All language subtitles for Air.Disasters.S16E09.Seconds.from.Touchdown.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP.2.0.H.264-OGRE_track4_[eng]

[Narrator] Air crash
investigators discover

Propair Flight 420 faced
an onslaught of problems.

[Alarms Beeping]

What's going on? It wants to roll left.

[Narrator] As pilots attempt
to return to the airport,

their situation becomes critical.

Fire! The left engine's on fire!

-[Dramatic Music]
-Is that a passenger?

If you can't get that airplane
on the ground very quickly,

it can kill you in as
little as five minutes.

Left gear hasn't dropped.

No time to sort that out.

Hold on back there, it's
gonna be a rough landing.

Brace!

[Lavigne] They were within a few seconds

of everybody being on the
ground safe and going home.

That must have been hell.

[Woman] Ladies and gentlemen,
we are starting our approach.

[Pilot] We lost both engines.

[Woman] Put the mask over your
nose. Emergency decent.

[Pilot] Mayday! Mayday!

[Woman] Brace for impact!

[Man] It's gonna crash!

For the line check, it's
your leg out to Peterborough,

-I'll take the second.
-Roger.

[Narrator] It's the
first flight of the day

for the crew of Propair Flight 420.

Propair 420, we're holding
in position Runway 2-4 left,

ready for takeoff.

[Controller] Propair
420, cleared for takeoff,

2-4 left, frequency 1-2-4-6-5.

Roger, Propair 420, cleared
for takeoff, 2-4 left.

[Narrator] Captain Jean Provencher

is the airline's chief pilot.

Landing lights on.

[Narrator] Co-pilot Walter Stricker

is an experienced First Officer

but is newer to this type of aircraft.

I have control.

Your controls.

[Narrator] The Captain
watches Stricker closely.

More right rudder, more right rudder.

Okay, more right rudder.

[Narrator] He's conducting a line check,

a crucial testing stage
for the first officer.

A line check is required
every time a pilot is new

on an airplane.

The check pilot wants to make sure

that the new pilot knows his
standard operation procedures

very well and his flying skills are good.

Gear up.

Landing gear up.

Flaps up.

[Lavigne] As a check pilot,
it's pretty busy.

You're doing your duties,

you're monitoring the other guy's duties.

They get in the air just fine.

[Narrator] Flight 420 ascends
to its cruising altitude

of 16,000 feet.

The pilots are flying

a 14 seat Fairchild
Metroliner twin turboprop.

[Lapointe] The Metroliner was
a fast airplane

without burning too much fuel.

Having a pressurized cabin,

the Metroliner was able to
fly at a higher altitude,

so it made it more comfortable
for the passengers.

[Narrator] Although it's a modern plane,

the Metroliner has no autopilot,

the First Officer is flying manually.

For my dad, being a pilot,
it was his dream job.

It was his main purpose in life,

other than me and my mom, obviously,

but he was always talking
about it and he was really,

it made him really happy.

[Narrator] Today's
flight is a 90-minute hop

from Dorval to Peterborough, Ontario.

The nine passengers on board are engineers

from General Electric,

who are headed to Peterborough
for project meetings.

The plane has been in
the air for 12 minutes.

Everything has been normal since takeoff.

All of a sudden.

[Warning Alarm Beeps]

-What?
-What is it?

Looks like we lost hydraulics.

[Lapointe] Not only one light but two

saying that his hydraulic
pressure are failing

on both sides, meaning that he
will have problem

if he keeps proceeding to Peterborough.

Dorval Approach, this is Propair 420.

We've had dual hydraulic failure,

request clearance to return to Dorval.

[Narrator] The Metroliner
has two hydraulic systems,

one controls the flaps,
the other the landing gear.

[Lavigne] You don't really need
the hydraulic systems

until you're coming in.

It's not a "We're gonna
die at this very moment"

kind of situation, it's
just "We have a problem",

we need to turn back."

And it's standard operating
procedure at that point.

Sorry folks, we have a technical problem,

we have to head back to Dorval,

stay in your seats with
seatbelts fastened.

[Dramatic Music]

Looks like we're landing without flaps.

[Narrator] With no flaps,

the pilots can't reduce
their speed without stalling,

they'll have to come in fast.

