The plane crash (Neighbours)

"The plane crash" also saw the departures of three established characters: David (Kevin Harrington), Liljana (Marcella Russo) and Serena Bishop (Lara Sacher).

The scenes featuring the aftermath of the crash were filmed over two days in a purpose-built swimming pool at the Global Studios in South Melbourne.

Brian Courtis from The Age did not like the crash and asked viewers to "suspend your sense of disbelief", while an Inside Soap columnist thought the storyline was implausible and contrived.

"The plane crash" received a nomination for Best Storyline at the 2006 Inside Soap Awards and has been included in several features about Neighbours' most memorable moments.

Tickets are given out to Harold Bishop (Ian Smith), Lou Carpenter (Tom Oliver), Karl Kennedy (Alan Fletcher) and Toadfish Rebecchi (Ryan Moloney).

Days before the flight, Dylan Timmins (Damien Bodie) takes part in a robbery, while Connor O'Neill (Patrick Harvey) fakes a burglary at the shop that he co-owns with Toadie and Serena Bishop (Lara Sacher).

Serena and Connor become trapped under a piece of wreckage, and are forced to remove their life jackets to reach the surface of the water.

On 16 October, Kris Green from Digital Spy confirmed rumours about an aircraft crash storyline were true.

[1] He also reported that three characters would die during the storyline and confirmed that those on board would be; Paul Robinson (Stefan Dennis), Elle Robinson (Pippa Black), Izzy Hoyland (Natalie Bassingthwaighte), Connor O'Neill (Patrick Harvey), Serena Bishop (Lara Sacher), Sky Mangel (Stephanie McIntosh), Dylan Timmins (Damien Bodie), Susan Kennedy (Jackie Woodburne), Alex Kinski (Andrew Clarke), David Bishop (Kevin Harrington) and Liljana Bishop (Marcella Russo).

[3] Neighbours producer Peter Dodds did not think there would be a backlash against the show and said they would not shy away from telling stories that could upset people who have experienced similar events.

You don't lose any cast member without intense thought and planning and it took us a long time to settle on how we tackled this.

"[3] The show's line producer Linda Walker stated that the episodes would be the catalyst for major changes in future storylines.

[4] Walker explained that they would not be changing the whole show, but as a result of the crash, some characters would not be thinking rationally, and it would set up some major storylines for the following year.

"[5] Shortly after the aeroplane left mainland Australia and was over Bass Strait, the passengers heard a loud noise as the bomb detonated and it began to go down.

[7] An announcement about Lara Sacher, Kevin Harrington and Marcella Russo's departures from the show had been released in May 2005, but it was only confirmed that they would leave as part of a "dramatic" storyline.

[10] The scenes featuring Dylan and Connor washing up on the shore and becoming fugitives were filmed on Phillip Island and in bushland, an hour's drive from the Neighbours studios.

"[13] Both Bodie and Harvey wore the same clothes for around three weeks and the wardrobe department could not wash them, to make the scenes more authentic.

Darren Devlyn from the Herald Sun stated that "The plane crash" was "arguably the most controversial story arc in the soap's history.

"[3] Doug Anderson, writing for The Sydney Morning Herald, enjoyed the storyline branding it "the plane crash we had to have."

He also suggested Network Ten should have had a competition for viewers to select which characters should survive and die in a "Big Brother meets Agatha Christie" style.

"[16] A Daily Record reporter commented that while the Ramsay Street residents were not strangers to disasters, all previous events "pale in comparison" to the "shocking" plane crash.

[19] Writing for The Guardian, Mark Lawson observed the storyline had turned Neighbours into "a Melbourne Medea, driven crazy, like so many modern soap operas, by the war for audiences in a business in which supply far exceeds demand.

"[20] Anna Roberts of the Western Mail branded the storyline "incredible" and noted that it had led to the death of "three of its most disposable characters.

"[21] The Sunday Mirror's Kevin O'Sullivan joked about wanting the characters on the aeroplane to die, stating "Dramatic scenes as a sizeable slice of the Neighbours gang went down in a plane crash on their way to Tasmania.

[24] Ashley Percival from The Huffington Post UK placed the storyline on their list of Top 10 Classic Moments from the show.