Mayday (2003)
Mayday (2003)
Major real-life air disasters are depicted in this series. Each episode features a detailed dramatized reconstruction of the incident based on cockpit voice recorders and air traffic control transcripts, as well as eyewitnesses recounts and interviews with aviation experts.

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0x02 Crash of the Century

14 August, 2006 4:00 am
March 27, 1977 – At 2:00 in the afternoon a thick fog rolled into the usually quiet Los Rodeos Airport in Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. On the runway sat two fully loaded jumbo airliners, blanketed in fog. A bomb explosion at a nearby airport had re-directed air traffic to the undermanned airfield at Tenerife. Within three hours, a KLM 747 slams into a taxiing PAM 747, killing 583 people. The planes never left the ground.

0x03 Special Report Season 13 : Getting Out Alive

10 May, 2014 4:00 am
This special looked at how people survive aviation accidents, in part with demonstrations at the Czech Airlines Training Centre. It provided case studies on the following flight: - Asiana Airlines Flight 214 - Air France Flight 358 - Reeve Aleutian Airways Flight 8 - Air Canada Flight 797 - US Airways Flight 1549

0x04 Special Report Season 18 : Communication Breakdown

10 July, 2018 4:00 am
This special looked at how failures in communication lead to disasters

0x05 Special Report Season 18 : Bad Attitude

17 July, 2018 4:00 am
This special looked at how pilots' aggressive or unprofessional behaviour can cause deadly accidents.

0x06 Special Report Season 18 : Hero Pilots

24 July, 2018 4:00 am
This special looked at how pilots safely land their aircraft in emergency situations.

0x07 Special Report Season 18 : Plane vs. Pilot

31 July, 2018 4:00 am
This special looked at how automation in the cockpit causes deadly misunderstandings.

0x08 Special Report Season 18 : Explosive Evidence

07 August, 2018 4:00 am
This special looked at terrorist acts, including bombings and shootdowns.

0x09 Special Report Season 18 : Killer in the Cockpit?

14 August, 2018 4:00 am
This special looked at pilots' carefully planned strategies in deliberately crashing aircraft.

0x10 Special Report Season 18 : Missing Pieces

21 August, 2018 4:00 am
This special looked at foreign items, including ice, a chemical oxygen generator, and a bomb as the cause.

0x11 Special Report Season 18 : Controversial Crashes

28 August, 2018 4:00 am
This special looked at disasters where multiple investigations don't agree on the cause of these accidents.

0x12 Special Report Season 18 : Deadly Distractions

04 September, 2018 4:00 am
This special looked at how pilots' deviation from cockpit duties lead to crashes.

0x13 Special Report Season 18 : Fire on Board

11 September, 2018 4:00 am
This special looked at disasters caused by fires, either on the ground or in the air.

0x14 Special Report Season 19 : Headline News

06 October, 2019 4:00 am
Three devastating crashes make front page news and the media frenzy puts intense pressure to uncover the true cause of these deadly disasters.

0x15 Special Report Season 19 : Rookie Errors

13 October, 2019 4:00 am
While commercial pilots undergo hundreds of hours of training and testing, even experienced pilots can make deadly rookie errors.

0x16 Special Report Season 19 : Collision Course

20 October, 2019 4:00 am
Investigators comb through the wreckage of three separate midair collisions in a race to prevent another fatal impact.

0x17 Special Report Season 19 : Engines Out

27 October, 2019 3:00 am
When an aircraft loses total engine power, a pilot's training can make all the difference in the world.

0x18 Special Report Season 19 : Fuel Trouble

03 November, 2019 3:00 am
Three mysterious accidents send investigators hunting for clues. In the end, all three trails lead back to the same source - the fuel tank.

0x19 Special Report Season 19 : Perilous Payloads

10 November, 2019 4:00 am
Three planes fatally out of balance highlight to investigators a flight risk that's entirely preventable, and yet seemingly not stopping.

0x20 Special Report Season 19 : Runway in Sight

17 November, 2019 4:00 am
If pilots aren't prepared when the runway is in sight, a landing can quickly become a tragedy as evidenced in these three crashes.

