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On 2 June 1983, a fire breaks out on Air Canada Flight 797's toilet. An emergency landing is made in Cincinnati, but the aircraft is engulfed by flames on the runway due to a flashover caused by the opening of the aircraft's doors after the landing, killing 23 people, including musician Stan Rogers. The origin of the fire could not be determined as a result of the flashover.
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00:01Smoke fills a passenger plane 10 kilometers in the sky.
00:10We're on May Day. We're going down.
00:13Electrical systems shut down as the smoke spreads.
00:16The crew tries desperately to land their stricken plane.
00:19We're going to need an emergency landing. Put your hat on your lap.
00:22We're going to need firetruck. They're standing by for you.
00:27What seemed like a small problem at first has become a life-or-death struggle for everyone on board Air
00:33Canada Flight 797.
01:04Early evening, June 2, 1983.
01:08Supper time aboard Air Canada Flight 797.
01:12Captain Donald Cameron has been working for Air Canada for 17 years
01:16and has flown almost 5,000 hours on a DC-9.
01:20But it doesn't mean he gets to eat first.
01:22How did you see? Nice?
01:25Before he can dig in, his first officer, Claude Ouimet, will have to finish.
01:30Good.
01:35The jet is in the middle of a flight from Dallas, Texas to Montreal with a stopover in Toronto.
01:42The heavy cloud cover below hides some light showers.
01:46But at their cruising altitude of 10,000 meters, the view is clear and bright.
01:56The DC-9 is only half full today, with 41 passengers scattered throughout the plane.
02:03Can I have some tea, please?
02:0524-year-old Diane Fadley is an active member of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation.
02:10We have a number of different fundraising activities.
02:14Once a year, they have a large conference.
02:17And at this time, it happened to be in Toronto.
02:22Raymond Chalifeau is 23 and recently married.
02:25An engineer, he's returning home from his first ever business trip.
02:29It was a little bit frightening, both for me and for my wife.
02:33I was supposed to be gone four or five days.
02:35So, first time we were separated for a long period of time.
02:38So, it was kind of insecure for me, yeah.
02:44And a few rows further up sits a growing legend in the world of folk music.
02:50Stan Rogers is just 33, but his career is beginning to take off outside of his native Canada.
02:56I think Stan's best known songs celebrate ordinary people.
03:02The songs are really about ordinary people rising to the occasion and becoming heroes on their own.
03:16Just before seven o'clock, the plane is a little more than halfway to Toronto.
03:22What was that?
03:26It's right there, I see it.
03:29It's right there.
03:32Yeah.
03:33Three circuit breakers have popped out.
03:36Like fuses, they protect delicate electrical circuits on the plane from becoming overloaded.
03:43Like a machine gun.
03:44Yeah.
03:45Zap, zap, zap.
03:47The three breakers are for the flushing motor in the toilet at the rear of the plane.
03:52Cameron decides to give them a few minutes before he tries to reset them again.
03:57You know, sometimes it overworks and overeats and then the breaker popped and then it cools off and then you
04:03push the breaker and everything is fine.
04:05So, put the snag in the block book and that's it.
04:08Someone must have pushed a rag down the toilet or something.
04:11Jammed it and it overheated.
04:14Cameron thinks that something must be stopping the motor from working properly.
04:18But it's not an emergency. Toilets get blocked all the time.
04:25Several minutes pass as the plane continues on its way to Toronto.
04:30Flight attendants Laura Kiyama and Judy Davidson are busy serving up dinner in the cabin.
04:37In the cockpit, it's Captain Cameron's turn for dinner.
04:41But first, he wants to reset the three circuit breakers.
04:45Without them, the toilet won't work.
04:47The rest of the flight could get uncomfortable for the passengers.
04:50Pop says I push it.
04:53He's given it more than eight minutes.
04:55But whatever is wrong with the washroom, it isn't fixing itself.
05:00In the cabin, one of the passengers complains about a disturbing odour.
05:06It is a strange smell.
05:08Let me take a look.
