I had seen a previous documentary titled "Explosive Evidence" about this particular flight. It used recreated sequences to portray a brazen act of terrorism that has no meaning to this day. That documentary pales in comparison to Air India 182 in several aspects.
Utilizing a mix of parallel timelines, people interviews, actual audio wiretaps, archived and recreated footage, Air India 182 has a powerful impact, not unlike powerful as the explosion that ripped the aircraft apart on a cool Sunday morning in June 1985. We are made aware of the background - a potent bubbling cauldron of politics and religious independence leading to violent consequences. We are told of the numerous mishaps and missteps in the investigation leading to the accident (some look deliberately introduced to render an impression that the flight took off as scheduled without any interruption). We are deeply touched by the lingering grief of family members who lost their loved ones on the ill-fated flight. We are shown battle-hardened air force men and sailors admitting to tears and retching on recovering the dead from the Atlantic Ocean. We see how a tiny little town in Southern Ireland helps deal with a massive disaster and ease the irreparable pain of families torn apart. It makes for such captivating (and emotional) viewing, I barely paid attention that this happened more than 30 years ago.
Air India 182 is a harsh lesson to all of us in "Live and Let Live". We all have differences, but in allowing those differences to cloud our judgment and lead us to wrong decisions, we have nothing to gain and everything to lose. As one Royal Airforce (RAF) airman from Wales says in a choked voice - "I saw a piece of chocolate among the items recovered, it had fresh teeth marks. If that is not demoralizing, I don't know what is!"
Highly recommended.
Utilizing a mix of parallel timelines, people interviews, actual audio wiretaps, archived and recreated footage, Air India 182 has a powerful impact, not unlike powerful as the explosion that ripped the aircraft apart on a cool Sunday morning in June 1985. We are made aware of the background - a potent bubbling cauldron of politics and religious independence leading to violent consequences. We are told of the numerous mishaps and missteps in the investigation leading to the accident (some look deliberately introduced to render an impression that the flight took off as scheduled without any interruption). We are deeply touched by the lingering grief of family members who lost their loved ones on the ill-fated flight. We are shown battle-hardened air force men and sailors admitting to tears and retching on recovering the dead from the Atlantic Ocean. We see how a tiny little town in Southern Ireland helps deal with a massive disaster and ease the irreparable pain of families torn apart. It makes for such captivating (and emotional) viewing, I barely paid attention that this happened more than 30 years ago.
Air India 182 is a harsh lesson to all of us in "Live and Let Live". We all have differences, but in allowing those differences to cloud our judgment and lead us to wrong decisions, we have nothing to gain and everything to lose. As one Royal Airforce (RAF) airman from Wales says in a choked voice - "I saw a piece of chocolate among the items recovered, it had fresh teeth marks. If that is not demoralizing, I don't know what is!"
Highly recommended.