Season 1 Season 2 Season 3 Season 4 Season 5 Season 6
Special Episodes
Season 1
- Racing the Storm (Fatal Landing)
- The crew of American Airlines Flight 1420 is warned about crosswinds from a thunderstorm during approach to Little Rock National Airport but they attempt to land instead of diverting to another airport. Due to their impatience to get to the airport, during their pre-landing checks the crew forget to preset the spoilers to extend automatically when the aircraft touches down. The MD-82 overruns the runway and eleven people are killed.
- Unlocking Disaster (Ripped From The Sky)
- A Boeing 747 operating as United Airlines Flight 811 from Honolulu to Auckland is above the Pacific Ocean when part of the RH forward fuselage rips off. An improperly closed cargo door was blown open by the force of the cabin pressurization. Nine people are ejected from the aircraft; some are still strapped to their seats. The Boeing 747 safely lands back at Honolulu without any more loss of life.
- Flying on Empty
- Air Transat Flight 236 leaks large amounts of fuel, but the pilots discount the ECAM warnings and the aircraft runs out of fuel. The pilots glide the aircraft to a naval base in the Azores where it lands safely, although at higher than normal speed and with limited braking power. The post-incident investigation determined that improper maintenance actions during an engine change caused a hydraulic oil pipe and a fuel pipe to touch each other, resulting in the fracture of the fuel pipe.
- Fire on Board (Fire in the Sky)
- A McDonnell Douglas MD-11 operating as Swissair Flight 111 experiences a fire in the cockpit due to faulty wiring. The pilots divert the aircraft toward Nova Scotia, Canada with the intent of landing at Halifax Stanfield International Airport, but vital systems start failing as the plane approaches St. Margaret's Bay, where they can safely dump fuel in preparation for landing. Halifax ATC loses contact with the plane; six minutes later, it slams nose-first into the ocean near the town of Peggy's Cove and disintegrates on contact. There were no survivors, and only one body was found intact. The investigation into the crash took nearly four years to complete and uncovered a fatal flaw common to nearly all passenger jets: The mylar covering atop the airplane's insulation blankets was far more flammable than first believed and could sustain and propagate a fire for several minutes or longer, clearly exceeding industry regulations requiring flammable coverings, etc. to extinguish themselves within 60 seconds.
- Flying Blind
- The pilots of Aeroperú Flight 603 are confused by false speed and altitude readings and contradictory warnings from the aircraft's air data system, caused by duct tape over the static ports. The pilots descend the aircraft over the Pacific Ocean in preparation for an emergency landing, but it is much lower than the altimeter indicates. One wingtip touches the water and the aircraft crashes seconds later, killing everyone on board.
- Cutting Corners (Fatal Error)
- Alaska Airlines Flight 261 is heading for Seattle via San Francisco but its trimmable horizontal stabilizer eventually jams due to a worn underlubricated jackscrew assembly. The pilots try to resolve the situation but the stabilizer breaks free from its control system and the aircraft dives inverted into the Pacific Ocean, causing the death of all on board. Ironically, the plane had been previously inspected by an Alaska Airlines mechanic two-and-a-half years earlier; the mechanic recommended replacing the jackscrew immediately because of signs of wear, but after he came off-shift, a supervisor overruled his decision and marked the plane "Fit for Service". The mechanic blew the whistle to the FAA about Alaska Airlines' shoddy maintenance program (which got him suspended with pay afterward) only months before the crash; meanwhile, the plane crashed just two months shy of another full nose-to-tail inspection that would have shown the jackscrew had not been replaced as recommended.
Season 2
- Blow Out (Ripped from the Cockpit)
- The night before the incident, a maintenance worker replaces the screws attaching the cockpit window on a British Airways BAC-111 but does not follow the correct procedure, using incorrect screws. The next day the aircraft is heading for Malaga, Spain as Flight 5390 when the cockpit window blows out, sucking the captain partially through the hole. A member of the cabin crew clings to the pilot's legs as the co-pilot flies the aircraft to Southampton Airport for an emergency landing. The captain is found to be still alive after being outside the cockpit for 21 minutes.
