All language subtitles for Mayday.S05E07.Fanning.the.Flames.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264-playWEB_track3_[eng]

A 747 flying
toward South Africa

fills with smoke.

A fire has erupted
in the cargo area,

but the plane can't land.

It's too far
over the Indian Ocean.

The first thought I think
for many, many South Africans

was what was on that plane?

The passengers are
choking on toxic fumes.

Request a full
emergency, please.

Affirmative,
that's Charlie, Charlie.

There's only one way
to clear the smoke.

The crew must try
a rarely used
and risky maneuver.

Open the doors!

Open the doors in flight.

Springbok 295.
Plaisance.

It's a race
against time
as the plane burns up.

It must reach land
before it crashes
into the sea.

Springbok 295.
Plaisance.

Mayday, mayday.

On November 27th, 1987,

a South African Airways 747
flies from Taiwan
back home to South Africa.

- Everything good?
- Fine, Captain.

- Ready to take over?
- Yes, thanks.

Nine hours
into their flight
over the Indian Ocean,

the main crew returns
to their seats,

allowing the relief crew
to rest.

The crew prepares
for a scheduled stop
on the island of Mauritius.

Valerie Lottering has enjoyed
her first overseas vacation,

joining her husband Corrie
while he was on business.

My father was
on a business trip

and my mum had gone with
for a holiday.

My dad had actually gone
to the east to secure

cell phone technology,

which was just sort of happening
in South Africa at the time.

The plane is
a modified 747,

known as a Combi,
short for combination.

A passenger plane
and a cargo plane in one,

it's designed to accommodate
flexible quantities
of passengers and cargo.

The Combi has a large
cargo area down below,
like a regular 747.

The Combi also has
a large cargo area

right behind the last
row of economy class seats.

The cockpit sits
one level above
the cabin.

You could load from six
to 12 pallets on the main deck,

adjusting the bulk head

for the number of passengers
you wanted to carry.

And this turned out to be

a very worthwhile
and useful tool.

Flight 295 is carrying
159 people,

as well as six large pallets
of cargo.

Known as the Helderberg,
the 747 Combi
is a vital member

of the South African
Airways fleet.

It's particularly useful
for long range flying.

For South African Airways

during the days of Apartheid,

a plane like the Combi helped
them in that respect,

because they had to fly
around the bulge of Africa
over the Atlantic.

To protest
South Africa's
white racist regime,

the vast majority
of black African states
refused to allow

South African Airlines
to fly over their airspace,

causing them
to fly longer routes.

There were
sanctions, heavy sanctions
against South Africa

on political, economic,
and cultural fronts.

South Africa was not welcome

anywhere credible
in the world.

On Flight 295,

less than an hour
before its stop in Mauritius,

the smoke alarm breaks
the calm of the cockpit.

It's for the cargo area
on the main deck,

directly behind
the passengers.

By the time the crew gets to it
the fire is raging.

It's bad.

- Should I get another bottle
over there?
- Yeah, hurry!

Read out the fire checklist
for us, please.

In fire emergencies,
the crew follows

a standard checklist
to extinguish the fire.

- The breaker popped as well.
- Huh?

We'll check
the breaker panel as well.

The fire is burning
through the plane's wiring,

causing short circuits.

Move as far forward
as you can.

But there's
a more immediate problem.

Passengers are
having trouble breathing.

Duct isolation
valve switches open.

Pack valve switches
all open.

Recirculating fan
switches...

off.

The fire checklist
instructs the pilot to land
at the nearest airport.

But the closest one is
on the island of Mauritius,

still more than
300 kilometers away.

There's not a lot
Captain Uys can do.

He asks a member
of his flight crew

to help fight
the cargo fire.

Bring me another bottle.

Captain Uys initiates
an emergency descent.

He calls the airport
on the island of Mauritius,

which is on good terms
with South Africa.

It's just before
4:00 in the morning

when Mauritius
Air Traffic Control receives
the call.

Mauritius,
Mauritius, Springbok
two-niner-five.

Springbok two niner five,
Mauritius, good morning.
Go ahead.

Good morning.
We have a smoke problem

and we're doing
emergency descent

to level 15...
uh, 140.

Confirm you wish to
descend to level 140.

Yeah,
we've already commenced

due to a smoke problem
in the airplane.

Do you request
a full emergency, please?

Affirmative.
That's Charlie, Charlie!

Captain Uys sounds calm,

but he has to find a way

of getting rid of the smoke
on his plane.

