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  • 6/9/2025

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00:00Fire, main deck forward.
00:03When fire breaks out, it's one of aviation's worst nightmares.
00:09Fire, it scares the heck out of pilots.
00:12Plane on fire, runway 24.
00:14In Manchester, 1985...
00:16Fire on number one.
00:17A holiday flight bound for the Mediterranean faces a runway disaster.
00:22The crew had been aware that they had a fire,
00:24but didn't really appreciate at the time the severity of the fire.
00:28Evacuate, evacuate.
00:30In the skies over Saudi Arabia...
00:32There's smoke in the back, real bad.
00:35A flight full of pilgrims is consumed by flames.
00:38By this time, it's pandemonium inside the cabin.
00:42Fire, main deck forward.
00:44And after a UPS cargo plane crashes in Dubai...
00:48Okay, let's get moving.
00:50Lives depend on investigators getting the right answers.
00:53I want you to search this entire grid.
00:55What caused these fires?
00:57I'm talking about oxygen.
00:58And why were they so deadly?
01:01Can't see his instruments.
01:02Doesn't know where he is in relation to the ground or the airport.
01:05It's about as bad as you can get.
01:06I want you to search this entire grid.
01:07I want you to search this entire grid.
01:08I want you to search this entire grid.
01:09I want you to search this entire grid.
01:10I want you to search this entire grid.
01:11I want you to search this entire grid.
01:12I want you to search this entire grid.
01:13I want you to search this entire grid.
01:14I want you to search this entire grid.
01:15I want you to search this entire grid.
01:16I want you to search this entire grid.
01:17I want you to search this entire grid.
01:18I want you to search this entire grid.
01:19I want you to search this entire grid.
01:20I want you to search this entire grid.
01:21I want you to search this entire grid.
01:22Jeddah Airport in Saudi Arabia.
01:38It has a special terminal, built exclusively for the millions of Muslims who make the journey for the annual Hajj.
01:45Nigeria Airways Flight 2120 prepares to take a group of pilgrims home to Sokoto, Nigeria.
01:55The 247 passengers are on board a DC-8, operated by Canadian airline Nationair.
02:04Nationair was a scrappy little start-up airline based in Montreal,
02:09and it started by taking people on vacations to sunny destinations during the winter.
02:16And then it had this very unusual offshore charter business,
02:20which is what brought them to Jeddah and Saudi Arabia.
02:26Captain William Allen is a former Canadian Air Force pilot.
02:30He has more than 20 years of flying experience.
02:35First officer Kent Darvich will be at the controls today.
02:41I'll turn on the aircon.
02:42And Victor Furr is the flight's engineer.
02:46Also on board is lead mechanic Jean-Paul Philippe and project manager Aldo Tetamanti.
02:52At 8.26am, it's already 30 degrees outside.
03:05To get to its take-off position, Flight 2120 must taxi five kilometers across the sprawling airfield.
03:13It's a long way around.
03:14Good morning, Nigerian 2-1-2-0. Cleared for take-off.
03:21Uh, 3-4 left.
03:23All engines?
03:25Okay, you have control.
03:29Set max thrust.
03:33So early in the take-off roll,
03:36they hear a loud sound in the cockpit.
03:41What's that?
03:42The instruments show no indication of trouble.
03:46Eighty knots.
03:47Ninety knots now.
03:48Ninety knots, check.
03:50They continue to accelerate.
03:52Nigerian 2-1-2-0 airborne.
03:57Two-nine.
04:02Positive rate.
04:04Gear up.
04:05Then, just moments after take-off.
04:14We got four low-pressure lights.
04:16Yeah.
04:20We're losing hydraulics here.
04:21In the cabin, the first signs of trouble.
04:31Smoke.
04:32I smell smoke.
04:33Where?
04:34Back there.
04:35I'll take a look.
04:36Okay.
04:37One-six-zero.
04:38And, uh, we're losing our hydraulics, sir.
04:40We're gonna need to, uh, come back to Jetta to land.
04:43There's smoke in the back. It's real bad.
04:44Yeah, we're heading back. We've got a hydraulic problem, okay?
04:45So this is the first indication that the pilot has of anything going on in the back of the plane.
04:50Now they have to grapple with this blaze that is spreading through the rear of the aircraft.
04:56Okay, let's get squared away and see what we've got here, please.
