- 2 days ago
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00The Airbus A380, the world's biggest passenger plane.
00:07As tall as a seven-story building, it can carry more than 850 passengers.
00:14Nothing bigger has been attempted ever by any aircraft manufacturer on this planet.
00:18It was designed to take on the world-beating Boeing 747, a high-stakes gamble.
00:26We're talking billions in terms of development.
00:29You're betting the future of the company.
00:31The plane's sheer size brought logistical challenges on a scale never seen before.
00:37Its real problem is just its size. I mean, it is gargantuan.
00:42Nobody knew if a plane this big would be safe.
00:46What happens if you have an emergency and you need to evacuate?
00:49Or how it would respond in a crisis.
00:54I've never seen damage like this before on an aircraft.
01:00This is the story of the world's only Super Jumbo.
01:16Singapore, November 4th, 2010.
01:21Qantas Flight 32 takes off from Shangi Airport on an eight-hour flight to Sydney, Australia.
01:28The A380 Super Jumbo is the biggest jetliner ever built.
01:33It has been flying for three years without serious incident and is the pride of the Qantas fleet.
01:40In command, Captain Richard de Crepenny.
01:44About three and a half minutes after takeoff, we were passing through 7,000 feet.
01:49And suddenly there was this enormous bang.
01:58The alarm was sounding continuously.
02:01The top panel became a sea of red lights.
02:04We knew that something was seriously wrong.
02:07An engine has exploded, sending shrapnel ripping through the wing,
02:11damaging the plane's hydraulics and engine controls.
02:14I've never seen damage like this before on an aircraft.
02:19The plane's systems are barely responding,
02:21and de Crepenny has no idea if he can get it down safely.
02:37The story of the Airbus A380 begins in 1988 in Toulouse, France.
02:47Jean Pierson, president of Airbus, is intent on shaking up the aviation world.
02:55He wants to establish Europe as a major player in aviation construction,
03:00a business dominated by America.
03:04When Airbus first entered the market in the early 1970s,
03:08the US airlines basically didn't pay attention to them.
03:11They didn't take European airplanes seriously at this time.
03:17Airbus is already producing small and mid-sized planes,
03:21but only has 15% of the global market.
03:28In order to grow, Airbus must challenge the biggest name in aviation,
03:34Boeing.
03:36In 1988, the American giant makes nearly two-thirds of all commercial planes,
03:45including the mighty 747.
03:49John Pierson didn't like the fact that if you wanted to buy an aircraft with 400 seats,
03:53there's only one place you could go for it, which was Seattle and Boeing.
03:56And Pierson, known by his colleagues as the Bear of the Pyrenees,
04:01rarely backs down.
04:03This is an interesting nickname, the Bear of the Pyrenees.
04:05He was a very forthright chief executive.
04:07He was a very strong personality, could be very tough.
04:13Pierson is going to go for the jugular by targeting the jewel in the Boeing crown,
04:18the mighty 747.
04:26Launched in 1970, the 747 is the world's biggest airliner,
04:31the undisputed queen of the skies.
04:34The 747 has been a legendary aircraft, there's no question about it.
04:38The 747 made aviation available to the masses.
04:41It transformed airline economics.
04:43Dubbed the jumbo jet, the 747's size allowed airlines to fly more passengers
04:49at a lower cost and make huge profits.
04:52If you have a bigger aircraft, on a per seat basis, you get a better economy.
04:57And as the only company producing a jumbo jet, Boeing has reaped the rewards.
05:03Boeing had enjoyed 30 years of monopoly with the 747.
05:07Boeing were by far the market leaders, and they controlled almost the entire market.
05:19Pearson's dream takes a step forward when his head of aircraft development shows him a plan
05:24for an audacious new aircraft.
05:28He presented this idea to Jean Pearson, showing a concept,
05:31a very large commercial airplane, even bigger than the 747.
05:35There was no law in the airline market that the largest aircraft should forever be the 747.
05:42Pearson reasoned that an Airbus superjumbo would be a game-changer.
05:47By carrying 25% more passengers than the 747,
05:51the airlines would be coming to Airbus instead of Boeing.
05:56But building the world's first superjumbo is no small undertaking.
06:01Failure could spell the end of Airbus.
06:04We're talking billions in terms of development,
06:07so you could say you're betting the future of the company.
06:12Pearson decides it's worth the enormous risk,
06:15and orders his team to make it happen.
06:19But Airbus is a consortium of four manufacturers,
06:23from France, Germany, Britain and Spain.
06:27And Pearson has to convince all of them to back the colossal project.
