Original subtitles

(Dynamic music)

♪

(Text on screen)

(whirring slows)

- What did you do?

(Dixon): Nothing.

- Did you hear those noises? - I did.

- The audio playback of the cockpit voice recorder

gave the investigators the first real clue

as to the cause of the accident.

(broadcast): Loganair 6-7-0-A loses two engines

and crashes into the North Sea.

Both pilots are dead.

- Why would that trigger a dual-engine failure?

- It's never happened in the past.

- Serious aircraft accidents rarely have one causal factor.

It's a combination of circumstances.

- Here's something.

The crew called an engineer before departing.

- All done.

(man): Why did the crew need

to investigate a problem?

- Brace, brace. Brace.

(crash)

- Mayday, mayday

(engine whirring)

(indistinct radio chatter)

(narrator): It's mid-afternoon on a chilly winter day

at Edinburgh Airport in Scotland.

Several aircraft are preparing for departure,

including Loganair Flight 6-7-0-A.

At the time, Loganair, a Scottish carrier,

was a franchisee of British Airways.

- It operates about 40 different aircrafts,

and it does that in a variety of modes

whether it's passenger or cargo,

to support a dispersed population.

- Anti-collision beacon.

- Anti-collision beacon, on.

(narrator): Running through pre-departure checks

is 58-year-old Captain Carl Mason

and 29-year-old First Officer Russell Dixon.

- Start master armed.

- Engine start sequence.

- Starting right engine.

- The captain is hugely experienced.

He had Royal Air Force training

before he became a civilian pilot.

- One, two, three.

- First Officer Dixon passed his training

with no failures or scrapes.

- Ignition.

Fuel lever forward.

We have ignition 500, 600, 700.

(narrator): The pilots are at the controls

of a Shorts 360, known as 'the Shed'

and 'the Flying Shoebox' for its unusual boxy shape.

- The Shorts 360 is a short-haul commuter airplane

which carries a total of 36 passengers and crew,

or approximately 8300 kilos of freight.

It's a lovely airplane to fly.

(narrator): Moments after starting the right engine...

its generator stops.

- Let's try that again.

(Harris): You carry out a set procedure

to try and get the generator back online.

(click)

Nine times out of that will solve the problem.

- Starting sequence finished, stabilizing at 73%.

Ahh, not again.

Call maintenance. The Shed does this from time to time.

- The Shorts 360 is powered by two Pratt & Whitney

PT 65 engines.

They're a very reliable, robust engine.

However, you could have a fault with the generator

where it will not be connected to the aircraft

AC electrical systems.

- All done.

- Terrific, thank you.

(narrator): The engineer gives Loganair 6-7-0-A

the green light.

(engines whirring)

- Loganair 6-7-0-alpha,

cleared for Talla five Delta Standard Instrument Departure.

- Logan 6-7-0-alpha, Talla five Delta, Roger.

(narrator): As the pilots taxi towards the runway...

- Auto-feather test.

(narrator): ...they complete final pre-departure checks.

- Feathering off.

(narrator): Today, the plane is carrying more than, 2000 pounds

of letters and boxes destined for Belfast,

in Northern Ireland on a scheduled one-hour flight

for Britain's Royal Mail.

- Prop levers, maximum?

- Fuel levers flight.

(narrator): Loganair 6-7-0-A prepares for take off.

- 80 knots.

- Roger.

- V1. Rotate.

(narrator): At 5:28PM, the crew lifts off

from Edinburgh Airport.

- Cycle landing gear.

(Harris): It is prudent to cycle the undercarriage

after take off in these conditions.

The slush can collect in the covers

that the undercarriage retracts into.

As you climb this can refreeze as the temperature drops.

(narrator): Loganair 6-7-0-A

climbs as it approaches the North Sea.

- Altitude?

- 1150 feet.

- Lots of white caps out there.

- The wind is quite something, isn't it?

- The crew would have seen that the sea was rough.

They knew that the wind was blowing very, very strongly,

because the aircraft was being buffeted about.

