- hace 53 minutos
On 24 June 1982, British Airways Flight 009 experiences St. Elmo's fire en route from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Perth, Australia. A few minutes later, all four engines flame out. After descending, the crew successfully restarts the engines and lands safely. The St. Elmo's fire and engine flame-outs were caused by volcanic ash spewed by Galunggung in Indonesia during a major eruption.
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00:00High above the Indian Ocean, disaster strikes.
00:04The engine's on fire!
00:06More than 10 kilometers in the air,
00:08all four engines of a British Airways 747 stop working.
00:13Roger, declare emergency.
00:14Mayday, mayday, mayday.
00:16With no engines and little power,
00:19British Airways Flight 9 falls towards the ocean.
00:22Stand by ignition on.
00:23The crew fight to keep their plane from crashing into the sea.
00:27What has crippled their massive jet?
00:29Threatening the lives of everyone on board.
00:37Mayday, mayday.
00:56June the 24th, 1982.
01:00British Airways Flight 9 cruises through the sky over Indonesia.
01:07In a few hours, the plane and all 263 people on board
01:12are scheduled to land in Perth, Australia.
01:19Phyllis Welch and her daughter are seated in cabin E
01:22at the very back of the enormous jet.
01:26How's that heroine of yours, Fanny Price, faring?
01:30Oh, she's having a tough old time at Mansfield Park.
01:33It was a good place for me to spend a few hours.
01:35I wouldn't mind being there myself.
01:39It's all right, Mum.
01:40Mum, we'll get there.
01:42We had already traversed at least two time zones.
01:45We were very tired.
01:47We had flown through Bombay, through Kuala Lumpur.
01:50Hadn't been able to get much sleep, if any.
01:52And it was a dark, dark, pitch-black night.
01:57Ahead of Betty and Phyllis,
01:59Charles Capewell is returning home to Perth, Australia,
02:02with his two boys, Chas and Stephen.
02:06Right, settle down, lads.
02:07Mum, it's time for a nap.
02:09Get back to your seat.
02:10No!
02:12What, do you want to sleep here?
02:16All right.
02:22It was a good flight.
02:24It was going well.
02:26Leaving London, it was great.
02:29And we were all eager to go home,
02:31and the two boys were eager to get back to Mum.
02:34I thought, well, we'll be home in three hours, Perth.
02:37There'll be Pat, and we'll get in a taxi, and we'll be home.
02:44While many of the passengers have been travelling for almost a day,
02:48the crew is fresh.
02:49They took control at the last stopover in Kuala Lumpur.
02:53Captain Eric Moody got his first taste of flying at the age of 16,
02:57when he took a gliding lesson.
03:00He was one of the first ever trained on the 747.
03:05Roger, check with Jakarta.
03:09Jakarta Control, Speedbird 9 over Halim at level 370.
03:15Speedbird 9, Roger.
03:16First officer Roger Greaves has been a co-pilot for more than six years.
03:21Barry Townley Freeman has been a flight engineer on these aircraft
03:24for just a little longer.
03:25I'd not flown with Eric before, or Barry.
03:30That was the first time we'd actually met on that flight.
03:35As the jet flies over the city of Jakarta,
03:38it's cruising at more than 11,000 metres,
03:41and has been in the air for an hour and a half.
03:47Captain Moody checks his weather radar.
03:49It shows smooth sailing for the next 500 kilometres.
03:53All right, Roger, it's all clear.
03:54Just keep your eyes open.
03:55I'll be back in a moment.
03:57Just got to use a loop.
04:06Back in the cabin, many of the passengers have fallen asleep.
04:10While Charles Capewell and his sons doze,
04:13an ominous haze appears above their heads.
04:16It's still legal to smoke on passenger jets in 1982.
04:20For the cabin crew, though, the smoke seems thicker than normal.
04:26There seems to be a lot of smoke out there.
04:29They begin to worry that a small fire
04:31may be smouldering somewhere on the plane.
04:33Maybe somewhere up in the toilet.
04:35Let's go see if we can find it.
04:41A fire at 11,000 metres is a terrifying prospect.
04:46If there is a blaze somewhere, the crew must find it immediately.
04:54In the cockpit, the flight takes an unsettling turn.
04:58Barry and I were just sitting there minding the shop.
05:01Pitch dark night, of course.
05:03And then we started to get these impricks of light on the windscreen.
05:08St Elmo's fire?
05:10I don't think so.
05:12St Elmo's fire is a natural phenomenon
05:15that's sometimes seen when planes fly through highly charged thunderclouds.
05:19But there aren't supposed to be any thunderclouds tonight.
05:24Anything on the radar?
05:27No.
05:28No, it's clear.
05:29I don't like the look of this.
05:33Let's get a better look out there.
05:37With the help of their landing lights,
05:38the two men are disturbed to see a thin layer of clouds surrounding their plane,
05:43even though nothing is showing up on their radar.
05:45But at 37,000 feet, the normal thing you would anticipate
05:48would be high cirrus, which is just a thin layer of cloud.
06:00I think we'd better get the captain back up here.
06:08I was reading in my book,
06:10and there was a slight flick of turbulence,
06:13just a slight flick.
06:14And I glanced over to the left,
06:16where I had a clear view of the port wing.
06:20And to my surprise,
06:21it was covered in a brilliant white shimmering light,
06:26which seemed to be clinging to the wing of the aircraft.
06:29I carried on reading,
06:31but I found that I kept reading the same paragraph
06:34over and over again and not taking in a word of it.
06:38I just didn't know what was happening.
06:42In the cabin, the smoke begins to thicken.
06:45Stewards have been unable to figure out where it's coming from.
06:48If there's a fire, they can't find it.
06:55All right, well,
06:56go see that the passengers are comfortable.
07:16Do you smell anything odd, Mum?
07:19Seems rather smoky in here.
