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Mayday, also known as
Air Crash Investigation(s) in Australia, South Africa, Asia and some European countries, and
Air Emergency and
Air Disasters in the United States, is a Canadian
documentary television program produced by
Cineflix investigating
air crashes,
near-crashes,
hijackings,
bombings and other
disasters.
Mayday uses
re-enactments and
computer-generated imagery to reconstruct for its audiences the sequence of events leading up to each disaster. In addition, aviation experts, retired pilots and crash investigators are
interviewed explaining how these
emergencies came about, how they were investigated and how they could have been prevented.
Cineflix started production on 13 August 2002, with a
CDN$2.5 million budget. Cineflix secured deals with
France 5, the
Discovery Channel,
Canal D,
TVNZ, the
Seven Network, the
Holland Media Group and the
National Geographic Channel, to take Mayday to 144 countries and 26 languages. The series was received well by critics and nominated for a number of awards. Sharon Zupancic won a
Gemini Award for her work on the
Mayday episode, "
Lockerbie Disaster".
UNSW's senior lecturer, Raymond Lewis, conducted a study on teaching strategy loosely based on the series. Lewis's results indicated using the strategy had "
a positive effect on learning outcomes."[
citation needed]
Hallmarks[edit]The series features
re-enactments, interviews, eyewitness testimony, computer-generated imagery, and in nearly all of the episodes,
cockpit voice recordings to reconstruct the sequence of events to the audiences. Several passengers and crew members (whether they survived the incident or not) are picked and actors/actresses play the role of those passengers and crews throughout the flight usually starting from boarding of the flight. The flight routines in the
air traffic control,
cockpit and
cabin are recreated on screen starting from departure up to the moment of the emergency. At the moment of the emergency, external view of the aircraft from different angles are recreated to show the effect and what had happened to the aircraft. The responses and reactions of the passengers, crews and air traffic control leading up to the eventual crash or emergency landing are then recreated. All the scenes in cockpit and air traffic control centers are recreated using the actual script obtained from the
cockpit voice recorder of the aircraft and other recordings made at the time.
Throughout the episodes the victims or relatives and friends of victims are interviewed.
[1][2] In addition aviation experts, retired pilots and investigators are interviewed on the evidence and explain how these emergencies came about and how they could have been prevented.
[2]Cineflix started production for
Mayday on 13 August 2002, with a CDN$2.5 million budget, after Channel Five commissioned the six-part one-hour series.
[3] To keep the costs down most of the production was kept at Cineflix's Toronto offices in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
[4] While in production the series was sold to France 5, Discovery Channel and Canal D.
[5] On2 June 2003, Cineflix announced that they sold the series to TVNZ, the Seven Network and the Holland Media Group,
[5]later on 22 October 2003, a month before the airing of the first season, Cineflix announced that they secured a major international deal with National Geographic Channel to take
Mayday to 144 countries and 26 languages.
[6]On 25 January 2012, Cineflix Rights announced that they would be selling Seasons 8, 9 and 11 (23 episodes) to
Smithsonian Networks.
[7]
As of 17 February 2014, a total of 108 episodes of Mayday have aired, including five "Science of Disaster" specials and three "Crash Scene Investigation" spin-offs. Season 13 of Mayday is currently airing in the UK and will consist of eleven episodes, including a special. Season 14 of Mayday was announced by Cineflix in September 2013 and will enter production in 2014.
Season | Episodes | Originally aired |
| Season premiere | Season finale |
| 1 | 6 | | |
| 2 | 6 | | 27 February 2005 |
| 3 | 13 | | |
| 4 | 10 | | |
| 5 | 10 | | |
| 6 | 3 | | |
| 7 | 8 | | 17 December 2009 |
| 8 | 2 | | |
| 9 | 8 | | 27 October 2010 |
| 10 | 6 | 27 February 2011 | |
| 11 | 13 | 12 August 2011 | 13 April 2012 |
| 12 | 13 | 3 August 2012 | 15 April 2013 |
| 13 | 11 | 16 December 2013 | TBA 2014 |
| 14 | 10 | TBA | TBA |
Reception[edit]The series has been received well by critics.
