Seconds From Disaster Season 3 Episode 2 Plane Crash in the Suburbs (a.k.a. Schiphol Plane Crash)

On the morning of March 2, 2009, a Turkish Airlines flight carrying 135 passengers and crew crashed into a field just a few kilometers from Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. As investigators scramble to determine what went wrong, they discover a chain of events that lead to the tragic accident.

The episode begins by introducing the two pilots of the doomed flight, both experienced veterans with thousands of hours of flight time. As they prepare for takeoff, everything seems routine. But just minutes into the flight, the plane's altimeters - instruments that measure altitude - begin to give conflicting readings. The pilots struggle to figure out what's going on as the plane speeds towards the ground.

Enter the investigators, who soon learn that the plane's altimeters were malfunctioning due to a previously unknown design flaw. This should have been caught during routine maintenance checks, but it wasn't. As a result, the plane's warning system failed to alert the pilots to the problem until it was too late.

But the malfunctioning altimeters aren't the only factor in the crash. As the plane plunges towards the earth, the pilots make a crucial mistake - they rely on their visual cues instead of their instruments to judge the plane's altitude. This is a common mistake, but in this case it proved fatal. The pilots mistakenly believed they were higher than they actually were, and by the time they realized the truth it was too late to recover.

As the investigation continues, the team uncovers a number of other contributing factors to the disaster. For one, the flight crew was fatigued due to a scheduling mix-up. Additionally, the airport's landing approach procedures were not well-suited to the conditions that day, with thick fog reducing visibility to almost zero. And finally, there was a lack of proper training for dealing with the exact kind of crisis that the pilots faced.

All of these factors combined to create a perfect storm of disaster. The plane crashed into a quiet suburban field, killing nine people and injuring many more. In the aftermath of the tragedy, changes were made to the way airports handle bad weather conditions and to the way pilots are trained to deal with crises. However, no amount of changes can bring back the lives lost in the Schiphol Plane Crash.

Overall, this episode of Seconds From Disaster provides a fascinating look at the many factors that can contribute to a plane crash. From a malfunctioning altimeter to pilot error to poor airport policies, it's clear that accidents like this are rarely the result of any one thing. Rather, it's a complex web of factors that come together in just the wrong way. The episode is a sobering reminder of just how important it is to pay attention to even the smallest details when it comes to aviation safety.