Black Box Down

The pilots of a Bombardier CRJ200 decide to take a flight to 41,000 feet. Pinnacle Airlines Flight 3701 was a meant to be a simple relocation flight but the pilots decide to fly to the maximum altitude of 41,000 feet. After a short celebration, the engines start to lose power and shut down causing the plane to stall. Why weren't the pilots able to recover the plane? Find out on this episode of Black Box Down.

The captain of a Saab 340B gets lost in the clouds. Crossair Flight 498 has just taken off from Zurich and is climbing through the clouds. The crew are instructed to turn left, but the captain initiates a right turn without the first officer realizing. The bank angle continues to increase until the plane begins spiraling to the ground. Why did the captain make such a harsh right turn? Find out on this episode of Black Box Down.

A Boeing 747 carrying military vehicles crashes right after takeoff. National Airlines Flight 102 is flying five multi-ton military vehicles out of Afghanistan and stops for a quick refueling. After some concerns about the cargo being loose, the crew prepares for departure. Shortly after takeoff, the plane pitches up sharply and falls flat to the ground. What series of events led to this accident? Find out on this episode of Black Box Down.

A Boeing 747 has engine trouble after takeoff. El Al Flight 1862 has just taken off and is flying over Amsterdam when the plane loses power from two engines. The crew realizes they are too high and too fast to land and must circle over the city. Suddenly the pilots lose control and the plane crashes into a nearby apartment building. What series of events led to this crash? Find out on this episode of Black Box Down.

Gustavo Sorola and Chris Demarais are joined by Nichole Goodnight to talk about the realism of aviation in movies. Listen as they discuss Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, Yellowjackets, and 7500 in this bonus episode of Black Box Down.

Learn what it takes to turn Black Box Down into an animated show. Gustavo and Chris are joined by Jordan Cwierz, Andrew Lhotsky and Al McClelland to learn the behind the scenes of Aviation Explanation. Learn some animation information on this bonus episode of Black Box Down.

The captain of a Bombardier Q400 becomes fixated with landing the plane no matter what. US Bangla Airlines Flight 211 is on approach when the crew becomes overwhelmed. The captain is in the middle of a breakdown and becomes disoriented. Once the crew finds the runway, the captain commits to landing at all costs. What was going on in the cockpit of this flight? Find out on this episode of Black Box Down.

The first officer of a Boeing 707 doesn't declare an emergency when he needs to. Avianca Flight 52 is running out of fuel over New York City and has to land. Bad weather forces the plane to do a go around. The captain repeatedly tells the first officer to declare an emergency but he does not do so. How did this flight run out of fuel? Find out on this episode of Black Box Down.

A Boeing 737 on final stalls a few hundred feet in the air. Turkish Airlines Flight 1951 is descending when the airplane determins it is time to land. The throttle automatically goes to idle and the crew doesn't realize until they are about to stall. What led the airplane to carry out landing procedures on its own? Find out on this episode of Black Box Down.

A McDonnell Douglas DC-9 crashes seconds after starting a go around procedure. The crew of USAir Flight 1016 are cautious of heavy storms over their destination airport. As they are on final approach the crew decided to go around due to a wind shear. Twenty seconds later the plane suddenly crashes into the ground and comes to rest on a neighborhood street. What caused this plane to crash so suddenly? Find out on this episode of Black Box Down.

A McDonnell Douglas MD-82 flies above its maximum altitude. West Caribbean Airways Flight 708 is over Venezuela when the crew decides to climb to 33,000 feet to avoid storms. The engines are unable to produce enough power to maintain speed at this height and start to produce less and less thrust. The crew becomes distracted and don't realize what's going on until it is too late. What are the events that led to this crash? Find out on this episode of Black Box Down.

A brand new Airbus A320 crashes while performing at an airshow. Air France Flight 296Q is being flown by the brand new Airbus A320 and is full of contest winners and journalists. The crew are told they will be part of an airshow and are supposed to fly over the runway at just 100 feet above the ground. While performing this maneuver, something goes wrong and the airplane flies into a forest and crashes into the trees. What series of events led to this crash? Find out on this episode of Black Box Down.

A Boeing 747 crashes immediately after taking off. Korean Air Cargo Flight 8509 takes off from London after some frustrating delays. The captain is angry and worried about a piece of equipment on board that appears to not be working properly. Immediately after takeoff the flight engineer tries to get the captain's attention about their bank angle but soon after the airplane crashes into the ground. What series of events led to this crash? Find out on this episode of Black Box Down.

A Boeing 767 crashes while circling a runway. Air China Flight 129 is approaching Busan, South Korea when they are told to land in the opposite direction than they planned for. While the crew is circling, they fly in to clouds and comment that the wind is making the plane hard to fly. As the crew are making their final turn, they realize they are flying directly into a mountain. What events led to this crash? Find out on this episode of Black Box Down.

