7NEWS Spotlight

S2025 E15 Pilots Who Kill

本集简介

In a global investigation spanning India, the US, UK and Australia, reporterAshlee Mullany pieces together the final moments of Flight 171 using cockpit recordings, black box data and a world-first simulator recreation.

Aviation expert Alastair Rosenschein told 7NEWS Spotlight: "Shutting down the engines at that point of the flight is going to only have one outcome."

One of India's most respected aviation experts, Captain Mohan Ranganathan, said: "From some of the information that had been mentioned to me by pilots in India…they did say that the captain had been going through periods of depression, and he had taken medical leave."

The crash could join a grim roll call. Ten years ago, Germanwings 9525 was deliberately flown into the French Alps by its co-pilot, killing all 149 on board, including Australian mother Carol Friday and her son Greig.

Speaking exclusively to 7NEWS Spotlight, Carol's daughter Alex Friday said: "He mass murdered 149 people… including my brother and my mum.He ran them into a mountain. He took a machine and ran them into a mountain."

Ashlee Mullany said "Pilot mental health is an uncomfortable but important conversation, particularly considering recent aviation tragedies. While the odds of a deliberate crash are still so low, the consequences are catastrophic.

"In the case of the Germanwings crash, that pilot turned out to be one of the worst mass murderers in modern history and his actions are still felt acutely by the Friday family to this day."

上一集

2025/07/20 S2025 E14

Pilot's Miracle & The Dark Side Of Dating Apps

The inside story of a stunt pilot's miraculous survival after crashing into the ground at 300km/h during the Avalon Airshow. Plus, the dark side of dating apps exposed in a global investigation.

下一集

2025/08/17 S2025 E16

Face To Face With My Children's Killer

A father who lost his three children. And the man who killed them.Samuel Davidson was three times over the legal alcohol limit, drug-affected and out of control when the ute he was driving mounted a footpath and mowed down seven children in the 2020 Oatlands tragedy that shocked the nation.

Abdallah siblings Antony (13), Angelina (12), and Sienna (8), along with their cousin Veronique Sakr (11), were all killed instantly. Three other children were injured.

Davidson was sentenced on appeal to 20 years in prison, with a non-parole period of 15 years.

At the time, many Australians couldn't comprehend how parents Danny and Leila Abdallah publicly forgave him. But now, in an extraordinary act, Danny Abdallah's forgiveness reaches even deeper.

Five years on from the tragedy, 7NEWS Spotlight has been granted rare access inside one of the country's harshest prisons to capture the raw and emotional encounter between a grieving father and the man who destroyed his world. It is an extraordinary television interview that challenges everything we think we know about restorative justice, remorse and forgiveness.

For the first time, Australians will also hear from Davidson about that horrific day, including new revelations about the reasons behind his actions and the devastating consequences that followed.

7NEWS Spotlight'sMichael Usher, who has followed the Abdallahs' story since the beginning, said: "For the past eight months, 7NEWS Spotlight has worked closely with Corrective Services NSW, lawyers and psychologists to make this possible.

"We spent a week inside one of Australia's hardest prisons where TV cameras are rarely allowed to speak with a high-risk, high-security inmate serving one of the longest sentences for his crime.

"Danny's journey to forgiveness has been long, complicated, and deeply emotional," he said. "What I witnessed inside those walls is something I never expected to see, and certainly never thought we'd be able to share with the Australian public."

Where does justice end and mercy begin? And can forgiveness ever truly heal?

当前季

S2025

2025-03-23

哇，窗口太小啦

7NEWS Spotlight