Mayday

10 Beste Episodes of Mayday

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 air traffic control transcripts, as well as eyewitnesses recounts and interviews with aviation experts.

Written by Sophie and last updated on Feb 10, 2023.

PS: The following content contains spoilers!

PPS: I will admit that parts of this page was written with the help of AI - it makes my work so much easier to not start from a blank page!

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Mayday - S2E1

#15 - Blow Out (Ripped from the Cockpit, British Airways Flight 5390) (Staffel 2 - Folge 1)

British Airways Flight 5390 was a British Airways flight between Birmingham International Airport in Birmingham, England and Málaga, Spain. On June 10, 1990 the airplane suffered an explosive decompression when an improperly installed pane of the windshield blew out; the flight crew managed to perform an emergency landing in Southampton with no loss of life. Flight: British Airways Flight 5390 AKA: Blow Out

The episode was rated 8,04 from 93 votes.

Mayday - S11E1

#14 - Deadly Reputation (TAM Airlines Flight 3054) (Staffel 11 - Folge 1)

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July 17th, 2007 TAM Airlines Flight #3054 is on its final approach to Sao Paolo's notorious Congonhas Airport. Runway 35-L at Congonhas is one of the busiest and most treacherous airports in the world. It's built on a hilltop, completely surrounded by tall buildings. The crew of Flight #3054 gets a report that the runway is wet and slippery. Captain Henrique Stephanini brings his Airbus A-320 down at the foot of the 1,945 meter long runway, activates the one working reverse thruster and applies the brakes, but his plane doesn't slow down. It hurtles down the runway at top speed, crosses a highway and slams into a building and adjacent gas station. No one on the plane survives. Twelve people on the ground are also killed. This is the worst aviation disaster in South American history. Investigators are under enormous pressure to figure out what went wrong on Brazil's busiest runway, before it claims any more lives.

The episode was rated 8,04 from 68 votes.

Mayday - S18E1

#13 - Nuts and Bolts (Emery Worldwide Flight 17) (Staffel 18 - Folge 1)

Moments after taking off from a California airport, an American cargo plane needs to make an emergency landing. The pilots manage to bring their DC-8 to within sight of the runway, but the crippled plane crashes into an automobile salvage yard one mile east of the airport.

The episode was rated 8,05 from 61 votes.

Mayday - S13E10

#12 - Titanic in the Sky (Qantas, Flight 32) (Staffel 13 - Folge 10)

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On 4 November 2010, the pilots of Qantas Flight 32 were forced to deal with a series of failures when an explosion tore apart an engine on their A380.

The episode was rated 8,05 from 110 votes.

Mayday - S11E7

#11 - Bad Attitude (Korean Air Cargo Flight 8509) (Staffel 11 - Folge 7)

On 22 December 1999, a cargo flight operating as Korean Air Cargo Flight 8509 left London Stansted Airport for Milan, Italy, crashed about 55 seconds after taking off. All 4 crew members died in the disaster.

The episode was rated 8,06 from 53 votes.

Mayday - S18E7

#10 - Free Fall (Qantas Flight 72) (Staffel 18 - Folge 7)

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In 2008, Qantas Flight 72 travelling from Singapore to Perth suddenly nosedives while over the Indian Ocean. With warnings flooding the cockpit and passengers being flung around, it’s up to an experienced fighter pilot to get the plane to safety.

The episode was rated 8,06 from 52 votes.

Mayday - S13E4

#9 - Disaster on the Potomac (Air Florida, Flight 90) (Staffel 13 - Folge 4)

Just after taking off, Air Florida Flight 90 plunges into the frozen Potomac River. It takes an ingenious experiment to uncover why it happened.

The episode was rated 8,06 from 86 votes.

Mayday - S11E13

#8 - Impossible Landing (United Airlines Flight 232) (Staffel 11 - Folge 13)

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On 19 July 1989, United Airlines Flight 232's DC-10 was crippled when an engine explodes causing serious damage to the vital hydraulics system causing the plane to go out of control. The plane managed to land at Sioux City but the plane erupted into a fireball shortly after.

The episode was rated 8,06 from 65 votes.

Mayday - S3E9

#7 - Kid in the Cockpit (Aeroflot Flight 593) (Staffel 3 - Folge 9)

Aeroflot Flight 593 refers to an accident on March 23, 1994 in which an Aeroflot Airbus A310-304 passenger airliner, registration F-OGQS, crashed into a hillside in Siberia. The cockpit voice recorder revealed that the pilot's 15-year-old son, Eldar Kudrinsky, was initially at the controls when the incident began, and that he had unknowingly activated an automatic feature of the A310's autopilot that many pilots at the time were unfamiliar with. All 75 passengers and crew were killed.

The episode was rated 8,08 from 53 votes.

Mayday - S12E13

#6 - Vanished (Air France, Flight 447) (Staffel 12 - Folge 13)

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On 1 June 2009, Air France Flight 447, a scheduled flight from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to Paris, France, stalled and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean while flying in a thunderstorm, killing all 216 passengers and 12 aircrew on board. The causes of the crash were incorrect airspeed readings due to ice blockage of the aircraft's pitot tubes, inappropriate control inputs and the pilots not taking recovery action until it was too late.

The episode was rated 8,13 from 83 votes.

Mayday - S12E12

#5 - 28 Seconds to Survive (Santa Bárbara Airlines, Flight 518) (Staffel 12 - Folge 12)

On 21 February 2008, Santa Bárbara Airlines Flight 518 was operating as a scheduled domestic flight from Mérida, Venezuela to Caracas when it crashed into the side of a mountain shortly after takeoff. All 46 passengers and crew aboard the plane died.

The episode was rated 8,14 from 56 votes.

Mayday - S12E7

#4 - Catastrophe at O'Hare (American Airlines, Flight 191) (Staffel 12 - Folge 7)

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On 25 May 1979, American Airlines Flight 191 a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10 lost its No.1 engine moments after take-off at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and crashed into a trailer park shortly thereafter. All 271 people on board the plane as well as two other people on the ground were killed making it the worst single-aircraft air disaster in United States history. AKA Catastrophe at O'Hare

The episode was rated 8,15 from 68 votes.

Mayday - S11E6

#3 - Turning Point (Northwest Airlines Flight 85) (Staffel 11 - Folge 6)

On 9 October 2002, Northwest Airlines Flight 85 is cruising above the Bering Sea before problems develop and pilots must make an emergency landing in Anchorage, Alaska.

The episode was rated 8,19 from 62 votes.

Mayday - S3E11

#2 - Collision Course (Staffel 3 - Folge 11)

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On 26 September 2000, waves push the MS Express Samina off course, causing it to hit a group of rocks off Paros and sink, killing 80 people. The ferry was on autopilot with the crew not monitoring the ship's course. Instead, they were watching an association football match.

The episode was rated 8,32 from 38 votes.

Mayday - S4E2

#1 - Falling from the Sky (British Airways Flight 9) (Staffel 4 - Folge 2)

Alternate title: "All Engines Failed" British Airways Flight 009, sometimes referred to as the Jakarta incident, was a scheduled British Airways flight from London Heathrow to Auckland, with stops in Bombay, Madras, Kuala Lumpur, Perth and Melbourne. On 24 June 1982, the route was being flown by City of Edinburgh, a 747-200 registered G-BDXH, when it flew into a cloud of dust and ash thrown up by the eruption of Mount Galunggung, and all four engines failed. The aircraft was able to glide far enough to exit the ash cloud, and three of the engines were restarted, allowing the flight to divert to Jakarta and perform a safe landing.

The episode was rated 8,34 from 71 votes.

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