Ultimate Airport Dubai (2013) s03e04 Episode Script
Episode 24
1
NARRATOR: In this episode,
engineers push an engine
to the max.
NIZALMAN: As you can see the
whole aircraft is vibrating.
NARRATOR: A firefighting test
turns into a real emergency.
WISSAM: Abdulrahman!
Change, change.
Can somebody bring water please?
NARRATOR: And Mel has to deal
with a life or death crisis.
MEL (off-screen): How are
we doing with the CPR?
NARRATOR: Dubai
International Airport,
the busiest global hub on the planet.
Staying on top takes a crack team.
PHIL (off-screen): No one else
in the world is doing it,
but everyone else in the
world is watching us.
MEL: We have births we have
deaths, the whole spiel.
HASSAN: It is very
dangerous because it can explode anytime.
MYLES: This concourse
will help Dubai Airport stay number one.
NARRATOR: It's the
job of 90,000 staff
from all over the world,
to make this the ultimate airport.
Worldwide, passenger jets
consume around $600 million
worth of fuel every day.
Emirates Airlines and Dubai
Airport work hard to minimize
the amount of fuel they burn.
To keep their fleet of 245
aircraft running at peak
efficiency, emirates adhere to
a strict maintenance program
of overhauling engines.
Today it's aircraft engineer
Nizalman Rahman's job to
assess a Boeing Triple
7's newly reconditioned,
eight-ton jet engine.
Before it's allowed in the air,
he has to take it through
one of the industry's most
demanding procedures, a
high-power vibration test.
NIZALMAN: We need to
ensure that the engine can
deliver take off power.
Then we need to ensure the
engine has no vibration and if
there is, we need to fix
it before the aircraft is
declared serviceable.
NARRATOR: This Triple 7 has
already been out of service
for 24 hours.
It's due to fly at
8:30 tomorrow morning,
leaving Nizalman just
eight hours to get this vital test done.
NIZALMAN: We need to do it
fast and we need to do it
right the first time.
NARRATOR: This test involves
powering the engines from idle
to almost full throttle,
generating 100,000 pounds
of thrust while the plane remains static.
NIZALMAN: During the engine
test we'll put metal chocks to
hold the aircraft back on
top of all the 12 brakes.
NARRATOR: The plane's full
complement of 12 brakes would
not be enough on their
own to stop it taking off,
so 400-pound chocks will
hold the wheels in place.
NIZALMAN: During a high-power
run or take off power on a
Triple 7 is very risky,
the brakes can fail,
the aircraft might jump chocks.
NARRATOR: In 2007, an
unchocked plane from another
airline broke free during
similar checks in France.
It caused the $200 million
aircraft to smash into a wall,
writing it off completely,
and injuring the engineers.
NIZALMAN: The aircraft
will be jumping around,
and the wing will flutter,
and the tail area will be
vibrating because of the amount of thrust.
NARRATOR: This Triple 7's
GE-90 engine is the most
powerful passenger jet
engine in the world.
Packing more punch than
the first American manned space rocket.
NIZALMAN: We need to do this
test in a proper engine run up
area because when we go to
take off power on this engine
the noise will be more than 120 decibels.
NARRATOR: Ten minutes exposure
to this level of engine noise
could cause permanent hearing damage.
So Nizalman tows the plane
to a specially built engine
testing bay, well away from
the main airport facility.
NIZALMAN: It's very
critical that after an engine change that
the vibration should
be below 0.8 units.
If not, it will translate at 41,000 feet
to a vibration that
can do a catastrophic damage
to the engine or even
the engine might detach.
NARRATOR: With the chocks
safely in place and the
plane's 12 brakes fully locked,
Nizalman is ready to begin the test.
And he fires up the newly
fitted engine for test stage
one, running at idle.
NIZALMAN: Alright, clear
to start number two.
MAN (over radio): Clear
to start number two.
NIZALMAN: Starting number two.
NARRATOR: In order
to balance the plane,
and avoid it spinning out of control,
the other engine must also be fired up.
NIZALMAN: Ok now both
engines have started.
NARRATOR: Even running at
idle, about 20% thrust,
each engine produces as much
horsepower as 30 Formula One
cars at full throttle.
NIZALMAN (off-screen): You got
fuel flow now, the engine has started.
Oil pressure is rising
and showing the engine is starting up.
So oil pressure is ok.
At the moment we are
running at roughly about 25,000
to 30,000 pound of thrust.
NARRATOR: At this
thrust level,
the plane would usually be
traveling at almost
70 miles per hour.
Restrained by the
chocks, it begins shaking under the force.
NIZALMAN: So, everything
looks normal on the number two engine.
NARRATOR: If at any time
Nizalman senses the plane is
under excessive stress or vibration,
he'll have to take drastic action.
NIZALMAN: If that happens,
we cannot continue with the test.
We need to stop the engine and
troubleshoot what's causing
the problem.
NARRATOR: The worst-case
scenario would mean having to
replace the engine.
This could take the aircraft
out of service for a further
24 hours, at a significant
cost to emirates.
NIZALMAN: The vibration that
we can feel at the moment is
at idle power, that's nothing
compared to when we go at 91%,
the whole aircraft will be moving.
NARRATOR: A safety man
is Nizalman's eyes
and ears on the ground.
NIZALMAN: He'll be on the
right-hand side of the
aircraft all the way out to the wing.
NARRATOR: All personnel
must stand well clear of the engines.
NIZALMAN (off-screen): Anybody or anything
that's in front of the engine about 50 feet
it will be sucked in and anything
that goes in will be shredded to pieces.
NARRATOR: All is looking
good so Nizalman ramps up
to test stage two.
NIZALMAN: Hang on.
NARRATOR: A significant
increase in power.
NIZALMAN: At the moment we
are 50% of take-off power,
so everything looks fine,
vibration looks normal.
We'll stay at this power
level for 30 seconds to see if
everything is fine.
NARRATOR: At this power,
without the chocks and brakes
to hold it back, the plane
would usually be traveling
at over 170 miles per hour.
NIZALMAN: We're about
to go to take off power.
NARRATOR: Nizalman now ramps
up for the last stage of the
test, take off power which is 91% thrust.
NIZALMAN: This is the most
critical time of the test,
we're going for high power,
so we need to be careful.
NARRATOR: Any engine surge
or brake failure now would
be a serious setback.
NIZALMAN: We need to do
this right the first time.
NARRATOR: 3 AM.
Concourse B.
Mel Sabharwal has just
received news that no airport
services manager wants to hear.
MEL: There seems to
be medical emergency.
The aircraft is parked all
the way in Concourse C,
so we've got to run.
NARRATOR: Flight EK520 was
about to depart for India,
but its crew have signaled for
emergency medical help and are
returning to the gate.
MEL (off-screen): At this point
we don't know what the medical
emergency is, I don't think
the medical teams have reached
yet, so it's quite important
that we get down there
and assess exactly what's happening.
NARRATOR: The gate is
over half a mile away.
MEL: Tonight, is my night
for walking, I think.
Concourse B to Concourse C.
Personal record of seven minutes so far.
NARRATOR: A sick passenger
on-board is one of any
airline's biggest fears.
Apart from the obvious
concern for passengers and crew involved.
Illness in the air can force a
flight to make an unscheduled
or even emergency landing,
causing huge disruption
to timetables.
MEL (off-screen): Looks
like this one is serious.
The crew are currently doing CPR.
So, a long run.
NARRATOR: CPR is an emergency
resuscitation procedure.
These three letters means Mel
now knows it's a matter of
life or death, and she has
to get back to the plane
as quickly as possible.
Every second counts.
MEL: Can we take it?
C18 I'll bring it back.
It's a medical emergency.
Alright give me 30 seconds.
How are we doing with the CPR?
NARRATOR: It's taken Mel
just nine minutes to get to
Concourse C, but she
may already be too late.
NARRATOR: In the
engine testing bay,
aircraft engineer Nizalman
Rahman pushes the Triple 7's
engine to 91% thrust.
Nizalman watches the vibration closely.
Levels must remain low for
this engine to pass the test.
NIZALMAN: The whole
aircraft is vibrating.
The vibration is at, less
than 0.8 on number two engine.
The vibration looks fine,
everything looks ok on this aircraft.
NARRATOR: The engine
has passed the test.
Nizalman quickly throttles down.
If he left it going for much longer,
the engine might surge, requiring it to be
replaced all over again.
The engine is almost ready for
another few thousand hours of
flying, starting with its
morning flight tomorrow.
NIZALMAN: The only thing we
need to do is the final check
make sure there are no
leaks on number two engine,
top up the hydraulics and
the oil and it's good to go.