Whatever is burning
in the cargo hold is producing

thick, noxious smoke
which is pouring
into the cabin.

It could be deadly
to the passengers.

Your actual position, please.

Ah, say again?

Actual position.

Captain Uys is losing power
to many of his instruments.

We've lost
a lot of electrics.

We haven't got anything
on the, uh,
on the aircraft now.

He's not sure
where he is.

The airport prepares
for an emergency landing,

while the crew
of the Helderberg
follows instructions

from another checklist
to get rid of the smoke.

Supplementary vent fan
switch off.

Recirculating
fan switches...

on.

Smoke condition?

Hold on,
I'll check downstairs.

The crew gets
more bad news from the cabin.

The smoke is getting thicker.

It's worse!

We can't breathe down here.

With the plane approaching

an altitude of 4,500 meters,

the checklist advises
the captain to execute

an emergency maneuver
that few pilots have

ever performed.

We need
to open the doors.

Repeat, open the doors!

Opening the plane's doors
in midair

is the only hope
for thinning
a cloud of smoke

that could
kill the passengers

before the struggling jet
can land.

As the cabin
of South African Airways
Flight 295 fills with smoke,

there's only one way
to save the passengers
from the lethal fumes.

Outer flight level
150 for 140.

150 for 140.

150...

The captain begins
his emergency descent

to 4,500 meters,
so the doors can be opened.

At 4,500 meters,
passengers can
breathe the outside air.

At that altitude,
the difference in pressure

between the air inside
and outside the cabin
is enough

to force the cabin air
out quickly,

but not dangerously.

Now the captain must
dramatically reduce
his airspeed

to 370 kilometers an hour,
200 knots.

Any faster and the crew won't
be able to open the doors.

This is
Captain Uys speaking.

We're opening two
of the entry doors

to clear the smoke
from the cabin.

Do not panic, you'll be
much more comfortable

once we complete
this procedure.

You just crack the door
and this generates

a tremendous amount of airflow
through the airplane.

Plaisance
Springbok 2-9-5.

We've opened the doors
to see if we can...

We should be okay.

Look there!

Close the bloody door!

Joe, switch up quickly,

then close the hole
on your side.

Smoke is
now building in the cockpit,

but there's no outside door
to open.

Temperature is 22.22,

and the QNH is
1018 hectopascals,

one-zero-one-eight over.

The air-traffic controller
now focuses

on giving the captain
the information he needs
for an emergency landing.

Roger,
one-zero-one-eight.

Affirmative,
and both runways are available
if you wish.

And 295, I request
pilot's intention.

We'd like
to check in on 1-3.

Confirm runway 1-3.

Charlie, Charlie.

Affirmative.
You're cleared direct

to Foxtrot Foxtrot.
You report
approaching 5-0.

Okay.

Captain Uys has
one hope.

He must make it
to the island of Mauritius
265 kilometers away.

The Helderberg continues
on its desperate journey.

295, Plaisance.

But at 4:08 in the morning,

a call by
the air-traffic controller
is not returned.

Springbok 295, Plaisance.

Springbok 295,
Plaisance?

With no response
from Flight 295
for 36 minutes,

Air Traffic Control Mauritius
formally declares
an emergency.

An alert goes out
to search-and-rescue crews.

Several aircraft take off
from Mauritius

and search the dark waters
for the missing plane,

but find nothing.

At the airport
in Johannesburg,

South African Airways
officially declares

Flight 295 "delayed."

We were
supposed to be going away
on our annual holiday,

so we were all very excited,
'cause from picking them up,

my parents up
from the airport,

we were supposed to go off
to three week holiday.

I think that's maybe the,
the extent of the...

differences of,
of the emotions is

that you're so anxious
and excited

for them to come home,

and then
the absolute devastation

of the news,
getting the news,

you know,
that the aircraft has
gone missing.

In the afternoon
of the next day,

a rescue plane spots
the first signs

of floating
aircraft wreckage.

Rennie Van Zyl, the head
of South Africa's
Aviation Safety Board is

assigned to
the Helderberg case.

A normal investigator will
only handle a major accident

about once in 20 years,
in his career.

So this was a...
quite a big... wake up

and a challenge to us,

to start running
with this investigation
in that morning.

Eight bodies are
found in the water,

all suffering
from extreme trauma.

It was around
about two o'clock

that we in fact were advised
that the wreckage

and an oil slick had
been spotted.

