- yesterday
🔴 WARNING: This video contains real footage of aviation accidents. Viewer discretion is advised.
Welcome to AIRPLANE MODE ✈️ – a dedicated archive of real airplane crash videos, featuring authentic black box recordings, cockpit audio, ATC communication, and rare raw footage from around the world.
🧠 Purpose of This Video:
This footage is shared only for educational, awareness, and historical documentation. We aim to help viewers understand aviation safety, mechanical failure, and human factors that contribute to flight accidents.
📌 Disclaimer:
We do not own or claim copyright over the original crash footage.
All rights belong to their respective owners and investigative agencies.
This video is not meant to offend, scare, or glorify disaster.
If any content violates your rights, please contact us for removal.
📲 Subscribe to AIRPLANE MODE ✈️ for more real crash archives.
🕊️ Respect to all lives lost and affected by these tragedies.
Welcome to AIRPLANE MODE ✈️ – a dedicated archive of real airplane crash videos, featuring authentic black box recordings, cockpit audio, ATC communication, and rare raw footage from around the world.
🧠 Purpose of This Video:
This footage is shared only for educational, awareness, and historical documentation. We aim to help viewers understand aviation safety, mechanical failure, and human factors that contribute to flight accidents.
📌 Disclaimer:
We do not own or claim copyright over the original crash footage.
All rights belong to their respective owners and investigative agencies.
This video is not meant to offend, scare, or glorify disaster.
If any content violates your rights, please contact us for removal.
📲 Subscribe to AIRPLANE MODE ✈️ for more real crash archives.
🕊️ Respect to all lives lost and affected by these tragedies.
Category
🏖
TravelTranscript
00:00It must be one of the most amazing flying stories of all time, one that is still hard to believe.
00:29An airliner full of passengers out of control at 17,000 feet, and the pilot is stuck outside the plane.
00:39In the cockpit, three frightened flight attendants are clinging to his legs.
00:44If he slips from their grasp, the captain's body could be sucked into the engine and bring down the plane.
00:51At the controls, a young co-pilot is battling to get the plane to the nearest airport.
00:59The lives of 87 passengers and crew hang by a thread.
01:07A lot of people go through life thinking it'll never happen to me, but you tend to go through life thinking it can.
01:17I said I thought I was going to die, mother. I thought I was going to die.
01:20This bizarre accident tested the limits of human survival.
01:26And the investigation that followed not only exposed the mistakes behind it, but led to new ways of preventing them.
01:33For the crew of the British Airways flight from Birmingham, England, to Malaga, Spain, the 10th of June began like any other day.
01:55Old friends about to do a job they loved.
01:57Stewards Nigel Ogden and Simon Rogers, along with stewardess Sue Prince, had worked together on and off for years.
02:09They're an experienced, capable team that takes pride in its work.
02:13At Birmingham, all the cabin crew and all the pilots, they all knew each other. We're all on first name terms.
02:22Simon was a good friend of mine anyway, because we, you know, just go out for a beer or a curry or whatever like that.
02:28Everybody was friendly to everybody else.
02:30The one new member of the group was Alistair Atchison, an experienced co-pilot. He'd just driven down from Manchester that morning.
02:45Morning, Alistair. Come on in.
02:48Tim Lancaster is captain. He's been a commercial pilot for 21 years.
02:53Well, I've got to get started, eh?
02:55Chief Steward John Hewitt arrives to give the crew their final briefing.
03:03Morning, everyone.
03:05Morning.
03:05Night.
03:06Is that the, er, first officer?
03:08Yeah, just down from Manchester.
03:10Nice seeing you face.
03:13Okay, okay.
03:14Malaga.
03:15Right, I'm looking forward to this.
03:17Er, right, night, you can sit up with me up front and talk rugby.
03:21Er, Sue, where would you like?
03:23Over the wing.
03:24Okay, so, Simon, you're at the rear.
03:27All right, now, just a few safety questions.
03:30Nigel.
03:32Before takeoff, the co-pilot performs a walk-around, checking the outside of the aircraft for anything wrong.
03:40In the cockpit, Captain Tim Lancaster reviews a log of the maintenance carried out on the plane the day before.
03:47Everything okay?
03:48Fine.
03:49You should just come out of maintenance by the look of it.
03:52Nothing much there.
03:53Just change the windscreen.
03:55Many of the passengers know the flight well and are looking forward to a relaxed trip to Spain.
04:01I was going to catch a plane from Birmingham to Malaga to meet my mum.
04:10My sister and I were joining her there for a week's holiday, a girl's week.
04:15I live in the south of Spain, and two or three times a year I come back to see my grandchildren and also my mother.
04:25So, everyone lives near Birmingham, so that's the route I normally take, Malaga, Birmingham.
04:29These unsuspecting passengers and crew were about to begin an adventure of a lifetime.
04:41Seem to have made yourself comfortable.
04:42Do right.
04:43Do right.
04:49Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking.
04:51My name is Tim Lancaster.
04:53Welcome aboard this British Airways flight to Malaga.
04:55They seem to be laid back and quite jovial, really.
05:01Well, it's a lovely day in Malaga.
05:03Blue skies, sunshine.
05:05Sit back and enjoy the flight.
05:06And we still expect to get you there on time.
05:10Birmingham Tower, Speedbird 5390.
05:12We're ready to start and push.
05:14Speedbird 5390.
05:15Clear to start and push.
05:16Ladies and gentlemen, we are now going to take you through our safety procedures and equipment.
05:23As this information is for your benefit, we ask you to watch and listen carefully.
05:27Clear to start, engines.
05:29Starting number two.
05:32Emergency exits are on both sides.
05:34The stewardess shows you the emergency exit and all the emergency gear.
05:42And, of course, nobody's really watching.
05:44One chap was quite blasé.
05:47He was reading the Times and people weren't really bothering because we've all been on flights.
05:51And, you know, it's no big deal.
