Mayday - Air Disasters

The cargo door of United Airlines Flight 811 opens at an altitude of 33,000 feet, ripping a huge hole in the 747 taking out five rows of seats.

At the height of thunderstorm season, American Airlines 1420 ends in disaster. The MD80 ploughs off a wet runway down an embankment and breaks apart.

The pilot of Swissair Flight 111 smells smoke in the cockpit less than an hour after take-off.

Immediately after Aeroperu Flight 603 takes off, the pilots begin to experience a confusing set of alarms and instrument indications.

Shortly after Air Alaska Flight 261 takes off from Puerta Vallarta the stabilizer - which controls the angle of the plane in flight - malfunctions.

An Air Transat Airbus runs out of fuel over the Atlantic and has to glide to a power-free landing.