- A Wounded Bird (Wounded Bird) (One Wing Flight)
- Like all modern multi-engine aircraft, the EMB 120 Brasilia is designed to fly with one engine inoperative. However, Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 529's left propeller is damaged by metal fatigue causing it to lose one of its blades. The resulting imbalance tears the propeller gear box from the front of the engine, and the remains of the propeller are now lying against the front of the wing and disrupting the airflow over the wing. That and the massive increase in drag of the damaged engine means the aircraft is unable to maintain height on one engine, and the aircraft crashes before it can reach an airport. Although all occupants survive the crash itself, a subsequent fire kills the captain and a passenger; seven more people die later from their burns and another burnt passenger dies of a heart attack.
- The Killing Machine (Hijacked) (Hijack Rescue)
- Air France Flight 8969 to Paris-Orly is hijacked on the ground at Algiers Airport. The terrorists demand the aircraft be allowed to depart for Paris. The Algerian Army refuses and three of the 220 passengers are shot dead over the next two days. The aircraft is cleared to take-off but the crew divert it to Marseille Provence Airport. The terrorist leader forces the pilots to park the aircraft in front of the control tower and the terrorists open fire on the tower building. The Hostage rescue team of the French Gendarmerie storm the aircraft and after a gun battle in the cabin, the hijackers are dead. Everyone else is evacuated.
- Deadly Crossroads (Mid-Air Collision)
- Bashkirian Airlines Flight 2937 is flying in German airspace near Überlingen under control of Swiss Skyguide with 69 people on board including 45 school children. Due to multiple faults within the local air traffic control system, the Tu-154M aircraft collides with the tail of DHL Flight 611, carrying air freight and two pilots. Flight 2937 is destroyed instantly, killing everyone on board. Flight 611 crashes shortly afterwards, killing the two pilots. A total of 71 people are killed.
- Lost (Crash on the Mountain)
- American Airlines Flight 965 heads for Cali, Colombia. Without the assistance of ground radar the crew is asked if they would like to do a straight-in approach to Cali. The pilots agree and inadvertently remove the waypoints from the flight plan in their Flight management system (FMS), causing them to become lost. Their mistakes cause them to crash into a 9000 foot mountain near Buga. Only four passengers and a pet dog survive. They find themselves lost in the rainforest and they are not found for several days. It is the deadliest Boeing 757 disaster for a US carrier.
- Missing Over New York (Deadly Delay)
- It is normal for an aircraft to be delayed in flight. However Avianca Flight 52 is delayed numerous times, causing the Boeing 707 with 158 people on board to run out of fuel. The aircraft then crashes near Cove Neck, New York. Seventy-three people die.
Season 3
- Hanging by a Thread
- Aloha Airlines Flight 243 is en route from Hilo to Honolulu in Hawaii with 95 passengers and crew. Fuselage skin lap joints, badly damaged by corrosion resulting from a fault at manufacture, and by metal fatigue, give way and a section of the roof between the cockpit and the leading edges of the wings is torn off. The aircraft manages an emergency landing at Kahului, Maui. A flight attendant blown out of the cabin is the only fatality.
- Attack Over Baghdad
- Terror in Iraq strikes when a terrorist missile is fired at a European Air Transport freighter flying on behalf of DHL Aviation. The left wing burns out of control and all hydraulic pressure is lost. Despite the damage the aircraft lands safely at Baghdad, the second successful landing of a large airliner without the use of hydraulics (after UA232 in Sioux City). The crew are later given awards in recognition of their actions that day.
- Out of Control
- The cause of this accident lay seven years previously, when a Japan Airlines Boeing 747 landed and scraped its tail on the runway. The damage is incorrectly repaired and the aircraft returns to service. On the day of the crash the aircraft is operating as Flight 123 when the poorly-repaired rear pressure bulkhead bursts, destroying the vertical fin and rupturing all four hydraulic systems. The pilots manage to keep the aircraft flying for 32 minutes until it clips a mountain ridge. It then spins uncontrollably and impacts Mt. Osutaka. Of the 524 passengers onboard, many survive the crash but die during the night; only four survive to be rescued the next day. This is the largest ever death toll for a single-aircraft disaster.