It's a good night for us. Cool.
NARRATOR: In Concourse C,
Airport Service Manager Mel
and her colleague Zack, make
it to the plane with
the medical emergency.
A passenger has collapsed
on board and is lying in the
aisle with a suspected heart attack.
ZACK (off-screen): He is
lying down on the floor,
the doctor just arrived so
they're giving him the CPR.
We need about two minutes,
three minutes to know.
NARRATOR: Zack can
only wait as on-board,
paramedics administer
emergency resuscitation to the
passenger, who is fighting for his life.
But it soon becomes clear
this passenger's journey
has come to an end.
MEL: Yeah in a few minutes,
I just want to wait for the
police to take the body off.
It's not a good feeling,
it's 4:00 in the morning,
and we've got a death on board.
Are you ok?
ZACK: I'm OK. Bit shaken.
NARRATOR: The flight must be
canceled, and rescheduled.
But the immediate priority
is to remove the body,
and this must be done
under strict protocols.
MEL: Nobody can actually
physically remove the body
apart from the police authorities.
NARRATOR: Until then,
there is nothing Mel or her team can do.
MEL: We're waiting
for them to arrive,
they will look at the whole scene,
they will remove the body and
transfer it to the medical center.
NARRATOR: All emirates staff
are trained to deal with such
emergencies, but they
still can take a heavy personal toll.
MEL: He was a very young
man, he's 34 years old,
and, and pretty sad.
NARRATOR: Mel now has to begin
contingency planning for
the passengers still on board the plane.
MEL: We will
disembark passengers once the body is off.
We need the disruption teams
to hand out transit meal
vouchers, alright and it will
be a 700-departure same gate.
NARRATOR: The travelers on
the plane are being calm
and cooperative, throughout the ordeal.
MEL: They were least concerned
with the delay of the
aircraft, they were just
concerned that there was a
death on board, and it was a
very unfortunate situation.
They are taking the body off now.
Yep, OK.
NARRATOR: The passengers
can disembark,
and the aircraft has been
rescheduled for departure
in three hours.
But it's not just
the passengers she has to think about.
MEL: I did recommend that we
get the aircraft re-crewed
because some of the crew did
look a little bit upset and I
don't think they could
have continued the journey.
NARRATOR: This is an all too
frequent part of Mel's job.
MEL: We have deaths,
we have sickness,
the whole spiel actually so
it's not unusual but each and
every single occasion is very sad.
NARRATOR: After eight grueling
weeks at firefighting boot
camp, the rookie firemen are
about to tackle the first of
their final examinations.
Dubai International has one of
the most elite fire fighting
forces in the world.
Hundreds of fire-fighters,
providing emergency cover for
70 million passengers, and
over 20 million square feet
of airport buildings.
WISSAM: Fire crew go one!
NARRATOR: Training supervisor
Wissam and his team must work
to a response time of only two minutes,
so they need state of the art equipment.
WISSAM: This new engine
is 1,000 horsepower
so it's high performance.
One of the best fire trucks in the world.
NARRATOR: Some of the 20
strong fleet cost over
$1 million and weigh in at 58 tons.
Body mounted water hoses
fire 33 gallons per second,
with a range of over 200 feet.
Abdulrahman Farouk from
Tanzania is one of over 20
trainees hoping to join the select force.
Hundreds of applicants apply
to join this elite team each
year, from all over the world.
Only a few make it through the
grueling selection process.
ABDULRAHMAN: I'm excited
but obviously your heart is
beating very fast because it's tough.
NARRATOR: Fuel is key to
keeping the world's planes
in the air.
But it needs to be handled
safely at all times.
It's highly volatile and
any spillage needs to be
dealt with urgently.
Today Abdulrahman and the
team's task is to extinguish a
simulated fuel fire in this
specially designed fire grid
as quickly as possible.
The flames will reach up
to 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit.
ABDULRAHMAN:
You'll be sweating,
you'll be thinking a lot but
we're looking forward to it.
NARRATOR: When the
rookies reach the inferno,
they'll have to put everything
they've learned into action to
pass this make or break test.
NARRATOR: Dubai Airport
is almost at capacity.
To meet the demand for more passengers,
extra space is urgently required.
The new Concourse D is
going to be home to over
100 airlines, and is due to
be fully operational in
just a few months.
Myles Jones is in charge of the project,
and it's way behind schedule.
MYLES: This is the back
of house corridor for the Duty Free.
MYLES (off-screen): The floor's got to
be fixed up because it's been used as a
construction thoroughfare
and it's all cracked tiles everywhere.
There is no one working in the corridor.
MYLES (off-screen): It needs to
get working and start seeing progress.
NARRATOR: Today
is a landmark day.
Airport safety and fire
officials are due on site at
11 AM to inspect the interior
of the building and sign it
off as being safe for airline
staff to begin working there.
MYLES: This is really what
makes us frustrated because
we know this is a key area, see scaffolds,
but there's no one working on the area.
We can't have an area where
people are not wearing hard
hats walking through an area like this.
NARRATOR: Concourse
D's buildings house over 9,000 miles
of electric cables.
The missing panels mean
some of these are directly
overhead, potentially
a major safety issue.
MYLES: Look at this ceiling,
we can't, it's just,
just not ready.
We are meant to be PPE free
which is safety protection,
no hard hats, boots or vests.
NARRATOR: 'PPE' stands for
personal protection equipment.
Being 'PPE free' means the
building is ready for airport
staff to enter safely.
MYLES: We've got over 6,000
staff that need to walk in
here in a matter of the next three months.
They are going to come
in their high heels,
they are going to come in their uniforms.
MYLES (off-screen): You can just
see we're nowhere near ready.
We're missing some key, key
milestones and the pressure's
building up now.
NARRATOR: As the man
responsible for making sure
the inspection is passed,
Myles knows his project
delivery date is on the line.
He's completely dependent on
senior contract manager
Henk Mol to perform miracles.
And fast.
HENK: There will be a
channel going through here.
MYLES: But there will be
nowhere where they'll have to
walk on this type of floor on this wood.
HENK: I can remove it,
that's not a problem.
MYLES: Or anywhere that
they're gonna have,
because they're literally
they're going to come in their,
their skirts, their high
heels, their nice clothes.
HENK: Basically, I'll have a
fence going up here like this,
and we'll create a
little channel like this.
For construction.
MYLES: But you're going to
keep all the flooring goes.
HENK: This should
be gone by then.
MYLES: So, you're going to
keep these two fences here?
HENK: It's just to keep people
from going into those areas.
NARRATOR: By fencing
the work areas off,
Henk thinks he's offering a solution.
But if the inspectors can't
get full access to the site,
it will be an immediate fail.
MYLES: Yeah but they
need to go over to there.
So, we can't just block it out
'til the end of the project,
fence it off you know.
NARRATOR: Henk now has to move
hundreds of feet of barriers.
As Myles tours the concourse,
his list of problems just grows.
Fire exits need clearing, scaffolding and
trip hazards cordoning off.
MYLES: All these items, cables
have got to be off the ground.
We can clean this up but
fundamentally, like down here,
I mean we've got a, it's just a problem.
We can't put people's lives at risk.
NARRATOR: If Myles is to meet
his project delivery date,
he's going to have to pull
a rabbit out of a hat.
MYLES: There's no question
actually we have to
finish this on time.
There is no second chance at this.
There is no missing this target now.
NARRATOR: At Dubai Airport's
fire training facility,
the rookies are taking
part in their final exams.
CHRIS: The exercise has now
started the crew have just run
over and they've just mounted
the vehicle so they'll be
putting their breathing
apparatus on and the vehicle
will move into position.
NARRATOR: Examining the
fire-fighters is
Training Supervisor Chris Ward.
CHRIS (off-screen): This is
crunch time for them,
this is their, their final week.
We do expect a high standard
because anything less can
ultimately be the difference
between life and death in
a real situation.
NARRATOR: The trainee
firefighters know that
this is make or break.
If they fail, they risk having
to re-take the entire course.
CHRIS (off-screen): So, the fire
vehicle's pulling into position,
ok all the, all the guys they
will have their gear on,
so they'll be ready to jump out.
NARRATOR: Time is critical
to passing the test.
Fire crews have just
two minutes to respond to any call.
CHRIS (off-screen): What we are
looking for is correct procedures,
for running of the hoses.
We need good communication;
good teamwork is key.
NARRATOR: The team have
a matter of minutes to
extinguish the flames.
No easy task when each
hose weighs over 80 pounds.
CHRIS: Something's
taking a while.