07:24I noticed that thick smoke
07:27was pouring into the cabin
07:29through the vents above the windows.
07:32And that was a very sobering sight.
07:37Turkish cigarettes.
07:46It smelled like it was sort of a sulfuric electrical smell.
07:49And I went on that flight deck
07:51expecting to hear
07:53that we had some electrical smoke somewhere on the aircraft.
07:56But nothing was further from the truth.
07:59Where did it start?
08:01Or just after you stepped out?
08:03Anything on radar?
08:05No, it's clear, not a cloud.
08:09Oh, my Lord, look at engine four.
08:15It's lit up somehow.
08:18Captain, Captain, have a look at number one.
08:22It's the same on my side.
08:24None of the crew have ever seen anything like this before.
08:27But the light show is just the beginning.
08:30Their bizarre flight
08:31is about to take a terrifying turn for the worse.
08:40Strange lights are striking the windshield
08:42of a British Airways passenger jet
08:44heading to Perth, Australia.
08:46At the same time,
08:48the plane's engines are lit by a brilliant white glow.
08:54Look at engine four.
08:56It's lit up somehow.
08:59This light show, if you like,
09:01had become more intense.
09:02In fact, we ended up sitting there
09:03with two sheets of brilliant white light in front of us
09:07in place of the windscreens.
09:11Inside the cabin, smoke has been growing thicker.
09:16Chief steward Graham Skinner
09:18has been organising an intense but quiet search for fire.
09:32What's with all the smoke?
09:34There was smoke in the cabin.
09:36It got really, really hot.
09:37You were perspiring,
09:41literally drenched in perspiration.
09:44The acrid smoke was at the back of your throat,
09:47up your nose, in your eyes.
09:49And you were rubbing this
09:51and your eyes were running.
09:52And it was, oh,
09:53it's not a very nice situation at all.
09:57Flight engineer Barry Townley Freeman
10:00has been checking his instruments carefully.
10:02He's smelled the smoke,
10:03but so far has no indication
10:05that there's a fire in any of the plane's systems.
10:08I can't find anything.
10:10With one mystery confronting them,
10:13they're suddenly faced with a frightening new situation.
10:23Dad, the engine's on fire!
10:33The whole of the wing was a sheet of light
10:36and I thought, wow,
10:38and I said, oh, you'd better close that
10:39because we don't want to watch that.
10:41Cheers.
10:41Sit down.
10:45These clothes are blind.
10:53Then I realised that, you know,
10:54something was dramatically wrong.
10:58There were huge flames
11:00coming out of the back of the engines,
11:0220, some people said 40 feet long.
11:05These huge jets of sheer flame
11:08shooting out of the back of all the engines.
11:11Is it going to penetrate
11:13from the outside of the aircraft?
11:15Is it going to come into the cabin?
11:17Are we going to burn to death?
11:19Are we going to choke to death on the smoke?
11:22What's going to happen?
11:23What's causing it?
11:25What are they going to do about it?
11:28As fire engulfs the engines,
11:30one of them revs loudly
11:32and flames out.
11:34Engine failure.
11:35Number four.
11:36Fire action.
11:37Number four.
11:38Checklist powering gear.
11:39Set.
11:40Thrust lever.
11:42Closed.
11:42Start lever.
11:43Off.
11:44Once one engine fails,
11:46you call for the drill
11:48to shut that one down.
11:49You have drills for certain things
11:51so that you don't have,
11:53you don't fly together
11:54as a crew forever.
11:55You can fly with different people then
11:57and you can standardise the operations.
11:59The instruments do not indicate
12:01a fire on the plane,
12:02but the passengers can see
12:04flames erupting from the engines
12:06and stretching down the length
12:07of the 747.
12:09I could not see the engines
12:11from where I was sitting.
12:12I could only see the space behind them,
12:14but there was enough glow in that space
12:17to convince me that the aircraft
12:18was really seriously on fire.
12:21We were in trouble.
12:23They knew, as long as they were,
12:25they knew we were in bad trouble.
12:29And they sort of just looked at me
12:31enough to say,
12:32well, what are we doing there, Dad?
12:38If anything's going to happen,
12:41I want to be close to you.
12:43Oh, please.
12:49The cabin crew begins storing
12:51anything that's loose.
12:53They don't want dishes or bottles
12:54flying around the cabin
12:55if the plane begins to dive.
13:02Don't worry.
13:03It's just friction.
13:06If I was misleading them,
13:07then that was for a reason,
13:09because I didn't want to get
13:10as upset as I felt.
13:12I just couldn't believe it.
13:14And, you know,
13:15this is going through my mind,
13:17and yet I'm chatting to the passengers
13:18and chatting to the crew saying,
13:20oh, yeah, nothing to worry about.
13:21Yeah, it's just a little hiccup,
13:23you know.
13:23So I thought...
13:29The 747 is more than 10 kilometers
13:32above the ocean.
13:33Its engines appear to be burning,
13:35and peculiar smoke
13:36continues to fill the cabin.
13:40And then...
13:42the unthinkable happens.
13:45Number two, engine's gone.
13:47All right, then.
13:48Begin the engine shut down.
13:49No, wait!
14:03The other three just went out
14:05almost immediately,
14:06and that's when it begins
14:07to be a serious emergency.
14:13Those engines made a grating,
14:16rumbling sound,
14:17almost like a cement mixer.
14:20And then, gradually,
14:23the noise just disappeared,
14:25and they became silent.
14:27A minute and a half,
14:28we've gone from
14:29four engines running normally
14:30to having none.
14:33The 747 has plenty of fuel,
14:36yet somehow all four
14:37of the jet's engines
14:38have completely stopped working.
14:42Roger, declare emergency.
14:44Mayday, mayday, mayday.
14:46Speedbird 9.
14:47We have lost all four engines
14:49out of 3-7-0.
14:52Mayday, mayday, mayday.
14:54Speedbird 9.
