Air Disasters — Season 15
The disaster is only the beginning of the story.
About this season
Catastrophic incidents in aviation history are meticulously reenacted, providing insight into what went wrong and if the crashes and near-disasters could have been prevented. Accounts from survivors combine with cockpit recordings and computer images to weave the gripping tales, and expert testimony reveals the hows and whys behind the events, some of which have resulted in important changes to aviation safety and regulations.
Episodes (10)
1. Kathmandu Descent
Aired 6 September 2020 • 45 min
Witness the final minutes of PIA Flight 268 and discover why it crashed into a mountain just minutes from landing.
2. Impossible Pitch
Aired 13 September 2020 • 45 min
Witness the doomed flight of a West Air Sweden jet and see how the failure of a single instrument led to catastrophe.
3. Explosive Touchdown
Aired 20 September 2020 • 45 min
Most passengers relax after their plane touches down, but when Uni Air Flight 873 landed, that's when the terror began.
4. Taxiway Turmoil
Aired 27 September 2020 • 45 min
Follow the investigation to see how a DC-9 ended up on the wrong runway and in the path of an oncoming 727.
5. Runway Breakup
Aired 4 October 2020 • 45 min
Landing on a Caribbean island in a severe tropical storm, a Colombian airliner crashes short of the runway. Investigators need to find out why.
6. Icy Descent
Aired 11 October 2020 • 45 min
Investigators are stumped when a turboprop slams into an Argentine desert, and it's a microscopic filament that provides the first tangible clue.
7. Atlantic Ditching
Aired 18 October 2020 • 45 min
A helicopter carrying offshore oil workers crashes into the ocean off the coast of Newfoundland and a far-reaching investigation reveals a fatal flaw.
8. No Warning
Aired 25 October 2020 • 45 min
Investigators are stumped when a turboprop crashes into an Indonesian mountaintop.
9. Cockpit Killer
Aired 1 November 2020 • 45 min
When an African airliner mysteriously crashes, Namibian investigators rule out a host of possible causes before reaching a chilling conclusion.
10. Stormy Cockpit
Aired 8 November 2020 • 45 min
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.