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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!

Binge this in 2d 9h•Peaking at 9.3/10

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 3 Episode 18 - Space Shuttle Challenger
    9.3/10(3 votes)

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

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

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

    #4 - 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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  5. Seconds from Disaster Season 1 Episode 12 - Collision on the Runway
    8.4/10(81 votes)

    #5 - Collision on the Runway

    S1:E12

    Two Jumbo Jets, Pan Am 1736 and KLM 4805 collide on the lone runway at Tenerife, Spain. The two aircraft are then burnt out and 583 people lose their lives. But how come two experienced pilots made a mistake of this magnitude? How come two passenger jets collided on the runway?

    Director:Paul Burgess
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. Seconds from Disaster Season 2 Episode 7 - Crash Landing at Sioux City
    8.3/10(59 votes)

    #6 - 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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    The 20 WORST Episodes of Seconds from Disaster

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  7. Seconds from Disaster Season 4 Episode 4 - Collision at 35,000 Feet
    8.2/10(56 votes)

    #7 - Collision at 35,000 Feet

    S4:E4

    On July 1, 2002 a cargo airliner and a passenger airliner collide while they are over Überlingen in Germany. The two aircraft crash, killing all on board.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. Seconds from Disaster Season 4 Episode 6 - Bhopal Nightmare
    8.1/10(50 votes)

    #8 - Bhopal Nightmare

    S4:E6

    On December 2, 1984 in Bhopal, India, a toxic gas leak at a Union Carbide chemical plant results in the deaths of 3,000 people.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. Seconds from Disaster Season 2 Episode 1 - Columbia's Last Flight (Space Shuttle Columbia)
    8.0/10(64 votes)

    #9 - Columbia's Last Flight (Space Shuttle Columbia)

    S2:E1

    June 28 Columbia's Last Flight (Space Shuttle Columbia) Space Shuttle Columbia disaster February 1, 2003 Texas, February 1, 2003. The Space Shuttle Columbia is re-entering orbit. But something goes horribly wrong and Columbia explodes. All 7 astronauts on board perish. When investigators learn of a small fault which occurred during take-off sixteen days earlier, they are convinced they have found a possible suspect.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. Seconds from Disaster Season 3 Episode 17 - Tornado Outbreak
    8.0/10(2 votes)

    #10 - Tornado Outbreak

    S3:E17

    On 3 April 1974, the most violent outbreak of tornadoes in history struck. The well-named "Super Outbreak" produces 148 twisters over 13 American states and in Ontario, Canada destroying thousands of homes and over 5,000 people die. How did a single storm form the 1974 "Super Outbreak" tornadoes?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. Seconds from Disaster Season 3 Episode 19 - Eruption on Montserrat
    8.0/10(2 votes)

    #11 - Eruption on Montserrat

    S3:E19

    On the Caribbean island of Montserrat is the Soufrière Hills volcano. Nearby is Plymouth, the island's capital. In 1995, Soufrière Hills came to life and spewed ash over the island. Everyone is evacuated to the north of Montserrat. Two years on, the eruptions get worse and in 1997, Soufrière Hills erupts violently. Pyroclastic flows rage down the mountain and destroy Plymouth and Bramble Airport, killing 23 people. It generates a small tsunami. People crowd onto ships to escape their home, knowing it's been destroyed.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. Seconds from Disaster Season 6 Episode 1 - Norway Massacre: I Was There
    7.9/10(48 votes)

    #12 - Norway Massacre: I Was There

    S6:E1

    On July 22, 2011, a gunman goes on a terrorist rampage – starting with an explosion in Oslo and ending with the slaughter of dozens of teenagers.

    Director:John Maidens
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. Seconds from Disaster Season 6 Episode 3 - Fire in the Cockpit
    7.9/10(50 votes)

    #13 - Fire in the Cockpit

    S6:E3

    On September 2, 1998, a fire broke out on Swissair Flight 111 while in-flight, damaging vital systems and causing the aircraft to crash into the sea off Peggy's Cove with no survivors. The fire was caused by faulty wiring in the onboard first class entertainment system.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. Seconds from Disaster Season 6 Episode 6 - Terrified Over Tokyo
    7.9/10(47 votes)