And it was then quite apparent
that the airplane was lost.

The most astonishing thing is

that my parents had actually,
the night before they had flown,

had sorted out their wills,
had sorted out
their insurances,

had sorted out
all of their documentation

and paperwork
before they flew.

Which was quite amazing.

My father made

very, very close family friends
of ours our guardians,

our godparents, and we were
to live with them.

South Africa
quickly becomes obsessed

with what caused the crash.

In the early days,
there's very little
to examine,

only small bits
of the plane

that are floating
on the surface.

Contained within
that debris,

Rennie Van Zyl's team discovers
three wristwatches.

The watches give them
a probable time of impact.

These wristwatches were
in fact part of the baggage,

and when examined
we were able

to find that the one
had stopped

and two others were
still running,

and the two running ones were
the exact Taiwanese time.

The stopped one did give us
the minute indication

of what we could establish

as the impact time
of the airplane.

The impact time is
only three minutes

after the last communication
with the plane.

The Helderberg's demise was
sudden and dramatic.

In the press
and in public opinion,

it reinforces the idea
that something sinister brought
the plane down.

In the years leading up
to the crash,

South African Airways offices
around the world had been
the target of protests.

The South African Airways
Airline at that particular time
was a government body.

It was owned
by the government.

It was the national carrier,

but it was also
very much perceived

to be a part
of the South African
government.

So another aspect
of this plane crash,

and another theory
that was put around

was that there could have
been a bomb in the cargo.

That in fact we were
a target, South Africa,

or this SAA plane was
a target of terrorists

who had the worst interests
of this country at heart.

Experts examine
the small bits
of wreckage they have,

searching for the telltale signs
of an explosion.

Impact cavities,
surface pitting,

or spatter cavities.

Spatter cavities are caused
by the white hot fragments
from a high explosive device,

striking and melting
the light alloys
of the aircraft structure.

But experts spot no sign
of an explosion.

And when air-traffic-control
tapes are studied,

Van Zyl hears
that the crew appeared

to be coping
with the emergency.

Plaisance Springbok 295,
we've opened the doors

to see it we can...
We should be okay.

We've had rumors
of atomic bombs,

for example, in there,

but that won't cause
the airplane to burn.

It will take out the airplane.

We did not have
that same experience here.

This airplane flew
for 22 minutes.

It's out
of the ordinary circumstances.

This was not an explosion
that took out the airplane.

With just small pieces
of the plane to study,

investigators are stumped.

They don't know
what caused the fire,

or what role it played
in the destruction
of the plane.

The obvious thing to do
was to go and try and retrieve

the cockpit voice recorder,
flight data recorder

and as much wreckage as we can
from the aircraft

to establish
what really had happened.

The problem is
Van Zyl doesn't even know

where to find
the underwater wreckage.

It could be far
from the floating debris.

No one is sure
exactly where
the plane crashed.

He turns to the United States
looking for help.

An American salvage company is
hired to find the wreckage

and black boxes,
but time is running out.

The boxes have
built-in locating devices
called pingers,

which run on batteries
and will eventually run down.

The driving factor was that
the pinger on

the data and voice recorders
was transmitting,

and it only had
a 30-day guaranteed
shelf life.

If we couldn't get out there
in 30 days,

the chances were
that we wouldn't
be able to detect it.

By the time
the proper equipment can be

assembled in the Indian Ocean,

only seven days remain

before the batteries
in the pingers will die out.

Meanwhile blood tests are
performed on the human remains
pulled from the debris field.

All show traces
of soot in their trachea.

It's determined
that at least two
of the passengers

died from
smoke inhalation.

Investigators face
a disturbing realization.

Even as the crew was
struggling to land their plane,

some of the passengers were
already dead.

While searching
for the black boxes,

investigators continue
to examine
the floating wreckage.

Amongst the hundreds
of recovered items,

a partly-melted
graphite tennis racket offers
a telltale clue about the fire.

Graphite only burns
at temperatures greater
than 600 degrees Celsius.

Investigators now know
that the fire on theHelderberg
was extremely hot.

This discovery may explain
why a fully-charged extinguisher
from the front of the plane is

recovered with
other floating wreckage.

Investigators notice
a melted piece
of cargo netting

on the outside
of the extinguisher.

They determine
that the extinguisher is
from the passenger cabin,

suggesting that
as the fire burned,

a crew member grabbed
the extinguisher

and brought it
to the cargo area.

