''Charlie Victor Romeo'' is a 1999
play
Play most commonly refers to:
* Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment
* Play (theatre), a work of drama
Play may refer also to:
Computers and technology
* Google Play, a digital content service
* Play Framework, a Java framework
* P ...
, and later a 2013 film based on the play, whose script consists of almost-verbatim transcripts from six real
aviation accidents and incidents
An aviation accident is an event during aircraft operation that results serious injury, death, or significant destruction. An aviation incident is any operating event that compromises safety but does not escalate into an aviation accident. Pre ...
. "Charlie Victor Romeo," or CVR, derived from the
aviation phonetic alphabet, is aviation
jargon
Jargon, or technical language, is the specialized terminology associated with a particular field or area of activity. Jargon is normally employed in a particular Context (language use), communicative context and may not be well understood outside ...
for
cockpit voice recorder
A flight recorder is an electronic recording device placed in an aircraft for the purpose of facilitating the investigation of aviation accidents and incidents. The device may often be referred to colloquially as a "black box", an outdated nam ...
. The play is a case study in
crew resource management; a
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
special described several parallels between the behavior seen in these disasters and in
emergency room
An emergency department (ED), also known as an accident and emergency department (A&E), emergency room (ER), emergency ward (EW) or casualty department, is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine, the acute care of pat ...
situations.
The play opens with a
flight attendant
A flight attendant is a member of the aircrew whose primary responsibility is ensure the safety of passengers in the cabin of an aircraft across all stages of flight. Their secondary duty is to see to the comfort of passengers. Flight attenda ...
demonstrating the safety equipment and reminding the audience to fasten their seat belts and turn off cell phones. Before each scene, a display screen shows the name of the flight and reason for the disaster (e.g. "Icing" or "Multiple
bird strike
A bird strike (sometimes called birdstrike, bird ingestion (for an engine), bird hit, or bird aircraft strike hazard (BASH)) is a collision between an airborne animal (usually a bird or bat) and a moving vehicle (usually an aircraft). The term ...
s").
Sound effect
A sound effect (or audio effect) is an artificially created or enhanced sound, or sound process used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media.
In m ...
s such as cockpit alarms, aircraft interior ambiances and mechanical sounds are included. At the end of each flight, the screen shows the number of casualties. A few of the transcripts were edited for time. At the end of the play, the cast and creators answer questions from the audience.
History
The play was created by Bob Berger, Patrick Daniels and Irving Gregory of
Collective:Unconscious in 1999. It was taped and used by
the Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...
for pilot training. US Air Force Major General Walter E. Buchanan III awarded the group a letter of gratitude. After February 2002 performances in
Perth
Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, the play performed in dozens of venues across the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, including
Washington, DC
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...
's
Studio Theatre
A black box theater is a performance space, typically a square or rectangular room, with black walls and a black, flat floor. The simplicity of the space allows it to be used to create a variety of configurations of stage and audience interact ...
.
In 2004,
''Time'' put ''Charlie Victor Romeo'' on their Best Plays of the Year list. The play has been performed in Japanese by the Rinkogun Theater Company under the direction of Yoji Sakate. In 2012, ''Charlie Victor Romeo'' was made into a motion picture, which premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film festival.
Accidents and incidents
The
FAA distinguishes between
aviation accidents and incidents
An aviation accident is an event during aircraft operation that results serious injury, death, or significant destruction. An aviation incident is any operating event that compromises safety but does not escalate into an aviation accident. Pre ...
: an ''accident'' is an occurrence aboard an aircraft that injures or kills one or more passengers or crew members, while an ''incident'' is “an occurrence involving one or more aircraft in which a hazard or a potential hazard to safety is involved but not classified as an accident due to the degree of injury and/or extent of damage." The accidents and incidents depicted are:
*
American Airlines Flight 1572 (12 November 1995) – The crew of the McDonnell Douglas MD-83 incorrectly set the
altimeter
An altimeter or an altitude meter is an instrument used to measure the altitude of an object above a fixed level. The measurement of altitude is called altimetry, which is related to the term bathymetry, the measurement of depth under water.
