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Toronto Airport Uncovered - Season 1 Episode 10 -
Against the Cloc
Against the Cloc
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FunTranscript
00:00of a small city and no day is the same its staff have learned to expect the
00:08unexpected there is maintenance issue do not state anybody stop from storms on
00:15the ramp that's the bad side of bad weather can't predict nothing it's
00:20nature to human remains we take good care of them they're our number one
00:26priority and a bag that triggers an alarm I've been doing it for 26 years it
00:32looks like something very dangerous this is Canada's biggest gateway to the world
00:40an elite force of 50,000 working non-stop a lot of departments that sit here like
00:46marionette puppeteers and make sure that everything happens keeping flights
00:51across six continents moving while battling the elements that's what we
00:56get paid for to do the impossible and facing the unexpected there's a medical
01:02going on right now on a aircraft and they're doing it around the clock to
01:06keep Toronto International on track
01:20approximately 130,000 passengers pass through Toronto International Airport
01:26each day checking in up to 100,000 items of luggage but before each bag makes its
01:34way along more than 18 miles of conveyor belts to an aircraft it must be
01:39carefully checked at Toronto Pearson every bag passes through state-of-the-art
01:47scanners comes down a huge belt it's it circles down all the way down then goes
01:53through our x-ray machine Katza the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority is
02:00responsible for preventing prohibited items from getting on to planes when a
02:06bag triggers an alarm in one of the scanners a Katza agent decides if it
02:11requires further investigation they'll check it out let's say okay and this is
02:17fine I'll send it off or they may say you know what there's something in here I'm
02:21not confident about I'm not comfortable this bag going on an aircraft without
02:25being searched so they send it to us
02:31down in the recon or inspection room experienced screening officer Ash Gobin
02:36thoroughly investigates every flagged bag end of the day the first thing you
02:42think is threat I must find threats and I must ensure that no threats are
02:48allowed on the aircraft it's not just a job that you think okay I have to just do
02:52my job and I punch in and I punch out and I got my money what do I care people's
02:57lives are at stake this bag has been flagged for containing large quantities of
03:03organic material prohibited organic material can include narcotics and even
03:09some types of explosives ashes first step is a swab of the bag I am taking
03:16samples of particles that may be residual on the bag on the places that it would be
03:26terrorists would most likely touch and I'm going to check my sample my machine it's
03:31an explosive trace detection machine and it will tell me if there are particles
03:36that are dangerous then instead it gave me no alarm afterwards so it means it's clear
03:45we still have to go through the bag and look for other things that might be dangerous
03:50if it's thicker I will take it out and open it up and pat it down so that I'm sure that there's nothing hidden inside
03:59the organic material turns out to be food on this occasion but without checking ash can't be sure
04:07everything's good with this bag so I'm gonna repack the bag as nicely as I can I put a notice of bag
04:16check tag so that the person who opens the bag up knows that it was searched I seal it up and send it off to the aircraft
04:24not every bank screening is as straightforward ashes next bag has a combination lock this bag I'll have
04:34to call the airline to get me the code for it because I I can't open this one and we can force
04:40entry but not bags like these until it's checked this bag isn't going anywhere every movement through
04:51the airport is part of a tightly choreographed system and in the cargo operations control center Paul
04:58Martens focuses on tracking incoming flights with unusual contents this morning an inbound container
05:08needs very sensitive and respectful handling I'm currently monitoring a human range shipment that we have
05:16coming in today so when it comes to human remains we basically have to make sure that we have
05:20runners and equipment available to meet the flight Toronto Pearson is one of six main airports in Canada
05:29that handles human remains we're heading to the ramp side so we're gonna pick up human remain and then
05:41head back to the cargo building with human remain and should be okay flights coming in in 10 minutes
05:49worldwide around 50,000 bodies are transported by commercial jets every year all those that pass
05:58through Toronto Pearson on brief stopovers are treated with the utmost respect we take good care of them
06:07having passed away outside Canada they're on their final journey to be reunited with family so yeah they're getting ready to take it off the human remain
06:26so we want to make sure we get a nice cart this card's good
06:35turn it that way caskets containing human remains are sealed leak proof and packed in protective outer containers
