tonight on "nightline," may day. moments after takeoff, birds are sucked into the engine of a plane with 179 on board, forcing it down. >> that was the scariest thing i have ever done. >> tonight, the shocking truth about bird strikes. and the making of a new hero pilot. the elephant whisperers. they're angry, they're scared and they are charging straight for two brave souls trying to save them. we take you inside one of the craziest conservation efforts we've ever seen. plus, gavin unplugged. you nay know him as mr. gwen stefani. but his song "glycerin" made him a rock idol. tonight, gavin rossdale tells us about the song that shaped his life.

>> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," april 19th, 2012. >> good evening, i'm terry moran it was just three years ago that captain sully sullenberger pulled off a heroic crash landing they called the miracle on the hudson. and tonight, well, we bring you a strikingly similar tale of an inflight emergency, involved a bird strike that brought down a plane's engine. and a calm pilot's swift reaction and quick instincts presented have worst from happening. here's abc's jim avila. >> reporter: it's an incredible sight. danger, literally out of the blue. watch it again, just seconds after taking off from jfk, you can see a flock of birds fly into the engine of delta flight 1063, en route to los angeles. 172 passengers on board.

wabc obtained this picture of the damage they caused. up in the air, within seconds after the strike, an unbelievably cool and calm pie lot alerts the control tower, he has a serious problem. >> delta 1063 has had an engine failure on the right engine. declaring an emergency due to a bird strike. departure delta 1063. we have declared an emergency engine failure on the right engine. request a visual return back to 13-right. >> reporter: in the cabin, the smell of smoke. terrified passengers tightening their seat belts, hering a grinding sound from the engine. >> new request. we would like to do a visual to 2-2. please. >> 1036, you're just going to go in visually. >> yes, ma'am, delta 1063, that would be great. >> reporter: minutes later, they're on the ground. >> i just got off a flight 1063, delta 1063, dude, that was the scariest thing i have ever done in my life. >> reporter: grant cardone was recording the takeoff from first

class. >> plane shook us, i felt we were coming down, i show on the video, i called my wife to say, hey, we could be freaking -- this might be my last flight. i was that scared. wow. thank god. it's all right. >> reporter: bird strikes are not uncommon. since 1990, there have been more than 2,500 at jfk alone. the number of strikes annually has increased more than five fold from 1990 to 2010. and this one happened at the worst possible time. on takeoff, when the plane needs all the power it can muster. >> the real critical part of this is it happened right after takeoff. three seconds after rotation, when the airplane's very heavy, got a full load of passengers. it has lots of fuel on board. and now, he's down to one engine and he sees the engine unwind in the cockpit and he knows he's got to do some things very quickly, by memory and very professionally. >> reporter: abc news flight consul tan steve began yard has

been at the controls during a bird strike. >> even a small bird can cause a serious damage to the enjib. if it's a big boyd, it can bend back the compressor blaelds and call what's called a compressor stall, like a backfire in a car. >> reporter: and with all the uproar of late about pilot and crew misbehavior, what a contrast to hear this delta pilot professional demeanor. listen to his calming voice after it was all over. >> all is well. they can take their time and everybody can be calm out there. >> delta 1063, thanks for the heads up. >> reminiscent of the famous landing in new york. >> you can land runway one at teterboro. >> we can't do it. >> okay, which runway would you like? >> we're going to be in the hudson. >> a massive bird strike brought down this us air flight into the hudson river. >> the airplane was pelted by many large birds. we could hear them hit. >> reporter: at the controls, captain sullenberger, or just

sully, who became a national hero for his calm demeanor and quick thinking. >> i was very confident. we had a plan and it was, the execution of that plan that was essential to getting us safely to the surface. i knew once we landed, that the crew could evacuate the passengers and the rescue could begin. >> reporter: he, too, unable to avoid what pilots fear most. >> it's very, very difficult to avoid the birds. sometimes you'll see them at the last minute, you are moving very fast, 150 miles an hour, and if you were to abort the takeoff, you might cause more problems than you would if you just continue the takeoff. >> reporter: planes like this boeing 757 are actually designed to fly, land, even take off with just one engine. and today's remarkable flight and emergency landing is testament to the safety of the american fleet, with no fatal crashes in two years. and to the coolheaded pilot who f flies hit. for "nightline," i'm jim avila in new york.

