All language subtitles for Air.Disasters.S03E07.Under.Pressure.1080p.PMTP.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-maldini_track3_[eng]

Good morning, Nigerian 2120.
Cleared for takeoff 34 left.

-
-What's that?

A mysterious sound.

So as soon as
this aircraft took off...

We've got four
low pressure lights.

There was basically
no surviving.

The air brake thing
just broke.

-Smoke.
-I'll take a look.

They think they've got
a hydraulic problem.

You've lost all hydraulics.

A confounding
series of failures.

We're declaring
an emergency.

We are having
flight control problems.

Roger, roger.
I thought you were Saudi 738.

Now they have to grapple
with this blaze.

There's smoke
in the back. Real bad.

A raging inferno.

This thing would
have been like a torch.

It's pandemonium
inside the cabin.

No! No! No! Don't!

Bodies were falling
out of the aircraft.

There it is!
It's two miles out!

Christ,
I have no control!

And he had no idea
what would ensue

when he lowered
that landing gear.

261 people...

Landing gear down.

...on the brink of disaster.

Ladies and gentlemen,

we are starting our approach.

We lost both engines!

Put the mask over your nose.

Emergency descent.

Mayday, mayday.

Brace for impact!

I think I lost one.

Investigation starting...

He's gonna crash!

Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

The birthplace of
the prophet Mohammed.

This is the holiest city
in all of Islam.

Making the journey to Mecca
is a sacred duty

in the life of every Muslim.

The Hajj is the world's
largest pilgrimage.

This week more than
one and a half million people

will take part in the ritual.

50 miles away,

one of the largest airports
in the world

is the gateway to Mecca for
pilgrims traveling by air.

Jeddah airport has a terminal
built exclusively

for the annual Hajj.

A terminal that can handle
80,000 passengers at a time.

Today, in blistering
desert heat,

Nigeria airways
flight 2120 prepares

to take a group of
Nigerian pilgrims home.

For most westerners,

a Hajj flight would seem
almost surreal.

These are very poor pilgrims
from villages in Nigeria.

They've never been on a plane
for the most part.

The whole cultural difference
is amazing.

I mean, there's stories told
about some of these pilgrims

getting into the airplanes

and actually trying to
light their barbecues

to cook meals on the flights,

not realizing that, of course,
you can't do that.

The 247 passengers
are on board a dc-8

that will be heading west across
Africa to Sokoto, Nigeria.

It's a charter flight operated
by Canadian airline Nationair.

The dc-8 was the
primary aircraft for Nationair.

It was reliable, sturdy,
and served us very well

in operations
throughout the world.

Nationair was a
scrappy, little start-up airline

based in Montreal.

And it started by
taking people on vacations

to sunny destinations
during the winter.

And it grew very rapidly.

And then it had
this very unusual

offshore charter business,

which is what brought them
to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.

By offering
unconventional flights

that most other airlines
would never consider,

Nationair is giving
its competition

a run for their money.

Sir, you have
to take your seat, please.

Captain William Allan

is a former Canadian
air force pilot.

He has more than 20 years
of flying experience.

First officer Kent Davidge
will be at the controls today,

piloting flight 2120
out of Jeddah.

Let's close
her up and get out of here.

Starting four.

You've got
number four way up here.

Okay, starting one.

Victor Fehr...

I'll turn on the aircon.

...is the engineer
on today's flight.

There are two other Nationair
employees on the plane...

Lead mechanic
Jean-Paul Philippe...

...and project manager
Aldo Tettamanti.

Mr. Tettamanti
was sent to Jeddah

by our planning department

to primarily provide logistical
administrative support.

Flight 2120
must taxi three miles

across the sprawling airfield
to get to its takeoff position.

Flight controls.

Check.

It's a long way around.

Yup.

Good morning, Nigerian 2120.
Cleared for takeoff 34 left.

At 8:26 a.m.,

it's already 86 degrees
Fahrenheit outside.

Runway's clear.

All engines.

Okay, you have control.

I have control.

Stable.

Brakes released.

Set max thrust.

Max thrust.

Davidge powers
the dc-8 down the runway.

So, early
in the takeoff roll...

They hear a loud sound
in the cockpit.

