A Southern Airlines flight take off from Huntsville in 1977, en route Atlanta. The pilots are warned of moderate storms at Atlanta, and their own report from Southern Airlines claims the airport is usable.
It's a short hop from Huntsville to Atlanta and the pilots are experienced, but the airplane runs into the center of a severe storm, the engines are damaged by hailstones the size of baseballs and they cut out. The pilots are advised that they are too far from the nearest airport so they land on a rural highway and crash. The pilots are killed but some passengers and the flight attendants survive.
An investigation reveals that the pilots made moves that were the opposite of what they should have done, but their responsibility is mitigated by the fact that they were misled by their instruments and by the reports from Atlanta. The onboard radar was inefficient, leading them to believe there was a clear path through the storm when in fact the indicated path was the densest area. There were similar inadequacies in Atlanta's radar.
Both engines cut out in the middle of the hailstorm and the program is exemplary in detailing to the most naive viewer the way in which hailstones and the actions of the pilot combined to damage the engines irreparably so they couldn't be restarted in flight.
This episode is a bit more sentimental than most. There is a long sequence of a church service. The survivors get together once every ten years at a little church in a small town while the list of the dead is read off.
Corrective measures are now in place, both aboard aircraft and at airports.
It's a short hop from Huntsville to Atlanta and the pilots are experienced, but the airplane runs into the center of a severe storm, the engines are damaged by hailstones the size of baseballs and they cut out. The pilots are advised that they are too far from the nearest airport so they land on a rural highway and crash. The pilots are killed but some passengers and the flight attendants survive.
An investigation reveals that the pilots made moves that were the opposite of what they should have done, but their responsibility is mitigated by the fact that they were misled by their instruments and by the reports from Atlanta. The onboard radar was inefficient, leading them to believe there was a clear path through the storm when in fact the indicated path was the densest area. There were similar inadequacies in Atlanta's radar.
Both engines cut out in the middle of the hailstorm and the program is exemplary in detailing to the most naive viewer the way in which hailstones and the actions of the pilot combined to damage the engines irreparably so they couldn't be restarted in flight.
This episode is a bit more sentimental than most. There is a long sequence of a church service. The survivors get together once every ten years at a little church in a small town while the list of the dead is read off.
Corrective measures are now in place, both aboard aircraft and at airports.
