this is "nightline" -- tonight. hell on wheels. >> what is your emergency? >> it's bad. she's hurt bad. >> millions of defective tires could be on the road. accident after accident. >> i heard a pop. and basically -- >> supposed to be pulled from the stores, yet still for sale. are you driving a ticking time bomb? plus we go 6,000 feet beneath the ocean inside a never-before-seen underwater volcano. >> we are inside -- >> mysterious and powerful. an eruption could swamp the east coast of the u.s. we're revealing the secrets and beauty at the bottom of the world. >> what could this potentially mean? we just found an oasis.

>> but first, the "nightline" 5. >> what if my abdominal pain -- we have to go. >> what is the most important question is the one you are not asking, what ills the underlying cause of your symptoms is inflammation. for help getting the answers you need. talk to you doctors. and visit crohn's --

good evening. car tires are causing deadly accidents and they're leaving millions on the road today even though they were subject to recall. could your car be hiding this

dangerous secret? here is abc's chief investigative correspondent brian ross for our series "nightline" investigates. >> reporter: the tire industry doesn't like to talk about it. but it has made and distributed millions of tires over the last decade that could lead to serious accidents. and as these safety tests show -- even a skilled driver who knows he is going to lose a tire cannot keep control. >> what is your emergency? >> yes, i just had a bad accident. >> it's bad. she's hurt bad. >> reporter: despite a series of recalls. something far too many americans have learned only after it was too late. like this professional model in atlanta. badly injured when a recalled tire fell apart.

>> the next thing i heard a loud pop. basically -- it went so fast. it's a big blur. >> reporter: a business executive in alabama, caroline thorn paralyze ford life. >> i heard a popping sound. and then just the car started vibrating out of control. >> you will see us through. >> reporter: members of this baptist church in newport ridgy, florida, two adults dead, eight others injured as they drove to a retreat. >> good takes tragedies and uses them for his glory. >> reporter: according to federal safety investigators several hundred people are killed every year in accidents in which tires are a factor. tires puncture or underinflated or poorly maintained or in some cases tires that were actually under recall because of safety defects but remained in use by motorists who apparently never

got the word of the danger. all of this due in large part to an archaic and badly flawed recall system. neither the government nor the industry have done much to fix. >> it is a mess. it doesn't work. >> reporter: a safety analyst consults for government investigators and lawyers whose sue tire companies. >> here we have a highly engineered product that offers great value to the customer. and yet, in 2014, we have no system to discern whether or not the tires are part of a recall. >> reporter: in fact, an abc news undercover investigation conducted with abc stations across the country found potentially dangerous recalled tires still being sold at some retail outlets as if they were perfectly safe. >> there is no way that shop can examine the tire at a glance and determine whether it is part of a recall. there is no database. most system. it really is the invisible hazard. >> reporter: that's what she discovered after her accident.

>> i learned that the tire blew out. i'm saying the tire blew out. those are brand new tires on that truck? . how would a tire blow out. >> reporter: she had taken her ford explorer to a local wal-mart to check on the tires one week before the accident. the mechanics failed to realize the spare they rotated into use had been recalled as dangerous years before. that's the one that failed. the jury found wal-mart responsible. >> you count on them to do -- >> to do their job. >> reporter: as a result? >> as a result i'm in this wheelchair. >> reporter: in the case of the florida church group they were in a van heading north on i-75 when a left rear tire blew. the driver lost control. and the van flipped over. the tire that police say was at fault had been under safety recall for more than a year. but apparently neither church officials or mechanics at sam's club where the tire had been serviced were aware of the looming danger.