Obviously being quick is,
is key in a fuel spillage.
They are being very slow.
NARRATOR: But Abdulrahman and
his team are struggling
badly with the hose.
CHRIS: I think they've got a
problem with the connection.
NARRATOR: Unless they can get
to grips with the equipment
quickly, they risk failing
the test at the first hurdle.
NARRATOR: With
the flames raging,
the rookie firefighters
struggle to extinguish the
simulated fuel spill fire.
CHRIS (off-screen): Their
nerves will certainly be going.
It's all a factor and you
know they have to try and calm
themselves and just
remember their procedure.
NARRATOR: Eventually the
fire-fighters connect the
hose, and start to douse the flames.
CHRIS (off-screen): Procedure
states when the hose is running so it will
be full spray while
they're moving forward.
And then a sweeping
motion to cover the entire fuel spillage.
NARRATOR: In the blistering
90-degree Dubai heat,
the rookies are wearing over
40 pounds of fire protective
clothing, and fighting
3,500-degree flames.
The water is pumped at 240
pounds per square inch.
At such high pressures,
two men need to hold and aim each hose.
But they've barely got going
before they're hit with a
massive problem: the
wind changes direction.
Unless they keep moving, they
risk being engulfed in the flames.
CHRIS (off-screen): What they want
to be doing now is coming around to
the side, so that they're
covering the fire from either side.
NARRATOR: But they're
struggling badly,
being beaten back by the searing heat.
They have to overcome their fear,
or they'll fail the test.
CHRIS: They do want
to be further forward,
to really be able to attack
that fire to be able to cover
even the middle here as well.
NARRATOR: The problem with a
fuel spillage is it frequently re-ignites.
Chris wants to really test the trainees,
so cranks up the flames
as far as they can go.
CHRIS (off-screen): So, they've
just cranked it up to, to 100%.
As you can see the height
of the flames, very extreme,
I mean, this is what can
happen with a fuel spillage.
NARRATOR: Even though
this is a test,
the rookies are still in real danger.
Inside their protective
suits, the temperature is
blisteringly hot, and
Abdulrahman begins to struggle badly.
CHRIS: They are not really
reaching the middle here,
they need to get that foam
blanket over the whole
of the fuel spillage.
WISSAM: Come on, side to side.
From side to side.
NARRATOR: The longer it takes
for them to put out the fire,
the greater the danger of
heat stroke and exhaustion.
Training supervisor Wissam
is forced to step in.
CHRIS (off-screen): Put
them up, put them up!
As you can see Wissam he's,
he's having to take over,
because they are really not
following procedure correctly.
So, with Wissam having
to step in like that,
that would be classed as a fail,
they are going to have to
run the exercise again.
NARRATOR: Thousands of gallons
finally extinguish the flames.
But the team have failed the test.
CHRIS (off-screen): After eight
weeks of pretty intense training
it is very disappointing.
NARRATOR: But
there's worse news.
Something is wrong with Abdulrahman.
WISSAM (off-screen): Can
somebody bring water, please?
Okay, Chris, help me with.
CHRIS: Guys go get some water.
Water.
WISSAM: Should be much.
NARRATOR: The test has
turned into an emergency.
Abdulrahman is suffering heat exhaustion,
and needs to take on water fast.
CHRIS: Okay guys, give
him a bit of space.
NARRATOR: If he can't recover
fast enough to take the
re-test, he'll have to start
the course all over again.
CHRIS: Can you take
your jacket off?
NARRATOR: It's judgement day
for Myles at Concourse D.
Inspectors are due to assess
the safety of the building.
But it's not ready, and with
project delivery on the line,
Myles is taking the
battle to the contractors.
MYLES (off-screen): Stop
talking please listen to me.
You've had this for three months,
you come in the last week and
tell me you want the guy to
stay from Germany for an extra two days.
I don't, Dubai airport's, Waleed has it,
your boss has it.
NARRATOR: Myles needs all
the walkways and exits of the
concourse to be ready for
airline staff to use without
hard hats and other
personal safety equipment.
MYLES: We are looking for
anything that's going to
potentially trip people over, like this.
Small as it may seem, but that
indentation of about an inch
is going to cause a problem for us.
NARRATOR: It's contract
manager Ettiene Roodt's job to
make sure the floors are safe.
MYLES: It can't be a
cone, and like that there.
Put something around it.
Even though it's obvious to the eye,
we've got to make it safe.
ETTIENE: Stepladder
at the bottom,
I need barricading around that.
All step-down transformers in
gate areas, all to be removed,
we've got 30 minutes.
NARRATOR: With just minutes
to go before the inspection,
Myles is running out of time.
MYLES: If we can fix
it within a few hours
but we don't have a few hours.
I'm getting a bit less confident now.
NARRATOR: Time's up.
It's high noon for Myles.
The inspection team are on site.
Myles's fate lies in the hands of two men.
One is the airports
Safety Assurance Manager,
the other the Deputy Fire Chief.
And to add to the pressure,
Myles's boss Jumah is also
here expecting success.
The deputy fire chief
quickly spots a problem with the exits.
CHIEF: The arrow.
MYLES: Yeah.
MAN: Needs to come out, yeah.
CHIEF: The arrow, the arrow,
the arrow it should be.
MYLES (off-screen): OK
the arrow is pointing up,
as if to go outside but
there's another train of
thought where the arrow should point down,
as in to point out the door.
NARRATOR: Every inch of
the 1.6 million square foot
concourse is under scrutiny,
and Myles is trying every
trick in the book to
smooth over any cracks.
MAN: What about
this glass here?
MYLES: Yeah, the glass.
MAN: It's shattered.
MYLES (off-screen):
No, that's a feature.
MAN: It's not a feature.
It's shattered glass.
NARRATOR: The concourse needs
to open on time in order to
meet ever-increasing passenger demand.
Failure to meet the deadline
would threaten delivery.
MYLES: If we don't
do the PPE free now,
it jeopardizes the opening.
Actually, it genuinely
jeopardizes the opening of the
airport if we don't do this now.
CHIEF: This is ok.
NARRATOR: Myles has schmoozed
the inspectors through the
minor details, but now
he's got to face a far more serious issue.
Tiles are missing all over
the concourse ceiling.
MYLES (off-screen): And
they probably will go in.
We looked at putting them in
and they probably will go in
in a short period of time, but
just because they're doing
the fire testing above.
NARRATOR: The ceiling contains
smoke detection equipment,
and the engineers need access
to it for final checks.
But the safety assurance
manager is having none of it.
MAN: Then it's not P.P.E. free.
JUMAH: Why not?
MAN: You need helmet.
There's no guarantee
that things won't fall.
MYLES (off-screen): The safety
team at Dubai Airports are wanting the
ceiling panels to be put in.
I'm not sure what's going to
drop down but something they
are saying might drop down.
MAN: If somebody will leave their
tool there, then the tool falls down.
NARRATOR: Myles can see his
safety sign off slipping away,
and decides attack is
the best form of defense.
MYLES: Don't, don't come in
here, unrealistic expectations.
In your own buildings you have
cherry pickers sitting in the
public area without any,
without any hoarding
and you're making us do this here.
So yes, 100%, so if you want
to do a separate walk in your
buildings, we'll do it.
MYLES (off-screen): But you shut
yours down, then we'll shut ours down.
But don't try to delay
what we're trying to do here, please.
NARRATOR: The Safety Assurance
Manager is not impressed,
and Myles' boss Jumah moves
in to try and force the issue.
JUMAH: You want me to show you
your ceiling where it is open?
Let's go to basement one, concourse three.
MYLES (off-screen): Your
own buildings are open.
JUMAH: If you
close that ceiling,
I will close this one.
Do you think I'm going
to leave the building with no PPE free?
No, my friend.
NARRATOR: It's deadlock.
The inspector is not convinced.
Myles is staring failure in the face.
NARRATOR: Myles is struggling
to convince the
Safety Assurance Manager
that there are good operational reasons
for the missing ceiling tiles.
MAN: Why does it
need to be open?
Nobody's working here.
MYLES: During the testing and
commissioning, they have to,
they you know put the
smoke they put it there in various places.
MAN: When they do it they can open
the panel, they can cordon off the area.
NARRATOR: It's down to
Henk, one of Myles' chief
contractors, to pitch in
with a last-ditch attempt
to persuade him.
HENK: When you see an opening,
it doesn't mean work is
currently happening up there.
It's basically left open
there's testing commissioning
happening, fault finding, it
is better just to leave it
open alright so they can test
it the loops and all of that,
rather than open and
close it all the time.
