Ultimate Airport Dubai (2013) s02e06 Episode Script

1
NARRATOR: In this episode
an Afghan national with two
passports triggers a security alert.
NOORI: If I don't tell
you, you can't catch me.
NARRATOR: Heavy work on the world's largest
superjet suffers a series of setbacks.
ROSS: It's literally a
spanner in the works.
NARRATOR: And engineers break
new ground in a billion dollar
runway project where
failure costs millions.
YOUSUF: I can see you inside.
YOUSUF (off-screen):
Come on, no sleeping.
NARRATOR: Dubai International Airport,
the busiest global hub on the planet and
aiming to stay there.
MAN: Clear for takeoff.
NARRATOR: But
perfection is never easy.
MAN: It's not finished.
It's supposed to be finished.
NARRATOR: More
planes to service.
ANDY: Can we open the
number three engine?
NARRATOR: More
situations to deal with.
MEL: What do you
mean live snake?
NARRATOR: More
smugglers to stop.
HASSAN: This is
the heroin here.
NARRATOR: And massive
engineering projects to complete on time.
It's nonstop.
24/7.
It's the job of 90,000 staff
from all over the world.
To make this the ultimate airport.
They already have the tallest
building and now they're in a global fight
to be the world's largest airport.
In Dubai, they'll stop at nothing
to get ahead of their rivals.
And that means they're not
afraid to embrace new challenges.
And they don't come bigger than
the largest passenger aircraft on earth,
which has come in for its
first ever full service.
This is Delta Alpha, Emirates'
very first Airbus A380.
Since it arrived in 2008, it has
carried 1.2 million passengers and
flown over 12 million miles.
Like traveling to the moon
and back 27 times over.
Now it's time for a 55 day overhaul,
known in the trade as the 3C check.
ALEXANDER: They
have calculated the man hours required
for the C check to be
approximately 44,000 man hours.
ALEXANDER (off-screen): You're looking at
approximately 100, 100 people working on
the aircraft per day.
NARRATOR: Engineer Alex Mathews and
his team want the plane back in the sky
as soon as possible, but
safety has to come first.
ALEXANDER (off-screen): During this project
we are going to be doing quite a lot
of things that we have never done before.
We've got engines that
are going to be removed.
We've got the cabin which is
going to be stripped down entirely.
Leaving only the forward and
aft staircases in position.
NARRATOR: They'll examine
300 miles of cabling and
deep clean the 82,000 gallon
fuel tanks in the wings.
In all, 6,100 parts will be replaced.
It would take one man working alone
22 years to complete the C check.
ROSS (off-screen): She's
the daddy, she's the oldest in the fleet.
It's her 6th birthday next week and we've
currently just taken delivery of our 50th.
ROSS (off-screen): Between number one and
number 50, yeah, she's the grand-daddy.
What we've got to worry about here guys, this
is the first time we've ever done this job.
NARRATOR: Ross Wilding is
leading a team of engineers.
ROSS (off-screen): Today we're
gonna be removing the Radome
from the nose of the aircraft.
The Radome is this big nose housing that we've
got on the front of the aircraft assembly
here that protects the radar antenna.
ROSS (off-screen): This is the
first time we've ever done this job.
First time I've done it,
first time you've done it.
ROSS (off-screen): What we'll
do is get the sling attached,
so we've got the pins in
control to take the thing out.
And hopefully we're not
gonna have any problems.
ROSS (off-screen): We're out there looking for
minute cracks in anywhere of the structure.
This aircraft's moving in flight all
day long and obviously the stresses
impacted can be there on the smallest little
bolts and one small bolt having a small
crack can be catastrophic.
Looking good, mate.
I think we're ready to pull her out then.
Yeah? Okay.
Let's go for it.
It is a lot of pressure when you're handling
equipment this size and this expensive.
NARRATOR: Ross
plans to attach the $150,000 Radome
to a harness perfectly
designed for this job.
Once it's clear of the fuselage,
he'll lower it to the ground.
ROSS: Right, you
alright then, guys? Yeah?
ROSS (off-screen):
We're going for it.
Be careful.
Okay, I'm taking the loads.
NARRATOR: This lightweight composite
structure only weighs 138 pounds.
ROSS: Hold on, hold on,
hold on, hold on.
Just be careful on the, on
the front there guys, yeah?
NARRATOR: Any knock can
cause irreparable damage.
ROSS: Once this
thing gets free from the structure
we have no idea what it's gonna do.
It could spin.
It could drop.
It could lift.
Okay, we're out.
ROSS (off-screen): Hold
on, hold on, hold on.
Just let me go up.
Get it over the, get it over.
I don't want it
Get it at least over there.
Okay, bring it,
bring it back. Okay.
ROSS (off-screen):
Hold on, hold on.
I want another guy.
I want another guy down there with you.
I'm hard but fair I believe.
I like to get the job done, but
when they know I'm shouting orders,
they know it's there for a reason.
