Air Crash Investigation: Special Report

Pilots are prepared to cope with a range of emergency scenarios, but failures in training can lead to catastrophe in the cockpit.

With zero margin for error, three catastrophes are narrowly averted by pilots who somehow manage to land their damaged planes. Southwest Airlines Flight 1380, Aloha Airlines Flight 243 and Air Canada Flight 797.

Although rare, mid air collisions do occur, and are usually preceded by inattention, poor judgment and circumstance. United Flight 718 + TWA Flight 2, Proteus Airlines Flight 706 and Embraer Legacy Jet + Gol Flight 1907.

From metal fatigue to faulty repairs, three doomed airlines are eventually brought down by gradually deteriorating parts. Air Moorea Flight 1121, Japan Airlines Flight 123 and Chalk's Flight 101.

Haste in the Airline Industry is never good, and three flights are examined where crews skipped procedures, missed warnings, and made incorrect decisions. Turkish Flight 1951, Continental Flight 1713 and Ansett Flight 703.

Mistaken identity and hostile fire over enemy territory are among the many risks that pilots face in war zones around the world. Operation Baby Lift, Iran Air 655, and DHL Flight OO-DLL are examined in detail.

Three planes are brought down by ice, and it's up to investigators to determine how modern aircraft could possibly end up with frozen wings.

Relying on instinct rather than the rule book, three flights end in tragedy when crews improvise on their final approach.

In Sao Paolo, the Himalayas, and on the Norwegian coast, three flight crews are pushed to the limit by the toughest landings on earth.

Faced with a mid-air crisis, pilots must make life-and-death decisions, but the wrong approach can trigger a far more serious problem.

Three crews experience the same devastating event, but with radically different outcomes when an engine falls off their commercial airplane.

Confused, flying blind and lost in the dark, three crews lose site of the horizon and fall into the same deadly trap.

From the wreckage of three airplane crashes, survivors emerge to tell harrowing tales and provide critical data about what to do in an emergency. Pummeled by a storm, a DC-9 flames out and crash lands on a Georgia highway. An accelerating plane suddenly careens off the tarmac in Denver. And, a Korean jumbo jet smashes into a hilside on approach to Guam.

Following three horrifying crashes, investigators uncover fatal flaws in the very operations designed to prevent aircraft from plowing into mountains. Somehow flying in the wrong direction, a passenger jet crashes in the Himalayas. A Chinese airliner collides with a hillside just miles from a Korean airport. And, an Airbus crash in France reveals a deadly high-tech blind spot.

Traced to the breakdown of vital safety measures, three horrific air disasters provoke fundamental changes to airport security procedures around the world. A passenger plane is obliterated in the California hills and investigators find a smoking gun in the wreckage. A 747 explodes over the Atlantic. And, after a routine landing, fire engulfs a commuter plane in Taiwan.

Crashes involving high-profile passengers make international headlines and, placing investigators under tremendous pressure to come up with answers as the world looks on. A diplomat's secret mission ends with a mystery that lingers for decades. Tragedy strikes when pilots gamble with the lives of a famous Brazilian football team. And, a US Air Force jet carrying an American VIP crashes in war-torn Croatia.

Aviation relies on precision and accuracy. So when critical instruments in the cockpit can't be trusted, the consequences can be fatal. A Boeing 737 vanishes from radar over one of the most remote areas on earth. A Korean cargo jet slams into the English countryside just moments after takeoff. And, an inexperienced crew faces a horrific pileup of errors on a late-night flight over Russia.

When aviation decisions are made in the heat of the moment, even minor issues can have fatal consequences. A dashcam captures the horrific crash as a Taiwanese airliner nosedives into a river. Warned of a problem that doesn't exist, a KLM crew inadvertently sparks a cascade of deadly errors. And, for a revolutionary new spacecraft, a split-second decision spells a supersonic disaster.

Three planes fatally out of balance force investigators to question every calculation. It's a flight risk that's entirely preventable, and yet repeated disasters reconfirm the need for critical backup systems. With nearly 90,000 pounds of denim on board, a cargo plane in Miami crashes moments after lifting off. A packed commuter flight slams into a North Carolina hangar, revealing a deadly industry oversight. And, the NTSB is called in when a jumbo jet loaded with armored military vehicles pancakes to the ground in Afghanistan.

