Mayday Mayday is an emergency procedure word used internationally as a distress signal in voice-procedure radio communications. It is used to signal a life-threatening emergency primarily by aviators and mariners, but in some countries local organiz ...

'', known as ''Air Crash Investigation(s)'' outside of the United States and Canada and also known as ''Mayday: Air Disaster'' (

The Weather Channel The Weather Channel (TWC) is an American pay television channel owned by Weather Group, LLC, a subsidiary of Allen Media Group. The channel's headquarters are in Atlanta, Georgia. Launched on May 2, 1982, the channel broadcasts weather foreca ...

) or ''Air Disasters '' (

Smithsonian Channel The Smithsonian Channel is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its media networks division under MTV Entertainment Group. It offers video content inspired by the Smithsonian Institution's museums, research facili ...

) in the United States, is a Canadian documentary

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

produced by Cineflix that recounts air crashes, near-crashes, fires, hijackings, bombings, and other mainly flight-related

disaster A disaster is a serious problem occurring over a short or long period of time that causes widespread human, material, economic or environmental loss which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources ...

s and crises. It reveals the events that led to each crisis or disaster, their causes as determined by the official investigating body or bodies, and the measures they recommended to prevent a similar incident from happening again. The programs use re-enactments, interviews,

eyewitness testimony Eyewitness testimony is the account a bystander or victim gives in the courtroom, describing what that person observed that occurred during the specific incident under investigation. Ideally this recollection of events is detailed; however, this is ...

computer-generated imagery Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is the use of computer graphics to create or contribute to images in art, printed media, video games, simulators, and visual effects in films, television programs, shorts, commercials, and videos. The image ...

cockpit voice recording A flight recorder is an electronic recording device placed in an aircraft for the purpose of facilitating the investigation of aviation accidents and incidents. The device may often be referred to as a "black box", an outdated name which has b ...

s, and official reports to reconstruct the sequences of events. This does not include "Crash of the Century", a 2005 90-minute special investigating the Tenerife airport disaster, as the program is not branded as ''Mayday'' by Cineflix, even though the program was produced almost similar to ''Mayday''. This includes five ''Science of Disaster'' specials, each examining multiple crashes with similar causes. For broadcasters that do not use the series name ''Mayday'', three Season 3 episodes were labelled as ''Crash Scene Investigation'' spin-offs, examining marine or rail disasters. A sub-series labelled ''The Accident Files'' aired five seasons consisting of ten episodes.

Series overview

Episodes

Note: ''Episodes are ordered by their production number, not by their original air date.''

Season 1 (2003)

Season 2 (2005)

Season 3 (2005)

Note: This is the first season produced in high definition.

Season 4 (2007)

Season 5 (2008)

Season 6 (2007–08) Special

Season 6 of ''Mayday'' is the first ''Science of Disaster'' season, consisting of three episodes. With the exception of

BOAC Flight 781 BOAC Flight 781 was a scheduled British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) passenger flight from Singapore to London. On 10 January 1954, a de Havilland Comet passenger jet operating the flight suffered an explosive decompression at altitude an ...

, all the incidents described in these episodes are summarised versions taken from their respective full episodes from the previous five seasons.

Season 7 (2009)

Season 8 (2009) Special

Season 8 of ''Mayday'' is the second ''Science of Disaster'' season, consisting of two episodes.

Season 9 (2010)

Season 10 (2011)

Season 11 (2011–12)

Season 12 (2012–13)

Season 13 (2013–14)

Season 14 (2015)

Season 15 (2016)

Season 16 (2016–17)

Season 17 (2017)

Season 18 (2018)

Season 19 (2019)

Season 20 (2020)

Season 21 (2021)

Season 22 (2022)

Season 23 (2023)

''The Accident Files''

Season 1 (2018)

Season 2 (2019)

Season 3 (2020)

Season 4 (2021)

Season 5 (2022)

Alternate titles

The following table lists the alternative titles used by broadcasters for ''Mayday'', the original Canadian series; ''Air Crash Investigation'', the British and Asia-Pacific (

National Geographic Channel National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by the National Geographic Global Networks unit of Disney General ...

) versions; and ''Air Emergency'' and ''Air Disasters'' (

), the American versions of the series. The American column also shows the Smithsonian Channel's season and episode numbers. Episodes are ordered by their production number, and special episodes and spin-offs are ''italicised''.

Notes

References

External links

Cineflix: ''Mayday''Cineflix: ''Mayday – Science of Disaster''
(

Archive An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual ...

)
''Mayday''
on Discovery Channel Canada
''Air Crash Investigation''
on National Geographic Channel UK
''Air Crash Investigation''
on

National Geographic Channel Australia National Geographic Oceania is a subscription television documentary network in Oceania that features programmes on subjects such as nature, science, culture and history, plus some reality television and pseudo-scientific entertainment program ...

''Air Disasters''
on

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mayday Lists of Canadian television series episodes Lists of non-fiction television series episodes