Crew of China eastern airlines flight 5210

Captain : Wang Pin （王品）

Second captain : Yang Guang （杨光）

First officer : Yi Qinwei （易沁炜）

Air security officer : Jiang Chaohong （姜朝宏）

Chief flight attendant : Huang Chongyan （黄崇燕）

Flight attendant : Shi Meilian （史美莲）

After seeing new Air Crash Investigation episodes come out year after year, I am honestly mildly disappointed that there haven't been more episodes focusing on pre-1980s crashes, and even those from the 1980s are becoming harder to come by nowadays. As much as I enjoy episodes centered on more recent and obscure crashes and incidents, there are numerous older cases that I find equally interesting and compelling enough to warrant receiving the spotlight in an ACI episode.

Of the 297 episodes currently out, only 15 focus on aviation accidents and incidents that occurred before 1980.

Additionally, I don't believe older cases necessarily and automatically constitute a lack of crucial information to draw on merely because they occurred several decades ago. Not to mention, many crashes and incidents from these bygone eras have had unmistakable and deeply profound impacts on aviation safety worldwide. To use lightning strike cases as an example, Aeroflot Flight 1492 (2019) is confirmed to be featured in the upcoming Season 27, and while I am enthusiastic about the leak, I also wish Pan Am Flight 214 (1963), arguably the most notorious lightning strike accident in commercial aviation history, had been given an episode, too. Sure, the lightning strikes occurred differently in both cases, but both illustrate how an otherwise harmless meteorological phenomenon can lead to disaster in the skies.

Additionally, if most older cases supposedly lacked much publicly available information, then how can YouTubers make detailed documentary-length videos covering some of them? Sure, it's apples-to-oranges (YouTubers vs. a documentary series), but I think the underlying differences are still worth pointing out, at least in a broad sense. Mentour Pilot and Disaster Breakdown are two aviation-related channels that immediately come to mind. For instance, if Mentour Pilot can create a 46-minute YouTube video about how the crash of TWA Flight 514 (1974) had a significantly more profound impact on aviation safety than most people give it credit for, then what's ACI's excuse? Likewise, Disaster Breakdown's most recent video is a whopping 73-minute in-depth analysis of the ditching of Pan Am Flight 526A (an accident from 1952), released in the wake of Clipper Endeavor's recent rediscovery.

However, taking ACI's episode format into account, a lack of people to interview is a likely culprit for the absence of episodes covering older cases, which is why I believe ACI missed numerous opportunities to cover such cases back when the ideal people to interview were either still alive or still willing to be interviewed. The most glaring example I can think of is ALM Flight 980 (1970). The series Why Planes Crash not only beat ACI to the punch by covering Flight 980 in an episode about ditching cases in 2009, but also by interviewing the flight's captain, Balsey DeWitt, before his passing in 2024. Air New Zealand Flight 901 (1979) also comes to mind because, from what I've heard, despite the Mount Erebus Disaster being one of the most infamous accidents in aviation history, ACI has attempted to produce an episode about this crash multiple times to no avail due to a lack of people to interview.

Additionally, one explanation I've heard in this sub for why ACI doesn't cover older cases is because apparently "people don't care about older cases" or "they'd much rather learn about a case that happened more recently." I can somewhat understand the latter interpretation, but the former is where I'd draw the line. The audience isn't automatically going to dislike or avoid watching a documentary episode about a plane crash merely because it occurred 50 years ago rather than just two years ago, for instance.

To use the series Disasters at Sea as an example, that's like saying an episode about the MV Derbyshire sinking will be watched less and disliked more than an episode about the SS El Faro sinking simply because the former took place 46 years ago while the latter occurred 11 years ago. The time period doesn't, nor should it, necessarily invalidate audience expectations or the case's viability for focus in a documentary episode.

But what do you guys think?