>> thank you to jim avila for that. just ahead, why these people are standing in the way of those angry elephants. the new taurus is going to blow people away... starting with the guys who built it. i haven't driven it yet. i'm going to try take it easy and warm up slowly. hi. do you get car sick or anything? no, is that a challenge? no, no. so with the 2013 taurus i can pretty much voice command anything. pretty much. you're going to be able to change your radio station, make a phone call. all that you can do with just the sound of your voice. all of it? all of it. never have to take your hands off the wheel. never have to take your hands off the wheel... which is good when you're driving. ha ha ha. before i started taking abilify, i was taking an antidepressant alone. most days i could get out from under and carry on. but other days i still struggled with my depression. i was handling it...

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>> announcer: "nightline" continues from new york city with terry moran. >> few people, very few, volunteer to get in the path of a charging elephant. but for the brother and sister team you're about to meet, staring down the giant beast is just an occupational hazard. they say there's a heartwarming method to their madness, and tom, my co-anchor bill weir joins in on their high stakes game of chicken -- or elephants. >> reporter: imagine for a

moment that you spent most of your life being attacked by elephants. imagine that one by one, elephants killed your family and all your friends. forever after, just the sound of the heavy footstep of the glimpse of a tusk would send the fight or flight juices screaming through your brain. well, in this partal of mozambique, what is exactly what it feels like to be an elephant, hearing the sound of an engine or seeing a glimpse of us. >> she's charged me twice. from farther away than this. >> reporter: maybe now's a good time to discuss what we should do if she does charge. >> we just be quiet. we don't make any sound. don't panic. >> reporter: the guy with the camera is national geographic photographer bob poole. the big female with the mean streak over there, he calls one tusk. and moments like this make up one of the bravest and craziest

conservation efforts anywhere. >> elephants here are weary of people. they are -- they tend to be -- they don't trust people. and natural reaction for an elephant is to -- is to -- is to protect themselves, you know? so, the leaders will come out and, you know, physically confront you. >> reporter: it's an attempt to help the world's biggest sufferers of post-traumatic stress. tur vie vors of a brutal 15-year several war that killed 95% of their fellow elephants in the national park. >> they watched their entire families gunned down, you know? killed. >> reporter: and it's true an elephant never forgets, right? >> exactly. >> reporter: but to rebuild and survive, the people here desperately need tourists to feel safe here. so, first, they have to win the hearts and minds of these damaged creatures. and when it comes to elephant

whispering, bob knew exactly where to turn. >> get in the car. >> i'm okay, bob. >> reporter: his sister, joyce. since their dad was the head of the peace corps in kenya, these siblings basically grew up on safari. he became a filmmaker, she became one of the world's fore most experts on elephant behavior. and together, they decided that the only way to convince these creatures that the war is over and they're safe is to get close and stay calm. >> she's still thinking about it. look at her there. okay, here she comes. okay. she's coming. she's serious. it's okay, girl. it's okay girl. >> reporter: they held their ground. charge after charge. dale and night. >> look at that. she's turning. >> follow. >> she's coming forwards us. uh-oh.

>> she would -- she would be sitting here and we have an elephant charging and she would start talking, it's okay girl, it's okay, no problem and she would say, look, they can sense your fear, so, you know, they know we're not afraid. and i'd be thinking, like, yeah right, we're not afraid. i'm freaking terrified. >> reporter: since starting the experiment, the pools have seen moments of exhilarating success, like the time they used recorded stress calls to lure a herd of elephants deeper into the safety of the park. >> this is just incredible. look at them, they're running to help. they're running to help. >> reporter: but the setbacks can be severe. and bob's beloved land rover is proof. the day before we arrived, an angry female rammed his truck so parait pinned him against a tree until a warning shot from a park ranger scared her away. >> she stood right here and just went -- bam, she head butted the car.