05:13Connie Kirsch, a Texan headed for a business meeting in Toronto, is seated at the back of the plane.
05:19I had smelled a peculiar smell where I was sitting.
05:26And it struck me as odd.
05:29Actually, it was a wiry smell. It wasn't a smoke smell.
05:33A wisp of smoke is leaking out of the washroom.
05:36The smoke and the acrid smell of burning plastic takes Davidson by surprise.
05:42This is much more than just a clogged toilet.
05:48Other passengers are beginning to notice the smoke and the suffocating smell.
05:55Sergio, there's a problem in the washroom. Judy says there's a fire.
05:59Okay. I'll be right there.
06:02Chief Flight Attendant Sergio Benetti is in charge of the cabin crew.
06:06As a precaution, we're moving everyone up to Rosa.
06:13The smoke is noxious and overpowering.
06:17Benetti can't see any flames.
06:19He sprays the fire extinguisher into the tiny washroom, trying to coat every surface.
06:27As soon as I saw that fire extinguisher, something went through my mind.
06:31There is definitely something wrong.
06:33The guy seemed to have the thing under control.
06:36So, he's gonna do his job and things will be business as usual.
06:45It's two minutes past seven, just eleven minutes since the circuit breakers first popped out.
06:51Laura Kayama brings Captain Cameron the disturbing news.
06:55Excuse me, Captain. There's a fire in the washroom in the back.
06:58They just went back to go put it out.
07:01You want me to go back?
07:05Yeah, go.
07:07A fire onboard an aircraft is one of the worst situations any crew can face.
07:12The plane is some ten kilometers high.
07:16What starts as a spark can turn deadly in a few short minutes.
07:21But at the moment, Cameron doesn't know how bad the situation is.
07:26You gotta remember, in 1983, people were allowed to smoke in the aircraft.
07:32And there had been a number of incidents of this sort in the industry.
07:38So, it really didn't alarm me that much.
07:44We met finds the situation is worse than he expected.
07:47I didn't see any flames when I opened the door before.
07:50But I sprayed it really good with the fire extinguisher.
07:53You think it was a cigarette in the garbage?
07:56No, not really.
07:58Okay.
08:10Can't get back there. Smoke's too heavy.
08:12I think we'd better go down.
08:15But flight attendant Sergio Benetti has a very different assessment of the situation.
08:20You don't have to worry.
08:21I think the smoke's easy enough.
08:24It's a confusing moment for Captain Cameron.
08:27Some components do fail from time to time that are not severe or serious enough to cause an emergency descent.
08:35That's a pretty serious thing.
08:37When we met and Benetti were at the back of the plane, the smoke seemed thick.
08:41But now it appears to be subsiding.
08:44Okay, it's starting to clear now.
08:47But I'll go back and check if that's okay.
08:50Yeah, that's okay.
08:52Take these goggles.
08:53I'll leave my mask on.
08:55Go back wherever you can, but don't get yourself incapacitated.
08:58No problem. No problem.
09:02If it's just a broken toilet motor, Cameron can still make it to Toronto.
09:06But if it's more serious, he'll have to land immediately before the small inconvenience becomes a deadly problem.
09:19June the 2nd, 1983. Air Canada Flight 797 cruises through the early evening.
09:31The flight has taken an unsettling turn.
09:34Wisps of smoke are gathering at the back of the DC-9.
09:38An acrid smell is spreading through the cabin.
09:43The crew is growing concerned.
09:45They've already moved passengers towards the front of the jet, as far as possible from the creeping smoke.
09:53Captain Donald Cameron is waiting for an update from the back of the plane, when suddenly he's got a new
09:59problem.
10:01The master warning light is on.
10:03Electrical systems throughout the plane, including some in the cockpit, begin to fail.
10:10The airplane basically lost all its sophisticated navigation and attitude information.
10:17So I was left very suddenly with, I think, three engine instruments per engine.
10:23And four flight instruments, which were very primitive.
10:27They were what you might have flown a World War II bomber with.
10:33With his electrical systems starting to shut down, Cameron calls the nearest ground control.
