Seconds from Disaster

Seconds from Disaster
File:Ngc-sfd.jpg Seconds From Disaster title
Genre	Documentary
Created by	National Geographic
Developed by	Darlow Smithson Productions
Country of origin	USA
Original language	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	45
Production
Running time	45-50 minutes
Original release
Network	National Geographic Channel
Release	July 6, 2004 – March 7, 2007

Seconds From Disaster is a documentary television series that investigates certain man-made disasters and several natural disasters in modern history, and analyzes the causes and events that led up to each disaster.

The series features re-enactments, interviews, testimony, and CGI to deconstruct the sequence of events second-by-second to the audiences.

The series is broadcast on the National Geographic Channel. There have been a total of 45 episodes over three seasons. Afterwards, British production company Darlow Smithson replaced Seconds From Disaster with the provisionally titled Situation Critical. It premiered on National Geographic on June 12, 2007.

Style

Seconds From Disaster is characterised by an emphasis on chronological sequencing (in accordance with the show's name), the usage of CGI technology and its blueprint-like CGI format. The show has little or no dialogue for the actors in the re-enactment, almost entirely dominated by the narrator.

The show starts with a chronological re-enactment of the disaster, which is always cut into several scenes displaying critical moments in the unfolding of the disaster with a clock appearing at the beginning of each scene. After the sequence of events, the show "winds back" the scenes to analyse the causes and events leading up to it. The series uses blueprint-formatted CGI in every episode to reveal the anatomy of the disaster and the structures involved but in episodes 7-19 in season 3, the blue formatting of the CGI is not used on the background and is replaced with a white background. The CGI is emphasized heavily throughout each episode, such as at the beginning, where the narrator often says "Advanced computer simulation will take us where no camera can go: into the heart of the disaster zone", and before the analysis of the disaster, where he says "cutting-edge simulation will reveal just what happened in those seconds from disaster".

The show concludes with the original disaster scenes being "rewound" and played again; the clock is replaced by a countdown timer and the conclusions reached from the analysis being put together with the sequence. Most often, the show finishes with a short moment of sentimentality (where those involved often speak of their emotions on the disaster) followed by the technological advances made to prevent similar disasters from happening again.

Episodes

By original broadcast date

National Geographic Channel has broadcast many episodes under multiple titles. The title currently or most recently listed on the NGC Calendar is shown first. Alternate titles are shown in parentheses.

Season 1 (2004)