And the flight engineer says...

What's that?

The instruments show
no indication of trouble.

They continue to accelerate.

80 knots.

90 knots now.

90 knots, check.

It's sort of a shimmy.

Like if you're riding on
one of those thingamajigs.

V-one.

V-one is the speed
at which pilots can no longer

safely abandon their takeoff.

Rotate.

Positive rate.

Gear up.

Nigerian 2120 airborne.

29.

Flight 2120 is now
climbing through 1,500 feet.

The plane has been in the air
for 90 seconds.

We've got four
low pressure lights.

What have we got?

You've got four
low pressure lights.

Yeah.

We might be
losing pressurization.

Pressurization is uncontrolled.

The instruments
indicate that

the plane isn't
pressurizing properly.

But in the cabin,
nothing seems wrong.

Level off.

Okay.

Nationair 2120,

we'd like to just level off
at 2,000 feet, if that's okay?

We're having a slight
pressurization problem.

In the tower, the
controller has his hands full.

An odd coincidence is
creating confusion.

Another plane is reporting
the exact same problem.

Say call sign.

The controller thought
he was talking to one aircraft

with a pressurization problem,

when, in fact,
there were two aircrafts

reporting pressurization
problems simultaneously.

I'd just like to
level off at 2,000 feet.

I've got
a spoiler light.

Wing spoilers reduce
lift when planes are landing.

Since the crew
hasn't deployed them,

the light points to yet
another malfunction.

Gear unsafe light!

You can descend
to 3,000 feet.

The controller
believes he's talking to

the other distressed plane...
A Saudi Arabian aircraft.

Fly heading 160.

Nationair is flying
at 2,400 feet.

Descending to 3,000
doesn't make sense.

There's so much
confusion going on

between the tower
and these two aircraft.

They're making a bad situation
even worse.

Allan thinks the
controller wants him to climb.

Heading 130,

and understand you want us
up to 3,000 feet.

That's affirmative.
Fly heading 160, heading 160.

We're losing
hydraulics here.

The loss of hydraulics
has significant implications

in controlling the aircraft.

Okay, 160.

And we're losing
our hydraulics here.

You revert to what
is called manual control,

and it's already difficult
with hydraulic assist,

but manual control is
even more difficult.

We're gonna need to
come back to Jeddah to land.

Flight 2120 is
eight miles from the airport

and flying away from it.

Roger, understand
you're going to land in Jeddah.

To get
back on the ground,

the crew will have to make
a wide left turn.

It will take them further away
from the airport,

before bringing them
back over the city,

to line up with a runway.

In the cabin,
the first signs of trouble.

Smoke, I smell smoke.

-Where?
-Back there.

I'll take a look.

The Nationair
mechanic is about to discover

the terrifying truth

behind flight 2120's mysterious
mechanical failures.

Amid growing
confusion in the cockpit,

the pilots of flight 2120
still don't know

that there's smoke in the cabin.

All they're dealing with

is just all the alarm bells
going off

to indicate that equipment is
failing left, right and center.

But mechanic
Jean-Paul Philippe realizes

they're in serious trouble.

An onboard fire
has the potential

to consume the entire aircraft
in seconds.

The air brake thing
just broke.

We've got a flap slot light.

Less than
three minutes after takeoff,

passengers begin to notice
something's wrong.

Okay, sir,
we have a problem.

We're leveling here
right at the moment.

Level off right now.

Right now! Level off!

We're level three.

The controller
still believes

he's talking to another plane.

Yeah, I will give
you further instructions.

Descend right now to 3,000 feet.

Jeddah airport is now
12 miles away.

With the heaviest smoke
at the back of the plane,

passengers rush forward,
desperate for air.

Okay,
leveling at 3,000 feet,

and if you could give us a
heading back toward the runway?

We're declaring
an emergency.

We'll advise you
of the problem.

We're declaring an emergency
at this time.

Roger, confirm
you would like to be runway 16.

Uh, no,
34 would be better.

We're gonna need time to
get ready for the landing.

So we have confusion
between the two planes

and the tower.

We have,
unbeknownst to the pilot

and the crew in the cockpit,

smoke billowing into
the passengers' seat area.

