All language subtitles for Air.Disasters.S07E01.Miracle.Escape.720p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD.5.1.H264-SiGMA

narrator: in heavy wind
and blinding rain,

the crew of a passenger jet
struggles to land.

pilot: put it down!

put it down!

[screaming]

narrator:
a terrifying crash-landing leads
to a desperate fight to survive.

man: the only thing
that matters to me now

is to get my daughter emilie
and protect her as we blow up.

[shouting]

woman:
we just knew that there were so
many passengers in that plane

that had not gotten out.

man: open the door!
open the door!

flight attendant:
ladies and gentlemen,
we are starting our approach.

pilot: we lost both engines!

flight attendant:
put the mask over your nose.

emergency descent.

pilot: mayday, mayday.

flight attendant:
brace for impact!

controller: i think i lost one.

man: investigation starting...

man: he's gonna crash!

narrator:
tuesday, august 2, 2005.

charles de gaulle airport
in paris.

297 passengers are boarding
air france flight 358

bound for toronto.

flight attendant:
uh, far aisle, left-hand side.

narrator: philippe lacaille
is traveling with his wife

and two of his four children.

they're stuck at the back
of the enormous jet--

and they're not
sitting together.

philippe lacaille: emilie.

it just happened that we were
separated from emilie.

they had three seats together,

so we were
in the middle section,

and emilie was actually sitting
a couple of seats ahead of us

on the right side,

so, close to the right wing
of the plane.

narrator: for eddie ho,
flight 358 is the continuation

of a trip that began
in johannesburg.

eddie ho: i was carrying
everything that i had--

my books to my clothing
to tuition money for the year.

computer laptops.

narrator: this is also
another leg in a long journey

for joann cordary-bundock,

who's returning from a trip
to thailand.

joann cordary-bundock:
i rerouted myself in the last
two days before the flight

from bangkok through paris
to come directly to toronto.

narrator: as the passengers
continue to board,

the flight crew get settled in
to the airbus a340.

the captain is
57-year-old alain rosaye.

he's been with air france
for more than 20 years.

his co-pilot is 43-year-old
frederic naud.

alain rosaye: do you want
to start, or should i?

frederic naud:
why don't you fly first,

and then i'll take over
for landing in toronto.

i'll check the weather.

narrator: on this flight,
the two men decide

that captain rosaye will
handle the takeoff in paris

and co-pilot naud
will land in toronto.

naud: destination,
toronto pearson.

rosaye: check.

narrator: crews often split
the duties

so that co-pilots can get
more experience.

rosaye and naud are joined by
one other person in the cockpit.

miles trochesset: i think
you've been expecting me.

i'm miles trochesset.

rosaye: welcome aboard.

narrator:
miles trochesset is the son
of an air france employee.

he's allowed to ride in the
cockpit's jump seat for free.

trochesset: i just want to let
you know i've done this before.

i promise i'll be quiet.

narrator: this air france plane

is one of the safest
in the world.

since the a340s first went
into service in 1993,

they've had an excellent
safety record.

naud: air france 358.

controller: air france 358.

runway 2-7 left
cleared for takeoff.

naud: cleared for takeoff,
air france 358.

have a good afternoon,
gentlemen.

[engines revving]

narrator: just a few minutes
before 2:00 in the afternoon,

flight 358 powers into the sky
above paris.

[thunder]

toronto may be
several thousand miles away,

but the friends and family
of those on board flight 358

are already making plans to meet
the plane when it arrives.

julien lacaille: hello?

audrey, i won't forget.

i'll make sure to pick up
mom and dad.

no, i won't forget
the two brats, either.

i'll get them all.

philippe: well,
we usually make arrangements

before we go to france
to be picked up.

it's easier because we have
lots of luggage, you know,

and we bring back
stuff from france.

so it just happened
that julien, our son,

was going to spend the summer
in toronto

and was available to pick us up.

julien: sis, i'll give you
a call as soon as they get in.

don't worry,
i've got it covered.

