Flying into Danger Skies Above Britain

Once, except for the birds, our skies were empty.

Now, they're a crowded place.

It's like chaos but it's controlled chaos.

Every day, 6,000 planes...

-My pride and joy.

-There's nothing we can't transport.

..and 600,000 people are in the skies above Britain.

Ah, yes!

Guiding every plane is a hidden army of controllers...

So we've got no option right now but to stop arrivals into Gatwick.

..performing one of the world's greatest juggling acts.

Unlike a computer game, you can't hit pause. They're coming.

A place of adventure... HE LAUGHS

-That was fantastic.

-..wonder...

-When you're up there, nothing else matters.

-..and danger.

The less you know what's in front of you, the better, I think.

It gives you a sense of space,

freedom and a feeling that you're part of something bigger.

Every boy's little dream.

RADIO: Reduce speed 180 knots

83, Foxtrot. Leave him on a heading of 33...

-It's 7-9-7-4.

-601...

-THEY TALK AT ONCE

In a remote location in Hampshire,

far away from any airport or runway, is Britain's air traffic nerve

centre, NATS, where hundreds of controllers watch over our skies.

Air Traffic Service. Report your level.

'9,200 feet at 1-0-2-0... ..Alpha.'

Through radio links to pilots,

they guide thousands of planes in and out of British airports.

Jersey, five, echo, bravo.

OK, 1-0-1-1. Cancel the hold. Left centre, that one.

Leave 265 degrees.

This is the absolute heart of the invisible motorway

network in the skies.

All traffic that's flying over England and Wales

that's receiving an air traffic control service

is getting it from the people in this room

and it's some of the busiest and most complex airspace in the world.

INAUDIBLE

Almost all the traffic is arriving at or departing from an airport.

From an air traffic controller's perspective,

that actually gives them a challenge

because all the stuff that's coming in is above all the stuff that wants

to go out and their job is to make that happen without getting them in the way of each other.

Channel three, November. You're heading to London 121.275.

Each controller is personally responsible

for the safety of up to 15 planes at any one time,

but it's not just radar they rely on to keep passengers safe.

So we're a superstitious bunch

and what this is, in the middle of the room, is a guardian angel,

guarding the controllers and making sure

we're able to look after the skies.

Each commercial plane is meticulously plotted

through a tightly regulated network of highways in the sky,

in an area called Controlled Airspace.

Outside Controlled Airspace, pilots are free to roam.

But if they stray into one of the major routes,

the results could be catastrophic.

Hold on.

On the radar, an unidentified aircraft has been spotted

approaching the main Gatwick flight path.

-PHONE RINGS

-Control. Watch supervisor.

Attempts to reach the pilot have been unsuccessful,

so the operational supervisor must decide if it's safe to allow flights

in and out of the airport.

We've stopped, what? All arrivals and departures?

Stopped all arrivals. Haven't stopped departures at the moment

because of where he is, but stopped all arrivals.

They can't do any approaches to 265 at the moment.

So nobody's got contact with him at the moment

and he's stayed resolutely at 2,700 or 2,800.

Right. So what we've got is, we've got an infringer,

who we've tracked coming down outside Controlled Airspace.

Unfortunately, he's crossed the extended Gatwick centreline, landing on 2-6,

so we've got no option right now but to stop arrivals into Gatwick.

So the most important thing we have to do

is keep all the other aircraft away from the infringer.

So, at the moment, the rules are that we have to do our best

to achieve five miles laterally or 5,000 feet vertically

from an infringing unidentified aircraft.

Jersey, eight, Victor, hotel, climb now. Flat level 1-3-0.

The disruption can be quite incredible for one infringer,

but everything we do is about making sure

that we keep away from the unknown target.

With the unidentified aircraft still in Controlled Airspace,

hundreds of passengers who were about to touch down must circle overhead.

All we're doing is playing a bit of a waiting game with this chap,

waiting for him to leave Controlled Airspace while we get two-way with him,

so we can have positive control over the aircraft.

Charlie, eight, Victor, hotel, climb now.

-Flight level 1-3-0.

-A little slow at 16 there.

'Tango, maintain descent, flight level 1-5-0.'

He's now gone outside, has he?

-I'm not aware...

-Looks like it. No, that's fine.

Hello, Nigel. It's Dave. How're you doing? So the infringer's now outside Controlled Airspace,

two-and-a-half to the south-east of you, so we've started arrivals again.

First one's EZ 4-8 X-ray uniform.

Air-traffic controllers deal with infringers every week.

