ALYSSE_MORTON ALYSSE_ROSEWATER BOB_MACINTOSH CAPTAIN_SHAW DEPARTURE_CONTROL FA_PATRICIA_HODGES FA_VAN_SPURGEON FIREMAN HANK HANK_HUGHES INVESTIGATOR_HUGHES INVESTIGATOR_MACINTOSH LAX_CONTROLLER NARRATEUR PATRICIA_HODGES PETER_MCMAHON SCOTT_VAUGHAN VAN_SPURGEON VICKI_ROSEMEIER WINGS_WEST_5072_PILOT FA PATRICIA HODGES �Heads down. Stay down.� PATRICIA HODGES �It was so violent.� SCOTT VAUGHAN �My only thought was to get out of the plane.� HANK HUGHES �There�s no reason to believe that they all couldn't have evacuated.� INVESTIGATOR HUGHES �Good God.� HANK HUGHES �We found eleven victims located within just a few feet (meters) of the emergency exit.� INVESTIGATOR HUGHES �How did they get trapped here?� VICKI ROSEMEIER �Okay, Mom. Mom, we have to jump.� HANK HUGHES �In an emergency evacuation, every second counts.� FA PATRICIA HODGES �Leave your belongings. Come. This way.� PATRICIA HODGES �This was a nice flight. Everything went perfect. The service went perfect. The weather went great. There had been no problems.� FA PATRICIA HODGES �Seatbelt?� ALYSSE MORTON �I was seated near the front of the plane in Row four. I was seated in the middle seat, on the right-hand side of the plane.� ALYSSE MORTON �I had just graduated from college and was working my first job, and it was time for a break and I wanted to go out to California and visit my brother and explore L.A.� LAX CONTROLLER �USA 14-93, do you have the airport in sight?� CAPTAIN SHAW �Affirmative.� PATRICIA HODGES �Bag underneath please.� VICKI ROSEMEIER �I was a novice flier at the time. I had not flown much, um, and was nervous about the flight. My mother had never flown before so I was, you know, looking after her.� CAPTAIN SHAW �Confirm visual approach for USA 14-93 is two four left?� LAX CONTROLLER �That�s correct, USA 14-93.� LAX CONTROLLER �Two four six, are you still holding short of 47?� 246 PILOT �Affirmative.� LAX CONTROLLER �You�re next. SkyWest five six nine, taxi up to and hold short.� SCOTT VAUGHAN �It was a multi-city trip for work. It was a Friday night, and I just couldn't wait to get home. I was sitting in the back of the plane on row 19 on the aisle.� PATRICIA HODGES �Once all the passengers were secured, I went to my jump seat and buckled in and Van was beside of me. Van and I had gone through training together.� CAPTAIN SHAW �USAir 14-93 is for the left side, two four left.� LAX CONTROLLER �USAir 14-93, cleared to land runway two four left.� CAPTAIN SHAW �What the...?� VAN SPURGEON �We were in the middle of a big fireball.� VICKI ROSEMEIER �The plane wasn't stopping.� ALYSSE MORTON �I didn't realize what was happening.� PATRICIA HODGES �I could hear metal scraping. It was so violent.� SCOTT VAUGHAN �Smoke was infiltrating the plane very rapidly and the smell became overwhelming.� FA PATRICIA HODGES �Grab your ankles, heads down. Stay down.� SCOTT VAUGHAN �It was a surreal movie. Things were actually slowing down. It felt like a lifetime.� CAPTAIN SHAW �Oh, Jesus!� SCOTT VAUGHAN �The plane came to a halt and another fireball.� ALYSSE MORTON �It was a pretty dramatic stop and our bodies went flying forward. It was similar to being in a car crash.� LAX CONTROLLER �We�ve had a crash on runway two four left, a USAir 737.� PETER MCMAHON �The crash was called in and the goal is to mobilize quickly, arrive on scene and start deploying resources within three minutes, to create survivable conditions for those onboard.� ALYSSE MORTON �It was a very, very thick, black smoke, very sooty and difficult to see anything. It basically became like pitch black in the cabin.� VAN SPURGEON �My training kicked in and it all came right back to me. I didn't have to think what do I do next. When I got the door open and I saw that that slide was inflated, I had a sense of relief that we can get everybody out of this aircraft.� PATRICIA HODGES �Our evacuation drills are ingrained in us. We, we know them by heart. We don't just make them up.� FA PATRICIA HODGES �Come this way. Leave your belongings. Come, this way.� FA VAN SPURGEON �Go. Go. Jump, jump. Feet first, hands up. Go.� PETER MCMAHON �The response time was amazing. They started firefighting and rescue operations simultaneously.� PETER MCMAHON �The objective is to control ninety percent of that fire within the first minute of arrival to allow the best chance of survival for passengers and crew.� FA VAN SPURGEON �Jump. Feet first, hands up.� VAN SPURGEON �I had in the back of my mind the plane could explode at any second. But seeing those passengers, I just thought that�s one more, that�s another one, that�s another one, and I believe that is why I stayed on the aircraft.