An Invisible Force That Nearly Killed 152 People | Mayday: Air Disaster

Quickly falling out of the sky and with just seconds to react, the captain raises the plane’s flaps to reduce drag. And while the plane narrowly misses the buildings and radio towers in its path, it crashes short of the runway, ripping off the engines and landing gear. The plane is destroyed.

How did people survive this horrifying catastrophe?

Mayday: Air Disaster - From Season 10 Episode 2 "The Heathrow Enigma": January 17th, 2008 — Approaching the end of its ten-hour journey from Beijing, British Airways Flight #38 is preparing to land in Heathrow. But just as the pilots take over the controls, and only two minutes before it touches down, the aircraft is inexplicably crippled by double engine failure.

Mayday: Air Disaster is a dramatic non-fiction series that investigates high-profile air disasters to uncover how and why they happened. Mayday: Air Disaster follows survivors, family members of crash victims and transportation safety investigators as they piece together the evidence of the causes of major accidents. So climb into the cockpit for an experience you won’t soon forget.

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[MaydayAirDisaster]

How did people survive this horrifying catastrophe?

[invernessity]

British Airways forbade Captain Burkill from discussing the accident with either his coworkers or the press in the years immediately following the crash. Unfortunately, rumors spread through BA during this time that the Captain froze and crashed the plane, and many of the other pilots and flight attendants refused to fly with him. BA never countered these rumors, and the situation there became so intolerable that the Captain quit, but then he could not find work with another airline. BA eventually rectified the situation, and rehired Burkill but he and his family suffered unfairly until the truth was finally revealed. He wrote a book about this crash, and the afterward, which is well written and which I highly recommend.

[ioanaanaoi]

The pilot not only saved 152 people but he landed the plane almost intact so the investigators were able to pinpoint the problem and the problem was corrected on all 777 Planes avoiding further catastrophes.

[psychopathsuror]

Great job on the Captain for recognizing that taking the controls was not the answer, and for keeping his faith in his co-pilot’s abilities.

[michaelbreeland]

The investigators did a great job figuring out what happened and the pilots were awesome. I'm glad the only thing that was lost was the plane. That can be replaced, lives can't.

[fidesedquivide]

Nobody ever wants to be anywhere near such a scene but always pray we fly with such professionals. Thank you sirs for humanity and your calm and courage.

[michaeljoseph]

The engineers who solved the fuel -ice riddle deserve a medal too

[bunnyjames]

My husband flew the DC9, the 727, the 1011 and the A300. My flight attendant rides were Convair 440, DC6, DC7, ELECTRA and Boeing 707. I guess that makes me 81 years old. Our second son flew as chief pilot on the large Lear medically equipped flights. I appreciate these true and interesting aviation histories. Thank you.

[pooryorick]

"I am the Captain. If I don't do anything then everybody will die." And then he does something. Powerful stuff.

[williamfeilhauer]

The flight crew was above and beyond no doubt but!! The crash investigators, mechanics, and others are to be equally recognized for finding the problem that would have killed many . Fantastic job all around .

[bicivelo]

The perseverance of this investigators is through the roof! Congrats to them, all the science and engineering as well as the pilots!

[TedApelt]

My favorite crashes are the ones where nobody gets killed or badly injured, but it almost went much worse.

[waxwinged_hound]

...so essentially what happened is the plane had a heart attack. Solid material formed on the insides of the fuel lines which was dislodged and caused a blockage, just like plaque in a person's arteries.

[iwanaGoFast]

I know captain Burkill suffered of rumors of choking up and crashing. They saved everyone’s life and I would be proud to fly with such a captain any day.

[AWizardAndaMouse]

14:08 “Something caused the jet’s rolls-Royce engines to rollback.” 10 out of 10 description.

[justinsjourney]

Very smart move made with seconds to act, extremely challenging flaw in the fuel flow design that easily could have never been detected, tons of investigation, and finally a very reasonable and thankfully simple fix. This story is basically the best total set of outcomes it could possibly be.

[joewas]

Any landing you can walk away from is a good landing.

[yodatrucker]

Seeing the captain talk about his wife and kids broke my heart

[jimtrack]

Air crash investigators are unsung hero's. How many lives have they saved with their relentless search for the cause. As a veteran, I applaud their dedication and skill. Well done!

[pittroadsixzeroseven]

I can’t imagine the frustration all these investigators trying to figure out this issue.