Synopsis
Watch Mayday (2003), Season 8 online on iFILM — two themed specials released in 2009. The format shifts here: instead of one crash per episode, each hour gathers a cluster of disasters that share a single root cause.
The first special is about talking to airplanes. Through the Grand Canyon and Cerritos mid-air collisions, the Überlingen tragedy, and the Avianca 52 and Gol 1907 flights, it traces how controller mistakes and dated communication systems turned routine traffic deadly — and what got rebuilt afterward. The second hour belongs to weather: wind shear, storms and the work of the US Aviation Weather Center, drawn from Delta 191, American 1420 and British Airways 9. Pulling several cases together gives this short season a survey feel rather than slow dread. Stream Mayday Season 8 online on iFILM.
2 episodes
S8·E1System Breakdown (Next Generation Air Transportation System)
1956 Grand Canyon mid-air collision, 1986 Cerritos mid-air collision, Avianca Flight 52, Gol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907, Überlingen mid-air collision. This special looked at the role of air traffic controllers in the airline industry, and took a look at the Next Generation Air Transportation System, a new technology meant to eliminate mid-air collisions by reducing overall dependence on radar and radio, as well as delegating some of the air traffic controllers' tasks to computers on board each plane.
S8·E2Cruel Skies (Bad Weather)
Southern Airways Flight 242, Delta Air Lines Flight 191, American Airlines Flight 1420, British Airways Flight 9. This special looked at the role of bad weather in disasters and examines the US Aviation Weather Center in Kansas City, Missouri, to see how information on weather is transmitted to pilots in the sky.
26 seasons
Starring
Comments 0