Britain's Busiest Airport: Heathrow (2015–2020): Season 5, Episode 7 - Episode #5.7 - full transcript

Welcome to Heathrow.

It's promising to be
another busy one

at Britain's busiest airport.

What a beautiful day!

MUSIC: 'Mr Blue Sky'
by Electric Light Orchestra

Somebody's getting married here!

You see?

THEY LAUGH

Hello?

Just to let you know,
help is on its way,

so just be patient with us, please.



Heathrow is the world's
number one megahub.

Turn left where that
good-looking fella is there.

Flying millions of people to over
203 destinations around the globe.

Inside the terminals...

Watch your backs!
Jamaican coming through.

..staff are busier than ever

getting passengers ready
to take to the skies.

Put him in the box, take him in.

Then you can take him
down to level zero

if he wants a bit of a run,
all right?

But there's a problem.

Out on the airfield...

RADIO: ..bird 235, hold, Lima one.

I will have news for you
very shortly.



..nothing is taking off.

The southern runway has been
declared unfit for departures.

Flocks of birds
have been spotted on the runway

and senior airside officer Ian
along with his partner,

ranger officer Neil
have to sort it.

Entering 182 is on my left now.

So, that plane's waiting
to take off.

But he's not gonna take off until
we find out where this... animal is.

And a carcass attracts birds,
which could cause a bird strike,

potentially putting
passengers' lives at risk,

so all departures are suspended.

Hold position and contact ground

on 121.905.

As soon as anything happens
to disrupt the schedule here,

there is gonna be a knock-on effect.

Most of the aircraft
that depart here

have to come here
on the returning flight as well,

so the knock-on delays
can be throughout the whole day.

With each passing minute,
the backlog is ever increasing

with thousands of passengers
sitting, waiting to depart.

Sierra six, head towards sierra six.

RADIO CHATTER

But with over two miles of southern
runway for Ian and Neil to scan,

it's a race against time.

Who'd have thought such a small bird
could stop so many big birds

and bring a billion-pound industry
to a grinding halt?

What we'll do,

we'll leave the feathers,
they'll blow away over time.

There's nothing there
that's gonna cause any issues,

so we're all done.
Yeah.

Tower,
checker has vacated runway two,

some are left,
one carcass retrieved.

RADIO: Roger.

Probably a good five minutes
of departures not happening,

it probably cost, timewise,
four departures.

Ian and Neil have saved the day.

Now it's down to air traffic control

to try and clear the backlog
of departures.

Seven tango golf, good afternoon,
you are cleared to Atlanta.

Climb and maintain altitude
6,000 feet

and your transponder code, 1440.

Planes may be taking off,
but for airside Ian and Neil,

they're just at the beginning
of an investigation

of what and how
this bird got to Heathrow.

See what's left of it
and find out what it is now.

Part of their job is to identify

why types of wildlife
are attracted to the airport

and to prevent any more delays
from runway closures.

I can't believe
there's no head on it or...

Doesn't look like it's been hit.

Don't know what it is, actually.

Can't work it out.

Don't think it's a raptor
cos it hasn't got the claws. No.

Pigeon, do you reckon?

It might be a pigeon.

Without a head,

even with Ian's
encyclopaedic knowledge,

there needs to be
more detective work.

I'm generally
quite good with my birds,

but generally they've got a head on
and they're making a sound,

so habitat and what they look like
and their call all help.

Seeing something like that
without a head and a tail

on the runway,
it's a bit more difficult.

Unaware of
the temporary runway closure,

inside terminal two, passengers
are flocking towards departures.

All the way straight and then left,
B gate. Thank you.

Thankfully,
Heathrow is at the forefront

of cutting-edge technology
when it comes to checking in.

Self-service check in kiosks
were introduced 20 years ago

and speed up
the pre-departure experience,

getting holidaymakers closer
to that first gin and tonic

in the departures lounge.

Although kiosks cater for over
59 languages, for some passengers,

it helps having someone
looking out for them.

Cue Heathrow's
king of passenger experience, Demi.

HE LAUGHS

You know that they're Greek
cos you can tell by the accent.

And then you see
the passport is Greek

and they ask you something
in English

and you answer back Greek
and they're like...