A full fire extinguisher

in a plane that was
brought down
by a fire shows

that for whatever reason
it wasn't discharged,

because the crewmember
couldn't access the area
because of the heat,

or the fact that there was
melted metal

on the fire extinguisher is
further evidence
to the intensity of the fire.

Before this accident,

in the 20-year history
of the 747 Combi,

no one had ever died
from fire or smoke.

When we heard about a fire
in the Helderberg,

this was the first time
for a wide-body airplane.

It was... it was news.
And because it was so new

and the thought was
that we really couldn't
have anything like that.

What could have
caused such an intense fire
on the Helderberg?

Was it a wiring problem
on the plane,

or had the cargo itself
somehow started the blaze?

Initially,
the investigation focused on,
"What was the cargo?"

The fire obviously
had originated

in the main deck
cargo compartment,

so the logical thing
is to look

what did the waybills indicate
was carried in the airplane.

Investigators learn
that there were six pallets
of cargo on board Flight 295.

Using master waybills,
Van Zyl's team is

able to determine
that 47,000 kilograms

of baggage and cargo was
officially on board.

Investigators discover
that before takeoff,

a Taiwanese customs official
performed a random inspection

of some of the cargo.
He found nothing suspicious.

More than ever,
investigators need

to find the rest
of the plane,

and locate
the Helderberg's black boxes.

But 30 days after the crash,

Van Zyl's team gets
some very bad news.

There's still no signal detected
from the black boxes.

And they are
still not certain

exactly where the majority
of the wreckage is.

So far,
the search has cost
1.5 million US dollars,

and the team has been unable
to locate vital evidence.

The Helderberg crash is
quickly becoming a test

of Van Zyl's abilities
and his resolve.

The investigation reaches
a stand still.

Van Zyl has failed to discover
the cause of the fire

or even find
the plane's wreckage.

If he keeps looking,
it will cost millions more,

and the chances of success are
getting increasingly remote.

This wasn't just an airplane,
this was a Boeing 747.

It was the largest airplane
of its type.

And this was a 747
of South Africa's
national airlines.

Hundreds of thousands of people
who flew the 747 every day

at that time were dependent
on a satisfactory answer

as to whether or not
this aircraft was safe,

and whether or not there were
any structural

or design deficiencies
in the airplane.

So the stakes for us were
quite large,

and the stakes
for Mr. Van Zyl as the head

of the South African
investigation were enormous.

It would have
been very, very easy

for the South African government
to say,

"The water's too deep,
it's too far from Mauritius,

"we cannot investigate
this accident."

Well beneath
the gray waves
of the Indian Ocean,

the wreckage of the Helderberg
remains hidden.

Now one man, Rennie Van Zyl,
must decide whether to spend

the money needed to recover
the plane's wreckage.

But almost two months
after the Helderberg slammed
into the Indian Ocean,

no one even knows
the precise location
of the main wreckage.

Van Zyl decides he must try
to recover what he can.

Without the wreckage,
we'll never know the truth.

So they spent
on one investigation

what we spent in six months
of conducting

all of our investigations
in the United States.

Before investigators
can salvage the Helderberg,

they must find it.

The wreckage lies somewhere
very deep underwater.

Sixty-one days after the crash
of the Helderberg,

Van Zyl receives
some intriguing news
from his team.

Sophisticated sonar equipment
has detected a large object

4,400 meters underwater
on a flat plateau.

It could be the Helderberg.

And they presented me
with a piece of paper

with a lot of black dots
of various sizes on it,

and they said,
"That's your wreckage."

And my question to them was,

"How do I know
it's the wreckage
of the 747?"

Maybe this is a submarine

from the Second World War
or something.

And the response was just,
"Rennie, it is it,

"because we tell you
it is the wreckage."

But no one's ever gone
that deep to salvage anything,

including the Titanic.

Van Zyl has no choice.

To find out whether
the sonar images are

in fact the wreckage,
he must launch

the most expensive part
of the investigation,

Operation Resolve.

A remote controlled sub
called theGemini will be sent

to the ocean floor
to videotape what's there.

If it is the Helderberg,
the Gemini will search

for key items,
including the black boxes.

The problem is
that the mini sub must

be attached to the mother ship
by a flexible fiber optic cable

that's almost
seven kilometers long.

No cable that long has
ever been built.

We needed
a 20,000 foot cable.