Ty ...
on approach to
Bradley International Airport
Bradley International Airport – historically known as Bradley Field – is a public international airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, Windsor Locks, Connecticut, United States. Owned and operated by the Connecticut Airport Authority, Con ...
in
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...
, so they were flying 70 feet lower than they thought they were. This led to them crashing into the treetops as they tried to perform a night landing. The engines ingested the trees and failed. With the engines no longer producing thrust, the captain made a last ditch attempt to get the plane to the airport by selecting 40° of flaps which increased the lift enough to allow them to make it almost to the threshold of runway 15. There, they crashed into a tree at the airport boundary, then into the ILS antenna at the approach end of runway 15. There were no casualties amongst the 78 on board the aircraft.
*
American Eagle Flight 4184
American Eagle Flight 4184, officially operating as Simmons Airlines Flight 4184, was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Indianapolis, Indiana, to Chicago, Illinois, United States. On , 1994, the performing this route flew into severe i ...
(31 October 1994) – A design flaw in the ATR-72 de-icing systems forced the plane into a sudden roll from which the crew was unable to recover. The plane then crashed into a field, killing all 68 on board the aircraft.
*
Aeroperú Airlines Flight 603 (2 October 1996) – The maintenance crew had taped over the
static ports of a Boeing 757-200 before washing the plane, and then failed to remove the tape. This resulted in the
flight instrument
Flight instruments are the instruments in the cockpit of an aircraft that provide the pilot with data about the flight situation of that aircraft, such as altitude, airspeed, Variometer, vertical speed, heading and much more other crucial inform ...
s, such as the altimeter and airspeed indicator, failing while the plane was flying through dense fog at 1 AM over the ocean. They had a confused sense of where they were and contradictory information about altitude and airspeed. The
co-pilot began reading through the manual, trying to figure out how to solve the problem. Meanwhile, all sorts of warnings were going off, both because the plane thought that the instrument readings were consistent with various emergencies and because the crew's actions, based on false data, were creating problems. The pilot communicated with the
air traffic controller
An Air traffic controller (ATC) is a person responsible for the coordination of traffic in their assigned airspace. Typically stationed in area control centers or control towers, they monitor the position, speed, and altitude of aircraft and c ...
, who kept telling them that they were at 9,700 feet. Actually, they were flying dangerously low, as indicated by the repeated
"Too low. Terrain!" warning. The pilot decided to descend and ended up crashing into the ocean, killing all 70 on board the aircraft. Air traffic control had been relaying the faulty altitude information transmitted by the plane's
transponder
In telecommunications, a transponder is a device that, upon receiving a signal, emits a different signal in response. The term is a blend of ''transmitter'' and ''responder''.
In air navigation or radio frequency identification, a flight trans ...
.
*
United States Air Force Yukla 27 (22 September 1995) – Another plane disturbed a flock of several hundred
Canada geese
The Canada goose (''Branta canadensis''), sometimes called Canadian goose, is a large species of goose with a black head and neck, white cheeks, white under its chin, and a brown body. It is native to the arctic and temperate regions of North ...
on the runway, which then took off in unison. However, the tower failed to inform the crew before they took off and flew into the flock. Both engines on the left wing ingested birds and failed catastrophically. In accordance with their training, the crew of the Boeing 707 started
dumping fuel in order to lighten the craft. They began a left turn and attempted to return to the airport. The aircraft struck a low-hill on the north side of the airfield and exploded, killing all 24 on board the aircraft.
*
Japan Air Lines Flight 123
Japan Air Lines Flight 123 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Tokyo to Osaka, Japan. On August12, 1985, the Boeing 747 flying the route suffered a severe structural failure and explosive decompression 12 minutes after takeoff. After f ...
(12 August 1985) – A
bulkhead of a Boeing 747SR ruptured, causing the loss of the vertical fin and all hydraulics. The crew had no way to control the plane except by adjusting engine
throttle
A throttle is a mechanism by which fluid flow is managed by construction or obstruction.
