Air Crash Investigation season 11

On 17 July 2007, TAM Airlines Flight 3054 careens off runway 35L at Brazil's Congonhas Airport and crashes at high speed into a warehouse adjacent to a filling station, killing all 187 people on board the aircraft and 12 people on the ground. Incorrect engine throttle settings upon landing caused one engine to reverse thrust while the other increased power, causing the aircraft to lose control.

On 16 August 2005, West Caribbean Airways Flight 708 deep-stalls while cruising and crashes in rural Venezuela during a thunderstorm. Investigators determined that the pilots misinterpreted the stall as an engine failure and took no recovery action until it was too late.

On 12 December 1985, Arrow Air Flight 1285, carrying troops of the US Army's 101st Airborne Division, stalls and crashes just seconds after taking off from Gander International Airport in Canada, killing all 256 people on board. The cause of the crash remains disputed: the Canadian Aviation Safety Board (CASB) concluded that ice on the wings, combined with miscalculated weight, was the cause, but a minority report claims an on-board explosion.

On 11 September 1991, Continental Express Flight 2574 tips into a dive and crashes into a field while initiating its landing sequence. All 14 people on board are killed. Improper maintenance allowed a section of the horizontal stabilizer to break loose during flight, after which the pilots had no control.

On 6 February 1958, British European Airways Flight 609, carrying members of the famed Manchester United association football team, club officials and journalists, crashes into a house about 300 meters from the end of the runway in Munich after it fails to become airborne, killing 23 of the 44 people on board. The cause of the crash was slush on the runway, which slowed the aircraft down and prevented it from reaching takeoff speed.

On 9 October 2002, the lower rudder segment of Northwest Airlines Flight 85 suddenly deflects to the left. The pilots divert the aircraft to a successful emergency landing at Anchorage, Alaska, by using engine thrust for control. The incident was attributed to a malfunction of the rudder's hydraulic control module.

On 22 December 1999, Korean Air Cargo Flight 8509 crashes into a field at night about 55 seconds after taking off from London Stansted Airport on a flight to Milan, Italy, killing all four crew members on board. The causes of the crash were the captain following the indications of a malfunctioning attitude indicator and lack of communication amongst the crew members.

On 25 September 1978, Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 182 collides with a light aircraft while approaching San Diego International Airport and crashes in a residential area in California. All 137 people on the two aircraft and 7 people on the ground are killed.

On 11 July 1991, Nigeria Airways Flight 2120 is taking off from King Abdulaziz International Airport with 247 Hajj pilgrims and 14 crew on board. Two under-inflated tires burst during the takeoff, starting a fire on the landing gear. The crew is unaware of the fire and retracts the gear after takeoff, causing the fire to spread. Encountering problems, the crew tries to return the aircraft to the airport, but it breaks up and crashes about three kilometres from the runway, with no survivors.

On 7 December 1987, Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771 crashes at the speed of sound on a mountainside in rural San Luis Obispo County, California. All 43 people on board are killed. Investigators found that passenger David Burke, a former USAir employee, took a gun on board the aircraft and shot the pilots in a murder-suicide plot to kill his former supervisor (who was also a passenger on board) after being fired from his job days earlier.

On 24 May 1988, TACA Flight 110 flies through a thunderstorm and both engines flame out. The captain manages to make a deadstick landing on a narrow grass levee in the Michoud area of eastern New Orleans, saving the lives of everyone on board.

On 8 October 2001, Scandinavian Airlines Flight 686 is taking off at Milan's Linate Airport in thick fog. On the runway, it collides with an Air Evex business jet bound for Paris, France. Flight 686 suffers major damage and crashes into a nearby building shortly afterwards. All 114 people on board the two aircraft are killed, along with 4 on the ground. The business jet's crew had made a wrong turn while taxiing in the fog and inadvertently taxied onto the runway.

On 19 July 1989, the tail-mounted number-two engine of United Airlines Flight 232 explodes, damaging all of the aircraft's hydraulic systems and leaving the flight controls unusable. By varying engine thrust, the pilots manage to crash-land the aircraft at the Sioux Gateway Airport in Iowa, saving the lives of 185 of the 296 people on board. Subsequent investigation traced the engine failure to a fatigue crack in the fan hub stemming from a defect introduced before the disk was even made (when the original titanium ingot used to make it was formed).