The Best Episodes of Mayday

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8.9/10(288 votes)
#1 - Southern Storm (Southern Airways Flight 242)
S5:E34/23/2008
On 4 April 1977, Southern Airways Flight 242, a flight from Huntsville, Alabama, to Atlanta, Georgia, flies through a severe thunderstorm and is hit by large hailstones. Both engines of the DC-9-31 fail, and the aircraft makes an emergency landing on a highway in New Hope, Paulding County, Georgia. However, it collides with a gas station and explodes, killing 62 people on board and eight on the ground. Two more die later of injuries sustained during the crash.
Director:Ian Robertson
Writer:Christopher Blow
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Director:Ian Robertson
Writer:Christopher Blow
8.6/10(194 votes)
#2 - Impossible Landing (United Airlines Flight 232)
S11:E134/13/2012
On 19 July 1989, the tail-mounted number two engine of United Airlines Flight 232 explodes, causing serious damage to the aircraft's hydraulic systems and leaving the flight controls unusable. By varying engine thrust, the pilots manage to crash-land the aircraft at the Sioux Gateway Airport in Iowa, saving the lives of 185 of the 296 people on board. The investigation traced the engine failure to a fatigue crack in the front fan disk which had developed from a defect introduced before the disk was even made, when the original titanium ingot used to make it was formed.
Director:Michael Sinyi
Writer:Armen Kazazian
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Director:Michael Sinyi
Writer:Armen Kazazian
8.5/10(258 votes)
#3 - Blow Out
S2:E11/23/2005
On June 10, 1990, the cockpit window blows out on British Airways Flight 5390, partially ejecting and injuring the captain through the hole. A member of the cabin crew clings to his legs as the co-pilot completes an emergency landing without any fatality. The captain is found to be still alive after being outside the cockpit for 21 minutes.
Director:Nigel Levy
Writer:Unknown
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Director:Nigel Levy
Writer:Unknown
8.5/10(235 votes)
#4 - Deadly Crossroads
S2:E42/13/2005
On 1 July 2002, Bashkirian Airlines Flight 2937 collides with DHL Flight 611 in German airspace near Überlingen. Flight 2937 is destroyed instantly, and the DHL cargo aircraft crashes shortly afterwards, killing all 71 people on board the two aircraft.
Director:Phil Comeau
Writer:Phil Comeau
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Director:Phil Comeau
Writer:Phil Comeau
8.5/10(227 votes)
#5 - Falling from the Sky (British Airways Flight 9)
S4:E24/22/2007
On 24 June 1982, British Airways Flight 9 experiences St. Elmo's fire en route from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Perth, Australia. A few minutes later, all four engines flame out. After descending, the crew successfully restarts the engines and lands safely. The St. Elmo's fire and engine flame-outs were caused by volcanic ash spewed by Galunggung in Indonesia during a major eruption.
Director:Mike Douglas
Writer:Larry Bambrick
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Director:Mike Douglas
Writer:Larry Bambrick
8.5/10(205 votes)
#6 - Dead Tired (Colgan Air Flight 3407)
S10:E53/21/2011
On 12 February 2009, Colgan Air Flight 3407 stalls at low altitude and dives into a residential area near Buffalo, New York. All on board and one person on the ground are killed. Several critical errors made by the flight crew might have been the result of their fatigue.
Director:James Hyslop
Writer:Greg Gransden
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Director:James Hyslop
Writer:Greg Gransden

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8.5/10(198 votes)
#7 - Nowhere to Land (TACA Flight 110)
S11:E112/17/2012
On 24 May 1988, TACA Airlines Flight 110, a near-new Boeing 737, flies through a thunderstorm and suffers a dual engine flameout. The captain, Carlos Dardano, manages to make a successful deadstick landing on a narrow grass levee in the Michoud area of eastern New Orleans.
Director:Su Rynard
Writer:Armen Kazazian
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Director:Su Rynard
Writer:Armen Kazazian
8.5/10(207 votes)
#8 - Disaster at Tenerife (KLM 4805 and Pan Am 1736)
S16:E36/21/2016
On 27 March 1977, the deadliest-ever aviation accident occurs at Los Rodeos Airport (now known as Tenerife-North Airport) in the Canary Islands. KLM Flight 4805 and Pan Am Flight 1736 collide on the runway in thick fog during the KLM aircraft's attempt to take off, killing 583 people.
