0:00:02 > 0:00:04Extraordinary stories from a shared past...
0:00:04 > 0:00:06There were 12 people on board the aircraft that day.
0:00:06 > 0:00:08Six of us made it, six of us didn't.
0:00:08 > 0:00:10..bonds forged in tragedy...
0:00:10 > 0:00:12- Sorry!- ..and triumph...
0:00:12 > 0:00:14THEY CHEER
0:00:14 > 0:00:17The little girl that you helped 15 years ago.
0:00:17 > 0:00:19..brought together by fate...
0:00:19 > 0:00:21It just overwhelmed me a bit.
0:00:21 > 0:00:23..but separated by time...
0:00:23 > 0:00:25God, where did all those years go?
0:00:25 > 0:00:28..decades on, we reunite them.
0:00:39 > 0:00:41The phrase life or death situation
0:00:41 > 0:00:43is probably one that's much overused,
0:00:43 > 0:00:47but that's exactly what happened to the two men in our first story
0:00:47 > 0:00:52when, back in 2011, they survived a devastating plane crash.
0:00:52 > 0:00:53And today, finally,
0:00:53 > 0:00:56they're going to get the chance to thank the rescuers
0:00:56 > 0:00:57who saved their lives.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08On the morning of the 10th of February, 2011,
0:01:08 > 0:01:12a routine flight was scheduled to leave Belfast City Airport bound for
0:01:12 > 0:01:16Cork. Brendan Mallon from Bangor was a regular flyer on the route,
0:01:16 > 0:01:18and booked on board that day.
0:01:18 > 0:01:20I was going to be spending a couple of days down there.
0:01:20 > 0:01:24I work in the travel business and we had a travel agency in Bandon.
0:01:24 > 0:01:29Fellow passenger Laurence Wilson remembers the fog that morning being
0:01:29 > 0:01:31the worst he'd ever seen.
0:01:31 > 0:01:33I live in Glenoe and it's in a valley.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36Well, it was absolutely pea soup, you know,
0:01:36 > 0:01:38you couldn't have seen your finger in front of you.
0:01:38 > 0:01:40I remember driving really, really slow.
0:01:40 > 0:01:42Particularly bad.
0:01:42 > 0:01:48Despite the weather, the 19-seater Flight 7100 would leave as planned.
0:01:48 > 0:01:51It was just two single lines of seats,
0:01:51 > 0:01:54so I went to sit at the first seat on the left-hand side.
0:01:54 > 0:01:56I felt that was a little bit too close to where
0:01:56 > 0:01:57the cockpit curtain was.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00I then went to sit on the second seat behind that.
0:02:00 > 0:02:02But then found that the third seat I thought had a little bit more
0:02:02 > 0:02:06legroom in it, so that's why I eventually ended up in that seat.
0:02:06 > 0:02:08I think if I had been first on the plane,
0:02:08 > 0:02:10I would've been right in behind the pilot,
0:02:10 > 0:02:14but because them seats had already been taken I ended up sitting just
0:02:14 > 0:02:15behind the wing.
0:02:15 > 0:02:19The Manx2 plane left Belfast with ten passengers and
0:02:19 > 0:02:22the two pilots on board just after eight o'clock in the morning.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28As they began their descent into Cork, it was clear the airport
0:02:28 > 0:02:31was experiencing the same fog as Belfast.
0:02:32 > 0:02:34You might as well open your eyes in a dark room.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37You see nothing. It was just that foggy.
0:02:37 > 0:02:42And the first sign of trouble was that the plane actually started to
0:02:42 > 0:02:45just come back up, now, not a big, sudden go,
0:02:45 > 0:02:47but it came back up through the cloud.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51Minutes later they started to descend again.
0:02:51 > 0:02:56All of a sudden, the plane just went straight up into the air, like,
0:02:56 > 0:03:01more than 45, just a real tight, went up, out, and everybody, "Whoa,"
0:03:01 > 0:03:04that's when everybody went, "Whoa, that wasn't good."
0:03:04 > 0:03:08At one point one of the pilots came back and announced to everybody that
0:03:08 > 0:03:10there was fog at the airport and we were going to have to go into
0:03:10 > 0:03:14a holding pattern for a period of time.
0:03:14 > 0:03:15So, after 20 minutes,
0:03:15 > 0:03:19the curtains opened again and I remember the pilot going,
0:03:19 > 0:03:20just, thumbs up,
0:03:20 > 0:03:24"That's it, we're going for it," so at that stage I did really pay
0:03:24 > 0:03:28attention because it hadn't happened to me before.
0:03:29 > 0:03:31Then all of the sudden I just seen grass,
0:03:31 > 0:03:32and the grass would have been,
0:03:32 > 0:03:35I'm guessing, like, sort of ten feet,
0:03:35 > 0:03:38and I knew we were going far, far too quick.
