National Geographic - Air Crash Investigation Series 1 (2003) Part 2 Racing the Storm

A dramatic non-fiction series, Air Crash Investigations (known also as MAYDAY) investigates recent high-profile air disasters to uncover how and why they happened. Air Crash Investigations takes viewers on board six different flights in trouble, recreating the tension and the pressure in the cockpit and cabin. These expertly crafted dramatic reenactments are based on transcripts from recovered flight data recorders. News footage, interviews with pilots, analysts and key witnesses and computer graphics of the planes in flight all shed light on the safety issues at the heart of aviation industry controversies. Air Crash Investigations follows survivors, family members of crash victims and transportation safety investigators as they piece together the evidence of the causes of major accidents. Each episode of Air Crash Investigations provides a compelling, in-depth look at one particular aspect of air safety such as pilot error, fire in flight, poor maintenance, or “hurry up syndrome” – a dangerous condition born of the time pressures inherent in modern commercial aviation. Air Crash Investigations highlights the latest developments in computerized flight technology. It also examines the debate these advances bring forward. Recent incidents are compared to previous accidents to show how the industry learns – or doesn't – from its serious mistakes.

Part 2 Racing the Storm

On June 1st, 1999, at the height of thunderstorm season in Arkansas, American Airlines Flight 1420 ends in disaster. As an American Airlines jet prepares to land amidst a violent storm, its crew's worst fears were realized. The MD80 ploughs off a wet runway down an embankment and breaks apart, killing 11 people. This episode investigates the crash of Flight 1420 to Little Rock, could the pilots have made the bad decision to fly into the eye of a storm in the face of severe crosswinds?

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