� ALYSSE MORTON �I don�t think I was thinking. I followed the person in front of me. I do remember the smoke being so thick that I was trying to get down, remembering a PSA from my childhood that smoke rises and you should try to get down in a fire. The line of people was moving slower than you�d like in an emergency.� VICKI ROSEMEIER �It was mass chaos.� VICKI ROSEMEIER �Mom. Come on! Come on!� VICKI ROSEMEIER �I remember helping my mother up. I remember turning around, noticing the door open and I�d seen light from that.� VICKI ROSEMEIER �Almost there. Mom? Mom! Mom!� VICKI ROSEMEIER �I was three or four feet (a meter) from the emergency exit. My mother was with me, I had a hold of her and just within an instant she was gone. I was not gonna leave without my mother.� VICKI ROSEMEIER �Mom!� SCOTT VAUGHAN �My only thought was to get out of the plane and I was in go mode.� SCOTT VAUGHAN �I knew there was an exit on the right side of the plane. The cabin�s filled with smoke, so it's very hard to see. The aisle was jammed with people, and so instinct took over, or fight or flight took over. I took an alternative route. I just started climbing across the seats. There were no people in those seats, and I was crawling across them and moving as fast as I could.� VICKI ROSEMEIER �Mom!� VICKI ROSEMEIER �She got knocked down �cause she turned around to get her purse, and pretty much resigned at that point, um, but she found the strength to get up and made her way to the door.� VICKI ROSEMEIER �All�s we could hear were people yelling at us to jump.� FIREMAN �Jump! Jump!� PETER MCMAHON �Firefighters would have been worried about passengers standing on the wing because they�re actually standing on a fuel tank. That wing or fuel tank has the potential to explode.� VICKI ROSEMEIER �When I, I told my mother that we needed to jump and she said no, she�s� was not gonna jump that far. She was afraid to jump.� VICKI ROSEMEIER �Okay, mom. Mom, we have to jump.� VICKI ROSEMEIER �So I grabbed her arm and took her with me.� PETER MCMAHON �I�m going to be wanting a significant reduction and control of the external fire before I send my firefighters in to do an internal attack. This is because the lives of the firefighters is also a top priority.� ALYSSE MORTON �When I got to the exit row, I climbed on to what I thought was luggage. I got out on the wing. I could feel fresh air on my face and I could breathe again.� SCOTT VAUGHAN �There was like a light or a gap that opened up that I could see that I must be close at that point. I went out to the wing and we jumped down to the ground. And then I stood back up and I turned and I looked at this massive plane on fire. It was a disaster scene. And then I turned around and it was complete chaos all over the runway. There were emergency vehicles, triage centers set up everywhere.� PATRICIA HODGES �The smoke had gotten so thick that it burned the back of my throat. My nose was burning. My chest was burning. I had no idea smoke could be so painful.� VAN SPURGEON �The passengers were not coming to our exit any longer and the two of us were still inside the aircraft.� FA PATRICIA HODGES �You gotta go.� PATRICIA HODGES �Then he pushed me out and then I went down the, um, the rear slide.� VAN SPURGEON �I was able to feel the seat backs so I know that I went up two rows and I could not see or hear anybody.� FA PATRICIA HODGES �Van, get out. Come on!� VAN SPURGEON �I heard my coworker, Patricia, shouting for me to get off the aircraft, and that's when I decided to jump. I felt that there were no more people on the aircraft that were coming to that exit.� BOB MACINTOSH �They found a propeller, and that gave them a clue that there was another aircraft involved.� CAPTAIN SHAW �What the...?� PETER MCMAHON �An aircraft crash is probably the worst type of incident a firefighter could face, and in this case two aircraft were involved.� LAX CONTROLLER �What about SkyWest 569?� DEPARTURE CONTROL �No, we�re not hearing from them.� BOB MACINTOSH �We recognized through discovery of the wreckage that this 737 had collided with a Metroliner.� VAN SPURGEON �I had no idea that anybody had died, especially two of my coworkers. I was devastated, just devastated.� SCOTT VAUGHAN �Just a short few hours after everything that had happened, I'm home. Turn on the news to watch it and it was like a movie that I was not part of.� BOB MACINTOSH �This kind of a collision of a, a major air transport airplane and another aircraft on a runway is unusual. It was a challenge to find out why this terrible accident had taken place.� INVESTIGATOR HUGHES �The 737-300�s cabin was configured for 128 passengers and four crew.� HANK HUGHES �Our primary mission is to look at the survivability or non-survivability of the accident, how people were able to survive, how they were able to evacuate the airplane and, for that matter, how the evacuation was carried out.