0:03:38 > 0:03:40I looked out the window to my right-hand side.
0:03:40 > 0:03:41I just saw grass.
0:03:41 > 0:03:44That would've been at the moment that the plane tipped onto its side
0:03:44 > 0:03:46and that's the last memory that I have.
0:03:50 > 0:03:51ALARM RINGS
0:03:51 > 0:03:54The emergency crash siren was sounded.
0:03:54 > 0:03:56And at the airport's fire station,
0:03:56 > 0:04:00new recruit Gary Feheely was about to experience first-hand what he'd
0:04:00 > 0:04:02been trained to do.
0:04:02 > 0:04:06I never expected my first incident to be
0:04:06 > 0:04:08a baptism of fire.
0:04:09 > 0:04:11With the fog so thick on the ground,
0:04:11 > 0:04:14not even air traffic control were able to identify
0:04:14 > 0:04:17where the plane had landed.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20But a snap decision by the team in one of the fire engines to head out
0:04:20 > 0:04:23towards a particular section of runway 17
0:04:23 > 0:04:26would prove incredibly lucky.
0:04:26 > 0:04:28On board, station officer John McCarthy.
0:04:30 > 0:04:32It was just luck, really, that we decided to go that way.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36It was extremely foggy. You could see the length of your nose, really.
0:04:36 > 0:04:38But just as we came through, we could see a glow in the distance.
0:04:40 > 0:04:44The plane had flipped over at high speed and careered down the runway
0:04:44 > 0:04:49for nearly 200 metres before coming to a stop on the grass alongside.
0:04:49 > 0:04:52The front fuselage had been crushed on impact and with the passengers
0:04:52 > 0:04:56suspended upside down and strapped into their seats,
0:04:56 > 0:04:59mud and water began gushing into the cabin,
0:04:59 > 0:05:02filling the already squeezed space.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07So, we were fighting for air and the gutters come up to, I'm sure, over
0:05:07 > 0:05:10my waist, so I was actually drowning.
0:05:10 > 0:05:14But that wasn't all. Both of the plane's engines had caught fire.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18The panic now was to get the passengers out.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21And you could hear the guy in the back screaming, "It's on fire,
0:05:21 > 0:05:25"it's on fire!" He obviously thought that was it, your number's up.
0:05:25 > 0:05:27Did I think I was going to die? Yes, I did.
0:05:30 > 0:05:34With just moments to spare before the fires spread to the cabin,
0:05:34 > 0:05:37two teams of firefighters were able to put the blaze out.
0:05:37 > 0:05:38If it was a training exercise,
0:05:38 > 0:05:41it possibly would be the worst scenario you could guess.
0:05:41 > 0:05:43Carnage. That's what it was.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46Yeah, you knew. No, there was people that you knew were dead.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51We got a crowbar, we went to the hold door at the back of
0:05:51 > 0:05:55the aircraft and broke open the hold door.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58Whenever I heard the banging I just shouted, "Yes, there's people here,
0:05:58 > 0:06:01"there's people here," to let them know that there was somebody living.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04Extremely tight space inside.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07The mud was, you'd have to come in the front
0:06:07 > 0:06:09and we had to just crawl our way in.
0:06:09 > 0:06:13I couldn't get my hand down in to actually pull the buckles forward
0:06:13 > 0:06:17and I was trying hard, like, pushing and pushing and I couldn't do it.
0:06:17 > 0:06:19When we got to Laurence,
0:06:19 > 0:06:21he was strapped into his seat, upside down,
0:06:21 > 0:06:24so we cut his seatbelt to remove him from his seat.
0:06:29 > 0:06:32The rescue team went about freeing those they knew to be alive.
0:06:34 > 0:06:38The silence that was there, it was as if everyone was busy doing what
0:06:38 > 0:06:41they were doing. There was so much happening but yet it was so quiet.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44Ambulances took the injured to hospital,
0:06:44 > 0:06:46but six bodies were recovered.
0:06:46 > 0:06:52Four passengers and the two pilots had not survived the crash.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54I just remember I stepped down and I soon realised,
0:06:54 > 0:06:56I seen the carnage.
0:06:56 > 0:07:00I realised how lucky I was to be able to actually walk away from it.
0:07:06 > 0:07:10Brendan Mallan has no memory of the drama unfolding.
0:07:10 > 0:07:11Today for the first time,
0:07:11 > 0:07:14he'll hear from his rescuer exactly what happened.
0:07:16 > 0:07:21It will be probably difficult to hear, but I think now, five plus
0:07:21 > 0:07:27years on, I'm probably in the right state of mind to hear it
0:07:27 > 0:07:28and to deal with it.
