Original subtitles

Professor Ryan, my name's Petersen.

I've just been appointed Coroner's Officer

for the Lincolnshire district.

Two hours ago, a helicopter ditched in the North Sea.

We're throwing everything we've got at it.

I bloody hope so.

How many on board?

16.

Oh God.

Ultimately, all we can offer these men and their families

is the truth.

They're heading for the airfield!

Come on!

Without an airframe,

the victim's bodies are the only evidence we're likely to find,

which means it's all down to you.

It's Alan, the co-pilot.

I've found a pulse!

He's alive!

Will he be alright?

I hope so, he hasn't regained consciousness.

Just tell me you didn't do anything.

What do you mean, do anything?

The helicopter, you didn't do anything?

Do anything!

You said you'd do anything for us.

I would, you know I would.

Watch is stopped at 16:07,

and bears the inscription, "To my darling Matt. Love, Liz."

This man died of a heart attack.

I take it I'm invited to your next post-mortem?

I just wanted to get an idea of what those men went through.

You any good at 3D jigsaws?

I've had some practice.

Right.

But the parts don't carry quite as much paperwork.

Manufacturer, length of service, who supplied them,

who fitted them, who signed them off.

Who does sign them off?

The pilot, and the engineer.

Which is why I would like to speak to the engineer,

since I can't speak to the pilot.

I never realized just how

Flimsy they are?

There's nothing between you and oblivion

but a few ounces of aluminum.

Bear that in mind, next time your fly.

Thanks, I'll try not to.

I couldn't do your job.

Never been much good with people, dead or alive.

No, give me machinery every time.

We're all just so devastated.

I don't know how to go on.

No, I don't think we can.

I mean, all those poor men.

Well they must have been.

It must've been our fault!

Margaret, you're tired, you're overwrought,

and you're not helping.

I'm sorry, Mr. Thorn.

And stop saying sorry all the time,

this crash was not the company's fault.

- It's just... - Margaret!

Go home, take a few days off.

But I wanted to...

Margaret, come on love.

Come on, I'll give you a ring when

things calm down a bit, alright?

For God's sake Jim...

Can't you see what's at stake here?

We can't just roll over and admit liability,

we'd be finished.

We have to stick together.

Now come next Monday, you and me and her,

and the whole bloody town with be signing off.

Early test results

on the pilot's blood samples.

Thanks.

Interesting.

What?

Have you seen this?

Yup.

Says there was alcohol in his blood?

I know.

First it was a heart attack, and now you're telling me he was drunk?

No, I'm not saying that.

The amount they found could simply be microbial.

The internal organs start to decay and produce alcohol,

which shows up as a spike trace.

I've taken vitreous from the eyes and samples of urine,

but I'm still waiting on the test results from RAF Langley.

How long will that take?

Well, as long as it takes, 12 hours.

Drunk with a heart condition?

I'm amazed he managed to survive this long.

So much for my draft report.

Jim, chopper's coming in with bodies.

We still have to find out

what caused the puncture mark on his arm.

Don't tell me, heroin.

This meeting is confidential, Mr. Thorn.

The rescue chopper's coming back, with bodies.

How many bodies?

Come up!

Gently, gently does it!

We found this as well.

Coming through.

Pieces of the helicopter.

Can you get them to Kittrick?

Start by numbering the bodies left to right.

Everyone listen, please.

Can everybody listen?

Our first priority is identification,

so we can start to inform the relatives.

Teams two and three,

I want you to work from the number on the immersion suit,

taking note of any personal effects.

Of course we're shocked, we're appalled.

It was indefensible, he was drunk.

A full inquiry, that's right, but that's what it'll show.

Of course, good night.

Who was drunk,

Matt?

I saw him.

Did you talk to him?

No.

But the evidence is there.

I don't believe it.

Nor do I, all the years I've known him.

Must be some mistake.

The only mistake was letting him fly that chopper.

You weren't to know, Chris, none of us were.

We trusted him, and he betrayed us.

And now we have to put it behind us and move on.

Chris,

how many?