- Altitude?

- 2200 feet.

(narrator): Not two minutes after take off,

the crew takes preventative measures...

- Let's put the anti-icing on.

(narrator): So, precipitation doesn't form into ice

in the engines and on the wings.

- Anti-ice, both on.

(plane humming)

- What did you do?

- Nothing.

The Captain realizes they're losing power

in both of the engines.

(weak whirring)

- We have a double engine failure.

- Torque is zero on both engines.

Uh, dual-engine failure...

- Fuel?

- At 3000, we have plenty.

(narrator): Without engine power,

and only 1600 feet above the sea,

the crew has little time to troubleshoot.

(Harris): If you lose two engines

you are not going to be able to maintain altitude,

so it is a very serious situation.

(narrator): The Captain initiates a right turn

towards the coast,

looking for a safe place to land.

- Mayday, mayday, mayday this is Logan 6-7-0-alpha,

we've had a double engine failure.

Repeat, double engine failure.

- Roger, Loganair 6-7-0-alpha, roger your mayday,

turn left, heading two-five-zero.

The airfield is three miles to the northeast.

- Airspeed?

- 150 knots.

- We can't relight the engines.

(Harris): An engine inflight relight checklist would take

three to four minutes for an experienced crew at minimum.

These pilots did not have time to do this.

- 1300 feet. 110 knots.

(narrator): Without power, they're rapidly losing altitude.

- Altitude?

- 1200 hundred.

(narrator): With the airport still three miles away

and no suitable place to land on the coast,

Captain Mason has only one risky option.

- Prepare to ditch.

(Dunne): If I was going to be on a flight where everything

was going to go wrong, something like a dual-engine failure,

Captain Mason is the guy I'd like to have in charge.

He has enormous experience in flying over the very hostile,

freezing cold North Sea.

- Airspeed is 110 knots.

- I'll get us as close to shore as possible.

(dramatic music)

- All they could do was to make the ditching as smooth

and as slow as they possibly could

without losing control of the airplane.

They had that task to perform.

If they performed it well, they hoped they would survive.

- Airspeed is 100 knots.

Captain Mason prepares the aircraft as best he can.

(Harris): The captain increases the pitch to reduce the speed.

This will hopefully prevent the nose entering the water

first and hence the aircraft flipping over.

- Loganair 6-7-0-alpha, we are ditching.

Send recovery, send recovery, over.

(narrator): The radio call doesn't get through.

- Loganair 6-7-0-alpha do you read me?

Loganair 6-7-0-alpha, over?

(alarm sounds)

(GPSW): Pull up.

- Airspeed? (GPSW): Pull up.

- Airspeed is 88.

- 87, 86...

- Brace, brace, brace.

(beeping)

(crash)

(narrator): Loganair 6-7-0-A crashes into icy waters

only 65 meters from shore.

Neither pilot is able to escape from the submerged plane.

It isn't until daybreak that the tide retreats

and investigators are able

to get a close look at the wreckage.

- The flight deck was badly crushed.

The bulk of the rearmost fuselage and the tail unit

had broken away.

(seagulls cawing)

The aircraft was in a nose down attitude

with the engines really stuck into the sand.

(narrator): What could have caused both engines to fail

just minutes after take off,

resulting in the deaths of two experienced pilots?

The UK's Air Accidents Investigation Branch or AAIB,

immediately begins its investigation into the crash

of Loganair 6-7-0-A.

- Uh, please send those to HQ.

(narrator): Salvage teams are able to recover

most of the wreckage.

- We'll start with the engine?

- Mmhm.

- The first message I got was that the aircraft

had sent out a distress call

stating that they'd had a double engine failure.

Our interest was very much focused on the engines.

(narrator): While the recovered flight data

and cockpit voice recorders are prepared for download,

investigators look for damage to the engines

to explain why the plane crashed.

- Not a single blade appears bent.

There was no power on impact.

(narrator): Neither engine was working

when the plane hit the water.

