What exactly does that mean? You go door to door?
For now, questionnaires.
You are questioning those people about psychoses.
PTSD. While they are sick.
Much more has been recorded. Conversations between the RLD...
the National Police Service Aviation...
in El Al.
Tape? - We have handed over all the tapes that are available to the detectives.
Or has it been deleted again?
I thought you had retired by now?
The waybills of the Bijlmer disaster, you have them somewhere.
Hey, now I recognize you.
Ferry, you need to move my archive. Now.
Are you Ferry Daamen? -It was two men.
What did they take? What's gone?
They were looking for originals.
Goddamn...
Introduce our file in the civil lawsuit.
Then we can... -Examine them under oath.
Wolleswinkel, Jorritsma, Borst.
The whole typhoid gang. And then they have to, otherwise they commit perjury.
Your minister must tell you within 14 days...
who were the men in white suits at the Bijlmer disaster.
Otherwise I'll make sure she's heard under oath...
in the civil case.
Rob?
Are you behind that lawyer?
Annemarie. -I'm not going to testify under oath...
in a lawsuit I had nothing to do with.
That's nonsensical. -I knew nothing.
But I'm glad you're finally getting it checked out.
Six years late, but... thank you.
After consultation with my officials and the Attorney General...
it has been decided to have the National Investigation Department conduct an investigation...
to the rumors of men in white suits at the crash site.
Mr. Chairman, I think residents of the Bijlmer...
and healthcare professionals have much more to say.
Let me sum it up again... - Extensive criminal investigation.
What more could Mr. Van Gijzel want?
The missing black box, the duplicate freight papers...
over 36 tons of cargo that is still unknown.
I assume that all those aspects will also be thoroughly investigated?
Like I said, it's going to be an extensive criminal investigation.
An investigation. You don't believe that's going to make a difference, do you?
It's all the same shit. One big corrupt gang.
It's the National Investigation Department that's going to investigate, isn't it? -Oh no.
Oh, if the National Investigation Department investigates it, it will be fine.
What bullshit. You just say yourself...
that El Al has banned their staff from cooperating.
That is a foreign party.
But the RLD is obliged to do so, on orders from Jorritsma.
That's never going to work anyway. Don't be so naive.
Pierre, Jesus.
What?
H�, I have. -H�, Asha.
Lachmans is finally over.
That detective investigation apparently makes everyone tense.
So what do they want to do now?
Lachmans has suggested to Borst to do a blood test...
in a large number of patients and rescuers.
Are you still there? -Yes. Yes I'm still here.
I especially hope it is not too late. -I hope so too. See you soon.
I'll talk to you. bye.
The answer is no. We take the advice of the AMC...
to do a blood test.
Because I consider it unlikely that these sightings...
directly related to the disaster.
And I really wanted to leave it at that.
What about those men in white suits? -Goddamnit...
The investigation by the National Investigation Department has been completed.
The chief officer says…
that the mysterious men in white suits are very likely...
Okay, a horse remedy. Parliamentary inquiry?
We never succeed. -How do you know that?
Because then we need a huge breakthrough, Asha.
It's the three of us against a system.
A system that prefers to pay double damages...
than to take the survey. -What if there are more of us?
Let's send this around, everything that hangs here.
The whole file. To all newspaper editors.
Trouw, Telegraaf, Parool, Volkskrant, NRC.
We credit our sources, but we keep everyone anonymous.
Vincent. -You're right, there's only three of us.
It's high time we let everyone join the fight.
Vincent, won't everyone find out that we worked together?
We'll see that again. -You can lose your job.
That's just how it is. Shall we?
This is it.
And that's all we can do.
And.
Her... her boyfriend died in the disaster, her lover.
Kenneth Bouman.
They would live together in Antwerp.
She never said anything about it at all.
Nee.
All these years, and I just still can't cry about it.
Shall we go for a drink? Beer, wine?
Both? -Jesus, Asha, what a great idea.
What is that?
Dekker of Trouw and Pierre Heijboer.
They are apparently still dealing with the Bijlmer disaster.
DMMP.
Mr Greven. -Er... me first.
That you apparently have been hiding for years that you...
you have worked with the competitor, I am very disappointed of you.
And then also Pierre Heijboer, not the least. -I have...
But the work you've done is...
solid.