05:01In the cabin, it's becoming almost impossible to breathe.
05:04And Jeddah is still 19 kilometers away.
05:07You've lost all hydraulics.
05:09Damn it! I've got no ailerons!
05:11Nigeria Airways Flight 2120 is now at the back of the plane.
05:14And the back of the plane.
05:15Now they have to grapple with this blaze that is spreading through the rear of the aircraft.
05:19Okay, let's get squared away and see what we've got here, please.
05:23In the cabin, it's becoming almost impossible to breathe.
05:27And Jeddah is still 19 kilometers away.
05:30You've lost all hydraulics.
05:32As flight 2120 is now an inferno.
05:36Okay, hang on. I've got it.
05:38The crew has managed to turn the crippled DC-8 back to Jeddah Airport.
05:43Let's get lined up before things get any worse.
05:47Okay, so we're at 2,000 feet now, declaring an emergency.
05:50We are having flight control problems.
05:54Uh, turn left right now.
05:56Heading 080. Expect runway 34 left.
05:59By this time, it's pandemonium inside the cabin.
06:05Passengers are being engulfed by flames.
06:10And bodies are starting to fall from the aircraft fuselage.
06:14There, this is two miles out.
06:15All righty.
06:16Let's get on the ground.
06:17I've lost elevators.
06:18Christ, I have no control.
06:19Landing gear down.
06:20Landing gear down.
06:21I've lost elevators.
06:22I've lost elevators.
06:23Christ, I have no control.
06:25Landing gear down.
06:26I have no power.
06:29By the air 738 Nigeria Airlines is down, just short of runway 34 center.
06:46her the fiery explosion and sudden impact with the ground has all but obliterated flight 2120
06:58247 passengers and 14 crew are dead this is the worst accident ever for a Canadian
07:10airline and the deadliest crash of a DC-8 in history one day after the crash a team of
07:19Canadian investigators arrive in Jeddah is anything they remove bill Taylor is the
07:25transportation safety board of Canada's technical expert my first view of the crash site was one of
07:32astonishment really at the spread of the debris the severity of the breakup there was virtually
07:39nothing to identify it as an aircraft Taylor is joined by lead investigator Ron Coleman when
07:49you're dealing with 247 passengers and 14 crew all dead that gets your attention examining the
07:59remains of flight 2120's landing gear investigators discover that one of the left wheel rims shows
08:06clear signs of scraping along the runway you can imagine the kind of heat that that would generate
08:15running along the runway scraping off while investigators wonder if the scraped wheel rim could have something
08:24to do with the crash bill Taylor makes a chance discovery I noticed a piece of paper blowing across
08:32the site picked it up and it turned out to be part of the a flight inspection checklist and it was the
08:40actual page that recorded tire pressures hey the maintenance checklist shows that the tires were inflated to
08:49normal pressure but there are two different colors of ink with a second entry written over the first there is a law in the aviation industry that no
09:01documents shall be altered and this one looks suspect while the maintenance checklist is sent to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Canada
09:12investigators in Jeddah turned their attention to the tires some intriguing clues have been left on the runway
09:22so this is the outer left we see where the inboard front tire of the left landing gear had lost its tire in other words the tire had blown and the wheel was had come down on into contact with the runway
09:41Taylor concludes that the aircraft blew two adjacent tires both from the left main landing gear
09:49what's that sort of a shimmy tire failures at the time were not an uncommon event nor are they today
10:01gear up you take off successfully continue on route and land a destination without adverse consequences
10:08we're losing hydraulics here but is it possible that a blown tire led to an intense fire that took down a DC-8 in 10 minutes
10:17at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police forensics lab technicians analyzed the nation air maintenance log
10:29tests revealed two layers of ink on the log entries the readings for the tire pressure were written over
10:38and the actual readings that were underneath showed 20 to 30 psi below the required levels to operate the plane and tire safely
10:48tests confirm that the entries were falsified
10:55tell me what the plan was for the tires
10:57investigators question mechanics at Jeddah
11:00they learned that four days before the crash at a stop in Ghana Africa mechanics there wanted to change the tires
11:10the tread was beginning to wear and the pressure was low
11:17following this trail
11:19you're not gonna believe what I just found
11:21Taylor uncovers evidence that the tire change was never carried out
11:25a fax from the nation air project manager in Jeddah ordered it stopped so the plane could stay on schedule
11:34forget it they want us to get going
11:37so the fax came in and said stop the tire change
11:43we're way behind we may lose the contract load everybody up and get back
11:48rather than top up the tires a mechanic alters the log to make it appear like the air pressure meets safety standards
11:57this will prove to be a deadly decision
12:03the DC-8's main landing gear consists of a left and right bogey each with four wheels
12:09uniform tire pressure is important it ensures the weight of the plane is distributed evenly between all eight wheels
12:17when you have an under inflated tire that total weight then is distributed over the remaining wheels
12:26it would be felt on the axle mate of the low pressure tire
12:34before it crashed claiming 261 lives the same plane took off and landed seven times with the under inflated tires
12:42so why did the tires blow on July the 11th at Jeddah
12:49how long is that taxiway anyway
12:51investigators look at the length of the taxi run and the searing temperatures on the ground
12:56it's a long way around
12:59they taxied for five kilometers
13:03the tires must have been burning up on the tarmac
13:08when you get over deflection or excessive bending in that area
13:12it generates heat
13:13max thrust
13:14you generated enough heat
13:16the nylon begins to melt and pulls apart
13:20tire blows
13:22what's that?
