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.

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

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