Racing The Storm | FULL EPISODE | Mayday: Air Disaster

Flight 1420, an American Airlines MD-82, leaves Dallas-Fort Worth for Little Rock two hours late due to thunderstorms. To keep the airline schedules on track, the American Airlines dispatcher tells the crew to “expedite their arrival” to beat the storms to the Little Rock airfield. It’s a short hop and radar weather data shows a clear corridor, or a “bowling alley,” as the dispatcher calls it, through which Flight 1420 should be able to fly to its destination. Captain Richard Buschmann and co-pilot Michael Origel prepare to beat the storm. One hundred miles from Little Rock, as 1420 begins its descent, severe thunderstorms close in on the airfield, bringing with them dangerously unstable winds.

The ensuing accident is the result of bad judgement, decision-making under stress, and one of the most dangerous conditions in modern aviation – “hurry-up syndrome.” Little Rock is a disaster born of the time pressures inherent in modern commercial aviation. Airlines have schedules to keep, and connections to make. Delays can have a ripple effect throughout the system with massive financial consequences. In this case, the rush to land in dangerous conditions has tragic consequences.

What type of disasters would you like to see next on the Mayday channel?

From Season 1 Episode 2 “Racing the Storm”: At the height of thunderstorm season in Arkansas, American Airlines 1420 ends in disaster. The MD80 ploughs off a wet runway down an embankment and breaks apart, killing 11 people. Mayday delves into the time pressures and misjudgment that lead to this accident.

Welcome to the OFFICIAL Mayday: Air Disaster YouTube Channel.

Mayday: Air Disaster is a dramatic non-fiction series that investigates high-profile air disasters to uncover how and why they happened. Mayday: Air Disaster follows survivors, family members of crash victims and transportation safety investigators as they piece together the evidence of the causes of major accidents. So climb into the cockpit for an experience you won’t soon forget.

Subscribe to the OFFICIAL Mayday: Air Disaster channel here: https://bit.ly/3ctf4CJ

#MaydayAirDisaster #LittleRock #LittleRockDisaster - bsocially