There was no existing cable,

so we had to go
to a cable manufacturer

and get a cable designed
and built.

But before
the fiber optic cable
is assembled,

Van Zyl launches
a separate investigation

into the fire-fighting
capabilities of
the Helderberg.

He would discover
that the very design

of the Combi may have
doomed the flight.

Investigators want to know
whether the Combi was

properly designed
to protect the passengers

on South African Airways
Flight 295 from fire.

The smoke should not have
entered the Combi's cabin.

The American team leader
in the investigation,

Barry Strauch, goes
to Boeing's headquarters

in Seattle to find out
how the Combi was tested

for certification
in fire prevention.

Strauch's team learns
that to comply

with federal regulations,

Boeing's fire tests were
conducted by setting

a bale of tobacco leaves
on fire.

When a technician enters
the cargo area

to fight
the demonstration fire,

no smoke enters
the passenger cabin.

The smoke remains localized.

The fire is
quickly extinguished.

Well, that was
in the test conditions

that Boeing used
to get the airplane approved.

But in the reality,
as we saw in this accident,

it didn't work that way
because, um, you didn't have

a nice clean fire
with fans blowing

the smoke
towards the ceiling.

You had pallets,
you had a fire

that would have
grown considerably

before the smoke is generated

and you had plastic sheeting

that would provide
fuel to the fire,

in addition to
all the cardboard

and packing materials
within the pallets themselves.

The Combi is
designed to prevent smoke

from entering
the passenger cabin.

The air there is kept
at a slightly higher pressure

than in the cargo area.

When the door
between the two is opened,

the air should flow
into the cargo area,

keeping the passengers safe.

Investigators then conduct
their own test.

They set a large pallet
of tightly packed cargo on fire,

mimicking conditions
on the Helderberg.

The blaze is more intense
and the temperature is hotter.

Investigators discover
that this much hotter flame has

a radical impact on the air
in the cargo hold.

When the cargo door
is opened,

the smoke now flows
into the passenger cabin.

Boeing tests used
tobacco leaves
and batches of tobacco.

In the fire
in the Helderberg,

it was a very,
very different fire

than the kind
of smoke-generating fire

that Boeing used
in their test.

Heat would have been generated
within the cargo compartment

that would have created
its own pressure,

and would have negated
the pressure differential

between the cargo compartment
and the passenger compartment.

And without
the pressure differential

there would be nothing
to restrain the smoke

and keep it
on the cargo side.

And therefore, the smoke
would have penetrated
into the passenger side,

smoke that contained,

as we know, carbon monoxide
and carbon dioxide.

Then investigators discover

something potentially
more lethal.

As the passenger cabin
filled with smoke,

a checklist instructed the crew
to turn on the cabin's
recirculating fans.

The intention of the checklist
is to dissipate the smoke
in the passenger cabin

after the fire has
been extinguished.

Recirculating fan switches...

on.

But in this case,
turning the fans on may
have been deadly.

Fans draw air
from above the cabin's ceiling

and from
the cargo compartment,

before recirculating it
back to the passengers.

The carbon monoxide levels
were extremely high,

and were fatally high.

In fact, the one body...

And we have to stress again
that he was allocated the seat

really below
the recirc fan inlet area.

That was the highest level.

I think we're talking
around about 66 percent.

That is not
a survivable level at all.

By following their checklist,
the crew may

have fed toxic gas
into the passenger cabin.

And it might
very well have been

that most of your passengers
were asphyxiated before impact.

No checklist
for a 747 Combi had

ever foreseen the Helderberg's
simultaneous problems.

A cargo fire problem,
and a cabin smoke problem.

The smoke removal checklist is
predicated on the assumption

that the fire has
been extinguished.

In that event,

descending to 14,000 feet
and opening the cabin door

would be the appropriate
thing to do.

It would get the smoke
out of the airplane,

and enable people
to breathe regular air.

If the fire hasn't
been extinguished,

that would have the function
of actually increasing
the airflow to the fire,

and increasing the supply
of oxygen to the fire.

We think
that's what happened
in this case,

that the fire had
never been extinguished.

And in fact,
the crew's attempts to
make the situation better

may have in fact made
the situation worse.

Investigators begin
to realize

that fighting a fire
in the Combi's cargo area is

much more difficult
than previously thought.

If there was
a fire in one of
these pallets,

it was quite likely
that by the time the crew was

alerted to the fire,
it would be too late.

Then the cabin instantly
filled up with smoke.

