COVID-19: With Travel Halted, What Happens To The Planes? | Grounded | CNA Documentary

there were days where there are no flights zero flights with thousands of planes grounded aircraft engineers have their job cut out for them we are just like of soldiers on the ground guarding our planes in an exclusive look behind the scenes singapore airlines we're going to check for microbes in the fuel tank philippine airlines these are used to add weight to the aircraft and malaysia's air asia we are working day and night show you what it takes to protect grounded aircraft it's overwhelming it's one of my toughest time in my life we have our task cutoff for us it's surreal it's beyond imagination everything is grounded [Music] [Applause] this is what life on the tarmac once looked like nearly 100 000 flights taking off and landing every day all around the world we were doing well the aviation industry was actually booming today the world health organization officially announced that this is a global pandemic covert 19 would change all that we will therefore impose significantly stricter measures major airlines will ground flights the crisis for airlines is deepening as more countries close their borders [Music] the coronavirus pandemic escalated into the worst crisis in aviation history no matter the airport on the planet planes started cramming in [Music] rows upon rows of aircraft all with nowhere to go [Music] i don't feel good at all looking at these scenes is not a good wheel to have this make me sad they are meant for flying not sitting on the ground doing nothing here so these are strange times right not the usual buzz of activity and you can almost just hear the sound of the wind it's very it's uh i i can't i can't imagine the words that i need to describe most of the airlines across the world were cutting capacities to the tune of 80 90 effectively you're looking at just a handful of aircraft taking off each day commercial passenger flights were all but decimated never before have we seen this in modern air travel april 2020 was the single toughest month for airlines across the wall plane after plane with wings clipped be it singapore manila or kuala lumpur aircraft engineers would need to protect their grounded planes in ways like never before so more than ever now the industry is depending on the aircraft engineer to help the operators get through this tough time with all the aircrafts parked and stored across the world it's critical that they need to maintain the aircraft in order to return the aircraft to service properly the aircraft engineer is behind the scenes doing their job day after day night after night you could refer to them as sun heroes in a lot of ways singapore airlines is my first job i've been here just slightly over a decade i have been working for philippine airlines for 10 years now it has been 13 years with asia and this is my first job the very first daunting task for our unsung heroes parking the planes so many planes so little space airports that are designed to keep aircraft in constant motion rather than stationary these facilities are not designed or optimized to store that much aircraft so it runs counter to what they were designed for so much of the aircraft that we find parked at airports now are parked on taxiways and runways as asia is the biggest airlines in malaysia by fleet size with around 280 planes there's a huge challenge for us to find space for all these big birds so even when we park all our airplanes in kra 2 is not enough we have to park in cargo terminal like in bangkok they're even parked in the taxiway and some of them is sent to phuket and pattaya international airports all this is a very huge challenge for us [Music] taxiways which connect runways to terminals have been used as parking space in singapore too so you can hear one of the planes just landed on the runway behind me and it's right next to the taxiway where we have actually parked planes which is not a normal situation because the planes are usually parked at the gates and the remote base right behind me you already see two triple sevens we're gonna have a third one they're gonna squeeze in right here in the history of changi the only other time we have actually parked placed on the taxiway was during stars in 2003 but it was only for a short while and only for a few aircraft unlike 2020 where we actually have more than 90 of our fleet being grounded finding space is just one part of the challenge precise positioning is another parking aircraft on taxiway you don't have a clearly demarcated locations where you put aircraft in and we have to take extra precaution for example keeping aircraft 25 meters apart because so that when you turn on the engine you don't blow dust or exhaust onto the aircraft behind okay so you can see all three are parked nicely in a bit of a tight squeeze but the team did a good job we did it we pulled the 350 right in front of triple seven like a jigsaw puzzle carriers have to make the pieces fit nose to nose wingtip to wingtip [Music] today in manila a tricky parking job in an already packed zone so as you can see in the background you have a bay a parking bay there is a space available it is intended for one aircraft to be parked right on that same spot i have here my laptop actually this one shows a depiction of the entire facility you can see how crowded it is the aircraft will be this spot right here it's complicated you see a lot of aircraft and you just don't know how to move them around we're moving forward now it's a tight tight squeeze for this triple seven its 65 meter wingspan is nearly the width of a football field you will have two wing guides a one on each wing so they are the ones to make sure that the wings doesn't hit anything slowly sir slowly constant communication