Air Emergency (2003–…): Season 3, Episode 11 - Ocean Landing - full transcript

A crippled airliner
falls towards the Indian Ocean.

It has no fuel,
no engine power at all.

Both engines are out. That's it!

The Captain struggles to do
what no-one has ever done before:

safely land a passenger jet
on the open ocean.

(ALL GASPING IN HORROR)

(COUGHING)

The Comoros Islands.

A remote holiday playground
in the Indian Ocean.

Days here are spent
playing in the sand

and splashing in the gentle waves.



But in late 1996, the peace
of the Comoros Islands is shattered.

A plane speeds towards the beach.

It's a passenger jet
hundreds of miles off course.

(BABY CRIES)

There has been no explosion,
no mechanical failure,

yet the jet is falling
out of the sky towards the ocean.

(ALL GASPING)

(COUGHING)

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961

is one a routine trip
from Addis Ababa to the Ivory Coast.

The Captain is Leul Abate. At 42,
he's an extremely experienced pilot.

7,300kg. Tank is zero...

He has more than 11,000 hours
of flying time to his credit.

Total fuel is 14,500kg.
Check.



Ethiopian Flight 961 will stop
briefly in Nairobi, Brazzaville

and Lagos before it reaches its
final destination of Abdijan.

The plane has just enough fuel
for the first leg of the trip.

It will get more in Nairobi.

Less fuel on board makes the plane
lighter, increasing efficiency.

Captain Leul Abate and his co-pilot,
Yonas Mekuria, expect their day's

work to be over in about 12 hours,
when they land in the Ivory Coast.

All clear.
'That day was a bright day.'

Clear skies, everything was fine.

The passengers on board 961
are a mix of Ethiopians

and travellers from other countries
flying for business and pleasure.

(BABY CRIES)

Michael Oddenyo, in economy class,

is a Kenyan businessman
on his way home to Nairobi.

I spent the whole of Friday
trying to get on that flight,

calling the airline each hour or so.

I remember Friday night, about 11pm,

I called them again and they said,
"look, just come to the airport

and we'll see if we can
find a seat for you." (LAUGHS)

So I sometimes feel
I put myself on that aircraft.

Near the front of the plane,
American Frank "Pancho" Huddle

is also getting settled in.
He's the US consul-general in Bombay.

My wife, Pom, and myself decided to
visit Africa and go on safari.

I wanted a daytime flight
because it was safer,

so I picked Ethiopian Airlines,
which had a good reputation.

It was one of the 2 carriers in all
of Africa that was FAA-certified.

A few rows ahead of them is Mo Amin,

a legendary news cameraman
and journalist.

He's a well-known personality,
especially in Ethiopia.

In 1984, Amin captured images
which shocked the world.

His pictures of the Ethiopian famine
prompted an outpouring of aid,

which helped pull Ethiopia back
from the brink of starvation.

Mo Amin was, I think,

the most famous news cameraman
of his time,

and also one of
the strangest of characters.

Amin is known for
never backing down in a fight.

He has stuck his nose,
and his camera,

into conflicts across Africa.

While filming in Ethiopia, he had
even lost an arm in a bomb blast.

Today he's returning home to Nairobi
after a brief business trip.

By the time all the passengers
are on board,

Flight 961 is carrying 175 people.

Not only is Captain Abate
used to this route,

he's also very comfortable
with this aircraft.

V1.

He and other members
of Ethiopian Airlines call it Zulu.

As the plane climbs into the sky,

three Ethiopian men
have settled into their seats.

All are in their mid-twenties.

The plane is bound for Nairobi,

But that's not where
these passengers are planning to go.

We took off. Everything was fine.

(PHONE RINGING)
Cabin crew called and asked if

wanted coffee or tea, whatever.

Yeah, thanks. Coffee? Make it two.

The plane is flying at 12,000m,

then the three young Ethiopians
make their move.

I heard a noise at the back.
Somebody shouting.

When I looked back,
he was running towards the front,

pushing the air hostesses away.

Ow!

There were two guys
zipping down the plane

yelling something incomprehensible,

then guys gliding down silently
came right behind him, and I said,

"uh-oh, it's a hijacking,
because they're coordinated."

We just looked at each other
and wondered what was going on.

