An Alitalia airliner crashes into a forested hillside just a few miles from a Zurich runway.

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.

A computer glitch causes a highly automated Qantas Airways flight to nearly fall out of the sky.

A high-stakes demonstration flight in Indonesia turns catastrophic when a Russian jet slams into a mountain.

An Air France Concorde crashes into a Paris hotel after takeoff on July 25, 2000.

When a commercial airliner goes down in eastern Ukraine in 2014, examiners must conduct an investigation in the middle of a war zone.

A 1988 commercial flight crashes just moments after liftoff and erupts in flames.

The investigation into the 2014 crash of a TransAsia flight uncovers a systemic problem with the airline.

Forest fires and a series of human errors lead to the deadliest air disaster in Indonesian history.

When an American cargo plane crashes moments after takeoff, investigators uncover a systemic problem with aircraft maintenance.

Investigators struggle to understand the unusual flight path and Himalayan crash site of Thai Airways Flight 311.

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

When a plane carrying Russian tourists crashes in Egypt, investigators face political tensions and terrorist claims in their search for the truth.

The dashcam of a passing car captures stunning footage of the final moments of a Taiwanese commuter aircraft as it banks steeply, clips an elevated highway and nosedives into the river; investigators find no signs of pre-impact malfunction.

A Boeing 767 crashes miles from a South Korean runway; the investigation leads to contradicting stories between the surviving pilot and air traffic control.

The crash of a commuter flight to Detroit leads investigators to a cause the industry has known about for years.

The pairing of a domineering pilot and an inexperienced first officer has deadly consequences in northern Minnesota.

The inside story of one of history's most infamous and complex investigations: the 1996 crash of TWA Flight 800.

An investigation into Continental Airlines Flight 1713, which crashed on takeoff from Denver during a snowstorm in 1987, changes commercial flight forever.

When a cargo plane crashes at a U.S. airfield in Afghanistan, investigators reach a conclusion that ultimately proves incorrect.

When an A300 stalls and crashes just before landing in Japan, fears arise about the plane's complex automated systems.

Taking to the sky in an airplane can be dangerous when the weather doesn't cooperate. This documentary series investigates aviation accidents and how the elements contributed to them. Interviews with witnesses and survivors, testimony by experts, and data from the plane's black box aid in exploring each incident. The FAA's case files are used to create animations to diagram what happened before each crash. Fog, haze and hail are some of the weather conditions responsible for the disasters.

Advanced computer graphics, forensic science, eyewitness accounts, interviews with experts, archival footage and re-enactments piece together in great detail the events that led to some of the biggest disasters of modern time.

"X-Ray Mega Airport" uses the latest technology to reveal the inner workings of Frankfurt Airport in Germany. The series employs computer-generated imagery to demonstrate what is underneath the surface of a plane, the internal space of a cargo-carrying truck, and even exposes what goes on in the minds of passengers and crew during a flight. The brain waves of a pilot are documented as he attempts to land an aircraft in crosswinds, and engineers are seen working on an Airbus A380's engine. Other episodes include the operations behind movement of luggage, how the conveyor belt system works and how controllers can single out pieces of luggage among thousands.

This documentary series focuses on extreme construction projects -- be they the biggest, tallest, longest or deepest in the world -- and the machines used to create extraordinary structures. Episodes include the people responsible for the cutting-edge design and engineering of each build, talking about how concept transformed to reality. The processes that go into staffing and operating the modern marvels once they are completed are also covered.

To soar through the skies is a dream. Modern technology has allowed human beings to take to the skies and while plane crashes are rare, there's still the issue of near misses. These technological advances are capturing these near misses on camera and cockpit recordings to provide insight as to the terror they can cause. See how pilot errors, technical failures, massive storms and small mistakes can place passengers into life or death situations and the why of these incidents and how to prevent them from reoccurring.

Discovery's popular "Mighty" franchise ("Mighty Ships") continues with "Mighty Planes," which takes to the skies and explores the most impressive aircraft in the world. Each episode highlights one incredible plane, from the world's only flying eye hospital to the largest passenger jet ever built, as it takes on a high-stakes mission from beginning to end. "Mighty Planes" brings viewers unprecedented access to the planet's most impressive aircraft with in-depth looks at the science of aviation and the lives of the people responsible for making it all happen.

Despite cameras and guards monitoring their every move, some prisoners are daring enough to test the system and execute a breakout. Told from the perspectives of both the escapees and the law enforcement teams tracking them, this series documents some of recent history's high-profile jailbreaks and the various methods officials use to outsmart the criminals, leading to their eventual recapture.