Mayday Season 7 Episode 3 Cockpit Chaos

On the third episode of the seventh season of Mayday, titled "Cockpit Chaos," viewers are taken on a harrowing journey following the last moments of a Turkish Airlines flight, which crashed just outside Amsterdam on February 25th, 2009. The episode focuses on the investigation that followed the crash, revealing the series of errors and mishaps that ultimately led to the tragedy that claimed the lives of nine passengers and crew members.

The show starts with the plane, a Boeing 737-800, taking off from Istanbul with 127 passengers and seven crew members onboard. Everything is going smoothly until the plane, which is flying on autopilot, approaches its destination in Amsterdam. Suddenly, the autopilot system breaks down, and the pilots are forced to take manual control of the plane. As they do so, they realize that the plane is descending too quickly and they are struggling to maintain control.

Despite their best efforts, the plane begins to drop rapidly, and the pilots send a distress signal to air traffic control. The situation quickly becomes chaotic as the pilots work to regain control of the plane, while air traffic control tries to guide them to safety. The episode shows the tension and confusion that unfolds in the cockpit as the pilots frantically try to figure out what is wrong with the plane and how they can keep it in the air.

As the cockpit recordings reveal, the pilots are struggling to understand each other's actions and communication breaks down between the captain and first officer. The captain suspects that a faulty altimeter is to blame for the rapid descent, while the first officer is convinced that the autothrottle is malfunctioning. This disagreement and lack of clear communication between the pilots prove to be fatal, and the plane ultimately crashes into the ground just outside Amsterdam.

In the aftermath of the crash, investigators are left with a difficult task as they try to pinpoint exactly what went wrong. The episode shows the painstaking process of searching through the wreckage and analyzing the black box recordings to piece together the events that led to the tragedy. It is a race against time as investigators must uncover the cause of the crash before the wreckage is removed and important evidence is lost.

Throughout the episode, viewers are given an inside look at the work of investigators and the techniques they use to piece together the final moments of the flight. They recreate the scene of the cockpit to try to understand what the pilots were experiencing in the moments leading up to the crash. The episode also reveals the shocking truth that the accident was caused by a combination of errors, including the malfunctioning altimeter, faulty autothrottle, and the breakdown in communication between the pilots.

In summary, "Cockpit Chaos" is a gripping episode of Mayday that takes viewers on a nail-biting journey as they follow the last moments of a Turkish Airlines flight that ultimately crashes outside Amsterdam. The episode reveals the intense pressure and confusion that the pilots experienced as they struggled to maintain control of the plane, as well as the intricate work of investigators as they try to piece together the cause of the crash. The show is a must-watch for anyone interested in aviation or true crime stories.