10:38Memphis Center, this is Air Canada 797.
10:41Air Canada 797, Indianapolis Center. Go ahead.
10:44Yeah, we've got an electrical problem here.
10:47We may be off communication shortly. Stand by.
10:51Co-pilot Claude Wimet is at the back of the plane.
10:54The washroom door handle has become hot to the touch.
10:58He doesn't even risk opening it.
11:01Faced with a potential fire on board, the crew have no choice but to land their plane as soon as
11:07possible.
11:09I don't like what's happening.
11:13I think we'd better go down.
11:15We're going to be making an emergency descent.
11:18Brief the capital.
11:19As soon as the decision is made, another warning light goes on.
11:24They've just lost most of their emergency power.
11:27We're talking about multiple failure here and it's starting to be complicated.
11:32So we're going down and obviously we have to land.
11:36Mayday, mayday, mayday.
11:37A small problem has snowballed into an all-out emergency.
11:41Mayday, mayday, mayday.
11:43This is Louisville control, over.
11:45Air Canada 797, we have a fire on board. We are going down.
11:49Can you possibly make Cincinnati?
11:53Roger that.
11:56Cincinnati is 46 kilometres away.
11:58They can make it.
12:01Captain Cameron begins an initial descent to 1500 metres.
12:05The crew has switched to emergency battery power, but many of the plane's instruments aren't functioning.
12:13So all we had left was DC memory power and that's only good for radios, basically.
12:19It's not only instruments.
12:21Cameron finds that a critical piece of his plane isn't working properly.
12:27The horizontal stabiliser on the tail of his DC-9 is frozen.
12:32Cameron uses the part that's still working, the elevators, to make the plane dive.
12:37But like a car that's lost power steering, the aircraft resists.
12:42As Cameron pushes on the controls, they push back, with a pressure equal to 20 kilograms.
12:49The airplane became very heavy.
12:52And I took my total concentration to fly the airplane.
13:00An acrid, bitter smoke is creeping forward from the back of the plane and seeping in from the seams in
13:06the fuselage ceiling.
13:09It hovers like a cloud over the passengers' heads.
13:15Incredibly harsh smoke that was really irritating your throat.
13:19You had to take really, really small, small breaths, otherwise you would choke.
13:28I could see it rise.
13:32It was travelling along those luggage racks, you know, coming forward.
13:41The smell of burning plastic fills the air.
13:46Dropping oxygen masks could make the situation worse.
13:52I could have deployed the oxygen mask for the passengers, but it's forbidden.
13:56You're only allowed to use the oxygen mask in case of a massive decompression or loss of cabin pressure.
14:04Not for fire.
14:12I was crying and scared. I wasn't hysterical.
14:17The gentleman sitting next to me explained to me that if I would not cry and if I could, you
14:23know, conserve my, not breathe so fast, that it would conserve the oxygen would help us.
14:28And not to worry that the flight attendants, they really know how to handle these sort of situations.
14:36As the electrical malfunctions ripple through the plane, the PA system shuts down.
14:42Flight attendants struggle to shout directions, but it's getting more and more difficult to breathe.
14:49In 1983, it's not standard procedure to tell passengers how to open the emergency doors.
14:55But in this case, the two flight attendants are taking no chances.
15:05As smoke begins entering the cockpit, the captain's situation is becoming critical.
15:12For the first time, we met talks to the Cincinnati airport.
15:18Approach, Air Canada 797. We're on May Day. We're going down.
15:24Air Canada 797, Cincinnati approach. Planned runway 36, ILS.
15:29And the equipment has been alerted. Do you have time to give me the nature of the emergency?
15:34We have a fire in the washroom. We're filling up with smoke right now.
15:39Say type of aircraft, number of people on board and amount of fuel.
15:43We'll copy that later. We don't have time.
15:48Gregory Karam is the approach tower controller. He's the lifeline for the struggling jet.
15:54He can't see the plane on radar yet, but he knows it's in trouble.
16:01There was really no mayhem whatsoever, no screaming, nothing at all.
16:06In fact, it was very quiet and calm. And again, I was terrified at that point.