>> we're going to try to find out what happened along the way, who was responsible. >> reporter: the national transportation safety board says the church accident helped trigger a first of its kind special federal investigation of tire safety. and the recall system's effectiveness for consumers and retailers. >> there is supposed to be a process in place to make sure that they know. but in many cases they don't. >> reporter: as we saw in our undercover investigation, in san francisco, reporters at kgo-tv went to a costco store they bought these three tires recalled last year because of a potentially serious safety defect. >> we were able to buy three recalled tires. didn't appear itch any one knew they had been raumd. awe all both costco and said those tires should never have been sold saying they don't know how it happened. in atlanta the a small tire

outlet, jim strickland, was able to biff one of the firestone tires recalled in the year 2000 after dozens of deaths. more than a decade later, the salesman told him the tire was perfectly fine. >> a good tire? >> good tire. >> not one of the recalls is it? >> no. >> the store's manager later said he did not know the tire could be dangerous. >> i've don't know anything about it. we sell the tires. i didn't know it was recalled. >> it bears the blame because it doesn't do enough to alert consumers to many sach tef recalls. in testimony for one lawsuit. an official company hired to handle recall reminder notices that some of them famed to be delivered because the notices were sent third-class male not first-class to save money on postage. [ indiscernible ]

>> economics drive safety some times. >> reporter: firestone says recall efforts go well beyond what is required by the law. industry says safety its its highest priority. >> we don't want recalled tires sold. >> yet they are. >> yet they are. >> reporter: dan salinski, washington representative for the industry trade group displayed a lack of knowledge about the extent of the recall problem when heap sat down with us. >> how many tires hatch been recalled because of defects over the last decade. >> i don't know what that number is? >> approximately. >> i don't know. i wouldn't ballpark a number. >> reporter: you represent the tire industry you don't know the number. >> we represent companies that manufacture tires in the u.s. >> reporter: you don't know the number. >> i don't know the number. >> reporter: took us 15 minutes to add up all the recalls going back to beginning of 2004 until this week. the total number of tires recalled for safety defects. more than of my million. for those five million plus how

effective have the recalls been. >> how many get off the road. >> i don't have a percentage of that. >> you have no idea. >> i don't. >> we got an answer from the ntsb official investigating tire safety. >> to the best of my knowledge it is 20% or lower. >> actually recalled. >> actually physically recovered and sent to the manufacturer and looked at. >> reporter: that means 80% or more of the recalled tires are never sent back to the manufacturer. some may have been discarded by their owners. but doing the math, there appear to beep more than 4 million potentially dangerous tires that are unaccounted for. is this recall system broke do you think? >> i think the recall system does need improvement. certainly the notification does need improvement. >> every tire has an alpha-numeric identification number. as sean cane showed us there is no government website that allows consumers to enter the

number and check on recalls. >> when you look at it, it is a complete disaster, confusing. >> you know what you are looking for. for the average person looking at the website. how difficult is that? >> for the average person. i don't think it's viable, feesable in any way shape or form. of the nine abc stations that went looking for recalled tires. seven said the stores seemed to be doing a good job. they found no recalls for sale. as for the other two. cane says given the mess of the recall system it really is no surprise that our abc news undercover teams or any one could end up with potentially dangerous recalled tires. >> they're doing an inspection on tires. rotate them. they can't tell us if they're recalled? that's stunning. >> reporter: and devastating. for the congregation at first baptist church in new portritchie, and caroline thorn

and christian rose because of a tire recalled when she was a teenager, but still on the road. >> 14 years and it's still going on. that's scary. that's really scary. >> for "nightline," brian ross, abc news, new york. next, discoveries 6,000 feet beneath the sea. a look at an underwater volcano. and suggested we add abilify (aripiprazole). he said that by taking both, some people had symptom improvement as early as 1 to 2 weeks. i wish i'd talked to my doctor sooner. [ female announcer ] abilify is not for everyone. call your doctor if your depression worsens or you have unusual changes in behavior, or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens and young adults. elderly dementia patients taking abilify have an increased risk of death or stroke. call your doctor if you have high fever, stiff muscles and confusion to address a possible life-threatening condition.