ok?

alright.

talk to you soon.

bye.

radio announcer: ...center.
we have a humidex advisory,

an extreme heat alert
for toronto

as well a thunderstorm warning
in effect for toronto.

narrator: a regular flight
from paris to toronto

takes about eight hours.

as air france 358
closes in on canada,

there is little to separate
this trip from any other.

ho: i found that their service
was amazing.

the food was great.

they had very good
flight attendants.

philippe: there were a lot of
exchange students from france.

you know, like teenagers coming
to canada for their first time,

usually their first flight.

and they were very rowdy.

cordary-bundock:
there was a beautiful day
on the flight over,

and the sun was shining,

and it was just blue skies
and white clouds

and just a lovely day.

narrator: the autopilot
does most of the work

for captain alain rosaye and
his co-pilot, frederic naud.

just as the two men had planned,

naud is now in control
of the plane.

rosaye: we have
a new weather report.

narrator: the two men
get regular updates

on the weather conditions
in toronto.

rosaye: overcast and rainy
with a chance of thunderstorms.

temperature in the low 20s.

[thunder]

narrator: at toronto's
international airport,

the thunderstorms are
already rolling through.

rain, wind and lightning
are hammering the runways.

the lightning has already forced
airport authorities

to declare a red alert.

it means that the chance
of being struck by lightning

is so great

that ground crews are not
allowed to work on the planes.

just as flight 358
closes in on toronto,

it's put into a holding pattern.

the weather isn't getting
any better.

controller: air france 358,

there's going to be
a little delay.

rosaye: air france 358.

roger on delay.

[ding]

ladies and gentlemen,
this is your captain speaking.

i'm sorry to inform you
that there'll be a short delay.

there's some weather conditions
above toronto,

and we're just going to give it
a couple of minutes to clear up.

narrator: while they're not
in the storm yet,

the crew enters
their holding pattern

northeast of toronto.

their alternate airport is

almost 200 miles away in ottawa.

at the moment, the plane has

a little over 16,500 pounds
of fuel in its tanks--

more than enough
to get them there.

greg feith:
typically a pilot will think
about the economic impact

of diverting
to an alternate airport.

while that is not
a primary decision maker,

it is an alternate
decision maker

as far if they have to divert,

how are the folks
gonna be transported

from that alternate airport
back to the destination airport

that the airplane
was originally going to.

narrator: flying almost
300 passengers to ottawa

would be a logistical nightmare.

but the crew can't circle
for too long

with the fuel they have.

if the delay continues, they'll
have no choice but to divert.

[thunder]

controller: air france,
toronto arrival.

your hold is now cancelled.

you are cleared
for a wasie 2 arrival.

maintain 5,000 feet.

rosaye: air france 358.

roger on cancellation of holds.

cleared for wasie 2 arrival
and maintain...

narrator: today the delay
isn't long at all.

although the storm continues to
thunder down near the airport,

the crew is put
into their landing sequence.

rosaye: ladies and gentlemen,
this is your captain speaking.

i just wanted to let you know

we're beginning our descent
into toronto at this time.

we should be on the ground
at about 4 p.m. local time.

philippe: usually
when they say 45 minutes,

you know, it's to be nice.

usually it's like an hour,
an hour and a half.

this time it was
like 20 minutes.

20 minutes later they said ok,

well, now we're going
to go down,

prepare, you know,
for the landing.

narrator: with co-pilot
frederic naud at the controls,

the plane begins
its descent into the storm.

rosaye: air france 358,
reducing speed to 1-9-0.

narrator: naud isn't prepared
for what he's about to face.

the storm has
a savage surprise in store

for everyone
on board flight 358.

naud: flaps two.

rosaye: flaps two.

f speed.

naud: gear down.

rosaye: landing gear down.

spoilers armed.

four green.

naud: landing gear down.

spoilers armed.

four green.

cordary-bundock: it'll be fine.
don't worry.

it immediately turned into
very dark skies and dark clouds

and a little bit bumpy
and choppy.

