Mayday: Season 13

2013 · 10 episodes · ★ 7.8

What Season 13 of Mayday

The season opens on 1972, when British European Airways Flight 548 stalls shortly after taking off from Heathrow. From there, each episode reconstructs a different accident: a collision between a Marine Corps fighter jet and a commercial airliner over the San Gabriel Mountains, ice building up on the wings of a flight passing over the Potomac River, or wear on a control cable in French Polynesia. The conflicts revolve around pilot errors, technical failures and oversights on the ground. Reenactments alternate with interviews with experts, retired pilots and investigators, who explain what failed and how investigators reached that conclusion. Stephen Bogaert narrates.

10episodes

Dec 16, 2013Released

Feb 17, 2014last episode

7.5 hrtotal runtime

Season 13 Episodes

13x01 Fight to the Death (British European Airways Flight 548)
Dec 16, 2013 · 45 min
On 18 June 1972, British European Airways Flight 548 stalls and crashes in a field near Staines-upon-Thames shortly after takeoff from London Heathrow Airport, killing all 118 people on board. The crash was attributed to the pilot retracting the aircraft's droops at too low an airspeed and failing to recognise the stall warnings.
Directing: Tim Wolochatiuk · Writing: Alix MacDonald · Starring: Mark Whelan, Alex Furber, Andy Trithardt, Damon Redfern
13x02 Disaster on the Potomac (Air Florida Flight 90)
Dec 23, 2013 · 45 min · ★ 7.4
On 13 January 1982, Air Florida Flight 90 takes off from a snowy runway in Washington D.C, stalls at 300 feet altitude, strikes a road bridge and crashes into the Potomac River, killing a total of 78 people. The causes were ice on the wings and the pilots' failure to turn on the engines' anti-freeze system, causing erroneous engine instrument readings.
Directing: Tim Wolochatiuk · Writing: Michael Sheehan · Starring: Darryl Flatman, Brandon Thomas, Kevin Bundy, Daniel Richard Giverin
13x03 Speed Trap (Hughes Airwest Flight 706)
Dec 30, 2013 · 45 min · ★ 7.8
On 6 June 1971, Hughes Airwest Flight 706 collides with a United States Marine Corps (USMC) jet fighter above the San Gabriel Mountains. A total of 50 people from the two aircraft are killed, with the backseat crewman of the USMC aircraft the only survivor.
Directing: Su Rynard · Writing: Gary Lang · Starring: Doug MacLeod, Rick Hughes, Christopher Russell, Neil Girvan
13x04 Queens Catastrophe (American Airlines Flight 587)
Jan 6, 2014 · 45 min · ★ 8.0
On 12 November 2001, just two months after the September 11 attacks, American Airlines Flight 587 spirals out of control after taking off from John F. Kennedy Airport. Shortly after, the aircraft crashes into the suburb of Queens, killing all 260 people on board and five people on the ground. The vertical stabilizer had detached from the aircraft because of improper rudder use by the first officer, after encountering wake turbulence from a Boeing 747-400 that had taken off minutes earlier.
Directing: Tim Wolochatiuk · Writing: Armen Kazazian · Starring: Thom Marriott, Michael Kash, Bruce Godfree, Dan Warry-Smith
13x05 Lost in Translation (Crossair Flight 498)
Jan 13, 2014 · 45 min
On 10 January 2000, Crossair Flight 498 crashes just two minutes after takeoff from Zurich, Switzerland, while heading for Dresden, Germany, killing all 10 people on board. The investigation found that the pilots had suffered spatial disorientation.
Directing: Su Rynard · Writing: Brian D. Young · Starring: Barna Moricz, Markjan Winnick, Nigel Hamer, Jerrold Karch
13x06 Massacre Over the Mediterranean (Aerolinee Itavia Flight 870)
Jan 20, 2014 · 45 min · ★ 7.6
On 27 June 1980, Aerolinee Itavia Flight 870 crashes into the Tyrrhenian Sea near the island of Ustica, Italy. All 81 people on board are killed. The top Italian criminal court eventually ruled on 23 January 2013 that a missile strike brought down the aircraft,[7] but controversy remains; some experts dispute this conclusion, arguing that an on-board bomb in the rear toilet was the cause. No definitive accident report was published.
Directing: Michael Sinyi · Writing: John LaRose, Michael Sheehan · Starring: Vincent Bellon, Steven Pigozzo, Vincent Thomas, Michael Iliadis
13x07 Terror in Paradise (Air Moorea Flight 1121)
Jan 27, 2014 · 45 min · ★ 8.8
On 9 August 2007, Air Moorea Flight 1121 crashes shortly after taking off from Moorea Airport in French Polynesia. All 19 passengers and the pilot died. The cause was a badly worn and partly broken elevator control cable failing completely in flight. It was put under more strain than it could handle as the force on the elevators changed with flap retraction. The situation was likely aggravated by the aircraft being repeatedly buffeted by jet exhaust while parked, stressing the cables further.
Directing: Su Rynard · Writing: Michael Sheehan · Starring: Daniel Kash, Riel Paley, Carinne Leduc, Godfrey Giocada
13x08 Imperfect Pitch (XL Airways Germany Flight 888T)
Feb 3, 2014 · 45 min
On 27 November 2008, an aircraft on a post-maintenance test flight operating as XL Airways Germany Flight 888T crashes into the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of France, killing all seven people on board. The investigators determined that improper maintenance work allowed water to enter the aircraft's angle of attack (AOA) sensors. The water then froze during flight, causing the sensors to stop working. The crew tried to test the stall warning system during flight, and the aircraft entered a low-speed stall.
Directing: Michael Sinyi · Writing: Carl Knutson · Starring: David Storch, Daniel Matmor, Brian King, Bryon Mumford
13x09 Into the Eye of the Storm (Hurricane Hunters NOAA42)
Feb 10, 2014 · 45 min
On 15 September 1989, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration aircraft tasked with intercepting Hurricane Hugo over the Caribbean islands is jolted by strong winds, causing an engine to catch fire and fail. The pilots of the aircraft manage to make a safe emergency landing.
Directing: Tim Wolochatiuk · Writing: Phil Desjardins · Starring: Nick Baillie, Steve Boyle, Michal Grajewski, Nicholas Rose
13x10 Titanic in the Sky (Qantas Flight 32) Season Finale
Feb 17, 2014 · 45 min · ★ 8.8
On 4 November 2010, Qantas Flight 32, en route to Sydney Airport in Australia, suffers an uncontained engine failure in its number two engine and serious damage to its left wing shortly after takeoff from Singapore. The crew members overcome a number of resulting failures and make a safe emergency landing back at Singapore with no injuries among the 469 passengers and crew members. Investigators found that a manufacturing fault in an oil pipe caused the engine failure.
Directing: Trevor Cornish · Writing: John LaRose · Starring: Alec McClure, Greg Ellwand, Michael Millar, Stephen Chambers