There's smoke
in the back. Real bad.

Yeah, we're heading back.

We've got a hydraulic problem,
okay.

This is the first
indication that the pilot has

of anything going on
in the back of the plane.

Should I tell the passengers?

Yeah, just tell them
we'll be returning to Jeddah.

They think they've
got a hydraulic problem.

Now they have to grapple
with this blaze

that is spreading through
the rear of the aircraft.

Things are rapidly
spinning out of control.

Okay,
let's get squared away

and see what we've
got here, please.

In the cabin,

it's becoming
almost impossible to breathe.

And Jeddah is still
11 miles away.

We've lost all hydraulics.

The odds on making it
back to the airport

are getting slimmer.

Damn it! I've got no ailerons!

Davidge can't steer
the plane with no hydraulics.

Hang on, I've got it.

Captain Allan struggles

with his control column.

But it, too, could fail
at any moment.

Let's get lined up
before things get any worse.

Okay, so we're at 2,000 feet now
declaring an emergency.

We are having
flight control problems.

Roger, roger.
I thought you were Saudi 738.

Only now does
the controller realize

that the troubled aircraft
is the Nationair flight.

Turn left
right now heading 080.

Expect runway 34 left.

By this time it's
pandemonium inside the cabin.

The passengers are being
engulfed by flames.

And bodies are starting to fall
from the aircraft fuselage.

The plane is
right over Jeddah,

a city of two million people.

The bodies were
falling out of the aircraft

11 miles from the airport.

Okay, sir,
we're having trouble turning.

We are having
flight control problems.

We will try to turn left,

but we are having
flight control problems.

And the situation,

it would have made certainly
controlling the aircraft

for an approach and landing
very, very difficult.

How much further?

10 miles.

1,700 feet.

Choking for air,

some passengers try
to open the doors.

At this speed, it's impossible.

No! No!

Jeddah 2120,
cleared to land runway 34 left.

Okay,
we're coming straight in.

We'll land on the left.

Require emergency vehicles
immediately.

We have a fire.
We will be ground evacuating.

Jeddah 2120, clear to land any
runway. Clear to land.

There it is!
It's two miles out!

Alright.

Let's get on the ground.

I've lost elevators.

Christ, I have no control!

Landing gear down.

Saudi air 738.

Nigeria airlines is down
just short of runway 34 center.

The fiery explosion

and sudden impact
with the ground

has all but obliterated
flight 2120.

A trail of blackened
debris stained the desert

half a mile short of
Jeddah's main airport.

Little was left of the dc-8...

Such was the force
of the impact.

247 passengers and
14 crew members are dead.

This is the worst accident ever
for a Canadian airline...

And the deadliest crash
of a dc-8 in history.

One day after the crash,

a team of Canadian investigators
arrives in Jeddah.

They'll be joining the official
Saudi investigation.

They now must figure out how a
dc-8 bound for Nigeria...

Nigerian 2120, airborne 29.

...ended up in pieces

just 10 minutes
after taking off.

Has anything been removed?

We'd heard that there'd
been an onboard fire,

but really
little more than that,

beyond the fact that
all the 261 souls on board

had perished in the accident.

Bill Taylor is

the transportation safety board
of Canada's technical expert.

My first view
of the crash site

was one of astonishment, really,
at the spread of the debris,

the severity of the breakup.

Usually there's some indication

of recognizable parts
of the aircraft.

But there was virtually nothing
to identify it as an aircraft.

I can't even tell
what most of this is.

It was critical for us
to know what happened

as quickly as possible,

because we're carrying millions
of people all over the world.

And so we wanted to know
if we had a problem.

Do we have a problem
with our operation,

our equipment, our aircraft?

The thing that impacts you

is when you're dealing with
247 passengers and 14 crew,

all dead.

That's...
That gets your attention.

And the fact that something
as big as a dc-8

is now lying there
in a zillion pieces, all burned.

Yeah, it has an effect.

I was responsible for
performing a site survey

which identified the location of
the major parts of the wreckage.

And searching for evidence of
the source of the onboard fire.

By mapping the spread
of the debris,

the investigators begin
to get a picture

of what happened to the dc-8
at the moment of impact.