People didn't say much immediately.

There was some kind of noise
in the cabin,

and I heard the cockpit door
slam open, bang!

Three men barge through the door

and arm themselves with the cockpit's
fire-axe and fire extinguisher.

Get out.

(PUNCH) Get out!

There was a little confusion
up in the front as if they were

attacking the pilots.

There were three guys shouting.

They came straight to the co-pilot
and started hitting him.

Get out!

There's 11 of us.
If you don't do what we say,

we'll blow this plane
out of the sky.

I told them, OK, don't hurt him.
I'll do whatever you want.

Passengers near the front
of the plane are concerned,

but have no idea what's going on.

Captain Leul Abate
is facing the hijackers alone.

Unlike most pilots, though, Abate has
experience in a situation like this.

He's been hijacked twice before.

The first hijack was a local flight.

Two hijackers who
had a hand-grenade...

came into the cockpit
and forced me to fly to Nairobi.

Abate's second hijacking
was just a few years later,

when he was piloting a 737.

Hijackers again

held the hostess hostage,

came into the cockpit
and told me it was hijack.

They wanted to fly to Sweden.

Nobody had been hurt or killed
in either of those incidents.

In both cases,
Captain Abate had landed safely.

The turbulent political situation
in the region means hijacking

is an unpleasant reality.

From 1990 to 1996,

ten Ethiopian Airlines planes
had been hijacked.

This time, though, the hijackers
make a very unusual request.

Fly to Australia. What?

Fly us to Australia!

We don't have enough fuel
to get to Australia - it's too far.

We could go to Nairobi or Zanzibar

or Dar es Salaam, then refuel,

then go to Australia.

In fact, the jet took off with just
three and a half hours' worth of
fuel.

But the hijackers don't know that.

They've been reading the in-flight
magazine which tells them

the maximum flying time of a 767.

Eleven hours. It won't take more
than ten hours to get to Australia.

We don't have ten hours of fu-
It says eleven hours!

We don't carry that much fuel.
We only carry what we need.

'They thought I was bluffing.'

They were convinced that that plane
was able to fly to Australia.

Abate is shocked.

No-one else on the plane knows
what the hijackers are demanding.

If he does what they say,
his plane will crash in the ocean.

If he doesn't, they say
they'll blow it out of the sky.

An Ethiopian Airlines jet has been
hijacked in the skies above Africa.

The hijackers want
to be flown to Australia.

It's a ten hour flight,
but the plane took off with

just three and a half hours of fuel.

The passengers have no idea
what the hijackers are demanding.

Words spreads of the hijacking,
but not of their destination.

It was as if nobody
wanted to rile the hijackers.

'Cause they hadn't hit people -
it wasn't Middle Eastern style

where they shoot somebody
in the head to make a point.

They were basically leaving
the passengers alone

provided we didn't do anything,
and that was enough for us.

This is how much fuel we have.
If we had fuel for 11 hours,

it would say 60,000kg.

We don't carry that much fuel.
We only carry what we need.

The hijackers seem to think
that Abate is bluffing.

We have a bomb!

Yes. If you don't do
what we tell you to,

we'll blow this plane
out of the sky.

Abate knows he's trapped.

If he fights the hijackers,
they may blow up his plane.

If he does what they want,
he'll run out of fuel.

My feeling tells me that
it's not a real bomb.

But there is no way
that I can challenge that.

One of them has a fire-axe.

That was good enough
to do serious damage.

If I am not alive, everybody's
not alive, that's it.

I wanna talk to the passengers.

After about half an hour,
the hijackers came on the PA system

and made an announcement
that they have taken over the plane,

(SPEAKS IN AMHARIC)

And if anybody tried anything,

they had one bomb
and they were gonna blow it up.

The announcement is made in
Amharic, French and English.

The policy then was we should
follow the hijackers' instructions.

That was before 9/11.

Every action taken is to be taken
on ground, not in flight.

Pilots are trained to fly,
not to fight.

For years, Clint van Zandt was
the FBI's chief hostage negotiator.

What made this hijacking so unique

is that the pilot in command

had been the victim
of two previous hijackings.

His success rate was 100%.

He probably had a predisposition to

"this will end like the other two -

I'll be able to get to the ground,
the authorities will deal with it."

