TV Guide Smithsonian

On May 9, 2012, a Russian Sukhoi Superjet 100 airliner took off from Jakarta's Halim Airport on a demonstration tour in Indonesia and crashed on Mount Salak.

When a Boeing 747 fills with smoke as it flies over the Indian Ocean the crew locates the fire, which is in the cargo area, and manages to get the doors open.

Using official reports, transcripts and interviews with people who were on the plane when something went wrong, officials can now determine what happened.

In 2002 a Boeing 747 flown by China Airlines comes apart in mid-air, and the cause is traced to damage from a 1980 accident which was never repaired adequately.

A Boeing 747 loses a cargo door and the resulting decompression buckles the floor of the passenger cabin, resulting in the loss of nine passengers.

From the air, the Land of Enchantment displays the Rio Grande Rift, dormant volcanoes and adobe villages, and the birthplace of atomic weapons.

The fertile prairies and rugged mountains of the Treasure State are home to the fastest land mammals in North America, and it has seen many historic events.

A flyover of the Old Dominion provides stunning views of America's capital city and its first European settlement as well as the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains.

A tour of the historic state by air shows towns with colonial-era churches and meeting houses built around village greens as well as a 17th-century university.

An aerial tour of the width of the state reveals mountains and rivers, Civil War battlefields, and the cities where country music and the blues were born.

A helicopter view of the state provides a look at its famous scenery, with maple trees, classic red barns and green forests as far as the eye can see.

From the air, the green forests and the spectacular terrain of the Ozark Mountains and the wide Arkansas and Mississippi rivers are impressive sights.

A flyover of America's smallest state reveals historic lighthouses and a stone millhouse that may have been built by Norsemen before the time of Columbus.

An aerial tour of the Beaver State reveals a lake in the cone of a long-dormant volcano and a mountain range with four of the highest peaks in the U.S.

Jim Conrad gives an aerial tour of the Keystone State and explains that it's where the American Constitution was drafted and where the Civil War was fought.

Along with its fabled "10,000 Lakes," the North Star State contains the headwaters of North America's longest river and its largest shopping mall.

The revolutionary history surrounding the city of Boston is examined as an in-depth look is taken at the individuals who founded the city.

A helicopter team travels from coast-to-coast seeking out landmarks that celebrate over two centuries of leaders who had a hand in shaping America's history.

The millions of acres of untamed land and great ancient stones of the state of Idaho are explored, featuring a look at the state's unique visual treasures.

Tour the islands of Italy in some of the bluest waters on Earth, that cradled ancient civilizations and come in an assortment of shapes and sizes.

The Southern region of Italy feels like another world with its stunning Greek temples, cities that seem to float and a powerful volcano.

An aerial tour of Central Italy reveals the wonders of ancient Rome, the medieval battlefields of Tuscany and Carrara's marble quarries.

A journey of Northern Italy from the sky, including Milan, the canals of Venice, the Dolomites and the coast of Cinque Terre.

Slush on a runway in Munich keeps an aircraft carrying members of a football team from getting up to takeoff speed, and it crashes into a house.

All four engines of a DC-8 aircraft headed for Oregon's Portland International Airport suddenly stop working, and the pilots make an emergency landing.

When John F. Kennedy Jr.'s Piper Saratoga crashed in July 1999, speculation was rampant all over the world, and the NTSB was under pressure to find answers.

When three flight crews decide to improvise their final approach, they choose to rely on instinct instead of the rules, which will end badly for them.