The fuel sprayed out
in a v-shape,

and instantaneous fire
over that area.

Obviously, what had happened,

as the aircraft hit the ground
with a severe down motion,

it ruptured all of
the fuel tanks.

The main wreckage
sprawls across

a stretch of desert 1,300 feet
long and 650 feet wide.

A body was found 11
miles back from the crash site.

So the crash site actually
starts 11 miles back.

So it's like 12 miles of things
falling out of the airplane

and people falling
out of the airplane.

We did see that
whole sections of seats

were melted and charred,

and obviously had people in them
when they fell.

And everybody was, uh...

Very bad injuries.

Let's just leave it at that.

The most important
question for investigators

is where did the fire start?

But with so much of the plane
so badly burned,

it will be hard to plot
the progress of the fire.

They need to distinguish between
pieces that burned in the air

from those that caught fire
on the ground.

Damage from an in-flight fire

is usually considerably greater
than ground fire

because of the extra heat
developed from the air flow,

giving the blow torch effect.

And the effect on the metal
is to heat it to the point

where it's almost molten,

whereas in a post-crash fire,
it's an even coating,

and any material that melts
drips straight down.

The wreckage from
the front of the plane

shows the least amount
of fire damage.

Remnants from
the center fuselage

are the most severely burned.

This indicates that
the fire likely began

in the plane's midsection.

The center fuel cell
had been penetrated by the fire,

because there was
one part of that wall

that you could see
a clear burn-through pattern

in the wall.

We found that
the tail section of the airplane

was covered with
molten aluminum,

indicating that the air stream

had brought parts of
the melting airplane back.

It's clear
the fire grew hot enough

to melt the fuselage
before the plane hit the ground.

But how the fire started
is still a mystery.

Let's get all these
pieces back to the hangar.

The Saudi government
provides a hangar

for the investigators to conduct
a more in-depth analysis

of the wreckage.

The lead investigator
on the case

is the transportation safety
board of Canada's Ron Coleman.

The Saudis didn't have
the expertise on the ground,

or in the area,

and hadn't done any major
accident investigations

that I was aware of.

And also, they didn't have any
engineering lab capability,

and we did.

So they opted to let us
do that work for them.

Let's put together what we can.

We knew that parts of
the airplane had melted,

and part of the cabin
had burned away

underneath the passengers.

We know that aluminum melts at
1,100 degrees Celsius,

approximately.

So this thing would have been
like a torch.

Before investigators
can reach any conclusions

about what caused the crash,

Nationair puts forward
a theory of its own.

Early on, Nationair claimed

that a foreign object,
a hunk of metal,

had been on the tarmac
at Jeddah.

Nationair makes that claim

after learning remnants of blown
tires were found on the runway .

However, the
Saudi aviation authorities said

there was no evidence of any
foreign object on the tarmac

at any time before
or after the crash.

Canadian investigators

now face two very different,

but equally disturbing,
possibilities.

Either Nationair is
rushing to judgment

about why one of its planes
went down,

or the Saudi aviation authority
is attempting a cover-up.

Examining the remains of
flight 2120's landing gear,

investigators discover
that the wheels

may have had something
to do with the crash.

One of the left wheel rims
shows clear signs

of having been scraped
along the runway.

This is the number two
wheel that was recovered

from the accident site.

You can see here the area
where the wheel was ground down.

You can imagine
the kind of heat

that that would generate running
along the runway scraping off.

At the crash site,

Bill Taylor makes
a chance discovery.

It adds an unexpected new layer
to the investigation.

I noticed
a piece of paper

blowing across the site.

Picked it up, and I could see
there was handwritten notes

on this paper.

And it turned out to be part of

the a-flight
inspection checklist.

And it was the actual page
that recorded tire pressures.

Hey.

The maintenance
checklist shows

that the tires were inflated
to normal pressure.

What is not normal is that there
are two different colors of ink,

with a second entry
written over the first.

It was apparent that
the numbers had been changed

at some point.

It didn't look right.

We recommended that
we send it to the RCMP

for them to look at it
and see if it had been altered,

the document, because there is
a law in the aviation industry

that no document
shall be altered.

And this one looked suspect.

