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The Best Episodes of Seconds from Disaster

Every episode of Seconds from Disaster ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Seconds from Disaster!

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Seconds from Disaster is a US/UK-produced documentary television programme that investigates historically relevant man-made and natural disasters of the 20th century. Each episode aims to explain a single incidental by analyzing the causes and circumstances

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    Seconds from Disaster Season 2 Episode 7 - Crash Landing at Sioux City
    10.0/10(2 votes)

    #1 - Crash Landing at Sioux City

    S2:E7

    On 19 July 1989, the pilots of United Airlines Flight 232 are shocked to learn they have lost all control of the DC-10 after an engine failure and make an emergency landing at Sioux City, Iowa, but in a dramatic crash, the aircraft breaks apart and catches fire with 111 lives lost out of the 285 on board. Why did the engine fail?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. Seconds from Disaster Season 2 Episode 11 - Paris Train Crash (Runaway Train)
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #2 - Paris Train Crash (Runaway Train)

    S2:E11

    In what was no doubt the worst rail incident in French history, a runaway train derails at Gare De Lyon Station, France, killing 56 people. Why did the train crash so horribly? Who is to blame?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. Seconds from Disaster Season 3 Episode 12 - Plane Crash in the Potomac
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #3 - Plane Crash in the Potomac

    S3:E12

    On 13 January 1982, Air Florida Flight 90 leaves Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington DC for Miami with 79 passengers and crew on board. The Boeing 737 is delayed for hours by bad conditions, and only seconds after getting airborne it crashes into the icy Potomac river. Five survivors are pulled out alive but 78-including four motorists-lose their lives.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. Seconds from Disaster Season 3 Episode 13 - Asian Tsunami
    10.0/10(2 votes)

    #4 - Asian Tsunami

    S3:E13

    On Boxing Day 2004, the second largest earthquake in recorded history with a magnitude of 9.3 strikes the town Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Soon, it unleashes a tsunami which takes over 275,000 lives all along the coast of the Indian Ocean. How come such a disaster happened?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. Seconds from Disaster Season 2 Episode 3 - Motorway Plane Crash (Freeway Plane Crash)
    9.7/10(3 votes)

    #5 - Motorway Plane Crash (Freeway Plane Crash)

    S2:E3

    January 1989. British Midland Airways Flight 092, a Boeing 737, is landing at Kegworth, United Kingdom, when it crashes on the M1 motorway, killing 47 people. What went wrong? The B-737 is the most widely-used airliner in the world. Could mechanical failure be to blame? Perhaps human error? Or even sabotage?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. Seconds from Disaster Season 3 Episode 4 - King's Cross Fire (London's Subway Inferno)
    9.5/10(2 votes)

    #6 - King's Cross Fire (London's Subway Inferno)

    S3:E4

    On the night of 18 November 1987, a harmless match produced a small flame on the escalator at King's Cross tube station. Suddenly, the containable flame explodes rapidly into a fireball. It charges up the escalator and kills 31 people in the ticket hall 20m away. The inferno leaves investigators stumped. When the answer is revealed, it will shock everyone, adding a new chapter to the laws of fire dynamics.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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    The 20 WORST Episodes of Seconds from Disaster

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  7. Seconds from Disaster Season 3 Episode 9 - Queens Air Crash
    9.5/10(2 votes)

    #7 - Queens Air Crash

    S3:E9

    Its been more than two months after 9/11 and the event is still fresh in everyone's mind. At JFK Airport in Queens, American Airlines Flight 587, an Airbus A300, leaves on a three and a half flight to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. Shortly after take-off it crashes into Rockaway in Queens, New York. This place is home to people affected by 9/11. 257 people die. Was this terrorism again? Or a fault?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. Seconds from Disaster Season 3 Episode 11 - Superstore Collapse
    9.5/10(2 votes)

    #8 - Superstore Collapse

    S3:E11

    On 29 June 1995, the five story Sampoong Department Store in Seoul, Korea, collapses killing 502 people. Is there a fault in the building? Or is sabotage to blame? And how did the last survivor survive under the rubble for 16 days?