But Captain Abate
knows this situation is different.

Instead of another destination
in Africa, the hijackers

want to go to Australia.

Abate knows that heading out into the
open ocean could be a death sentence.

He decides to get help.
I have to call Air Traffic Control.

Why? Because they'll be asking
why we're changing direction.

Tell them you've been hijacked
and tell them where we're going.

As the aircraft flies south,

Addis Ababa passes the Captain over
to Nairobi Air Traffic Control.

ETH 961. Confirm
you are going to land Australia.

We can't make Australia.
We only have two hours of fuel.

We cant make Australia.

We'll make a water landing.

ETH 961, confirm
you can't divert to Mombassa.

They refuse to land anywhere other
than Australia; we have no choice.

Except when we finish our fuel,
we'll land on water.

But with two hours of fuel,
you can't make Australia.

Why don't you land in Mombassa?

OK, just a minute.

Abate connects Air Traffic Control
to the cockpit's speakers.

OK, just wanted our hijackers to
hear what you are communicating.

OK. If you have anything to say,
go ahead and tell them. OK.

I'm advising you that,
with two hours of fuel,

you will be unable to reach your
destination and probably

you will have to land on the water.

There's one chance for you
to land in Mombassa.

Go ahead.

The hijackers of ETH 961,

if you have copied, go ahead.

Ready to talk - stand by.

You want to talk to them?

OK, they say
they don't want to talk.

They're not willing
to negotiate on any terms.

Confirm you are ready
to land in the ocean and drown.

Do you have another alternate
aerodrome? Please advise.

I have no alternate aerodrome.

Sir, I'm in a very tight corner...
Enough talk! We will NOT negotiate!

That's it! (GRUNTS IN FRUSTRATION)

They say, follow our instruction.

If you don't, we'll blow
the airplane up - that's it.

EFH 961, Nairobi Control,
do you read?

There would be no further
communications between the aircraft

and Air Traffic Control.

With only a fraction of the fuel
needed to get to Australia,

Abate decides to defy the hijackers.

Without their knowledge, he continues
South instead of East to Australia.

I started following the African
coastline, because in case anything

happens, we'll have a place
to ditch or land safely.

Because both of the cities
are by the coastline.

But with a glance out of the window,

the hijackers suddenly realise
they've been tricked.

I still see land! Turn the plane!

Now Captain Abate has no choice.

He turns his plane east,
over the open ocean.

As the ocean unfolds below him, the
Captain begins forming another plan.

I had no charts nearby, because
it was on the co-pilot's side.

So I had a small atlas.

I took that
and saw the Comoros Islands.

Nestled between the African continent
and the island of Madagascar

is their only hope:
the Comoros Islands.

A remote holiday playground
in the Indian Ocean.

I had no idea what that place was.

I never heard of the word Comoros
before. I just headed towards it.

It was a guess.

The Comoros Islands
are his last chance to land safely.

(ALARM SOUNDS) Suddenly,

an alarm breaks the tense
silence in the cockpit.

It's a warning that the plane has
less than 30 minutes of fuel left.

I need to tell the passengers.
There's no need.

You know what I'm gonna tell them?

It's out of my control -
the aircraft is gonna crash.

You wanna die?

We're gonna die anyway!
So, shall we kill you?

Please.

At least let us
attempt a controlled landing.

I will die along with him.

I will show him that I have guts.

It's finished.
We will die together.

With almost no fuel,
Abate decides to make his stand.

We came over the island,
and the fuel was running out.

I decided no, we should not go
any further than this,

and I started circling that area.

But how can he convince
the hijackers to let him land?

He'll have to find an answer soon, or
Flight 961 will crash into the sea.

They took whisky from the duty free.

They wanted me to drink,
actually, but I refused.

(BEEPING) Once again, alarms sound.

One engine is now completely
out of fuel. It's shutting down.

Captain Abate
is quickly running out of time.

With the airplane at 39,00ft
in cruise flight,

it is not gonna run out of gas
with each engine simultaneously.

There'll be a bit of a lag,
which in this case there was.

The right engine
stopped functioning first.

(ENGINE POWERING DOWN)

First thing I noticed,
the engines sound different.

Cause there's only
one engine running.

It had a much deeper sound.

