The WORST episodes of Air Disasters
Every episode of Air Disasters ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst 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.
#1 - Pitch Black
Season 17 - Episode 8 - Aired 4/17/2022
In 1983, experts investigate a power failure that led to the downing of Air Illinois Flight 710 in total darkness.
#2 - Who's in Control?
Season 18 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/30/2022
When Turkish Airlines Flight 1951 drops out of the sky on its final approach to Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, investigators work to determine if the cause is due to plane or pilot error.
#3 - Hudson River Runway
Season 18 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/23/2022
A comprehensive look at the famous “Miracle on the Hudson” emergency landing in January 2009, and the investigation that followed.
#4 - Dead Tired
Season 18 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/16/2022
Follow the tragic crash of Continental Connection Flight 3407 from Newark, NJ, into a house in Buffalo, NY, a case that confounded both forensic anthropology students and investigators.
#5 - Pilot Betrayed
Season 18 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/9/2022
A Scandinavian Airlines flight plummets from the winter sky moments after takeoff, and a seasoned pilot's career comes to an end after the culprits of the disaster are identified.
#6 - The Heathrow Enigma
Season 18 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/2/2022
January 2008. British Airways Flight 38 is about to land at Heathrow Airport when calamity strikes. The Boeing 777, one of the safest planes in the airline industry, suffers double engine failure, and with only seconds until the aircraft hits the ground, Captain Peter Burkill must attempt a highly risky move to save the lives of the 152 people on board. Witness the remarkable emergency landing the follow investigators as they solve the mystery behind the crash, using unrelenting diligence and a little inspiration from Sherlock Holmes.
#7 - Cockpit Failure
Season 18 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/26/2022
Bad weather and a series of errors lead to the 2001 crash of a plane on its approach to Zurich Airport.
#8 - Loss of a Legend
Season 17 - Episode 10 - Aired 4/24/2022
On 26 January 2020, a helicopter carrying basketball player Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven other people crashes into hilly terrain near Calabasas, California, killing all 9 people on board. The pilot had violated visual flight rules and suffered spatial disorientation.
#9 - Turboprop Terror
Season 17 - Episode 9 - Aired 4/24/2022
When a turboprop stalls and crashes into a North Carolina forest, investigators resort to a risky test flight-and uncover an industry-wide safety problem.
#10 - Unlocking Disaster
Season 18 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/6/2022
When United Flight 811's cargo door blows off at a high altitude over the Pacific Ocean, the crew acts to bring the packed aircraft down safely, and one victim's family searches for answers.
#11 - Tree Strike Terror
Season 17 - Episode 7 - Aired 4/10/2022
Investigators search for the cause of a close call on the runway after an American Airlines flight experiences unexpected complications during landing.
#12 - Terror Over Michigan
Season 17 - Episode 6 - Aired 4/3/2022
Investigators must pull off a risky test flight to see if the pilots of a heroic emergency landing are hiding a secret.
#13 - Pacific Plunge
Season 17 - Episode 5 - Aired 3/27/2022
Heroic flying isn't enough to overcome neglectful maintenance in the tragic accident of Alaska Airlines Flight 261.
#14 - Double Trouble
Season 17 - Episode 4 - Aired 3/20/2022
A cargo flight from Luxembourg to Nigeria turns into a nightmare over the French Alps for its five-person crew. A large explosion has blown both engines off the right wing, the weather is worsening, and the cockpit has lost contact with air traffic control. It will take every bit of muscle and piloting expertise to steer the disabled Boeing 707 over the mountains and reach Marseille for an emergency landing. Witness the harrowing flight of Trans-Air Cargo Flight 671, then discover the microscopic but deadly flaw that almost doomed the plane.
#15 - Stealth Bomber Down
Season 17 - Episode 3 - Aired 3/13/2022
At the end of a four-month deployment in Guam, a two-officer crew prepares to fly back to the states in one of the world's most sophisticated warplanes: the B-2 Spirit bomber. But immediately after takeoff, the plane pitches up dramatically, losing speed and shaking violently. The pilots quickly eject from the stealth bomber just before it crashes to Earth. With a price tag of two billion dollars, it's the most expensive aviation accident of all time, and investigators are under pressure to determine what happened... and if it could happen again.
#16 - Peril Over Portugal
Season 17 - Episode 2 - Aired 3/6/2022
Martinair Flight 495 is seconds from landing at Portugal's Faro Airport when the storm it's flying through takes a sudden turn for the worse. On touchdown, the DC-10 erupts in flames and tears apart as it slides more than 350 feet off the runway. Miraculously, most of the 340 passengers and crew survive the crash, but 56 people are killed, and investigators need to determine the cause of the accident. Bad weather appears to be the main culprit, but the discovery of a two-inch deep cut down the runway raises troubling new questions.
#17 - Holding Pattern
Season 17 - Episode 1 - Aired 2/27/2022
A bumpy flight from Dubai to Russia's Rostov-on-Don Airport ends in disaster when the plane nosedives into the runway two hours after entering a holding pattern. With grieving families and the world demanding answers, the Interstate Aviation Committee and a team from the United Arab Emirates investigate why the pilots of Flydubai Flight 981 completed one successful go-around but crashed during the second. They suspect a problem endemic to the aircraft, but soon uncover the most lethal trap in aviation.
#18 - Flying Blind
Season 18 - Episode 10 - Aired 2/5/2023
Aeroperú Flight 603 experiences an erratic descent into the Pacific Ocean, and a team of investigators discover the small but critical oversight that caused the fatal landing.
#19 - Fatal Flaw
Season 18 - Episode 23 - Aired 3/19/2023
Maintenance oversights and shortsighted cost-cutting measures can lead to disaster, as evidenced by the tragic fates of Alaska Airlines Flight 261, Japan Airlines Flight 123 and more.
#20 - Ripped Apart
Season 18 - Episode 22 - Aired 3/12/2023
Several airplane disasters resulting from seemingly minor flaws, like faulty windows and doors or poorly maintained building materials, are examined.
#21 - Head-On Collision
Season 18 - Episode 21 - Aired 3/12/2023
Two trains collide near the town of Hinton in Alberta, Canada, and the event becomes known as one of the deadliest accidents -- and greatest mysteries -- in Canadian railway history.
#22 - Collision Course
Season 18 - Episode 20 - Aired 3/5/2023
A Greek ferry, the Express Samina, is pushed off course by strong waves and crashes into a rock formation, causing 80 passengers to lose their lives in the freezing water as they wait for rescue.
#23 - Runaway Train
Season 18 - Episode 19 - Aired 3/5/2023
A freight train carrying an excess of cargo loses its brakes while descending a mountain causing it to gain speed and derail into a neighborhood killing several people.
#24 - Missing Over New York
Season 18 - Episode 18 - Aired 2/26/2023
Avianca Flight 52 is delayed numerous times by bad weather en route and is dangerously low on fuel as it attempts a landing at New York City.
#25 - Lost
Season 18 - Episode 17 - Aired 2/19/2023
Relive the 1995 disaster of American Airlines Flight 965, in which a Boeing 757 veered off course and crashed into a 9,000-foot mountain on its final approach to Cali, Colombia.