But Van Zyl still
doesn't know

what caused
such a fierce fire.

How had the blaze started,

and how had it brought
the plane down?

The answers are
still deep under the ocean.

It takes months
to build the fiber optic cable

that's long enough
for the Gemini to reach
the bottom of the sea,

and to modify the submarine
for this mission.

We had to take the ROV,
existing ROV that we had,

which was designed
for 6,000 feet,

and we had to modify it

so it would go to 20,000 feet.

Roy Truman's team had to
give the sub thicker walls

to withstand
the enormous pressure
it would encounter,

and modify its cameras
for the extreme depth.

On September the 23rd, 1988,

the Gemini begins
its record breaking journey.

We were hesitant to say
that everything would work,

because we didn't even
have time
to do sea trials

on all of this new equipment.

The cable allows
technicians at the surface

to manipulate the Gemini
at 4,400 meters.

It also carries video signals
from that remarkable depth.

It's the first time
that video images have

been recorded from this deep
in the Indian Ocean.

Marine biologists
are fascinated

by the discovery
of unique new species.

Some of the stuff that we saw

on the sea bed was
pretty mind-blowing.

Then one year
to the day
after it disappeared,

the Helderberg is found.

From a depth of 4,400 meters,

the submarine sends back images
that could only be the wreckage

of South African Airways
Flight 295.

There would be
lots of luggage

just strewn
all over the sea bed,

massive structures,
the wings, the tail,

huge parts
of the cabin split open,

and you could see
all of the ribs,

and the wiring,
the hydraulic piping.

I mean, it was incredible
just to see

everything that went
into a machine

spread over an area
of about
five, six square miles.

It was incredible.

Van Zyl's
expensive gamble is
beginning to pay off.

Descending to
the Helderberg's wreckage is

a triumph for him
and his team.

But just finding the debris
isn't nearly enough.

A year after the accident,

Van Zyl is still hoping
for the improbable,

the recovery
of the cockpit
voice recorder.

One of the major aspects
we aimed at

in Operation Resolve was
the recovery of the CVR.

We really wanted to know
whether the cabin crew reported

to the captain
that there was an explosion,

or what was happening
at the back.

Hundreds of hours
of videotape are recorded.

It's exhausting work.

If you can imagine being
on a football field

with a flashlight,

that only illuminates
a square foot
of the football field,

and you're looking
for an earring

one of
the football players lost
during the game

in the dead of night,
that's similar to what

it's like
when we're on the sea bed.

Then at nine o'clock
one morning,

something catches the eye
of one of the technicians.

Go back,
go back for a second.

We might have
passed something.

At long last,
the black box is discovered.

There. That's it.
That's it right there!

My God, we found it!

We found it!

That was
a very fulfilling moment,

you know, find what we had
aimed for,

we have achieved.
We're getting it.

It takes
a full five hours

for the Gemini to bring
the black box up

from the bottom of the sea.

The South African
media turns the discovery

into front-page news.

It's now 1989

and the Apartheid government is
still running the country

with an iron fist.

Van Zyl makes
an unusual decision.

He takes the sealed black box
to Washington

and opens it there.

Because otherwise,
I would have been accused

of having
covered up something,

or left something out,
or whatever.

And we, the FAA,
and the NTSB guys

all listened to this tape
at the same time
for the first time.

Tension in the room is high.

The cockpit voice recorder
should be a tape

of the last 30 minutes
of the flight,

as the crew
fought the fire.

But the tape turns out
to be a major frustration.

After a year
on the bottom of the ocean,

it's difficult
to understand anything.

It was
the worst time of my life,

sitting in the playback room
at the NTSB facilities

and you watch the time,

and there is
absolutely no indication
of problems on the tape.

And I'm watching the clock.

At about 25 minutes I was

really getting very,
very anxious.

For 28 minutes,
the tape reveals
nothing unusual.

Then everything changes.

The next minute, of course,
the alarm bell goes on the CVR

and we had about a...

a minute's worth
of relevant recording

on the tape
before the tape stopped.

Normally the black box records

the final moments of a flight.
But not this time.

Instead,
investigators are able

to listen to the start
of the accident

before the recording
mysteriously stops.

It's not what
Van Zyl was hoping for,

but it gives him
crucial new insight
into the fire.

Read out
the fire checklist
for us, please.

Fourteen seconds
after the fire alarm goes off,

the plane's circuit breakers
start to pop.

The breaker popped as well.
Huh?

