morning Rush Hour Charlotte North Carolina its busy airport is rocked by a massive explosion the Flames were coming over the fence just total craziness everybody was just running for their lives firefighters rush to one of the airport's main hangers they confront an [Music] inferno it was quite a while before we realized a plane had hit the hanger a packed commuter flight has plunged to the ground shortly after takeoff everyone on board is killed we kept scratching our head wondering okay this airplane flew nine times previously and we had no problems investigators uncover a string of Errors bill I have an idea and learn that passengers on small planes have actually been in danger for years [Music] D it's morning on January the 8th 2003 in Charlotte North Carolina a city of half a million wakes at Charlotte Douglas International Airport commercial airline pilot Captain Katie Leslie is at work early only 25 years old this Texas native has been flying for air Midwest for almost 3 years one of the youngest flight captains at her Airline hey Tom have a great fight she's a toprated pilot building her career at one of the fastest growing airports in the United States this airport is an important domestic hub for US Airways with flights to most major cities in the eastern United States Air Midwest runs a commuter service as US Airways express it operates a fleet of beachcraft 1900d planes a 19 passenger short Hall commuter plane and a trusted Workhorse in the industry today Captain Leslie is in command of a 1900d on a 30-minute hop to Greenville Spartanburg Airport in grea North Carolina her co-pilot is 27-year-old Jonathan Gibbs I sleep last night had a dream I was in Miami attention ladies and gentlemen this is the final boarding call for air Midwest flight 5481 to Greenville sparber all passers make their way to among the passengers flying to gria this morning 18-year-old Cristiana [Music] Shephard christiana's parents Doug and Theresa are Baptist missionaries working in the Portuguese aors [Music] Cristiana left the 7th of January from the azors spent the night in the airport in Boston and then flew the next morning on the early flight from Boston to Charlotte to Greenville so she was on her way back to college Christiana was very special and she was one that would come up and give you a hug and say you know she come for no reason we give you a hug and say Dad I love you at 8 in the morning Cristiana boards her [Music] flight meanwhile as part of their standard checklist before takeoff the crew calculates the weight of all the baggage passengers and fuel on the plane that's to make sure the plane isn't overweight and the weight is spread evenly it's a calculation that's made on all commercial aircraft so we got a full house back there you can count 19 people in the back don't know the bags yet okay but baggage handlers raise concerns that the luggage they're loading may be too heavy damn Captain how many we got to take off we're figuring it out [Music] we don't think we're going to have to take anything off cool 17018 17120 as our weight huh yeah is our Max so we're cool so yeah good morning welcome aboard US Airways express service to Greenville Spartenburg it's a very short flight maybe 30 minutes gate to gate so sit back relax and we'll have you there in a few minutes before takeoff the crew checks the flight controls including the rudder and elevator which help control the direction of the plane flight controls free and correct air Midwest 5481 Runway 18 right taxi into position and hold Captain Leslie is moments from takeoff on the runway ahead of them is a bombardier crj ready for departure crj sure is a good looking plane isn't it yeah wish I was playing it with powerful turbulence released from the crj captain Leslie must keep a safe distance they're going to blast us with his jet blasts air Midwest 54 81 turn right heading 23 cleared for take off set takeoff power please power is set 80 knots cross check at 80 knots Pilots check that key instruments are working with no signs of trouble Leslie and Gibbs proceed with their takeoff to air traffic control flight 5481 takeoff roll is perfect normal GE up what but without warning the plane's nose pitches dramatically upward from seven to a staggering 54° oh help me you got it the crew struggles to get the nose back down again air flow over the top of the Wings creates lift but if the nose keeps Rising air won't flow smoothly over the plane's wings the plane will lose its lift stall and plunge from the sky push the nose down oh my God you have an emergency on air Midwest 5481 Alert 3 standby Runway one8 right the controller handling flight 5481 calls for Emergency Equipment oh my God the plane is now 350 M from the ground it stalls rolls to the left and begins falling from the sky Captain Leslie pulls on her control column with all her might if she can't get the plane to climb she's going to hit the [Music] ground air traffic controllers watch as a 19 passenger plane plunges towards the Earth Captain Katie Leslie struggles desperately to get her play plane to climb but it won't respond the plane heads towards a packed US Airways hanger the flight was loaded with almost 1,000 kg of Highly flammable jet fuel just before takeoff the impact instantly ignites all that fuel now the intense fire threatens to engulf The Hanger there are several airplanes and hundreds of people working in Side Station the plane ised yes the US the building there's of Runway left I repeat confirmed aircraft Fire 38-year-old Fire Chief Keith Rogers is driving to work when he gets a code 10 call a code 10 means that there's a confirmed plane crash usually this a type of call is a once in a career type of incident Cindy overcash is