National Geographic - Air Crash Investigation Series 1 (2003) Part 1 Unlocking Disaster

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 1 Unlocking Disaster

Just out of Honolulu the cargo door of United Airlines Flight 811 opens at an altitude of 33,000 feet, ripping a huge hole in the 747 taking out five rows of seats –and nine passengers– with it. With their plane torn wide open and no options left, the crew attempts a last ditch landing back in Honolulu. This episode investigates how delays in fixing known design faults can have tragic consequences.

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