We'll check
the breaker panel as well.

Yeah.

Investigators estimate

that up to 80 circuits
were disabled.

The wires to the cockpit
voice recorder are destroyed

only 81 seconds after
the fire alarm first goes off.

Van Zyl has not received
the key evidence
that he hoped for.

But the fire is revealed
as more violent
than previously thought.

The recording leaves
many questions unanswered.

But it does help Van Zyl
to arrive at a personal opinion

as to why the plane may
have crashed.

A lot of things were
happening in the cockpit,

and we believe
that he probably was faced

with up
to 80 circuit breakers popping

in the cockpit at the time

may have made controlling

half the aircraft
extremely difficult,

and the possibility then even

of the airplane
just gradually descending
into the sea.

Whether it was
a controllable flight,

uh, I have my doubts.

I put myself in the cockpit
on this thing and I said,

"I would have been terrified."

I mean, you know,
we're just figuring.
Now what do we do?

You know, did they do
the checklist... correctly?

We'll never know.

But investigators
still don't know

what triggered
the Helderberg fire.

The mystery can now
only be solved

by salvaging parts
from the crashed plane.

We realized that what we had
to do was just to continue

recover as much wreckage

as we could
from the ocean floor.

Van Zyl's focus is
on certain key pieces

of the Combi's cargo area.

They are brought to a hangar
and re-assembled

like a giant jigsaw puzzle.

His plan is to reconstruct
the section of the cargo area

where the fire
most likely started.

Van Zyl discovers
that the cargo area floor is
untouched by fire.

So we know that the fire never
burned lower than one meter
off the cargo floor.

But the walls
and ceiling

at the front of the cargo area
reveal severe fire damage.

Van Zyl makes
a dramatic discovery.

The seat of the fire was
on the front right pallet
of the cargo.

So we were looking
at the very localized fire
on one pallet.

The front right pallet was
mostly filled with computers,

protected by polystyrene packaging.

Investigators suspect
that a fire

within the pallet came
in contact

with the polystyrene
packing material,

producing gases
which accumulated
near the ceiling.

When the gases became
hot enough,

they ignited
into a flash fire

that spread
throughout the cargo hold.

Once smoke penetrated
the polyethylene sheets

that fire would have
been very, very hot.

But even if
the packing material had

helped spread the blaze,
Van Zyl still didn't know
why it started.

After millions of dollars,

and more than a year
and a half of work,

he has to end
his investigation.

I would have felt a lot better
if we had been
in a better position

to give more
factual information

to the board to consider.

But that was not to be,

and we were not going
to fabricate.

But interest
in the wreck

of the Helderberg
doesn't die.

Dark rumors circulate
about a possible cause
of the fire.

It's against
this backdrop

of a very repressive
Apartheid government.

At that particular time,
the first thought, I think,

for many, many South Africans
was what was on that plane.

Was there something
in that cargo hold

that could have
caused that terrible fire,

because planes don't just
burst into flames midair
and crash.

Then a South African
government chemist makes
a startling discovery,

which leads
to a controversial new theory.

A microscopic iron particle
on the nylon netting

next to the pallet has
a unique profile.

The airflow patterns
on the iron suggest

that it traveled
at a very high velocity
while in a molten state.

The discovery could mean

that the fire
on the Helderberg was not

a flash fire triggered
by packing materials.

This was
a different kind of fire.

This was a fire
that had its own oxygen.

If you can imagine
something like a sparkler,

which has fuel
and its own oxygen.

It was some kind of material
similar to a sparkler

that we feel was
the cause of the fire.

A British fire
and explosion analyst examines

the exterior skin
of the plane above the pallet

and comes up
with another piece of evidence

to support the new theory

The skin on the outside
of the plane reached

temperatures as high
as 300 degrees centigrade.

You must remember
that it's very difficult

to burn through
an airplane skin
in flight,

because the tremendous amount
of cooling from the airflow
on the outside of the skin.

Dr. David Klatzow
is one of numerous experts

who question
what caused the fire.

It would
have involved substances

which normally would not have
been carried aboard an aircraft,

particularly
a passenger aircraft.

In other words it could not have
been a normal packing material,

wood, cardboard,
plastic fire.

You don't carry
the things of that nature,

which carry their own oxygen,

which can produce
an accelerated fire

for a number of reasons.

One of which,
they are generally unstable.

The second reason is that normal
fire extinguishing methods
will not put them out.

