i'm contessa brewer. in this hour you'll see the most incredible video of collisions and meet survivors who were lucky to walk away alive. you might envision a racetrack or highway. but in our first story the scene of the accident is about the last place you would expect. imagine you're sitting outside your home enjoying a quiet family barbecue when a military plane swoops in and explodes in your backyard. it's a sunday picnic one family will never forget. air shows, exciting displays of the best in flight, held all around the world. a showcase of the rare and classic. an exhibit of thrilling tricks and intricate maneuvers. but at 10,000 feet, even the smallest mishap can result in disaster. september 1997, mark mcdonald and his family are visiting relatives in essex, maryland. nearby, hundreds gather on a warm, sunny day to watch the chesapeake air show. >> i was aware of the air show, and they did have quite a few planes that came in and made some very low fly-bys as they were making their landings. i c

i'm contessa brewer. welcome to "caught on camera." from politicians to police, sports stars to security guards, seems almost everybody gets out of line sometimes. and in a world full of cameras, those moments can live forever. in the case of our first story, some poor judgment, even becomes an international incident. a good-will basketball game takes an angry turn. when players stop passing basketballs and start hurling chairs. >> quickly you realize this was not your typical sports altercation. >> it's an international basket brawl and the entire scene is caught on camera by fans in the bleachers. >> i was fearing for my physical well being. >> the georgetown hoyas arrive in beijing for an exhibition tour. an entourage of more than 200 fans and school officials accompany the team on the trip. >> they wanted this to be a good will tour to expand georgetown's brand and bride. >> but the hoyas are not the only high-profile americans in china. >> vice president joe biden was in town at the same time. there'

i'm contessa brewer. welcome to "caught on camera." dangerous materials are used every day, usually without incident, because safeguards are in place to minimize risks. but natural disasters and man-made accidents happen all too frequently, and when highly flammable materials are involved, an emergency situation can become a fireball. may 15th, 2009. firefighters in texas are battling a blaze at a tank facility that stores oil, gas and sea water. just when they think they have the fire under control, a flare erupts from the tank on the right. it's not a good sign. and in a matter of seconds, the tank launches into the air like a rocket. >> everything went bright. the heat was real intense. >> a ball of fire races toward firefighters who are forced to run for their lives. >> you just think this could be the day for all of us. it was a violent, violent explosion. >> seconds later, another tank explodes. >> when the second tank exploded, and that's when the debris was flying everywhere and about a ten-foot p

i'm contessa brewer.iral video s as there are people to make them. how rube, how go you take your portrait? ought to be pretty straight forward, right? not in this video, by a small photography company looking to get noticed. >> we decided to shoot a machine and just take a tote photo in as complicated a away possible. >> they created a photo machine that you can't take your eyes off. >> we used almost every piece of photographer equipment. we used camera bodies, we used lenses, little tripods, large try pods, light stands. we used conveyor belts which was kind of difficult to get our hands on. >> this was an amazing video you have all sorts of actions causing other actions. you can't believe that any one person would make this happen as it is happening here. >> can you imagine like some mad scientist to put together this intricate system so he could take a picture. >> i knocked them over and they were like dominos that immediately made me think of rube goldberg. the term rube goldberg machine is a famous

i'm contessa brewer. welcome to "caught on camera." a crash can happen just about anywhere. sometimes the impact is no more than a minor inconvenience. other times it is a life-changing or even a life-ending event. while crashes are often accidents in our first video, you'll see a one-man wrecking effort that is anything but accidental. june 4th, 2004, an irate man in a bulldozer wreaks havoc on the small town of grandby, colorado. >> the vehicle was going in and out of this, basically, a big concrete warehouse, that was made out of prefast concrete. and what he would do is fall forward until the wall would collapse on top of him an then he would pull backwards and he was just going from one end of the build to the other doing that, causing the building to collapse on itself. >> glen trainor is the former undersheriff of grand county, colorado. when the call first comes in that a bulldozer is on the loose, he isn't overly concerned. but that changes after a report of shots being fired. it turns out, this

