Air Disasters

A landing goes wrong when Delta Airlines Flight 191 is hit by an invisible force.

A pilot heads for a decommissioned air force base when the 767 he is flying runs out of fuel.

A flaw on the infamous DC-10 airline causing two midair crashes in the early 70's.

Chalk's Ocean Airways flight 101 crashes just after take-off from Watson Island in Miami.

Korean Airlines Flight 007 is shot down by a fighter jet when it enters Soviet airspace.

The importance of weather forecasting to the aviation industry.

In 1978, passengers and seven people on the ground die when a PSA flight crashed into a Cessna.

Manchester United football team's plane crashes while returning from Yugoslavia, killing 23 aboard.

Moments before a Pacific Southwest flight crashes in California, gunshots are heard in the cabin.

The emergency landing of a Reeve Aleutian Airlines plane over the Pacific Ocean.

A plane crash into the alligator-infested Florida Everglades.

As a typhoon bears down on Taiwan, Singapore Airlines Flight 006 hurtles down the runway through high winds and rain. But before it even leaves the ground, the 747 erupts in a fireball, fed by thousands of gallons of fuel, killing almost half of the passengers. Buckle up as we piece together the details of this air disaster. The shocking investigation may make you rethink where you sit the next time you board a plane.

Can a generation gap actually cause a catastrophic air disaster? Witness the story of BEA Flight 548, a scheduled passenger flight from London Heathrow to Brussels, which crashed in June of 1972 shortly after take-off near the town of Staines, England. All 118 people on board were killed. The accident became known as the Staines air disaster and, as of 2018, remains the deadliest air accident to take place in the United Kingdom and also marks the highest death toll involving a Hawker Siddeley Trident.

On June 6, 1971, Hughes Airwest Flight 706, a Douglas DC-9-31, enroute from Los Angeles, California, to Salt Lake City, Utah, collided in mid-air with a McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, of the U.S. Marine Corps, over the San Gabriel Mountains, near Duarte, California. The F-4 pilot and all 49 passengers and crew on board the civilian airliner died; the Radar Intercept Officer of the F-4 survived. Join the NTSB and military experts as they work together to uncover how a fighter jet could collide with a civilian airliner.

In January 2000, Crossair Flight 498, a Saab 340 commuter flight from Zurich, Switzerland, to Dresden, Germany, crashed two minutes after takeoff in the Swiss municipality of Niederhasli. The seven passengers and three crew members aboard the aircraft all died on impact. It was the first fatal crash for the Swiss regional airline Crossair in its 25-year history.

The 1988 flight of Aloha Airlines Flight 243, which saw the top of its fuselage torn off due to an explosive decompression, is recalled.

A surface-to-air missile cripples a cargo plane just after it leaves Baghdad International Airport.

Japan Airlines Flight 123, the worst single-plane crash in history and the simple error made years earlier that caused it.

An August 2005 incident in which an Airbus A340 skidded off a runway, endangering the lives of more than 300 people on board, is investigated.

A passenger jet tries to make it to land when it runs into trouble over the Indian Ocean.

A smoke-filled DC-10 makes an emergency landing in Cincinnati and, 90 seconds later, bursts into flames.

One of the worst crashes in British history has a stunning cause that changed aviation safety forever.

What caused a 767 to break apart in mid-air? A world-famous race car driver discovers a surprising answer.

After a terrifying crash, survivors face a new challenge: surviving the remote Brazilian jungle.

In 1996, at Quincy Regional Airport in Illinois, United Express Flight 5925, a Beechcraft 1900 twin turboprop, collided on landing with another Beechcraft, a private King Air, that was taking off from an intersecting runway. Why did the fiery collision turn to tragedy, causing all twelve on board the 1900 and two on board the King Air, to perish when they were unable to escape the burning aircraft?

On July 6, 2013, when Asiana Flight 214 crashed after striking the seawall short of the runway on final approach into San Francisco, it shook the world and the investigation proved to be just as dramatic. It was the first crash of a Boeing 777 that resulted in fatalities since that aircraft model entered into service in 1995.

In October 1992, El Al Flight 1862, a cargo jet heading from Amsterdam to Tel Aviv suddenly begins rolling violently just seven minutes after takeoff. The pilots struggle to turn the crippled plane back towards the airport, but minutes before landing, another sudden roll sends the aircraft plummeting to Earth and straight into a high-rise apartment complex. 43 die in the crash and a nation demands answers. Investigators search for a cause of the Netherlands' worst ever airline disaster. What they find is a potentially lethal problem threatening every 747 in the sky.