wait i think we're too close now as the plane makes a tight turn the biggest challenge is to ensure that the aircraft is far from other aircraft so that we can avoid any mishaps like damaging other aircrafts that are being parked or even causing injury to personnels involved in the towing operation the aircraft finally edges in all done time for a breather in the command center next door which is unusually quiet [Music] so right now what you can see here are terminals so normally you would have one person per terminal but since the covid hit us there's just only a few people who are working and they are all on skeletal workforce this pandemic it gets you some somewhere inside it gets you [Music] you need to think at the higher purpose why you're here it's a way for you to be motivated if you think that on a grander scale you're able to help out a whole lot of people a whole country it just gives you that kind of energy to go on before we strive to keep the planes well maintained however when kobe 19th there were more and more unscheduled maintenance unlike pre-covert days now we have to be segregated by teams so it's a little bit more challenging now our responsibility is even higher it's overwhelming we have to do a lot of maintenance procedures so that when we want to return the aircraft to service it's a safe condition we are just like of soldiers on the ground guarding our planes rain or shine we have to work this is what we do and yeah still ahead how tiny creatures can cause big problems this is kind of a natural threat that we are facing every day there had been a recorded crash where there is an insect that was stopped [Music] regular washing rotating tires testing parts of the wings the to-do maintenance list for grounded aircraft is long if we print out the manuals there's a list of two and loans you'll be easily running up to 100 pages over in the aviation industry safety is of paramount importance and there's a lot of guidelines that we actually follow so even if planes are grounded it's not like the guidelines or the restrictions go away one of the key guidelines protect the plane against wildlife no matter how small this is kind of a natural threat that we are facing every day apart from bees or birds upon sighting we have to immediately remove them with airports quieter than ever before planes have now become the perfect nesting ground for creatures of all shapes and sizes here is another nook and crannies for birds there's a hole here and a lot for them to make a bird nest recently in bangkok because of the aircraft are in parking moos some of our engineers found bird nests under the wings we have to safely remove the bird nest so that the birds are not harmed in any way [Music] the hunt for wildlife goes beyond the wings crawling into the hot and stuffy confines of the landing gear is an integral part of the drill it's normal for mechanics to be able to perform such inspections in a very unfriendly environment because it's part of the job there are a lot of openings in this compartment any sort of wildlife might snuck into most of the time you may find birds or maybe small rodents crawling in here that may damage all these electronics and the hydraulic lines in the aircraft [Music] even the tiniest of pests which might seem harmless to an aircraft pose serious threats an oversight can prove catastrophic the data sensors they are these equipment that is installed in front of the airplanes they capture air data and this air data is then translated and is read in flight by the pilots so the pilots would know how to maneuver the airplanes when it is up in the air [Music] so we have here the pitot probes which are responsible for the measurement of the the air pressure in the on flight and we have temperature sensors and we have the angle of attack sensors which gives information to the flight crew on the angle of the aircraft in flight you need the air to go inside to have accurate data for the cockpit if you don't put in such covers here you might accumulate some dust or insects may go inside and therefore it clogs up the pitot system there had been a recorded crash years back where there is an insect that was stuck in one of the tubes in the pitot tubes therefore the indication that is seen by the pilot in the cockpit it's not the real condition of the airplane you have to take care of even the littlest things such as small sensors we need to always ensure that these covers are in place and they are intact they are not just blown away by the winds we have programs in place to have them inspected on a daily basis [Music] daily weekly or monthly maintenance tasks are performed throughout the plane but one part is particularly important the engine which can cost upwards of 25 million dollars each for an aircraft the engine is the most expensive part and it's a part of the aircraft we need those engines to power the whole aircraft for the operations development apron set online force run a big risky permission today in singapore the engines on this a350 will be powered up but the plane is going nowhere so typically when an aircraft is flying and there are regular flights the engine is always turned on on a regular basis however when the aircraft is on ground for extended period these engines are not turned on as frequent as we want them to so depending on the aircraft or the engine type and what parking mode they are in we can run the engine either every month or every three to six months the engine runs are really important if you left your car sitting in your garage for a long period of time and didn't start it regularly not only would your battery be dead but your seals and your gaskets and things like that would be dry the engines look out for readings in a cockpit but also pay attention to the