06:48it's helped to secure it more in case something full it won't blow away so it's more to secure it than anything else
06:57for some the idea of transporting the deceased is unsettling you have some guys well scared of human remain but I don't really scared of so I'm okay with it maybe because they're thinking of ghosts I don't know I'm not scared so but we're good
07:19so it's good so it's good secure we'll head back and uh everybody will be happy
07:32body secured Karl accompanies them on the next stage of their journey
07:42so now he's gonna send a lead out and the lead's gonna come and get the human remain
07:47because we're not supposed to leave them unattended
07:58safely delivered to the storage facility these human remains will be returned tomorrow to their family
08:08back at the recon room screening officer ash is still waiting to gain access to the locked bag
08:14i'm going to document this bag place it aside and wait for the airline to get back to me to give
08:22me a code or open the bag for me
08:30it's not long before a new bag arrives in the recon room and this one triggers alarm bells for ash
08:36there's some things that when i see them i get scared it looks like something very dangerous
08:46from our training that could very well be a sheet explosive
08:53so i'm looking at a potential sheet explosive now it may not be that it may just be
08:59something that seems that way sheet explosive is flexible plastic material packed with powerful
09:05rubberized explosives that are easily concealed so i won't go into the bag until i am very certain
09:11that this is not an actual explosive device after a detailed scan ash makes the call
09:18i believe this is the lining of the bag so i will go in there carefully of course and check to make sure
09:24that it is what i think it is in this job even a slim risk needs to be dealt with seriously
09:31the bag's padlocked with the airline's permission ash grabs the bolt cutters
09:50it was these shelves that calls the alarm because i can tell where's place in the bag so it wasn't the
10:09lining i'm still going to go ahead and check the lining because i would like to be 100 sure
10:13it's not very easy to clearly see exactly everything no threat this time just a home improvement enthusiast
10:27it's an unexpected find but not the strangest item to come through the recon room
10:31i had a toilet once i wasn't expecting it just a full toilet someone was carrying a toilet to wherever
10:40they're going a brand new toilet of course but that was really unusual
10:50almost 15 000 lights illuminate the runways and taxiways at toronto pearson airport
10:55they are a vital visual navigational aid enabling aircraft to safely maneuver around the airfield and take
11:04off and land especially in poor weather and at night if the lights go out the airport will grind to a halt
11:19and it's the job of airside electrical to ensure they are always working
11:23especially after a hard winter we were told there was a fault uh yesterday on our taxiway kilo
11:31so we're gonna go up there take a look see what's causing the fault
11:37this circuit supplies power to 90 lights on taxiway kilo leading from airline hangars to the runways
11:45if the repair isn't completed before nightfall a crucial part of toronto pearson's airfield could go dark
11:52before they check the grid they'll have to kill the power the circuits carry enough voltage to be fatal
12:03this is the main disconnect for the regulator so to work on the circuit safely we're gonna lock this
12:08out so there's no power going out to the airfield the tower or somebody else could walk in here and
12:13turn it on you can be working on it and get it electrocuted now there's no way anybody the tower can't
12:20turn it on and anybody else that comes in here can't turn so a 20 kilowatt regulator if it was to
12:28come on at full power there's uh potential for 3000 volts to be out there on that circuit the potential
12:36for danger on a job like this is pretty high padlock secured their detective work begins
12:50all the lighting circuits uh in the airports are run underground there's probably hundreds of kilometers
12:54of cable and probably hundreds and hundreds of circuits can be easily found or it could be you
13:03know something that takes a really long time to source where the problem is
13:16as they search for the fault the crew take on any routine maintenance they turn up
13:22this is just like a rubber connector um technically probably could hold on pretty well but we like to put
13:29on some tape so there's no chance of it coming apart airport ground lighting is very important so every
13:39single one of these lights gives a different piece of information imagine the streets and your neighborhood
13:46with no street lights traffic lights intersections without lights so a blue one such as this one is telling
13:55you that you are on a taxiway other lights will tell you you're on a runway red lights show you where you need to stop
14:10if we get a low reading it could be a burnt cable it could be simply from uh wear and tear
14:17it's not a burnt cable it's not wear and tear so we had some mice that uh decided to make this