05:53The air can be topped up by using the mouthpiece.
05:55And there is a whistle for attracting attention.
06:0880 knots.
06:14The BAC-111 was known as the jeep of the skies, a workhorse that was easy to maintain and had a good safety record.
06:23At 43 tons, this pressurized hull is carrying 81 passengers and 6 crew and is now climbing to 23,000 feet.
06:42In just over two hours, they should be in Spain.
06:45Only a catastrophic accident could bring this plane out of the skies.
06:53Alistair?
06:55I can see my house from here.
06:59Two minutes into the climb, the pilots switch on the autopilot.
07:03Tim Lancaster takes off his shoulder straps and relaxes into the flight.
07:06Now, I went into the flight deck to ask Tim and Alistair what they would like to drink.
07:15You gentlemen, like a tea.
07:17Please, the usual.
07:18Well, one sugar, please.
07:19And I said, your breakfast, Tom, it'll only be a few minutes.
07:22Now, almost 13 minutes after takeoff, and at 17,300 feet, they're just 5,000 feet from their assigned altitude.
07:30But then, in a split second, everything changes.
07:42With a huge explosion, the captain's windscreen blows out into the sky.
07:47Almost immediately, a white fog forms.
07:52A sort of really intense stomach, body-shaking thud.
08:00We were just diving, really.
08:06And then we started to judder like this.
08:09And I was a bit stunned.
08:10I thought, what?
08:11Oh, God, it's a bomb.
08:17Alistair, the co-pilot, is suddenly fighting for control in a 350-mile-an-hour wind.
08:24There's no time to think about the captain,
08:25who's been blasted out of the window by pressurized air escaping from the aircraft.
08:34The rushing wind pins Captain Lancaster to the roof of the cockpit.
08:38Inside, his legs have jammed the control column forward,
08:47disconnecting the autopilot and pushing the plane down into a dive.
08:56Alistair Acheson needs all his flying experience now.
08:59He's on his own.
09:00The captain's body is pinned to the outside of the jet as it hurtles down from 17,000 feet.
09:13The throttles are jammed forward, increasing the speed to nearly 400 miles an hour.
09:18Co-pilot Alistair Acheson has to take command.
09:21While he fights to bring the plane under control,
09:24steward Nigel Ogden can see his captain is being sucked out of the aircraft.
09:27And I looked in, the flight deck door was resting on the controls,
09:35and all I could see was Tim out the window.
09:41I jumped over, put one foot in the captain's footwell,
09:45and the other one was down the side of his seat.
09:49I just grabbed him before he went out completely.
09:54Nigel Ogden holds on to the captain for dear life.
09:57Outside, a 390-mile-an-hour blast of wind at minus 17 degrees centigrade
10:04smashes into Tim Lancaster's body.
10:09The tornado in the cockpit is giving Acheson major problems.
10:18Air traffic control can hear his cries for help,
10:21but the storm rushing through the cockpit drowns out their replies.
10:24The captain's feet are still pushing against the control column,
10:33and Alistair is struggling to get full control of the plane.
10:36He's now diving through some of the busiest air lanes in the world,
10:40with the added danger of a mid-air collision.
10:42From the cabin, lead steward John Heward sees the chaos in the cockpit
10:52and does what he can to help.
10:54I looked up, and there was Nigel sort of hanging across the seat in the flight deck.
11:01In front of me, the flight deck door had fallen forwards
11:04and trapped itself between the actual door frame
11:07and the throttles of the aircraft.
11:10So I literally stamped on it twice,
11:13and it literally broke into three or four pieces.
11:15Behind, on the wall of the flight deck,
11:19there is a spare seat for anybody to observe the flight or whatever.
11:23And I thought, well, if I put my arm through the seat belt there,
11:27I can grab both of them,
11:28and at least we've got some sort of anchor point inside the aircraft.
11:33Oh!
11:35Alistair, who's never flown with this crew before,
11:38has to leave them to their own devices
11:40and focus on getting the plane to safety.
11:42He now has control of the throttles.
11:47John and Nigel have wrenched the captain's feet away from the control column.
11:52But instead of slowing down,
11:54Hatchison decides to continue the rapid descent.
11:58It will quickly take him out of the way of any other air traffic
12:01and take him to a lower altitude where oxygen equipment won't be needed.
12:07Staying too long at a high altitude risks oxygen starvation,
12:10and this older aircraft is not fully equipped with oxygen for all the passengers on board.
12:17The airspeed indicator goes into the red.
12:19In the cabin, the two other stewards, Sue Prince and Simon Rogers,
12:35are trying to prepare the passengers for what they hope will at worst be an emergency landing.
12:40They've dived to 11,000 feet in just two and a half minutes.
12:54But as they level out and slow down to 170 miles per hour,
12:58the captain's body is no longer pinned to the roof
13:01and slides round to the side of the plane.
13:03195, he said he's at flight level, 100.
13:08I'm ready to head in, 195.
13:11Working his way from the back of the cabin,
13:13steward Simon Rogers now catches sight of the chaos in the cockpit for the first time.
13:23Now the aircraft had got to sort of fly in fairly level,
13:26Simon came up from the back.
13:27Nice was beginning to get really sort of achy now with his arms,
13:34and I knew he wasn't going to let go unless he was sure that Tim wouldn't fly out of the window.
13:40We all had fear in our eyes.
13:42We were all worried sick because we thought, you know,
13:46either Tim's going to die or we're going to die, you know.
13:49That was going through my mind.
13:51But it was up to Alistair then, and it was up to us three,
13:55Simon and John and myself, to hold on to grim death.
14:03All I remember is Tim's arms flailing out.
14:06His arms seemed about six foot long.
14:09And I'll never forget that.
14:10His eyes were wide open.
14:12I mean, his face was hitting the side of the side screen.
14:17But he didn't blink.
14:20And I thought to myself, and I said to John,
14:24I said, I think he's dead.
