Air Disasters Episode Rating Graph

When basketball legend Kobe Bryant is killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, investigators examine the data, the wreckage, and the pilot's actions for clues.

When a turboprop stalls and crashes into a North Carolina forest, investigators resort to a risky test flight-and uncover an industry-wide safety problem.

Investigators are stumped when a turboprop crashes into an Indonesian mountaintop.

When an Illinois turboprop crashes after losing battery power, investigators uncover a series of errors made by the pilots.

When a tree-strike takes out both engines of an MD-83, the crew must find a way to land a 60-ton plane with no power.

A commuter flight in New Zealand turns horrific for plane crash survivors, who may freeze to death before help arrives.

Follow investigators as they race to find out why a best-selling, new plane crashed into the sea shortly after takeoff.

LaMia Flight 2933, carrying Brazil's Chapecoense soccer team, is approaching Medellin, Colombia to play for the prestigious Copa Sudamericana championship when its crew suddenly declares a fuel emergency. Before air traffic control can clear a path, the plane loses power and crashes to the ground, killing all but seven passengers. Investigators discover no leaks and are mystified over how the experienced pilots could fly a plane with an insufficient amount of fuel. As they pore over the evidence, they ultimately uncover a deadly gamble.

Two Russian pilots with limited experience flying Boeing 737s attempt to land one in the middle of the night with both of the aircraft's engines operating at different power levels. The pairing of a new captain with an unproven first officer was enough to put passengers at risk, but there was one more factor at play that sealed the fate of Aeroflot Nord Flight 821. Witness the fatal crash that occurred minutes before landing, and follow the investigation that led to a call to completely overhaul Russia's aviation system.

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.

As Denver air traffic controllers struggle to keep departures on schedule amid heavy snow in 1987, a DC-9 is delayed on the tarmac. When the crew is finally cleared for takeoff, the plane gets only 20 feet off the ground before banking sharply and slamming back down, killing 28 of the 82 people on board. Follow investigators as they uncover why Continental Airlines Flight 1713 crashed in bad weather while others safely took off. The discovery will change commercial flight, and the teams flying these aircraft, forever.

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

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

When an African airliner mysteriously crashes, Namibian investigators rule out a host of possible causes before reaching a chilling conclusion.

Investigators are stumped when a turboprop slams into an Argentine desert, and it's a microscopic filament that provides the first tangible clue.

Landing on a Caribbean island in a severe tropical storm, a Colombian airliner crashes short of the runway. Investigators need to find out why.

Follow the investigation to see how a DC-9 ended up on the wrong runway and in the path of an oncoming 727.

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

When a DC-8 cargo jet crashes on approach to a U.S. naval base in Guantanamo, investigators wonder if Cuba played a role.

An emergency landing during a violent storm kills the engines of a 737.

Just after take-off, Air Midwest Flight 5481 plummets to the ground, killing all on board.

An air traffic controller's mistake causes two planes to collide on the runway.

United Airlines Flight 232 crashes into Sioux City's runway in 1989.

An Air Inter flight crashes into the Vosges Mountains while attempting to land.

Just minutes before touching down in Portland International Airport, all four engines of a DC-8 mysteriously flame out. With the aircraft dropping 3,000 feet per minute, the pilots realize they have no option but to crash land in the middle of a major American city. Witness the harrowing emergency landing of United Airlines Flight 173 in Portland, Oregon, and uncover the shocking reasons for its massive engine failure.

Investigators must pull off a risky test flight to see if the pilots of a heroic emergency landing are hiding a secret.

Heroic flying isn't enough to overcome neglectful maintenance in the tragic accident of Alaska Airlines Flight 261.

An emergency over the French Alps leads to a miraculous landing, followed by the discovery of a small but deadly flaw.

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

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

A last-minute repair may have played a key role in the crash of a plane leaving Madrid International Airport.

Relive the 2018 disaster of Southwest Airlines 1380, in which a passenger was nearly sucked from the plane mid-flight.

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

A brand-new 737 falls from the sky over West Africa during a major storm, but investigators eventually discover weather had nothing to do with it.

A helicopter carrying offshore oil workers crashes into the ocean off the coast of Newfoundland and a far-reaching investigation reveals a fatal flaw.