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journey thousand of feet down in the ocean. here an underwater volcano could cause a massive tsunami on the east coast of the united states. and we're getting a never-before-seen look. here's abc's gio benitez. >> reporter: we are 6,000 feet under the caribbean sea, in the darkest corners of the volcano. the mission to save lives by better understanding the mysteries of what causes underwater earthquakes. scientists say the menacing volcano could cause a deadly tsunami. it is the final 48 hours of 150-day voyage of discovery on board "nautilus" with one of the most famous discoverers. dr. robert mallard, the man who found the "titanic" 12,000 feet underwater.

now setting his sights on something new, the most dangerous, active undersea volcano just off american shores in the caribbean. >> this is the most hazardous part of our planet where plates are head-on at it. a classic example, the earthquake we had in japan recently. the earthquake and tsunami effect that occurred in indonesia, indian ocean where hundreds of thousand of people died. >> reporter: the conditions are so dangerous to man, dr. ballard and his team are relying on "hercules" a 5,000-pound submersible to be their eyes and ears inside the volcano. [ indiscernible ] >> probably 3.5 million. >> see who else is in there? >> reporter: the team has spent five months at sea. this is the season's final dive. >> you will see that line on the bottom of the ocean. >> reporter: as "hercules" descend i join dr. ballard in the ship's control room to watch the live cameras 6,000 feet

underwater. >> now we are reaching the top of the volcano? >> we are in it. inside the crater. see it surrounded. we are inside. >> oh. >> reporter: on its journey, "hercules" is doing more than taking breathtaking pictures. it's collecting samples, making maps and reaching into the volcano's plume. after hours of searching, a startling discovery. life. >> that's perfect. stop right there. >> what could this potentially mean? >> well in this particular case, it mean that places that we thought there was very little life existing on our planet, we have just opened up a whole another area where, life seemed to be thriving. >> that's an alien from another planet. >> reporter: not expecting to find life, the scientists are hoping that this discovery is a small plume for better understanding these deep sea habitats. >> a lot of the deep sea is like a desert the we just found an oasis. >> reporter: after a six-hour

dive, "hercules" is back on the "nautilus" where it reveals i treasures. >> these are the mussels we collected. seem larger than the ones we picked up days ago. >> reporter: i heard you caught a record mussel. >> 14, he is 12. >> reporter: before this, what was the largest ever found? >> 13. >> reporter: dr. ballard hopes these and future discoveries will unlock the mysteries of the monster lurking under the sea, the volcano. >> the key is to just be full of wonder and wanting to know about the planet and know where you find yourselves. you open your eyes and start to wonder what is over the horizon. i can't wait to know what is over there. >> for "nightline," gio benitez aboard "nautilus." >> caribbean's deadly underworld

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how do you memorialize something no one can forege the new 9/11 museum faced a seemingly impossible task turning an inside look at national tragedy into a fitting tribute. here is abc's david muir. >> reporter: as we walk down into the museum, the time there on the wall, 8:30 a.m., it was still a beautiful morning. then everything changed. >> on the day of september 11th -- >> september 11th -- for frz. >> september 11th -- >> americans remembering where they were, their own word lighting the way. >> we were actually in a meeting when some one barged in and said "oh, my god a plane has crashed." >> on one of the first walls, the map, shows the flights when they turned and hijackers take control. as you walk through the museum beside us right there the survivor stairs. >> literally hundreds of people

used this staircase is an escape route on 9/11 when the attacks were taking place. running down the stairs to safety was a life line. >> reporter: the stairs weighed 58 tons. the entire museum built around them. around the corner big red, the firetruck, ladder 3. so many remember that brave captain, patty brown. >> i'm on the 35th floor. just relay to command post. we're trying to get out. >> captain brown and ten of his men lost. here in the museum they remember all the planes. these are parts from flight 77, pulled from the pentagon. this clock frozen at 9:37. a melted rolodex. and some one's phone. in one of the rooms we discover a watch. found in the field in shanksville, pennsylvania, todd beamers, one of the heroes who took back the flight. right on his watch the date, the 11th. there was florence jones too who barely escaped the south tower. she told me she took off her

shoes to get out faster and for years she kept them beneath her bed. >> they still have debris on them. >> on the bottom. when you flip them over there is debris from the floor. >> reporter: now florence has given the shoes to the museum. and we found a message of hope. even from that awful day. a nasa commander who saw the smoke and listened to what he said. >> your city still looks difficult for everybody in there right now. [ indiscernible ] >> our thanks to david muir for the look at the new museum. a day none of us will ever forget. >> join us tomorrow for the dedication. abc news will carry it live at 10:10 a.m. thank you for joining us. as always we are on line at abcnews.com. tune in to "good morning america" tomorrow. good night.