- Fight for Your Life (Suicide Attack)
- Auburn Calloway is about to be fired from FedEx for lying on his résumé. He boards FedEx Flight 705 with hammers and a speargun. After the cargo flight takes off from Memphis, Tennessee, Calloway storms into the cockpit and attacks the flight crew. They fight to subdue their co-worker and land the aircraft safely back at Memphis. Calloway is immediately arrested by police on the ground.
- Mistaken Identity
- The Iran–Iraq War is raging in the Persian Gulf region. The USS Vincennes is a highly advanced cruiser, capable of identifying and destroying aircraft with pinpoint accuracy. But when Iran Air Flight 655 crosses the Gulf, the crew of the Vincennes, despite its high-tech equipment, mistake the airliner for an F-14 Tomcat fighter jet and launch a missile, shooting it down and killing all on board.
- Bomb on Board
- Terrorist Ramzi Yousef smuggles a bomb aboard Philippine Airlines Flight 434 on the first leg of its flight. On the final leg of the journey to Tokyo the bomb explodes, killing a passenger and damaging the aircraft's control systems. The pilot makes a successful emergency landing in Okinawa. The larger plot to bring down as many as a dozen aircraft is foiled.
- Helicopter Down
- Sixteen oil rig workers' and two pilots' lives hang in the balance when their Super Puma helicopter is struck by lightning in a storm while flying to the Brae oilfield. The lightning strikes the tail rotor and it fails. The pilots perform an emergency autorotation and ditch in the sea. Everyone on board gets on a life raft, which is overcrowded and leaking in giant swells. Despite the conditions, the workers and pilots are rescued. The lightning struck due to the composite materials in the rotor blades, raising concerns among the investigators.
- Death and Denial (Egypt Air 990)
- First Officer Gameel Al-Batouti takes control of EgyptAir Flight 990 after it is established at its cruising altitude of 33,000 feet, and switches off the autopilot. The aircraft subsequently dives at a rate of over 20,000 feet per minute (losing 17,000 feet of altitude in 44 seconds), creating weightlessness in the cabin. The aircraft ascends back to 24,000 feet, then dives again. The maneuvers cause the left engine to be torn off. Less than three minutes after leaving cruising altitude the aircraft crashes into the Atlantic Ocean 100 kilometres South of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts. Today, the cause is still a matter of debate.
- Kid in the Cockpit
- The captain of Aeroflot Flight 593 brings his two children into the cockpit. He sits his daughter in the captain's seat and she has a turn at being a pilot, though she does not touch the controls. Then the pilot's 15 year old son has a turn in the captain's seat. He turns the control yoke to the right then brings it back to the neutral position. The autopilot tries to command a roll to correct the aircraft's course, but the boy is holding the yoke in the neutral position. This causes the autopilot roll servo to disconnect from the aileron control system. Flight 593 banks right at a 90 degree angle. The pilot tries to get his son to correct the turn but the aircraft stalls. The aircraft enters a spin and the pilots find that due to high g-forces they cannot reach the control columns. The First Officer manages to reach his control column and together with the captain's son pulls the aircraft out of the dive, but it is too late. The aircraft crashes at a near-level attitude and all 75 people on board die.
- Head-On Collision (Train Collision) (Impact on the Rails)
- A freight train travels on a line of the Canadian National Railway network. The train passes slow and then stop signals, and speeds up instead of stopping. The drivers at the front are asleep. The overseer in the rear caboose calls the drivers at the front but he hears nothing. He does not stop the train despite being trained to use an emergency brake. Now the freight train is heading towards a passenger train on the same track. The trains collide and a fire breaks out. The disaster claims the lives of 23 people.
- Collision Course (Greek Ferry Disaster) (Express Samina)
- In stormy weather, the Express Samina sails in the Mediterranean Sea. The captain leaves the ferry on autopilot so he can watch a football match on television. The waves push the Express Samina off course. A violent impact rocks the ferry; it has hit a group of rocks and is now taking on water. Everyone panics and try to rescue themselves by jumping off the ferry. The ferry sinks under the waves. Survivors fight for their lives in the freezing water and giant swells. By the time rescuers finish their task 80 passengers drown in the Aegean Sea.