ROSS (off-screen): No one do
anything until I say, okay.
Stand by, stand by.
Hold on, hold on.
ROSS (off-screen): Right you
two, come down now please.
Yeah, be on the ground
ready for this sling.
Okay, I'm coming down.
Guys.
Once you've got hands on,
I'm gonna come down, alright?
Everything's going good now.
Obviously this is the precarious bit.
While it's sitting on there.
ROSS (off-screen): I don't want
to leave it hanging too long.
It's a very expensive piece of equipment, so
we want her safely down on the ground now.
ROSS (off-screen): We're looking
good, we're looking good.
NARRATOR: Ross has avoided
any expensive breakages.
ROSS (off-screen): Okay.
NARRATOR: But even in
this high tech facility
things don't always go exactly to plan.
ROSS: It's literally a
spanner in the works.
There's a dropped spanner
inside we're gonna have to fish out.
NARRATOR: The slightest
dent can damage the Radome beyond repair.
ROSS: Job done.
NARRATOR: Every day that the aircraft is
grounded costs the airline over $200,000.
Until the Radome is passed as
perfect, this plane is going nowhere.
Mel Sabharwal spends every
working day in terminal three.
Getting passengers through the largest
terminal in the world onto their flights.
But today, she faces a fresh challenge.
MEL: I can't say much until
we actually get there because
I don't know exactly what's happened.
NARRATOR: She's been called
to help get a passenger off a flight.
In a situation she's
rarely had to face before.
MEL: We're heading off to
concourse C, gate number C23.
MEL (off-screen): The crew
found two passports on him.
One is a UK passport and
one is an Afghanistan passport
so we need to take him off the flight
and find out what's happened.
Have you got the passports with you?
Are these the passports?
NARRATOR: The two passports show the
same person, but the names do not match.
MEL: They're
completely different.
What's the name in the
system for the passenger?
MARY (off-screen):
It's Mohammed Yousef.
MEL (off-screen): Okay.
Mohammed Yousef.
Any one of those say Mohammed Yousef?
ZAC: This one Mohammed Yousef.
MEL: Okay.
ZAC: Oh, a Noori Shukrullah.
MEL: Yeah, completely different.
Completely different.
ZAC: Totally different.
MEL: And the
passport is ripped, huh?
ZAC (off-screen): Date
of birth is right.
MEL (off-screen): Uh-huh.
NARRATOR: They're joined by Airport
Services Manager, Mahmood al Zarooni.
MEL (off-screen):
Completely different.
One's a British and one's an Afghani.
Completely different names.
ZAC: Afghani. That's
the fake one.
NARRATOR: Damage to the
identity page is a clear indication that
the passport is a fake.
MEL: Hello, sir.
What's your name?
NOORI: Shukrullah.
MEL: Shukrullah.
Not Mohammed?
NOORI: No.
MEL: Is this your name?
NOORI: No.
MEL (off-screen):
Yousef Mohammed. No?
Is this your passport?
NOORI (off-screen):
No, that's not.
MEL: Did you have this
passport with you?
NOORI: Yes.
MEL (off-screen): So
is this your passport?
NOORI: No, that's
not my passport.
That's my passport.
MEL (off-screen): Whose
passport is this?
NOORI: I don't know.
MEL: Where did you find it?
NOORI: Someone come
and gave this to me.
MEL: Okay. So this
is not your passport.
This is not your name.
NOORI (off-screen): If I don't
tell to you, you can't catch me.
MEL: Okay, so, so what,
tell me who you told?
That you're going to Dubai
MAHMOOD: One thing,
you came to Dubai.
You've got a visa and you're
supposed to go to Kabul,
early morning yesterday.
But he didn't go.
MAHMOOD (off-screen): You
were planning to stay here in the airport?
NOORI: No, if I don't tell you, if I
don't tell you, you can't catch me.
You know this,
you know this, you know this.
MAHMOOD (off-screen):
Well, I'll tell one thing.
This passport is not
acceptable in any country.
NOORI: I swear that I make this passport
by myself, so that you can't get me.
MAHMOOD (off-screen): So
no I don't want you to
NOORI: You can't get me.
NARRATOR: This passenger appears to
think that if he gives Mel no information,
he won't be prosecuted.
But possession of a false passport
is a criminal offense in Dubai.
And people use them for
many different reasons.
Political asylum, illegal
immigration, or smuggling.
Mel needs to work out what's
really going on here urgently.
NARRATOR: This year airport authorities
are tackling an ambitious project.
It's a billion dollar construction
marathon which requires rebuilding both
runways back to back.
In most airports they would carry out
the work at night, when the runways close.
But Dubai operates 24/7.
This morning phase one was completed.
The southern runway reopened
after a month of work.
YOUSUF: Opening of the south runway
doesn't mean that our job is finished.
Because now we are going to a
much more challenging part of the job.
