TV Schedule for Smithsonian Channel USA - Pacific

Air Disasters Steep Impact

When the crash of a commuter plane in Georgia killed a NASA astronaut, a four-term U.S. senator and 21 others, the disaster grabbed headlines around the world.

Air Disasters Dead of Night

Confused, flying blind, and lost in the dark, three crews lose site of the horizon and fall into the same deadly trap.

Air Disasters Mixed Signals

Conflicting alarms confuse pilots of Birgenair Flight 301 before it crashes into the ocean with no survivors.

Air Disasters Pacific Plunge

Fifteen minutes after taking off from Puerto Vallarta for San Francisco, the pilots of an MD-83 realize something is very wrong with their plane.

Air Disasters Collision Course

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

Air Disasters Deadly Silence

Investigators try to figure out why a private Learjet carrying Payne Stewart went rogue before crashing in a South Dakota hayfield.

Air Disasters Head-On Collision

With its conductors sound asleep, a freight train fails to stop and collides with an oncoming passenger train, resulting in tragedy.

Air Disasters Deadly Airspace

When a commercial airliner goes down in eastern Ukraine in 2014, examiners must conduct an investigation in the middle of a war zone.

Air Disasters Pressure Point

Investigators race to determine the cause of the deadliest single aircraft accident in history: the 1985 crash of Japan Airlines 123, which claimed 520 lives.

Air Disasters River Runway

Pilots attempt to land their Boeing 737 in an Indonesian river after losing their engines and electrical power.

Air Disasters Blown Apart

Partnair Flight 394 loses control, breaks up in mid-air and crashes into the North Sea; the aircraft's vertical stabilizer vibrates loose during flight due to excessive wear on substandard bolts, sleeves and pins that have been illegally sold.

Air Disasters Phantom Strike

In September 2006, a brand-new legacy business jet collides with a Boeing 737 over the Amazon forest.

Air Disasters No Warning

Investigators must figure out why the safety systems of a turboprop plane failed to prevent a crash into an Indonesian mountain.

Air Disasters Maintenance Mistakes

A trio of crashes reveals that when the nuts and bolts of maintenance go unchecked, it can spell catastrophe.

Air Disasters Cold Case

Two similar plane crashes in Ontario and New York prompt an investigation which determines that the source of the crashes was due to a design flaw on the wings of the planes, both Fokker F28s.

Air Disasters Target Is Destroyed

During the Cold War, Korean Air Lines Flight 007 is shot down by a fighter jet when it violates Soviet airspace.

Air Disasters Lapse in Security

Three horrific aviation disasters are all linked to breakdowns in vital security measures.

Air Disasters Killer in the Cockpit?

A look at commercial flights that ended in disaster because of suicidal pilots.

Air Disasters Blind Spot

In 1978, PSA Flight 182 collides with a Cessna and crashes into a San Diego residential area killing everyone on both planes and seven people on the ground.

Air Disasters Dead Weight

Air Midwest Flight 5481 plane plummets to the ground just after take off killing all on board and injuring one on the ground.

Air Disasters The Plane That Flew Too High

West Caribbean Airways Flight 708 crashes down killing 160 people in 2005 ultimately leading to the bankruptcy of the troubled airline.

Air Disasters Hockey Team Tragedy

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.

Air Disasters Deadly Solution

Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 stalls and crashes into the Java Sea while flying through a thunderstorm.