- Runaway Train (Unstoppable Train)
- An overloaded freight train is descending from a pass in the mountains. The driver applies all brakes but they overheat and the train continues to gain speed. The train enters a turn near San Bernardino, California, derails, and crashes into a row of houses, killing five people. More than a week later, an underground gasoline pipeline which has been damaged during the crash site cleanup ruptures, killing two more people.
- Ocean Landing (African Hijack)
- Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 is hijacked and the hijackers demand that the crew fly to Australia. The pilot tries to convince the hijackers that there isn't enough fuel but they insist their demand be met. The pilot tries to trick them by flying down the coast of Africa, but the hijackers notice and force the pilot to fly east. The pilot obeys but heads for the Comoros Islands, near where the aircraft runs out of fuel. The leading hijacker disengages the autopilot and tries to fly the aircraft himself but realizes he can't control Flight 961. The pilot is put back in control and attempts to land the 767 on the water next to a beach at Grand Comoro Island but the aircraft breaks up as its wing hits the water; 125 people die.
Season 4
- Desperate Escape (Miracle Escape)
- Air France Flight 358 comes in too high for landing at Toronto Pearson International Airport during a storm. The runway is short and the pilots deploy the thrust reversers too late. The A340 overruns the runway and smashes through the airport fence before plunging into a small ravine. Although the aircraft suffers an out-of-control fire from one of the engines, all 309 people onboard survive by evacuating the aircraft in less than 90 seconds.
- Falling from the Sky (All Engines Failed)
- British Airways Flight 9 experiences St. Elmo's fire along with smoke smelling like sulfur in the cabin. All four engines on the Boeing 747 start flaming then flame out. With 263 people on board, BA009 starts downward but minutes before its fate in the ocean, the crew successfully restart the engines. The aircraft makes an emergency landing at Jakarta where inspection reveals that it looks as if it has been sandblasted. The strange happenings were from volcanic ash coming from a volcano in Indonesia. The fine particles of ash melted inside the engines, clogging them and causing all four to fail.
- Fire Fight (Fiery Landing)
- Air Canada Flight 797 experiences an in-flight fire in the aircraft's toilet. Smoke fills the cabin and everyone gasps for fresh air. An emergency landing is made in Cincinnati, but due to a flashover the DC-9 is engulfed by flames shortly after the doors are opened on the runway. Due to heavy smoke, half of the passengers perish due to not being able to find the exits in time. There was no pin point cause due to the fire damage to the aircraft.
- Final Approach (Missed Approach) (Blind Landing)
- Korean Air Flight 801 with its 254 passengers and crew is on final approach to Guam's Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport. The glideslope part of the Instrument landing system is out of service and a software change to the ground proximity radar system at the airport prevents the aircraft from being shown on the system. In the clouds and rain, the tired pilots struggle to find runway 6L. They follow the DME signals towards the airport and extend the flaps and undercarriage. The aircraft descends, but the pilots still cannot see the airport. They attempt a missed approach procedure but Flight 801 hits the rugged terrain of Nimitz Hill. The Boeing 747 breaks up and grinds to a halt. The crash causes passengers' legs to break on the seat crossbars. Stored "Duty Free" alcohol in the compartments mix with oxygen and ignite a raging fire. 26 crawl out but 228 die in the wreckage. One passenger tries to make improvements on the seat designs and storage of "Duty Free" and oxygen.
- Hidden Danger (Mystery Crashes)
- The rudder fails on a Boeing 737 operating as United Airlines Flight 585 and the aircraft spins out of control during approach to Colorado Springs, killing 25. Investigators are unable to determine the cause although they suspect a problem in the power control unit (PCU) which controls the rudder. Then three years later, another Boeing 737 flying as USAir Flight 427 crashes after a similar event during final approach. This time, the PCU survives intact but functions normally during testing. Two years on, Eastwind Airlines Flight 517 experiences two massive rolls to the right but the pilot is able to control the rolls and lands the 737 safely. This time an intact PCU is available for inspection. Investigations determine that thermal shock caused the rudders of the three aircraft to "hardover" and jam.
