Seconds from Disaster ambient background
CinebyCineby
Seconds from Disaster backdrop

Seconds from Disaster

Seconds from Disaster
★ 7.2/10•2005•45m•12•Documentary
Similars

Seconds from Disaster is a US/UK-produced documentary television programme that investigates historically relevant man-made and natural disasters of the 20th century. Each episode aims to explain a single incidental by analyzing the causes and circumstances that ultimately effected the disaster. The program uses re-enactments, interviews, testimonies, and CGI to analyze the sequence of events second-by-second for the audience. Narrators for the show are Ashton Smith, Richard Vaughan and Peter Guinness.

StatusEnded
Runtime45m
LanguageEN
First Air DateSep 19, 2005

Episodes

Episode 1 - Concorde (Crash of the Concorde)E147m

Concorde (Crash of the Concorde)

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.

Sep 19, 2005

E247m

Tunnel Inferno

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

Oct 10, 2005

E347m

Oklahoma City (Bomb in Oklahoma)

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.

Oct 17, 2005

E447m

Fire On the Star (Fire Onboard the Star)

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.

Oct 16, 2005

E547m

Derailment at Eschede (High Speed Train Wreck)

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?

Sep 26, 2005

E647m

Wreck of the Sunset Limited (The Wreck of the Sunset Limited)

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.

Nov 4, 2005

Episode 7 - Meltdown in ChernobylE747m

Meltdown in Chernobyl

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.

Nov 6, 2005

E847m

Inferno at Guadalajara

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?

Oct 9, 2005

E947m

Fire on the Ski Slope

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?

Nov 10, 2005

E1047m

Explosion in the North Sea

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?

Nov 27, 2005

E1147m

Flood at Stava 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

Nov 20, 2005

E1247m

Collision on the Runway

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?

Oct 3, 2005

E1347m

Pentagon 9/11

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.

Sep 11, 2005

Actors

Ashton Smith

Narrator

Recommendations

Top Gear
Natural World
Modern Marvels
NOVA
How Do They Do It?
Super/Natural
30 for 30
Biography
Superpowered: The DC Story
Earth at Night in Colour
Disney Gallery / Star Wars: The Mandalorian
Marvel's 616
Down to Earth with Zac Efron
How It's Made
The World According to Jeff Goldblum
Welcome to Earth
The Crocodile Hunter
Prehistoric Planet
Legacy: The True Story of the LA Lakers
Through the Wormhole

Similars

MythBusters
Fukushima: Days That Shocked the World
Chernobyl: Days That Shocked the World
Mayday
Surviving Disaster
Tchernobyl, une tragédie sans fin
Chernobyl: 30 Anos
Mapping Disaster
Modern Marvels
Never Ever Do This at Home!
Tjernobyl - Dagarna som skakade Sverige
November 13: Attack on Paris
富士山大噴火 迫る“灰色の悪夢”
Alaska Aircrash Investigations
Challenger: The Final Flight
Lac-Mégantic - This Is Not an Accident
The One and Only
The Kielland Disaster
This Is Mark Rober
Zero Hour