
27:15he can always recheck the clearance
27:18if he thinks that landing is probably not possible
27:22he is free to reject an approach clearance and ask for a different one
27:27Jean Overnay can't understand why captain Lutz didn't do exactly that
27:32he should have known that he didn't have to make a non-precision approach in bad weather
27:37when we saw the mistake the pilot had made
27:42we immediately asked ourselves
27:44well how is it possible
27:46because for an experienced pilot who is an instructor
27:50this was a really basic mistake
27:52they have an error a bit basic
27:55Overnay is beginning to wonder if something in Lutz's long career is hiding clues about his behaviour on the night of the accident
28:03one by one investigators are ruling out the possible causes of the crash of Crossair Flight 3597
28:10they hope the answer lies in the cockpit voice recorder or CVR of the doomed jet
28:25after waiting many days for its data to be sent back from France
28:29they now pour over it carefully
28:32listening for any clues that might explain why the plane was flying so close to the ground so far from the airport
28:39authorities get more than they expected
28:45not only is the CVR complete
28:48but captain Lutz offers a running commentary on everything he does
28:52and on inbound track 275
28:57speed is checked
28:59flaps 18
29:00it's practically a road map to understanding what went on in the cockpit
29:05that's not usual that the pilot flying
29:10is talking so much about what he is doing or what he is seeing
29:15and for the investigation this helped a lot
29:19100 above
29:21Do we have ground contact?
29:23Yes
29:24Investigators learned that the crew of Flight 3597 was looking for the runway
29:29and believed it would soon come into view
29:31From the CVR we saw that the commander and also his co-pilot
29:38were not feeling some fear or feeling that something was not going as they planned
29:45but what they didn't know was that the plane was actually four miles shy of its target
29:50Damn, he said he saw the runway 1.3 miles
29:55300
29:56Captain Lutz obviously thought his jet was closer to the runway than it was
30:00Investigators consider the possibility he was misled by his distance measuring equipment or DME
30:07It's supposed to tell pilots how far they are from the airport
30:14The DME indication would have given this distance and then he would have detected immediately
30:22Damn!
30:23That he was below the approach pass
30:26Perhaps the DME from Flight 3597 was faulty
30:30It's been recovered from the wreckage but it's impossible to tell what information it gave the pilots
30:37However, there is another way to check whether the instrument was functioning or not
30:43The DME distance is not recorded on the FDR
30:47But on two occasions the pilots mentioned the distance
30:52Six miles is checked
30:55Yes
30:56But was Captain Lutz really six miles out from the runway when he made that report?
31:02Investigators compare the time Lutz checked his DME with radar data on the aircraft's location at that exact same time
31:10They can see that when Lutz's instruments were telling him he was six miles out
31:15That's precisely where he was
31:19So we knew that the pilots had an indication for the distance available at that time
31:26An instrument problem can now be crossed off the list as a factor in the crash
31:31Which only heightens the mystery
31:35I have ground contact, we're continuing on
31:38If the instrument was working, why did Lutz think he was closer to the runway than he actually was?
31:44The answer lies not in what investigators hear on the cockpit voice recorder
31:50But what they don't hear
31:52I don't see anything after six miles
31:55Do we have ground contact?
31:58Neither pilot read out a DME check after the six-mile reading
32:02Yes
32:03It tells investigators that Lutz wasn't monitoring his vital instrument during the final minutes of his approach
32:09Instead he was preoccupied with spotting the lights of the runway
32:15That's not what pilots are supposed to do
32:18The pilot flying is supposed to keep his eyes on the instruments
32:24Because all the information he needs is there
32:27He only switches to flying by sight when the non-flying pilot says
32:31Runway in sight
32:35Only then can the captain take his eyes off the instruments
32:38And fly by sight because the landing is performed visually
32:42If Lutz had checked his instruments, he would have known how far from the runway he actually was
32:54But how had he ended up such a long distance from it?
32:58400
32:59Confirmed three greens
33:00400
33:01Is checked
33:03116 knots
33:07Further analysis of the black box data reveals that Lutz put his plane into a steep descent
33:12As it began its final approach to Zurich airport
33:18But it's readily apparent his approach profile was out of sync with the trajectory laid out in his chart
33:27The approach profile for runway 28 calls for pilots to make a gradual and steady descent
33:33Which would bring them to 2400 feet after they've cleared the hills around Zurich
33:39Then pilots have to level off until they spot the runway
33:46When investigators compare the approach Lutz made with the approach profile he was supposed to follow
33:52They find that his overly steep descent brought him to 2400 feet well before he cleared the hills
33:59Then he continued to descend until he hit the ground
34:06It's beginning to look like Lutz had violated one of the cardinal rules of flying
34:13Aircraft making non-precision approaches are supposed to level off at minimum descent altitude or safe height
34:20Until they have the runway in view
34:26This safe height is intended to keep the aircraft above any potential hazards
34:35It's really a basic error
34:38Every pilot is trained to respect such minimums
34:41Not only with VOR DME approaches but also with ILS approaches
34:47But Captain Lutz kept his aircraft in a steep descent without even pausing at 2400 feet
34:54The logical next question for investigators
34:58Could he see the runway or not?
35:00I have ground contact, we're continuing on
35:01What does he mean by ground contact?