14:55We have lost all four engines.
14:57With no engine power
14:58and no idea
14:59what has crippled their plane,
15:01British Airways Flight 9
15:02begins falling from the sky.
15:06Jakarta Control,
15:07Speedbird 9.
15:08We have lost all four engines.
15:10Now out of 3-6-0.
15:12First officer Roger Greaves
15:14issues a mayday,
15:15but he has trouble
15:16getting his message across.
15:17Is there a problem?
15:18Jakarta Control,
15:19Speedbird 9.
15:20We have lost all four engines.
15:22Repeat,
15:22all four engines.
15:24Now descending through flight level
15:253-5-0.
15:27Speedbird 9.
15:28You have lost number four engines?
15:30This idiot doesn't understand.
15:32Jakarta Control,
15:33Speedbird 9.
15:33We have lost all four engines.
15:36Repeat,
15:36all four engines.
15:37Now descending through flight level
15:393-5-0.
15:41The air traffic control
15:42at Jakarta,
15:43unfortunately,
15:44seemed to have
15:45a slight problem
15:46in understanding
15:47what we actually were saying.
15:49Only when another plane nearby
15:50relays the mayday call
15:52do controllers in Jakarta
15:54understand.
15:55Now descending through
15:55flight level 3-5-0.
15:58Speedbird 9.
15:59All four engines out.
16:01Understood.
16:02As far as the crew knows,
16:03no 747 had ever lost power
16:06to all of its engines before.
16:07The crew has to find out
16:09why it's happening now.
16:11I think we've cocked something up.
16:14We were concerned and worried
16:15that we'd done something wrong,
16:18you know,
16:18to cause the whole thing.
16:21All three of us felt
16:22exactly the same.
16:23And it was a personal guilt
16:25in the sense of
16:27what have I missed?
16:28What have I done wrong?
16:30You know,
16:31because, you know,
16:32this kind of thing
16:33doesn't happen.
16:35While not built for gliding,
16:38even without its engines,
16:39a 747 can travel forward
16:4115 kilometres
16:42for every kilometre it drops.
16:45With no power,
16:46flight 9 has started
16:47a long, slow fall.
16:50Some 10 kilometres above the ocean,
16:52the crew has less than half an hour
16:54before they smash into the sea.
16:58When they all stop,
17:00you go into automatic mode,
17:02obviously.
17:03We have practised this drill
17:05on the simulator
17:07many, many times.
17:08And that's very good
17:09and all very well
17:10as long as when it happens
17:12to you for real,
17:13what happens on the aeroplane
17:15is mirrored
17:16by what happens to you
17:17in the simulator.
17:18And I'm afraid
17:18that wasn't so.
17:20In the simulator,
17:21when all four engines stop,
17:23the autopilot turns off.
17:25But high above the Indian Ocean,
17:27Captain Moody sees
17:28that his autopilot
17:29is still on.
17:30We were all three
17:31confused
17:32and concerned
17:34that what was happening
17:35to us
17:37wasn't what we'd been told
17:38would happen to us.
17:39All right,
17:40begin restart drill.
17:41In the heat of the situation,
17:43they have no time
17:44to figure out
17:45why the autopilot
17:46is still on.
17:47On.
17:48Anything?
17:50Anything?
17:51No.
17:52Again.
17:52All right then,
17:53from the top,
17:54battery,
17:55check,
17:55on.
17:56Crossfeed valves,
17:57open,
17:58fire switch,
18:00in.
18:00The standard restart drill
18:02takes up to three minutes
18:03to complete.
18:04Plunging from the sky,
18:06the crew has fewer
18:07than ten chances
18:08to get their engines going
18:09before they run out of time.
18:11Never on.
18:13Come on.
18:17Again, gentlemen.
18:18All right,
18:18from the top,
18:19battery,
18:19check,
18:20on.
18:20Crossfeed valves,
18:22open.
18:22Fire switch,
18:23in.
18:25At 10,000 meters,
18:27Captain Eric Moody
18:28decides to turn
18:29the plane back
18:29toward the closest airport,
18:31Halim,
18:32just outside Jakarta.
18:33But even that
18:34is too far away
18:35if he can't get
18:36at least some
18:37of the engines
18:37going again.
18:40Jakarta,
18:41Speedbird 9,
18:42turning left,
18:43back to Halim,
18:44out of 3-0-0.
18:46Speedbird 9,
18:47radar cannot see you.
18:49Squawk Alpha 7700.
18:50Air traffic control
18:51asks them
18:52to transmit
18:53the emergency
18:53transponder signal.
18:55Jakarta,
18:56Speedbird 9,
18:57we are already
18:58squawking 7700.
19:00Now the crew
19:01is flying back
19:02to an airport
19:03that can't find them
19:04on radar.
19:07Without the constant
19:08rumble of the engines,
19:09the cabin is quiet.
19:11Some of the passengers
19:12feel the plane
19:13beginning to descend.
19:14But without communication
19:15from the cockpit,
19:17they can only guess.
19:18The quietness
19:19was unbelievable
19:20because it was sort of,
19:22the airplane
19:23was no engines,
19:24nothing,
19:24and it seemed
19:25to be eerie,
19:26you know,
19:27a bit surreal really
19:28because,
19:29like as if you
19:29were suspended
19:30in space or something.
19:33And all you could feel
19:33was this quietness
19:34and the whimpering
19:36from a few people
19:37that weren't really upset.
19:43Some people
19:44were sitting
19:45quite rigidly,
19:46almost as if
19:47they hadn't noticed anything.
19:49At first,
19:50it was sheer fear.
19:51And then,
19:52after a while,
19:53it turns to acceptance.
19:55You know
19:56you're going to die.
19:57We knew
19:58we were going to die.
20:02What's going on?
20:03What's the problem?
20:04It's just a technical fault.
20:06I've been through
20:06much worse,
20:07let me tell you.