So, the moment that they will
come back here they will be
some barricading and
scaffolding just to go in,
do a test, and when it's
complete, we'll close it up.
NARRATOR: It's the
moment of truth.
Has Myles convinced the
inspectors to sign off the
building as safe, and
give it PPE free status?
MYLES: We want to know any
objections, so Dar, EP,
contractor, PPE free.
MYLES (off-screen):
Fire department.
See any problems with safety?
CHIEF (off-screen):
We don't see any.
MYLES: Okay.
JUMAH: It's become PPE free.
Come on.
MYLES (off-screen): Safety?
MAN: OK.
NARRATOR: In a
last-minute turnaround,
Myles has won over the inspectors,
and the building has been declared safe.
MYLES: It is
declared PPE free.
PPE free inside the
building was declared today.
From now on, you can come in here.
MAN: I'm happy for them to
go PPE free today as long as
they take the actions
as recommended by us.
That's because safety
is our prime concern.
NARRATOR: Myles has
finally triumphed.
MYLES: Dubai Airports,
obviously want to make sure
that their stakeholders are safe,
and you could see a bit of
tension there but anyway at
the end of the day, yes, we're PPE free,
so within another hour,
I'll send that email out,
declare it to the world.
NARRATOR: This
milestone has been met,
but the work for Myles and
his team is far from over.
JUMAH: We have
other things to do.
MYLES: Yeah, yeah.
Actually, we need to do some work in here
cause no one else is.
NARRATOR: At Dubai Airport's
fire training facility,
the rookie fire team
have failed their test.
And trainee firefighter
Abdulrahman Farouk is battling
to recover from heat
exhaustion in time to take the re-test.
ABDULRAHMAN: It adds
on a lot of pressure,
cause just have one more try
and if we don't pass then I
don't know what will happen.
So, I really need to get
myself together and manage to
pass the next test.
NARRATOR: Abdulrahman knows
the career he's dreamed of is
hanging in the balance, and
with just minutes to go,
it's now or never.
ABDULRAHMAN: Yeah, I am
feeling much better now.
I drank a lot of water,
hydrated and my heart is back
at the normal rate, so I think I
am ready to do the exercise again.
NARRATOR: This really
is the last chance saloon for Abdulrahman.
He and the other recruits have
just one final opportunity to
impress supervisors Chris and Wissam.
WISSAM: So now the
second exercise,
ok do it correct way, and also quick.
NARRATOR: The airport's
fire service maintains high
standards, and with such
intense competition,
only the best candidates
will make it through.
CHRIS (off-screen): So, they're
going to run the exact same exercise
so really there is no
excuses for, for a fail.
This is the final run through;
this is their last chance.
NARRATOR: Chris is fully aware
that Abdulrahman is feeling
the heat, in more ways than one.
CHRIS (off-screen): We'll be keeping
a close eye on Abdulrahman after
what happened in the first
exercise it will definitely be
in the back of his mind,
hopefully he can sort of
suppress those feelings,
get on with his job,
and he knows, he knows there is
a lot on the line with this.
NARRATOR: This time round,
Abdulrahman is quick to unload
the hoses, well within the test limit.
MAN: Quick, quick, quick,
quick, quick, quick!
CHRIS (off-screen): So, it is all
looking good alright, at the moment.
Just waiting for the water, so
that's the water there and now
they're moving forward.
They were, they were a
lot quicker this time,
so that's a tick in the pass box.
NARRATOR: But within minutes,
Wissam sees Abdulrahman is not
covering the flames correctly.
WISSAM (off-screen): I don't want
to see the water's going outside,
only in the drain.
Abdulrahman, change, change
branch change branch!
NARRATOR: They get on top of
the 3,500-degree Fahrenheit
flames, but then another challenge.
CHRIS: The wind's
changed direction,
that's why their positioning's different
to the first exercise.
It's a very dynamic exercise
so things do change,
so they have to take
that into consideration.
WISSAM: Watch the
wind direction, go there now.
NARRATOR: After ten minutes,
and thousands of gallons of
water, they finally beat the flames.
CHRIS: So, the fire, the
fire has been extinguished,
so now they are just, now
they are just cooling,
so we don't have a
re-ignition of the fire.
NARRATOR: It's now up to
Wissam to deliver the results.
Have they passed this vital test,
or will they be made to start
their eight-week course
all over again?
WISSAM: Well done
for the exercise.
You passed, I can say that
you passed this exercise,
so thank you very
much, well done, thank you.
CHRIS (off-screen): It
was a lot quicker yeah,
they followed procedure a lot
better and overall it was
a good performance and
therefore they passed.
ABDULRAHMAN: We
are really happy.
Thanks to my teammates,
we worked as a team and we passed.
NARRATOR: They may
have passed this test,
but they now have two more to
go before they can join the
ranks of Dubai Airport's
elite firefighting crew.
NARRATOR: Over at Terminal
Three ground dispatcher
Nizel Fernandes is on a
fuel saving mission.
He's got to prepare a
huge A380 for departure,
but he's also up against an added time,
and financial pressure.
NIZEL: We have an airborne
slot for a particular routing.
On this particular routing we
would burn less fuel than what
would be required on a normal routing.
Now this has given us to us,
only on a certain basis that
we close up on time and
we get that airborne slot.
Missing that slot would cost us money.
NARRATOR: This route offers
a more direct flight path to
their destination,
Melbourne, using less fuel,
and saving thousands of dollars,
but only if they can make the slot.
NIZEL: We have
passengers transferring,
we also have cargo
transferring from our flights
and we connect them as we
connect our passengers.
So, we have cargo coming in
from one flight connecting
immediately within one or
two hours to another flight.
NARRATOR: Nizel has to balance
the commercial need to carry a
full cargo payload, whilst
also ensuring it leaves on
schedule saving fuel.
NIZEL: Where is my guy?
NARRATOR: But out
on the tarmac,
his loading team is nowhere to be seen.
NIZEL: We don't have
a ramp team leader,
waiting for the ramp
team leader to come in.
NARRATOR: Without
a ramp team leader,
Nizel can't get a start
on this especially high-pressured loading.
NIZEL: We are now 52 minutes
away from the departure,
I've just got to wait for him.
I hope this doesn't delay our flight.
NARRATOR: With just 50
minutes to go before take-off,
he finally shows up.
NIZEL: We are a
little late now.
NARRATOR: The loading of
the cargo has barely begun,
and Nizel's now in serious
danger of missing the
departure slot.
NIZEL: Carl, if it's not done
in the next five minutes,
you unload the units.
You're not going to
delay any further. Okay?
NARRATOR: Nizel is not happy
and sets the guys to work,
but they've barely got going
when he receives bad news.
NIZEL: I am missing
units 31 and 33.
In another five minutes,
if they are not here,
we will offload this.
NARRATOR: Pallets are missing.
Unless they arrive soon, he
will have to cancel their
places in the hold.
It's the last thing he wants to do.
But the passengers are already boarding,
and he has only minutes
to make his decision.
NIZEL: We are down by
three units of cargo.
I am going to give him up to
another five to ten minutes.
If it's here fair enough, if not
here we're going to offload.
We've got to take the tough
decisions, unfortunately,
we've got to get the flight off on time.
We're going to try and
make it on time still.
Okay, boarding is over.
NARRATOR: With only
15 minutes to go,
the missing units have still not arrived.
Nizel doesn't want to
upset the cargo customer,
but losing the fuel saving
slot would cost the airline
tens of thousands of
dollars and can't be missed.
NIZEL: Negative, negative,
minus 15 minutes,
I'm not going to wait for anything more.
I have made my decision,
they're loading only the
baggage and we should be completed.
NIZEL (off-screen): They
don't have to agree.
That's the right decision for the flight,
I don't have to ask them.
NIZEL (off-screen): Yes,
they will be unhappy.
23 LIMA no fit, go ahead with the loading.
NARRATOR: Nizel informs the
crew that the A380 is ready
to go, without the missing pallets.
NIZEL: Minus seven
to departure.
NARRATOR: But with the plane
just minutes from its vital
take off slot, the missing
containers arrive and Nizel
takes a last-minute gamble
to get them on the plane.
NIZEL: The last
unit, minus four,
I'm still going to make it.
Just inform him that I'm
loading the last units,
I'll be back for LMC.
MAN: Yeah no problem.
NIZEL: Yeah, alright thanks.
Two minutes to departure,
we are closing doors.
All doors closed.
Awaiting pushback.
NARRATOR: Nizel has a win
double, the cargo is loaded,
and he's hit the critical
fuel saving departure slot.
NIZEL: My team
did really well,
we closed it on sched for departure.
Really happy with this departure.
