A bomb at the airport diverts two jumbos to a tiny airstrip. In just 8 minutes the worst aviation accident of all time takes the lives of 583 people. Seconds from Disaster s1e12: Collision on the Runway
Tenerife, Sunday 27th March 1977: When the Pan Am flight lands weather isn’t a problem … The KLM jumbo ahead of it on the taxiway is refuelling … The Spanish authorities force the planes to sit on the tarmac for two more hours … A change in the weather … The 747 [KLM] starts heading down the runway towards the Pan-Am. ibid.
The KLM smashes into the Pan-Am Jumbo at 292 kph. ibid.
September 11th 2001: Terrorists tested its strength: they turned a commercial jet into a weapon of destruction. Seconds from Disaster s1e13: Pentagon 9/11
Two airliners fly into the Twin Towers in New York City. Another aircraft has dropped off the radar and is heading straight for the Pentagon. ibid.
Seven astronauts aboard space shuttle Columbia complete a routine mission and head back to Earth. Mission Control expects a trouble-free re-entry. But … the shuttle disintegrates in the skies of Texas. Everyone on board perishes. The event shocks the world. Seconds from Disaster s2e1: Space Shuttle Columbia, National Geographic 2005
In 1986 space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after blast-off, killing all 7 crew. ibid.
A disturbing anomaly: shortly after takeoff a piece of insulation foam from the external fuel-tank detaches, striking Columbia’s wing. ibid.
A picturesque Austrian resort in the height of the ski season. 4,000 tourists enjoy the beautiful Alpine scenery. A massive avalanche shatters the peace. Within 3 minutes a 328-foot wall of snow devastates the village of Galtur. Seconds from Disaster s2e2: Alpine Tsunami
High above the Austrian ski resort of Galtur a massive overhang of snow buckles under the strain of three weeks of almost continuous snowfall … Snow buries entire streets and destroys houses. ibid.
British Midland flight 92: A new Boeing 737 flying 126 people on a short hop from London to Northern Ireland. Suddenly, a series of explosive noises and severe vibrations rock the plane. It crashes just metres from the safety of a runway. Seconds from Disaster s2e3: Motorway Plane Crash
Lockerbie, Scotland: three weeks earlier a terrorist bomb blows apart a Pan AM 747 flying from Heathrow to the US. The explosion kills all 259 people on board and 11 more on the ground. ibid.
Then without warning a massive bang. The aircraft starts to vibrate violently … Worse, they smell smoke … Air traffic control clears him for an emergency landing at East Midlands airport just ten minutes flying time away … Another even louder bang rocks the aircraft … The passengers now know they’re going down. ibid.
30 metres before the motorway the tail section hits the ground and bounces back into the air. The plane smashes through trees near the edge of the motorway. It careens across the road destroying a light on the central reservation. The aircraft slams into the embankment on the far side of the M1 and breaks into three. It comes to rest just 900 metres from the safety of the runway. ibid.
How could such experienced pilots shut down the wrong engine on a brand-new aircraft? … Boeing has made another change to the latest 737 … ibid.
The slumbering volcanic peak of Mount St Helens. In its shadow one of America’s most beautiful national forests, a magnet for vacationers seeking the great outdoors. But then, without warning, the volcano erupts; in just 4 minutes the blast flattens 220 square miles. Huge muds flows surge down 150 miles of river valleys. 57 people die. Seconds from Disaster s2e4: Mount St Helens
Mount St Helens spews smoke and ash higher than a mile into the sky. The volcano has woken up from a 123-year sleep. ibid.
The English Channel: the world’s busiest shipping lane. Every day tens of thousands cross it be ferry. It’s a safe routine trip. Until one ship capsizes just over a kilometre outside port. Within 90 seconds hundreds of people are fighting for their lives in the icy waters. 193 died in Britain’s worst maritime accident since the Titanic. Seconds from Disaster s2e5: Zeebrugge Ferry Disaster
The cheap ticket deal means the ship is packed with passengers too. ibid.
Then out of the blue the ship lurches violently … On the ship’s car deck something is desperately wrong … The Herald starts to veer off course … The 8,000-ton ship now starts to roll over. As The Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes there is a terrible grinding noise. ibid.
More than 500 passengers and crew fight for survival. ibid.