The north runway is three times more
than south runway, and we have learnt some
good lessons in the south runway.
NARRATOR: By pushing contractors hard,
Yousuf has completed the south runway
four days ahead of schedule.
The pressure's on for contractor Steve
Penglase to deliver the same results on
the north runway.
STEVE: Really like a school teacher, yeah,
shepherding everybody on and off the bus.
No fighting.
Baha, you ready with your guys?
BAHA (off-screen): Yeah, yeah.
STEVE: How many
trailers are you taking?
One plastic and one concrete.
And off you
go. Okay.
You're gonna come with me with your
guys and we're gonna go down there and
we're gonna start closing.
Bring the bus.
NARRATOR: Steve's
main job today is to secure the perimeter
of this two and a half mile
long construction site.
Until that's done, heavy
machinery can't move in.
STEVE (off-screen): We've got
two types of barrier closures.
One is this one which is a taxiway
and then the second one is the actual
boundary line which is a combination of
these timber posts and a solid plastic line.
So what we're going to do now is
rinse through as quick as possible,
get all the taxiways closed.
NARRATOR: It's now 1 PM and Yousuf
needs the job finished by nightfall.
STEVE (off-screen): I don't
want it across the stop bar.
Keep it back here and we'll line it up.
Yeah.
Salim, we need some more timbers out here.
Timber, timber, to put them on.
STEVE (off-screen): The language
barrier is a huge problem.
That's why I have people like Ali with
me who can make the difference to getting
something done or me
sitting on the floor crying.
NARRATOR: Of the 1.2 million construction
workers in Dubai, most are from South Asia and
speak little or no English.
STEVE: The word we have probably used
the most on this one so far has been jaldi
which is hurry up.
Yeah, jaldi.
STEVE (off-screen):
Or stop. Bus.
Stop, bus, bus.
STEVE (off-screen): When
things have been going wrong.
NARRATOR: The team has 54
days to finish the job.
STEVE (off-screen): Okay
boy, next one, next one.
NARRATOR: On day 54
scheduled flights must land here.
STEVE (off-screen): Hey, boy.
NARRATOR: A quarter of the air traffic has
already been diverted to other airports.
Costing Dubai International
millions of dollars every day.
Any delay will bring even greater losses.
STEVE: Down, down, down.
YOUSUF: The deadline
scares me a little bit,
because people have
already booked seats and
we don't want to fail them.
STEVE: Here, boy.
NARRATOR: Steve's next job is to fill his
plastic barriers with water to weigh them down.
STEVE: That's enough,
that's enough.
NARRATOR: But on the first
day of a new project, even a simple task
can bring new challenges.
STEVE: Did you explain to him?
Because this guy, I don't think
he knows what he's doing this one.
The thing is, this is a new team I'm doing
it with now, so they've not done it before,
so it's gonna take, you know,
a couple to get 'em into it.
STEVE (off-screen): I want to
have everything polished off by 4:00,
but just a little bit
frustrating at the moment.
Where's that guy gone?
NARRATOR: If Steve doesn't finish by
nightfall, the next shift will have to complete
his work, causing knock on delays which could
affect the success of the entire project.
More than 66 million passengers
pass through Dubai airport every year.
With them come up to 62
million items of baggage.
The contents of each one are a
potential threat for airport security.
Criminals are constantly
finding new ways to hide drugs.
Customs Officer Hassan Ibrahim has had a
tip off about a passenger arriving in Dubai.
HASSAN: When they investigate
with the passenger, asking some questions,
he became a little bit nervous.
HASSAN (off-screen): They have
found some nuts in his bags.
A lot of cases that the smuggler
using the nuts to smuggle the drugs in it.
So as you can see, this is bag.
And he has some nuts inside the bags.
NARRATOR: The Pakistani has several kilos
of peanuts, walnuts, Bombay mix and dates.
HASSAN: He said the nuts are food items
and he bought it for his family because
it's his first visit and he's
coming on an employee visa.
We want to make sure that's
normal nuts, there's nothing inside it.
NARRATOR: The customs officers are baffled
as to why the passenger has so many nuts and
so few clothes.
HASSAN: Most of the
bags just contain food.
More than his normal clothes.
HASSAN (off-screen): That
make us suspected him more.
Also, some of the clothes not
belong to him, it's also gifts also.
(speaking in native language)
He said that he will buy the rest of
the clothes from here, from our country.
NARRATOR: When customs have
a suspect everything is suspicious.
Even their shoes.
HASSAN: That type of sandals he's wearing,
it's common sandal that we have a lot of
cases hiding some drugs in it.
NARRATOR: Passengers come to Dubai from 239
destinations worldwide, in 95 countries.
But not all of them are
who they say they are.
NOORI: I make this
passport by myself.
NARRATOR: Mel Subharwal is questioning
an Afghan national with what seems to be
a false British passport.
He's refusing to give
her straight answers.
ZAC: He just said I
made the passport.