- Panic Over the Pacific (6 Mile Plunge)
- China Airlines Flight 006 encounters turbulence while flying to Los Angeles. The No. 4 engine flames out and the crew tries to restart the engine at too high an altitude. The aircraft banks slowly to the right but the crew do not notice the autopilot can no longer hold the aircraft straight and level. The captain disconnects the autopilot and immediately loses control, sending the aircraft into a spiraling nosedive. The Flight Engineer mistakes readings on the gauges for total engine failures on all engines rather than the Captain setting the throttles to idle. The extreme forces rip the undercarriage doors off and parts of the horizontal stabilizers rip off as well. The Boeing 747SP clears the clouds and the pilot can once again see the horizon. The crew recover the aircraft from the dive and the it lands safely at San Francisco despite control problems associated with the tailplane damage. Two people are hurt, but everyone is alive.
- Out of Sight (Collision Over LA)
- Aeroméxico Flight 498 is descending into Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) for landing. Meanwhile, a private Piper Archer takes off from an airfield in nearby Torrance. The Archer unwittingly enters LAX airspace but the air traffic controller does not notice it due to a distraction by another light aircraft on his radar screen. Over the residential district of Cerritos the Archer hits Flight 498's horizontal stabilizer, shearing off the top of its cockpit and destroying half of the tail of Flight 498. The badly damaged DC-9 rolls inverted and plummets into the houses below. Everyone on board perishes as well as 15 people on the ground. The occupants of the Archer died after the impact with the DC-9.
- Fog of War (Crash in Croatia) (Inbound) (Flight 21 Is Missing)
-A USAF Boeing CT-43 operating operating Flight 21 attempts an instrument approach into Dubrovnik Airport in heavy fog. The passengers are mainly government officials, including U.S. Government Secretaries. The pilots attempt the IFR non-precision NDB approach to Runway 12. The aircraft goes off course and hits mountains north of the airport, killing all 35 people onboard, including the United States Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown.
- Vertigo (Deadly Disorientation) (Desperate Dive)
- Flash Airlines Flight 604 departs Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport in Egypt for Paris. Just after take-off, the aircraft banks right and goes off course. The pilot corrects the roll but the aircraft banks right again. This time the pilot does nothing. The Boeing 737 rolls further and descends into the Red Sea 9km south of Sharm el-Sheikh. Everyone on board is dead. The cause of this disaster is disputed.
- Ghost Plane (Unconscious Pilot)
- Helios Airways Flight 522 departs from Cyprus. As it flies over Greece, air traffic controllers lose radio contact with it.An incorrect setting on the cabin pressurization panel causes the pilots and everyone on board to succumb to hypoxia. Fighter jets are sent up to meet with the Boeing 737. One of the fighters draws alongside and its pilot sees that the First Officer appears to be alone and unconscious in the flight deck. Everyone visible in the cabin seems to be unconscious as well, and oxygen masks are dangling from the cabin ceiling. Then the fighter pilot witnesses someone enter the cockpit. The mysterious person appears to be trying to regain control of the aircraft, but it is too late. Soon, Flight 522 runs out of fuel and dives into a hill near Marathon, Greece. There are no survivors. After a thorough investigation, the mysterious person is found out to be a flight attendant who managed to stay conscious by using a portable oxygen mask as opposed to the aircraft's installed oxygen masks.
Season 5
- Air India: Explosive Evidence (Explosive Evidence)
- Air India Flight 182 flying over the coast of Ireland exploded in mid-air killing all 329 on board. Investigators discovered that a bomb from Sikh militant group Babbar Khalsa caused the aircraft to disintegrate.
- Behind Closed Doors
- A brand new McDonnell Douglas DC-10 just a few months old operating American Airlines Flight 96 from Detroit, Michigan to Buffalo, New York suffers an explosive decompression after a cargo door burst. The pilots forced at emergency landing at Windsor, Ontario. However, the fault with the door is not repaired and two years later, Turkish Airlines Flight 981 suffers a similar blowout during a flight from Paris to London. This time, the DC-10's hydraulic system was damaged and the aircraft smashed into a forest in Senlis, killing all 346 on board, thus making it the deadliest aviation disaster at that time.
