Final Boarding Call

TACA Flight 110

Wed, 13 May 2026 02:00:00 -0600

What happens when a brand-new Boeing 737 flies into a hailstorm so violent that both engines die in the same instant, 16,500 feet above the Gulf Coast? Join Alice and Zach as they explore the 1988 emergency landing of TACA Flight 110, where a 29-year-old captain with one eye, a first officer he trusted, and a brand new aircraft were tested in a way no flight simulator had ever prepared a crew for. Discover how a near-miss nine months earlier was waved off as a freak event, why the engines on one of the most reliable jets in the world were vulnerable in a way no one had imagined, and how a 43-ton glider found the only piece of dry ground for miles. This is the rare story where everyone walks away — including the aircraft itself.

Sources:

"Boeing 737-300 | TACA International Airlines Flight 110, N75356" — Federal Aviation Administration, Lessons Learned from Transport Airplane Accidents
NTSB Brief of Incident FTW88IA109 — National Transportation Safety Board
"Nowhere to Land," Mayday: Air Disaster, Season 11 Episode 11 — National Geographic / Cineflix
"Interview with Capt. Carlos Dárdano: Hero of TACA 110" — Carlos Dardano Fans, YouTube
"This Incredible Pilot: Carlos Dárdano" — Plane & Pilot Magazine
"The Miracle on the Levée" — Fear of Landing
"¡Misión Cumplida! Se Jubila el Histórico Piloto Salvadoreño Carlos Dárdano" — El Diario de Hoy
Aviation Safety Network — TACA Flight 110 Profile

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Email: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.com
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Credits: Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH134

Wed, 06 May 2026 02:00:00 -0600

On the night of July 18, 2018, a Malaysia Airlines Airbus A330 pushed back from Brisbane Airport carrying 215 passengers bound for Kuala Lumpur. Within seconds of takeoff, every airspeed display in the cockpit went red — and the crew had no idea how fast they were flying or why. Join Alice and Zach as they unravel a near-disaster that played out in the dark over the Queensland coast, the chain of small failures that put this aircraft in the air, and the very specific Brisbane Airport problem that nobody at Malaysia Airlines had been told about. Buckle up — this one is a wild ride.

Sources:

ATSB Final Investigation Report AO-2018-053 — Australian Transport Safety Bureau, March 2022
"How Did EVERYONE Miss THIS!? | Malaysian Airlines Flight 134" — Mentour Pilot, YouTube
"Malaysia Airlines mistakes led to 'serious incident' on packed A330" — Australian Aviation
"Pitot covers left on made for tense BUSS ride" — Flight Safety Australia
"A350 pitot probe covers left on prior to pushback demonstrates how assumptions, procedural omissions can lead to unsafe conditions" — Australian Transport Safety Bureau
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH134 — Wikipedia

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online: Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com | Email: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.com | Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod | Facebook: Final Boarding Call | Patreon: patreon.com/finalboardingcall

Credits: Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

The Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster

Wed, 29 Apr 2026 02:00:00 -0600

On a cold January morning in 1986, a launch that had been promoted as a celebration of science and education went catastrophically wrong in front of a watching nation. But the real story of this disaster didn't begin on the launch pad. It began six months earlier, in a memo an engineer wrote to his boss. It continued the night before, in a conference room in Utah, where that engineer laid photographs on a table and begged four men not to kill seven people. Join Alice and Zach as they unravel the story of how the warnings were raised, how they were overruled, and what it cost the people who tried to tell the truth.

Sources:

Report of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident (Rogers Commission Report), Volumes I–V — NASA History Division
"Personal Observations on the Reliability of the Shuttle," Appendix F to the Rogers Commission Report — Richard P. Feynman
The Challenger Launch Decision: Risky Technology, Culture, and Deviance at NASA — Diane Vaughan, University of Chicago Press
Truth, Lies, and O-Rings: Inside the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster — Allan J. McDonald with James R. Hansen
"Challenger: The Final Voyage" — report by Dr. Joseph P. Kerwin to NASA Administrator, July 28, 1986
"Ethical Decisions — Morton Thiokol and the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster" — Roger Boisjoly, MIT lecture, January 1989
"The Challenger Disaster: Making it Personal" — paper presented at ASEE Annual Conference
NASA Challenger STS-51-L crew report and transcript release, 1986
"Christa McAuliffe's Lost Lessons" — NASA STEM archive
"Former Students Remember Christa McAuliffe" — New Hampshire Public Radio
President Ronald Reagan, Address to the Nation on the Challenger Disaster, January 28, 1986 — Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
Columbia Accident Investigation Board Report, Volume I, August 2003

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Email: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
Facebook: Final Boarding Call

Credits:

Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

Trans-Colorado Airlines Flight 2286

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 02:00:00 -0600

On January 19, 1988, a twin-engine commuter plane descended through an overcast Colorado night toward a mountain valley and struck a ridge twelve miles from the runway at Durango. The pilots were experienced. The aircraft was functioning normally. Investigators found no mechanical failure of any kind. So what brought Trans-Colorado Airlines Flight 2286 down on a routine approach — and why did it take more than a year, a stranger's tip at a hotel in Phoenix, and a second round of toxicology testing to find the answer? Join Alice and Zach for the story of a crash that exposed the people hiding inside America's commuter airline system, and the slow, imperfect reforms that followed.

Sources:

Aircraft Accident Report NTSB/AAR-89/01: Trans-Colorado Airlines, Inc., Flight 2286 - National Transportation Safety Board
"A Sickness and Its Cure: The crash of Trans-Colorado Airlines flight 2286" - Admiral Cloudberg, Medium
"Dangerous Approach" - Mayday: Air Disaster, Season 16, Episode 6 - Discovery Channel Canada / National Geographic
"A Continental Express commuter plane crashed on a snow-covered ridge in southwestern Colorado" - UPI, January 20, 1988
"No mechanical failure found in commuter plane" - UPI, January 22, 1988
"Airline crash attributed to cocaine" - UPI, January 31, 1989
"Anti-Drug Program for Personnel Engaged in Specified Aviation Activities, Final Rule" (53 FR 47024) - Federal Aviation Administration, November 21, 1988
"Pilot Records Improvement Act of 1996" - Federal Aviation Administration
"Reinforcement and Rapid Delivery Systems: Understanding Adverse Consequences of Cocaine" - S. Cohen, National Institute on Drug Abuse Monograph 61
"The Behavioral Pharmacology of Cocaine in Humans" - M.W. Fishman, National Institute on Drug Abuse Monograph 50

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Email: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
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Credits: Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

Air Astana Flight 1388

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 02:00:00 -0600

What happens when maintenance technicians reverse a single set of cables, turning a routine ferry flight into a two-hour battle for survival? Join Alice and Zach as they explore the harrowing story of Air Astana Flight 1388, where three pilots found themselves fighting an aircraft that did the exact opposite of what they commanded. With the plane flipping inverted, pulling crushing g-forces, and tearing itself apart in Portuguese skies, the crew faced an impossible challenge: land an aircraft that simply would not obey. Discover how quick thinking, exceptional teamwork, and sheer physical endurance turned what should have been a fatal crash into one of aviation's most remarkable survival stories.