06:32It was really a massive undertaking and a big risk for the company,
06:37but also it was a strategic move which was essential.
06:41It took eight years for the project to get started in earnest.
06:46In 1996, Pearson picks a crack team to develop the superjumbo.
06:53It's headed by one of his most experienced engineers, Jürgen Thomas.
06:57I was nominated as the head of a new division to be created,
07:03which we called the Large Aircraft Division.
07:07The need for discretion means that the biggest and costliest civil aviation project of its time
07:13starts life in an abandoned office block.
07:18We were in a, let me call it, a relatively modest building.
07:24Absolutely no facilities, no accommodation.
07:26We had no cabals, no nothing.
07:28Just a table, chairs, maybe a telephone.
07:31We noticed that the windows didn't open,
07:33and so the running joke was that, of course, they did that
07:35in order for us not to commit suicide one evening of despair,
07:39working hard on something that would never happen.
07:42But Jürgen's team is not discouraged.
07:46Nobody complained.
07:48All the people which I started with were so motivated,
07:52said I didn't care.
07:54Their secret superjumbo will eventually become known as the A380,
07:58but for now, the project is given the working name A3XX.
08:10It was a kind of start-up atmosphere,
08:12and they were looking at lots of solutions,
08:14trade-offs, what should be the size of the aircraft.
08:17Big debate at that time.
08:20Their first big challenge is to work out how the plane can carry
08:24a record-breaking number of passengers.
08:27Soon we realised that if we wanted to have more than 500 people on board,
08:32the only solution was to put the two cabins on top of each other.
08:38So that was really different.
08:40Two lines on windows, you know,
08:43all through the fuselage from nose to tail.
08:48A fully double-decked jetliner has never been attempted before.
08:53Jetliners have traditionally been built with a single deck
08:56inside a round fuselage.
09:00The optimum shape of a fuselage in terms of cross-section
09:03is always a circle.
09:05But in a circular fuselage,
09:07the number of seats able to fit onto the top deck
09:10would be restricted by the curvature of the cabin.
09:14They need an alternative.
09:19There were very, very different concepts
09:22by our French friends, by the German friends,
09:25but that was good because we could put all on the table
09:27and compare and say what is good
09:30or what is not so good,
09:31in which direction we should go.
09:35Eventually, Jürgen's team selects
09:37a revolutionary new fuselage shape,
09:40the Ovoid.
09:47The genius of the Ovoid concept
09:50is that it will allow two full-width decks.
09:57And with the Ovoid design,
09:59their superjumbo will carry
10:01up to 193 more passengers
10:03than the 747.
10:06So the whole fuselage concept
10:08was basically around
10:10optimising the shape
10:11for efficiency and fuel efficiency,
10:13but giving maximum comfort inside
10:15so that the passengers are that,
10:17oh, I think, my God, this is great,
10:19I've got lots of space,
10:20and this is a great aircraft.
10:24But the joy is short-lived.
10:27They soon discover that Boeing
10:29has started work
10:30on a superjumbo of their own.
10:42By 1996,
10:44plans to build the world's largest
10:46passenger airliner
10:47are well underway at Airbus.
10:52But Boeing gets wind
10:54of the European superjumbo,
10:55and in September,
10:57they announce their counter-strike,
11:02supersizing the 747
11:04into a competitor to the A380.
11:11The 747, next generation.
11:14Two new designs
11:14called the 747 500X
11:16and very large 600X.
11:20The race to build a superjumbo
11:23is on,
11:24and Boeing already
11:25has a head start.
11:28Unlike Airbus,
11:30they have a loyal customer base
11:31and plenty of experience
11:33building big planes.
11:35I must say that we were
11:36under some pressure
11:37because we were afraid
11:39that our competitor
11:40could launch their project.
11:42We were working
11:44under this menace
11:45of having Boeing
11:46again in front of us,
11:47so that was very tense.
11:49The first months
11:50were very, very tense.
11:53The news adds
11:54to the design pressures
11:55the team faces,
11:56of which the biggest
11:58is weight.
12:12Airbus had to work out
12:13ways of producing
12:14a big aeroplane,
12:16a giant aeroplane,
12:17without having giant weights
12:18to go with it.
12:19The team has to look
12:21at every element
12:22of the designs
12:22to see where weight
12:24can be cut.
12:25We had extra teams
12:27for weight chasing.
12:29That means to look
12:30at each element.
12:32As Boeing once said,
12:32we even look
12:33at the battery holder
12:34if we can make it lighter.
12:35So each kilo.
12:36Each kilo.
