Air Disasters

Bad weather and a series of errors lead to the 2001 crash of a plane on its approach to Zurich Airport.

When a reliably safe Boeing 777 crashes on approach to Heathrow Airport, investigators race to uncover the reason before disaster strikes again.

When a DC-9 loses both engines just after takeoff, a seasoned pilot desperately attempts to land his plane and save the lives of his passengers and crew.

The 2009 crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407 in Buffalo shocks the world and leads to one of the NTSB's most important investigations.

A comprehensive look at the famous "Miracle on the Hudson" emergency landing in January 2009, and the investigation that followed.

When a Boeing 737 stalls and crashes during its approach into Amsterdam, investigators determine if the accident was caused by the plane or the pilots.

A 747's cargo door opens at 23,000 feet, causing an explosive decompression that ejects nine passengers from the plane.

An MD-82 crash lands in Arkansas during a severe thunderstorm, but investigators believe weather was not the main reason for the accident.

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

A cleaning crew makes a careless error while cleaning a 757, affecting the plane's computer system and causing it to crash into the Pacific Ocean.

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.

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.

The captain of British Airways Flight 5390 is sucked out of the aircraft when the cockpit windscreen breaks, leading to a harrowing emergency landing.

Pilots of a turboprop make a successful emergency landing after an engine explodes, but the ensuing fire turns out to be the greater danger.

An inside look at the terrorist hijacking of an Air France Airbus A300 in Algeria on Christmas Eve 1994 and the daring plan to save the plane full of hostages.

A look at the string of events that caused a midair collision in 2002 over the skies of southern Germany, a disaster that claimed the lives of nearly 50 students.

Investigators struggle to determine why a 757 strayed off course during its final approach to a Colombia airport and crashed into a mountain.

A terrible storm, long holding patterns, and linguistic confusion lead to a Boeing 707 crash on Long Island and a controversial NTSB investigation.

In 1989, twin disasters rock a small California town: a massive train derailment, followed by a gas line explosion 13 days later.

A passenger ferry sinks after crashing into rocks off the coast of a Greek island, killing 82, and leading to a shocking investigation.

A head-on collision between a passenger train and a freight train in the Rocky Mountains leads to an investigation that shocks the Canadian railroad industry.

A look at plane catastrophes caused by explosive decompression and loss of air pressure and how lessons from past disasters have made flying safer today.

A look at several air disasters that involved small components that failed, and how the follow-up investigations led to changes that have made flying safer.

A look at disasters and near-disasters caused by miscommunications between pilots and their highly automated, on-board computer systems.