TV Schedule for Smithsonian Channel USA - Pacific

Air Disasters Deadly Climb

In 1985, a DC-9 airliner crashes seconds after takeoff from Milwaukee.

Air Disasters Firebomber Down

A C-130 firebomber crashes while battling an epic Australian wildfire; ATSB investigators must determine the cause within an active fire zone.

Air Disasters Collision Catastrophe

Two planes collide in the sky above southern Germany and numerous people on the ground witness the disaster; based on the wreckage, it is clear that the planes collided in the air; the researchers encounter a mystery.

Air Disasters Pacific Ditching

Just after takeoff from Honolulu, TransAir Flight 810 loses power and ditches in the Pacific; both pilots survive, blaming dual engine failure-but when the Boeing 737 is recovered, the wreckage reveals a different cause.

Air Disasters Fatal Test Flight

On Dec. 22, 1996, Airborne Express Flight 827 crashes into mountainous terrain near Narrows, Va., during a functional evaluation flight, killing all six occupants; the investigation finds that the pilots made improper flight control inputs.

Air Disasters Power Play

When a turboprop loses engine power and crashes in Papua New Guinea, investigators discover a fatal defect existing in Dash 8s around the world.

Air Disasters Mystery Over the Mediterranean

When an Airbus crashes into the Mediterranean Sea, Egyptian authorities, French investigators and an Italian journalist theorize different causes for the accident.

Air Disasters Dead of Winter

An investigation into Continental Airlines Flight 1713, which crashed on takeoff from Denver during a snowstorm in 1987, changes commercial flight forever.

Air Disasters Deadly Descent

When an airbus A330 loses both engines, its pilots must think of a solution before they crash into the South China Sea.

Air Disasters Deadly Detail

After a seemingly routine landing, a Boeing 737 erupts in flames, putting 165 debarking passengers and crew in jeopardy.

How Did They Fix That? Snowbird Ski Resort

Mike Davidson embarks with the team to one of the most extreme, avalanche-prone ski mountains in the world: Snowbird; they battle to keep the steep and deep slopes safe with shovels, snowcats and even a WWII Howitzer.

How Did They Fix That? Extreme Heights: Rope Access Repairs

Mike pushes himself to the limit to work with an elite team of high ropes techs on fixes hundreds of feet in the air; starting 45 stories up on the side of a skyscraper, then working and dangling on the edge.

How Did They Fix That? Philadelphia Transit

In Philadelphia, Mike is on streets, in tunnels, on tracks and in trolley restoration garages; he is working shoulder-to-shoulder with the team that keeps one of America's largest and oldest mass transit systems running smoothly and on time.

How Did They Fix That? Water Bombers: Fixing Aerial Firefighters

With wildfire season ahead, Mike works with an aerial firefighting company as they fix and convert aircraft into firefighting machines, including the transformation of a 1960's C130 plane from aged military aircraft into a stateofthe art waterbomber.

How Did They Fix That? Iter New

At ITER in southern France, teams move massive reactor components, repair a leaking cryostat and test giant robotic arms as they build the world's largest fusion experiment with extraordinary precision.

How Did They Fix That? Deep Space Telescope

Host Mike Davidson goes to the remote Atacama Desert in Chile; at observatory ALMA he works alongside the expert team as they repair some of the world's biggest antennas.

How Did They Fix That? Iter

At ITER in southern France, teams move massive reactor components, repair a leaking cryostat and test giant robotic arms as they build the world's largest fusion experiment with extraordinary precision.

Ice Airport Alaska Live And Let Fly

A lone bush pilot races to stock ultra-marathon checkpoints, a heli pilot risks a sling-load at 4,000 feet and comes inches from disaster, and a vintage DC-3 plane is a village's only lifeline as a storm closes in.

Air Disasters Free Fall

A computer glitch causes a highly automated Qantas Airways flight to nearly fall out of the sky; Australian investigators must find the cause before it happens again.

Air Disasters Sabotage

From delusional hijackers to suicidal pilots, three flights fall victim to astonishing acts of sabotage.

Air Disasters Deadly Mission

A new investigation sheds light on the controversial 1961 plane crash that killed U.N. Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld.

Air Disasters What Happened To Malaysian 370?

Leading aviation experts are confronted with a shocking theory as they investigate one of the greatest aviation mysteries of all time.

Air Disasters Fatal Flaw

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 Massacre Over the Mediterranean

On June 27, 1980, Aerolinee Itavia Flight 870 crashed into the Tyrrhenian Sea near the island of Ustica, Italy; all 81 people on board were killed.