UPS Airlines Flight 6

Introduction
UPS Airlines Flight 6 was a cargo flight from Dubai to Germany. The plane crashed after it suffered an in-flight fire, and both pilots were killed.

Pilots
Captain Douglas Lampe and First Officer Matthew Bell were at the controls, and they attempted to deal with the problem this flight created.

First Signs of Problems
UPS Airlines Flight 6 has taken off from Dubai International Airport and is on its way to Germany. It is making its way into Bahrain airspace. The flight has levelled off, and autopilot is turned on. The pilots begin to prepare for an uneventful flight, when an alarm sounds in the cockpit. They check to see what the issue is, and the report is 'FIRE MAIN DECK FWD'. A fire has broken out in the main deck of the 747. They report the fire to ATC, and they recommend to land at a nearby airport. The captain comes back asking if they can land in Dubai, as they know the airport well and it is a large airport with fire trucks and other advantages. ATC allows them to turn around and head back to Dubai. It will take them around 25 minutes to make it back.

First Officer Bell de-pressurises the cargo-hold so that the fire can't continue, and the pilots put their emergency oxygen masks on in case of smoke in the cockpit. But this doesn't help. The fire continues to spread, and a new message appears on the pilots screens, stating 'FIRE ALL DECKS'. The pilots know that this isn't going to be a safe emergency landing. And on top of this, they are now having trouble hearing ATC. They soon fix the issue, but it is then replaced with something much worse. Smoke.

Things Get Much Worse
Smoke is now seeping into the cockpit, and the plane is getting very hot. More fire alarms begin to sound, and the plane's elevators are no longer working. They are still 22 minutes away from Dubai International Airport, and things are getting worse by the minute. Captain Lampe attempts to adjust the autopilot so he can move down that way, but he can't see where it is. The smoke is so thick that neither pilot can see their flight instruments. Lampe finds the autopilot controls by groping around in the cockpit, and the plane begins to descend. The plane is on track, but could fall off again at any moment.

As they leave Bahrain airspace, Bahrain ATC calls Dubai ATC and alerts them of the situation, and that the plane is now entering their airspace. They need to program their autopilot to get them to a runway, but to configure autopilot you need to see it. And in this case, they can't. However, they can use the runway's guidance system (ILS) to help get them on the ground, and with no other choice, they opt for it. They need to dial the ILS frequency into the airplane, and First Officer Bell manages to do so, despite the smoke. But other instruments, such as heading, are increasingly difficult to see. They have to ask ATC for their heading, but there is an issue there as well. The flight is almost off Bahrain's radar screen, meaning they need to communicate with Dubai to get information to them. But now, something even worse is going on. Captain Lampe's oxygen mask has failed. There is an emergency oxygen mask behind each pilot, and the Captain cannot reach his. He now has to get up and out of his seat to be able to continue breathing. First Officer Bell flies the plane when the Captain gets up, and then, thump. First Officer Bell is on his own.

Man Down
First Officer Bell immediately calls 'Mayday Mayday Mayday' to ATC, but no one can hear him. He is too far away from Bahrain airspace to communicate, but does get one last message of Dubai ATC's frequency. But now the smoke is so thick he cannot see which buttons to press. Bahrain, realising the UPS flight cannot communicate to either tower, calls nearby Sky Dubai Flight 751 to send messages to the crippled plane. Data on heading, speed and altitude is being sent from Dubai ATC via phone, so that Bahrain ATC can send that to the Sky Dubai flight so they can send it to Flight 6. But on top of all of this, the plane has to land. First Officer Bell now has the pressure of trying to land a plane in an emergency landing, which is already hard enough on its own, but he has to do it without being able to see anything. He asks for distance from Dubai Airport, but it is taking time to get the message back. This is because Sky Dubai Flight 751 has gone out of range of the Bahrain tower, so they have to find a different plane. Their next choice is Dubai 001, a government 747. The plane is already cleared to land, and Bell needs to know his speed, altitude and heading if he wants to make it to the runway. He turns the ILS on, and has now lined his plane up with the runway. He is told he can't make it, as he is too high and too fast, but this doesn't stop him. He sets the autopilot, and prepares to land. He extends the flaps and drops the landing gear, but another issue appears. The fire has damaged his controls, and the gear will not come down. Even worse, he just overshot the runway. Bahrain tower now asks if he can make it to nearby Sharjah Airport, as Dubai Airport is now out of the question. Bell asks which heading for the left turn, and eventually receives an answer. He attempts to place it into his autopilot but he turns right. He put in 195, instead of 95 which would take him to Sharjah. Bell, realising his mistake, disconnects the autopilot and attempts to fly it back in the correct direction, but without pitch control, he can't. The nose of the aircraft begins to pitch down, but Bell never gave up. The ground proximity warning begins to sound in the cockpit. He can't pitch the nose up. Bell knows whats going to happen. Street lamps begin to get sliced by the aircraft, and the Boeing 747 plunges into a military base, ten miles from Dubai International Airport. The plane carrying Captain Douglas Lampe and First Officer Matthew Bell has crashed. Both pilots were killed immediately after the impact, and leave behind their wives and children. But what started the fire that killed them?

Investigation Results
The accident was mainly caused by the 81,000 Lithium Batteries on-board the aircraft. Lithium Batteries are extremely flammable, but are popular in the modern day and age. They are used in phones, cars and other important devices. After testing, it was found a pack of 100 of these batteries was enough to spark a fire that could reach temperatures as high as 1100° C (or 2000° F). The fire started directly below many manual control systems, disabling nearly all of them, which explains why First Officer Bell couldn't get his plane to lift up. The protective lining concealing these critical systems was unable to contain the extreme fire, and it was noted by an investigator whilst testing that he could feel the heat from the fire despite being behind glass 50 feet away from the fire. The autopilot controls were beneath the fire, meaning that they could still be controlled, explaining why the autopilot could control the plane when the pilots could not. It is also discovered that when First Officer Bell crashed into the military base, he had narrowly missed a populated suburb in Dubai. Without his final actions to save the plane, many more than just two people could have been killed.

May Captain Douglas Lampe and First Officer Matthew Bell rest in peace.