"You're Greek?" And it's quite
surprising, they love it.

My dad always used to say to me,

"Don't speak to me in English,
speak to me in Greek."

And we were in Greek school
with all the kids.

So...

Yeah, it's good.

Thank you.

I think it's something like that.
I might be wrong.

So, apologies.
LAUGHS

Down the other end of the terminal,

also ready to give you a hearty
welcome are the boys in blue.

Like every transport hub,
airports need protecting,

so it has a police force
on patrol 24/7.

Heathrow's answer
to Starsky and Hutch,

officers Terry and Dave, have been
on the beat for over a year.

It's a lot busier
than it was before.

Everyone's coming in here
and gaggling.

I hate that, cos when I'm flying

I want to get in, out, boom,
see you later.

And shake it all about.

It's a good vantage point, everyone
can see us, we can see them.

Everyone here
that goes through those doors

are generally either
seeing loved ones off

or they're going to
check in their bags,

so they've got one goal in mind.

So if you see people wandering
around, looking at other passengers,

then that can sort of indicate to us

that they're not here
for travel purposes.

They do tend to stick out
like a sore thumb as well.

Unsavoury characters
aren't the only ones

that stick out like a sore thumb.

RADIO RINGS
RADIO: Go, mate.

Hello, Sarge, we can see you
in a staggered formation.

HE LAUGHS

RADIO CHATTER CONTINUES

As Terry and Dave
stagger off themselves,

they're alerted
to a serious incident.

A plane is due to arrive after
making an emergency stop en-route.

Hold position and contact ground
on 121.905.

On the runway,
flights are back on schedule

and airside Ian and Neil
are about to carry out an autopsy

at the BSRP -
the Bird Strike Recording Point.

First of all, we want to identify,
to make sure it's something

that's native to the UK
and it's not been brought here

from a different airport,

and maybe on departure
could've had a bird strike.

I once went to an aircraft
coming from Pakistan

and they had a phone call to say
they had a bird strike on arrival.

We got there, inspected it, it was
all wrapped round the undercarriage.

When we got it off, it was a big
eagle with like a six-foot wingspan.

You don't get them at Heathrow.

So, it's just things like that,

it helps us determine whether or not
we should do more, bird-wise.

Here you go, Ian, this is your first
go at CSI airfield ops, Heathrow.

Yeah. See if you can find out
the cause of death.

Decapitation, I think.

Death by 747.
Yeah.

Is it still a bird?
Still a bird.

Lovely.
Still a bird.

Trying to get you to imagine
if it was flying

what it would look like and sort of
help ascertain it, you know?

When you look at the colouration
like that, that looks...

that's a muted colour
for camouflage, really.

It's quite dark from the top.
I can't work out what it is.

We know it's dead.
We've established that much.

After verifying the bird
is still a bird

and no longer alive,

Ian takes measurements and photos

to send to a specialist bird strike
company for identification.

So, what they want is the wings open
like that,

so you get the full range of
the colour

of the plumage
underneath the wings.

You then turn it the other side

cos you've got different markings
on the top.

You would normally take pictures
of the beak and stuff like that,

but as the head's missing...

It's not possible.

Next port of call
is now bag and tag it.

Put it in the freezer.

If they're not able to identify it
through the pictures,

we will keep it in storage
and then we have the opportunity

then to take the DNA

or sometimes just feather samples.

They look at the feathers
under a microscope

and they'll be able to find out
what sort of species it is.

Lunch now.

LAUGHS

Chicken?
Yeah, bit of lunch.

The duration of a flight
from Bangladesh to London Heathrow

is around 15 hours with one stop.

Tonight, a plane is arriving

that's taken 19 hours
and had to make two stops

because, sadly,
a passenger died en-route.

Officers Terry and Dave
are getting the details

from passenger experience managers,
Kola and Newman,

who've been in contact
with the plane.

Aircraft had a medical emergency
and got diverted to Baku.

45 minutes into that,
there was a death on board.

The aircraft was on the ground
at this time?

It was on the ground at the time.
However, since then,

the body has come off the aircraft,

but then moved into the hold
of the aircraft,

there's no death certificate,
there's no paperwork to go with it.

