How long did the 6 May 2010 Flash Crash last before major US indexes rapidly recovered?

The 6 May 2010 Flash Crash lasted about 36 minutes before major US indexes rapidly recovered.

During the afternoon of 6 May, US equity markets experienced an exceptionally fast plunge. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell nearly 1,000 points, approximately 9%, within minutes, before recovering much of the loss. Some individual securities briefly traded at extraordinarily low prices.

Investigations linked the event to a combination of high-frequency trading, fragile market liquidity, and a large automated sell order. The US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission later concluded that a trader’s algorithmic order contributed to the episode, although the wider market structure helped amplify it.

The crash led to reforms including single-stock circuit breakers and market-wide safeguards. It is distinct from a conventional bear market: the defining feature was the extraordinary speed of the decline and rebound rather than a prolonged fall in corporate values.