13:24first one tire bursts
13:2790 knots now
13:31quickly followed by a second tire
13:33the wheel rim hits the runway
13:36and when that started to drag and wear down the runway
13:41it got super hot
13:43so as soon as this aircraft took off
13:45and they retracted the landing gear
13:47there was basically no surviving
13:49gear up
13:50the crew takes the fire with them into the air
13:54unfortunately the DCA did not have any heat of fire indication to tell the crew
14:01that they had a problem with the landing gear the wheel well area
14:06Christ I have no control
14:08it's all over ten seconds after they lift off
14:13landing gear down
14:16I don't believe that the people who were making the decisions
14:21had in their heads
14:23that this was a hazardous thing that they were doing
14:37a number of critical changes came about after this accident
14:40smoke, fire and temperature sensors in the wheel wells are now mandatory
14:45most critically crews are trained on the importance of properly inflated tires
14:52there's a saying that every regulation is written in blood and it's true
15:06but the lessons that we get from these accidents are obviously incredibly valuable
15:11we can look at accidents from the past and apply them to very specific crashes of the present
15:18where survivability rates are incredible
15:20specifically because of those lessons from the past
15:23it's just before six in the morning at Manchester Airport in Northern England
15:35British Air Tours Flight 28 is scheduled to take 131 passengers from Manchester to the Greek island of Corfu
15:45Lindsay Davis is going to Greece with her boyfriend Charlie Thixon
15:52all right let's go
15:54we've been going out with each other for a year and that's one of the reasons we were so excited about it
16:00you know it was our first holiday together
16:04Captain Peter Tarrington is in command
16:09First Officer Brian Love is being trained by Tarrington
16:14the Boeing 737 has 3,000 metres to get to take-off speed
16:2980 knots
16:34check
16:36stop
16:41Captain Tarrington thinks a tyre has blown
16:45the immediate reaction was to stop
16:49we were quite a few knots below our decision speed
16:52decision speed
16:55and just assumed that maybe a tyre had burst
16:58so I wasn't really alarmed at that point
17:01but the situation is getting much worse
17:06flames are now erupting from the back of one of the plane's engines
17:10let me by
17:12please sit down
17:14and smoke is drifting into the cabin
17:17stop it, 28 Mike, we are abandoning take-off
17:19but we've got the fire on number one
17:25plane on fire runway 24
17:29Captain Tarrington has to act fast
17:32evacuate to the starboard side please
17:35he decides to pull off the runway
17:38evacuate, evacuate, please stay calm and don't panic
17:42on the 737 there are four cabin doors
17:46the pair in the back are covered in flames and smoke
17:51leaving only two for 137 people
17:56now one of these exits won't open
17:59it just seemed to go on forever before they started evacuating
18:04and that's when I thought I'm not going to get off
18:07it's going to blow up with all of us on it
18:09with all of us on it
18:15parked on a taxiway
18:17flames engulf the cabin of British Air Tours Flight 28
18:21137 people are desperate to escape
18:26we had an evacuation checklist
18:29but it was four pages long
18:31and the last item was to get the passengers off
18:33outside firefighters struggle to contain the blaze
18:40spraying foam into the cabin
18:42we wanted to start to accurate the passengers
18:46but there's a bit of a bottleneck and nobody was coming forward
18:49the aisle is quite narrow
18:52and I could see this boy that was really sort of pushed against the wall
18:57he couldn't get out so I pulled him by his t-shirt
19:02he sort of tumbled forward and after that
19:05everybody sort of just tumbled in behind him
19:07all right, put the door open, jump down the line
19:10Lindsay is pushed to the front
19:13see you out there
19:15separated from her boyfriend Charlie
19:17jump, jump, jump, jump
19:19dozens of passengers have managed to make it off the plane
19:23but there are still many more people inside
19:26trapped in the crush
19:28one thing I did see when I looked back
19:31was people
19:33going to the front, towards the front of the plane
19:36pushing the seats forward as they went along
19:39jump, jump, jump, jump, jump
19:41everybody was screaming and panicking
19:43and that's when I thought
19:45people are going to die in there
