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s25e10 · 2026-03-25
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Air Crash Investigation
National Geographic Documentary
What it is
Flying is one of the safest forms of transport. But what happens when tragedy strikes? From human error and accidents to mechanical faults and design flaws, the success of aviation history is punctuated with disaster and catastrophe. It's rare, but it does happen. Follow experts as they determine what went wrong and work out how to prevent these horrific tragedies from happening again. Examine the wrecks and official records, and hear from eyewitnesses, passengers and aviation experts as we reconstruct some of the most tragic disasters in aviation history. Air Crash Investigation looks at what went wrong and how future disasters can be averted.
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8 this season · 261 totals08e01 Panic on the Runway 2010-09-09 01:00
Panic on the Runway
On 22 August 1985, An engine caught fire during the takeoff phase of a British charter flight from Manchester, England to the Greek island of Corfu. Despite a successfully abandoned takeoff, 55 of the 137 passengers and crew are killed as the aircraft burned on the runway.
s08e02 Pilot vs. Plane 2010-09-16 01:00
Pilot vs. Plane
On 26 June 1988, Air France Flight 296 failed to regain altitude and crashed into trees after performing a flyby during an airshow at Mulhouse-Habsheim Airport, killing 3 people.
s08e03 Alarming Silence 2010-09-23 01:00
Alarming Silence
On 16 August 1987, Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashed shortly after take off, killing 156 people. The crew did not follow the taxi checklist prior to take off.
s08e04 Cleared for Disaster 2010-09-30 01:00
Cleared for Disaster
On 1 February 1991, USAir Flight 1493 collided with the waiting Skywest Airlines Flight 5569 on the runway, killing 34 people. An Air traffic controller mistakenly assigned the inbound Flight 1493 to a runway where the Flight 5569 was waiting to take off.
s08e05 Target is Destroyed 2010-10-07 01:00
Target is Destroyed
On 1 September 1983, during the Cold War, Korean Air Lines Flight 007 was shot down after violating Soviet airspace. The crew did not switch the autopilot from heading to INS mode following take off which caused the aircraft to deviate from its assigned flight path.
s08e06 Cold Case 2010-10-14 01:00
Cold Case
On 10 March 1989, Air Ontario Flight 1363 crashed just after take off, killing 24 people. Three years later, on 22 March 1992, USAir Flight 405 also crashed just after take off in similar conditions to Flight 1363. The cause of the crashes was icing.
s08e07 The Final Blow 2010-10-21 01:00
The Final Blow
On 20 January 1992, Air Inter Flight 148 crashed into the Vosges Mountains while circling to land at Strasbourg Airport killing 87 people. An error made in programing the autopilot of the Airbus A-320, combined with a sudden wind change, caused the plane to descend more rapidly than expected.
s08e08 Cracks in the System 2010-10-28 01:00
Cracks in the System
On 19 December 2005, just after take off the right wing of the Chalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101 fell off and the aircraft crashed, killing 20 people. The wing fell off due to metal fatigue that resulted from poor maintenance, financial distress at Chalk's, and a lack of appropriate FAA oversight.