(Coombs): If an aircraft struck the water

with the engines running the result would be

bending of the compressor blades

in the direction opposite to that of the...

of the airflow.

We found no evidence of such bending.

- Dual-engine failure is unusual.

- Maybe it's something mechanical,

a problem or defect we can't see here?

- We'll get the engines to the manufacturer.

(Coombs): We removed the engines from the airframe

and shipped them to the manufacturer in Montreal,

with a view to finding out whether there was any evidence

of mechanical failure within the engines.

(sombre music)

- Take off speed is normal.

(narrator): With the data from the flight recorder downloaded,

the team scrutinizes the engine parameters for leads.

- The climb is fine.

Two minutes in.

- Hmm. Look at that.

- It looks like both engines flamed out

at about the same time.

(whirring slows)

- We have a double engine failure.

- Torque is zero on both engines.

(narrator): A dual-engine failure is often due

to pilot confusion, not a mechanical issue.

(Coombs): It's a result usually of an engine failing

for some reason or other followed sometime later

by a second engine, um, shutting down as,

as a result of actions taken but applied to the wrong engine.

(narrator): In 1989, the pilots of British Midland Airways

flight 92 shut down the wrong engine after a fan blade broke

13 minutes after departing Heathrow Airport in London.

The plane stalled and 47 people were killed.

(crash)

- There's no way the pilots accidentally shut down

a second engine that quickly.

(Coombs): In this instance, the shutdown of the two engines

occurred certainly within seconds of one another,

which really didn't fit in with the scenario.

(♪♪)

- Could you start 80 seconds into the flight,

just before the engines flame out?

(narrator): The team now turns to the cockpit voice recorder

for insight into the engine failure.

(Mason): Altitude?

- 2200 feet.

- Let's put the anti-icing on.

(clicking)

- Anti-ice, both on.

(plane humming)

- What did you do?

- Nothing.

(Mason): We have a double engine failure.

(clicking)

- Did you hear those noises? - I did.

I wonder what they could be?

- I'll play it again.

(tapes winding)

(Mason): Let's put the anti-icing on.

(Dixon): Anti-ice, both on.

(humming)

(whirring)

(Captain) What did you do?

- As soon as the first officer turns the anti-icing

switches on, there's humming noises and four seconds later,

both engines flame out.

(Dunne): The audio playback of the cockpit voice recorder

gave the investigators the first real clue

as to the cause of the accident.

(plane humming)

- What did you do? - Nothing.

(Dunne): It was definitely linked to the two switch

selections followed very shortly afterwards

by the engines running down.

- We have a double-engine failure.

- The torque is zero on both engines.

(♪♪)

- Why would activating the anti-icing systems

somehow shut down both engines?

- It doesn't make any sense.

(narrator): AAIB investigators examine the anti-icing system

of the Shorts 360 to determine if it played a role

in the dual-engine failure of Loganair Flight 6-7-0-A.

- You know maybe the actuators failed.

(♪♪)

(beep)

(whirring)

(narrator): Electrical actuators operate mechanical vanes

that redirect ice and snow out of the back,

preventing ice from blocking airflow to the engine.

When the vanes are in operation,

they reduce air intake by 50%.

Was the anti-icing system working?

Investigators test another actuator

to see if it matches the humming sound heard on the CVR

before both engines flamed out.

(click)

(humming)

(humming stops)

- Well, that sounds familiar.

(Coombs): Tests on the actuator

produced a tone which was similar to that detectable

on the cockpit voice recorder of the aircraft.

- Shall we compare it to the CVR?

- Mmhm.

(narrator): Investigators listen to the humming sound on the CVR

to confirm it's the anti-icing actuator operating.

(humming)

(humming stops)

- It's the same.

(narrator): The matching sounds indicate the anti-icing

actuators on Flight 6-7-0-A were fully operational.

- As there is no other similar equipment in the aircraft

that operated at that frequency,

the sounds must have been the result of operation

of the anti-ice system.

- Why would activating the anti-icing system

trigger a dual-engine failure?