14:26I think he's dead.
14:29And I said, you and Sile have to hold on.
14:32I can't hold on anymore.
14:34I can't hold on anymore.
14:35I've lost the feeling in my arms.
14:37I can't hold on anymore.
14:38I can't hold on anymore.
14:40I can't hold on anymore.
14:40I can't hold on anymore.
14:41I can't hold on anymore.
14:43I can't hold on anymore.
14:50We decided to put Simon, I said to Simon,
14:52you sit in that jump seat and fasten yourself in.
15:01With Simon sitting in the seat,
15:03we'd freed Tim's legs from between the control column in the seat.
15:07So we hooked his feet over the back of the captain's seat and then Simon literally put his hands on the top
15:12Just so he was holding his ankles down
15:22Hey look, what's going on? We're gonna be all right
15:26But I think the captain's dead. I couldn't believe it because he just told us what a lovely day it was
15:32You know blue skies sunshine
15:34Relax and enjoy the flight and that next minute he's dead
15:40Simon and Alistair now face one of their most difficult decisions what to do with the lifeless body of the captain
15:50No words are said but for a moment the thought passes between them that the best thing would simply be to let it go
16:04Can you hold on to it, please?
16:06But Alistair's order isn't simply an act of compassion
16:11Releasing the body at the position it was in it would have gone close to the upper area of the wing
16:18It could have damaged the leading edge of the wing had it gone over the wing it could very well have gone into the engine
16:22Quite a lot of damage could have been caused by the release of the body
16:26So I think it was a very sensible decision to try and keep him where he was
16:31Alistair has managed to get down to 11,000 feet
16:35Without the captain to help he's operating the plane systems from memory
16:39And shepherding it around Heathrow
16:43Some of the most congested airspace in the world
16:47Seven minutes out of contact with the ground
16:49He's able to hear the voice of air traffic control for the first time
16:53Requesting radar assistance onto the nearest airfield, please
16:57Speedbird 5390 roger
16:58Can you accept landing in Southampton?
17:01Speedbird 5390
17:03I am familiar with Gatwick
17:05Would appreciate Gatwick
17:06Alistair wants to land at Gatwick Airport
17:08As he's flown there many times before
17:12But Southampton is nearer
17:14And even though he's never flown there before
17:16He knows he has to get down fast
17:18And I am on 150 knots
17:20Requesting radar assistance into Southampton
17:22When you're going to an airport that you're not used to
17:25You normally have charts, let down plates
17:28That kind of thing that you can read up on
17:31And learn something of the airport you're going to
17:36But he knew nothing of Southampton
17:38He hadn't been there
17:39He had no charts
17:40Because everything had gone out the window
17:41There was no let down plates
17:42To look at the approach
17:43And so on
17:48All the maps and charts
17:49Blew out of the window with the captain
17:51And only the air traffic controller can guide Acheson
17:53He turns towards Southampton
18:01Southampton, this is Speedbird 5390
18:04Do you read?
18:05Speedbird 5390
18:07Good morning
18:08Identified on handover from London radar
18:11Six miles west of Southampton
18:13What is your passing level?
18:15Roger sir, I am not familiar with Southampton
18:17Request you shepherd me onto the runway
18:19When he spoke he was obviously stressed
18:23It sounded as if he was under a fair bit of pressure
18:27What is your number of persons on board?
18:29We have 84 passengers on board
18:31We have 84 passengers on board
18:33And I think that will be all until we are on the ground
18:36Roger that's copied
18:37I've been advised it's pressurisation failure
18:39Is that the only problem?
18:40Negative
18:42The captain is half out of the aeroplane
18:48I understand
18:49I believe he's dead
18:52Roger that is copied
18:55My feeling was when he told me what was going on
18:58It was one of disbelief
19:01Because it doesn't actually happen
19:04You know it's one of these things that you see in films
19:06That happens in films
19:07But it doesn't happen in real life
19:09And it was sort of the hairs in the back of the neck go up
19:15And there's this feeling down the spine
19:17The tingle down the spine
19:18And you think
19:19No, it's not for real
19:20But it's got to be
19:22Flight attendant holding on to him
19:24But request an emergency facility for the captain
19:28I think he is dead
19:32Affirm, what is your passing level?
19:35Leaving flight level 5,500 feet on turn 19
19:40Roger, that's copied
19:43I'll give you a little bit more space
19:46Then I'll turn you on to a heading of 180
19:48Yeah, it's a full emergency
19:51Rundle contacts the emergency services at the first opportunity
19:55I don't know how many people are on board
19:55But I'll let you know
19:56Could you confirm that the level of runway of Southampton
20:09Is acceptable for a 1-11?