[Lapointe] Not having any flaps,
it was not really a problem.

They had a 12,000-foot
runway ahead of them,

time was of the essence,

he had to land the airplane very quickly.

[Narrator] Without hydraulics,

the landing gear will have
to be lowered manually.

It's gonna make everything longer

and that much harder for you,

it's gonna delay where you're normally

used to doing your configurations.

[Narrator] Then, just 30
seconds after losing hydraulics,

before they've started
back to the airport.

-What's going on?
-It wants to roll left.

Really?

I'm holding it right.

[Narrator] Something's
wrong with the controls.

I need to trim a half turn to the right.

That should do it.

[Narrator] If the plane is
rolling in one direction,

applying trim avoids the need
for continuous pilot inputs.

Trimming it right brings the left wing up

and levels the plane.

But as Stricker starts
to turn towards Dorval.

Still rolling left.

[Lapointe] The airplane wants
to turn to the left

and the first officer has to apply

more and more right ailerons,
which is not normal,

it's getting stiffer.

I'm gonna give it a few more ticks

-of aileron trim to the right.
-Roger.

Remember, no autopilot so
that's putting a lot of pressure

on this first officer.

And any pilot who has this kind of problem

has to ask himself, "Is
it going to get worse?"

Still rolling left?

Yes.

Both engines are working,
why do we need so much trim?

The captain has to be racking his brain,

he had more than 5000 hours on the Metro,

he was the chief pilot, a check pilot

and he can't seem to make
sense of the situation.

[Narrator] They are 12
minutes from Dorval Airport.

As they descend through thick clouds,

visibility is near zero and
they have to fly on instruments.

Rolling to the left,
bank more to the right.

Pulling the approach plates for Dorval.

Roger.

[Narrator] As Flight 420
gets halfway back to Dorval.

Fire! The left engine's on fire.

[Narrator] An even bigger problem emerges.

Fire in the left engine?

Confirm.

Yes, I see smoke.

[Lapointe] The moment that any
pilot hears fire,

he has to take immediate action.

It's a very serious situation,

it can kill you in as
little as five minutes.

Left engine shutdown procedure.

[Narrator] The pilots attempt
to extinguish the fire

in the left engine.

He's gotta plan,

what am I going to do and
how much time do I have

before I have to land this airplane?

[Stricker] Left power lever?

Confirmed left.

[Narrator] The captain executes

the engine shutdown procedure.

Back to idle, confirm left shut off lever?

[Stricker] Confirmed.

Pulling left engine stop lever.

[Narrator] Shutting down the engine

also cuts off its fuel supply.

The rationale for
shutting that engine down

is you don't want the fire spreading,

that's the biggest concern at this point.

This isn't good.

Keep the speed up, let's
get back to Dorval.

Roger.

[Lavigne] When you're shutting
down an engine,

it's a bit of an alarming situation,

it's not a comfortable experience

no matter what you're doing.

Airplanes have two engines for a reason

and you've cut your
redundancy down to one.

-My controls.
-Your controls.

[Narrator] Facing fire, control problems

and an engine shutdown,

the captain of Propair
420 assumes control.

The airplane was
descending from 8,000 feet

for its approach.

You had altitude that you
could trade for airspeed,

so with Captain's Provencher experience,

shutting down the engine
was not a problem.

Dorval Approach, Propair
420, left engine is on fire,

we've shut it down.

[Controller] Propair 420,

I see you are returning to Dorval,

I can give you direct to Mirabel.

Affirmative, direct to Mirabel.

[Narrator] While Flight 420

is only 11 minutes from Dorval,

they re-route to Montreal's
other airport, Mirabel,

which is closer.

Montreal Approach, Propair 420.

Requesting ILS, Runway 2-4 please.

What is the frequency?

[Narrator] The long runway at Mirabel

will give the crew more room
for a high speed landing.

[Controller] ILS 2-4,
frequency is 1-1-1.7,

inbound course is 2-4-0 degrees.

Roger 1-11.7, thank you.

[Sirens Wailing]

[Narrator] Emergency crews
are dispatched to runway 2-4.

Firefighter Michel Brisson

remembers the moment the call came in.