- It's never happened in the past.

Besides, aircraft use anti-icing systems all the time.

- Aircraft anti-icing systems remove ice

from control surfaces, from the wing,

or from the engine air intakes,

and that just allows for the normal operation

of the aircraft in pretty poor conditions.

(♪♪)

- If they were using the anti-icing systems,

maybe the weather played a part in the failure

of the two engines?

(narrator): Investigators review

the weather chart for answers.

- February 27th, the crew lifted off at 5:28PM.

No precipitation, clouds at 4500 feet.

Winds 16 knots.

Ground temperature is 2 degrees.

- That doesn't sound like icing conditions at take off.

- No, and the plane wasn't airborne long enough

to accumulate ice during the flight.

- Hang on.

What about the storm overnight?

Maybe that had something to do with the engine failure?

- It was quite a storm.

Lots of snow.

A cold wind.

- The weather was appalling.

It was gusting about 35, 45 miles an hour.

It was snowing most of the time.

- Where was the plane during the storm?

- Well, the plane landed in Edinburgh

just after midnight on February 27th.

(narrator): The crash happens later that day.

- That's right around the time the storm began.

- And it took off at 5:28PM.

- 17 hours.

Is it possible the aircraft was parked outside

in the snow the entire time?

- Let's talk to the pilot who landed the plane in Edinburgh.

(Dunne): Was there anything specifically

that the previous crew did, saw, noticed or understood

which may help them to actually understand what was

the causal elements of this accident?

- How can I help?

- What happened when you arrived in Edinburgh?

(narrator): The AAIB turns to the captain

of the inbound flight for answers.

- The weather wasn't great when we landed.

(tires skidding)

It was snowing and we could see

the weather was going to get worse.

- We taxied in and parked the plane at Stand 31,

with the other aircraft.

- Did anything seem abnormal with the aircraft?

- Nothing unusual at all.

- Once you parked the plane, what next?

- We supervised the refuelling.

The plane was scheduled for de-icing.

(whirring)

But as you can imagine, there was a backlog.

(narrator): The plane was scheduled to be de-iced

before the next departure.

- Attention all crews and passengers...

(narrator): But then the airport was closed.

(Dunne): From midnight the snow started to become worse.

It was interrupting the snow clearing

and de-icing operations, and by two o'clock

the airport authority elected to shut the airport down,

which was the correct and safe decision at that time.

- How long did you stick around the airport after it was closed?

- A few hours.

Then at 6AM, we learned the airport

wouldn't be reopening for a while.

So, we secured the plane and clocked out.

- Secured it how, exactly?

- It was shortly before dawn.

By then, it was really blowing hard.

It was icy, and there was snow everywhere.

(narrator): The Captain explains how the propellors were secured.

(Harris): There are sock-type straps

attached to two of the propellors.

They are then attached to the side of the fuselage

which stops the propellors rotating in the wind.

- After securing the plane, we went off duty.

And that was it.

- What about the engine intakes, did you cover them with bungs?

(Dunne): The aircraft bungs are a blank

which covers off the engine intake.

It protects the engine from the ingress of dust,

dirt, particles, insects, snow, and as such it protects

the engine while the aircraft is parked.

- Well, normally we would, but there were no bungs.

(♪♪)

- Bungs were available at the main bases of Loganair,

but not at Edinburgh.

So, the flight crew had no means of protecting the air intakes.

(wind gusting)

- Right.

I think that's everything.

- Let me know if you have any other questions.

- Thanks. Will do.

- The aircraft should be fitted with bungs

if the machine was going to be left unattended

for a lengthy period.

But Edinburgh was regarded as a mere transit stop.

Therefore, no bungs were kept there,

and the aircraft didn't carry any bungs.

- We know the plane parks here, at Stand 31

shortly after midnight when it was already snowing.

The airport closes two hours later due to bad weather.

(narrator): Investigators construct a timeline

of the aircraft during the snowstorm.

- According to the Captain, at 6AM, the crew secures

the plane because the storm is still raging.