14:36pulpit a home and uh chewed up some of the cable here
14:40there's a hole right here right yeah there's a gap here they sneak in and find somewhere warm for the
14:47winter maybe not today maybe not tomorrow but eventually a fault like that will create a total
14:55fault in the system where the entire circuit goes down with the cause identified john and the team need
15:02to repair all the damage before it gets dark so the sooner we can get to it and fix it the better
15:11okay as the airside electrical team investigate the taxiway lights
15:15they discover the mouse damage is more extensive than feared confirmed what we said earlier that uh
15:21that was eroded that used the cable as part of his uh meal uh but then on further inspection
15:29uh we did find there was another cable uh right here and that's going a little bit further down the
15:37field over here so it looks like we're gonna have to change this cable and change this cable here
15:45john and the team must replace nearly 400 feet of underground cabling to restore full power to the
15:51taxiway lighting before it gets dark ready yeah one two three
15:59so we're setting up uh some new cable we've got a damaged cable that goes
16:09southbound over there damaged one that goes east to that other pit here
16:16we do have a crimper right i do okay great
16:19that's it that's our connector there so we have our male we have our female this is the one that we're
16:31going to be replacing new cabling will need to be given a male or female connection to rejoin the circuit
16:38and replace the damaged cable
16:48it's good they head back to check if they have repaired all of the rodent damage
16:53selecting 2.5 kv on this 5 kilovolt insulation tester and we'll see what happens
17:10holding a voltage of 2500 volts okay we got 827 916 megs so yeah these are really good numbers circuits in great shape now
17:27padlock removed and power restored it's airside electrical one mice zero
17:34across the airport in the air canada hangar a boeing triple seven has come in for the maintenance team
17:44to investigate a fuel leak can i try a socket what side uh let's try three eights there are 25 triple
17:53sevens in air canada's fleet flying their longest and busiest international routes
17:59this one is scheduled to fly tonight all right the defect was fuel was leaking from the jettison pumps
18:12that's the pump we are going to remove the jettison pump tucked away inside the wing is used to dump
18:19fuel if the plane needs to land when it is above its maximum landing weight
18:24there's a fuel jettison button inside of the cockpit for the pilot to push in an emergency situation
18:34when that pilot hits up it sends an electrical signal to our unit here then sends fuel directly
18:40from the fuel tank out of the aircraft this pump is leaking
18:45it comes out yes there we go there we go and there it is okay good job
18:57so we are going to remove the three o-rings seals the o-rings are rubber seals that compress
19:04to keep fuel from escaping over time they become worn so the plan is to replace them
19:09let's put the uh the most inboard one dash two four three boeing provides us with a series of
19:17instructions to follow which we have to follow very closely and precisely down to torquing the
19:23screws in place air canada operates 13 different kinds of aircraft each with their own unique demands
19:31the maintenance crew need to check the service manual to ensure they carry out the job with meticulous
19:37diligence it has to go in a little bit more to uh to line up yeah it has to line up each aircraft
19:46we are given a certain amount of time to complete the task we're in a bit of a time race but you do
19:52have to take a step back make sure everything is being completed safely and everything is being met
19:58to the standard that that's given to us precision can't be rushed
20:08on the ramp lead station attendant shakar leo and his team load a full flight to denver
20:15these are all connections
20:20international i guess manila too going to manila philippines clouds are brewing
20:26strong winds have picked up around the airport that's the bad side of bad weather it's part of the job i
20:37guess but can't predict nothing it's nature
20:43loading a flight during high winds makes routine ramp operations dangerous these empty containers it must be
20:50strapped they can't be loading any empty uh ulds onto the aircraft they go fly off the loaders and stuff
20:58like that planes sometimes transport empty ulds or unit load devices even though they weigh up to 140
21:07pounds strong winds can throw these cargo cans around getting really windy the increasing wind speed creates
21:16another challenge for the ramp team to offload passengers planes usually park nose first at the
21:23terminal but the strong tailwind is now blowing directly into the rear exhaust of the jet engines
21:31jet engines work by sucking air in through the front and forcing it out the back but the tailwind is
21:37reversing this airflow preventing them from starting up safely
21:42the aircraft has to face the building and the engine has to go the opposite direction because of the wind
21:48unless the plane can be turned out of the wind it won't be going anywhere