12:42Then the team
12:43has a breakthrough,
12:44discovering a lightweight
12:46material called glare,
12:48a new composite
12:49of glass fibre
12:50and aluminium.
12:53But it's never been used
12:54for the main body
12:55of an aircraft before.
12:58Extensive tests
12:59show that not only
13:00will glare reduce weight
13:02by up to 30%,
13:03but it's also strong enough
13:05to be used on the plane.
13:12Yet even with this weight saving,
13:14their calculations
13:15show the A380
13:16will still weigh 600 tonnes
13:18at take-off,
13:2040% more
13:21than the 747.
13:26and it will require
13:27bigger wings
13:28than any previous jetliner.
13:31To lift all this mass,
13:33you'll have to size
13:34the wing accordingly.
13:35And so you go through
13:36a lot of design loops
13:37in order to find
13:37the best intersection
13:40of all the parameters
13:41that will make
13:42your aircraft feasible.
13:46The wings will need
13:48a surface area
13:49of almost 850 square metres,
13:5254% more
13:53than the wings
13:54of the 747.
13:57They will also be
13:59some of the most
13:59technologically advanced
14:00wings ever produced.
14:04These wings,
14:05they almost come apart
14:06with all the flaps
14:07and the slats on it.
14:08It's a very good wing.
14:10It's the best airbus wing
14:11ever in aerodynamic terms.
14:13Still has a little bit
14:14of high weight,
14:15but from aerodynamic
14:16point of view,
14:17it's far the best wing.
14:20The huge wings
14:21should create enough lift,
14:23but their size
14:24creates another problem.
14:27As planes move
14:28through the sky,
14:29they create
14:30spinning pockets of air.
14:32These unseen whirlwings,
14:34or vortices,
14:35are known as wake turbulence.
14:37Wake turbulence
14:38is usually linked
14:39to the weight of the aircraft.
14:41So a small aircraft,
14:42a light aircraft,
14:43has small turbulence,
14:45and bigger aircraft,
14:46bigger wake turbulence.
14:48A very large plane
14:50could produce vortices
14:51powerful enough
14:52to rip the roofs
14:53off buildings.
14:56If you have enormous
14:57wake turbulence
14:58and you fly over
14:59residential areas,
15:00you can do big damage.
15:02Nobody knows exactly
15:03how big the wake turbulence
15:05for the A380 will be,
15:06so the team turns
15:08to a brand new
15:09aeronautical laboratory
15:11in Lille, France.
15:13An accurate scale model
15:15of the superjumbo
15:16will be launched
15:17through a curtain of smoke
15:18lit by lasers.
15:20The idea
15:21is to make
15:22the invisible turbulence
15:23visible.
15:28The test reveals
15:29that in the crowded skies
15:30above busy airports,
15:32the wake turbulence
15:33created by the giant
15:34A380
15:35could be lethal.
15:38Smaller planes
15:39caught in its wake
15:40could be sent
15:41spiralling out of control.
15:46To ensure the A380
15:48will enter service,
15:49Jürgen's team
15:50spends months
15:51reviewing the test data.
15:54With these tests,
15:55of course,
15:56we learned some trends.
15:57This we should do,
15:57this we should not do.
15:58And we took very much
15:59care to minimise
16:01wake turbulence.
16:03The team focuses
16:04on the wingtips.
16:06This is where
16:07the vortices are created
16:08when low-pressure
16:09airstreams
16:10from above the wing
16:11and high-pressure
16:12airstreams
16:12from beneath it
16:13collide.
16:16Eventually,
16:16they realise,
16:17by adding a device
16:18called a wingtip fence,
16:20they can stop
16:21the two airstreams meeting
16:22and ensure
16:23the superjumbo
16:24will create
16:25wake turbulence
16:25no bigger
16:26than that of a 747.
16:30By December 1996,
16:32the designs
16:33for the A380
16:34are nearing completion.
16:36The team create
16:38a graphic
16:38showing the world
16:39what it will look like
16:40in flight.
16:42Airbus is convinced
16:43their superjumbo
16:44will rival
16:45Boeing's
16:46supersize 747.
16:47But in January 1997,
16:51Boeing makes
16:52a shock announcement.
16:54They are pulling out
16:56of the superjumbo race.
16:59We learned
17:00that Boeing
17:01had decided
17:02to discontinue
17:03all activities
17:04on the very large airplane
17:05and discontinue
17:06the 747X program.
17:08It should be good news
17:10for Airbus,
17:10but Boeing springs
17:12another surprise.
17:15They release research
17:16which says
17:17the world
17:18doesn't need
17:19superjumbos.