20:09Everything be fine.
20:14I think
20:14if I'd have sat down
20:18and really thought
20:19of exactly
20:20what was happening,
20:20I don't think
20:21I would have ever
20:21got up again.
20:22One steward
20:23came up to us
20:24and said,
20:24are you two ladies
20:25all right?
20:26And yes,
20:27we said we're fine,
20:28which was an
20:29absolute lie,
20:30but that's how it was.
20:32It seemed
20:32absolutely vital
20:34not to panic.
20:38Captain Moody
20:39can't restart
20:40the engines
20:41unless he can
20:42keep the plane
20:42flying between
20:43250 and 270 knots.
20:46But the airspeed
20:47indicators aren't working.
20:49Captain,
20:50I've got 320 knots
20:51on my side.
20:52Well, I've got 270.
20:55Bloody hell,
20:56that's a 50-knot difference.
20:58I'll change the speed.
21:01Falling from the sky
21:02with no engine power,
21:04the crew now have no idea
21:05how fast they're going.
21:07But to have the best chance
21:09to restart the engines,
21:10Captain Moody
21:11has to have the plane
21:12flying at the right speed.
21:15So from that point onwards,
21:17Eric then varied the speed
21:19through just about 100-knot range,
21:24hoping that at some point
21:25or other,
21:27coincidental with us
21:28putting the fuel
21:29into the engines,
21:30that we would actually
21:31be at the right speed.
21:33To change speeds,
21:34Captain Moody
21:35turns the autopilot off.
21:37Then he slowly pulls
21:39the nose of the jet up
21:40to slow it,
21:41and then pushes it down
21:42to increase his speed.
21:44The upsetting rollercoaster movement
21:46adds to the panic
21:47felt in the cabin.
21:49Ah!
21:50Ah!
21:52At one time,
21:53the aircraft developed
21:55a strange motion.
21:56It seemed to be
21:57climbing steeply
21:58and then diving down.
22:01That was the sensation we got.
22:02And a bucking action
22:04that was so violent
22:05that we felt it could
22:07break the aircraft
22:08up in the air.
22:11Pressure warning, Captain!
22:12We're at 10,000!
22:14Pressure warning?
22:15That's not supposed to do that.
22:17And a warning horn went off.
22:19Now, this didn't ever happen
22:20on the simulator
22:20in this exercise,
22:22so it was a bit
22:23of a surprise to us.
22:24As well as providing
22:25electrical power,
22:27the engines on a jumbo jet
22:28help keep the cabin pressurised.
22:30With the engines
22:31not working, of course,
22:33the air wasn't being pumped in.
22:34So gradually,
22:36the pressure was leaking away.
22:38With all four engines gone,
22:40the pressurised air
22:41is rapidly seeping out.
22:43The thinning level of oxygen
22:44makes passengers gasp.
22:47What are you doing?
22:49The crew reach
22:51for their oxygen masks.
22:53But First Officer Greaves
22:55can't get his mask to work.
22:58My oxygen mask,
23:00yeah, that was a problem
23:00I could have done without.
23:01It was stowed above my head.
23:04And when I pulled
23:06the oxygen mask down,
23:07the mask and the tube
23:09became separated.
23:11The captain must make
23:13a difficult choice.
23:14If he continues
23:15to descend slowly,
23:16it will get increasingly difficult
23:18for First Officer Greaves
23:20to breathe.
23:21I said, look,
23:22if we get down
23:22to 20,000 feet
23:25quickly,
23:25we can all take
23:26our oxygen masks off
23:27and we can talk
23:28and we're back
23:28as a crew again.
23:29We had to actually
23:30increase the rate of descent
23:32to descend to a lower altitude
23:33quicker,
23:34which in the circumstances
23:35was something
23:36that we wouldn't
23:37really have chosen
23:37to do.
23:39So then I dived
23:41the airplane
23:41and got rid of
23:42about 6,000 feet
23:43in a minute.
23:47The loss of cabin pressure
23:48and the steep dive
23:50have another
23:50terrifying consequence.
23:56The things shot down,
23:58they sort of
23:58dangled down
23:59in front of you
24:00and I looked
24:01to see Stephen
24:02got his
24:02and Chaz had pulled
24:03his out of the socket.
24:06So I made sure
24:07that Chaz got his oxygen.
24:11I've seen a few movies
24:12on planes
24:14and, you know,
24:15once that happens,
24:16you know you're
24:16in serious trouble.
24:27The oxygen masks
24:29came down
24:31and we put those
24:32to our faces
24:33as had been described
24:34in the drill,
24:35which fortunately
24:36we had been observing
24:37at the beginning
24:37of the flight,
24:38but it seemed
24:39that the oxygen supply
24:41was not working.
24:44Chaz, what happened?
24:45No.
24:45I'm not getting it.
24:48The cabin crew
24:50try to use
24:50the public address system
24:52to explain
24:52what's going on,
24:53but it's not working.
24:55Chief steward
24:56Graham Skinner
24:57makes do
24:58with a low-tech backup.
25:04Can you hear me?
25:06We're having
25:07a small problem
25:08with the public address system.
25:10So if you would,
25:11place your masks
25:13over your mouth
25:13and nose
25:14and breathe normally.
25:20As the passengers
25:21struggle with their masks,
25:23Captain Eric Moody
25:24is running out of options.
25:26If his engines
25:26don't start soon,
25:28he'll have to turn
25:29his jet around
25:30and try landing
25:31on the open ocean.
25:37High above the Indian Ocean,
25:38the seemingly impossible
25:40has occurred.
25:40All four engines
25:42on a British Airways 747
25:44have stopped working
25:45and the crew
25:46has no idea why.
25:50First officer Roger Greaves
25:52manages to fix
25:53his broken oxygen mask,
25:55but he's still frustrated
25:56by engines
25:57that won't start.
25:58All right, Barry,
25:59let's start the restart drill.