Director:Tim Wolochatiuk
Writer:Alex Bystram
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Director:Tim Wolochatiuk
Writer:Alex Bystram
8.4/10(224 votes)
#9 - Ghost Plane (Helios Airways Flight 522)
S4:E106/17/2007
On 14 August 2005, air traffic controllers lose radio contact with Helios Airways Flight 522. Two fighters from the Hellenic Air Force intercept and investigate the flight and find all but one person on board not moving. A few moments later, the aircraft runs out of fuel and crashes, killing all 121 people on board. An incorrect setting on the cabin pressurization panel caused the pilots and everyone else on board to succumb to hypoxia.
Director:John LaRose
Writer:Larry Bambrick
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Director:John LaRose
Writer:Larry Bambrick
8.4/10(190 votes)
#10 - Fight for Control (Reeve Aleutian Airways Flight 8)
S12:E18/3/2012
On 8 June 1983, Reeve Aleutian Airways Flight 8's propeller separates from the aircraft over Cold Bay, Alaska, causing an explosive decompression and loss of control. The pilots manage to land the aircraft safely at Anchorage, Alaska. The propeller fell into the sea, and the cause of the separation is undetermined.
Director:George D'Amato
Writer:Michael Sheehan
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Director:George D'Amato
Writer:Michael Sheehan
8.4/10(164 votes)
#11 - Terror in San Francisco (Asiana Airlines Flight 214)
S15:E41/18/2016
On 6 July 2013, on landing at San Francisco International Airport, Asiana Airlines Flight 214 strikes a seawall and crashes short of the runway. Of the 307 people on board, 2 passengers die at the crash scene; another dies shortly after in hospital.
Director:Tim Wolochatiuk
Writer:Alix MacDonald
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Director:Tim Wolochatiuk
Writer:Alix MacDonald
8.3/10(176 votes)
#12 - Hidden Danger (United Airlines 585, USAir 427 and Eastwind Airlines 517)
S4:E55/13/2007
On 3 March 1991, a Boeing 737 operating as United Airlines Flight 585 is on approach to land, when it suddenly rolls into a dive and crashes within eight seconds, killing all 25 people on board. On 8 September 1994, USAir Flight 427 is another Boeing 737 on approach to land, when it rolls and crashes within thirty seconds, killing all 132 people on board. On 9 June 1996, Eastwind Airlines Flight 517 is another Boeing 737 that unexpectedly rolls in similar circumstances, but the crew successfully regains control of the aircraft and lands safely. The cause of all three incidents was the rudder experiencing a "hardover" (suddenly going to full deflection) and jamming due to thermal shock of the hydraulic control valve.
Director:John LaRose
Writer:Michael Sheehan
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Director:John LaRose
Writer:Michael Sheehan
8.3/10(67 votes)
#13 - Fight for Survival (Pilgrim Airlines Flight 458)
S24:E63/3/2024
With flames emerging through the cockpit floor, the pilots of Pilgrim Airlines 458 manage a heroic landing on a frozen Rhode Island reservoir.
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
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Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
8.3/10(29 votes)
#14 - No Exit (US Air 1493)
S25:E115/26/2025
Following a catastrophic runway collision at LAX, passengers on USAIR Flight 1493 struggle to escape the burning plane.
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
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Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
8.2/10(221 votes)
#15 - Out of Control
S3:E39/28/2005
On 12 August 1985, the rear pressure bulkhead bursts on a Boeing 747SR operating as Japan Airlines Flight 123, destroying the vertical stabilizer and severing all four of the aircraft's hydraulic systems. The crew manages to keep the aircraft flying for 32 minutes until it clips Mount Osutaka and crashes, killing all but four people out of the 524 passengers and crew aboard.
Director:Doug Williams
Writer:David Darlow
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Director:Doug Williams
Writer:David Darlow
8.2/10(202 votes)
#16 - Helicopter Down
S3:E710/26/2005
On 19 January 1995, the crew of Bristow Flight 56C is forced to perform an emergency autorotation to a ditching in the sea, after lightning damages the tail rotor of their helicopter. Despite the rough sea conditions, the 16 oil rig workers and pilots are rescued by nearby ships.
