Page 3 - Thà Fire News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Into the cockpit, drawing power from the same source as the flight controls. >> under normal conditions, an in-flight entertainment system arcing event and fire would be controllable because they would be able to shut off electricity to it. unfortunately, in the case of swiss air 111, they were unable to do that. >> wear and tear on the entertainment system wiring created an opening that allowed electricity to jump out. an arcing event. the arc occurred right next to the wires that powered the flight deck's most crucial equipment, setting off a fire that spread across the cockpit attic, burnin...

They have been told by control tower that they have fire. so they go, i have a fire in the number two engine. >> but the situation is not what the pilots suspect. desperately trying to get enough speed to get airborne, they try to pull up the landing gear. >> it wouldn't come up because the left side was damaged by thç fire. >> they are not in a position to continue level flight, and at that point they realized they needed on the ground at the closest airport. it wasn't a good choice, but it the best choice that they had. >> you have a fire and it's not just contained to the engine. it's now ...

Pilots are faced with a difficult decision. >> the pilot advised that they needed to dump fuel. at that point they were approximately 16,000 feet. the fuel dump complicated the situation greatly. >> it's a good decision to get the airplane as light as you can. it's easier on the airplane. >> but delaying the landing could put the flight in even more danger. the passengers have been told they are being diverted, but there is no smoke in the cabin, and they have no idea that inside the cockpit, something is going horribly wrong. following the smoke checklist, the pilot shut off power to the cabi...

Enormity of the deaths of that shall that's filled with me. i feel badly about that still, that we couldn't get them all off. but we couldn't. >> we thought everybody was off. we thought everybody could get off. like we said, there wasn't any screams or noise coming from the plane. so, you felt that everybody was under control and -- >> getting off. >> was getting off. >> it was a real mixed bag of emotions. of course, we were thrilled to have survived such an incredible ordeal and to realize that some people had not survived was still upsetting. >> immediately after the accident, investigator...

Now you have a controllability issue. and you have an airplane that's on fire. >> the plane became totally unflyable. the crew tried to reduce the power on the two living engines but, again, it was no use. >> as bystanders watch in horror, the plane banks to the left and crashes into a small hotel. >> it was such a huge fire that i couldn't see anything. no plane, no wreckage, no hotel. >> 113 people die, including four on the ground. the tragedy sends a shock wave through the aviation world. coming up, how could the most capable aircraft in the fleet without a fatal accident in its history ...