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started in the cargo hold but no one knew how it could have spread. >> these types of compartments are designed to contain a fire. so why didn't the liner contain the fire? >> the investigators check records to see what was being transported in the hold. they find mail, three tires on their way to another valujet plane, and then something suspicious. >> there were oxygen generators in there. and they found evidence that some of the generators had been discharged. that suddenly would explain why the containment liner had not worked. >> inside the cargo hold, the charred remains of nine activated canisters are recovered. >> oxygen generators use a chemical process to produce oxygen in the event passengers need it during a decompression. >> according to the ntsb, they were improperly secured for shipping. >> it turned out it was apparently very shoddy workmanship. >> but what
>> as they start their take-off roll, the airplane is going right down the runway. the tower tells the pilots you have got fire behind the aircraft. there is a cockpit warning indication that there is believed to be a fire in the number two engine. >> but once the plane reaches a critical speed, it cannot stop. the pilot's best hope is to get airborne so they can deal with the problem. >> typically for a pilot, whenever you have a problem and you are committed to flight, which this crew was, they want to climb to what they call a safe altitude before they start taking corrective action. >> but the concord's ability to fly has been compromised by the fire. >> it started to lose directional control. he is heavy, low, and slow. that is a very critical point for a pilot. >> a minute after take-off, the number two engine fails. the pilots begin to go through the engine fire procedure. >> in the cockpit they have begun to get warnings.
mission, but a recovery mission. puzzled by the tragedy, investigators are eager to retrieve the wreckage. >> we knew if we found the source of that in-flight fire and the fuel that was feeding that in-flight fire that we would get to the safety issues that we needed to identify. >> but the answers to questions about how it started and what burned are scattered on the ocean floor. >> the wreckage was some 185 or 190 feet below the surface of the ocean and spread out. we didn't know exactly where it was or exactly what we were faced with, trying to recover it. >> the first challenge is to find the black boxes. >> i managed to go in and recover the two black boxes. it was a setback, because the fire, in fact, has burned both of the flight data recorder and voice recorder about six minutes before the aircraft had hit the water. ç it was pretty disappointing. >> with no information about the
>> a flight attendant empties a fire extinguisher, trying to control the smoke, but they can't find the source of the fire. >> when they open the lavatory door, they see smoke but no open flame. that was behind the walls in an inaccessible areas. >> a fire behind the wall is thç worst-case scenario. it's almost impossible to put out or contain. a disaster is in progress. >> the smoke was clearing and then all of a sudden i lost all my electric power. >> that's when the crew realized they had a life-threatening event on their hands. they needed a crew on the ground as soon as they could get there. >> mayday. we're going down. >> moments later, dense smoke begins to come through the cabin walls. >> roger. do you have time to give me the nature of the emergency? >> we have a fire in the wash -- back wash room and filling up with smoke right now. >> filled the cabin very quickly.
even though it fp"n't breach the fuel tank, it sent chicago waves that overpressured the tank. the shock wave created an overpressure system. basically expanding in the tank, blows it from the inside out, creating a hole. >> captured on camera by and into the air where it vaporizes and ignites.ç once the fire gets going, there was no way to stop it. >> as the roll picked up in magnitude, their ability to maintain level flight was degraded and the nose started down. >> ten years after the crash, continental airlines and two of its employees go on trial in paris for involuntary manslaughter n french law, it is standard for a criminal investigation to be opened after a plane crash. but it's highly unusual for an airline to face criminal charges. during the trial, continental says air france knew of deficiencies in concorde's fuel tanks and wheels.
electricity jumping from one of these wires would release an enormous amount of energy and could ignite a fire. investigat investigators do, in fact, find evidence of arcing on the left and right lavatory feeder wires, that come out through holes in the floorboards. the arc starts a fire that ignites the lavatory walls, consuming vital electric systems, making it almost impossle for captain cameron to control the aircraft. >> became suddenly very hard to fly. it was nose heavy because the stabilizer trim had failed. >> his arms would have been very, very,ç very tired by the time he got on the ground. he had expended a lot of physical energy just to keep control of the airplane. he did a really good job. he's a seriously good aviator. >> air canada says the plane met all safety standards. the question now is whether those standards should be made tougher.
crew. >> the faa has done extensive ç testing on in-flight fires and the research you may have as little as 20 minutes to get the fire under control or you may lose control of the airplane. >> over the years, aircraft had become heavily protected against fire. materials are tested for flammability, smoke detectors installed throughout, but these precautions are the product of hard lessons. fires often start in areas of the plane that are not visible to the crew. in this hour, dramatic animations will show you where these hidden infernos can start, making you an eyewitness to the disaster unfolding. >> it can unfold very quickly, as in the case of an md-11 that crashed into the atlantic ocean, minutes after smoke entered the cockpit. september 2, 1998, passengers on board swiss air flight 111 are making their way from new york to geneva.
>> state and federal charges are brought against valujet's maintenance contractor sabretech. sabretech ultimately pleads no contest to one state charge of mishandling hazardous waste. the company also faces 24 federal charge, but it convicted of only one. failing to train employees in hazardous materials handling. before the cases are finished, sabretech goes out of business. valujet is temporarily grounded by the faa but goes on to merge with airtran airways, and is later acquired by southwest. >> when you fly, there are so many people that affect your airplane, your safety. >> coming up, a passenger smells smoke coming from a lavatory. within minutes the pilot has to fight to control the airplane on its way to the ground. so you're no marathon man. but thanks to the htc one x from at&t, with its built in beats audio, every note sounds amazingly clear.
smoke in the cabin. >> roger. >> the smoke moves into the flight deck. >> and the airplane finally levels off and begins a turn and the pilot is now a little bit more intense in his dialogue. >> with no electrical systems, the pilots struggle to maintain control of the situation. as they try to make their way back towards miami, fire begins to come up through the cabin floor.ç >> he is more intent. so now my heart rate is up. i said proceed direct to the airport. >> i need vectors. >> he said, i need vectors. in my mind, i think that's no good. he's got so much smoke that he can't see his instrumentation. so i start bringing him back around. the turn was real slow coming back to the airport, but still a lot of air speed. at about 9,500 feet is when he
the ocean and accelerates and impacts the ocean at a very high speed.ç >> in the wake of the swiss air 111 crash, the airline industry is forced to re-evaluate the procedures for in-flight fires. flammability testing becomes more rigorous. inilation blankets are manufactured for more flame-resistant materials. and wiring becomes more stringent. >> swiss air 111 was a watershed event in how pilots deal with in-flight smoke conditions. after that, pilots recognized how quickly things could go wrong. >> what makes fire such a lethal threat to aircraft is its ability to start and grow, undetected. in some cases, the interiors of the plane are at risk. but a fire that starts outside can be just as catastrophic. charles dugall airport, paris,