suddenly, she comes running back and, so, the ranger lined up right here and shot over her head again and she left. but look what she did. >> reporter: and do you see that as a successful experiment into your winning them over -- >> no, no. i mean, the good news was that the ranger didn't kill her. he was the real hero to me for not doing that. >> reporter: you want another chance to win her over? >> oh, yeah. definitely. we're not going to quit. that's not the end of this project. >> reporter: you're a brave dude, bob. the story doesn't exactly fill us with comfort, staring down one tusk. but she chills. at one point, we are literally surrounded by peaceful families, tolerating not just us but a truckload of tourists. maybe these siblings, these elephant social workers, maybe they're onto something. i'm bill weir for "nightline" in

mozambique. >> good luck to them. "war elephants" premieres this april 22nd on nat geo wild. up next, from "glycerin" to now. gavin rossdale brings us the playlist that shaped his music. ♪ dave, i've downloaded a virus. yeah. ♪ dave, where are we on the new laptop? it's so slow! i'm calling dave. [ telephone rings ] [ male announcer ] in a small business, technology is all you. that's why you've got us. at the staples pc savings event, for a limited time get up to $200 off select computers. staples. that was easy.

you know, typical alarm clock. i am so glad to get rid of it. just to be able to wake up in the morning on your own. that's a big accomplishment to me. i don't know how much money i need. but i know that whatever i have that's what i'm going to live within. ♪ ♪

you may remember gavin rossdale as the raspy voice singer of bush. or maybe you know him better as the guy holding gwen stefani's hand now. he tells us all about his biggest musical inspirations for tonight's play list. ♪ it's like the sound of wint winter ♪ ♪ repeating love ♪ you got to hang onto yourself ♪ ♪ vicky played guitar >> my mom played music around the house. a lot of the time. but my aunt also lived with her and she was a fantastic character, always out all night. she would listen to bowie, "ziggy stardust." i really liked the

counter-culture of music. ♪ most of the time ♪ i'm focused all around >> that song that i love the most is bob dylan, "most of the time." he's got the balance of an incredible lyric, the melody is perfect. it's a real classic for me ♪ where is my mind ♪ where is my mind >> pixies showed us wind about dressing up, that style. that's what we responded to and were inspired by. "where is my mind" would be the first, the biggest track and it's just an exciting rock band, but like, with a kind of interesting quirky offbeat strang sipsychotic lyrics, whici like. ♪ i'm sinking in ♪ must be for real ♪ now i can feel writing "glycerine," i can

remember where i was physically, how it was and how it came about, because it just flowed out. ♪ don't let the days go by ♪ glycerine ♪ glycerine >> i've been so lucky because whenever you play songs that connect with an audience and audience responds, we all go to a higher place, it becomes a better world for that time and "glycerine" is one of those songs that does that. ♪ shake down 1979 >> smashing pumpkins, "1979" really represents the beginning of my time with gwen and i just always love that song. ♪ we don't even care >> it's one of those brilliant songs that, as soon as i hear it, it just transports me back

to that time. so, i -- i never tire of hearing that song. ♪ it's like the sound of wint winter ♪ >> sometimes when you write songs, the idea that you can begin with doesn't transfer right through to the end. i was thinking a lot of the time about homelessness problems. for me, it's just like, for anyone, it's sort of motive. i was just always thinking about it woonderring how i could put it in a song and when i started writing "baby come home" -- ♪ baby come home again ♪ baby come home again it turned into this song, this sort of yearing, all based on a misunderstanding, when people separate, a kid leaves a family home or when people fall apart, you know, in relationships, out of those emotions came that song. ♪ baby come home again ♪ baby come home again

>> new album "sea of memories" in stores now. thank you for watching "nightline." tomorrow, cynthia mcfadden will have a special report on one man's ordeal on mt. everest. "jimmy kimmel live" is up next. be sure to check out "gma" g." congratulations to making it to number one last week. before we go tonight, we'd like to mark a passing. levon helm, the great drummer and singer for the band died today at 71. you can watch your interview with him at abcnews.com/nightline and we send you off with levon tonight singing. ♪ the night is over ♪ take me down ♪ when all the bells are ringing ♪ ♪ the night is over ♪ take me down ♪ and all the people are