Everybody today is really focused on security,

particularly after 9/11,

and so making sure that we know who all the aircraft

are and where they are is really important for safety.

This infringer turned out to be an amateur pilot

who'd accidentally flown over Gatwick.

But when a threat to the airspace can't resolved by NATS,

there's another power guarding the skies.

For months, Russian bombers have been probing Britain's air defences.

The RAF Typhoons have come very, very close to shadow.

I think what this episode demonstrates is that we do have the fast jets,

the pilots, the systems in place, to protect the United Kingdom.

-Morning.

-Morning, sir.

-Everything all right?

-Yeah. Good, thanks. You?

-OK. See you later. Thank you.

So the threat to the UK at the moment is heightened.

It's no surprise from the newspaper articles

that there is a big threat to all of us at the moment from, particularly, Isis.

RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire

is the UK's busiest fighter jet operating base -

home to two squadrons of Typhoons.

One of the most powerful combat planes in the world,

the Typhoon can break the speed of sound in just 30 seconds.

Last year, after 26 years as a fighter pilot,

Group Captain Jez Attridge was put in charge of the base.

Morning, everyone.

This is another big week,

so we've got three squadrons out of the door today, to the Middle East,

half the aeroplanes going today, the other half tomorrow.

On the back of that, we've got to prep those jets for North America

and, of course, QRA every minute of every day,

so good luck, everybody. Thank you.

QRA stands for Quick Reaction Alert - the codename

used when a Typhoon is launched

to intercept unidentified aircraft entering British airspace.

In 2015, jets were scrambled 12 times...

..a scenario the RAF train for regularly.

Rushton 55, Rushton, 55.

London Centre on guard, if you're receiving,

come up with this frequency.

It's not just NATS who safeguard our skies.

A watchful eye is also trained on UK airspace

from a nationwide network of hidden RAF bunkers.

Rushton 55, contact London Control 132.950.

The RAF controllers have been working alongside the civil ones for years and years.

When I first started off as a controller, I was in the RAF.

If there's an aircraft that nobody knows about,

which they have reason to believe might be a security threat

to the UK, then we'll clear our aircraft out of the way.

Hello, Mark Galloway, watch supervisor.

And how long has it been out of communication?

Civilian air traffic controllers at NATS

have spotted an unidentified plane just off the Cornish coast

and alert their RAF counterparts.

It is Rushton 55 is the call sign.

Gulf stream from Heathrow.

He's down west at the moment, at that lat and long.

Heathrow, Tel Aviv.

Tracker test. Rushton 55...

PHONE RINGS

Just approaching Plymouth now, the subject aircraft.

-The traffic is still out of comms.

-It's in there, point it out.

5-1-0-7, just south of Newquay.

The aircraft, which has come across the Atlantic,

isn't in contact with anybody, either civilian or military.

And now, between us, we're starting to work out a plan

of how we can intercept this aircraft

and try and confirm what its identity may be.

Just to let you know, we're continuing to call on 1-2-1-5...

The aircraft is continuing to be out of comms.

Repeated attempts to contact the jet have failed,

so the national Air Defence Operations Centre

instructs RAF Coningsby to put a Typhoon pilot on stand-by.

ALARM SOUNDS

Just minutes after receiving the call,

the Typhoon is ready to launch.

We'll sit now wait for the actual call to launch in the air.

It's an important thing to let anybody that might want to penetrate

our airspace know that we're able to defend ourselves,

that we are able to be anywhere within the UK

in a matter of minutes.

The threat, the challenge, the pressure is clear and present,

and that's why we have these aeroplanes ready every minute of every day.

'Coningsby QRA is at cockpit.'

Coningsby, cue scrambling.

'Scramble, scramble, scramble, scramble, acknowledge.'

Since 9/11, the potential hijack of a passenger plane

is considered a serious threat.

As the Typhoon launches,

NATS air traffic controllers clear everything out of its path.

We've got a subject aircraft getting airborne from Coningsby

and we will be looking from Coningsby...

And news reaches the top.

The fighters are in the air. Please could you update the Prime Minister?

30,000 feet above Bristol, the Typhoon reaches its target...

-..a commercial plane.

-Still not compliant.

Next, the pilot executes a series of warnings.

You are to conduct a show of presence manoeuvre.

There are a number of recognised signals

and the key one is they'll pull up alongside, waggle their wings

and then they'll turn towards the direction they want the airline to go to.

They might drop flares as well.

So it's a lot of recognise signals to say, "We are here. You need to follow us now."