and the weather outside

was definitely within
a thunderstorm.

but really and truly to me,

it was just a typical
stormy landing,

nothing out of the ordinary.

narrator: in the main cabin,
though, not everyone is so sure.

ho: the plane was getting
very bumpy.

there was a lot of turbulence.

we were surrounded basically
by heavy rain,

and this was completely
not expected.

i didn't expect that.

controller: air france 358,
slow your final approach speed.

narrator: co-pilot frederic naud
has the plane in position.

he's moments from landing.

rosaye: air france 358.

roger.

naud: flaps to full.

rosaye: flaps full.

philippe: it was going
darker and darker.

we were like in the middle

of hundreds and hundreds
of lightnings every second,

we had lightnings all around us.

so people were getting nervous,
quite nervous.

i was getting nervous.

narrator:
ahead of the air france airbus,

two other planes
have just touched down

on the same runway that
flight 358 is heading for.

controller: air france 358,
this is toronto tower.

rosaye: toronto tower,
air france 358, go ahead.

controller: you are cleared
to land runway 2-4 left.

be advised that preceding
aircraft reports

braking action is poor

and they estimate the surface
winds near the runway

as 290 degrees
at 15 to 20 knots.

rosaye: braking poor,
15 knots, gusts to 20.

air france 358, thank you.

narrator: the crew is being sent
to runway 24 left,

which will allow them to land
into the wind.

it also happens to be
the closest runway

to the city's biggest freeway,

which is gearing up to handle
the evening rush hour traffic.

facing unpredictable winds
and a wet runway,

the crew prepares
for the landing.

[beeping]

naud: select autobrakes
to medium.

rosaye: medium is set.

philippe: the final approach
for landing was hellish.

lightnings were all over,
uh, turbulences were enormous.

you could feel the pilot
fight with the plane

to keep the plane in line
with the runway to land,

and had a heck of a time
to keep it lined up.

i know my son next to me
was getting very nervous,

and i was nervous to see my
daughter actually far from us.

cordary-bundock: i cinched up
my seatbelt tighter than it was,

expecting a very hard landing,

and the pilot was gonna stick it
on the runway

or we were maybe gonna do
a touch and go

and he was gonna give it power
and go around,

because i knew that
it was not going to be

just a normal landing.

naud: landing.

autopilot, autothrust off.

narrator: at two minutes
after 4 o'clock,

air france flight 358 roars over
the beginning of the runway.

[rattling and clattering]

[beeping]

rosaye: put it down!

put it down!

cordary-bundock: this landing
was more intense and harder

than any time i've ever landed
in another aircraft.

[applause and cheering]

ho: it was a very difficult
landing.

and everyone started clapping,

and even the lady
sitting next to me,

i remember this very clearly.

she said, you know, wow,
that was an amazing landing.

and as soon as she finished
that sentence,

then all hell broke loose.

[screaming]

cordary-bundock:
we started just,

the plane started violently
going up and down.

and it felt like we were going
a hundred miles an hour

down a road filled with potholes
that were about three feet deep.

[shouting indistinctly]

philippe: immediately
you could see this orange aura,

and for me it's a picture
i will never forget.

my daughter was sitting
ahead of us

on the right side of the plane,

and at that time she turned
her head towards us,

you know, with very wide eyes,
you know, looking at us.

and her face was surrounded
by this enormous aura,

orange aura of fire.

narrator: then, moments
after touching down,

still traveling
at 90 miles per hour,

flight 358 runs out of room.

[screaming]

philippe:
at that point, i believed
that we were all going to die.

it was obvious that no one
can survive this kind of thing.

ho: i thought this was it.

[screaming]

cordary-bundock: the next thing
that i can remember

is that an announcement came.

ladies and gentlemen,
everything's ok.

we've stopped now.

well, no kidding!
of course we've stopped now!

but i could tell
that everything was not ok

because i could immediately
smell jet fuel.

narrator: as the smell
of jet fuel fills the cabin...

man: fire!

flight attendant:
we have to evacuate now!

narrator:
...panic quickly spreads.

