All language subtitles for Mayday.S04E01.Miracle.Escape.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264-playWEB_track3_[eng]

In heavy wind
and blinding rain,

the crew of a passenger jet
struggles to land.

Put it down! Put it down!

A Terrifying
crash-landing

leads to a desperate
fight to survive.

The only thing
that matters to me

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

Daddy!
Emilie! Emilie!

We just
knew that there were

so many passengers in that plane
that had not gotten out.

Open the door!
Open the dooor!

This is a true story
based on Air Traffic Control

recordings, official reports and
interviews with those involved.

Tuesday August 2,
2005.

Charles de Gaulle
Airport in Paris.

Two hundred and ninety-seven
passengers are boarding

Air France flight 358
bound for Toronto.

Uh, far aisle,
left hand side.

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.

Emilie.

It just happened

that we were separated,
uh, 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.

For Eddie Ho,
flight 358 is

the continuation of a trip
that began in Johannesberg.

I'm an international
student in Canada

at Queen's University,

and every summer I go
back to South Africa.

Ho isn't
traveling light.

I was carrying, uh,
everything that I had...

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

Computer laptops...

This is also
another leg

in a long journey for
Joann Cordary-Bundock,

who's returning
from a trip to Thailand.

I rerouted myself in the
last two days before the flight

from Bangkok through Paris
to come directly to Toronto.

As the passengers
continue to board,

the flight crew get
settled in to the Air Bus A-340.

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.

Do you want to start,
or shall I?

Uh, why don't you fly
first and then I'll take

over for landing in Toronto...
I'll check the weather.

On this flight,

the two men decide that
Captain Rosaye will handle

the take-off in Paris

and co-pilot Naud
will land in Toronto.

Destination,
Toronto Pearson.

Crews often
split the duties -

so that co-pilots can
get more experience.

Rosaye and Knaud are joined by
one other person in the cockpit.

Hello,
I'm Miles Trochesset.

Welcome aboard.

Miles Trochesset
is the son

of an Air France employee.

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

I just want to let you
know I've done this before.

I promise I'll be quiet.

This Air France
plane is

one of the safest in the world.

Since the A-340s first
went into service in 1993,

they've had an excellent
safety record.

Air France,
three five eight.

Runway two seven left
cleared for takeoff.

Cleared for take
off Air France three five eight.

Have a good afternoon gentlemen.

Just a few minutes
before two in the afternoon,

Flight 358 powers
into the sky above Paris.

Toronto may be several
thousand kilometres away,

but the friends and family
of those on board flight 358

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

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.

Well we usually make
arrangements before we go

to France to be picked up.

It's easier because we've
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.

Sis, I'll give you
a call as soon as they get in.

Don't worry, I've got it
covered. Okay? Alright.

Talk to you soon. Bye.

Centre. We have a humidex
advisory, an extreme heat

alert for Toronto as well
a thunderstorm warning in effect

for Toronto.

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.

I found
that their service was amazing.

The food was great.

They had very good, uh,
flight attendants.

There were lots of
exchange students from France.

You know like teenagers
coming to Canada

for their first time,
usually their first flight.

And, uh, they were very loud.

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.

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.

We have a new
weather report.

The two men
get regular

updates on the weather
conditions in Toronto.

Overcast and raining
with a chance of thunderstorms.

Temperature in the low 20s.

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.

Air France 358,

there's going to be
a little delay.

Air France 358.
Roger on delay.

Uh, 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.

I was very surprised

when I heard the Captain's
announcement that we were

gonna be delayed in landing
for about twenty five or thirty

minutes because of thunderstorms
over Toronto.

While they're
not in the storm yet,

the crew enters their holding
pattern, north east of Toronto.

Their alternate airport

is almost 300 kilometres
away in Ottawa.

At the moment, the plane has
a little over 7500 kilograms

of fuel in its tanks - more
than enough to get them there.

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.

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.

Air France,
Toronto arrival.

Your hold is now cancelled.

You are cleared for a WASIE 2
arrival. Maintain 5,000 feet.

Air France 358.
Roger on cancellation of holds.

Cleared for WASIE 2 arrival
and maintain 5,000.

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.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
this is your Captain speaking.

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 pm local time.

Usually, when they say
forty five minutes you know

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

This time,
it was like twenty minutes.

Twenty minutes later they said,
Ok, well now we are going

to go down, and prepare,
you know for the landing.

With co-pilot
Frederic Naud at the controls,

the plane begins its descent
into the storm.

Air France 358,
reducing speed to one nine zero.

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.

A brutal summer
storm is battering Toronto.