    Director:Iain Riddick
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. Seconds from Disaster Season 2 Episode 2 - Alpine Tsunami
    9.0/10(2 votes)

    #9 - Alpine Tsunami

    S2:E2

    The Alpine village of Galtur, an avalanche buries 57 people in the snow. 31 of them die. But why did the avalanche occur in the first place? Were careless villagers to blame?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. Seconds from Disaster Season 2 Episode 4 - Mount St Helens Eruption (Mount St. Helens Eruption)
    9.0/10(2 votes)

    #10 - Mount St Helens Eruption (Mount St. Helens Eruption)

    S2:E4

    Mount St. Helens, in the countryside of Washington State, has been dormant for 123 years. But on May 1980, it suddenly erupts, killing 57. Why couldn't they predict it?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. Seconds from Disaster Season 2 Episode 5 - Zeebrugge Ferry Disaster (Capsized in the North Sea)
    9.0/10(2 votes)

    #11 - Zeebrugge Ferry Disaster (Capsized in the North Sea)

    S2:E5

    On March 1987, the British Car Ferry Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes off Zeebrugge killing 193. Why did this happen? Was it just a terrible blunder? Or something worse?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. Seconds from Disaster Season 2 Episode 9 - Hotel Collapse Singapore (Hotel Collapse)
    9.0/10(2 votes)

    #12 - Hotel Collapse Singapore (Hotel Collapse)

    S2:E9

    Hotel New World, budget hotel located in Singapore's Little India, collapses on 15 March, 1986. After a 7 day rescue operation, 17 people are rescued but 33 perish. Why did the hotel collapse? Was it sabotage? Or was it faulty maintenance?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. Seconds from Disaster Season 2 Episode 12 - The Hindenburg (Hindenburg Airship)
    9.0/10(2 votes)

    #13 - The Hindenburg (Hindenburg Airship)

    S2:E12

    When the zeppelin Hindenburg catches fire at Lakehurst, 35 of the 97 on board and one member of the ground crew are killed. Was the most infamous airship disaster caused by a ticking time bomb smuggled on board? Or was the Hindenburg itself a ticking time bomb?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. Seconds from Disaster Season 3 Episode 3 - Kursk: Russia's Nuclear Nightmare
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #14 - Kursk: Russia's Nuclear Nightmare

    S3:E3

    When a training mission goes horribly wrong, the Russian sumbarine Kursk suffers an explosion. 135 seconds later, it sinks. 23 people survive the blast, out of 118 on board. Will they make it out in time? What caused the sinking of the Kursk?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. Seconds from Disaster Season 3 Episode 6 - Everglades Plane Crash
    9.0/10(2 votes)

    #15 - Everglades Plane Crash

    S3:E6

    On May 1996, what started out as a normal flight from Miami, Florida, to Atlanta, Georgia, when ValuJet Flight 592, a DC-9 with 110 people on board goes down in the Everglades when a fire starts in the cabin and cockpit. The aircraft is swallowed by the swamp and harsh conditions make the rescue operation impossible. Soon there are no survivors. What happened to ValuJet 592 is a one of a kind accident.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. Seconds from Disaster Season 3 Episode 14 - Comet Air Crash
    9.0/10(2 votes)

    #16 - Comet Air Crash

    S3:E14

    The DH Comet is the first jet airliner and the pride of the British Overseas Airways Corporation. But on January 10, 1954, BOAC Flight 781, enroute from Rome to London, explodes catastrophically and crashes, killing 35 people. The investigation begins, but when South African Airways Flight 201 crashes exactly the same way taking another 21 lives, all Comets are grounded and the investigation takes a step forward.