A private Learjet carrying golf legend and reigning U.S. Open champion Payne Stewart takes off from Orlando heading for Dallas in 1999. But within minutes, air traffic control loses contact with the aircraft. The situation grows more urgent when the plane begins an unplanned trajectory across the Midwest. Air Force F-16 fighter planes scramble to intercept the Learjet, only to discover that the pilots and passengers are dead. The only question is why it happened.

A Boeing 757 takes off from Washington Dulles International Airport en route to Los Angeles. In minutes, hijackers storm the cockpit and turn the plane back toward the nation's capital and straight into the Pentagon. A total of 189 people are dead, the fuselage has been vaporized, and investigators are under tremendous pressure to determine how this could have happened. Witness the crash of American Airlines Flight 77 and the ways in which the 9/11 attacks brought immediate and profound changes to commercial aviation throughout the world.

Nearly half a century later, it remains history's deadliest air crash. The 1977 collision of two jumbo jets at a tiny airport in the Canary Islands horrified the world and sent investigators scrambling to understand what happened. Witness the runway disaster that claimed the lives of 583 passengers and crew. Then watch as examiners from Spain, the Netherlands, and the U.S. sift through the wreckage, the tower transcripts, and one pilot's flight log to untangle the chain of events that led to this catastrophic accident.

After a long delay on a hot July evening in 1996, TWA Flight 800 leaves John F. Kennedy Airport carrying 230 passengers and crew en route to Paris. Minutes after takeoff, the Boeing 747 jumbo jet suddenly explodes without warning, killing everyone aboard. Was it a bomb? A missile? A design flaw? To find the answer, the NTSB must attempt the unthinkable: rebuild the entire plane, piece by shattered piece.

On a commuter flight from Minneapolis to Hibbing in 1993, Northwest Airlink Flight 5719 descends into the clouds on a cold Minnesota night. Suddenly, the pilots of the twin-engine turboprop find themselves ricocheting off the treetops, crashing violently into a hillside. Investigators face intense pressure to find the cause of the crash that killed all 18 people on board. Initial concerns center around the inexperienced first officer, but further digging reveals a darker issue, one that surfaced months before the plane ever left the ground.

A blackened scar on a frozen field near Detroit marks the fatal impact zone of Flight 3272. The sudden loss of 29 lives leaves families in anguish and investigators perplexed. In search of answers, the NTSB turns to the FAA only to discover that federal regulators themselves may be part of the problem. Witness the stunning 1997 crash of this small commuter aircraft and discover how outdated ideas put pilots and passengers at risk.

Emery Worldwide Flight 17 leaves Sacramento Mather Airport in February 2000 while carrying a load of freight containers. Upon takeoff, the aircraft dives repeatedly and banks to the left. The pilots attempt to regain control of the crippled plane and return to the airport, but the DC-8 crashes a mile from the runway, killing all three crewmembers. Investigators suspect the cargo was loaded improperly, until a much more troubling cause is discovered upon closer examination.

The landing of a TransAsia commuter flight in bad weather goes horribly wrong in July 2014. The plane crashes less than a mile from Magong Airport in the Penghu archipelago, a popular Taiwanese vacation spot. The media quickly claims the storm caused the disaster, but investigators aren't so certain. When another TransAsia crash occurs just seven months later, their suspicions are confirmed: there is a systemic problem with the airline, and if it isn't corrected soon, the lives of more passengers and crew members will be at risk.

A Boeing 727 leaving Dallas for Salt Lake City on August 31, 1988 crashes just moments after takeoff, killing 14 of the 108 passengers and crew on board. The NTSB is fast to arrive on the scene, but finding the answers to what went wrong won't come nearly as quickly. Revisit the disaster of Delta Airlines Flight 1141, recounted by one of its fortunate survivors, and follow the inquiry, which uncovers a fatal error made during takeoff.

See what happens when an airbus A330 loses power to both its engines over the South China Sea.

When a modified WWII fighter plane crashes into the crowd at a Nevada air show, investigators struggle to find the cause.

A false warning in the cockpit triggers a series of pilot errors, sending a commuter plane crashing by the runway of an Amsterdam airport.

Some of the deadliest air disasters in history have been caused by simple miscommunications. A tiny error in the cockpit brings tragedy to Quincy Airport in Illinois. A moment of confusion turns a routine flight in Sumatra into chaos. And a runway mix-up on the island of Tenerife sends two jumbo jets on a collision course. Watch these disasters unfold and see how safety investigators responded to prevent human misunderstandings from triggering future catastrophes.

