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On 21 February 2008, Santa Bárbara Airlines Flight 518 strays off course and flies into the side of a mountain shortly after takeoff.

Air Disasters

Seconds to Survive

A Russian passenger jet crashes into the Volga River, killing almost everyone on board; the incident turns into a national tragedy when rescuers discover the plane carried some of the country's famous athletes.

Hockey Team Tragedy

TANS Perú Flight 204 crashes into a muddy swamp while attempting to land at Pucallpa Airport, Peru, in a thunderstorm, killing 40 of the 98 people on board.

Blind Landing

SilkAir Flight 185 crashes into the Musi River in Indonesia after abruptly diving from its cruise altitude.

Pushed to the Limit

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.

S4 E4 | Pushed to the Limit

E12 | Seconds to Survive

E9 | Hockey Team Tragedy

E5 | Blind Landing

E4 | Pushed to the Limit