That's what I call thorough research.
But what is your end goal? Where is this going?
A parliamentary inquiry.
That's not going to work. You have nothing. You don't have a smoking gun.
36 tons of unknown cargo. - Exactly, unknown.
And?
If anything ever comes up again...
then we all dive on top of it. Promised.
Then you are no longer alone.
But for now, I have the newspaper's reputation to think about. -What?
Sometimes journalism also means letting things go, Vincent.
I want you on other things. Yes?
Dekker.
Well, boy, fired?
Coal with the enemy, huh.
Deadly sin numero uno.
Salt it up, Jeffrey. -Uh, hello?
Vincent Decker? Does he work here today?
Karel Knip, NRC.
Can we talk somewhere? -About what?
I have received your file.
Including the copies of the waybills...
that the government made you read and uh...
I know what was being transported.
At least part of the load.
Part of sarin, a nerve gas.
Yes. It was listed in the waybills as 'flammable liquids'.
DMMP. -You mean, sarin...
the same gas that was also used during the Gulf War?
According to international law, it cannot be transported...
but there were hundreds of liters on the plane.
Would we just... - Yes.
Look, here's what that shipment was for.
Israel Institute for... -Biological Research, Ness Ziona.
Yes. You know it?
Yes, I stood in front of the gate.
Hundreds of litres, is that a lot?
Yes. Look, in separate components it's not that dangerous...
but if you use all the mentioned resources...
would combine with each other who were on the plane...
then there was enough to make it a metropolis...
like Tokyo or London.
Yes. So you're okay with us publishing?
H�, hallo?
Eh, yes. sorry
Yes, publish. To publish.
NOS Eight-hour news. Henry Chair.
Ladies and gentlemen, good evening. A new chapter has been added...
to the continuing ambiguity surrounding the Bijlmer disaster.
We start with the unveiling of NRC Handelsblad this afternoon...
that there were raw materials for poison gas in the crashed El Al-Boeing.
'Raw material toxic gas in Boeing El Al.'
This was evident from this consignment note.
At first they said there was perfume on board and a little cosmetics.
Later it was said: There were also some chemicals in that plane.
It was already known that little effort from the government...
was done to find out exactly what the cargo consisted of.
But now it appears that also documents that were available...
have not been thoroughly analysed.
Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu Just Admitted...
that the aircraft had 190 liters of DMMP on board.
This was denied by the Israeli government earlier this week.
NRC Handelsblad discovered that the El Al-Boeing was transporting raw materials...
for the production of the deadly nerve gas sarin.
The cargo was destined for the Israel Institute for Biological Research.
That's a top secret lab...
where, according to defense specialists, poisonous gases are produced.
They were considered crazy:
residents, survivors, researchers and journalists.
Over and over again as in the last six years...
new questions about the El Al disaster jumbo were raised...
In the end, according to the government, nothing was wrong.
Now it appears that more than 500 people are sick...
as a result of the Bijlmer disaster, a number that continues to rise...
I make another, hopefully for the last time, an urgent appeal...
to the Dutch and Israeli governments: cooperate.
Otherwise I only see one option.
Congratulations, boy. The Chamber has just agreed.
Parliamentary inquiry.
Now they can't get out of it.
Are you going to be on it yourself, the committee?
Kok never allows that. Besides, I want to be questioned myself.
I want to be able to tell you under oath what a mess this has become.
The inquiry committee insists that the Netherlands will soon be able to watch everything at home on the couch.
'The lowest stone must be raised' were their exact words.
How long do they have to investigate everything?
3.5 months.
We've collected six years' worth of information. -Yes.
And the number of Bijlmer residents that they have accepted as witnesses does not make you happy either.
Four.
Four residents...
How many interrogations?
We are going to interview ninety people.
Under oath. People from politics, aviation and society.
Our mission is clear.
36 tons of the cargo is still unknown.
Hundreds of people suffer from illness...
they don't know how they got it.
There is concern about possible secret services at the disaster site...
those things would have been stashed away.
You know the stories by now.
It is our job to get answers to the table.
Only then can we humans...
who have been directly or indirectly victims of this disaster...
provide clarity.
And I think we will succeed.
Is this really necessary, Maureen?
I'm completely stuffed and then they start talking about the Bijlmer disaster again.
