Seconds From Disaster

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Seconds From Disaster is a documentary that investigates the worst man-made disasters and several natural disasters in modern history, and analyses the causes and events that led up to each disaster.

The documentary features re-enactments, interviews, testimony, and CGI to deconstruct the sequence of events second-by-second to the audiences. The CGI segments are prefaced by the narrator with the phrase "Advanced computer simulation will take us where no camera can go: into the heart of the disaster zone".

The series is broadcast on the National Geographic Channel. There has been a total of 45 episodes over three seasons.

Contents 1 Episodes 1.1 Season 1 (2004) 1.2 Season 2 (2005) 1.3 Season 3 (2006) 2 The Future 3 Trivia 4 See also 5 External links

[edit] Episodes

National Geographic Channel has broadcast many episodes under multiple titles. The title currently or most recently listed on the NGC Calendar is shown first. Alternate titles are shown in parentheses.

[edit] Season 1 (2004)

#	Airdate	Title	Disaster	Date of disaster	Nature of Disaster
1	July 6	Crash of the Concorde (Concorde)	Air France Flight 4590	25 July 2000	Tyre explosion, fuel leak, wire spark
	Concorde, the supersonic jet airliner was set to revolutionize air travel, but disaster took hold. On 25 July 2000, Air France Flight 4590 is about to take-off from Paris. Suddenly, flames eject from the Concorde's left wing as it rises off the runway. Flight 4590 isn't able to lift its landing gear. 120 seconds later, the disaster ends with a horrific crash into a hotel in nearby Gonesse. 113 people die as a result of the crash. Why did the wing go up in flames?
2	July 13	Tunnel Inferno	Mont Blanc Tunnel fire	March 24, 1999	Cigarette sucked into engine induction snorkel, air filter fire
	The Mont Blanc Tunnel in Europe crosses the border between France and Italy by going under Mont Blanc. But in 1999, a truck from Belgium suffers a catastrophic fireball, engulfing the tunnel. Smoke pours out of the Mont Blanc Tunnel as a 53-hour fire fight happens. Why did the truck erupt into flames? How come the smoke poured out the French side of the tunnel when its suppose to come out the other end?
3	July 20	The Bomb in Oklahoma City (Oklahoma City)	Oklahoma City bombing	April 19, 1995	Truck bomb
	In April 1995, a young man named Timothy James McVeigh takes revenge on the US government. He parks a truck filled with explosives in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA. Then he lights two fuses. Suddenly at 9:02 am, the truck detonates, causing the front of the building to collapse. 168 people die in 7 seconds. Why did so many die on that day?
4	July 27	Fire on the Star (Fire Onboard the Star)	M/S Scandinavian Star Fire	April 7, 1990	Arson
	On Easter 1990, a fire breaks out on the M/S Scandinavian Star. 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.
5	August 3	Derailment at Eschede (High Speed Train Wreck)	Eschede train disaster	3 June 1998	Metal fatigue in the wheel
	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?
6	August 10	Wreck of the Sunset Limited	Big Bayou Canot train disaster	September 22, 1993	Bridge collision with towboat in fog, bended tracks
	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.
7	August 24	Inferno in Guadalajara (Inferno at Guadalajara)	Guadalajara gas explosions	April 22, 1992	Metal-to-metal corrosion, gas leak into sewers
	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?
8	August 31	Fire on the Ski Slope	Kaprun disaster	November 11, 2000	Hydraulic fuel leak on ventilation fan
	November 11, 2000, started out as a normal day at the Kaprun Ski Resort in Austria, as a funicular 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?
9	October 5	Explosion in the North Sea	Piper Alpha disaster	July 6, 1988	LPG explosion, failure of all pipelines
	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?
10	October 12	Flood at Stava Dam	Collapse of Stava Dam	July 19, 1985	Waste water overload in the top dam
	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
11	October 19	Collision on the Runway	Pan Am Flight 1736/KLM Flight 4805	March 27, 1977	Fog, no use of radar, radio miscommunication
	Two Boeing B-747s, Pan Am Flight 1736 and KLM Flight 4805 collide on the runway at Tenerife, Canary Islands. 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?
12	October 26	Pentagon 9/11 (Pentagon 9-11)	American Airlines Flight 77	September 11, 2001	Hijacking, low level building crash
	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 Center, 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.
13	? December	Meltdown in Chernobyl	Chernobyl nuclear reactor explosion	April 26, 1986	Operator error
	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 Reactor No. 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant melts down.