The plane's
flight data recorder

and the cockpit voice recorder
have been recovered.

Though it's far from certain
whether any data has survived

the intense heat
and heavy impact.

We packaged them
and transported them

back to the Canadian lab
for analysis.

Tire tracks on the runway

offer some intriguing clues

about what happened
to flight 2120.

Left main landing gear
had been leaving marks,

rubber marks, to begin with.

So this is the outer left wheel.

These continued
for some distance.

And then we could see where
the inboard front tire

of the left landing gear
had lost its tire.

In other words,
the tire had blown

and the wheel had come down
into contact with the runway.

From rubber marks
on the runway, Taylor concludes

that the aircraft blew
two adjacent tires,

both from the left main
landing gear.

What's that?

It's an important discovery.

But they still don't know
why the tires burst,

nor how that could have led
to the catastrophic fire.

Let's spread it out,
see what's what.

Investigators next
examine pieces of tire

found on the runway.

They're looking for any signs
of a defect, or heavy tire wear.

Visual examination found that

the tires had sufficient tread
to continue in service.

They were worn,
but still pretty good shape.

The discovery
supports Nationair's claim.

It's possible that
the dc-8 did, in fact,

hit something on the runway
that caused a puncture.

Press releases at the time

provided by the president
of the company

stated that the cause
of the tire failure

was debris on the runway.

Even with two blown tires...

Positive rate.

...flight 2120 got airborne.

The connection between
the blown tires

and the calamity that consumed
the plane still isn't clear.

Okay, let's get squared away

and see what we've got here,
please.

In Ottawa,
the transportation safety board

has salvaged
the cockpit voice recording.

But instead of solving
the mystery, it only adds to it.

What's that?

We've got a flat tire,
you figure?

The voice recorder
confirms that

the crew suspected
they had a blown tire.

You're not leaning
on the brakes, eh?

The pilot flying
is the only one

that has his feet on
the rudder pedals on a takeoff.

The rudder pedals are
also the brake pedals.

No, I'm not.

I got my feet on the bottom
of the rudder.

It can happen
from time to time

that you touch the brakes
either for directional control

or inadvertently.

And I assume that
that's what the captain thought,

that he might have inadvertently
touched the brake pedal.

It's common for pilots

to take off with blown tires .

It's considered less dangerous

than aborting a takeoff
at high speeds.

Tire failures
at the time

were not an uncommon event,
nor are they today.

You takeoff successfully,
continue en route,

and land at destination
without adverse consequences.

Okay,
we're leveling at 3,000 feet,

and if you could give us a
heading back toward the runway?

The Nationair crew

finally does declare an
emergency.

We're declaring
an emergency.

We'll advise you
of the problem.

We're declaring an emergency
at this time.

It's then that
the air traffic controller

realizes his mistake.

Roger, roger.
I thought you were Saudi 738.

There was another
flight coming inbound

that was having problems,

and the air traffic controller
thought that

he was talking to
the other aircraft.

Roger,
confirm you would like to...

Investigators wonder
if that confusion

contributed to the disaster

by delaying the dc-8's
return to Jeddah.

Uh, no,
34 would be better.

We're gonna need time to
get ready for the landing.

But after studying

air traffic
communication transcripts

and analyzing the flight path,

they determine that the mix-up
did not add any time

to the return journey.

As it turns out,
this didn't have any effect

on the eventual crashing
of the aircraft.

The question
remains...

Could a blown tire have somehow
led to an intense fire

that took down a commercial
aircraft in 10 minutes?

At the royal Canadian
mounted police forensics lab,

technicians have analyzed
the Nationair maintenance log.

Tests reveal two layers of ink
on the log entries.

The readings
for the tire pressure

were written over.

And the actual readings
that were underneath

showed 20 to 30 psi
below the required levels

to operate the plane
and tires safely.

So the only conclusion
that you could make from that

is that the entries
were falsified.

Tell me what the plan
was for the tires.

With this troubling
new information,

investigators now turn
their attention to the mechanics

who last worked on the plane.

They learn that four days
before the crash,

at a stop in Ghana, Africa,

mechanics wanted to
change the tires.

The tread was beginning to wear,
and the pressure was low.

The investigative team
wants to learn more

about how Nationair managed
day-to-day maintenance.

Bill Taylor is joined by
operations expert Larry Vance.

What we did was look at
all the operational issues.

And we looked at human
factors...

Basically, everything
that had to do with

the operation of the aircraft.

You're not going to
believe what I just found.

Taylor uncovers evidence

that the tire change
was never carried out.

A fax from the Nationair
project manager in Jeddah

ordered it stopped so the plane
could stay on schedule.

They had a facsimile
come in

from the project manager...

Forget it.
They want us to get going.

...saying that some of
their passengers were being

given off to other carriers,

which put some pressure on them

to abandon their plan
to change the wheels.

It was felt it would
have caused a greater delay.

So the fax came in
and said,

"stop the tire change.
We're way behind.

We may lose the contract.
Load everybody up and get back".

And so they did.
They stopped the work.

Because Nationair is
"go, go, go, go",

nobody wants to deal
with anything

that could delay the departure.

Rather than
top-up the tires,

a mechanic altered the log

to make it seem like
the tire pressure was fine.

There's no indication
that they ever added pressure

to the tires to actually
inflate them to that.

The just simply made
the books look right.

Three days later,

the plane landed in Jeddah with
the same under-inflated tires.

At 5:00 a.m.
The following morning,

the crew arrived for
pre-flight checks.

20 minutes before takeoff,
lead mechanic Jean-Paul Philippe

finally decided to get
the tires topped up.

He had waited
for quite a long time.

I believe the passengers
were on board,

and the baggage was on board.

Basically,
the flight was ready to leave

when he finally decided
it was the right thing to do

to try and get nitrogen.

All the tanks are empty.

Aircraft tires are
inflated with nitrogen, not air.

Nitrogen does not expand
as much as air.

It's also less flammable.

He actually made
an attempt to find nitrogen

to top the tires up.

Listen, I just...
I just need to top-up two tires.

That's it.

Philippe asked
another airline to help.

I just need
to top-up two tires.

They had nitrogen
bottles, but they were empty.

That didn't go very well.

It was reported to us

that the project manager
just simply said, "forget it.

"We're not going to get
nitrogen.

We're gonna go without
topping-up the tires".

And away they went.

He's not a commercial
pilot or a trained mechanic.

Investigators now conclude

that the project manager's
lack of experience

was a critical factor
in the accident.

He was making
operational-type decisions

on behalf of...or instead of...
Some of the people

who should have been making
the decisions themselves,

and putting a stop to things

like allowing the aircraft to
fly with under-inflated tires.

Oh, let me guess.
We got to go.

It was something new,

and was to have actually
assisted us

in being better prepared and
operating more effectively.

In hindsight, the irony is,
the reverse actually happened,

that additional pressure
was put on the crews.

Any decision to take off
with an unworthy airplane,

or tires that were low,

ultimately should have been
communicated to the captain,

because the captain is
the person that's responsible

for the safety of the airplane
and the crew.

But that didn't happen.

No one in the cockpit
was likely aware

the tires were under-inflated
before takeoff.

I don't think that
this flight engineer

would find it significant

to see the values on
the tire pressures were changed,

as that is not an unusual
occurrence on a journey log.

Incorrect values are entered,
and they're changed or fixed.

Before it crashed
claiming 261 lives,

the same plane took off
and landed seven times

with the under-inflated tires.

Records show that
the plane's loaded weight

was about the same
for each flight.

So why did the tires blow
on July 11th at Jeddah?

How long is
that taxiway anyway?

Investigators suspect
the answer relates

to the sheer size of the airport

combined with extreme
desert temperatures.

It was something like
11 minutes of taxiing

with several turns.

So it was a long taxi

before they even started
the takeoff run.

They taxied
for five kilometers.

The tires must have been
burning up on the tarmac.

The dc-8's
main landing gear consists of

a left and right bogie,
each with four wheels.

Uniform tire pressure
is important.

It ensures the weight of
the plane is distributed evenly

between all eight wheels.

When you have
an under-inflated tire,

that total weight
then is distributed

over the remaining wheels.

It would be felt
on the axle-mate

of the low pressure tire.