22:00the pay mover is one of the workhorses of toronto pearson
22:11they tow aircraft across the airfield without the need for pilots
22:18and planes can't easily reverse so pay movers and other tugs push the jets back from the departure gates
22:31the latest addition is the oshkosh b950 an electrically powered monster for some of the biggest jets
22:39at the ground support workshop a brand new one has just arrived it's important to do the check sheet
22:45just to make sure that everything is perfectly safe before we let it go to the ramp technician
22:50andrew wadwani is giving it a thorough examination there's a lot of little things that need to be
22:56addressed before and we want to make sure we catch it before anybody else does it is pushing planes back so
23:02last thing you want to do is have uh basically something break one of the most vital parts of
23:07the pay mover is its massive four foot diameter wheels we're right on the money at 140 psi
23:16i'll double check run my hands on the tires just make sure we have no cuts or bruises or anything
23:22weird on the tire it gets up to a maximum of 22 kilometers an hour kilometers not miles
23:29it may only reach 13 miles per hour but it makes up for that with brute power
23:36good beautified this pay mover is able to push and pull planes over seven times its weight
23:44weight including the immense bowing triple seven okay perfect we'll go all the way in
23:54so basically we got all four headers in we're actually going to connect them all now and get
23:59this unit up in the air high voltage cables
24:01a hetra is a type of vehicle lifting system and in order to finish his inspection andrew needs to take
24:10a look underneath at first it's scary and it's daunting on you especially when you're dealing
24:15with the amount of weight that you're lifting because it's hard to comprehend it's 25 plus tons
24:22above you so it's wild at first but then you get really comfortable like anything else in the trade
24:27right but andrew isn't leaving anything to chance all right as we move around these big safety stands
24:34it's super simple we're going to look for things that are welded to the unit that way if it ever comes
24:39down we're safe with the electric motor putting a lot more stress on the components we want to make
24:47sure that everything is bolted right in place so we're going to look for the manufacturer's torque marks
24:52to make sure everything is exactly where it needs to be one final step is needed before this new pay
24:59mover can take on some of toronto pearson's more heavyweight aircraft you have to have enough weight
25:05to be able to push the plane so if it's slightly light it won't have enough on the ground to be able
25:10to push forward so you want to have as much weight as you possibly can so it doesn't hop or bounce and
25:14skip on the suspension each one of these blocks are 2500 pounds or 1100 kilos and we got eight of them
25:21that's good straight yep straight
25:27okay drop it down all right that makes the last of the ballast 8 800 kilograms loaded we're going to get
25:33this unit ready to go and uh hit the ramp now weighing in at over 55 tons the latest member of the fleet
25:42is ready to go to work out on the windy ramp shakar is going to use a smaller one of these all-new electric
25:55pay movers to tow the denver gent out of the tailwind so it can safely start its engines
26:00follow captain subject i'm calling uh the final cockpit
26:14he calls the tower towers give them the clearance and that's when we push
26:18but this isn't going to be an ordinary pushback
26:21to get the plane started shakar will have to undertake what's called a push and pull maneuver
26:33it's go time
26:35an airbus a320 fully loaded with cargo and 168 passengers on board weighs in at around 86 tons
26:43and this is a smaller aircraft it's a triple seven forget it no way
26:51as shakar pushes the plane back from the gate
26:57it's not the weight that's a challenge but the wind
27:01it's now turning the turbine blades
27:05which is not a problem for the engine but does require the push and then the pull
27:13push complete it's on to stage two the pull push and pull the reason why we're reversing because
27:23you want to face the runway so i have to pull him this way shakar must now aim the plane so the wind
27:31isn't blowing straight into the rear of the engines so far so good
27:36once we come to a complete stop that's when we start the engine otherwise what happens if the
27:44engine is not running it'll take over the pay mover and start pushing the pay mover
27:51the pay mover is powerful but no match for the jet engines
27:58if the plane isn't stationary with its brakes applied the 46 000 pounds of thrust would overwhelm the pay mover
28:06and now the moment of truth
28:19with the plane up and running the mighty pay mover can detach
28:27winds conquered
28:31it's cleared for takeoff
28:36while planes can fly as long as their fuel allows
28:42for everyone's safety pilots have limits to the hours they can work
28:47overworked pilots could jeopardize the safety of passengers
28:52keeping planes flying while staying within pilots permitted hours is a tricky logistical challenge for
28:58every airline
