Original subtitles

Man: 10, 9...

Narrator: Through engineering, humans shape and mold our world.

Man: Ignition sequence start.

Narrator: Extraordinary breakthroughs

Have changed the course of history and taken us further

Than our ancestors could have ever imagined.

Man #2: Liftoff. Liftoff.

Narrator: But each new frontier comes with unknown risks,

And pushing the limits can have devastating consequences.

Bellingham: No matter how important you say safety is,

There is still a chance of disaster occurring.

♪

Narrator: In 1989, a pilot with thousands of hours of experience

In the skies made a deadly mistake.

Man: Investigators are now trying to piece together

Exactly what happened.

Narrator: And in 2000,

A plane that had captured the world's imagination

Took a tragic tailspin into a busy hotel.

Concorde's ties did actually have a history of failure.

Narrator: Although commercial air transport

Is statistically the safest means of travel,

These two fatal disasters

Proved our precarious place in the skies

And had a dramatic impact on the world of commercial flight.

-- Captions by vitac -- www.Vitac.Com

Captions paid for by discovery communications

-From the m1 crash... -Major catastrophe.

The village of kegworth... -Broke and jackknifed

Into three pieces. -40 fatal casualties.

-Disorientated... -Just what happened

To flight 92? -The right engine having failed.

-Screams and moans. -10 seconds more

And he'd have made it home. -There had been no warning.

Man: Flight bd92 indefinite delay.

♪

Narrator: The boeing 737 is the fastest-selling

Commercial jetliner in boeing history.

Man: The newest arrival in the boeing family of airliners,

The 737 attracts a crowd.

Narrator: Today, it is operated by more than 500 airlines.

Since entering service in 1968,

The boeing 737 has transported over 12 billion people

To destinations in over 190 countries.

♪

The 737 was originally designed as a cheap,

Short- to medium-range airliner,

Following on from the success of the 707 and the 727.

The 737 was seen as reliable and trustworthy

By all who flew them.

Narrator: Boeing prided themselves on the safety

And reliability record of all its aircraft...

Understanding that a poor safety record in the aviation industry

Would have been a threat to their corporate survival.

Bellingham: In the 1980s, following

The international success of the 737-200,

Boeing brought out the -300, -400, and -500,

Known as the classics, with improved wing design

And featuring the cfm56 turbo fan engines.

Narrator: The -400 series first entered service

In September of 1988.

British midland were one of the first airlines

To receive this type of aircraft.

Narrator: British midland was an airline

With a history dating back to the 1930s.

They flew to destinations in europe,

The middle east, africa, north america, and central asia.

Nowell: Various things about the aircraft had changed

From previous versions of the boeing 737.

Narrator: The 737-400 was slightly longer

Than other 737 models.

It had a more modern flight deck with different instrumentation.

It also had a lower ground clearance,

So engineers had redesigned the engine

With a smaller intake fan.

Components were moved to the side,

Giving the -400 it's unique, flat bottom.

They had been ground tested,

But they hadn't been flight tested.

At the time, it wasn't thought necessary.

Unwin: Changing, for example, the 737-300 to the -400 series,

The aircraft is still operating on the same type certificate,

And so although it would have been tested

During a flight test,

It's not the same as certifying an entirely new design.

The engine is the device in an airplane

That is generating the thrust.

We start from a compressor

That is getting air from the outside,

Is putting that at a high pressure,

And this high-pressure air

Is delivered to the combustion chamber.

So inside the combustion chamber,

Fuel and air are mixed together and then generates the power.

That particular aircraft had only been flying

For, I think, 82 days.

There wasn't a simulator in the u.K. At that time,

And although they were experienced 737 pilots,

They weren't really 737-400 experienced pilots.

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

Bang.

Narrator: Approximately 13 minutes after takeoff,

The plane was 28,000 feet in the air

When the flight crew noticed something was wrong

With one of the engines.

They immediately sprang into action.

When you suspect that you have an engine failure,

Your first act is to identify the failed engine,

And then you verify that you're actions are correct

And then secure it by turning off the fuel

And associated systems to that engine.

♪

♪

Narrator: The flight crew was under the impression

That the right engine had failed,

So they reduced thrust on that engine.

And when the captain announced that the right engine

Was shut down, nobody said anything.

♪

Nowell: They've essentially got a very complex situation.

The first thing that the captain did

Was to disengage the autopilot.

So they've now got to fly the aircraft manually.

