Air Disasters

It's January 1989 and British Midland Flight 92 is en route to Belfast Airport from London when suddenly, both plane engines fail. Desperate to save everyone on board, the pilots try to do everything they can to recover the failed engines, but are forced to think fast and make an emergency landing in a steep embankment. How did both engines burn out on this brand new 737-400? Initially, all signs point to mechanical failure, but the investigation reveals more complications than expected.

Before May 1991, no 767 aircraft had ever crashed. That all changed when Lauda Air Flight 004 mysteriously slammed into a jungle in Thailand less than 15 minutes after takeoff, killing all 223 people aboard. Was it mechanical failure, pilot error, or something worse than investigators imagined? See what led to an alarming discovery and how it changed the way 767s are built forever.

On a routine flight in September 1989, the pilots aboard Varig Flight 254 call air traffic controllers when theyre ready to descend into Belém, Brazil, but there is no answer. By the time the pilots realize theyve flown 30 miles past the runway, its too late. Theyre out of fuel and have no choice but to make a quick belly landing into the Brazilian jungle. Follow the intense rescue mission of Flight 254 and the investigation that followed.

It's June 1992 and a Boeing 737 departs Panama City for Cali, Colombia, but just minutes after takeoff, the plane vanishes from radar. Eyewitness reports confirm ATC's worst fears, but the bad news is only beginning. The plane has plunged into one of the most remote jungles on Earth and locating and piecing together the wreckage will push investigators to the limits. The pressure is on to find answers; the crash involved aviation's most popular airliner, and the findings could have staggering implications for every 737 in the sky.

Two nearly identical air disasters, nearly 12 years apart, each involving the MD-11, a popular cargo-carrier. The first accident was blamed on pilot error. Would investigators of the crash of FedEx Flight 80 at Tokyo's Narita Airport reach the same conclusion? Or could a hidden plane design flaw be endangering the lives of passengers and crews around the world? Follow the NTSB as they study wind shear, flight data recordings, and even the pilots' sleep patterns in an investigation that would raise a flag on the dangers of bounced landings.

When John F. Kennedy Jr.'s Piper Saratoga crashed en route to Martha's Vineyard on July 16, 1999, speculation over what happened spread across the globe. It was up to the NTSB to find the true cause, but the answers were buried at the bottom of the Atlantic. Join us as we revisit one of the most shocking crashes in American history and follow the high-pressure investigation that ensued.

The Concorde was a technological marvel, an airliner that could fly more than twice the speed of sound at altitudes that brush the air of space. In its first 31 years of supersonic flight, there was not one single fatal accident, until July 25, 2000. The crash of Air France Flight 4590 erupted in flames as it was lifting off the runway at Charles de Gaulle Airport. Follow investigators as they attempt to complete a puzzle that will explain the crash, using just a handful of pieces remaining from the torched wreckage.

Mexico's war with drug cartels appears to reach a terrifying new level when a special government charter carrying the president's right-hand man plummets to Earth. There's speculation that this plane crash was no accident but an assassination. The investigation takes a startling new turn after the cockpit voice recorder is recovered. Revisit the night when Mexico City's financial district became an inferno and follow examiners from the crash scene investigation to the shocking conclusion that changed everything.

On a foggy morning in Cork, Ireland, pilots of Manx2 Flight 7100 try to land their turboprop commuter plane after two aborted attempts. Without warning, the aircraft goes into a severe roll and crashes into the grass beside the runway, killing six of the twelve people aboard. Ireland's Air Accident Investigation Unit faces immediate pressure to find out why this landing went so horribly wrong. What they discover is a startling gap in aviation safety that is much more dangerous to passengers than the dense fog that morning.

Surviving a plane crash in the Canadian Arctic is no guarantee that you'll make it out alive. The environment is unforgiving, there are no roads, and crash survivors could face hours, even days, battling the elements while waiting for rescue, except in the remarkable case of First Air Flight 6560. Witness the story of a 737-200 that went down in a remote Inuit hamlet in August 2011 and the incredible coincidence that gave its few survivors a fighting chance. Then follow the investigation into why the aircraft crashed to begin with.