What?

Bodies.

10.

Stan, we need some photographs, please.

Can we start informing the relatives?

As soon as their ID's been confirmed.

Still four men out there.

Well as long as they're out there, they're not in here.

Okay.

Michael Wellin?

No, I'm sorry.

Mrs. Williams?

Would you like to sit down?

Mr. Connel.

Damage to the legs, left foot almost untouched,

apart from superficial abrasions close to the ankle.

Would you mind helping turn him over?

The right foot has been deeply cut

at the base of the ankle, but is intact.

Impact wound, photograph please.

Multiple lacerations to both knees,

the right knee sustaining the most serious damage.

Right ankle shattered by what seems

a considerable upward force.

Thanks, I can manage.

There's very little damage apparent to the left arm,

upper back, or the back of the head.

Lacerations to the right arm and hand

and what appear to be fragments of plastic

lodged in the femur and in the remnants of the right hand.

Can somebody

help with the clothing on body zero-five please?

I understand you had a friend on board.

Yeah, Jonathan.

You were the last one to service Daytripper 15.

She'd done what, 7,000 hours of airtime?

Yeah, and plenty left in her.

When was the last time she had a full service?

Uh, I don't know, it's all in the files.

When was the last time she had a part replaced?

I was impressed by your workshop.

Well-ordered, every tool calibrated correctly,

paperwork neatly filed, most of it.

I couldn't find a sheet for the tail rotor.

I'm not that hot on filing,

it can get frantic around here.

So you cut corners?

No, no!

I just sometimes don't keep up with the filing.

So where is it, the sheet?

The in tray.

Then you did replace a part recently.

Why pull the part sheet, otherwise?

I replaced a rotor bolt.

When?

Last week.

So where's the certificate?

I really wish I could help you.

Thank you, Mr. Connel.

Are we finished?

For the moment.

The whole body looks as though the seat

disintegrated around it.

Most of the damage is below the waist.

And there are fragments of what look like seating

embedded in the buttocks and small of the back.

Severe impact trauma to both feet and ankles.

Do we have his clothes still here?

Yeah.

Can I see the body charts detailing the injuries?

What are you thinking?

There's no seating plan, was there?

First come, first serve.

But would there have been anyone who might have seen the men,

where they were sitting?

Tilson said something about dropping off the mail.

Great.

I just dropped off some mail for the rig.

I really didn't see who sat where.

Who was the last man in?

I don't know.

Hold on.

De Sauza was sitting here by the door,

and Marker was over there by the far window.

Apart from that

No, that's great, that's what I thought.

What did you think?

Oh, early days yet.

Thank you.

I think Newsome ought to see this.

Professor Ryan!

Professor Ryan!

Get off!

Have you see this?

Seen what?

No, you don't need to see it, do you?

Because you wrote it!

I had nothing to do with this.

"Medical tests have proved that the pilot was incapable."

It was his heart!

Liz.

You know it was, you told me it was his heart!

This is why, this, those are the hours he worked.

That's the real log, the one I kept,

the one I prayed I'd never have to use!

It was Tilson and Jim Thorn that killed my husband,

and you just spat on his grave!

I'm going after her.

Car?

Your red Vector.

Liz, wait!

Shit.

Do you mind stepping out of the car, please?

I'm with the team investigating the crash.

Might have had another one, the speed you were doing.

Any license or documents?

No, my name's Sam Ryan, if you call the airfield

I know who you are, Professor.

Then you'll know this was important.

I was hoping to speak to one of the relatives,

not much chance of that now.

Round here, we have things called telephones,

saves a lot of rushing about.

Yes, I know, I'm sorry.

You people, you move in, take over the place,

start rewriting history.

Do you want to give me ticket?

On your way, Professor, and watch your speed.

Why did you pull me over, and not her?

She was going a darn sight faster that I was.

Do you want a ticket, you can have one.

And what was that crack about rewriting history?

I know it's lies, right?

And I know why you lot are telling them,

because you think it's best all around.

But Davies was a good bloke, he doesn't deserve that.