0:07:28 > 0:07:32Brendan and Laurence are once more travelling to Cork Airport,
0:07:32 > 0:07:34this time by train.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38They'll be reunited for the first time with the men who put their own
0:07:38 > 0:07:42lives at risk that day five years ago to save their lives.
0:07:44 > 0:07:48For me the big thing is being able to express my gratitude for what was
0:07:48 > 0:07:52done that day. It was courageous, it was professional, it was,
0:07:52 > 0:07:54you know, why I'm possibly sitting here today.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57It'd be nice just to shake hands with them.
0:07:58 > 0:07:59I think that'd be good.
0:08:07 > 0:08:11At Cork Airport, and in a coincidental twist,
0:08:11 > 0:08:14the fog has returned just like that fateful morning.
0:08:17 > 0:08:20It's like deja vu. Definitely makes it surreal, with the fog
0:08:20 > 0:08:22and the stuff still being here.
0:08:22 > 0:08:24Bit...bit daunting.
0:08:26 > 0:08:28Waiting airside to meet them,
0:08:28 > 0:08:32firefighters John and Gary who were the first on the scene that day.
0:08:34 > 0:08:35- All right?- Pleasure to meet you.
0:08:35 > 0:08:40- Lovely to meet you.- Gary.- Gary? - You're Gary and you're Laurence?
0:08:40 > 0:08:42I'm Laurence.
0:08:42 > 0:08:43So, back together again.
0:08:43 > 0:08:45- Yes, indeed.- After five years!
0:08:45 > 0:08:47- Five years.- Under much better circumstances.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50- Oh, yes.- You were just a recruit that day.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53- I was, I was. I was a new recruit. - At the end of a training session.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56- Yeah, yeah.- With the real thing. - That was like the final exam.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59I'd say from your point of view it was a surreal experience actually.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02Brendan says to me I think I was absolutely, completely gone.
0:09:02 > 0:09:05My first memories were from some point over the next day or two
0:09:05 > 0:09:08in Cork University Hospital, little flashes,
0:09:08 > 0:09:12so it took a while for my brain to start working reasonably like normal
0:09:12 > 0:09:15- again.- Brendan, you would've been too far up the plane
0:09:15 > 0:09:16in the wreckage to get to you...
0:09:16 > 0:09:19I'm not even sure if I was conscious or unconscious at the time
0:09:19 > 0:09:21- cos I've got no memory. - Yeah, you were talking to us.
0:09:21 > 0:09:23- I was conscious? Right, OK.- Yeah.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25We were just reassuring you, reassuring you that we'd be getting
0:09:25 > 0:09:28- up to you. We'd have to release one or two first... - Before we could get to you.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31Thank you very much, for if it wasn't for your expertise on the
0:09:31 > 0:09:34day, we wouldn't have been having this today.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37So we wouldn't. It was your expertise that got us out and that's
0:09:37 > 0:09:41the bottom line, so thank you very much for helping us out.
0:09:41 > 0:09:43It was a total team effort and we're only two of a group...
0:09:43 > 0:09:48Just doing our job. There was 20 plus of us there.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51Photographs taken soon after the crash allow the firefighters to
0:09:51 > 0:09:54explain what they had to do to get the survivors out.
0:09:56 > 0:09:58Can you remember whereabouts I would've been?
0:09:58 > 0:10:01- Brendan, you would've been around this area, inside the engine.- Yeah.
0:10:01 > 0:10:03That's crazy looking at that now.
0:10:03 > 0:10:05With that angle, Laurence would've been on the other side...
0:10:05 > 0:10:08I'm in the other, yes, I was upside down.
0:10:08 > 0:10:10Terrible. This must've been...
0:10:10 > 0:10:13- Two days after.- Two days after it they picked it up and...
0:10:13 > 0:10:15Whereabouts did you guys manage to come in to try and
0:10:15 > 0:10:16to get people out from?
0:10:16 > 0:10:20This was our entry point here through the cargo hold door,
0:10:20 > 0:10:23there was another entry point cut in here at the side.
0:10:23 > 0:10:27- Brendan, I think this is where you were.- Right, yeah, OK.- Round here.
0:10:27 > 0:10:28It's crazy looking at that now.
0:10:28 > 0:10:29- Yeah.- You know,
0:10:29 > 0:10:32it's horrific whenever you see all the crew
0:10:32 > 0:10:33and look at how many people's here.
0:10:34 > 0:10:35Awful.
0:10:36 > 0:10:40The reality of just how lucky they are to be alive
0:10:40 > 0:10:42is really hitting home.