#	Airdate	Title	Disaster	Date of disaster	Nature of Disaster	Notes
1	July 6	Crash of the Concorde (Concorde)	Air France Flight 4590	25 July 2000	Tire blowout, fuel leak, wing fire	As a Concorde supersonic jet operating as Air France Flight 4590 takes off from Charles de Gaulle International Airport, it catches fire and crashes into a hotel in Gonesse, killing all 109 people on board and four in the hotel.
2	July 13	Tunnel Inferno	Mont Blanc Tunnel fire	24 March 1999	Cigarette sucked into engine induction snorkel, air filter fire	A truck carrying margarine catches fire in the Mont Blanc Tunnel, which connects France and Italy under Mont Blanc. 38 people were killed in the inferno.
3	July 20	The Bomb in Oklahoma City (Oklahoma City)	Oklahoma City bombing	19 April 1995	Truck bomb	In retaliation against the U.S. government, Timothy McVeigh plants a bomb inside a Ryder truck in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. Minutes later, it explodes, destroying the building and killing 168 people.
4	July 27	Fire on the Star (Fire Onboard the Star)	M/S Scandinavian Star Fire	7 April 1990	Arson	An arsonist sets a fire on deck 3 of the Frederikshavn, Denmark-bound M/S Scandinavian Star, loaded with passengers and cars at Oslo, Norway. 158 people on board die from smoke inhalation.
5	August 3	Derailment at Eschede (High Speed Train Wreck)	Eschede train disaster	3 June 1998	Metal fatigue	A wheel of the InterCity Express (ICE) No. 880 fails during travel in Eschede, Germany. The train derails, killing 101 people and injuring 88.
6	August 10	Wreck of the Sunset Limited	Big Bayou Canot train disaster	22 September 1993	Barge collision with bridge in fog, bent tracks	After one of a string of barges hit a support of a bridge in Big Bayou Canot, the Sunset Limited (an Amtrak train) derails as it crosses the bridge, resulting in its collapse and the deaths of 47 people.
7	August 17	Meltdown in Chernobyl	Chernobyl accident	26 April 1986	Faulty design, poor management	A meltdown at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant kills 57 people while the health of thousands more continue to be affected.
8	August 24	Inferno in Guadalajara (Inferno at Guadalajara)	Guadalajara gas explosions	22 April 1992	Metal-to-metal corrosion, gas leak into sewers	Days after residents of Guadalajara complained of a foul smell, a series of gasoline-fueled explosions in the sewers kills 206 people.
9	August 31	Fire on the Ski Slope	Kaprun disaster	11 November 2000	Hydraulic fuel leak on ventilation fan	A funicular train catches fire as it travels through a tunnel at the Kaprun Ski Resort, killing 155 people. Only 12 survived by walking downwards and out of the tunnel.
10	October 5	Explosion in the North Sea	Piper Alpha disaster	6 July 1988	LPG explosion, ruptured pipelines, human error	A series of explosions and fires on the Piper Alpha, an oil platform 110 miles off the coast of Scotland that had been converted to liquified petroleum gas (LPG) production, results in the deaths of 167 people and the collapse of the platform.
11	October 12	Flood at Stava Dam (Flood at Stava)	Collapse of Stava Dam	19 July 1985	Waste water overload in the top dam	Two dams above the village of Stava in northern Italy collapse, causing an ensuing mudslide and flood down the Stava River valley that kills 268 people in the village below.
12	October 19	Collision on the Runway	Tenerife disaster	27 March 1977	Fog, no use of radar, radio miscommunication, pilot error	Two Boeing 747s collide and explode on the runway at Los Rodeos Airport in the Canary Islands, killing 583 people.
13	October 26	Pentagon 9/11 (Pentagon 9-11)	American Airlines Flight 77	11 September 2001	Hijacking, low level building crash	As the World Trade Center in New York City burns after being hit by two hijacked aircraft, another hijacked Boeing 757-200 is deliberately flown into The Pentagon in Washington, D.C., killing all 64 people on board and 125 on the ground.

Season 2 (2005)