26:01Ready?
26:01Set.
26:02Battery?
26:03Check.
26:03R.
26:04Standby power.
26:05R.
26:05Anything?
26:07Come on, anything?
26:08No.
26:10All right, then,
26:10let's do it from the top.
26:11Battery.
26:12Check.
26:12Oh.
26:13First officer Greaves
26:15and engineer
26:15Barry Townley Freeman
26:16have actually shortened
26:18the standard restart drill.
26:20It's giving them
26:20more chances
26:21to get the engines going,
26:23but so far
26:24nothing's working.
26:25Come on, you old son.
26:29The process
26:30that we were going through
26:30the whole time
26:31was just continuous.
26:33We hadn't had any success
26:34with the drill at all,
26:36despite all the efforts
26:37we were putting in,
26:38but it was the only thing
26:40we had left to cling on to,
26:41so that's what we did.
26:42From the top again,
26:43battery, check on.
26:45I have no idea,
26:46and I don't think any of us have,
26:47how many times
26:48we tried to restart
26:49those engines.
26:50If I say 20,
26:51I would think that's too low.
26:52If I say 50,
26:53I would think
26:54that's probably about right.
26:56As the plane falls
26:57lower and lower,
26:58Captain Moody
26:59faces a brutal choice.
27:01A mountain range
27:02cuts across the island of Java
27:04between his plane
27:05and the airport.
27:06He knows he has to be
27:07at least 3,500 metres high
27:09to clear it.
27:10But if his engines
27:11don't restart soon,
27:13they won't make it.
27:20At this rate,
27:22it will crash
27:22in a matter of minutes.
27:24It's just a question
27:25of where.
27:26Captain Moody decides
27:28if the engines
27:29don't restart soon,
27:30he'll turn back
27:31towards the ocean
27:32and try landing
27:33on the water.
27:35All right,
27:36are we getting something?
27:37It's not starting.
27:39I knew it was so difficult
27:40to land aeroplanes
27:42on the sea
27:43even when you had
27:44everything going for you.
27:46and I thought that,
27:47well, we haven't got much
27:48going for us here.
27:49I'd never done it before.
27:54Hiding his concern,
27:55Captain Moody
27:56addresses the passengers
27:57and crew.
28:00Ladies and gentlemen,
28:01this is your captain
28:02speaking.
28:02We have a small problem.
28:04All four engines
28:05have stopped.
28:06We're doing our damnedest
28:07to get under control.
28:08I trust you are not
28:10in too much distress.
28:18Most of the passengers
28:19expect the worst.
28:39Ma,
28:40in trouble.
28:41Plane going down.
28:44We'll do best
28:45for the boys.
28:46We love you.
28:47Sorry.
28:48Pa.
28:52I thought we were going down.
28:54Heading for the ocean
28:54which would crash.
28:55And I thought
28:56if she got the note,
28:57you know,
28:58she knew
28:59we were still thinking
29:00about it.
29:02And we did
29:03whatever we could.
29:07Will we be burnt alive?
29:09Will we be choked
29:09by the smoke?
29:10Will the aircraft
29:11break up in the air
29:13and hurtle us
29:14out into space?
29:16Which was my biggest fear.
29:18Or will we come down
29:19in the sea
29:20and be eaten
29:21by sharks alive?
29:24Or will we crash
29:25into a mountain?
29:27Let's crash
29:28into a mountain quickly
29:29and get all this over.
29:34Will?
29:35Nothing.
29:36It's not starting.
29:38All right.
29:38From the top then.
29:39Battery.
29:40Check.
29:40On.
29:41Down by car.
29:42On.
29:43Finally,
29:43Captain Moody
29:44has to decide.
29:45Carry on
29:46and likely crash
29:46into the mountains
29:47or turn around
29:48and ditch into the sea.
29:54I don't know
29:55how to swim.
29:57I couldn't swim anyway
29:58so I thought,
29:59well, you know,
30:00I'm doomed anyway.
30:01And I just hope
30:02that maybe one of the passengers
30:04might help the two boys
30:06to make sure
30:07that they could stay afloat.
30:09Well, anything?
30:10No.
30:11All right then.
30:12From the top again.
30:12God tree.
30:14We had very few
30:17chances left
30:18of starting the engines
30:19before having to turn out
30:20to sea again
30:22because we wouldn't have
30:23been able to clear
30:23the mountains
30:24on the south coast of Java.
30:27Come on.
30:28Come on.
30:28You said it.
30:29No, no.
30:30You won't.
30:31You won't come to them.
30:32Stand there, Will.
30:33Cut off.
30:33Fuel pressure.
30:34Available.
30:35Standby ignition on.
30:38And then,
30:39as suddenly as it had
30:40stopped working,
30:41the fourth engine
30:42roars back to life.
30:44Engine four.
30:44Back on line.
30:48And all of a sudden
30:49there was this
30:49sort of like
30:50somebody giving it
30:51they had a plan
30:51a punch from underneath
30:53and then I realized
30:55that there might have
30:55been an engine
30:56and it was a boom.
30:57Oh my God, no.
30:59The noise that a Rolls-Royce
31:01engine makes
31:01when it starts up
31:02is low rumbling noise
31:04and it was just,
31:05well, it was wonderful
31:06to hear it.
31:08A 747 can fly
31:10with one engine
31:11but Captain Moody
31:12knows that just one engine
31:13still won't give him
31:14enough power
31:15to clear the mountains.
31:17The glass now
31:18is half full.
31:19It's not half empty.
31:20We're now in
31:21with a real chance
31:22and I'll tell you
31:23what, the three of us
31:24would have dragged
31:24that aeroplane
31:25round the whole
31:25island of Java.
31:28As the plane
31:28falls past
31:294,000 metres,
31:31another engine
31:32coughs
31:32and comes back
31:33to life.
31:34Engine three.
31:35Back on line.