� INVESTIGATOR HUGHES �Okay. There were 89 passengers and crew onboard.� HANK HUGHES �Most accidents are survivable. Our question was how and why did these people perish?� HANK HUGHES �The cabin floor of the airplane was completely destroyed by fire. Therefore, we had to use plywood to reconstruct the floor and make a safe area to stand on so we could begin our work. We started at the back of the airplane and worked our way forward.� INVESTIGATOR HUGHES �Make sure you get a picture of that.� HANK HUGHES �We were very concerned about the fire and the consequences of such a rapidly spreading fire. We found 11 victims in the center of the passenger compartment, all of whom were located within just a few feet (a meter) of the emergency exit.� INVESTIGATOR HUGHES �Good God.� HANK HUGHES �They were piled up on top of each other.� INVESTIGATOR HUGHES �How did they get trapped here? Look at this burn pattern. This is where the fire started, and it moved rearward from here.� HANK HUGHES �The area of the airplane that suffered the most intense fire damage was the front of the airplane, the front of the passenger cabin. That�s where it started.� INVESTIGATOR HUGHES �They were all out of their seats. Everybody in the cabin survived the initial impact.� HANK HUGHES �It was quite apparent that all of them had been able to unbuckle from their seatbelts and make their way back to the overwing exit.� INVESTIGATOR HUGHES �Okay. So it seems most of the fatalities were seated in this area here.� HANK HUGHES �After we realized that many of the fatalities were seated in the front of the airplane, it was important to understand why.� HANK HUGHES �In many instances, flight attendants have provided some insight that we wouldn�t normally get.� FA VAN SPURGEON �Right after that first bump, I could see flames.� INVESTIGATOR HUGHES �Before the final impact?� FA VAN SPURGEON �That�s right, as we were skidding.� HANK HUGHES �During the course of our interviews, it became very apparent that almost upon initial contact with the Metroliner � within milliseconds � that airplane was on fire. That�s how instantaneous it was.� BOB MACINTOSH �There was a lot of concern within our investigation about the intensity and the spread of the fire.� BOB MACINTOSH �It had damage to the regulator up on top of the bottle, and it had a broken feed tube coming out of the bottle.� INVESTIGATOR MACINTOSH �Take a look at this. It was a 76 cubic foot (2 cubic meter) capacity tank. That�s a lot of oxygen. It was housed exactly where they impacted the Metroliner.� INVESTIGATOR HUGHES �Add the fuel from the burning Metroliner�� BOB MACINTOSH �There was a great deal of liquids from the collision that were flammable and, uh, the gaseous oxygen was most probably the accelerant.� HANK HUGHES �Previous tests showed that under normal circumstances, the fire would�ve accelerated in about 5 minutes.� HANK HUGHES �As a result of the introduction of the oxygen in the burn test, the fire accelerated out of control in two minutes. A very significant difference.� HANK HUGHES �Because of the oxygen-fed fire, the passengers were denied what would�ve been an extra three minutes to make their way out of the airplane safely.� PETER MCMAHON �If compressed oxygen had not been introduced into that fire, in my opinion, the fire would have been much less severe inside the aircraft.� SCOTT VAUGHAN �As the airplane was skidding down the runway, smoke began to come into the cabin and it went from kind of a soft, willowy smoke to thick, dark and had a horrible odor within five, 10 seconds.� INVESTIGATOR HUGHES �So why all that smoke so darned fast?� HANK HUGHES �This airplane was equipped with older materials that were not fire retardant. And that would include the, the carpeting, the seat fabric, as well as the side walls.� INVESTIGATOR HUGHES �It�s made in 1985, before the regulations kicked in.� HANK HUGHES �This particular airplane was exempted from the fire-retardant cabin furnishings regulation primarily because it was manufactured before the effective date in 1985.� HANK HUGHES �The FAA�s philosophy was that when an aircraft would be brought in for a major rehab of the interior, that all of the cabin furnishings would be retrofitted with the upgraded fire-retardant furnishings.� INVESTIGATOR HUGHES �Hardly anything met the new flammability standards. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on.� HANK HUGHES �The FAA reg said if you just want to do the rug or you just want to do the seats or you just want to do the walls, that�s not considered a major upgrade. That�s where the loophole was.� INVESTIGATOR HUGHES �None of the interior panels were touched.� HANK HUGHES �If the cabin had been retrofitted with fire-retardant furnishings, it would have given people more time to make their way to the emergency exits and safely evacuate the airplane.