America's stories told by the Smithsonian

SMITHSONIAN CHANNEL HD

Investigators discover a shocking mistake when pilots must ditch their plane in the Mediterranean, killing 14 of the 34 passengers.

Air Disasters

Falling Fast

A United States Air Force transport aircraft conducting the inaugural flight of Operation Babylift suffers an explosive decompression when the rear cargo door fails and crashes into a paddy field while attempting an emergency landing.

Operation Babylift

Saudi Airways and Kazakhstan Airlines jets hit each other at 14,000 feet sending both planes spiraling to the ground.

Sight Unseen

America has so many stories to tell. And nobody brings them to your home like Smithsonian Channel.

Smithsonian Channel HD

A bomb explodes on Pan Am Flight 103, causing the aircraft to disintegrate in mid-air and the wreckage of the aircraft to crash into the Scottish town of Lockerbie, killing all 259 people on board and 11 people on the ground.

Lockerbie Disaster

After taking off from Taiwan, a China Airlines 747 suddenly disappears from radar and crashes, killing 225 people.

Scratching the Surface

Watch TV Networks, Shows and Movies | DIRECTV

pageProperties

The latest movies and must watch shows!

referenceIdentity

scrollToTop

tvGuideButtonPanel

Max with DIRECTV

The second season of The House of the Dragon premieres 6/16. Watch on the Max app, HBO Channels or On Demand.

Data/messaging rates may apply for app download/usage. Max subscription required.

Welcome to your ultimate entertainment destination. Watch Special Ops: Lioness and more, all in one network.

Watch exclusive original series and the best of Hollywood with iconic and new blockbusters—uncut and commercial-free.

MGM+ is a trademark of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Lion Corp. All copyrights, trademarks, and other intellectual property or proprietary rights are the property of their respective owners.

Watch visionary original series and hit movies like Power Book II: Ghost, John Wick: Chapter 4, and much more.

DtvEntertainmentCarousel

tvGuideSearchButton

Statistically, traveling by airplane is safer than driving and other forms of transportation, but when something goes wrong during a flight, it can be catastrophic with potentially hundreds of lives at stake. This series examines some of the world's worst air disasters, using official reports, transcripts and interviews with people involved to tell the stories of midair mishaps and discover what went wrong in each case. Episodes include a discussion of how the weather affects flights -- including stories of aviation disasters and near-misses -- and a New Year's Eve flight that fell from the sky into the Florida Everglades.

S21 E5 | Operation Babylift