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The Best Episodes of Seconds from Disaster Season 1

Every episode of Seconds from Disaster Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Seconds from Disaster Season 1!

Binge this in 10h 11m•Peaking at 8.4/10

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

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

    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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  3. Seconds from Disaster Season 1 Episode 5 - Derailment at Eschede (High Speed Train Wreck)
    7.8/10(55 votes)

    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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  4. Seconds from Disaster Season 1 Episode 2 - Tunnel Inferno
    7.6/10(75 votes)

    S1:E2

    Mont Blanc is one of the highest mountains in Europe, with a seven-mile long tunnel connecting France and Italy through the Alps. One March day in 1999, a Belgian Truck carrying flour and margarine catches fire in the tunnel, creating a blaze which burns for 53 hours, killing 39 people. A team of investigators set out to prove what caused such a terrible fire, and why all tunnels could be merely Seconds from Disaster

    Director:Luke Campbell
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. Seconds from Disaster Season 1 Episode 9 - Fire on the Ski Slope
    7.6/10(53 votes)

    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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  6. Seconds from Disaster Season 1 Episode 4 - Fire On the Star (Fire Onboard the Star)
    7.4/10(55 votes)

    S1:E4

    On Easter 1990, a fire breaks out on the Scandinavian Star Ferry. After been towed to Sweden, the fire is eventually put out after 10 hours. Then the worst is revealed. 158 people have lost their lives. But why on Earth did they die? An investigation is immediately started, but the truth will shock them.

    Director:Dan Gold
    Writer:Unknown

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  7. Seconds from Disaster Season 1 Episode 11 - Flood at Stava Dam
    7.3/10(43 votes)

    S1:E11

    On July 1985, Italy's Stava Dam collapses and demolishes 70 structures killing 268 people in the process. Was there a fault in the design of the dam? Is this something that could happen to any dam around the world? Find out how a structural failure leads to a massive catastrophe with Flood at Stava Dam

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. Seconds from Disaster Season 1 Episode 8 - Inferno at Guadalajara
    7.2/10(53 votes)

    S1:E8

    April 1992, Guadalajara, Mexico. On the 19th, residents start complaining of a strong gasoline-like smell coming from the sewers. Three days later, on the 22nd, numerous gas explosions in the sewers over a time span of four hours destroy kilometers of housing estate and killing 206 people. But who, if anyone, is to blame? What caused the inferno in Guadalajara?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. Seconds from Disaster Season 1 Episode 7 - Meltdown in Chernobyl
    7.1/10(124 votes)

    S1:E7

    We make mistakes every few seconds of our lives. They are unavoidable. But sometimes the results can be disastrous. On April 26, 1986, a series of catastrophic blunders leave dozens dead when the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant melts down.

    Directors:Stan Griffin, Maninderpal Sahota
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. Seconds from Disaster Season 1 Episode 6 - Wreck of the Sunset Limited (The Wreck of the Sunset Limited)
    7.0/10(53 votes)

    S1:E6

    September 1993. The captain of a towboat unwittingly causes the collapse of a bridge over the Big Bayou Canot. When an Amtrak train comes along, it derails with 47 lives lost. Why was such a hideous mistake made? How could it have been prevented? Could it have been prevented at all? Wreck of the Sunset Limited explains why over 40 people died that Autumn day.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. Seconds from Disaster Season 1 Episode 10 - Explosion in the North Sea
    7.0/10(53 votes)

    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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  12. Seconds from Disaster Season 1 Episode 3 - Oklahoma City (Bomb in Oklahoma)
    6.9/10(64 votes)

    S1:E3

    One April morning in 1995, at Oklahoma City's Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, Timothy McVeigh parks a truck packed with explosives at the front of the government landmark. At 9:02AM, it explodes and the front of the building collapses with a loss of 168 lives. Survivors recount the terrifying experience as investigators attempt to discover what caused the building to collapse.

    Director:Ian Bremner
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. Seconds from Disaster Season 1 Episode 13 - Pentagon 9/11
    6.9/10(59 votes)

    S1:E13

    September 11, 2001 is one of the worst days in history. In Washington, D.C, the workers at the Pentagon have only just heard of the chaos going on at the New York World Trade Centre, but are unaware that they themselves have become a target. American Airlines Flight 77, a Boeing 757 aircraft, collides with the Pentagon killing 189. Pentagon 9/11 recreates the events leading up to the explosion at the Pentagon.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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Season 1 Ratings Summary

"Collision on the Runway" is the best rated episode of "Seconds from Disaster" season 1. It scored 8.4/10 based on 81 votes. Directed by Paul Burgess and written by Unknown, it aired on 10/3/2005. This episode is rated 0.6 points higher than the second-best, "Concorde (Crash of the Concorde)".