What could
start such a fire?

The only
dangerous goods listed

on the cargo manifest are
computer batteries.

Some believe the Helderberg must
have been carrying cargo
that wasn't listed.

At the time,
South Africa was under

an international
arms embargo.

The country was
also fighting a war
with Angola.

South Africa didn't
have capacity

to do everything itself,
and there were times

when it had to buy
from other countries.

SAA was seen
as a surrogate cargo carrier

that they could somehow,

through its
commercial airline use,

also bring in substances

for the South African
government

undercover, under protection,
no questions asked.

It was not that easy
for them to fly
a quasi-military airline

into different countries
and pick up
military contraband,

which you must remember
we were laboring

under an arms embargo
at the time.

The media fuels
the flames of suspicion

that the government was
using passenger jets

to secretly import weapons.

Armscor is the corporation
responsible for supplying

the South African forces
with munitions.

At the time,
there was a need

to produce
a better rocket system,

a more efficient rocket system,

for dealing
with the air menace in Angola.

And the rocketry systems
which are used

for those purposes have
as their propellant...

the major component
of the propellant is
ammonium perchlorate.

And that is
what I believe was

being carried
aboard the Helderberg.

But it is not
the sort of compound

you want on an aircraft

when you are flying
on that aircraft,

because it is unstable.

It is susceptible
to self-ignition

by any kind of vibration
and violent movement.

The official investigation

into the crash does not
come to the conclusion

that the Helderberg was
carrying illegal arms.

But the rumors won't go away.

And more than 10 years
after the crash,

the dark theories force

a very different
South African government
to take another look.

The Helderberg accident revealed

that the 747 Combi was

vulnerable in the event
of an onboard fire.

South African Airways
immediately stops using
the 747 Combi.

American officials
take notice.

And the FAA went
through and developed
some new regulations,

but for the weight
and everything that was

going to have to be added
in there did not make it
economically feasible.

And, so essentially
after the Helderberg
accident,

747 Combis were
not used anymore.

There are
tributes and memorials
to the 159 victims,

but closure
does not come easily
for the families.

I need
an answer for why I was
orphaned at 14.

And I feel that...

as I say I'm
probably touching
on hearsay,

but there's a lot of evidence

that does point
to something not being right
on that flight,

and that the flight was
carrying something illicit.

Ten years
after the Helderberg crash,

the new
South African government,

launches a commission
to reexamine the accident.

Okay.

The Truth Commission was
tasked with basically uncovering

the truth
about Apartheid atrocities,

and one of the areas it was
tasked to look at was the role

of the SAA
in sanctions busting
during the '80s,

and whether or not
the Helderberg was

a freak accident or not.

In 1998, the Truth
and Reconciliation Commission

makes a controversial conclusion.

Namely, that nothing that was
listed in the cargo manifest

could have caused the fire.

And the Truth Commission
recommended that there was

something untoward
about what had happened
to the Helderberg.

The Truth
and Reconciliation Commission
exposed the improbabilities

of the government version
as to what had happened.

If nothing
in the cargo inventory caused
the fire, what did?

And how did it get onboard?

The reality unfortunately is

unless somebody today
comes up and says,

"Yes, I did this," or "Yes,
we were responsible for this,"

and you can prove them
not to be involved in a hoax,

that will be possibly
the only time

in which we will
really know

what had happened in
and caused

and was the source
of ignition of the fire.

In its final report,
the Commission suggests

that the Attorney General's
office continue

to investigate the accident.

But surprisingly,
that has never happened.

The ANC-led government
hasn't pursued that.

And of course,
we have to
ask ourselves why.

And I think that
the answer lies

in what many people
believe is

that it's just going
to be too costly.

They don't want to open it
for the simple reason

that it would be
financially disastrous
for the airline.

Rennie Van Zyl devoted
years of his life to solving

the mystery
of the Helderberg.

His inability
to definitely prove

the cause for the fire
does not stop him

from seeing the benefit
of his investigation.

I believe that
we as a team had
done the best that we could

under extreme
challenging conditions

and circumstances.

What we had done had never
been done before.

It was pioneering work.

The frustration is
we could not establish
the source of ignition

and we will probably
never know.

I believe
that those people are
still out there

that know exactly
what happened
to that aircraft.

I know
that the thought processes

at the time were,
"Our country was at war,

"and they were doing
their duty for their country,"

but I just feel
that they should have

a heart for the families
and bring out that information.