Episode 4 Real Lives Reunited

Ordinary people who shared an extraordinary moment in history.

I've met somebody who I never thought I was going to see again.

You think your life is over...

I just assumed I was about to be executed.

..when an everyday hero steps in to save you.

Singlehandedly managed to rescue 27 people.

You work in A&E, you think you're beyond surprises.

We went through all that and then just lost each other.

Brought together by fate, separated by life...

Today, passengers and crew taken hostage

on the only British plane ever to be hijacked are reunited.

The feelings inside were that you were going to die.

The hijackers were saying that they would blow the plane up

and everybody in it.

An accident survivor has the chance to thank the men who brought

her back from the brink.

I should be dead and I'm not.

There's not really words to describe how

grateful you can be to a person who saved your life.

And the villagers who survived an underground explosion

share their stories with the heroes who saved them.

The medical people were brilliant and I long to thank them.

-Nice to see you again.

-You too.

Stringent airport security is a lasting

legacy of the attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001.

But long before 9/11,

hijacking airliners had become a terrorist tool.

During the late '60s,

extremists would regularly take passengers hostage

and attempt to trade them for the freedom of their jailed comrades.

But no-one ever imagined it would happen to a British jet.

I was 15 years old. A gun was held against my head.

I could actually see these grenades in his pocket

and I was absolutely terrified.

Scared is not a good enough word.

In September 1970, terrorists hijacked a passenger plane,

taking British children as hostages.

I just kept praying and thinking,

"Please let me just get out of this plane, just let it stop."

At 15, you don't expect to face your death.

On 9th September 1970, around 20 unaccompanied

school children were flying from Bahrain to London.

Among them were friends - 15-year-old Diana Gregory

and Malia Staveley.

My parents lived abroad and my dad worked for the oil company

and I was going back to boarding school.

Diana and I had just been talking about all the things we'd

been up to over the summer and what we were going to miss,

and just generally two friends sitting there, flying back,

being sophisticated ladies at 15.

But less than an hour into the flight,

Malia noticed something was wrong.

I leant out to the middle to see what was going on and that's

when I grabbed Diana and pulled her over the seat because I said,

"I think we're being hijacked.

"There's some men in the middle with guns."

Further along the plane, 12-year-old Sarah Ablett and her younger

sister Susan watched in horror as armed hijackers took control.

The first I knew of it was a steward running down the plane, going,

"Don't panic, don't panic."

The school children found themselves caught up in a plot

lead by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

The guerrillas forced the aircraft to land in the Jordanian desert,

where two other hijacked planes were being held,

and there, as the world watched, they issued a chilling ultimatum.

If members of the PFLP held in European jails were not

released, all the passengers and the jets would be blown up.

The Jordanian army had surrounded the area,

but they were in the distance.

We were hearing that the hijackers were saying if they came

in an inch closer, they would blow the plane up and everybody in it.

The PFLP organised an extraordinary press conference in the desert.

Some passengers and crew were instructed to

stand in front of the plane for the world's media.

Under the scorching desert sun, life incarcerated inside

the aircraft very quickly became unbearable.

It was horrible. You did feel really quite claustrophobic in there.

No electricity or anything like that,

and, in the sweltering heat, the loo soon began to reek.

The feelings inside were that you were going to die.

That's...horrible.

In the hours and days that followed,

Malia and Diana's friendship helped them survive the terror.

We're girls.

We just talked about the boys we liked, the ones we didn't like.

That was helpful, having somebody on there to talk to.

It's really nice to bond, cos it was a bonding time. You had to.

It was really nice to have her.

And it was easier to discuss names, places, dreams, ideas, books,

anything other than the fact that you could die in a few hours.

You just didn't face that.

For three arduous days, the children had no idea

if they would ever see their parents again.

But in an unprecedented move, the British Government agreed

to the guerrillas' demands and released a terrorist

held in a London jail.

The next day, the school children boarded a flight for home.

That's when I felt safe.

Mummy and Daddy were coming to get us.

Having been through an ordeal that brought them closer than

they ever could have imagined, the children were suddenly separated.