#	Airdate	Title	Disaster	Date of disaster	Nature of Disaster
1	June 28	Space Shuttle Columbia (Columbia's Last Flight)	Space Shuttle Columbia disaster	1 February 2003	Hole punctured into thermal protection plates in the left wing caused from falling foam from external tank
	As the space shuttle Columbia lifts off from the Kennedy Space Centre 16 days before re-entry, a piece of insulating foam breaks off the external fuel tank and damages the left wing of the shuttle. As it enters the Earth's atmosphere during the return trip, it disintegrates under the massive heat, killing all seven astronauts on board.
2	July 5	Alpine Tsunami	Galtür avalanche	23 February 1999	Powder avalanche
	At the Austrian alpine village of Galtur, snow on the mountains surrounding the village build up. Due to the changing temperature during the month, a strong but brittle layer of ice forms under the snow. On the day of the disaster, the ice layer collapses and the building ice bank slips down the slope and forms a powder avalanche. Two minutes later, it hits Galtur and buries 57 people in the snow, killing 31 of them.
3	July 12	Motorway Plane Crash (Freeway Plane Crash)	British Midland Flight 092	8 January 1989	Fan blade failure, warning systems malfunction, pilot error
	British Midland Flight 092, a two-month-old Boeing 737-400, takes-off from Heathrow Airport in London, heading for Belfast. While en route the aircraft's left engine suffers a fan blade failure. Manufacturing errors in the engine failure warning systems cause the pilot to shut down the wrong engine and prepare for an emergency landing at East Midlands Airport which is just across the M1 motorway to Kegworth. On approach to the airport the damaged left engine fails completely and then catches fire. The crew tries to glide the aircraft to the runway but it bounces over the M1 and crashes on the embankment of the motorway, killing 47 people.
4	July 26	Mount St. Helens Eruption	1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens	18 May 1980	Lava bulge opened by earthquake, volcanic eruption, lahars, landslide
	Mount St. Helens in the countryside of Washington erupts for the first time in 123 years. A building bulge on the north face of the volcano collapses after a small tremor. It starts a landslide that removes the plug on the volcano, starting the eruption. The eruption of Mt. St. Helens kills 57 people.
5	August 16	Zeebrugge Ferry Disaster (Capsized in the North Sea)	MS Herald of Free Enterprise	6 March 1987	Crew error
	The British car ferry M/S Herald of Free Enterprise departs the port of Zeebrugge in Belgium. The crew have left the bow doors open and water splashes into the car deck. So much water pours in that the car ferry capsizes, drowning 193.
6	August 30	Kobe Earthquake (Killer Quake)	1995 earthquake in Kobe	17 January 1995	Earthquake
	The Japanese city of Kobe is rocked by the Great Hanshin Earthquake which destroys most of its buildings. The driver of a bus and his passengers have a narrow escape when the earthquake causes a section in the elevated highway to fall, leaving the bus dangling over the edge. Many traditional houses collapse due to the heavy roofs and weak walls. Liquefaction occurs at the coastal and port areas of Kobe. Over 5,500 people die in the disaster.
7	September 13	Crash Landing at Sioux City (Crash Landing in Sioux City)	United Airlines Flight 232	19 July 1989	Engine failure, loss of hydraulics, failed landing
	United Airlines Flight 232, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10, loses hydraulic pressure after the tail-mounted no.2 engine's fan blade splits and disintegrates. The damage to the aircraft is so severe that it can only turn right. The pilots try to land at Sioux City, Iowa. As the DC-10 descends towards the runway at 6 times the normal speed, it rolls right, causing it to cartwheel on the runway, break up into three main parts and explode into a fireball. 111 of the 285 people on board are killed in the emergency landing.
8	September 20	The Bali Bombing (Disco Bombing)	2002 Bali Bombing	12 October 2002	Suicide bomb, truck bomb and mobile-started bomb
	Bombers in Bali attempt to detonate bombs in three different places. The first, a suicide bomb, is detonated in a small nightclub across the road from another nightclub, the Sari Club. A second bomb, a truck filled with explosives parked outside the Sari Club explodes 15 seconds after the first. 45 seconds later, a third mobile activated bomb detonates outside the United States Consulate. The total death toll is 202.
9	September 27	Hotel Collapse Singapore (Hotel Collapse)	Hotel New World disaster	15 March 1986	Construction error, column failure
	Hotel New World, a 1-star budget hotel located in Singapore's Little India district, collapses due to growing microcracks in the failing columns. The cracks are caused by the additional weight put on the hotel. After a seven day rescue operation, 17 people are saved, but 33 perish.
10	October 18	TWA 800 (TWA Flight 800) (The Last Flight of TWA 800)	Trans World Airlines Flight 800	17 July 1996	Center fuel tank explosion probably caused by vaporised fuel ignited from a short circuit
	TWA Flight 800 leaves New York for Paris 80 minutes late. Only 12 minutes into the flight, there are short circuits in electrical wires which cause ignition of vaporised jet fuel in the center fuel tank. The explosion causes the nose of the aircraft to break off. The plane continues to disintegrate as it plummets into the sea.
11	November 1	Paris Train Crash (Runaway Train)	Gare de Lyon train accident	27 June 1988	Brake failure caused by passenger pulling emergency brakes and crew error
	A commuter train bound for Paris is forced to stop at Melun when a woman pulls the emergency brake. The crew reset the brake system so the train can resume its trip. However, they make a series of mistakes that results in the train being unable to brake and slow down. When the train arrives at the Gare de Lyon, it collides with another train parked at the station, killing 56 people.
12	November 15	The Hindenburg (Hindenburg Airship) (Hindenburg Air Ship)	Hindenburg disaster	6 May 1937	Hydrogen leak, static ignition
	The zeppelin LZ-129 Hindenburg approaches the Lakehurst Naval Air Station for landing. Thunderstorms have added static electricity to the zeppelin's skin. It makes two sharp turns as it approaches the air field, something that the Hindenburg was not designed to do. A cable in one of the hydrogen cells snap and whiplashes the cell. When the landing ropes touch the ground, they are slowly soaked by the light rain falling, a static spark ignites the hydrogen leak. The zeppelin explodes into an inferno and crashes, killing 35 of the 97 people on board and 1 ground crew member.
13	December 13	Puerto Rico Gas Explosion	Humberto Vidal Explosion	21 November 1996	Propane gas leak
	For days, a foul smell hangs around in the Humberto Vidal shoe store in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The smell is caused by leaking propane gas coming from an unmapped pipe in the sloping road near the shoe store. Then, an air conditioner with bad wiring is switched on, starting a spark that ignites the propane and the store explodes, claiming lives.