Abate follows standard emergency
procedures. He starts the APU,

or Auxiliary Power Unit.

It's a generator that can
supply extra electrical power

when one engine is lost.

Most of the passengers don't know
how serious the situation is.

But Captain Abate knows
the plane is in grave danger.

I lost the engine at 39,000ft.

I cannot keep flying at 39,000ft
with engine failure.

With thrust from only one engine,
the aircraft immediately slows down.

At a lower speed, the wings
don't provide as much lift.

The plane continues to descend.

Even with only one engine,
and despite the drop in altitude,

the tiny Comoros Islands are still
within reach of the crippled
airliner.

There is an airport
at the capital, Moroni.

If he can convince the hijackers,
Abate could land there.

It's gone down a thousand.
When the engine stops, it descends.

It will descend
whether you like it or not.

Alone in the cockpit, Captain Abate
takes a dangerous chance.

He explains the situation
to everyone on board.

Ladies and gentlemen,
this is your pilot.

We have run out of fuel and we
are losing an engine at this time.

(ALL GASP)
We're going to make a crash landing.

When the pilot came onto the PA,

and said that he had no alternative
but to crash land,

that is when it dawned on us that
this was a life and death situation.

Captain Abate also
makes a desperate call for help.

We have already
lost one of the engines.

He wants the passengers
to overpower the hijackers

so he can land the plane.
I ask all passengers to react

to the hijackers. Thank you.

Captain Abate knows the call
for help is a huge risk.

I was expecting some movement in
the cabin, but I had to do my job.

I was doing what I had to do -
control the plane and fly it.

While Captain Abate waits for action,

the passengers are more confused
than ever.

He said, "react against the
hijackers." That's odd phraseology.

Nobody reacted. I think part of it
was the way he said it -

it was not the normal way in English

that you would ask someone
to take on the hijackers,

but he also trying to do it so they
wouldn't notice what he was saying.

At least one of the passengers
does understand.

As a news cameraman, Mo Amin has
never shied away from a challenge.

Amin makes his way to the economy
section in the rear of the plane.

Here was a man
who'd spent 20 or 30 years

in some of the most difficult and
dangerous warzones of the world -

who'd been beaten up,

shot at, jailed...

He was an kind of alpha male -

he could talk anybody into anything.

He went like he was going to the
bathroom, and then he came back

and started talking to people who
were three or four seats ahead of me

and from his gestures and actions

he was trying to get us to stand up
against the hijackers.

With your help, we can take them!
There's only three of them -

come on! Come on!

Not knowing what would happen, what
these people were capable of doing,

and of course the fact that they had
indicated that they would blow up

the plane if anybody tried anything.

In the end, the passengers
choose not to act.

Captain Abate is still alone
against the hijackers.

In the cockpit, the hijackers
try to take control

in a vain attempt
to keep the plane in the air.

It's descending. Don't worry.
I'm not the one who's doing that.

Inadvertently, one of the hijackers
disconnects the autopilot.

(ALARM SOUNDS)
The plane swerves wildly.

(SCREAMING)

(BABY CRIES)

Don't move that stick!
I'm not applying any motion!

The aircraft is doing it by itself!

He was trying to fly the airplane,
trying to disconnect the autopilot..

All sort of things.

It's all over.

We will drop in the ocean.

3-1?

Abate tries again to explain the
desperate situation to the hijackers.

Perhaps they will finally let him
land at the nearby airport.

This is zero,
and this is coming to zero.

I prayed to god, I wish
I wasn't in this situation.

Now I am in it,
but help me to save these people.

(ALARM SOUNDS)

Finally, the plane runs out of fuel.

(ALARM STOPS)

You're killing every- Sit down!

From now on, you can't do anything
to me. What?

From now on,
you can do nothing to me!

(ENGINE POWERING DOWN)

The other engine stopped,

and it sort of went quiet.

(WOMAN CRYING)

Then it started
to get hot in the cabin.

Lights started to flicker...

'and gradually...' (GASPING)
'...went out.'

That's it - both engines are out.

That's it! Is this what you wanted?

This $40million aircraft
has become a 100-ton glider.

The plane is out of fuel
and Abate is out of options.

A crash landing in the sea
is all but inevitable.

