0:00:03 > 0:00:05Hello, I'm Sean Fletcher, you're watching Inside Out London.
0:00:05 > 0:00:09Here's what's coming up on tonight's show.
0:00:09 > 0:00:11We expose how the fake fur you're being sold could be made
0:00:11 > 0:00:14from foreign factory-farmed animals.
0:00:14 > 0:00:18These animals are kept in filthy, cramped cages, they are killed
0:00:18 > 0:00:21in the most horrendous ways, and all for the sake
0:00:21 > 0:00:24of a decoration.
0:00:24 > 0:00:28How London aid workers are trying to save lives in the world's
0:00:28 > 0:00:30largest refugee camp.
0:00:30 > 0:00:33We've just been talking to another lady who's just
0:00:33 > 0:00:35taken 11 days to travel here after watching
0:00:35 > 0:00:38her husband get shot.
0:00:38 > 0:00:43It's really horrendous stories, and they really need our help.
0:00:43 > 0:00:46And why 50 years on, the iconic jumbo jet
0:00:46 > 0:00:49is still the queen of the skies.
0:00:49 > 0:00:59It was wider, bigger, taller, everything you can think of.
0:01:04 > 0:01:08Faux or fake fur is all the rage this winter, from the bobbles
0:01:08 > 0:01:12on hats to the trim on coats, and for many of us it's an ethical
0:01:12 > 0:01:16choice to buy imitation fur rather than the real thing.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19But an Inside Out investigation has revealed that some of the supposedly
0:01:19 > 0:01:23fake fur we're being sold is actually from real animals,
0:01:23 > 0:01:25slaughtered in overseas factories.
0:01:25 > 0:01:33Alex Bushill has this exclusive report.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36Think animal fur and chances are you think designer,
0:01:36 > 0:01:38luxurious, expensive.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41You might also think cruel and barbaric.
0:01:41 > 0:01:47That's why so many of us choose faux or fake fur to adorn our clothes.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50But how many of us can tell the difference?
0:01:50 > 0:01:54Not sure, feel like I'm flummoxed with it.
0:01:54 > 0:01:59Would change my mind and say that one was real.
0:01:59 > 0:02:03Tonight I'm going to reveal how we are being misled and sold a lie.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06How the rag trade the length and breadth of London may have been
0:02:06 > 0:02:15flooded with imported farmed animal fur masquerading as fake fur.
0:02:15 > 0:02:17Our investigation starts here, Camden Market.
0:02:17 > 0:02:19One of the most famous markets in the world.
0:02:19 > 0:02:2328 million people come here every year, 100,000
0:02:23 > 0:02:29each weekend, all drawn here by its vibrant street fashion.
0:02:29 > 0:02:31Armed with a secret camera, we joined the crowds
0:02:31 > 0:02:32looking for a purchase.
0:02:32 > 0:02:34A coat with a fur trim.
0:02:34 > 0:02:40Is this real fur or fake fur?
0:02:40 > 0:02:42According to the price it's fake.
0:02:42 > 0:02:44Because if it was real, it would be £300 or £400.
0:02:45 > 0:02:46It's definitely fake fur, yeah?
0:02:46 > 0:02:47Definitely fake one, yeah.
0:02:47 > 0:02:48The price is fake one, of course.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51I don't want to buy if it's real fur.
0:02:51 > 0:02:52No, no, real is very expensive, sir.
0:02:52 > 0:02:53Real is very expensive.
0:02:53 > 0:02:54100%, yeah?
0:02:54 > 0:02:55100%, yeah.
0:02:55 > 0:02:56100% fake fur?
0:02:56 > 0:02:58101%.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01And here is the coat we just bought, it even has a label
0:03:01 > 0:03:03saying 100% polyester.
0:03:03 > 0:03:04So clearly no animal fur here?
0:03:04 > 0:03:09Only one way to find out.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12Dr Phil Greaves is the country's leading micro fibre expert.
0:03:12 > 0:03:16We asked him to run all the tests needed to find out for sure if this
0:03:16 > 0:03:19was real fur or faux fur.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22What is it?