sound if there are any abnormal sound or high pitched tones so when the engine is humming stable there's no high pitch sound it signals the engine is good all the engine parameters are good engine ground run is good no forks captured for about 20 minutes now it's very loud and i have to put on my ear pieces normally we run the engine for about five minutes at both at the gate but in this unprecedented situation where we have aircraft all over changi airport actually allows us to keep the engine running for about 30 minutes shutting down number one running of the engine burns away any water content that's in the oil because water can be corrosive and this is what drives the aircraft so it's very important to protect the engine to make sure it's rust free is well oiled to ensure that it is in good condition and safe to fly running the engines burns up any moisture but it will be several weeks or months before the next power up so in the meantime aircraft engineers have additional safeguards in southeast asia one would think that it's a tropical paradise but instead the high amount of water in our air the humidity is the main concern for us will cause corrosion of our engine parts causing problems on our system and the aircraft so we are putting a silica gels back inside the engines to prevent moisture and keep the engine safe from rusting they are the same as those tiny silica gels that we found when we unpack our household electronics packages so it's the same idea but larger in size for each engine we need at least five packs of this so in total of one aircraft we need 15 minimum we use this humidity indicator when they change ping like this it shows us that we need to change all the bags so you can imagine how many of this we need it's not an easy work at all so many aircrafts around the world is grounded so this silica gel spec are in high demand every airline needs it for the corrosion prevention so it's very hard for us to procure we are working day and nights try to procure from every supplier that have [Music] aircraft engineers had to work hard to procure engine covers too these help fully shield the engine from humidity and other hazards so these are the engine covers made of lightweight and more importantly durable material they're very important to cover the engines to prevent any wildlife insects or dust uh dirt it's thick enough that uh you know a nail wouldn't appear through the engine covers are also waterproof and they are chemical resistant so in the course of maintenance if you have oil sputtering or oil spillage the covers are there to prevent these from entering the engine while the main engine often grabs the spotlight there is no forgetting this this is an aircraft hidden engine we need to cover it up this is the engine that we will not normally see when you're boarding an aircraft the sound that you hear is not from the main engines it's come from this this provides the electrical power for hours camping lightings and other aircraft systems as well basically in order to protect the hidden engine we have to cover it up [Music] in between tasks time for a coffee break and a call home [Music] hi hi richard how are you for two months yup has stayed away from his family this i think is one of my toughest time in my life i cannot get to see my wife and daughter after a long day of work i'm staying alone in a rented room the idea of us staying separately come from me because i need to reduce the possibility of infections to my family members i have to keep them safe i keep in contact with many persons during my work so that's why i put them to stay with my in law and i'm staying alone [Music] it's really difficult you know after a long day at work i'm totally exhausted and at the rented room i cannot see my family members especially my wife and daughter and there's only a video call and i need them to keep me going and i really need their support during the video call yeah it's very hard what i can say is that i love them very much still ahead what it takes to protect the aircraft interiors the cabbage humidity can rise beyond a certain level this can cause damage to our seeds planes are designed to withstand thunderstorms but that's when they are up in the air on the ground it's a whole different story when there is a hiring conditions and aircraft in parking the aircraft can be moved by the wind itself it's just like what i saw recently in youtube in that video both of the aircraft are in parking modes with the high wind and thunderstorm the aircraft moves by itself turning hundred degrees and then they hit the other aircraft [Music] it's very dangerous so we have to make sure the aircraft is tied down and secured properly here in the philippines there is always a typhoon like every month especially in the rainy season so when there is a forecast of very strong winds or thunderstorms what we do is fly the aircraft to other base stations like cebu and clark so we can get away from the flight path of the thunderstorms and the strong winds now we cannot do that because the situation in the parking is horrific so here in philippine airlines what we do with the aircraft is we make them heavier so they don't get swept away by the strong winds of the typhoons so what we do is to load them with aircraft ballast weights each of these ballast weights is 5 kilograms when we are loading the ballast weights there is a specific calculation where to put it so that we don't mess the center of gravity of the aircraft weights aside tires must be secured then there's the risk of lightning strikes planes are built to withstand lightning during flight on the ground this cable is literally a life saver these are called grounding points and this is a ground wire so the grounding point is basically a connection to the earth