0x21 Special Report Season 19 : Deadly Confusion

24 November, 2019 4:00 am
Spatial disorientation is one of the leading causes of all air accidents. Even the most experienced pilots are susceptible to its subtle yet deadly effects.

0x22 Special Report Season 19 : Radio Silence

01 December, 2019 4:00 am
Radio silence between pilots and controllers can mean many different things, but in these stories, the physical evidence reveals the truth.

0x23 Special Report Season 19 : Design Flaws

08 December, 2019 4:00 am
Drawing the attention of the entire world, three fatal design flaws put air crash investigators in a storm of controversy.

0x24 Special Report Season 20: Courage in the Cockpit

21 July, 2020 4:00 am
Devastating systems failures in the air put pilots to the test and shine a light on three astonishing feats of flying, including Qantas Flight 32.

0x25 Special Report Season 20: Death From Above

28 July, 2020 4:00 am
Mid-air tragedies are particularly horrifying when they occur over a community, and rain terror on the people below.

0x26 Special Report Season 20: VIP on Board

04 August, 2020 4:00 am
Revisit three crashes involving high-profile passengers and the pressurized investigations into the causes that followed.

0x27 Special Report Season 20: Lapse in Security

11 August, 2020 4:00 am
These are three horrific air disasters that provoked fundamental changes to airport security and the measures we follow across the world today.

0x28 Special Report Season 20: Mountain Impact

18 August, 2020 4:00 am
Follow three horrifying crashes that revealed high-tech blind spots in the technology preventing aircraft from ploughing into mountains.

0x29 Special Report Season 20: Survivors

25 August, 2020 4:00 am
From the wreckage of three airplane crashes, survivors emerge to tell harrowing tales and provide critical data about what to do in an emergency.

0x30 Special Report Season 20: Instrument Confusion

01 September, 2020 4:00 am
Follow three mid-air tragedies that rained terror on those below when they happened over crowded areas.

0x31 Special Report Season 20: Heat of the Moment

08 September, 2020 4:00 am
When aviation decisions are made in the heat of the moment, even minor issues can have fatal consequences.

0x32 Special Report Season 20: Maintenance Mistakes

15 September, 2020 4:00 am
A trio of crashes reveal that when the nuts and bolts of maintenance go unchecked, it can spell catastrophe.

0x33 Special Report Season 20: Take Off Tragedies

22 September, 2020 4:00 am
Three flights ending in tragedy prove that minor missteps during take-off can have disastrous consequences.

0x34 Special Report: Dead of Night

11 January, 2021 4:00 am
Confused, flying blind and lost in the dark, three crews lose site of the horizon and fall into the same deadly trap.

0x35 Special Report: Engine Gone

18 January, 2021 4:00 am
Three crews experience the same devastating event, but with radically different outcomes when an engine falls off their commercial airplane.

0x36 Special Report: Lethal Choices

25 January, 2021 4:00 am
Faced with a mid-air crisis, pilots must make life-and-death decisions, but the wrong approach can trigger a far more serious problem.

0x37 Special Report: Risky Runways

01 February, 2021 4:00 am
In Sao Paolo, the Himalayas, and on the Norwegian coast, three flight crews are pushed to the limit by the toughest landings on earth.

0x38 Special Report: Landings Gone Wrong

08 February, 2021 4:00 am
Relying on instinct rather than the rule book, three flights end in tragedy when crews improvise on their final approach.

0x39 Special Report: Frozen Wings

09 February, 2021 4:00 am
Three planes are brought down by ice, and it's up to investigators to determine how modern aircraft could possibly end up with frozen wings.

0x40 Special Report: Runway Collisions

12 February, 2021 4:00 am
Three catastrophic runway collisions raise the same pressing question: How could two planes end up on the same runway at the same time?

0x41 Special Report: Cockpit Breakdown

13 February, 2021 4:00 am
Illustrating the deadly consequences of a mismatched crew, three flights end in tragedy, leaving investigators to unravel what went wrong.

0x42 Special Report: Splash Down

15 February, 2021 4:00 am
Three last-resort water landings-all handled differently-yet each one crucial to improving the outcomes of ditching on open water.

0x43 Special Report: Northern Extremes

16 February, 2021 4:00 am
Faced with the extreme conditions of the far North, three flights fall out of the sky leaving investigators to uncover the cause.