- Southern Storm
- Southern Airways Flight 242 in a flight from Huntsville, Alabama to Atlanta, Georgia got caught up in a severe thunderstorm and got hit by hailstones which were the size of baseballs. The McDonnell DC-9-31 jet, registered N1335U lost both engines and was too far away from Atlanta or any other airport and was forced to make an emergency landing on a highway in New Hope, Paulding County, Georgia. However, before it stopped, the jet collided with a gas station and exploded, killing 70 people (including 8 on the ground).
- Dead Weight
- A small commuter aircraft, Air Midwest Express Flight 5481 plummets into a hangar of Charlotte/Douglas International Airport seconds after take-off from there on a flight to Greenville.
- Invisible Killer (Slammed To The Ground)
- Delta Air Lines Flight 191 crashed while on approach to the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, killing 8 of 11 crew members and 128 of the 152 passengers on board and one person on the ground: a total of 137 deaths. This accident is one of the few commercial air crashes in which the meteorological phenomenon known as microburst-induced wind shear was a direct contributing factor.
- Gimli Glider (Deadly Glide) (Miracle Flight)
- A Boeing 767-233 jet, Air Canada Flight 143, ran completely out of fuel at 41,000 feet (12,000m) altitude, about halfway through its flight from Montreal to Edmonton. The crew was able to glide the aircraft safely to an emergency landing at Gimli Industrial Park Airport, a former airbase at Gimli, Manitoba. The cause of the fuel starvation was an imperial to metric measurement conversion error when the plane was fueled, which was aggravated by out of commission gas gauges.
- Fanning the Flames (Cargo Conspiracy) (Mystery Fire)
- South African Airways Flight 295 starts filling with smoke. A fire has erupted in the rear main level cargo area; the pilots cannot land as the aircraft is over the Indian Ocean. The passengers choke on the fire's toxic fumes partly due to improper use of the recirculate air flow setting. The pilots successfully open the doors in flight, a rarely used and risky maneuver, to clear the smoke from the aircraft, however it still crashes. The fire was found to have burned extremely hot and this can't be explained from the cargo that was on the plane.
- Fatal Distraction (Who's at the Controls?)
- An explosion is heard and seen in the vicinity of Miami International Airport. Eastern Airlines Flight 401 was scheduled to land at that same moment. Actually, the L-1011 has crashed in the Everglades because the landing gear light did not turn on and the pilots got distracted while their plane was descending silently. 101 people died.
- Mixed Signals (The Plane That Wouldn't Talk)
- Birgenair Flight 301 was a scheduled Puerto Plata-Gander-Berlin-Frankfurt flight. But something goes terribly wrong. At 80 knots (150 km/h) on takeoff, the captain finds that his air speed indicator (ASI) is not working properly, though the co-pilot's ASI is OK. As the plane is climbing to 4,700 feet (1,400 m), the captain's ASI indicates 350 knots, which triggered an autopilot reaction, increasing the pitch-up attitude and reducing power to lower the plane's airspeed. Investigations showing that the plane was actually traveling at 220 knots. Both pilots become confused when the co-pilot's ASI reads 200 knots (decreasing) while getting a rudder ratio and Mach airspeed advisory warnings and a stick-shaker warning. Both pilots believed that both ASIs were malfunctioning. The autopilot, which received the captain's faulty ASI readings, is disconnected by the pilots, and they give full thrust. It isn't enough. At 11:47 PM, the Ground Proximity Warning System gives an aural warning, and eight seconds later the jet crashes into the Caribbean Sea. All 13 crew members and 176 passengers died.
- Phantom Strike (Death Over The Amazon) (Radio Silence)
- A GOL Boeing 737 and an ExcelAire Embraer Legacy business jet collided in mid-air over the Amazon killing 154 people. The passenger jet crashes and the Legacy is badly damaged, but it manages to land. Its the deadliest plane crash in Brazil's aviation before the crash of TAM Flight 3054.
