logo
episode-header-image
Sep 2020
9m 4s

Flying through a volcano

Bbc World Service
About this episode

When a British Airways flight carrying 248 passengers took off one evening in 1982 heading from Kuala Lampur to Australia, everything seemed fine. But two hours later all of the jumbo jet’s engines shut down and no one knew why. The plane had flown into the ash cloud of the erupting volcano, Mount Galunggung, without realising it. Darin Graham speaks to retired Captain Eric Moody, who flew the plane that night.

Up next
Apr 2025
The Cu Chi tunnels of the Vietnam War
During the Vietnam War, North Vietnamese VietCong guerrillas built a vast network of tunnels in the south of the country as part of the insurgency against the South Vietnamese government and their American allies. The tunnel network was a key base and shelter for the North Vietna ... Show More
9m 43s
Yesterday
Mexico’s ‘little old lady killer’
In March 2008, former female wrestler Juana Barraza was found guilty of murdering at least 11 elderly women in Mexico City. The murders took place over a period of seven years, and Barraza became known as the “little old lady killer”. She admitted to murdering three women and tol ... Show More
10m 51s
Apr 27
The world's first perfume archive
On 26 April 1990, the world's first perfume archive opened in Versailles, France.The idea behind L'Osmothèque was to create a collection of scents and preserve their memory.Perfumer Jean Claude Ellena was one of the team who created it.He speaks to Jen Dale about how L'Osmothèque ... Show More
10m 6s
Recommended Episodes
Sep 2022
Crash in a Volcano | Into the Crater | 1
In November 1992, a Hollywood camera crew soars above Hawaii’s Kīlauea, one of the world’s most dangerous volcanoes, to capture footage for a major feature film. But suddenly their helicopter’s engine cuts out, and they plunge into an active crater. Trapped and inhaling toxic fum ... Show More
45m 31s
Oct 2025
La lave (Lava)
Des passagers ont filmé des coulées de lave et de la fumée alors que leur avion survolait un volcan sur la péninsule de Reykjanes, en Islande. Traduction:Passengers have filmed lava floes and smoke as their plane passed over a volcano on Iceland's Reykjanes Peninsula. Hosted on A ... Show More
2m 27s
Jan 2025
Cleared For Take-Off? (Tenerife Air Disaster 1)
“Evacuate the airport, we’ve planted bombs,” a terrorist tells the telephone operator at the airport in Gran Canaria, in 1977. By the end of that day, 583 people will have lost their lives – but not to a bomb explosion. The planes are diverted to the neighboring island of Tenerif ... Show More
32m 36s
Sep 2022
Crash in a Volcano | Thank You, Madam Pele with Chris Duddy | 3
In 1992, Christopher Duddy was a young Hollywood cameraman assigned to shoot footage of an active volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island. Then his helicopter crashed inside the volcano near a pool of molten lava, and his life would never be the same. Host Mike Corey hears how Chris can s ... Show More
36m 20s
Jan 2024
Episode 67: Stabilator Malfunction
Retired airline captain and designated pilot examiner John Blum tells the story of giving a multiengine checkride in a Piper Seneca, when a loud bang from the tail section of the aircraft derailed the flight. 
59m 20s
Jun 2024
Flames seen coming out of plane leaving Queenstown
The Virgin Australia flight was heading for Melbourne carrying 67 passengers when flames were seen coming from the Boeing 737 and it was diverted to Invercargill, Tess Brunton reports. 
3m 57s
Dec 2024
Crashed in the Canadian Wilderness | Ice | 1
On an icy October night in 1984, a young, overworked pilot took off from Edmonton, Alberta, in a small commuter plane with nine passengers aboard, including a politician, a cop and his prisoner. Battling thick cloud cover and the accumulation of ice on the aircraft, the pilot mis ... Show More
34m 38s
Nov 2024
Whakaari: Eruption on White Island | Hell on Earth | 2
As a wave of burning steam, ash and debris rolls down toward the shore, 47 tourists and guides sprint for cover, but there is no avoiding the blast. Meanwhile, a boat full of tourists that just left White Island returns to help. And back on the mainland, a local helicopter pilot ... Show More
38m 19s
Sep 2022
Crash in a Volcano | Climbing Out | 2
Rescue workers search for the camera crew trapped inside Kilauea’s Pu’u O’o crater, but they’re forced to abandon their efforts when an incoming storm makes conditions too hazardous. Cameramen Chris Duddy and Mike Benson struggle to survive a night inside the volcano. When daylig ... Show More
42m 12s