19:49go Brian, go Brian
19:50to save their lives
19:53the captain and first officer are compelled to abandon the evacuation checklist
19:57we did as many items as we could
20:01and then we both went out of the flight deck window
20:05and when we turned round on the ground
20:08we saw a complete wreck of an aircraft
20:12and it had happened in a matter of seconds
20:14it was
20:16dreadful
20:17it takes 125 firefighters more than 2 hours to put out the blaze
20:2854 people perish
20:31unable to escape the inferno
20:33another would die in hospital
20:36the scale of the tragedy brings British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to the crash site
20:42when we get a terrible air crash of this kind
20:47everyone is appalled and shocked of course
20:50so what caused the fire?
20:53and how could it kill so many people even though the plane was on the ground?
20:58Britain's air accidents investigation branch sends a team to Manchester
21:04Stephen Moss will be inspecting the plane's engines
21:08this should not really have happened
21:11the aircraft didn't even get airborne
21:14it didn't run off the runway
21:16and yet still 55 people were killed
21:19Chris Prothero will focus on the fire
21:22we were aware from initial reports that the fire had entered the aircraft very rapidly as the aircraft came to a halt
21:33and that was a focus for me
21:36well the first thing we noticed clearly was the hole in the underside of the wing
21:42and right next to it was a gaping hole in the side of the engine
21:46could the two holes be linked?
21:51investigators look for clues on the runway
21:55they find a large piece of dome shaped metal along the plane's path
22:02Stephen Moss can see it's from a piece of the engine called a combustor can
22:08it looks like there's been a separation of the can from the front end from the back end
22:14the combustion chamber of the 737's jet engines contain nine combustor cans
22:22it's where fuel and air are mixed and ignited to create thrust
22:27Moss suspects the fractured can somehow blew apart and destroyed the plane's left engine
22:35it struck an underwing fuel tank access panel
22:38and put a sizeable hole in that which directly led to the release of a vast quantity of fuel
22:45to find out why the combustor can erupted investigators study the plane's maintenance log
22:53they discover that a year and a half earlier
22:57mechanics had repaired small cracks in some of the combustor cans
23:00but one crack on can number 9 was unusually long
23:06the overhaul manual did not give any limit on the length of crack that could be repaired
23:13mechanics weld all the cracks closed including the long crack on can number 9
23:19after the combustor chambers are reassembled and attached to the wings
23:2680 knots
23:27the welds are inaccessible to inspectors
23:32stop
23:34if the airline had inspected the cans
23:36I think there is no doubt that they would have seen the problem
23:38it's like we've got the fire on number 1
23:44investigators now know what caused the Manchester disaster
23:48the welded crack in combustor can number 9 tears apart as flight 28 speeds down the runway
23:55the front of the can shoots off from the engine
23:59and tears a hole in the underside of the left wing fuel tank
24:02fuel leaks onto the damaged engine and explodes into flames
24:06now investigators want to find out how the fire outside the plane spread so quickly into the cabin
24:16and caused the death of 55 people
24:24investigators are puzzled by the destructive speed of the fire on British Air Tours flight 28
24:30Mike
24:32Chris Prothero examines the data to see if weather played any role
24:36the wind was the main factor that determined the severity of the fire in terms of its attack on the outside of the aircraft
24:45how rapidly it penetrated the aircraft and it also affected the conditions inside the cabin
24:50stop
24:53believing he had blown a tire
24:55Captain Terrington makes a fateful decision
24:58stop it
24:5928 Mike we are abandoning takeoff
25:01he turns off the runway and into a crosswind from the left side of the aircraft
25:07which sweeps up the fire burning under the left wing
25:09the wind wraps the fire around the back of the plane and into the cabin
25:21investigators have discovered the conditions that caused the fire to penetrate the cabin
25:26now they must solve the biggest mystery
25:29why did 55 people die after the plane had safely aborted a takeoff
25:34was there a problem with the evacuation?