Is that definite?
Yes. OK.

When the passenger died in Baku,
Azerbaijan,

death was pronounced
by local doctors,

but no death certificate
was issued.

The body was placed in the hold
and the journey continued.

This is an unprecedented event.

A death on board, which is generally
a straightforward procedure,

but this is wracking my brain,
I've got a bit of a headache.

So, we're gonna have to unravel
this mess that's been caused.

With no cause of death documented,

the plane arriving into Heathrow
is about to become a crime scene.

It may be that we have to

keep all the passengers
on board the aircraft

and all the cargo and luggage
in the cargo hold.

Until we know what's gone on

and spoke to some key individuals
on board the aircraft,

then no-one's going nowhere.

A plane from Bangladesh
is landing into Heathrow

and one of the passengers on board
has died.

Police officers Terry and Dave
are on their way to the gate

to get to the bottom of
an unprecedented Heathrow event.

You wouldn't just put something in
the hold without having a manifest,

like, say you've got
one deceased body.

A dead body arriving
with no death certificate.

The body should've stayed
in the country

where the person passed away,
unfortunately.

It seems like certain systems
have been circumvented

and the body's been placed
in the cargo hold.

I mean, there's no way of making
that more glamorous than what it is.

The plane is five hours late
in arriving,

but because of
the medical emergency,

all 435 passengers
have to remain on board

until Dave and Terry
can establish

there's nothing suspicious
about the death.

So temperatures are rising.

19 hours we've been on this plane.
I understand that.

People are feeling sick.
I understand that,

but we have to treat this
as a crime scene

until we can prove
that nothing's gone...

nothing's untoward, all right?

OK, so please hurry up.
Sir. I've got a sick mother there.

Not being funny with you, mate,

I want this done
as quickly as possible

cos we've got the family here,
all right,

we're not gonna slow this up.
Take a look yourself how much people

are feeling sick, there's kids.
I understand that.

The longer we're stood here,
the slower it's gonna be.

I can totally relate
with these individuals.

You know, I'd be stuck in a runway
for 20 minutes

and I start getting annoyed.
As soon as an aircraft lands,

people start opening their
seatbelts, to jump off, to go.

And that one or two minutes' delay
on the aircraft docking

and the jetty bridge
attaching to the aircraft,

that could feel forever.

It's gonna get them
really frustrated,

especially if they've already
been there for 19 hours.

Fortunately, one of the passengers
on board is a doctor,

who took a key role
in the incident.

The flight crew
issued a call for a doctor.

So I offered my services.

The lady was 75 and her history
was that she'd actually been unwell

with a pneumonia
in a local hospital in Sylhet.

The family thought
she was getting better,

so it was her wish,
cos she's a British citizen,

to come back to the UK.

Whilst Terry gets as many details
as possible from the doctor...

You haven't pronounced life extinct
though, have you? Yourself.

I've written a note to that effect.

..Dave talks to the family.

I'm sorry for your loss.
Heathrow and the police,

we haven't dealt with
this sort of situation before.

So it may take a little bit longer,
but rest assured,

we will get this done
as quickly as possible.

We need to make sure that
nothing untoward has happened.

In these difficult situations,

Heathrow has a group of chaplains
to help distressed passengers.

John is one of eight at the airport.

In an emergency like this,
we're there to provide some comfort

and to help sometimes to explain the
process that they're going through,

because they're usually in a state
of shock, they're very upset

and they've been given an awful lot
of information by different people.

Often, it's just a case of holding
somebody's hand while they cry.

Terry and Dave are now happy
to allow passengers to disembark,

but their luggage in the hold
will have to stay on board

whilst they confirm
the identity of the body

and make sure
nothing untoward has occurred.

We need to go down and see the...
body and the box.

We're coming now, Sarge.

Whilst Terry and Dave manage
a very sensitive situation,

over in terminal two,

passenger experience manager Demi

should be winding down
as he comes to the end of his shift.

But not tonight.

Bag tags to your right,
check in assistance to your left.

If you have baggage tags,
over to this side.

No, no.
Where the maze is on the right.

You've got to stay
in this line here.

Maybe behind these people, see here?