Season 6
- Lockerbie
- Just days before Christmas, a crowded Boeing 747 explodes and crashes in the small Scottish town of Lockerbie killing 270 people. But what shocks investigators and people all around the world is that this was no accident. A Libyan terrorist checked his bag with a bomb inside, but didn't board the aircraft. - Head-on Collision
- A Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 747 and a Air Kazakhstan Ilyushin Il-76 collide in mid-air over Charkhi Dadri, Haryanna, India; killing 349 people. Communication problems between the Kazakh jet and ATC, a design flaw in the ATC radar system, and cloudy weather; lead to the deadliest mid-air collision in history.
- Shattered in Seconds
- On 2002, a China Airlines Boeing 747 disintegrated in mid-air and crashed into the Taiwan Strait just 20 minutes after taking off, killing all 225 people on board. The investigation revealed that a tail strike some 22 years earlier sealed the fate of the aircraft.
- Deadly Prize
- On September 1989, a Partnair Convair 580 plunged into the sea just off the coast of Denmark killing all 55 people on board. Due to poor maintenance, the bolts joining the tail section to the fuselage failed in flight leading to a catastrophic structural failure.
- Operation Babylift
- In the final days of the Vietnam War, an American-led coalition conducts a mass evacuation of infants and children from South Vietnam. During the airlift a United States Air Force Lockheed C-5 Galaxy suffers an explosive decompression soon after take off and has to return to Tan Son Nhat airport. It crashes in a paddy field near the airport.
- Ditch the Plane
- On August 2005, a Tuninter ATR-72 ran out of fuel and was forced to ditch in the sea near Palermo, Italy. Of the 39 people on board, 16 lost their lives. The mistake was simply a wrong fuel gauge that sent higher fuel readings than the actual ones.
- Lost in Space
- On January 2007, an Adam Air Boeing 737 crashed into the Java Sea killing 102 people on board. The pilots inadvertently disengaged the autopilot while trying to fix the inertial reference system, causing the plane to plunge to the water.
- Deep Freeze
- On Halloween 1994, an American Eagle ATR-72 suffered a loss of control and crashed near Roselawn, Indiana killing all 68 people on board. While flying in freezing conditions, ice accumulated on the wings. The inadequate de-icing mechanisms failed to remove the ice, resulting in the disruption of the airflow.
- Erebus Collision
- In thick clouds ANZ901, a DC-10-30 with 257 people on a tour flight collides with the side of Mount Erebus in Antarctica. All 257 die.
- Who Caused the Crash?
- During Landing upon Nagoya International Airport, CAL flight 140's flight crew turn on the autopilot. But the autopilot is still set to climb to 33000 feet. The plane climbs, but the crew left the engines at idle. The A300 stalls, and hits the ground killing all but 7 people.
Special Episodes
- Ripped Apart
- This special looks at accidents and incidents where pressurization failure or explosive decompression played a part. Episodes re-visited: 3x01-Hanging by a Thread, 2x01-Blow Out, 1x02-Unlocking Disaster, 4x10-Ghost Plane.
- Fatal Flaw (Fatal Fix)
- This special looks at accidents caused by seemingly minor defects or errors. Episodes re-visited: 1x06-Cutting Corners, 3x03-Out of Control, 2x02-A Wounded Bird, 1x04-Fire on Board, 4x05-Hidden Danger
- Who's Flying the Plane?
- This special looks at accidents and incidents where problems with the interface between crew members and onboard avionics were a factor, and the causes of those problems. Episodes re-visited: 1x05-Flying Blind, 4x06-Panic Over the Pacific, 3x09-Kid in the Cockpit, 4x09-Vertigo, 1x03-Flying on Empty.
- System Breakdown
- This special looks at the role of air traffic controllers in the airline industry, and takes a look at the Next Generation Air Transportation System, a new technology meant to eliminate mid-air collisions by reducing overall dependence on radar and radio, as well as delegating some of the air traffic controllers' tasks to computers onboard each plane. Episodes revisited: 4x07-Out of Sight, 2x07-Missing Over New York, 5x10-Phantom Strike, 2x04-Deadly Crossroads.
- Cruel Skies
- This special looks at the role of bad weather in disasters, and tours the US Aviation Weather Center in Kansas City, Missouri to see how information on weather is transmitted to pilots in the sky. Episodes revisited: 5x03-Southern Storm, 5x05-Invisible Killer, 1x01-Racing the Storm, 4x02-Falling From the Sky.