0:03:22 > 0:03:23It's animal fibre as it's got this structural feature
0:03:23 > 0:03:24which only animal fibres have.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27It's got an external margin of scales, an internal
0:03:27 > 0:03:30medullary structure, pigment within the fibres,
0:03:30 > 0:03:32it consists of two coats and the fibres are tapered
0:03:32 > 0:03:33towards the tips.
0:03:33 > 0:03:34So that's 100% certain?
0:03:34 > 0:03:35100%.
0:03:35 > 0:03:37But which animal species exactly?
0:03:37 > 0:03:39We asked him to run more tests.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42While we wait for those results to come back, it's worth
0:03:42 > 0:03:45remembering what we were told when we bought that coat.
0:03:45 > 0:03:55At 30 quid it's so cheap it has to be fake fur.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00A lot of people think for is expensive and would look at a £10
0:04:00 > 0:04:06hit and not think for a second it was real. We encourage people not to
0:04:06 > 0:04:09sleepwalk into buying real for and supporting such an apartment
0:04:09 > 0:04:13industry.
0:04:13 > 0:04:15Her charity has even gone undercover themselves,
0:04:15 > 0:04:16filming this footage of what they describe
0:04:16 > 0:04:18as battery fur farms in China.
0:04:18 > 0:04:20In the cages, row after row of racoon dogs.
0:04:20 > 0:04:22The Humane Society has long campaigned to highlight the issue
0:04:22 > 0:04:24of cheap imported real fur, which they say
0:04:24 > 0:04:26is now produced to such
0:04:26 > 0:04:29an industrial scale at farms like this that the price has dropped
0:04:29 > 0:04:30to rock bottom.
0:04:30 > 0:04:32That's why they say these hides could easily be
0:04:32 > 0:04:36bound for a high street or market near you.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39So just how bad is the problem here in London?
0:04:39 > 0:04:42It's time to go bargain-hunting again with our secret camera.
0:04:42 > 0:04:44This time, the length of London from here,
0:04:44 > 0:04:49Shepherd's Bush Market,
0:04:49 > 0:04:50to Stratford Market in the east.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53In all we filmed 17 shops and stalls, again and again
0:04:53 > 0:04:58they told us it was fake fur when it wasn't.
0:04:58 > 0:04:59I don't think it's real, man.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02Nothing in this shop is meat out of an animal.
0:05:02 > 0:05:08It's like a fake fur, so it looks real, but it's not real.
0:05:08 > 0:05:10And again in Shepherd's Bush Market.
0:05:10 > 0:05:12It's not real.
0:05:12 > 0:05:13Take me to court.
0:05:13 > 0:05:14Take you to court, yeah?
0:05:14 > 0:05:17Take me to court over it but it's not, 100%.
0:05:17 > 0:05:19And then in Stratford, again we were misled.
0:05:19 > 0:05:25This time the fur she sold us even had traces of cat hair.
0:05:25 > 0:05:28It's synthetic items, you know, it's not real.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31Real can't be for this price, you know.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34We were even told by one stall holder that animal rights were top
0:05:34 > 0:05:38of her list as she sold us real fur.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41I wouldn't sell it if it was real because I love animals.
0:05:41 > 0:05:45The thought of an animal being killed just to put a bobble on you.
0:05:45 > 0:05:49But that's exactly what she has done - her garment had mink fur on it.
0:05:49 > 0:05:51And that coat we were fist sold, well, that's racoon dog.
0:05:51 > 0:05:59And the tests are back for the rest of the clothes we bought as well.
0:05:59 > 0:06:01It found everything you sent me had animal fur.
0:06:01 > 0:06:07Ranging from rabbit, to mink, to racoon dog, to fox.
0:06:07 > 0:06:11None of these are labelled as being made from animal fur.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14And I think the parallel is if a vegetarian bought burgers
0:06:14 > 0:06:16and found they were made from real meat, there would be
0:06:16 > 0:06:19an outcry ? well, this is a similar thing with fur.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22Julie is a vegetarian, a vegan, in fact.
