Flights Gone Wrong

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Documentaries, context and connections behind aviation history.

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53 videos

  1. Air Canada Flight 143: The Pounds-for-Kilograms Fuel Error

    Event: 1983Published: 30 Oct 2026

    On 23 July 1983 an almost new Air Canada Boeing 767 ran out of fuel over northern Ontario after its fuel was calculated with the wrong conversion factor.

    View event: Air Canada Flight 143 (1983)
    Aircraft
    Boeing 767
    Location
    Gimli, Manitoba, Canada
    Phase of flight
    Cruise

  2. Aloha Airlines Flight 243: 13 Minutes From Decompression to Maui

    Event: 1988Published: 30 Oct 2026

    On 28 April 1988 Aloha Airlines Flight 243 lost about 18 feet of its upper fuselage at 24,000 feet.

    View event: Aloha Airlines Flight 243 (1988)
    Location
    Near Kahului, Maui, Hawaii, United States
    Phase of flight
    Cruise

  3. Delta Flight 191: What NTSB Report AAR-86/05 Found at Dallas

    Event: 1985Published: 24 Oct 2026

    Delta Flight 191, a Lockheed L-1011, was on final approach to runway 17L at Dallas/Fort Worth on 2 August 1985 when it flew into a microburst beneath a thunderstorm.

    View event: Delta Air Lines Flight 191 (1985)
    Location
    Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Texas, United States
    Phase of flight
    Approach

  4. Pan Am Flight 103: How a Tiny Fragment Traced the Lockerbie Bomb

    Event: 1988Published: 24 Oct 2026

    A bomb hidden in a cassette player destroyed Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie in December 1988, killing 259 people on board and 11 on the ground.

    View event: Pan Am Flight 103 (1988)
    Aircraft
    Boeing 747
    Location
    Lockerbie, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, United Kingdom
    Phase of flight
    Cruise

  5. 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

  6. Helios Airways Flight 522: How a 737 Flew On After Crew Hypoxia

    Event: 2005Published: 24 Oct 2026

    Helios Airways Flight 522 took off from Larnaca in August 2005 with its pressurisation selector left in manual after night maintenance, and its pilots mistook the cabin altitude horn for a takeoff…

    View event: Helios Airways Flight 522 (2005)
    Location
    Grammatiko, about 33 km north-west of Athens International Airport, Attica, Greece

  7. American Airlines Flight 587: The ATC Audio and the Tail Failure

    Event: 2001Published: 22 Oct 2026

    This video sets the real air traffic control recordings from 12 November 2001 against the NTSB's findings on American Airlines Flight 587.

    View event: American Airlines Flight 587 (2001)
    Aircraft
    Airbus A300
    Location
    Belle Harbor, Queens, New York, United States
    Phase of flight
    Takeoff

  8. 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

  9. American Airlines Flight 587: Rudder Inputs, Design and Training

    Event: 2001Published: 17 Oct 2026

    American Airlines Flight 587, an Airbus A300-605R, crashed into Belle Harbor, New York, shortly after take-off from JFK on 12 November 2001, killing all 260 on board and 5 people on the ground.

    View event: American Airlines Flight 587 (2001)
    Aircraft
    Airbus A300
    Location
    Belle Harbor, Queens, New York, United States
    Phase of flight
    Takeoff

  10. Eastern Air Lines Flight 855: Missing O-Rings in Three Engines

    Event: 1983Published: 16 Oct 2026

    On 5 May 1983 Eastern Air Lines Flight 855, a Lockheed L-1011 flying from Miami to Nassau, lost oil from all three engines because replacement chip detectors had been fitted without their O-ring…

    View event: Eastern Air Lines Flight 855 (1983)
    Location
    Over the Atlantic between Miami and Nassau
    Phase of flight
    Approach

  11. Air Niugini Flight 73: Why the 737 Came Down in Chuuk Lagoon

    Event: 2018Published: 10 Oct 2026

    On 28 September 2018, Air Niugini Flight 73 struck Chuuk Lagoon about 460 metres short of runway 04 after the crew continued an approach into heavy rain without seeing the runway.

    View event: Air Niugini Flight 73 (2018)
    Location
    Chuuk International Airport, Weno, Chuuk, Federated States of Micronesia
    Phase of flight
    Approach

  12. Olympic Airways Flight 411: How a 747 Skimmed Athens Rooftops

    Event: 1978Published: 23 Sep 2026

    An engine failed as a fully loaded Olympic Airways 747 left Athens for New York in August 1978, and the flight engineer then switched off the water injection that boosted the other three engines.