29:05as day turns into night in the terminal air canada lead customer experience specialist nikitza miklas
29:12is just at the beginning of her shift
29:14but on her next departure the pilots are nearing the end of theirs we're heading to d33 there's a flight to winnipeg that's coming in at eight o'clock
29:29we have to deplane it and turn it around really really fast the pilots that are going to be timing out
29:34uh they have to kick the brakes by 8 55 so that doesn't give us a lot of time
29:40no air canada pilot can work more than 13 hours in a given day
29:46they cannot exceed those hours it's a safety thing it's regulated by transport canada
29:51to ensure the pilots don't exceed their working hours the flight must depart by 8 55 pm
29:57nikki has 50 minutes to get the plane turned around and the passengers on board but there's a problem
30:06the plane is running late it's 805 already and the plane is not at the gate yet we have to have a
30:13deep plane clean catered everything by 8 40 so there's a lot of players it's not just us here
30:18it's the crew it's ramp it's our grooming uh team it's our catering team they all have to be ready to run
30:25and do everything so we can do it as quickly as possible nikki is doing all she can to tip the odds
30:31in her favor we do need to check in quite a few bags before we begin boarding we're looking for
30:37people right now to volunteer to check in their carry-on bags if everybody boards with a carry-on
30:42bag it takes time to board because they have to go in look for their seats stole their bags just want
30:49people at this point to just board and close the doors because we really don't want to risk losing
30:54the pilots on this one just going to put it on here and then you're going to leave it at the door
30:58of the aircraft when you board thank you the pressure is on
31:08if this flight cancels there won't be any flight available until 12 15 or 7 15 pm tomorrow
31:16that could delay more than 150 passengers for 15 to 22 hours so it's it's important we have to and we will
31:36in the hangar the maintenance team is ready to run the pump and check the triple seven for leaks
31:41by reinstalling our o-rings we're hoping that solves our leaking problem
31:48okay so make sure the fuel valve is open and then leave the panel open copy that we're going to
31:55and then make sure uh the pump is running
32:09copy that pump is running
32:18with less than four hours until the plane must leave the hangar
32:22they need to ensure the repair was successful
32:31correct pump is running and no leaves
32:34okay thank you
32:37looks good it looks like uh the seals did the trick and it's all dry up there
32:42so i was ready to then close it up and get this airplane out
32:47all they need to do now is reattach the access panel
32:57what's up
33:02but it looks like celebrations will have to wait
33:05the panel is missing one of the anchor nuts that hold it in place
33:08we need to replace our anchor nut that we are missing from our panel
33:14to ensure the safety of the plane it's all or nothing
33:20the finish line has just moved further away so a little bit of unforeseen delay but
33:26this is what aviation is some unforeseen things that come up but you got to
33:30keep working and see what you can finish pretty much
33:40i will put the receipt here for you so hold on to it you're going to leave it at the door of the
33:45aircraft when you board okay at gate d33 on the tight turnaround flight to winnipeg
33:51the plane has just arrived oh good they're coming off so it's here uh 807 first pass off
33:59so it's very important to write down all the timings i'm noticing that people are coming off
34:03already the first passenger that has come off is at 807. nikki works with all the teams on the ground
34:11we're going to take all these bags we have to make sure our ramp team is ready
34:15to take those bags down and to close the door before we leave so there's a lot of pieces
34:22the last passengers have disembarked on the apron teams prepare the plane for departure
34:32rumors clean the cabin in readiness for new passengers
34:36caterers replenish the galleys with food and drink
34:39and baggage is loaded in to the cargo hold as soon as the crew goes down uh we'll start staging them
34:49we'll board people and we'll hold them halfway by staging or assembling passengers as close as
34:55possible to the plane nikki hopes to speed up boarding when the aircraft is ready it's currently age 25
35:03they need to breaks off by 8 55. so we have 30 minutes and there's about 160 customers so yeah
35:11every minute counts of this one i've told her to make an announcement so when she's making families
35:17with small children anyone with a tag on their back come up right now yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
35:24the last pack's off perfect let's do this with just 30 minutes left until pushback
35:30and 20 minutes maximum to finish boarding nikki has to keep things moving guys i need the crew
35:36to come down or else we're not going anywhere especially now because we've got to do this super
35:41fast guys let the crew go down please sorry nikki is on high alert for anything that may slow down
