Air Disasters — Season 24
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. Terror Over The Pacific
Aired 20 July 2025 • 44 min
A massive explosion tears a hole in a 747 over Hawaii, and the trail of clues ultimately leads investigators to a catastrophic short circuit.
2. Disaster At Dutch Harbor
Aired 4 January 2026 • 44 min
While landing at a notoriously tricky Alaskan island airport, the pilots of a twin turboprop can’t stop their plane.
3. Deadly Departure
Aired 11 January 2026 • 44 min
After a DC-8 cargo plane with only three working engines crashes on takeoff in Kansas City, investigators uncover a flaw in the pilots’ training.
4. Without Warning
Aired 18 January 2026 • 44 min
Two float planes collide midair near an Alaskan waterfall. One shatters; the other crash-lands intact. With no warning before impact, investigators use wreckage clues and 3D tech to uncover how—and why—the deadly crash occurred.
5. Eleven Deadly Seconds
Aired 25 January 2026 • 44 min
Solving the crash of China Airlines Flight 676 hinges on 11 baffling seconds when neither pilot controls the airplane.
6. Fight For Survival
Aired 1 February 2026 • 44 min
With flames emerging through the cockpit floor, the pilots of Pilgrim Airlines 458 manage a heroic landing on a frozen Rhode Island reservoir.
7. Pitch Battle
Aired 8 February 2026 • 44 min
After Colgan Air 9446 crashes off Cape Cod, investigators must determine what brought down a widely-used commuter aircraft in under three minutes.
8. Under Fire
Aired 15 February 2026 • 44 min
Three hundred people are killed in one of the deadliest aviation accidents of all time after a fire breaks out on board Saudia Flight 163.
9. Lost Star Footballer
Aired 22 February 2026 • 44 min
With rising young football star Emiliano Sala on board, a chartered Piper Malibu suddenly disappears from radar over the English Channel.
10. Deadly Directive
Aired 1 March 2026 • 44 min
When Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashes shortly after takeoff, the catastrophe leads to the grounding of the entire Boeing 737 MAX 8 fleet.