17:22The superjumbo
17:23business model
17:24depends on
17:25hub and spoke
17:26air travel.
17:28It's when
17:28large-capacity planes
17:30fly between
17:31big hub airports
17:32and then
17:33smaller planes
17:34take passengers
17:35on to their
17:35final destination.
17:38Now,
17:39Boeing has declared
17:39the entire concept
17:41redundant.
17:43Boeing has decided
17:44that there are not
17:45that many routes
17:46that are so heavily
17:47trafficked
17:47and so heavily
17:48travelled consistently
17:50that would require
17:52an airplane
17:52the size of an A380.
17:55Instead,
17:56Boeing believes
17:57the future
17:58of air travel
17:58will be on
17:59mid-sized aircraft
18:00flying directly
18:02between smaller airports,
18:03bypassing
18:04the major hubs
18:05entirely.
18:09And when Boeing
18:11speaks,
18:11the aviation
18:12industry
18:13listens.
18:15People tend
18:16to believe
18:16that whatever
18:17Boeing says
18:18is right.
18:20And even
18:21within Airbus,
18:22we had lots
18:23of people,
18:23the majority
18:24of the Airbus
18:25people,
18:25did not believe
18:26that going
18:27for a very
18:28large airplane
18:29was the way
18:30to go.
18:31nearly a decade
18:32of effort
18:32and millions
18:33of dollars
18:34may have been
18:35spent on a plane
18:36that the world
18:37doesn't need.
18:45Jean-Piercin,
18:47president of Airbus,
18:49wants to build
18:49the biggest
18:50passenger airliner
18:51in history.
18:53But his rivals
18:54at Boeing
18:55have declared
18:56the world
18:56has no need
18:57for a superjumbo.
19:00There's been
19:01a lot of
19:01naysayers,
19:02and a big one
19:02is called Boeing,
19:03I think.
19:04Very big naysayers.
19:05The Boeing
19:06company is
19:08listened by
19:09most of the
19:10people in the
19:10industry.
19:12And so when
19:13they learned
19:14that Boeing
19:14was discontinuing
19:15its project,
19:16they said,
19:16you see,
19:17guys,
19:17there is
19:18no market
19:19over there.
19:21But the
19:22so-called
19:22bear of the
19:23Pyrenees
19:24remains determined.
19:25It was under
19:26Jean-Piercin
19:26that the
19:26decision to
19:27continue
19:27regardless
19:28was taken.
19:29He bashed
19:29heads together.
19:30He effectively
19:31single-handedly
19:32drove that
19:33programme
19:33and drove
19:34the people
19:34that were
19:35going to
19:35make it
19:35into reality.
19:42Former
19:43aerodynamics
19:43engineer Charles
19:45Champion
19:45is appointed
19:46to oversee
19:47the project's
19:47toughest stage,
19:49building the
19:50plane.
19:53the clock
19:54started ticking.
19:56The real
19:57big challenge
19:57at the beginning
19:58was to create
19:58the right team,
19:59to create,
19:59you know,
20:00the dream team
20:00that would
20:01take the
20:02largest civil
20:03aircraft ever
20:03manufactured to
20:04life and to
20:06our customers.
20:09But before
20:10the A380 can
20:11be built,
20:12Airbus must
20:12create new
20:13factory space
20:14in four different
20:15countries.
20:18I mean,
20:19it is gargantuan.
20:21And then to
20:21build something
20:22that large
20:23in parts
20:23all over Europe
20:25and then
20:25assembling them
20:26in one location,
20:27it's a logistical
20:28nightmare.
20:34The wings will be
20:35built in the UK,
20:37the fuselage in
20:38Germany and
20:39northern France,
20:40and the tail
20:40in Spain.
20:44Champion will
20:45have to arrange
20:45for all the parts
20:46of the superjumbo
20:47to travel to the
20:48Airbus assembly
20:49plant in Toulouse.
20:54Airbus has shipped
20:55aircraft wings and
20:56fuselages before
20:57in its very own
20:58transport plane,
21:00a 55-meter-long
21:01beast known as
21:02the Airbus Beluga.
21:07But even this
21:08monster plane
21:09is too small
21:10for the job.
21:17Engineers test
21:18the idea
21:18of strapping
21:19parts of the
21:20A380
21:20to the backs
21:21of other planes,
21:22but find it
21:23simply not
21:24practical.
21:27So Champion
21:28has to come up
21:29with something new.
21:30It was a huge
21:32challenge for the
21:32guys to design
21:33from scratch
21:34a completely
21:35new transportation
21:36system just
21:37for the
21:38treaty.
