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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.

Air Disasters

Fatal Flaw

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.

Runaway Train

The 2000 crash of an Alaska Airlines plane just off the California coast leads to a disturbing discovery about the company's cost-cutting procedures.

Cutting Corners

A Swissair passenger jet catches fire midflight and crashes into the Atlantic, leading to one of the largest investigations in aviation history.

Fire on Board

Turkish Airlines Flight 1951 stalls and crashes less than a mile from the runway while approaching Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.

Who's In Control

A British Airways Flight's engines failure to respond cause the plane to crash-land just short of the runway.

The Heathrow Enigma

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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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When Air Transat Flight 236 runs out of fuel over the Atlantic, its pilots desperately try to keep their Airbus A330 in the air until they reach land.

S18 E12 | Flying on Empty