The Deadliest Plane Crash (NOVA)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: C-     Episode: B-

 

 

Of all the many awful airplane accidents, one considered the worst ever is not discussed enough, possibly because the airlines worldwide want to forget it.  However, the WGBH series NOVA never forgets anything and their through examination of the horrific Canary Island double 747 disaster on March 27, 1977 is thoroughly documented in The Deadliest Plane Crash installment.

 

The nearly hour-long piece shows how an expert pilot took off in the fog at the worst time without approval or explanation and ripped the roof off of one plane while soon wrecking his own minutes later.  One was a KLM; the other was of the now-defunct Pam Am.  The show attempts to find out why he left, be graphically specific about what happened and how it changed commercial aviation forever.

 

I liked the installment, but the bold title asks the question if something worse (terrorist related or otherwise) has happened since and some might consider 9/11 worse, but this was accidental and that makes it all the more upsetting and infuriating.

 

The letterboxed 1.78 X 1 image is soft, but was produced in digital High Definition, not taken advantage of here since WGBH does not produce DVDs with anamorphic enhancement.  The crash digital animation has dated quickly, but it serves an important purpose, so it is not as bad.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has not real surrounds, but is a recent recording that sounds good.  The only extras are weblinks and DVD-ROM printable materials.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo