Why Planes Crash | |
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Genre | Documentary |
Country of origin | United States |
Original languages |
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No. of seasons | 2 |
No. of episodes | 13 (List of episodes) |
Production | |
Running time | 42–47 minutes |
Production company | Peacock Productions |
Original release | |
Network | MSNBC |
Release | July 12, 2009 – February 2, 2015 |
Why Planes Crash is a documentary TV series based on aviation accidents and crashes. The series was created, named and produced by Caroline Sommers for NBC News. The series premiered on July 12, 2009, featuring Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger's ditching of US Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson River on January 15, 2009, popularly known as the "Miracle on the Hudson." Three other ditchings were also featured in this episode: Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961, ALM Flight 980, and Pan Am Flight 6.
Originally run on MSNBC, each episode was narrated by Lester Holt. Original production ceased in 2015. The series is still in heavy rotation on The Weather Channel.
Normally, each episode would feature three to four accidents. Over the course of the 43-minute program, aviation experts such as veteran pilot and founder of Safety Operating Systems John M. Cox, as well as former NTSB investigators John Goglia and Greg Feith, would discuss the events and what caused or led up to the crash. Similar to Air Crash Investigation , the show also featured state-of-the-art CGI recreations and visuals to graphically illustrate what occurred during the accident. [1]
In some episodes, a survivor (or multiple survivors) would explain what they experienced during the accident. For example, in the very first episode, Captain Balsey DeWitt, pilot of ALM Flight 980, was interviewed. [2]
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code |
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1 | 1 | "Brace for Impact" | Caroline Sommers | Caroline Sommers | July 12, 2009 | N/A |
Exploring terrifying airplane disasters, beginning with a look at why pilots risk ditching in water, and a hijacked 767 that was forced into the ocean. Accidents: US Airways Flight 1549, ALM Flight 980, Garuda Indonesia Flight 421, Tuninter Flight 1153, Pan Am Flight 6, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 | ||||||
2 | 2 | "Breaking Point" | Caroline Sommers | Caroline Sommers | January 17, 2010 | N/A |
A gripping look at how engines and structures have failed in flight, including how nine passengers were sucked out of a 747 when a cargo door exploded over the Pacific. Accidents: Aloha Airlines Flight 243, American Airlines Flight 191, United Airlines Flight 811, Japan Airlines Flight 123 Note: The episode also mentions the crash of Northwest Airlines Flight 255 and Continental Airlines Flight 1713. | ||||||
3 | 3 | "Human Error" | Unknown | Unknown | November 21, 2010 | N/A |
Instances of human error that resulted in plane crashes are examined. Included: a 737 hits a small turboprop on a runway; an Airbus 300 crashes after its tail breaks off; an L-1011 jumbo jet plunges into the Everglades; a jet slams into a hillside; a commuter-plane mishap over a Buffalo suburb. Accidents: Los Angeles runway disaster, Colgan Air Flight 3407, American Airlines Flight 587, Eastern Air Lines Flight 401, Avianca Flight 52 | ||||||
4 | 4 | "Fire in the Sky" | Unknown | Unknown | November 28, 2010 | N/A |
Instances of onboard fires are examined. Included: a DC-9 crashes into the Everglades after a fire causes the pilots to lose control; an MD-11 crashes after smoke fills the cockpit; a DC-9 loses its electrical systems two hours into a flight; a flame-engulfed plane crashes into a hotel. Accidents: Swissair Flight 111, Air France Flight 4590, ValuJet Flight 592, Air Canada Flight 797 | ||||||
5 | 5 | "Collision Course" | Caroline Sommers | Caroline Sommers | April 27, 2013 | N/A |
Examining collisions between planes. Included: a corporate jet and a 737 collide while 37,000 feet above the Amazon; a DC-8 tears into the fuselage of a Lockheed Constellation a mile above New York City; a 727 slams into a Cessna above San Diego; and near L.A., a small plane smashes into a DC-9. Accidents: 2006 Mato Grosso mid-air collision, 1960 New York mid-air collision, 1978 San Diego mid-air collision, 1986 Cerritos mid-air collision Note: The episode also mentions the Grand Canyon mid-air collision, 1967 Hendersonville mid-air collision and 1973 Nantes mid-air collision. |
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code |
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6 | 1 | "Crisis in the Sky (aka 'Crisis in the Cockpit')" | Caroline Sommers | Caroline Sommers | December 15, 2014 | N/A |
Season 2 begins with a look at cockpit communication and how it improved with the implementation of Crew Resource Management (CRM) in 1979. Accidents: United Airlines Flight 173, United Airlines Flight 232, Korean Air Flight 801 | ||||||
7 | 2 | "Brush With Death" | Caroline Sommers | Caroline Sommers | December 22, 2014 | N/A |
Plane-crash survivors recall their frightening experiences. Accidents: Air Florida Flight 90, Downeast Flight 46, 2012 Cessna 401 accident | ||||||
8 | 3 | "Severe Weather" | Unknown | Unknown | December 29, 2014 | N/A |
The effects of storms, high winds and microbursts on planes are examined. Accidents: Southern Airways Flight 242, Delta Air Lines Flight 191, Air France Flight 358 | ||||||
9 | 4 | "Small Planes, Big Problem" | Sarah Hutt | Sarah Hutt | January 4, 2015 | N/A |
Hazards posed to small planes, including bad weather, poor visibility and distractions, are examined. Accidents: John F. Kennedy Jr. plane crash, 2006 New York City plane crash, 1996 Cessna 177B crash | ||||||
10 | 5 | "Sudden Impact" | Unknown | Unknown | January 5, 2015 | N/A |
A look at terrible crashes that can result from planes veering off course or poor visibility. Accidents: Air New Zealand Flight 901, American Airlines Flight 965, Air Inter Flight 148 | ||||||
11 | 6 | "Chopper Down" | Sarah Hutt | Sarah Hutt | January 12, 2015 | N/A |
A look at helicopters highlights their uses for rescues and rapid responses, but also examines the unique set of dangers involved in their operation. Accidents: 2002 USAF Pavehawk rescue accident, 2009 Hudson River mid-air collision, 2008 Sikorsky S-61N crash | ||||||
12 | 7 | "Who’s Flying" | Unknown | Unknown | January 19, 2015 | N/A |
Plane crashes that resulted from automation failures are spotlighted. Accidents: Air France Flight 447, China Airlines Flight 006, Turkish Airlines Flight 1951 | ||||||
13 | 8 | "Fatal Flaws" | Unknown | Unknown | January 20, 2015 | N/A |
A look at three accidents and how they led to changes in the aviation industry. Accidents: USAir Flight 427, United Airlines Flight 585. TWA Flight 800, 2002 Überlingen mid-air collision | ||||||
In the episode "Sudden Impact", the date for Flight 148 is first given as December 20, 1992 (the correct date), but later it changes to December 22, 1992.
The Tenerife airport disaster occurred on 27 March 1977, when two Boeing 747 passenger jets collided on the runway at Los Rodeos Airport on the Spanish island of Tenerife. The collision occurred when KLM Flight 4805 initiated its takeoff run in dense fog while Pan Am Flight 1736 was still on the runway. The impact and resulting fire killed all 248 people on board the KLM plane and 335 of the 396 people on board the Pan Am plane, with only 61 survivors in the front section of the latter aircraft. With a total of 583 fatalities, the disaster is the deadliest accident in aviation history.
The Kegworth air disaster occurred when British Midland Airways Flight 092, a Boeing 737-400, crashed onto the motorway embankment between the M1 motorway and A453 road near Kegworth, Leicestershire, England, while attempting to make an emergency landing at East Midlands Airport on 8 January 1989.
