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On 12 November 2001, just two months after the September 11 attacks, American Airlines Flight 587 spirals out of control shortly after taking off from John F. Kennedy Airport and crashes into Queens.

Air Disasters

Queens Catastrophe

On 18 June 1972, British European Airways Flight 548 stalls and crashes in a field near Staines shortly after takeoff from London Heathrow Airport, killing all 118 people on board.

Fight to the Death

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.

On 15 September 1989, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration aircraft tasked with intercepting Hurricane Hugo over the Caribbean islands is jolted by strong winds, causing an engine to catch fire and fail.

S5 E6 | Into the Eye of the Storm

E5 | Queens Catastrophe

E1 | Fight to the Death