Three mysterious accidents send investigators hunting for clues. In the end, all three trails lead back to the same source-the fuel tank. Minutes before touching down in Portland, United Airlines 173 loses all four engines over a densely populated suburb. In Japan, a Boeing 737 lands safely, but then catches fire with all 165 passengers and crew still on board. And, nearly 700 miles off course, the crew of Varig Flight 254 are forced to make a crash landing in the Amazon jungle.

When an aircraft loses total engine power, a pilot's training can make all the difference in the world, but it's still up to investigators to determine what went wrong. An Airbus flames out en route to Hong Kong, and the crew is determined to avoid a disastrous ocean ditching. En route to Australia, a mysterious engine failure ultimately leads to a giant leap in aviation safety. And, after a terrifying ten-kilometer freefall, a captain is hailed as a hero by passengers, but the resulting investigation tells a different story.

Facing deadly tragedies that could have been avoided, investigators comb through the wreckage of three separate midair collisions in a race to prevent another fatal impact. In California, a massive passenger plane collides with one of the fastest fighter jets in the sky. Seven years later, another deadly collision leaves investigators puzzled and San Diego in shock. And, in India, two passenger jets collide causing the world's deadliest-ever midair collision.

The simplest mistakes are at the heart of some of the worst airline accidents, and while commercial pilots undergo hundreds of hours of training and testing, even experienced pilots can make deadly rookie errors. A botched takeoff in Buenos Aires kills 60 people and the cause stuns investigators. Just two months after 9/11, American Airlines Flight 587 crashes in Queens, New York, igniting fears that America is once again under attack. And, when Continental Airlines 3407 stalls above Buffalo, the flight crew's baffling reaction proves fatal.

Three devastating crashes make front page news around the globe, and the media frenzy puts intense pressure on investigators to uncover the true cause of these deadly disasters. On September 11th, 2001, American Airlines Flight 77 disappears from radar and slams into Pentagon. When TWA Flight 800 explodes over Long Island, a media reports spark a four year investigation. And, when an Air France Concorde crashes in Paris just seconds after takeoff, it signals the end of the supersonic era.

Compared to the number of suicides in the general population, suicidal pilots are almost statistically non-existent. But when they do emerge from obscurity to unleash their horrific plans on innocent passengers, the destruction they inflict is epic. A 737 cruising above an Indonesian jungle suddenly plummets from the sky. An Airbus A-320 crashes into the French Alps. And, Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 vanishes over the South China Sea, and remains one of the greatest aviation mysteries of all time.

In 1985, an Air India flight vanishes off the coast of Ireland. The rescue mission discovers that the crew had no warning before the jet was ripped apart. Investigators are alerted to a bag checked in without the passenger boarding. Another explosion on the same day at Tokyos Airport is soon linked to this incident. The bomb builder is traced and sent to jail but the person who checked the bag onto the plane has never been caught.

It takes years of training to become an airline captain, but it's when a crisis strikes that a pilot really earns his stripes. An airliner is crippled after takeoff from New York's LaGuardia Airport, and the courageous captain pulls off an amphibious landing in the Hudson River. A catastrophic failure strikes high above the Canadian Prairies turning a Boeing 767 into a very large and very heavy glider. And, when the engines of TACA Flight 110 flame out in a violent storm, its captain pulls off one of the most remarkable landings in the history of commercial aviation.

On every flight, passengers place their lives in the hands of their captain whose human flaws are enough to bring down an aircraft. When BEA Flight 548 crashes just moments after takeoff, investigators unravel a tragic combination of human factors centered around the captain. Meanwhile, a captain's belligerence paralyzes the first officer on Northwest Airlink Flight 5719. And, it's the captain's hidden flaw that proves fatal for everyone on board Trans Colorado Flight 2286.

Some of the deadliest air crashes in history have been caused by simple misunderstandings, and it's a tiny error in the cockpit that brought tragedy to Quincy Airport in Illinois. Meanwhile, a minor mistake, a non-standard approach, and heavy smoke add up to a tragic misunderstanding that cost the lives of everyone on board Garuda Indonesia Flight 152. And, however disastrous, never has a misunderstanding taken as devastating a turn as on the island of Tenerife and the single deadliest aviation accident of all time.