Dr. Todd Curtis on the Discovery Channel

Date: 11 August 2008; Length: 8:30

This show features a segment from the the Discovery Channel series "Survive This!" That segment featured the 21 September 2005 landing gear event involving a jetBlue A320 near Los Angeles. During the clip, Dr. Todd Curtis explains some of the factors that led to a dramatic, but safe end of the flight. The series "Survive This!" ran for one year during the 2007 season.

Audio: MP3

Video:  YouTube

Partial Transcript

Welcome to the Conversation at AirSafe.com, with your host Dr. Todd Curtis.

This show is a bit of a departure from past shows, as it features a segment from the Discovery Channel series Survive This! about the emergency landing of jetBlue Flight 292 on September 21, 2005. I served as an on-camera expert on this episode, providing commentary about the event.

Although the landing gear problem that led to the emergency did not put the aircraft in any great risk, the circumstances of the incident turned it into a major media event. It took place during prime television viewing time, and it happened in Los Angeles, one of the biggest media markets in the English speaking world. As the event unfolded over several hours, CNN and other national networks interrupting their regular programming. There was still intense interest in the story days later, well out of proportion to the amount of risk faced by the people on board the aircraft.

That kind media interest led to the Discovery Channel featuring this event in the first episode of the series Survive This!, a show that featured video clips of near disasters. There were a number of cameras that recorded the event, including several inside the plane. One of those videos was a key part of the Survive This! segment. Incidentally, my portion of the show was shot on one of the sets used in the 2002 movie "Catch Me if You Can."

What follows is that segment from Survive This! For those of you listening to the audio version of this podcast, visit podcast.airsafe.org for links to the video version.

[Discovery Channel show segment]

For more information about this event, including links to the audio and video versions of this show, please visit podcast.airsafe.org.

Thanks for listening, and I'll see you next time.

Additional Resources
Significant jetBlue Safety Events
Secrets of AirSafe.com Special Podcast Series
Other AirSafe.com Podcast Episodes

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