Smithsonian HD Network

After touching down, a Taiwanese commuter plane is rocked by a massive explosion, but investigators find no evidence of a bomb on board.

A helicopter carrying offshore drilling workers crashes into the ocean, leading to an investigation that reveals a fatal flaw in the chopper's design.

A cleaning crew makes a careless error while cleaning a Boeing 757, affecting the plane's computer system and causing it to crash into the Pacific Ocean.

The investigation into the 2014 crash of a TransAsia flight uncovers a systemic problem with the airline.

Three planes fatally out of balance force investigators to question every calculation; it's a flight risk that's entirely preventable, and yet repeated disasters reconfirm the need for critical backup systems.

In one of the world's busiest airports, a large passenger plane crashes into a smaller one; a 1986 midair crash between planes near Los Angeles brings attention to disturbing congestion at airports.

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

Design innovations evolve as a result of terrible air disasters due to pressurization failure or explosive decompression.

The crash of a commuter flight to Detroit leads investigators to a cause the industry has known about for years.

Atlantic Airways Flight 670 careened off the runway and became engulfed in flames.

Caught in a major tropical storm, a 737 crashes just short of the runway on a Caribbean island, but the accident may not have been weather-related.

Air France Flight 296 fails to regain altitude after performing a fly-by during an air show at Mulhouse-Habsheim Airport.

A bomb explodes on Air India Flight 182 en route from Canada to India causing it to disintegrate over the coast of Ireland.

If pilots aren't prepared when the runway is in sight, a landing can quickly become a tragedy.

Flydubai Flight 981 enters a rapid descent and crashes nose-first at Rostov-on-Don Airport in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, after aborting its second landing attempt in poor weather conditions.

Devastating failures in the air put pilots to the test and shine a light on three feats of flying.

Experts examine how the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and the Bhopal gas tragedy happened; they also explore the consequences and how they could have been avoided.

A look at life in the Pacific before, during, and after the attack on Pearl Harbor, presented through home movies and combat footage.

Months after the Pearl Harbor attack, shock waves reverberate in every corner of the Pacific; Americans deploy to stem the enemy's advance; after culture clashes, Allied forces later bond over efforts to thwart Japan's move to control New Guinea.

In 1943, the United States engages in a new series of island-hopping invasions; the first stop is the Tarawa Atoll, where troops embark upon the largest amphibious invasion ever staged in the Pacific to fight one of the costliest battles of the war.

By the summer of 1944, the United States is gaining the upper hand in the Pacific War with better training, troop numbers and supply lines; it aims for the heart of Japan's inner defense ring, engaging in a naval battle for Saipan in the Marianas.

Allied forces move to take the valuable islands of Tinian and Guam that threaten American air operations; meanwhile, Gen. Curtis LeMay is tasked with planning and executing a fire bombing campaign against Japan.

Allies slug it out on the island of Peleliu in a campaign to pave the way for Gen. MacArthur's return to the Philippines; footage shows troops enduring the muddy muck in the Philippines; Japan unveils a devastating new tactic, the kamikaze.

By the spring of 1945, the United States begins to take back the Philippines; on Borneo, the Australians invade Labuan; when the United States invades Okinawa, Japan makes a strong stand and launches the biggest kamikaze attacks of the war.