i'm contessa brewer. dashboard cameras are an important policing tool that can bear witness to details missed by the human eye and reveal invaluable lessons for law enforcement. in this hour you'll see compelling situations caught on dashboard cameras from getaways gone awry to ruthless gunmen firing at will. >> a routine traffic stop turns into a roadside shootout when troopers unknowingly pull over an armed and dangerous escaped prisoner. >> i'm thinking already i shouldn't have stopped this car. >> october 26, 1998. tyler, texas. trooper barry goins an 18-year veteran of the force is assigned to train trooper jesse andresen, a rookie six months out of the academy. >> he was not my training officer. i was riding with him that night because my fto had other arrangements and had something else to do that night. >> no. no, we don't go out with a rookie very often. >> they're at the tail end of a particularly busy night when they decide to look for an easy way to finish their shift. i went on the county roa

i'm contessa brewer. that's all for this edition of "caught on camera."

i'm contessa brewer. to capture crashes on camera because generally they come without warning. but what if you knew where one was going to take place? this next story takes you to one location that seems to epitomize the expression, an accident waiting to happen. it's hard to predict where an accident will occur. they are accidents, after all. there is one place where crashes are almost as regular as the months on a calendar. >> 31 crashes in, what, 36 months. >> durham, north carolina, the home of duke university. it's also home to this rare, low bridge. a clearance of only 11 feet, 8 inches which is clearly marked here. and here. >> some of the trucks when they pull up, they look like sardine cans that have been opened, so we call it the can opener. >> ever since henn moved to durham from germany in the 1990s, he's been fascinated by the city's history. and the bridge at the center of so many accidents. >> the buildings here were built around the early 20th century. the tobacco warehouses around 1904. t

i'm contessa brewer. bad behavior can sometimes seem like an epidemic, from road rage to bullying over the internet to fist fights on reality tv. our first video is a prime example of bad behavior. a mob erupts in violence, and not out of anger or frustration, but to celebrate the home team's victory. >> mayhem in the streets of los angeles. june 2010. 19-year-old student and part-time graphic designer jun gatuna ducks into a downtown bar to watch the last moments of the nba finals. the los angeles lakers versus the boston celtics. >> i just wanted to see what was going on, see if the lakers won or not. and if they did win, i just wanted to see how the victory celebration went. >> the final score, lakers 83, celtics 79. in game seven, the lakers clinched the title, and gatuna heads toward the arena. >> the atmosphere was very energetic. a lot of people were shouting celtics suck, lakers won, lakers won. i headed to staples center because i heard from a lot of friends that that's where a lot of crowds were

i'm contessa brewer. welcome to "caught on camera." a day at the beach, a night out to see your favorite band, a hike in a beautiful state park. sometimes even the most enjoyable activities can suddenly take a turn for the worse. and when they do, who will come to the rescue? for one utah motorcyclist trapped beneath a burning car, the answer is not necessarily who you'd expect. a motorcyclist is trapped underneath a burning car as bystanders rush to try and save him. >> oh, my gosh! >> i did see the flame, and i thought the car had potential to blow up. >> logan, utah, is a quiet college town home to utah state university. but right outside campus on september 12th, 2011, a car and a motorcycle collide, and the bike bursts into flames. the unfolding scene is captured from the ninth floor of a nearby building by university videographer, chris garth. >> i was setting up for a lecture. i noticed smoke outside the window. that's when i started videotaping. >> flames are spreading to the front end of the car.