Season 3 (2006-2007)

#	Airdate	Title	Disaster	Date of disaster	Nature of Disaster
1	January 10	Skywalk Collapse (Hotel Skywalk)	Hyatt Regency walkway collapse	July 17, 1981	Design failure
	1,500 people gather for a dance in the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City. The 2nd and 4th floor skywalks, hung from steel rods, fail under the weight of the guests. They collapse and crush 114 people to death. This was the worst structural failure in the United States.
2	March 28	Amsterdam Air Crash (Schiphol Plane Crash) (Plane Crash in the Suburbs)	El Al Flight 1862	October 4, 1992	Metal fatigue in the fuse pin, engine collision
	El Al Flight 1862, a Boeing 747-200F cargo plane, takes-off from Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, the Netherlands (Holland). Metal fatigue in the fuse pin holding up the inner engine on the right wing causes it to fail and force the engine to break off. The engine running at full power shot forward and knocked out the outer engine and damaged 30 ft. of the wing. The lift between the wings becomes unbalanced, but at its current speed, the plane is able to remain relatively level in the air. However, 8 minutes later, when the crew slow down the plane for landing, Flight 1862 banks greatly to the right and loses altitude. The aircraft crashes into a high rise apartment building, killing 43 people.
3	April 18	Russia's Nuclear Sub Nightmare (Sinking of the Kursk) (The Kursk)	Russian submarine Kursk explosion	12 August, 2000	Hydrogen peroxide leak, chemical reaction, design failure, clumsiness of survivors
	During a training mission, a leaking torpedo on board the Kursk leaks hydrogen peroxide. It reacts with rust in the submarine and blasts the front of the Kursk. Although the submarine had explosion proof walls, the explosion spread through the ventilation shafts. 135 seconds later, another explosion rocks the submarine. Then it sinks, killing all but 23 men on board. While they wait to be rescued, special boards that produce oxygen to breathe drop into the oily floor, starting a reaction that creates a fire, killing the survivors.
4	May 19	King's Cross Fire (Kings Cross Fire) (London's Subway Inferno)	King's Cross fire	November 18, 1987	Dropped match, trench effect
	A lighted match is dropped by a smoker down a gap in the wooden escalator at the King's Cross tube station. It ignites wax under the escalator. When someone notices the glowing fire under the escalator, the person stops the escalator. Later, a small flame rises on the steps. The full extent of the fire is hidden under the escalator. The entire area under it is on fire and the escalator aboves heats up. It gets so hot that is combusts and blasts a fireball up the escalator and kills 31 people in the ticket hall 20 metres away. The effect that happened is now called the trench effect.
5	June 27	US Embassy Bombings (American Embassy Bombing) (Nairobi Bombing)	1998 U.S. embassy bombings	August 7, 1998	Truck bombs
	In Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya, truck bombs destroy the U.S. Embassy buildings killing 257 and injuring thousands. Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda are responsible for the attacks.
6	July 11	Florida Swamp Air Crash (Everglades Plane Crash) (Florida Air Crash)	ValuJet Flight 592	May 11, 1996	Activation of chemical oxygen generators, in-flight fire
	ValuJet Flight 592, a DC-9 with 110 people on board is bound for Atlanta, Georgia from Miami, Florida. While it taxis for take-off, expired oxygen generators activate in the cargo hold. The oxygen ignites in the overheated hold. Shortly after take-off, the cargo fire is so large that the cabin is consumed in flames. The jet loses control and goes down in the Everglades. There are no survivors as the wreckage is entirely absorbed by the swamp.
