FIRE onboard!? The nightmare of Swissair 111

in the middle of the night high above the Atlantic Ocean smoke begins to fill the cockpit of a Swiss Air md-11 a fire has started and the pilots tried desperately to get their plane back to the airport behind them 227 lives hang in the balance the pilots raced through emergency checklists as conditions in the cockpit deteriorate right above their heads the fire is burning through critical aircraft systems the first officer's instruments go dark and he has to squint through the smoke to see his tiny backup instruments will the crew be able to get their burning aircraft to an airport Before Time Runs Out this is the chilling story of Swiss Air flight 111. on the night of September 2nd 1998 215 passengers and 14 crew boarded Swiss Air flight 111 a John F Kennedy International Airport in New York they were Bound for Geneva in Switzerland a seven hour Journey they had no idea as they settled in for the Atlantic Crossing that their fight number would become synonymous with one of the most terrifying dangers a plane can encounter but back in 1998 flight 111 had different connotations it was known as the United Nations shuttle because many of the passengers were un officials who used it to travel between the organizations two main centers in New York and Geneva the majority of the passengers on board were from the United States France and Switzerland though in all there were 21 different nationalities on the flight and on this night the aircraft was also carrying a painting by Pablo Picasso open the cockpit were two experienced Pilots in command of the flight was 49 year old ER Zimmerman he had just under 11 000 hours of Total flying time 900 of which were on this aircraft the md-11 Zimmerman had started his career as a fighter pilot with the Swiss Air Force before joining Swiss Air in 1971 he was also an instructor pilot who trained new Swiss Air Pilots to fight the md-11 he was described as being someone who created a friendly and professional atmosphere in the cockpit and who worked with exactness and precision he was also Keen to improve his knowledge of the aircraft he flew and was known to question technical specialists in the maintenance department about the aircraft and its systems sitting beside him was 36 year old Stefan Lowe he had just under 5 000 hours of Total flying time over 200 of which run the md-11 he too had started his flying career with the Swiss Air Force and had been a fighter pilot for several years before joining Swiss Air in 1991. like the captain he was also an instructor pilot on the md-11 and before flying this aircraft he had flown the Airbus A320 and md-80 he was described by colleagues as being a partner in the cockpit with a quiet and calm demeanor but who could be assertive when appropriate in other words the passengers could not have been in safer hands for this transatlantic Crossing this episode's sponsor is War Thunder War Thunder is the most comprehensive Online vehicle combat game ever made with more than 2 000 Vehicles including planes helicopters tanks and ships I really like how customizable the vehicles are you can apply hundreds of camouflages and you can put things like bushes and equipment on your vehicle to hide it in the terrain I've also enjoyed how much interaction there is between all the vehicles in the game it's free to download and play on PC Xbox series X or S PlayStation 5 and the previous console generation click my link in the video description to play War Thunder for free you get a large free Bonus Pack by signing up with my link which includes multiple premium Vehicles a premium account boosters and much more just after 8 PM that evening flight 111 pushed back from the gate at JFK with over 63 000 kilograms of fuel in its tanks this aircraft was a seven-year-old McDonnell Douglas md-11 the md-11 was a relatively new aircraft in 1998 having been released only eight years previously it had a mother and so-called glass cockpit with digital displays and a sophisticated navigation and autopilot system its three engines also made it a fuel efficient alternative to four engine Jets like the Boeing 747 Switzer had fitted the first and business class section of this particular aircraft with in-flight entertainment displays hardly a Marvel nowadays they were in innovation in 1998 and Swiss Air was one of the first airlines to implement them they allowed passengers to watch movies play games and even access the internet from their seats as innocent as they seemed on this night these additions to the aircraft would end up putting the lives of everyone on board in grave Danger shortly after quarter past eight that evening first officer Lowe lined the massive aircraft up with the runway at JFK and pushed the engines to take off thrust on takeoff the aircraft performed normally there were thunderstorms along the Route so the pilots steered the aircraft left and right to avoid these as they climbed up to their cruising altitude of 33 000 feet about 45 minutes later at just before 9 pm that night the captain contacted monctonair Traffic Control in Canada and informed the controller that he was level at 33 000 feet they were well and truly on their way now in less than six hours they would be back on the ground in Geneva in the cabin the 215 passengers tried to get some rest like the pilots many of them had not been in New York for long enough to adjust to the time difference and so it was effectively three o'clock in the morning for them but within minutes of reaching their cruising altitude the first officer noticed an unusual smell in the cockpit he pointed