[people shouting]

philippe: everybody was
expecting the plane to go up.

it was obvious.

narrator: smoke and flames
are spreading fast.

now it's a desperate struggle
to escape.

[screaming and shouting]

if they don't get out,
they have just seconds to live.

mac mclean: we know that
about two minutes into a fire

in many cases the environment
becomes untenable.

so 90 seconds is
a good rule that we use

in trying to get people out
to make sure they have

as much time and safety
as possible.

narrator: 297 passengers are
desperate to leave the plane.

philippe: emilie!

emilie! emilie!

emilie lacaille: daddy!

philippe: the only thing
that matters to me now

is to get my daughter emilie,

who's sitting like two seats
ahead of me,

get her, get her under me,
and protect her as we blow up.

philippe: go!
go, go, go!

cordary-bundock: am i going
to try and get my luggage,

my laptop?

and then i thought to myself,

what if i would die
trying to get my laptop?

i just said, ok,
i've got to get out.

i've got to get out.

narrator: flight 358 has
eight possible emergency exits.

but seconds after the crash,
most of them aren't opened.

ho: people were crawling
over the seats.

they were pushing each other.

there was...
basically all for yourself.

flight attendant: hey!
stay calm, please.

please stay calm.

it will be alright.

philippe: open the door!

open the door!

[screaming and shouting]

philippe: and i could see
the air attendant there

struggling with the fact

that "should i or should i
not open this door,"

because the fire was raging
just in front of it.

mclean:
if the fuel tanks rupture

and we have a lot of fuel
that gets out,

either onto the ground,

well, then there's enough heat
and fire there

that would cause
the airplane skin to melt

in a couple of minutes.

narrator:
at the front of the plane,

thick smoke is pouring in
through one of the open doors.

joann cordary-bundock races
to the other side of the plane.

cordary-bundock:
the gentleman in front of me

had his bag with him,

and he was kind of
fumbling around with that

and trying to take that
down the slide.

and he was a rather large man,

and the slide did not deploy
the entire way.

so i kind of bailed
off the side above him

and hit the ground.

narrator: eddie ho
has found an exit, too.

but there's no slide.

ho: had people
pushing me forward.

basically you just had to jump.

so what i did was, you know,
i prayed quickly

and i closed my eyes and jumped.

trochesset: is he okay?
naud: i don't know.

trochesset: is he okay?

narrator:
in the cockpit, captain rosaye
has been badly injured

when his seat
was ripped off the floor

by the force of the crash.

as precious seconds tick by,

the flight attendant
near the lacaille family

manages to open the exit door.

even though passengers
are confronted

with the flames and smoke
of the burning engine,

they jump out of the plane.

philippe: so i pushed them down,

my wife went down,
i went down...

we just ran up
as fast as we could

through torn metal and thorns

and like through whatever
was left of the ground

where the plane was.

[sirens]

narrator: emergency workers
reach the burning jet

just 52 seconds
after it crashes.

but with the threat of
an explosion,

it's dangerous to get too close.

philippe lacaille and his family

struggle up the hill the plane
has just plowed down.

philippe: you know,
and at that point, the...

the plane blew up.

[boom]

once, twice, three times,
so you could feel and hear

this enormous explosion,
actually.

and of course, at that time
i figured, my god,

that could have been us.

tom clark: about 35 minutes ago

a plane ran off the runway
at toronto's pearson airport...

narrator: footage of the crash
quickly appears

on local tv stations.

philippe lacaille's
daughter audrey

is one of the many people
shocked by the pictures.

philippe: she turned on the tv,
and here we go,

there was the air france crash
right here,

live in front of her, you know,

burning, exploding
right in front of her eyes.

clark: 250 people on board.

we've have not had any reason
to make a statement yet

as to whether anybody
has survived or escaped.

