Air Disasters
Season 12
201910 episodes
Episode 1
Nuts and Bolts
Jan 27, 201945m
On Feb 16, 2000 — Emery Worldwide Flight 17 (DC-8): Immediately after takeoff from Sacramento, a cargo jet pitches wildly and banks out of control, and what investigators first suspect isn't what they find.
Episode 2
Blown Away
Feb 10, 201945m
On Jul 23, 2014 — TransAsia Airways Flight 222 (ATR 72): Landing in foul weather on Taiwan's Penghu islands, a commuter flight crashes short of the airport — and a second crash months later deepens investigators' suspicions.
Episode 3
Deadly Distraction
Feb 17, 201945m
On Aug 31, 1988 — Delta Air Lines Flight 1141 (Boeing 727): Moments after lifting off from Dallas, a jet settles back to earth and breaks apart, and the NTSB combs the cockpit's final minutes for what went missing.
Episode 4
Deadly Airspace
Feb 24, 201945m
On Jul 17, 2014 — Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 (Boeing 777): Cruising from Amsterdam toward Kuala Lumpur, an airliner breaks up over eastern Ukraine's conflict zone, and investigators must work a crash site in the middle of a war.
Episode 5
Deadly Display
Mar 3, 201945m
On May 9, 2012 — Sukhoi Superjet 100 demonstration flight: A short showcase flight for potential buyers over Indonesia ends against a mountainside, and just reaching the wreckage tests investigators to their limits.
Episode 6
Deadly Space
Mar 10, 201945m
On Oct 31, 2014 — Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo "VSS Enterprise": High over the Mojave Desert, a commercial spacecraft breaks apart during a rocket-powered test flight, putting the future of space tourism in question.
Episode 7
Free Fall
Mar 17, 201945m
On Oct 7, 2008 — Qantas Flight 72 (Airbus A330): Cruising toward Perth, a highly automated jet abruptly nosedives on its own — twice — and investigators race to find the cause with hundreds of the type in service.
Episode 8
Deadly Inclination
Mar 24, 201945m
On Nov 14, 1990 — Alitalia Flight 404 (DC-9): On a night approach to Zurich, a jet whose instruments show everything normal strikes a wooded hillside six miles short of the runway.
Episode 9
Deadly Go Round
Mar 31, 201945m
On Apr 26, 1994 — China Airlines Flight 140 (Airbus A300): Seconds from touchdown at Nagoya, Japan, an airliner unexpectedly climbs, stalls, and falls back to the airfield — and the automation itself comes under scrutiny.
Episode 10
Dead of Winter
Apr 7, 201945m
On Nov 15, 1987 — Continental Airlines Flight 1713 (DC-9): After a long delay in heavy Denver snow, a jet barely leaves the ground before slamming back down — while other flights took off safely all around it.