Just confirmed, that is noncompliance for the show of presence.

You are to conduct an exercise - show of force.

Acknowledged, an exercise show of force onto west wing, paragraph six.

As a final warning, the pilot reveals his air-to-air missiles,

before issuing an order from the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister can order a Typhoon pilot

to shoot down a passenger plane.

'The nightmare scenario for us would be that we would engage an aeroplane

'and be given that order. But our pilots,

'they will execute the order given by the Prime Minister.

'They might think about it on the ground afterwards, but, at the time,

'that's what we are trained to do.'

OK, he's compliant, Mike.

-Well done, thank you.

-Thank you very much, see you later.

QRA simulations take place regularly.

This was an exercise.

Those involved would not usually know

whether or not the sortie was real.

We've got a chance to have the pilot make that intercept,

go up alongside an aeroplane

and just practice all of the physical things that he needs to do

to get the aeroplane in the right place at the right time.

The RAF's hundred million pound Typhoons are at the forefront of aviation technology...

..but many are drawn to the skies by more simple forms of flight.

'I think one of the worst things you can do in life is not take any risks.'

A life without adventure, a life without danger,

a life without feeling that adrenaline, that excitement,

would be no life at all.

44-year-old Nick English has had a passion for vintage planes

since he was a child.

'Jumping into an old aircraft,

'you never quite know what's going to happen.

'When you look at the pilots and the explorers of yesteryear, flying,

'literally, into the unknown,

'it's quite amazing to think you can just jump in an aircraft of the same age, the same era,'

and experience some of what they did.

Nick's family have been restoring planes for generations.

So we keep the aircraft in this hangar here,

and you can literally just pull them out, jump in and zoom off.

His vintage Gypsy Moth is one of only 20 in the UK.

It's the same type of aeroplane that Amy Johnson flew

to Australia in the 1930s.

No brakes, so you just literally have this kind of tail skid here.

So...this is our baby.

Nick's love of flying was severely tested when he was 24,

during an aerobatics flight with his father.

'It was a beautiful March day and my father called me up and said,

' "Look, let's...let's go for a fly", practising for an air display.

'Quite an old aircraft - a 1942 Harvard.

'We took off and, during the practice display,

'something went wrong.

'We ended up crashing.'

My father died.

I remember being in quite a lot of pain.

This leg was snapped and back behind me.

This one was dislocated out there.

This arm was snapped off in this direction.

I mean, he was only 49 years old when he died.

It obviously hasn't stopped me wanting to fly,

but it's obviously had a very negative impact on the rest of the family,

which is a whole other matter.

So this is our...our dad.

We always loved this photo

because it sort of encapsulates his enjoyment.

He'd just come back from an air display in his kit.

I think, for our father, adventure was pretty important.

He had that passion to go and do something and...

we got part of that.

So, do you remember this trip up here?

Giles was probably 16 at the time, or 15.

I would have been 17 or 18, and off you'd go.

Huge adventures in eastern Europe and northern Spain and elsewhere,

and so you'll land and you'll literally be sleeping

under the wing of the aeroplane.

Oh, it was just such fun, it really was.

Following the death of their father,

Nick and Giles made a pact never to fly in the same plane

for the sake of their families and mother, Cara.

-Hello.

-Hi!

-How are you doing?

-Oh, nice to see you.

-Come on in.

-Two boys together.

Yes, lucky you. Lucky you.

Two years ago, Giles also had a crash flying his own plane.

I remember saying to you, "Giles had a flying accident".

And I had to repeat it five or six times for you

to comprehend what I was saying -

-you couldn't.

-I could not comprehend.

They say lightning doesn't strike twice and...

..you know, how could it possibly happen again?

'I miss my husband every day of my life'

and I see my sons taking over from him...

in everything they do and think and believe in.

-What goes through your mind?

-Well, my immediate feeling is fear...

for you...

for myself as well.

The fact, you know, that you both are here

and I couldn't bear the thought of losing either of you.

While Nick continues to fly,

since his crash, Giles has not piloted a plane.

Would a little part of you be relieved if Giles didn't go up again?

Yes, of course.

I suppose, secretly, I hope he doesn't.

Hi, this is seven Tango. At 6,000 feet. QH now 1-0-2-1.

Hi, it's three Juliet delta. A320 standing by for more information.

-1-0-3-1. Clearance to Bordeaux, please.

-4-4 Bravo...

The radar screens at NATS can show anything from single engine

light aircraft to 150-tonne cargo planes.

