Flights Gone Wrong

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4 videos

  1. Swissair Flight 551: Landing an MD-81 With a Smoke-Filled Cockpit

    Event: 1993Published: 24 Oct 2026

    Ten minutes out of Munich, a worn emergency power switch began to smoulder in the overhead panel of Swissair Flight 551, filling the MD-81's cockpit with thick smoke and knocking out the captain's…

    View event: Swissair Flight 551 (1993)
    Location
    Munich
    Phase of flight
    Cruise

  2. TWA Flight 800: The 747 Fuel Tank Explosion Off Long Island

    Event: 1996Published: 22 Oct 2026

    TWA Flight 800 disappeared from radar 12 minutes after leaving New York for Paris in July 1996, when its centre fuel tank exploded and all 230 people on board were killed.

    View event: TWA Flight 800 (1996)
    Aircraft
    Boeing 747
    Location
    Atlantic Ocean near East Moriches, Long Island, New York, United States
    Phase of flight
    Cruise

  3. TWA Flight 800: How a Wiring Fault Ignited an Empty Fuel Tank

    Event: 1996Published: 21 Mar 2026

    TWA Flight 800 broke apart over the Atlantic in July 1996 when a short circuit most likely sent excess voltage into the fuel gauge wiring of its nearly empty centre tank, igniting fuel vapour warmed…

    View event: TWA Flight 800 (1996)
    Aircraft
    Boeing 747
    Location
    Atlantic Ocean near East Moriches, Long Island, New York, United States
    Phase of flight
    Cruise

  4. Swissair Flight 111: How a Hidden Fire Brought Down an MD-11

    Event: 1998Published: 17 Jan 2026

    A wiring arc above the cockpit of Swissair Flight 111 set fire to flammable insulation as the MD-11 crossed Nova Scotia on its way from New York to Geneva in September 1998.

    View event: Swissair Flight 111 (1998)
    Location
    Off Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada
    Phase of flight
    Cruise