I never got a chance to say goodbye to Diana, because it was just chaos.

You didn't get that chance to hug and say, "We're still here."

You just separated.

43 years since they lived through the hijacking,

Malia and Diana are meeting to share memories of how they survived.

I can't believe it. You look amazing.

To think that we went through all that and then just lost each other.

-We did keep each other going.

-Oh, we did. For how many days?

It just seemed like for ever at the time, didn't it?

You always think on the 9th September...

Oh, do you know, I don't travel on the 9th September. No.

I'm at home, just in case. Scary. I can't believe it.

Recognise you anywhere, it's just lovely.

I'm looking forward to seeing these people,

because it's 40-odd years ago.

It will be interesting to hear their stories, to hear what they remember.

The former hostages have brought keepsakes from the hijacking,

including PFLP literature signed by crew, other passengers

and even the hijackers.

I think it's really interesting that they signed them, that we

managed to get them to sign them.

-They told us they'd take us swimming the next time we came.

-Yes.

The next time we see you. Isn't it fascinating?

Once the children had escaped the plane,

the hijackers had one last message for the world's watching media.

Look at that.

We were right there, girls.

God.

Later, crew members share their memories of the flight of terror,

when hijackers armed with guns and grenades

took control of their plane.

One of them said to me, "You come with me,"

and led me to the rear of the aircraft.

I just assumed I was about to be executed.

In the spring of 1984,

the beautiful rolling landscape of Lancashire became the scene

of one of the most devastating accidents ever to hit that area.

What should have been a simple PR trip to a new waterworks

ended in death and terror.

There's been a serious explosion tonight at a water treatment plant

in Lancashire.

Like a bomb blast, cos the whole thing went up like a bomb.

There were bodies all over the place, debris all over the place.

A huge rescue operation is now underway.

A fleet of over 20 ambulances from all over Lancashire has been

sent to the scene.

It was just like being in the Second World War, in the front line.

It was that horrific.

Four years earlier, the Queen had opened a North West Water Authority

project to transfer water between two rivers 20 miles apart.

The aim of this ground-breaking engineering was to increase

the supply of drinking water for the region.

A nearby village downstream from the valve house believed

the project was to blame for flooding in their area.

It was up to the water authority to convince residents

the initiative was not at fault.

Parish councillor Colin Burke remembers the controversy.

North West Water laid on this demonstration to show us

their system was not contributing to the flooding in St Michael's.

On 23rd May, 36 villagers were invited to the valve house to

hear a water authority presentation about the safety of the project.

37-year-old John Holmes was among local residents.

It was a lovely summer's evening and we went

up to Abbeystead, through the countryside. It is beautiful.

Mother-of-two Pat Kaylor was another worried villager who attended

the presentation.

They gave us a lecture to start with

and then we all went inside the building.

The underground valve house was a bunker with a reinforced

concrete roof covered in grass.

Inside, the party congregated on the metal grate floor

and waited for the water to appear below them.

So, they switched the pumps on and nothing happened.

I said to the engineer, "How long will it take for the water to come?"

He said, "I don't know. I've never been here when the pumps have been switched on."

So, they switched another pump on, switched pump two on,

so that pump went on and still nothing happened.

Then there was this almighty blue flash and bang.

It was a bit like when you get your match to the gas hob

and you're a bit late with the match.

EXPLOSION

We were just...engulfed in flames.

I flew through the air with my hands touching my feet

and passed to the back wall and hit the back wall.

Part of the hillside had been ripped away by the blast,

some of the victims were trapped inside,

others were thrown into the field by the explosion.

It blew me out of the building.

I'd been thrown back to the back wall, which is

about four or five metres away.

Somebody was blown out of the building just after me

with his shirt on fire.

The explosion knocked John unconscious.

When he came to, he was confronted by a scene of utter devastation.

He crawled through a space where the roof had been

and immediately realised he had to get help.

These were the days before mobile phones, and John, suffering

from severe burns, had to race to a nearby farm to raise the alarm.

Ambulanceman Mike Abel was the first on the scene.

There were dead bodies, a lot of injured people.