25:39evacuate, evacuate, please stay calm and don't panic
25:44a full Boeing 737 is designed to be evacuated in less than 2 minutes
25:50but 90 seconds after flight 28 came to a stop
25:54most of the passengers were still on board
25:57you can imagine under these conditions
25:59people have got to get away from the smoke
26:04and the people did this by basically clambering over the seats and other people in front of them
26:10in less than 5 minutes
26:13what should have been a survivable accident turned deadly
26:17to better understand what happened on flight 28
26:23psychologist Helen Muir is brought into the investigation
26:26Muir configures a cabin to duplicate a Boeing 737
26:33then to have the volunteers act as though the planes on fire
26:37she offers money to the first ones off
26:40and that produced behavior that was quite unbelievable
26:44people went overseas they went round each other all sorts of things
26:48and indeed when survivors from the actual Manchester accident came and saw the videos
26:52they said yeah, that's how it was
26:55the stampede is made worse by the plane's design
26:59passengers become jammed in the bulkhead opening separating the main cabin from the galley
27:07the bulkhead opening of a Boeing 737 is 22 and a half inches wide
27:13just enough for one person to fit through
27:18Muir's research leads to a breakthrough
27:23we showed through repeat testing that if you change the minimum gap from 20 to 30 inches
27:30you would dramatically improve the speed at which people could get out
27:34and you'd reduce the likelihood of people falling and slipping and so on
27:39Helen Muir's research prompts manufacturers to redesign cabins to make them safer
27:45that includes increasing the space between the bulkhead walls to 30 inches
27:51and introducing strip lighting to help guide passengers to exits even when they're blinded by smoke
27:56the skies are safer now because of British Air Tours Flight 28
28:07though the lessons learned have come at a terrible cost
28:11even for the survivors like Lindsay Davis and her boyfriend Charlie Thixon
28:15there was nothing wrong really with us we thought nothing physical wrong with us
28:22but our lives changed you know just in those in those few hours
28:32all these innovations have made flying safer
28:36but sometimes the problem isn't the crew or the plane
28:39a Boeing 747 cargo jet climbs out from Dubai International Airport bound for Cologne, Germany
28:52autopilot
28:54engaged
28:56after a routine takeoff the crew of UPS Flight 6 settles in for a long night
29:01first officer Matthew Bell is piloting the plane
29:06he's been with UPS for four years
29:10nice flying by the way
29:13got a good touch on the controls
29:15Captain Doug Lampe is also a seasoned pro
29:18he's been with UPS for 15 years
29:21and logged more than 4,000 hours on the 747
29:27inside the cargo planes massive hold is 228,000 pounds of freight
29:32as the 747 climbs it passes into Bahrain's airspace
29:42Bahrain UPS 6 climbing to flight level 320
29:47that'll be fine UPS 6
29:50this is Bahrain and you are in radar contact
29:53air traffic controller Richard Phillips is responsible for the plane while it flies through Bahrain's airspace
29:5921 minutes after takeoff at 31,000 feet
30:10fire main deck forward
30:13an alarm warns of a fire in the cargo hold
30:17I'll fly the airplane you run the checklist
30:19okay
30:21checklist for fire main deck forward
30:23land at nearest available airfield
30:26just got a fire indication on the main deck I need to land ASAP
30:30Doha is at your 10 o'clock and 100 miles is that close enough?
30:34how about we turn around and go back to Dubai?
