Mysterious Crash of Flight 201

Travel into the world of aviation and explore the dreams of flight with the Smithsonian as they step into the unknown.

Fifty years ago, on Sunday, 2 March 1969, Concorde flew for the first time. Starting from this inaugural flight, the film goes back in time to the origin of the conception of Concorde.

The 2022 film "Top Gun: Maverick" continues the adventures of the ace fighter pilot made famous by Tom Cruise. But how true to life is the fictional story to the real Naval Fighter Weapons School? TOPGUN flight instructors take us inside the most famous and prestigious training program in the sky, where only the top 5% of U.S. naval aviators are accepted. We reveal the tactics and techniques taught in the classroom and in the air. We also examine how the real Navy TOPGUN came to be, an origin story that is truly stranger than fiction.

The film conversation centers around workplace safety and the concept of personal responsibility. Ron and Mary discuss Ron's recent vacation and then transition to a review of recent workplace accidents. These incidents include an electrician falling due to a missing safety cone, a worker getting a shock from faulty equipment, and a drill press operator injuring his finger due to an improperly secured backup bar. They identify a common issue: the "let George do it" syndrome, where employees assume someone else will handle safety checks. They emphasize the importance of personal responsibility in safety practices and propose using these cases in training programs to illustrate the need for vigilance and proactive safety measures. The conversation ends with a story from Ron about a past mistake, highlighting the critical lesson of not taking safety for granted and ensuring one's own and others' safety by not relying on others to always handle safety checks.

A British expeditionary team attempt a dangerous, world-first circumnavigation of the Earth in an 80-year-old vintage World War II fighter to inspire a new generation through the freedom of flight.

An exhilarating documentary film that celebrates the unsung hero of aviation - the local airport - by tracing the life, history, and struggles of an airport icon: Southern California's Van Nuys Airport. Featuring thrilling aerial photography and a sweeping original score, the film dispels common misconceptions and opposes criticism of General Aviation airports.

Explorer Robert Ballard sets out to solve the mystery of Amelia Earhart's disappearance as he and a team of experts travel to the remote Pacific atoll named Nikumaroro in search of her final resting place.

The Antonov AN-225 Mriya, the world's largest cargo plane and the pride of Ukraine, was destroyed in a Russian attack on Hostomel airport near Kyiv at the beginning of the invasion in 2022. With exclusive images and never-before-seen film footage, test pilots and engineers of the aviation giant tell its legendary story.

Meet Brian Boland—the beloved, eccentric hot air balloonist and artist from the rural Upper Valley of Vermont.

Fidelis Cloer is a self-confessed war profiteer who found The Perfect War when the US invaded Iraq. It wasn't about selling a dozen cars, or even a hundred, it was a thousand-car war where security would become the ultimate product.

A fresh perspective on a modern-day miracle that many of us take for granted: flying. Narrated by Harrison Ford and featuring an original score from Academy Award® winning composer James Horner, the film takes viewers to 18 countries across all seven continents to illuminate how airplanes have empowered a century of global connectedness our ancestors could never have imagined.

Few aircraft have attracted more attention than the ominous black supersonic jet that for years has ranged the world on reconnaissance missions. This is the definitive tribute to an extraordinary peacekeeper, the SR-71 Blackbird. The History. The Technology. The Missions. The Pilots. And compelling, gripping footage of the Blackbird itself, on its "rocket ride" through the world's airspace.

In 1916, while France was bogged down in trench wars, a young engineer named Marcel Bloch was inventing a revolutionary propeller, the Eclair propeller. It would prove very effective in air combat. Today, Dassault Aviation, named after the moniker its founder took on after the war, is among the jewels of the worldwide aeronautics industry. From astonishing growth to unexpected crises, the Dassault group's destiny is closely linked to the history of France and the saga of modern aviation. As it marks its first century of existence, the company continues to fly in civil and military aviation, still following the path of its founder's visionary spirit, Marcel Dassault.

In the 21st century, commercial planes don’t just vanish. But in 2014, Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 did. Tells the definitive story of the flight’s devastating disappearance and unravels the many theories and conspiracies that have attempted to explain the cause of the lost flight. This special draws on new evidence, expertise from investigators and candid testimony from those closest to the tragedy–the victims’ families.