[edit] Season 2 (2005)

#	Airdate	Title	Disaster	Date of disaster	Nature of Disaster
1	June 28	Space Shuttle Columbia (Columbia's Last Flight)	Space Shuttle Columbia disaster	February 1, 2003	Hole in the left wing caused from falling foam
	Texas, February 1, 2003. The space shuttle Columbia is re-entering orbit. But something goes horribly wrong and Columbia breaks apart. All 7 astronauts onboard perish. When investigators learn of a small fault which occurred during take-off sixteen days earlier, they are convinced they have found the suspect - a piece of insulating foam.
2	July 5	Alpine Tsunami	Galtür avalanche	February 23, 1999	Powder avalanche
	At the Austrian alpine village of Galtur in 1999, an avalanche buries 57 people in the snow. 31 of them die. But why did the avalanche occur in the first place? Were careless villagers to blame?
3	July 12	Motorway Plane Crash (Freeway Plane Crash)	British Midland Flight 092	January 8, 1989	Fan blade failure, pilot error
	On 8 January 1989, British Midland Flight 092, a 2-month old Boeing B-737-400, takes-off from Heathrow Airport in London, heading for Belfast. Suddenly, Flight 092's left engine catches fire. The pilots unwittingly turn off the wrong engine and prepare for an emergency landing at East Midlands Airport just across from the M1 motorway. Then the left engine fails completely. The plane tries to glide to the runway but bounces over the M1 and crashes on the embankment of the motorway. The plane is 900 metres short of the runway. What caused the M1 crash? Pilot error? A fatal flaw? Or both?
4	July 26	Mount St. Helens Eruption	1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens	May 18, 1980	Lava bulge opened by earthquake, volcanic eruption, lahars, landslide
	Mount St. Helens, in the countryside of Washington state, has been dormant for 123 years. But in May 1980, it suddenly erupts, killing 57. Why couldn't they predict it?
5	August 16	Zeebrugge Ferry Disaster (Capsized in the North Sea)	M/S Herald of Free Enterprise	March 6, 1987	Crew error
	On March 1987, the British car ferry M/S Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes off Zeebrugge, Belgium killing 193. Why did this happen? Was it just a terrible blunder? Or something worse?
6	August 30	Kobe Earthquake (Killer Quake)	1995 earthquake in Kobe	January 17, 1995	Earthquake
	On 17 January 1995, the Japanese city of Kobe was rocked by the Great Hanshin Earthquake, which destroyed buildings and killed over 5,500 people and left thousands homeless. Why couldn't the top of the art equipment predict a disaster of this magnitude?
7	September 13	Crash Landing at Sioux City (Crash Landing in Sioux City)	United Airlines Flight 232	July 19, 1989	Splitting of tail fan blade, loss of hydraulics
	On 19 July 1989, the pilots of United Airlines Flight 232 are shocked to learn they have lost all control of the DC-10 after an engine failure and make an emergency landing at Sioux City, Iowa, but in a dramatic crash, the aircraft breaks apart and catches fire with 111 lives lost out of the 285 on board. Why did the engine fail?
8	September 20	The Bali Bombing (Disco Bombing)	2002 Bali Bombing	October 12, 2002	Suicide bomb, truck bomb and mobile-started bomb
	Bali, located in Indonesia, is one of the most popular resorts in the world. But 202 die on the night of October 12, 2002 when bombers detonate several bombs in local nightclubs. It's the horror of 9/11 all over again.
9	September 27	Hotel Collapse Singapore (Hotel Collapse)	Hotel New World disaster	March 15, 1986	Overload of weight, column failure
	Hotel New World, a budget hotel located in Singapore's Little India, collapsed on March 15, 1986. After a 7 day rescue operation, 17 people are rescued but 33 perish. Why did the hotel collapse? Was it sabotage? Or was it faulty maintenance?
10	October 18	TWA 800 (TWA Flight 800) (The Last Flight of TWA 800)	Trans World Airlines Flight 800	July 17, 1996	Radio short circuit, center fuel tank explosion caused by vaporised fuel ignited from short circuit
	17 July 1996. TWA Flight 800 leaves New York for Paris. Only 12 minutes into the flight, it explodes catastrophically, breaks in half, then plummets into the sea killing all 230 people on board. There was no mayday call from the crew. Rumours spread that the Boeing 747 was downed by a misguided navy missile, sparking the biggest accident investigation in history.
11	November 1	Paris Train Crash (Runaway Train)	Gare de Lyon train accident	June 27, 1988	Brake failure caused by passenger pulling emergency brakes
	In what was no doubt the worst rail incident in French history, a runaway train collides with another train at Gare de Lyon Station, France, killing 56 people. Why did the train crash so horribly? Who is to blame?
12	November 15	The Hindenburg (Hindenburg Airship) (Hindenburg Air Ship)	Hindenburg disaster	May 6, 1937	Hydrogen leak, static ignition
	When the zeppelin Hindenburg catches fire at Lakehurst, 35 of the 97 on board and one member of the ground crew are killed. Was the most infamous airship disaster caused by a ticking time bomb smuggled on board? Or was the Hindenburg itself a ticking time bomb?
13	December 13	Puerto Rico Gas Explosion	Humberto Vidal Explosion	November 21, 1996	Propane gas leak
	For days, a foul smell hangs around in the Humberto Vidal shoe store in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Then, on 21 November, 1996, an air conditioner is switched on and then suddenly, the store explodes. Was the smell coming from propane gas? If it was, where did it come from?