� BOB MACINTOSH �We had to wonder how it was possible that the tower controller responsible for that runway had not seen this issue taking place.� INVESTIGATOR MACINTOSH �Why was the Metroliner even on that runway? Did it lose its way?� LAX CONTROLLER �No, I positioned it there and asked it to hold.� LAX CONTROLLER �SkyWest 5-69, taxi into position and hold short runway two-four left.� INVESTIGATOR MACINTOSH �So why did you give USAir permission to land?� LAX CONTROLLER �It was a hectic night. I lost track of the SkyWest flight. US Air 14-93, cleared to land runway two-four left.� BOB MACINTOSH �Our challenge was to try and figure out how the tower controller allowed this to happen when she had numerous years of experience and training.� INVESTIGATOR MACINTOSH �The collision happened here at 18:07. Just before 18:06, she gave USAir clearance to land on runway two-four left but that runway wasn�t clear. SkyWest has been holding on the runway for more than a minute.� BOB MACINTOSH �What were the human performance issues that caused her to not recognize this situation?� INVESTIGATOR HUGHES �It doesn�t make sense.� HANK HUGHES �This airplane was designed with six functional emergency exits, all of which would have allowed the passengers under normal circumstances to have made a safe evacuation in 90 seconds.� INVESTIGATOR HUGHES �L1 wouldn�t have even opened.� HANK HUGHES �As the airplane slid to a stop, the L1 door collided with the side of a building, which wouldn't allow it to be opened.� INVESTIGATOR HUGHES �That leaves five others. What�s the story with L2?� HANK HUGHES �The rear left exit was operational and it was not used during the evacuation.� PATRICIA HODGES �The door has a little porthole and that's where I saw the orange glow.� INVESTIGATOR HUGHES �That leaves four, but this would have been too dangerous.� HANK HUGHES �The left overwing exit was utilized by only two passengers. No other passengers made their way out of the airplane through that exit, which was probably due to the intensity of the fire and fumes on that side of the airplane.� INVESTIGATOR HUGHES �Everything else opened. People made their way out of R1, the right overwing and R2. You should be able to get 89 people out of three doors in less than two minutes.� HANK HUGHES �Given the number of passengers on the airplane, it wasn't full, there�s no reason to believe that they all couldn't have evacuated within the 90 seconds.� INVESTIGATOR HUGHES �Okay. Only three people went out here at R1.� HANK HUGHES �Three people were able to make their exit through the R1 door, and I believe it was attributable to the intensity of the fire and the toxic fumes that were generated in front of the cabin. Other people weren�t able to go forward and make their exit through that door.� INVESTIGATOR HUGHES �About 37 people went out here over the right wing. That�s a lot. Only about 15 passengers made their way back to their best option, the R2 exit. The rest went forward.� FA VAN SPURGEON �Jump. Feet first, hands up.� FA PATRICIA HODGES �Come this way. Leave your belongings. Come this way.� HANK HUGHES �Initially, we, we wondered why the people were moving toward the front of the airplane rather than the back of the airplane as directed by the flight attendants.� INVESTIGATOR HUGHES �The passenger in 19C actually crawled over seats to get to the overwing exit.� BOB MACINTOSH �There was a lot of confusion, and I'm quite sure there was a lot of quick assessment of which way should I go in this cabin.� INVESTIGATOR HUGHES �He starts here on the left side of the plane. Then he moved to the right side and he climbs over eight rows of seats to get to this exit here. There was an emergency exit just three rows behind him.� SCOTT VAUGHAN �I never looked back. All I was focused on was reacting and getting out of the plane. And for whatever reason, at that moment I saw it as the exit was go forward, not in back of me.� HANK HUGHES �It�s just human nature, you know? If you know you're in a fight or flight situation, you've got to get out of the airplane and if you see daylight near an overwing exit window, chances are that, that might be what attracted the people to go in that direction.� INVESTIGATOR HUGHES �One after another after another. If only they�d looked behind them.� INVESTIGATOR MACINTOSH �She was having trouble reaching another plane.� LAX CONTROLLER �Wings West five thousand and six, tower. Wings West five thousand and six, tower.� BOB MACINTOSH �The controller called the aircraft several times and there was a delay of I think more than 30 seconds where there was no communication from this aircraft.