I chanced upon this show the other day on the Discovery channel and I'm sorry to say that it's pure fiction.
It all starts well enough with an opening sequence in which the viewer is introduced to the pilot and the airborne reporter and then walked through the accident footage all the way to the dramatic scene where the two emerge from the wreckage. But from there onward it willfully and cynically departs from the truth. Carefully edited out from the video, and omitted in the commentary, is the fact that there were
three people on board, not two.
This is not some minor bit of trivia. It's not like the producers innocently failed to mention his presence for the benefit of cinematographic efficiency. The mysterious 'third man' was in fact another pilot, riding along in the backseat as part of a new-hire orientation. He was left out purposely because his story contradicts the show's narrative of airborne heroics in the face of a crippling mechanical failure.
The truth, as contained in the NTSB report, is much more mundane, more sobering, and less satisfactory than the fairytale presented here. There was a malfunction, to be sure. The hydraulic belt was installed inside-out and broke as a consequence. But the failure was all human: an incorrect response to a 'HYD FAIL' warning light and horn.
I'm not here to cast aspersions. Every year, in the simulator, I always make at least one mistake (and usually several) when performing emergency checklist items. On the few occasions that I've had a real emergency, I was able afterwards to identify areas where I could have done better. It's
okay to make mistakes, even ones that lead to an accident. What is important is that we are honest about what happened and that we all treat it as a learning experience.
http://dms.ntsb.gov/aviation/Acciden...2012120000.pdf
http://dms.ntsb.gov/aviation/Acciden...2012120000.pdf