i'm contessa brewer. that's all for this edition of "caught on camera. >>> a race car driver hits the wall. >> he's out! >> a kite boarder slams into steel poles. >> it felt like i got hit by a truck. >> motorcycle riders scrape the street. >> [ bleep ]. >> super athletes push the limits. >> i just remember hitting the horse -- >> oh, man! >> and a huge amount of pain. >> daredevil goes for broke. >> i practically almost died jumping off this bridge. >> and a family goes over the edge. >> oh, my god. oh, my god. >>> "caught on camera: thrills and spills." thrill seekers have so many ways to pump up the adrenaline, racing cars, four wheeling through canyons, parachuting from bridges, you name it and the daring will try it. but when something goes wrong, the result can be terrible. is a near fatal injury worth the high? watch and you'll see for some folks, risk is its own reward. in paris, california sprint car racer kevin white takes a turn for the worst. his car flips over and launches him 25 feet in the

i'm contessa brewer. highway patrol officers know to expect the unexpected whenever they stop a vehicle. our first story pits an armed felony suspect against u.s. border patrol agents. the tense situation at the mexican border grows worse when officers make a crucial discovery about who else is in the car. a burglary suspect speeds toward the mexican border with a 1-year-old child as a hostage. >> he was holding the baby to his chest and the knife to the baby's neck. he told me they were not going to get him alive. >> one lane, 89 miles an hour. >> monday morning, april 20, 1998. a car tears down interstate 5 south of los angeles, hitting speeds up to 95 miles per hour. >> okay. they're passing eltoro now. >> as it hurdles towards the mexican border, officials get a heads up. >> we got a phone call probably from the california highway patrol letting us know there was a southbound pursuit. >> probably heading for the border. >> the suspect, eddie price, is fleeing from l.a. police who tried to arrest him f

i'm contessa brewer. that's all for this edition of "caught on camera." >>> i'm milissa rehberger following breaking news out of chicago. protests at the nato summit have turned violent. police battling with demonstrators who have been trying to get closer to the site where president obama is meeting with world leaders. the protesters are a collection of different kinds of groups. some are opposed to the war in afghanistan. others are upset about climate change. others are calling for the complete disallusion of nato. police in riot gear have been trying to push them back. nbc's john yang is in chicago. you are very close by to this. tell us what you are seeing. >> we're about a block away from sort of the heart of this confrontation. it really is more of a standoff right now than a confrontation. the police have stopped pushing the protesters forward or back from the mccormack place. we can see actually a new, fresh unit of chicago police arriving. they do have helmets on. their shields are up for the mo

i'm contessa brewer. welcome to "caught on camera." we all fear it, that one deadly moment of inattention, the simple but potentially fatal miscalculation, the sudden bolt from the blue we are helpless to avoid. in an instant, everything changes. but in the stories you will see this hour, situations that look like certain death end with a miraculous escape, or amazing rescue. in our first story, a rock climber nervously begins his first 300-foot rappel while his friend videotapes the achievement. then something goes horribly wrong. in a utah canyon, a man rappels down a towering cliff but loses control and falls 100 feet to the bottom. >> i thought for sure that my life was coming to an end. >> hey, you okay? >> in the summer of 2009, eric shrever and david cardona are hiking through utah's zion national park. they're both experienced canyoneers, skilled at getting through canyons by any means possible. that includes climbing, rappelling or even swimming. >> i've always loved the outdoors. i've been an av

i'm contessa brewer. that's all for this edition of "caught on camera." >>> a hungry eel. an aggressive octopus. >> i turned over the look and next thing i know he's got this thing on his face. >> killer whales stalking their prey. >> there they go. look at this. three of them. >> oh, god. oh, no! >> from the depths of the ocean, some of nature's most vicious predators on the attack. >> i just thought that the fish stabbed him in the face, and i was like, oh, my god, my brother's dead. oh, my god. oh, my god. >> rare and terrifying encounters under the sea. >> all of a sudden, this great white grabbed four meters ten grabbed me. >> nowhere to run. >> i mean you've got a couple tons of whale tail coming at you that fast and its barnacle alone would have been like getting hit with baseball bat the size of a tree. >> nowhere to hide. >> shark snapped the whole front of the cage off, came right inside with us. >> surfers, day trippers, and professional divers, make no mistake, this is their turf. >> there's a