SOURCES

Official Accident Investigation Report - Gabinete de Prevenção e Investigação de Acidentes com Aeronaves e de Acidentes Ferroviários (GPIAAF), Portugal
"Runaway AIRCRAFT! This Aircraft Flew TWO HOURS Without CONTROLS!" - Mentour Pilot YouTube Channel
"Air Astana Flight 1388 - Uncontrollable" - Mini Air Crash Investigation YouTube Channel
"How to Land a 'Completely Uncontrollable' Passenger Jet" - Alex Davies, WIRED Magazine
"How A Maintenance Error Caused Severe Control Issues Onboard Air Astana Flight 1388 In 2018" - Nicole Kylie, Simple Flying
Aviation Safety Network Database Entry for Air Astana Flight 1388
"Air Astana Out Of Control (KC1833 in 2018)" - Fear of Landing

FIND FINAL BOARDING CALL ONLINE:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Email: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
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CREDITS: Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

China Eastern Airlines Flight 5735

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 02:00:00 -0600

On March 21, 2022, a Boeing 737 carrying 132 people entered a near-vertical dive over southern China. Forty minutes into a routine one-hour flight, it was gone — no mayday call, no distress signal, no warning of any kind. But then something strange happened: for thirty seconds, the plane climbed back up. Join Alice and Zach as they piece together what the flight recorders revealed, what one government has refused to tell the world, and why the truth behind this disaster has now been officially classified as a matter of national security.

SOURCES:

"China Eastern Crash Lab Data Suggests Intentional Nosedive" — The Wall Street Journal, Andrew Tangel and Alison Sider
"China Eastern Flight 5735: No Evidence of Mechanical Failure in Preliminary Report" — Reuters
"Four Years Later: China Eastern Investigators Offer No Answers" — Channel News Asia
"China's CAAC Invokes National Security to Keep Crash Investigation Secret" — Wikipedia Reference Archive
"The Mysterious Descent of MU5735: What the Black Boxes Really Told the NTSB" — Simple Flying
"Pressure on Families: The Non-Disclosure Agreements of China Eastern" — The Kathmandu Post
"Boeing 737-800 Safety Records and the Silence of Post-Crash Bulletins" — Boeing Newsroom
"China Eastern MU5735 — Was This a Deliberate Crash?" — Mentour Pilot
"Black Box Analyzed for Pilots' Actions in China Eastern Airlines Crash" — ABC News, Karson Yiu and Bill Hutchinson
"China Eastern Crash May Have Been Intentional" — BBC News
"US Officials Say Evidence Suggests Intentional Crash of China Eastern Jet" — CNN, Nectar Gan
"China Eastern Airlines Flight 5735 Crashes En Route to Guangzhou" — Flightradar24 Blog, Ian Petchenik
"Preliminary Report on China Eastern Airlines Flight MU5735 Accident" — Civil Aviation Administration of China

FIND FINAL BOARDING CALL ONLINE:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Email: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
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CREDITS: Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

Ram 2500 and 3500 Transmission Fires

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 02:00:00 -0600

What happens when America's best-selling heavy-duty truck develops a flaw that can turn a routine highway drive into a fireball? Join Alice and Zach as they investigate a design defect that left Ram owners watching their six-figure trucks melt on the roadside—and the three-year gap between the first fires and corporate action. Discover how a 2019 engineering change created an invisible time bomb under the hood, learn about the "geyser effect" that turned transmission fluid into a blowtorch, and find out whether the recall fix actually solved the problem or just redirected it.

SOURCES:

NHTSA Safety Recall Report 22V-835 (Recall ZA3) - Stellantis transmission fire recall
NHTSA ODI Preliminary Evaluation PE22-003 - Internal investigation documentation
NHTSA Vehicle Owner Questionnaires (VOQ ID 11463132, 11425998, and related complaints)
Stellantis Part 573 Defect Information Report - Technical breakdown of pressure buildup mechanism
NHTSA CAIRS (Consumer Assistance Inquiries) - Field reports and warranty claims
"Ram 2500 and 3500 Engine Fire Recall: What Owners Should Know" - Lemon Law Help by Knight Law Group
TFLTruck (The Fast Lane Truck) - Early investigative reporting on 68RFE overheating
MoparInsiders - Technical history of 68RFE transmission and 2019 valve body redesign
Ram truck owner forums (HDRams, Turbo Diesel Register) - Near-miss incidents and owner experiences
Class-action litigation documents (Top Class Actions, Robins Kaplan LLP)

FIND FINAL BOARDING CALL ONLINE:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Email: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
Facebook: Final Boarding Call

CREDITS: Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

US Airways Flight 1549

Wed, 25 Mar 2026 02:00:00 -0600

What happens when a flock of birds turns an ordinary winter flight into a 208-second race against physics? Join Alice and Zach as they explore the incredible story of US Airways Flight 1549, where Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger made a split-second decision that saved 155 lives on a freezing January afternoon. But this isn't just a story about one heroic pilot—it's about the ferry captains who arrived in four minutes with skills forged during 9/11, the flight attendant who evacuated passengers with a metal beam through her leg, and the strangers who formed human chains to pull survivors from 41-degree water. Discover how preparation, training, and an extraordinary cast of ordinary people transformed certain disaster into aviation's most celebrated survival story.

Sources:

Mayday: Air Disasters Season 10, Episode 5: "Hudson River Runway"
NTSB Final Report NTSB/AAR-10/03
Dave Sanderson's accounts and book "Moments Matter"
Ric Elias TED Talk: "3 Things I Learned While My Plane Crashed"
Flight attendant testimony from NTSB hearings
NY Waterway ferry captain interviews

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Email: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
Facebook: Final Boarding Call

Credits: Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

Eastern Air Lines Flight 212

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 02:00:00 -0600

On September 11, 1974, Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 crashed three miles short of the runway in Charlotte, North Carolina, killing 72 people. The cause wasn't mechanical failure or bad weather — it was a conversation. Discover how cockpit distraction during a routine approach led to one of aviation's most preventable tragedies, and learn about the landmark safety rule that now governs every takeoff and landing worldwide. Among the 72 lives lost were a father and his two sons — a family whose youngest sibling would grow up to become one of America's most recognizable voices and redefine how we talk about grief.