I think it's smart that we all have noses in the same direction.
That we double check everything. - Double check. -Yes.
We get screwed up by the press.
Did we as a municipality do everything correctly?
Has nothing been withheld? Unintentionally?
Nothing has been withheld. This is Amsterdam, not a banana republic.
Damn it, Daniel. It's about our people.
Your people who may have been walking around there for days...
in I don't know what kind of rubbish.
If anyone knew about that all along...
then i feel so good.
Then we as a municipality have been fooled for six years.
Are there any sick among firefighters and police? -Of course there are.
But we are firefighters, those complaints can come from anywhere.
However?
We only give the detectives the bare minimum.
I want those figures...
they can't get their hands on anything they can use to take us down.
That whole pile won't leave the door until I've sifted through it.
Good. Ok, thanks for the effort.
Dekker. What are you still doing here?
Excuse me, what am I doing?
I want you at those interrogations in The Hague.
Every day. Lead reporter.
Jeffrey will arrange a hotel for you. Right, Jeff? -Sorry? What?
He knows it well there. Guys, take an example from Dekker here.
Yes? This is journalism.
Delicious.
Shouldn't you be there?
The boys are already there. I want to be here.
It's my turn next week.
I open the meeting...
of the Bijlmermeer Air Disaster Inquiry Committee.
The next item is the questioning of Mr. KED Mohammed.
Born on August 5, 1962, in Cairo.
Mr. Mohammed, I beg you to rise again...
for keeping your promise.
It reads: I promise to tell the whole truth...
and will tell nothing but the truth. -I promise.
The committee of inquiry is investigating the circumstances and the consequences...
of the plane crash in the Bijlmer on October 4, 1992.
With the aim of finding the truth and learning lessons for the future.
I'm glad I can finally tell.
Now I am disabled.
Before the disaster I was a very healthy boy.
You can ask people that.
I have completely changed as a person.
As a person.
I was afraid, afraid to tell about my illness.
Afraid of the government.
I was afraid of being sent back.
What's in the papers and what was really transported...
does not match each other.
And the maintenance was a mess. -A mess?
Boxes regularly went up in the air...
who should never have left at all.
I know how it was there. And when I wanted to report...
the declaration was not accepted.
Welcome, Mr. Brandy. Have a seat.
Did they get it from Israel?
The next item is the questioning of Mr D. Brandewijn...
born on November 7, 1956, in Amersfoort.
Mr. Brandy, the oath to be taken by you reads:
I swear I will tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
I swear. -Mr. Brandy, in September 1997...
Has your agent been raided?
Are you aware of this? -Yes.
I have no idea what that was about.
It's your stuff. -Yeah, but I really have no idea.
The men who went in there spoke English...
and they were talking about 'the originals'.
I had only housed my personal archive there.
What could they have meant...
with 'the originals', Mr. Brandy? -No idea.
If I give someone something for safekeeping, it's not old newspapers. However?
The only thing I had...
were papers with the flight incidents and the flight accidents.
I didn't have any "originals" or anything related to aviation.
Mr. Brandy, can you imagine that this story...
I understand that one hundred percent.
Inquire.
Good. Thank you for coming, Mr. Brandy.
Experts in the US examined me...
because nothing happened here in the Netherlands.
I have um... microplasmas in my blood.
Just like that uh...
those soldiers they sent into the Gulf War have too.
Door uranium.
Our expert explained that depleted uranium...
wouldn't be dangerous. -No...
Yes, not dangerous. Do you know...
in the US they just call that bullshit.
Pardon? -Bullshit.
They've been doing research there for years.
And it turns out...
that depleted uranium grit...
is indeed extremely dangerous.
But you...
just hold on to those two A4 sheets...
from that one Dutch expert of yours.
But I can tell you...
they laugh about that in the US.
Good evening. I think it's good...
that there will be a personal investigation for all involved.
That way we can hopefully...
take away some of the unrest in society.
Well, it's nice that she turned. H�?
Well, no, I'm... - Right before the election.
...actually didn't change his position, only now...
Good morning ladies and gentlemen.
The committee asks Mr Bern to take his seat.
Mr. Bern, you were in 1992...
commander of the fire brigade in Amsterdam. Is that correct?
That's right. -I want to ask you some questions...
about the dangers for firefighters at the disaster site...
due to the presence of possible toxic substances.