i'm contessa brewer. throughout history humans have looked for ways to soar, if only for a little while. flying, floating and even free falling, as you will see, a lot can go wrong high up in the air. some of the stories are about dreamers who find new ways to conquer new heights and others are about daredevils who relish that trip down. but our first story is about a man at a low point in his life and the effort high above a city street to save him. 70 stories above the streets of new york, a desperate man contemplates ending his life by jumping from the top of one of the city's landmark skyscrapers. >> obviously something has brought him to the edge, and we want to figure out quickly as possible, but the job could always go very wrong. >> august 10, 2011. detectives james cole and sean solar of the new york city police department's emergency services unit are on duty when the call comes in. >> we started our shift at 3:15 that afternoon. and almost immediately as soon as we finished loading up and check

i'm contessa brewer. welcome to "caught on camera." if you are like me from time to time you look around your home and you think what a mess. maybe dirty dishes in the sink, a pile of laundry on the floor or a big stack of papers on the kitchen counter. eventually most of us clean, fold and file our way back to at least presentable. but for hoarders clutter crosses a line from untidy to out of control. and the mess becomes a monster taking over their lives. from the outside it looks like a typical home in an ordinary suburban neighborhood. but go inside and you'll witness a shocking sight. rooms stuffed to the rafters with clutter and debris. >> it's very, very chaotic and stressful. >> in california 27-year-old jessica, who asked that her last name not be revealed, lives with her mother, an admitted hoarder. >> i would describe it as bad. it's not an environment that's comfortable to be in. >> after living on her own for more than a year, jessica moves back home to save money and help her mom with her wo

i'm contessa brewer. athletes and thrill seekers don't just put their own skills to the test, they challenge the laws of nature, too. in the next story a kite boarder stakes his life on the fickle wind and it lets him down hard. a pro kite boarder soars into the air and slams into solid steel. >> oh! >> i just saw my life flash in front of me. i started kite boarding 11 years ago when it first started. >> dimitri lives to fly. for wings he uses a kite in a relatively new sport called kite boarding. >> the appeal about this sport is the freedom. it's just like jumping and pure power house, but you are using nature to do that. >> the greek-born dimitri also flies to live. he's a pro and owner of a company that manufacturers and sells kite boards. >> i was very lucky to get into kite boarding, for myself and got sponsored by two different companies and eventually started my own kite company. >> kite boarding combines the appeal of boarding, riding the waves, with the pleasures of flying through the air on th

i'm contessa brewer. in a split second, a routine event can escalate into a life or death drama leaving folks to wonder what went wrong. it can happen at work or at play or as these people found out, during a leisurely day at a horse show. an official at a horse competition gets trampled by an out of control horse. may 2nd, 2001, springfield, illinois, at the arabian breed finals, they compete in a class called country pleasure driving. videographer rick is there to capture the event. >> it's a very neat class. it should look like a pleasure to drive. >> one of the riders here to compete on this day is paul hyman. >> riding a horse, you sit on top of the horse, on the saddle. and you really control the horse with your legs and with your arms. it's much easier to control them that way. when you drive, you only have reins and the horse is way up in front so you really don't control as much as when you are riding. >> the competition begins as planned when paul drives his horse into the ring with the others.

i'm contessa brewer.far we have seen deeds ranging from outrageous to criminal but humans aren't the only ones that step into the limelight here. next are two of man's best friends, remarkable dogs with two very different tales. >> even in april it's a cold dark night when this trooper is on the back roads. he just received word about a fire on someone's property. >> we had quite a bit of snow on the ground yet the roads were all ice covered. it was dark and visibility was poor just because of low light conditions. >> at an intersection he decides to go straight. >> something caught my eye about 100 yards in front of me. as i came to the crest of a hill i saw there was a german shepherd in the middle of the road. >> shanigan discovered something different about this dog. he spends much of his time with his four-legged pals so when he sees this canine out on the road he knows the dog is there for a good reason. >> there was that split second where immediately we connected and there was some type of second