[Brisson] We received a crash
call from the tower control,

so we take position.

[Lapointe] Mirabel airport
being an international airport,

they got ready pretty quickly.

The airport is fully equipped

to receive the crippled airplane

with their level of
experience with the firemen.

Folks, air traffic control

has asked us to re-route to Mirabel.

[Narrator] Flight 420 is now
seven minutes from touchdown.

[Lavigne] At this point they
know that behind them

are nine people

and they're going to do
everything in their power

to get that airplane on the ground

as safely and quickly as possible.

I see flames now, flames
from the engine nozzle!

[Narrator] The situation
goes from bad to dire.

The engine shutdown should
have contained the fire,

instead, it's growing.

[Lecasseur] When the passenger
tells the crew

that their engine is on
fire, they're puzzled.

Let's get this plane on the ground.

Landing checklist. Flaps.

Zero.

Speed lever.

[Provencher] High RPM.

Their main focus is to fly the airplane,

fly the airplane and fly the airplane.

[Narrator] Fire crews
park along side the runway

at Mirabel Airport for
the emergency landing

of Flight 420.

Michel Brisson is one of
the first on the scene.

[Brisson] We were waiting
for the aircraft,

the weather was not too
good, you couldn't see far.

[Provencher] Trim set to max.

[Narrator] Captain Provencher

is struggling to maintain control.

He's flying on one engine,

with no hydraulics and
his plane is on fire.

Now he has to lower the
landing gear manually

with no guarantee it will work.

Gear down now!

[Stricker] Gear down.

[Warning Alarm Beeps]

[Narrator] The nose and
right wheels have dropped

but one light stays off.

Left gear hasn't dropped.

No time to sort that out.

[Narrator] Provencher has no choice

but to put the plane down
on only two sets of gear.

If I'm in an airplane fighting fire,

an engine that I've shut
down, controllability issues,

we're not going around,

you're landing that
airplane on that runway

whether you land gear up or not.

[Narrator] Flight 420 is
just over a half a mile

from the runway.

The clock is ticking, you have to get down

and get that airplane on the ground now.

300 feet.

[Lapointe] The moment he gets
to about 280 feet,

he sees the threshold,

he sees the fire truck and
he thinks that he's made it

and saved 11 lives.

[Narrator] Propair 420 is
20 seconds from touchdown.

[Brisson] There was some smoke
coming out of the aircraft

and my heart tight a bit there

and I said to myself

"We got some business here this morning."

Okay, here we go.

200 feet.

Hold on back there, it's
gonna be a rough landing.

Brace!

Rolling left.

Not now!

[Narrator] They're just five seconds

from being able to touch down.

[Lavigne] At this point the
crew would be fighting

for every breath they have.

[Narrator] Propair 420
is almost on the ground

when disaster strikes.

Within a split second,

the aircraft started to go 90 degrees

and that must have been hell,

Captain Provencher probably thought

that he was going to die.

[Brisson] I saw the aircraft
flip over 180 degrees,

that was it.

I'll never forget the sound that it made

when it touched the ground.

Let's go!

[Narrator] The plane
crashes into a watery ditch

next to the runway.

[Brisson] My first concern was
to go to the fuselage

to try to save some lives.

[Narrator] Sylvain
Carriere was the Fire Chief

at Mirabel Airport at
the time of the incident.

[Carriere] As soon as the
aircraft crashed,

the firefighters were on the move.

They put out the fire with the foam

and then they got close to the aircraft,

trying to get inside
to rescue the victims.

It was very tough on the firefighters.

They had to deal with
trying to manage water

up to their waist.

They had to break the
windows to get vital signs.

The aircraft being upside down

and all the seats were
dislodged from their footing,

so it was total chaos.

[Narrator] Despite the best
efforts of rescue crews,

no one makes it out of the plane alive.

[Sirens Wailing]

We took three people out,

took their pulse and there was nothing.

[Solemn Music]

Everybody was gone.

We're never prepared for that, you know?

I was seven years old when my dad died,

we were really close.

I remember my mom crying, she said,

"Something terrible happened to your dad

and he's not coming back."

I thought I was in a dream.

This is why we do these investigations,

it's to make sure it doesn't happen again.