MEL: Yeah, he did.
NARRATOR: So Mel interviews the
flight attendant who checked his passport.
MAN: He showed only the
British passport
and when he went inside he asked
if this flight was going to Doha or not.
He asked the man to go
to Germany not to Doha.
MEL: Okay.
NARRATOR: This man won't
pose a further threat to the airport.
They stop around 1,000 passengers
with false passports every year.
Staff like Mel are specially
trained to identify forgeries.
In Dubai they have a
zero tolerance approach.
They confiscate the fake and send the
passenger straight back to their home country.
MAHMOOD: Why you
wanted to go to Doha?
NOORI: I don't want to go to
Doha, if I want then I go.
MAHMOOD: If you don't want to go to Doha, from
the beginning you don't board the aircraft.
NOORI: Why I tell
all of thing to you.
NOORI (off-screen): I
am smarter than you.
MEL: You're what?
NOORI (off-screen):
You can't get me.
MEL: You're a what?
What did you say?
I didn't catch that.
NOORI (off-screen):
That I'm smarter.
MAHMOOD: He say
"that I'm smarter."
MEL: Okay.
NOORI: I love Afghanistan because
this is my country, that's my country.
That's my homeland.
That, is that good?
MAHMOOD (off-screen): Yeah.
MEL: You are smarter.
Yeah.
NARRATOR: Mahmood leads the man
to the Dubai authorities for repatriation.
ZAC: He's changing it every
MEL: He's changed
his story three times, so.
He keeps saying he loves Afghanistan,
but I think his intentions are to get into
the UK, possibly Germany.
We get a lot of passengers that will try
and fake passports or travel on forged
passports into countries
that they may not be allowed entry into.
I guess this is probably
one of those cases.
NARRATOR: In Emirates' maintenance
hangar Echo, engineer Alex Mathews
continues the complete
overhaul of the airline's first ever A380.
ALEXANDER: Today is the free
hangar day where a lot of system checks
are being carried out.
ALEXANDER (off-screen): They
can start doing the inspections
and doing the required rectifications.
NARRATOR: Every critical part is being
forensically examined for the smallest defects.
Cable chaffing, duct damage, pipe
corrosion and cracks to the fuselage.
Underneath the plane Alex is inspecting a
part which no passenger ever wants to see,
the backup power system.
ALEXANDER: What you've got here is
called a RAT, this is a Ram Air Turbine.
ALEXANDER (off-screen): When
the aircraft loses power,
the RAT will automatically
deploy and it's got a big
propeller in the front and that drives
the generator which in turn supplies
electrical power to the aircraft.
NARRATOR: At 5.3 feet in diameter,
it's the largest RAT on any aircraft.
It needs to be.
If the RAT kicks in, it
must be able to power crucial systems like
the flight controls
and autopilot on this 525 seater aircraft.
ALEXANDER (off-screen): The passengers
will definitely hear if it's deployed in an
emergency because it has quite loud.
You'd know that something
else is running outside the aircraft.
NARRATOR: The RAT is not the only
backup system to inspect on this C check.
Two massive jacks under the wing and one
under the nose, will raise the 397 ton plane
12 inches into the air.
Allowing engineers to check that each of the
aircraft's 22 wheels can drop without power.
The RAT can lower the
wheels if necessary but
there's another failsafe
backup system: gravity.
ALEXANDER (off-screen):
Perfect, perfect.
NARRATOR: But to land the
plane safely, pilots still need the RA
to power their instruments.
ALEXANDER (off-screen): At the moment it'll
be spinning around 12,000 to 15,000 RPM.
If it doesn't reach that speed, then the
generator won't be driven fast enough to
provide the required electrical power.
NARRATOR: The RAT is able to provide 70
kilowatts of power to the aircraft as required.
ALEXANDER: It works
perfectly. It's good.
NARRATOR: This is
one part that won't have to be replaced.
Customs Officer Hassan has
checked a bag of nuts for drugs.
Nothing found, but
the passenger's not in the clear, yet.
HASSAN (off-screen): We'll
continue the checking.
Take to the body scan now.
To scan his body and also
we check his sandals.
NARRATOR: The scanners use
full body x-ray technology.
(speaking in native language)
HASSAN: This body scan, it's for checking
inside the body and also around his body.
If he's hiding anything,
wrapping anything around his body.
NARRATOR: It takes just ten seconds for
the scan to create a highly detailed image.
It shows no illicit substances.
HASSAN: Now the third step we have to check
his sandals through the x-ray machine to
make sure that he didn't
hide anything inside it.
You can hide drugs, maybe 400 grams.
In each one 200, 200.
If anybody try smuggling anything
to the Dubai Airport, if I were him,
I should think twice before I come here.
Because we are thinking
like the smugglers.
HASSAN (off-screen): Where
can I hide my illegal drug?
The passenger we searched was
negative and he doesn't have anything.