0:10:42 > 0:10:44And after five years of not knowing,
0:10:44 > 0:10:47Brendan is beginning to learn about his rescue.
0:10:47 > 0:10:49Later in the programme he'll meet
0:10:49 > 0:10:51the man who pulled him from the plane
0:10:51 > 0:10:55and finally complete the jigsaw of what happened to him on that day.
0:11:07 > 0:11:091970s Belfast -
0:11:09 > 0:11:14night-time curfews, bombed out stores, security gates...
0:11:15 > 0:11:20..where the black and white pictures told a true story of a grey life,
0:11:20 > 0:11:22a city just about surviving.
0:11:25 > 0:11:29But also a city of contradictions where people made their own fun,
0:11:29 > 0:11:33places of light and oases of refuge away from the reality,
0:11:33 > 0:11:36places of fun with a hint of risque,
0:11:36 > 0:11:39where they snubbed their nose to the puritanical Ulster of the time.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44BIG BAND JAZZ MUSIC
0:11:48 > 0:11:52They called them the Penthouse Poppets,
0:11:52 > 0:11:54Belfast's answer to the bunny girls,
0:11:54 > 0:11:59their sexy presence at the top floor of the Europa Hotel providing a very
0:11:59 > 0:12:02welcome distraction to what was going on in the street
0:12:02 > 0:12:04some 12 floors down.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11Rosey Hunter is now a grandmother.
0:12:11 > 0:12:15I'm meeting up with her at her shop in White Abbey.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18More than 40 years ago, she had a very different life.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22- You have a gorgeous shop here. - Thank you very much indeed.
0:12:22 > 0:12:24- I really love it.- You were a Poppet?
0:12:24 > 0:12:30I was a Poppet and we had some of the most wonderful, fun times ever.
0:12:30 > 0:12:33The girls were a sensation and I thought they were ever so glamorous.
0:12:33 > 0:12:35So, how did you become a Poppet?
0:12:35 > 0:12:40A friend of mine was a Poppet and she said to me, you know,
0:12:40 > 0:12:42they were looking for more girls,
0:12:42 > 0:12:47so I went down and we seen the girl there and she said, "No problem."
0:12:47 > 0:12:51And then she produced this outfit, which was a total laugh, like,
0:12:51 > 0:12:52an absolute hoot.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55- Have you still got it? - Have I? You're crazy in the head!
0:12:55 > 0:12:57- JO LAUGHS - No way! Absolutely not.
0:12:57 > 0:13:00MUSIC: Dance Yourself Dizzy by Liquid Gold
0:13:00 > 0:13:04# ..Tonight, you're in for such a treat
0:13:04 > 0:13:07# Tonight, put on your dancing... #
0:13:07 > 0:13:10'The outfit certainly caused ripples in the city -
0:13:10 > 0:13:15'low-cut top and high-cut leg, and all in crushed velvet.'
0:13:15 > 0:13:19So, it was quite low-cut, quite high around the legs,
0:13:19 > 0:13:22you had your legs out and kind of a bit of your cleavage out,
0:13:22 > 0:13:23was it not a bit risque?
0:13:23 > 0:13:26I hadn't got very much cleavage, Jo, to be honest with you,
0:13:26 > 0:13:29and that's where tights were a wonder
0:13:29 > 0:13:31and the Wonderbra was just a sensation.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34# ..Dance, dance, dance. #
0:13:34 > 0:13:38And while London's bunny girls got, well, their bunny tail,
0:13:38 > 0:13:42the Belfast version got a more sophisticated but equally
0:13:42 > 0:13:44strategically placed bow.
0:13:46 > 0:13:49It had a white silk bow at the bottom, on your bottom,
0:13:50 > 0:13:53which when I used to iron before I went to work I used to tell my mummy
0:13:53 > 0:13:55I put it in the front of me.
0:13:55 > 0:13:57Did they know what you did?
0:13:57 > 0:14:00My father really didn't because
0:14:00 > 0:14:02he would've been so worried being in the Europa, with it being
0:14:02 > 0:14:05bombed so many times, it wouldn't have been about the job,
0:14:05 > 0:14:07it would've been the place where I was working,
0:14:07 > 0:14:09so for quite a while he didn't.
0:14:09 > 0:14:11- And you didn't tell him?- No.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14It was on a need-to-know basis and he didn't need to know.
0:14:16 > 0:14:20The Penthouse nightclub was renowned for big bar tabs,
0:14:20 > 0:14:23big tips and the best of service.
0:14:24 > 0:14:28Paddy McAnerney still works at the hotel nearly 50 years on.
0:14:28 > 0:14:29Back then he was bar manager.
0:14:31 > 0:14:35It was a place to go in the evenings to relax and enjoy.