35:48the departure of the plane did you write down what time the pilots went down it was like write it down
35:54write it down hello sorry you want to wait with them until there yeah you want to wait yeah okay
36:00you all the way down yes perfect thank you so much the passengers we started boarding them and our
36:07colleague is just going to wait thank you so much um she's just going to wait at the bottom with all of
36:13them until the crew is uh gives them the thumbs up that they're ready to start boarding that way they
36:19just get on the airplane so this saves a few minutes the amazing race 269 is starting
36:28but this is such a tight race that any unforeseen problem could completely derail her plan to keep
36:33the plane on time and she said that there is no maintenance issue do not state anybody to stop
36:49across the airfield in the maintenance hangar engineers can't finish the repair on the triple seven
36:55because of a missing tiny quarter inch nut and it's nowhere to be seen
37:03now it's threatening to hold up the maintenance schedule we're gonna kick this one out it will clog
37:10everything up the team need to act fast uh we can we take a look in the shop and now we see we have it
37:17in the shop yeah it is we'll be back with the anchor nut to keep its fleet of over 400 aircraft in
37:27operation air canada has a vast storage hangar containing thousands of spare parts at over 127
37:35000 square feet it's the largest freestanding hangar in canada it houses tens of millions of dollars
37:44of equipment to facilitate quick repairs and keep air canada's fleet on the move it has everything
37:52from entire engines each worth millions of dollars to disposable life preservers these life vests
38:00normally last about 10 years which means that they are going out to be recertified and refixed and be
38:06reused again this is how it works when you pull these and they would go like this
38:14you can see here is a slide
38:22our captain's chair is most likely ranging from at least 250k to almost 500k depending on which aircraft
38:31it is the good news is they also have a ready supply of quarter inch anchor nuts
38:40all good all good all good thank you very much appreciate it guys replacement anchor not acquired the team
38:49can fix the access panel in place and last through all done
39:03last bit get this plane out
39:09aviation never goes as smooth as you think it will there's always something that comes up but
39:14got to keep moving forward and finish the job with more than 90 minutes to spare the triple seven can
39:22fly again the time is just about up for nikki and her flight to winnipeg maintenance is on board you heard
39:33yep yeah so we're just gonna we're just gonna hold we have everybody ready um the moment they say go we will get
39:39everyone if it doesn't push back in 10 minutes the pilots will be out of hours
39:46for the preparation of passengers dropping on air flight 269 with service to mid-pack
39:50we'd like to inform you that there is some issue which the maintenance needs to look at
39:54so we're just holding for that i don't know what exactly is wrong right now there i heard the word maintenance
40:00on the flight deck a maintenance team is troubleshooting a fault
40:07we're gonna pause boarding until we find out what's going on and then we'll resume it again
40:15there's still a lot of people to board
40:19they didn't give any indication did they say what's going on at all no nothing that's what sort of
40:25upset the gate team might not know the nature of the fault but if it isn't resolved quickly
40:31their efforts to get this flight away will have been in vain
40:35director just gave us a thumbs up here thumbs up we're good thumbs up okay we're good to go thank you
40:40i got it don't you somebody keep going have your ideas ready please in your hands
40:45you guys are boarded so you could just go straight in
40:59this is the final boarding call if you hear your name please board immediately at gate d33 doors
41:04will be closing in one minute oh they're boarded they're all boarded oh yes sweet guys minus four
41:10good job you want to all done print the paperwork let's run it down we did our job it's over to the
41:20crew the pilot the passengers to sit down the crew the pilots and ramp i don't want to jinx it but
41:31but two minutes later the plane hasn't left the gate and mickey needs to check its status
41:36i just want an update on 269 uh 269 so the the last update i have from maintenance is that
41:45they were uh doing the reset on the aircraft uh hopefully we should get an answer in about
41:50next two to five minutes we have like one minute
41:57we're not sure what's happening so right now we're just waiting
42:06then as nikki has just about given up hope
42:10yay look the door closed yay come come come
42:18look the door closed see that
42:23come on come on come on yes
42:28that was fantastic i don't know i don't know honestly like
42:32well done good job to you just in the nick of time that's amazing so many departments got together
42:39for that one they're pushing back now it's gone we're happy the customers are happy we're getting
42:47them on their way business as usual at toronto pearson international airport
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