[edit] Season 3 (2006)

#	Airdate	Title	Disaster	Date of disaster	Nature of Disaster
1	January 10	Skywalk Collapse (Hotel Skywalk)	Hyatt Regency walkway collapse	July 17, 1981	Design failure
	On 17 July 1981, 1,500 people had gathered for a dance in the Hyatt Regency Hotel when, in a catastrophic disaster, the skywalk collapses killing 114 people and injuring countless others in the worst US structural failure.
2	March 28	Amsterdam Air Crash (Schiphol Plane Crash) (Plane Crash in the Suburbs)	El Al Flight 1862	October 4, 1992	Metal fatigue in the fuse pin, engine collision
	On 4 October 1992, El Al Flight 1862, a Boeing B-747-200-F cargo plane, takes off from Schipol Airport in Amsterdam, the Netherlands (Holland), when the engines on the right wing of Flight 1862 shear off. 8 minutes later, Flight 1862 glides into a high rise apartment building killing 43 people.
3	April 18	Russia's Nuclear Sub Nightmare (Sinking of the Kursk) (The Kursk)	Russian submarine Kursk explosion	12 August 2000	Hydrogen peroxide leak, torpedo explosion
	When a training mission goes horribly wrong, the Russian sumbarine Kursk suffers an explosion. 135 seconds later, another explosion rocks the submarine. Then, it sinks. Although 23 survive the blasts, all 118 men perish onboard. What caused the explosions? Submarine collision? Human error? Friendly fire? And why didn't the initail survivors escape from the submarine?
4	May 19	King's Cross Fire (Kings Cross Fire) (London's Subway Inferno)	King's Cross fire	November 18, 1987	Dropped match, trench effect
	On the night of 18 November 1987, a harmless match produced a small flame on the escalator at King's Cross tube station. Suddenly, the containable flame explodes rapidly into a fireball. It charges up the escalator and kills 31 people in the ticket hall 20m away. The inferno leaves investigators stumped. When the answer is revealed, it will shock everyone, adding a new chapter to the laws of fire dynamics.
5	June 27	US Embassy Bombings (American Embassy Bombing) (Nairobi Bombing)	1998 U.S. embassy bombings	August 7, 1998	Truck bombs
	Al Queda struck again on August 7, 1998. In Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya, a truck bomb destroys the U.S. Embassy buildings killing 257 and injuring thousands.
6	July 11	Florida Swamp Air Crash (Everglades Plane Crash) (Florida Air Crash)	ValuJet Flight 592	May 11, 1996	Activation of chemical oxygen generators
	On May 1996, what started out as a normal flight from Miami, Florida, to Atlanta, Georgia, when ValuJet Flight 592, a DC-9 with 110 people on board goes down in the Everglades when a fire starts in the cabin and cockpit. The aircraft is swallowed by the swamp and harsh conditions make the rescue operation impossible. Soon there are no survivors. What happened to ValuJet 592 is a one of a kind accident.
7	July 25	Titanic (Sinking of the Titanic)	RMS Titanic	April 14, 1912	Iceberg collision, rivet failure
	It was known as the "unsinkable ship". The RMS Titanic, on its maiden voyage from Southhampton to New York with over 2,000 people on board strikes an iceberg, and within two hours and forty minutes, sinks taking with it 1,503 lives. Now, Seconds from Disaster re-examines the sinking of the Titanic to find out who-or-what was to blame from a real perspective as opposed to the 1997 movie.
8	August 15	Aircraft Carrier Explosion	USS Forrestal Fire	July 29, 1967	Fighter jet electrical power surge, firing of missile
