Air Crash Investigation season 9

On 22 August 1985, an engine of British Airtours Flight 28M fails during takeoff, puncturing a hole in the wing fuel tank and starting a fire. The crew successfully abandons the takeoff and stops the aircraft on the runway, but the fire spreads to the cabin. 55 people die before they can evacuate, mainly due to inhaling toxic smoke. The investigation found that a defective engine fuel injector failed and ruptured the fuel tank.

On 16 August 1987, shortly after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, Northwest Airlines Flight 255 stalls and crashes just beyond the runway, killing all but one of the 155 people on board and two people on the ground. Subsequent investigation showed that the pilots failed to configure the aircraft's flaps and slats for takeoff. It was also discovered that the aural takeoff warning did not sound, but for unknown reasons.

On 26 June 1988, Air France Flight 296 fails to climb and crashes into trees after performing a flyby during an airshow at Mulhouse-Habsheim Airport, killing 3 people. The cause of the crash is disputed: the investigation blamed the pilot, but the captain himself claims that the cause was a problem with the fly-by-wire computer.

On 1 February 1991, USAir Flight 1493 collides with SkyWest Airlines Flight 5569 on the runway at LAX, killing 35 people. An air traffic controller mistakenly assigned Flight 1493 to land on a runway where the SkyWest Airlines aircraft was waiting to take off.

In the early hours of 1 September 1983, during the Cold War, Korean Air Lines Flight 007 is shot down after violating Soviet Union airspace, killing all 269 people on board. The crew did not set the autopilot to the correct mode following takeoff, which caused the aircraft to stray off course.

On 10 March 1989, Air Ontario Flight 1363 crashes just after takeoff in snowy weather, killing 24 people. Three years later, on 22 March 1992, USAir Flight 405 also crashes just after takeoff in similar conditions to Flight 1363. The cause of both crashes was ice on the wings, which significantly reduced lift.

On 20 January 1992, Air Inter Flight 148 flies into a mountain while circling to land at Strasbourg Airport, killing 87 people. An error made in programming the aircraft's autopilot, combined with a sudden wind change, caused it to descend more rapidly than expected.

On 19 December 2005, just seconds after takeoff from Miami, Florida, the right wing of Chalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101 breaks off, causing the aircraft to crash into the sea, killing all 20 people on board. The cause of the crash was an improper repair of a fatigue crack in the wing.