0:14:35 > 0:14:39And you got the quay brigade in, you know, with their fancy motors.
0:14:39 > 0:14:42Some yuppies, but some down to earth and a lot of businesspeople and you
0:14:42 > 0:14:44got to know them all.
0:14:45 > 0:14:4923-year-old Michael Riddich couldn't believe his luck when he snared the
0:14:49 > 0:14:51job of the Penthouse cocktail barman.
0:14:53 > 0:14:55To be honest, for the first couple of weeks I was here I couldn't keep
0:14:55 > 0:14:56my eyes off them.
0:14:56 > 0:14:59There you go. I mean, I was a young man, so...
0:14:59 > 0:15:02They were sexy, let's admit it.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05And I suppose that's what they were selling, the glamour.
0:15:05 > 0:15:07On a Friday, Saturday night,
0:15:07 > 0:15:10there was a queue out the side at the security hut
0:15:10 > 0:15:13for people trying to get into the Penthouse.
0:15:16 > 0:15:20The lucky clientele who did manage to get in included visiting
0:15:20 > 0:15:24journalists. They used the hotel as a refuge from the news they'd been
0:15:24 > 0:15:25tasked to cover.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29But regardless of their celebrity status,
0:15:29 > 0:15:31everyone had to abide by the rules
0:15:31 > 0:15:35and Rosey's cousin Mary Stiles remembers management
0:15:35 > 0:15:36made sure of that.
0:15:38 > 0:15:40We were the Poppets.
0:15:40 > 0:15:42We weren't allowed to be touched.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45All we had to do was parade around and serve drinks.
0:15:45 > 0:15:46Well, did you feel safe?
0:15:46 > 0:15:49- You didn't ever feel like it was... - Never.
0:15:49 > 0:15:51- ..seedy or demeaning in any way? - Oh, no.
0:15:51 > 0:15:52But it wasn't seedy or demeaning.
0:15:52 > 0:15:56It was a beautiful place to work in.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59We were there to have fun and make some money.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03You had a float, so you rolled the notes up and put them
0:16:03 > 0:16:04down one of your breasts.
0:16:04 > 0:16:06So, that was your kitty.
0:16:06 > 0:16:08Was it something you were proud of?
0:16:08 > 0:16:11Would you have spoken openly about being a Poppet?
0:16:11 > 0:16:13Most definitely. Yeah.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16I wish I could take 40 years back and do it again, yeah.
0:16:23 > 0:16:27It's time for the Penthouse Poppets to come back to the Europa.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30Rosey and Mary haven't met in more than a decade.
0:16:30 > 0:16:34Good to see you! Hello!
0:16:34 > 0:16:37- Hi, darling, how are you?- Very well, how are you?- Lovely to see you.
0:16:37 > 0:16:38- And you.- Look at you.
0:16:40 > 0:16:42My God! It's unbelievable, isn't it?
0:16:42 > 0:16:43- It is.- Hi, Jo!
0:16:43 > 0:16:45Lovely to see you again.
0:16:45 > 0:16:46Nice to see you, darling.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49I can't believe how alike you are.
0:16:49 > 0:16:51Oh, you're like twins!
0:16:51 > 0:16:55- The terrible twins!- Well, ladies, you know why we're here.
0:16:55 > 0:16:57- Oh, yes.- Yes.- Let's check out the Penthouse.
0:16:57 > 0:16:59Come on, come on!
0:16:59 > 0:17:01Oh, I can't wait.
0:17:03 > 0:17:05This is where we straighten up our uniform.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08Uh-huh. Fixed your bow at the back.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11So, ladies, it's time to relive your youth.
0:17:11 > 0:17:13We're on the 12th floor.
0:17:13 > 0:17:14- Ooh, wow!- There you go.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17- There it is. Go and have a look. - Oh, my goodness.
0:17:17 > 0:17:21- It's so bright! We've only seen it in the dark.- My goodness.
0:17:21 > 0:17:23Look at the beautiful view still there.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26- It's so beautiful, isn't it? - It's amazing, isn't it?
0:17:26 > 0:17:27Rosey, do you remember this?
0:17:27 > 0:17:30- Meet and greet.- "Good evening, sir.
0:17:30 > 0:17:31"Good evening, sir."
0:17:31 > 0:17:32The dance floor's still there.
0:17:32 > 0:17:34And that was the bar, do you remember?
0:17:34 > 0:17:36Then the kitchen over there.
0:17:36 > 0:17:37- Yeah.- Rosey.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43"I'll just put your drinks down, sir. Thank you."
0:17:44 > 0:17:45A lifetime away.
0:17:47 > 0:17:49Aw.
0:17:49 > 0:17:51God, where did all those years go?
0:17:51 > 0:17:52I know.