	The massive aircraft carrier USS Forrestal is sailing to Vietnam on July 29, 1967, when a fighter jet explodes, a massive blast rocks the ship, and in just 17 hours 134 men lose their lives. Was it hostile fire, human error, or a fault in the fighter jets?
9	September 6	Plane Crash in Queens (New York Air Crash)	American Airlines Flight 587	November 12, 2001	Pilot error, improper use of rudder
	It's been more than two months after 9/11 and the event is still fresh in everyone's mind. At JFK Airport, American Airlines Flight 587, an Airbus A-300-600-R, leaves on a 3½ hour flight to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. Shortly after take-off it crashes into Rockaway in Queens, New York. This place is home to people affected by 9/11. 265 people die. Was this terrorism again? Or a fault? Or could it have been pilot error?
10	September 13	Munich Olympic Massacre (Munich Olympics Massacre) (Olympic Hostage Crisis)	Munich massacre	5 September 1972	Hostage taking, helicopter explosion from grenade, failed rescue attempt
	During the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, 11 Israeli athletes are held hostage by Palestinian terrorists. They demand the list of Palestine prisoners in exchange for the release of the ahtletes. But at Furstenfeldbruck Airfield, a rescue attempt goes wrong and soon 17 people are dead.
11	September 20	Superstore Collapse (Department Store Collapse)	Sampoong Department Store collapse	June 29, 1995	Design failure, bribery
	On 29 June 1995, the five story Sampoong Department Store in Seoul, South Korea, collapses killing 501 people. Is there a fault in the building? Or is sabotage to blame? And how did the last survivor survive under the rubble for 16 days?
12	September 27	Plane Crash in the Potomac (Washington Air Crash) (Potomac)	Air Florida Flight 90	January 13, 1982	Icy conditions, pilot error
	On 13 January 1982, Air Florida Flight 90 leaves Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington DC for Miami with 79 passengers and crew on board. The Boeing B-737 is delayed for hours by bad conditions, and only seconds after getting airborne it crashes into the icy Potomac river. Five survivors are pulled out alive but 78 - including four motorists - lose their lives.
13	October 25	Asian Tsunami	2004 Indian Ocean earthquake	December 26, 2004	Massive subduction earthquake, ocean-wide tsunamis
	On Boxing Day 2004, the second largest earthquake in 40 years with a magnitude of 9.3 strikes the town of Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Soon, it unleashes a tsunami which takes over 275,000 lives all along the coast of the Indian Ocean. How come such a disaster happened? How did the wave reach a height of 35 m?
14	November 15	Comet Air Crash (Crash of the Comet)	BOAC Flight 781/South African Airways Flight 201	BOAC 781: 10 January 1954/SAA 201: 8 April 1954	Metal fatigue around corners of square windows
	January 10, 1954 and one the world's first passenger jets, the de Havilland DHC Comet-1 takes off from Rome. The plane is the ultimate in passenger luxury, but 26 minutes into the flight it explodes catastrophically killing 35. Then months later, another Comet crashes in the same way. A team of investigators must find out why this state-of-the-art aircraft has a habit of breaking up in the air. What is the fatal flaw? Note: this episode mainly focuses on BOAC Flight 781.
15	November 29	Chicago Flight 191 (Flight Engine Down) (Chicago Air Crash)	American Airlines Flight 191	March 25, 1979	Faulty maintenance, incorrectly fitted engine
