It was meant to be a regular flight for British tourists to enjoy a flight in Greece, however, on takeoff, a dream of a holiday turns into a fight for survival for everyone onboard British Airtours flight 28M.
The accident of British Airtours flight 28M, horrifies the city of Manchester and the whole nation, leaving the whole country mourning and demanding answers to how a simple evacuation turns into one of Britain's darkest air disasters. The investigators from Britain's air accident investigation department report to Manchester Airport within hours and are astonished by the fire's barbarity. The 737 is only recognisable from the front as the rear is entirely destroyed.
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From witness statements from Air traffic control at Manchester, the investigators recognise that flight 28M had a problem which started a fire on the left-hand side of the aircraft. The first port of call is the engines. When examining the left engine they remark that there is substantial damage to the combustion chamber, which helps the engine produce thrust. Combustion can number 9 is missing, where is it?. After searching for the can, it is found, slammed into the underwing fuel tank. This explains what caused the horrific fire. The leaking fuel from the punctured left wing fuel tank, spilt onto the hot engine and the gasses inflaming the fuel almost immediately. It is ascertained that the wind at that time had been a factor to the fire's ferocity and damage of the rear left-hand side of the plane as it caused the fire to stick onto the airframe and engulf the left-hand side and penetrate the cargo hold and cabin area more vigorously than it normally would. Although the fire was calamitous, why did the passengers not manage to escape in time?. The answers that the investigators reveal will astound the aviation industry and mould it forever.
From the testimonies from firefighters who were assisting the evacuation, flight attendants trying to help passengers escape and the surviving passengers, the investigators can picture absolute pandemonium in the cabin as people climb over seats and block exits and in some cases jumping over each and suffocating passengers who could not escape. How did a simple evacuation turn into an absolute panic?. One of the factors was the passengers, especially the ones who tried the open the overwing exit did not know how to open them and were struggling to find exits in the smoke-filled darkness. In 1985, there was no obligation to ask passengers to read emergency cards on how to open emergency doors. The design of the aircraft interior was also a factor with the galley door being too tight causing many passengers to plough down to the front of the plane and suffocate as they try to get through. The fire igniting the interior is also a significant factor, presenting passengers with only seconds to escape before they start to breath toxic gases including, cyanide. Most passengers did not stand a chance. The evacuation was only hindered by the fact that the cabin couldn't utilise some of the exit doors, because of the fire on the left-hand side and that the front right-hand door was jammed. To examine this in further detail, experiments were conducted by behavioural psychologists and aviation specialists to identify if this deadly evacuation was a one-off event. Sorrowfully, it wasn't as many of the test concluded the same as passengers clamber to find an exit in the deep smoke. Something needed to change immediately before another British Airtours flight 28M befalls somewhere in the world.
