Air Crash Investigations

June 24, 1982 - During a calm flight to Australia, smoke starts filling the cabin of a passenger jet. Within moments, the four engines of the 747 shut down. Just seconds before crashing into the Indian ocean, the engines roar back to life. The terrifying flight changes the way pilots are trained and alters forever the understanding of how volcanoes can affect passenger jets.

In June of 1983, a small mechanical problem at the back of an Air Canada DC-9 quickly turned into an all-out emergency ten kilometres in the air. The pilot had no choice but to attempt an emergency landing at a nearby airport. The plane burst into flames 90 seconds after it hit the runway killing 23 people. How did the fire start? Investigation into the air crash would struggle to find answers.

August 2, 1985. By the time the crew of Delta Airlines Flight 191 reached the threshold of Dallas Fort Worth Airport, they'd already diverted around two separate storms. When the plane enters a third storm front, it is hit by powerful winds that slam the plane to the ground. 136 people die. The crash helps scientists overcome a notorious weather danger to airplanes, the microburst.