Captioned by Cotter Captioning Services.
NARRATOR: In this episode,
engineers push an engine
to the max.
NIZALMAN: As you can see the
whole aircraft is vibrating.
NARRATOR: A firefighting test
turns into a real emergency.
WISSAM: Abdulrahman!
Change, change.
Can somebody bring water please?
NARRATOR: And Mel has to deal
with a life or death crisis.
MEL (off-screen): How are
we doing with the CPR?
NARRATOR: Dubai
International Airport,
the busiest global hub on the planet.
Staying on top takes a crack team.
PHIL (off-screen): No one else
in the world is doing it,
but everyone else in the
world is watching us.
MEL: We have births we have
deaths, the whole spiel.
HASSAN: It is very
dangerous because it can explode anytime.
MYLES: This concourse
will help Dubai Airport stay number one.
NARRATOR: It's the
job of 90,000 staff
from all over the world,
to make this the ultimate airport.
Worldwide, passenger jets
consume around $600 million
worth of fuel every day.
Emirates Airlines and Dubai
Airport work hard to minimize
the amount of fuel they burn.
To keep their fleet of 245
aircraft running at peak
efficiency, emirates adhere to
a strict maintenance program
of overhauling engines.
Today it's aircraft engineer
Nizalman Rahman's job to
assess a Boeing Triple
7's newly reconditioned,
eight-ton jet engine.
Before it's allowed in the air,
he has to take it through
one of the industry's most
demanding procedures, a
high-power vibration test.
NIZALMAN: We need to
ensure that the engine can
deliver take off power.
Then we need to ensure the
engine has no vibration and if
there is, we need to fix
it before the aircraft is
declared serviceable.
NARRATOR: This Triple 7 has
already been out of service
for 24 hours.
It's due to fly at
8:30 tomorrow morning,
leaving Nizalman just
eight hours to get this vital test done.
NIZALMAN: We need to do it
fast and we need to do it
right the first time.
NARRATOR: This test involves
powering the engines from idle
to almost full throttle,
generating 100,000 pounds
of thrust while the plane remains static.
NIZALMAN: During the engine
test we'll put metal chocks to
hold the aircraft back on
top of all the 12 brakes.
NARRATOR: The plane's full
complement of 12 brakes would
not be enough on their
own to stop it taking off,
so 400-pound chocks will
hold the wheels in place.
NIZALMAN: During a high-power
run or take off power on a
Triple 7 is very risky,
the brakes can fail,
the aircraft might jump chocks.
NARRATOR: In 2007, an
unchocked plane from another
airline broke free during
similar checks in France.
It caused the $200 million
aircraft to smash into a wall,
writing it off completely,
and injuring the engineers.
NIZALMAN: The aircraft
will be jumping around,
and the wing will flutter,
and the tail area will be
vibrating because of the amount of thrust.
NARRATOR: This Triple 7's
GE-90 engine is the most
powerful passenger jet
engine in the world.
Packing more punch than
the first American manned space rocket.
NIZALMAN: We need to do this
test in a proper engine run up
area because when we go to
take off power on this engine
the noise will be more than 120 decibels.
NARRATOR: Ten minutes exposure
to this level of engine noise
could cause permanent hearing damage.
So Nizalman tows the plane
to a specially built engine
testing bay, well away from
the main airport facility.
NIZALMAN: It's very
critical that after an engine change that
the vibration should
be below 0.8 units.
If not, it will translate at 41,000 feet
to a vibration that
can do a catastrophic damage
to the engine or even
the engine might detach.
NARRATOR: With the chocks
safely in place and the
plane's 12 brakes fully locked,
Nizalman is ready to begin the test.
And he fires up the newly
fitted engine for test stage
one, running at idle.
NIZALMAN: Alright, clear
to start number two.
MAN (over radio): Clear
to start number two.
NIZALMAN: Starting number two.
NARRATOR: In order
to balance the plane,
and avoid it spinning out of control,
the other engine must also be fired up.
NIZALMAN: Ok now both
engines have started.
NARRATOR: Even running at
idle, about 20% thrust,
each engine produces as much
horsepower as 30 Formula One
cars at full throttle.
NIZALMAN (off-screen): You got
fuel flow now, the engine has started.
Oil pressure is rising
and showing the engine is starting up.
So oil pressure is ok.
At the moment we are
running at roughly about 25,000
to 30,000 pound of thrust.
NARRATOR: At this
thrust level,
the plane would usually be
traveling at almost
70 miles per hour.
Restrained by the
chocks, it begins shaking under the force.
NIZALMAN: So, everything
looks normal on the number two engine.
NARRATOR: If at any time
Nizalman senses the plane is
under excessive stress or vibration,
he'll have to take drastic action.
NIZALMAN: If that happens,
we cannot continue with the test.
We need to stop the engine and
troubleshoot what's causing
the problem.
NARRATOR: The worst-case
scenario would mean having to
replace the engine.
This could take the aircraft
out of service for a further
24 hours, at a significant
cost to emirates.
NIZALMAN: The vibration that
we can feel at the moment is
at idle power, that's nothing
compared to when we go at 91%,
the whole aircraft will be moving.
NARRATOR: A safety man
is Nizalman's eyes
and ears on the ground.
NIZALMAN: He'll be on the
right-hand side of the
aircraft all the way out to the wing.
NARRATOR: All personnel
must stand well clear of the engines.
NIZALMAN (off-screen): Anybody or anything
that's in front of the engine about 50 feet
it will be sucked in and anything
that goes in will be shredded to pieces.
NARRATOR: All is looking
good so Nizalman ramps up
to test stage two.
NIZALMAN: Hang on.
NARRATOR: A significant
increase in power.
NIZALMAN: At the moment we
are 50% of take-off power,
so everything looks fine,
vibration looks normal.
We'll stay at this power
level for 30 seconds to see if
everything is fine.
NARRATOR: At this power,
without the chocks and brakes
to hold it back, the plane
would usually be traveling
at over 170 miles per hour.
NIZALMAN: We're about
to go to take off power.
NARRATOR: Nizalman now ramps
up for the last stage of the
test, take off power which is 91% thrust.
NIZALMAN: This is the most
critical time of the test,
we're going for high power,
so we need to be careful.
NARRATOR: Any engine surge
or brake failure now would
be a serious setback.
NIZALMAN: We need to do
this right the first time.
NARRATOR: 3 AM.
Concourse B.
Mel Sabharwal has just
received news that no airport
services manager wants to hear.
MEL: There seems to
be medical emergency.
The aircraft is parked all
the way in Concourse C,
so we've got to run.
NARRATOR: Flight EK520 was
about to depart for India,
but its crew have signaled for
emergency medical help and are
returning to the gate.
MEL (off-screen): At this point
we don't know what the medical
emergency is, I don't think
the medical teams have reached
yet, so it's quite important
that we get down there
and assess exactly what's happening.
NARRATOR: The gate is
over half a mile away.
MEL: Tonight, is my night
for walking, I think.
Concourse B to Concourse C.
Personal record of seven minutes so far.
NARRATOR: A sick passenger
on-board is one of any
airline's biggest fears.
Apart from the obvious
concern for passengers and crew involved.
Illness in the air can force a
flight to make an unscheduled
or even emergency landing,
causing huge disruption
to timetables.
MEL (off-screen): Looks
like this one is serious.
The crew are currently doing CPR.
So, a long run.
NARRATOR: CPR is an emergency
resuscitation procedure.
These three letters means Mel
now knows it's a matter of
life or death, and she has
to get back to the plane
as quickly as possible.
Every second counts.
MEL: Can we take it?
C18 I'll bring it back.
It's a medical emergency.
Alright give me 30 seconds.
How are we doing with the CPR?
NARRATOR: It's taken Mel
just nine minutes to get to
Concourse C, but she
may already be too late.
NARRATOR: In the
engine testing bay,
aircraft engineer Nizalman
Rahman pushes the Triple 7's
engine to 91% thrust.
Nizalman watches the vibration closely.
Levels must remain low for
this engine to pass the test.
NIZALMAN: The whole
aircraft is vibrating.
The vibration is at, less
than 0.8 on number two engine.
The vibration looks fine,
everything looks ok on this aircraft.
NARRATOR: The engine
has passed the test.
Nizalman quickly throttles down.
If he left it going for much longer,
the engine might surge, requiring it to be
replaced all over again.
The engine is almost ready for
another few thousand hours of
flying, starting with its
morning flight tomorrow.
NIZALMAN: The only thing we
need to do is the final check
make sure there are no
leaks on number two engine,
top up the hydraulics and
the oil and it's good to go.