Sources:

National Transportation Safety Board: "Aircraft Accident Report: Eastern Air Lines, Inc., Douglas DC-9-31, N8984E, Charlotte, North Carolina, September 11, 1974" (Report No. AAR-75-09, May 23, 1975)
Federal Aviation Administration: Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) Part 121.542 and Part 135.100 (The "Sterile Cockpit Rule")
Aviation Safety Network: "Accident Description — Eastern Air Lines Flight 212"
Janes, Théoden and Fowler, Scott. "9/11/74: The Untold Story of Charlotte's Deadliest Plane Crash" (Multi-part series). The Charlotte Observer, September 2024
Janes, Théoden and Fowler, Scott. "'I'm Human,' Said the Co-Pilot: The Fight to Regain His License." The Charlotte Observer, May 21, 2025
Fowler, Scott. "Charlotte's Deadliest Plane Crash Has Finally Been Memorialized After 51 Years." The Charlotte Observer, September 10, 2025
Sullenberger Aviation Museum: Flight 212 Memorial Dedication Ceremony Records, June 21, 2025
Gerard, Philip. "The 1970s: Fatal Distraction." Our State Magazine, August 31, 2021 (includes extensive Colette Watson interview)
"The Courage to Fly: Colette Watson's Story." Our State Magazine, 2021
Cooper, Anderson. "Stephen Colbert: Grateful for Grief." All There Is Podcast, September 2022
Lovell, Joel. "Stephen Colbert on Making The Late Show His Own." GQ, August 17, 2015
Schorn, Daniel. "Stephen Colbert On Insincerity." CBS News, April 28, 2006
Admiral Cloudberg. "The Rules of the Game: The Crash of Eastern Air Lines Flight 212" (aviation history analysis)
SkyBrary. "Sterile Cockpit Compliance." Flight Safety Digest (context on FAA delay and pilot union resistance)
NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System. "The Sterile Cockpit" (Directline #4, June 4, 1993)

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
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Email: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.com

Credits: Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

Amelia Earhart

Wed, 11 Mar 2026 02:00:00 -0600

What happens when one of history's most celebrated aviators attempts to circumnavigate the globe and vanishes without a trace? Join Alice and Zach as they investigate the extraordinary life and mysterious disappearance of Amelia Earhart, a pioneering pilot who broke records, shattered glass ceilings, and captivated the world with her courage and determination. Discover how a woman who once avoided flying as a child became the first female to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean — through flames, mechanical failures, and near-death plunges — before setting her sights on becoming the first woman to fly around the world. Follow her final journey on July 2, 1937, as she and navigator Fred Noonan departed New Guinea for Howland Island and never arrived. We'll explore the cascade of equipment failures, weight-saving decisions, and communication breakdowns that turned a daring flight into aviation's greatest unsolved mystery.

Sources:

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum: Used for official mission timelines, technical details of the "Flying Laboratory", and the communications logs between Earhart and the USS Itasca.
The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR): Used for the analysis of the radio antenna removal, the Hooven Report on direction-finding equipment, and research regarding post-loss radio signals.
"Amelia Earhart's Lockheed Electra 10E Special, NR16020" - This Day in Aviation: Provided detailed specifications for the Lockheed Electra 10E Special (NR16020), including engine performance and fuel modifications.
Peter Hancock (University of Central Florida): A comprehensive reexamination of the human factors, ergonomics, and communication failures that plagued the final leg of the flight.
Modern Sciences: An analysis of the radio frequency mismatches and the failure of the "homing" signal.
Recall Aviation Analysis: A deep dive into the physics of the antennas and why the trailing wire was essential for the 500 kHz frequency.
Britannica: Used for the foundational biography and the timeline of the first world flight attempt in March 1937.
"Lockheed Model 10-E Electra" - The Museum of Flight: Technical history of the Lockheed Model 10 series, including the design contributions of Kelly Johnson.
"Does Anyone Remember Fred Noonan?" - William Patrick Dean
"Who Was Fred Noonan, Amelia Earhart's Navigator?" - Fox News
"Fred Noonan" - TIGHAR (The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery)
"Amelia Earhart, Her Husband and the Myths They Created" - The Washington Post
"Amelia Earhart's Husband George Putnam 'Pushed Her to the Brink' New Book Claims" - People
"How Amelia Earhart Became a Legend" - Radio Catskill

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Email: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
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Credits: Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

United Airlines Flight 585 / USAir Flight 427

Wed, 04 Mar 2026 02:00:00 -0600

In the early 1990s, two Boeing 737s fall out of clear skies moments before landing. One in Colorado Springs. One outside Pittsburgh. In both cases, the crews are experienced professionals flying perfectly maintained aircraft. The engines are running normally at impact. The weather in Pittsburgh isn't even a factor. And the investigators who comb through both crash sites — the best aviation safety analysts in the world — find almost nothing. What follows is the longest crash investigation in aviation history: a decade-long hunt through wreckage, laboratory tests, and dead ends that will demand a third aircraft, one surviving pilot, and one extraordinary experiment before the truth finally gives itself up. One hundred and fifty-seven people died before anyone understood why.

Sources:

Mayday: Air Disaster, Season 4, Episode 5, "Hidden Danger"
NTSB Aircraft Accident Report AAR-01/01 — United Airlines Flight 585, Amended Final Report, March 27, 2001
NTSB Aircraft Accident Report AAR-99/01 — USAir Flight 427
NTSB Human Performance Group Chairman's Factual Report — Eastwind Airlines Flight 517 (DCA96IA061)
FAA Airworthiness Directive AD 94-01-07
FAA Airworthiness Directive AD 99-11-05
FAA Airworthiness Directive AD 2002-20-07
FAA 737 Flight Controls Engineering Test and Evaluation Board (ETEB) Findings and Recommendations Summary
Auralis Skies, "The Day an Airplane Took Control — and No One Survived"
The Seattle Times, "Safety at Issue: The 737" investigative series
Denver Westword, "Flight Diversions"
WTAE Pittsburgh, "Flight 427: Pennsylvania's Deadliest Plane Crash, 30 Years Later"
Planesafe.org — Gail Dunham, "Safety – 737 United 585 – Postscript," June 7, 2001
AeroTime, "Revisiting the Boeing 737 Rudder Issues of the '90s"
Aviation Stack Exchange — Boeing 737 rudder servo valve vulnerability discussion
Simple Flying — aircraft component temperature changes in flight
NTSB Press Release, September 26, 2024 — urgent safety recommendations on Boeing 737 rudder system
Aviation Safety Network — United Airlines Flight 585 accident description
Aviation Safety Network — USAir Flight 427 accident description
Wikipedia — United Airlines Flight 585
Wikipedia — USAir Flight 427
Wikipedia — Boeing 737 rudder issues
Everything Explained Today — United Airlines Flight 585 pilot biographical details
Justapedia — Captain Harold Green
Virginia Tech Libraries — USAir Flight 427 passenger list
Historical Marker Database (HMDB) — Widefield Community Park memorial marker
Find A Grave — Captain Peter Germano
Find A Grave — First Officer Charles B. "Chuck" Emmett III

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Email: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
Facebook: Final Boarding Call

Credits: Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

JetBlue Flight 1954

Wed, 25 Feb 2026 02:00:00 -0600

On February 15, 2019, a routine JetBlue flight from San Juan to Fort Lauderdale gained an unexpected passenger when a mother went into labor at 30,000 feet. With no hospital, no surgical team, and no way to pull over, the crew and a handful of strangers became the only thing standing between a safe delivery and a medical catastrophe. Join Alice and Zach as they explore what happens when a baby decides to arrive six miles above the Caribbean — and discover why delivering at altitude is far more dangerous than most people realize. This is the story of the "medical lottery," the invisible safety net that exists on every flight, and the remarkable coincidence that the plane carrying aviation's newest passenger was already named "Born to Be Blue."