0:06:22 > 0:06:24She complained that this hairclip had a pompom that
0:06:25 > 0:06:27looked suspiciously real.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30She was reassured by the shop they weren't.
0:06:30 > 0:06:31They were.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34Mink fur, in fact.
0:06:34 > 0:06:37If I did buy that, wearing it thinking it was faux fur,
0:06:37 > 0:06:39makes me really ill.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42I'd feel really sick.
0:06:42 > 0:06:46I know what they go through and it's not worth it.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49The Humane Society says Julie is far from alone in complaining
0:06:50 > 0:06:57about being mis-sold real fur.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00It's an appalling act to mislead a would-be ethical consumer
0:07:00 > 0:07:02into buying a product from an industry which causes such
0:07:02 > 0:07:04enormous suffering to millions and millions of animals,
0:07:04 > 0:07:07animals kept in tiny wire cages, fed on waste,
0:07:07 > 0:07:09denied veterinary care, all for a frivolous pompom
0:07:09 > 0:07:13or a trim on a coat.
0:07:13 > 0:07:17So she's clear the supply chain has been undermined by cheap real fur.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20We wanted to test that thought for ourselves.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23That's why we've come here to Commercial Road in east London.
0:07:23 > 0:07:28I've had a tip-off that this is one of the places to best understand how
0:07:28 > 0:07:31it is that the supply chain may now have been overrun with cheap,
0:07:31 > 0:07:33imported real fur.
0:07:33 > 0:07:40Many of the wholesalers here supply shops and stalls across London.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43So, pretending we wanted stock for our own market stall,
0:07:43 > 0:07:44we went into a wholesaler.
0:07:44 > 0:07:46It's a family run business
0:07:46 > 0:07:49and many of the items contain real fur here.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53The manager then tells us we can dupe customers who only want
0:07:53 > 0:08:00fake fur to buy real fur instead, using the tags as a ploy.
0:08:00 > 0:08:04Just say, I don't know.
0:08:04 > 0:08:06It doesn't say anything on this, so I can only
0:08:06 > 0:08:07tell you it's faux fur.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10Later when challenged he explained that this is common practice
0:08:10 > 0:08:12amongst other wholesalers.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15A trick of the trade.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18The law is the same for wholesalers, shops and stall holders -
0:08:18 > 0:08:21you can't mislead people to secure a sale.
0:08:21 > 0:08:25So what do those who mis-sold us real fur have to say for themselves?
0:08:25 > 0:08:30Remember this lady?
0:08:30 > 0:08:34Well, we caught up with her, and while showing me photos of stray
0:08:34 > 0:08:39cats she said she'd taken in, she gave me this reply.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42I honestly didn't realise it had real fur in it at all.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45I bought it from my supplier that I had been doing
0:08:45 > 0:08:48business with for years.
0:08:48 > 0:08:52And I had it in the shop and wasn't aware that it contained
0:08:52 > 0:08:52real fur or anything.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55And now we've told you it has, how do you feel?
0:08:55 > 0:08:57I'm extremely upset, I'm a staunch animal lover.
0:08:57 > 0:09:01We asked everyone who sold us real fur as faux fur to explain.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04Some simply didn't comment, like these two.
0:09:04 > 0:09:06So we don't know if they themselves were victims,
0:09:06 > 0:09:08duped by their suppliers.
0:09:08 > 0:09:10Others like this lady said she was shocked,
0:09:10 > 0:09:14relied on the label and was assured by her supplier it wasn't real fur.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17She's now removed the items from sale.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20Others like this stall holder said they had wrongly assumed
0:09:20 > 0:09:26it was manmade and had never intended to mislead.
0:09:26 > 0:09:28That's all of little comfort to anyone who may have inadvertedly
0:09:28 > 0:09:31bought real fur instead of faux fur.
0:09:31 > 0:09:33A Parliamentary inquiry has just been announced to look
0:09:33 > 0:09:36at this specific issue.