0:17:52 > 0:17:54And every bit of it was fun.
0:17:54 > 0:17:55Fun and laughter.
0:17:55 > 0:18:00Yeah. It's like you can hear the laughter, can't you?
0:18:00 > 0:18:03And the band playing Cracklin' Rosie and
0:18:03 > 0:18:04Proud Mary.
0:18:10 > 0:18:14- Well, ladies. Has it changed much? - Hi, Jo.
0:18:14 > 0:18:16- Is it nice to be back?- What have you got in that bag? It is.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19- What have you got...? Oh! - Another small surprise.- OK.
0:18:19 > 0:18:20Small being the operative word.
0:18:20 > 0:18:24Obviously I couldn't get my hands on an original, but
0:18:24 > 0:18:25does that take you back?
0:18:25 > 0:18:28- Oh, my Lord! - THEY LAUGH
0:18:28 > 0:18:30With a little bow?
0:18:30 > 0:18:31- Bows.- Stiff bow?- The bow is cute.
0:18:31 > 0:18:33- The bow is cute.- It's cute.
0:18:33 > 0:18:35- Yeah.- Yeah.
0:18:35 > 0:18:39Maybe the sleeves a bit shorter, like, a bit higher.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42Yeah. Cos... The legs used to start up here.
0:18:42 > 0:18:46- Up there?- Yeah, up there and down here.- Jeepers, there's nothing to
0:18:46 > 0:18:48- it.- No, well, there was nothing to us either.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01As Poppets you waited on everyone hand and foot
0:19:01 > 0:19:03and today it's your turn.
0:19:03 > 0:19:04- Lovely.- So...enjoy.
0:19:04 > 0:19:08- Thank you.- Thank you very much. - Have a lovely afternoon. - See you later.
0:19:08 > 0:19:10- Can't remember last time I was served.- No.
0:19:10 > 0:19:11Maybe we're having duck.
0:19:14 > 0:19:16And on hand to be of service,
0:19:16 > 0:19:21their former co-workers Paddy McAnerney and Michael Riddich.
0:19:21 > 0:19:22- Good afternoon, ladies. - Good afternoon.
0:19:22 > 0:19:24- Awk...- And yourself. - Michael?- Yeah!
0:19:24 > 0:19:26- Oh, my goodness!- That's Michael.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30- Paddy.- Is that Mad Mary from Manchester?- It is, it is!
0:19:30 > 0:19:32The mad one!
0:19:33 > 0:19:35- Right, girls, it's great to see yous all again.- Great to see you,
0:19:35 > 0:19:37- too, Paddy.- Well, cheers, everybody.
0:19:37 > 0:19:39- Cheers.- Yeah, it's lovely to see you all again.
0:19:39 > 0:19:41- Great memories.- Happy times.
0:19:41 > 0:19:43- Happy times. - And many more of them.
0:19:43 > 0:19:45Where did you get this English accent?
0:19:45 > 0:19:49Oh, I've lived in Manchester for 45 years.
0:19:49 > 0:19:51It's not 45 years since I've seen you, is it?
0:19:51 > 0:19:52It is since you've seen me.
0:19:52 > 0:19:56- Yeah.- Oh, my God. Rosey was 17 when she started.
0:19:56 > 0:19:57- 16.- 16!
0:19:58 > 0:20:00- 16.- She was 18.
0:20:00 > 0:20:01- I was not.- No, she was not.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04You told us that. To get her started.
0:20:04 > 0:20:07- ROSEY LAUGHS - Did all the barmen fancy
0:20:07 > 0:20:08the Poppets?
0:20:11 > 0:20:14- Not really. - THEY LAUGH
0:20:14 > 0:20:15What about Rosey and me?
0:20:15 > 0:20:19We had a little romantic liaison for a while.
0:20:19 > 0:20:21- Had you?- And you didn't know about that?
0:20:21 > 0:20:25I tell you what, I had to hold on to my bow with you.
0:20:25 > 0:20:26Cos it was crooked.
0:20:26 > 0:20:27It wasn't crooked!
0:20:27 > 0:20:29It was, I kept trying to fix your bow.
0:20:29 > 0:20:30Well, we had a good laugh.
0:20:30 > 0:20:33I think I used to live on my tips most of the time.
0:20:33 > 0:20:35You lived on the girls' tips.
0:20:35 > 0:20:39They made them. They made them and gave you a few of them.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42But, sure, we'd have done it for nothing, wouldn't we have? We loved it that much.
0:20:42 > 0:20:44- Oh, aye.- We had a good laugh.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47- We had.- But I was a good sprinter, wasn't I, Paddy?
0:20:47 > 0:20:49- Yeah! - I'm glad you were never caught.