They've got to speak to air traffic control,

They've got to declare an emergency,

They've got to make arrangements to divert.

At the same time, they've got to try and diagnose the problem

And do so in a logical and consistent manner

And take corrective action.

They became task-focused on diverting

And landing at east midlands.

As part of that process,

The reduced power on the bad engine.

So as the power was reduced,

The level of vibrations decreased.

And, apparently, this was an indicator of a good choice

Of shutting down the right engine.

Unwin: They diverted to east midlands,

And while on the approach, as they lowered the undercarriage

And the flaps and increased the power on the left engine,

It failed completely.

♪

♪

Narrator: On January 8th, 1989, what should have been a routine

Flight from london to belfast turned deadly.

Shortly after takeoff,

A fan blade broke in the plane's left engine

Causing a pounding noise, vibrations, and smoke.

Confused about which engine had failed,

The captain and copilot

Mistakenly shut down the engine that was still working.

I remember the pilot saying, "prepare for crash landing."

And leslie boomer said to me,

"it's been nice knowing you, mervyn."

And he patted me on the back.

On final approach, when they lowered the undercarriage

And the flaps, this increased the drag.

They then increased power on the compromised engine.

They desperately tried to restart the right engine,

But there was not enough time, height, or speed,

And the airliner on a crashed on the m1 motorway near kegworth.

♪

♪

♪

[ sirens wailing ]

♪

Narrator: The plane hit one bank of the m1 motorway

Traveling at 113 knots,

Clipped the top of trees bordering the motorway,

And smashed into the opposite embankment at about 80 knots,

Where it broke and jackknifed into three pieces.

♪

There were 119 passengers on board the aircraft.

Of those, 47 unfortunately died.

The eight crew all survived.

I suffered a lot of injuries. I broke my neck in two places.

I have absolutely no recollection

Of what happened, who took me out of the plane.

The emergency response team at east midlands

Had been placed on alert,

As the incoming british midland 737 had declared an emergency.

Noon: When I first entered, it was eerily silent

In that part of the aircraft,

But as they realized there was people getting on the aircraft,

Then there was a lot of screams and moans and cries for help.

♪

♪

♪

Salter: Myself and another police officer,

We actually climbed on the wing of the aircraft

When it was still on fire.

We dragged three people out of the escape hatch,

Put them into the back of the police car.

♪

♪

Narrator: Soon after the crash,

Investigators recovered the black box flight recorders

In hopes of determining what went wrong on flight 92.

What I can tell you, that it was almost a major catastrophe

Here last night, had it not been for the people,

First of all, in the control tower

At donnington who saw the plane coming in on a low trajectory

And guessed that it was going to crash,

From their experience.

They immediately alerted their own emergency services.

Man: Relatives had waited throughout the night

In a vip lounge.

There was an information hotline and counseling from clergyman.

From the plane crash till about one o'clock in the morning,

Mum found out, yeah, your husband's alive.

He's in surgery.

My father, desi clarke,

Was a survivor of the kegworth air disaster,

But about 13 years ago,

He got diagnosed with huntington's disease,

So that's why I share his story for him.

Finlay: It doesn't sink in, really,

How badly injured I actually was.

You know, I thought, wait two weeks,

Probably heal up and be all right again, you know?

I didn't realize I would be in the hospital for so long.

I was in the hospital for about five and a half months.

The next day, there was a plane

Put on for family members to be flown over.

♪

Man: I think all we can say at the moment

Is that the evidence looks certainly consistent

With the right engine having failed before the impact.

Man #2: The call from downing street came just after midday.

Mrs. Thatcher was due at east midlands airport

Within the hour,

Expecting a report on the likely causes of the crash.

-Were you on the left-hand side? -Yes.

Man #3: The m1 disaster could raise wider fears

About the safety of all twin-engined airliners.

Nowell: When it became clear that the captain had shut down

The wrong engine,

The investigation started to focus on

Why that might have happened.

And one particular theory was there could have been

A cross-wiring of the vibration sensors to the engines.

Narrator: The aviation authority ordered checks on 737s

To make sure that wires in the engine fire warning circuits

Were not crossed.

Nowell: There were a number of aircraft

Which were found to be cross-wired,

But the aircraft involved in the kegworth incident

Turned out not to be cross-wired.

So had the pilots relied on vibration sensor readings

In the cockpit, they would have been able

To see which engine was causing the problem.

