Mayday · SEASON 12

Focused on Failure (United Airlines Flight 173)

Episode 10 · 2013-03-11

★ 7.8
← Previous episode All seasons Next episode →
Mayday poster
Season 12Episode 10★ 7.8/10
  • Documentary
  • Drama
  • Crime

Episode overview

On 28 December 1978, the crew of United Airlines Flight 173 is preoccupied with a landing gear problem as the aircraft circles in a holding pattern in the vicinity of Portland, Oregon. It runs out of fuel and crashes in a sparsely populated area, killing 10 and seriously injuring 24 of the 189 on board. According to the NTSB, the pilot failed to acknowledge the warnings of the remaining crew regarding the aircraft's fuel state, while the remaining crew failed to adequately communicate the situation. The NTSB recommendation from this event led to the industry-wide implementation of Crew resource management (CRM) protocols.

45 minutes

Season 12 episodes

1. Fight for Control (Reeve Aleutian Airways Flight 8)2012-08-03 2. Fire in the Hold (ValuJet Flight 592)2012-08-10 3. Caution to the Wind (Singapore Airlines Flight 006)2012-08-17 4. Pushed to the Limit (SilkAir Flight 185)2012-08-24 5. Blind Landing (TANS Perú Flight 204)2012-08-31 6. Grand Canyon Disaster (United Airlines 718 and Trans World Airlines 2)2013-01-24 7. Death of the President (2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154)2013-01-27 8. Catastrophe at OHare (American Airlines Flight 191)2013-02-25 9. Lokomotiv Hockey Team Disaster (2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl Air Disaster)2013-03-04 10. Focused on Failure (United Airlines Flight 173)2013-03-11 11. Heading to Disaster (Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409)2013-03-25 12. 28 Seconds to Survive (Santa Barbara Airlines Flight 518)2013-04-01 13. Vanished (Air France Flight 447)2013-04-15