Delta Air Lines Flight 1141 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight between Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, and Salt Lake City, Utah. On August 31, 1988, the flight, using a Boeing 727-200 series aircraft, crashed during takeoff, resulting in 14 deaths and 76 injuries among the 108 on board.
Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 was a scheduled international flight serving the route Addis Ababa–Nairobi–Brazzaville–Lagos–Abidjan. On 23 November 1996, the aircraft serving the flight, a Boeing 767-200ER, was hijacked en route from Addis Ababa to Nairobi by three Ethiopians seeking asylum in Australia. The plane crash-landed in the Indian Ocean near Grande Comore, Comoros Islands, due to fuel exhaustion; 125 of the 175 passengers and crew on board, including the three hijackers, died. This is the first recorded instance of a ditching utilizing a wide-body aircraft.
American Airlines Flight 965 was a regularly scheduled flight from Miami International Airport in Miami, Florida, to Alfonso Bonilla Aragón International Airport in Cali, Colombia. On December 20, 1995, the Boeing 757-200 flying this route crashed into a mountain in Buga, Colombia, around 9:40 pm killing 151 of the 155 passengers and all eight crew members.
United Airlines Flight 232 was a regularly scheduled United Airlines flight from Stapleton International Airport in Denver to O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, continuing to Philadelphia International Airport. On July 19, 1989, the DC-10 serving the flight crash-landed at Sioux Gateway Airport in Sioux City, Iowa, after suffering a catastrophic failure of its tail-mounted engine due to an unnoticed manufacturing defect in the engine's fan disk, which resulted in the loss of all flight controls. Of the 296 passengers and crew on board, 112 died during the accident, while 184 people survived. 13 of the passengers were uninjured. It was the deadliest single-aircraft accident in the history of United Airlines.
Crossair Flight 3597 was a scheduled flight from Berlin Tegel Airport, Germany, to Zürich Airport, Switzerland. On 24 November 2001, the Crossair Avro RJ100 or BAE Systems 146 operating the route, registered as HB-IXM, crashed into a wooded range of hills near Bassersdorf and caught fire. Out of the 33 occupants, nine survived.
Copa Airlines Flight 201 was a regularly scheduled passenger flight from Tocumen International Airport in Panama City, Panama, to Alfonso Bonilla Aragón International Airport in Cali, Colombia. On 6 June 1992, the Boeing 737-204 Advanced operating the route rolled, entered a steep dive, disintegrated in mid-air, and crashed into the jungle of the Darién Gap 29 minutes after takeoff, killing all 47 people on board. The in-flight breakup was caused by faulty instrument readings and several other contributing factors, including incomplete training.
Martinair Flight 495 was a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 operated by Dutch airline Martinair, that crash-landed in severe weather conditions at Faro Airport, Portugal on 21 December 1992. The aircraft carried 13 crew members and 327 passengers, mainly holidaymakers from the Netherlands. The crash killed 54 passengers and 2 crew members; 106 of the other occupants were badly injured.
United Airlines Flight 173 was a scheduled flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City to Portland International Airport in Portland, Oregon, with a scheduled stop in Denver, Colorado. On December 28, 1978, the aircraft flying this route ran out of fuel while troubleshooting a landing gear problem and crashed in a suburban Portland neighborhood near NE 157th Avenue and East Burnside Street, killing 10 people on board.
ALM Antillean Airlines Flight 980 was a flight scheduled to fly from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City to Princess Juliana International Airport in St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles, on May 2, 1970. After several unsuccessful landing attempts, the aircraft's fuel was exhausted, and it made a forced water landing in the Caribbean Sea 48 km off St. Croix, with 23 fatalities and 40 survivors. The accident is one of a small number of intentional water ditchings of jet airliners.
Gregory Allen Feith is an American former Senior Air Safety Investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). He currently works as a consultant on aviation safety and security matters in the private sector, and as the aviation expert for NBC and MSNBC. He also serves as the technical advisor in a number of television programs such as Mayday, Seconds from Disaster, and Why Planes Crash while maintaining a busy speaking schedule.