Were you on duty on Wednesday?

You pulled him over, didn't you?

Was he speeding?

He was always speeding, he was a pilot.

I was always pulling him over.

And on Wednesday?

I stopped him,

and he gave me lots of lip, so I nicked him.

Made him come down the station.

I even gave him a breath test, but the machine was broken.

So he had to give a blood sample.

Yeah, he was sober as a judge.

I knew he was, I was only showing him, but he was furious.

He was red in the face, he was swearing.

If I hadn't pissed him off,

he'd have been fine, and those 15 other blokes.

It's why I couldn't tell anyone.

For what it's worth, I don't think it was your fault.

Are you gonna give me that ticket?

Not this time.

What was it you call journalists, rats?

But you'll use them when it suits you.

I'm sorry?

You leaked that story to the press

to get your company off the hook.

It's not just my company.

If we go, the jobs go.

Then the shops, then the schools.

The rigs won't wait three months for official findings,

they'll cancel their contracts tomorrow

and take their business down the coast.

So you sold out your friend for a contract.

He sold us out when he climbed into that cockpit drunk.

Well here's another exclusive for you, he wasn't.

Professor,

milk?

Yes, thanks.

Okay, I want to show you something.

You see the way the material has been cut here?

The cuts run upward, suggesting a violent impact from below.

Now this man had massive injuries to his lower body.

His seat had almost entirely disintegrated,

pieces were embedded in his buttocks and lower back.

Victims zero-four and zero-six showed similar trauma,

but to a lesser extent.

Victim zero-two, still less.

I've managed to piece together

where I think each man was sitting in the helicopter,

from the very nature and scale of their injuries,

together with an eyewitness report

from the last person to see them aboard, Chris Tilson.

Now he says Philip De Souza was sitting here,

that Andrew Marker was seated beside this window.

The further back the men were sitting in the helicopter,

the greater the injuries to their feet and legs.

Richard Johnson, victim zero-five,

he was seated right at the back of the helicopter,

he lost both legs.

Death row.

Furthest from the door.

At the start of the crisis,

Davies had suffered a heart attack,

and had released his harness.

So he was unrestrained when the nose section hit the water,

hence the trauma to his head.

Could the heart attack have been caused by his drinking?

He hadn't been drinking.

What?

He was late for departure because he'd been arrested for speeding.

He was taken to a police station,

where they gave him a blood test for alcohol.

The puncture mark on his arm.

He was stone cold sober.

I talked to the police officer who took him in.

It's almost as if there were two separate accidents,

with the front section coming down nose first into the water,

and the rear section tail first,

with this part hitting the water at tremendous speed.

You don't think it broke in half when it hit the surface?

No I don't.

When the rear section struck,

the floor collapsed upwards with the most enormous force,

almost as if it was hitting concrete,

and that's what caused the injuries to the lower extremities.

How fast would it have to be falling to create that effect?

100, 150 miles an hour.

If the front section had hit the surface at that speed,

Monroe would be dead, harness or no harness.

So you're talking about mid-air structural failure,

with the tail section coming completely away?

That's what the evidence would seem to suggest.

Enough to give any pilot a coronary.

Even if he hadn't had a heart attack,

could he have done anything?

Well, not much, if he was only flying half a helicopter.

The rotor bolt?

We've been trying to track down the documents for a tail rotor bolt.

For the most part, the engineer's notes are meticulous,

but this one sheet's missing.

The new bolt might have been faulty,

might even have been counterfeit,

but the end result would have been the same.

If the tail rotor shears,

the fragments can hit the fuselage at hundreds of miles an hour.

Fully loaded helicopter, flying at 1,500 feet,

the stress on the airframe would have been catastrophic.

Interesting theory.

We've had the heart attack and the drunken pilot,

this one's the best so far.

There is just one more thing

I think we should bear in mind.

There's still four men unaccounted for.

Frankly, I don't hold out much hope for these men in these three seats,

but one man was sitting forward.

There's just a chance he might've made it into the water uninjured.

You think so?