7	July 25	Titanic (Sinking of the Titanic)	RMS Titanic	April 14, 1912	Iceberg collision, rivet failure
	The RMS Titanic, on its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York with over 2,000 people on board strikes an iceberg. The rivets holding the hull together fail upon impact, allowing water to enter the first five compartments, one more than the ship can handle. Within 2 hours and 40 minutes, the ship sinks, taking with it 1,517 lives.
8	August 15	Aircraft Carrier Explosion	USS Forrestal fire	July 29, 1967	Accidental firing of rocket into armed aircraft, resultant fire detonates various munitions
	Fighter aircraft on the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal prepare to launch for a sortie over Vietnam. An electrical power surge together with an ineffective safety mechanism and altered weapon-arming procedures cause the accidental firing of a Zuni rocket. The rocket strikes another armed and fuelled aircraft, starting a fire that detonates various munitions. Firefighting efforts inadvertently spread the fire below deck. The disaster kills 132 personnel with a further 62 wounded and 2 missing, presumed dead.
9	September 6	Plane Crash in Queens (New York Air Crash)	American Airlines Flight 587	November 12, 2001	Pilot error, improper use of rudder
	Two months since the September 11, 2001 attacks, the event remained fresh in the minds of Americans. At John F. Kennedy Airport, American Airlines Flight 587, an Airbus A300-600R, leaves on a three hour flight to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. Shortly after take-off, it encounters turbulence from a Japan Airlines Boeing B-747 that took off from the same runway 30 seconds earlier, causing it to violently tilt back and forth. The pilot repeatedly steps on the rudder back and forth to stabilize the plane, but his overuse of the rudder breaks the tail from the fuselage. Without the tail to support the aircraft, it spins out of control and crashes into Rockaway, Queens, killing all 260 people on board and 5 on the ground.
10	September 13	Munich Olympic Massacre (Munich Olympics Massacre) (Olympic Hostage Crisis)	Munich massacre	5 September-6 September, 1972	Hostage taking, helicopter explosion from grenade, failed rescue attempt
	During the Olympic Games in Munich, 11 Israeli athletes are held hostage by Palestinian terrorists. They demand the list of Palestine prisoners in exchange for the release of the atheltes. But at Fürstenfeldbruck Airport, a rescue attempt goes wrong and by 12:01 am on the next day, 17 people are dead.
11	September 20	Superstore Collapse (Department Store Collapse)	Sampoong Department Store collapse	June 29, 1995	Design failure, bribery
	Despite illegal operations and suspicion that the building was not safe, owners of the five-story Sampoong Department Store in Seoul, South Korea kept it open to customers. That afternoon, the entire store collapses, killing 501 people. The last survivor is found after 16 days.
12	September 27	Plane Crash in the Potomac (Washington Air Crash) (Potomac)	Air Florida Flight 90	January 13, 1982	Icy conditions, pilot error
	Air Florida Flight 90 leaves Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington DC for Miami with 79 passengers and crew on board. The Boeing 737-200 is delayed for hours by bad conditions, allowing ice from the weather to build up and disrupt airflow onto the wings. Just seconds after getting airborne, the plane stalls in mid-air and crashes into the 4th Street Bridge. It bounces of and slams into the icy Potomac river. Five survivors are pulled out alive but 78 lose their lives; 4 of them were motorists on the bridge.
13	October 25	Asian Tsunami	2004 Indian Ocean earthquake	December 26, 2004	Massive megathrust earthquake, ocean-wide tsunamis