(speaking in native language)
NARRATOR: 30 minutes after being stopped,
this passenger and the nuts, are free to go.
HASSAN: Welcome to Dubai.
NARRATOR: It's 7:30 PM.
On the north runway construction
site, a fresh challenge awaits as
the first night shift begins.
JUMAH (off-screen): We
need to be ahead of them.
We need to catch up.
NARRATOR: Jumah Al-Mazrooie
is overseeing construction works on site,
making sure everything is
done safely and quickly.
JUMAH: You need to
have your bicycle.
I'm going to bring a bicycle in
here, to get around quicker than this.
NARRATOR: His main
priority lights.
JUMAH: We're actually
waiting for lights.
NARRATOR: Heavy milling machines are
about to arrive to tear up the runway and
Jumah wants the site to be ready.
JUMAH: It's very dangerous.
Nobody should be working here.
JUMAH (off-screen): Not
without proper lighting.
NARRATOR: The construction
site is two and a half miles long.
And Jumah needs to use these
4,000 watt lighting rigs to make it safe.
JUMAH: Lights.
Lights, man.
JUMAH (off-screen): I
don't see enough lights.
NARRATOR: He wants dozens of
lights working as an urgent priority.
JUMAH: You can't send
anybody without lights.
Lights.
If I'm standing here alone,
nothing is gonna move.
The only thing I hope is one of these
aircraft is not gonna come here and
land, land on our head, you see.
NARRATOR: Until the lights are on,
all heavy machinery will be grounded.
Jumah needs results, fast.
In maintenance hangar Echo, the
first ever 3C check on this Airbus A380
is in full swing.
Every one of the four million components
on this aircraft must be in perfect
working order to make the plane as
good as new when it leaves the hangar.
During tonight's night shift, Alex
wants to reattach the $150,000 Radome.
ALEXANDER: Stuff could have got damaged
during removal, so just got to make sure
everything is okay before
we go ahead and install it.
NARRATOR: The Radome is a
multi-layered composite structure with
a honeycomb core.
It's designed to be as lightweight as
possible to maximize the performance of
the radar system inside it.
But that makes it the most sensitive
part of the whole fuselage and
any damage can be critical.
ALEXANDER: If there is a bird strike
or any sort of impact, this is definitely
gonna take the brunt of it.
ALEXANDER (off-screen): We have
seen Radomes which have been write offs
because of bird strikes and stuff, so.
NARRATOR: Alex can find no
signs of bird strike damage.
ALEXANDER: I'm also inspecting the condition
of the seal that you see over here.
NARRATOR: On the previous shift, a
spanner was dropped into the Radome.
It hasn't caused any harm.
ALEXANDER: I'm checking to see if there's
any dents and delaminations on the Radome.
And in our case,
unfortunately, it looks like we have some.
That noise difference indicates that the
layers of the composite is delaminated so
we appear to have a dent and
it will have to be repaired before
we put this on.
Most likely might have to go to the shop.
ALEXANDER (off-screen): I was
looking forward to installing it
today because I've never done it before.
So it's disappointing.
Okay, guys.
NARRATOR: Suddenly all
work in the hangar stops.
ALEXANDER: This seems to
be like a major failure.
We just lost part of the
entire hangar facility.
It's not only our hangar, but all the, all
the hangars seem to have lost power,
so we're just making sure
that everyone's accounted for.
That no one is stuck somewhere.
NARRATOR: A power cut
presents a serious safety risk.
Alex, immediately orders
a personnel check.
ALEXANDER: Yeah, have
a look in the cargo.
NARRATOR: When the lights went out,
Alex had men deep inside the fuel tanks.
If anyone is unaccounted for,
they must be rescued urgently.
ALEXANDER: Check the forward avionics also
compartment make sure no one is there.
MAN (off-screen): Anyone in
the cabin, please get out.
ALEXANDER: Well, actually it's a good thing
we weren't installing the Radome because
what would have happened was the Radome
would have been stuck halfway, halfway
up there when the power went off, so,
everything happens for a reason, I guess.
NARRATOR: With all personnel present,
Alex must wait until power is restored.
The lights maybe off in the
hangar, but on the construction site,
Jumah is able to see again.
But even with the lights set
up, he's worried they're failing
to meet their busy schedule.
JUMAH: We need to utilize the time minute by
minute because later on, when it's ticking,
you know, and we have no time
we need these minutes back.
John, do we need one or two?
Okay, let me help you.
Yeah, now let's go.
NARRATOR: Contractor John
Sutton shares Jumah's work philosophy.
If you want something
done, do it yourself.
JOHN: Move that out the way.
Get that cone out of the way.
JUMAH: That's what I
call joining the team.
NARRATOR: Jumah is piling the pressure
on John and his team of 2,500 workers.
As they race to remove 2,000
runway lights by the end of the shift.
But so far, the team is failing
to meet Jumah's high standards.
JUMAH: We have a
problem of tools again.
What's your name?