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

Some of aviation's worst disasters involved the world's most advanced passenger planes. Often, the calamities are caused by a breakdown in trust between the pilots and their highly automated aircraft, turning the cockpit into a struggle of pilot versus machine. Investigate three crashes where experienced pilots lost control of their high-tech planes, including a commercial jet crash that went down at an air show, an Airbus A320 flight test gone wrong, and a modern airliner that dropped from the sky and slammed into the Atlantic.

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.

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.

At the end of a quick trip from Washington, D.C. to Columbus, Ohio, the captain of United Express Flight 6291 grows concerned over reports of icy rain ahead. He opts for a risky "slam dunk" landing, a maneuver where a plane descends rapidly to the runway to avoid bad weather, but something goes wrong. The plane crashes into a warehouse just a mile from the airport. The badly burned wreckage leaves little for investigators to work with, but when they examine the cockpit recording they make a stunning discovery.

A Boeing 737, seconds before liftoff from Denver to Houston, races off the runway, hits a steep ridge, and briefly goes airborne before slamming to Earth and bursting into flames. Revisit the 2008 crash of Continental Airlines Flight 1404 and follow investigators as they look into a mechanical problem previously found on other Boeing 737s, only to find the true culprit in the Rocky Mountains.

The case of Helios Airways 737, in which a passenger flight circling Athens fails to respond to air-traffic controllers.

FedEx employees fend off an attack by a coworker.

On November 12, 2001, American Airlines Flight 587, enroute from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport to the Dominican Republic, crashed shortly after takeoff into the Belle Harbor neighborhood of Queens. All 260 people aboard the plane (251 passengers and 9 crew members), as well as 5 bystanders on the ground, were killed. It's the second-deadliest aviation accident involving an Airbus A300 (after Iran Air Flight 655), and the second-deadliest aviation accident to occur on U.S. soil (after American Airlines Flight 191).

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

A Legacy business jet collides with a Boeing 737 in mid-air over the Amazon Rain Forest.

Pilots try to determine why both landing-gear lights do not function on an L-1011.

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.

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

Not far from Congonhas Airport, a Sao Paulo neighborhood is in flames. It's a scene of devastation caused by TAM Airlines Flight 3054, a plane that crashed just seconds after takeoff in July 2007. With a shocked nation watching, investigators from the Brazilian Air Force join forces with the National Transportation Safety Board to learn what happened. After combing through more than a hundred parameters in search of a lead, they determine a series of malfunctions caused the accident, coupled with a mechanical failure so rare that pilots had received no training for it.

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

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.

The 1995 crash of a Super Puma helicopter in the North Sea while ferrying workers to an oil platform is recounted.

A 737 leaving Buenos Aires fails to lift off in August 1999, hurtling past the airport and crashing into a nearby industrial gas plant. Investigators from Argentina collaborate with the NTSB to determine what kept the plane from taking flight. What they discover points to a stunning conclusion that impacts the Argentinean airline industry. Revisit the tragedy of LAPA Flight 3142 and discover why an experienced crew failed to execute a basic takeoff procedure.

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.

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

It was supposed to be a routine 50-minute hop from Columbia, SC to Charlotte, NC for USAir Flight 1016. But in an instant, a beautiful summer day gave way to one of the most powerful microbursts on record, sending the DC-9 crashing to Earth and killing 37 of the 52 passengers on board. While the storm was intense, investigators are not convinced weather alone caused the disaster. Revisit the harrowing crash and discover how the plane's extreme changes in speed, direction, and altitude created fatal confusion in the cockpit.

A routine flight from Jakarta to Medan, Indonesia encounters a very non-routine obstacle: forest fires that are sending a thick blanket of smoke across all of Southeast Asia. But it was a series of avoidable human errors, not a natural disaster, that doomed Garuda Indonesia Flight 152 on September 26, 1997. Discover how an air traffic controller's number mix-up, an incorrect altitude setting, and a wrong turn claimed 234 lives, resulting in the deadliest plane crash in Indonesian history.

In August, 1985, an airplane's engine catches fire as it accelerates.

A DC-9 lines up for a nighttime landing at Zurich's Kloten Airport. Although the pilots can't see the runway, their navigation instruments indicate the plane is locked onto the proper signal from the airport. But the equipment is wrong. The plane is actually flying more than a thousand feet lower than it should. Discover the series of errors that caused Alitalia Flight 404 to plow into the ground six miles short of its destination.