Man: After the accident, captain hunt told investigators,

As soon as the right hand engine had been shut down,

All signs of smell of smoke on the flight deck disappeared.

It soon became clear

That there really was quite a significant problem

With that particular uprated engine.

Narrator: Subsequently, an in depth analysis of the final moments

On board flight 92 would reveal the true cause of the disaster.

♪

♪

Narrator: In 1989, an engine failure caused a boeing 737

To crash onto the m1 motorway,

Killing 47 and seriously injuring 74 passengers.

After the disaster, an investigation was opened

To determine what went wrong.

Analysis of the engine from the crash determined

That the fan blades were subject to abnormal amounts of vibration

When operated at high power above 10,000 feet,

Which led to excessive metal fatigue,

Causing them to break off and to terminally damage the engine.

♪

♪

♪

Man: Boeing says they still have a lot of faith in the aircraft.

Very good. In terms of the 737, it's very good.

This is the latest model, and to date, it's been excellent.

Unwin: Jet engines rotate at very high rpm,

And if a blade breaks

Or the turbine goes out of balance in any way, it vibrates.

This is a good indicator of an impending failure.

The earlier 737s, it was known and understood

That the vibration indicators weren't very reliable.

The 737-400 was probably the first airliner

To have reliable vibration indicators.

If the crew had been more adequately trained

And had been aware that the vibration indicators

Were very reliable and very accurate,

It would have helped them diagnose

Which engine had malfunctioned.

Narrator: In the previous model, the 737 fed air into the cockpit

From the right-hand engine.

This was changed in the new 737-400

So that air could be released from both engines.

During the flight, when the engine failed,

The pilots smelled smoke in the cockpit.

They assumed this meant the right-hand engine

Had failed

And made the decision to shut down the wrong engine,

Leaving the aircraft dangerously low on thrust.

As an inquest, it was established that the pilots

Had enough experience flying the previous 737s

But hadn't had enough advanced training in the new -400.

One of the direct results of the kegworth incident

Is that it's no longer possible to certify a new engine

Simply by ground testing.

So even if the engine's just an uprated power version

Of an existing engine,

It still has to undergo thorough flight testing

Before it can be used.

Another change was improvements to the brakes position.

It was radically revised when they realized that a lot of

The people that had died, had been badly hurt,

Were basically hurt because of the position

They had adopted prior to impact.

Nowell: There were recommendations about pilot training,

Particularly when they're moving from one version

Of a particular aircraft type to a new version.

Unwin: A concept called cockpit resource management, or crm,

Was introduced whereby the crews were trained

To make use of all available assets.

For example, in this case,

If they had simply asked the cabin crew

Which engine was smoking,

They would have said, "it's the left one."

People in the cabin knew which engine was smoking,

But the flight deck crew didn't,

And they erroneously turned off the wrong one.

♪

♪

Unwin: The lines are definitely blurred at times

Between what constitutes a new aircraft

And what constitutes a new variant of the same aircraft.

But there's definitely a strong financial incentive

For both manufacturers and airlines to build

And buy, essentially, aircraft

That are on the same type certificate.

There are clear parallels between the max crashes

And the kegworth accident.

No boeing 737 max 8s or 9s will take to the sky,

Not until there is complete clarity

On what happened in ethiopia and indonesia.

The aircraft was grounded in March

Following two deadly crashes.

We have a new type of aircraft.

That type of aircraft has only been in service for two years.

Investigators are now trying to piece together

Exactly what happened.

All three accidents involved experienced 737 crews

Flying a new variant that they were not experienced on,

Which had been recently introduced to service.

Clarke: To survive such a traumatic experience,

It definitely gives you a new outlook on life.

It leaves you that you just want to make every day a count.

I feel lucky.

And I have a good friend in dublin.

He says to me, "mervyn," he says,

"I would fly anywhere in the world with you."

And I says, "why is that?"

He says, "'cause you'll never be in two airplane crashes,"

He says.

Narrator: As horrific as the kegworth disaster was,

The event caused the aviation industry

To implement many positive changes,

Including safety awareness and technological advancements.

Today, passengers continue to fly on boeing 737s

To destinations all over the world,

But the same would not be true for the jetliner that crashed

At charles de gaulle airport in 2000.

Flight 4590 proved to be the beginning

Of the end of supersonic passenger planes.

♪

♪

Narrator: Cruising at twice the speed of sound,

Concorde was the epitome of power and luxury.