Covering an area of one million square kilometres,

the British skies are a feast for plane spotters.

Outside the wire at RAF Coningsby lies The Mound -

a mecca for military plane enthusiasts

like Liam and his mum, Caroline.

This is a good one cos you are high up, to start with,

so you don't need to bring your ladders to here.

If I was going to be a pilot,

I'd rather be a pilot of something like a Typhoon.

-You'd be too wimpy.

-I'd be too wimpy?

-Yeah, you'd pass out on take-off.

-No, no, I wouldn't.

-No.

-I don't think you could shoot someone down.

I'd be the commercial pilot.

-I'd be a nice, steady Eddie...

-Yeah.

-..airline pilot.

There's not many people my age that think this is a good thing to do.

When I tell my mates that I go out, stand in a field for hours on end

waiting for a certain plane to fly by, they think I'm crazy.

-Has any of them ever said, "Can I come with you?"

-No.

SHE LAUGHS

-I don't think they would want to.

-No.

They must be very skilled.

They must be willing to do whatever

cos they have a nerve getting in the cockpit,

even if they're just going on a normal flight, cos anything could go wrong.

Just like a car. A car could easily just break down, but you are on the road.

But if it breaks down in the sky, you're done for.

Less than 100 British pilots are qualified to fly a Typhoon.

RAF Coningsby is home to 29 Squadron,

where the next generation of Typhoon pilots are being trained.

This is an amazingly clean aircraft, isn't it?

-I was about to say.

-I was going to say, they are not all like this.

For a lot of the guys, this is why they joined the Air Force.

It's like driving a Bugatti

having driven a Ford Fiesta -

it's that kind of difference in power -

and having that power at their fingertips is something

they're going to find quite exciting.

It costs £8 million to train each Typhoon pilot.

Er, it's quite high up.

Erm...yeah. I could get used to this.

29-year-old Flight Lieutenant Simon

has already spent six years becoming a fighter pilot.

To fly a Typhoon requires another six months of intensive training.

I'm quite excited about the first flight, really,

so hopefully in a few weeks...

And watch me fall off.

'I think I went through different phases.

'I had some weird hobbies when I was younger.'

I was into sort of bird-watching when I was really young

and I thought, "Well, maybe I'll just go into something to do with that."

'No-one else in my family is from a military background.

'They think it's quite impressive, what I get up to.

'Several months down the line, I could be, you know,'

launched to try and protect the sovereign airspace that we have.

And it's...you know, it's quite daunting.

It'll be a relief to get to the front line

and actually use my training.

One of Simon's first tests is on the centrifuge,

which mimics the intense gravitational pull

experienced flying a Typhoon at high speed.

So, welcome.

You kind of need to prove to us that you can do 9G.

People's G-tolerance varies from day to day

and there are certain scenarios where you are much more at risk.

With a top speed of over 1,200mph,

a Typhoon can travel from London to Birmingham in just six minutes.

It creates huge G-force.

At 9G, the pilot's body becomes nine times heavier than normal.

It's quite disorientating,

but we do have some sick bags in the door, just in case.

G-lock is G-induced loss of consciousness

and there is a risk of crashing.

G-lock occurs when there's not a lot of blood in the brain and so what we

are teaching them on the centrifuge are the essential manoeuvres to stop

that happening that they need to learn and to practice.

And then a quick breath...

I see stars.

One strain...

two strains, and then switch.

Slow, deep breathing.

The most tricky thing of all is to decide who's going to go first.

Stand by. 5G in 15 seconds.

LOW RASP

That's the sound of air coming out of the side of his mask...

..which sounds like he's had a curry the night before.

That was very squeaky.

His eyebrows are getting really close together.

HE MOANS

And that's the sound of someone having a great time.

That's why I think it comes with inflatable socks, which is...

It's basically just to reduce some of the pain that can be experienced at higher G levels.

Because the Typhoon is quite powerful,

you kind of have to not pass out.

-Are you nervous?

-I suppose a little bit apprehensive.

Today is the first time Simon has experienced 9G.

That's it. Otherwise, I will talk to you from the centre.

Any last words?

OK, stand by for the first one. 5G coming up.

A little bit of leg squeezing is probably all you'll need.

I can see you're really enjoying yourself.

For an untrained civilian, 5G is at the outer limit of endurance.

Right, are you ready for nine?

Oh, I will. Right, ready? 9G, 15 seconds, please.

Standby. 9G, 15 seconds.

At 9G, Simon's anti-G suit is squeezing him hard.