this out to the captain who agreed that something did smell out this was the first sign to the pilots and something was amiss shortly afterwards the captain saw wisps of smoke coming from the ceiling behind the first officer and pointed it out to him It's Not Unusual for the air conditioning system to produce Vapor on a plane you may have seen this before as a passenger so at first the pilots weren't too concerned in fact the smoke was coming from a gap right beside the air conditioning vent in the cockpit nonetheless just to be sure the first officer handed control of the plane back to the captain and got up from his seat to investigate he had look around the area but by this point the smoke had disappeared the captain called a flight attendant up to the cockpit and asked if she could smell anything odd and whether there had been any smoke in the cabin she said that she could smell something in the cockpit but that there was no smell in the cabin and no sign of smoke is it the flight attendant then returned to the passenger cabin and the pilots settled back into their seats they had no idea that they were in Mortal Danger right above their heads in the space between the cockpit ceiling and the skin of the aircraft a fire had started the culprit electrical arcing from the wires supplying the in-flight Entertainment System had ignited a thermal insulation material which started to smolder for months swisser had been aware of overheating problems with the in-flight Entertainment System in fact some Airlines had even decided not to install it in their aircraft because of how much power it drew we're now about to see the consequences of Swiss Air's decision to install this system the pilots were falsely reassured that the smoke was likely from the air conditioning system but just to check they brought up the air page and the system display in the center of the cockpit this showed them the status of the air conditioning and ventilation systems they found nothing out of the ordinary here nothing to give them a clue as to the source of the smoke they had seen this came as a relief whatever they saw and smelled was likely nothing more than an air-conditioning anomaly and one that wasn't even significant enough to show signs of its existence on their instrumentation at this point things returned to normal in the cockpit the captain turned on the passenger seat belt signs when the plane encountered some turbulence and he fetched updated weather information for the Atlantic this return to normality would be brief in fact From This Moment onwards the crew's situation would deteriorate by the minute within seconds of the crew receiving the updated weather information the smoke returned this was a turning point for the pilots they couldn't risk continuing out over the ocean with an unidentified source of smoke in the cockpit they immediately began discussing potential diversion airports some way into this discussion the captain looked back at the smoke and said that's not doing well at all up there before this the smoke had been wispy and intermittent now it was getting thicker billowing outwards and it wasn't going away the captain declared a pan pan Which is the international radio signal for an urgent situation it's one step below declaring a mayday here's the actual Air Traffic Control recording from that night immediately um uh Swiss Air 111 Roger I turn right to proceed uh you say to Boston you want to go Roger and uh to set the flight level three one zero is that okay the pilots began descending to flight Level 310 or 31 000 feet as instructed by the controller they put on their oxygen masks and began preparing for a diversion Boston Logan Airport with 300 nautical miles from their current position or about 550 kilometers with the possible fire on board the crew might not have enough time to make it that far the controller then suggested a much closer alternative so Sarah 111 Center would you prefer to go into Halifax and buy it Halifax was just 60 nautical miles from the plane five times closer than Boston but the crew were unfamiliar with it if they made an approach to Halifax they would have to scramble to fetch the charts from the library at the back of the cockpit familiarize themselves with the approach procedures in Airport layout begin a rapid descent towards the airport and set the plane up for landing all while carrying out the emergency checklist for unidentified smoke in other words the workload required for an approach into Halifax was immense however the pilots knew that if they did indeed have a fire on board they may not have a choice in a fire every second counts based on this the crew made their decision they were going to attempt to land at Halifax so Sarah the first officer put an altitude of 29 000 feet into the autopilot and the pilots began preparations to land at Halifax the atmosphere in the cockpit was calm but focused a rapid diversion like this would be demanding even if it wasn't being carried out in the potential presence of a deadly fire aware that the crew of flight 111 would be extremely busy preparing their aircraft for an immediate Landing the pilots of a nearby British Airways aircraft offered to help them out by providing the weather at Halifax one five miles scattered at two zero Seventeen plus twelve two minor eight zero maybe we copied this saved the pilots from having to manually fetch the weather and bought them precious time to carry out their checklists the controller then cleared them down to 10 000 feet 111 you're clear to ten thousand feet altimeter is two nine or eight zero as part of standard procedure