20:12Yes, it is acceptable for a 1-11
20:15And I'll give you the figures shortly
20:16As long as we have at least 2,500 metres
20:19I am happy
20:20I'm afraid we don't have 2,500 metres
20:26Neither do Bournemouth
20:28We have a maximum of 1,800 metres
20:315,390
20:37Acheson is concerned that the plane is above its maximum landing weight
20:41Being full of fuel for the journey to Malaga
20:44And the BAC-111 can't dump fuel
20:47If the runway isn't long enough, he faces more problems
20:51Whether the aircraft could actually stop on the runway
20:53Or whether the tyres would burst
20:55Or whether he would go off the end of the runway
20:57That's obviously what he was worried about
21:00When asking for 2,200 metres
21:025,390
21:04Thank you very much
21:06We are
21:08Three queens and
21:12Flats
21:1445
21:15So we are set for approach
21:17But make it please
21:18Very gentle
21:19Yes, I will indeed
21:21You are number one traffic
21:22If you think about it
21:24All the airline pilot training
21:26Is done with two pilots
21:28Both compos mentis in the cockpit
21:30One flying the aeroplane
21:32And the other one doing all the emergency drills
21:34So what you actually had was
21:35The captain hanging out the window
21:37At least one person hanging onto his legs
21:39And Alistair flying the aeroplane
21:42With nobody else to talk to
21:44Speedbird 5390
21:46Is 9 miles from touchdown
21:47You are cleared to land
21:48Wind indicates 0,2,0 degrees at 1,4 knots
21:52Descent to height to 1,5 for 0,0 feet
21:54QFE is 1,0,1,7
21:56Roger, sir
21:58Descending to 1,500 feet
22:01Talk me down another way
22:03I need all the help I can get
22:05Roger, you'll be able to stop the aircraft
22:09On the runway
22:10And evacuate the aircraft
22:12On the runway
22:13He must have been about
22:14Six or seven miles from touchdown
22:15And obviously at that point
22:17I kept talking
22:18Until he was happy
22:19He could see the runway
22:20I was happy to continue
22:22Looking out the window
22:23And land the aeroplane
22:24At the point he said
22:27He was visual with the runway
22:29I effectively stopped talking
22:33You need not acknowledge
22:41Unless requested
22:42It will be an uninterrupted talk down
22:44But feel free to interrupt
22:45If you feel you need to
22:465390
22:48Thank you very much
22:50I have the runway in sight
22:52Thank you, you are cleared to land
22:55Do you wish me to continue
22:57With any further information?
22:58Negative
23:0332 minutes after take-off
23:10With 81 terrified passengers
23:12A nearly full fuel tank
23:14And the captain blasted out of the window
23:16Alistair Atchison attempts
23:17The most difficult landing of his career
23:33would feel good
23:34frosty
23:40Oops
23:42Have ailiar
23:43She is.....
23:44Ge ignoring her
23:46Being a man
23:51She's moeten
23:55Food
23:56Food
23:57Food
23:58Food
23:59Food
24:00Food
24:01At 8.55 a.m., flight BA5390 makes a perfect landing at Southampton Airport.
24:18Immediately, emergency vehicles surround the plane.
24:22Firefighters remove the body of the captain and lead the passengers and crew away.
24:31I remember seeing the co-pilot, the man who really, if it wasn't for him, would have been on the other side by now,
24:43and is walking down the runway very slowly, shaking his head, and he's got an ambulance man walking with him
24:51with his arm around the shoulders of the co-pilot, and the co-pilot was shaking his head as if...
24:58I remember that distinctly. I don't know why, but I do.
25:01Alistair Acheson has carried out a remarkable piece of flying, almost unprecedented in aviation history.
25:16He has had to pilot his plane without his captain, who has undergone physical stresses that nobody could have been expected to survive.
25:24I think these extreme conditions, no-one expects to occur in their lifetime.
25:34His survival time must have been measured in no more than tens of minutes as he became colder and colder,
25:40and his body systems began to shut down.
25:43Tim Lancaster's body was subjected to a two-pronged assault.
25:47The physical violence that his body suffered being blown out of the plane,
25:57and the extreme cold and lack of oxygen at 17,000 feet.
26:01Every thousand feet of altitude causes the temperature to drop by two degrees centigrade,
26:06so the temperature on the outside of the plane would have been around minus 17 degrees centigrade.
26:11The extreme windchill also meant his body was losing heat very rapidly.
26:17He would have lapsed into semi-consciousness and then unconsciousness,
26:21and as the temperature, his core body temperature, fell,
26:24he would have finally died as a result of the excessive cold in that environment.
26:29Despite the trauma that Captain Lancaster's body suffered,
26:34there was one final twist to his story.
26:46In the Oxfordshire countryside, John Heward and Nigel Ogden
26:50are visiting one of their crew members who shared their horrific experiences.
26:56Here he is.
26:57The captain of that fateful flight, Tim Lancaster,
27:10somehow survived his horrific ordeal.
27:13There were no fatalities on BA 5390.
27:21As his frozen, lifeless body was removed from the plane,
27:24nobody thought that Tim could have survived such punishment.
27:28But, remarkably, he was slowly beginning to emerge from his horrific adventure.
27:33Tim, can you hear me?
27:35I regained some consciousness on the ground at Southampton
27:38because I remember big red and white things,
27:40which were obviously fire engines and ambulances,
27:42not people and not conversation.
27:44And then my next clear, lucid thoughts were in hospital in Southampton.
27:48Over the next few days, all the bits eventually arrived back in my sort of consciousness
27:57and I put the jigsaw together and, you know,
28:01sort of played the whole story for myself
28:02and understood what had happened.
28:12There was a big bang,
28:14a noise of all the air escaping,
28:15but I remember watching the windscreen
28:17move away from the aircraft
28:19and then it had gone like a bullet.
28:21It disappeared into the distance.
28:24And I think there was an even bigger bang,
28:26or there was an even bigger bang.
28:30And I was very conscious of going upwards.
28:33And, well, the whole thing became completely surreal then, as it would.
28:37And I was aware of being outside of the aeroplane,
28:40but that really didn't bother me a great deal.
28:42What I remember most clearly is the fact I couldn't breathe
28:45because I was facing into the airflow.
28:47And I turned round and actually turned my body round
28:53and I was sort of looking back
28:54along the top of the aircraft at that stage
28:56and I could breathe in.
28:59And, yes, I remember that.
29:00I can remember seeing the tail of the aircraft.
29:02I can remember the engines going round.
29:04And then I don't remember much more.
29:07Memory stopped at that point.
29:09I went down there last year,
29:10but they've changed the air parts.
29:12I'm glad I did hold on
29:13because Tim was alive.
29:15I mean, he's a very strong man.
29:18He must have been.
29:20To survive that,
29:21I wouldn't have been able to survive it.
29:31That's all very dramatic.
29:33It is, look.
29:34Tim Lancaster's survival was little short of miraculous.
29:38He'd been minutes away from death.
29:40It was Alistair Atchison's flying that saved his life.