a firefighter with the Charlotte Fire Department you can actually see the hanger from here but you just saw a huge black plume of smoke and we knew you know something really bad is [Music] here in the adjacent Building Sales director David Isel hears the explosion well I was sitting at my desk and I heard this uh this loud boom and uh one of the guys came in from next door and said that uh he just saw an airplane crash and uh so I hopped in my truck and drove down to the side from 60 M away isula records the opening moments of the tragedy there was a lot of smoke and uh it was just just like hell it looked just like hell the Flames were coming over the fence just total craziness everybody was just running for their [Applause] lives when Chief Keith Rogers arrives at the scene he finds himself swimming Upstream against a mob in panic as I got onto the airport property and got onto the tarmac uh the people were exiting the hanger those people were running out in front of the fire trucks the fire cars so we had to drive with caution they were getting out of the building as fast as they could cuz I think they definitely realized that this was not a drill this was a real emergency and we still weren't sure if we had a plane inside the hanger that had caught on fire or if the hanger had caught on fire fire it was quite a while before we realized a plane had hit the hanger Chief Rogers immediately takes command of the scene he knows that there are aircraft parked inside the Flaming hanger their fuel tanks threaten to blow and our concern was one about the people that were on board aircraft two for the people that were working in the hanger and three we had to worry about the airplanes that were in for repair were those aircraft on fire so we had a lot of major issues to deal with within minutes firefighters begin to get The Inferno under control the hope now is that somewhere inside the wreck survivors are clinging to life the main thing probably was on anybody's mind once we realized what we had was [Music] survivors Chief Rogers sends a line of firefighters led by Cindy overcash Into the Heart Of The [Music] [Music] Inferno Cindy overcash and two of her team make their way into the wreckage carefully putting out spot fires along the way as we walk up on the SE the fire and we see the what we think are Crash Test Dummies we thought a plane had blown up inside and blew their training dummies out [Music] and then it it dawned on me uh-uh that's not a training dummy it took them a few minutes and determine exactly what was happening and once they did that it was obvious that there were no survivors it's a total loss all 19 passengers as well as Captain Leslie and first officer Gibbs are dead they're about 8:53 this morning uh we had an aircraft accident it had 19 passengers and two crew uh there are no survivors we hope that we never have to respond to a situation with such a large loss of life but that is her job this is some of the most difficult Duty and task that their firefighter willever do in their career for Medics and rescue workers the ordeal is over but for friends and family of the victims the anguish has just begun I was walking through the living room and I stopped and said my heart's beating right now just the way it was then said has Christiana called yet she said no okay and I knew then what had happened I just I knew so I went and got the telephone and called the school he said yes Mrs Shephard we have some sad news and he told me that the plane had crashed on takeoff I asked if there were any survivors he said no so then I knew I had to go tell Doug and he was in the garage it's something you you never forget about uh I was changing a fluorescent bulb and um Teresa came to the to the doorway how do you say that what word you use words every single day how can you use words to ruin someone's [Music] life but I told him said D christiana's plane crashed at that moment uh my my world fell apart now the Shepherds and the families of the other 20 victims want to know what caused the deaths of their loved ones it's been almost 5 hours since flight 5481 crashed into a hanger in Charlotte North Carolina with no survivors to rescue neither neither bodies nor airplane parts are moved from where they fell until the arrival of investigators from the national Transportation safety board while medical examiners Mark the location of human remains in red NTSB investigators Mark scraps of metal in yellow looking for Clues to help them figure out what happened aboard flight 5481 among those assigned to this case lead investigator Linda Ward this is her first assignment as the lead investigator of a crash but today she's not feeling her best that day I was a little bit under the weather I was fighting off a cold you have the adrenaline that shoots through your body at the time and so that actually makes up for when you're not feeling well and I knew that the other people on my team were experienced so I felt comfortable going to Charlotte at Charlotte Douglas Airport Ward takes the first steps towards solving this accident I checked in with the fire department to make sure that the fires have been put out and then called a meeting with all the First Responders to see what they had noticed when they came to the crash site Ward acts fast because bodies entangled with the wreckage she declares the crash site a potential biohazard investigators who might come in contact with the wreckage must wear protective suits while they examine the wreck and identify the victim's remains when we arrived on scene the accident side did not look like an airplane was there uh due to the fire the postc crash fire um when you initially walked up to it it was hard to identify that