An engine's power can be increased or decreased by the restriction of inlet gases (by the use of a throttle), but usually decreased. The term ''throttle'' ha ...
s. They flew the plane expertly with what controls they had and kept it aloft for about a half-hour, but the plane finally crashed into a mountain, killing 520 of the 524 on board, the deadliest single-aircraft disaster in history. Investigators later attributed the bulkhead rupture to incorrectly repaired damage from a tail strike seven years earlier.
*
United Airlines Flight 232 (19 July 1989) – The
DC-10
The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 is an American trijet wide-body aircraft manufactured by McDonnell Douglas.
The DC-10 was intended to succeed the DC-8 for long-range flights. It first flew on August 29, 1970; it was introduced on August 5, 1971 ...
center engine's fan disc shattered, severing hydraulic lines and forcing the shutdown of the engine, taking out all three of the triply redundant hydraulic systems—something that was considered impossible, so there was no emergency procedure for it. As with Japan Air Lines Flight 123, they had no control of the flight control surfaces, and used left and right engine throttles to control the aircraft. The misconception with this incident is that the crew handed over the controls to a
flight instructor
A flight instructor is a person who teaches others to operate aircraft. Specific privileges granted to holders of a flight instructor qualification vary from country to country, but very generally, a flight instructor serves to enhance or evaluate ...
who was on board the flight, but this is in fact incorrect. The original crew remained in control of the aircraft and the DC-10 flight instructor was actually a non-revenue passenger aboard the aircraft who offered his assistance to the captain. Together they managed to land at
Sioux Gateway Airport. The wings dipped at the last moment leading to a crash killing 110 of its 285 passengers and one of the 11 crew members. The then somewhat new concept of
Crew Resource Management was credited extensively by the crew and the NTSB as a leading factor in keeping a truly horrific accident from being much worse, and saving over 180 lives that would have almost surely been lost had the concept of the "Infallible Captain" still been in use.
Original credits
Created by: Bob Berger, Patrick Daniels, Irving Gregory, of
Collective:Unconscious.
Directed by: Bob Berger, Patrick Daniels, Irving Gregory.
Developed in collaboration with: Bob Berger, Michael Bruno, Audrey Crabtree, Patrick Daniels, Justin Dávila, Jim Grady, Irving Gregory, Dan Krumm, Peter O'Clair, Julia Randall, Stuart Rudin, Darby Thompson,
Oliver Wyman.
Sound design: Jamie Mereness
Original set design and technical director: Patrick Daniels
Motion picture sound mixing:
Joel Hamilton
Awards
Official Selection DocPoint – Helsinki Documentary Film Festival 2014
Official Selection
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...
AFI Fest 2013
* American Independent
Official Selection
Copenhagen International Documentary Festival 2013
Official Selection
Hamptons International Film Festival
The Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF) is an international film festival founded in 1992, by Joyce Robinson. The festival has since taken place every year in East Hampton, New York. It is usually an annual five-day event in mid-October ...
2013
* World Cinema Narrative
Official Selection
New York Film Festival
The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center. Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, NYFF i ...
2013
* Convergence
Official Selection
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023.
The festival has acted ...
2013
* New Frontier
Drama Desk Awards 2000
* Outstanding Unique Theatrical Experience
* Outstanding Sound Design, Jamie Mereness
5th Annual ''
Backstage'' West Garland Awards 2002
* Sound Design, Jamie Mereness
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and superv ...
Visual Information Production Award
* 2000-01 Creativity Award, Video produced by 367th Training Support Squadron, Media Production Flight, Hill AFB, UT, Office of Primary Responsibility: HQ USAF, Deputy Chief of Staff/Air and Space Operations.
New York International Fringe Festival
The New York International Fringe Festival, or FringeNYC, was a fringe theater festival and one of the largest multi-arts events in North America. It took place over the course of a few weeks in October, spread on more than 20 stages across se ...
2000
* Overall Excellence - Drama
* Overall Excellence - Sound Design, Jamie Mereness
Absolutbr>
Angel Arts and Technology Award2000
* Grand Prize Winner, Justin Dávila and Bob Berger
References
External links
*
*
{{DramaDesk UniqueTheatricalExperience 1976–2000
1999 plays
American plays
Plays based on actual events
Aviation plays
Docudrama plays
Aviation safety