31:37It's followed
31:38quickly by the final two.
31:40I don't believe it.
31:41Engines one and two
31:43comes back on line.
31:45From almost certain
31:47disaster,
31:48the crippled jet
31:49is now under full power.
31:50Oh my God, Mark.
31:52I realised then
31:53that we could make it
31:54back to,
31:54not to Perth,
31:56but to an airport.
31:57That's all we wanted
31:58was to land
31:58on the earth
32:00and, you know,
32:01be part of the living again.
32:03Because while we were up there,
32:04we were dead.
32:06Jakarta,
32:07Speedbird 9,
32:08we are back in business.
32:10All four running.
32:11This time,
32:12local controllers
32:13have no trouble
32:14understanding the message.
32:15All four engines
32:17serviceable again.
32:18Confirm continuing
32:19to Hali.
32:21Affirmative.
32:22Affirmative.
32:24We say, right,
32:25let's get this thing
32:26on the ground
32:26as quickly as we can.
32:28Ladies and gentlemen,
32:29this is your captain
32:29speaking.
32:30We seem to have
32:31overcome that problem
32:32and have managed
32:33to start all
32:34the engines.
32:35Oh!
32:37Oh!
32:38Oh!
32:38Oh!
32:38Oh!
32:38Oh!
32:39Oh!
32:39Oh!
32:43We are
32:44diverting to Jakarta
32:45and expect to land
32:46in about 15 minutes.
32:52Captain Moody
32:53begins climbing,
32:54putting plenty of room
32:56between his plane
32:57and the mountains below.
32:58But as he does,
33:00the strange lights
33:01that he saw
33:01when the crisis began
33:02reappear in front
33:04of the jet.
33:08Now, as soon as we got
33:09to 15,000 feet,
33:10this St. Elmo's fire
33:11started again.
33:12Now, I'm not slow,
33:14so I said,
33:14let's get out of here
33:15quickly.
33:16But before he can
33:18descend very far,
33:19the plane is
33:20stricken again.
33:22engine 2 is surging.
33:25Oh, no!
33:27It's gone again!
33:28The whole airplane
33:28was shaking.
33:29It was just going
33:29bang, bang, bang.
33:31The atmosphere
33:32in the cabin
33:33was very tense
33:34and very quiet.
33:36By then,
33:37I think very few
33:38people were talking.
33:40I think there were
33:41quite a lot of prayers
33:42going up.
33:43The engines
33:44backfire violently.
33:46The captain
33:47must make another
33:48fateful decision.
33:51begin shutdown drill.
33:53Checklist powering
33:54PM.
33:54Off!
33:55Cross lever.
33:56Closed.
33:57We were reluctant
33:58to do it,
33:58as you can probably
33:59understand,
33:59but, you know,
34:01that was it,
34:01so we were back
34:02on three engines.
34:03Now, I'm not a coward,
34:04but when you've had
34:05four engines going,
34:07no engines going,
34:08you get four going
34:09and tell me,
34:10show me any pilot
34:11that will quickly
34:12shut down that engine
34:14because you're worried
34:14that they're all
34:15going to stop again.
34:16Jakarta,
34:17speed bird 9,
34:18leaving 154.
34:19120.
34:20We are now
34:20on three engines.
34:30As the plane
34:31closes in
34:32on the airport,
34:33First Officer Greaves
34:34thinks the windshield
34:35is covered in moisture,
34:36making it hard
34:37to see through.
34:39And I said to Eric,
34:41I said,
34:41it's a bit misty out there,
34:43so we turned the blowers
34:45on to, you know,
34:47like demisters on your car
34:48to try and clear that.
34:50That didn't work.
34:50I used the windscreen wipers
34:53and that didn't work.
34:55Somehow, the glass itself
34:56has been badly damaged.
34:59For some reason,
35:00I looked out the edge
35:02of my windscreen
35:03and about a two-inch strip
35:04down the edge
35:05on the left-hand side,
35:06I could see much more clearly,
35:08but I couldn't see anything
35:10much out the front.
35:11It was getting more
35:12and more opaque
35:13the nearer and nearer
35:14we got to the lights.
35:15The crew get a final
35:17unwelcome surprise.
35:19Equipment on the ground
35:20that helps them descend
35:21at the proper angle
35:22isn't working.
35:24Jakarta ADC,
35:25be advised,
35:27our glide path
35:27is unserviceable.
35:29The localizer,
35:30which gives you
35:31the left and right
35:32of the runway centerline,
35:33that was working,
35:35but the glide slope,
35:36which gives you
35:37the actual profile
35:38for the descent,
35:39was not working.
35:41After all the troubles
35:43they've been through,
35:44now the crew
35:45has to land
35:45their plane manually.
35:48We then continued
35:50with Eric flying
35:50the localizer
35:51and me calling out
35:54the distance
35:54and the altitude
35:55that he should be at.
35:57300 feet, Captain.
35:59So he was then able
36:00to adjust his rate of descent
36:02to what I was telling him
36:03as far as the glide slope
36:04was concerned.
36:10200.
36:14150 feet, Captain.
36:20100.
36:2550 feet.
36:2730 feet.
36:32Oh, my God.
36:34Oh, my God.
36:37Oh, my God.
36:37Look at that.
36:39Oh, my God.
36:44We're on the runway.
36:46Reverse.
36:49Look at that.
37:0490 knots.
37:0680 knots.
37:16We're down.
37:20You could really go
37:21for a cold soda.
37:22And the airplane
37:23just landed itself.
37:25It seemed to anyway.
37:26Kiss the earth.
37:27It was beautiful.
37:28Wow.
37:29That's amazing.
37:32Safely on the ground
37:34at Halim Airport
37:35in Jakarta,
37:35passengers celebrate
37:37the end of a harrowing ordeal.
37:39They also want to know
37:40what happened.
37:42No fire had been found,
37:43so why had smoke
37:44filled the cabin?