[phone ringing]

narrator:
philippe lacaille's son julien

is waiting for his father
at the airport.

he has no idea
what has just happened

to the air france flight.

julien: what?
what do you mean where am i?

i'm at the airport waiting
for mom and dad like...

what?

philippe: so julien
didn't know anything,

and he was there at the airport,

and she says,
"well, you know what?

i think you're going to have
to wait a long time,

because their plane
just crashed."

narrator: one of the busiest
highways in north america

borders the airport.

just before rush hour,

it's packed with thousands
of vehicles.

[siren]

some of the passengers
who escaped the plane

stagger to the edge
of the highway--

where passing motorists stop
to take them to the airport.

cordary-bundock: at this point,
there was only

about 25 or 30 people with me
in the airport,

and here you're also beginning
to think, is this all there is?

narrator:
as people are brought in,

airport employees struggle
to account

for all the passengers and crew.

cordary-bundock:
they were totally disorganized.

there's no announcements
being made.

there's nothing of any kind
of organization.

and you're waiting
to be processed.

narrator: relatives wait
desperately for any news.

julien lacaille is just one
of many who fears the worst.

philippe: for a least
an hour and a half

he thought we were dead.

that's a shame because
of course we panicked,

we were scared to death.

but the families that were
waiting for the passengers,

they were even more scared
because it lasted much longer.

they really believed deep down

that their family members
were dead.

narrator: finally,
hours after the crash,

passengers are reunited
with their families.

philippe: julien.

julien!

julien: are you ok?

emilie: hi!

philippe: we're ok.

how did you get in?

philippe: we finally met up
with julien,

it was 11 o'clock at night.

it was, whew...
you know, god.

we're so lucky.

we're so lucky we're alive,
you know.

it's hard to explain.

narrator: it's just one
of dozens of reunions.

it takes hours to confirm,
but by early evening,

air france and
the local airport authorities

can make the incredible
announcement.

remarkably,
every single passenger

and all the members of the crew
of flight 358

have managed to escape the
burning wreckage of their plane.

the next day,
smoke and charred wreckage

are all that remain
of air france flight 358.

the airbus a340
is a sophisticated,

highly engineered plane
with a glowing safety record.

what had gone so terribly wrong?

canada's transportation
safety board

quickly begins investigating
the accident.

naud: landing.

autopilot, autothrust off.

narrator: rain and lightning
had been pounding the airport

all afternoon.

was it simply bad weather
that caused this crash?

rosaye: put it down!

put it down!

narrator: neither the pilot
nor the co-pilot

have spoken publicly
about the crash.

flight attendant:
we have to evacuate now!

narrator: citing lawsuits
that were filed soon after,

air france has kept all of its
employees who were on the plane

from speaking to the media.

trochesset: is he okay?
naud: i don't know.

trochesset: is he okay?

naud: i don't know.

narrator: but former air france
trainer herve laborthe

has spoken to captain rosaye.

hervé laborthe, translated:
we spoke, let me think,

for half an hour.

he told me that this is
the crucial point--

that he asked control.

more specifically
he informed control

that he had reached the point

where he would have to
consider diverting.

what he told me
is that control informed him

that they would soon open
the runway.

there was of course a lot of
lightning, rain and turbulence.

and turbulence can have
a devastating effect.

instruments become
more difficult to read.

the aircraft
is harder to handle.

[speaking french]

narrator: investigators discover

that as the crew struggled
for control in the cockpit,

on the ground,
delicate instruments

used to measure the wind
at the runway

were destroyed by lightning.

with the ground equipment
destroyed,

they were relying
on their onboard systems

for information
about wind conditions.

hebb russell: the onboard
equipment only gives them

the actual wind direction
and speed

on the nose of the aircraft
at that exact time.

it does not predict
ahead of the aircraft.

so the pilots really have
no way of knowing

what lies ahead of them.

narrator: but two planes
had touched down

just minutes before
the air france flight

on the same runway.

the crews of those planes
did their best

to inform air traffic control
of the tricky conditions.

controller: air france 358,
this is toronto tower.

