Haunting 911 call made moments before devastating crash that cost Toyota $2,000,000,000

Haunting 911 call made moments before devastating crash that cost Toyota $2,000,000,000A chilling 911 call from a US family ended up costing Toyota billions.

On 28 August 2009, Mark Saylor was behind the wheel of a loaner Toyota from a dealership, speeding at 120 mph. With him in the car was his wife, 13-year-old daughter and brother-in-law.

After discovering that the ‘brakes weren’t working’ and ‘acceleration was stuck,’ Saylor’s brother-in-law Chris Lastrella made a desperate 911 call.

“We’re in trouble… There’s no brake,” Lastrella told a police dispatcher over a cellphone, where the sound of the engine revving out of control could be heard. Trying to avoid crashing into other cars, Sailor avoided the upcoming intersection and swerved off the road into a ravine.

The tragic call lasted just 17 seconds before it was abruptly cut off. All four passengers were killed instantly.

As a result, the families blamed Toyota, and it wasn’t an isolated case. Hundreds of similar incidents involving sudden acceleration had already been reported to Toyota and federal regulators, according to an examination of public records by The Times.

Between 2009 and 2010, the car manufacturer was forced to recall around 10 million vehicles. At first, Toyota pointed fingers at the vehicle’s floor mats, claiming they could jam open the accelerator pedal. It was later found that the same car Saylor had been driving was previously flagged for problems with its floor mats, causing ‘unintended acceleration.’

And in 2014, Toyota paid $1.2 billion in fines to the US government after covering up severe safety problems with ‘unintended acceleration’ – all while continuing to build cars with parts the FBI said the company ‘knew were deadly.’ Additionally, Toyota paid another $1.1 billion in a massive class action lawsuit.

Hundreds of incidents involving sudden acceleration were reported to Toyota. (rep0rter/Getty)Hundreds of incidents involving sudden acceleration were reported to Toyota. (rep0rter/Getty)

Hundreds of incidents involving sudden acceleration were reported to Toyota. (rep0rter/Getty)

After investigations, it was discovered that the same car Saylor was driving was previously reported for ‘loose floor mats’ that caused ‘unintended acceleration.’ But after more digging, investigators found even bigger issues.

Consumer Reports conducted an experiment that found Saylor and his family victims of Toyota’s ‘power-assisted braking.’ Because the power brakes rely on vacuum pressure from the engine, if the engine’s wide open, that vacuum drops fast.

“If you take your foot off the brake even one time, you lose your power assistance and it becomes almost impossible to stop the vehicle,” a spokesperson for Consumer Reports said. In that situation, even slamming the brake pedal with full force might not stop the car, experts explained.

“I don’t think you can stop a car going 120 mph and an engine at full throttle without power assist,” said Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety.

Featured Image Credit: jetcityimage via Getty

Haunting words of pilot who witnessed 'ghost plane' crash that killed all 115 passengers and crewHaunting words of pilot who witnessed 'ghost plane' crash that killed all 115 passengers and crew

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Haunting words of pilot who witnessed ‘ghost plane’ crash that killed all 115 passengers and crew

He saw the tragedy unfold right in front of him

Rebekah Jordan

Rebekah Jordan

In the summer of 2005, Greece witnessed one of its worst accidents in aviation history.

Years later, the chilling words of a fighter pilot who witnessed the plane crash have resurfaced online.

In August of that year, Greece was shaken by the crash of Helios Airways Flight 522, which killed all 115 passengers and six crew members on board.

The flight was scheduled to depart from Larnaca, Cyprus at 9am on 14 August and fly to Prague, Czech Republic, with a stopover in Athens.

The onboard pilots reported an air conditioning warning to ground staff shortly after takeoff. But that was the last anyone heard from them.

Milos Bicanski / Stringer / GettyMilos Bicanski / Stringer / Getty

Milos Bicanski / Stringer / Getty

When air traffic control (ATC) in Cyprus lost contact with the aircraft operating the flight, concerns arose about potential hijacking or terrorism.

But what they discovered was far more unsettling.

Fighter jets were sent to locate Flight 522 which was circling aimlessly over Athens.

They soon realised that the first officer was slumped at the controls and the captain’s seat was worryingly vacant.

Inside the cabin, passengers were unconscious, despite oxygen masks dangling in front of them.

