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Design innovations evolve as a result of terrible air disasters due to pressurization failure or explosive decompression.

Air Disasters

Ripped Apart

A look at the string of events that caused a midair collision in 2002 over the skies of southern Germany; a Bashkirian Airlines Flight collides with a DHL Flight in German airspace near Überlingen.

Deadly Crossroads

A blade on the left-side propeller of Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight breaks off; the imbalance of the rotating propeller causes the engine to partly tear itself from its mounting.

A Wounded Bird

A cockpit window on British Airways Flight blows out, partially ejecting and injuring the captain; the co-pilot completes an emergency landing.

Blow Out

US Airways Flight 1549 suffers a bird strike with a flock of Canada geese, causing both engines to fail.

Hudson River Runway

Following the story of the Scandinavian Airlines Flight 751 and Captain Rasmussen.

Pilot Betrayed

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Statistically, traveling by airplane is safer than driving and other forms of transportation, but when something goes wrong during a flight, it can be catastrophic with potentially hundreds of lives at stake. This series examines some of the world's worst air disasters, using official reports, transcripts and interviews with people involved to tell the stories of midair mishaps and discover what went wrong in each case. Episodes include a discussion of how the weather affects flights -- including stories of aviation disasters and near-misses -- and a New Year's Eve flight that fell from the sky into the Florida Everglades.

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A look at several air disasters that involved small components that failed; accidents caused by minor defects or errors; how the follow-up investigations led to changes that have made flying safer.

S18 E23 | Fatal Flaw

E22 | Ripped Apart

E16 | Deadly Crossroads

E14 | A Wounded Bird

E13 | Blow Out

E5 | Hudson River Runway

E3 | Pilot Betrayed