what it does is to dissipate the energy from the aircraft's body towards the ground if this is not connected as you can see then there is a risk for anyone who touches the aircraft that they would have an electric shock and that's going to be uh dangerous to to any humans [Music] an aircraft engineer's job is a constant battle against the forces of nature [Music] if it isn't thunderstorms it's the inescapable humidity that constantly crops up okay so today is the day we're going to check the fuel tank and uh our team here today fauzi you got your beaker and salsa has a test kit fuel is the lifeblood of any aircraft such tests are imperative to prevent the slightest contamination aircraft uses jet fuel it's a kind of purified kerosene that can also absorb moisture and humidity so if you don't use your fuel tanks frequently you might have water in your fuel tank okay so fawzi is draining and once you're done we'll check for any water in the fuel water in fuel tank is not good because water can breed microbes and these contaminants can cause damage to the fuel tank and to the aircraft which then impacts safety you might think jet fuel is a hostile substance that actually kills the contaminants like your microbes but not that's not the case okay so what's good about this sample is that we don't see any bubbles and that's a good sign because bubbles mean water so we can proceed to take a sample from microbes next [Music] okay so this is a fuel test kit don't you think it looks pretty much like a medical test kit and we use a fresh kit every time we test for microbes in the fuel and after we put a few drops we'll just wait about 15 minutes to get the results the fuel tank is one of the biggest things that we have to keep an eye on when we are storing the aircraft for a long period of time so if they do find the microbials you would have to drain the fuel tanks and then vent the fuel tanks it's about a three to four day process so that it's safe for someone to go in there and essentially clean it out with rags and mops to get all the microbials out of the tank [Music] okay so the results are in and we got a good result today you can see many lines so there's a good sign of zero contamination the endless fight against moisture continues in the cabin as well just as the engines are protected with moisture absorbing bags so too the inside with the cabin doors closed the cabin humidity can actually rise beyond a certain level moisture can actually cause mildew to damage our leather on our seats the carpets curtains the galleys so it's important to keep the aircraft dry and moisture free so if you think about your home closet where you put a dehumidifier this is also what we do to protect our cabin where we put desiccants or dry bags to absorb the moisture because it can build up in this climate so every minute when we check the cabin we also have to ensure that cabin humidity stays below a certain level we use a gauge to measure the humidity just look at the lower number we see a really below 60 which is uh acceptable and that's good which means the cabin is good the reading exceeds uh 60 we have to replace the desiccants throughout the cabin because then there's a little bit more moisture that we can take one place where aircraft are safe from moisture the desert nothing this big has ever landed in the alice a thrill for local plane spotters when the singapore airlines a380s touched down this morning carriers like singapore airlines are storing some of their biggest aircraft in the australian desert you would need an arid environment one of the key choices within the region would be alice springs airport it's dry so it's better for maintaining the equipment by putting it in a more conducive environment for long-term storage you're looking at less damage eventually when the aircraft returns to service at a later time that's the reason why several other carriers have entrusted their aircraft to similar facilities across the world including this one here in the arizona desert we have over 400 aircraft in storage right now those came from six continents we've seen a 600 percent increase in our business in storage since cobit 19. we estimate we have an excess of 50 billion dollars worth of assets on the ground here that we're protecting for our customers the aircraft will be put back into service as the pandemic winds down there is a result of the operator failing or just downsizing some of these airlines will decommission aircraft less fuel-efficient aircraft will then be phased out of service [Music] since kovitz started we have employed 200 plus technicians to maintain the vast amount of maintenance requirements to give you an idea in may we performed about 26 000 man hours worth of activities on aircraft in storage [Music] back in asia our engineers are clocking in the hours too the simplest of tasks can be laborious and time consuming take for instance seat checks a jet with 300 seats could take upwards of five hours to complete such an inspection so every month we check our cabin also from first class business class and premium economy where i'm sitting right now to make sure that the seats are good for example the recline leg rests food rests new tables also are very important to make sure they work well you know where they slide it's all good sturdy not loose things like our overhead reading light and the personal reading light so these are really really small things that might seem insignificant but they're really really important because if we find problems early enough we can actually fix them and it's important not to let this pile up because eventually you might spend more time put resources to fix them then there are other tasks that might appear mundane [Applause] shutting thousands of window shades on grounded