(ALARM SOUNDS)

The loss of engine power
starts rippling throughout the plane.

As well as driving the jet
through the skies,

the engines supply power to most of
the electrical and hydraulic systems.

Without the engines, the computer
screens, automatic pilot,

and many other functions stop.

Although the engines are now useless,

a low-tech back-up system allows
the pilot to retain some control.

The Ram Air Turbine, or RAT,

is the last line of defence
when all the engines fail.

A small trapdoor automatically opens

and a turbine,
a small propeller, pops out.

The rushing air turns the propeller
like a windmill,

generating just enough electric power
for basic flight instruments

and controls, including airspeed.

Since it was power off,

that means there was no
electrical or hydraulic power,

The controls were heavy.

The turbine doesn't provide enough
power for Abate to operate the flaps,

which would help slow the plane down
for landing.

Wherever he lands, Abate will have to
do so at a dangerously-high speed.

Power -off landing, power-off
ditching, nobody's trained in.

Flying over the water,
you need accurate instruments.

I didn't have any instruments.

Without engines, a large passenger
jet can glide 18 and a half km

for every thousand metres
of altitude it loses.

At 6,400m,

the Ethiopian Airlines plane
can travel for nearly 120km

before it hits the ground.

One of the things the Captain's
got to worry about now is,

with both engines shut down,
the plane's gonna go down.

It's just a matter of where,
and that's gonna be controlled

by the pilot flying.

It's an highly dangerous situation

few pilots in the world
have ever faced.

In 1983, another 767 pilot found
himself in a similar predicament.

Air Canada Flight 143 ran out of fuel

and landed on an abandoned air force
base, sustaining only minor damage.

In the right circumstances, a safe
landing without power is possible.

Captain Abate hopes to land at
the airport in the Comoros Islands.

But, struggling against the hijackers
on the final turn,

he loses his bearings and cannot
visually locate the runway.

I was near the airport...

so I was keeping it in my sight
all the time.

Then, through the struggle,
I lost my position.

I lost where I was.

In the critical seconds it takes
to find the airport again,

he loses too much altitude

and doesn't know
if he can get to a runway.

A water landing
is now his only option.

He knew he was gonna have to
ditch the airplane -

he was gonna have to put the plane
down in the water.

How he was gonna do that
was now a different plan,

because he'd never been trained
for it, not with two engines out.

Landing on the ocean
is even more dangerous

than bringing a plane down
on the ground.

If you're trying to crash-land
on the ground, the plane

has a surface to slide across.

That surface does not exist when
you're ditching the plane in water.

The plane is going to touch down
on the water and at some point

it's going to dig in to that water.

When that happens,
the plane's gonna stop instantly.

In trying to bring his plane down
safely, Abate faces unique
challenges.

Planes such as the DC-9
have flat bottoms,

which would skim the surface
of the ocean on landing,

slowing down more smoothly.

But the engines on Abate's 767
hang below the body.

They could act as enormous scoops,

grabbing hold of the water as the
rest of the plane ploughs ahead.

The force will tear the jet apart.

It's getting hotter and hotter,
so we started to sweat,

because I guess the air con was
not working, since there's no power.

That's when people started to scream

and panic,

looking for life jackets,

praying to Jesus, praying to Allah.

Some lades were asking people to go
and plead with the hijackers,

not realising that it wouldn't make
any difference now - we had no fuel

and that was it, we're going down.
At that time, hope is all you have.

(BABY CRIES)

We're descending pretty rapidly,
the plane is lurching wildly

a couple of times, they're fighting
up in the cockpit for the controls.

It's my responsibility.

The passengers must know
what's going on.

Descend and increase the speed.
It doesn't make any difference!

Please! We're going to die!

Please remain calm.

Prepare for an emergency landing.

Put on your life-jackets,
but do not inflate them.

Some passengers either don't hear
the Captain's instructions,

or decide to ignore them.
They inflate their life-jackets.

I heard a pop-pop-pop-pop-pop!
back in first class.

Everybody had panicked
and inflated their life jackets.

I actually got up on my seat

and told people not to inflate
their life jackets inside the plane.

At the front of the plane, Mo Amin
tries a last-ditch attempt

to negotiate with the hijackers.

No! Sit down!

Mo had a desire to dominate
every situation he was in.