Man: You can be in london at 10 o'clock in the morning

And in new york at 10 o'clock in the morning.

That's really special.

It's nice to get to new york before you've left.

It's the dream of a lifetime.

Absolutely wonderful.

Unwin: From 60,000 feet, the concorde's passengers

Could literally see the curvature of the earth

While they sat in air conditioned comfort,

Sipping champagne and eating caviar.

Announcer: The ultimate aircraft,

Many believe in commercial jet travel.

Man: Ladies and gentlemen, this is the captain.

We're coming up with twice the speed of sound.

Nobody knows exactly what's going to happen

Financially with concorde.

Man: Quite a lot of people in new york

Do not want concorde to come here.

Man #2: Every time concorde takes off,

British airways loses money.

Woman: Passages were forced to transfer

From a luxury jet to a bus.

Man #3: Public anxiety about the plane is now reaching

Critical and potentially crippling heights.

Unwin: The big difference between concorde

And every other airliner at the time

Was it was designed for supersonic flight.

♪

Announcer: Taken off the secret list,

Uncle sam's new super sabre, the f-100, makes a public debut

At edwards air force base, california.

Narrator: The supersonic jet was born out of the military

And aviation advancements of world war ii.

Announcer: Like some long-banished prehistoric bird,

The xb-70 defies description.

Narrator: Which continued into the cold war arms race

With russia, the usa, and europe

All vying to have the world's fastest and deadliest aircraft.

The first supersonic aircraft was the bell x-1,

Which was a rocket-powered research aircraft

Flown by chuck yeager over the mojave desert in 1947.

Announcer: Through the sound barrier, the first time ever.

Narrator: For an aircraft to be considered supersonic,

It must be capable of flying faster than the speed of sound,

Which, at sea level,

Is approximately 768 miles per hour.

When it hits this speed, it is known as mach 1.

Most airliners travel at 80% to 90% of the speed of sound.

The reason for that is quite simple.

As you approach the speed of sound,

The aerodynamics start to get quite complicated

And you get shock waves and so on,

And that's what causes a sonic boom that you hear

When a supersonic aircraft flies over.

A sonic boom is caused when a plane

Is traveling faster than the speed of sound.

A shock wave is built up at the front of the plane,

Generating an enormous amount of sound energy,

Which is released as an explosive sound.

What we've been hearing over the country during these trials

Are 12 isolated bangs,

But we are faced in the future with the prospect

Of regular supersonic flights over the country.

The fastest air-breathing aircraft is still,

As far as we know, the lockheed sr-71 blackbird.

This was a specialized reconnaissance jet aircraft

Which could cruise at mach 3

And is interestingly a 1960s design.

How near, technically, are we to producing

A commercial supersonic airplane?

An aircraft of this kind could be in service

By about 1970, I think.

It's actually a part of the human condition

To want to go faster and further.

The desire to build a supersonic airliner was inevitable, really.

Narrator: By the 1960s,

The science behind supersonic flight

Was so well understood that many companies started investing

In the development of supersonic airliners,

Believing this to be the next natural step

In airliner evolution.

♪

Announcer: 100 passengers and all their baggage

From london to new york in three hours --

That's the promise of the concorde,

The joint anglo-french supersonic aircraft.

Unwin: It was designed by a consortium

Of the british aircraft corporation,

As it was at the time, and aérospatiale in France.

Narrator: The anglo-french partnership hoped to reduce costs

By combining their engineering knowledge

And building the aircraft together.

So you had two large nationalized aircraft companies,

Two governments, and also, every aspect of designing

And building a supersonic airliner was new.

The development costs for concorde rose

From an estimated £70 million to £1.3 billion.

Primarily because

Just that every aspect of the machine was new.

Supersonic crews required new materials,

A different metallurgy, very complex systems.

Practically every aspect of the machine

Had to be very rigorously tested,

As well, before it could enter service.

Narrator: Other manufacturers attempted to compete

But struggled.

The american boeing 2702 was canceled

Before any operational prototypes had even been built.

The russians, as well as trying to race the west to the moon,

Were also racing for a supersonic airliner,

And they built their own, the tupolev tu-144.

It was probably not as sophisticated as the concorde.

It was also marred by two crashes,

A very high-profile one at the paris air show

And one several years later in russia.

But, also, it probably failed because, in russia,

The market didn't exist,

Purely because there weren't rich entrepreneurs

With a burning desire to get from moscow to murmansk

In the same way that businessmen

Wanted to get from london to new york.