That, and his exercises, are stopping the blood draining from his brain.

Just breathe normally there, if you can.

OK, how was that? Any grey-out?

Yeah. It's very uncomfortable, but, actually,

in terms of keeping your vision clear,

-it seems to work well with you.

-Cool.

It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The kit is fantastic.

You know, you can feel your feet being squeezed.

-Pleased with that.

-SHE SCREAMS

All you can hear is the little screams in the background.

You don't quite know if it's laughter or sheer terror.

But this is my daughter a year or two ago.

And my daughter's at this beautiful age when there's no fear,

just utter emotion coming out.

And you turn around occasionally and you just see this wide, wide grin,

and she's going, "More, more, more, more!"

But it just makes me laugh when I see it.

When I went flying for the first time, it was much the same age.

We'd be in the back of an aircraft,

off to go and do an airshow with my father.

It's sort of a full circle of life,

being able to do it with your own children.

Nick is on his way to his brother Giles' hangar,

where Giles is restoring his plane that was destroyed when he crashed.

The last thing I was holding before the crash...

HE LAUGHS

..trying to pump that engine.

'It's an emotional thing. The plane almost killed myself,'

but it's something where

I loved it so much beforehand and it's such a beautiful old lady,

and it wasn't her fault.

Come and see it.

-How are you, man? Are you well?

-Very cool.

Beautifully done, isn't it?

-Beautifully done.

-Despite carefully rebuilding his plane,

Giles has promised his family he won't fly again.

I think that's the difference,

when you're a 24 or 25-year-old or whatever...

-Compared to...

-Yeah, being here.

When you think you're going to kill yourself,

you think about your family and your kids

-and leaving your little ones.

-It changes everything.

It does. It changes a lot.

'What I miss, you know,

'the camaraderie of flying together as a team

'and it was a real brotherly connection.'

But, you know, he's got to feel happy with it

and I completely respect the reason he doesn't want to do it.

8-6, Uniform. Yes, you have level 1-6-0.

Echo Lima 2,000 feet, speed of 180.

Of the daily threats to the safety of our skies,

none is more disruptive than bad weather.

When the skies are at their most dangerous...

It's going to be really rough and bumpy.

It's not pleasant for anybody.

..only a few pilots take to the air.

In Humberside, one of the crews of Her Majesty's coastguard

search and rescue are beginning a 24-hour shift.

-Are you nicking my dinner?

-Is this your dinner, is it?

-Yeah.

-Oh, sorry.

-After ten years in the RAF,

Kate Willoughby recently joined the crew as winchman.

Yeah, that was in Basra.

Are there any other female winchmen?

No, there were two in the Air Force,

but now, I believe, I am the only one.

-That's it, just me.

-You're it.

-Just me.

No-one else is stupid enough.

And you don't mind being called a winchman?

No, to me, it's a job title.

It's like, when I was in the Air Force, crewman.

It's just a job title. However, I do get called...

I do get called winch wench, which I don't mind.

I'm the winch operator.

My primary duty is to ensure the winchman gets down safely...

while they get all the medals.

-I don't know about that.

-We never get any.

-The unsung heroes.

-Aw...!

The winch operators.

It's coming in, innit? Six till nine. 300-foot broken at 100.

A bad weather front has come in and with it an emergency call.

Scarborough Mountain Rescue are with an injured cyclist

in the North Yorkshire Moors.

The quickest way to get him to hospital is by air.

Yes, there is, isn't there?

The injured cyclist is in the woods, which are covered in thick cloud.

Yeah, exactly.

If the helicopter can't get through,

it will be up to Mountain Rescue to move the casualty

somewhere they can land safely.

The most challenging thing is knowing when to stop

because we can go out in such horrible conditions,

and you always know that someone's in trouble.

It's knowing when to say,

"Actually, we are putting our lives at risk and the aircraft at risk."

You know, as soon as you say, "We've got to stop", then,

potentially, someone is coming to more harm.

As the pilot struggles with poor visibility, Mountain Rescue call.

They've managed to move the cyclist away from the cloud.

This time, the rescue ends with an easy pick-up,

but that's not always the case in bad weather.

Flying in hill fog cloud in the mountains,

with a bit of wind, is interesting.

Just annoyed the weather didn't clear because,

if the weather had cleared, we would have been in and out, like Flynn.

But that was hard work. There we go. Time for a wee-wee now!

Piloting a supersonic fighter jet is unlike any other form of flying.

And if things go wrong, pilots must be prepared.