In a situation like that, it would
be Mo talking to the hijackers.

He would be negotiating
with the hijackers.

He would be, I'm sure,

trying to get the other passengers
to face these guys down.

But Amin's efforts have no effect.

The hijackers are determined
to let the aircraft crash.

(COCKPIT DOOR OPENS)

Then, for the first time
since the hijacking began,

Captain Abate gets some help.

The controls! I need help!

They're too heavy!

We told the guys,
now we are on the last point.

You should sit down and fasten
your seatbelt. They refused.

I never thought
I would ditch in my lifetime.

I never thought
I would lose two engines

and ditch in the middle of an ocean.

I never thought anything
would happen like that in my life.

(BABY CRYING/PEOPLE SCREAMING)
The last few seconds I remember

looking out both sides of
the window. I could see water.

I took the crash-landing position.

All these things
go through your mind.

I guess, having been brought up
in a Christian family,

I said my last prayers,
and said "well, if there is heaven,"

I hope I get out
on the right side of things.

Outside the window,
you could see land

at the last minute, and we realised
we were near land but over water.

I used to love that plane.

We used to call it Zulu.

In my heart, I was talking to it.

I said, Zulu, you can make it.
You should be able to make it -

you know you can make it.
I was talking to it.

One the beach, tourists are stunned.

The horror of the cash is captured
on one of their video cameras.

The plane is flying at more than
370kmph when it his the water.

(ALL GASP)

First bump, very gentle, and I sort
of breathed a sigh of relief, wow.

Soon as we touched the water,
it was quite violent.

Then the second bump's like
a 30 mile an hour auto-accident.

I had a feeling the plane
was not going to hold.

The third bump, I said uh-oh,
I'm dead. And I blacked out.

(MALE TOURIST) Oh my God!
(FEMALE TOURIST) Oh, no!

The ditching was very rough.

The aircraft broke
into three pieces.

The cockpit broke off
and the tail end broke off,

so we started to go down.

there was water gushing in
from both sides.

Passengers who survive
the initial impact

struggle to escape
from the shattered wreckage.

(WOMAN GASPS FOR AIR)
As water pours in,

people who've already inflated
their life jackets become trapped.

The water pushed them
towards the ceiling of the plane.

(CRYING/COUGHING)

In that kind of panic, people do
all sorts of irrational things.

The life-jackets make it
very difficult to swim underwater.

Many passengers can't escape
the sinking cabin.

(PANICKED GASPING FOR BREATH)

The aircraft was full of water.

I have no fear of water - I've even
done competitive swimming in school.

I went for my seatbelt,
and I couldn't find the buckle.

So I moved my hand down to my knee,
found it, pulled it open

and pushed out.

And I looked
at the back of the aircraft.

I could see some light at the end

and decided to swim out
in that direction.

As I swam out, one of the passengers
trying to get out of the seat

grabbed my leg. I thought,

"my God, this could
cause me to drown!"

But I decided not to fight back,

and I pulled themselves out
and he let go of my leg,

and I continued to swim out
of the back of the aircraft

and swam to the surface.

I was exhausted - I felt very tired.

I looked up and said,
"OK, could this be heaven?"

'Cause I wasn't really sure
if I was alive or dead.

I was trying to tell the co-pilot
to get out.

Then he was not there.

Then I said, "OK,
it's about time for me to go out."

I woke up, I was floating in the
water, and I went, "hey, I'm alive!"

I looked for my wife who'd been
sitting on my right,

and she was gone. My heart sank.

Then I looked to my left,
and she was now on my left.

She'd swivelled around and swapped.

We were out floating on the ocean

and could see what looks like
an uninhabited cliff.

Might be a tropical island.
It's like a movie.

When I looked around me,
I could see all these people,

life-jackets and bits and pieces
of debris, broken seats...

floating bodies...

I saw things scattered around me.

The tail of the plane
far away from me.

I never expected something
like that would happen.

All I was expecting was to evacuate
the passengers safely and myself.

Abate swims to safety, but he has
no idea how successful he's been.

He doesn't know whether any of his
passengers have survived, or

what's happened to the hijackers.

After a four-hour struggle
with hijackers, Captain Leul Abate

crash-lands his passenger jet
in the Indian Ocean

near the Comoros Islands.