Secured partially, without bungs,

leaving the engines exposed.

- And then the crew leaves? - Mmhm.

- The plane takes off 11 and a half hours after

the first crew secured it.

What time did the storm end?

- The snow stopped at 9:52AM.

The cold, knot gusts continued for a few hours,

and the temperature hovered just slightly above freezing

by early afternoon.

- That's ten hours of exposure to snow, ice, and wind.

(narrator): Would that be enough time for a significant amount

of snow to enter the engine...

(plane humming)

- What did you do?

- Nothing.

(narrator): ...and somehow cause both engines to fail?

(whirring slows)

(suspenseful music)

Could exposure to a snowstorm for ten hours

have contributed to the dual-engine flame out

on Flight 6-7-0-A?

- Temperature? Wind?

(narrator): Investigators consider the impact

of the wind conditions.

- Hovering around zero

with winds from the northeast gusting up to 43 knots.

- 43 knots, that's a strong wind.

- Which way was the plane parked?

- Umm...

The plane was parked...

Uh...

Straight into the wind.

(narrator): The team discovers the wind was blowing snow

and ice directly into the plane's engines

for ten hours.

- The aircraft had been parked

in extremely nasty weather conditions,

with driving snow and ice pellets,

and the wind was consistently down the centreline

of the aircraft,

which exposed the intakes to have snow and ice pellets

being blown into them.

- 10 hours. That's a lot of snow.

- True.

But once the engines are turned on, it should melt.

So, what's different here?

- Maybe it had something to do

with the amount of snow accumulated?

(narrator): Could enough snow have accumulated in the engines

to clog the air intakes

and cause the crash of Flight 6-7-0-A?

- Mayday, mayday, mayday

this is Logan 6-7-0-alpha,

we've had a double engine failure.

Repeat, double engine failure.

- One of the things which makes this accident

a particular challenge for the investigators

is that they're dealing with ice and slush and snow

within the engine intake.

That disappeared into the sea during the crash.

- Brace, brace, brace. (GPSW): Terrain, terrain.

Pull up.

(crash)

Without knowing how much snow collected in the engines,

investigators keep the possibility

of an unrelated engine malfunction on the table.

- Pratt and Whitney's detailed examination

of the engines came in.

- Did they find anything?

- There are no faults or defects with the engines.

- As a result of the examination,

we were satisfied there was no evidence

of any form of mechanical failure within the engines.

(plane whirring)

(♪♪)

- What about a compressor surge?

- Now that's an idea.

It could happen if the airflow is restricted enough.

(chirp)

(narrator): When airflow to the combustion chambers

that power the engine's turbines is severely interrupted

or restricted, it can cause a compressor surge

and can completely shut down the engines.

(pen squeaking)

- How restricted would the airflow have to be

for the engine's compressor to surge?

-I'll check.

- Aircraft engines require

pretty much undisturbed airflow

to work efficiently and effectively.

(narrator): Could both engines have been starved

of enough oxygen to result in a dual-engine flameout?

- Here we go. For a compressor to stall and flame out,

the airflow into the engine must fall below 22%.

- Mmhm.

So that means...

snow and ice

would have to block 78%.

- That's a significant percentage.

(narrator): A 78% reduction in airflow

would explain why the engines failed on Flight 6-7-0-A.

- Could that much snow have accumulated within the engines'

intakes to block 78% of the airflow?

- Let's find out.

(Coombs): The preliminary assumption that was made

was that snow had built up

within the intake system.

We needed some sort of assurance that this was a possibility.

(♪♪)

- I'll handle the snow. You work the fan?

(narrator): AAIB Investigators test how snow

might accumulate and restrict the engine's air intake.

- So, we produced this mock-up

of the engine intake system.

- Ready?

(Coombs): And we utilized an extractor fan

to create the airflow through the engine.

(whirring)

(squeak)

(squeak)

- I'll check to see where it all went.

- You're not gonna believe this.