They are trained for worst-case scenarios,

like ejecting over water...

Go.

Go.

..and in the precision needed to refuel in midair.

That's it.

Basically, we have an understanding

and we know what to do in situations,

bad situations, when they occur,

and use our initiative to try and stay alive, essentially.

Today, Simon and the other trainees will undertake the next stage in

Typhoon training - the altitude chamber.

Adjust it until it's comfortable for yourself.

'Yeah, I've been in the Air Force six years now

'and I've worked pretty hard for those six years,'

so I just need to keep the hard work going

and, eventually, get there to the front line.

Good morning, sirs. Welcome to the chamber and your high-level training.

I'm Flight Sergeant Ian Evans.

I will be running part of your training, along with Corporal Carter.

In the chamber, they will be subject to rapid air decompression,

mimicking the change in air pressure

when a plane falls rapidly through the sky.

When you're inside the chamber, you'll be referred to by a number.

As you can imagine, once you've got your helmets on,

it's difficult to distinguish.

You find the number, once you are seated,

over your right-hand shoulder.

Part of the air crew training is experiential for them,

so we like them to be prepared for emergencies

that they might come across in their flying.

Cabin pressure can expose them to reduced amounts of available oxygen,

resulting in severe symptoms, which may incapacitate them.

And, at a very high altitudes, forced oxygen breathing,

which is what they are here to experience in the chamber this morning.

Any questions for me? All you need to do is shake your head if you have no questions.

Otherwise, turn your microphones on and let me know.

Student five, any questions? Student six?

Doors closed, please.

Chamber altitude 25,000 feet. Hold enabled.

Check, 25,000 feet, So would all students please indicate,

with a clear thumbs up, that you're comfortable and ready to proceed with further training?

That's four thumbs. Four thumbs. Rest your thumbs.

Shoes and knees together and adopt eye contact with the medical officer opposite you.

Students. Will all students please indicate, with a clear thumbs up,

that you are ready for rapid decompression?

Four thumbs. Rest your thumbs.

-Disable height hold.

-Height hold disabled.

Students, stand by on your toggles.

Stand by for rapid decompression in five, four, three, two, one.

-Now.

-MACHINERY WHIRS

Eye contact, number six.

Number six, eye contact.

Slow the rate and depth of your breathing.

In for four, out for four.

Good. Slow your rate of breathing, number five.

In for five.

Slow the rate and depth of your breathing, number five.

Slow your breathing.

There is a level of fitness.

It's not for everyone.

Specifically, during the rapid decompression,

we are looking for any problems

that they might have with expanding gases.

They may well feel like breaking wind and burping.

20 seconds.

Rub your tummy, if you need to. Are you all right, number five?

Thumbs indication from number five.

Give me a thumbs up, number five.

Good. Rest your thumbs. And the others?

The others, give me a thumbs up if you're tolerably comfortable.

Good.

'Also, there's the psychological challenge

'of being in a closed-in space,

'which can provoke a feeling of claustrophobia

'in some susceptible individuals.'

OK, rub your tummy, number five, if you've got some gut gas.

The chamber has begun its descent.

Any bubbles of gas in your guts will be getting smaller.

Well done, guys.

38,000 feet.

Check, 38,000 feet.

If, number five, you do feel light-headed at any time,

all right?

Just pop your head on the lap of number six,

who I'm sure will be...

Good.

When you're going through these worst-case scenario training things,

do you ever stop and sort of contemplate the dangers of...?

Yeah, erm...

I think, obviously, they're in the back of your mind

every time you go flying.

But I think if you start dwelling on things like that,

then you're not going to concentrate on

getting, essentially, your job done.

If your job continues the way it should go,

you'd potentially have to shoot somebody down.

Have you ever thought about that?

I don't know. It's...

I don't know how to answer that question. It's...

You know...I know at some point I'll probably be...

You could be in that scenario. You hope you're not, but...

You know?

I would be the one pulling the trigger.

But...you've got to trust that the right decision has been made.

Oh, look at that!

I like it.

Across the base, four pilots are leaving for a training exercise

in the Middle East.

Well, the Middle East provides us,

particularly at this time of year, with some fantastic airspace.

The weather's predictable.

-There's not much standing still, is there?

-There isn't, there isn't.

I haven't had a winter in the UK for the last three years,

-so I can't complain.

-Yeah.

Yeah. It's nonstop. Just check that he's got some pee bags.

It's a long way. Five hours today

they'll be sitting in that very small cockpit,

but they'll have the most beautiful view straight out of the window.