� INVESTIGATOR MACINTOSH �Then, one minute before the crash, she can�t find a flight strip for a departing aircraft.� WINGS WEST 5072 PILOT �Tower, Wings West 50-72 is ready for takeoff.� LAX CONTROLLER �Wings West 5072?� BOB MACINTOSH �The local controller had numerous deviations, from an aircraft she couldn't get a hold of, an aircraft without a departure strip. All these things were working on her efficiency to recognize that aircraft that was still out there in the middle of the runway when she issued a landing clearance for 1493.� INVESTIGATOR HUGHES �They all reported a logjam when they approached the exit at Row 10.� HANK HUGHES �It's estimated the evacuation took approximately three to four minutes. Three to four minutes is a long time.� INVESTIGATOR HUGHES �So what�s the hold-up?� INVESTIGATOR HUGHES �What�s this doing here?� HANK HUGHES �We found that the overwing exit hatch was sitting in the actual emergency exit row.� ALYSSE MORTON �I was crawling on top of the exit door that was on top of the seats to get out of the exit. Everyone is just moving slowly.� HANK HUGHES �The placement of the hatch on the floor resting against the seat provided an obstruction that was the width of the hatch, which is probably close to a foot-and-a-half or two feet (45 to 60 centimeters), and it would have been a significant impediment to their getting out of the airplane quickly.� INVESTIGATOR HUGHES �The passenger sitting next to the door wasn't the one who opened it.� HANK HUGHES �During the emergency, the passenger seated directly next to the right overwing exit hatch was unable to open the door where they either froze or were frightened. Fortunately, a passenger seated behind them was able to get up and open the overwing exit hatch.� HANK HUGHES �Passengers had to climb over and around the emergency exit hatch to get out of the airplane, which cost time.� INVESTIGATOR HUGHES �There was a fight? There was a fight!� HANK HUGHES �A young man's mother was trying to get out, and a male passenger pushed his way past the mother. And her son, unfortunately, got into a fist fight with the gentleman that pushed his mother out of the way. It was very unfortunate and tragic because it cost valuable time.� HANK HUGHES �In an emergency evacuation, every second counts. The one thing you don't have is time in an emergency situation because a post-crash fire or other hazard as a result of an accident often kills as many people as an accident does.� INVESTIGATOR HUGHES �Raging fire, blinding smoke, unusable exits, a series of obstacles and delays. That�s why 21 people died in that cabin.� HANK HUGHES �In the view of the Safety Board, the toxic fume and fire was the major contributing factor to the loss of life.� HANK HUGHES �Basically, the recommendation provided that the FAA provide a rule that requires that the passengers be screened for their suitability to serve as evacuators in overwing exit rows and also provide a specific briefing for those passengers, and that the passengers acknowledge that they are responsible in the event of an emergency.� VAN SPURGEON �Take out that seat back card, find out where all of the exits are and then count the rows, if you can, between the exits. That could possibly save your life.� PETER MCMAHON �Modern day aircraft cabin furnishings don't burn so easily, allowing more time for passengers to evacuate the aircraft, increasing their chances of survival.� VAN SPURGEON �I wanted to pass along all of the information that I learned from my situation as a training instructor.� SCOTT VAUGHAN �I was feeling get the hell out of there. That's what I was feeling. But it was all reactionary. It wasn�t this logical moment that many people think about � well, first, then we're gonna do this, and then we're gonna do that. It doesn't work that way.� ALYSSE ROSEWATER �I think it was luck. I think the fact that I went backwards instead of forward saved my life. I think the fact that I remained calm probably helped, but at the end of the day, if something blew up, I would have been unlucky.� VICKI ROSEMEIER �I was in the right seat and did the right things. I don't think I panicked at all. I was listening to my, my instincts, I think, and I did what I had to do.� FIREMAN �Jump! Jump!� VICKI ROSEMEIER �I never felt like I was gonna die. I wasn't ready to die.