ESCAPE! PLANE CRASH, NOVA, 1999
Explore aircraft safety from the ground up.
How do military jet pilots survive ejection at 500 miles per hour? What makes the cabin of many modern commercial planes potentially lethal? What is the most deadly element of a plane crash? How will past airplane tragedies reduce future fatalities? NOVA offers these answers and more in the fascinating evolution of aircraft and passenger safety.
There will always be aircraft accidents. The goal is finding ways to make them survivable. See aviation history come to life through authentic re-creations, rare archival footage and insightful interviews from the invention of the parachute to the aerial peril of early dogfights, through today's ultra-modern safety systems. Meet the human guinea pig who endured punishing ejection-system tests. Hear test pilot Joe Kittinger recall the experience of free-falling at speeds up to 700 miles per hour! Listen to the terrifying stories of crash survivors and much more.
NOVA's Escape! series captures the remarkable, and sometimes tragic, evolution of life-saving technology in four definitive programs: Fire, Car Crash, Plane Crash and Abandon Ship.
NOVA: Mind-altering television. The mysteries of science are revealed through NOVA's rewarding story-telling. The longest-running, most-awarded, most-watched science show on television offers viewers real life dramas in unexplored territories. NOVA covers a fascinating spectrumfrom the miracle of life to the thrill of fast physics, from the power of wild weather to the wonders of earth and space, from the mysteries of the past to the marvels of technology. Life is complicated. It's nice to have a way to understand it. Invite NOVA into your video collection and you will discover something new about you and your world.
60 minutes, fully narrated, VHS NTSC ONLY, VE7208 / $24.95
ASSOCIATED PRODUCTS: ESCAPE! Because Accidents Happen series