It was an air disaster that crippled a country, heightened tensions between two nations, and ignited conspiracy theories worldwide. On April 10, 2010, Polish Air Force Tupolev Tu-154M, carrying Poland's president, Lech Kaczynski, crashed on Russian soil, killing everyone aboard. Russian experts pinned the blame on the pilots, but Poland's Interior Minister examined the evidence and reached a far different conclusion. Experience the tragedy that shocked the world and follow the investigation that remains steeped in controversy.

The importance of weather forecasting to the aviation industry.

Arrow Air Flight 1285 with 248 American soldiers on board crashes after refueling in Newfoundland.

In September of 1989, NOAA 42 “Kermit” flew a research mission into Hurricane Hugo, east of Barbados. On approach, there was a temporary outage of the lower fuselage radar, blinding the crew as to the structure and strength of the storm. Follow the crew through it's hair-raising ordeal as they monitor the landmark hurricane, while flying a plane in turbulence so severe, it puts the mission in jeopardy.

In August 2007, what should have been a seven-minute island-hop from Moorea to Tahiti, in French Polynesia, ended in disaster. According to eyewitnesses, Air Moorea Flight 1121, a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter, was climbing through 400 feet when it suddenly nosed down and dove into the ocean killing all 20 on board.

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.

The 1997 crash of Korean Air Flight 801, which occurred when the crew attempted an instrument landing during a heavy rain storm, is recalled.

Relive one of the most shocking air disasters in American history as we revisit the 1999 crash that killed JFK Jr.

An investigation of a charter plane that moves off course and goes down in Canada's far north.

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.

An Airbus A321 carrying Russian tourists back from Egypt in 2015 suddenly disappears from radar minutes after takeoff. Air Force jets locate the charred wreckage in the Sinai Desert. There are no survivors. How did this modern airplane just fall from the sky? Follow Egyptian investigators and their Russian counterparts as they work through political tensions and wild rumors to discover the truth behind the crash of Metrojet Flight 9268.

When planes crash, the pressure is on investigators to uncover what happened. That pressure increases dramatically when the case involves high-profile victims or when examiners disagree about the cause of the accident. Witness three controversial air disasters: a 1958 failed takeoff that wiped out the Manchester United soccer team; the 1985 tragedy of Arrow Air Flight 1285, which killed 248 U.S. soldiers heading home for the holidays; and the 2010 crash that claimed the life of Lech Kaczynski, the president of Poland.

Witness the Kathmandu crash of US-Bangla 211 and follow detectives as they investigate both the plane and the pilots.

A plane loses control during a Gulf War refueling mission and investigators must determine if enemy fire was the cause.

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

Air China Flight 129 prepares to land at Gimhae International Airport in Busan, South Korea when a direction from air traffic control to change its approach sets off a series of tragic events that claim the lives of 129 people on board. What happened in those final moments between the captain and his crew? And could a few critical seconds have made the difference between life and death? Discover what caused the worst air disaster in South Korean history and find out the key recommendations made to prevent a similar tragedy from happening again.

What caused Garuda Flight 200 to slam to the ground and careen off the runway in Yogyakarta, Indonesia? Was it a powerful downdraft? Was there something wrong with the wing flaps? Or did a baffling decision by the pilot lead to the death of 21 people? Join us as we investigate the crash of March 7, 2007, through actual video captured at the scene and testimony from a heroic passenger who survived the disaster. Then see how the investigation led the troubled airline to overhaul its training and safety protocols.

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.

An Airbus A310 is minutes from reaching Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport when it disappears in the Himalayas. Two days later, the wreckage is found. None of the 113 people onboard have survived. Witness the flight's final moments, investigate the cause of the crash, and discover how the disaster underscored the need for more advanced air traffic control technology at the mountainous Nepali airport and the critical importance of teamwork among pilots.

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.

AM Airlines Flight 3054 slides off a runway and crashes into a warehouse next to a petrol station.

The story of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961, which was hijacked while on a routine trip to the Ivory Coast. The hijackers demanded to be taken to Australia, but there was one problem: the plane didn't have enough fuel to make the trip.

The story of China Airlines Flight 006, which almost crashed into the Pacific Ocean after experiencing engine trouble. The investigation of the incident detailed how jet lag and lack of sleep can impact pilots.