Sources:

JetBlue Airways official statement, February 16, 2019
"Baby Born Onboard JetBlue Flight" - TravelPulse, February 18, 2019
"JetBlue passenger gives birth to baby boy" - Fox News, February 18, 2019
"JetBlue Named a Plane 'Born to Be Blue'" - View from the Wing, February 17, 2019
FAA Regulations 14 CFR 121.803 and Appendix A (Emergency Medical Kit requirements)
Aviation Medical Assistance Act of 1998 (49 USC 44701)
MedAire/MedLink ground physician advisory service documentation
"How cabin crews deal with medical emergencies onboard an aircraft" - GlobalAir.com (2024)
Diana Giraldo interviews re: Frontier Airlines in-flight delivery, 2022
Dr. Dale Glenn interviews re: Delta Air Lines cryptic pregnancy delivery, 2021
Journal of Travel Medicine study on documented in-flight births (1929-2018)

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Email: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
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Credits: Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

The Überlingen Mid-Air Collision

Wed, 18 Feb 2026 02:00:00 -0600

On July 1, 2002, two aircraft collided at 36,000 feet over southern Germany, claiming 71 lives—including 45 Russian schoolchildren on what should have been the trip of a lifetime. Discover how a series of seemingly small mistakes—a short-staffed air traffic control center, malfunctioning equipment, and confusion over emergency protocols—created a perfect storm of disaster that could have been prevented at multiple points. Learn about the heartbreaking aftermath that devastated families across two continents and the unimaginable grief that followed one father home from the crash site.

Sources:

Mayday: Air Disasters episode "Deadly Crossroads" (Season 4, Episode 7)
Official BFU (German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation) Final Report
Cockpit Voice Recorder Database (tailstrike.com)
Swiss Federal Court rulings on Skyguide liability (2007, 2011)
Wikipedia articles on 2002 Überlingen mid-air collision and Vitaly Kaloyev
Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives (BAAA)
Communicatio Optima aviation safety analysis
China Daily court coverage (2007)

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Email: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
Facebook: Final Boarding Call

Credits: Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

The Olympic, Titanic and Brittanic

Wed, 11 Feb 2026 02:00:00 -0600

Three people survived the Olympic collision in 1911, the Titanic sinking in 1912, and the Britannic disaster in 1916. Six months later, two of them were on the same ship when a German torpedo struck. One survived this fourth disaster. One didn't. The survivor was then rejected by every shipping line in Britain—not because he lacked skill, but because sailors refused to work with "the jinx." Discover the devastating true story of Violet Jessop, Arthur John Priest, and Archie Jewell—the only three people to survive all three maritime disasters.

Sources:

"Titanic Survivor: The Newly Discovered Memoirs of Violet Jessop Who Survived Both the Titanic and Britannic Disasters" edited by John Maxtone-Graham (1997, Sheridan House Inc.)
British Board of Trade Official Inquiry into the Loss of the SS Titanic (1912) - Lord Mersey's Report
U.S. Senate Inquiry into the Titanic Disaster - Senate Subcommittee Hearings chaired by Senator William Alden Smith (1912)
White Star Line Crew Agreements and Official Logs - National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, UK
Encyclopedia Titanica - Biographical entries for Violet Jessop, Arthur John Priest, and Archie Jewell (www.encyclopedia-titanica.org)
Commonwealth War Graves Commission Records - Archie Jewell memorial entry, Tower Hill Memorial, London
WreckSite.eu - SS Donegal sinking documentation (torpedoed April 17, 1917 by UC-27)
Tower Hill Memorial Records - Merchant Navy casualties with no known grave
"Official History of the War: Naval Operations" - documentation of SS Donegal torpedoing by German submarine UC-27
Southampton Stories - local historical accounts of White Star Line crew members
The Old Salt Blog - "Arthur John Priest: The Unsinkable Stoker" and related maritime history articles
BBC History - biographical profiles of Titanic survivors
Maritime Archaeology Trust - White Star Line vessel documentation and crew records
National Maritime Museum Collections - Olympic-class ship records and crew manifests

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Email: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
Facebook: Final Boarding Call

Credits: Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

JetBlue Flight 1230

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 02:00:00 -0600

On October 30, 2025, a JetBlue flight from Cancun suddenly dove without warning, slamming passengers into the cabin ceiling and hospitalizing 15 people. The pilots hadn't touched the controls. The plane was on autopilot. What investigators discovered wasn't pilot error or mechanical failure—it was something aviation engineers had never prepared for, a vulnerability hiding in plain sight that would trigger the largest emergency grounding in Airbus history within weeks. Join Alice and Zach as they unravel how a burst of solar radiation exploited a software flaw, why 6,000 aircraft were pulled from service during Thanksgiving week, and how this incident transformed aviation safety forever.

Sources:

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) preliminary investigation documents
European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Emergency Airworthiness Directive 2025-0234-E
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Emergency Airworthiness Directive 2025-24-51
Airbus Alert Operators Transmission (AOT) A320-27-3301
"WHAT Actually Grounded the Global Airbus A320 Fleet?!" - Mentour Pilot YouTube channel
"Solar Flare Fallout: Airbus A320 Global Grounding" - Aviation analysis
"When the Sun Strikes Back: How a Solar Flare Nearly Took Down an Airbus A320" - Pavel Zlatník, Medium
India Today: "How a solar explosion grounded 6,000 Airbus planes globally"
CNN Aviation: "Thousands of passenger planes need emergency maintenance"
NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center solar activity reports (October 2025)
University of Surrey Space Engineering Department radiation data
FlightRadar24 flight tracking data for JetBlue Flight 1230
Reddit r/aviation passenger testimonials
LiveATC audio recordings

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Email: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
Facebook: Final Boarding Call

Credits: Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

Alaska Airlines Flight 261

Wed, 28 Jan 2026 02:00:00 -0600

When a critical component fails at 31,000 feet, Alaska Airlines Flight 261 becomes a desperate battle against physics itself. Two veteran pilots attempt something never before tried in commercial aviation—flying their MD-83 inverted over the Pacific Ocean—in a last-ditch effort to save 88 lives. But this disaster didn't start with mechanical failure. It started three years earlier, when a mechanic's warning was ignored, a worn part was put back into service, and a whistleblower was silenced. Discover how a few dollars' worth of grease and corporate cost-cutting turned a routine flight into one of aviation's most heroic—and most preventable—tragedies.