Announcer: The organization of petroleum exporting countries

Imposed its boycott, and within a year,

Raised prices more than 300%.

There were probably a dozen different customers

For concordes -- pan am, twa.

Price of fuel rocketed,

And the aircraft were no longer viable.

Narrator: Originally, around 350 models were expected to be built

And sold by 1980, but with a rise in oil prices

And a ban on supersonic flight in some countries...

Man: Their most important objection concerns noise.

Narrator: ...Potential buyers were worried.

In commercial terms, it's a plane but running at a loss,

And one doesn't like to operate any plane at a loss.

By the time it was ready for service, every other airline

Canceled its orders, and even air France and british airways

Didn't want the aircraft they'd ordered.

But they were essentially foisted upon them

By their respective governments.

Man: And now she's ready for takeoff.

Unwin: British airways took six.

Air France also operated six for about 25 years.

Narrator: In 1976, three years behind schedule

And severely over budget,

Concorde entered commercial service.

It was the most advanced passenger aircraft ever built,

But this impressive achievement would eventually be overshadowed

By the tragedy to come.

♪

Narrator: In January of 1976,

Concorde celebrated its first commercial flight.

Its innovative design allowed it to reach higher altitudes

And faster speeds than air travel had ever seen before.

Unwin: Concorde was the first airliner to use fly-by-wire,

Whereby electrical impulses are used to actuate the controls.

Nowell: Concorde has a very specific wing design

In order to go supersonic.

It's a delta wing rather than conventional wing,

And the engines underneath it are essentially the same

As those in the big military aircraft like the vulcan bomber.

Unwin: Unlike every other civil airliner,

Concorde was fitted with afterburning jet engines,

Which are typically only fitted to jet fighters.

With an afterburner, extra fuel is injected into the engine,

Which generates a lot more thrust.

♪

One of the limiting factors for concorde's operational

Cruising speed was actually heat.

At very high speeds, such as mach 2,

There's a considerable amount of friction,

And friction causes heat.

The structure of the aircraft got so hot in flight

That it actually stretched about a third of a meter.

It was generally thought to be a very safe aircraft.

But having said that, there's a relatively small fleet

And not that extensively used.

They were quite young aircraft in terms of flying hours.

♪

Narrator: On July 25th, 2000 an air France concorde took off

From charles de gaulle airport in paris.

It was taking a party of germans

To join a cruise ship in north america.

The concorde takeoff speeds

Were significantly faster than conventional aircraft.

You're asking a lot more from its components,

Particularly in the tires.

As concorde went down the runway,

It ran over a piece of engine cowling

Which had been dropped by a previous aircraft

Taking off about five minutes earlier.

That unfortunately, had made one of the tires fail,

A huge chunk of rubber flicked up,

Hit the underside of the wing.

The shock wave rippled through the tank,

All the fuel started to stream out,

And the port wing caught fire.

All of this happened at a time

When concorde had passed what they called v1,

Which is the time where you're committed to a takeoff.

If the speed is now greater than v1,

The crew must take the aircraft into the air,

Even if an engine has caught fire.

♪

Engine one surged but failed to recover,

And the thrust caused the aircraft to roll

By more than 100 degrees.

Interpreter: I looked up when I saw concorde

Coming straight at me in flames.

I said to myself, "you're going to die."

♪

♪

[ helicopter blades whirring ]

Brooking: The whole floor started to tremble.

Saw all the flames, saw there was no way out

Via the stairs or anything,

And obviously, just went straight for the window.

Woman: Nothing could have prepared the people of gonesse

For the catastrophe that's unfolded on their doorstep.

♪

Narrator: The concorde had crashed into a hotel

Just outside gonesse, France,

A small town less than

Two miles from the airport,

Killing all 109 people on board

And four inside the hotel.

We saw the plane on fire, we saw a lot of smoke,

Very, very the big smoke, and we didn't see the rear tail,

Which was ablaze.

This concorde was 20 years old.

Air France say it had its last major maintenance

Just four days before the crash.

I just want to say that all the thoughts of air France

And air France employees are for the passengers,

The crew, and the other people who died in the accident.

All the people are very, very sad

And everybody is living in fear.

Overnight, british airways made

Exhaustive safety checks on its fleet.

Today, the airline said it had complete confidence

In its concorde service.

No way british airways

Could have done the comprehensive checks

Needed within 24 hours of the crash.

