
Catastrophic incidents in aviation history are meticulously re-enacted, 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.

An Adam Air Boeing 737 crashes into the Makassar Strait killing 102 people on board; the pilots inadvertently disengaged the autopilot while trying to fix the inertial reference system, causing the plane to plunge to the water.

A design flaw sends American Eagle Flight 41-84 smashing into a cornfield outside of Chicago, killing all 68 people on board.

On August 22nd, 1985, 55 people died aboard British Airtours flight 28M when its engine caught fire as it accelerated.

Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes shortly after takeoff in Detroit in 1987, proving to be one of the worst aviation disasters in U.S. history.