What a great day to do it.

I've been on several squadrons as a front-line pilot.

On operational missions over Bosnia,

during the Balkan crisis, and over Libya.

For me, being a front-line fighter pilot is,

from a purely professional military pilot point of view,

it's the pinnacle of your career.

Maintain that speed. Descend, flight number 150 Lima.

Number 97 Romeo, November, turn right, heading 325 degrees.

721 Victor, Mike, heading 155.

In the South East, all major airports are shrouded in thick fog.

It's going to be a difficult day for a lot of air travellers

around the country today, with major disruption.

Delta, Tango, Alpha contact Birmingham approach on 118.050.

You can't run a full schedule when there's fog,

not because the aircraft can't land -

they can land perfectly normally.

The aircraft can land itself - they can do an autoland.

It's when they get on the ground that everything slows down.

You're normally controlled by the visual guys in the tower

and they're looking out and they can see everything,

but they don't have that luxury.

Then there's ground fog.

Each plane must move further away from the runway

before another can land and,

with visibility less than 100 metres, nothing's moving fast.

Shamrock 158, descend flight level 100.

Golf, Juliet, Foxtrot, Juliet, Charlie...

remain outside.

In the air, planes are circling in stacks above the airport.

Heathrow normally lands 40 planes an hour -

today, that's down to 27.

It doesn't take long before pilots start looking

and seeing what fuel reserves they've got left

and whether or not they'll need to divert.

If we have, say, 30 aircraft from Heathrow who want to divert,

we then add 20 aeroplanes from Gatwick

and 20 aeroplanes from Stansted and Luton.

All of a sudden, we've got 70 aircraft in the sky

that need to divert and there aren't really any airfields

for them to go to because everywhere's covered in fog.

We're balanced on a knife edge.

Air-traffic controllers have to land all planes already airborne,

but Brian can reduce the number of new planes heading for the stacks

by lowering the flow rate -

the number of planes allowed to enter British airspace.

Hit it hard and short now.

Get it under control and then get back to a sensible rate.

So, 18 until 13:00.

And then the problem is, this is going to just...

-crucify them.

-It is, I know.

Ryanair, 643 Tango, route to REDFA,

contact London, 133.940.

I want to go up a bit.

I want to go 20. Let's go 20.

My risk. 20 until 13:30.

And let's see what that does. I'm having palpitations.

Right, Heathrow, with immediate effect, 20 until 13:30.

Brian's decision to cut the number of planes allowed to enter

Heathrow's airspace to 20 an hour

will cause the delay or cancellation of 40 domestic and European flights.

So, to try to get it back under control,

we've had to hit it hard, but for a short period of time.

The disruption it's going to cause, it's a nightmare for the airlines,

but...it's a nightmare in here.

SIREN WAILS

Right, there we go.

Head injuries, spinal injuries, multiple broken bones.

In Lincolnshire, another emergency call has come in

for Search and Rescue.

111 miles.

A female hiker is in trouble on a mountain in the Lake District.

She's fallen approximately 40 metres.

We've been told she's got head injuries, spinal injuries

and multiple broken bones.

Mountain Rescue are on-scene on the ground,

but can't move the casualty.

However, the guys are working quite

hard to try and get us in there.

Until we get to the actual area, we won't be able to assess anything.

From the sounds of it, it will probably be a winching job

because that area doesn't endear itself to actually landing on.

With visibility getting worse,

the helicopter is forced to fly under the fog,

just above the tree line.

Altitude, altitude.

-Kate?

-Yeah?

With conditions too severe for the helicopter to get to the casualty,

it's up to Mountain Rescue to move them somewhere it's safe to land.

At NATS, fog is still causing havoc with the plane schedules.

Can you pin them down?

I want a fog forecast colour, as per that...

-Fine, OK.

-..and then we'll make a decision on that.

-Right.

Delaying flights around the world

has reduced the amount of air traffic,

but the effect will take several hours to ripple through

to the stacks above Heathrow.

So, we're still going to get 26 aircraft arrive in this hour,

where we've only requested 20.

So, when we're landing more than we're getting,

that's obviously when the delay will start to come down

quite dramatically and it's at that point

that we start to turn the tap on again and bring aeroplanes in.

Start to remain clear.

And the 121.025.

He is on the heading above 110...

OK, seven, Victor, golf, turn left into 145 degrees.

Report heading-in speed to London.

We are coming out of low vis

and we will not go back in there until 21:00.

The fog has just cleared.