0:09:36 > 0:09:40Our investigation will form part of the evidence it looks at.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44So, how do those punters feel when I tell them that they too have
0:09:44 > 0:09:48been tricked into thinking the fur was fake when it wasn't?
0:09:48 > 0:09:51What would you say if I told you that was cat?
0:09:51 > 0:09:54I have two cats, that would make me very sad.
0:09:54 > 0:09:55That is ? that's cat fur.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58No, it's not!
0:09:58 > 0:10:00How do you feel about that?
0:10:00 > 0:10:10Horrible, I don't want to touch it again.
0:10:10 > 0:10:11Really annoyed, I'd be so upset.
0:10:11 > 0:10:13So wilfully misled, or sold a lie?
0:10:13 > 0:10:14Perhaps just an innocent mistake?
0:10:14 > 0:10:16You decide.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19Again and again in markets across London we were duped
0:10:19 > 0:10:21into buying fake fur that was real.
0:10:21 > 0:10:23Time now to shut up shop.
0:10:23 > 0:10:28The question is, what to do with all this fur?
0:10:28 > 0:10:30And here it is all bagged up and ready to go,
0:10:31 > 0:10:38straight in the bin.
0:10:38 > 0:10:40Alex Bushill reporting there.
0:10:40 > 0:10:48Now then, still to come on tonight's show:
0:10:48 > 0:10:54You had no ideal for the first landing how high up you were. It was
0:10:54 > 0:10:59like a block of flats.
0:10:59 > 0:11:00Three London aid workers have
0:11:00 > 0:11:02travelled out to one of the world's
0:11:02 > 0:11:05largest refugee camp in Bangladesh, which in recent months has become
0:11:05 > 0:11:08home to hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims fleeing
0:11:08 > 0:11:12persecution in neighbouring Myanmar.
0:11:12 > 0:11:14The workers filmed some heart-breaking video diaries
0:11:14 > 0:11:17of their efforts to help some of the desperate refugees.
0:11:17 > 0:11:19Chris Rogers has the story.
0:11:19 > 0:11:21I should warn you that some
0:11:21 > 0:11:29of the content in his report is distressing.
0:11:29 > 0:11:31Our London aid workers are heading into the world's
0:11:31 > 0:11:35largest refugee camp.
0:11:35 > 0:11:44This is home to more than 800,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47And thousands keep crossing the border, escaping persecution
0:11:47 > 0:11:52in Buddhist-dominated Myanmar.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55Dr Ramiz Momeni, Genevieve Jones-Hernandez
0:11:55 > 0:11:59and Sarah Wade have travelled the world helping refugees.
0:11:59 > 0:12:02But nothing can prepare them for what lies ahead,
0:12:02 > 0:12:06all of which they capture on camera.
0:12:06 > 0:12:10We're on our way now to the Myanmar refugee camp.
0:12:10 > 0:12:15It is a restricted site, it's controlled by the army.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18I've had a few comments here and there obviously asking me
0:12:18 > 0:12:21if I am doing the right thing, leaving a toddler behind
0:12:21 > 0:12:24for a period of time, but ultimately he's surrounded
0:12:24 > 0:12:27by family, friends.
0:12:27 > 0:12:29You know, this is why I work for charity, I work for charity
0:12:29 > 0:12:32because I want to help people who really need it.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35There isn't anywhere else that any of us would rather be
0:12:35 > 0:12:39because the need is so great here.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42This is the gateway to the camp, where aid workers register
0:12:42 > 0:12:49and refugees receive essentials.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52There are 6000 that's come in in the last three days.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55What it is that they receive here is a bag with a bucket and I guess
0:12:55 > 0:13:04some building essentials.
0:13:04 > 0:13:07The Humanitas charity are heading deep into the camp where there is no
0:13:07 > 0:13:09aid to set up a medical centre.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12We are walking to set up our clinic where no-one else,
0:13:12 > 0:13:19no-one else has reached yet, so obviously it's going to be tough.
0:13:19 > 0:13:26I'm speechless in terms of how far this extends into this land.
0:13:26 > 0:13:32It just goes on and on and on forever.