Winds and lightning
are hammering the airport,

making it tense
for incoming planes.

After a short hold,
Air France flight 358,

with 297 passengers aboard

begins descending
into the storm.

Flaps two.
Flaps two. F speed.

Gear down.
Landing gear down.

Spoilers armed. Four green.
Landing gear down.

Spoilers armed. Four green.

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, uh,

stormy landing,
nothing out of the ordinary.

In the main cabin,
though, not everyone is so sure.

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.

Air France 358,
slow your final approach speed.

Co-pilot Frederic Naud
has the plane in position.

He's moments from landing.

Air France 358. Roger.

Flaps to full.
Flaps to full.

It was going darker
and darker.

We were like in the middle
of hundred and hundreds

of lightnings every second
we had lightnings all around us.

So people were getting nervous,
quite nervous.

I was getting nervous.

Ahead
of the Air France airbus,

two other planes have just
touched down on the same

runway that flight 358
is heading for.

Air France 358,
this is Toronto tower.

Toronto tower,
Air France 358, go ahead.

You are cleared
to land runway two-four left.

Be advised that preceding
aircraft report that braking

action is poor and they estimate
the surface winds near the

runway as two hundred and ninety
degrees at 15 to 20 knots.

Braking poor,
fifteen knots, gusts to twenty.

Air France 358, thank you.

The crew is
being sent to runway 24L,

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 prepare
for the landing.

Select auto brakes
to medium.

Medium is set.

The final
approach to 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.

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.

Landing.
Auto-pilot, auto-thrust. Off.

At two minutes
after four o'clock,

Air France flight 358 roars over
the beginning of the runway.

This landing
was more intense

and harder than any time I've
ever landed in another aircraft.

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.

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.

Shit! Shit!

Immediately you
could see this orange aura,

and for me it's a picture
I shall never forget.

My daughter was sitting ahead
of us on the right 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,

this orange aura of fire.

Then, moments after
touching down, still traveling

at 146 kilometres per hour,
Flight 358 runs out of room.

At that point,

I believed
we were all going to die.

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

I thought this was it.

The next thing I remember
is that an announcement came.

Ladies and Gentlemen
everything's okay.

We've stopped now.

Well, no kidding,
of course we've stopped now.

But I could tell that
everything was not okay

because I could immediately
smell jet fuel.

As the smell of jet
fuel fills the cabin...

Fire! Fire!

...panic
quickly spreads.

Get out!
Fire! Fire! Get out!

Everybody was
expecting the plane to blow up.

It was obvious.

Smoke and flames
are spreading quickly.

Now it's a desperate
struggle to escape.

You heard shouting
from the back

that there was a fire, fire.

Then people started really
getting panicked.

If they don't
get out -

they have just seconds to live.

We know that about two
minutes into a fire in many

cases the environment
becomes untenable.

So ninety 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.

Two hundred
and ninety-seven passengers

are desperate
to leave the plane.

Emilie! Emilie!
Daddy!

The only thing that
matters to me now is

get my daughter Emily who's
sitting like two seats ahead.

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

Go! Go, go, go!

Am I going to try
and get my luggage, my laptop.

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.

Flight 358 has eight
possible emergency exits.

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

People were
crawling over the seats.

They were pushing each other.

There was basically
all for yourself.

Hey!
Stay calm please.

Open the door!
Open the door!

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.

If the fuel tanks rupture
and we have a lot of fuel

that gets out
either on to the ground.

Well then there's enough
heat that would cause

the airplane skin to melt
in a couple of minutes.

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.

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 baled off the slide
above of him and hit the ground.

Eddie Ho has found an
exit too. But there's no slide.

And people,
there were pushing me forward.

I couldn't even control myself
and I was like no, I don't want

to jump as well, because it was
like five meters down at least.

Is he okay?
I don't know.

Is he okay?
I don't know.

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 LaCailles 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.

So I pushed
them down,

my wife went down,
I went down...

Run, run!
This way! Run!

We just ran up as fast
as we could through torn metal

and thorns and like
through whatever was

left on the ground where
the plane was.

Once the fire
gets inside the airplane,

all of the furnishings
are much like the furnishings

in your house and there
are foams and materials that,

when they catch on fire,
produce toxic gases and that's

really the most important
lethal aspect of the fire.

Basically you
just had to jump.

So what I did was you know
I prayed quickly

and closed my eyes and jumped.

Emergency workers
are able to reach the burning

jet just 52 seconds after
it crashes.

But with the threat
of an explosion,

it's dangerous to get too close.

It was very
difficult to see anything

due to the rain that
was coming down.

There was a lot of smoke
engulfing the plane,

some fire that was
still ongoing.