you had an airplane that could hold 21 people people while work continues at the crash site all right let's go Linda Ward and her team look for Clues nearby we had the folks go shoulder toosh shoulder on the runway that the accident crew took off on to pick up anything that they saw on the runway to see if it had any relevance to the accident investigation runways must be clear of all debris the smallest object can become a deadly projectile if it strikes a plane on [Music] takeoff 3 years earlier a Concord Jet ran over a 40 cm strip of scrap metal on a Paris Runway the plane's fuel tank was pierced and caught fire the aircraft Rose to 200 M before it crashed into a nearby Hotel 109 people on board and four people on the ground were killed at Charlotte Douglas International investigators scour the area they find a fuel cap lying dangerously close to the runway what we got it could be sucked in and it could damage an engine the main part would be the damage that it could do to an engine the discovery raised is an interesting possibility as flight 5481 raced down the runway at takeoff the fuel cap bounced up off the tarmac struck the engine rotors and brought Captain Leslie's aircraft crashing to [Music] Earth this was to be brought back to see if it had any relevance to the accident investigation um whether it came off the airplane itself or if it could have done some type of damage to the airplane a closer examination leads Ward and her team to conclude that the fuel cap could not have interfered with the propellers investigators discover no other relevant debris on the runway the runway debris theory is ruled out now NTSB Air Traffic Control investigator Bill English explored another scenario when we first heard about the accident it looked like there might be the possibility that we'd want to look at a wake turbulence encounter the wings of a fast moving jet disturb the air around them creating a trail of violently swirling air NASA tests decades earlier had Illustrated the power and danger of wake turbulence to other planes we had to see did other airplane depart before it that's where wake turbulence Hazard would come from and we wanted to look at what kind of airplane departed ahead of it uh larger heavier airplanes are the more uh risky wake turbulence uh creating airplanes Bill English examines radar records from the time of the accident he learns that a much heavier Bombardier Regional Jet a crj took off moments before the beach crj sure is a good-looking plane isn't it yeah wish I was flying it the wake turbulence is generated from the wing tips of any airplane as soon as it starts to lift off the ground it makes what people sometimes call horizontal tornadoes vortexes of of air that can create uh hazardous turbulence rway right ta air traffic controllers do have uh standard procedures for spacing out airplanes so that they have a chance to avoid the Wake turbulence or let the wake uh [Music] dissipate one year earlier an American Airlines jet taking off from New York encountered wake turbulence the plane crashed into a residential neighborhood 2060 people on the plane and five people on the ground were killed going to blast us with his jet blast air Midwest 5481 cleared for takeoff [Music] air traffic investigator Bill English must now determine if Wake turbulence from the crj caused flight 5481 to crash Bill English studies the flight path of Captain Leslie's plane and finds it consistent with a plane flying into wake turbulence a pitch up is not unheard of in a wake turbulence C where the the airplane will suddenly go nose up and the crew has trouble to uh to counter that and get the nose back where it belongs English needs to know how close the air Midwest flight got to the larger jet the Charlotte tower has a sophisticated computer system that tracks the movement of planes while they're still on the ground the system gave Bill English his answer that system had a very rapid update so we could see exactly where on the runway and at what time the Regional Jet lifted off compared to when the accident airplane started its role when Bill English plots the precise position of the planes at liftoff he makes a telling Discovery even though both planes use the same Runway their paths never crossed the RJ started lifting off much farther down the runway than the accident airplane did and the climb out angle of the Regional Jet and the climb out angle of the accident airplane never intersected the angle of the accident airplane was very steep it really had no possibility of uh intersecting the Wake turbulence from the Regional Jet so if our airplane lifted off and climbed above the angle of the previous airplane we knew then that it it couldn't possibly be a factor the Wake Vortex theory is ruled out and Bill english's work is done now it's up to Ward and her crew to find clues in the burnt out wreckage of the plane within 2 days her investigation will reveal a string of errors and faulty assumptions that has been putting tens of thousands of passengers at risk for [Music] years within hours of the crash investigators find the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from Air Midwest flight 5481 the recorders are designed to withstand temperatures of up to 1100° C in this crash parts of the voice recorder had actually melted the devices are photographed and sent for analysis then amongst the tons of debris on the ground investigators discover the shredded remains of the elevator control cables vital to flight control these cables link the pilots control columns to the flight elevator an aerodynamic panel that helps Pilots climb and descend turnbuckles keep the cables tort to climb Pilots pull on the column the cables pull the elevator up