29:46His quick thinking in getting the plane to the ground in only 22 minutes
29:49saved Lancaster from dying from the effects of exposure.
29:52And by pure chance,
29:57the physical trauma he suffered was limited.
29:59It included a bone fracture in his right arm and wrist,
30:03a broken left thumb,
30:05bruising, frostbite and shock.
30:08Remarkably, within five months,
30:09Tim Lancaster had made a full recovery
30:11and was flying again.
30:13Of course, the captain wasn't the only one
30:19to go through a horrific experience.
30:22Battling with the controls
30:23whilst a tornado raged through the cockpit
30:25was something no commercial pilot could be trained for.
30:28The few pilots who were able to understand
30:40the experience of Atchison and his crew
30:42include these young Royal Air Force trainees.
30:49They are being put through a simulation
30:51of an explosive decompression
30:53in this hypobarric chamber.
30:54It duplicates the effects of a window
30:58blowing out at 25,000 feet.
31:04Individual intercoms.
31:05Check to not wait.
31:06All connections.
31:07Check to confirm.
31:08Console checks are complete.
31:09Clear to claim instruction of the medical officer.
31:14Climbing to 8,000 feet at 4,000 feet per minute.
31:17The atmospheric pressure is initially set to 8,000 feet.
31:21This is the pressure inside the sealed cabin
31:23of most commercial aircraft.
31:25Anyone can survive this for many hours
31:27with no ill effects.
31:29Any higher than that,
31:30and the experience is very different.
31:34Students, listen in.
31:35Will all students please indicate
31:36with a clear thumbs up
31:37that they are ready for rapid decompression?
31:39Eight thumbs, rest your thumbs.
31:41Students, stand by for rapid decompression.
31:44In five, four, three, two, one, now.
31:48The mist in the hypobarric chamber
31:53is identical to the fog formed
31:55when the window blew out on BA5390.
31:59At the instant of rapid decompression,
32:01the air in the cabin can no longer hold
32:03onto its water vapor,
32:05which is then released into the atmosphere as fog.
32:07Jagger altitude is stable at 25,000 feet.
32:16High hold is enabled.
32:17Cross vent is on
32:17and you're clear to commence hypoxia training.
32:19Good, well done.
32:23Good, I'll look.
32:23That's hypoxia training on students 7 and 8.
32:26Once the fog clears,
32:28then the lack of oxygen at that height
32:30begins to tell.
32:31Talk a lot.
32:32OK, let's put you out of your misery.
32:33Start copying these shapes
32:34in the right-hand bar, Jim.
32:35Without oxygen,
32:38at first we begin to see
32:40a reduction in their reaction speed
32:42and we see personality changes,
32:46much like someone experiences
32:47when intoxicated with alcohol.
32:49So we see that some students become euphoric,
32:51some students become quite subdued
32:53and some students begin to develop forgetfulness.
32:57Have a look at the ugliness of your colleagues' faces.
32:59See if they get any prettier
33:00whilst you're becoming hypoxic.
33:01We see increasingly impaired performance
33:04in our students.
33:04thinking is slowed
33:06and their reaction speed
33:07becomes increasingly slowed
33:08until they begin to develop
33:10sort of lapses of concentration,
33:13falling into unconsciousness
33:16and finally death
33:17if their oxygen supply
33:18is not re-established.
33:19The blood is no longer carrying
33:21as much oxygen as it was.
33:22This is all about you experiencing
33:24your personal symptoms
33:25and having others observe the symptoms in you.
33:34Flying alone,
33:35battling nearly 400 mile an hour winds
33:38and defeating the possibility of oxygen deprivation,
33:41Alistair Acheson's achievement
33:43in saving flight 5390
33:45was outstanding.
33:46Even as the crisis was unfolding,
33:58accident investigators were rushing to Southampton
34:00to find an explanation.
34:04On the ground at Southampton Airport,
34:06the search for clues begins.
34:09Initial investigation shows no distortion
34:11to the frame of the windscreen,
34:12so this rules out a problem
34:14with the structure.
34:16The fact that there are no shards of glass
34:18also discounts a bird strike.
34:25Stuart Culling,
34:26senior investigator
34:27with the Air Accident Investigation Branch,
34:29has little to go on.
34:31The windscreen was missing,
34:34there was a certain amount of blood around,
34:36there were some minor dents
34:38and scrapes on the fuselage,
34:40as you'd expect
34:41if the window had gone past,
34:42and really that was about it,
34:44apart from a lot of paper
34:46scattered around inside.
34:48One of his first clues
34:50comes from the log
34:51recovered from the plane.
34:53He knows the plane had been serviced
34:54just the day before,
34:56and that a windscreen had been replaced.
34:58He immediately pays a visit
34:59to the British Airways Maintenance Hangar
35:01at Birmingham.
35:06I wanted to find out
35:07exactly what had happened
35:09to the aircraft
35:10before it took off,
35:11and I'd arranged
35:12that I should talk
35:13to the shift maintenance manager
35:14who fitted the window.
35:16There was a slight problem there
35:18because he'd been on night duty,
35:20and consequently
35:21he had finished his shift
35:23at roughly the same time
35:24as the windscreen
35:25came out of the aircraft,
35:26and he wasn't in a fit state
35:28to be interviewed.
35:28He needed to get some sleep.
35:34Stuart Culling.
35:35Good morning.
35:36Nice to see you.
35:37I was expecting you.
35:38Yes, good.
35:39Thank you very much.
35:40Is this the hangar in question?
35:41This is the main hangar, yes.
35:43Yes.
35:43So in the meantime,
35:45I looked around the facility.
35:47I wanted to...
35:47I made sure
35:48that any paperwork
35:49and any records
35:50of the aircraft
35:51had been identified
35:52and taken away
35:53so they couldn't be accessed
35:54by anyone else,
35:55and waited until he came in.
36:04Hello, I'm from the AIIB.