for any aircraft in an urgent situation the controller asked the pilots for the amount of fuel they had on board and the number of passengers but the crew were too busy to check this information they had to triage what was essential for them to get done and what could wait right now the only thing that mattered was getting the plane down quickly for landing in Halifax the first officer put the aircraft in a steep descent losing four thousand feet in altitude every minute he changed the selected speed on the autopilot from 295 knots to 310 knots in an effort to reach Halifax more quickly but given how fast the plane was descending it had started to speed up even Beyond this the captain warned the first officer against letting the plane get too fast as doing so could damage it he extended the speed brakes on the wings to stop the plane from over speeding but still there was a careful balance to be struck go too fast and risk damaging the aircraft or go too slow and risk having the plane being engulfed in flames the captain told the chief flight attendant that there was smoke in the cockpit and that he should prepare the cabin for a landing in Halifax in the next 20 minutes in the passenger cabin there was no sign of smoke or fire to the passengers the diversion to Halifax would have been nothing more than an annoying inconvenience they were completely oblivious to the gravity of their situation as the captain was fully occupied with emergency checklists and Airport charts he assigned both the flying duties and the radio duties to the first officer the flight was then transferred over to a different controller and the first officer made contact s we are flying at the time on track to Federal caves into three thousand the altimeter is 2979 uh we will compare at the time around 8 000 feet 298 settle until the cabin is ready for delivering so sir 111 uh you can descend the three level off an intermediate altitude if you wish just advise we are any time clear up to three thousand I keep the advice okay can I Vector you uh to set up for Runway zero six at Halifax uh second place to swim please yeah active Runway Halifax zero six should I start you on a vector for six yes foreign eleven Roger turn left heading of uh zero three zero okay it's a back course approach for Runway zero six the localizer frequency one zero Niner decimal Niner you've got 30 miles to fly to the threshold Runway zero six was more or less a straight in approach for the pilots this would have been ideal but they were too high if they Dove down to London Runway zero six they would be way too fast the first officer informed the controller of this and asked him to repeat the frequency of the instrument Landing system with their 111 Roger can turn left hitting three six or elusive altitude the frequency is one zero Niner decimal Niner for the localizer it's a back course approach ES they would use what's known as a backbeam approach to navigate to The Runway accurately as it was too cloudy to see the runway at the windscreen meanwhile the captain had called a flight attendant to the cockpit to get in the approach charge for Halifax she handed him the big crew bag containing charts for hundreds of airports around the world and the captain began rooting through it in search of the charts for Halifax this turn to the north would give the crew some more time to descend and to set the aircraft up for landing but even there there was a big problem they had barely taken off from New York an hour ago so their aircraft was still full of fuel if they landed while this heavy they may not be able to stop the aircraft before the end of the runway they would have to dump fuel to get the plane down to a safe landing wait the pilots began discussing where it would be best to dump the fuel they would have to dump it over the ocean but at the same time they wanted to stay close to the airport in case their situation got worse their discussions were interrupted by air traffic control Swiss Air 111 when you have time could I have the number of schools on board and your fuel on board please for emergency services uh okay I'm Gonna Take You Are you able to take a turn back to the South or do you want to stay closer to the airport the first officer told the captain that the controller wanted the fuel Dom to take place to the south of the airport this would take them further away from the airport however the captain now had a tough decision to make if he opted to skip the fuel dump a land now he would risk overshooting the runway on Landing possibly injuring or even killing passengers however if he turned to the South and began dumping Fuel and the situation in the cockpit deteriorated it would be much harder to make it back to Halifax in time the captain weighed up his options he had a potential fire on board but there was no smoke in the cabin and the smoke in the cockpit wasn't that bad his aircraft was overweight and he still had dozens of checklist items to get through just to get the aircraft set up for landing he didn't want the plane to burn up before get to the airport sure but he also didn't want to land an unfamiliar airport overweight and underprepared the best option he figured was to dump the fuel this would achieve two aims it were given the time to set the plane up for landing and it will get the plane light enough so that that Landing would be safe the first officer agreed and contacted Air Traffic Control 111 uh Roger turned to the left heading of uh two zero zero degrees and uh advise me when you're ready to dump it'll be about 10 miles before you're off the coast you're still within about 