Mayday Season 23, Episode 6: Cockpit Catastrophe (Sichuan Airlines Flight 8633)

Deadly Exchange (Corporate Airlines Flight 5966)

Corporate Airlines Flight 5966 appears out of the clouds and crashes into trees on approach to Kirksville, Missouri. The twin-engine turboprop plane catches fire just over a kilometer from the runway. The charred wreckage offers clues as to what happened. The researchers conclude that it was not a mechanical failure. They hear a recording from the cockpit that may reveal the whole beginning of the accident.

42 min

Mixed Signals (Independent Air Flight 1851)

Independent Air Flight 1851 is en route from Italy to the Dominican Republic and is scheduled to refuel on a Portuguese island. For some reason, a Boeing 707 crashes into a mountain just minutes before the airport. The international team of investigators finds no mechanical faults at all and is confused about the cause of the accident. Then the CVR reveals a cluster of errors that sealed the fate of the 144 passengers.

42 min

Pressure Point (Japan Airlines Flight 123)

Just moments after takeoff, Japan Airlines Flight 123 experiences two explosions. The pilot is having trouble keeping the damaged Boeing 747 in the air. It plunges into the mountain. The accident becomes one of the deadliest accidents in aviation history. Investigators immediately suspect terrorism, but the remains tell a different story, threatening all 747 planes around the world.

Power Play (PNG Flight 1600)

After losing both engines, a turboprop crashes in Papua New Guinea and investigators soon uncover a deadly flaw in an aircraft used around the world.

Control Catastrophe (Air Astana Flight 1388)

A Kazakh crew manage to land an uncontrollable aircraft and investigators must determine how a freshly-serviced plane was released with a fatal flaw.

Dream Flight Disaster (Sydney Seaplanes DHC-2 Crash)

When a UK billionaire and his family die in an Australian seaplane crash, investigators uncover a minor maintenance issue with deadly consequences.

60 min

Deadly Deception (Balkan Bulgarian Flight 013)

The plan to save a Bulgarian airliner hinges on convincing the violent hijackers that their demands have been met before the plane runs out of fuel.

55 min

Delivery to Disaster (Atlas Air Flight 3591)

An Amazon cargo plane nosedives into a swamp outside Houston, the evidence eventually leads investigators to a pilot with a long history of failures.

50 min

Mystery Over the Mediterranean (EgyptAir Flight 804)

EgyptAir flight 804 crashes into the Mediterranean on its way from Paris to Cairo. Evidence initially suggests that the plane caught fire, but Egyptian authorities later blame the crash on terrorism. The case will be handed over to the Egyptian state prosecutor for criminal investigation. Six years later, an Italian reporter leaks the information and a new confusing theory surfaces.

42 min