36:06Yes, and this is my colleague.
36:08What I'd like to do today
36:09is just find out
36:10what went on
36:11during that shift pattern
36:14and how it went.
36:15Thank you very much.
36:20Did you notice anything
36:21about the window itself,
36:23any stress marks
36:24that were worrying you?
36:25My first conversation
36:26with the shift maintenance manager
36:28was relatively general
36:30because at that stage
36:31we had no evidence
36:32that was relevant.
36:34You didn't delegate it
36:35to somebody else
36:36and then check it?
36:36Stuart, there's a phone call
36:37for you just coming.
36:38Oh, right.
36:39Would you mind
36:40if I took this
36:41and come back?
36:42So I took the call
36:43and found that it was
36:44information about
36:45the windscreen
36:45which had been found
36:46near Didcut
36:47and there were
36:48something like
36:4830 bolts found with it,
36:50most of which
36:51were one size
36:52short in diameter,
36:53one size too small
36:54in diameter.
36:55It was a crucial error.
36:57On some planes,
36:58windscreens are fitted
36:59from the inside
37:00and use the internal pressure
37:02inside the cabin
37:03to keep them in place.
37:05But on the 111,
37:06the windscreen is bolted on
37:07from the outside.
37:09Any weakness in the bolts
37:10could mean that the pressure
37:12inside the plane
37:13would blow the windscreen out.
37:14It appears Culling
37:15has very quickly found
37:16the mistake
37:17and the guilty man.
37:20I've had some news
37:21which I think is very relevant.
37:23I've heard from my colleagues
37:24who are working on the bolts.
37:26They tell me
37:27they're the wrong bolts,
37:28they're the wrong diameter.
37:30No, that's not possible.
37:32They're the exact
37:33different bolts
37:33that I took out of there.
37:35He's a professional man.
37:37He's very keen
37:38on doing things
37:39to his mind
37:40in the interest
37:42of the company
37:42and he's suddenly told
37:44that he's put a windscreen
37:45in using bolts
37:46of the wrong size
37:47and he's absolutely shocked.
37:50I can show you.
37:52I can show you
37:52the bolts I got out of there.
37:54One thing that came out
37:55was that he said,
37:56oh, the old bolts
37:57went into a waste bin
37:58in the hangar
37:58where he did the job
37:59and they may still be there.
38:01So he rushed across
38:02to the waste bin
38:03and found something
38:03like 80 discarded bolts.
38:05Here.
38:06They've been here.
38:07This is where I put them.
38:08These are the bolts.
38:11And these are the ones
38:11you checked
38:12against the new ones?
38:14That's right.
38:14Yeah, I took them
38:15from the carousel.
38:16There's really excellent evidence.
38:18Gold as far as I was concerned.
38:19Well, I'll take these away.
38:21Okay.
38:25By comparing
38:26the maintenance manual
38:27to what the engineer
38:28had told him,
38:30Kaling is quickly able
38:31to identify
38:31the first part
38:32of the sequence,
38:33what went wrong
38:34the previous night
38:35when the window
38:36of the BAC-111
38:37had been replaced.
38:40We went through
38:41the whole chain of events
38:42that had occurred
38:43and we found that
38:44there were something like
38:4713 different anomalies
38:49which led to the
38:53fitting of the bolts.
38:56And had any of these
38:57caused him to think
38:58the sequence of events
38:59would not have continued
39:00and there wouldn't
39:01have been an accident.
39:15The engineer had come
39:16early into his shift
39:17and at about 4am
39:19had gone to work
39:20removing the old
39:21windscreen from the plane.
39:23The hanger was full
39:24and the plane had been
39:25pushed against
39:26the hanger door
39:27which made the
39:27windscreen hard to reach.
39:30Stretched across
39:30the fuselage
39:31he had problems
39:32controlling his screwdriver.
39:33The windscreen
39:39that he had taken out
39:40had itself been fitted
39:41with the wrong length bolts
39:42but they were still
39:43strong enough
39:44to hold the screen in
39:45and it survived
39:46without a hitch
39:47for 4 years.
39:49But he was a
39:49conscientious engineer
39:50and he decided
39:52that he would
39:52replace the old bolts
39:53with new ones
39:54when he installed
39:55the new screen.
39:55He chose not to go
40:01to the parts catalogue
40:02and look up
40:03the exact bolts
40:04he needed.
40:05Instead he went
40:06straight to the
40:06parts store.
40:07Good morning.
40:08Good morning.
40:11There he matched
40:13by eye
40:13new bolts
40:14with the ones
40:14he had taken
40:15out of the screen.
40:16His eye match
40:23was good
40:23and he found
40:24a few fresh bolts
40:25of exactly the same
40:26type in a drawer.
40:29What I'm after
40:30is I need
40:3197 Ds
40:32I'm just doing
40:32a windscreen
40:32on a 111 over there
40:33and I need
40:34some new bolts.
40:348 Ds
40:35on a 111?
40:36Well
40:36no these are 7s
40:37this is a 7
40:38I've just taken it out.
40:39We haven't got
40:39any 7s anyway.
40:41OK.
40:42The store manager
40:42knew which bolts
40:44the engineer
40:44should have been
40:45looking for
40:45but the engineer
40:46chose to ignore
40:47his advice.
40:50Instead
40:51he drove
40:51to the other
40:52side of the airport
40:53to find a match
40:54for his bolts.
40:56It was now
40:57about 5.15am
40:58and in a dark
41:00corner of the hangar
41:01he continued
41:01to search
41:02for new bolts
41:03identical to the ones
41:04he'd taken out
41:04of the plane.
41:06But in the gloom
41:07his luck
41:07finally ran out.
41:09He thought
41:09they matched
41:10but they didn't.
41:11He picked bolts
41:12that were just
41:13over two hundredths
41:14of an inch
41:15too narrow
41:15for the job.