16:14Almost 13 minutes after 7, Karam catches sight of flight 797 on his radar.
16:21Air Canada 797, you are now fully identified.
16:25This will be a no-gyro radar approach for runway 27L. Descend now to 3,500 feet.
16:31Your position is now one, two miles southeast of the airport.
16:37The crew needs to be guided in from the ground.
16:40Struggling to see through the dense smoke, they could easily veer off course.
16:47Karam will talk them down, watching them every step of the way.
16:53In the cabin, the smoke and heat are becoming unbearable.
16:59My thought was, well, we're going to crash?
17:02They won't be able to identify myself because I didn't have my papers with me.
17:06So I stood up, I took my wallet in the compartment and put my jacket on so that they could
17:12identify my buddy.
17:14I knew at that point, that's when I decided or felt that I was not going to make it,
17:19because I felt I would never see my family again.
17:21And the situation just seemed very impossible.
17:24Stan certainly had a sense of his own mortality, and he hated to fly.
17:28But the demand for Stan was growing, so he was flying more often.
17:33And he certainly had a sense that with so much traveling, his risk is elevated.
17:40Where's the airport?
17:42Twelve o'clock and eight miles there, Canada.
17:45Okay, we're trying to locate it.
17:47We're going to need fire trucks.
17:49They're standing by for you.
17:50Can you give me the number of people and amount of fuel?
17:53We don't have time. It's getting worse in here.
17:55Understood, sir.
17:57Turn left now. You are one half mile north of final approach.
18:12Finally, the crew see the airport.
18:18Okay, we have the airport.
18:20The tower has you in sight.
18:22You need not acknowledge further transmission from the air, Canada.
18:25797, you are cleared to land.
18:29You are four miles from the airport.
18:33Good luck.
18:36In a thick haze of smoke and soot, flight attendants Laura Kiyama and Judy Davidson feel their way along the
18:43aisle, trying to reassure the passengers.
18:46They can't get past the 12th row.
18:49The smoke and the heat are overwhelming.
18:51I was praying the whole time.
18:53Dear God, please help us land this plane.
18:57Please get this plane safely on the ground.
19:24You can't see.
19:27You can't breathe.
19:28death absolutely crossed my mind but hang in there don't give up
19:40I've been married for less than a year and it's already over so I started
19:46breeding as little as I could and start thinking seriously of my wife
19:55fighting the reluctant controls Captain Cameron's strength is being pushed to
20:00the limit
20:08797 the tower has you in sight
20:31squinting through the smoke the crew of flight 797 land hard at 20 minutes after 7 the Air Canada
20:39plane is on the ground it's less than 30 minutes since the first sign of any trouble on board flight
20:47797 when we touch the ground I assume that we're safe now now let's get out of this airplane but
20:58inside the plane the smoke isn't letting up passengers are undoing their seatbelts and
21:03trying desperately to escape I've got up out of my seat and I remember putting my hands up on
21:10someone's back and it was like waiting in a line and I knew that was one line I didn't want
21:16to wait
21:16very long so I turned around with the other direction not knowing I was actually heading
21:21towards the front of the plane Sergio Benetti is the first one to the door
21:36he helps gasping passengers escape
21:50the cabin is pitch black and burning hot
22:05in the cockpit the crew quickly shuts the plane down the first officer escapes through
22:11the emergency window it's a five meter jump to the ground
22:25passengers have opened three of the overwing exits but even with the doors open the exits
22:30are all but invisible the smoke is too thick I saw a light and it was the door that had
22:43opened
22:43someone had opened the door I realized what it was ran to the door and held my help I just
22:50put my
22:50face out so I could breathe passengers who have found the exits slide off the wing and stumble to
23:01safety on the ground Laura Kiyama and Judy Davidson frantically move passengers away from the deadly plane
23:10fire rescue vehicles surround the plane they douse the planes exterior and the ground beneath with foam
23:17fearing a fuel fire or worse an explosion through the cockpit window we met can see Captain Cameron