0:13:32 > 0:13:42The next day, word spreads help has arrived.
0:13:44 > 0:13:46But can a small team of aid workers from London cope
0:13:46 > 0:13:49with this many patients?
0:13:49 > 0:13:59They have to prioritise women and children suffering from lack
0:14:01 > 0:14:05of food, disease and injuries from their journey to the camp.
0:14:05 > 0:14:07He has got a child who hasn't eaten for three days
0:14:07 > 0:14:08and has bad diarrhoea.
0:14:08 > 0:14:10Some children have been born on the 800 mile
0:14:10 > 0:14:12trek from in Myanmar.
0:14:12 > 0:14:18Hundreds of others have been born in the camp.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21This is a newborn baby that was born yesterday and they tied
0:14:21 > 0:14:28the umbilical cord with just a piece of rope.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31They are just in incredible pain with these sores
0:14:31 > 0:14:36all over their heads and really dry skin and cracked skin
0:14:36 > 0:14:39over their body, so we were, you know, literally just rubbing
0:14:39 > 0:14:49them down with Vaseline and cream just to sooth that pain.
0:14:51 > 0:14:53Today, like, it's been nonstop and they are shivering,
0:14:53 > 0:14:56coughing, throwing up.
0:14:56 > 0:14:59It's just, it's...
0:14:59 > 0:15:05I don't know, I can't, seriously.
0:15:05 > 0:15:09Every day the team manage to see around 80 patients,
0:15:09 > 0:15:12but with hundreds of thousands needing help they move their clinic
0:15:12 > 0:15:17around the camp, trying to reach as many as they can.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20Their mother did not make the trip so she had to pass her baby
0:15:20 > 0:15:23onto her bigger baby to bring here.
0:15:23 > 0:15:29The baby is ten and a half days and hasn't been breast fed.
0:15:29 > 0:15:32There are so many babies, newborns 14 days old,
0:15:32 > 0:15:34don't have any food, starving.
0:15:34 > 0:15:36It's an underweight baby.
0:15:36 > 0:15:42She was prescribed vitamins just for her but not for the baby.
0:15:42 > 0:15:48Honestly, it's like the baby's dying, so we've just organised
0:15:48 > 0:15:52for her to get go and get referred because she needs to go to
0:15:52 > 0:15:57the hospital and for that she needs to have her ID card.
0:15:57 > 0:16:01And then straight after her we've just been talking to another lady
0:16:01 > 0:16:04who's just took 11 days to travel here after watching
0:16:04 > 0:16:07her husband get shot.
0:16:07 > 0:16:15It's really horrendous stories and they really need our help.
0:16:15 > 0:16:21Do you know why she had to leave?
0:16:21 > 0:16:23Yes, they came here because they are torturing them.
0:16:23 > 0:16:27What's her name?
0:16:27 > 0:16:28She is 13 years old.
0:16:28 > 0:16:34Does she remember what happened before she came here?
0:16:35 > 0:16:40These people drove them away.
0:16:40 > 0:16:45She saw that houses are being torched and killing happening,
0:16:45 > 0:16:49so this is why she came here.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52The Myanmar government strongly denies it is
0:16:52 > 0:16:54persecuting the Rohingya.
0:16:54 > 0:17:02The UN describes their treatment as ethnic genocide.
0:17:02 > 0:17:04I'm just fascinated by how resilient these people
0:17:04 > 0:17:10are with their cooking, their survival.
0:17:10 > 0:17:14They've got a car battery I think connecting themselves up
0:17:14 > 0:17:16to a little bit of electricity, they've got their
0:17:16 > 0:17:20firewood over there.
0:17:20 > 0:17:25Some families have lived here for years, in a stateless world,
0:17:25 > 0:17:30stuck on the border of two countries that do not want them.
0:17:30 > 0:17:33I'm going to continue to see the patients we saw
0:17:33 > 0:17:35yesterday and check up, and then we're going head
0:17:35 > 0:17:44all the way down there for the second part of the day.