    Director:Martin O'Collins
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. Seconds from Disaster Season 3 Episode 18 - Space Shuttle Challenger
    9.0/10(2 votes)

    #17 - Space Shuttle Challenger

    S3:E18

    On a cold winter day in 1986, space shuttle Challenger takes off from Cape Canaveral to start Mission 51-L. 73 seconds later, Challenger's boosters explode and send it into the ocean in pieces. What happened? Was a fault to blame? Or was there ice on the shuttle?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. Seconds from Disaster Season 1 Episode 9 - Fire on the Ski Slope
    8.8/10(4 votes)

    #18 - Fire on the Ski Slope

    S1:E9

    November 11, 2000, started out as a normal day at the Kaprun ski resort in Austria, as a Furnicular train climbing the slopes breaks down in a tunnel. Passengers then realise it's on fire. Only 12 make it out alive, leaving 155 people to die horribly. But how could such a modern train break down and catch fire?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  19. Seconds from Disaster Season 1 Episode 10 - Explosion in the North Sea
    8.7/10(3 votes)

    #19 - Explosion in the North Sea

    S1:E10

    July 6, 1988. The Piper Alpha stands over 110 miles off Scotland. But on this fateful day, a gas leak causes a catastrophic fire with a loss of 167 workers. Why did the Piper Alpha explode without warning? Was Human Error to blame? What about Mechanical Failure? Or even sabotage?

    Director:Dan Gold
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. Seconds from Disaster Season 5 Episode 2 - Bismarck
    8.7/10(3 votes)

    #20 - Bismarck

    S5:E2

    Maritime Historian Andrew Lambert looks at the Royal Navy's battle with the German battleship Bismarck.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  21. Seconds from Disaster Season 1 Episode 1 - Crash of the Concorde (Concorde)
    8.5/10(2 votes)

    #21 - Crash of the Concorde (Concorde)

    S1:E1

    Behind every disaster lies a chain of events. The Concorde was the world's first supersonic airliner, but on a charter flight to New York, 109 people are on board an Air France Concorde as it takes off from Paris. But as it lifts off the runway, the control tower notices flames trailing behind the aircraft. They can do nothing. The Concorde becomes uncontrollable and plows into a hotel in nearby Gonesse. 113 people are killed in the accident. The dream that was Concorde is shattered and the aircraft is grounded. What happened to Air France Flight 4590 could shatter the aviation industry as we know it.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. Seconds from Disaster Season 2 Episode 8 - The Bali Bombing (Disco Bombing)
    8.5/10(2 votes)

    #22 - The Bali Bombing (Disco Bombing)

    S2:E8

    Bali, located in Indonesia, is one of the most popular resorts in the world. But 202 die on the night of October 12, 2002, Muslim terrorists detonate several bombs in local nightclubs. Its the horror of 9/11 all over again.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  23. Seconds from Disaster Season 2 Episode 10 - TWA Flight 800
    8.5/10(2 votes)

    #23 - TWA Flight 800

    S2:E10

    17 July 1996. TWA Flight 800 leaves New York for Paris. Only 12 minutes into the flight, it explodes catastrophically, breaks in half, then plummets into the sea killing all 230 people on board. There was no mayday call from the crew. Rumours spread that the B-747 was downed by a misguided navy missile, sparking the biggest accident investigation in history.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  24. Seconds from Disaster Season 3 Episode 15 - Flight Engine Down
    8.5/10(2 votes)

    #24 - Flight Engine Down

    S3:E15

    American Airlines Flight 191, a DC-10, leaves Chicago. But when the engine falls off, the plane stalls and crashes killing 273 people. The investigators discover a shocking secret which will turn the aviation world upside down.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  25. Seconds from Disaster Season 3 Episode 16 - Oil Fire in Texas
    8.5/10(2 votes)

    #25 - Oil Fire in Texas

    S3:E16

    The Texas BP oil refinery is the third largest in America producing more than 437,000 barrels per day. Workmen are starting a routine day, then, and explosion rocks the structure with the death of 15. What went wrong?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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Best Episodes Summary

"Crash Landing at Sioux City" is the best rated episode of "Seconds from Disaster". It scored 10/10 based on 2 votes. Directed by Unknown and written by Unknown, it aired on 9/13/2005. This episode scored 0.0 points higher than the second highest rated, "Paris Train Crash (Runaway Train)".