23:26sitting in his seat looking dazed and slumped towards the wheel first thing that got my attention
23:33was to see Don's face in in the window and realize that he was not completely conscious
23:41I couldn't get out of my seat I'd start and I'd get my arse up in the air or like
23:46that and I'd be pushed back by the
23:48I have no idea it was an invisible force but it was probably smoke and fire
23:54desperately trying to save the captain's life we met tells firefighters to cover him with foam
23:59it was a soapy ice-cold mixture that drenched me it works Cameron stirs and climbs out through the cockpit
24:10window
24:14stop there he is
24:20barely 90 seconds have passed since the plane landed when suddenly the whole interior of flight 797 ignites
24:29the flames roll through the cabin like a train
24:33captain Donald Cameron is the last person to get out of the plane alive
24:41we knew there were people in the airplane unfortunately at that point that that was uh that was finished
24:49the cabin fire breaks through the top of the fuselage
24:54black smoke can be seen for kilometers
24:59flight attendant Laura Kayama begins to count
25:02I will remember these words forever she told us to line up so that she could count the survivors
25:09if there were survivors obviously they were that
25:16including the crew there had been 46 people aboard the plane but there aren't 46 people on the runway
25:29I really thought that if the pilot could land the plane we would all get off but I knew when
25:41I looked around I didn't think we were all there
25:48the passengers who escaped the plane suffer from smoke inhalation and minor injuries but most are not badly hurt
25:58it was almost like if you got off the plane nothing was wrong I mean there was maybe a sprained
26:05ankle maybe
26:06someone had a broken arm or something you made it and you were completely fine or you didn't make it
26:15the young man next to me that helped me with my breathing techniques didn't survive
26:21that was a real tough blow because I know for one I played he played a big part in my
26:27survival
26:30I guess it was around midnight I decided to call Air Canada I said I'm trying to find out if
26:36a friend
26:36of mine was on this flight in Cincinnati and she said are you a member of the family I said
26:43no I'm
26:43just a close friend and she said do you know if his wife is alone and I said well yes
26:52and she said well
26:53she may need somebody with her
27:03Stan Rogers the rising musical star didn't make it off the plane
27:13Cincinnati ground this is Captain of the a Canada flight that's on fire here
27:20Captain Cameron radios Cincinnati ground control from an emergency vehicle near his plane he has a sobering message
27:28seems there are 23 people left on board the aircraft is there a scheduled carrier runs into here that could
27:34maybe give aid and shelter your stranded passengers it's pretty cold out here
27:45what began with a simple electrical problem has taken the lives of 23 people
27:54what caused the deadly fire what went so horribly wrong the investigation will uncover the planes troubling history
28:03this DC 9 had another serious accident just a few years before
28:14in June of 1983 a strange smell in the back of an air Canada DC 9 quickly turned into an
28:20all-out emergency
28:23for 15 minutes passengers and crews struggled to deal with thick toxic smoke as it rolled through the plane
28:42I got it
28:45Flight 797 made a remarkable landing
28:49only to burst into flames 90 seconds later
28:5723 people didn't escape the plane
29:07now the burnt shell of the DC 9 sits on the runway at the greater Cincinnati airport
29:13it's one of the most disturbing airplane disasters in years
29:17within the hour investigators from the national transportation safety board are on the scene
29:26the first grim task of the investigators is to recover the bodies of the dead
29:3321 Canadians and two Americans
29:37many are burned beyond recognition
29:45almost all of the victims are found in the front half of the plane between the wings and the cockpit
29:53some are still strapped into their seats
29:55others are found in the aisles
29:59and even though all the passengers had been moved up earlier in the flight
30:03two bodies are found near the rear beyond the wings
30:09because of the dense smoke in the cabin the passengers couldn't see well enough to find the exits