i'm contessa brewer. just going through our daily routines, we can be surrounded by dangerous materials and equipment and not even be aware of it. usually we have nothing to worry about because compressed gases, high-powered machines and blasting materials are safe when used and stored properly. but if one little thing goes wrong, the consequences can be disastrous. a fire breaks out at southwest industrial gases in dallas, texas, on july 25th, 2007. this is no ordinary fire. on the lot are several hundred tanks filled with compressed gas, including oxygen, helium and one of the hottest burning gases of all, acetylene. >> acetylene burns at about 3,400 degrees. it's used as far as what the common purpose knows mostly in welding and cutting. >> local tv news cameras record the blaze as it burns out of control. >> we didn't, of course, realize the scope of what the fire was going to be. >> the fire begins during a delivery of tanks to the refilling station. >> the delivery driver comes running in and says h

i'm contessa brewer. welcome to "caught on camera." it can happen in a flash and with devastating impact. electrical shock. when we control it, electricity powers our lives, but when it's unleashed, high voltage can be terrifying. february 3, 1996, a desperate man attempts a perilous high-wire act, straight into 16,000 volts of electricity. >> i thought he blew up in a million pieces because there was such a shock and a sound, it was boom! i was, whoa. east los angeles, a vibrant hub of the city. for l.a. county firefighter eric huck, one call from dispatch would be unlike any other. >> everybody was shocked. myself and many guys who had many years on the job, this was something you'd never seen before. >> eric and his team arrive on the scene to find a suicidal young man perched atop a power pole, 30 feet up. the rescuers immediately recognize the danger. >> we are dealing with high tension wires. we are talking about, death. within seconds. >> it's not just the suicidal young man whose life is at risk. a crowd has begun to form benea

i'm contessa brewer. welcome to "caught on camera." we all had bad days at work, stressful deadlines, demanding bosses, boring paperwork. but for the people we meet in this hour the daily grind becomes a once in a lifetime nightmare, earthquakes, runaway cars and armed robbers turn nine to five into run for your life! and while you might think your co-workers are grumpy, it could be worse. at least you don't work with an angry elephant. i hope. >> a zoo keeper crosses paths with a 10,000-pound rampaging elephant. and finds himself fighting for his life. it's january 31st, 1989, at san diego wild animal park. and young keeper david salmarcus is preparing to clean up the elephant enclosure. for david, then 20 years old, working with elephants is a dream job. >> it was a really good feeling when you would come in to the barn in the morning to greet the elephants, and they greeted you back. it made you feel great. you can call them by name and they would walk over to you and rub against you. and they were so

i'm contessa brewer.here's an old adage that if you want something done, you've got to take the bull by the horns. but as you'll see in our next videos, when a real bull is involved, you'd better run for cover. screams of ole turn into screams of terror as a raging bull jumps into the stands. august 18th, 2010. spain, 20 miles south of pamplona, the famed site of the running with the bulls. at the plaza de toros, a bull tries to make a daring escape. he jumps the stadium wall, hops a wire fence and charges into the stands. horrified fans scramble to get away. a man pulls a child out of the bull's path in the nick of time. the half ton bull gores another man in the back and tramples a woman standing next to him. then someone in the crowd grabs the bull by the tail to stop him, but when another person throws a cape to distract him, the bull charges and crushes several more people. frantic spectators leap from the stands into the bull ring for safety. after 15 terrifying minutes, stadium workers finally rest

i'm contessa brewer.ce use their video cameras out in plain sight, looking for that big "gotcha" moment. but the savvy woman you're about to meet never wanted to catch anything like that. and hers is a very personal story. jackie taylor installed a security system, so-called granny cams, in her house, when her elderly father became bedridden. the cameras were meant to give her peace of mind. but what they recorded did anything but that. 90-year-old john taylor, a stroke victim, lies defenseless, as his nurse repeatedly beats him over and over again. >> she just was angry right from the beginning, shaking her finger at him, pounding him in the chest and his stomach. >> john's daughter, jackie, catches it all on a security camera, she installed on her home to be her eyes and her ears while she's away. this was a woman she trusted. a woman she considered a friend. >> she would say, jackie, you're like a daughter to me. you know, mother's day, i bought her flowers, things of that nature because even in the sh