There were a lot of people wandering around who... They were in a daze.

I don't think they knew what had happened.

The roof of the chamber had been completely blown off.

It used to be supported by huge two-and-a-half-tonne girders.

They collapsed on the people inside.

I got onto the radio and I contacted our headquarters

and said, "We'd need as much you can give us NOW."

Every person that was there had traumatic injuries.

They had burns and they had blast injuries.

Pat suffered serious burns to her legs, hands, face, neck

and scalp, but managed to speak to journalists from her hospital bed.

I couldn't recognise many people because they were burnt like I am.

Their hair was fused together.

That's why my hair's cut off, it was all fused.

Eight people died in the explosion,

a death toll that would later rise to 16, including a 12-year-old boy.

John had 40% burns.

As soon as we went into the hospital, they were there for us.

The medical people were brilliant, and I long to thank them.

Today, 29 years on,

John is meeting one of the first to arrive on the scene -

leading ambulanceman Mike.

After the explosion itself,

my first point was the ring you guys up to get as many of you guys

out there as possible to help us, and it did happen.

I remember going down there and seeing that devastation.

It must have just been one massive flash.

If you were inside that building, you were very, very lucky.

-You must have had a guardian angel.

-I've got one or two, I can assure you.

It's great to see somebody who's survived.

No, but thank you for everything you did for us,

because without you guys, we wouldn't be here neither.

It's really good.

Later, two other survivors are reunited with some of the team

who saved their lives.

The rescuer, my medical care and my rehabilitation.

I am so grateful to you.

-You're very welcome.

-Thank you.

When life takes a turn for the worst,

it can be the remarkable kindness of strangers that's most surprising.

Two years ago,

veterinary student Carla Johnson fell in love with Winnie -

an abandoned Spanish greyhound she got from a dog charity in Madrid.

The pair have been inseparable ever since.

She goes on the Tube, she has to take a seat otherwise she whines,

she's a lazy girl, and she goes to work with me.

I can't imagine my life without here. She's me little buddy.

But in December 2012, as she drove home with

Winnie along the M5, Carla's life changed dramatically.

I just heard an odd noise and the next thing I know,

I saw this image of a van.

Hi, I think there's been an accident on the M5.

I just heard this biggest crash and screech.

It literally happened, like, ten seconds ago.

A van travelling in the opposite direction crashed through

the central reservation and slammed into the side of Carla's car.

Really fast.

I think I didn't even have a chance to actually put my foot on the brake.

It was that fast.

The impact sent her car careering across the motorway.

Despite being strapped in, Winnie was thrown from the car.

We got a phone call from our helimed dispatch team

to say that there was a road traffic collision on the M5

and there were reports of a person trapped.

We came up the aircraft, got started,

got everything ready to take off.

Both Carla's legs were broken.

Three ribs had punctured her left lung

and her spleen had been ruptured.

She was losing a lot of blood. She needed help fast.

I opened my eyes, and I can see the airbag, all full of blood,

and my hand next to the airbag.

I could see the bones in my hand, I couldn't see anything else.

And then I just passed out.

The air ambulance was on the scene within ten minutes.

From above, we could see that it was what looked like carnage.

The damage to the car gave us a real high index of suspicion

that she had some significant internal injuries as well.

Very lucky lady to still be alive.

Close to death and drifting in and out of consciousness,

Carla kept asking about Winnie.

The one thing that pervades the whole memory of the job,

it was her dog...was the thing that she was concerned about.

Not herself. Her dog.

Just as we were closing the doors, a police constable,

one of the dog-handlers locally,

had managed to get hold of the dog, Winnie,

and was just coincidently walking past the aircraft to his vehicle

and he was able to lift her up.

Carla saw the dog, whole picture settled. She was happy then.

Reassured that her best friend Winnie was safe,

Carla was flown to hospital in Plymouth.

The last I saw her, she was going into the emergency department,

she was in a bad way, some life-threatening injuries.

I should be dead.

If you compare it with any other crash like that,

I should be dead and I'm not.

There's now words to describe how grateful you can be to

a person who has saved your life.

