On May 25, 2002 — China Airlines Flight 611 (Boeing 747): Twenty minutes after leaving Taipei for Hong Kong, a jumbo jet vanishes from radar over the Taiwan Strait, and the answer lies buried decades in the past.

Scratching the Surface

Stephen Bogaert

Lockerbie Disaster

Season 20

On Dec 21, 1988 — Pan Am Flight 103 (Boeing 747): Four days before Christmas, a bomb destroys a jumbo jet over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, launching one of the largest criminal investigations in history.

On Sep 8, 1989 — Partnair Flight 394 (Convair 580): A charter carrying shipping company employees from Oslo to Hamburg suddenly dives from 22,000 feet into the sea, and the wreckage tells a troubling story.

Blown Apart

On Nov 12, 1996 — Saudia Flight 763 (Boeing 747) & Kazakhstan Airlines Flight 1907 (Il-76): Two airliners converge in the evening sky near Charkhi Dadri, India — the deadliest mid-air collision in history.

Sight Unseen

On Apr 4, 1975 — USAF C-5A Galaxy: In the final days of the Vietnam War, the first flight of a mass evacuation of orphans suffers a catastrophic failure shortly after leaving Saigon, forcing a desperate emergency landing.

Operation Babylift

On Aug 6, 2005 — Tuninter Flight 1153 (ATR 72): En route from Bari to the island of Djerba, a turboprop's engines fall silent over the Mediterranean, forcing the crew to ditch within sight of the Sicilian coast.

Falling Fast

On Jan 1, 2007 — Adam Air Flight 574 (Boeing 737): A New Year's Day flight vanishes over the Makassar Strait in Indonesia, and the hunt for wreckage and answers exposes an industry under strain.

Lost

On Oct 31, 1994 — American Eagle Flight 4184 (ATR 72): Holding in freezing drizzle above Indiana on the way to Chicago, a commuter turboprop suddenly rolls out of control, and icing research itself goes on trial.

Deep Freeze

Catastrophic incidents in aviation history are meticulously reenacted, providing insight into what went wrong and if the crashes and near-disasters could have been prevented. Accounts from survivors combine with cockpit recordings and computer images to weave the gripping tales, and expert testimony reveals the hows and whys behind the events, some of which have resulted in important changes to aviation safety and regulations.

Scratching the Surface

Seasons25

Season 21 Episodes8

Cast1

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