Air Crash Investigations

One of the largest train disasters in US history. A freight train rumbling through the calm suburb of San Bernardino, California, derails and crashes, destroying homes and taking lives. Less than two weeks later a pipeline, weakened in the clean-up of the derailment, explodes.

On 23 November, 1996, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 was hijacked by three Ethiopians seeking political asylum. The pilot attempted to trick the hijackers by secretly changing the flight route demanded. But after a struggle and despite the pilots heroic efforts, the plane crashes in the Indian Ocean near Comoros after running out of fuel, killing 125 of the 175 passengers and crew on board.

December 7, 1987: En route to San Francisco from LAX, Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight #1771 is cruising high above the Californian countryside. Apart from some mild turbulence, the routine regional flight is uneventful. That is, until the pilots hear gunshots in the cabin. They report the gunfire to the tower and moments later, the aircraft falls into a steep dive and crashes into a remote field