When they pulled her from the wreckage,

they were strangers she could barely see through the pain and trauma.

Today, just six months on from the accident that almost killed her,

Carla has a chance to thank the men who saved her life.

You were talking to me in the helicopter.

-Yeah, it was quite noisy but we would have been.

-I remember.

It's really nice to get a face to those nice words, soothing words.

It felt really good. Thank you very much for everything.

You really saved my life. So thanks a million.

And Carla's not alone in wanting to thank Devon Air Ambulance.

Winnie the dog and Carla's mum Maggie have come to meet

the men who saved her.

Winnie, oh!

Hello!

Don't you recognise them? They saved Mama.

You can smell my dogs. You can, can't you? You can smell my dogs.

Thank you all very much.

It's just absolutely been incredible the way

you've save my daughter's life.

Really amazing. It's just fantastic.

Thank you very much.

It's great to see Carla today. It's quite inspiring.

Sorry, I'm breaking up here.

It's... It makes you think what you actually do is important.

We do the job, we take care of people, we do save people's lives.

We don't do it for thanks.

But to be thanked is a phenomenal gesture.

It was so nice to see you guys

and get to know the people who saved my life.

It was fantastic.

Well worth driving again.

Yes, Winnie.

In May 1984, a small Lancashire village became national news when

an explosion killed 16 locals and left many more seriously injured.

Part of the hillside had been ripped away by the blast,

exposing what was left of the underground control room.

The water authority had invited 36 local residents to the valve house,

to assure them it wasn't causing flooding.

But when the party entered the underground chamber,

they had no idea it was filled with a highly explosive gas.

Emergency services were baffled when they received the call.

It was in a valley in the middle of nowhere,

no industry, maybe a few farms. We thought, "An explosion?!"

When they said, "Abbeystead, explosion."

What is there to explode in Abbeystead?

We were thinking to ourselves, "This is a hoax, it can't be right."

But such thoughts quickly evaporated

when they arrived at a scene of utter carnage.

The rescue team worked through the night in the hope that

some of those trapped in the debris of the shattered pumping station

might still be pulled out alive.

As ambulances ferried the injured to the Royal Lancaster Infirmary,

hospital staff like senior nurse Stuart Westbrook were rushed

out to help at the disaster site.

You knew you were going to an explosion,

but it didn't really strike home the sheer force of the explosion.

Blood stained the diagrams and charts used in the demonstration.

In the darkness, a crane lifted huge concrete beams from the wreckage.

You work in A&E, you think you're beyond surprises,

because you've probably seen it all, but one hell of a night.

One beam came down onto my left leg, banging me on the head

and breaking my nose, and split this leg in half.

The second beam came down, hit me again on the head

and broke this leg into five pieces and broke all my ribs.

Against all the odds, Colin survived,

but would remain in hospital for four months.

It would be another two years before he could return to work.

Pat Kaylor suffered burns to 50% of her body.

It was four weeks before she could leave hospital.

All my hair had been burnt off.

Well, it was singed into a great black lump on top of my head,

which they cut off.

The most horrible thing that's ever happened to me,

but I'm just glad that I'm alive.

An investigation discovered there had been a build-up

of the explosive gas methane in the pipes.

Water board employees unwittingly pumped the gas into the valve house during the tour.

No-one knows what caused it to ignite, but for those who survived,

the heroes who saved them are always in their thoughts.

You do see sometimes in hospitals thank you letters

and cards posted on the notice board, and you think,

"Oh, I'm going to do that," but you don't.

Physiotherapist Steve Wildon took charge of Colin's long

and sometimes painful recovery.

I always used to stay at the foot of his bed,

because he used to try and sit up and punch me in the face.

I used to say to him, "You will thank me for this one day."

Survivors Pat and Colin have never had the chance to thank

the emergency workers who saved them.

Today, they finally have that opportunity.

Were you the gentleman that was inside the building...?

-I was sat on a pile of rubble.

-Yeah, cos I was talking to a gentleman and you said,

-"I can't move because I think my legs are broken."

-They were.

-I was looking at my feet the other way up.