It's a good night for us. Cool.
NARRATOR: In Concourse C,
Airport Service Manager Mel
and her colleague Zack, make
it to the plane with
the medical emergency.
A passenger has collapsed
on board and is lying in the
aisle with a suspected heart attack.
ZACK (off-screen): He is
lying down on the floor,
the doctor just arrived so
they're giving him the CPR.
We need about two minutes,
three minutes to know.
NARRATOR: Zack can
only wait as on-board,
paramedics administer
emergency resuscitation to the
passenger, who is fighting for his life.
But it soon becomes clear
this passenger's journey
has come to an end.
MEL: Yeah in a few minutes,
I just want to wait for the
police to take the body off.
It's not a good feeling,
it's 4:00 in the morning,
and we've got a death on board.
Are you ok?
ZACK: I'm OK. Bit shaken.
NARRATOR: The flight must be
canceled, and rescheduled.
But the immediate priority
is to remove the body,
and this must be done
under strict protocols.
MEL: Nobody can actually
physically remove the body
apart from the police authorities.
NARRATOR: Until then,
there is nothing Mel or her team can do.
MEL: We're waiting
for them to arrive,
they will look at the whole scene,
they will remove the body and
transfer it to the medical center.
NARRATOR: All emirates staff
are trained to deal with such
emergencies, but they
still can take a heavy personal toll.
MEL: He was a very young
man, he's 34 years old,
and, and pretty sad.
NARRATOR: Mel now has to begin
contingency planning for
the passengers still on board the plane.
MEL: We will
disembark passengers once the body is off.
We need the disruption teams
to hand out transit meal
vouchers, alright and it will
be a 700-departure same gate.
NARRATOR: The travelers on
the plane are being calm
and cooperative, throughout the ordeal.
MEL: They were least concerned
with the delay of the
aircraft, they were just
concerned that there was a
death on board, and it was a
very unfortunate situation.
They are taking the body off now.
Yep, OK.
NARRATOR: The passengers
can disembark,
and the aircraft has been
rescheduled for departure
in three hours.
But it's not just
the passengers she has to think about.
MEL: I did recommend that we
get the aircraft re-crewed
because some of the crew did
look a little bit upset and I
don't think they could
have continued the journey.
NARRATOR: This is an all too
frequent part of Mel's job.
MEL: We have deaths,
we have sickness,
the whole spiel actually so
it's not unusual but each and
every single occasion is very sad.
NARRATOR: After eight grueling
weeks at firefighting boot
camp, the rookie firemen are
about to tackle the first of
their final examinations.
Dubai International has one of
the most elite fire fighting
forces in the world.
Hundreds of fire-fighters,
providing emergency cover for
70 million passengers, and
over 20 million square feet
of airport buildings.
WISSAM: Fire crew go one!
NARRATOR: Training supervisor
Wissam and his team must work
to a response time of only two minutes,
so they need state of the art equipment.
WISSAM: This new engine
is 1,000 horsepower
so it's high performance.
One of the best fire trucks in the world.
NARRATOR: Some of the 20
strong fleet cost over
$1 million and weigh in at 58 tons.
Body mounted water hoses
fire 33 gallons per second,
with a range of over 200 feet.
Abdulrahman Farouk from
Tanzania is one of over 20
trainees hoping to join the select force.
Hundreds of applicants apply
to join this elite team each
year, from all over the world.
Only a few make it through the
grueling selection process.
ABDULRAHMAN: I'm excited
but obviously your heart is
beating very fast because it's tough.
NARRATOR: Fuel is key to
keeping the world's planes
in the air.
But it needs to be handled
safely at all times.
It's highly volatile and
any spillage needs to be
dealt with urgently.
Today Abdulrahman and the
team's task is to extinguish a
simulated fuel fire in this
specially designed fire grid
as quickly as possible.
The flames will reach up
to 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit.
ABDULRAHMAN:
You'll be sweating,
you'll be thinking a lot but
we're looking forward to it.
NARRATOR: When the
rookies reach the inferno,
they'll have to put everything
they've learned into action to
pass this make or break test.
NARRATOR: Dubai Airport
is almost at capacity.
To meet the demand for more passengers,
extra space is urgently required.
The new Concourse D is
going to be home to over
100 airlines, and is due to
be fully operational in
just a few months.
Myles Jones is in charge of the project,
and it's way behind schedule.
MYLES: This is the back
of house corridor for the Duty Free.
MYLES (off-screen): The floor's got to
be fixed up because it's been used as a
construction thoroughfare
and it's all cracked tiles everywhere.
There is no one working in the corridor.
MYLES (off-screen): It needs to
get working and start seeing progress.
NARRATOR: Today
is a landmark day.
Airport safety and fire
officials are due on site at
11 AM to inspect the interior
of the building and sign it
off as being safe for airline
staff to begin working there.
MYLES: This is really what
makes us frustrated because
we know this is a key area, see scaffolds,
but there's no one working on the area.
We can't have an area where
people are not wearing hard
hats walking through an area like this.
NARRATOR: Concourse
D's buildings house over 9,000 miles
of electric cables.
The missing panels mean
some of these are directly
overhead, potentially
a major safety issue.
MYLES: Look at this ceiling,
we can't, it's just,
just not ready.
We are meant to be PPE free
which is safety protection,
no hard hats, boots or vests.
NARRATOR: 'PPE' stands for
personal protection equipment.
Being 'PPE free' means the
building is ready for airport
staff to enter safely.
MYLES: We've got over 6,000
staff that need to walk in
here in a matter of the next three months.
They are going to come
in their high heels,
they are going to come in their uniforms.
MYLES (off-screen): You can just
see we're nowhere near ready.
We're missing some key, key
milestones and the pressure's
building up now.
NARRATOR: As the man
responsible for making sure
the inspection is passed,
Myles knows his project
delivery date is on the line.
He's completely dependent on
senior contract manager
Henk Mol to perform miracles.
And fast.
HENK: There will be a
channel going through here.
MYLES: But there will be
nowhere where they'll have to
walk on this type of floor on this wood.
HENK: I can remove it,
that's not a problem.
MYLES: Or anywhere that
they're gonna have,
because they're literally
they're going to come in their,
their skirts, their high
heels, their nice clothes.
HENK: Basically, I'll have a
fence going up here like this,
and we'll create a
little channel like this.
For construction.
MYLES: But you're going to
keep all the flooring goes.
HENK: This should
be gone by then.
MYLES: So, you're going to
keep these two fences here?
HENK: It's just to keep people
from going into those areas.
NARRATOR: By fencing
the work areas off,
Henk thinks he's offering a solution.
But if the inspectors can't
get full access to the site,
it will be an immediate fail.
MYLES: Yeah but they
need to go over to there.
So, we can't just block it out
'til the end of the project,
fence it off you know.
NARRATOR: Henk now has to move
hundreds of feet of barriers.
As Myles tours the concourse,
his list of problems just grows.
Fire exits need clearing, scaffolding and
trip hazards cordoning off.
MYLES: All these items, cables
have got to be off the ground.
We can clean this up but
fundamentally, like down here,
I mean we've got a, it's just a problem.
We can't put people's lives at risk.
NARRATOR: If Myles is to meet
his project delivery date,
he's going to have to pull
a rabbit out of a hat.
MYLES: There's no question
actually we have to
finish this on time.
There is no second chance at this.
There is no missing this target now.
NARRATOR: At Dubai Airport's
fire training facility,
the rookies are taking
part in their final exams.
CHRIS: The exercise has now
started the crew have just run
over and they've just mounted
the vehicle so they'll be
putting their breathing
apparatus on and the vehicle
will move into position.
NARRATOR: Examining the
fire-fighters is
Training Supervisor Chris Ward.
CHRIS (off-screen): This is
crunch time for them,
this is their, their final week.
We do expect a high standard
because anything less can
ultimately be the difference
between life and death in
a real situation.
NARRATOR: The trainee
firefighters know that
this is make or break.
If they fail, they risk having
to re-take the entire course.
CHRIS (off-screen): So, the fire
vehicle's pulling into position,
ok all the, all the guys they
will have their gear on,
so they'll be ready to jump out.
NARRATOR: Time is critical
to passing the test.
Fire crews have just
two minutes to respond to any call.
CHRIS (off-screen): What we are
looking for is correct procedures,
for running of the hoses.
We need good communication;
good teamwork is key.
NARRATOR: The team have
a matter of minutes to
extinguish the flames.
No easy task when each
hose weighs over 80 pounds.
CHRIS: Something's
taking a while.
Obviously being quick is,
is key in a fuel spillage.
