7.5/10131 votes#1 - Fight to the Death (British European Airways Flight 548)
Season 13 Episode 1 - Aired 12/16/2013
On 18 June 1972, British European Airways Flight 548 stalls and crashes in a field near Staines-upon-Thames shortly after takeoff from London Heathrow Airport, killing all 118 people on board. The crash was attributed to the pilot retracting the aircraft's droops at too low an airspeed and failing to recognise the stall warnings.
Director: Tim Wolochatiuk
Writer: Alix MacDonald
7.5/10138 votes#2 - Disaster on the Potomac (Air Florida Flight 90)
Season 13 Episode 2 - Aired 12/23/2013
On 13 January 1982, Air Florida Flight 90 takes off from a snowy runway in Washington D.C, stalls at 300 feet altitude, strikes a road bridge and crashes into the Potomac River, killing a total of 78 people. The causes were ice on the wings and the pilots' failure to turn on the engines' anti-freeze system, causing erroneous engine instrument readings.
Director: Tim Wolochatiuk
Writer: Michael Sheehan
7.5/10132 votes#3 - Speed Trap (Hughes Airwest Flight 706)
Season 13 Episode 3 - Aired 12/30/2013
On 6 June 1971, Hughes Airwest Flight 706 collides with a United States Marine Corps (USMC) jet fighter above the San Gabriel Mountains. A total of 50 people from the two aircraft are killed, with the backseat crewman of the USMC aircraft the only survivor.
Director: Su Rynard
Writer: Gary Lang
7.9/10149 votes#4 - Queens Catastrophe (American Airlines Flight 587)
Season 13 Episode 4 - Aired 1/6/2014
On 12 November 2001, just two months after the September 11 attacks, American Airlines Flight 587 spirals out of control after taking off from John F. Kennedy Airport. Shortly after, the aircraft crashes into the suburb of Queens, killing all 260 people on board and five people on the ground. The vertical stabilizer had detached from the aircraft because of improper rudder use by the first officer, after encountering wake turbulence from a Boeing 747-400 that had taken off minutes earlier.
Director: Tim Wolochatiuk
Writer: Armen Kazazian
7.7/10151 votes#5 - Lost in Translation (Crossair Flight 498)
Season 13 Episode 5 - Aired 1/13/2014
On 10 January 2000, Crossair Flight 498 crashes just two minutes after takeoff from Zurich, Switzerland, while heading for Dresden, Germany, killing all 10 people on board. The investigation found that the pilots had suffered spatial disorientation.
Director: Su Rynard
Writer: Brian D. Young
7.6/10129 votes#6 - Massacre Over the Mediterranean (Aerolinee Itavia Flight 870)
Season 13 Episode 6 - Aired 1/20/2014
On 27 June 1980, Aerolinee Itavia Flight 870 crashes into the Tyrrhenian Sea near the island of Ustica, Italy. All 81 people on board are killed. The top Italian criminal court eventually ruled on 23 January 2013 that a missile strike brought down the aircraft,[7] but controversy remains; some experts dispute this conclusion, arguing that an on-board bomb in the rear toilet was the cause. No definitive accident report was published.
Director: Michael Sinyi
Writer: John LaRose, Michael Sheehan
7.7/10138 votes#7 - Terror in Paradise (Air Moorea Flight 1121)
Season 13 Episode 7 - Aired 1/27/2014
On 9 August 2007, Air Moorea Flight 1121 crashes shortly after taking off from Moorea Airport in French Polynesia. All 19 passengers and the pilot died. The cause was a badly worn and partly broken elevator control cable failing completely in flight. It was put under more strain than it could handle as the force on the elevators changed with flap retraction. The situation was likely aggravated by the aircraft being repeatedly buffeted by jet exhaust while parked, stressing the cables further.
Director: Su Rynard
Writer: Michael Sheehan
7.6/10128 votes#8 - Imperfect Pitch (XL Airways Germany Flight 888T)
Season 13 Episode 8 - Aired 2/3/2014
On 27 November 2008, an aircraft on a post-maintenance test flight operating as XL Airways Germany Flight 888T crashes into the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of France, killing all seven people on board. The investigators determined that improper maintenance work allowed water to enter the aircraft's angle of attack (AOA) sensors. The water then froze during flight, causing the sensors to stop working. The crew tried to test the stall warning system during flight, and the aircraft entered a low-speed stall.
Director: Michael Sinyi
Writer: Carl Knutson
7.4/10122 votes#9 - Into the Eye of the Storm (Hurricane Hunters NOAA42)
Season 13 Episode 9 - Aired 2/10/2014
On 15 September 1989, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration aircraft tasked with intercepting Hurricane Hugo over the Caribbean islands is jolted by strong winds, causing an engine to catch fire and fail. The pilots of the aircraft manage to make a safe emergency landing.
Director: Tim Wolochatiuk
Writer: Phil Desjardins
8.2/10167 votes#10 - Titanic in the Sky (Qantas Flight 32)
Season 13 Episode 10 - Aired 2/17/2014
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
The Best Episodes of Mayday Season 13
Every episode of Mayday Season 13 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Mayday Season 13!
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...
Genres:DocumentaryDramaCrime
Season 13 Ratings Summary
"Fight to the Death (British European Airways Flight 548)" is the best rated episode of "Mayday" season 13. It scored 7.5/10 based on 131 votes. Directed by Tim Wolochatiuk and written by Alix MacDonald, it aired on 12/16/2013. This episode is rated 0.0 points higher than the second-best, "Disaster on the Potomac (Air Florida Flight 90)".