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Seconds From Disaster

Season 1 2004
TV-PG

  • 2004-07-07T00:30:00Z on National Geographic
  • 1h
  • 9h 45m (13 episodes)
  • United States
  • English, Italian, Hungarian
  • Documentary
Accounts of famous technological disasters and their subsequent investigations.

13 episodes

Series Premiere

2004-07-07T00:30:00Z

1x01 Crash of the Concorde

Series Premiere

1x01 Crash of the Concorde

  • 2004-07-07T00:30:00Z45m

Behind every disaster lies a chain of events. The Concorde was the world's first supersonic airliner, but on a charter flight to New York, 109 people are on board an Air France Concorde as it takes off from Paris. But as it lifts off the runway, the control tower notices flames trailing behind the aircraft. They can do nothing. The Concorde becomes uncontrollable and plows into a hotel in nearby Gonesse. 113 people are killed in the accident. The dream that was Concorde is shattered and the aircraft is grounded. What happened to Air France Flight 4590 could shatter the aviation industry as we know it.

2004-07-14T00:30:00Z

1x02 Tunnel Inferno

1x02 Tunnel Inferno

  • 2004-07-14T00:30:00Z45m

Mont Blanc is one of the highest mountains in Europe, with a seven-mile long tunnel connecting France and Italy through the Alps. One March day in 1999, a Belgian Truck carrying flour and margarine catches fire in the tunnel, creating a blaze which burns for 53 hours, killing 39 people. A team of investigators set out to prove what caused such a terrible fire, and why all tunnels could be merely Seconds from Disaster

2004-07-21T00:30:00Z

1x03 The Bomb in Oklahoma City

1x03 The Bomb in Oklahoma City

  • 2004-07-21T00:30:00Z45m

One April morning in 1995, at Oklahoma City's Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, Timothy McVeigh parks a truck packed with explosives at the front of the government landmark. At 9:02AM, it explodes and the front of the building collapses with a loss of 168 lives. Survivors recount the terrifying experience as investigators attempt to discover what caused the building to collapse.

On Easter 1990, a fire breaks out on the Scandinavian Star Ferry. After been towed to Sweden, the fire is eventually put out after 10 hours. Then the worst is revealed. 158 people have lost their lives. But why on Earth did they die? An investigation is immediately started, but the truth will shock them.

June 1998. The new German InterCity Express is a trip from Munich to Hamburg, one of many. Today should be no different. The new train offers the ultimate luxury in high-speed travel. But a terrible accident sets off a chain of events causing the loss of 101 lives when the train derails catastrophically at the town of Eschede. But what caused such a horrible accident?

September 1993. The captain of a towboat unwittingly causes the collapse of a bridge over the Big Bayou Canot. When an Amtrak train comes along, it derails with 47 lives lost. Why was such a hideous mistake made? How could it have been prevented? Could it have been prevented at all? Wreck of the Sunset Limited explains why over 40 people died that Autumn day.

2004-08-18T00:30:00Z

1x07 Meltdown in Chernobyl

1x07 Meltdown in Chernobyl

  • 2004-08-18T00:30:00Z45m

We make mistakes every few seconds of our lives. They are unavoidable. But sometimes the results can be disastrous. On April 26, 1986, a series of catastrophic blunders leave dozens dead when the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant melts down.

2004-08-25T00:30:00Z

1x08 Inferno at Guadalajara

1x08 Inferno at Guadalajara

  • 2004-08-25T00:30:00Z45m

April 1992, Guadalajara, Mexico. On the 19th, residents start complaining of a strong gasoline-like smell coming from the sewers. Three days later, on the 22nd, numerous gas explosions in the sewers over a time span of four hours destroy kilometers of housing estate and killing 206 people. But who, if anyone, is to blame? What caused the inferno in Guadalajara?

2004-09-01T00:30:00Z

1x09 Fire on the Ski Slope

1x09 Fire on the Ski Slope

  • 2004-09-01T00:30:00Z45m

November 11, 2000, started out as a normal day at the Kaprun ski resort in Austria, as a Furnicular train climbing the slopes breaks down in a tunnel. Passengers then realise it's on fire. Only 12 make it out alive, leaving 155 people to die horribly. But how could such a modern train break down and catch fire?

July 6, 1988. The Piper Alpha stands over 110 miles off Scotland. But on this fateful day, a gas leak causes a catastrophic fire with a loss of 167 workers. Why did the Piper Alpha explode without warning? Was Human Error to blame? What about Mechanical Failure? Or even sabotage?

2004-10-13T00:30:00Z

1x11 Flood at Stava Dam

1x11 Flood at Stava Dam

  • 2004-10-13T00:30:00Z45m

On July 1985, Italy's Stava Dam collapses and demolishes 70 structures killing 268 people in the process. Was there a fault in the design of the dam? Is this something that could happen to any dam around the world? Find out how a structural failure leads to a massive catastrophe with Flood at Stava Dam

2004-10-20T00:30:00Z

1x12 Collision on the Runway

1x12 Collision on the Runway

  • 2004-10-20T00:30:00Z45m

Two Jumbo Jets, Pan Am 1736 and KLM 4805 collide on the lone runway at Tenerife, Spain. The two aircraft are then burnt out and 583 people lose their lives. But how come two experienced pilots made a mistake of this magnitude? How come two passenger jets collided on the runway?

Season Finale

2004-10-27T00:30:00Z

1x13 Pentagon 9/11

Season Finale

1x13 Pentagon 9/11

  • 2004-10-27T00:30:00Z45m

September 11, 2001 is one of the worst days in history. In Washington, D.C, the workers at the Pentagon have only just heard of the chaos going on at the New York World Trade Centre, but are unaware that they themselves have become a target. American Airlines Flight 77, a Boeing 757 aircraft, collides with the Pentagon killing 189. Pentagon 9/11 recreates the events leading up to the explosion at the Pentagon.

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