As well as you could see that
parts of the plane had

broken off,
some of the wheels that

were at the side of the roadway,
as well as portions

of the plane's wings
that had broken off.

Philippe LaCaille
and his family

struggle up the hill the plane
has just ploughed down.

And, at that point,
the plane blew up. Once. Twice.

Three times so you could feel

and hear this enormous explosion
actually taking place.

On the first one
I looked at the first one

because I just couldn't believe
my eyes because I could see

pieces of luggage,
things flying up in the air.

And of course, at that time
I figured, my God,

it could have been us.

We had a perfect
view of the airplane.

And see this black smoke coming
out of the side of the airplane.

And the yellow and the orange

and the red flames,
shooting out.

We were fine
but we just knew that there were

so many passengers in that plane
that had not gotten out.

August 2, 2005.

Air France flight 358
has crashed

off its runway in Toronto.

Flames are tearing
at the fuselage.

Smoke is pouring
from the ruined jet.

Dazed passengers are stumbling
from the plane.

The passengers that were
coming up were very rain

soaked and muddy
from coming up the hill.

There were several
individuals that,

once they got up there,
were crying and a bit

emotional as well as looking
around for other passengers,

or family or friends that may
have been with them at the time.

About 35 min.

ago a plane run of a runway
at Toronto Pearson Airport.

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.

She turned on the TV
and here we go,

there was the Air France
crash right here,

live in front of her burning,
exploding in front of her eyes.

250 people on board we've
have not had any reason

to make a statement yet as to
anybody has survived or escaped.

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.

What?
What do you mean where am I?

I'm at the airport waiting for
mom and dad like... what? What!?

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,

cause their plane just crashed.'

One of
the busiest highways

in North America
borders the airport.

Just before rush hour,

it's packed with thousands
of vehicles.

Drivers slow down,

captivated by the terrifying
sight of the burning plane.

Some of the passengers who have
escaped the plane stumble

dazed and shaken right
onto the edge of the highway.

Passing motorists stop
to take them to the airport.

At this point,

there was only about twenty five
or thirty people with me at

the airport and here you're also
thinking, is this all there is?

As people are brought
in, airport employees

struggle to account for all
the passengers and crew.

They were totally
disorganized.

There's no announcements
being made.

There's nothing of any
kind of organization.

And you're in this little
crowded area with all

the irate passengers,
waiting to be processed.

Some people even said,
'You know,

the first disaster
was the plane crash.

And the second disaster is
exactly how it

was handled afterwards.

Relatives wait
desperately for any news.

Julien LaCaille is just
one of many who fears the worst.

For a least
an hour and a half

they 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.

Finally,
hours after the crash,

passengers who have waiting
family members are reunited.

Julien. Julien!

We finally
met up with Julien, it

was eleven o'clock that night.

It was, you know. God.

We're so lucky,
we're so lucky we're alive.

It's hard to explain,

but it's like you're given
a second chance.

You know, here's my son you
know maybe I didn't tell him

I loved him
when I left for France.

It was a very nice moment.
A very deep moment.

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.

Landing.
Auto-pilot, auto-thrust off.

Rain and lightning
had been battling

the airport all afternoon.

Was it simply bad weather
that caused this crash?

Put it down! Put it down!

Neither the pilot,

nor the co-pilot have spoken
publicly about the crash.

We have
to evacuate now!

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.

Is he okay?
I don't know.

Is he okay?
I don't know.

But former Air France
trainer Herve LaBarthe

has spoken to Captain Rosaye.

We spoke,
let me think for half an hour.

He told me, and 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.

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 on-board

systems for information
about wind conditions.

The on-board 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.

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.

Air France 358,
this is Toronto tower.

Toronto tower,
Air France 358, go ahead.

You are cleared
to land runway two-four left.

Be advised that preceding
aircraft report that braking

action is poor and they estimate
the surface winds near the

runway as two hundred and ninety
degrees at 15 to 20 knots.

Braking poor, fifteen
knots, gusts to twenty. Roger.

Twenty knot
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 33 knots.

The crew of the Air France jet
had to deal with conditions

that were much worse
than they were expecting.

Landing. Auto-pilot.
Auto-thrust. Off.

Thirty-three knots is
the demonstrated maximum

crossing wind for an A340, and
that would be on a dry runway.

So when you say thirty-three
knots - at 90 degrees -

you're encroaching
on the limits of the aircraft.

Closely
studying the airport,

investigators uncover another
piece of the puzzle.

Maintenance issues - and the
storm itself - were forcing

Air Traffic controllers to use
runway 24L for landings.

