Hard Landings

Latest Episodes:

Episode 46: The Comet Crashes BOAC781 / SA201 Sep 08, 2020

Show notes

A de Havilland Comet 1 (BOAC flight 781) suddenly explodes in midair on its way to London from Rome. Then a few months later another Comet 1 (South African Airways 201), on its way to Cairo from Rome, explodes in a similar fashion to the BOAC flight. Find out how windows and push rivets caused the first jet airliner to explode in flight.

Episode 45: QF32 Sep 01, 2020

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A Qantas Airbus A380, the biggest jet airliner, has a catastrophe on its way to Sydney, Australia from Singapore. Find out how bad quality control caused this plane to almost fall out of the sky.

Episode 44: US1493/ SKW5569 The LA Runway Disaster Aug 25, 2020

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A USAir Boeing 737-300 is on its decent into LAX when disaster strikes. Find out how over taxed ATC and unfortunate circumstance causes this plane to crash on its landing.

Episode 43: AMW5481 Aug 18, 2020

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An Air Midwest Beechcraft 1900D crashes into a hangar at Greenville–Spartanburg International Airport right after take off. Find out how mechanical and company failures contributed to this accident.

Episode 42: The Grand Canyon Disaster Aug 11, 2020

Show notes

Two flights, a DC-7 and a Lockheed Super Constellation, depart out of LAX and are on their way to Chicago and Kansas City. Find out how weather, ATC, and timing caused these two airplanes to collide over the Grand Canyon.

Episode 41: US1016 Aug 04, 2020

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A USAir DC-9 is on its way to Charlotte, North Carolina when it crashes miles from the airport. Find out how this flight crashes due to weather in the final part in our weather phenomena series.

Episode 40: DL191 Jul 28, 2020

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A Lockheed L-1011 Tristar is on its way to Los Angeles when disaster hits in Dallas. Find out how Delta Airlines flight 191 crashed just short of the runway at the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport.

Episode 39: PA759 Jul 21, 2020

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A Pan American Boeing 727 is on its first leg of a three leg flight from Miami to San Diego. Find out how weather caused this flight to crash into a neighborhood in New Orleans.

Episode 38: EA66 Jul 14, 2020

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An Eastern Airlines Boeing 727 crashes into landing lights at JFK International Airport. How did weather cause this flight's landing to go so wrong?

Episode 37: AF447 Jul 07, 2020

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An Air France A330 goes down in the Atlantic Ocean on its way to Paris. Find out how disorientation and equipment caused this plane to crash.