0:17:44 > 0:17:49So, tell her that we are very sorry that she lost the baby.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53I think we expected to turn up and be working alongside a lot more
0:17:53 > 0:18:03organisations or volunteers.
0:18:04 > 0:18:08Her pulse is very low so we're just rushing to the hospital we got these
0:18:08 > 0:18:14newly arrived Rohingya with severe, severe dehydration.
0:18:14 > 0:18:18There is an absolute lack of aid for these people.
0:18:18 > 0:18:22Larger, international aid organisations complain Myanmar has
0:18:22 > 0:18:31blocked aid convoys and staff reaching the refugee camp.
0:18:31 > 0:18:35It's time for the team head home, but more refugees arrive,
0:18:35 > 0:18:38in biblical numbers.
0:18:38 > 0:18:42All of these people tired, sick, hungry and yet to reach their final
0:18:42 > 0:18:44destination in this camp and set up home.
0:18:44 > 0:18:48It's not so much as of a difficult thing to be here, I think it'll be
0:18:48 > 0:18:51more of a difficult thing to leave knowing that we are leaving these
0:18:51 > 0:18:55people in such a dire situation.
0:18:55 > 0:18:58Somehow they're incredible and, you know, the way I see it,
0:18:58 > 0:19:03we're here to be a positive influence, you know,
0:19:03 > 0:19:06so we have to come with energy, come with smiles, come
0:19:06 > 0:19:09with balloons, bubbles as well as the medicine,
0:19:09 > 0:19:19show them that people care.
0:19:22 > 0:19:24Half a century ago Heathrow Airport was frantically preparing
0:19:24 > 0:19:29for the invasion of an American giant that promised flying for all.
0:19:29 > 0:19:33London was the very first destination of the 747 jumbo jet ?
0:19:33 > 0:19:39a craft nearly three times the size of existing airliners.
0:19:39 > 0:19:43Now, 50 years on, with the very last American-owned 747 bidding
0:19:43 > 0:19:45farewell to Heathrow, Mark Jordan has been
0:19:45 > 0:19:54tracking down the pioneers of the iconic Queen of the Skies.
0:19:54 > 0:19:58Aviation history this winter as United flew the last American
0:19:58 > 0:20:02owned 747 out of Heathrow.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05Around the world the jumbo jet's been saying goodbye to some
0:20:05 > 0:20:09of the five billion they've flown.
0:20:09 > 0:20:11We are so sad to see her leave.
0:20:11 > 0:20:19Journey's end, as many come to rest in desert boneyards.
0:20:19 > 0:20:27Going to miss you, girl.
0:20:27 > 0:20:3050 years ago the jumbo jet was born.
0:20:30 > 0:20:34I've been tracking those pioneers that made London the first
0:20:34 > 0:20:37destination of the 747.
0:20:37 > 0:20:39I'm taking one of its first British pilots
0:20:39 > 0:20:44from prototype to today's 747.
0:20:44 > 0:20:46It was quite a challenge to fly the airplane efficiently
0:20:46 > 0:20:54without breaking all the engines!
0:20:54 > 0:20:57And catch me if you can - bound for London, that
0:20:57 > 0:20:58world-first flight.
0:20:58 > 0:21:00So this is you on the first flight?
0:21:00 > 0:21:01Yes.
0:21:01 > 0:21:07Born 1968, an age of space, speed and size.
0:21:07 > 0:21:13Apollo, Concorde and the jumbo.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16As Duxford's amazing British Aircraft collection shows,
0:21:16 > 0:21:18Britain was a jet-age pioneer, but its biggest
0:21:18 > 0:21:21aircraft held just 150.
0:21:21 > 0:21:25The 747 was going to take 400.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28Before the jumbo, a round trip between London and New York was over
0:21:28 > 0:21:32£5000 in today's money.
0:21:32 > 0:21:37Without the 747 it had been a rich man's occupation.
0:21:37 > 0:21:40It reduced the cost of flying in effect to a level
0:21:40 > 0:21:43where the ordinary person could afford to fly.
