Air Crash Investigation: Special Report Episode Rating Graph

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.

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.

Three flights are hijacked by acts of sabotage. When the cockpit of an Ethiopian airliner is stormed by hijackers, the captain manages an heroic yet deadly ocean landing. Investigators are torn between competing theories after an Italian passenger plane is blown out of the sky. And, Namibian investigators reach a chilling conclusion after piecing through the wreckage of LAM Mozambique Flight 470.

Critical errors in the cockpit cause three planes to fall out of the sky. It’s the computer versus the pilots on board China Airlines Flight 140. Foul weather and a deadly chain of mistakes, causes a turboprop to flip over and crash while landing in Ireland. And on a doomed flight over Siberia, a terrifying lapse in judgment puts a child in the pilot’s seat.

With hidden flaws buried in their navigation systems, three planes suffer catastrophic computer errors that force investigators to dig deep for clues

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

Radio silence between pilots and air traffic controllers can mean many different things, but only the physical evidence can reveal the true story. Three shocking cases send investigators hunting for answers. A Greek airliner goes rogue and crashes outside Athens. A China Airlines 747 disappears from radar and the culprit is discovered on the ocean floor. And, when controllers lose contact with a private jet, fighter planes scramble to intervene.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

A DC-10 loses all hydraulics when an engine explodes over Iowa. The crew of Qantas Flight 32 is overwhelmed by alarms after an explosion rocks their massive A-380. And, a Northwest Airlines 747 is cruising 35,000 feet above the Bering Sea when the unthinkable happens. Devastating systems failures in the air put pilots to the test, and shine a light on three astonishing feats of flying.

A trio of crashes reveal that when the nuts and bolts of maintenance go unchecked, it can spell catastrophe. A mechanic's error in judgement leads to a terrifying mid-flight disaster in Texas. Botched maintenance and a missing cotter pin leads to a life-and-death struggle for three cargo pilots. And, after a twin turboprop goes missing in the North Sea, investigators uncover a criminal empire half a world away. Take Off Tragedies