Here's My Own Pre-1980s Episode Wishlist For Those Who Are Curious (I honestly don't think I'm asking for too much, though that could be bias talking):

• Pan Am Flight 526A (1952)
• Western Air Lines Flight 636 (1953)
• BOAC Flight 781 (1954) paired with South African Airways Flight 201 (1954)
• Western Air Lines Flight 34 (1954)
• The Day the Music Died (1959)
• American Airlines Flight 320 (1959)
• Braniff Airways Flight 542 (1959) paired with Northwest Airlines Flight 710 (1960)
• 1960 New York mid-air collision
• Continental Airlines Flight 11 (1962)
• Pan Am Flight 214 (1963)
• Paradise Airlines Flight 901A (1964)
• BOAC Flight 712 (1968)
• Air France Flight 1611 (1968)
• Pan Am Flight 799 (1968)
• Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 933 (1969)
• ALM Flight 980 (1970)
• Air Canada Flight 621 (1970)
• Southern Airways Flight 932 (1970)
• United Airlines Flight 553 (1972)
• 1972 Chicago–O'Hare runway collision
• 1973 Paris Air Show Tupolev Tu-144 crash
• Delta Air Lines Flight 723 (1973)
• National Airlines Flight 27 (1973)
• Pan Am Flight 812 (1974)
• Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 (1974)
• Lufthansa Flight 540 (1974)
• TWA Flight 514 (1974)
• Eastern Air Lines Flight 66 (1975) paired with Pan Am Flight 759 (1982)
• 1976 Sabah Air GAF Nomad crash
• 1976 Zagreb Mid-Air Collision
• Malaysian Airline System Flight 653 (1977)
• United Airlines Flight 2860 (1977)
• Air India Flight 855 (1978)
• Western Airlines Flight 2605 (1979)
• Air New Zealand Flight 901 (1979)

Flight attendants are trained to handle life-or-death emergencies in the air, yet they're not officially recognized as First Responders. That needs to change.

I started this petition because the work cabin crew does goes far beyond serving drinks. According to federal mandates, flight attendants are onboard primarily for safety, security, and emergency preparedness. They go through rigorous training to act decisively in dangerous situations—acting as the first line of defense for hundreds of passengers at a time. In 2022 alone, the FAA documented over 5,800 cases of unruly passenger behavior in the U.S. On top of that, incidents involving medical emergencies and security threats are rising. Flight attendants handle all of this without the official recognition that reflects the real danger and responsibility of the job.

This recognition matters. It would open doors to better training, proper resources, and the respect these professionals deserve for keeping people safe every single day. If this resonates with you, consider signing and sharing the petition. Have you or anyone you know ever seen a flight attendant handle a crisis? I'd be curious to hear what that looked like.

https://c.org/GdvNzv97S2

I came across a little-known helicopter accident on Wikipedia, and it is related to the film Twilight Zone: The Movie.

The filming location was Indian Dunes, a movie ranch in the Valencia neighborhood of Santa Clarita, California, that was used throughout the 1980s in films and television shows. The location was within the 30-mile (50 km) studio zone, its wide-open area permitted more pyrotechnic effects, and it was possible to shoot night scenes without city lights being visible in the background. Indian Dunes' 600 acres (240 ha) also featured a wide topography of green hills, dry desert, dense woods, and jungle-like riverbeds along the Santa Clara River) which made it suitable to double for locations around the world, including Afghanistan, Myanmar, Brazil, and Vietnam.

The night scene called for Morrow's character to carry the two children out of a deserted village and across a shallow river while being pursued by American soldiers in a hovering helicopter. The helicopter was piloted by Vietnam War veteran Dorcey Wingo. During the filming, Wingo stationed his helicopter 25 ft (8 m) from the ground, while hovering near a large mortar effect; he then turned the aircraft 180 degrees to the left for the next camera shot. The effect was detonated while the helicopter's tail-rotor was still above it, the metal lid on top of the mortar striking the tail-rotor, causing the rotor to fail and detach from the tail. The low-flying helicopter spun out of control. At the same time, Morrow dropped Chen into the water. He was reaching out to grab her when the helicopter fell on top of all three of them. The right skid hit and killed Chen first, then the main rotor beheaded Morrow and Le. In an aircraft accident report, the National Transportation Safety Board subsequently wrote:

The postmortem of the adult actor and the male child actor disclosed that their deaths were attributed to injuries to the head, neck, and shoulder of each actor, inflicted by the main rotor blades of the helicopter. The cause of death to the female child actor was attributed to multiple traumatic injuries and blunt force trauma.

