TV Guide Smithsonian Friday

The USAF's deadliest bomber in World War II campaigns in Europe and the Pacific, the B-17 Flying Fortresses were used by the Women Airforce Service Pilots.

Experts and veterans discuss the high-speed dives and pinpoint accuracy of the Junkers Ju-87 Stukas became a symbol of German power.

An analytical look is taken at the Supermarine Spitfire and the obstacles the aircraft faced before it could take on the Luftwaffe and dominate the skies.

Narrators Beau Weaver and Bob Naughton investigate how Little Bird helicopters that started as hunter-killers became life-saving rescue aircrafts.

Narrators Beau Weaver and Bob Naughton talk about Britain's flagship super jet during the Cold War and its most thrilling flights in the late 20th century.

The F-111 bomber jet was a Vietnam-era failure that became vital in Libya and the Gulf War.

Viewed from the sky, the Empire State of the South offers views of natural wonders such as the Appalachian Mountains as well as the imposing skyline of Atlanta.

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.

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.

On a 1994 flight, an Aeroflot pilot allows his two children into the cockpit, and the autopilot controlling the ailerons is accidentally switched off.

Investigations into the 2011 crash of a Russian passenger jet seem to indicate that pilot error and improper certification were to blame for the accident.

Examining spatial disorientation, the main cause of all air accidents that even the most experienced pilots can't avoid.

Features on three accidents that have captured the world's attention are presented, and the efforts of investigators as they try to solve the mysteries.

Any one factor affecting an aircraft in flight can bring the plane down, but the most common factor is human error.

Less than an hour after take-off, the pilot of Swissair Flight 111 smells smoke in the cockpit, and minutes later a fire on the plane causes electrical failure.

In September 1992, pilots miscalculate their approach to a Nepalese airport, crashing their plane into the Himalayan Mountains, resulting in 167 deaths.

A team of aerial investigators look at footage where planes have crashed because of the wind in hopes of determining if it really was the wind's fault.

An Airbus A320 landing in Sao Paolo, Brazil, slides off the runway and hits a warehouse and explodes, killing 199 people in the plane and on the ground.

A Danish pilot crash lands a McDonnell-Douglas MD-81 shortly after takeoff when ice from the wings that was missed during de-icing is sucked into the engines.

A Swiss air traffic controller who is monitoring too many planes at once allows the pilots of a Russian charter flight and a German freighter to collide.

The initial flight of a mission attempting to rescue Vietnamese orphans comes to a sad end as the locks on the C-5 Galaxy's rear cargo door fail.

An ATR-72 heading home to Tunisia lands in the sea near Italy after a mistake during maintenance results in the installation of the wrong fuel gauge.

On August 31, 1988, Delta Airlines Flight 1141 crashed after taking off from Dallas-Fort Worth airport, the NTSB determined that it was caused by pilot error.

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.