AIR CRASH INVESTIGATION: SPECIAL REPORT

Three flights are hijacked by acts of sabotage. When the cockpit of an Ethiopian airliner is stormed by hijackers, the captain manages an heroic yet deadly ocean landing. Investigators are torn between competing theories after an Italian passenger plane is blown out of the sky. And, Namibian investigators reach a chilling conclusion after piecing through the wreckage of LAM Mozambique Flight 470.

Faced with the extreme conditions of the far North, three flights fall out of the sky leaving investigators to uncover the cause.

With zero margin for error, three catastrophes are narrowly averted by pilots who somehow manage to land their damaged planes. A passenger is sucked out of a window after Southwest Flight 1380 is rocked by a mid-air explosion. While flying over Hawaii, the cabin of a Boeing 737 is blown wide open. And, Air Canada Flight 797 erupts in flames just 90 seconds after an heroic emergency landing.

With zero margin for error, three catastrophes are narrowly averted by pilots who somehow manage to land their damaged planes. A passenger is sucked out of a window after Southwest Flight 1380 is rocked by a mid-air explosion. While flying over Hawaii, the cabin of a Boeing 737 is blown wide open. And, Air Canada Flight 797 erupts in flames just 90 seconds after an heroic emergency landing.

Failures in pilot training lead to catastrophe in the cockpit. Amid heavy turbulence over the Caribbean, a charter plane falls out of the sky—when pilots react to a crisis that never happened. After a lightning strike, a commuter turboprop nosedives toward the North Atlantic as the pilots misdiagnose the problem. And, a top Russian hockey team is wiped out when a pilot botches a routine takeoff.

Three flights suffer catastrophic computer errors that force investigators to dig deep for clues. A seasoned Alitalia crew somehow flies a DC-9 into the ground just miles from a Zurich runway. En route from Singapore to Perth, Qantas Flight 72 suddenly nosedives toward the Indian Ocean. And, without a key instrument to guide them, the pilots of a Venezuelan turboprop crash into a mountainside.

Critical errors in the cockpit cause three planes to fall out of the sky. It’s the computer versus the pilots on board China Airlines Flight 140. Foul weather and a deadly chain of mistakes, causes a turboprop to flip over and crash while landing in Ireland. And on a doomed flight over Siberia, a terrifying lapse in judgment puts a child in the pilot’s seat.

A DC-10 loses all hydraulics when an engine explodes over Iowa. The crew of Qantas Flight 32 is overwhelmed by alarms after an explosion rocks their massive A-380. And, a Northwest Airlines 747 is cruising 35,000 feet above the Bering Sea when the unthinkable happens. Devastating systems failures in the air put pilots to the test, and shine a light on three astonishing feats of flying.

Mistaken identity and hostile fire over enemy territory are among the many risks that pilots face in war zones around the world. An Iranian passenger plane is blown out of the sky by a missile fired from a US warship. A tragic explosion rocks a massive military plane carrying Vietnamese orphans to safety. And, a cargo flight is crippled by a surface-to-air missile over wartorn Iraq.

In a rush to complete their flights, distracted pilots skip key procedures, ignore signs of danger, and make deadly decisions. A Turkish Airlines 737 crashes just short of the runway in Amsterdam. Amid heavy snow and ice, a delayed flight crew ignores standard procedures in Denver. And, when a captain helps a struggling first officer, their botched approach ends up in a New Zealand hillside.

Three planes fall prey to fearsome winds, and it’s up to investigators to find out why. On final approach to Charlotte, US Air Flight 1016 is thrown to the ground by a deadly microburst. Flying blind over Peru, a 737 drops like a stone and cuts a mile-long swath through the jungle. And, a scientific expedition into the eye of Hurricane Hugo goes horribly wrong.

From metal fatigue to faulty repairs, three doomed airlines are brought down by gradually deteriorating parts. On a flight in Tahiti, a frayed steel cable snaps sending a turboprop to the ocean floor. Shortly after take-off, a Boeing 747’s tailfin blows off and the aircraft slams into a mountain near Tokyo. And, tourists on Miami beach watch in horror as a sea plane’s wing tears off in mid-flight.