All onboard were alive but unconscious, except for flight attendant Andreas Prodromou, who – though not trained to fly a Boeing 737-31S – was desperately trying to steer the plane to safety.

The fighter jet pilots were watching helplessly as the ‘ghost flight’ struck the mountainside in was resulted as a tragedy.

It was found that after almost three hours in the air, the aircraft’s engines failed within 10 minutes of each other.

In his final moments, Prodromou pointed down to the fighter pilots before the plane crashed into a hillside near Grammatiko, Greece.

One of the fighter pilots’ haunting words from the crash was later shared online.

In the audio, the pilot can be heard saying to the ground crew: “Mayday, mayday. Mambo, we have a civilian plane crash. We have a civilian plane crash. Mayday, mayday.

“Mayday, mayday. Athens, the civilian plane crashed into a mountain peak.”

An investigation after the crash revealed that the incident was due to a loss of cabin pressure, causing hypoxia for everyone onboard.

Following that, it was believed that the aircraft’s cabin pressurisation switch had been left mistakenly in ‘manual’ mode rather than ‘auto’ – which would have caused the depressurisation of the aircraft.

Helios Airways ceased operations in 2006.

Featured Image Credit: Milos Bicanski / Stringer / Getty

How scuba-diving YouTuber made haunting discovery that solved decades old cold case of two missing teensHow scuba-diving YouTuber made haunting discovery that solved decades old cold case of two missing teens

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How scuba-diving YouTuber made haunting discovery that solved decades old cold case of two missing teens

He cracked open a 20-year-old cold case

Emily McIntyre

Emily McIntyre

Thanks to the power of social media and the internet, mysteries that have remained unexplainable for years are suddenly being solved.

In 2019, the remains of a missing man were found in Florida after 22 years – thanks to someone zooming into his former neighborhood onGoogle Earth. Then there was YouTuber Rich Aloha who was filming content for his channel when he stumbled across an abandoned camera that belonged to 22-year-old Richard Ragland who had lost his life two years prior. And now, a new cold case has been cracked open.

Another man who helped solve a missing persons case whilst making content, was Jeremy Beau Sides – Father, husband and scuba-diver who’s best known for his YouTube channel Exploring With Nug.

His channel, which has amassed over 636,000 subscribers, is dedicated to solving underwater mysteries – And one day, he made a heartbreaking discovery.

Whilst diving in Sparta, Tennessee, in 2021, Jeremy was exploring an area where just over 20 years earlier, teenagers Erin Foster and her friend, Jeremy Bechtel went missing.

The pair left home in her car and were never seen again, that was until Jeremy and his team decided to explore the waters.

Armed with scuba, sonar and other exploratory equipment, they began to search the Calfkiller River.

Using this equipment, he searched the waters and was able to locate the vehicle 13 feet below the surface of the water.

They then alerted the police of their discovery, and a team of forensic investigators were collecting evidence from the 1998 Pontiac.

White County Sheriff Steve Page told News Channel 5: “Of course, I’m shocked. I’m like really? I didn’t believe it until I got there.”

Exploring with Nug/ YouTubeExploring with Nug/ YouTube

Exploring with Nug/ YouTube

It was then later reported that they found Foster and Bechtel’s remains inside the car.

‘It was like losing him all over again,’ Jeremy’s father, Ron Bechtel, said in an interview with the New York Times.

‘We kind of had just had a thin bit of hope that he was still alive.’

With the car almost completely intact, the scene indicated that the pair had simply run off the road.

For years, dive teams believed that if that were to have happened, the guardrail along the highway would’ve shown signs of damage. However, it wasn’t until 2021 that investigators realised the guardrail wasn’t there in 2000.

“We all make mistakes,” Page said afterwards. “The best we can do is learn from those mistakes and just keep moving forward.”

Since his discovery in 2021, Jeremy has continued to dedicate his YouTube channel to solving cold cases and finding missing people – His most recent upload being titled ‘Explosive Underwater Discovery: 3 Vehicles Found While Searching for Missing Man!

When interviewed after solving the case in 2021, he said “We’re just doing what we do and we make the rules – and end of the day, we try to find these people who are missing. We focus on the waterways because that’s what our specialty is…

“We all have the same objective: Just keep looking and bring closure to these families.”

Featured Image Credit: Exploring with Nug / YouTube

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