The 1991 crash of Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 2311 to Brunswick, Georgia claims the lives of a NASA astronaut and a former U.S. senator and becomes an international media sensation. Commuter planes like this twin-turboprop aircraft aren't required to carry flight recorders, so investigators must rely on physical evidence to find the cause of the disaster. The strange angle of one of the propeller blades seems to offer an explanation, but in order to prove the detectives' theory, they'll need to take a huge and potentially lethal gamble.

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

Five aviation disasters and the changes they have forced air-traffic controllers to make.

An examination of the crash over the Red Sea in January 2004.

A commercial airliner whisks 283 passengers from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on a flight path that will take them over a conflict zone in eastern Ukraine. Mid-flight, the aircraft suddenly breaks up and crashes to Earth, killing all aboard. Signs point to a surface-to-air missile strike, but with the wreckage resting in the heart of a war zone, finding evidence proves challenging. See how investigators, against all odds, were able to literally piece together the story of what caused the 2014 crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17.

The West Caribbean Airways Flight 708 crash ultimately leads to bankruptcy of the troubled airline.

In the skies above the Mojave Desert, Virgin Galactic's commercial spacecraft, SpaceShipTwo, accelerates toward the outer reaches of Earth's atmosphere, guided by test pilots. Suddenly, the aircraft breaks apart and falls from the sky, killing the flight's co-pilot. With the future of space tourism in jeopardy, NTSB investigators must determine exactly what caused the test flight to go so horribly wrong.

A pilot allows his teen son to fly the plane; tragedy results.

It's a clear and calm December day in 1997 when a Boeing 737 suddenly plummets from the sky into an Indonesian jungle at supersonic speed. All 104 aboard are killed on impact, their bodies lost in the muddy Musi River. Evidence points to a serious mechanical failure, but when the full story of SilkAir Flight 185 is finally revealed, the cause is far more troubling than anyone could have imagined.

Qantas Airways Flight 72 cruises at 37,000 feet to Perth, Australia from Singapore. Suddenly, the highly automated A-330 fires off a series of contradictory warnings and repeatedly nosedives toward the Indian Ocean. Thanks to the heroic flying of a former fighter pilot, the accident does not end in all-out disaster, but the danger is far from over. With almost 600 A-330s in service around the globe, investigators must find out what went wrong before calamity strikes again.

A design flaw on the Fokker F28 causes two similar plane crashes in Ontario and New York.

A Korean Air Cargo flight crashes in a field moments after takeoff from England's Stansted Airport.

The worst plane crash in Egypt's history becomes one the most controversial when the investigation focuses on one pilot's intentions.

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 state-of-the-art Russian aircraft Sukhoi Superjet 100 takes flight on what's meant to be a tight, 30-minute loop over Indonesia to impress potential buyers and journalists. But the trip turns catastrophic after pilots lose their way in the clouds and veer straight into a mountain at 240 mph. Just reaching the wreckage will be one of the most challenging salvage operations Indonesian investigators have ever faced. Finding an explanation for the crash will prove just as troubling.

It was the deadliest aviation disaster in U.S. history of its time. The 1979 crash of American Airlines Flight 191 terrified a nation and nearly put the DC-10 out of commission forever. Relive the horrific crash at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport that claimed 273 lives, and see how investigators, under intense pressure from the FAA, the media, and airline companies across the globe, finally identified the cause.

The chances of a catastrophic event happening after a plane parks are nearly nonexistent, which is why the incident aboard China Airlines Flight 120 in August 2007 was so baffling to investigators. The plane's engines were switched off. The passengers were lining up to debark. Then within seconds, the aircraft was engulfed in flames. What caused the sudden inferno that sent panicked passengers scrambling for their lives? Discover the tiny failure that endangered not only this flight and its passengers, but air travelers around the world.

A recovery operation is launched to find out if a 747 was carrying illegal weapons.

Continental Express Flight 2574 suffers wing damage and goes into a dive falling out of the sky.

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.

Five minutes into Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409, something goes wrong. The pilots lose control of their aircraft, and before they can regain command, they begin an unstoppable descent into the Mediterranean Sea. All 90 aboard are dead and experts are scrambling for answers. There was a storm, but was it big enough to take down a 737? Or was there a more ominous explanation? Experience the terrifying disaster of January 25, 2010, and follow the investigation that led to a finding so controversial, some still refuse to believe it.