A Fairchild Metroliner SSA26 flips upside down just before making an emergency landing. Propair Flight 420 has just taken off from Montreal but must turn back due to a warning message. The left wing is overheating and as the pilots try to figure out what's happening, the left engine catches on fire. Seconds before the crew touches down on the runway, the left wing fails and the airplane flips upsisde down. What happened to this airplane? Find out on this episode of Black Box Down.

A Boeing 757 and a Tupolev Tu-154M collide over southern Germany. Bashkirian Airlines Flight 2937 and DHL Flight 611 are both flying over southern Germany at night. Both crews start getting warnings about a possible collision from their in flight instruments. An Air Traffic Controller also notices that both planes might collide and gives instructions to one of the crews. Both crews take evasive manueuvers but they end up colliding and crashing to the ground. What series of events led to this collision? Find out on this episode of Black Box Down.

Go to flight school this week and learn all about Airspaces. Gustavo sits down with Chris to teach him all about the different airspaces in the United States. Find out how many there are in this episode of Black Box Down.

Hear more stories caused by airline travel. Gustavo and Chris are joined by Geoff Ramsey to share more stories from traveling on airplanes.

A Tupolev 154M carrying the President of Poland crashes while trying to land. Polish Air Force Flight 101 is carrying many high ranking Polish officials to Russia to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Katyn Massacre. The weather conditions make landing nearly impossible, but the pilots decide to try anyway. With help from Air Traffic Control, the pilots are guided down to the runway, but hit some trees and crash into the terrain. Many suspect Russia of foul play and claim that this crash was an elaborate assissination. What is the real cause of this crash? Find out on this episode of Black Box Down.

A McDonnell Douglas MD-83 crashes into the Pacific Ocean. Alaska Airlines Flight 261 is cruising when the crew begin to notice a problem with the horizontal stabilizer. While the pilots are troubleshooting, the plane begins to suddenly nosedive. The pilots are able to recover, but the plane starts to nosedive again. What went wrong on this flight? Find out on this episode of Black Box Down.

An Airbus 300 crashes on airport grounds. China Airlines Flight 140 is on final approach to Nagoya, Japan. As the crew is making final preperations, the first officer accidently activates the go around lever without realizing it. The pilots struggle to push the nose down but the plane ends up stalling and crashing near the runway. Was this accident unavoidable? Find out on this episode of Black Box Down.

An ATR-72 starts to violently bank right on its own. American Eagle Flight 4184 is flying to Chicago when it gets placed in a holding pattern. After 45 minutes the crew start receiving further clearance but as they make their way down the controls suddenly whip all the way to the right. The plane does a full roll before the pilots can regain control, but soon the controls whip to the right again, causing the plane to crash. What went wrong on this flight? Find out on this episode of Black Box Down.

A Boeing 767 suddenly crashes into the Atlantic Ocean. EgyptAir Flight 990 has recently taken off from New York when crew members switch their rest shifts ahead of schedule. The captain leaves the cockpit for a moment leaving the first officer alone at the controls. Suddenly the airplane starts nose diving violently. The captain returns to the cockpit to try to recover the plane but is unsuccesful. Was this crash truly an accident? Find out on this episode of Black Box Down.

An Airbus A310 crashes less than a minute after takeoff. TAROM Flight 371 has just taken off from Bucharest bound for Brussels. Moments after leaving the ground one of the engines starts to reduce to idle. The crew are unaware this happens and lose control. The plane dives to the ground and crashes killing everyone on board. How were the pilots not able to prevent this accident? Find out on this episode of Black Box Down.

A McDonnell Douglas DC-8 crashes in a busy Miami parking lot. Fine Air Flight 101 is packed with cargo bound for the Dominican Republic. Just after take off, the airplane pitches up sharply and starts to stall. The pilots don't have enough time to react to this unexpected pitch and are not able to get control. The plane crashes onto a busy Miami street and slides into a parking lot, crashing into several cars. What caused this flight to go so wrong? Find out on this episode of Black Box Down.

An Airbus A320 crashes in the ocean near Indonesia. Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 is cruising at 32,000 feet when the pilots receive an error message in the cockpit. The error is a minor problem and the pilots are able to fix it in a quick and easy way. The error message pops up again several times however, and eventaully the pilots try to permanently solve the problem by resetting a circuit breaker. Suddenly the pilots lose control of the airplane and they begin to fall to the ocean below. What exactly went wrong on board this flight? Find out on this episode of Black Box Down.