SOURCES

Mayday: Air Disasters - Season 22, Episode 5, "Pacific Plunge"
National Transportation Safety Board Final Report NTSB/AAR-02/01
FOX 13 Seattle coverage by Tyler Slauson, "Remembering Alaska Airlines Flight 261: 25 years since tragic crash"
NTSB investigation transcripts and testimony records
Federal Aviation Administration Lessons Learned documentation

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Email: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
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Credits: Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

Pan Am Flight 214

Wed, 21 Jan 2026 02:00:00 -0600

On December 8, 1963, Pan American World Airways Flight 214 was struck by lightning while holding in a thunderstorm near Philadelphia, triggering an explosion that tore off the aircraft's left wing. All 81 people aboard perished when the Boeing 707 crashed into a Maryland cornfield. Join Alice and Zach as they explore how this tragedy fundamentally changed aviation safety—proving for the first time that lightning could destroy a commercial airliner and sparking an urgent overhaul of aircraft fuel systems that continues to protect passengers today. Discover how a single bolt of electricity led to static discharge wicks, flame arrestors, and design changes that have prevented any U.S. commercial aircraft from being lost to lightning in over 60 years.

Sources:

Civil Aeronautics Board Aircraft Accident Report SA-376, File No. 1-0015, "Pan American World Airways Inc., Boeing 707-121, N709PA, Near Elkton, Maryland, December 8, 1963," released March 3, 1965
"81 Perish as Jet Crashes in Storm Near Elkton, Md." The New York Times, December 9, 1963
"Witnesses Tell of Ball of Fire in the Sky." The Philadelphia Inquirer, December 9, 1963
"A Night of Fire and Rain: 50 Years Since Flight 214." The Cecil Whig, December 8, 2013
FAA Lessons Learned: Pan Am Flight 214 at Elkton, Maryland
Historical Society of Cecil County archives

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Email: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
Facebook: Final Boarding Call

Credits: Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

Aloha Airlines Flight 243

Wed, 14 Jan 2026 02:00:00 -0600

On April 28, 1988, Aloha Airlines Flight 243 became an impromptu convertible at 24,000 feet when an explosive decompression tore away the entire upper fuselage. Discover how a flight attendant crawled through hurricane-force winds to save passengers, how pilots landed half an airplane, and how one woman's premonition saved her life while another's hesitation haunts her still. This is the story of thirteen minutes of terror that revolutionized how we understand aging aircraft—and the extraordinary heroism that kept 93 people alive.

SOURCES:

NTSB Aircraft Accident Report AAR-89/03
"Miracle Landing" (1990) - TV movie by LionHeart FilmWorks
Mayday: Air Disaster - Season 3, Episode 1, titled "Hanging by a Thread"
The Washington Post - "A Flight Attendant's Moments In The Maelstrom" (May 18, 1988)
Survivor and crew member interviews
NTSB witness statements and testimony
Aviation safety databases and reports

FIND FINAL BOARDING CALL ONLINE:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Email: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
Facebook: Final Boarding Call

CREDITS: Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

Aviation News Roundup - Q4 2025

Wed, 07 Jan 2026 02:00:00 -0600

Join Alice and Zach as they close out 2025 with a comprehensive look at the year's final quarter in aviation. From the deadliest accident in UPS Airlines' history to a violent mid-flight attack with a metal fork, this episode covers cargo disasters, military transport failures, a deadly medical mission in fog, tourism flight spatial disorientation, ground collisions, and some of the strangest passenger incidents ever recorded. Discover what investigators have uncovered and what 2025's final months reveal about aviation safety heading into 2026.

Sources:

"NTSB Investigation Dashboard - Case DCA26MA024" - National Transportation Safety Board
"Death toll from UPS cargo plane crash rises to 15" - CBS News (December 25, 2025)
"Lithuanian Ministry of Justice - Interim Statement on EC-MFE" - Lithuanian Ministry of Justice
"Aviation Safety Network Wiki - Swiftair 5960" - Aviation Safety Network
"Cockpit Errors Lead to Fatal DHL Crash" - Mentour Pilot YouTube
"Libya's military chief and 7 others killed in plane crash" - Associated Press (December 23, 2025)
"FlightAware Track Log - 9H-DFS" - FlightAware (December 23, 2025)
"Search continues for missing plane crash victim" - ABC13 Houston (December 23, 2025)
"Mexican Navy Official Press Release" - SEMAR (December 23, 2025)
"Kenya Aircraft Accident Investigation Department Preliminary Findings" - Kenya AAID (November 2025)
"Eleven Lives Lost in Kwale Crash" - Travel and Tour World
U.S. Attorney's Office (District of Massachusetts) Press Release
Federal criminal complaint - U.S. District Court (October 25, 2025)
"Man charged in alleged fork stabbing of 2 teens on flight" - ABC News
"NTSB Final Report on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282" - National Transportation Safety Board (2025)
"Boeing and FAA share blame in door plug incident" - Aviation Week
"Airbus Alert Operators Transmission (AOT)" - Airbus (November 28, 2025)
"Emergency software patch for 6,000 A320s" - Aviation International News
"NTSB Investigation - Statesville Regional Airport" - National Transportation Safety Board
"Former NASCAR champion Greg Biffle killed in plane crash" - Associated Press (December 18, 2025)
"NTSB briefing on Biffle crash" - Charlotte Observer (December 20, 2025)

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Email: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
Facebook: Final Boarding Call

Credits: Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

British Airways Flight 009

Wed, 31 Dec 2025 02:00:00 -0600

What happens when all four engines on a Boeing 747 suddenly fail at 37,000 feet over the ocean? On June 24, 1982, Captain Eric Moody and his crew faced the impossible: flying the world's largest passenger jet as a glider through the darkness, with 263 lives depending on split-second decisions and a calm voice over the intercom. Join Alice and Zach as they explore one of aviation's most remarkable survival stories—where a former glider pilot's skills, a crew's unshakeable teamwork, and passengers' quiet courage turned certain death into an unforgettable lesson in airmanship. Discover the invisible enemy that brought them down, and learn why aviation authorities' failure to heed the warning nearly caused a second disaster just 19 days later.

Sources:

Betty Tootell, "All Four Engines Have Failed" (1985)
Mayday: Air Disasters - Season 4, Episode 2, "Falling From the Sky"
Captain Eric Moody interviews (BBC, Flight Safety Australia, aviation podcasts)
Wikipedia: British Airways Flight 009
SKYbrary Aviation Safety Database
Mentour Pilot YouTube analysis
Aviation Safety Network accident report
Rolls-Royce engine investigation documentation
Singapore Airlines Flight 21A incident report

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Email: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
Facebook: Final Boarding Call

Credits: Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

LANSA Flight 508

Wed, 24 Dec 2025 02:00:00 -0600

When LANSA Flight 508 was struck by lightning and broke apart at 10,000 feet over the Amazon rainforest on Christmas Eve 1971, 17-year-old Juliane Koepcke found herself falling through the sky still strapped to her seat. Against impossible odds, she survived - only to face an 11-day journey through one of the world's most dangerous environments while injured and alone. But she wasn't the only survivor. Join Alice and guest co-host Lydia as they explore this extraordinary story and discover what separated Juliane from the 14 others who survived the fall but died waiting for rescue - including her own mother. From the science of crash survivability to the psychology of extreme survival, this episode reveals why preparation, determination, and a lifetime of unique knowledge made all the difference.