Director:Jimmy Kaufman
Writer:Heather Forrester
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Director:Jimmy Kaufman
Writer:Heather Forrester
8.2/10(174 votes)
#17 - Panic Over The Pacific (China Airlines Flight 006)
S4:E65/20/2007
On 19 February 1985, China Airlines Flight 006's number four (right-side outer) engine flames out. As the crew tries to restart the engine, the Boeing 747SP stalls and enters into a spin. The crew successfully regains control, restarts the engine and lands safely at San Francisco International Airport. The incident was caused by pilot error. Alternate title: "6 Mile Plunge"
Director:Rodney Gibbons
Writer:Carl Knutson
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Director:Rodney Gibbons
Writer:Carl Knutson
8.2/10(180 votes)
#18 - Behind Closed Doors (American Airlines Flight 96 and Turkish Airlines Flight 981)
S5:E24/16/2008
On 12 June 1972, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10, just a few months old, operating as American Airlines Flight 96 from Detroit, Michigan, to Buffalo, New York, suffers an explosive decompression after a cargo door in the lower rear fuselage bursts open. The crew makes an emergency landing at Detroit without any loss of life. Two years later, on 3 March 1974, Turkish Airlines Flight 981 suffers a similar sequence of events during a flight from Paris to London. This time, the DC-10's hydraulic systems are damaged enough that the crew loses control, and the aircraft crashes in a forest near Senlis outside Paris, killing all 346 on board. At the time, it was the worst aviation disaster in history. A design fault with the cargo door mechanism was not rectified after the first accident, and the second DC-10's door opened during flight, causing the crash.
Director:James Hyslop
Writer:Larry Bambrick
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Director:James Hyslop
Writer:Larry Bambrick
8.2/10(180 votes)
#19 - Sight Unseen (1996 Charki Dadri mid-air collision)
S7:E211/11/2009
Find out what went wrong when a Kazakhstan Airlines jet and a Saudi Airways plane collided in the worst mid-air crash in aviation history, killing 349 people on November 12, 1996.
Director:James Hyslop
Writer:Christopher Blow
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Director:James Hyslop
Writer:Christopher Blow
8.2/10(155 votes)
#20 - Turning Point (Northwest Airlines Flight 85)
S11:E612/29/2011
On 9 October 2002, Northwest Airlines Flight 85 is cruising above the Bering Sea, when the lower rudder segment suddenly deflects to the left. The pilots divert the aircraft to a successful emergency landing at Anchorage, Alaska, by using engine thrust for control. The incident was attributed to a fatigue failure of the rudder hydraulic control module, resulting in part of the module's metal casing breaking off.
Director:George D'Amato
Writer:Armen Kazazian
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Director:George D'Amato
Writer:Armen Kazazian
8.2/10(197 votes)
#21 - Vanished (Air France Flight 447)
S12:E134/15/2013
On 1 June 2009, Air France Flight 447, a scheduled flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, stalls and crashes into the Atlantic Ocean while flying through a thunderstorm, killing all 216 passengers and 12 crew members on board. The causes of the crash were incorrect airspeed readings due to ice blockage of the aircraft's pitot tubes, inappropriate control inputs and the pilots not taking recovery action until it was too late.
Director:Michael Sinyi
Writer:Michael Sheehan
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Director:Michael Sinyi
Writer:Michael Sheehan
8.2/10(189 votes)
#22 - Titanic in the Sky (Qantas Flight 32)
S13:E102/17/2014
On 4 November 2010, Qantas Flight 32, en route to Sydney Airport in Australia, suffers an uncontained engine failure in its number two engine and serious damage to its left wing shortly after takeoff from Singapore. The crew members overcome a number of resulting failures and make a safe emergency landing back at Singapore with no injuries among the 469 passengers and crew members. Investigators found that a manufacturing fault in an oil pipe caused the engine failure.
Director:Trevor Cornish
Writer:John LaRose
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Director:Trevor Cornish
Writer:John LaRose
8.2/10(154 votes)
#23 - River Runway (Garuda Indonesia Flight 421)
S16:E81/30/2017
On 16 January 2002, on final approach to Yogyakarta at the end of a routine domestic flight from Ampenan, Garuda Indonesia Flight 421 suffers a double engine flameout while flying through a severe thunderstorm and ditches in the Bengawan Solo River. 59 of the 60 people on board survive.
Director:Mark Mainguy
Writer:Carl Knutson
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Director:Mark Mainguy
Writer:Carl Knutson
8.2/10(162 votes)
#24 - Deadly Descent
S19:E11/2/2019
En route to Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific Flight 780 is high over the South China Sea when both of the plane's engines fail, turning the Airbus A-330 into a 200-ton glider; the captain takes over manual control and manages to power up one engine.
Director:George D'Amato
Writer:Greg Gransden
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Director:George D'Amato
Writer:Greg Gransden
8.1/10(252 votes)
#25 - Unlocking Disaster
S1:E29/10/2003
On February 24, 1989, United Airlines Flight 811 is flying above the Pacific Ocean, when part of the right-side fuselage is ripped off, ejecting nine people from the aircraft and causing explosive decompression. The flight later lands safely at Honolulu without any more loss of life.
Director:Bryn Higgins
Writer:Andrew Weir
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Director:Bryn Higgins
Writer:Andrew Weir