Could you please tell me what you saw

as the plane was coming in?

[Narrator] Within hours of the
accident, investigators from

the Transportation Safety Board of Canada

get to work.

When it broke through the clouds,

there was smoke coming off the plane.

Where was the smoke?

It was on the left side.

There was fire coming out of
the left wing near the motor.

And then what?

It exploded?

Yeah and then it flipped upside down.

Not even 25 feet above the ground,

the wing folded and the
airplane went through a roll.

He was just maybe five
seconds from landing,

but it was just because of the breakup

they could not do anything
to really save the situation.

Have a seat.

[Narrator] Investigators need to determine

what caused the left wing to fail

just 25 feet from the ground.

They start by interviewing
the Dorval flight controller.

What was the first sign of trouble?

12 minutes into the flight

and they reported hydraulic failure.

Dorval approach, this is Propair 420,

we've had dual hydraulic failure,

request clearance to return to Dorval.

Anything else?

30 seconds later, they called
in a flight control problem.

We're having control issues.

So they're headed back to Dorval,

they're having hydraulic
and control problems.

Did they report a fire?

Yes, engine fire.

[Narrator] Investigators realize

that the crew was battling
multiple system failures,

the mystery is how they're all connected.

Dorval approach, Propair 420.

Left engine is on fire,
we've shut it down.

Thank you very much.

[Narrator] The Metroliner doesn't have

a flight data recorder on board,

investigators must rely
on old-fashioned methods.

We laid down the full aircraft

with all the related components
to their relative position;

The landing gear, the hydraulic
systems, the brake systems,

the brake components, flaps components.

I say we start here.

[Dramatic Music]

[Narrator] Since the left wing failed

in the middle near the engine,

investigators decide to tear
it down for a full inspection.

We looked at the engine before sending it

to the manufacturer for
a deeper investigation.

Go a little further in for me please.

[Narrator] They're looking
for any evidence of fire,

the exterior has plenty
of soot, but inside.

It's clean, I don't see any fire damage.

[Narrator] It's not what they expected.

[Turenne] We could see the engine

had no evidence of any fire

or fuel lines in the area of the engine.

The engine was running properly
as far as we could tell.

[Narrator] Why would the
crew report an engine fire

when there wasn't one?

[Warning Alarm Beeping]

-[Provencher] What?
-[Stricker] What is it?

[Provencher] It looks
like we lost hydraulics.

[Narrator] Investigators now turn

to the cockpit voice
recorder of Propair 420

to determine why firefighters

and the pilots both
reported an engine fire.

Stop for a sec.

Do they even mention fire?

No, not at all.

[Narrator] By now, they're
12 minutes into the flight.

All right.

[Stricker] I've got the
column halfway to the right,

I can't believe it's taking this much trim

-to hold it straight.
-Okay, hang on.

Control problems just 30 seconds
after a hydraulic failure.

Dorval is here, they're
barely out of the gate

before the hydraulics fail here.

They haven't even begun their turn

and the controls start acting up here.

Okay, let's see what happens next.

[Warning Alarm Beeps]

[Provencher] Left wing overheat light on.

Overheat?

[Narrator] A wing overheat warning sounds

when high temperatures
are detected by a sensor

in the wheel well.

The wing overheat light
is indicating to you

that there's smoke, heat
and potentially a fire.

What the?

[Narrator] But the warning
mysteriously shuts off

30 seconds later.

[Stricker] Overheat warning light off.

Good, we don't need the checklist.

Before they have a chance
to do anything about it,

the light goes out, so they say,

"Ah, the problem doesn't exist anymore,

we don't have to worry about that."

[Narrator] Several more minutes pass

before anyone mentions fire.

[Passenger] Fire!
The left engine's on fire!

Is that a passenger?

[Stricker] Fire in the left engine?

Confirm.

[Passenger] Yes, I see smoke.

It sounds like it's coming from the cabin.

Now they're here, they finished
their turn back to Dorval.

[Narrator] The passenger
report of an engine fire

confuses the crew.

The engine overheat warning is off.

Left engine shut down procedure.

[Narrator] The captain
follows the checklist

but it doesn't solve the problem.

[Passenger] I see flames now,

flames from the engine nozzle.