Passengers place their lives in the hands of pilots on every flight. While pilots are highly trained to handle a wide variety of emergencies, it is often personal problems like impatience, arrogance, and incompetence that can lead to tragedy. Witness three air disasters caused by human flaws and tension in the cockpit, including the 1972 crash of a British Trident, a Minnesota commuter plane that slammed into a hillside, and a Colorado flight doomed by a hungover captain.

An airliner leaving LaGuardia Airport in New York is crippled after flying through a flock of birds. A Canadian flight crew faces disaster when their Boeing 767 loses power and becomes a very large and heavy glider. A violent thunderstorm wreaks havoc on a Boeing 737 flying over the Gulf of Mexico. These three crises would have led to fatal accidents if it weren't for the heroic efforts of the pilots in the cockpit. Witness some of the most remarkable landings in the history of commercial aviation and meet the pilots who pulled them off.

Witness the final minutes of PIA Flight 268 and discover why it crashed into a mountain just minutes from landing.

Witness the doomed flight of a West Air Sweden jet and see how the failure of a single instrument led to catastrophe.

Most passengers relax after their plane touches down, but when Uni Air Flight 873 landed, that's when the terror began.

Enter the cockpit of a high-tech turboprop as its pilots battle to keep their plane from slamming into the North Sea.

Witness the final moments of ExecuFlight Flight 1526 and discover why it crashed into a residential neighborhood.

Discover how out-of-date taxi charts and a casual conversation conspired to doom the takeoff of Comair Flight 5191.

Discover the surprising reason why a Boeing 737 took a deadly nosedive after circling the runway for two hours.

All signs point to bad weather causing the crash of Martinair Flight 495... until investigators make an intriguing discovery.

Discover the cause of history's most expensive aviation accident: the 2008 crash of the B-2 bomber Spirit of Kansas.

The pilots of Crossair Flight 3597 struggle on their approach to Zurich Airport, hampered by bad weather, an understaffed control tower, and a runway using antiquated equipment. By the time they decide to abort the landing, it's too late. The plane plunges into a hillside, killing 24 of the 33 on board. It's Switzerland's worst air disaster in over a decade and investigators are pressured to find answers fast. What they discover is a series of errors that will lead to sweeping changes to the airport and to the airline.

January 2008. British Airways Flight 38 is about to land at Heathrow Airport when calamity strikes. The Boeing 777, one of the safest planes in the airline industry, suffers double engine failure, and with only seconds until the aircraft hits the ground, Captain Peter Burkill must attempt a highly risky move to save the lives of the 152 people on board. Witness the remarkable emergency landing the follow investigators as they solve the mystery behind the crash, using unrelenting diligence and a little inspiration from Sherlock Holmes.

A Scandinavian Airlines flight plummets from the winter sky moments after takeoff, and a seasoned pilot's career comes to an end after the culprits of the disaster are identified.

A twin-engine turboprop carrying 15 people on a flight from St. Louis is on final approach to Kirksville, Missouri. Visibility is poor, but the pilots appear to have the runway lights in sight. When the plane crashes into a wooded area just 1.2 miles from the airport, it's up to the NTSB to find out what happened in the final seconds of Corporate Airlines Flight 5966.

Investigators try to determine why Independent Air Flight 1851 was flying below advised altitude when it struck a mountain on the Portuguese island of Santa Maria, killing everyone on board.

Minutes after takeoff, Japan Airlines Flight 123 experiences a sudden loss of pressurization and crashes into a mountain northwest of Tokyo, prompting investigators to look for answers.

American Airlines Flight 77 slams into the Pentagon on America's darkest day of the 21st century. TWA Flight 800 explodes over Long Island minutes after leaving JFK. The supersonic superstar Concorde crashes into an airport hotel after a failed takeoff from Paris. All three air disasters made headline news around the globe, creating media frenzies, igniting conspiracy theories, and putting immense pressure on investigators. In this episode, we revisit these three accidents and follow examiners as they uncover the truth behind the tragedies.

While commercial pilots undergo hundreds of hours of training and testing, even experienced pilots can make deadly rookie errors.

Authorities scramble for answers when a passenger plane collides with a military fighter jet in California, and two commercial planes meet a similar fate decades later in India. Investigators comb through the wreckage of three separate midair collisions in a race to prevent another fatal impact.