    View event: Olympic Airways Flight 411 (1978)
    Aircraft
    Boeing 747
    Location
    Athens
    Phase of flight
    Takeoff

  13. Jet Airways Flight 555: Seven Approaches and a Fuel Emergency

    Event: 2015Published: 25 Aug 2026

    Fog at Cochin forced Jet Airways Flight 555 to go around three times, and the crew then diverted to Trivandrum, where the weather was no better.

    View event: Jet Airways Flight 555 (2015)
    Location
    Cochin
    Phase of flight
    Approach

  14. Delta Flight 1080: Flying an L-1011 With a Jammed Left Elevator

    Event: 1977Published: 31 Jul 2026

    Delta Flight 1080 developed severe pitch and roll problems during take-off from San Diego on 12 April 1977, with 52 people on board.

    View event: Delta Air Lines Flight 1080 (1977)
    Location
    San Diego to Los Angeles, California, United States
    Phase of flight
    Takeoff

  15. Malaysia Airlines Flight 370: What Is Known Twelve Years Later

    Event: 2014Published: 2 Jul 2026

    This narrated documentary sums up what is known about Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 12 years after it disappeared on 8 March 2014.

    View event: Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (2014)
    Aircraft
    Boeing 777
    Location
    Not found. Believed to be in the southern Indian Ocean, along the final satellite arc
    Phase of flight
    Cruise

  16. US Airways Flight 1549: The Bird Strike and the NTSB’s Findings

    Event: 2009Published: 10 Jun 2026

    This narrated documentary tells the story of US Airways Flight 1549 from its departure from LaGuardia on 15 January 2009 to the rescue on the Hudson, then covers the NTSB investigation.

    View event: US Airways Flight 1549 (2009)
    Aircraft
    Airbus A320
    Location
    Hudson River off Weehawken, New Jersey, opposite Midtown Manhattan, New York, United States
    Phase of flight
    Takeoff

  17. Helios Airways 522: The Switch, the Horn and Andreas Prodromou

    Event: 2005Published: 16 May 2026

    Airline captain Petter Hörnfeldt traces Helios Flight 522 from the airline's audit failures and the 737's history of pressurisation faults to the overnight test that left the selector in manual.

    View event: Helios Airways Flight 522 (2005)
    Location
    Grammatiko, about 33 km north-west of Athens International Airport, Attica, Greece
    Phase of flight
    Cruise

  18. 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

  19. 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

  20. Emery 17 and TransAsia 222: A Jammed Elevator and a Low Approach

    Event: 2000Published: 12 Oct 2025

    This double episode covers two accidents.

    View event: Emery Worldwide Flight 17 (2000)
    Aircraft
    ATR 72, Douglas DC-8
    Location
    Rancho Cordova, near Sacramento, California, United States
    Phase of flight
    Takeoff

  21. United Airlines 811: The Cargo Door Failure and Revised Findings

    Published: 11 Oct 2025

    United Airlines Flight 811 suffered explosive decompression while climbing through 23,000 feet over the Pacific when its cargo door tore away, killing nine passengers.

    Aircraft
    Boeing 747

  22. American Airlines Flight 191: The 1979 Crash That Grounded DC-10s

    Event: 1979Published: 23 Jul 2024

    Fascinating Horror's short documentary on American Airlines Flight 191 covers the DC-10's history at American, the takeoff from Chicago O'Hare on 25 May 1979, the separation of the left engine and…

    View event: American Airlines Flight 191 (1979)
    Location
    Open field and trailer park beside Chicago O'Hare International Airport, Des Plaines, Illinois, United States
    Phase of flight
    Takeoff

  23. United Airlines Flight 232: KCCI’s Archive Report From Sioux City

    Event: 1989Published: 19 Jul 2024

    This KCCI Des Moines news report brings together archive footage of the United Airlines Flight 232 crash at Sioux City on 19 July 1989.

    View event: United Airlines Flight 232 (1989)
    Location
    Sioux Gateway Airport, Sioux City, Iowa, United States
    Phase of flight
    Landing

  24. Tenerife Airport Disaster: The Radio Calls Behind 583 Deaths

    Event: 1977Published: 6 May 2024

    This Mayday episode follows Spanish, Dutch and American investigators as they reconstruct how a KLM 747 and a Pan Am 747 collided in fog at Tenerife in March 1977.

    View event: Tenerife airport disaster (1977)
    Aircraft
    Boeing 747
    Location
    Los Rodeos Airport
    Phase of flight
    Takeoff