Nova's The Deadliest Plane Crash

Nova ran an excellent documentary on the Tenerife airline disaster this week. The basic gist is that two 747s collided on a runway at Tenerife in the Canary Islands in 1977. It's the worst airline accident ever in terms of total casualties (nearly 600).

But, of course, there's so much more to the story--including a terrorist bombing, diversion to a smaller airport, pilots motivated by rules around maximum flying time, poor communication, non-standard terminology, poor teamwork, inclement weather, pride, etc.--that Nova documents in heartbreaking detail. It's a great lesson in learning from disaster.