Mayday Season 4 Episode 8 Fog of War

Mayday is a Canadian documentary television series that explores high-profile air disasters, focusing on the events leading up to the crash, the investigation and the aftermath.

Season 4, Episode 8 is titled "Fog of War." The episode tells the story of a Colombian airplane that crashed into a mountain in the year 1995. The Avianca Airlines Flight 52 was on its way to JFK International airport in New York City, carrying 158 passengers and crew, most of them American citizens. The flight was scheduled to land in New York after covering a distance of 2,700 miles and had enough fuel to make it to the destination comfortably. However, things took a turn for the worse when the flight ran into bad weather and had to circle around for over an hour before finally being allowed to land.

The episode begins by establishing the events leading up to the collision, highlighting how the foggy weather conditions, a communication breakdown between the pilot and the air traffic control tower, and inadequate fuel reserves all played a role in the disaster. Furthermore, it was found that the two pilots failed to properly approach the landing strip, instead making a series of poor decisions, which ultimately led to the fatal crash.

With the wreckage still fresh, investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) arrive on the scene to examine the evidence and interview witnesses. Through the episode, we see the NTSB team debating the possible causes of the accident, ranging from the weather to language barriers, and the lack of communication on board the flight. They evaluate the black boxes and try to determine the flight's route, altitude, and speed.

The investigation is also depicted the human element of the tragedy. The families of the victims recount their final moments with their loved ones, and the intense pain of having to wait for news about their fates. The episode portrays their agony as they wait for communication from the airline, only to find out that their relatives have perished in the crash.

Throughout the episode, the investigators strive to uncover the truth behind the collision, but they are constrained by language barriers as they attempt to establish what happened on board the flight. Eventually, the NTSB team successfully establishes that the pilots made multiple errors, which include over-flying the airport, miscalculating their fuel requirements, and ignoring warning indicators regarding the state of fuel reserves.

In the end, the aviation officials and law enforcement agencies implement changes to ensure that the poor communication, combined with the inadequate fuel reserve situation cannot repeat, making flying safer. The episode embodies the life lessons that one must never ignore the signs and take every precautionary step possible before flying, and how one mistake can took lives of so many people.

In the Fog of War episode, the team shed light on the technical and organizational challenges that come up during the investigation process. Through interviews with survivors, families of the dead and aviation experts, viewers gain insights into the human cost of aviation accidents, and understand how aviation companies and regulatory agencies can be held accountable for preventing accidents in the future. Ultimately, the episode is a poignant reminder of the devastating consequences of the smallest mistakes during flight.