Smithsonian TV Guide — Thursday, 16 July 2026

Browse the full Smithsonian TV guide for Thursday, 16 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

S23 · E7 · Dream Flight Disaster Documentary

Dream Flight Disaster

Investigators discover a minor maintenance issue that meant death for a UK billionaire and his family in an Australian seaplane crash.

01:00 1h

Mayday: Air Disaster

S14 · E8 · Accident or Assassination Documentary

Accident or Assassination

When a Lear Jet carrying the right-hand man of Mexico's president crashes in Mexico City, initial speculation is that the aircraft was sabotaged.

02:00 1h

Mayday: Air Disaster

Reckless Approaches True

Reckless Approaches

Individuals highlight problems leading to three crashes, an argument with no runway in sight, ignoring a critical signal and an exhausted pilot.

03:00 1h

Mayday: Air Disaster

S15 · E8 · Fatal Focus Documentary

Fatal Focus

An investigation into the plane crash of Garuda Flight 200 at an Indonesian airport, where unknown circumstances caused the plane to careen off the runway.

04:00 1h

Mayday: Air Disaster

S1 · E10 · Fire on Board True

Fire on Board

Situations in which airplanes have experienced fires on board the airplanes and passenger cabin fires are featured, which have also helped lead to safer skies.

05:00 1h

Mayday: Air Disaster

S11 · E9 · Under Pressure True

Under Pressure

A Nigerian airliner filled with pilgrims returning from Mecca takes off from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and catches on fire, and the plane falls apart in mid-air.

Morning

06:00 1h

Mayday: Air Disaster

S15 · E9 · Steep Impact Documentary

Steep Impact

After sorting through debris from a 1991 plane crash, investigators test their theory to see if a distorted propeller blade was the cause of the fatal crash.

07:00 1h

Combat Ships

S4 · E8 · Lightning Strikes Documentary

Lightning Strikes

Joseph Balderrama and Kieran O'Brien examine maritime history's most effective lighting strikes and how they turned the tides of many battles.

08:00 1h

Combat Ships

S4 · E2 · Explosion! Documentary

Explosion!

Featuring the destruction of a Nazi mega structure, the devastation of an atomic blast on a battleship fleet and the sinking of a British Battleship.

09:00 1h

Combat Ships

S2 · E1 · Viking Longships Documentary

Viking Longships

A look is taken at longships used by the Vikings, Norse people who raided and traded from their Northern European homelands across sweeping areas of Europe.

10:00 1h

Combat Ships

S1 · E10 · Wooden Warships Documentary

Wooden Warships

Wooden warships are examined as an in-depth look is taken at how American and European technology transformed wartime vessels into armored ships.

11:00 1h

Combat Ships

S2 · E4 · Destroyers and Cruisers Documentary

Destroyers and Cruisers

Two kinds of ships, destroyers, a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship, and cruisers, another type of warship, are examined in detail.

Daytime

12:00 1h

Combat Ships

S1 · E6 · Rescue Ships Documentary

Rescue Ships

An analytical look is taken at historical rescue ships that played a part in transporting people and rescuing refugees and the injured from disaster.

13:00 1h

Combat Ships

S3 · E1 · Game Changers Documentary

Game Changers

Revolutionary designs and ship experiments change the tides of war over centuries.

14:00 1h

Combat Ships

S1 · E4 · D-Day Documentary

D-Day

Firsthand accounts detail the dangerous operation to storm the beaches of Normandy, France as a close look is taken at the technology behind the famed armada.

15:00 1h

Combat Ships

S4 · E5 · Mutiny Documentary

Mutiny

Exploring four stories of uprisings across naval history including the infamous mutiny on the Bounty and the daring takeover of the brig Creole.

16:00 1h

Combat Ships

S2 · E2 · Stealth Documentary

Stealth

World War II operations involving stealth watercrafts, such as the submarine HMS Seraph, are examined in detail, as is the 1985 prototype Sea Shadow.

17:00 1h

Air Warriors

S6 · E3 · F - 4 Phantom True

F - 4 Phantom

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.

Evening

18:00 1h

Air Warriors

S7 · E2 · Top Choppers True

Top Choppers

A look at some of the world's most functional and powerful helicopters includes the Huey aircraft that was used in Vietnam as a rescue helicopter.

19:00 1h

Air Warriors

S7 · E3 · Top Gunships True

Top Gunships

A celebration of the world's top close air support aircrafts, which are designed to enter battles at a moment's notice to cover troops.

20:00 1h

Air Warriors

S5 · E2 · KC-135 Stratotanker True

KC-135 Stratotanker

The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker has served in Vietnam and in all U.S. conflicts since then, refueling American military aircraft in mid-air.

21:00 1h

Air Warriors

S6 · E6 · MiG True

MiG

The history behind the MiG is revealed from the moment it took flight in World War II to fighting against American aircrafts in Iraq.

22:00 1h

Air Warriors

S8 · E4 · Messerschmitt BF 109 True

Messerschmitt BF 109

Experts share an inside look into Nazi Germany's premier fighter, which has been credited with aiding the Nazis in thousands of victories over Allied pilots.

23:00 1h

Air Warriors

S8 · E5 · B-24 Liberator True

B-24 Liberator

Experts share how the B-24 Liberator went from concept to combat in months and how it became the most mass-produced military airplane in history.