What was the initial cause of that catastrophic failure?

The pilot, it seems, did as much as he could.

The plane, say experts,

Was doomed almost from the moment it took off.

Unwin: It's the responsibility of the airport operator

To ensure that the runway is fit for purpose.

But it wouldn't be possible for the runway to be inspected

Between every takeoff.

Man: The investigation team revealed

That the normal practice of sweeping the runways

Of charles de gaulle airport,

Searching for potentially dangerous debris,

Was postponed on the day of the crash.

Narrator: Not only had the runway not been checked before the flight,

There were also structural issues with the plane itself

That could have led to the fatal crash.

Unwin: Concorde's tires did actually have a history of failure.

There hadn't been an accident,

But there'd been several close shaves.

♪

♪

Narrator: On July 25th, 2000,

Air France flight 4590 burst into flames

And crashed into a hotel in gonesse, France,

Tragically killing 113 people.

In response,

Air France immediately grounded its remaining concordes

While the cause of the crash was being investigated.

Air safety experts today began a second day of discussions

Into possible improvements on concorde,

Particularly more regular checks on its tires.

But when it became clear that the problem

Was really a potential issue of shredded tires

Causing problems in the fuel tank

And a fuel leak, air worthiness certificate

For the aircraft was withdrawn.

British airways says it remains confident a solution

Can be found in the coming weeks.

But the reality of the engineering tests

Needed to prove that concorde is once again safe

To fly means it's likely to be several months

Before these planes are in the air again.

♪

Narrator: The official investigation into the accident

Exonerated the pilots and engineer on board of any blame.

It was eventually determined that although a piece of plane

Had shredded the concorde's tire leading up to the crash,

That this was accidental and not criminal.

♪

♪

Man: Noisy, old fashioned,

But still the most spectacular aircraft around,

Concorde roared back into regular operation 16 months

After the paris disaster.

Narrator: In November 2001,

Concorde resumed commercial service.

Many modifications were made to the fleet,

Which included securing the electrical controls,

Lining the fuel tanks with kevlar,

And installing specially developed

Burst-resistant tires.

Over $89 million was spent to get concorde back in the skies.

Nowell: By that stage, you had the 9/11 incident,

Which gave a sort of general downturn

In the aviation industry.

She's a terrific airplane, but like all older airplanes,

They're much more expensive to maintain.

The company responsible for providing maintenance,

Support, and backup to concorde was airbus.

And I think airbus were not particularly interested

In keeping this rather small fleet of aircraft flying.

Narrator: The concorde was finally retired

In October of 2003.

♪

Man: Concorde is the high peak,

One of the wonders of the modern world.

It's a passing moment in history and important to be here.

You've had to take a very tough decision,

But it is the right decision taken at the right time.

Man #2: Time to say good-bye.

Hard to find anyone here who thinks it's a good idea.

We're unlikely to see or hear the like of concorde again.

In fact, the only place you're likely to see concorde again

Is in a museum.

♪

♪

Narrator: Despite the tragic horrors

Of kegworth and concorde,

Neither event deterred passengers from flying.

It really highlights, for me, the responsibility

That everybody involved in the industry bears

For aviation safety.

Narrator: Today more than 4 billion passengers

Fly every year.

Air traffic is increasing faster than anyone predicted.

Supersonic technology has improved

A lot compared to the time when concorde was designed.

Narrator: What was once considered a luxury for a few

Is now seen as a necessity for many.

Aviation is responsible for about 3%

Of global carbon emissions, which doesn't sound a lot,

But, of course, it's an industry that's likely to grow

As economies like china or india,

More people want to fly.

The future for passenger travel is very much focused

On making aircraft increasingly more efficient.

Narrator: But this will present enormous new challenges.

How will we handle increasing air traffic congestion

With potential disaster just seconds away?

The civil aviation authority confirmed

The two british airways jets landing at heathrow

Came within seconds of collision.

Narrator: Will competition among airlines

Have dangerous consequences?

The main engine manufacturers are now thinking

About hybrid solutions where we have part of the thrust

That is generated or delivered by electrical motors,

But still maintaining a combustion core inside.

Narrator: Will manufacturers be put under increasing pressure

To engineer new technologies at top speeds?

Only time will tell.

Both the concorde and kegworth tragedies

Forced people to acknowledge the realities of air travel.

The disasters ushered in a much needed new,

Safer, and more pragmatic era of aviation.

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