[1][2] Paul Mavis from
DVDTalk recommends
Mayday as "
Harrowing and surprisingly emotional" and continues with "
Never exploitive, [Mayday] not only ratchets up the suspense with its well-done action scenes, it validates them by showing us the human side of these horrific air disasters."
[1] Franck Tabouring from
DVD Verdict said "
It's a well-produced show with plenty of compelling information about tragic accidents, telling how some people survived and others didn't."
[2]Sharon Zupancic won the 25th Gemini Awards for "
Best Picture Editing in a Documentary Program or Series" for her work on the
Mayday episode, "
Lockerbie Disaster".
[16] Season five of
Mayday was nominated in the 24th Gemini Awards for "
Best General/Human Interest Series".
[17] A number of
Mayday episodes were nominated in the Canadian Society of Cinematographers Awards, including: "
Air India: Explosive Evidence" and "
Fatal Distraction" in 2009; "
Missed Approach" and "
Miracle Flight" in 2008; and "
Flying Blind" in 2004.
[18]University of New South Wales's senior lecturer, Raymond Lewis, conducted a study on teaching strategy loosely based on the series. The study was done with prospective pilots studying the
Aircraft Systems for Aviators undergraduate course. The results of the study shows "
the use of air accidents and incident scenarios had a positive effect on learning outcomes."
[19] See also[edit]
References[edit]- ^ Jump up to:a b c Mavis, Paul (15 April 2009). "Mayday — Air Disasters". DVD Talk.
- ^ Jump up to:a b c d Mavis, Tabouring (23 April 2009). "Mayday — Air Disasters". DVD Verdict.
- Jump up^ "New Cineflix science series Mayday starts production" (Press release). Cineflix. 13 August 2002.
- Jump up^ Luke, Donna (1 January 2003). No Borders. Interview with Susan Zeller for Realscreen.
- ^ Jump up to:a b "Cineflix goes global with popular science series Mayday. Germany's Prosieben latest channel to acquire the show" (Press release). Cineflix. 2 June 2003.
- Jump up^ "Cineflix International strikes NATGEO deal for new popular science series Mayday" (Press release). Cineflix. 22 October 2003.
- Jump up^ Cineflix Rights seals North and Latin American deals
- ^ Jump up to:a b "Mayday premieres on Discovery, Wednesday, September 3 at 10 p.m." (Press release). Cineflix. 14 August 2003.
- Jump up^ "Mayday – Popular Cineflix series returns to Discovery Channel with two new back-to-back episodes, Sunday, January 23, 2005, at 8 pm ET" (Press release). Cineflix. 1 December 2004.
- ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g Mayday (a Titles & Air Dates guide), epguides, 14 July 2013
- Jump up^ "A New Season of Mayday Takes Flight, April 15 on Discovery Channel" (Press release). Discovery Channel Canada. 30 March 2007.
- Jump up^ "Never Take a Safe Landing For Granted Again – Discovery Channel Presents Season 7 of MAYDAY and DAILY PLANET's "Flying Things Week" in November" (Press release).Discovery Channel Canada. 15 October 2009.
- ^ Jump up to:a b TV.com. "Air Emergency - Episode Guide". TV.com. Retrieved 2014-02-06.
- Jump up^ "Buckled In and Cabin Baggage Safely Stowed, MAYDAY returns to Discovery Channel for a 9th Season, Sept. 8" (Press release). Discovery Channel Canada. 13 August 2010.
- Jump up^ "Air Crash Investigation TV Listing (UK)". National Geographic Channel. Retrieved 12 March 2011.
- Jump up^ Best Picture Editing in a Documentary Program or Series, Gemini Award, 2010
- Jump up^ 24th: Full list of nominations and winners, Gemini Award, 2009, p. 6
- Jump up^ "Awards". Canadian Society of Cinematographers. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
- Jump up^ Lewis, Raymond (December 2009). Air Crash Investigators — comments on a pedagogical strategy to increase intrinsic motivation in order to enhance student learning..
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