Smithsonian HD Network

The naval fighter designed to counter the Japanese Zero turns the tide of the war in the Pacific.

The true story of the F-14 Tomcat, the military aircraft made famous in "Top Gun"; how it served as the US Navy's top carrier fighter for a generation.

The massive AC-130 provides unparalleled close air support to U.S. and allied ground troops.

An inside look at the P47 Thunderbolt and the critical role it played in both the European and Pacific Theaters of World War II.

The Marine Corps' V-22 Osprey.

The F-15 Eagle's conquests in Iraq, Yugoslavia and even space.

A soaring tour over Southern California explores the stunning beaches, vast deserts, sprawling city and unique culture.

A coast-to-coast tour over America's man-made structures, old and new; the Statue of Liberty and the Golden Gate Bridge.

Taking an aerial tour of Virginia.

A high-flying tour of Connecticut; exploring the safe harbors, buildings and rich maritime history; the home state of Mark Twain, PT Barnum and Katharine Hepburn; the exclusive Gold Coast, the Thimble Islands and the historic cities.

From battlefields where hundreds died to Beale Street where musical legends were born.

Northern state's green forests; red-painted barns and sugar maples.

An aerial view of Arkansas, where settlers' westward journeys began and the scene of Bonnie and Clyde's most serious crime; a view of the land of raging rivers, vast wilderness and legends of the Wild West.

Pilots of Southern Airways Flight 242 must try to land on a Georgia highway after the engines die and the windshield shatters.

Chalk's Ocean Airways flight 101 crashes just after take-off from Watson Island in Miami on December 19, 2005, killing 20 people.

British Midland Flight 92 slams into Britain's busy M1 motorway, and it seems like a rare case of dual engine failure, but investigators learn the real cause was a tragic misunderstanding.

When critical instruments in the cockpit can't be trusted, the consequences can be fatal.

A propeller breaks off and rips a hole in the fuselage of an aircraft en route from Alaska to Washington 19,000 feet over the Pacific Ocean.

On 12 November 2001, just two months after the September 11 attacks, American Airlines Flight 587 spirals out of control shortly after taking off from John F. Kennedy Airport and crashes into Queens.

On 31 October 2000, Singapore Airlines Flight 006 collides with construction equipment at Chiang Kai Shek airport in Taipei while attempting to take off on the wrong runway in a typhoon, killing 83 of the 179 people on board.

From the wreckage of three airplane crashes, survivors emerge to tell harrowing tales and provide critical data about what to do in an emergency.

A shocking error in the cockpit causes the crash of a 737 on takeoff and leaves an entire nation reeling.

On its final approach to Charlotte, N.C., US Air Flight 1016 is engulfed in intense rain obstructing the view from the cockpit; the pilots abort the landing, but the aircraft crashes to earth, hurtling along a road and breaking apart.

Experts examine what caused the Zeebrugge ferry tragedy and the Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster; what were the consequences, and how could they have been avoided?

The crews of three doomed aircraft make catastrophic blunders.