    #14 - Terrified Over Tokyo

    S6:E6

    On August 12, 1985, the rear pressure bulkhead burst on Japan Airlines Flight 123, destroying the vertical stabilizer and severing all four of the aircraft's vital hydraulic systems. The crew kept the aircraft flying for 32 minutes until it clipped Mt Osutaka and crashed, killing all but 4 people out of the 524 passengers and crew aboard.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. Seconds from Disaster Season 6 Episode 7 - Runaway Train
    7.9/10(109 votes)

    #15 - Runaway Train

    S6:E7

    On April 25, 2005, a seven-car commuter train came off the tracks and crashed just before Amagasaki Station in Japan causing 107 deaths and 562 injuries.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. Seconds from Disaster Season 1 Episode 1 - Concorde (Crash of the Concorde)
    7.8/10(88 votes)

    #16 - Concorde (Crash of the 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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  17. Seconds from Disaster Season 1 Episode 5 - Derailment at Eschede (High Speed Train Wreck)
    7.8/10(55 votes)

    #17 - Derailment at Eschede (High Speed Train Wreck)

    S1:E5

    June 1998. The new German InterCity Express is a trip from Munich to Hamburg, one of many. Today should be no different. The new train offers the ultimate luxury in high-speed travel. But a terrible accident sets off a chain of events causing the loss of 101 lives when the train derails catastrophically at the town of Eschede. But what caused such a horrible accident?

    Director:Sid Bennett
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. Seconds from Disaster Season 2 Episode 10 - TWA Flight 800
    7.8/10(59 votes)

    #18 - 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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  19. Seconds from Disaster Season 2 Episode 16 - Russia's Nuclear Sub Nightmare (Sinking of the Kursk)
    7.8/10(42 votes)

    #19 - Russia's Nuclear Sub Nightmare (Sinking of the Kursk)

    S2:E16

    When a training mission goes horribly wrong, the Russian submarine 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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  20. Seconds from Disaster Season 2 Episode 19 - Florida Swamp Air Crash (Everglades Plane Crash)
    7.8/10(49 votes)

    #20 - Florida Swamp Air Crash (Everglades Plane Crash)

    S2:E19

    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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  21. Seconds from Disaster Season 3 Episode 1 - Skywalk Collapse
    7.8/10(69 votes)

    #21 - Skywalk Collapse

    S3:E1

    On 17 July 1981, 1,500 people had gathered for a dance in the Hyatt Regency Hotel when, in a catastrophic disaster, the skywalk collapses killing 114 people and injuring countless others in the worst US structural failure.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. Seconds from Disaster Season 3 Episode 3 - Russia's Nuclear Sub Nightmare (Sinking of the Kursk)
    7.8/10(51 votes)

    #22 - Russia's Nuclear Sub Nightmare (Sinking of the Kursk)

    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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  23. Seconds from Disaster Season 3 Episode 5 - US Embassy Bombing (American Embassy Bombing)
    7.8/10(54 votes)

    #23 - US Embassy Bombing (American Embassy Bombing)

    S3:E5

    Al Queda struck again on August 7, 1998. In Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya, a truck bomb destroys the U.S. Embassy buildings killing 257 and injuring thousands.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  24. Seconds from Disaster Season 3 Episode 8 - Aircraft Carrier Explosion
    7.8/10(58 votes)

    #24 - Aircraft Carrier Explosion

    S3:E8

    The massive aircraft carrier USS Forrestal is sailing to Vietnam on July 29, 1967, when a fighter jet explodes, a massive blast rocks the ship, and in just 17 hours 134 men lose their lives. Was it hostile fire, human error, or a fault in the fighter jets.

    Director:Andrew Stevenson
    Writer:Unknown

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  25. Seconds from Disaster Season 4 Episode 1 - 9/11
    7.8/10(56 votes)

    #25 - 9/11

    S4:E1

    On September 11, 2001 two aircraft are deliberately flown into two buildings of the World Trade Center and one is flown into the Pentagon. Another crashes in a field in rural Pennsylvania.

    Director:Sean Smith
    Writer:Unknown

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Best Episodes Summary

"Space Shuttle Challenger" is the best rated episode of "Seconds from Disaster". It scored 9.3/10 based on 3 votes. Directed by Unknown and written by Unknown, it aired on 1/31/2007. This episode scored 0.3 points higher than the second highest rated, "Comet Air Crash".