Why you don't have tools for everybody?
Tools, tools, where is his tools?
Where is their tools?
Where is your tool?
Two guys, opening, one guy is holding.
Not four guys is working.
My friend, where is their tool?
Other people who has no
tools, just move on there.
Same issue every time.
Four guys with one spanner.
NARRATOR: Jumah wants answers.
JUMAH: Can we go quickly
just to see the work?
Okay, let's, let's start
from there and then we'll see how, yeah.
NARRATOR: He takes John Sutton on a site
inspection to solve the most pressing problems.
For a start, the perimeter
is not completely secure.
JOHN (off-screen): The boundary
is still being set up.
That will be completed by
about midnight tonight.
At which stage the site will be secure.
JUMAH: We are already at
11, so one hour to go.
NARRATOR: It's a 24/7
job to stay on schedule.
Although night time is better
for heavy work during summer,
the darkness brings new challenges.
JUMAH: What time is
the break, my friend?
Break is finished.
It's 11.
JUMAH (off-screen): No sleeping.
What is this?
They cannot be sleeping now.
Safety man.
Come here.
You're supposed to watch over
these guys, not just sleep with them.
What time is the break?
MAN: 10:20
we are stopping at.
JUMAH: No, it's from 10 to 11.
They are here to eat, not sleep.
No sleeping.
I can see you inside.
Come on.
Stop hiding.
You are on
night shift, come on. Wake up.
JUMAH (off-screen):
Put your shoes on.
JOHN: We just found 15 of your
men asleep in the rest area.
JOHN (off-screen): Yeah,
well they should be working.
It's not break time now.
You need to get 'em out working.
JUMAH: They need
to eat and work.
Sleeping is there's no time for sleeping.
NARRATOR: Halfway through the night shift,
John and Jumah have secured the boundaries
and made sure everyone is in position.
JUMAH: Thank you, John.
JOHN (off-screen): No problem.
JUMAH: Probably this night is a
bit relaxed than any other night.
JOHN: They started well.
Obviously a few minor teething
problems, but overall they started okay.
NARRATOR: It's now safe for Jumah
to bring in the heavy milling machines,
which will tear up the
runway in the morning.
JOHN: Jumah is always happy.
I'm gonna buy him a toolbox.
That's the next thing.
Get you some screwdrivers.
JOHN (off-screen): And it's just a
rolling program now for the next 50 days.
JUMAH: Keep the
spirit positive.
Thanks, John.
NARRATOR: The preparation's
over, but the hard work is still to come.
NARRATOR: With 90,000 staff, on the job
training is vital to keep the airport running.
Handling heavy machinery for the first
time around multimillion dollar aircraft
presents a huge challenge
for instructors and trainees.
MARK: You can do a lot of
damage with this tractor.
NARRATOR: When it comes to pushing
back aircraft, Mark Dearden is a seasoned
pro and one of the airport's top trainers.
Today he's assessing trainee
Hamid's first ever solo push back
in the 100 degree heat of summer in Dubai.
MARK (off-screen): So a
lot of pressure on Hamid.
He's very nervous.
He's sweating a lot.
NARRATOR: If Hamid passes this test,
he'll be promoted to push back operator.
And receive a pay rise.
HAMID: I am confident.
I think I can pass this one.
NARRATOR: He's been in Dubai for
two years now and if he succeeds today,
he'll be earning enough to
bring his wife and children
over from Pakistan to live with him.
HAMID: For this good news, I'm going
to distribute some food, some sweets,
and we'll have enjoy a
party, a family party.
MARK (off-screen):
Hamid could fail today.
If he pushes the aircraft as
per training he will pass.
If he doesn't quite meet that
expectation then I'll have to fail him.
MARK (off-screen): Worst
case scenario a jack-knife to the tow bar
damages a nose landing gear,
which then causes delay, passengers don't
get to the destination, revenue is lost.
MARK (off-screen): As you can see,
we've got lots of passengers boarding now.
Okay, so we need a nice smooth push back,
the passengers are drinking the champagne on
board, they don't want to spill any champagne.
HAMID: I am having a pressure
due to the very big job and
my trainer will be assessing me
so I have to follow each
and every procedure.
MARK: Take your time,
mate. Nice smooth push.
Good speed.
Turn on the line.
Slowly stop.
HAMID: Yes.
MARK: Okay.
Time check.
MARK (off-screen): This is now
five minutes over schedule.
Fuelers still fueling and
baggage still going on,
so I'm guessing another
ten minutes before departure.
NARRATOR: 15 minutes later,
there's still no all clear.
MARK: Okay, we're running
a little bit late now.
I think it's nearly 20 minutes.
Yeah, it's confirmed 19 minutes plus.
MARK (off-screen): But we've got to
be ready for the moment, the word go,
so the pressure's on.
He's been sat here for a while now.
That's when you start
over-thinking things.
You've been sat here too long.
We're still waiting.