� NARRATEUR USAir Flight 1493 erupts into flames upon landing in Los Angeles� � and crashes into a building. Passengers struggle to reach the exits. Of the 89 people onboard, 21 don�t get out alive. NTSB investigators must figure out why. They soon make a horrifying discovery. What they learn will improve the odds of survival in aviation disasters. It�s just before six pm on the California Coast. USAir Flight 1493 is preparing to land in Los Angeles. Flight 1493 is 25 miles (40 kilometers) from the runway. The pilots disengage the autopilot on their Boeing 737. This version of the plane has 128 seats. But tonight�s flight is not full. Only 83 seats are occupied. Together with two pilots and four flight attendants, there are 89 people onboard. Seated near the middle of the plane in Row nine are VICKI ROSEMEIER and her mother, Judy. They�re traveling to Los Angeles for a holiday. On this leg of the flight, First Officer David Kelly is the pilot flying while Captain Colin Shaw communicates with the controller. They�ve already had a busy day. They began their flight on the other side of the country in Washington, DC, before stopping in Columbus, Ohio, on their way to one of the busiest airports in the world. Situated not far from the center of Los Angeles, LAX handles 1500 flights per day. Controllers are kept very busy. Near the back of the plane is a seasoned traveler, SCOTT VAUGHAN. He�s sat through this landing many times. A few rows behind Scott, the flight attendants take their seats in the galley. The pilots wait for the final clearance to land. Just as the plane touches down� In the tower, controllers can only watch as the burning plane speeds towards a building. Eighty-three passengers and six crewmembers find themselves inside a burning airplane. Decisions made in the next few minutes will determine who will live and who will die. The airport�s fire and emergency crews are immediately dispatched to the scene. The passengers and crew on board the burning plane find themselves in a fight for survival. It�s now up to the cabin crew to evacuate the plane as quickly as possible. There�s fire outside the left side door. It�s not safe to use. It takes fire crews only one minute to get to the crash site and begin extinguishing the fire. They begin by covering the burning 737 with fire-retardant foam. At the front of the plane, passengers struggle to find their nearest exit. Five rows back, VICKI ROSEMEIER and her mother are just across from an overwing emergency exit. After crashing into an inactive fire station at LAX, the passengers of USAir Flight 1493 are desperately trying to get off the burning plane. Vicki finally sees her mother. Vicki and her mother have made it out of the plane and onto the wing, but they�re not safe yet. While passengers struggle to escape, fire crews are still trying to extinguish the flames. They cannot send rescuers into the cabin until the fire is under control. Just two minutes have passed since the plane came to a stop, and there are many passengers still on board. But not everyone has made it off. At the rear of the plane, the flight attendants can barely breathe. After five minutes of battling the inferno, fire crews make an unexpected find. It�s now clear that the unimaginable has happened. The news sends Air Traffic Controllers scrambling to determine the identity of the other plane. The full toll of the accident can now be measured. Sixty-eight people have made it off the burning 737 but 21 people from that plane do not survive, including a flight attendant and Captain Colin Shaw, seated right at the point of impact. Two other passengers are fatally injured. All twelve occupants of the Metroliner have also been killed. Investigators must now determine why a total of 35 people lost their lives at one of America�s busiest airports. News of the horrific collision at LAX shocks people across the country. Two runways are immediately closed for the investigation, sending air travel into chaos across the country. Investigator BOB MACINTOSH leads the team of investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board, or NTSB. It�s his job to determine what caused the deadly collision. While Macintosh leads the investigation into how the collision happened, Survival Factors investigator HANK HUGHES has a different priority. Hughes�s team inspects the burnt-out plane to understand why 21 passengers and crew were unable to escape the Boeing 737. Hughes comes to a striking realization about the victims. But somehow 20 of those passengers and one of the flight attendants never made it out. Investigators need to find out why. The team interviews surviving crewmembers. Investigators soon discover a vital clue in the burnt-out wreckage � a damaged oxygen tank in the forward cargo compartment. A ruptured oxygen tank on the 737 would have fed the fire. Investigators build a mock-up of Flight 1493�s cabin to test how quickly an oxygen-fed fire spreads. The results of the new test are astonishing. The test explains why passengers reported seeing fire spread through the cabin as quickly as it did. The oxygen didn�t just prevent passengers from getting off the airplane, it may also have prevented firefighters from getting on. But fire wasn�t the only obstacle to the