30:37I'd like to declare an emergency
30:39Captain Lampe decides not to land at Doha
30:41and turns the plane back to Dubai 25 minutes away
30:51all available assistance required at Dubai emergency descent underway
30:56back 2 and 3 on
31:00the first officer activates the fire suppression system and depressurizes the cargo hold
31:05this sucks the oxygen from the hold and is supposed to stifle the flames
31:11get your oxygen mask on
31:15but it doesn't work
31:19they get another warning light
31:22and fire alarms sound in several different areas of the cargo hold
31:26the flames are spreading fast
31:29smoke penetrates the cockpit
31:34a cockpit full of smoke is an absolutely terrifying condition
31:41UPS 6 descendant maintain 1-0-1000 your discretion
31:47an already terrifying situation is about to get even worse
31:54I've got no control of the airplane
31:57what?
31:59I have no pitch control of the airplane
32:02pitch control, that's nose up nose down
32:05of the airplane
32:06it's critical to airspeed
32:08and as he gets close to the runway
32:09critical to being able to land
32:15UPS 6 is still 22 minutes away from Dubai International Airport
32:21and the crew is blinded by smoke in the cockpit
32:24try and get supply into the computer
32:28if they can get close enough to the runway
32:31and maintain the correct speed
32:33a high-tech guidance system at the airport might help get the plane to the ground
32:40the instrument landing system or ILS
32:44sends out radio signals from the end of the runway
32:47it can guide the plane down vertically and horizontally from about 12 miles out
32:52OK, UPS 6 is straight into problem
32:58all planes, stand by
33:02but just when the crew needs him most
33:05Phillips loses radar contact
33:07Emirates, this is Bahrain Area Control
33:10I need your readouts for UPS 6
33:12they're off my radar
33:14Phillips asks the controllers in Abu Dhabi
33:16to track the plane on their radar
33:18and send him updates
33:20Heading 106
33:22UPS 6 heading is 106
33:25Moments later, the pilots face their worst crisis yet
33:31I got no oxygen
33:35The captain needs to reach a supplemental oxygen supply behind him
33:41He must hand over command
33:45You fly
33:47I got it, I got control
33:50The captain doesn't make it
33:54First Officer Bell is now on his own
33:58Mayday, mayday, mayday, mayday
34:02Can anyone hear me?
34:04And he's also facing another challenge
34:07Bell is about to fly out of Bahrain's radio range
34:11UPS 6 contacted by 132 decimal
34:15Controllers give him a new frequency to tune into Dubai Control
34:20But it's no use, the smoke in the cockpit is too thick
34:25He couldn't change back to the Dubai frequency
34:29So the problem up now is, how do you talk to someone out of radio range on your frequency?
34:34His only choice is to stay with Phillips in Bahrain
34:38Can you give me an altitude?
34:41Phillips has to think fast
34:43He scrambles to find planes flying within radio range of both Bahrain Control and UPS 6
34:51Dubai 1, your radar contact sir, I need you to do relays for UPS 6
34:56Alright, what do you want me to tell UPS 6?
34:59I want you to tell him exactly what I say when I say it
35:02There's a lot of people in this communication loop
35:06And information has to pass from one person to the next to the next to the next
35:12And this takes time
35:13And that's something the first officer doesn't have very much of
35:16As he nears the airport, Bell struggles to lock onto the runway signal
35:22He pushes the ILS approach button
35:26Come on
35:31He's too high and he's too fast
35:33Bell is overshooting the runway
35:39Is he able to make a left turn for a 10 mile final for Sharjah?
35:42Air traffic thought quick
35:44They knew there was another runway nearby
35:46And tried to give him guidance to make that runway
35:49Are you able to make a left turn now to Sharjah?
35:51Ten miles away
35:54Heading 095
35:58Bell tries to enter the heading into the autopilot
36:04He's made a right turn
36:06A right turn
36:08Unfortunately, one digit was wrong
36:10195
36:12And instead of turning left towards Sharjah
36:14The airplane turned right away from Dubai and Sharjah
36:19Bell realizes the plane is banking the wrong way
36:22He disconnects the autopilot to try to correct his course
36:26My airspeed!
36:27My airspeed!
36:29What's his airspeed?
36:31Ground speed 266
36:34The first officer never gave up trying to fly the airplane or land the airplane
36:39What's the word?
36:53Radar contact lost
36:57UPS-6 has crashed into a military base 10 miles from Dubai International Airport
37:00Neither pilot has survived
37:11Fortunately, there are no fatalities on the ground
37:17The 220 million dollar plane is now charred rubble
37:22Spread over a wreckage site the size of six football pitches
37:26The airplane had hit at very high speeds
37:29There were a lot of small pieces
37:31And when that happens from an investigative standpoint
37:34It's going to be really challenging
37:36The United Arab Emirates Air Accident Investigation Unit
37:41Appoints Darren Straker to lead the investigation
37:44Okay, let's get moving
37:47We need to see every piece
37:50First question is, what was on fire?