[Provencher] I don't have the fire light!

[Lavigne] Everything in the
airplane is telling you

the engine isn't on fire

but you have a passenger
in the back telling you

the engine is on fire,
which road you go down?

It's hard to fault a pilot
for going down either road

at this point.

[Narrator] The cockpit voice recording

provides investigators with
their biggest lead yet.

The initial wing overheat warning

could indicate that
something in the wheel-well

was overheating.

Maybe the fire started in the wheel well.

Well it's so close to the engine,

the crew could've made that mistake.

[Levasseur] We start zeroing on the fact

that this is probably
where we should concentrate

our efforts.

[Narrator] Is there something
within the wheel well

that has the potential to catch fire?

[Investigator] Check out
the left landing gear.

[Narrator] The team discovers that pieces

of the left landing gear are burned,

almost beyond recognition.

We know there has been an
in-flight fire at this point

because we have pieces of
metal that tell us that.

We just don't know how it
started, what caused it

and this is gonna be the big
part of this investigation.

What caused this fire?

[Narrator] They start
by examining the brakes

on the left landing gear.

[Levasseur] At this point in
the investigation,

we knew that we had to look at the brakes

because we thought that the
problem probably began in there,

but we weren't sure, we had to find out.

Is this everything?

A complete examination of the
brake system was performed.

Each of the components, calipers, disks,

we looked at every details of the brakes.

Some severe damage here.

[Narrator] The team finds
that several components

of the left side brakes show
significant heat damage,

piston housings are melted,
cylinders are blackened.

The damage of heat that
were done to the components

along the brake calipers and the tires

and then the wheel well
was really the smoking gun.

[Narrator] Investigators
can finally confirm

that an in-flight fire aboard Propair 420

began in the left wheel well

but they still don't know what started it.

This is the left brake disc, correct?

[Narrator] One component is key.

The thing got pretty hot somehow.

[Narrator] The greyish-blue
color stands out.

These brake discs would
have to get to a temperature

of 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit
or 600 degrees Celsius

for five or six minutes in
order to get to that color.

[Narrator] Could overheated
brakes have started the fire

that brought down Propair 420?

The landing gear would need
a fuel source to ignite

but the wheel well is nowhere near

the heavily re-enforced tanks.

Something in here must
have caused the brakes

to catch fire.

[Narrator] Investigators
focus on the tubing

inside the left wheel
well called the nacelle.

The hydraulic line's there.

[Turenne] In the design of
the left wheel well, nacelle,

you have the hydraulic
lines that run through there

to operate the landing
gear, also for the flaps.

Dorval Approach, this is Propair 420,

we've had dual hydraulic failure,

request clearance to return to Dorval.

[Narrator] The melted lines would cause

the hydraulics to fail,

the first problem reported by the crew.

So the heat from the
brakes melts the line,

hydraulic fluid pours out everywhere,

there's your fire right there.

[Narrator] It's a good theory,

but they need evidence to back it up.

Investigators design a test to determine

if hydraulic fluid could
ignite when exposed

to overheated brakes.

Is this the same make of brake disc

that was used on the Metroliner?

[Narrator] They heat the disc
to 1100 degrees Fahrenheit,

the temperature that
would have been needed

to give the left brake discs
their greyish-blue color.

[Turenne] We sprayed a small
quantity of hydraulic fluid,

at a rate of two tablespoons per minute.

Whoa!

[Narrator] Investigators are able to prove

that the left brake
disc onboard Propair 420

did get hot enough to
ignite the hydraulic fluid.

And it started the ignition
of a flame eight inches high.

[Narrator] But they still don't know why

the brake discs overheated.

Could there have been a
malfunction with the brakes?

Let's have a look.

[Narrator] Investigators look through

old Metroliner incident reports.

[Dramatic Music]

I've got something for you.

In the United States
about 10 years before,

a Metroliner exactly had the same problem.

1988, Peninsula Airways.

Loss of hydraulic pressure,
left wing overheat,

left wheel well fire damage.

And that one in Winnipeg,
1990, Perimeter Airlines,

the exact same thing.

[Narrator] In both cases,

the crews were able to
land the plane safely.