30:16and two passengers went beyond the over wing exits and succumbed to the environment
30:23investigators take blood samples from the bodies
30:26they find deadly levels of certain chemicals that were produced as the plane burned
30:32when we did toxicological studies
30:34we were able to determine that there were some significant high levels of cyanide and fluoride in the blood
30:41as well as carbon monoxide
30:44it's not known if the toxic fumes killed the passengers
30:47all that's certain is that they were unable to escape before the flames tore through
30:57when I went on board I was just struck by the accurate smell
31:03it was kind of eerie because there was a lot of fire damage
31:06a lot of the fuselage was burned
31:09the interior of the cabin was burned down to the tops of the seats
31:15with the bodies removed investigators begin digging through the wreckage to try and find the cause of the fire
31:21among them are members of the FBI
31:26they were investigating to determine whether terrorism might have been a factor
31:32so they were on scene right away looking at the aircraft to make that determination
31:39the FBI examines pieces of the plane's floor
31:43samples of water from the washroom even a plastic vial found on the floor
31:48the FBI became involved very early because of the possibility of a crime taking place
31:56takes precedent over a accident
32:02they were looking for anything that would have to do with an incendiary device
32:05or small explosive device or anything that could be fused to start a fire
32:11they determined that there was no evidence of any crime being committed
32:15it was probably
32:17accidental ignition
32:19and so they then left and NTSB took over the accident
32:25having discounted the possibility that the fire was deliberately set
32:29investigators consider the next obvious cause
32:32a cigarette
32:36when smoking on planes was still allowed the most common source of fires in a washroom was the trash container
32:50investigators examine the trash container and find that the top is burned away
32:55but the trash chute and the container behind and below the sink are intact
33:00inside the container are remnants of paper
33:02scorched but not burned
33:05the fire could not have started here
33:11with the most obvious potential causes discounted
33:15investigators begin to comb through the wreckage looking for what had started the fire
33:30in the year before the accident
33:33seventy six separate maintenance issues had been written up in the planes logbook
33:38all were dealt with but still it's an unusually high number of problems
33:46the plane's troubled history didn't end there
33:50four years earlier the rear bulkhead had failed causing an explosive decompression
33:58the crew had to make an emergency landing
34:04it knocked out a lot of electrical cable and hydraulics and stuff like that
34:09and the guy did a hell of a job bringing it back to Boston
34:13the plane was repaired and put back into service
34:16but Hill focuses on the wires that had to be stitched together after the accident
34:21a bad repair job could have been the cause of the fire
34:26there were wires that ran through there that had been cut spliced back together
34:32investigators study all the wire splices they can find on flight 797 that weren't destroyed in the fire
34:38but they find no evidence of arcing or short circuiting
34:43it's another dead end
34:48investigators turn their attention to the cockpit voice recorder
34:51and the popping circuit breakers
35:11the circuit breakers
35:13the circuit breakers trip as a precaution
35:14when they begin to overheat
35:16the circuit breakers turn off cutting electrical current to the motor
35:21it's a safety feature so the motor won't cause a fire
35:26pops as I push it
35:29investigators need to know if the breakers were tripped by a fire that had already started
35:34or was the motor itself the problem
35:38the NTSB build a mock-up of the plane's washroom
35:41and force the flush motor to seize
35:45they want to see if it could have started the fire
35:49the seized motor reaches a temperature of 428 degrees Celsius
35:54it's hot but it's not hot enough to ignite parts of the washroom around the motor
36:09as they listen to the cockpit voice recorder
36:13investigators uncover a puzzling clue
36:17three minutes before the circuit breakers popped
36:19the recorder picked up another noise
