History: List of Mayday Episodes

Mayday, also known as Air Crash Investigation is a documentary television program investigating air crashes, hijackings, near-misses, bombings and other aviation related disasters. The documentaries use re-enactments and computer generated imagery to reconstruct the events leading up to the disaster. Several aviation experts, air crash investigators and retired pilots are interviewed during each episode, they explain how these emergencies happened, how were they investigated and potential ways to avoid similar events

As of 20 February 2018, 153 episodes have aired. This includes 5 Science of Disaster specials and 3 Crash Scene Investigation spin-offs (these do not examine aircraft crashes)

Series timeline

Episode list

Season 1 (2003)

No	#	Title	Incident	Original air date
1	1	Unlocking Disaster	United Airlines Flight 811	10 September 2003
On 24 February 1989 a United Airlines Flight 811 suffers an explosive decompression after part of the right-side fuselage rips off. Nine people are ejected from the aircraft but the pilots safely land the airplane in Honolulu without any more loss of life. The investigation later determined that an electrical short-circuit caused the cargo door to open.
Type of aircraft: Boeing 747-100
2	2	Racing the Storm	American Airlines Flight 1420	3 September 2003
On 1 June 1999, American Airlines Flight 1420 overruns the runway upon landing at the Little Rock National Airport during a storm, killing 11 people. The crash was attributed to pilot error, the crew failed to arm the spoilers during their pre-landing checks.
Type of aircraft: McDonnel Douglas MD-82
3	3	Fire on Board	Swissair Flight 111	22 October 2003
On 2 September 1998 a fire breaks out on Swissair Flight 111 while in flight over the Atlantic Ocean. The fire damages vital systems and causes the aircraft to crash into the ocean near Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia. There were no survivors. The investigation revealed that the fire was caused by faulty wiring in the on-board (First class	first-class)) and business-class entertainement systems.
Type of aircraft: McDonnel Douglas MD-11