Mayday: Air Disaster

Investigators face an enormous challenge when BEA Flight 548 crashes just moments after taking off from London’s Heathrow Airport.

News that a Marine Corps F-4 Phantom was performing stunts when it slammed into Hughes Airwest Flight 706 ignites a public outcry.

Shortly after taking off from Zurich Airport, Crossair Flight 498 banks sharply to the right and spirals to the ground, killing everyone on board.

Moments after taking off from Washington National Airport, Air Florida Flight 90 plunges into the frozen Potomac River and sinks below the ice.

Just after taking off from New York’s JFK Airport, American Airlines Flight 587 falls out of the sky and crashes into a densely populated neighbourhood in Queens, New York.

Itavia Flight 870 explodes without warning over the Mediterranean Sea, and an Italian journalist writes a front-page story that shocks Italy and the world.

As they prepare to land, the captain of the Airbus A320 suddenly loses control, and Flight 888T spirals into the Mediterranean Sea.

Air Moorea Flight 1121 is just two minutes into a seven-minute flight to Tahiti when it falls into a steep dive and crashes into the ocean, killing all 20 people on board.

The pilots of Qantas Flight 32 cope with a cascade of failures after an explosion rips apart the engine of their A-380 and sends debris flying through vital systems.