aircraft for example so one of the things we'll do is to close our window shape because this can easily block out the sunlight and the uv rays because they can be damaging to our furnishing we also want to protect the cockpit from heating up we apply aluminum foil on the outside of the copper windows because they bounce the light off we want to reflect the sunlight away from the aircraft so on most of our singapore airlines planes we have window shades that we can pull down easily to block off the sunlight on the other hand our subsidiary airlines good they actually have dimmable windows you have the buttons that bring the windows from bright to dark so this is why on the 787 dreamliners we actually apply a black plastic sheet to cover the windows because they don't have the manual window shades that you can easily pull down this is an unprecedented situation we had to be creative and think on our feet to find solutions to these problems so when i started in this career i knew the aviation industry was very dynamic we had experienced 9 11 stars and the most recent global financial crisis each time we face a crisis like that we bounce back but it was nothing as unprecedented as today's kobe 90. my family also has concerns you know if i have any exposure or risk but i constantly assure them you know that we take all our measures wear our masks and keep our distance so my family is also worried but this is my job it's our responsibility we don't know what the future hold but we are adapting the complexity of airplanes is nothing compared to the complex emotions that you need to deal with yourself during the the peak of this pandemic situation my mother-in-law she was hospitalized there was a coved scare because the hospital that we went to there are also patients there who are positive it's scary beyond belief you're rendering service to to the filipino people you need to be here in the office but you also need to be at the side of your wife it's it's really a struggle it messes with your mind after a few days the doctors told us that she is negative the sigh of relief was un well incomparable coming up the new normal some of our aircraft are pulled out from hibernation we have our tasks cut out for us so there's a lot on our plate [Music] months into the covert 19 pandemic a huge proportion of the world's planes remain grounded but things are slowly changing amid revised travel restrictions that means the already hectic job of the aircraft engineer is now even more complicated some of our aircraft are pulled out from hibernation in order to put in parking there's a lot of bugs and its same goes when we return the aircraft to service we have to do the inspection remove the covers and run the engines so that everything is working fine the reactivation depends on our aircraft storage duration we need around one to three weeks to get it back to life [Music] domestic demand has come back in various countries in a larger country you have different regions so this creates a market within the country for people to travel from one region to another in a country like singapore it is doubly tough because singapore has no domestic network people don't fly within the country so for singapore airlines that has meant thinking outside the box in this case filling empty seats with full boxes instead in this kobe 19 situation we've actually transformed some of our passenger planes to carry cargo typically we carry cargo in the cargo hole or the belly hole but we try to maximize our capacity so this is a really unique situation that we've never done before from the airline's perspective when passenger operations were decimated it is a good way for them to bring in some revenue and deploy aircraft that's otherwise idle at the same time there was an increase in demand for essential medical supplies and perishables that needed a quick turnaround time that was very suited to air freight operations so to protect the seeds we put bubble wrap before we apply a plastic covering over them so just like a passenger also needs to have his seatbelt fastened at all times we also want the cargo to be fastened at all times so we use the ropes to strap them on i want to show you something very interesting as well these are our in-flight entertainment monitor screens which we also need to protect and we install pillows with fingret so that we don't have any damage incurred during the loading process so we are adapting our engineers are coping with managing the regular flights reactivating some of these parked aircraft and at the same time maintaining the current parked aircraft so there's a lot to do and oversee in the philippines it's taken manny's team several days to reactivate this grounded plane with technical checks now complete attention turns to the cabin we use some special solvents and disinfection solution to be able to clean thoroughly all the food tables as well as special inspections on the seat pockets and we thoroughly clean it the pandemic is already changing air travel as we've known it a new reality that's not going away anytime soon we have removed the magazines that you would usually find there in the seat pockets for the blankets it will just be made available for those passengers who really need it for our cabin crew we require them to wear the mob cap the face mask and the gloves and of course the ppe suit [Music] we have a modified way of serving our passengers including the meals that we serve them so now instead of pouring our beverage to a cup the passengers are served their beverage in a bottle and also deserve to our passengers our meals in a bistro box and all are disposable as well [Music] for the airport they provide food bats at the entrance and before you enter the aircraft each time before a flight they sanitize the floor