0:20:49 > 0:20:53THEY LAUGH
0:20:53 > 0:20:56The world of the Penthouse Poppets is so far removed from what we'd
0:20:56 > 0:20:59expect today and what we'd accept,
0:20:59 > 0:21:04but for the Europa team back then it was escapism from the dark days of
0:21:04 > 0:21:05the Troubles.
0:21:05 > 0:21:10That team provided light and laughter in the darkest of days.
0:21:30 > 0:21:34On the 10th of February, 2011,
0:21:34 > 0:21:38a plane travelling from Belfast crash-landed at Cork Airport,
0:21:38 > 0:21:41killing six of the 12 people on board.
0:21:47 > 0:21:51Firefighters from all over Cork were directed to the airport.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55A team of over 30 worked to get survivors out of the stricken plane.
0:22:05 > 0:22:08Today, two of the survivors of the crash,
0:22:08 > 0:22:11Brendan Mallon and Laurence Wilson,
0:22:11 > 0:22:15are in Cork to say thank you to those who rescued them.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18Brendan, who has no recollection of the tragic events,
0:22:18 > 0:22:21is keen to learn how he was rescued.
0:22:21 > 0:22:25The exact whys and wherefores of how I was
0:22:25 > 0:22:27cut out, if I was cut out,
0:22:27 > 0:22:30and who dragged me out and whether I was conscious in any way,
0:22:30 > 0:22:33shape or form at that stage, no, that's something I don't know,
0:22:33 > 0:22:35and part of me would like to know that,
0:22:35 > 0:22:38part of me probably is a little
0:22:38 > 0:22:40concerned about knowing that, as well.
0:22:40 > 0:22:43Brendan is going to meet face to face for the first time
0:22:43 > 0:22:46the man who pulled him out of the plane
0:22:46 > 0:22:51and finally learn what happened to him on that day in 2011.
0:23:00 > 0:23:04Firefighter Michael Lynch is based at the nearby Ballincollig
0:23:04 > 0:23:06fire station.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08He'd been out shopping when his pager went off
0:23:08 > 0:23:10telling him to report to base.
0:23:10 > 0:23:12None of us in the station would've attended a plane
0:23:12 > 0:23:15crash before, like, so, you know, this was going to be all new to us.
0:23:15 > 0:23:18We didn't know how big a plane it was or how many people were there,
0:23:18 > 0:23:20so it was pretty intense at the time.
0:23:20 > 0:23:23The adrenaline sets in a bit and you realise, you know, that you're going
0:23:23 > 0:23:25to something very serious.
0:23:25 > 0:23:29You have to kind of set that aside and get into work mode, like.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32Once at the airport, Michael's team were directed out to the crash site
0:23:32 > 0:23:34and into the overturned plane.
0:23:35 > 0:23:39I heard a person shouting out, who I now know was Brendan Mallon,
0:23:39 > 0:23:42and he had serious injuries and he was in serious pain,
0:23:42 > 0:23:45because he was rolling and shouting, you know, "Get me out of here,
0:23:45 > 0:23:47"get me out of here!"
0:23:47 > 0:23:51And so I had to make room and cut away some other
0:23:51 > 0:23:52seats at the time.
0:23:52 > 0:23:57On the day, Brendan made a snap decision not to sit at the front of the plane.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00He knows that's likely to have saved his life.
0:24:01 > 0:24:04Other people did sit in those seats afterwards
0:24:04 > 0:24:06and they and their families aren't as lucky as me and mine
0:24:06 > 0:24:09at the moment, and that is something that always is
0:24:09 > 0:24:11in the back of the mind and I'm always very conscious of that.
0:24:15 > 0:24:17He was trapped in such a small space
0:24:17 > 0:24:21the firefighters had to use special cutters to rip out the seats in
0:24:21 > 0:24:23front before they could get to him.
0:24:23 > 0:24:25I would've carried him over the first bit
0:24:25 > 0:24:28and there would've been two lads that were positioned behind me.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31Between us then we would've taken him out of the plane and handed him
0:24:31 > 0:24:32over then to the paramedics.
0:24:33 > 0:24:37Brendan was taken to Cork University Hospital and would spend the next
0:24:37 > 0:24:41three weeks there and in the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast.
0:24:41 > 0:24:45He had more than a dozen broken bones, including one in his neck
0:24:45 > 0:24:49that was millimetres away from killing or paralysing him.
0:24:50 > 0:24:52Looking at that wreckage of the plane,
0:24:52 > 0:24:55seeing where I would've been sitting
0:24:55 > 0:25:00and seeing what way that part of the plane was crushed down,
0:25:00 > 0:25:03that was actually a very difficult thing to see.