37:46How could all four engines
37:48have stopped
37:48at nearly the same time?
37:50What were the strange lights
37:52that surrounded the plane?
38:01In the cockpit,
38:03the flight crew are relieved,
38:04but also concerned
38:05that they might be at fault.
38:07The first thing that we did,
38:09having parked the airplane
38:11and shut it all down,
38:13was to then go through
38:15all the paperwork
38:17to see if there was
38:19possibly anything,
38:20anywhere in it
38:21that might have given
38:22as any pre-warning
38:24of some sort of phenomenon
38:26that caused
38:27what happened to us.
38:28Every time,
38:29because it's going to
38:29come back to us.
38:31The damage to the 747
38:33is extensive.
38:35From the outside,
38:36the crew realized
38:37that their windshield
38:38had been deeply scratched.
38:39They see bare metal
38:41showing through
38:41where the paint
38:42has somehow been stripped away,
38:44and they still have no idea
38:46why any of it happened.
38:54when investigators uncover
38:56the cause of the disaster,
38:58Flight 9 changes pilot training
39:00around the world.
39:10During a calm flight
39:11to Australia,
39:12all four engines
39:13of a British Airways 747
39:15suddenly stop working.
39:22after a long,
39:23terrifying descent,
39:25the crew managed
39:26to restart the engines
39:27and land.
39:35Wow, that's amazing.
39:39They spent an excited
39:40and largely sleepless night
39:42in Jakarta
39:42before returning to Halim Airport
39:45to inspect their plane.
39:46And we went back
39:47the next day
39:48to look at it in daylight.
39:49The aeroplane
39:50had lost its sheen,
39:52and in some places
39:54it had been sandblasted
39:56quite well,
39:57and all the decals
39:58and the paint had come off.
40:00It really was very little
40:02to see
40:03until they stripped
40:04the engines down.
40:05The engines
40:06were manufactured
40:07by Rolls-Royce.
40:09Their investigation
40:10was led by a former engineer,
40:12Malcolm Greyburn.
40:13Three of the engines
40:14were removed in Jakarta
40:15following the incident
40:17and were furried back
40:18via cargo aircraft
40:19to London Heathrow
40:21and then transported
40:22to South Wales
40:23where the engines
40:24were in fact
40:25stripped down
40:25into piece parts.
40:26And it was there
40:27that I got involved.
40:29Greyburn was stunned
40:30by what he saw.
40:33Much of the engine
40:34was badly scratched
40:35and scored.
40:36We did do a forensic analysis
40:38of the engines.
40:39We did record it all
40:40in terms of photographic analysis
40:42and also we did
40:43a lot of laboratory analysis.
40:46Greyburn discovered
40:47the engines were choked
40:48with fine dust,
40:50pieces of rock and sand.
40:52When it was closely studied,
40:54they learned that the debris
40:55was clearly volcanic ash.
40:59Days after their harrowing flight,
41:01the passengers and crew
41:03learned that the night
41:03they were flying,
41:04there had been a major eruption
41:06of the Mount Galangong volcano,
41:08located just 160 kilometers
41:10southeast of Jakarta.
41:21Tom Casadevall is director
41:23of the U.S. Geological Survey
41:24and has studied
41:26the Galangong volcano.
41:27Indonesia is the world's
41:29most volcanically active country.
41:32It has more than 130
41:33historically active volcanoes,
41:35meaning volcanoes
41:36which have erupted
41:37in the last several thousand years.
41:41Galangong erupted explosively
41:43early in the 1980s.
41:46In April, May, June of 1982,
41:50the eruptions became
41:51increasingly more powerful.
41:54The eruptions were large
41:56and the damage was extensive.
41:58More than 60,000 people
42:00were evacuated
42:01from the area
42:02around the mountain.
42:05The night Flight 9
42:07flew nearby,
42:08the volcano erupted again.
42:18As the ash cloud rose
42:20more than 15,000 meters
42:22into the night,
42:23winds pushed it
42:24to the southwest,
42:26right into the path
42:27of British Airways Flight 9.
42:32Never before had a volcanic cloud
42:34seriously affected an airplane.
42:37Could the ash
42:38really have crippled
42:39this flight?
42:41Roger, declare emergency.
42:44Mayday, mayday, mayday.
42:46Speedbird 9.
42:47We have lost all four engines.
42:49Unlike ash
42:50that you might see
42:51in a chimney
42:52or after a fire
42:53in a forest,
42:54this is not
42:55soft material at all.
42:57This is very fine,
42:59ground-up particles
43:00of solid rock
43:02and minerals.
43:03This material
43:04is very, very abrasive.
43:05It's very angular
43:07in shape.
43:07If you were to see it
43:08under a microscope,
43:09you would see
43:10very sharp angles.
43:12And so that's
43:12what caused
43:13the abrasion.
43:16In addition
43:17to sandblasting
43:18the windshield
43:18and all the leading edges
43:20of the plane,
43:21could the ash cloud
43:22explain all the other
43:23strange phenomena
43:24the passengers
43:24and crew
43:25had experienced.
43:28Remember,
43:28the aircraft
43:29is moving
43:30in close to
43:31500 miles per hour
43:32as it's flying
43:33into that cloud.
43:34Even though
43:35it's a very fine material,
43:37it can still cause
43:38abrasion and friction
43:40on the skin
43:41of the aircraft.
43:42Because it's
43:43such a dry environment
43:44up there,
43:45that frictional
43:47electrification
43:48produces the glow
43:49that we refer to
43:50as St. Elmo's fire.
43:52The electrification
43:53also caused
43:54the interference
43:55in communication
43:56experienced by the crew.
43:58Speedbird 9,
43:59you have lost
44:00number 4 engine.
44:02Some of the volcanic ash
44:03that was sucked in
44:04and ground up
44:05by the engines
44:05was also blown
44:07into the plane.