	In 1979, American Airlines Flight 191, a DC-10 takes-off from Chicago's O'Hare Airport. Suddenly, the engine breaks free from the wing and smashes onto the runway. 31 seconds after take-off, the plane crashes into a trailer park, killing all onboard plus two on the ground. Why did the engine fall off? Why couldn't the three engined DC-10 continue flying to allow itself to perform an emergency landing?
16	November 6	Texas Refinery Disaster (Texas Oil Explosion) (Oil Fire in Texas)	Texas BP Refinery explosion	March 23, 2005	Human error
	It starts as a routine day at one of the USA's biggest oil refineries. 1,800 people are busy at work when an explosion rocks the plant. The blast is felt 8 km away. Dozens of people are injured and 15 workers are dead. The USA's worst industrial disaster for 15 years devastates a closenit community. Now, a team of experts must work out exactly what went wrong. Was it human error? A design flaw? Or was it terrorism?
17	January 2, 2007	Tornado Outbreak	The Super Outbreak of 1974	3 April-4 April 1974	Outbreak of tornadoes from storm cell
	On 3 April 1974, the most violent outbreak of tornadoes in history struck. The well-named "Super Outbreak" produces 148 twisters over 13 American states and in Ontario, Canada destroying thousands of homes and over 350 people die. 5,000 people are homeless and injured. How did a single storm form the 1974 "Super Outbreak" tornadoes?
18	January 31, 2007	Space Shuttle Challenger (Space Shuttle Explosion)	Space Shuttle Challenger disaster	28 January 1986	O-ring failure due to icy conditions
	On a cold winter day in 1986, Space Shuttle Challenger takes off from Cape Canaveral to start the STS-51-L mission. 73 seconds later, Challenger's boosters explode and send it into the ocean in pieces. What happened? Was a fault to blame? Or was there ice on the shuttle? Note: This episode also briefly looks on Space Shuttle Columbia, 17 years later.
19	March 7, 2007	Montserrat (When the Volcano Blew)	1995-1997 eruption of Soufrière Hills	18 July 1995-26 December 1997	Volcanic eruption
	On the Caribbean island of Montserrat is the Soufrière Hills volcano. Nearby is Plymouth, the island's capital. In 1995, Soufrière Hills suddenly came to life and spewed ash over the island and everyone is evacuated to the north of Montserrat. Two years on, the eruptions get worse and in 1997, Soufrière Hills erupts violently. Pyroclastic flows rage down the mountain and destroy Plymouth and Bramble Airport, killing 23 people. It generates a small tsunami. People crowd onto ships to escape their home, knowing it's been destroyed. Now with CGI, we can look back at Montserrat and investigate what really happpened.

[edit] The Future

At the end of its current series (season 3), British production company, Darlow Smithson [1], is to replace Seconds from Disaster with the provisionally titled Situation Critical.

[edit] Trivia

• In every episode, the narrator (in most episodes, Ashton Smith) will always use the phrase at someplace: "...seconds from disaster".
• Another tagline is, "Disasters don't just happen. They're triggered by a chain of critical events."

[edit] See also

• Seismic Seconds
• Air Crash Investigation
• Blueprint for Disaster

[edit] External links

• Official Seconds From Disaster website
• Program description on NGC with Preview Video
• Seconds from Disaster at the Internet Movie Database