Mayday

Fight to the Death (British European Airways Flight 548)

Aired Dec 16, 2013 · 1:00 PM ET · 45 min

On 18 June 1972, British European Airways Flight 548 stalls and crashes in a field near Staines-upon-Thames shortly after take-off from London Heathrow Airport, killing all 118 people on board. The crash was attributed to the pilot retracting the aircraft's droops at too low an airspeed and failing to recognise the stall warnings.