also passengers are encouraged to come in three or four hours before their flight because we need to of course practice physical distancing before the passengers can freely talk to the check-in agent without any barrier but now because of this pandemic the company decided to put up a plastic barrier to ensure that the passengers are protected and at the same time our personnel are also protected at changi airport there are newly installed screens at countess too [Music] check check-in kiosks will now have sensors just hover your finger over the screen also face and iris recognition have replaced finger swiping at immigration and on the limited singapore airlines flights carrying passengers travel is contactless as well magazines newspapers and entertainment controls can be managed via an app there will be no more hot towels a care kit with a mask sanitizer and wipes will be given out instead so ellen's are working hard to restore confidence in air travel clearly some of these measures will differ from airline to airline they do have to balance the cost of running a business and allaying the fears of passengers over at airasia similar measures are in place checking in using our mobile app is the key here as part of the start of contactless experience you can actually upload everything into our app and then use your own phone that you trust that has been sanitized by you that is your trusted aid to be able to travel with us we've been using data particularly analytics algorithms to assess the type of guests that are going to be traveling with us which areas are they traveling from in each city in each country there are travel hotspots areas that are higher infected and lower infected so we look at whether we should provide them insurances medical protection and other really such validations before we allow them to travel so we're doing a lot of trials in that area but data is a big part to play in keeping an eye on the coved impact right now for us safety and safety of our guests is our number one priority air travel may have changed but out on the tarmac the work of the aircraft engineers goes on all with a goal of reconnecting the world again definitely it's for the people you're rendering service to them people needs to go meet their family to be with their family people need to go elsewhere to continue business you don't think this is just any ordinary work as an aircraft engineer we would like to see our passengers or customers with a peace of mind that can board our planes fly to their destinations and come back safely that is my responsibility we have our tasks cut out for us as we adapt to the new normal so there's a lot on our plate what keeps me going of course where everybody is working towards the same goal we want to encourage each other and try to overcome this crisis together in times like these nothing like encouragement video from my boss this crisis has pushed our operational capability to that limit i'm very proud of our people who have stepped up during these tried times i want to thank all of you for the hard work and sacrifices and to your family for their understanding as we cope with these unprecedented times people i hope your wife and two kids are still speaking to you so i just watched a short video from my boss who gave us huge encouragement in the efforts that we've put in day in day out we maintain our planes it got me teary-eyed because the emotions that were evoked was adjustable to how things that we do are not seen but yet seen at the same time [Music] and in manila a similar tribute as well [Music] we just sang the song of philippine airlines we sang it with much pride part of the lyrics there says that we are very resilient we will get through any hardship any difficulty especially now during the pandemic and we couldn't have done it without this special guys here who represents the whole family of maintenance and engineering and in our very simple way since we cannot just shake their hands we decided to sing a song for them i'm definitely surprised it was breathtaking and heartwarming indeed for us to be surprised like this it's the cabin crew team who made their way here in spite of the very unforgiving environment you should be actually resting in your house but you gave some of your time to surprise us to uplift our spirits from the deepest and from the bottom of all our hearts thank you a very thankful yep as well he's just thrilled to be home now i'm happy with my family together after a two-month separation when this is all over we are planning for holidays my wife and me is thinking of holidays in australia perth especially we definitely will fly with asia it's very safe i personally look after the aircraft i think all of us want to take a good break and actually get to travel and fly again i want to take my kids and my wife and you know on a holiday somewhere where we can have fun enjoying ourselves i think that would be everybody's plan everybody wants to go out it's everybody's goal after all this pandemic february this year i got married definitely i would love to have another honeymoon with my [Music] wife let's fly to the sun vacation times just begun a dreamers holiday for me and you let's celebrate in style on a far away tropic isle cocktails on the beach for only two so let's fly to the sun just [Music]

Channel: CNA Insider

Views: 1,075,035

Keywords: cna insider, cna documentary, SIA, PAL, AirAsia, airlines, planes, grounded, maintenance, aircrafts, CNA, covid-19, pandemic, travel ban, quarantine, lockdown, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, hangar, engineer, coronavirus, aerospace, pilot, asia, Singapore Airlines, where are planes stored

Id: D9uZmmoexUk

Length: 45min 23sec (2723 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 08 2020