SOURCES:

"When I Fell from the Sky: How the Jungle Gave Me My Life Back" by Juliane Koepcke
"Wings of Hope" documentary by Werner Herzog
LANSA Flight 508 crash investigation reports
My Favorite Murder Podcast
Not Today Podcast

FIND FINAL BOARDING CALL ONLINE:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Email: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
Facebook: Final Boarding Call

CREDITS: Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, with special guest co-host Lydia Stern and special guest Terren Judson. Researched and written by Alice Stern and Lydia Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

TransAsia Airways Flight 235

Wed, 17 Dec 2025 02:00:00 -0600

On February 4, 2015, a routine 50-minute flight from Taipei to Kinmen Island turned into a two-minute-and-48-second nightmare captured on dashcam and watched by millions worldwide. Join Alice and Zach to learn how a microscopic circuit board failure triggered a cascade of catastrophic decisions in the cockpit—and how investigators proved that doing nothing would have saved 43 lives.

Sources:

Mayday: Air Disasters - Season 17, Episode 7: "Caught on Camera"
"A Horrible Chain of Mistakes! TransAsia Airways flight 235" by Mentour Pilot (YouTube)
Taiwan Aviation Safety Council Final Report (ASC-AOR-16-06-001)
"Review of Medical Response in 2015 TransAsia Airways Flight 235 Aircraft Crash" - NCBI/PMC
Wikipedia: TransAsia Airways Flight 235
Aviation Safety Network occurrence report

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
Facebook: Final Boarding Call

Credits: Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stem

UPS Airlines Flight 2976

Wed, 10 Dec 2025 02:00:00 -0600

On November 4, 2025, a UPS cargo jet loaded with fuel for its trans-Pacific journey thundered down the runway in Louisville, Kentucky. But just seconds after liftoff, something catastrophic happened—the left engine tore away from the wing in a shower of sparks and flame. What followed was 30 seconds of horror as the crippled MD-11 carved a path of destruction through an industrial area, killing 14 people. But this disaster wasn't unprecedented—46 years earlier, an almost identical failure killed 271 people in Chicago and changed aviation forever. Or did it? Join Alice as she explores whether the lessons of America's deadliest aviation disaster were truly learned, and what it means that aging cargo aircraft are still experiencing the same catastrophic failures decades later.

Sources:

NTSB Preliminary Report DCA26MA024 (November 20, 2025)
NTSB Media Briefing 3 (November 8, 2025) - YouTube
FAA Lessons Learned: American Airlines Flight 191
"New photos show engine falling off UPS cargo plane before Louisville crash" - NBC News
"Fleet of UPS planes grounded after deadly crash expected to miss peak delivery season" - CNN
"Leading Aviation Attorney Comments on NTSB Preliminary Report" - Clifford Law Offices
"Wrongful death lawsuit in UPS cargo jet crash planned by victims' families" - Reuters, December 2, 2025
"UPS put profits over safety before plane crash that killed 14, lawyer alleges" - Associated Press, December 3, 2025
"Investigators recover black boxes from UPS plane crash, detail data recovery process" - Tom's Hardware, November 8, 2025
"Dramatic photos of doomed UPS plane show the aircraft on fire and its engine flying off" - Associated Press, November 20, 2025
"Investigators find 'black boxes' from UPS plane crash that killed at least 12" - Reuters, November 5, 2025

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Email: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
Facebook: Final Boarding Call

Credits: Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

LOT Polish Airlines Flight 16

Wed, 03 Dec 2025 02:00:00 -0600

When a Boeing 767 loses a critical system minutes after takeoff, the experienced crew makes a reasonable decision: continue across the Atlantic and deal with it when they land. After all, they've trained for this exact scenario, and backup systems are designed for situations like this. But as Flight 16 approaches Warsaw with 231 people on board, the backup systems mysteriously fail. Join Alice and Zach as they unravel how a perfect landing became impossible, why experienced pilots missed something hiding in plain sight, and how one captain's extraordinary skill brought everyone home alive from one of aviation's most dramatic belly landings.

Sources:

"Final report" - State Commission on Aircraft Accidents Investigation (SCAAI), December 18, 2017
"LOT Polish Airlines Flight 16" - Wikipedia
"Accident: LOT B763 at Warsaw on Nov 1st 2011, forced gear up landing" - Simon Hradecky, The Aviation Herald
"Boeing 767 BELLY LANDING! What happened?!" - Mentour Pilot (Petter Hörnfeldt), YouTube
"Emergency Landing without Landing Gears" - World's Wildest Flights, Season 1 Episode 1

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Email: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
Facebook: Final Boarding Call

Credits: Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

TWA Flight 514

Wed, 26 Nov 2025 02:00:00 -0600

On the Sunday after Thanksgiving 1974, what should have been a routine diversion turned into one of aviation's most consequential disasters. Join Alice and Zach as they explore how TWA Flight 514's crash into Mount Weather, Virginia, exposed a deadly gap in communication between pilots and air traffic controllers—a misunderstanding so fundamental that it had nearly caused another crash just weeks earlier. Discover how confusion over three simple words, "cleared for approach," led to 92 deaths and triggered safety changes that transformed modern aviation. This Thanksgiving, we remember a tragedy that taught the industry an unforgettable lesson about the cost of ambiguity.

Sources:

National Transportation Safety Board Aircraft Accident Report NTSB-AAR-75-16
Federal Aviation Administration Lessons Learned: TWA Flight 514
Air Line Pilots Association: "The Legacy of TWA Flight 514: 50 Years of Reflection and Aviation Safety"
Check-Six.com: "In a Place that Doesn't Exist - The Crash of TWA Flight 514"
AOPA: "TWA 514's Legacy" by Peter A. Bedell
Aviation Safety Network Database
Bluemont Heritage: TWA Flight 514 Memorial
ABC 7 News - WJLA: "FULL DOCUMENTARY: TWA Flight 514 airplane crash in Loudoun County, Virginia"
Green Dot Aviation: "Descent into Disaster! | TWA Flight 514"

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
Facebook: Final Boarding Call

Credits: Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

Japan Airlines Flight 123

Wed, 19 Nov 2025 02:00:00 -0600

On August 12, 1985, Japan Airlines Flight 123 climbed into the evening sky with 524 people aboard, bound for a routine 54-minute flight to Osaka. Twelve minutes later, a thunderous explosion tore through the aircraft, severing all hydraulic controls and leaving the crew fighting to control an uncontrollable jumbo jet using only engine thrust. What followed was 32 minutes of extraordinary airmanship as three pilots battled against impossible odds. Discover how a seven-year-old maintenance error led to the deadliest single-aircraft disaster in aviation history—and how the heroic actions of the crew would later help save lives in future emergencies.

