A good example of that "cascading effect" was the episode where the plane had sat for a month and they believed a mud dauber made a nest that blocked the pitoh tube.

This caused the pilot to basically believe the wrong instrument and make a bunch of other mistakes that brought the plane down and killed everyone on board.

Poor little mud dauber, it wasn't entirely her fault!

Love that show... damn fascinating if you ask me. I'd watch it mid-flight if I was bored and had a few episodes loaded up on the tablet. No big deal.

This show is actually very popular in the airline industry and is watched by a lot of employees. I have seen it on the TVs in quite a few crew rooms, not to mention used as a training aid.

I've been watching this show for a few years now, really fascinating and I have always enjoyed it but this last Sunday's episode on TWA 800 shook me up a little bit because it is one of those crashes where the passengers knew exactly what was going on. I can't imagine the terror seeing the front part of the plane come off while you are still climbing and being strapped in your seat right there knowing you are a minute away from death. Those poor passengers.

Always amazed at how the NTSB and other agencies can piece everything together to find out most of the time exactly what went wrong.

I'm a big fan of this too, I think I had about 14 episodes on my DVR at the moment, it's set to record every episode! :D I think it's a non-sensationalist, thoughtful piece of TV that doesn't dumb things down too much, nor go too far the other way. The attention to detail is very nearly spot on in almost every case.

I don't see any issue watching this shortly before you fly. Do people avoid watching programs about car crashes shortly before driving?

"Why Planes Crash", "Aircrash Confidential", "Mayday", "Seconds from Disaster", and several others - I find them all very interesting. And not at all odd to be watching them before/during a flight.

Any time I see John Cox or Greg Feith while flipping channels, I'll stop and watch.

I know some FFs who watch these shows during a flight as well.

I would SO want to quote that movie out loud as I was watching on a plane!

Not the whole movie. Just the one quote it's known for. :D

This show is run frequently in Canada under the name "Mayday." I've watched it a couple of times but air crashes don't fascinate me and not something I want to dwell on as they are largely out of my control the minute I fasten my seat belt.

I watched this last night but had to turn it off. I am interested in TWA 800, but afraid to fly. I wanted to see the forensics, but the fiery descent with passengers screaming was a bit much for me. I just booked a trip to Europe next April and it's never too soon to start preparing.

If you really want some fun and not to have to put up with cheapy looking tv production and terrible actors, read the official NTSB reports and CVR's of crashses. Airdisaster.com used to have links to the pdf's. Not sure if it still does, but they should be easy to find on the internet.

Much more detailed, particularly in terms of causes and findings.

I am not a good flier & used to be a complete wreck if there was even the slightest jolt. Then I began watching shows such as these. Best thing I ever did! Now, although I can't look out of the window climbing, turning or landing, I'm totally at ease with all the whirrings, sounds of the gears moving up or down and the many other sounds of flight.

Yes, the TWA 800 episode of this week shook me up a bit but having learned of all the training & science of flying from watching these programmes I now no longer bruise my hubby's arm & have to pop pills before we fly.

They actually show MAYDAY on the IFE on AC from time to time......ROFL.......I always watch it.

I've not heard of Air Disasters or Mayday, but do watch Air Crash Investigation (?) on NatGeo. I'm not afraid of flying but I can see how people who are would avoid these programmes. However, these programmes show us that yes it's terrible there's been a crash, and lives were lost, but there are people out there doing their damnedest to find answers from what is essential a pile of twisted metal. Every answer saves saves later as every major advance in air safety (on land and in the sky) is the result of a crash ("tombstone technology"). Well... unless the airline, e.g. SilkAir, EgyptAir, chooses to ignore the findings because it's an inconvenient truth.

Some of the shows are identical but are given different names depending on country.