25 miles of the airport okay maintain one zero thousand I'll advise you when you're over water it'll be very shortly director this gave the controller the impression that the crew's situation was not an emergency if they could afford to spend time away from the airport dumping fuel they must have the situation under control the truth was that neither he nor the pilots knew how dire the situation really was in the compartment above the cockpit the fire had begun to spread and intensify temperatures were reaching as high as 600 degrees Celsius and time was running out the first officer accidentally transmitted to air traffic control when he asked the captain what checklist he was going through smoke uh Switzer 111 say again please sorry about okay this is a copy of the checklist the captain was working through the emergency checklist for air conditioning smoke when the captain got to the bottom of it and the smoke had still not disappeared he started the next more serious checklist the smoke or fumes of Unknown Origin checklist this called for him to turn off the cabin bus Which supplied electrical power to the cabin the purpose of this was to stop or at least to isolate any sources of ignition when the captain turned this off the passenger cabin was plunged Into Darkness except for one aspect of it in the business class section the in-flight entertainment screens were still glowing when they had been fitted to the aircraft a few months previously they are wired up not to the cabin bus Which handles the electricity supply for non-essential parts of the aircraft but to a different electrical bus this was not reflected in the checklist however as that had been created before the entertainment system had been installed this meant that when the captain turned off the cabin bus electrical power was still being supplied to the in-flight Entertainment System turning off the cabin bus had another fateful consequence it disabled the recirculation funds which up until that point had been drawn the air rearward into the space above the passenger cabin now that the fan was off the smoke was free to move forwards towards the cockpit as the plane reached 10 000 feet the first officer began reducing the speed selected on the autopilot in most airspace around the world planes are restricted to flying at not above 250 knots below 10 000 feet however given the urgency of their situation the first officer asked the captain if he could keep flying the aircraft a bit faster the captain said that he was busy with the checklists and that the first officer should fire the plane as he saw fit Switzerland continue lasting one eight zero he'll be off the coast within about uh 15 miles you will be staying within about uh 35-40 miles out of the airport if you have to get to the airport and hurry okay that's fine for us please tell me when we can start uh to dump the fuel okay as the captain went through the checklist disabling various sources of electrical supply the autopilot disconnected the first officer was now flying the aircraft manually already the flight crew's workload was incredibly high they were racing against the clock to get through checklists both normal and emergency they are preparing to dump Fuel and they are constantly keeping track of the level of smoke in the cockpit now in the midst of all of this the first officer had to fly the aircraft without an autopilot fly between a 10 to 11 000 and 9 000 feet Swiss Air 111 you can block between five thousand and twelve thousand if you wish but just as the pilots acknowledge this instruction fire breath through the circuit breaker panel in the back of the cockpit onboard systems began to fail and the pilots simultaneously declared an emergency to air traffic control the captain from the controller that they had to land immediately the restarting them now we have to land immediately but in an incredible stroke of bad luck the controller missed this part of the transmission rather than directing the pilots back to the airport he told them solicitor 111 just a couple of Miles I'll be right with you copy that as the fire spread the aircraft systems started failing one by one the first officer's instruments went blank and he had to fly using only the small standby instruments in the middle of the cockpit accurate smoke began to fill the cockpit and the pilots struggled to see their instruments the calm sense of control that had prevailed up until this point now evaporated this was now a fully fledged fight for survival the controller cleared the pilots to dump fuel but they were now way past the point of that being an important consideration their full attention was now on getting their aircraft to Halifax the fire had now entered the cockpit the controller again told the pilots that they could dump fuel Swiss Air 111 check your clear to start the fuel dump but the crew was entirely focused on getting their aircraft onto the ground as the fire spread it disabled more systems it burned through wiring which supplied the transponder with power which made the plane disappear from the controller's radar soon after the plane's radio died cutting off communication between the pilots and air traffic control completely the plane was now totally on its own the first officer kept the aircraft into dissent and attempted to turn back towards Halifax at this point the captain got up from his seat and began trying to beat the hot flames back using the quick reference handbook for emergency procedures in the Thick Smoke the first officers struggled greatly to see the tiny standby instruments they were his only hope of guiding the