They are being very slow.
NARRATOR: But Abdulrahman and
his team are struggling
badly with the hose.
CHRIS: I think they've got a
problem with the connection.
NARRATOR: Unless they can get
to grips with the equipment
quickly, they risk failing
the test at the first hurdle.
NARRATOR: With
the flames raging,
the rookie firefighters
struggle to extinguish the
simulated fuel spill fire.
CHRIS (off-screen): Their
nerves will certainly be going.
It's all a factor and you
know they have to try and calm
themselves and just
remember their procedure.
NARRATOR: Eventually the
fire-fighters connect the
hose, and start to douse the flames.
CHRIS (off-screen): Procedure
states when the hose is running so it will
be full spray while
they're moving forward.
And then a sweeping
motion to cover the entire fuel spillage.
NARRATOR: In the blistering
90-degree Dubai heat,
the rookies are wearing over
40 pounds of fire protective
clothing, and fighting
3,500-degree flames.
The water is pumped at 240
pounds per square inch.
At such high pressures,
two men need to hold and aim each hose.
But they've barely got going
before they're hit with a
massive problem: the
wind changes direction.
Unless they keep moving, they
risk being engulfed in the flames.
CHRIS (off-screen): What they want
to be doing now is coming around to
the side, so that they're
covering the fire from either side.
NARRATOR: But they're
struggling badly,
being beaten back by the searing heat.
They have to overcome their fear,
or they'll fail the test.
CHRIS: They do want
to be further forward,
to really be able to attack
that fire to be able to cover
even the middle here as well.
NARRATOR: The problem with a
fuel spillage is it frequently re-ignites.
Chris wants to really test the trainees,
so cranks up the flames
as far as they can go.
CHRIS (off-screen): So, they've
just cranked it up to, to 100%.
As you can see the height
of the flames, very extreme,
I mean, this is what can
happen with a fuel spillage.
NARRATOR: Even though
this is a test,
the rookies are still in real danger.
Inside their protective
suits, the temperature is
blisteringly hot, and
Abdulrahman begins to struggle badly.
CHRIS: They are not really
reaching the middle here,
they need to get that foam
blanket over the whole
of the fuel spillage.
WISSAM: Come on, side to side.
From side to side.
NARRATOR: The longer it takes
for them to put out the fire,
the greater the danger of
heat stroke and exhaustion.
Training supervisor Wissam
is forced to step in.
CHRIS (off-screen): Put
them up, put them up!
As you can see Wissam he's,
he's having to take over,
because they are really not
following procedure correctly.
So, with Wissam having
to step in like that,
that would be classed as a fail,
they are going to have to
run the exercise again.
NARRATOR: Thousands of gallons
finally extinguish the flames.
But the team have failed the test.
CHRIS (off-screen): After eight
weeks of pretty intense training
it is very disappointing.
NARRATOR: But
there's worse news.
Something is wrong with Abdulrahman.
WISSAM (off-screen): Can
somebody bring water, please?
Okay, Chris, help me with.
CHRIS: Guys go get some water.
Water.
WISSAM: Should be much.
NARRATOR: The test has
turned into an emergency.
Abdulrahman is suffering heat exhaustion,
and needs to take on water fast.
CHRIS: Okay guys, give
him a bit of space.
NARRATOR: If he can't recover
fast enough to take the
re-test, he'll have to start
the course all over again.
CHRIS: Can you take
your jacket off?
NARRATOR: It's judgement day
for Myles at Concourse D.
Inspectors are due to assess
the safety of the building.
But it's not ready, and with
project delivery on the line,
Myles is taking the
battle to the contractors.
MYLES (off-screen): Stop
talking please listen to me.
You've had this for three months,
you come in the last week and
tell me you want the guy to
stay from Germany for an extra two days.
I don't, Dubai airport's, Waleed has it,
your boss has it.
NARRATOR: Myles needs all
the walkways and exits of the
concourse to be ready for
airline staff to use without
hard hats and other
personal safety equipment.
MYLES: We are looking for
anything that's going to
potentially trip people over, like this.
Small as it may seem, but that
indentation of about an inch
is going to cause a problem for us.
NARRATOR: It's contract
manager Ettiene Roodt's job to
make sure the floors are safe.
MYLES: It can't be a
cone, and like that there.
Put something around it.
Even though it's obvious to the eye,
we've got to make it safe.
ETTIENE: Stepladder
at the bottom,
I need barricading around that.
All step-down transformers in
gate areas, all to be removed,
we've got 30 minutes.
NARRATOR: With just minutes
to go before the inspection,
Myles is running out of time.
MYLES: If we can fix
it within a few hours
but we don't have a few hours.
I'm getting a bit less confident now.
NARRATOR: Time's up.
It's high noon for Myles.
The inspection team are on site.
Myles's fate lies in the hands of two men.
One is the airports
Safety Assurance Manager,
the other the Deputy Fire Chief.
And to add to the pressure,
Myles's boss Jumah is also
here expecting success.
The deputy fire chief
quickly spots a problem with the exits.
CHIEF: The arrow.
MYLES: Yeah.
MAN: Needs to come out, yeah.
CHIEF: The arrow, the arrow,
the arrow it should be.
MYLES (off-screen): OK
the arrow is pointing up,
as if to go outside but
there's another train of
thought where the arrow should point down,
as in to point out the door.
NARRATOR: Every inch of
the 1.6 million square foot
concourse is under scrutiny,
and Myles is trying every
trick in the book to
smooth over any cracks.
MAN: What about
this glass here?
MYLES: Yeah, the glass.
MAN: It's shattered.
MYLES (off-screen):
No, that's a feature.
MAN: It's not a feature.
It's shattered glass.
NARRATOR: The concourse needs
to open on time in order to
meet ever-increasing passenger demand.
Failure to meet the deadline
would threaten delivery.
MYLES: If we don't
do the PPE free now,
it jeopardizes the opening.
Actually, it genuinely
jeopardizes the opening of the
airport if we don't do this now.
CHIEF: This is ok.
NARRATOR: Myles has schmoozed
the inspectors through the
minor details, but now
he's got to face a far more serious issue.
Tiles are missing all over
the concourse ceiling.
MYLES (off-screen): And
they probably will go in.
We looked at putting them in
and they probably will go in
in a short period of time, but
just because they're doing
the fire testing above.
NARRATOR: The ceiling contains
smoke detection equipment,
and the engineers need access
to it for final checks.
But the safety assurance
manager is having none of it.
MAN: Then it's not P.P.E. free.
JUMAH: Why not?
MAN: You need helmet.
There's no guarantee
that things won't fall.
MYLES (off-screen): The safety
team at Dubai Airports are wanting the
ceiling panels to be put in.
I'm not sure what's going to
drop down but something they
are saying might drop down.
MAN: If somebody will leave their
tool there, then the tool falls down.
NARRATOR: Myles can see his
safety sign off slipping away,
and decides attack is
the best form of defense.
MYLES: Don't, don't come in
here, unrealistic expectations.
In your own buildings you have
cherry pickers sitting in the
public area without any,
without any hoarding
and you're making us do this here.
So yes, 100%, so if you want
to do a separate walk in your
buildings, we'll do it.
MYLES (off-screen): But you shut
yours down, then we'll shut ours down.
But don't try to delay
what we're trying to do here, please.
NARRATOR: The Safety Assurance
Manager is not impressed,
and Myles' boss Jumah moves
in to try and force the issue.
JUMAH: You want me to show you
your ceiling where it is open?
Let's go to basement one, concourse three.
MYLES (off-screen): Your
own buildings are open.
JUMAH: If you
close that ceiling,
I will close this one.
Do you think I'm going
to leave the building with no PPE free?
No, my friend.
NARRATOR: It's deadlock.
The inspector is not convinced.
Myles is staring failure in the face.
NARRATOR: Myles is struggling
to convince the
Safety Assurance Manager
that there are good operational reasons
for the missing ceiling tiles.
MAN: Why does it
need to be open?
Nobody's working here.
MYLES: During the testing and
commissioning, they have to,
they you know put the
smoke they put it there in various places.
MAN: When they do it they can open
the panel, they can cordon off the area.
NARRATOR: It's down to
Henk, one of Myles' chief
contractors, to pitch in
with a last-ditch attempt
to persuade him.
HENK: When you see an opening,
it doesn't mean work is
currently happening up there.
It's basically left open
there's testing commissioning
happening, fault finding, it
is better just to leave it
open alright so they can test
it the loops and all of that,
rather than open and
close it all the time.
So, the moment that they will
come back here they will be
some barricading and
scaffolding just to go in,
do a test, and when it's
complete, we'll close it up.