21:40After 15
21:41months, he
21:42resorts to
21:43the unthinkable,
21:44a complex
21:45convoy of
21:46ships, barges
21:48and massive
21:49trucks all
21:50converging on
21:51southern France.
21:52It will demand
21:53coordination on
21:55an epic scale.
21:56We have to
21:57design barges
21:58in order to
21:59go through
22:00Bordeaux, the
22:01old bridge,
22:01up to
22:02Blongon,
22:02but then
22:03afterwards,
22:03of course,
22:04the river
22:04is too small,
22:05so we have to
22:05go by trucks.
22:08So that was a
22:09huge project,
22:10and immediately,
22:11of course,
22:11there were many
22:12challenges,
22:13where to place
22:14the road,
22:15and what about
22:15the villagers,
22:16and this and that.
22:19In the tiny village
22:20of Levinach,
22:21the massive sections
22:22of fuselage
22:23almost touch the
22:24walls of the
22:25houses as they
22:26pass.
22:30they literally put
22:31the wings or
22:32fuselage on
22:33tractor trailers,
22:34and they drive
22:35them through these
22:35very narrow streets
22:37in these little
22:38French towns.
22:39I honestly don't
22:40know how they do
22:40it, but they
22:41manage.
22:43After a combined
22:44journey of more
22:45than 5,000
22:46kilometers, the
22:47largest airplane
22:48components in civil
22:50aviation history
22:51finally arrive in
22:52Toulouse.
22:54Here, Charles
22:55Champion will
22:56oversee the
22:57construction of
22:58the biggest
22:59civilian airliner
23:00ever built.
23:06January 18th,
23:072005.
23:09The first
23:10prototype of the
23:11Airbus Superjumbo
23:12is revealed to
23:13the world in a
23:14glittering ceremony.
23:16You see all the
23:18stakeholders coming
23:19in, the head of
23:20the customers,
23:21the head of
23:21states also.
23:23European premiers,
23:25who have invested
23:26billions of dollars
23:27of public money in
23:28the project, gather
23:29for the event in
23:30front of the
23:30world's media.
23:32This is the most
23:33exciting new
23:35aircraft in the
23:36world.
23:37It is European
23:38cooperation working
23:40at its best.
23:41Your heart tells
23:42you, my God, this
23:42is the best event I
23:44will ever probably
23:45attend because I'm
23:46the one who was
23:47leading the program.
23:48But the star of the
23:49show is the plane
23:51itself, the Airbus
23:53A380.
24:10It's one of those
24:11emotional moments
24:12where suddenly we
24:13realize the size of
24:14what you're doing,
24:15the level of ambition,
24:16the largest aircraft
24:17ever in the world.
24:20But behind the
24:22smiles, there is
24:23just one piece of
24:24unfinished business.
24:27The superjumbo is
24:29yet to fly.
24:38That test arrives
24:40three months later,
24:41on April 27th, 2005.
24:46A huge crowd gathers
24:48in Toulouse to see
24:49if the world's first
24:50superjumbo will
24:52successfully take to
24:53the skies.
24:55Ha!
24:56April 2005, bright
24:58day in Toulouse.
24:5940,000 people around
25:01the fences of the
25:01airport to see this.
25:02Quite an event for us.
25:04The first flight of
25:06the A380.
25:08It's the moment of
25:09truth for the test
25:10pilots, who all wear
25:11parachutes in case
25:12disaster strikes.
25:16Flight test engineer
25:18Fernando Alonso knows
25:20how dangerous this
25:20moment can be.
25:27When you fly an
25:28airplane for the first
25:28time, things can go
25:29wrong.
25:30There's no time to
25:31think what to do when
25:32you're up in the air.
25:33So you better have
25:34thought about what
25:35you're going to be
25:35doing before you
25:36actually take off.
25:57At 10.29am, under a
26:01cloudless sky, the A380
26:03accelerates down the
26:04runway.
26:12The huge machine lifts
26:14effortlessly into the
26:16sky.
26:20Before you've got a
26:22chunk of carbon,
26:23aluminium, sitting on the
26:25ground.
26:26And then suddenly when she
26:26flies, I mean, she's
26:27alive.
26:31It flew incredibly well.
26:33I flew beautifully from, I
26:35would say, from one minute
26:36after the lift-off.
26:38We had imagined this
26:39moment for years and years
26:41and years.
26:42And suddenly it happens.
26:44A wonderful day that I
26:46will remember all my life.
26:50After four trouble-free hours,
26:53the A380 touches down and
26:55enters the record books as the
26:57heaviest flight in commercial
26:59aviation history.