0x44 Special Report: War Zone

12 July, 2022 4:00 am
Misidentification and accidental bombing of enemy territory are among the many risks pilots face in military zones around the world.

0x45 Special Report: Time Critical

11 July, 2022 4:00 am
In a rush to complete their flights, distracted pilots skip key procedures, ignore signs of danger, and make deadly decisions. A Turkish Airlines 737 crashes just short of the runway in Amsterdam. Amid heavy snow and ice, a delayed flight crew ignores standard procedures in Denver. And, when a captain helps a struggling first officer, their botched approach ends up in a New Zealand hillside.

0x46 Special Report: Ticking Time Bomb

18 July, 2022 4:00 am
From metal fatigue to faulty repairs, three doomed airlines are brought down by gradually deteriorating parts. On a flight in Tahiti, a frayed steel cable snaps sending a turboprop to the ocean floor. Shortly after take-off, a Boeing 747’s tailfin blows off and the aircraft slams into a mountain near Tokyo. And, tourists on Miami beach watch in horror as a sea plane’s wing tears off in mid-flight.

0x47 Special Report: Accidents in the Air

25 July, 2022 4:00 am
With zero margin for error, three catastrophes are narrowly averted by pilots who somehow manage to land their damaged planes. A passenger is sucked out of a window after Southwest Flight 1380 is rocked by a mid-air explosion. While flying over Hawaii, the cabin of a Boeing 737 is blown wide open. And, Air Canada Flight 797 erupts in flames just 90 seconds after an heroic emergency landing.

0x48 Special Report: Impossible Landings

01 August, 2022 4:00 am
With zero margin for error, three catastrophes are narrowly averted by pilots who somehow manage to land their damaged planes. A passenger is sucked out of a window after Southwest Flight 1380 is rocked by a mid-air explosion. While flying over Hawaii, the cabin of a Boeing 737 is blown wide open. And, Air Canada Flight 797 erupts in flames just 90 seconds after an heroic emergency landing.

0x49 Special Report: Deadly Data

15 August, 2022 4:00 am
Three flights suffer catastrophic computer errors that force investigators to dig deep for clues. A seasoned Alitalia crew somehow flies a DC-9 into the ground just miles from a Zurich runway. En route from Singapore to Perth, Qantas Flight 72 suddenly nosedives toward the Indian Ocean. And, without a key instrument to guide them, the pilots of a Venezuelan turboprop crash into a mountainside.

0x50 Special Report: Poor Piloting

22 August, 2022 4:00 am
Critical errors in the cockpit cause three planes to fall out of the sky. It’s the computer versus the pilots on board China Airlines Flight 140. Foul weather and a deadly chain of mistakes, causes a turboprop to flip over and crash while landing in Ireland. And on a doomed flight over Siberia, a terrifying lapse in judgment puts a child in the pilot’s seat.

0x51 Special Report: Dangerous Winds

02 January, 1970 5:00 am
Three planes fall prey to fearsome winds, and it’s up to investigators to find out why. On final approach to Charlotte, US Air Flight 1016 is thrown to the ground by a deadly microburst. Flying blind over Peru, a 737 drops like a stone and cuts a mile-long swath through the jungle. And, a scientific expedition into the eye of Hurricane Hugo goes horribly wrong.

0x52 Special Report: Sabotage

02 January, 1970 5:00 am
Three flights are hijacked by acts of sabotage. When the cockpit of an Ethiopian airliner is stormed by hijackers, the captain manages an heroic yet deadly ocean landing. Investigators are torn between competing theories after an Italian passenger plane is blown out of the sky. And, Namibian investigators reach a chilling conclusion after piecing through the wreckage of LAM Mozambique Flight 470.

0x53 Special Report: Trained to Fail

02 January, 1970 5:00 am
Failures in pilot training lead to catastrophe in the cockpit. Amid heavy turbulence over the Caribbean, a charter plane falls out of the sky—when pilots react to a crisis that never happened. After a lightning strike, a commuter turboprop nosedives toward the North Atlantic as the pilots misdiagnose the problem. And, a top Russian hockey team is wiped out when a pilot botches a routine takeoff.

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