American 965

Another documentary from former British Airways pilot and now filmmaker Tristan Loraine about how dangerous the air within airplanes is. Dangerous enough to have led to the human error which caused the tragic crash of American Airlines flight 965 in 1995. Acting as investigator and director here, Loraine brings to light what he believes was a cover up perpetrated about what was the cause of the crash which claimed many lives.

Loraine used to fly planes for British Airways and would probably be still doing that if not for suffering from illness he says is due to the toxic air which is circulated through airplanes. In his 2019 film called Everybody Flies, Loraine made his case for the neglect by airlines who know about the leaking of airline fuel into the air systems in planes and doing nothing about it.

December 20, 1995 an American Airlines Boeing 757-200 flying from Miami to Columbia crashed into a mountain in Buga, Columbia. The crash resulted in the death of 151 out of the 155 passengers and all eight of the flight’s crew members. After an investigation the conclusion was that the crash came about as a result of human error.

No matter how you feel about Loraine’s biases you do have to acknowledge that much research went into the making of this documentary. He has interviewed survivors, Gonzalo Dussan and his daughter Michelle, who was six-years-old at the time of the crash, and the family members of those who perished including the wife of the pilot. Air crash experts and air accident investigators are also weighing in. The cherry on top of all that is a never before seen 3D recreation of the crash.

All this leads to a new reason why the crash happened. Loraine shows that saying it was pilot error is not the whole story. It was just accepted that two very experienced pilots made, what those in the know say, were rookie mistakes. With all the investigating Loraine undertook he comes up with stuff which either the investigators ignored or was not brought to their attention. The resulting question is why? Why would they not want to get to the bottom of it in order to avoid it happening again.

What ultimately surfaces is why is this knowledge kept from the public. It seems legit and frightening. Don’t people who pay to fly know about the risks involved? Especially in today’s world – knowing about the quality of the air they are breathing in the entire time they are in a plane.