Who's the woman next to Johnathan Williams in the photograph?

That's his wife.

If that's his wife,

I walked in on her having sex with the engineer.

Keith's dead.

What?

Gassed himself in his car.

Why the hell would he do that?

Looks like carbon monoxide poisoning.

No obvious sign of trauma or duress.

Suicide, then?

Looks like a note, there.

I can't touch it till they arrive.

Certainly not.

Don't tell the Coroner's Office.

"I'm so sorry.

16 men."

If you deliberately wanted to bring down a chopper, is that how you'd do it?

There are easier ways.

Is this what you're looking for?

Paperwork on the tail section.

This doesn't make sense, the numbering's all wrong.

Let's go and find Tilson and Thorn.

I'm gonna try and talk to the co-pilot.

If Matt Davies was late, maybe he signed off the part.

Shall I come with you?

Two might seem like an inquisition.

Keith told me one of the rotor bolts was damaged,

we needed a replacement part quickly.

Keith fitted it, but there was no paperwork.

We were already way behind.

I persuaded him and Alan to sign off without it.

Why was there no paperwork?

It was an emergency,

I thought it would do until a new part arrived.

You thought what would do?

I took a bolt from the disposal unit.

There was nothing wrong with it, it was time expired, that's all.

Keith only took it off zero-seven a few days, it seems.

And they knew about this? Keith and Alan?

No, I just told them the paperwork was late.

I'm sorry, Jim, I'm really sorry.

Sorry? Why are you saying sorry to me?

There are 10 widows out there,

10 families without fathers, you bloody idiot!

I had no choice!

Keith woulda grounded the helicopter, we'd have lost the contract!

You're always telling me to use my initiative.

I didn't mean, God Almighty!

And you've known this all this time?

What are we going to tell the AAIB?

You mean what are you gonna tell 'em?

We're in this together, Jim, I did it for you.

I've always done everything for you.

Then you can own up to your mistakes for me!

You betrayed those men, Chris, not me!

You don't gamble with people's lives!

Look at this, six months out of date!

You're supposed to be General Manager,

why don't you do something with it?

Jim!

What?

Tony!

Sorry.

Is it okay?

Little over five minutes.

Dammit.

Mr. Tilson.

How is he?

Mr. Newsome and Mr. Kittrick want to talk to you.

Competitiveness, Chris, that's the game we're in.

Every year, had to lay off staff, cut back on maintenance,

fiddle the rosters when we couldn't afford the pilots,

and cut cost to the bone, into the bone,

so that Jim Thorn could be friend of the people.

Everyone's hero.

He was my hero too.

I gave him everything, I gave him my life.

- Come away from that - Leave me alone!

Why did you have to?

We'd have been okay, we could've picked up the pieces, carried on.

Why did you have to come prying?

No! 11 men are dead!

I shouldn't have to take that kind of responsibility.

No, you shouldn't.

But he's still alive.

We know what happened.

Switching off the machine isn't going to make any difference.

I did it for Jim.

I know.

You didn't want to hurt anyone.

You still don't.

Alright, Mr. Tilson, come on, take it easy.

I love this place.

I'm sorry, for lashing out at you this morning.

It's okay.

I just wanted to tell you

that we've had the test results back.

There was no evidence of alcohol in your husband's blood.

He wasn't drunk.

I knew it!

But the heart attack?

We think the helicopter broke up, mid-flight.

There was nothing anyone could do to save those men.

Oh, God.

Thank you.

Is that Joann down there?

She's saying goodbye.

Have they found more men?

But they're calling off the search.

You've called off the search?

There's a force seven coming in from the northeast.

There's a chance one of those men went into the water uninjured.

That was two nights ago.

Well what about their drysuit?

Professor Ryan, they've already picked up three dead bodies.

We can't risk a chopper crew for the sake of a fourth.

Just a bit more time, please?

We're still clearing up one air accident,

I don't want to start on another.

I'll contact Coast Guard, tell them another 20 minutes.

Well, I hope you're right!

Michael!

16 accounted for.

Let's go.