Kobe, Japan’s sixth largest city and one of its most important commercial centres. Then one quiet winter’s morning just before dawn disaster strikes. Suddenly without warning a colossal earthquake rips through the city … 5,500 people died. Seconds from Disaster s2e6: Kobe Earthquake
A DC10 en route to Chicago is packed with children and vacationers. One hour into the flight an engine fails. Although it still has two good engines the plane becomes almost unflyable. 285 passengers face an horrific crash landing at Sioux City. Seconds from Disaster s2e7: Crash Landing at Sioux City
The DC-10 making flight 232 today is in its 17th year of service and has flown over 43,000 hours. So far without incident. ibid.
A terrifying blast rips through the plane … Number 2 engine is malfunctioning … All 3 of the plane’s hydraulic systems are empty … The plane smashes into the runway. The right landing gear and wing shear off spilling fuel and sparking a fire … Dozens of surviving passengers flee the burning cabin. Fire trucks and ambulances race to help them. ibid.
October 2002, Bali: Hundreds of young tourists enjoy a tropical island resort. Then massive explosions rip through the packed nightclubs. The bombings claim 202 lives. It’s the worst act of terror since 9/11. Seconds from Disaster s2e8: The Bali Bombing
At a rented house 11 kilometres away terrorist mastermind Samudra calls a strategy meeting. The five men present are part of an Islamic terrorist network … trained by al-Qaeda. ibid.
15 seconds after the first black a second colossal explosion … kills dozens inside and outside the Sari Club instantly … a scene of carnage and devastation. ibid.
Singapore: A 6-story hotel crashes to the ground in under 60 seconds. 33 people die and 17 more are buried alive trapped beneath thousands of tons of steel, glass and concrete. Seconds from Disaster s2e9: Hotel Collapse, Singapore
The Hotel New World built in 1971: the building is unremarkable … Staff see cracks and fissures spreading across the walls … In one terrifying minute the Hotel New World suffers total structural failure, trapping dozens of people. ibid.
A TWA jumbo jet on a routine flight from New York to Paris, France. Suddenly, it explodes and plunges burning into the Atlantic. There are over 200 on board. Seconds from Disaster s2e10: TWA800
258 people tell the FBI they saw something streaking through the sky at the moment the 747 was lost. ibid.
Catastrophic mechanical failure as the cause of the crash … The fuselage is riddled with fractures. ibid.
Central Paris Railway Station at the height of the rush hour. Thousands of passengers head for home. Suddenly, a runaway train hurtles towards the station. 307 tons of crashing metal slam into a packed commuter train. 56 people die. It’s Paris’s worst ever train crash. Seconds from Disaster s2e11: Paris Train Crash
1937: The Hindenburg, the world’s largest flying machine, arrives in the United States with 97 people on board. It’s the end of a successful transatlantic flight. Moments from landing, a fierce fire erupts. In just 34 seconds the mighty airship is destroyed. Seconds from Disaster s2e12: The Hindenburg
The airship’s outer skin is made of strong cotton and linen, waterproofed and tightened with a chemical paint called dope. ibid.
In 1930 the pride of the British empire, the R101 airship, was en route to India. It hit a storm over France and went down nose-first. The resulting crash killed 48 of the 54 people on board. The tragedy ended the British airship programme. Between 1925 and 1935 the US Navy lost three of its airships in severe weather. ibid.
An ordinary day in San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1996. Christmas is coming and the city is packed with shoppers. Then a massive blast rips through the streets overturning vehicles and causing widespread disaster. Seconds from Disaster s2e13: Puerto Rico Gas Explosion
33 people are dead and more than 80 are injured. ibid.
Rescuers spend days clambering through the shattered building. ibid.
What if it was gas? If that’s true, who knows how many other lives are still as stake … A massive buildup of some kind of flammable gas must have ignited … Propane is heavier than air so will sink and gather in invisible pools near the floor. ibid.
Kansas City, 1978: A new $50-million dollar hotel … The hotel’s centrepiece will be its impressive 44-metre-wide 15-metre high glass-ceilinged atrium. 3 suspended walkways will span this vast space connecting guest rooms to a conference centre and shopping centre. Seconds from Disaster s2e14: Hyatt Regency Skywalk Disaster
17 months in there is a major setback: a section of the atrium’s glass ceiling, the size of a tennis court, crashes to the ground. ibid.
The first and third floor glass and concrete skywalks plummet into the crowded lobby. Dozens of dancers and spectators lie dead crushed beneath sixty-five tons of glass and steel. ibid.