Air Crash Investigations Rain, hail, wind - in a heartbeat bad weather can turn an ordinary flight into a nightmare. Tonight we follow the essential work of the US Aviation Weather Centre, which plays a vital role in protecting planes from potentially lethal weather. 2026-08-08 November 12, 1996. Above one of India's busiest airports, the sky ignites as flaming wreckage falls following a horrifying crash. When investigators arrive, they find the twisted remains of two passenger jets and 349 people dead. The vital clues are buried deep underground and investigators must piece together the days events. How could two crews who should have know each others position end up in 2026-08-08 April 4, 1975. At the end of the Vietnam War, the U.S. army loaded hundreds of orphans onto their largest transport aircraft plane to fly them to safety. Only minutes into their escape, the plane lost control and crashed in a paddy field near the airport. Sadly, only half of the children onboard survived. The investigation began immediately, as officials searched desperately for an answer to why t 2026-08-08 On 25 September 1978, PSA Flight 182's Boeing 727 collided into a private Cessna 172 jet while approaching Lindbergh Field and crashed into a residential area in San Diego. It was was the biggest airline disaster at the time in American history, killing all 135 people on board both aircrafts, as well as another 7 people on the ground. Were there technical faults which led to this disaster, or was 2026-08-09 On 11 July 1991, shortly after taking-off from Jeddah's King Abdulaziz International Airport, Nigeria Airways Flight 2120 suffered an in-flight fire. The crew unsuccessfully tried to return to the airport, the plane breaking up within sight of the runway. The plane was carrying 247 Nigerian pilgrims and 14 crew who all perished in the accident. Aviation experts work to determine what caused the fi 2026-08-09 On February 8, 1986 a calm trip through the Rocky Mountains ends in disaster, when a VIA Rail train slams head-on into an enormous freight train. How did the two trains wind up on the same piece of track? An inquiry makes shocking discoveries about the men who run the freight trains in Canada. 2026-08-09