controllable because they would be able to shut off electricity to it. unfortunately in the case of swissair 111, they were unable to do that. wear and tear on the entertainment system wiring created an opening that allowed electricity to jump out, an arcing event. the arc occurred right next to the wires that powered the flight deck s most crucial equipment. setting off a fire that spread across the cockpit attic, burning through the ceiling. the situation as in the final few minutes of flight was catastrophic. the airplane s full of smoke, there is evidence of multiple aluminum that s being rained down overhead. the electrical systems are failing. pneumatic systems are failing. one by one, everything that they need to keep the airplane in flight is failing. and they finally lose control of the airplane and it rolls toward the ocean and accelerates and impacts the ocean at a very high speed.
investigators immediately suspect an arcing event. the electricity that is flowing through a wire as, over time, insulation can chaff, crack. and these cracks allow the electricity to not flow down the wire path as it s supposed to, but to jump to a part of the frame of the airplane or to another wire that might be exposed. the lavatory motor is small but carries a lot of power. weight on an airplane is something you try to keep to an absolute minimum. one of the ways that we do that in aircraft is to utilize very small, but very powerful electric motors so that a very small motor can get three boosts of electricity, as it winds around. the motor inside the lavatory is supplied with three phase power, much stronger than a household current. electricity jumping from one of
in the search to find out what went wrong, investigators discovered that a common aircraft insulation material is a fire hazard. thousands of planes are refitted with new insulation and flammability testing is re-evaluated. but they still don t know how the fire started, and if other aircraft are at risk. when we started to look for potential ignition sources, the very first thing that comes to mind is aircraft wiring. the investigators scour more than 150 miles of wiring for signs of an electrical malfunction called arcing. arcing events are when electricity jumps from a wire to another piece of metal, could be another wire or part of the airplane or something else. when it does that, it can create tremendous amount of heat. finding an arcing event is difficult, and determining if one preceded another is nearly impossible. but six months into writing the final report, the impossible
we thought everybody could get off. like we said, there wasn t any screams or noise coming from the plane. so, you felt that everybody was under control and getting off. was getting off. it was a real mixed bag of emotions. of course, we were thrilled to have survived such an incredible ordeal and to realize that some people had not survived was still upsetting. immediately after the accident, investigators focus on finding the source of the fire. the investigators knew early on that they had had a fire of likely electrical origin because of the amount of damage done in the lavatory area. investigators immediately suspect an arcing event. the electricity that is flowing through a wire as, over
smoke in the cockpit. in a search to find out has went wrong, investigators discover that a common aircraft insulation material is a fire hazard. thousands of planes are fitted with new insulation. and flammability testing is re-evaluated. but they still don t know how the fire started, and if other aircraft are at risk. when we started to look for potential ignition sources the very first thing that comes to mind is aircraft wiring. the investigators scour more than 150 miles of wiring for signs of an electrical malfunction called arcing. arcing events are when electricity jumps from a wire to another piece of metal. it can be another wire or a part of the airplane or something else. when it does that, it can create tremendous amount of heat. finding an arcing event is