It's 9:50 and we are 38
minutes over schedule.
Still don't know what
the reason of delay is.
MARK (off-screen): The engineer
is waiting patiently on the headset.
We're just waiting for him
to give us a call to go.
NARRATOR: 40 minutes behind,
Hamid has no update about the delay.
He has to hold his nerve.
It's day two on the north
runway construction site.
After a busy night shift, heavy
machinery is now chewing up the asphalt.
It's yet another unique
challenge for Dubai airport.
The runway is 20 years old
and it must be resurfaced.
YOUSUF: One five
meter per minute.
Can we increase?
MAN (off-screen): Yeah, yeah.
NARRATOR: Yousuf Pirzada is the man in
charge of this mighty engineering operation.
YOUSUF: This project from the
onset is a very ambitious project.
The quantities involved,
in a limited time, is huge.
So there is no room for failure here.
NARRATOR: Today, contractor
Steve Penglase is in charge of
the three heavy duty milling machines.
STEVE (off-screen): It's
an exciting time here on the north runway.
Yeah, the milling machine is
breaking ground for the first time.
Today from here we need to push on
as much as possible and get this done so
we can start the resurfacing.
NARRATOR: Each 600 horsepower machine
has 150 tungsten carbide cutting teeth.
An inch and a half long.
They can dig into the ground
at 34 revolutions per second.
Traveling at two and a half miles per hour
they can tear up enough asphalt to fill
an Olympic swimming pool
every seven hours.
STEVE (off-screen): Under the machine there's
a rotating beam and on that are teeth.
So that rotates which takes it up into a
conveyor through a hopper and up out and
we put it into the trucks there.
The trucks then go off to dump
and you get a cycle going on.
NARRATOR: Today Steve wants the milling
machines to tear up 800 meters of runway.
That's the size of seven football fields.
To do this, the blades have to
be tough enough to churn through
30,000 tons of asphalt.
It'll take 850 truckloads to remove
this hardcore from the runway.
Steve is under pressure to push the
milling machines as hard as he can to
make good time.
STEVE: It's very important we get a good
start today so we can just push on from there.
NARRATOR: And his fast pace means the stakes
are even higher further up the runway.
Just 100 meters away Yousuf must make sure
his team pulls 4,000 runway lights out of
the floor before the
milling machines arrive.
YOUSUF: We have to
remove those lights.
All of these machines are
basically removing the lights.
YOUSUF (off-screen): Obviously
it's a very crucial exercise.
If these machines
stop, then all this trucking will stop.
So they have to be sufficiently in
advance of those milling operation,
that it's absolutely
critical for the project.
NARRATOR: If the milling machines
catch up, work will grind to a halt.
YOUSUF: Even if they are a 100
meter ahead that's more than enough.
But as long as they are ahead of the
milling machines, that's a good result.
These people are working under severe
pressure and they will not stop for anything.
NARRATOR: By mid-morning Steve and his
team have milled 200 meters of asphalt.
Although he has 600 meters to
go, he's still on schedule.
STEVE: James! James!
It's the other machine.
It's twisting, look.
One of the machines is kicking off.
It's undulating a little bit and it looks
like one of the milling machines was
slightly out of level.
So on one side you're milling maybe 80 and
on the other side you're only milling 40.
NARRATOR: A faulty machine
has left an uneven trail.
STEVE (off-screen): If you look at
the edges here now, it looks a sort of
uniform 50 all the way across,
which looks pretty good.
But if you look on the
other side, there's a bit of up and down.
We just want to make sure that
we get it right from here on out.
Is he resetting the angle?
YOUSUF: What?
STEVE: Is he
resetting the angle?
NARRATOR: If this foundation is
uneven, it could affect the level of
the new runway on top of it.
It would be a major
problem, but Steve has spotted it in time.
And it's only day two.
STEVE (off-screen):
The scale is huge.
I mean this is the biggest undertaking
on an airport I think ever attempted.
And it's a mammoth task, but probably famous
last words, I wish I hadn't said that now,
but I think, I think
we're gonna be alright.
NARRATOR: In his attempts to install the
Radome to A380 Delta Alpha, Alex Mathews has
faced dents and a power outage.
Now, a whole new challenge awaits him.
ALEXANDER: This is the first time I'll be
fitting a Radome on a 380 so it's excitement
as well as a bit of nervousness.
So let's see how it goes.
NARRATOR: The rigid schedule for the 3C check
demands that he installs it on this shift,
but the Radome has
still not been repaired.
ALEXANDER: The shop is actually quite
busy with all the other things we've sent
them from this aircraft and they don't
reckon it's going to be ready in time,
so we've just decided to go
ahead and install a new one.
NARRATOR: It's more cost effective to
replace the $150,000 Radome than hold up
the entire 3C check
waiting for it to be mended.
ALEXANDER: This way.
NARRATOR: Alex and the
team, prepare the crane.