rosaye: toronto tower,
air france 358, go ahead.

controller: you are cleared
to land runway 2-4 left.

be advised that preceding
aircraft reports

braking action is poor

and they estimate the surface
winds near the runway

as 290 degrees
at 15 to 20 knots.

rosaye: braking poor,
15 knots, gusts...

narrator: 23-mile-an-hour winds
are strong--

but are well within
the allowable range

for landing an a340.

but when investigators study
radar images of the airport,

they discover
quite a different story.

as flight 358 landed,
a sharp line of rain

moved across the runway
from north to south.

it was driven
by a sudden gust of wind

of up to 38 miles per hour.

the crew of the air france jet
had to deal with conditions

that were much worse
than they were expecting.

naud: landing.

autopilot, autothrust off.

russell: 33 knots is the
demonstrated maximum crosswind

for an a340,

and that would be
on a dry runway.

so when you say 33 knots
at 90 degrees,

you're encroaching on the limits
of the aircraft.

narrator:
a study of the toronto airport

reveals that
maintenance issues--

and the storm itself--

were forcing
air traffic controllers

to use runway 24 left
for landings.

it is the shortest runway
at the airport--

almost 2,100 feet shorter
than some of the others.

blinded by rain
driven by unexpected winds

and landing on the shortest
runway at the airport,

flight 358 was
in a dangerous position.

[speaking french]

laborthe:
over the previous four hours

they had been made aware of the
terrible storms and red alerts.

and that was, for me,
my biggest concern.

were they perhaps over-tired?

were they lax,
victims of routine?

in any case, it's obvious

they hadn't gauged
the extent of the danger.

feith: it's evident
that the flight crew

didn't perceive the information

that they were getting
from these various sources

as being threatening.

therefore they attempted
to make a landing.

narrator:
but even in bad conditions--
even on a short runway--

the crew had
more than 9,800 feet

in which to land their plane.

it should have been enough.

to find out why it wasn't,
investigators look to the past.

in 1999, an eerily similar
accident took place

in little rock, arkansas.

co-pilot: we're off course.

pilot: no, i can't see it.
co-pilot: way off.

narrator: struggling
with unpredictable weather,

the crew of an american airlines
jet landed their plane--

only to have it skid
off the runway.

11 people were killed.

greg feith helped investigate
that crash.

feith: one of the first things
that i thought about

was deja vu.

having the first bits
of information

about the air france accident,

it reminded me so much of
the american airlines accident.

narrator:
in the little rock crash,

feith discovered that the crew
had made a critical mistake,

which contributed significantly
to the accident.

feith: they hadn't followed
all of the checklist procedures,

and they didn't have
the ground spoilers armed,

which basically degrades the
efficiency of lift on the wing

and settles the airplane heavily
on the main wheels

so that braking action
is more effective.

narrator: spoilers are only
one of several ways

pilots of passenger jets
stop their massive planes.

reverse thrusters are used

to redirect the engine power
forward as the plane lands.

and sophisticated brakes
help slow the jets down.

to rule out
any mechanical fault,

all three systems are examined

by investigators
of the air france crash.

one of the brakes on flight 358
was destroyed in the fire.

but the seven other sets
of brakes

are all tested
after the accident.

all of them
are working properly.

naud: flaps two.

rosaye: flaps two.
f speed.

narrator:
investigators in toronto
also discover that--

unlike in
the little rock crash--

this time the spoilers
had deployed properly.

naud: landing gear down.

spoilers armed.

four green.

narrator: and when the engines
are examined,

the reverse thrusters
are deployed.

no obvious mechanical fault
can be found.

as the investigation continues,

a french newspaper
prints a bombshell.

le figaro publishes a story

claiming that
the thrust reversers--

which use the jet's engines
to slow it down--

were not turned on

until the plane had been
on the runway

for more than 12 seconds.