35:04They need to know if it was even possible for Lutz to see the runway when he reported ground contact
35:17They retrace his steps in a simulator programmed with the weather he was facing that night
35:23Six miles from runway, altitude 3300 feet
35:284.8 miles, 2400 feet
35:34Still no runway in sight
35:39No, he couldn't see the runway because there was a hill between him and the runway
35:44And at that altitude there's no way he could see it
35:47The conclusion? Captain Lutz had clearly violated his minimum descent altitude
35:55Whether there is flat terrain or hills, minimums are set accordingly
36:01And in no way you can just bust the minimums, whether there's hills or not
36:06This discovery raises questions not just about Lutz's actions, but his young first officers as well
36:122.4 at the minimum
36:152.4
36:17We're continuing on
36:19A first officer should not let his captain breach minimum descent altitudes
36:25The co-pilot could have said no, stop, we can't see the runway, we're not descending
36:32He considered his captain an old pilot with a lot of experience, not making any mistakes
36:42Most probably he was trusting him too much
36:45And also by being submissive
36:50Maybe he wouldn't speak up on time, just to keep harmony in the cockpit
36:55There were no mechanical failures or instrument problems with the plane
37:00Nor was the air traffic controller negligent in any way
37:06But it is now clear that Captain Lutz made a series of catastrophic piloting errors
37:12That doomed flight 3597 and claimed the lives of 24 people
37:21Investigators dig deeper into Captain Hans Ulrich Lutz's flying record
37:26To see if there's anything in his long background that could explain why he crashed flight 3597
37:31What they discover is truly alarming
37:36Lutz applied to flight school when he was 17 years old
37:40He was rejected three times because of his lack of education
37:44He finally got his license at the age of 20
37:48But continually failed exams to upgrade due to his inadequate comprehension of navigation systems
37:55Captain Lutz may have had a long career, but it was not a stellar one
37:59Years of flying and flying hours don't say anything about competence
38:08For some reason though, his record as a below average pilot
38:13Didn't prevent Crossair from hiring him in 1979
38:16There was a red line through his career
38:20Where several incidents happened before and he had missed several checks
38:26Well, he had some limits
38:32But what's hard to understand for me is that they were identified
38:37And the decision was made to keep him flying
38:43Captain Lutz's limited abilities continued in his new job
38:46While commanding a sightseeing tour of the Swiss Alps
38:53He made a navigation error and ended up in Italy
38:56He only realized his mistake when his passengers spotted road signs in Italian
39:01In another incident he wrecked a one and a half million dollar aircraft
39:08After inadvertently retracting the landing gear while the plane was still on the tarmac
39:14Lutz's failures forced Crossair to fire him as an instructor
39:19But they allowed him to continue flying passenger planes
39:27I personally do pilot assessments
39:30And he would never have gone through my assessment with a positive recommendation
39:36Okay, approach course, one, three...
39:41Investigators wonder why Crossair allowed Lutz to stay on as a pilot if he was not entirely competent
39:46The answer appears to be they may have had little choice
39:59Investigators' first glimpse into the problems at Crossair came after they found the upside-down gauge at the crash site
40:06We had to check if the employees had received the proper training
40:11If they had the qualifications required for this kind of work
40:14No glaring maintenance issues were found
40:19But a closer look at Crossair's hiring practices explains why Captain Lutz was allowed to keep flying
40:25The airline may have grown too fast throughout the 80s and 90s
40:29The company expanded very rapidly
40:35And with that success it's clear that you have to quickly increase the staff
40:38Office workers, mechanics, that's one thing
40:42But pilots, you have to go out and find them
40:45In those days they were desperate for pilots
40:51And somehow no decision was made to lay him off
40:55Because of his questionable performance during his career
40:58Captain Lutz's failings caught up with him on November the 24th, 2001
41:05Make a go around
41:07Go around
41:0924 people paid with their lives
41:14After the accident report was issued, sweeping changes were made
41:31Swiss aviation authorities had Crossair increase the number of employees overseeing pilots
41:36They also scrutinized other airlines to determine if there were other substandard performers like Lutz
41:47One thing is for sure that the selection process has improved considerably
41:54And of course awareness of people's performance during their career was increased considerably
42:05Crossair went out of existence in 2002
42:09It was folded into the Swiss national carrier
42:15As Crossair became Swiss, they adopted the previous Swiss air selection process
42:22And I can say today, which is already nine years since
42:30That safety has improved considerably
42:33And also quality of the pilots that are hired by companies like Swiss
42:46Since the crash of Flight 3597
42:48Zurich's runway 28 has been upgraded with both an instrument landing system
42:53And an automatic warning that alerts controllers when a plane's approach is too low
42:58There has never been another accident involving that runway
43:02But the Crossair tragedy, and the circumstances that spawned it, isn't an isolated case
43:09Regional airlines have boomed worldwide since the 1980s
43:13Particularly in the United States, where they account for half of all flights
43:18And carry 100 million passengers a year
43:21In the rush to fulfill consumer demand for cheap air travel
43:26These airlines often hire less experienced pilots
43:29And pay them far lower salaries than their counterparts at major carriers
43:33Some even neglect to test their pilots for basic skills
43:37There is no such thing as compulsory pilot assessment before they get hired
43:45Does not exist
43:48Colgan Air, in February of 2009
43:52One of its planes crashed in Buffalo, New York, killing 50 people
43:57The accident was blamed on the actions of an inexperienced crew
44:02An eerie reminder of the Crossair disaster
44:05It underlined the urgency of improving oversight of smaller carriers
44:11If you're making a product for a large company, you make a mistake, you may lose part of the market
44:22You may lose some clients
44:24But an airline company can lose a plane, its crew, and passengers
44:29The stakes are very different
44:30The stakes are very different
44:31The stakes are naturally aint the causes aint different