forcing the nose to rise to descend Pilots push on the control control column the cables tilt the elevator down and the nose falls but as investigators examine the burnt out cables and turnbuckles on Captain Leslie's plane already something looks wrong they looked unusual they they weren't in like the normal position that you would find them in this case we had one adjusted all the way out and then one adjusted all the way in um so those were set aside for us to look at later while the lab work continues NTSB investigator Steven Carbone travels to Huntington Virginia he interviews mechanics who worked on the plane the day before the crash all there at the time we had known that it had just come out of an of a detail check which is a um a routine check and knowing that we were looking into the possibility that something had been done during the check that needed to be looked at from an investigation point of view you the cables needed servicing my guy wrote up a service order and I I put them on uh don't forget the manual got it every 1200 flight hours air Midwest planes go in for routine maintenance work this includes adjusting the cables that control the plane's elevator in the process of doing this check he found that the the mechanic had found that the cables were out of limits so he had written up that he was going to check the cable tensions and then adjust them as per the manual everything's right the mechanics tell Carbone that the work was checked and stamped for quality assurance they believe that the aircraft was properly rigged as per the [Music] manual at first glance that belief appears to be right after maintenance this beach aircraft took off and landed nine times without incident before Captain Leslie took the helm investigators turned to the flight data recorder to learn what happened on those flights the flight data recorder stores data from numerous flights both before and after the plane's cables were adjusted no one on any of those flights had encountered any problems with the plan's elevator so at the time we didn't know how that affected the airplane because it had flown nine times successfully before the accident flight ward also discovers that the crew tested their elevator controls before flight 5481 took off flight controls free and correct Midwest [Music] 541 Ward and her team dig deeper looking to discover if the unusual configuration of the elevator cables could have played a role in this [Music] crash what they find strikes at the very heart of what went wrong normally both turnbuckles are almost exactly the same length but on Captain Leslie's plane one turnbuckle is noticeably longer than the other to establish the correct cable tension mechanics t Tien the turnbuckles but too much tightening of a turnbuckle shortens the cables and cuts the range of motion of the elevator control the elevator should be able to tilt to a nose down position of 14° but their downward range has actually been cut in half to only 7° the result is deadly as the flight got underway the nose pitched up as expected during takeoff what push the nose down oh my God but the reduced range in the elevator made it impossible for the pilots to bring the nose down again due to the adjustment that had been done in the maintenance a few nights earlier there was nothing that the crew could have done at that time unable to bring the nose down the pitch of the Wings became too pronounced with no air flowing over the top of the Wings the plane lost its lift and began falling from the sky the Pilot's struggle with the elevator helps explain why flight 5481 crashed that day somehow the elevator cables were improperly adjusted the pilots simply could not control the pitch of their airplane Steven Carbone wants to know how mechanics had made such a critical mistake yeah I see that here he goes back to the hanger to question the mechanics on duty that night and this time they tell him a different story most of the guys were just learning the ropes the mechanics working on the airline were subcontractors to the contract company and the mechanics working on the aircraft that night had limited experience on the beach 1900d and the person performing the rig was receiving training that night on that specific task once you have the rig pin set adjust the turnbuckle barrels for more tension in the cable yeah I see that here adjusting the elevator cables is not a simple process it's a timeconsuming procedure that involves 25 different steps got it uh what about the other steps yeah uh don't worry about those just check the cable tension when you're done and we're good that's it it's the quality assurance in inspector and the mechanic took it upon themselves to decide which steps to perform because they felt that the steps they were performing were the only ones necessary to get the task done the mechanic skipped nine steps that night one of those involved manipulating the elevator through its full range of motion had the mechanic tried to do that he would have noticed that the elevator's motion was restricted by cables that had been improperly rigged if they had followed the steps as described in the manual they would have found the problems that had come up but there was an inspector supervising the work Carbone discovers that the inspector was actually the person teaching the mechanics how to do the work the problem was that the quality assurance inspector was actually acting as an instructor so he was taking the mechanic through the process of the job task and teaching him how to do the rig well when you put yourself in that position you're actually doing the task because even as an as as a teacher you're performing the task and then he came in behind himself and then