0:25:03 > 0:25:09To think and to understand that I had got out of that was difficult to
0:25:09 > 0:25:10get my head around.
0:25:19 > 0:25:23Until today, Brendan has always believed he was unconscious
0:25:23 > 0:25:24throughout the whole rescue,
0:25:24 > 0:25:28but he's learned that he was awake and talking.
0:25:28 > 0:25:31Now he's going to meet for the first time Michael Lynch,
0:25:31 > 0:25:33the firefighter who got him out.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40- Nice to meet you, Brendan.- At last. How are you keeping?- I'm good, good.
0:25:40 > 0:25:42- Michael Lynch. Nice to meet you. - How are you?- Good.
0:25:42 > 0:25:45I remember you now, all right. Actually seeing the face now again.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48Today is the first day in five years that I've realised that I was
0:25:48 > 0:25:51- actually conscious throughout that. - Yeah.- I've got absolutely no memory
0:25:51 > 0:25:54- at all, so...- I'll try and help you fill in a bit of the blanks...
0:25:54 > 0:25:56That's what I was hoping to try and catch on to.
0:25:56 > 0:25:58It's really hard to get my head around the fact that that bit of the
0:25:58 > 0:26:00- fuselage that was so squished down...- Yeah.
0:26:00 > 0:26:02- ..that's where I was and other people were.- Yeah.
0:26:02 > 0:26:06- It's just unbelievable. - You were actually being squashed down inside there.
0:26:06 > 0:26:09And I could see that your neck was bent over, like.
0:26:09 > 0:26:11You know, so, there was very little room to move inside there.
0:26:11 > 0:26:14I would think that you were probably unconscious for a while...
0:26:14 > 0:26:18- Oh, right, OK.- Because we were in there for a good ten minutes before
0:26:18 > 0:26:22- we heard you calling at all, because we were trying to get somebody else out at the time.- OK.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25And that's when we heard you screaming and calling for help.
0:26:25 > 0:26:27And you were conscious then.
0:26:27 > 0:26:29I had a little conversation when we did meet.
0:26:29 > 0:26:31- Right, OK.- And when I got to you initially,
0:26:31 > 0:26:36and all you were saying to me was, "I'm sorry," and apologising.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39- Really?- For shouting and for roaring and you were asking, "Get me out
0:26:39 > 0:26:43"of here." You kept apologising to me to say, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry,"
0:26:43 > 0:26:44which was kind of, you know...
0:26:44 > 0:26:47Can I apologise again about me shouting at you?
0:26:47 > 0:26:49No, not at all, because, I mean, you know,
0:26:49 > 0:26:51we were just trying to get you out as quick as we could.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54I knew you were in serious pain and I knew you obviously would've
0:26:54 > 0:26:57had serious injuries, but I couldn't see any
0:26:57 > 0:26:58physical injuries on you.
0:26:58 > 0:27:00- It was a hard road.- Yeah. - There's no doubt about that.
0:27:00 > 0:27:05But I was well looked after by people in the hospitals and my wife
0:27:05 > 0:27:07and family and friends all looked after me well.
0:27:07 > 0:27:09From my point of view and my family's point of view,
0:27:09 > 0:27:12we're eternally grateful to yourself and everybody that was involved in
0:27:12 > 0:27:14the rescue here, cos without that and without that hard work and
0:27:14 > 0:27:18dedication and professionalism I probably wouldn't be here today, so,
0:27:18 > 0:27:20genuinely, from the heart, thank you so much.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23- Thank you.- Thank you. - Good to see you.- OK.
0:27:27 > 0:27:29Why did I survive that day and others didn't is a question
0:27:29 > 0:27:33again that I've been asked quite a lot. It's a difficult one to answer
0:27:33 > 0:27:35because some people weren't that lucky.
0:27:35 > 0:27:37Why was I lucky and others weren't?
0:27:37 > 0:27:39There's no balance there.
0:27:39 > 0:27:42I think it was just one of those things that was pure luck.
0:27:44 > 0:27:46Luck or fate,
0:27:46 > 0:27:50Laurence Wilson and Brendan Mallon owe their lives to the team on the
0:27:50 > 0:27:53ground at Cork that February morning.
0:27:53 > 0:27:55I'm a survivor. They're the guys that need the praise.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58Between the rescuers and the
0:27:58 > 0:28:02rescue service and the Cork University Hospital,
0:28:02 > 0:28:04them's the people that need the praise in this.
0:28:04 > 0:28:06We only happened to be there at the time.
0:28:10 > 0:28:11Reunited at last
0:28:11 > 0:28:15and now they can piece together the traumatic moments of their past and
0:28:15 > 0:28:18say thank you to the people who gave them back their futures.