Garuda Indonesia Flight 200(GA200/GIA 200) was a scheduled domestic passenger flight of a Boeing 737-400 operated by Garuda Indonesia between Jakarta and Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The aircraft overran the runway, crashed into a rice field and burst into flames while landing at Adisucipto International Airport on 7 March 2007. Twenty passengers and one flight attendant were killed. Both pilots survived, and were fired shortly after the accident occurred. It was the fifth hull-loss of a Boeing 737 in Indonesia within less than six months and was the most recent accident with fatalities involving the airline.
Pan Am Flight 6 was a round-the-world airline flight that ditched in the Pacific Ocean on October 16, 1956, after two of its four engines failed. Flight 6 left Philadelphia on October 12 as a DC-6B and flew eastward to Europe and Asia on a multi-stop trip. On the evening of October 15 the flight left Honolulu on a Boeing 377 Stratocruiser Clipper named Sovereign Of The Skies. The accident was the basis for the 1958 film Crash Landing.
The Grand Canyon mid-air collision occurred in the western United States on June 30, 1956, when a United Airlines Douglas DC-7 struck a Trans World Airlines Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation over Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. The first plane fell into the canyon while the other slammed into a rock face. All 128 on board both airplanes perished, making it the first commercial airline incident to exceed one hundred fatalities. The airplanes had departed Los Angeles International Airport minutes apart from each other and headed for Chicago and Kansas City, respectively. The collision took place in uncontrolled airspace, where it was the pilots' responsibility to maintain separation. This highlighted the antiquated state of air traffic control, which became the focus of major aviation reforms.
Tuninter Flight 1153 was a Tuninter Airlines international flight from Bari International Airport in Bari, Italy, to Djerba-Zarzis Airport in Djerba, Tunisia. On 6 August 2005, the Tuninter ATR 72 ditched into the Mediterranean Sea about 18 miles (29 km) from the city of Palermo. Sixteen of the 39 people on board died. The accident resulted from fuel exhaustion due to the installation of fuel quantity indicators designed for the ATR 42 in the larger ATR 72. It was also Tuninter's first fatal accident in the 14-year history of the company.
US Airways Flight 1549 was a regularly scheduled US Airways flight from New York City's LaGuardia Airport to Charlotte and Seattle, in the United States. On January 15, 2009, the Airbus A320 serving the flight struck a flock of birds shortly after takeoff from LaGuardia, losing all engine power. Given their position in relation to the available airports and their low altitude, pilots Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger and Jeffrey Skiles decided to glide the plane to ditching on the Hudson River near Midtown Manhattan. All 155 people on board were rescued by nearby boats. There were no fatalities, although 100 people were injured, some seriously. The time from the bird strike to the ditching was less than four minutes.
Chesley Burnett "Sully" Sullenberger III is an American retired fighter pilot, diplomat, and airline pilot. He is best known for his actions as captain of US Airways Flight 1549 on January 15, 2009, when he ditched the plane, landing on the Hudson River after both engines were disabled by a bird strike. All 155 people aboard survived. After the Hudson landing, Sullenberger became an outspoken advocate for aviation safety and helped develop new protocols for flight safety. He served as the co-chairman, along with his co-pilot on Flight 1549, Jeffrey Skiles, of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA)'s Young Eagles youth introduction-to-aviation program from 2009 to 2013.
LAM Mozambique Airlines Flight 470 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Maputo, Mozambique, to Luanda, Angola. Halfway through its flight on 29 November 2013, the Embraer E190 twinjet operating the service crashed into the Bwabwata National Park in Namibia, killing all 27 passengers and 6 crew on board.
Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya. On 10 March 2019, the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft which operated the flight crashed near the town of Bishoftu six minutes after takeoff. All 149 passengers and 8 crew members on board died.