There weren't. -Excuse me? -There weren't any.
We were immediately told that by Schiphol. -Yes.
The official reading reads...
that the plane contained 282 kilograms of depleted uranium.
This has emerged from research by newspaper Trouw.
130 kilos have been recovered.
In other words: 152 kilos disappeared without a trace.
You say it.
Depleted uranium emits no radiation...
but only becomes dangerous when it shatters to smithereens.
From your expertise, huh, as a firefighter...
Do you think uranium may have melted during the fire?
Then we thought not.
The fire is not hot enough, we thought.
But yes, research by a newspaper has shown...
It has been shown that uranium already decomposes at 500 degrees.
Precisely. -Mr. Bern, this here...
that's a lump of depleted uranium, melted down.
Originating from the El Al-1862...
found in hangar eight at Schiphol.
What do you think if you see it that way? -Yes, again...
we didn't know any better or it would be harmless, uranium.
At such temperatures.
Also melted, so to speak.
But, Mr. Bern...
this here...
that's an information leaflet...
of the Netherlands Fire Service Training Foundation.
And it says, I quote:
Also nowadays depleted uranium-238...
used in aircraft as a counterweight.
Although it normally poses no danger...
it must be absolutely prevented that particles are inhaled.
Mr. Bern, this report...
is from February 1992.
That is seven months before the disaster.
You know this report?
Excuse me, what are you saying?
No, I don't know that report.
I can look myself straight in the mirror.
We have always done our best...
to provide the citizens with the best possible aftercare.
Miss Sarucco, what do you think of the stories...
about men in white suits at the crash site?
Do you think there have been?
Do you know what it is, my municipal officials...
been put away for months as part of a conspiracy...
or a cover-up.
And maybe there was a cover-up. I don't know.
But the municipality of Amsterdam and my people...
have always worked hard and clean.
And now everyone is being dismissed as part of a conspiracy.
If confidence in the government, the experts, the policymakers...
being destroyed, Mr. Chairman...
then a society falls apart. That's my opinion.
And I hope it doesn't come to that.
Thank you, Ms Sarucco.
Miss Sarucco? -No press, please.
No, I just want to say something.
We have you as a community...
never wanting to lump it in the same heap as… well, the rest.
I hope you didn't create a monster...
that can no longer be stopped, Mr Dekker. -A monster?
Yes, I really hope so. For us as a country.
I reopen the meeting...
of the Bijlmermeer Air Disaster Inquiry Committee.
The next item is the questioning of Mr. S. Hesse.
Born November 30, 1946...
Hey, he wasn't on the interrogation list.
What is he doing here?
Mr. Hesse, this committee recently came into possession of a tape...
which contains many telephone conversations...
which until about an hour after the disaster...
from air traffic control.
My question to you is...
why this tape was never released for investigation?
The tape has never been requested.
I found it a month ago in the RLD safe.
Can you tell us, Mr. Hesse, what kind of tape that is?
This is the so-called Assmann tape. Madam.
God damn it, I so asked for that tape.
On this tape you can hear people from El Al and the RLD...
discussing the cargo of the plane on the night of the disaster.
Eh...
What does this mean?
Evidence.
NOS Eight-hour news. Phillip Freriks.
Ladies and gentlemen, good evening.
The Bijlmerenqu�te has had a spectacular...
and politically extremely unpleasant revelation.
We've barely recovered from yesterday's interrogations...
or there is yet another revelation.
Contrary to what has always been officially claimed...
was already known within half an hour after the disaster...
that there were toxic substances on the plane, among other things...
and how dangerous they were. Possibly even more painful...
was the finding that air traffic control...
that information has been withheld until recently.
Yesterday it suddenly turned out that for years there has been...
from half an hour after that disaster, a band is...
information about the cargo.
Mr Wolleswinkel, what do you think...
that seven of your officials have been suspended?
It is now being suggested that Lubbers, then Prime Minister...
and Deputy Prime Minister Kok would have known about it.
When citizens see that officials...
behind the backs of the responsible ministers...
keep things like this...
then the credibility of politicians is very bad.
"We'll keep that a secret, we'll keep that under wraps."
That has been passed on to their bosses.
We've never heard of it. Not for six years.
Let alone whether it has remained under the cap after that.
