Air Disasters

On a challenging descent into the Staring down a thunderstorm en route to the Shetland Islands, a modern turboprop is struck by a blinding bolt of lightning. Suddenly, the plane plunges towards the North Sea at 350 MPH. The pilots barely regain control of the aircraft but must race to the nearest airport immediately before it nosedives again. Witness the harrowing flight of Logan Air Flight 6780 and follow investigators as they struggle to explain how a lightning strike, which planes are designed to withstand, could have caused the turboprop to behave the way it did.

A private jet begins its final approach to Akron Fulton International Airport... but it never arrives. During the descent, the pilots lose control of their plane and slam into an apartment building less than two miles from the runway, instantly killing all nine people on board. The NTSB must determine the cause this fatal accident, but investigators searching the wreckage find few clues. It's only after a close examination of radar data and the cockpit recording that they uncover a series of tragic mistakes.

On an early morning takeoff in Kentucky, two experienced pilots struggle to get their regional jet airborne. They finally run out of runway and crash into a nearby field, killing all but one of the 50 people aboard. NTSB Investigators try to piece together what went wrong but end up with more questions than answers. It's only after retracing Comair Flight 5191's taxi route and listening to the cockpit recorder that they uncover a series of missteps that caused the pilots to lose track of their position on their way to the runway.

October 29, 2018. 181 passengers buckle up for a short domestic flight from Jakarta to Bangka Island. They are onboard a Boeing 737 Max 8, one of the airline's newest and fastest selling planes. But just 11 minutes after takeoff, the aircraft dives into the Java Sea. There are no survivors. With the world in shock and the aviation industry demanding answers, investigators get to work, studying the plane's erratic flight path, combing through a history of maintenance issues, and uncovering a treacherous-and deadly-piece of hidden software.

A midair emergency caused by an exploding engine on Southwest Flight 1380 quickly turns into bedlam when a passenger is nearly sucked through a blown-out window. Pilots and crew work valiantly to save both the plane and the victim as they prepare for a high-pressure, emergency landing in Philadelphia. Witness the air disaster that shocked the world in 2018 and follow the investigation, which revealed how a small fracture in a fan blade started a chain reaction that tore the engine apart and shattered the cabin window of Row 14.

US-Bangla Flight 211 descends towards Tribhuvan International Airport, nestled in the Himalayas. For pilots, it's one of the world's most challenging approaches, but the plane's captain has flown in and out of Kathmandu repeatedly. On this day, however, he struggles with the landing, nearly flying his aircraft into the tower before slamming onto the runway, skidding off, and bursting into flames. 51 of the 71 people aboard are dead, and a multinational team must determine if there was something wrong with the plane or with the pilot.

During the Gulf War, a military KC-135 finds itself in peril during a late-night refueling assignment near enemy territory. A spectacular blowout has taken out two of its engines, and the crew is forced to abort the mission and attempt an emergency landing... with no radio support. Miraculously, the pilots and aircraft survive. Investigators suspect the damage may have come from enemy fire, but when they discover no scorch marks or explosive residue, they struggle to determine what kind of force could tear the left engines off the plane.

Descending through thick clouds on their final approach to Palmerston North Airport, a commuter turboprop slams onto a remote hill. Rescuers struggle to locate the crash site while the lives of freezing survivors hang in the balance. Miraculously, 17 of the 21 victims make it out alive. Now it's up to investigators to figure out why the disaster happened in the first place. Through gripping re-enactments and witness accounts, we detail the final moments of Ansett New Zealand Flight 703 and the tragic but preventable causes for the accident.

Minutes after takeoff from Montreal, the pilots of a twin turboprop find themselves in an emergency situation no amount of training could have prepared them for. They're flying on one engine, with no hydraulics, and the plane is on fire. They manage to turn the plane around and are just seconds from landing when the aircraft suddenly flips over and crashes, killing all on board. Investigators are under pressure to find out how so many things could go so wrong so quickly, and what, if anything, the pilots should have done differently.

Pilots today are no longer expected to fly if they are tired. Yet, between 1993 and 2013, 15 accidents had been attributed to fatigue. Was the crash of UPS Flight 1354 one of them? We detail the cargo plane's final moments, from the crew's demanding "non-precision approach" to its violent impact just a mile from the runway. Then, we follow NTSB investigators as they study cockpit conversations, run the flight through a simulator, and look into the pilots' hotel activities in hopes of answering why the plane's landing was so badly botched.