Sources:

Mayday: Air Disasters - Season 3, Episode 3, titled "Out Of Control"
"Japan Airlines Flight 123 | A Short Documentary" - Fascinating Horror
Japan Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission Official Report
NTSB Investigation Documents
Wikipedia - Japan Airlines Flight 123
Survivor testimonials and witness interviews

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Email: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
Facebook: Final Boarding Call

Credits:

Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

The MV Doña Paz Disaster

Wed, 12 Nov 2025 02:00:00 -0600

On December 20, 1987, the passenger ferry MV Doña Paz collided with the oil tanker MT Vector in the Tablas Strait of the Philippines, creating a catastrophic inferno that claimed over 4,300 lives—nearly three times the death toll of the Titanic. Join Alice and Zach as they investigate how corporate negligence, regulatory failure, and a culture of overlooking safety standards converged to create the deadliest peacetime maritime disaster in history. Discover the harrowing stories of the 26 survivors who escaped burning waters, the families who fought for decades seeking justice, and why this tragedy—despite its massive scale—remains largely forgotten outside the Philippines.

Sources:

"4,385 Souls Gone: The Nightmare Voyage of the Doña Paz" - Stunning History (YouTube documentary)
"Burning at Sea: The Sinking of MV Doña Paz" - Philippines' Most Shocking Stories, Episode 6, ABS-CBN News
"Asia's Titanic" - National Geographic Channel-Asia documentary
"MV Doña Paz" - Wikipedia article
"Hell at Sea: Remembering the Tragedy of the MV Doña Paz" - Nicai de Guzman, Esquire Magazine Philippines
Philippine Coast Guard Marine Board of Inquiry Report - February 29, 1988
Caltex Philippines v. Sulpicio Lines - Supreme Court of the Philippines, September 30, 1999
Vector Shipping Corp. v. Macasa - Supreme Court of the Philippines, July 21, 2008
"Doña Paz victims waiting for justice 25 years after" - Joey Gabieta, Philippine Daily Inquirer
"MV Doña Paz survivor reunites with family after 25 years on 'Wish Ko Lang'" - GMA News, GMA Network
RV Petrel Wreck Discovery Footage - Released December 19, 2019

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com

Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod

Facebook: Final Boarding Call

Credits:

Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961

Wed, 05 Nov 2025 02:00:00 -0600

When three desperate men seize control of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961, demanding to be taken to Australia, they set in motion a chain of events that will test the limits of human endurance and pilot skill. With insufficient fuel for their impossible journey, Captain Leul Abate faces an unthinkable choice: comply with the hijackers' demands and crash into the ocean, or risk everything in a desperate gamble to save his passengers. Join Alice and Zach as they explore this harrowing true story of hijacking, heroism, and one of aviation's most dramatic water landings ever captured on film—a crash witnessed by beach tourists who had no idea they were filming one of the deadliest hijackings in history.

Sources:

Mayday: Air Disasters - Season 3, Episode 13, "Hijack!"
Official Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 Accident Investigation Report
"Ethiopian jet hijack ends in disaster" - BBC News, November 23, 1996
"The Hijacking and Ditching of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961" - Admiral Cloudberg on Medium
Contemporary news coverage from Associated Press and Reuters
Survivor testimonies from Michael Adeno and Frank Huddle

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
Facebook: Final Boarding Call

Credits: Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

Germanwings Flight 9525

Wed, 29 Oct 2025 02:00:00 -0600

Join Alice and Zach as they explore one of aviation's most disturbing tragedies. On March 24, 2015, Germanwings Flight 9525 crashed into the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board when co-pilot Andreas Lubitz deliberately locked the captain out of the cockpit and intentionally flew the plane into a mountainside. This episode examines the fatal flaws in cockpit security procedures implemented after 9/11, the devastating impact of untreated mental illness in safety-critical professions, and the difficult balance between medical privacy and public safety. Discover how this horrifying act of mass murder-suicide forced airlines worldwide to reconsider their protocols and prompted important conversations about pilot mental health monitoring that continue to shape aviation safety today.

Sources:

"How a Pilot Deliberately Crashed a Passenger Plane" - Air Crash Investigation
Kreindler & Kreindler LLP - Legal documentation regarding 2016 lawsuit against Airline Training Center Arizona
Courthouse News - Coverage of families' civil claims and U.S. court proceedings
The Guardian - Reporting on families' compensation claims and Lufthansa's initial offers (2015)
Reuters - Coverage of families preparing U.S. lawsuit (2015)
Time Magazine - Summary of Lufthansa compensation offers and insurance reserves
AP News / DPA - Reporting on Essen court decision rejecting higher compensation claims (July 1, 2020)
Aviation Pros / DPA - Coverage of German appeal outcomes (September 2021)
Aviation24.be / CatalanNews - Spanish Supreme Court increases compensation for select families (May 2023)
Wikipedia - Germanwings Flight 9525 consolidated timeline and legal proceedings

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com

Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod

Facebook: Final Boarding Call

Credits:

Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370

Wed, 22 Oct 2025 02:00:00 -0600

What happens when a state-of-the-art commercial airliner simply disappears without a trace? Join Alice and Zach as they investigate the baffling case of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which vanished on March 8, 2014, with 239 people on board. Discover how an ordinary overnight flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing turned into aviation's greatest modern mystery when it deviated from its course, went radio silent, and apparently flew for hours into one of the most remote regions on Earth. Follow the unprecedented international search efforts that spanned years and cost hundreds of millions of dollars, and explore the competing theories about what might have happened on that fateful night above the South China Sea. Plus, hear about the latest developments as the search officially resumed in 2025, offering new hope for answers.

Sources:

Mayday: Air Disasters - Season 14, Episode 11: "What Happened to Malaysian Flight 370"
"The Search for MH370 is Back ON! What's changed?!" - Mentour Now! YouTube channel
Wikipedia: Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
Australian Transport Safety Bureau Final Report (2017)

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
Facebook: Final Boarding Call

Credits: Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

Aviation News Roundup - Q3 2025

Wed, 15 Oct 2025 02:00:00 -0600

Join Alice and Zach for their quarterly roundup of recent aviation incidents and accidents from around the world. In this Q3 2025 edition, they explore ten significant aviation events from July through early October, including near mid-air collisions with military aircraft, a dramatic engine failure requiring fuel dumping, an airshow near-disaster, violent passenger behavior, wing flap failures, toxic fume concerns, a technology outage that grounded an entire fleet, a major airline's sudden collapse that stranded 1,750 passengers, a ground collision at LaGuardia, and a miraculous roadside emergency landing.