It is the shortest runway at the
airport - almost 650 metres

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.

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.

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.

But even in bad
conditions -

even on a short runway -

the crew had 3000 meters
in which to land their plane.

It should have been enough.

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

In 1999,
an eerily similar accident

took place in Little Rock,
Arkansas.

CO-PILOT: We're off course.

No, I can't see it.
CO-PILOT: Way off.

Struggling
with unpredictable weather,

the crew of an American Airlines
jet landed their plane -

only to have it
skid off the runway.

Eleven people were killed.

Greg Feith helped
investigate that crash.

One of the first
things that

I thought about was déjà vu.

Having the first
bits of information

about the Air France
accident it reminded me

so much of the American Airlines
accident.

In the Little Rock
crash,

Feith discovered that the crew
had made a critical mistake

which contributed
significantly to the accident.

They hadn't followed
all of the check list procedures

and they didn't have the ground
spoilers armed, which basically

degrades the efficiency of lift
on the wings and settles

the airplane heavily on
the main wheels

so that breaking action
is more effective.

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.

Flaps two.
Flaps two. F speed.

Investigators
in Toronto also discover that -

unlike in
the Little Rock crash -

this time the spoilers
had deployed properly.

Landing gear down.
Spoilers armed. Four green.

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.

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 movements
of the plane.

No doubt because of
the strong cross winds

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.

Shortly after
the newspaper story appears,

investigators
publish their initial report.

It confirms La 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.

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.

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.

Put it down!
Put it down!

In these stormy
conditions,

the crew didn't have
enough time to stop.

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.

But decisions in a
cockpit are joint decisions.

The captain and the first
officer work together.

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.

By the time
the plane touched down,

it had only 1500 metres to stop.

And when it DID land,
critical seconds were lost

when the reverse thrusters
weren't engaged.

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.

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 over runs

are far too common - they happen
all around the world.

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

In August 2005,
Air France

flight 358 crashed off the end
of a runway in Toronto.

It was a horrifying incident,

yet amazingly,
everyone survived.

But 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.

There are a number
of causal factors that occur

again and again in runway
over run accidents.

These would be
the weather conditions

The state of the runway surface.

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

Speed in excess of normal
approach speed for the aircraft,

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

And these factors occur
again and again

in runway over run accidents.

Unlike the crash
at Toronto,

some over runs 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.

Many older airports,

in particular in big cities
which have expanded

out toward the airport
in the course of their growth,

are constrained in the area
that they can use for over runs.

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 tail wind
component which was

existent at time
the Air France landed.

That, in combination
with the contaminated runway

can jeopardize
the landing performance

and in fact probably increase it
by fifty percent.

The International
Civil Aviation Organization

recommends that every airport
have a 300-metre safety zone

at the end of runways that
handle international flights.

Canadian standards
are a little less strict.

They call for
a 60-metre over run area

and recommend another 90
metres on top of that.

Runway 24L meets the low
end of those recommendations.

There was another
runway over run

accident to the runway
in Toronto, which was very

closely aligned with the runway
that is there at the moment.

In 1978, when a DC9,

an Air Canada DC 9 rejected a
takeoff and ran into the ravine.

Well the plane
started to break

and then there was just nothing
and we dropped over the edge.

There was about
a fifty foot drop,

I guess,
at the end of the runway.

We just went over the top.

Then there was a heck of a bang

and people
and seats all over the place.

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.

It's a steep ravine,

it has about a fifty-foot
drop-off

and when you take a large,

complicated and fragile piece
of machinery like a commercial

aircraft and you drop it fifty
feet, then it tends to break.

There is a possible
solution to runway over runs.

But it's not being
used in Toronto -

or many other
international airports.

It's called EMAS - or Engineered
Material Arresting Systems.

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.

Several airports
in the U.S. use the system.

But most international
airports do not.

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.

We have
to evacuate now!

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.

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.

The Air France flight was
particularly noteworthy

that everybody got out
essentially unscathed.

It was a noteworthy and it

was a very good evacuation
from that perspective.

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.

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.

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.

I went through nightmares
almost every single night.

Flashbacks during the day.

I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat
and I questioned myself,

why am I here?

It's frightening to be in such
a state, and...

it has taught me to be strong.

We really need to take
seriously those safety commands

and evacuation information
because you never know.

It was a perfect flight,

there's not any indications
that anything can go wrong.

And it's right at the very last
second that everything happens.

So, thank goodness I'm
here to talk about it now.

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
and yes I'm traumatized

and my kids are traumatized.

However there are 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 gonna feel.

So, for me, I figure
if I can extend my heart

out to others,
it's gonna help me as well.