The BEST episodes of Air Disasters

Every episode of Air Disasters ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Air Disasters!

Harrowing stories of tragedy and triumph are brought to life through official reports, transcripts and interviews with the pilots, air traffic controllers and lucky survivors of history's most terrifying crashes. Widely considered to be the safest form of travel, air transportation is still in its infancy and when midair calamity strikes, the results are often catastrophic. From the cockpit to the cabin, from the control room to the crash scene, we uncover just what went wrong.

Last Updated: 9/17/2023Network: Smithsonian ChannelStatus: Continuing
Share:
Turning Point
star
20.00
1 votes

#1 - Turning Point

Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 3/31/2013

A Northwest Airlines flight above the Bering Sea must make an emergency landing in Anchorage.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Focused on Failure
star
20.00
1 votes

#2 - Focused on Failure

Season 4 - Episode 8 - Aired 7/27/2014

Just minutes before touching down in Portland International Airport, all four engines of a DC-8 mysteriously flame out. With the aircraft dropping 3,000 feet per minute, the pilots realize they have no option but to crash land in the middle of a major American city. Witness the harrowing emergency landing of United Airlines Flight 173 in Portland, Oregon, and uncover the shocking reasons for its massive engine failure.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Death of the President
star
20.00
1 votes

#3 - Death of the President

Season 4 - Episode 10 - Aired 8/10/2014

It was an air disaster that crippled a country, heightened tensions between two nations, and ignited conspiracy theories worldwide. On April 10, 2010, Polish Air Force Tupolev Tu-154M, carrying Poland's president, Lech Kaczynski, crashed on Russian soil, killing everyone aboard. Russian experts pinned the blame on the pilots, but Poland's Interior Minister examined the evidence and reached a far different conclusion. Experience the tragedy that shocked the world and follow the investigation that remains steeped in controversy.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Ghost Plane
star
20.00
1 votes

#4 - Ghost Plane

Season 7 - Episode 10 - Aired 10/9/2016

The case of Helios Airways 737, in which a passenger flight circling Athens fails to respond to air-traffic controllers.

Watch Now:Amazon
Concorde - Up in Flames
star
20.00
1 votes

#5 - Concorde - Up in Flames

Season 8 - Episode 7 - Aired 1/29/2017

Follow investigators as they use the few remaining pieces of a fiery crash to explain a Concorde's doomed flight.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
I'm the Problem
star
20.00
1 votes

#6 - I'm the Problem

Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 3/17/2013

Moments before a Pacific Southwest flight crashes in California, gunshots are heard in the cabin.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Grand Canyon
star
7.00
28 votes

#7 - Grand Canyon

Season 4 - Episode 6 - Aired 6/8/2014

Two commercial airliners go missing over the Arizona desert, and are later found in pieces, scattered along the Grand Canyon floor. It's 1956, and air disaster examiner Jack Parshall is pressed for answers. There are no black boxes or any of the advanced technology used by modern day investigators. And all he has to go on are plane fragments and his own expertise. See how Parshall and his team of experts literally pieced the accident together, and how their findings helped transform air travel as we currently know it.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Subtle Incapacitation
star
6.00
28 votes

#8 - Subtle Incapacitation

Season 4 - Episode 11 - Aired 8/17/2014

Five minutes into Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409, something goes wrong. The pilots lose control of their aircraft, and before they can regain command, they begin an unstoppable descent into the Mediterranean Sea. All 90 aboard are dead and experts are scrambling for answers. There was a storm, but was it big enough to take down a 737? Or was there a more ominous explanation? Experience the terrifying disaster of January 25, 2010, and follow the investigation that led to a finding so controversial, some still refuse to believe it.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Icy Descent
star
0.00
0 votes

#9 - Icy Descent

Season 15 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/11/2020

Investigators are stumped when a turboprop slams into an Argentine desert, and it's a microscopic filament that provides the first tangible clue.

Watch Now:Apple TV
No Control
star
0.00
0 votes

#10 - No Control

Season 14 - Episode 4 - Aired 1/26/2020

Some of aviation's worst disasters involved the world's most advanced passenger planes. Often, the calamities are caused by a breakdown in trust between the pilots and their highly automated aircraft, turning the cockpit into a struggle of pilot versus machine. Investigate three crashes where experienced pilots lost control of their high-tech planes, including a commercial jet crash that went down at an air show, an Airbus A320 flight test gone wrong, and a modern airliner that dropped from the sky and slammed into the Atlantic.

Watch Now:Apple TV
Runway Breakup
star
0.00
0 votes

#11 - Runway Breakup

Season 15 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/4/2020

Landing on a Caribbean island in a severe tropical storm, a Colombian airliner crashes short of the runway. Investigators need to find out why.

Watch Now:Apple TV
Taxiway Turmoil
star
0.00
0 votes

#12 - Taxiway Turmoil

Season 15 - Episode 4 - Aired 9/27/2020

Follow the investigation to see how a DC-9 ended up on the wrong runway and in the path of an oncoming 727.

Watch Now:Apple TV
Explosive Touchdown
star
0.00
0 votes

#13 - Explosive Touchdown

Season 15 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/20/2020

Most passengers relax after their plane touches down, but when Uni Air Flight 873 landed, that's when the terror began.