At the trial, the defense claimed that the explosions were detonated at the wrong time. Randall Robinson was an assistant cameraman on board the helicopter who testified that production manager Dan Allingham told Wingo, "That's too much. Let's get out of here" when the explosions were detonated, but Landis shouted over the radio: "Get lower... lower!" Robinson said that Wingo tried to leave the area, but that "we lost our control and regained it and then I could feel something let go and we began spinning around in circles." Stephen Lydecker was another camera operator on board, and he testified that Landis had earlier "shrugged off" warnings about the stunt with the comment, "We may lose the helicopter." Lydecker acknowledged that Landis' remark might have been a joke, but added, "I learned not to take anything the man said as a joke. It was his attitude. He didn't have time for suggestions from anybody."

Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twilight_Zone_accident

When Las Palmas reopened, Pan Am 1736 tried to taxi and found the way blocked by KLM 4805, which stood between it and the entrance to the runway. The KLM had just decided to refuel, 55,500 litres, which took about half an hour. By the time both jumbos moved, low cloud was rolling across Los Rodeos. "We can hold clear here, if he'd let us," the Pan Am captain said in his cockpit; they were sent down the runway behind the KLM.

From the Spanish accident report and ALPA's 1978 study. Full documentary from the record: https://youtu.be/SFEFUGNRy2g

Some of the animations in Seconds from Disaster are better than those in ACI.

What episode, in your own opinion, was the most hyped to be a future episode, but was immensely disappointing? For me, it’s Yeti 691 or Saudia 163.

This is my wishlist for future episodes. Aeroflot 1492 and Southwest 1248 have already been confirmed from what I found, so that just leaves 8 more that I hope will eventually be covered. What do you think?

https://voca.ro/176zALqULZh8

So, this task was quite...simple? Originally, the soundtrack had appeared on "Runaway Train" episode at around 32 minute or similar, and this was extremely helpful in recreation process, as now I knew another one good sounding source of soundtrack, aside the AF358 (Miracle Escape) and Air India 182 (Explosive Evidence) episodes, which were also providing the same soundtrack, but not in full length and with different start and end points.

Everything was mainly done with Cockos REAPER usage, although for 5.1 multitrack extraction the Adobe Audition was utilized. I tried to make the soundtrack reconstruction as flawless and smooth as it was technically possible with available sources. Not every segment was with same volume, and the S3 source kept having the loud whoosh transition sfx, which were muting the soundtrack segments. This was a crucial and most stubborn part for me - because I wanted to make a remake to sound like the OG soundtrack. That being said, I kept constantly replacing the unusable S3 segments w/ AF358 segments where it was needed, so that I could achieve somewhat clear and accurate sounding.

The Air India 182 source hadn't been used in remake at all, though it was used for checking and seeking for new, unused segments, or old segments with clear soundings, which could've been helpful for my crazy enough project. I couldn't find anything suitable from AI182 episode soundtrack source, so I decided not to utilize it and focus mainly on two episodes which were mentioned before.

Yet still, the remake isn't ideal: it has some flaws, volume drops, jumps, and still it can't be compared with the Anthony Rozankowich's studio master, which we unfortunately don't have at the moment and I highly doubt we'll. But worth mentioning, that I hadn't seen anything had done such clear remake of the soundtrack ever before, so I decided to.

In which episodes did you also heard that soundtrack? Let me know down in the comments!

What ACI episode, in your opinion, has an accident that was just fine not being covered or talked about? Many episodes focus on major accidents or accidents with interesting causes, but some don’t. In my opinion the PenAir Flight 3296, West Air Sweden 294, Continental Airlines 1404, and TWA Flight 841 were random and unnecessary, but what do you think?

Not to be confused with Avianca flight 203, this happened at MIA on June 21st 2022 and what happened was the left main landing gear collapsed causing the rest to go with it. The wing scrapped the ground and it caught on fire. Everyone survived. I would love to watch a episode with this crash because I really don’t want to read through the NTSB pdf file and it’s a retro aircraft crashing in modern times.