evacuation. Passengers also describe seeing heavy black smoke filling the cabin. Since 1985, regulations mandate that cabins must be fitted with fire-retardant materials that slow the spread of flames and toxic smoke in the event of a fire. But the damage to Flight 1493�s cabin indicates it did not meet that standard. A review of the plane�s history explains why the cabin was fitted with out-of-date furnishings. But fire-retardant fabrics were to be installed on older planes when they received cabin upgrades. Investigators learn that the 737�s cabin was refurbished in 1989� � but because of a loophole in the regulations, it never got the fire-retardant upgrade. An oxygen-fed fire and out of date cabin furnishings explain the intensity of the smoke and fire. Yet, 68 people did manage to get off the plane. What decisions did they make that enabled them to escape when so many others could not? As HANK HUGHES looks into why 21 people were unable to make it out of the cabin of USAir Flight 1493, BOB MACINTOSH investigates why two planes were allowed to be on the same runway at the same time. As MacIntosh pieces together events in the LAX tower� ... investigator Hughes wonders what prevented so many passengers from reaching the plane�s exits. Hughes learns what he can about the exits used during the evacuation. PATRICIA HODGES explains to investigators why no one exited from the left rear exit. With a fire burning outside the exit, Hodges keeps the door closed. Investigators take a closer look at how the evacuation unfolded. The flight attendants tell investigators they were urging passengers to move to the rear� ... yet passengers moved in the opposite direction. Hughes hopes survivor testimony will give him the answer he needs. SCOTT VAUGHAN is one of the passengers sitting at the rear of the plane who moved forward. Why did Vaughan move forward and take a longer path out of the plane? Hughes understands why so many passengers went forward instead of to the nearer exit at the rear, but not why 11 people died within reach of an open door. As survivability investigators try to work out why so many died onboard USAir Flight 1493� ... transcripts of radio calls have given BOB MACINTOSH a better understanding of why the controller forgot there was another plane on the runway. Just before she cleared the Metroliner to hold on the runway, the controller lost radio contact with another taxiing airplane. MacIntosh has identified a series of distractions that caused the controller to lose track of the Metroliner holding on the runway. Survivability expert HANK HUGUES now pieces together the events that led to the blockage of the row 10 exit. According to passenger interviews, people were moving very slowly as they headed towards the right overwing exit. They were almost at a standstill. Investigators find their first clue in the burnt-out wreckage. After the 737�s emergency exit door is opened, it�s supposed to be pushed through the opening and tossed away from the plane. This clears the opening to allow passengers to escape quickly. Passengers are briefed on how to properly open the emergency exit door. So why didn�t that happen? The passenger who opened the door didn�t push it outside the exit. Investigators identify one further factor that would have slowed progress to the emergency exit. Investigators discover reports of an altercation between two passengers onboard USAir Flight 1493. The delay opening the door, the crush of passengers moving forward instead of to the exit at the back, the placement of the door and the altercation at the exit all added vital minutes to the evacuation, minutes that ended up costing passengers their lives. HANK HUGHES� investigation has determined why nearly one quarter of the passengers on USAir Flight 1493 were unable to escape the burning airplane. Hughes and his team make a number of recommendations to improve the chances of survival inside the cabin. They focus on preventing a bottleneck at an exit from occurring again. Flight attendants are also required to make sure passengers know where the nearest emergency exit is during their briefing and to point out that it may be behind them. Finally, to prevent the fast-spreading fire which quickly engulfed the cabin and released toxic smoke, the NTSB recommends that all older planes are fully updated with fire- retardant materials as soon as possible. VAN SPURGEON goes on to join USAir�s training program as an instructor. The survivors of Flight 1493 have their own ideas about what allowed them to escape. Flight 1493 is minutes from touch down. Scott, Alysse, and Vicki all have the same goal � to reach the overwing exit at the middle of the plane. SkyWest 5569, a Fairchild Metroliner with 12 people on board, is unaccounted for.