Mayday

August 2, 2005. In a raging thunderstorm after a difficult landing, Air France 358 skids off the runway in Toronto. As it crashes, the left engine catches fire. There are only seconds to escape.

24 June 1982 / British Airways Flight 9. When all engines fail, the plane plummets but moments later, the engines restart. What caused this mysterious event?

2 June 1983, Air canada Flight 797, a small mechanical problem in the back of a Canadian aircraft quickly led to an all-out emergency. Thick, toxic smoke filled the plane before it burst into flames, killing 23 people.

August 6, 1997. Korean Air flight 801 departed from Seoul, Korea. It had been cleared to land at AB Won Guam Airport, Agana when it crashed about three miles south-west of the airport.

3 March 1991 - United Airlines Flight 585 - - A Boeing 737 jet spins out of control on its descent, and ten seconds later all 20 passengers are dead. What resulted was one of the longest and most expensive enquiries in US aviation history.

19 Febuary 1985 - Flying at 41,000 feet, a China Airlines flight encounters turbulence and the autopilot turns on. A series of mistakes and the pilot's poor understanding of autopilot almost ends in disaster.

31 August 1986--The loss of over 80 lives near LA's busy airport forces authorities to change the way planes are tracked and monitored.

April 1996. US government officials and business executives are on a trade mission to Bosnia and Croatia. As they near the Dubrovnik airport, rain and clouds make the journey increasingly difficult.

January 3, 2004. Moments after taking off from Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport, a Boeing 737 crashes into the Red Sea. The plane's black boxes reveal the horrifying final moments.

14 August 2005 - When Athens air traffic control fails to make contact with Helios Airways Flight 522 from Cyprus, two F-16 fighters are despatched, only to watch helplessly as the jet crashes into a mountain.