[speaking french]

laborthe: as for captain rosaye,

he confirmed
the newspaper report.

his explanation was that
his co-pilot had tensed up

and was having difficulty
controlling

the lateral movement
of the plane.

no doubt because
of the strong crosswinds

and because the runway
was so slippery,

his hand was clamped tightly
on the throttle release lever,

which prevented the captain
from reaching it himself.

so the reverse thrusters
could not be activated.

narrator: shortly after
the newspaper story appears,

investigators publish
their initial report.

it confirms le figaro's
version of events.

canada's transportation
safety board reveals that,

while the thrusters were found
in their on position

at the crash site,

they had not been deployed
as soon as the plane landed.

in fact, it took 17 seconds

before they reached
maximum power.

russell: the delay was
a question raised in the report,

and i wouldn't want
to hazard a guess

as to why there was
such a delay,

or what was the cause of it.

i just know that pilots,
as a rule,

want to get those reversers in
as quickly as possible...

for maximum stopping.

narrator: the investigators
reveal other confusing facts

about the last few seconds
of flight 358.

when it came over the start
of the runway,

it was twice as high
as it should have been.

and when it did land, it was
nearly halfway down the runway.

rosaye: put it down!

put it down!

narrator:
in these stormy conditions,

the crew didn't have
enough time to stop.

feith: once they found
that the airplane

had floated down the runway,

the pilot has to make
the decision

whether we stay on the ground

and try to salvage
this bad situation

or we abort the landing,
power up, pull up and go around,

get our stuff together and then
come back for a second landing.

narrator: but decisions in
a cockpit are joint decisions.

the captain and
the first officer work together.

[speaking french]

laborthe: if the captain sees
that landing will be difficult,

he must open throttle

and go through
abort landing procedures.

that's his duty.

and of course, the co-pilot

is also allowed to be
the first to act.

but the captain's duty

is to avoid at all cost
a lengthy touchdown.

that is clear.

narrator: by the time the plane
touched down,

it had just 4,900 feet to stop.

and when it did land,
critical seconds were lost

when the reverse thrusters
weren't engaged.

laborthe: would it have made
a difference

to immediately activate
the reverse thrusters?

of course it would.

since reverse function
reaches its peak efficiency

at high speed, that is
the exact moment of touchdown,

that's what reverse
is there for.

it's all a matter
of aerodynamic braking.

the other problem is that
the wheels touched ground

in the middle of the runway,

and reverse or no reverse,

at that point it was
already too late,

as was pointed out
by the head of the inquiry.

that being said,

if the reverse thrusters
had been activated immediately,

the plane would have come
to a stop more quickly.

narrator: in heavy storms,

the margin for error
is razor thin.

on this rain-filled afternoon,

sudden wind, a long landing
and a short runway

sealed the fate of everyone
on board flight 358.

what concerns some
in the aviation industry

isn't this particular flight,

but the reality that overruns
are far too common--

they happen
all around the world.

and safety procedures that could
stop them are not in place.

flight 358 wasn't the only jet

to go off the end
of a runway in 2005.

worldwide, there were
37 other runway overruns.

and the causes
of all these accidents

were remarkably similar.

peter ladkin: there are a number
of causal factors

that occur again and again
in runway overrun accidents--

the weather conditions,

the state of the runway surface.

it can be wet, it can be icy,
it can have snow on it.

speed in excess of a normal
approach speed for the aircraft

that does not then bleed off as
the aircraft attempts to land.

and these factors occur
again and again

in runway overrun accidents.

narrator: unlike the crash
at toronto,

some overruns are deadly.

this southwest airlines flight
in chicago slid off its runway

several months
after the air france crash.

a small child was killed

in a car that was driving
on the nearby highway.

ladkin: many older airports,
in particular in big cities

which have expanded out
towards the airport

in the course of their growth,

are constrained in the area
that they can use for overruns.

feith: you have to consider
what happens

when the runway
is contaminated--

snow, ice, standing water.

that will degrade the stopping
performance of the airplane.

add to that a tailwind component

which was existent at the time
that air france landed.

