TV Guide Smithsonian Friday

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 Allies used flying weapons in the fight against Nazi Germany, from the dogfighters like the P-51 Mustang and British Spitfire to the Hellcat dive-bomber.

Military personnel share the history behind the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom and discuss how the aircraft has been in use since the Cold War.

Engineers, architects and other experts discuss the stories behind a sports museum in Louisiana, a school on stilts in Canada and a Belgian train station.

Host Jay Ellis uncovers the design and engineering secrets surrounding the Grand Canyon Skywalk and goes to the Audain Museum in British Columbia.

Engineers and architects construct a convention center on Vancouver's waterfront, a cocoon-shaped skyscraper in Tokyo and a lift bridge in Bordeaux.

An in-depth look at numerous innovative structures around the world includes a horseshoe-shaped complex in Rotterdam and a rock-shaped opera house in China.

A new museum building bends 1,100-glass tubes to form a facade & tunnels below the water table; an 11-storey glass atrium is built on the former Berlin Wall.

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.

When basketball legend Kobe Bryant is killed in a helicopter crash in Los Angeles, investigators look for clues amid a global outpouring of grief.

As an ATR 72 flew a holding pattern over Chicago in freezing rain, ice that had built up on its wings prevented its controls from working, causing a crash.

A plane of an airline linking the islands of French Polynesia leaves Moorea Island for Tahiti, but two minutes out it suddenly dives into the ocean.

In November 2003, insurgents in Iraq fire at an air freighter owned by European Air Transport; the hit takes out its hydraulics and sets its left wing ablaze.

In 1989, a British Midland jetliner flying out of London loses thrust from both its engines, and the pilots are forced to make an emergency landing.

All 88 passengers & crew on board Alaska Airlines Flight 261 are killed when the plane's horizontal stabilizer break and the plane crashes into the ocean.

A ferry traveling between islands off the coast of Greece is placed on autopilot with no crew member assigned to watch the controls, and it strikes a reef.

On October 25, 1999, a Learjet 35, with professional golfer Payne Stewart onboard, ran out of fuel and strayed off course before crashing into a field.

At a small airport in Illinois with intersecting runways but no control tower, a runway collision becomes one of aviation history's worst ground incidents.

When three different flights ended in tragedy, officials discover proof that minor missteps during takeoff can have disastrous consequences.

Get a stunning view of the soul, strength and spirit of this historic land on Aerial Mexico.

For centuries, Mexico's historic center has been a land of legends and power. From Veracruz's shores to Mexico City's ancient layers, Puebla's epic battle.

Western Mexico reveals the country's most iconic images. From the birthplace of tequila and mariachi to the world's busiest border.

A 2007 Indonesian flight crashed in the Makassar Strait, and authorities concluded that the pilots inadvertently disconnected the autopilot.

A team of experts investigates a string of unfortunate events which caused the Air Astana Flight 1388 to become completely uncontrollable.

A regional airliner crashed as it was trying to land at Zurich, Switzerland, and it was determined that the captain went below the minimum descent altitude.

Examining near-fatal accidents caused by engine failures.