With the plane facing straight into the storm,

snow not only entered the engines' air intakes

but made a degree turn into the upper chamber.

(whirring)

(Coombs): These imitation snowflakes all consistently

rose up to the top chamber.

And we satisfied ourselves that the airstream

carrying the snow would have been capable of depositing it

all in the upper chamber.

- The chamber is full of tubes and pipes.

The snow would likely stick to all that cold metal.

(Dunne): There are ducts, pipes, cables, wiring

and all of these provide ample opportunity for snow

to adhere to, to gather, and given that the aircraft

was exposed to these conditions for over ten hours,

That was how we believe that the snow actually gathered

undetected within that area.

- But how would snow up here

restrict 78% of airflow down here?

- Good point.

Something else had to happen for intakes to be blocked 78%.

(♪♪)

- Serious aircraft accidents

rarely have one single,

um, causal factor.

There's usually a primary causal factor,

but, in the end,

it's a combination of circumstances.

- What happened between the end of the storm

and the plane's departure?

(pensive music)

- Here's something.

(narrator): Did something else happen

to the snow-filled engines after the storm?

- The crew called an engineer before departing.

(Dunne): One question for investigators

was why did the crew call for the assistance

of maintenance engineers to investigate a problem?

- Hmm. I'll talk to maintenance.

(♪♪)

- You helped the crew with a concern before take off?

(narrator): Investigators question the engineer

about the maintenance call to Loganair 6-7-0-A

the day of the accident.

- They called, and I went over to have a look.

The AAIB learns the Captain was having trouble

starting the right engine.

- Let's try that again.

- The right engine generator would not come online.

(whirring)

- Starting sequence finished, stabilizing at 73%.

Oh, not again.

(Dunne): What this essentially meant was that the aircraft

had half of its electrical power only,

and so the crew quite correctly shut down the engine

and then called for maintenance assistance

to determine what the problem actually was.

- So, what did you do?

- I transposed connections on the generator unit,

and it restarted.

(clicking)

- All done.

- Terrific. Thank you.

- Try running the engines for 30 minutes.

(Robinson): The crew carried on running the engines

after it was apparently fixed.

- I left, and that was the last I heard from them.

- The fact that the aircraft had been sitting around

in inclement conditions overnight...

- Prop levers maximum.

- Fuel levers flight.

(Robinson): ...they may be seeking the confidence

that the generator was going to stay online.

(♪♪)

- At 3:12PM,

the pilots report the engine issue to the engineer.

He came at around 4PM and got the right generator online.

Then at 4:30PM,

the crew runs the engines for 30 minutes.

- 30 minutes?

(narrator): Investigators consider the impact

of starting up engines filled with snow and ice.

- The heat from starting those engines

would most likely have melted all the ice and snow

in the upper chamber.

- And then gravity takes over,

and it all slides down,

landing here right in the path of the air intake.

- Which means all that water and slush

would have frozen into ice.

(♪♪)

(narrator): After the engines were turned on,

snow and ice inside the upper chamber

likely melted and slid down to the air intake.

When the engines then idled for 30 minutes,

cold air entered the intakes,

refreezing the water and slush into ice.

- But is it enough?

(narrator): Was there enough ice inside the air intake

to obstruct the airflow by 78%?

- What else happened before the engines failed?

- The last thing they do before the engine failure

is turn on the anti-icing system.

- Altitude?

- 2200 feet.

- Let's put the anti-icing on.

- Anti-ice, both on.

(plane humming)

- And when the anti-icing is turned on

to clear the air intakes,

these vanes would deploy, obstructing the airflow.

(♪♪)

- When the anti-icing vane operates,

airflow is reduced by 50%.

(narrator): If accumulated ice reduced the airflow

by another 28%,

it would explain why the engines failed.

- The total blockage of the airflow is sufficient

to cause the compressor to surge

and the engine flaming out and a complete loss of power.

- We had two very well-qualified crew on the day,

and it was an alignment of circumstances

that they could not see or foresee.