narrator: the international
civil aviation organization

recommends that every airport
have a 984-foot safety zone

at the end of runways that
handle international flights.

canadian standards
are a little less strict.

they call for
a 200-foot overrun area

and recommend another 300 feet
on top of that.

runway 24 left meets the low end

of those recommendations.

ladkin: there was another
runway overrun accident

to the runway in toronto,

which was very closely aligned
with the runway

that is there at the moment,

in 1978, when a dc-9,
an air canada dc-9

rejected a takeoff
and ran into the ravine.

man: well, the plane
started to brake,

and then there was just nothing

and then we dropped
over the edge.

there was about
a 50-foot drop, i guess,

at the end of the runway.

we just went over the top, and
then there was a heck of a bang

and people and seats
all over the place.

narrator: two people died
in the 1978 accident.

a coroner's inquest
after the crash

recommended that the gully
be filled in, but it never was.

ladkin: it's a steep ravine,
it has about a 50-foot drop-off,

and when you take
a large, complicated

and fragile piece of machinery
like a commercial aircraft

and you drop it 50 feet,
then it tends to break.

narrator: there is a possible
solution to runway overruns.

but it's not being used
in toronto--

or many other international
airports.

it's called emas--

or engineered material
arresting systems.

ladkin:
it's a form of artificial stone
or artificial gravel

which has a certain depth.

and anybody who's ridden
a bicycle into a gravel pit

knows that the bicycle stops
very quickly,

and it can be almost impossible
to pedal it out.

and the same thing happens
to airplanes.

narrator: several airports
in the u.s. use the system.

but most international airports
do not.

ladkin: it's very much more
effective than friction braking,

and it's certainly
incomparably more effective

than thrust reverse
and spoilers.

and any one of these systems,
when properly engineered,

can stop a large airplane,

no matter what the runway
surface conditions,

in a very short distance.

flight attendant:
we have to evacuate now!

narrator: but one vital
air safety guideline was met

when flight 358 crashed.

in spite of the smoke
and the spreading fire,

the crew of the crippled plane
made sure

that all the passengers escaped
in just 90 seconds.

feith: it's just a miracle

that all of those people were
able to evacuate the airplane

as quickly as they did before
the airplane was consumed.

mclean: the air france flight
was particularly noteworthy

in that everybody got out
essentially unscathed.

i know there were some injuries,
but everyone got out.

so i think it was noteworthy,

and it was
a very good evacuation

from that perspective.

narrator: captain alain rosaye

may never fly
for air france again.

his injuries required
extensive physical therapy

after the crash.

at the time, he was less than
three years from retirement.

laborthe:
every morning captain rosaye
relives the experience,

coming face to face
with the flames,

the noise, the crash.

and it made him sad
to end his career on that note,

having destroyed his plane.

that's the worst possible fate
for a pilot, the worst outcome.

narrator: the co-pilot,
frederic naud,

is suspended for three months
after the accident.

by early the next year, he is
back on duty with air france.

there are reports that,

after he helped captain rosaye
out of the cockpit,

he was the last person
off the plane.

the passengers deal with
the crash in their own ways.

cordary-bundock: we really need
to take seriously

those safety commands
and evacuation information,

because you never know.

thank goodness i'm here
to be able to talk about it now.

philippe: open the door!

open the door!

there's a lot of negative
in the accident,

and there's a lot of positive.

the negative is oh, my god,
you know, i'm going to die,

oh, my god, it's horrible.

oh, i have these nightmares.

however, you have the positives.

and the positives are:
gee, i'm alive, you know?

i have been given
a second chance.

i have been given a second life.

and all of us, my wife
and my children, myself,

we all experience the same
positive effects of the crash,

which is we have to give back.

we have to do something
for others.

we have to extend our heart out,

our compassion
to people who need it.

it's almost therapeutic for us,
you know,

the more you do for others,
the better you're gonna feel.

so, for me, i figured, you know,

if i can extend my heart out
to others,

maybe it's gonna help me
as well.