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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

Avianca Flight 52 is delayed numerous times by bad weather en route; it is dangerously low on fuel as it attempts a landing at New York City.

Missing Over New York

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

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

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

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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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.

S18 E2 | The Heathrow Enigma