Oh my god!

His plane is shattered,

but his skill may have saved
the lives of many on board.

for those who survive the crash,

Abate's decision to ditch the plane
near the shore means that,

although the airliner breaks into
pieces, it doesn't sink very far.

Under here!

Luckily, the water was very shallow.
In some cases, people could get out.

Locals and tourists swarm out
to the downed aircraft.

A group of scuba-divers, who narrowly
missed being hit by the aircraft,

help with the rescue effort.
Here you go! Come on up!

In an amazing stroke of good luck,

some French doctors
are staying at the resort.

They offer
immediate medical assistance.

In the end, of the 175 people
on the plane, 50 survive.

Without the actions of Abate,
many more could have died.

Without power,
and unable to use his flaps,

Captain Abate lands at 370kmph,

over 100kmph above
the normal landing speed of a 767.

Once the Captain made the decision
that he had to ditch, the best thing

he could do was keep the plane
as close to land as possible.

Abate also tried to make the landing
as smooth as possible.

At the last moment,
he turned the jet,

hoping to land parallel to the waves
instead of crashing into them.

As soon as the plane hit the water,
it was ripped out of Abate's control.

The airplane touched down
left wing low, so the left wing

grabbed the water.

The 767's massive, low-slung engine
dug into the water,

spinning the plane around.

The plane would have wanted to turn
around that left wing, or cartwheel.

That's a lot of energy
to dissipate very quickly.

That's what caused
the break-up sequence -

the plane broke into
four or five pieces,

and that's what caused
a lot of the fatalities.

Panic may also have contributed
to the number of deaths.

Disregarding Abate's instructions,

many passengers inflated
their life-jackets.

The life vest wants to keep you
buoyant or drive you straight up,

and that can hamper or restrict your
ability to get out of your seat.

In some cases, people
were still strapped in their seat

when the plane sank
and they, sadly, drowned.

Mo Amin, who had tried to rally the
passengers against the hijackers,

was standing when the plane crashed.

He was probably thrown against
a bulkhead, dying instantly.

Mo had survived everything -
he had more than nine lives.

And the idea that he should be
on an ordinary standard flight

when the kind of news story
that he hadn't been assigned to

caught up with him,
and to be killed in this way,

has a kind of horrid irony about it.

The hijackers, who refused to sit for
the landing, also died in the crash.

In the days after the disaster, other
pieces of the puzzle became clearer.

Despite claims by the hijackers
that there were eleven of them,

in fact there were only three.

But who were these desperate men,
and what were their motives?

They were imprisoned,

jailed, persecuted
and tortured by the govt.

They didn't specify which govt,

at least as I understand it.

They had escaped from jail
and were gonna make history.

They said they had friends
in Australia and they wanted to

get united with them.

They wanted going to
a second country

where they get refugee status
and have better living.

Before 9/11, it was remarkably easy
for hijackers to access pilots.

If you don't do what we say, we'll
blow this plane out of the sky.

(ALARM SOUNDS)
Despite numerous hijackings

over the previous two decades,

most airlines made no attempt
to secure the cockpit.

Do you wanna die?
We're gonna die anyway!

So, shall we kill you?
The hijackers of Flight 561

were never linked to any terrorist
group or political organisation.

Whatever their reasons, their crime
demonstrated the great danger posed

by a hijacker who places no value
on his own life.

We will die together.

For years there were
people in security saying

"we have to strengthen
that cockpit door."

We have to be able to exclude anyone

from coming through that door

and getting control of the aircraft.

For whatever reason, whether the
airlines didn't want to spend money,

or they didn't see it as a threat,
it didn't happen.

After 9/11, every aircraft
now has done that -

that carries passengers and has
a capability of being hijacked.

Nothing is inevitable.
Nobody is immune to anything.

It could be one in a million,
but it can happen.

Both Captain Leul Abate
and his co-pilot, Yonas Mekuria

received many tributes
for their actions on Flight 961,

including
a Flight Safety Foundation award.

I said, it's good that I am alive.

And the world has understood
what I have gone through.

Despite their ordeal,
both Captain Abate

and his co-pilot Mekuria continue
to work for Ethiopian Airlines.

Subtitled by BSkyB.