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Devastating failures in the air put pilots to the test and shine a light on three feats of flying.

Air Disasters

Courage in the Cockpit

When former race car driver Niki Lauda's planes nosedives into a Thai jungle, a one-in-a-million failure reveals a weak spot in every Boeing 767; radio silence between pilots and air traffic controllers send investigators hunting for answers.

Design Flaws

JFK Jr. disappears on the way to Martha's Vineyard; a captain loses his bearings and crashes over the Red Sea; pilots crash a plane over Indonesia.

Deadly Confusion

If pilots aren't prepared when the runway is in sight, a landing can quickly become a tragedy.

Runway in Sight

Three planes fatally out of balance force investigators to question every calculation; it's a flight risk that's entirely preventable, and yet repeated disasters reconfirm the need for critical backup systems.

Perilous Payload

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Experts analyze various plane crashes with an aim to figure out how these disasters occurred; they also shed light on how such accidents shaped the aviation industry and improved safety standards.

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Following three horrifying crashes, investigators uncover fatal flaws in the very operations designed to prevent aircraft from flying into mountains.

S20 E15 | Mountain Impact