The history of the
Metroliner revealed to us

that the brake system had issues.

We combined something like 68 events

that were involving the brake systems.

Why does this keep happening?

[Narrator] The incident reports
reveal a similar culprit

in many of these
incidents, brake dragging.

For the brake to have gotten that hot,

it had to have been dragging.

[Narrator] Brake drag is what happens

when the calipers don't
fully retract from the disc

as the brakes are released.

The brake disc overheated

because there was probably
still some pressure on them

and so the wheels were not turning freely.

This dragging of the brakes

got the temperature higher and higher.

[Narrator] Investigators
conclude the dragging

must have occurred while
taxiing at Dorval Airport.

Nosewheel steering?

[Provencher] Armed.

Naturally, there will be
a lot of heat developed

on that brake system if it's dragging

as the airplane accelerates

but for that kind of heat to develop,

the left brake had to be
dragging for some period

of taxi time.

[Narrator] To find out how long

the left brake might have been dragging,

the team talks to the controller

overseeing the flight's
departure from Dorval Airport.

They taxied from the hangar
there to the runway here.

Did the crew report anything
unusual on the taxi?

Uh uh.

[Narrator] This isn't surprising

if the brakes were only
dragging on one side.

[Levasseur] The way you taxi
in a Metroliner,

you have a nosewheel steering.

With just one dragging brake,

you can turn the nosewheel steering gear

and you won't be able to notice
that the brake is dragging.

So this is possibly what happened.

Propair 420, we're holding in position,

runway 2-4-Left ready for takeoff.

What about the takeoff?

It took them a long time to get airborne.

Really?

Where did they lift off?

That's more than halfway down the runway.

[Narrator] The plane lifted off

between the A1 and A2 taxiways,

which are between 4100 and 5500 feet

from the runway threshold.

So takeoff distance to rotation should be?

1800 feet.

And this plane took more than 4000.

The problem with the brakes began

probably as the airplane
departed the hangar.

It must have been the brake drag.

They used 1400 feet to go
to the threshold of 24 left.

So for about 5200 feet,

the brakes were dragging and
creating a lot of overheating

on the disc of the brakes.

[Narrator] The findings
back up their suspicions,

the brakes must have been dragging,

which explains why it
took the plane so long

to reach take-off speed.

V1.

Rotate.

And they went up in the
wheel well very, very hot.

[Narrator] 12 minutes in
the air is plenty of time

for the overheated brakes
to raise the temperature

in the wheel well.

[Turenne] When the landing gear
comes up, the doors close

and then if you have any heat in there,

that heat has nowhere to dissipate.

So the temperature inside
goes up very, very quickly.

[Narrator] But what could
have caused the brake drag

in the first place?

What about the parking brake?

Just like in your car,

if you drove away with
the parking brake on

and you keep driving, it's
still gonna create friction,

which there entailed creates heat.

-Parking brake off.
-Roger.

[Narrator] Investigators
wonder if there was an issue

when the captain released
the parking brake.

If the parking brake had been on,

you would have had both rotors overheat,

only one wheel overheated.

So somehow whenever the
parking brake was released,

one of them let go, the right
side, the other one didn't.

Otherwise, you would have had two fires.

[Narrator] They search the
manufacturer's documentation

for evidence of faulty parking brakes.

Now here's something.

[Narrator] A five-year-old newsletter

advises pilots to verify the parking brake

is fully released.

"Some residual pressure can remain

even with the knob in the off position."

I'm sad as a pilot to
see that this information

was through newsletters

and not into the aircraft flight manual,

it was very deceiving to see this.

[Narrator] Were the pilots unaware

of a faulty parking brake?

Without a flight data recorder

and with the pilots deceased,
they'll never know for sure

but it's a solid theory.

All right, so the brake drag

caused the wheel well fire, right?

[Narrator] The team has finally determined

how the fire started but
there's one question remaining.

Could the crew have done anything

to prevent any of this from happening?

[Warning Alarm Beeping]

[Provencher] When you take the controls,

make sure to make smooth inputs
on the nosewheel steering,

passengers can feel it, we
want to give them a nice ride.

[Narrator] Investigators return to earlier

in the cockpit voice
recording to see if the crew

of Propair 420 realized
their brakes were dragging.