I do not know that. But just that answer.
I will tell my story before the committee...
and there I will explain the truth.
And now I want to ask you all to leave me and my family alone.
I'll see you tomorrow. Thank you.
Isn't that just a cover-up, in plain Dutch?
Yes, and that makes me furious.
A request to cover up and keep the matter under wraps...
and a message that it will be OK.
You just lied to me. H�.
You did have that tape.
I didn't know about that tape. Not really.
Funny. First time I believe it.
A cover-up, a plot to keep it a secret.
On withholding that vital information...
has been reacted with bewilderment and anger.
It is already a media circus, if we also have someone arrested, the country will be turned upside down.
Your club wants this to be over as soon as possible, right, Theo?
The VVD is completely open to this. Arrests are not our business, are they?
That will soon be up to the Chamber and Justice.
We're not executioners, Rob. -Hear-hear.
We just got a call. A company in the States, Raving Incorporated.
One of the freight suppliers.
They found something in a warehouse in New York.
They don't say what it is...
they only do that if we send someone over personally.
Ask the Economic Control Service for two good detectives.
Two. Maximum. And let those Americans pay for the flight.
We already have way too little budget.
Don't you think that's crazy?
Six years nothing...
and now all of a sudden they come up with this.
Exactly the moment that the interrogations are taking place in The Hague.
A box from a warehouse.
A warehouse that has burned down twice since '92.
Anyone who believes this is crazy.
Cover up, screwed up.
Cover up, screwed up. -A monster...
Wine, Peter.
H�. -Asha.
Come on.
Good to have you here. -Stop dictatorship.
End dictatorship.
Did you know about the band's existence...
what toxins are called?
No. -How is that possible, huh?
That important information about potentially hazardous substances...
did not reach you on the night of the disaster.
I leave that decision to my officials. That is how it works.
We already sent freight documents to the House in '96.
But they were almost unreadable due to all kinds of abbreviations and codes.
And there was no explanation. -That's a pity then.
But the Chamber did receive those papers.
Everything went by the book.
At the urging of this committee, Mr Lachmans of the AMC...
now very focused and per patient started looking for autoimmune diseases.
Twelve cases have been found so far.
With today's science, h...
do you still think it's right...
that you have not had any further investigations carried out?
It is a struggle between your feeling and mind.
But I still think we did well.
Mr Wolleswinkel...
do you have an explanation for the fact that Ms Maij-Weggen...
at the very first press conference talking about flowers and perfume...
while it was already clear…
that the plane was carrying dangerous goods?
I don't know exactly what she said.
But from the beginning it was known...
that those substances were on board.
Anyway, that was category two, or three...
so eh... pretty harmless, mind you.
Mr. Wolleswinkel, one more time, the tape recording...
who knows the whole of the Netherlands by heart...
the things that were kept under wraps, you say:
That is based on a misunderstanding. -A misunderstanding. Yes.
So no more. - And explain that to you.
This one, this here...
So this is a copy of the NOTOC...
and it does contain toxic substances.
But this is the NOTOC from New York to Amsterdam.
The toxic substances...
they were unloaded in Amsterdam.
Just bullshit.
Then I have the NOTOC from Amsterdam to Tel Aviv.
He's not getting away.
There are no toxic substances on it.
Yes. So your point is? -My point is...
that that El Al employee...
read the wrong NOTOC.
So what we supposedly kept under wraps for seven years...
wasn't on that plane at all...
when it took off from Schiphol.
That plane was full of flowers, perfume. -All bullshit.
Innocent military stuff. No more.
No, bullshit.
It's the gel.
That's bullshit. That juggling with those shitty papers.
Quiet please. -But those people are the asshole.
Pierre... - Damn it. -Pierre.
Jesus.
There are um...
There are more important things in life, aren't there?
Pierre, what the fuck are you talking about?
I have cancer.
And my kidneys are fucked up. That's because of the drinking, they say.
How long have you known this?
An uh...
A month or four.
Yes, it uh...
It'll be from the smoking and the drinking, but...
Yes, who knows. Maybe...
Maybe I was just too early at the crash site.
Maybe... maybe I got to the crash site too early.
Pierre...
Will I be a piece of evidence later?
H�? Cut me open, please.
If we can get those bastards with that.
Welcome, Mrs. Willems.