plane back to the airport in an attempt to restore power to his instrument displays he switched the source of electrical power to the instruments but this was no good the power supply didn't last long enough for the screens to fully come to life as more systems became affected by the fire the cockpit filled with alarm Bells some real and some erroneous one of these indicated that engine number two the engine mounted on the tail plane was on fire this warning was false but the first officer had no way of knowing this and he shot the engine down conditions in the cockpit were now hellish toxic smoke had obscured the first officer's view of the instruments and the fire was raging so hot that molten aluminum had begun dripping from the ceiling onto the observer's seat the first officer kept the plane in a descent but there just wasn't enough time a half past 10 that night flight 111 plowed into the Atlantic Ocean traveling at over 550 kilometers per hour 229 people on board were killed instantly a massive investigation began immediately after the crash carried out by Canada's Transportation safety board over the course of a year an extensive trawling operation had managed to dredge up 98 of the aircraft by weight from the bottom of the ocean after painstaking the examining kilometers of electrical wiring they finally found what they were looking for a bundle of wiring which powered the in-flight Entertainment Network had short-circuited this electrical arcing had ignited a thin sheet of what's known as mylar which covered the thermal insulation material used in the aircraft once this fire had started there was no stopping it this should never have happened to begin with and we'll get to why that is in a moment but first what about the crew's delayed response to the fire why had they focused on dumping Fuel and locating the source of the smoke rather than getting the plane onto the ground as soon as possible the final report into this accident noted that the emergency checklist that swissar used which were very similar to those used across the industry didn't prioritize Landing in the event of a possible fire rather they emphasized determining the nature and source of the smoke first have a look at the checklist Captain zimran used on that flight this is a photocopy of it here this is the checklist for smoke of Unknown Origin the very name is ominous Unknown Origin surely the first item in this checklist must be to head straight to the nearest suitable Airport well in fact that was the last item on this checklist and bear in mind that this checklist is expected to take 20 to 30 minutes to complete the time from the moment the fire started to when the aircraft impacted the ocean was just 21 minutes this is a pretty typical time course for the development of fires on Commercial aircraft in other words the checklist for a possible Fire by Design almost guaranteed that if there was a fire the aircraft would be lost but tragically investigators found that even if the crew had started an emergency descent into Halifax from the moment they first smelled smoke they would still not have had enough time to make a landing they were simply too far from Halifax when the fire started the reason for that is that despite passing safety tests mylar which is the metallic material the aircraft's insulation blankets were wrapped in was prone to catching a light when exposed to electrical arcing this went against almost every element of aircraft design and its Discovery by the investigation team led to a worldwide change in the certification requirements for the materials which go into aircraft as well as this the crash of Swiss Air fight 111 had a massive influence underway onboard fires are treated in aircraft today in fact it completely changed the attitude in the industry nowadays when a fire is suspected Pilots are trained to land immediately what's more checklists for fire and smoke now prioritize firefighting by the cabin crew and Pilots using the portable fire extinguishers carried on board today all insulation materials used on Commercial aircraft must be shown not to ignite or propagate flame even when they're directly exposed to Flame or electrical arcing smoke detectors are now installed in various parts of aircraft to provide Crews with earlier warning if there is a fire these changes were some of the most wide reaching of Annie to come from a single aircraft accident because of them and it must be said because of the ban on smoking on Commercial aircraft the chances of losing your life on an aircraft due to a fire are lower now than at any point in history thanks again to War Thunder for sponsoring this video click my link in the description box to play War Thunder for free on PC Playstation or Xbox there's a big free bonus for using this link which includes multiple premium Vehicles a premium account boosters and much more and I should also mention that you don't need any special Hardware to play a mouse and a keyboard is all you need foreign special thanks to the patreon and YouTube members for helping to make this video possible if you'd like to see more of these videos consider supporting the channel on patreon I've put the link here on screen I'd especially like to thank Joey Steve Wilcox and JB funk for their very generous support Green Dot Aviation now has a Discord server so if you'd like to join a 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Channel: Green Dot Aviation

Views: 321,750

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Id: e5tdB2OpfoA

Length: 33min 5sec (1985 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 07 2022