0:21:43 > 0:21:49For many months, London Airport has been preparing for the day
0:21:49 > 0:21:51when the first doors of the jumbo open.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55I remember as crew walking step by step looking up,
0:21:55 > 0:22:00and the closer we got the bigger it got.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04I remember thinking, how are we going to do this?
0:22:04 > 0:22:09Seats as far as you could see, it was very frightening.
0:22:09 > 0:22:10Overwhelming!
0:22:10 > 0:22:13The 747 is coming in a big way.
0:22:13 > 0:22:17Every country you went to, crowds standing watching it come in.
0:22:17 > 0:22:22As test flights and tours created jumbo mania at Heathrow,
0:22:22 > 0:22:25Britain's BOAC sent their man, Hugh Dibley, to America
0:22:25 > 0:22:29to learn how to fly a jumbo.
0:22:29 > 0:22:32No simulators ? just the real thing!
0:22:32 > 0:22:36I think there were about ten of us on the flight deck watching this.
0:22:36 > 0:22:42You have no idea for the first landing how high
0:22:42 > 0:22:49up from the ground - it really was like landing a block of flats!
0:22:49 > 0:22:51Also, the wheels are a long way behind you, wheels
0:22:51 > 0:22:52still over the grass.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55Yes, it was very nice to look down on the peasants
0:22:55 > 0:22:57and the mini jets below!
0:22:57 > 0:23:01As Hugh grappled with his flying block of flats, designers got
0:23:01 > 0:23:07to work on ocean liner style interiors in every colour.
0:23:07 > 0:23:09When the British Airline starts using jumbo jets in May,
0:23:09 > 0:23:16the glam girls who fly in them will have a complete new wardrobe.
0:23:16 > 0:23:22We've brought Hugh back to Heathrow with Al Bridger, BA's top 747 pilot.
0:23:22 > 0:23:24Slightly different to what you are used to.
0:23:24 > 0:23:26Well this is a big change, of course.
0:23:26 > 0:23:27Flatbed seats.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30Americans have retired the 747 for smaller more
0:23:30 > 0:23:33fuel efficient craft, BA revamped these even larger modern
0:23:33 > 0:23:39ones for five more years.
0:23:39 > 0:23:43So this is the bit you have come to see ? flight deck.
0:23:43 > 0:23:52It's all by screen whereas we had clockwork instruments.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55Back in the day Boeing installed revolutionary autopilot.
0:23:55 > 0:24:00But BOAC didn't trust it so put in their own sextants!
0:24:00 > 0:24:04The things used by sail ships to read the stars.
0:24:04 > 0:24:07The first three jumbos for BOAC had a sextant mount
0:24:07 > 0:24:17in case the automatic navigation didn't work.
0:24:18 > 0:24:21Modern 747s are a long way from the jet engines
0:24:21 > 0:24:22Hugh had to deal with.
0:24:22 > 0:24:32We were having six engine changes per week.
0:24:33 > 0:24:37Engine failures were routine.
0:24:37 > 0:24:42You had to watch it all the time as there were occasions when it
0:24:42 > 0:24:42didn't work very well.
0:24:42 > 0:24:43Wheras these are so reliable.
0:24:43 > 0:24:46But it was Pan Am that made that world inaugural flight
0:24:46 > 0:24:47from New York to London.
0:24:47 > 0:24:48From a photo of the crew,
0:24:48 > 0:24:52I finally track down Elise in Oslo.
0:24:52 > 0:24:57Hello, amazing to meet you!
0:24:57 > 0:25:03So this is you on that first flight.
0:25:03 > 0:25:05Just after landing in London,and me between the captains.
0:25:05 > 0:25:06Does the hat still fit?
0:25:06 > 0:25:08Yes.
0:25:08 > 0:25:10But the glitz of that very first flight was tarnished
0:25:10 > 0:25:13by those jet engines.
0:25:13 > 0:25:16Something happened for take off,one of the engines heated up, some
0:25:16 > 0:25:25said they saw flames but the captain decided to go back to the terminal.
0:25:25 > 0:25:33The world's press watched the worlds biggest jet return.