27:05Over the next 19 months, the
27:08plane undergoes 2,500 hours of
27:11flight tests.
27:14These are an essential part of
27:16aircraft certification.
27:18But for the A380, they also
27:20serve another purpose.
27:22Convincing the public that
27:24flying on such a huge plane is
27:26safe.
27:28There was a public perception
27:29of, isn't it going to be
27:31dangerous, all those many
27:32people on the airplane?
27:33Yes, this airplane was big, but
27:35it was just another airplane and
27:36it had to be handled and could be
27:38operated like any other
27:39airplane.
27:39It just happened to be bigger.
27:40That's all.
27:43The test pilots pushed the A380
27:45to its limits.
27:49We went to very hot climates,
27:51we went to very cold climates.
27:52We brought the airplane to
27:54its structural limits.
27:55We brought the airplane to our
27:56aerodynamic limits.
28:00In one test, in order to
28:02identify the minimum takeoff
28:04speed, pilots deliberately dragged
28:06the tail along the runway.
28:12The A380 passes every test with
28:15flying colors.
28:18The airplane behaved marvellously.
28:20I'm just so proud of this
28:22airplane.
28:22I'm just so proud of those wings.
28:24I'm just so proud of these
28:25systems.
28:28But the plane's toughest test is
28:31yet to come.
28:36Airbus has built the largest airliner
28:38in history.
28:39And so far, it has passed every flight test.
28:43Now, there's only one thing that stands
28:46between the plane and it being certified to fly.
28:54Airbus must prove that in an emergency,
28:56a full plane load of 873 passengers and crew
29:00can be evacuated in less than 90 seconds,
29:03the same length of time as an ordinary airliner.
29:09The authorities were not prepared to say,
29:11OK, the big aircraft, we give you 120 seconds.
29:14No, 90 seconds is a rule.
29:15You get them out in 90 seconds.
29:18On March 26th, 2006, in Hamburg, Germany,
29:24Airbus prepares for the largest evacuation test
29:26in aviation history.
29:34To pass, everyone on board must be evacuated
29:38from half the exits in less than 90 seconds.
29:42And it must all be done in complete darkness.
29:47It was a big challenge.
29:48It was a big challenge.
29:49And there was a fair amount of risk
29:50because if we had failed the test,
29:52then we'd have been in trouble.
29:54The fate of the Superjumbo project is on the line.
30:23It's a success.
30:25All 873 people on board are evacuated in just 78 seconds,
30:31a comfortable 12 seconds under the limit.
30:39With the A380 certified for passenger service,
30:43orders are flowing in.
30:50But with a complex build split across four countries,
30:54full-scale production quickly falls behind schedule.
31:00It became apparent that the aeroplanes weren't going to be able
31:04to be built anywhere near as quickly as Airbus had thought.
31:08To make matters worse, engineers installing the cabling
31:12discover a major problem.
31:14Many of the wires are too short.
31:20Two countries, France and Germany,
31:23have been responsible for creating the A380's wiring systems.
31:27But each had insisted on using their own computer programs.
31:32The French designers used one type of computer.
31:35The German designers stayed with the one they were more familiar with.
31:39And the computers didn't talk to one another.
31:42And had they all used the same computer,
31:43that problem would have been spotted long before it became critical.
31:46The reality is that we had five different cultures.
31:50The French, the German, the Spanish, the British,
31:53but also the Airbus Central,
31:54who had a different view and different mindset.
31:57With more than 500 kilometres of cables for each A380,
32:01this small oversight has a colossal impact.
32:06We're having to move people from other parts of the Airbus Empire
32:10into Toulouse to rewire the aeroplane.
32:15This caused a significant delay in the delivery,
32:19also cost, as you can imagine,
32:21because the first aeroplane had to be dismantled
32:24and the cabling had to be revised completely from nose to tail.
32:30The clash of cultures has left the entire project
32:33on the brink of collapse.
32:37It's already a year behind schedule
32:39and a staggering $2 billion over budget.
32:43This latest delay leads to the cancellation
32:46of the entire cargo version of the A380.
32:51Contracts lost with freight giants FedEx and UPS
32:55cost Airbus a further $5.1 billion in lost revenue.
33:00It was extremely, extremely painful.
33:03That was a very tough lesson, very, very tough lesson.
33:11Everything now depends on the passenger version of the A380.
33:18Singapore Airlines and the Dubai-based Emirates
33:21have orders totaling $20 billion.
33:25But with the plane so far behind schedule,
33:28no-one knows if they will lose faith and pull out.