ALEXANDER (off-screen): The biggest thing
is taking it basically from down here
all the way to the aircraft
because you don't want it to swing
and hit the docking and get damaged.
NARRATOR: The Radome only
weighs 138 pounds but it's fragile and
needs careful handling.
ALEXANDER: The two ton crane
doesn't seem to be working.
We've just changed the battery on the remote
but it doesn't seem to be doing anything.
Without the crane working there's
no safe way to get it up there.
They should be here in a few
minutes to check the crane.
Until then we wait.
NARRATOR: A simple crane failure
is putting Alex's whole shift behind.
The 3C check has already
cost nearly $6 million and
overruns will add
$200,000 per day to the bill.
ALEXANDER: So what
is it? The battery? Cool.
(buzz)
The buzzer that you can hear
indicates that the crane is working so
it wasn't doing that before.
We're gonna connect it up
and take it away basically.
ALEXANDER (off-screen):
Let's, let's hook that up.
Mind the lower pin.
All clear?
Mind the pin.
Once it's clear of the rail
I'm gonna take it aft a bit.
ALEXANDER (off-screen): So the sooner
we get it on to the aircraft the better.
Are we clear of the railing?
NARRATOR: It takes 20 minutes
to position the Radome.
ALEXANDER (off-screen): This
is the most tricky bit.
It's almost there now.
It's a case of aligning
it with the aircraft.
A bit of finesse is required basically.
ALEXANDER (off-screen): Okay,
I'm going down a touch.
Okay, it's in.
NARRATOR: Now, all Alex
needs to do is bolt it to the aircraft.
That's one job completed,
out of 4,488 separate tasks
to carry out on the 3C check.
ALEXANDER (off-screen): The actual
installation of the Radome went fairly well.
It did feel like for a while
it wasn't meant to happen.
I found the first Radome dented and the
crane wasn't working, but everything worked
out at the end, so I'm happy.
NARRATOR: At gate Bravo 12, Hamid Shahbaz
is waiting for his first solo push back
in the searing heat.
HAMID: Quite a bit nervous because
it's my first time to push a live aircraft
with the passengers on board.
So I'm going to go for it.
NARRATOR: If Hamid fails,
he'll have to re-apply for training.
It could be three months before he
has another chance to bring his family
over from Pakistan.
MARK (off-screen): Three
minutes to departure.
Chocks are being removed.
Now I can see the engineer speaking
to the flight deck, so let's get ready.
Ready for action.
Good luck.
HAMID: Yes, sir.
Thanks, sir.
NARRATOR: Over an hour late, Hamid finally
receives the all clear from the flight deck.
MARK (off-screen):
Okay, he's good.
He's confirmed,
he's confirmed the push back.
Okay, you're looking
around for any hazards.
You're okay.
Yeah, that's good, Hamid.
Nice start.
Slowly increase speed.
More often than not the first time
the trainee pushes an aircraft I have
to jump in at some point.
Nice and straight, Hamid.
Nice and straight.
Follow the line.
Good, good.
MARK (off-screen): Now
he's starting his turn.
It's not a sharp angle,
good Hamid, good Hamid.
NARRATOR: The push back
tractor weighs 31 tons.
Hamid needs all of its 185 horsepower
to push this 330 ton 777.
MARK (off-screen):
Good steering, Hamid.
We're okay.
Nice job.
NARRATOR: It seems
to be job done.
Suddenly, the plan changes.
MARK (off-screen): Just as
we completed the push back,
and we had instruction from the engineer,
who was informed by the captain that
we needed to pull the aircraft forward.
MARK (off-screen): It's to allow
an aircraft to push behind us.
NARRATOR: This test was
not in the training manual.
MARK (off-screen): He
pulled forward three bays.
It was a long, long pull forward.
NARRATOR: After a 200
meter pull, Hamid's test is finally over.
Now, the moment of truth.
HAMID: From my
side it was okay.
But I need to ask from
the trainer now what he will assess me,
so I have to ask him now.
MARK: Hey, Hamid.
HAMID: Right, sir.
MARK: So, that was
your assessment.
How do you think it went?
HAMID: You should
tell me, sir.
I'm waiting for you.
Your decision, sir.
MARK: Okay, it's a good push.
You didn't panic.
Nice and calm.
You confirmed where you want to go to.
Bravo one one.
HAMID: Thank you, sir.
MARK: I'm happy
with that push.
On that note, I'm happy
to say you've passed.
HAMID: Perfect.
Thank you very much, sir.
MARK: Congratulations.
HAMID: Thanks, sir. Thank you, sir.
MARK: How do you feel?
HAMID: I feel quite
I'm very excited, sir. Very happy.
MARK: I'm happy.
HAMID: Thank you, sir.
So I have done it.
NARRATOR: This 777 push
back will be the first of many for Hamid.
Only next time, he's on his own.
HAMID: Today will
be the beginning. I'll start a new life.
Captioned by Cotter Captioning Services.