0:25:33 > 0:25:35Some clearly had Titanic fears.
0:25:35 > 0:25:37Some people went off aircraft and said never again
0:25:37 > 0:25:38and never came back.
0:25:38 > 0:25:43About 30 passengers never came back.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46Seven hours later, those remaining took off on what's became one
0:25:46 > 0:25:48of the safest aircraft in the world.
0:25:48 > 0:25:52It was very quiet when we took off.
0:25:52 > 0:25:56Nervous?
0:25:56 > 0:26:01Of course, it was a new thing.
0:26:01 > 0:26:11So, we decided to start serving champagne.
0:26:12 > 0:26:14Our purser told us,
0:26:14 > 0:26:21keep serving champagne ? they wont know if they are in
0:26:21 > 0:26:22They landed safe
0:26:22 > 0:26:23but late at Heathrow.
0:26:23 > 0:26:28In the early days Pan Am and BOAC left for New York at the same time
0:26:28 > 0:26:29with their new jumbos.
0:26:29 > 0:26:30The race was on.
0:26:30 > 0:26:34They had a flight to New York and it was always a little
0:26:34 > 0:26:35competition to get there.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38We always managed to get away first, we always managed
0:26:38 > 0:26:42to get to Kennedy first.
0:26:42 > 0:26:46Nothing has changed!
0:26:46 > 0:26:48And here's the funny thing.
0:26:48 > 0:26:50When Boeing created the 747 they thought it a mere stop gap
0:26:51 > 0:26:52before supersonic travel took over.
0:26:52 > 0:26:53But Concorde came and went.
0:26:53 > 0:26:59The jumbo is still here.
0:26:59 > 0:27:06But for how much longer?
0:27:06 > 0:27:10This month Delta flew America's very last passenger 747 to its graveyard.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13This is where the whales come to rest when they are
0:27:13 > 0:27:14done with their job.
0:27:14 > 0:27:17If you are flying a 747 400 you are flying every pilot's dream.
0:27:17 > 0:27:19What a way to say goodbye to the airplane and create
0:27:19 > 0:27:21a memory for our wedding.
0:27:21 > 0:27:23I'm going to cry because it's so sad.
0:27:23 > 0:27:24We kind of grew up on this airplane.
0:27:24 > 0:27:27When the airplane goes to the boneyard everybody signs
0:27:27 > 0:27:30it and puts a little something saying farewell.
0:27:30 > 0:27:37This plane will hold our heart forever.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40Oh, I think one's heart aches to see any machine being broken up
0:27:40 > 0:27:44Oh, I think one's heart aches to see any machine being broken up,
0:27:44 > 0:27:45especially the 747.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48When one thinks back to the time when we had such great times.
0:27:48 > 0:27:55And it allowed so many people to fly all over the world.
0:27:55 > 0:27:57Mark Jordan there.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00I can still remember when I first travelled on a jumbo jet.
0:28:00 > 0:28:02Truly, an amazing experience!
0:28:02 > 0:28:05Well that's about all for tonight's Inside Out.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08Before we go, though, let's have a quick look at what's
0:28:08 > 0:28:13coming up in our next programme in two weeks' time.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16The only Way is up - is building on our rooftops
0:28:16 > 0:28:21the solution to London's housing crisis?
0:28:21 > 0:28:25The combination of building in the aerospace but doing it when all the
0:28:25 > 0:28:27work is done off-site, so it minimises inconvenience. It has to
0:28:27 > 0:28:30be an exciting concept.
0:28:30 > 0:28:32Why hiring a professional 'friend' to help with your court case
0:28:33 > 0:28:36could do more harm than good.
0:28:36 > 0:28:42They are clogging the courts, they give false hope to people.
0:28:42 > 0:28:47And that's it for this week's Inside Out.
0:28:47 > 0:28:50just head to our website bbc.co.uk/insideout -
0:28:50 > 0:28:53just click on London.
0:28:53 > 0:28:57Thanks very much for watching,we'll be back on air in two weeks' time
0:28:57 > 0:29:00time, I'll see you then.