-Yeah.

I do remember that journey. In particular,

-your crew member would not let me go to sleep.

-Me.

-You?

-Me.

-Well, then, it was you that kept me alive.

-Yeah.

-You would not let me go to sleep.

-If you started to go to sleep, then we might have lost you,

because your body might have decided to shut down.

I don't know if you remember this. This is how I looked when you met me.

I was facing inside and I saw the flame bloom out of the doorway

and then it blew me off my feet and blew me out of the building.

They said our heads swelled up.

It did, because I only started to see who you were as a person

three or four weeks in.

-Do you remember punching me?

-Often.

Mostly at night, in my dreams.

But you always had a really positive attitude.

Well, you were very good at it. You were very good at what you did.

-That's kind of you.

-I was glad to have been in your hands.

What can I say? What do I owe you?

I owe you my life, and you, and you for getting me mobile. Bless you.

You care and that's why you do your job so well,

and we're very grateful to you for it.

At the site of the disaster,

there's a memorial to the 16 who tragically lost their lives.

You'll always remember it

and you'll always remember those poor people who didn't make it.

Whilst any survivors live, they will never be forgotten.

In September 1970, Palestine terrorists shocked the world

when they hijacked three planes

and forced the pilots to land at a remote desert airstrip in Jordan.

They threatened to blow up the planes and passengers

if European governments failed to release Palestinian prisoners.

This was the only British plane ever to be hijacked and it was

full of children returning to boarding schools in the UK.

Susan, Sarah, Malia and Diana were all young girls on board.

43 years later,

they're sharing memories of their three days in the desert.

There I am. Look.

That's me looking not well.

-How do you feel?

-Just... I'm thirsty.

Armed with guns and grenades, the terrorists overpowered

the crew in the cockpit and took control of the plane at 37,000 feet.

For 22 year-old Frances Duck, a stewardess in first class,

it was the beginning of a nightmare.

I remember, at one point, it was announced that we

had 14 hours before we were due to be liquidated.

Chief steward John Cresta bravely

took on the role of talking to the hijackers.

I was informed by one of the passengers that they were

loading some dynamite onto the aircraft, into the undercarriage.

I spoke to the leader at the time.

They were in fact packing some dynamite on, which they

could use if anybody created a problem.

One of them said to me, "You, come with me."

He singled me out and he had a gun on his shoulder

and lead me to the rear of the aircraft.

I just assumed I was about to be executed.

The sense of vulnerability has never gone.

It's there all the time.

After three desperate days,

the British Government gave in to the terrorists' demands.

John and Frances were released

and flown to London along with the school children.

It has been 43 years

since they lived through the terror of those three days.

Now John and Frances are about to meet again.

-Frances?

-I still recognise you.

-Nice to see you.

-Good to see you.

-It's been a long time.

-It has. 43 years. I can't believe it.

-We never had an opportunity to talk.

-No, we didn't, did we?

But you were marvellous.

I don't know how you did it. You always seemed in charge and calm...

-That was the aim. I hope it worked.

-It did.

John and Frances found themselves caring for the school children,

whose high spirits defused some of the tension on the hijacked plane.

You children all helped to really lighten the atmosphere.

You really did.

I always remember that it was quite a tense atmosphere,

-and then you started singing a Beatles song...

-Yellow Submarine.

But "we all lived in a blue and white machine".

Actually, I think in lots of ways,

it has had a huge impact only my life.

I don't think about it every single day,

but it still is such a life-changing experience

that we went through together,

and after all this time, we're still here to talk about it together.

Incredibly, all 115 passengers survived the terrifying ordeal on BOAC flight 775.

And they did it in a very British fashion.

There were bombs on the flight deck

and yet we were sitting around

talking as though we were having afternoon tea.

And in the 43 years since,

no other British plane has been successfully hijacked.

Next time, survivors of one of the country's worst mining disasters

share memories of escape and the mates who didn't make it.

I walked up road with him.

They didn't come back.

And making history on the world's first ever supersonic passenger flight.

All flyers wanted to know what it would feel like to fly supersonic.

I felt a thrill.