The purpose of this commission is to find the truth...
and lessons for the future.
You are here to represent the Bijlmer.
Tell them, mi gudu.
Haha.
Yes that's right.
Yes, go ahead. -Thank you.
U. Thank you.
Raise them, baby. Raise them.
Yes. From 1992 to the present, I have collected information...
of people who have been struggling with health problems since the disaster.
It now concerns a group of more than 2000 people.
247 cases of autoimmune diseases, 123 of pregnancy problems...
children with malformations, rare chromosome abnormalities...
and 16 cases of cot death. In the first two years...
the number of miscarriages in the Bijlmer has tripled. - Mrs Willems...
If I further subdivide the autoimmune group...
I'll start with systemic lupus erythematosus...
I'm going to interrupt you anyway. We already have this all on paper.
So we really want...
Yes, I think that's exactly the problem.
Pardon? -Paper.
It's not about paper.
It's about people.
I'm dragging this thing, this folder...
with me everywhere for over seven years.
Everything you need for a...
a large-scale medical examination is included in this.
Numbers, statistics, names.
But I now realize that it probably doesn't matter that much to you...
because you see it as paper.
And social security numbers.
And frankly, I've been doing that for too long myself.
This folder tells you nothing about... us.
About how warm and close-knit our neighborhood is. Still.
About how music sounds over the galleries every day.
If I'm on a house call around dinnertime, then I'm allowed to...
then I always have to eat with you. -That's how it is.
We argue outside in the gallery and we have fun together.
I get it, you know. This folder is also full of numbers and statistics.
It's also easier...
to blind yourself to rules and paper and bureaucracy...
instead of looking at real pain.
A baby who becomes an orphan.
People who lose their children, lose their homes...
commit suicide.
You cannot reduce that to a folder or a file.
They are people, Mr Meijer...
who have been wanting to be seen for seven years.
And it's hard. I couldn't do it myself.
I didn't even go to my own friend's funeral.
I don't even say goodbye...
What I'm trying to say...
is that if that plane had flown a different route...
then this might have been your neighborhood.
Or from the people who are now sitting at home watching...
then these were your children, your neighbours.
Wasn't it the purpose of this survey to learn lessons for the future?
If you don't learn to see yourself in another...
we'll be here again in five years.
Or ten or twenty.
In another survey.
I don't think any of us want that.
However?
Excuse me. Am I saying something funny or...
No, Mrs. Williams. But we have good news.
For you and all people from the Bijlmer.
Because we have tracked down the cargo.
A New York freight company has recovered a box...
containing the freight documents of the missing cargo.
And now it turns out to be harmless.
Computer parts, flowers and perfume.
You will understand that we as a committee are extremely happy...
that we still managed to bring this part to a successful conclusion.
For the people, as you rightly say.
A good ending?
There is no happy ending for us, huh.
Thank you, Mrs. Willems. We take a break for an hour.
Who is responsible for that?
This morning the Bijlmeren survey came to an end after seven months.
From the start of this survey, society has been...
great interest in our work.
This has led to a lot of letters and phone calls.
The commission's final report initially seemed...
a victory for everyone involved in the Bijlmer.
But after the debate on that final report...
those same people are left with a hangover.
The Bijlmermeer reacted with disappointment...
on the outcome of the debate in the House of Representatives.
Especially the fact that all responsible ministers...
being allowed to sit is not understood.
An empty feeling. It is said: There will be a health examination.
But we're dealing with Mrs. Borst again.
What annoyed me the most last night...
that was that smug attitude...
Jorritsma's smug smile.
From: old boy currant bread, we'll all make it.
That hurt me a lot.
Well, that's it.
Chest saved, Glued Purple.
The time of disaster for the cabinet is over.
There has never been a moment when at the top level...
not only Public Health, but everyone said:
We have to do something here.
The Bijlmer saves itself.
We've always done that.
We process it our way.
At our pace.
We will grow.
We will heal.
We will never forget you.
The Bijlmer air disaster still keeps truth seekers busy.
So these are the minutes of the Council of Ministers meeting...
of the Friday after the disaster.
Yes, this is so bizarre little.
Watch the real story of journalist Vincent Dekker...
politicians and victims...
This gives the impression that many things should not be known.
...in Disaster Flight, the documentary.
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