signed off as an inspector what he had done well I found out that uh that this mechanic had skipped procedures uh I was upset uh in is the the procedures that that affected uh our lives that affected the lives of of 21 people 21 families were were destroyed because you never get over something like this the Shepherds sue the airline they also demand something unheard of in US Aviation an apology they wanted more than just to achieve a just settlement in mon monetary terms they had a need to press the issues that humanize and put a face on the people who are the victims of these tragedies the Shepherds believe that their best chance of getting an apology is by putting a face to cristian's [Music] name so we decided to take this picture and to send it to those people that were involved in the in the in the accident in the invest instigation so that so that Cristiana would would not be just a number or a seat number or a ticket number or a settlement amount so that they could actually see that she was a person the legal Journey began when we determined that we wanted the apology that we wanted someone to say we really blew this we assumed the airline would apologize we had no idea that Airlines don't apologize they did something wrong obviously should stand up and say we are so sorry that we messed up in this and we're fixing this in this case the mechanics thought they were doing something that was perfectly reasonable they thought this was uh you know another day at the [Music] job then they come to find out that now 21 people have been you know killed due to their inadvertent act for Linda Ward and her team it looks like they've found the problem but something still doesn't add up why didn't the problem with the plane's faulty rigging surface on any of its previous flights we kept scratching our head wondering okay this airplane flewed nine times previously and we had no problems so we're trying to um decide well what was unusual about this flight ward has to figure out what happened in the hours and minutes before the crash and did you notice anything unusual before takeoff well it was sitting low when it tax it out it looked heavy we had a couple of witnesses that were implying that we had a very heavily loaded airplane the baggage people said that was hard to shut the door cuz they thought bags were going to come out each plane has a maximum weight it can handle before the engine can't get it off the ground before takeoff it's the Pilot's job to calculate the onboard weight we got a full house back there how many we got to take off we're figuring it out the crew of flight 5481 did perform that calculation cool 1708 we heared them on the CVR going through the numbers to make sure that they'd have their center of gravity within the range for them to take off 17120 20 is our weight huh yeah as our Max on any plane large or small the weight of cargo and passengers has to be distributed evenly the balancing point of an airplane is called its center of gravity for a plane to fly safely it can neither be too far forward nor too far back or after so we're cool so yeah we don't think we're going to have to take anything off air Midwest Pilots are instructed how to make weight and center of gravity or CG calculations they use average weights to make that calculation 175 per passenger and 20 per bag they knew that they had a very fcg but due to using the average weights and average calculations uh the paperwork showed them being within the range that they needed to take off but Ward needs to know if the plane really was within the proper range of weight and balance to take off what we did is looked at the weights of the actual baggage itself that was on board and then the weight of the passengers and the crew technicians weigh the remains of the burnt luggage from the wreckage [Music] site doctor yes could you tell me please what the last recorded weight of your patient is please and obtain the real weight of Passenger on board that day 212 thank [Music] you when all the numbers are in Ward discovers the real weight of flight 5481 is 17,700 some 580 lb over its maximum takeoff weight they would not have been able to take off if they had used actual weights they would have had to pull either passengers or bags off because of the higher than expected weight of the passengers and baggage on the flight and the large number of bags stowed in the rear the airplane was tail heavy its center of gravity ever so slightly too far to the rear which wasn't a problem until the landing gear was raised gear up when the Gear's weight moved backwards from the nose it tipped the balance of weight what too far back the Pilot's efforts to regain control of the aircraft were futile crippled by the airplane's defective elevator controls when the nose gear moved aft they lost the ability to control the aircraft because all the weight went back and they had no elevator movement enough to bring the nose back down and at the height that they were at they had no recovery the passengers and crew of flight 5481 were doomed the moment the plane left the ground they had no way of knowing that two unrelated problems would combine to bring down their plane this was just a normal routine flight for them and they did all the pre-flight checks they did their way in Balance they did the correct calls or on the right Runway um they it was just another day at the job and they didn't know that they had these two hidden latent failures that were waiting for them but faulty maintenance and above average weights weren't the only issues uncovered by Linda Ward's investigation hey you got a sec I have an idea Linda Ward suspects she's uncovered problems that didn't just affect this one flight but that also