(narrator): Captain Mason and First Officer Dixon

arrived at Edinburgh airport long after

the snowstorm had ended.

- Anti-collision beacon.

- Anti-collision beacon, on.

- They had no idea that their engines were filled with snow.

- The snow had melted from the fuselage.

(wind gusting)

- Start master armed.

- Engine start sequence.

(♪♪)

- They took all the right steps at take off.

They did nothing wrong.

- But what about after the engines failed?

(dramatic music) (narrator): Could the pilots

have found a way to save their plane?

- Airspeed?

- 115 knots.

- We can't relight the engines.

Prepare to ditch.

(whirring)

(sombre music)

- This is the final minute of the flight.

(narrator): Investigators return to the flight data

to determine if the crew followed proper procedures

after losing engine power.

- Once the engines failed, the pilots needed to relight

the engines to make it to land.

- Right, run a dual-engine failure checklist.

(whirring slows)

- We have a double engine failure.

- Torque's at zero on both engines.

Dual-engine failure.

(narrator): But the only checklist available

was for a single engine failure.

- Dropping fast from 1600 feet,

Captain Mason probably knew that he didn't have time

to relight the engines.

(Mason): Airspeed?

(Dixon): 110 knots.

- We can't relight the engines.

- 1300 feet.

110 knots.

- They had no choice but to ditch.

(whirring)

- Altitude.

- 1200 hundred.

- Prepare to ditch.

(narrator): Did the pilots do everything they could

to ensure a successful ditching?

- Uh ditching, ditching.

There's no ditching procedure for a dual-engine failure.

- Ditching with power then.

We don't have flaps.

So, aiming for lowest possible speed.

- Without any engine power, the hydraulic systems

would not be operating.

The hydraulics drive the flaps which means he had to touch down

at a higher speed than he would like to do so.

- As we get closer,

I'll increase the pitch to nine degrees.

Anything I'm missing? - No, sir.

- Without flaps, the only way you can reduce speed

is to increase the angle pitch of the aircraft

prior to touch down.

His actions were correct.

- The Captain tried to reduce the impact

with the few resources he had at hand.

- Hmm.

- You hope it kisses the surface of the sea

rather than thumping into it.

- Airspeed is 110 knots.

- I'll get us as close to shore as possible.

(Learmount): The slower you can go,

the safer the ditching is likely to be.

- A successful ditching also requires level wings on impact.

They nearly pulled that off.

(beeping)

- Airspeed?

- Airspeed is 88.

- When the aircraft touched the water surface,

one wing was three degrees lower than the other.

That's a very, very small amount.

- From the time he identified the problem

to the moment the plane hit the water,

the Captain nailed every single action correctly.

(♪♪)

- They were very professional,

and they showed excellent prioritization.

The captain especially, his experience clearly showed.

- Brace, brace, brace. (GPWS): Pull up, pull up.

(crash)

- I have immense admiration for this crew,

because they found problem after problem,

which they couldn't have foreseen.

They handled the situation absolutely as well

as any crew could possibly have handled it.

(water flowing)

(narrator): This investigation reveals that checklists

for double engine failure and ditching without power

were missing from the Loganair Operation Manual.

(Robinson): The results of this accident

was the tragic loss of two crew

who had been doing their best to follow procedures.

(narrator): The airline also didn't adequately reflect

the manufacturer's advice for protecting the engines'

intakes during severe weather conditions.

- If the airline had, um, followed the recommendations

of the manufacturer and carried onboard air intake bungs

for the crew to use when the weather conditions demanded,

then this accident would never have happened.

The AAIB recommends that flight crews are educated

about the potential of ice and snow buildup inside engines.

- I think the most important recommendation

was that crews must be alerted to the fact

that there's a possibility that snow would have built up

in parts which are not visible to them

by simply looking through the air intakes of the aircraft.

- This was a very regrettable accident.

(Dunne): Their fate had been sealed

by an alignment of circumstances

that whilst difficult to recognize were avoidable.

(plane whirring)

(♪♪)

Subtitling: difuze