Watch Now:Apple TV
Impossible Pitch
star
0.00
0 votes

#14 - Impossible Pitch

Season 15 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/13/2020

Witness the doomed flight of a West Air Sweden jet and see how the failure of a single instrument led to catastrophe.

Watch Now:Apple TV
Kathmandu Descent
star
0.00
0 votes

#15 - Kathmandu Descent

Season 15 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/6/2020

Witness the final minutes of PIA Flight 268 and discover why it crashed into a mountain just minutes from landing.

Watch Now:Apple TV
Fire on Board
star
0.00
0 votes

#16 - Fire on Board

Season 14 - Episode 10 - Aired 3/15/2020

When a fire breaks out on a plane, an emergency situation can escalate to a deadly disaster in seconds. In Manchester, a holiday flight bursts into flames before leaving the runway. A joyous return home to Nigeria from Saudi Arabia turns tragic when smoke overtakes the aircraft. And small batteries in the cargo hold create a massive blaze aboard a UPS jet. Revisit the final moments of these tragic flights and see how the crashes led to major changes in the aviation industry to make flying safer.

Watch Now:Apple TV
Deadly Disturbance
star
0.00
0 votes

#17 - Deadly Disturbance

Season 14 - Episode 9 - Aired 3/8/2020

From takeoff to landing, pilots face countless tasks, each one of vital importance. Any distraction, no matter how minor, can turn a routine flight into a disaster. Revisit three tragedies caused by diversions in the cockpit, including a casual conversation that led to a fiery accident in Dallas-Fort Worth, an attempt to fix a failed indicator light that sent a plane into the Florida Everglades, and a demonstration that led a brand new Russian Sukhoi Superjet into a mountain south of Jakarta.

Watch Now:Apple TV
Controversial Crashes
star
0.00
0 votes

#18 - Controversial Crashes

Season 14 - Episode 8 - Aired 3/1/2020

When planes crash, the pressure is on investigators to uncover what happened. That pressure increases dramatically when the case involves high-profile victims or when examiners disagree about the cause of the accident. Witness three controversial air disasters: a 1958 failed takeoff that wiped out the Manchester United soccer team; the 1985 tragedy of Arrow Air Flight 1285, which killed 248 U.S. soldiers heading home for the holidays; and the 2010 crash that claimed the life of Lech Kaczynski, the president of Poland.

Watch Now:Apple TV
Missing Pieces
star
0.00
0 votes

#19 - Missing Pieces

Season 14 - Episode 7 - Aired 2/23/2020

When a flight ends in disaster, investigators must determine what, and sometimes who, caused the accident. Some cases are easy to solve, but others require unrelenting diligence and Sherlock Holmes-level powers of deduction. See what it took to solve three plane crashes that stumped examiners, one in the Florida Everglades, another in the small Scottish village of Lockerbie, and a miracle emergency landing at London's Heathrow Airport.

Watch Now:Apple TV
Killer In The Cockpit?
star
0.00
0 votes

#20 - Killer In The Cockpit?

Season 14 - Episode 6 - Aired 2/16/2020

A 737 cruising above an Indonesian jungle suddenly plummets from the sky. An Airbus A320 crashes into the French Alps. Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 vanishes over the Gulf of Thailand. At first, these accidents perplex investigators, until surprising findings suggest the pilots could be to blame. See how these acts forced the industry to be more proactive in monitoring the mental health of their pilots.

Watch Now:Apple TV
Explosive Clues
star
0.00
0 votes

#21 - Explosive Clues

Season 14 - Episode 5 - Aired 2/9/2020

When civilian airliners explode in the sky, rumors involving terrorist plots and enemy acts often follow. It's up to investigators to gather the evidence they need to determine if they are examining a plane crash or a crime scene. Three commercial flights became targets over the Sinai Desert, the Sea of Japan, and a combat zone in Eastern Ukraine. See the impact these crashes had on the world and the changes they triggered in the aviation industry.

Watch Now:Apple TV
Seconds from Touchdown
star
0.00
0 votes

#22 - Seconds from Touchdown

Season 16 - Episode 9 - Aired 6/20/2021

Just 12 minutes after takeoff, a twin turboprop loses hydraulics, an engine, and then catches fire. Find out why.

Watch Now:Apple TV
Atlantic Ditching
star
0.00
0 votes

#23 - Atlantic Ditching

Season 15 - Episode 7 - Aired 10/18/2020

A helicopter carrying offshore oil workers crashes into the ocean off the coast of Newfoundland and a far-reaching investigation reveals a fatal flaw.

Watch Now:Apple TV
No Warning
star
0.00
0 votes

#24 - No Warning

Season 15 - Episode 8 - Aired 10/25/2020

Investigators are stumped when a turboprop crashes into an Indonesian mountaintop.

Watch Now:Apple TV
Cockpit Killer
star
0.00
0 votes

#25 - Cockpit Killer

Season 15 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/1/2020

When an African airliner mysteriously crashes, Namibian investigators rule out a host of possible causes before reaching a chilling conclusion.

Watch Now:Apple TV

Want to see the rest of the rankings?

Episode Ninja is a small business run by one person.
Pro memberships help fund servers and new feature development!