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As technology improves minimizing mechanical problems, pilot error emerges as the cause of two out of every three crashes. BLAMING THE PILOT examines the conditions and the personality types that may contribute to pilot error.
Whether you are a fearless frequent flyer or someone who would never step onto a plane, you will be fascinated by this amazing investigation into air travel.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Survival In The Sky" -- Episode #1 -- "Blaming The Pilot",
By David Von Pein (Mooresville, Indiana; USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Survival in the Sky: Blaming the Pilot [VHS] (VHS Tape)
The Learning Channel (TLC) produced a four-part series of documentary programs in 1996 called "Survival In The Sky", centering attention on various commercial aviation accidents. The series was released on home video in early 2000 in a 4-Tape VHS boxed set. That now-hard-to-find set is a prized part of my video collection.The four outstanding hour-long "Survival" programs are expertly narrated by Will Lyman and offer up plenty of archival video and film footage of the plane crashes being discussed, along with expert commentary throughout the four-part series from crash-site investigators and some of the people who actually lived through the accidents themselves. This first episode in the "Survival In The Sky" mini-series is subtitled "Blaming The Pilot", and takes a look at four aviation accidents that occurred between the years 1972 and 1996. Here's a brief rundown of the accidents covered on this video: 1.) The program's brief first chapter involves the crash of Birgenair Flight 301 on February 6, 1996, a Boeing 757 which stalled after taking off from the Dominican Republic. The plane plunged into the sea, where it still remains, with 189 bodies inside. ------------------------- 2.) June 18, 1972 -- A British European Airways Trident jetliner (Flight #548) crashed shortly after takeoff from London's Heathrow Airport. This "pilot's error" accident was due to the airplane's front flaps (or slats) not being in the proper position during the entire takeoff period, causing the aircraft to stall and fall out of the sky. It was later learned that the BEA pilot (Captain Key) had probably suffered a heart attack during the critical moments when the Trident was lifting off, and had possibly retracted the flaps too soon, thus causing the plane to crash. 118 people were killed in the accident. ------------------------- 3.) March 27, 1977 -- The day when the worst loss-of-life aviation accident in world history (to date) took place. It happened in the Canary Islands in Spain when two Boeing 747 jumbo jets (belonging to Pan Am and KLM-Royal Dutch Airlines) collided on a runway at Los Rodeos Airport in Tenerife in thick fog. 583 people died. Only 61 persons got out alive. One of those 61 survivors was the co-pilot of the Pan Am jet, Bob Bragg, who was interviewed for this TLC program and gives this chapter an added chilling quality because of his first-hand account of seeing the KLM plane headed toward him back in '77. The Tenerife segment of "Survival" is positively riveting, with a computer simulation being used to trace the movements of the KLM and Pan Am Jumbos. It was determined that the cause of the devastating double-747 crash was a combination of pilot error and miscommunication with air traffic control. The KLM Captain was eager to get his plane in the air after a lengthy delay on the ground at Tenerife (due to a bomb threat at a nearby airport). The KLM aircraft did not have authorization to start its takeoff roll, but it did so anyway, without being aware that the Pan Am 747 was on the runway at the same time (temporarily using the runway itself as a taxiway). The fog was so thick, however, that the KLM pilots did not see the Pan American jet until it was too late. KLM tried desperately to lift off the runway to avoid a collision with Pan Am (possibly even before full "Vr" rotation speed was reached), and the nose came off the ground....but the fuselage and undercarriage of the KLM jet slammed into Pan Am, causing a massive explosion of jet fuel. The Pan Am pilots (including Bragg), in disbelief, saw the oncoming lights of the KLM jet as it barrelled toward them, with Pan Am trying to vacate the runway quickly...but failing to do so in time. In what seems absolutely incredible to me, there were still pieces of airplane wreckage covering the ground at Tenerife's airport almost two decades after the KLM/Pan Am crash had taken place. Some of that wreckage was picked up by Bob Bragg and shown on camera during this documentary. For the trivia-minded, the Pan Am 747 that was written off on 3/27/77 was the exact same airplane (N736PA; "Clipper Victor") which inaugurated Boeing 747 passenger service in January 1970. ------------------------- 4.) This section of the program details the loss of Air Inter Flight 148 (an Airbus A320) on January 20, 1992, in France. A faulty auto-pilot switch resulted in the twin-engined A320 slamming into a mountainside, killing 87 of the 96 persons aboard the airplane. The Air Inter chapter leads into the topic of the Airbus A320's computer flaws, which were first noticed (tragically) when a brand-new Air France A320 crashed into trees off of the end of a runway during an air show in France on June 26, 1988. Fortunately, only three people were fatally wounded in that crash. ------------------------- If this program had been made a few years later, another tragic accident that could have been inserted into this "Blaming The Pilot" documentary is the crash of Singapore Airlines Flight 006 in Taipei, Taiwan, on October 31st, 2000, when a Boeing 747-400 (painted in Singapore Airlines' gorgeous "Tropical Megatop" colors) tried to take off on a closed runway and crashed into various construction vehicles that were on the runway. 83 of the 179 people on board the 747 perished in that accident. ------------------------- The last words spoken by narrator Will Lyman in this program are worth sharing (especially if you know someone who is scared to death to board a commercial airplane): "One comforting thought -- if you boarded a jet at random every single day, it would be 26,000 years (on average) before you were involved in a major crash. And even then, the odds are you'd survive." ------------------------- SURVIVAL IN THE SKY -- PART 1 -- BLAMING THE PILOT: VHS Running Time: 51 minutes. Tape Speed: Standard (SP). Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 (Color). Audio: Hi-Fi Stereo.
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