Mayday

10 Best Episodes of Mayday - Season 5

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 - S5E10

#10 - Phantom Strike (Gol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907) (Season 5 - Episode 10)

Alternative titles: "Radio Silence" and "Death Over The Amazon" A Gol Transportes Aéreos Boeing 737 and a brand-new Embraer Legacy business jet on its delivery flight collide in mid-air over the Amazon. The 737 crashes but the Legacy manages to make a safe landing. 154 people die.

The episode was rated 7.40 from 52 votes.

Mayday - S5E4

#9 - Fanning the Flames (South African Airways Flight 295) (Season 5 - Episode 4)

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Alternative titles: "Cargo Conspiracy" and "Mystery Fire". South African Airways Flight 295 starts filling with smoke over the Indian Ocean. A fire has erupted in the rear main level cargo area; the pilots successfully open the doors in flight to clear the smoke from the aircraft, however it crashes with no survivors.

The episode was rated 7.49 from 45 votes.

Mayday - S5E5

#8 - Dead Weight (Air Midwest Flight 5481) (Season 5 - Episode 5)

A commuter plane crashes shortly after take-off, killing everyone onboard. Investigators are faced with the possibility that overweight passengers were one of the causes of this fatal crash. The airline industry based average passenger weight calculations on 1940s figures. Were they fatally out of date?

The episode was rated 7.64 from 56 votes.

Mayday - S5E3

#7 - Behind Closed Doors (American Airlines Flight 96 and Turkish Airlines Flight 981) (Season 5 - Episode 3)

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When an explosion blasts a huge hole in the fuselage of a new DC-10 airliner, the crash investigators discover a serious design flaw in the plane’s rear cargo door. Yet two years after the first crash, another DC-10 goes down because of the same problem. Should this accident have been prevented?

The episode was rated 7.65 from 57 votes.

Mayday - S5E1

#6 - Invisible Killer (Delta Air Lines Flight 191) (Season 5 - Episode 1)

Alternative title: "Slammed to the Ground". In the summer of 1985, a Delta 191 aircraft was diverted away from a thunderstorm, only to be struck by powerful winds and plummet to the ground. Flames engulfed the front of the plane and more than 130 people died in a tragic accident that would eventually expose, and eliminate, an invisible killer.

The episode was rated 7.67 from 63 votes.

Mayday - S5E7

#5 - Explosive Evidence (Air India Flight 182) (Season 5 - Episode 7)

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Air India Flight 182 flying over the Ireland coast exploded in mid-air killing all 329 on board. Investigators discovered that a bomb caused the aircraft to disintegrate.

The episode was rated 7.68 from 53 votes.

Mayday - S5E6

#4 - Southern Storm (Southern Airways Flight 242) (Season 5 - Episode 6)

In 1977, a plane was caught in a storm so severe that it cracked the cockpit windscreen. The crew decided to try and land on a nearby highway, but the jet clipped a tree and burst into flames. Together with the cockpit crew, 72 passengers and 8 people on the ground were killed in the inferno but miraculously, 5 people on board survived.

The episode was rated 7.80 from 44 votes.

Mayday - S5E9

#3 - Fatal Distraction (Eastern Airlines Flight 401) (Season 5 - Episode 9)

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Alternative title: "Who's at the Controls?" A Lockheed L-1011 Tristar operating Eastern Airlines Flight 401 to Miami International Airport crashes in the Everglades because the crew is distracted by a faulty landing gear indicator light and accidentally disengage the autopilot. 101 people die.

The episode was rated 7.86 from 50 votes.

Mayday - S5E8

#2 - Mixed Signals (Birgenair Flight 301) (Season 5 - Episode 8)

Alternative title: "The Plane That Wouldn't Talk" Birgenair Flight 301 is scheduled to fly from Puerto Plata to Frankfurt. On takeoff, the captain finds that his air speed indicator (ASI) is not reading properly, though the co-pilot's ASI is showing the correct speed. Both pilots become confused and believe that both ASIs are malfunctioning. They lose control of the aircraft and it crashes in the Caribbean Sea. All 13 crew members and 176 passengers die.

The episode was rated 7.89 from 55 votes.

Mayday - S5E2

#1 - Gimli Glider (Air Canada Flight 143) (Season 5 - Episode 2)

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Alternative titles: "Miracle Flight" and "Deadly Glide". A Boeing 767-200 jet, Air Canada Flight 143, ran completely out of fuel at 41,000 feet (12,000m) altitude, about halfway through its flight from Montreal to Edmonton. The crew was able to glide the aircraft safely to an emergency landing at Gimli Industrial Park Airport, a former airbase at Gimli, Manitoba.

The episode was rated 7.94 from 70 votes.

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