We calculated, using
our weight and balance figures,

that the pressure for that day
would have been 183 psi.

It's pretty clear from
the RCMP investigation

that one of the tires
was 155 psi.

That's 28
pounds per square inch

below the safe level.

Added to that, the effects of
a long taxi run

on a scorchingly hot taxiway.

During taxi
there's an opportune time

for tires to heat,

and particularly tires
that are under-inflated

to heat up, flex, and so on.

When you get
over-deflection,

or excessive bending,
in that area, it generates heat.

If you generated enough heat,

the nylon begins to melt
and pulls apart.

The tire blows.

-
-What's that?

The first tire to
burst was not the low one,

but the one right beside it.

90 knots now.

The under-inflated
tire blew next.

The wheel rim hit the runway.

And when that started to
drag and wear down the runway,

it got super hot.

Hot enough to ignite
the rubber tires.

The crew took the fire
into the air with them,

and it quickly consumed
the plane.

So as soon as
this aircraft took off

and they retracted
the landing gear,

there was basically
no surviving.

Gear up.

The fire was
going to spread.

There's smoke
in the back. Real bad.

They were gonna crash.

Yeah, just tell them
we'll be returning to Jeddah.

It's all over
10 seconds after they lift off.

When the aircraft got airborne,
positive rate, gear up,

and the gear went into
the wheel wells on fire.

Unfortunately,
the dc-8 did not have

any heat or fire indication

to tell the crew that
they had a problem

with the landing gear
in the wheel well area.

The fire begins
on this tire.

Investigators now
know where the fire started,

and why it spread so quickly.

The left wheel well
burns first.

Using the remnants of tire

and perhaps hydraulic fluid
as the fuel,

this fire continued to burn
in the wheel well.

We might be
losing pressurization.

Pressurization is uncontrolled.

Next, this bundle of wires...

The wiring for
the spoiler light.

I've got a spoiler light.

The fire's spreading fast.

It's reached here...
The main hydraulic line.

We're losing
hydraulics here.

By now, the fire's
reached the very top

of the wheel well.

It's eating through
the emergency wheel brake.

The air brake thing
just broke.

Then the fire hits
the right wheel well

and this bundle of wires.

It shorts out
the flap slot light.

We have electrical wires,

we have hydraulic fluid...
All highly flammable.

We've got a flap slot light.

And you've got the air
rushing at you at 240 knots.

Now the fire breaches
the wheel well,

making its way up
towards the cabin...

Burning through
the aileron controls

on the first officer's side.

Damn it! I've got no ailerons!

Clearly, a fire
in the wheel well

is a very dangerous thing,

because of what's
in the wheel well.

This is the way the airplanes
have been designed,

and they function fairly well

until something like this
happens, and we find out...

Oh, perhaps that wasn't
a very good place to put this.

Once it's burned through
the main fuel tank here,

it's all over.

He had no idea
as to what would ensue

when he lowered
that landing gear.

Landing gear down.

The fire had
compromised the structure

to the point where

when this action of lowering
the gear took place,

it destroyed the airframe.

The official
accident report

issued almost two years
after the crash

found the dc-8 was unfit to fly .

I don't believe that

the people who were
making the decisions

had in their heads that
this was a hazardous thing

that they were doing.

The report lists
several causes for the crash,

including the lack of
fire prevention equipment

in the wheel wells,

and the decision to release the
plane with under-inflated tires.

The mechanics
working on this aircraft

were not fully aware of
the hazards involved

in low tire pressures.

A number of
critical changes came about

after this accident...

Smoke, fire and temperature
sensors in the wheel wells

are now mandatory on
all modern aircraft.

Most critically,
all crews are trained

on the importance of
properly inflated tires.

Forget it.

They want us to get going.

The accident
was a major factor

in the collapse of Nationair
in 1993.

The accident, I think,

was probably
the beginning of the end.

Our emphasis of
production over protection

really identified the main
weakness in the company.

Oh, let me guess.
Look, we got to go.

You can only
pressure your people

to cut corners so many times,

and put pressure on them to
keep to schedule so many times,

and put dollars ahead of safety
so many times

before something will go
terribly wrong

like it did in
this Nationair crash.