
Statistically, traveling by airplane is safer than driving and other forms of transportation, but when something goes wrong during a flight, it can be catastrophic with potentially hundreds of lives at stake. This series examines some of the world's worst air disasters, using official reports, transcripts and interviews with people involved to tell the stories of midair mishaps and discover what went wrong in each case. Episodes include a discussion of how the weather affects flights -- including stories of aviation disasters and near-misses -- and a New Year's Eve flight that fell from the sky into the Florida Everglades.

Experts investigate the West Air Sweden Flight 294 crash and how the cargo jet nosedived into the Swedish Arctic at speeds nearing 600 mph.

Experts investigate an unfortunate string of events that caused the freshly serviced Air Astana Flight 1388 to become completely uncontrollable.

Three last-resort water landings, all handled differently yet each one crucial to improving the outcomes of ditching on open water.

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