41:21Returning
41:22to the 111
41:22he stretched
41:23over the plane
41:24and began
41:25fitting these
41:25new bolts.
41:27Working at an angle
41:28he couldn't see
41:29that the new bolts
41:30didn't fit correctly.
41:31signing off
41:42at 6am
41:43the engineer
41:44had managed
41:44to get his work
41:45done in time.
41:46The plane
41:47was now ready
41:47to be handed over
41:48to Captain Lancaster
41:49and his crew.
41:53In fact
41:54it was a disaster
41:55waiting to happen.
41:56The morning
42:01of the next day
42:02the 111
42:03was at 17,300 feet.
42:06The difference
42:07in pressure
42:07between the sealed
42:08hull of the jet
42:09and the thin atmosphere
42:10was climbing quickly
42:11to the half ton
42:12per square foot
42:13it would reach
42:14at 35,000 feet.
42:16This pressure
42:16was looking
42:17for a weakness
42:17and it found it.
42:22For Culling
42:23finding out
42:24what had happened
42:24that night
42:25is only the first step.
42:27No one had hidden
42:27from him
42:28what they'd done
42:28but he knows
42:30that he has to go
42:30deeper to understand
42:31the reasons behind
42:32this horrific
42:33sequence of events.
42:35Why the engineer
42:35did what he did
42:36and whether this
42:37was an isolated incident
42:38or the symptom
42:39of a bigger problem.
42:42Accident investigation
42:43certainly on aircraft
42:44comprises two parts.
42:46The first part
42:46is what's happened
42:47and that's usually
42:49relative to the easy bit.
42:51The second part
42:52is why did it happen?
42:54Why did the engineer
42:55ignore procedure,
42:56bypass the technical manuals
42:58and ignore helpful advice?
43:01Culling's search
43:01for the answers
43:02was in its own way
43:03revolutionary.
43:04If we talked to people
43:07without giving them
43:08a warning
43:08we felt we'd get
43:11more information
43:12because they'd be
43:14freer to discuss it.
43:16If we gave them
43:17a formal caution
43:18as it were
43:19we thought that
43:19they would dry up.
43:23Coffee?
43:24Yes please.
43:24Great.
43:25How's the journey in?
43:26Oh well, usual stuff.
43:27They decide to talk
43:28to the engineer
43:29well away from the hangar
43:30in a cosy hotel room.
43:32Well, thanks for coming in.
43:34To gain insight
43:35into the methods
43:36of the maintenance engineers
43:37Culling then does
43:38something no one
43:39had done before.
43:41He brings in
43:42a behavioural psychologist.
43:46Is the aircraft
43:48normally in the hangar
43:49when you're doing that?
43:51Psychologists
43:52had been used before
43:53to analyse why pilots
43:54make mistakes
43:55under pressure.
43:56It's a discipline
43:57called human factors.
43:59But in 1990
44:00using human factors
44:02in engineering
44:02was unheard of.
44:03I wanted a professional slant
44:07on what is really
44:10psychological territory.
44:12I would hope
44:13that as far as
44:14the shift maintenance
44:16manager was concerned
44:17that it gave him
44:17extra confidence
44:19that we were
44:19trying to be even-handed
44:21and that we were
44:21trying to get
44:22to the bottom of it.
44:23You know,
44:24the parts catalogue.
44:26When you're
44:27getting the bolts out
44:28do you go straight
44:30to the parts catalogue
44:31or do you just
44:32sort of...
44:32not usually.
44:34No, if I've got
44:35a set of screws
44:36and they're the same
44:37screws I've just
44:37got to get them
44:38out of the carousels.
44:40Right.
44:40You find it's
44:41easier to do it visually?
44:43It was in that case
44:44easier to do it visually
44:45from the bolts you take now?
44:46Yeah.
44:46Yeah, because they're
44:47the same bolts that come out
44:48the same ones go back in
44:49so same size bolts
44:50there's no difference.
44:51And if it worked before
44:52it must be the right bolt.
44:54Yeah, just replacing
44:54like with like really.
44:55Yeah, because it had
44:56been flying.
44:57We were somewhat horrified
44:59that they had...
45:00that they admitted
45:03those things to us
45:07because after all
45:09we were officially
45:10inverted commas
45:11and they were quite
45:13proud of them.
45:14We would have thought
45:15that had they
45:16used such practices
45:17they would have
45:18kept very quiet about it.
45:19If I'd had to go check
45:22with the computers
45:23what bolts I needed
45:24and what parts
45:24and how to fit the thing
45:26then there was a good
45:27chance it wouldn't have
45:28been flying at the time
45:29it was meant to be.
45:30Good.
45:31Good.
45:32So when you're
45:34doing the job
45:37now you're an experienced
45:39engineer
45:39it might not be
45:41by the book
45:42or the time
45:43like you would train
45:45somebody who was new.
45:46No, we've been
45:48doing these things
45:48for years.
45:49Culling was stunned
45:50by what he was hearing
45:51but there were
45:53more revelations
45:53to come.
45:58The engineer's
45:59dangerous approach
46:00was becoming
46:00clearer by the minute.
46:02You trusted
46:03your own
46:04knowledge
46:05better than
46:06the store supervisor's
46:08knowledge.
46:09Well, I'm an engineer.
46:10I got 7D bolts out
46:12so I put 7D bolts
46:13back in.
46:13There's no problem
46:15with that.
46:18It's that simple.
46:20So you trusted
46:21that the aircraft
46:23had been flying
46:24so therefore
46:25they must have
46:25been the right bolts?
46:26Yeah, that aircraft
46:27did lots of hours
46:28with that windscreen.
46:30Their whole aim
46:31was to expedite work
46:33through their station.
46:37They had a lot
46:38of work come in.
46:39It was all done
46:40at night
46:40and in many cases
46:43they had more work
46:44than they could
46:45reasonably handle
46:45and they had devised
46:47little stratagems
46:48to get round that.