36:22it was the sound of electrical arcing
36:25like static
36:26repeated eight times
36:29the noises weren't audible to the crew
36:33hidden from view on any airplane is a river of wiring
36:38investigators focus on a cable coming from a generator below the washroom floor
36:43insulation had rubbed off two wires
36:46making it possible for sparks to be produced
36:48sparks that could start a fire
36:51there was evidence that there was some electrical arcing
36:54but it could have occurred after the insulation had burned on those wires
36:59in spite of countless hours of investigation and numerous tests
37:04in the end the NTSB can't pinpoint the exact cause of the fire
37:09there simply isn't enough evidence
37:12just because of the vast amount of damage that was done in that concentrated area around the lavatory
37:18where the fire burnt for a long period of time
37:20and possibly destroyed any of the evidence of where the fire actually ignited
37:29even if they'll never know the exact cause of the fire
37:32investigators try to understand how it could cause so much damage
37:37there had been heat and smoke
37:38but no one had seen any flames until an explosion ripped through the jet
37:44when you have a fire that has incomplete combustion
37:47when it has a lack of oxygen
37:49they will produce combustible gases
37:52those gases then can collect
37:54especially in the crown of an aircraft
37:59the fire had burned out of sight
38:01behind the washroom walls
38:03and the smoke hot gases and fumes
38:06intensified and spread inside the wall space
38:08from the washroom through to the cabin walls
38:13those spaces acted as a sort of chimney for the gases and smoke
38:17that the fire was creating
38:23although the fire remained concealed behind the walls and ceiling panels
38:27the smoke and hot gases entered the cabin through every scene
38:31gathering in the upper space in the cabin
38:34and pressing down on the passengers
38:38the inaccessible areas and the cabin area are all linked together through small cracks and crevices
38:45and small openings
38:46the plane is one big pressure vessel
38:50with everything being the same
38:53equilibrating to the same pressure
38:54so smoking gases in those areas
38:56would fairly quickly start to permeate
38:59into the passenger cabin
39:05when the doors were opened during the evacuation
39:07an unlimited supply of oxygen was suddenly available to feed the fire
39:12the more intense the heat
39:14the more oxygen hungry a fire becomes
39:17the gas is ignited with the force of an explosion
39:25and once you have a flashover you produce heat, toxic gases and you burn up all the oxygen in the
39:31cabin and it becomes non-survivable
39:36the technical part of the investigation is complete
39:42but there are still a lot of questions about how the crew responded to the fire
39:46first off is that it's starting to clear now
39:49and at that point I reckon that the fire was under control
39:54could they have done more to prevent the tragedy on board flight 797
40:11in 1983 a washroom fire on an Air Canada DC 9 filled the plane's cabin with smoke
40:29the crew struggled to land the plane
40:32but a flash fire ripped through the jet moments after it came to a stop
40:3723 people were killed
40:39there was a fireman hollering at us
40:41I think the quote was
40:42she could blow at any minute
40:46NTSB investigators are unable to definitively pinpoint the cause of the fire
40:51but after reviewing all the information they have
40:54they're ready to release their report
40:58the report on the lethal fire aboard Air Canada flight 797 is published a year after the accident
41:05it's a landmark in aircraft safety
41:08but it immediately makes for controversial headlines
41:12the NTSB points out that the source of the smoke was never identified
41:17either by the flight attendants or the first officer
41:20the captain was never told
41:22nor did he inquire as to the precise location and extent of the fire which had been reported to him
41:28and with that in mind what type of fire did you believe that you have?
41:34the bin fire
41:37mayday, mayday, mayday
41:38and the report asks a hypothetical question
41:41Canada 797 we have a fire on board
41:44we are going down
41:45can you possibly make Cincinnati?
41:49Roger that
41:51if he'd begun to descend sooner
41:53could the captain have landed at Standiford Field Airport in Louisville, Kentucky?