33:35The management team goes into overdrive to keep them on board.
33:39You can lose the confidence within a matter of days,
33:42so you have to explain,
33:44you have to make people understand what has happened,
33:47even if you are not very proud of what you have done incorrectly.
33:51So that was very tense.
33:54Luckily, the Airbus charm offensive on the passenger airlines pays off.
34:00Not one customer cancelled a single A380 order,
34:03despite delays of between 18 months and two, two and a half years.
34:10It is nearly 20 years since the Superjumbo project was conceived.
34:15Airbus have faced unprecedented technical and logistical challenges.
34:22But now, Jean Pierson's vision has become reality.
34:27The A380 is ready to enter commercial service.
34:42October 25th, 2007.
34:47See you on board.
34:49Hundreds of passengers board a Singapore Airlines A380
34:53for its very first commercial flight.
35:05The biggest airliner ever built
35:07stands as tall as a seven-storey building
35:10and can carry up to 30% more passengers than a 747.
35:17Its wings are the biggest ever created on a jetliner.
35:23Its wings amaze me.
35:25Even today, I cannot get tired of looking at the wings.
35:28When I fly this airplane commercially,
35:30I always ask for a window seat and preferably near the wing,
35:33I just keep staring at it.
35:40The passengers on the maiden flight share the same excitement.
35:47The passengers on the maiden flight share the same excitement.
35:56Is it good? Is it good? Is it good?
36:00It's excellent.
36:01The best of applause.
36:02From a passenger standpoint, the A380 is a remarkable airplane.
36:07You walk on board and the first thing you see is this beautiful staircase.
36:10The experience is very nice.
36:15Inside the superjumbo, passengers are offered a level of luxury
36:19never before seen on an airliner.
36:24The 550 square metres of floor space allow for entire bedrooms
36:29with double beds and even showers.
36:32It just looks different to every other aircraft.
36:34It's the flagship of every airline.
36:36So the airlines will tell you that you're on an A380
36:38and they're very proud of that fact.
36:40The next three years see orders take off.
36:43Fifteen international airlines have ordered 223 A380s
36:48in contracts worth an estimated $77 billion.
36:53Among the airlines queuing up to receive the superjumbo
36:57is German flag carrier Lufthansa.
37:02Lufthansa starts its A380 service in 2010
37:05and today operates a fleet of 12 planes.
37:11Helmut Wagner is one of its pilots.
37:15It's very astonishing that the A380 is more agile
37:19than nearly every other airplane I flew before.
37:23It's a very, very big airplane,
37:25but you don't feel the big airplane when you steer it.
37:29In 2009, Airbus passes a major milestone.
37:33For the first time, more A380s than 747s
37:38are delivered to the airlines.
37:42Airbus's belief in the hub-and-spoke model of air travel
37:46has paid off.
37:49One of the former CEOs of Boeing actually said,
37:51people don't buy 747s anymore.
37:53Obviously, people were buying A380s instead.
37:55And it appears Jean Pierson's dream of surpassing Boeing
38:00has finally been realized.
38:03But a year later,
38:05a catastrophic event will put the entire superjumbo project in doubt.
38:16November 4th, 2010.
38:19Qantas Flight 32 takes off from Singapore
38:23on its 6,000-kilometre journey to Sydney
38:25with 469 passengers and crew on board.
38:29As Captain Richard De Crepenny climbs the A380
38:32through 2,100 metres,
38:34passenger Mike Took watches a live feed
38:37from a camera mounted in the plane's tail.
38:39I see this puff of white smoke
38:41come out of the left-hand side of the aircraft.
38:44And there was this enormous bang.
38:55I can see a big rectangular hole in the wing.
39:00One of the plane's Rolls-Royce engines has exploded
39:04and it's created a whole catalogue of problems
39:06for Captain De Crepenny to deal with.
39:13Half the networks on the aircraft fail.
39:16We have holes in the wing,
39:18we have half-hour ailerons not providing lift,
39:21we have half-hour spoilers faulty,
39:23we have lost half-hour brakes.
39:24This is beyond any certification standard
39:28that any aircraft is designed to endure.
39:33De Crepenny needs to get the crippled plane back on the ground.
39:37But it's too heavy and he needs to dump fuel first.
39:41Trouble is, some of the fuel systems aren't responding.
39:46In the cabin, passengers fear the worst.
39:51Why haven't we got down on the ground sooner?
39:54Why are we still circling after all of this time?
39:57There was perhaps something wrong that was preventing us from landing.