46:53Culling and the
46:54psychologist's insights
46:55made their way
46:56into the first draft
46:57of the report.
46:58It said that there
46:59were systemic faults
47:00in the maintenance
47:01procedure in Birmingham
47:02but under pressure
47:04from British Airways lawyers
47:05and because they
47:06hadn't carried out
47:07their investigation
47:08following normal
47:09procedure
47:09the final report
47:11was forced to
47:12change its emphasis.
47:15Hour by hour
47:17I mean the
47:17Treasury solicitor
47:19or whoever was
47:20advising the branch
47:22confirmed that
47:24under natural law
47:26it was unfair
47:28to use that information
47:30because we hadn't
47:31gone through
47:31the whole procedure
47:32and so we
47:34we had to remove
47:35that from
47:37the report.
47:39The investigators
47:40had never produced
47:41an accident report
47:42like it.
47:44Working with the
47:44psychologist
47:45Culling developed
47:46a completely novel
47:47way of using
47:48human factors
47:49to explain
47:49why this accident
47:50happened.
47:52They uncovered
47:52pressures in the
47:53hangar that caused
47:54an otherwise
47:55proficient engineer
47:56to make potentially
47:57lethal mistakes
47:58whilst being certain
47:59he was doing
48:00the right thing.
48:01This psychological
48:02approach took
48:03air accident prevention
48:04to a new level.
48:08Through the sheer skill
48:10of the crew
48:10of BA-5390
48:12as well as a small
48:13measure of luck
48:1487 people
48:15are now still alive.
48:18As a consequence
48:19of this investigation
48:20others may never
48:21have to go through
48:22the same ordeal.
48:24In the aftermath
48:25of the accident
48:26the crew were treated
48:27as heroes.
48:28They received numerous
48:29awards and Alistair
48:31Acheson received
48:32the coveted gold medal
48:33for airmanship.
48:35Their colleagues
48:35also showed what
48:36they felt.
48:38One of the most
48:39moving things
48:42was to go back
48:42to Birmingham.
48:45As we walked
48:46into the airport
48:46the whole of the
48:47airport stopped
48:48and all the
48:50ground staff
48:51and all the
48:51checking girls
48:52and all that
48:52just stood
48:53and applauded
48:53as we walked
48:54through the building
48:54and it was
48:55really quite
48:56moving at the time.
48:58You sort of
48:58wanted to get
48:59out of the way
48:59so that you could
49:00sort of
49:00you know
49:02I don't really
49:02want to do this
49:02like walking
49:03up the red carpet
49:04sort of thing.
49:05Their colleagues
49:06were applauding
49:07a team which
49:07had demonstrated
49:08the highest form
49:09of professionalism
49:10at every level.
49:11A cabin crew
49:12which worked
49:13as a team
49:13in extraordinary
49:14circumstances
49:15and the co-pilot
49:16an outsider
49:17who took control
49:18and worked alone
49:19to bring them
49:20all safely
49:20down to earth.
49:23Each of the crew
49:24dealt with their
49:24experience in
49:25different ways.
49:27Tim Lancaster
49:28began flying again
49:29with BA just
49:29five months
49:30after the accident.
49:32He's retired
49:33from BA
49:33but loves flying
49:34so much
49:35he's now
49:35with another airline.
49:39It was
49:39a special day
49:41when the first
49:41day I flew it
49:42I decided
49:42that was what
49:43I was going to do
49:43I was going to
49:44make an effort
49:44to go back to work
49:45and get better
49:45so having made
49:46the decision
49:46the rest was easy.
49:49For Nigel
49:50the man who ran
49:51to Tim's aid
49:51and held on
49:52to him for dear
49:53life
49:53the impact
49:54of that day
49:55was far more
49:55profound.
49:57I think about
49:58it every day
49:59and that is the
50:01truth.
50:02I think about
50:02it every single
50:03day
50:04in one form
50:06or another
50:07every single
50:08day
50:09it will affect
50:12me till
50:12the end of
50:13my days.
50:15Nigel
50:17along with
50:18Simon
50:18and Sue
50:19no longer
50:19fly
50:20but John
50:21Hewitt
50:21is still
50:22with British
50:22Airways
50:23as a chief
50:23steward
50:24but even
50:25he isn't
50:25free of
50:26the memories
50:26of that
50:27day.
50:27they were
50:28bringing in
50:29another British
50:30aerospace
50:30airplane
50:31to where
50:32I worked
50:32in Birmingham
50:32and
50:33unfortunately
50:35that window
50:35was fitted
50:36from the
50:36outside
50:37and
50:38the layout
50:39of the cabin
50:40was identical
50:41and when I
50:43sat on it
50:44it all came
50:44back to you
50:45but for that
50:47reason I've
50:48gone back
50:48to work
50:48at Heathrow
50:49and fly
50:50long haul
50:50flights
50:50again
50:50because those
50:52airplanes
50:52have got no
50:53resemblance
50:53to the
50:53111 at all.
50:55Alistair Acheson
50:56who is still
50:57flying for
50:57British Airways
50:58chose not to
50:59take part
51:00in this film.
51:04For each
51:05of the crew
51:05the experience
51:06will stay
51:07with them
51:07in different
51:07ways
51:08but common
51:09to them
51:09all
51:09is that
51:10on that
51:10day
51:11their numbers
51:12did not
51:12come up.
51:15Tim explained
51:16it very well
51:17actually
51:17and he said
51:18our names
51:18were on the
51:19page
51:19but we weren't
51:19at the top
51:20and I think
51:21that was
51:22you know
51:22probably true.
51:42you
51:42you
51:44you
51:44you
51:46you
51:47you
51:47you
Recommended
30:12
|
Up next
49:48
0:20
0:40
0:57
35:45
9:02
0:28
7:49
45:00
1:06
45:00
0:56
0:24
0:26
0:23
0:19
0:35
0:39