Smithsonian TV Guide — Monday, 20 July 2026

Browse the full Smithsonian TV guide for Monday, 20 July 2026. 24 programmes listed , including 6 tonight. US listings updated daily — scroll down to tonight's highlights or use the day tabs above to browse the weekly schedule.

Early Morning

00:00 1h

Mayday: Air Disaster

Splash Down True

Splash Down

An investigation of three aircraft landing on open water in emergency situations.

01:00 1h

Mayday: Air Disaster

S25 · E3 · Power Struggle Documentary

Power Struggle

Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 crashed into the Java Sea after a hard left bank, revealing deadly defects in the investigation that followed.

02:00 1h

Mayday: Air Disaster

Maintenance Mistakes True

Maintenance Mistakes

A team of aerial investigators investigates a trio of crashes and learns that the nuts and bolts of each plane went unchecked, which spells catastrophe.

03:00 1h

Mayday: Air Disaster

S18 · E4 · Deadly Airspace Documentary

Deadly Airspace

On July 17, 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, was shot down by a surface-to-air missile over the Ukraine-Russia border, killing all passengers and crew aboard.

04:00 1h

Mayday: Air Disaster

S4 · E6 · Panic Over the Pacific Documentary

Panic Over the Pacific

A China Airlines Boeing 747 encounters a patch of turbulence so strong that parts of its tail are torn off and its number four engine flames out.

05:00 1h

Mayday: Air Disaster

S9 · E6 · Cold Case Documentary

Cold Case

An Air Ontario flight crashed in 1989 because wing icing kept it from taking off properly; three years later, a USAir flight failed in the same manner.

Morning

06:00 1h

Mayday: Air Disaster

S1 · E2 · Racing the Storm True

Racing the Storm

An American Airlines captain tried to land in a thunderstorm in Little Rock, Arkansas and failed to engage its ground spoilers, losing control of the craft.

07:00 1h

Mayday: Air Disaster

S7 · E3 · Blown Apart True

Blown Apart

In 1989 a Convair 580 has a structural failure off the coast of Denmark after substandard replacement parts were used to couple the tail section to the fuselage

08:00 1h

Mayday: Air Disaster

S14 · E10 · Death in the Arctic Documentary

Death in the Arctic

A Boeing 737 crashes while approaching the runway in bad weather at a remote Inuit village in the Northwest Territories, and three people survive.

09:00 1h

Mayday: Air Disaster

S6 · E3 · Science of Disaster: Who's Flying the Plane? True

Science of Disaster: Who's Flying the Plane?

The interface between the flight crew and the airplane's onboard avionics can go wrong in a variety of ways, including instrument failure and pilot error.

10:00 1h

Mayday: Air Disaster

Death from Above True

Death from Above

A community experiences terror after witnessing a horrifying mid-air tragedy and flaming debris rains down on them.

11:00 1h

Mayday: Air Disaster

S16 · E10 · Afghan Nightmare Documentary

Afghan Nightmare

On April 29, 2013, National Airlines Flight 102 crashed just moments after taking off from Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, killing all seven people on board.

Daytime

12:00 1h

Mayday: Air Disaster

S14 · E9 · No Clear Options Documentary

No Clear Options

In Ireland in 2011, a commuter airplane flying from Belfast to Cork makes two failed attempts to land in dense fog at Cork and crashes on its third try.

13:00 1h

Mayday: Air Disaster

Pitch Problems True

Pitch Problems

Investigators when they learn Alaska Airline Flight 261, American Eagle Flight 4184 and United Airlines Flight 585 went down due to pitch problems.

14:00 1h

Mayday: Air Disaster

S22 · E10 · Loss of a Legend Documentary

Loss of a Legend

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

15:00 1h

Mayday: Air Disaster

S7 · E8 · Frozen in Flight True

Frozen in Flight

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.

16:00 1h

Mayday: Air Disaster

S13 · E5 · Queens Catastrophe Documentary

Queens Catastrophe

In November 2001, an Airbus A300 falls into a New York City neighborhood, and the FBI and the NTSB must determine whether the crash was caused by terrorists.

17:00 1h

Mayday: Air Disaster

S14 · E1 · Choosing Sides Documentary

Choosing Sides

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.

Evening

18:00 1h

Mayday: Air Disaster

Instrument Confusion True

Instrument Confusion

Instrument failure or confusion involved in air accidents.

19:00 1h

Hell Below

S2 · E1 · In Enemy Waters Documentary

In Enemy Waters

The crew aboard the USS Silversides put their lives on the line when Japanese reinforcements threaten to destroy a team of Marines.

20:00 1h

Hell Below

S2 · E2 · Submarine Sabotage Documentary

Submarine Sabotage

Commander Eugene Fluckey heads to Northern Japan to end his career on a high note and change the manner in which submarines are used in battle.

21:00 1h

Hell Below

S2 · E3 · U - Boat Killers Documentary

U - Boat Killers

U.S. Navy Bronze Star recipient Daniel Gallery and his hunter-killer task force try to prevent U-boat ace Werner Henke from taking the Atlantic.

22:00 1h

Hell Below

S2 · E4 · Defying Rommel Documentary

Defying Rommel

The Axis powers aim to take control of the Suez Canal, but the Allied powers on the island of Malta are determined to hold them back.

23:00 1h

Hell Below

S2 · E5 · Sub vs. Sub Documentary

Sub vs. Sub

A Royal Navy V-class submarine come face-to-face with a German U-boat as it embarks on a delivery mission to Japan with top-secret technology.