TV Guide Smithsonian

An examination of the B-29 vessel's involvement in ending the war in Japan and bombing airfields during the Korean War.

The history behind Japan's A6M Zero from World War II is showcased with a look at how the U.S. Navy beat it with their F4U Corsair aircraft.

The C-17 Globemaster has been the primary cargo hauler for the U.S. Air Force for decades, but its critics in Congress almost halted its development.

The U-2 Dragon Lady reconnaissance airplane's very existence was denied until the Soviet Union shot one out of the sky and set off an unpleasant conversation.

The General Dynamics F-16 is fast and nimble, and since the Vietnam War, it has evolved to become the U.S.' primary multirole warplane.

The Magnolia State is explored for everything from civil rights locales to the birthplaces of literary minds like William Faulkner, and everything in between.

An aerial tour of Southern California reveals towering mountains, a valley with Earth's hottest recorded temperatures, and some of the world's largest cities.

Aerial views of iconic American landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty, New York City's Central Park and the Gateway Arch reveal their impressive beauty.

Explore Buenos Aires and the Pampas while soaring over Argentina's vast prairies and capital city.

Patagonia is an environment of extremes, carved by ice and surrounded by violent seas; for wildlife, it's a rugged wilderness where survival is a daily battle.

There is no better way to witness Argentina, and its land of contrasts, than to experience it by air; this soaring tour stretches from one extreme to the next.

Host Mike Davidson goes under one of the world's largest lakes to help with a multi-million-dollar tunnel boring project which is vital to a fast-growing city.

An in-depth look at numerous innovative structures around the world includes a Manhattan high-rise, an Athens cultural center and a university in Singapore.

Engineers and architects discuss the stories behind the Hearst Tower in New York City, the Library Learning Centre in Vienna and the Audain Museum in Vancouver.

Engineers are challenged by an apartment building torn apart by a man-made canyon, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri and a triangular office building.

Host Jay Ellis goes to Hearst Tower in Manhattan and the Jewel Changi Airport in Singapore and learns how designers try to create a worthy museum.

Designers share what inspired their radical structural ideas, including a Manhattan skyscraper, a museum in Paris and a cliffside elevator in Hunan, China.

Jay Ellis pays tribute to the U.S. National Medal of Honor Museum, looks at the leaning tower of gambling and explores a building that allows sunshine.

A mountain-top center defies extreme altitude; a stunning museum is sunk into an old dock; a 600-foot tower with floating gardens rises in Singapore.

Life-and-death decisions made by pilots and their ensuing disasters.

Investigators recover only a few pieces of a French Concorde that crashed and burned on takeoff at Charles de Gaulle Airport in July 2000.

Hurricane Hugo's fury leaves the pilots of NOAA 42 doing everything they can to keep their plane from coming apart or being driven into the ground.

A modern turboprop nosedives towards the North Sea after being struck by lightning, an unusual feature in the plane may explain why.

A flight from Jakarta, Indonesia crashes into the Musi River, and the limited evidence leads investigators to three different conclusions about what happened.

The story of an aircraft disaster in December of 1990 is shared, in which two Northwest Airlines jets collide on an active runway due to the dense fog.

Flight crews and passengers who have lived through airplane crashes share tips for survival, explaining whether the front or the back of the plane is safest.

When a turboprop loses power to the engine and crashes, the investigators discover a fatal defect which is in Dash 8s all over the world.

A controversial theory emerges six years after EgyptAir Flight 804 falls into the Mediterranean Sea and the Egyptian authorities assume an act of terrorism.

On July 30, 1998, Proteus Airlines Flight 706, a commuter flight from Lyon, France to Lorient, France, collided with a light aircraft over Quiberon Bay.