Curated collection
When a repair or a part gave way
Four flights where a mistake made on the ground, or a part that was not what it should have been, surfaced in the air. Three crews got their aircraft down, but Helios Airways Flight 522 crashed north of Athens with the loss of all 121 people on board. Each investigation traced the problem to work on the ground and the checks that should have caught it.
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The collection includes Helios Airways Flight 522, in which all 121 people on board died, and Aloha Flight 243, in which flight attendant C.B. Lansing lost her life.
The viewing path
A suggested order, not a chronological timeline.
4 videos
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1983Eastern Air Lines Flight 855
Missing O-Rings in Three Engines
Chip detectors fitted without O-rings, and an L-1011 that lost the oil from all three engines.
Why it belongs
It opens with the simplest chain of events: one missed step in the hangar, and all three engines affected at once.
Play: Eastern Air Lines Flight 855: Missing O-Rings in Three Engines Read & explore: Eastern Air Lines Flight 855: Missing O-Rings in Three Engines
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1988Aloha Airlines Flight 243
13 Minutes From Decompression to Maui
Disbonded lap joints and fatigue cracks that Aloha's inspections did not find.
Why it belongs
The second case is slower: damage that built up over years of flying, not in a single job, and inspections that did not catch it.
Play: Aloha Airlines Flight 243: 13 Minutes From Decompression to Maui Read & explore: Aloha Airlines Flight 243: 13 Minutes From Decompression to Maui
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2001Air Transat Flight 236
How a Fuel Leak Stopped Both Engines
A mismatched hydraulic part, a chafed fuel line, and a dual-engine glide to the Azores.
Why it belongs
Back to one repair, where a part that was wrong for the engine was made to fit and led to both engines stopping over the ocean.
Play: Air Transat Flight 236: How a Fuel Leak Stopped Both Engines Read & explore: Air Transat Flight 236: How a Fuel Leak Stopped Both Engines
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2005Helios Airways Flight 522
Inside the Ghost Plane Inquiry
A pressurization switch left on manual after maintenance, and a 737 that flew on after its crew lost consciousness.
Why it belongs
It ends with the flight that was not saved, where a setting left after maintenance went unnoticed through the crew's checks.
Play: Helios Airways Flight 522: Inside the Ghost Plane Inquiry Read & explore: Helios Airways Flight 522: Inside the Ghost Plane Inquiry
About this collection
Four flights, four aircraft, one pattern: something done on the ground, or a part that was not what it should have been, waited until the aircraft was in the air. In 1983 an Eastern Air Lines L-1011 lost the oil from all three engines because new chip detectors had been fitted without their O-ring seals. In 1988 an Aloha Airlines 737 lost part of its roof over Hawaii after inspections missed fatigue cracks along a lap joint. In 2001 an Air Transat A330 leaked its fuel over the Atlantic through a line chafed by a mismatched part fitted during an engine change. In 2005 a Helios Airways 737 climbed out of Cyprus with its pressurization switch left on manual after maintenance, flew on until it ran out of fuel, and crashed north of Athens, killing all 121 people on board.
The Eastern, Air Transat and Aloha crews got their aircraft back on the ground, although on Aloha flight attendant C.B. Lansing was lost. Each investigation led to changes in how aircraft are inspected, repaired and released to fly. This is not a story about careless people. It is about how one step done wrong, or one check that was too short, can stay hidden until the flight where it matters, and how the investigators traced it back.