A plane takes off for a routine flight from New York. But within seconds the aircraft is in trouble. On the ground below New Yorkers witness the terrifying sight. As the pilot struggles at the controls, the aircraft is torn apart. Within seconds the plane plummets to earth, smashing into a once-peaceful suburb. 265 people are dead. Seconds from Disaster s3e3: Plane Crash in Queens
The truth will rock the aviation industry to its core. ibid.
AA flight 587 [Airbus A300-600R]: Hundreds of firefighters from across the city are fighting the blaze … Airports are closed and all civil aircraft are grounded … Americans fear their worst nightmare is unfolding once more. ibid.
Witnesses saw the plane break up in flight … Five extreme movements of the rudder causing the plane to lurch violently … The pilot broke the aircraft. ibid.
One of the world’s most modern planes lies at the bottom of the sea with 187 dead passengers and crew inside. The Boeing 757 left the Dominican Republic in February 1996 with a planeload of German holidaymakers. Minutes later it plunged into the sea in shark-infested waters. There were no survivors. Seconds from Disaster s3e6: Plane Crash in the Potomac
The atmosphere on the flight deck was poisonous. ibid.
1954 and one of the world’s first jet airlines takes off from Italy … Just 26 minutes into the flight it explodes catastrophically. 35 people are dead. Seconds from Disaster s3e8: Comet Air Crash
Since the Comet entered service 20 months ago they’ve been 2 accidents with the loss of 54 lives. ibid.
Sunday, January 10th: BOAC flight 781 [de Havilland DH106 Comet I] climbs to an altitude of 11,000 metres … Flaming wreckage falls from the sky … At 11.15 a.m. Air Traffic Control receives word that a plane has crashed into the sea. ibid.
The lungs of all the victims are extensively damaged; many have ruptured like an exploding balloon. ibid.
6:32 p.m. on April 8th, 16 days after the resumption of flying, a Comet takes off from Rome bound for Egypt. 14 passengers and 7 crew members are on board: a further 21 people are dead … Similarities between the 2 accidents are uncanny. ibid.
An explosion at the front of the cabin … The rapidly escaping air causes a tremendous release of energy … ‘The pressurised cabin exploding is the same as a 500-pound bomb going off inside the cabin.’ ibid.
The entire fleet seems to be fatally flawed … The supports around the windows are riveted, not glued as designed. ibid.
9/11/2001: Four planes change America and the world for ever. 19 men armed with boxcutter knives strike a stunning blow against the mightiest superpower on the planet. Seconds from Disaster s4e1: 9/11, National Geographic 2011
In the space of 102 minutes, the four hijacked planes have claimed the lives of almost 3,000 people. ibid.
December 7th 1941: An aerial strike force gathers and executes a surprise on the US Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor. Its aim: to bring a nation to its knees. Thousands die in one of the most devastating defeats in military history. Seconds from Disaster s4e2: Attack on Pearl Harbor
In spite of their often heroic efforts, the sailors struggled to cope with the combined aerial assault of low level torpedo bombers, dive bombers and high altitude bombers. ibid.
Flying in precise formation, ten high-level bombers target USS Arizona. ibid.
20 to 30 minutes after the first wave of bombers hit, another 170 aircraft strike … The other main targets are the airfields. ibid.
Over 180 US aircraft are destroyed with more damaged. In total 4 American battleships are sunk, 4 damaged, and 13 more major ships destroyed or seriously damaged. In return, the Japanese have lost just 29 planes. ibid.
It has in fact totally failed … The attack is launched even though there is no chance of hitting the US Navy’s vital aircraft carriers. It is a critical mistake. ibid.
Ship repair yards were ignored … ‘18 of those ships were salvaged within a few months’ … The attack misses another important target … In the end it’s the submarines operating out of Pearl Harbor that strangle Japan into submission totally cutting it off from supplies of food and resources. But perhaps the most devastating blow the Japanese could have struck on the day was an attack on the US Pacific fleet’s fuel storage facilities. ibid.
Nagumo’s decision not to launch the second strike is the final critical mistake in the execution of the attack on Pearl Harbor. ibid.
A cold-blooded murder in broad daylight triggered by an event that took place 36,000 feet. When the trip of a lifetime turns into the worst civilian plane crash in German history. Seconds from Disaster s4e4: Collision at 35,000 Feet
Uberlingen, Germany: How two highly advanced aircraft Bashkirian Tupolev T-u 154 & a DHL Boeing 757] could be in exactly the same spot at exactly the same time? ibid.
1998: A US military jet [Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowler] severs the wire of a cable car in the Italian Alps. The crew may face court marshal for the deaths of 20 people. Investigators must discover how a routine training flight ended in catastrophe. Seconds from Disaster s4e5: Cable Car Collision
The people of the town instantly know something is very wrong. ibid.
The damaged Prowler jet is almost impossible to fly … They’ll have to make an emergency landing. ibid.
They took a video camera on the flight. The tape is either blank or it’s been erased … It challenges the crew’s story. ibid.
Crews have not been properly briefed on changes to the low-level regulations. ibid.
Reductions in crew training, errors on the map, and information not reaching the crew – these are systemic errors. ibid.
Swissair flight 111 is en route from New York to Geneva. The passengers are settling back to enjoy the flight. As cabin power is cut some passengers are mildly concerned. But in the cockpit it’s a different story. The pilot’s attempts to control the jumbo are failing. Few on board realise they only have minutes to live. Seconds from Disaster s6e3: Fire in the Cockpit
‘You could smell the fuel from the jet; as we got closer you could see debris floating.’ ibid. local boat rescue
What caused a modern passenger airliner to plummet into the Atlantic Ocean killing everyone on board? ibid.
The fire was raging not in the galley but out of sight above it … The fire started in front of the bulkhead above the cockpit ceiling where the pilots noticed the smell almost immediately. ibid.
Somalia, East Africa: US special forces on a lightning raid into the heart of Mogadishu. Two Black Hawk helicopters are brought down by a hostile militia. 99 US soldiers are trapped in the city overnight as armed Somalis close in on their position. Seconds from Disaster s6e4: Black Hawk Down
Japan Airlines flight 123: It’s the worst single aircraft disaster in aviation history. A Boeing [747] crashes into a mountain [Mount Takamagahara] north-west of Tokyo. 520 passengers and crew perish in a pile of twisted metal. Seconds from Disaster s6e6: Terrified Over Tokyo
The plane pitches forward and starts an uncontrolled dive. The plan disappears from radar. ibid.
Miraculously, four survivors are found despite spending a night on the mountainside. ibid.
One bulkhead plate has sheared off along the line of rivets joining it to its neighbour. ibid.
2 June 1994: A Chinook helicopter has crashed. Everyone on board is dead. They include Northern Ireland’s top anti-terrorism experts and one of the Royal Air Force’s most experienced crews. When the report is published, tragedy turns to shock and outrage. A firestorm of controversy ignites over what really happened on that barren hillside. Seconds from Disaster s6e10: Chinook Helicopter Crash
Northern Ireland, Belfast: After 14 years service with the RAF, the Chinook has undergone an extensive refit.
The passenger list is so sensitive, it is shredded on takeoff. ibid.
On the evening of September 11st 2001 the FBI were called into Logan Airport in Boston to examine two check-in bags. The bags had missed their flight, an American Airlines Boeing 767 bound for Los Angeles. The owner of the luggage was Mohamed Atta. Zero Hour s1e2: The Last Hour of Flight 11, Discovery 2004
The crew relayed valuable information about their attackers to the outside world. ibid.
One of the last passengers to board was Mohamed Atta. ibid.