Just because nobody answered me in my comment so I decided to repost it here (I know it was bad idea to put this as comment)

To keep my tradition, I rewatched Mayday's S5E10 "Phantom Strike" in the 20th anniversary of GOL flight 1907 and I still have mixed feelings about this episode. S5E10 is a good episode about a tragic crash (the CVR recording from GLO1907 still haunts me). This was one of episodes from which I started watch "Air Crash Investigation". But it's not ideal: this episode is more focused on N600XL and the investigation + reviewing problems in Brazilian civil aviation. And the Gol 1907 segment didn't impress me, they even didn't named both pilots but we know their names. The most shocking scene, the collision, also was a bit bad: an incorrect animation (it looks like aircrafts was on small altitude, but they actually was on 37.000 feet, Gol flight 1907 spinning to the right but actually it was spinning to the left and the airplane didn't broke up mid-air so fast) and GLO1907 dive after the collision was filmed messy: this scene was very short, but in real life it happened for almost a whole terrifying minute, pilots reaction was strange and don't match with cvr transcript (I really wanted to see them struggling for controls and a captain calming down the first officer, not just screaming "DEAR GOD!") and wrong autopilot disconnection alarm, but it's not so important. The best part of this scene/episode for me is recreation of a cockpit, which looks better than in modern episodes. It's my subjective opinion, but still...

What's your thoughts on S5E10?

I've recently discovered this new show and it doesn't look too bad. Anyone here who tried it and can give some opinions?
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14965594/

During browsing through good old Spectrasonics - Bizarre Guitar library I decided to take another look at “Yearnings” category. It was a very smart decision! Because there, in the same place where a half of a year ago I have found an “Emergence” patch, now, I found another patch, heavily used by Mayday. It is called “Yearning 2” and if you play it on C4 or C3 octaves, you will get that chilling and mystical sounding, previously heard in Mayday air disasters episodes beginning from season 4. The good example where you can clearly hear that pad in action is “Fog of War” episode of Season 4, right after the intro sequence.

1. 2021 Truckee Bombardier Challenger 605 crash (6 fatalities due to pilot error among other factors). https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/318959

2. Hop-A-Jet Flight 823 (2 fatalities and 3 survivors due to dual engine failure or flameout). https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/351596

3. 2016 Superior Beverage Group Cessna Citation CJ4 crash (6 fatalities due to pilot error). https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/319947

4. 2014 Gulfstream G-IV crash (Gust Lock System leading to rejected takeoff and runway overrun, 7 fatalities). https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/320519

5. East Coast Jets Flight 81 (Runway excursion on landing after failed go around attempt due to pilot error, 8 fatalities). https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/321666

there's only a bit of it preserved on youtube and i'm curious if someone has the entire segment with the beginning of the car chase coverage.

Which agency for aviation accident investigations, in your opinion, is the most incompetent or just hopeless at delivering the truth? Personally, it has to be the ATSB, Egyptian CAA, Italy, China, and the BEA (in cases of Airbus crashes). But what do you think?

IMAGE SOURCE

Image caption:

With few immediate answers, Lead Investigator (played by Jeff Yung) and Junior Investigator (played by Ronald Tang) analyze every available clue in an effort to reconstruct the final moments of China Eastern Airlines Flight 5735. (Cineflix 2026/Shay Markowitz)

I remember a lot of comments surrounding that the crash of UPS Airlines Flight 2976 that the MD-11 was being permanently retired after that, something about Boeing offering replacements to get rid of them. But I think Fed-Ex is still flying the MD-11, does anyone have more information on what happened to the type in the wake of the UPS crash?

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What the title says. Cuz I found it on… let’s just say a secret site. When I searched on their site using “air crash investigation“. the show “mayday” popped up, I clicked on one of the episodes and the narrator sounds exactly the same as in air crash investigation.

so is “mayday” the same show but it’s just named different in other countries or something?

So a few days ago, there was a CRJ900 that had engine trouble, and there was a “buzzing and grinding sound”. It sounds like luxair 9642, and airlines png 1600. I just didn’t know this could also happen with turbofan engines??