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Episode details

Sounds,27 Mar 2026,38 mins,

The Sightseeing Flight and the Invisible Mountain

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford
Contains some scenes which some viewers may find upsetting.

Available for over a year

In November 1979, Flight 901 departs New Zealand on a sightseeing journey over Antarctica, heading directly towards a volcano. When the plane vanishes, investigators are left with a mystery: how could a seasoned pilot miss a 12,000-foot peak? As they try to piece together the incident, conflicting stories emerge, key evidence disappears, and a troubling picture takes shape - one defined by human error, deceptive illusions, and the hunt for someone to blame.

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