	The second largest earthquake in 40 years with a magnitude of 9.3 strikes the town of Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Soon, it unleashes a tsunami which takes nearly 230,000 lives all along the coast of the Indian Ocean.
14	November 15	Comet Air Crash (Crash of the Comet)	BOAC Flight 781/South African Airways Flight 201	BOAC 781: 10 January, 1954/SAA 201: 8 April, 1954	Design failure, metal fatigue
	One of the world's first passenger jets and the most luxurious of its kind, the de Havilland DH-106 Comet-1, takes off from Rome but 26 minutes into the flight, it explodes, killing 35. Then months later, another Comet crashes in the same way. The cause of both crashes was due to the aluminium skin. The constant pressurisation of the jet in flight flexed the thin skin, causing metal fatigue and mostly around the square windows. This episode mainly focuses on BOAC Flight 781.
15	November 29	Chicago Air Crash (Flight Engine Down) (Chicago Flight 191)	American Airlines Flight 191	May 25, 1979	Faulty maintenance, metal fatigue, loss of hydraulic fluid for left wing slats
	American Airlines Flight 191, a DC-10, takes-off from Chicago's O'Hare Airport. As the plane begins to lift, the engine breaks free from the left wing due to money and time-saving maintenance and swings over it, leaving a hole in the wing. The engine smashes onto the runway. 31 seconds after take-off, leaking hydraulic fluid from the hole causes the left wing slats to retract and lose lift for that wing. The plane tilts left and crashes into a trailer park, killing all on board plus two on the ground.
16	November 6	Texas Oil Explosion (Texas Refinery Disaster) (Oil Fire in Texas)	Texas BP Refinery explosion	March 23, 2005	Human error
	At the BP Oil Refinery in Texas City, a test on the distillation tower goes wrong. Liquid waste builds up in the tower and flows out through the blowout tower. A white ute left with its engine running ignites the fumes of the waste liquid. The explosion destroys a trailer placed dangerously close to the blowout tower. 15 workers die.
17	January 2 2007	Tornado Outbreak	The Super Outbreak	3 April-4 April, 1974	Outbreak of tornadoes from storm cell
	The most violent outbreak of tornadoes in history, the Super Outbreak, releases 149 tornadoes in 13 American states and a province in Canada. Thousands of homes and over 350 people die in the period of the outbreak. 5,000 people are left homeless and injured. This episode mainly focuses on the 148 tornadoes that hit the USA, not the 149th one that hit Canada.
18	January 31 2007	Space Shuttle Explosion (Space Shuttle Challenger)	Space Shuttle Challenger disaster	28 January, 1986	O-ring failure due to icy conditions, strong jetstream
	Space shuttle Challenger takes-off from Cape Canaveral to start the STS-51-L mission. A badly designed joint in a solid rocket booster leaks hot gases that impinge on its mount on the external tank. 73 seconds later, the external tank breaks up, the solid rocket boosters fly free, and aerodynamic forces rip Challenger into pieces that fall into the ocean. All seven astronauts on board are killed. Record low temperatures were a major contributing factor to the accident.
19	March 7 2007	Eruption on Montserrat (Montserrat) (When the Volcano Blew)	1995-1997 eruption of Soufrière Hills	18 July, 1995-26 December, 1997	Volcanic eruption, lava dome collapse, pyroclastic flows
	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. This episode mainly focuses on the events of 25 July, 1997.

See also

• Seismic Seconds
• Mayday (Air Crash Investigation)
• Blueprint for Disaster
• Situation Critical
• Trapped
• Zero Hour

External links

• Official National Geographic Channel website
• Official Seconds From Disaster website
• Program description on NGC with Preview Video
• Seconds from Disaster at IMDb
• TV.com: Seconds From Disaster