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Mayday (2003)

S11E6 Turning Point (Northwest Airlines Flight 85)

Dec 29, 2011 Season 11 Episode 6 Documentary, Drama, Crime

On October 9, 2002, while flying over the Bering Sea, Northwest Airlines Flight 85 experiences a sudden left deflection of its lower rudder segment. Faced with this critical issue, the pilots manage to divert the plane and execute a successful emergency landing in Anchorage, Alaska, skillfully using engine thrust to maintain control. The event was later determined to be caused by a fatigue failure in the rudder hydraulic control module, leading to a portion of the module's metal casing breaking away.