Space Shuttle Challenger

January 31, 2007

0.0%

Seconds From Disaster - S3 - E18

On a cold winter day in 1986, space shuttle Challenger takes off from Cape Canaveral to start Mission 51-L. 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?

Tweet! Telegram Facebook Pinterest

Seconds From Disaster: Season 3 - 19 Episode s

3x1 - Skywalk Collapse
January 10, 2006
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.
3x2 - Amsterdam Air Crash
March 28, 2006
On 4 October 1992, an El Al Israel Airlines Cargo B747-200F 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 8162 glides into a high rise apartment building killing 43 people.
3x3 - Kursk: Russia's Nuclear Nightmare
April 18, 2006
When a training mission goes horribly wrong, the Russian sumbarine Kursk suffers an explosion. 135 seconds later, it sinks. 23 people survive the blast, out of 118 on board. Will they make it out in time? What caused the sinking of the Kursk?
3x4 - King's Cross Fire (London's Subway Inferno)
May 19, 2006
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.
3x5 - Nairobi Bombing
June 27, 2006
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.
3x6 - Everglades Plane Crash
July 11, 2006
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.
3x7 - Titanic
July 25, 2006
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 1,500 lives. Now, Seconds from Disaster re-examines the sinking of the Titanic to find out who-or-what was to blame.
3x8 - Aircraft Carrier Explosion
August 15, 2006
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.
3x9 - Queens Air Crash
September 6, 2006
Its been more than two months after 9/11 and the event is still fresh in everyone's mind. At JFK Airport in Queens, American Airlines Flight 587, an Airbus A300, leaves on a three and a half 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. 257 people die. Was this terrorism again? Or a fault?
3x10 - Munich Olympic Massacre
September 13, 2006
During the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, 11 Israeli athletes are been 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.
3x11 - Superstore Collapse
September 20, 2006
On 29 June 1995, the five story Sampoong Department Store in Seoul, Korea, collapses killing 502 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?
3x12 - Plane Crash in the Potomac
September 27, 2006
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 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.
3x13 - Asian Tsunami
October 25, 2006
On Boxing Day 2004, the second largest earthquake in recorded history with a magnitude of 9.3 strikes the town 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?
3x14 - Comet Air Crash
November 15, 2006
The DH Comet is the first jet airliner and the pride of the British Overseas Airways Corporation. But on January 10, 1954, BOAC Flight 781, enroute from Rome to London, explodes catastrophically and crashes, killing 35 people. The investigation begins, but when South African Airways Flight 201 crashes exactly the same way taking another 21 lives, all Comets are grounded and the investigation takes a step forward.
3x15 - Flight Engine Down
November 29, 2006
American Airlines Flight 191, a DC-10, leaves Chicago. But when the engine falls off, the plane stalls and crashes killing 273 people. The investigators discover a shocking secret which will turn the aviation world upside down.
3x16 - Oil Fire in Texas
December 6, 2006
The Texas BP oil refinery is the third largest in America producing more than 437,000 barrels per day. Workmen are starting a routine day, then, and explosion rocks the structure with the death of 15. What went wrong?
3x17 - Tornado Outbreak
January 2, 2007
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 5,000 people die. How did a single storm form the 1974 "Super Outbreak" tornadoes?
3x18 - Space Shuttle Challenger
January 31, 2007
On a cold winter day in 1986, space shuttle Challenger takes off from Cape Canaveral to start Mission 51-L. 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?
3x19 - Eruption on Montserrat
March 7, 2007
On the Caribbean island of Montserrat is the Soufrière Hills volcano. Nearby is Plymouth, the island's capital. In 1995, Soufrière Hills came to life and spewed ash over the island. 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.

Space Shuttle Challenger

Seconds From Disaster - S3 - E18

Seconds From Disaster: Season 3 - 19 Episode s

3x1 - Skywalk Collapse

3x2 - Amsterdam Air Crash

3x3 - Kursk: Russia's Nuclear Nightmare

3x4 - King's Cross Fire (London's Subway Inferno)

3x5 - Nairobi Bombing

3x6 - Everglades Plane Crash

3x7 - Titanic

3x8 - Aircraft Carrier Explosion

3x9 - Queens Air Crash

3x10 - Munich Olympic Massacre

3x11 - Superstore Collapse

3x12 - Plane Crash in the Potomac

3x13 - Asian Tsunami

3x14 - Comet Air Crash

3x15 - Flight Engine Down

3x16 - Oil Fire in Texas

3x17 - Tornado Outbreak

3x18 - Space Shuttle Challenger

3x19 - Eruption on Montserrat

Seconds From Disaster: All seasons

S1: Season 1

S2: Season 2

S3: Season 3

S4: Season 4

S5: Season 5

S6: Season 6

S7: Season 7