affected every commuter plane in the [Music] air NTSB investigators say that every plane crash makes flying safer flight 5481 was no exception 14 months after the accident lead investigator Linda Ward and her team file a comprehensive report to ensure the mistakes that killed those aboard flight 5481 are never repeated among Ward's recommendations that the FAA review its average passenger and baggage weights an average that had not been revised since 19 1936 and since studies suggest that Americans and other adults were getting heavier from year to year Ward suspected that the averages were off we made a recommendation to the FAA to have the operators go out and Survey their operations both summer and wintertime to see how accurate these average weights reflected the actual flying public that was getting onto their airplanes after conducting a survey of passengers the FAA comes to a shocking conclusion the average weight of adult American passengers was 195 not 175 the FAA also discovered that the average weight of carry-on luggage was being underestimated by5 per [Music] bag we had a average weight um that were being news that needed to be updated had these higher average weights been in effect on January the 8th 2003 flight 5481 would not have been legal for takeoff Captain Leslie would have had to remove bags and passenges 48107 cool 17018 air Midwest Pilots now use an average weight of 200b per per passenger which means that their beachcraft planes can only carry 17 passengers not 19 but Ward's report goes on to say that even with updated industry averages there's still room for error her report states that flying small aircraft will be safest only when Airlines stop using average weight assumptions altogether and calculate the real weight on board before takeoff new technologies are being developed to allow air carriers to measure actual weight and control balance in real time as the plane is loaded knowing the actual weight of passengers and baggage is vital more and more people are flying on small commuter Jets as the cost of jet fuel SES the smaller fuel efficient planes become more attractive to airlines in the United States alone more than 10 million people a year Year Board planes with fewer than 30 seats smaller aircraft are more sensitive to the weight weight and balance issue than say a larger airplane in spite of Ward's recommendations and the available technology almost 70% of small planes on scheduled flights still use average instead of actual [Music] weights for D and Theresa Shephard there is still another danger that threatens to strike again if the FAA took a very active role in their regulation then subcontracting could actually be a plus the way it's handled today um the mistakes will just continue uh what about the other steps yeah uh don't worry about those just check the cable tension when you're done and we're good in her report Ward states that all Air carriers need to Prov provide direct oversight to make sure that even subcontracted work is completed correctly this investigation was unique to me personally because it was my first launch as an investigator in charge this was in my mind a significant investigation in the fact that we had the 22 safety recommendations that came out from a small accident investigation for the Shepherds the NTSB recommend commendations come too late but after a lengthy legal battle air Midwest does deliver a rare and formal apology for the mistakes that cost 18-year-old Cristiana Shepherd her [Music] life my name is Ron Goldman and um my role here today is I will be introducing the public apology and then I'll have a few remarks the public apology is uh in aviation cases unprecedented we are here today to remember the victims the flight 5481 and to offer our apologies our condolences and sincere sympathy to the surviving family members of the passengers and crew who perished in the January 8th 2003 crash of air Midwest flight number 5481 the acceptance of accountability suggests that the recommendations made by the safety investigators are not to be taken as a book to throw in a drawer and forget about but are to be taken seriously because if you don't take them seriously there's going to be public accountability as well as private accountability what people should never forget is that as we're going about and doing our job dayto day we need to remember the importance of doing our job doesn't matter where we're at on the ladder or the corporate ladder whether we're at the Bottom Rung or the top rung we have responsibilities it took a complicated string of errors and miscalculations to bring down flight 5481 but some believe there was one person who performed admirably that day Captain Katie Leslie with an unbalanced plane and faulty controls Captain Leslie could not have saved the flight but her final actions may have saved some lives you know she's an unsung hero to me cuz I don't think many people know about what she did and how she was fighting it and trying to pull the plane away from the hanger and she actually did she kept it from really more of a head-on hit into the hanger which probably saved countless other people from uh perishing that day it was firefighter Cindy overcash who found the body of Captain Katy Leslie among the wreckage to this day overcash still feels a special connection to the young pilot I don't know I just felt it a kinship I don't know why I don't know I you know it could be as simple as I found her and I was there when she left this world I don't know but I thought about her a lot Linda Ward's investigation could have ended when she uncovered the errors that caused the crash of Flight 5481 by digging a bit deeper she made flying safer for millions of people oh