The tower controllers can see pretty much

the whole length of the runway now,

so I've just agreed to up the rate to 38 arrivals,

which is getting somewhere near normality.

Delta, tango, alpha, Roger.

With visibility returning to normal,

the team can increase the flow rate...

..but Heathrow has had to cancel 180 flights in one day.

That has a huge impact.

If this was the only flight that you are going on for your yearly holiday

and it gets cancelled, the pain for you, personally, is quite big

and so we don't make these decisions lightly.

We take them with a big strapline of safety.

We have to maintain the integrity of the airspace.

Right, flight 36, papa, roger.

In the Lake District, the Mountain Rescue team on the ground

have contacted the helicopter.

The hiker is deteriorating fast and can't be moved.

Yep.

The only option is for the helicopter crew to try to reach her

through the fog.

Yeah.

-Yep.

-Yep.

We'll give this a go.

Visibility is now less than ten metres.

Winch operator Paul must make sure the tail and blades

don't hit the granite rock face.

OK, clear there and move right.

We just need to be aware as we're going down.

It was very difficult to see.

We were even struggling to see the guys on the ground themselves.

If you're going to go down there in a minute, it's nerve-racking.

'I'm stood in the doorway thinking,

-' "I don't really want to do this."

-SHE LAUGHS

'I'm doing this because that person down there needs me to do this -

'I'm not doing it because I want to.'

Clear to winch?

-All right.

-Go on.

Steady.

Kate can't reach the mountain, so Paul has to try to swing her in.

Steady.

'We're in as close as you'd want to get.

'Any closer and it doesn't allow for those little bits of wobbling around

'that you'll get. And once we got into that crevice,

'we've got recirculating air and it's hard to just hold a nice hover.

'It was unpleasant as it gets.'

Winching in.

Steady.

Pilot?

Winch out.

With the casualty on board, the crew need to inch back down the mountain.

Yeah.

That's cool.

After half an hour, the crew are finally free of the cloud

and can head for the hospital.

OK.

Three, two, one.

THEY LAUGH

We were not in a good place.

The tips of the rotor blades were as close as I ever want them to be.

We couldn't get... We couldn't move any closer.

How close were we to the rocks?

Metres?

Feet.

The blade tips were feet from the rocks.

So, how do you feel now?

Relieved to be back.

It's OK. It's only another 16 hours on shift.

We got her to hospital - I'm happy -

and we got her in a state that

the guys could immediately start work on her. So, yeah, I'm happy.

That was... It was good.

Where's Daddy? Is he over there?

The plan is to get to the Isle of Wight,

land at a lovely little airfield called Sandown

and, hopefully, grab a couple of hours on the beach.

Last of the British summer, I think.

Can't wait.

You're not a bit nervous, getting up in a big plane like that?

-No, not at all.

-Quite used to it.

I'm quite used to it. It's really fun.

12:36, gents, welcome.

The aim of this, clearly, is it's the first time you're going to fly

solo in Typhoon. Enjoy it, but bring it back safely.

So, that's the main objective for today, really,

and, yeah, if you get the chance, look out the window and actually go,

"Wow, this is pretty awesome".

And make sure you actually enjoy the sortie as well.

After four supervised training flights,

Simon is ready for his first solo sortie.

'Since the first day you join the RAF

'and you look at the front-line jets

'out there and you think, "Yeah, one day, hopefully,

' "I will be flying that myself." '

And this is kind of, you know,

all that training has led up to this moment.

I think it's the whole thing...

Because there's no-one in the back seat

to back up your decision-making,

it's all about making sure that you're making

those important airmanship decisions.

We call it the Typhoon smile.

You climb skyward, like a homesick angel,

can do anything, absolutely anything.

It is ungodly how much power this thing's got.

I will get up there again,

but I have to give my family some time to get used to it.

And seeing my brother take off on a beautiful day and, naturally,

I miss it terribly.

A beautiful day like today,

all you want to be doing is playing with the clouds.

I think one of the worst things you can do in life

is not take any risks.

For me, adventure is everything.

Well, that was fantastic.

Yeah.

-Thank you, sir.

-Well done.

-Cheers.

-Thank you, sir.

-Well done.

-Congratulations.

-Cheers.

-How was it? All right?

-Yeah, pretty fun.

-Yeah?

Next time...

..conquering the skies.

I get a thrill when I do well.

I absolutely detest it when I don't do well.

He's lost his number one hydraulic system.

No nosewheel steering.

It grips you so badly that I want to scream, "Get me off!

"Get me off!"