I have seen a lots of the episodes in this series and the most disturbing one has to be the one with the passenger killing all of the crew in cockpit with a gun and then crashing the plane.
This was in season-11 ep-10 "I`m the problem"
I find this series very interesting.
Silk Air with the pilot committing suicide
Iran Air
Operation Babylift
Ghost Plane was eerie but it was probably the most merciful one, as all the passengers basically fell into a coma and died painlessly.
"I'm the Problem" was disturbing, for sure. I don't particularly like re-watching it. It's really annoying that this guy would take down a plane-full of people just to settle a score. There have been other suicides on this show, which are obviously also disturbing, but this one bugged me the most.
Another one that particularly disturbed me was where most of the passengers survived the crash but died in the fire afterward. It was from one of the earlier seasons, and was somewhere in the U.S. It was not the Air Canada one, or the one in Georgia where some survivors ended up in that woman's house. Does anyone know which one I'm thinking of?
I think you're thinking of "A Wounded Bird", the one about Atlantic Southeast Flight 529 in 1995. It crashed in a field due to a prop failure, everyone onboard survived the impact but not everyone got out of the aircraft in time. I found that one very disturbing too.
Other ones for me that stick out are the Turkish Airlines crash which did give me nightmares, and the one about the Aeromexico DC-9 mid-air collision. Also the one mentioned earlier where the plane caught fire and was breaking apart mid-flight before they could land it, sending people plummeting to the ground. That particularly enraged me as it was a Canadian company that chartered the flight; that plane was so beyond airworthy and should never have flown those poor people. Any of the other ones with fatalities are sad or disturbing in their own ways too, but those three stick out as the ones that gave me chills.
Also the Alaska Air one hit home particularly hard as I remember that one in the news when it happened. Living on Vancouver Island, Alaska is practically a domestic airline to us so it was heavily reported on in our local media.
Yes, thanks Tuneman, "Wounded Bird" is the one I was thinking about. Disturbing, for sure.
shareHave they ever done Saudia 163? That's the 1980 incident where a fire broke out on board shortly after takeoff. The plane returned to Riyadh airport safely, but evacuation was delayed, and all 301 people on board died in the fire and smoke. It's a horrific story. If Air Emergency ever did that one, I think it would be the most disturbing.
shareThey haven't no. I first thought you were referring to the Nigerian Airlines flight where the landing gear caught fire on take off and which later crashed a couple of kilometers from the runway but this Saudia flight I didn't know about, seems horrible. I googled it an apparently it has been dramatized in something called World in Action but I'm not familiar with that programme.
shareHave they ever done Saudia 163? That's the 1980 incident where a fire broke out on board shortly after takeoff. The plane returned to Riyadh airport safely, but evacuation was delayed, and all 301 people on board died in the fire and smoke. It's a horrific story. If Air Emergency ever did that one, I think it would be the most disturbing.
I just watched the "Missing over New York (deadly delay)". To me this was horrible to watch because it could so easily have been prevented.
As a maritime officer (masters ticket, though I have only been sailing as 2.nd officer) I have received training in distress radio communication (GMDSS), and I was shocked that the pilots did not raise any Urgency (Pan Pan) nor Emergency (Mayday), I am sure they have similar training.
I am sure the captain would have raised an Emergency, as he asks the co-pilot about that several times, but he doesn't speak English, so why the hell is he flying internationally.
In general of the series, I am a bit disappointed in the pilots abilities to declare Urgencies and Emergencies. They seem to just causally describe their predicament, and hope that ground personal picks up on their situation.
In the maritime sector once you have declared e.g. an Emergency (MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY this is MS titanic we have collided with an iceberg), you basically have to preface every radio communication with the word MAYDAY (MAYDAY This is MS Titanic, we have launched all lifeboats, and we are sinking).
i find any of the mid-air or runway collisions disturbing since 2 planes are involved in each. like the Airwest Flight 706, PSA Flight 182 or Tenerife airport disaster.
shareMore disturbing episodes to come.
Already to equally horrible but very different air crashes this year, and both Malaysian airlines. RIP to all the passengers of both MH17 and 370.
I'm the Problem is a really disturbing case.
But I always feel safer when watching these episodes as I know that it was a case that eventually made the air traffic safer for all by introduction of new practises, training and equipment etc.
Because of I'm the Problem (and some other cases) it is now almost impossible to smuggle a pistol in a plane. Which makes me safer (although I didn't want all those people to die for that to happen)..
To me the most disturbing cases are the ones where there is no clear reason why all of this happened. One I can remember quite well is called Cargo Conspiracy (South African Airways 295). That is also one case where I'd guess that it will never be revealed what was the cause of this accident.
From the case humanities point of view.. I must say my vote goes to The Operation Babylift. That one was just sad.
A lot of the episodes named are on my list too, so I'll just give one that hasn't been mentioned yet -- the mid air collision between the Fed Ex cargo plane and the passenger airline carrying those Russian kids to a field trip in Spain. Add to that story the tragedy of that Swiss ATC who was gunned down by one of the distraught parents.
Of all the causes of an air tragedy I fear most, it's a collision. Because there is no mechanical or structural failure involved. So both planes can be fine, if not for them being in the same spot of sky at the same time.
the air florida flight into the frozen waters of the potomac.
🏪🇺🇸
I recently saw Fanning the Flames (South African FLight 295)and have felt a bit haunted by it because cracking open fuselage door to vent smoke from a raging fire seems ludicrous even it was on a checklist. I can understand the desperation but even in '87 you'd think air=fire fuel would have come to mind.
The first time I saw the ep, the real life daughter of a passenger looked enough like the actor for her mother that I thought the plane had made it. This was microseconds before the daughter was introduced.
I'd been prepared to see a miraculous survival story only to watch the expected. However, the difficulty of recovery efforts offers pertinent parallels to the MH370 search.