That's the captain's
voice, so he's steering.

Right, the First Officer takes
over on the takeoff roll.

I have control?

Your controls.

[Narrator] The first hint of
trouble starts soon after.

[Provencher] More right
rudder, more right rudder.

So the captain's correcting
the first officer,

the plane must be drifting
left of center on the runway.

Probably because the
left brake is dragging.

[Provencher] It's going
left, more right rudder.

The captain starts telling the co-pilot

"More rudder, more rudder."

That's when the problem
of a brake dragging

should have been evident

but because he's checking the co-pilot,

he's not on the controls himself.

Had he been on the controls himself,

with his experience, he would have known.

[Narrator] The captain makes no mention

of the plane taking longer
than usual to lift off.

[Lavigne] He's doing a line
check, he's busy,

he's gotta make sure that the
first officer is doing the job

that he's supposed to do,
it's an honest mistake.

[Narrator] Investigators
finally understand

what caused the crash
of Propair Flight 420.

A dragging left brake gets hot enough

to melt the hydraulic lines

when the wheel is
retracted after take-off.

Dorval Approach, this is Propair 420,

we've had dual hydraulic failure,

request clearance to return to Dorval.

[Lavigne] They're thinking that
it's just a hydraulic failure,

we'll request back to the airport

and we'll land there safely.

[Narrator] Dripping
hydraulic fluid ignites.

Left wing overheat light on.

They have no idea that
they've got a brake fire

that is starting to rage
in the left nacelle.

[Stricker] Overheat warning light off.

Good, we don't need the checklist.

What likely happened at that point

is that the circuit probably
was burnt through by the fire

that is developing in that nacelle.

[Narrator] The intense heat
begins to weaken the structure

of the left wing, causing it to lose lift.

-What's going on?
-It wants to roll left.

Like any kind of metal, as it super heats,

it's gonna distort and change its shape.

So they're dealing with an
aerodynamics of the wing.

You're never gonna know
if it moves two degrees

but you're gonna feel it
on your control column.

[Passenger] Fire!
The left engine's on fire.

The engine overheat warning is off.

I don't have a fire light!

There's definitely fire!

[Provencher] Pulling
left engine stop lever.

Well, they did the right thing,
they had to shut it down.

Yeah, they were really up against it

and all that happened
in just five minutes.

When we train on board simulators,

we rarely give more than
two problems to a pilot

because it's very unusual

that he will have compounding
problems like Propair 420 had.

Despite the high level of experience

of Captain Provencher.

He probably never trained

for all these emergencies at one time.

[Narrator] Despite everything.

Gear down now!

[Narrator] They almost made it.

The left gear hasn't dropped.

[Narrator] As the situation
continued to deteriorate.

[Turenne] From an
investigator's standpoint,

he did the perfect job.

He was coming right at the center

and he was coming at a
good rate of descent.

[Narrator] One final
problem is insurmountable.

The captain doesn't know it but.

Not now!

[Narrator] The fire has
weakened the wing's structure.

If that wing hadn't failed upwards,

they were within a few seconds

of everybody being on the
ground safe and going home.

At this point if you're a pilot,

you're along for the
ride in that airplane.

They did everything right,
they didn't have a chance.

I met with the widow of the captain,

I did mention to her the reason
why that airplane crashed

was beyond the crew's control

is that they did not
have enough information

to be able to determine
what the real problem was

and I told her that.

You meet people like that
and you never forget.

[Narrator] In its final report,

the Transportation
Safety Board noted that,

unlike many other planes,

the Metroliner did not have
a brake overheat warning

in the cockpit and the
Aircraft Flight Manual

did not clearly warn
pilots that brake dragging

could lead to wheel well fires.

The first recommendation
that the Board issued

was to make sure that the crew was aware

that if an overheat light came on

on that nacelle you
probably had a good chance

of having a fire starting or
developing in that nacelle.

Checklists were changed and we
were able to make it a lot safer

for people going forward.

[Stricker-Leduc] Even though my
dad has been gone for 22 years,

he's still helping a lot of people.

It makes me really proud of my father.

I'm gonna be able to tell my children

he did everything he
could for the passengers.