44:08And when passengers
44:09and crew saw it
44:10swirling through the cabin,
44:11they feared the worst.
44:12You're a passenger,
44:14you're looking out
44:15the window,
44:16suddenly you start
44:17breathing this
44:17sulfur-laden air
44:20in the cabin
44:20and it probably
44:22is a choking,
44:23probably a shocking
44:24sensation.
44:25It's essentially
44:26a house of horrors
44:28type situation.
44:33While the volcanic ash
44:34caused the visible scarring,
44:36filled the plane
44:37with smoke
44:37and fouled communications,
44:39could it cause
44:40the engines
44:41to flame out
44:41as well?
44:47A turbofan jet engine
44:48works by sucking
44:49in enormous amounts
44:51of air.
44:51The air is then
44:53highly pressurized
44:54by the engine's compressor.
44:55This tightly packed air
44:57is mixed with fuel
44:58and ignited.
44:59The force of this reaction
45:01propels the jet
45:02through the sky.
45:07The temperature
45:08in the combustion chamber
45:09where this ash
45:10is flowing through
45:10are around
45:112,000 degrees centigrade
45:13and so
45:14the volcanic ash
45:15we know
45:16melts at about
45:161,300,
45:181,400 degrees.
45:20But when the liquid ash
45:22reached deeper
45:23into the engine,
45:24it cooled slightly,
45:25turning into
45:26a sticky,
45:26molten goo.
45:28It attached itself
45:29to the engine
45:30and began choking it.
45:34We got a fundamental
45:36disturbance of the airflow
45:38in the main core
45:39of the engine
45:40which caused the engine
45:41to backfire
45:43and the engine's
45:44flamed out
45:44and that was
45:45the cause of the problem.
45:47Backfires occur
45:48when the engine
45:49isn't burning cleanly.
45:50The engine's on fire!
45:52There's too much fuel
45:53and not enough oxygen.
45:57Engine failure.
45:59Number four.
46:00Fire action.
46:01Number four.
46:01Checklist power and gear.
46:02On flight nine,
46:04the backfires
46:04were the cause
46:05of the enormous jets
46:06of flame
46:06many passengers
46:07saw behind the engines.
46:09After struggling
46:10against the choking effects
46:12of the ash cloud,
46:13the engines
46:14on board the 747
46:15flamed out.
46:19What Greyburn found next
46:21was that a remarkable
46:22piece of chemistry
46:23saved the plane.
46:25As soon as you came
46:26out of the volcanic ash
46:27and the engines
46:28were not running,
46:29remember,
46:30so everything cooled down,
46:32it was enough
46:32of this stuff
46:33to break off
46:34and allow the engines
46:36to restart.
46:39When enough
46:39of the molten ash
46:40was gone,
46:41the engines
46:42were clear again
46:42and Townley Freeman's
46:44frantic efforts
46:45to restart them
46:46paid off.
46:47Engine four,
46:48back on line.
46:51We have learned
46:52quite a bit
46:53and we've incorporated
46:54this learning
46:55into pilot training.
46:57Pilots now,
46:58for example,
46:59know what signs
47:00to look for
47:01when they might be
47:02in an ash cloud
47:03and those signs include
47:04the odor of sulfur
47:05in the cabin,
47:07dust accumulating
47:08in the cabin,
47:08and if you're at night,
47:10you might look out
47:11and see the frictional
47:12electrification
47:13or the St. Elmo's fire
47:15on the leading edges
47:16of the aircraft.
47:19Another important lesson
47:21learned from Flight 9
47:22is that volcanic ash clouds
47:24do not appear
47:25on normal weather radar,
47:27which reflects water.
47:28Since the clouds are dry,
47:30they're all but invisible
47:32to radar.
47:33That knowledge
47:34has led to better
47:35communications
47:36between the geologists
47:37that study volcanoes
47:38and the international airlines
47:40that fly over them.
47:46The crew of Flight 9
47:48was showered
47:49with awards
47:50and commendations
47:50in the months
47:51after their incredible night.
47:53I thought the airmanship
47:54displayed by this crew
47:56during this event
47:57was absolutely fantastic.
47:59The way that they managed
48:00to guide this aircraft
48:02back down to a safe landing
48:03after having been
48:05through such extreme circumstances
48:08it was fantastic
48:09the way they recovered
48:10this aircraft.
48:11Absolutely brilliant.
48:14For everyone
48:15on board Flight 9,
48:16the terrifying plunge
48:18through the skies
48:18had a lasting impact.
48:21Betty Toutel
48:22was so struck
48:23by the events
48:24of that night
48:24that she wrote a book
48:25about the ordeal.
48:27This was an event
48:28which was unique
48:29in aviation history
48:32and it seemed to me
48:33absolutely vital
48:34that it should be
48:35put on record
48:36and I wondered
48:37who was going to do this
48:40but no sooner
48:41had that thought
48:42entered my mind
48:43than I thought
48:43I'm going to do that.
48:49Toutel would also
48:50end up marrying
48:51a man she met
48:51on the flight
48:52James Ferguson.
48:56Charles Capewell
48:57and his two sons
48:58made it home
48:58two days after
48:59they touched down
49:00in Jakarta.
49:0125 years later
49:03both Chas
49:04and Stephen
49:04still live in Perth.
49:07Our time hadn't
49:08came and that was it.
49:10From then on
49:11I took a different
49:12view of life.
49:14When your time comes
49:15there's nothing you can do
49:15but you can still hope
49:17and we hoped
49:18and we got out of it.
49:22Not long after
49:23their fateful flight
49:24captain Eric Moody
49:26created the
49:27Galangang Gliding Club.
49:29Every member
49:30of the crew
49:30and all passengers
49:31were automatically
49:32admitted to this
49:33exclusive group.
49:37The survivors
49:38of British Airways
49:39Flight 9
49:40happily stay in touch
49:42to this day.