37:53How did it get on board?
37:55And how did this 747 drop out of the sky?
38:00Since the 747 is American built
38:04What do you need?
38:05Bill English from the US National Transportation Safety Board joins the team
38:10First things to look for were the flight recorders
38:13The CVR and FDR
38:14The cockpit voice recorder is found almost immediately
38:20I'll fly the airplane, you run the checklist
38:23Okay
38:25The recording shows the crew reacted quickly
38:27Pack 2 and 3 off
38:29Engaging the onboard systems designed to contain a fire
38:32Why couldn't they make it back to the airport?
38:36This is UPS 6
38:38I need an emergency descent
38:40The thing that stood out for me was the speed of the onset of the problems they faced
38:46Try and get the fire into the computer
38:49How does a fire get so out of control that the airplane is rendered almost unflyable?
38:54Three days into the grid search of the crash site of UPS 6
39:06The flight data recorder is found
39:09Along with an unexpected clue
39:11Inside that bush was one small lithium battery that had burned, blown itself up and shot out of the wreckage into the little bush
39:25The small piece of evidence might just lead investigators to the mysterious cause of the fire
39:31Investigators look at the 747's cargo
39:4181,000 batteries, that's a lot of hazardous cargo
39:47The cargo manifest reveals UPS 6 had dozens of shipments of lithium batteries or consumer electronics that contain them
39:56Once we've got the cargo manifest and seen the total volume of these batteries that were on board
40:02We were heading in the right direction
40:05Lithium batteries can provide up to 10 times the energy of regular alkaline batteries
40:12But they are extremely flammable
40:15Their volatile chemical composition means they can burst into flames if they become compromised
40:21Is that what happened in the cargo hold of UPS Flight 6?
40:32At a facility in the United States, Straker puts these batteries to the test
40:38The results are astonishing
40:42When they heat a single box containing 100 batteries
40:46It quickly ignites, sending up flames that reach temperatures of 2000 degrees Fahrenheit
40:53We were completely surprised at how a small AA size lithium battery
41:00Would overheat and then vent and practically just explode into a problem which you couldn't contain
41:08With this in mind, investigators use the flight data recorder to map what happened during the flight of UPS 6
41:18They are unclear as to why the batteries auto ignited
41:22But the fire does start in the cargo hold beneath the cockpit
41:25Bingo
41:28If you are familiar with the 747, you know it has that very distinctive hump up in the front
41:34The cockpit is part of that hump and the cargo deck is underneath there
41:38We found some shipments in there of some pretty large batteries
41:42A lot of energy packed in a very dense place
41:45All the failures are right here, behind the cockpit
41:47In the crowded cargo deck, the flames soon spread to other containers
41:56Many of them loaded with batteries
42:01Fire, main deck forward
42:04By the time the crew gets a warning, the fire is raging too intensely for the suppression system to put it out
42:11Fire destroys more systems, including the captain's oxygen supply and the landing gear controls
42:20I have no gear
42:22Investigators believe the tragedy would have been even worse
42:27If not for the final actions of the first officer
42:30At the last moment, in a plane he could barely control
42:34If they will climb immediately, climb immediately
42:36He manages to avoid colliding into a residential suburb of Dubai
42:49The final report urges better smoke detectors and fire extinguishers in cargo holds
42:55And it calls for safer containers
42:58In response, UPS implements its own state-of-the-art containers
43:02That set a new standard for fire resistance
43:08The company also designs full-face oxygen masks for cockpit crew
43:13And a sealed air system that prevents smoke from obscuring the instruments and windshield
43:23The tragedies experienced at Dubai, Jeddah and Manchester
43:28Exacted a terrible human cost
43:32But they have also helped lead the way towards skies that have never been safer
43:38We've kind of reached this pinnacle in aviation safety these days
43:42But we were able to take all of those accidents, learn those lessons, apply them and make it that much safer
43:48And we are living in this era, this remarkable era right now because of that, because they did not die in vain
43:54They did not die in vain
43:55They did not die in vain
43:57They did not die in vain