41:58it was a few minutes closer
42:03the report and the media attention it gets are devastating to Captain Cameron and his crew
42:09soon after the report is released there's an outcry among pilots in the industry
42:13they resent its implied criticism of flight 797's crew
42:18and the suggestion that they could have begun their descent five minutes sooner
42:24several months later
42:26the airline pilots association submits a petition that defends Cameron and the crew
42:31it makes an impact
42:33the NTSB release a revised report
42:36including the petition by the airline pilots association
42:40in the petition
42:41first officer we met writes an impassioned defense of landing the plane where and when they did
42:47the issue wasn't only the distance to the nearest airport
42:51but the required rate of descent
42:53as it was the plane barely made the descent to the greater Cincinnati airport
43:10still the National Transportation Safety Board's revised summary doesn't pull all its punches
43:15pointing a finger at Captain Cameron
43:19the report states that the time taken to evaluate the nature of the fire
43:23and to decide to initiate an emergency descent
43:26contributed to the severity of the accident
43:31twenty years later the statement still stings
43:37I am glad they were all the people that got off got off
43:41I am very sorry that the people that didn't get off didn't get off
43:44because we spent a lot of time and effort getting them there
43:48that really bothered me
43:54all I know is that I did the best I could
44:01along with the comments on the performance of the crew
44:04the NTSB recommends a host of safety improvements
44:11perhaps if the flight had been full someone would have noticed the smell of smoke sooner
44:17but what the washroom of flight 797 could have used was a smoke detector
44:22they weren't standard throughout the industry
44:24but after flight 797 attitudes and regulations changed
44:33even though flight attendants did receive some training in dealing with fires aboard a plane
44:38it didn't go far enough
44:40but what was more obvious the flight attendants weren't properly equipped to attack fires
44:45without full face masks and oxygen
44:48they couldn't be expected to fight fire while holding their breath
44:52in the years after flight 797
44:55attendants received better equipment and training
45:02the cabin crew had also made split-second decisions that helped save lives
45:08moving passengers further up the plane
45:10and handing out wet towels minimized the effects of the toxic smoke
45:16their decision to tell passengers to open the emergency exits over the wings
45:20was not standard procedure
45:22but it let some passengers escape more quickly
45:25and was eventually adopted as a routine practice
45:33finally it became obvious from the location of some of the bodies
45:36that passengers died because of precious seconds lost
45:39trying to find the exits in the pitch dark
45:43what would have made a difference?
45:45track lighting on the floors
45:46and bumps along the overhead bins that identified the rows with emergency exits
45:51features that would eventually become standard
45:58as a direct result of 797 a number of rules were changed
46:03including a more stringent test for seats
46:05a heat release and smoke requirement for cabin interior panels
46:10requirement for smoke detectors in lavatories
46:14and hail on fire extinguishers in the cabin
46:19but the changes were too late for those who died on flight 797
46:24like the man sitting beside Connie Kirsch
46:29months after the crash his wife tracked Connie down
46:34she said I just understand my husband was the one that was next to you
46:38and I just wanted to know what how was he
46:41what was his spirits
46:47and I said he was in great spirits he's very nice
46:50he let me sit next to him and explained to me how to breathe
46:55that was really difficult
46:57you know and the guilt that I carried for a long time
47:02was difficult
47:04but I'm past the guilt
47:06but I guess when you go back to it and you think about it like this in detail
47:12you're right back there
47:17Stan Rogers was another victim of flight 797
47:21he would never be able to fulfill the promise of his life and growing career
47:28I loved his generosity and his loyalty as a friend
47:32as an artist he was perhaps one of the best songwriters this country's ever produced
47:36and it was really an incredible pleasure and honor to be working with him
47:44he still gets lots and lots of airplay
47:47and so his legend grows
47:54some time after the accident
47:56two Air Canada employees show up at Diane Fatley's door in Dallas
48:02they brought a Bible
48:04it's dark because it was burned and singed
48:09but it's a paperback Bible and it did not completely burn up
48:16this is just a reminder to me that God was with me
48:24and I believe he protected me
48:28and you know he was there with me
48:39Captain Cameron and his crew eventually received six separate awards for their heroic actions on flight 797
48:47including recognition from the Royal Canadian Air Force
48:51but they're all still haunted by the nightmare
48:54you feel responsible, there's no question
48:57you feel guilt, you're willing to give your license
49:02you feel very, very small
49:06until you get all the facts together
49:08because it's a puzzle for you, you know
49:10you're as much as a victim in this
49:12you're not supposed to fly an airplane in that condition
49:15you know, you're as much as a victim as the passenger
49:18and it becomes, I think it becomes all of our problem
49:21and we're all part of the solution
49:25it's just a shame we didn't get everybody off
49:28it still bothers me
49:29it's just a shame I'm left and human being
49:40I'm right now
49:54and I have to thank you
49:55and I will ask you for the same time
49:59so we do not get back to you