A Fokker 100 crashes shortly after taking off in Brazil. TAM Flight 402 has an autothrottle failure during the takeoff roll. The pilots on board take the correct actions against this and continue with their takeoff. Shortly after lifting off the runway, the throttle for one of the engines reduces to idle. The crew fights against this but the throttle keeps falling back to idle. Quickly the pilots lose control of the plane and it crashes into the ground. What was wrong with the throttles on board this aircraft? Find out on this episode of Black Box Down.

A Lockheed C-5A Galaxy is carrying orphans out of Vietnam. Operation Babylift was a military operation during the Vietnam War to evacuate baby orphans and bring them to the United States and other countries. During the first flight of this operation, the airplane suffers an explosive decompression over the ocean. The crew try their best to bring the plane back to the Air Force base located near Saigon, but crash short of the runway. What caused this accident? Find out on this episode of Black Box Down.

Gustavo and Chris are joined by Barbara Dunkelman from Squad Team Force to talk about more airplanes in movies. What happens when an elephant gets put on an airplane? Find out in this bonus episode of Black Box Down.

December 19th, 2005. Chalk’s Ocean Airways Flight 101, a 58 year old Grumman G-73T Turbine Mallard seaplane with 20 people on board, is taking off from the Miami Seaplane Base, bound for a short 25 minute flight to Bimini in the Bahamas. The seaplane accelerates across the water and becomes airborne, but less than a minute after taking to the skies something goes wrong. Eyewitnesses on the beach report seeing the plane’s right wing come apart from the plane and catch fire. The plane impacts the water, killing all on board. What happened to Chalk’s Ocean Airways 101? Why did the wing separate from the fuselage? Find out on this episode of Black Box Down.

Air Moorea 1121, a seven minute long passenger flight between the islands of Moorea and Tahiti, has taken off for its quick flight. Witnesses on the beach are horrified as shortly after takeoff the plane plunged into the ocean below. What led to this disaster in paradise? Find out in this episode of Black Box Down.

Northwest Airlink 5719 is about to land at Chisolm-Hibbing airport in Minnesota. Poor weather and a tail wind have forced the pilots to change their plans and land on the runway in the opposite direction from what they were initially cleared for. The plane makes a steep descent through icy conditions in the dark of night and impact trees two miles short of the runway. What caused this accident? Find out on this episode of Black Box Down.

Chris Demarais tells Gustavo Sorola all about incidents of air rage and how it can affect a flight. Find out what happens when passengers become a hazard in this episode of Black Box Down.

XL Airways Germany Flight 888T was on a test flight when it crashed into the Mediterranean Sea November 27, 2008, off the French coast killing all 7 people on board. During final approach, the flight disappeared from radar. Find out what happened on this episode of Black Box Down.

While on a visual approach, Trigana Air Flight 267, an ATR 42 turboprop with 54 people on board, contacts air traffic control and disappears into a cloud. Repeated calls to the aircraft go unanswered. A pilot departing Oksibil reports seeing smoke on a nearby mountainside. The plane has impacted a mountain, killing all on board. Why would a relatively modern plane with a qualified crew and safety equipment collide with a mountain? Find out what happened on this episode of Black Box Down.

Chris Demarais and Gustavo Sorola uncover the root of the cause of why Tuninter Flight 1153 lost both engines and was forced to ditch into the Mediterranean causing it to break up on impact. Find out what happened in this episode of Black Box Down.

Chris Demarais and Gustavo Sorola discover why a demonstration flight promoting the new Russian Sukhoi Superjet passenger aircraft ended in the tragic loss of life on the side of a steep mountain in Indonesia. Find out what happened in this episode of Black Box Down.

Chris Demarais and Gustavo Sorola get to the cause of how a Boeing 767 servicing legendary F1 racer Niki Lauda's airline became the deadliest crash in Thailand's history. Find out what happened in this episode of Black Box Down.

Chris Demarais and Gustavo Sorola get to the cause of how Saudia Flight 763 and Kazakhstan Airlines Flight 1907 collided to become the most deadly midair collision of all time. Find out what happened on this episode of Black Box Down.

Chris and Gus talk about the process of getting a pilot license as well as the challenges and situations you may not have thought about.

Gustavo Sorola and Chris Demarais talk about the hidden world of baggage handling and how your bags end up wherever they end up.

Chris Demarais and Gustavo Sorola discover what happened after Transportes Aéreos Nacionales de Selva (TANS) Flight 204 disappeared in the Amazon jungle while attempting an emergency landing at Pucallpa Airport in Peru. Find out what happened on this episode of Black Box Down.

Chris Demarais and Gustavo Sorola uncover what caused Thai Airways International Flight 311 to cause the tragic crash deep in the Himalayan mountains. Find out what happened on this episode of Black Box Down.