NARRATOR: It's the
moment of truth.
Has Myles convinced the
inspectors to sign off the
building as safe, and
give it PPE free status?
MYLES: We want to know any
objections, so Dar, EP,
contractor, PPE free.
MYLES (off-screen):
Fire department.
See any problems with safety?
CHIEF (off-screen):
We don't see any.
MYLES: Okay.
JUMAH: It's become PPE free.
Come on.
MYLES (off-screen): Safety?
MAN: OK.
NARRATOR: In a
last-minute turnaround,
Myles has won over the inspectors,
and the building has been declared safe.
MYLES: It is
declared PPE free.
PPE free inside the
building was declared today.
From now on, you can come in here.
MAN: I'm happy for them to
go PPE free today as long as
they take the actions
as recommended by us.
That's because safety
is our prime concern.
NARRATOR: Myles has
finally triumphed.
MYLES: Dubai Airports,
obviously want to make sure
that their stakeholders are safe,
and you could see a bit of
tension there but anyway at
the end of the day, yes, we're PPE free,
so within another hour,
I'll send that email out,
declare it to the world.
NARRATOR: This
milestone has been met,
but the work for Myles and
his team is far from over.
JUMAH: We have
other things to do.
MYLES: Yeah, yeah.
Actually, we need to do some work in here
cause no one else is.
NARRATOR: At Dubai Airport's
fire training facility,
the rookie fire team
have failed their test.
And trainee firefighter
Abdulrahman Farouk is battling
to recover from heat
exhaustion in time to take the re-test.
ABDULRAHMAN: It adds
on a lot of pressure,
cause just have one more try
and if we don't pass then I
don't know what will happen.
So, I really need to get
myself together and manage to
pass the next test.
NARRATOR: Abdulrahman knows
the career he's dreamed of is
hanging in the balance, and
with just minutes to go,
it's now or never.
ABDULRAHMAN: Yeah, I am
feeling much better now.
I drank a lot of water,
hydrated and my heart is back
at the normal rate, so I think I
am ready to do the exercise again.
NARRATOR: This really
is the last chance saloon for Abdulrahman.
He and the other recruits have
just one final opportunity to
impress supervisors Chris and Wissam.
WISSAM: So now the
second exercise,
ok do it correct way, and also quick.
NARRATOR: The airport's
fire service maintains high
standards, and with such
intense competition,
only the best candidates
will make it through.
CHRIS (off-screen): So, they're
going to run the exact same exercise
so really there is no
excuses for, for a fail.
This is the final run through;
this is their last chance.
NARRATOR: Chris is fully aware
that Abdulrahman is feeling
the heat, in more ways than one.
CHRIS (off-screen): We'll be keeping
a close eye on Abdulrahman after
what happened in the first
exercise it will definitely be
in the back of his mind,
hopefully he can sort of
suppress those feelings,
get on with his job,
and he knows, he knows there is
a lot on the line with this.
NARRATOR: This time round,
Abdulrahman is quick to unload
the hoses, well within the test limit.
MAN: Quick, quick, quick,
quick, quick, quick!
CHRIS (off-screen): So, it is all
looking good alright, at the moment.
Just waiting for the water, so
that's the water there and now
they're moving forward.
They were, they were a
lot quicker this time,
so that's a tick in the pass box.
NARRATOR: But within minutes,
Wissam sees Abdulrahman is not
covering the flames correctly.
WISSAM (off-screen): I don't want
to see the water's going outside,
only in the drain.
Abdulrahman, change, change
branch change branch!
NARRATOR: They get on top of
the 3,500-degree Fahrenheit
flames, but then another challenge.
CHRIS: The wind's
changed direction,
that's why their positioning's different
to the first exercise.
It's a very dynamic exercise
so things do change,
so they have to take
that into consideration.
WISSAM: Watch the
wind direction, go there now.
NARRATOR: After ten minutes,
and thousands of gallons of
water, they finally beat the flames.
CHRIS: So, the fire, the
fire has been extinguished,
so now they are just, now
they are just cooling,
so we don't have a
re-ignition of the fire.
NARRATOR: It's now up to
Wissam to deliver the results.
Have they passed this vital test,
or will they be made to start
their eight-week course
all over again?
WISSAM: Well done
for the exercise.
You passed, I can say that
you passed this exercise,
so thank you very
much, well done, thank you.
CHRIS (off-screen): It
was a lot quicker yeah,
they followed procedure a lot
better and overall it was
a good performance and
therefore they passed.
ABDULRAHMAN: We
are really happy.
Thanks to my teammates,
we worked as a team and we passed.
NARRATOR: They may
have passed this test,
but they now have two more to
go before they can join the
ranks of Dubai Airport's
elite firefighting crew.
NARRATOR: Over at Terminal
Three ground dispatcher
Nizel Fernandes is on a
fuel saving mission.
He's got to prepare a
huge A380 for departure,
but he's also up against an added time,
and financial pressure.
NIZEL: We have an airborne
slot for a particular routing.
On this particular routing we
would burn less fuel than what
would be required on a normal routing.
Now this has given us to us,
only on a certain basis that
we close up on time and
we get that airborne slot.
Missing that slot would cost us money.
NARRATOR: This route offers
a more direct flight path to
their destination,
Melbourne, using less fuel,
and saving thousands of dollars,
but only if they can make the slot.
NIZEL: We have
passengers transferring,
we also have cargo
transferring from our flights
and we connect them as we
connect our passengers.
So, we have cargo coming in
from one flight connecting
immediately within one or
two hours to another flight.
NARRATOR: Nizel has to balance
the commercial need to carry a
full cargo payload, whilst
also ensuring it leaves on
schedule saving fuel.
NIZEL: Where is my guy?
NARRATOR: But out
on the tarmac,
his loading team is nowhere to be seen.
NIZEL: We don't have
a ramp team leader,
waiting for the ramp
team leader to come in.
NARRATOR: Without
a ramp team leader,
Nizel can't get a start
on this especially high-pressured loading.
NIZEL: We are now 52 minutes
away from the departure,
I've just got to wait for him.
I hope this doesn't delay our flight.
NARRATOR: With just 50
minutes to go before take-off,
he finally shows up.
NIZEL: We are a
little late now.
NARRATOR: The loading of
the cargo has barely begun,
and Nizel's now in serious
danger of missing the
departure slot.
NIZEL: Carl, if it's not done
in the next five minutes,
you unload the units.
You're not going to
delay any further. Okay?
NARRATOR: Nizel is not happy
and sets the guys to work,
but they've barely got going
when he receives bad news.
NIZEL: I am missing
units 31 and 33.
In another five minutes,
if they are not here,
we will offload this.
NARRATOR: Pallets are missing.
Unless they arrive soon, he
will have to cancel their
places in the hold.
It's the last thing he wants to do.
But the passengers are already boarding,
and he has only minutes
to make his decision.
NIZEL: We are down by
three units of cargo.
I am going to give him up to
another five to ten minutes.
If it's here fair enough, if not
here we're going to offload.
We've got to take the tough
decisions, unfortunately,
we've got to get the flight off on time.
We're going to try and
make it on time still.
Okay, boarding is over.
NARRATOR: With only
15 minutes to go,
the missing units have still not arrived.
Nizel doesn't want to
upset the cargo customer,
but losing the fuel saving
slot would cost the airline
tens of thousands of
dollars and can't be missed.
NIZEL: Negative, negative,
minus 15 minutes,
I'm not going to wait for anything more.
I have made my decision,
they're loading only the
baggage and we should be completed.
NIZEL (off-screen): They
don't have to agree.
That's the right decision for the flight,
I don't have to ask them.
NIZEL (off-screen): Yes,
they will be unhappy.
23 LIMA no fit, go ahead with the loading.
NARRATOR: Nizel informs the
crew that the A380 is ready
to go, without the missing pallets.
NIZEL: Minus seven
to departure.
NARRATOR: But with the plane
just minutes from its vital
take off slot, the missing
containers arrive and Nizel
takes a last-minute gamble
to get them on the plane.
NIZEL: The last
unit, minus four,
I'm still going to make it.
Just inform him that I'm
loading the last units,
I'll be back for LMC.
MAN: Yeah no problem.
NIZEL: Yeah, alright thanks.
Two minutes to departure,
we are closing doors.
All doors closed.
Awaiting pushback.
NARRATOR: Nizel has a win
double, the cargo is loaded,
and he's hit the critical
fuel saving departure slot.
NIZEL: My team
did really well,
we closed it on sched for departure.
Really happy with this departure.
Captioned by Cotter Captioning Services.