40:03De Crepenny has no choice other than to land the plane 40 tonnes over its maximum safe landing weight.
40:11It's another thing to add to the growing list of problems he has to deal with to get the broken
40:16airliner down safely.
40:19Now, flying the right approach speed is critical.
40:24We discovered that if we slowed down one knot from 166 knots of our approach speed,
40:29we would get speed warnings.
40:30If we sped up three knots, we would run off the runway.
40:35The co-pilot calculates that on the four-kilometre runway,
40:39they will only have 100 metres to spare.
40:44De Crepenny lines up the aircraft for its final approach.
40:50It almost felt as if the floor underneath our feet was rippling
40:54because we seemed to be coming in very fast.
41:00De Crepenny's actions will now decide
41:02whether the world's biggest airliner will land or crash.
41:08Speed, speed, speed.
41:10As we were passing 500 and 300 feet,
41:14the aircraft alerted us with two speed warnings
41:17which said the speed is dangerously slow.
41:20Speed, speed, speed.
41:28The plane touches down,
41:31but it's overweight and only around half the brakes work.
41:39There was no feeling that the plane was slowing down at all.
41:46They're rapidly running out of tarmac.
41:52We just kept hurtling along the runway.
41:55It seemed like the entire airport terminal
41:58had gone past us at 150 miles an hour.
42:05Finally, the plane begins to slow.
42:12We did manage to stop before the end of the runway.
42:15We have 100 metres spare.
42:22Eight fire trucks would now protect us and protect the passengers.
42:30It's only now that the scale of the damage can be seen.
42:37An entire section of the massive engine has been ripped to shreds.
42:45The crew's safe landing of the plane was an extraordinary feat.
42:50The Qantas crew did a remarkable job.
42:53They identified the problem.
42:55They handled the emergency incredibly professionally.
42:59And they were actually able to land the airplane safely back in Singapore
43:02with nobody injured.
43:09People often query the resilience of the A380,
43:12the largest aircraft in the sky.
43:14After QF-32,
43:17no-one questions the resilience of the A380 anymore.
43:26Immediately,
43:27the engine's manufacturers, Rolls-Royce,
43:29investigate what caused the explosion.
43:33They discover that oil from a small leak
43:36had dripped into the burning hot engine,
43:38causing a fire that triggered the blast.
43:41The firm takes responsibility for the problem
43:44and acts to prevent it happening again.
43:49It was the A380's first major incident,
43:52but the superjumbo had proven
43:54it was strong enough to withstand it.
43:59Unfortunately,
44:00accidents happen,
44:01and almost every aircraft type flying,
44:04if not all aircraft types flying,
44:05have suffered
44:06at some point in their career.
44:08Because engines do fail,
44:10engines do explode.
44:11The airplane was so well designed,
44:12even operating as crippled as it was,
44:15it got down in one piece,
44:16and everybody on board was fine.
44:2225 years ago,
44:24Airbus boss,
44:25Jean Pearson,
44:26took one of the biggest gambles
44:27in aviation history.
44:30Determined to challenge
44:32the dominance of Boeing,
44:34he states the future of his company
44:35on a superjumbo.
44:37There's always an aspect,
44:38if you like,
44:39initially of betting the farm
44:40on one big aircraft program.
44:43This one certainly beat
44:44all the rules in that respect.
44:46Nothing bigger has been attempted ever
44:48by any aircraft manufacturer
44:50on this planet.
44:53Today,
44:54the A380 is a common sight
44:56at the world's leading airports.
45:00It regularly outsells
45:02the Boeing 747
45:03and has helped Airbus
45:05raise its market share
45:06from 15% to 50%.
45:10The arrival of the A380,
45:11I think,
45:11marked Airbus's coming of age
45:13in the industry.
45:14In the market above 150 seats,
45:16there are just two players,
45:17Airbus and Boeing.
45:19But the A380
45:20is also transforming
45:22the way we fly.
45:24Without the A380,
45:26the airline would have
45:28to fly more frequently
45:29smaller airplanes,
45:31which means more movement,
45:33more cost,
45:34and a busier sky.
45:37Those behind the A380
45:39haven't just made a plane,
45:42they've made history.
45:44Now, when I go to London,
45:45and you know,
45:47when you actually stand
45:48along the Thames
45:48close to the Tower Bridge,
45:50you see one A380
45:51after the other coming in,
45:52and you say,
45:53my God, we did it.
45:54It's great.
45:57It's great.
45:59It's great.
46:00It's great.
46:01It's great.
46:03It's great.
46:04It's great.
46:04It's great.
46:04It's great.
46:05It's great.
Comments