In Demi's terminal, check in should
take, on average, only 70 seconds.

So, we've been waiting 45 minutes
and it's... yeah, it's so, so slow.

We travel quite a lot
and this is the first time

we've seen this amount of chaos
in an airport.

We normally go away
three or four times a year and...

yeah, haven't seen it this bad.

And one family's holiday
could be in jeopardy.

We're going away to Thailand,
all of us... hopefully.

ALL LAUGH
If we can get on a flight.

People everywhere,
no-one any idea where to go.

No-one has a clue at the moment.

There are 116 kiosks in terminal
two, all with the ability to print

your boarding card and luggage
labels in a matter of seconds.

But currently, the computer says no.

There's an app
that's overloading the system

because it's not been updated.

I think it's because we've got

extra flights in the schedule,
new summer schedule.

Do you know,
there's not a lot we can do.

But from the start of Easter break,
we can't be dealing with this stuff.

Follow me. What's going on, fella?

Have we got the guys here?

Just called them now,
they have been coming in and out.

Turning all the machines off.

Even Heathrow can't escape
the universal truth -

if all else fails,
unplug and reboot.

It's not good when the app kicks
everything out. And not only that,

it then has to reboot the machine,
which stops others from using it.

So, it's just a bit of
a snowball effect.

Time for Demi to sort the situation
out the old-fashioned way -

with check-in desks.

And not a moment too soon
for the Samson family.

So basically,
the family's been queuing up.

There was a gentleman
in front of them, who was in front,

and all of a sudden this family
turns up with another six people

and another seven bags, obviously,
the gentleman's upset cos,

obviously, it's gone from
going forward two steps

to going five steps back.

And not only that,
he's tried checking in

and it won't check him in,

so he's been sitting in that line
for nothing.

I'm gonna move,
I'm gonna speak to Air China,

see if I can help him out.
Hi, buddy. Just need a bit of help.

We've got a family of five...

Demi knows terminal two
like the back of his hand.

So although the kiosks are down,
he knows exactly who to speak to.

Do you want to come with me?

Let's go.

This gentleman here with the glasses
will look after you, all right?

Thank you so much.
That's all right.

Have a good time, all right, guys?
Take care.

That scenario there, he was ready
to sort of explode a little bit,

he was ready flip out.

You could just walk past
and hear the conversations,

mum having with dad,
it's like a typical marriage.

Biting at each other
and it don't sound good.

And they're going on holiday,

they've probably
paid thousands of pounds.

It's not a couple of hundred quid
special offer.

If I can do something about it,

I'll do my best
just to make it a little bit better.

Out on the apron, officers Terry
and Dave are with the doctor

from the arriving
Bangladeshi flight.

There you go,
over in this ambulance.

Because
there's no death certificate,

they have to identify the passenger
who died en-route to the UK.

Do you want the doctor
to come on board with us?

Cos then he can verify
that the lady is the same person

that he pronounced
life extinct, yeah?

That gives us some continuity.

We'll give a cursory check over
as we would usually do.

So long as what the lady's
been transported in is fine,

then that plane is good to go.

All right?

That's the same lady, yeah?

Same clothing and everything?

The doctor's with us.

He's verified that
the lady he's seeing now

is the same one he saw
that he pronounced as life extinct.

In terms of the airline,

everything's good to go, the baggage
can come off, cargo can come off,

there's no cross-contamination.

All right. Cheers, boss. Bye.

Kola.

Aircraft's fine.
We can give the all-clear?

With suspicious circumstances
ruled out,

the passengers can finally head home
with their luggage.

In total, we spent, like, about...

..24 hours, easily, just on a plane.

When we got off, I mean,
that was just like a big relief.

For that brother and sister
that lost their mother,

really sad.

There's a little bit of shellshock
because at the end of the day,

there was a lady who died
and the family were distraught

and that was difficult
and my thoughts go out to them.

Because... you know,
their grief was very apparent.

All the paperwork is now in place,

so the body can be released
and make its way back to the family.

You never forget the sudden deaths
you deal with.

Each one has its own unique way
of being remembered

and obviously this one
was a really unusual situation,

so probably never forget that one.

Subtitles by TVT