Sources:

SkyWest Flight 3788 Near-Miss with B-52 Bomber:

"A pilot made sharp turn to avoid a B-52 bomber over North Dakota, then took to the mic to explain" - U.S. News
"NTSB: B-52 bomber nearly hit Delta flight" - USA Today
"Delta regional pilot takes evasive action to avoid F-52" - ABC News

Spanish Air Force F-18 Airshow Incident:

"Flock of birds nearly cause Spanish F-18 to crash on crowded beach during airshow" - Euronews
"Spanish Hornet's evasive action at Gijon airshow" - Aerotime
"Spanish F/A-18 Hornet Seen Nearly Crashing Into Surf During Beach Airshow" - The War Zone

United Airlines Flight 108 Engine Failure:

"United Boeing 787 Suffers Engine Failure, Makes Emergency Landing" - Business Insider
"United Airlines Flight Makes Emergency Landing After Engine Failure" - NBC News
"United Airlines Mayday Call Was By The Book" - Forbes

Breeze Airways Unruly Passenger:

"Breeze Airways flight diverts after unruly passenger breaks free from restraints: Police" - ABC News
"Breeze Airways unruly passenger; Good Samaritan speaks" - CBS Los Angeles
"Breeze Airways Flight Diverts Due to Unruly Passenger" - USA Today

Delta Air Lines Boeing 737 Wing Flap Incident:

"Delta Boeing 737 Suffers Mid-Air Wing Flap Failure, Lands Safely in Austin, FAA Launches Probe" - The Logical Indian
"FAA investigates after Delta 737 wing flap breaks midflight" - CNN
"Delta 737's loose landing flap in Austin" - Aerotime

Alaska Airlines IT Outage:

"Alaska Airlines resumes flights after hardware failure causes system-wide ground stop" - KOMO News
"Hardware failure, IT outage grounded Alaska Airlines planes" - Government Technology
"Alaska Airlines requests system-wide ground stop due to IT outage" - CBS News

Delta Air Lines APU Replacement Program:

"Delta to replace engine parts after passengers, crew suffer brain injuries from toxic fume leaks" - New York Post
"Delta Replacing Engine Units on A320 Planes" - TipRanks
"Delta Airlines replaces 100s of engines for frightening reason" - The Street

Play Airlines Shutdown:

"This Airline Is Shutting Down All Flights, Effective Immediately" - Travel Pirates
"Iceland's Play Airlines ceases operations, leaves passengers stranded" - AviTrader
"A Budget Airline in Iceland Shuts Down Suddenly, Leaving Passengers Stranded" - The New York Times

Delta Connection Jets Collision at LaGuardia:

"2 Delta jets collide on taxiway at LaGuardia Airport, leaving member of cabin crew injured" - People
"Delta planes collide at LaGuardia Airport" - CBS New York
"NYC: Delta jets collide at LaGuardia Airport" - New York Post

Colorado Springs Small Plane Crash:

"Small plane crashes on Powers Boulevard in Colorado Springs" - KOAA
"Small plane crash landing in Colorado Springs" - CBS Colorado
"Small plane lands along major Colorado Springs road" - The Gazette

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
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Credits: Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

Air Canada Flight 797

Wed, 08 Oct 2025 02:00:00 -0600

On June 2, 1983, Air Canada Flight 797 was halfway through a routine flight from Dallas to Montreal when circuit breakers started popping in the cockpit. What began as a seemingly minor electrical issue quickly escalated into a race against time as smoke filled the cabin and an invisible fire burned behind the lavatory walls. Join Alice and Zach as they explore how a small problem became a deadly inferno, the heroic efforts of the crew to land the plane safely, and the tragic flashover that claimed 23 lives just 90 seconds after touchdown. This episode reveals how split-second decisions during emergencies can mean the difference between survival and catastrophe.

Sources:

"Fire on Board! Air Canada Flight 797" by Curious Pilot (YouTube)
Mayday: Air Disaster - Season 4, Episode 3 "Fire Fight": Air Canada 797
NTSB Aircraft Accident Report: Air Canada Flight 797, McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
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Credits: Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

Disappearance of Amy Lynn Bradley

Wed, 01 Oct 2025 02:00:00 -0600

When 23-year-old Amy Lynn Bradley stepped onto the balcony of her family's cruise ship cabin in the early morning hours of March 24, 1998, she had no idea she was about to become the center of one of the most perplexing disappearances in maritime history. Join Alice and Zach as they navigate the murky waters of Amy's vanishing from the Royal Caribbean's Rhapsody of the Seas during a family vacation in the Caribbean. Was it an accident, suicide, or something far more sinister? From alleged sightings in brothels to mysterious photographs and a heartbreaking message in a bottle, this case has more twists than a Caribbean current. Buckle up for a journey into one of the most haunting maritime mysteries of our time.

Sources:

"A full timeline of how Amy Bradley went missing from a Caribbean cruise in 1998" by Suchismita Ghosh, Entertainment
"What Happened to Amy Bradley? Here Are the Theories" by Troy Pozirekides, Status Update
"Amy Bradley Sent Girlfriend a 'Message in a Bottle,' Lamenting 'an Ocean Between Us.' Then She Vanished at Sea" by KC Baker, People Magazine
Wikipedia page on the "Disappearance of Amy Lynn Bradley"
Netflix documentary series "Amy Bradley Is Missing"

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
Facebook: Final Boarding Call

Credits: Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571

Wed, 24 Sep 2025 02:00:00 -0600

What would you do to survive when all hope seems lost? Join Alice and Zach as they explore one of history's most remarkable survival stories. On October 13, 1972, a plane carrying a Uruguayan rugby team crashed high in the Andes mountains. For the survivors, this was just the beginning of a 72-day ordeal in one of Earth's most hostile environments. Facing starvation, extreme cold, avalanches, and the crushing news that the search had been abandoned, these ordinary young men were forced to make extraordinary—and controversial—choices to stay alive. Discover how medical student Roberto Canessa and teammate Nando Parrado ultimately trekked across the seemingly impassable Andes mountains to save their friends, completing one of the most incredible rescue missions of all time.

Sources:

Time magazine: "A Survivor Recalls the Harrowing 1972 Plane Crash Behind Society of the Snow" by Megan McCluskey, January 5, 2024
My Favorite Murder Episode 307: Fun Cracker Reveal
Wikipedia: Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571
Encyclopedia Britannica: Uruguayan Air Force flight 571

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
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Credits: Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

Life and Death of Aaliyah

Wed, 17 Sep 2025 02:00:00 -0600

On August 25, 2001, a Cessna 402B carrying R&B superstar Aaliyah crashed shortly after takeoff from Marsh Harbour Airport in the Bahamas, claiming all nine lives on board. Discover how multiple preventable factors—an overloaded aircraft, an unqualified pilot with falsified credentials and substances in his system, and a charter company operating without proper authorization—led to this devastating tragedy. The episode also reveals how Aaliyah herself sensed the danger and refused to board, only to allegedly be given an unidentified pill before being placed on the doomed flight.

Sources:

Official accident investigation report from the Bahamian Civil Aviation Department
My Favorite Murder episode #304 titled "Show-Off Time"
Wikipedia articles on Aaliyah and the 2001 Marsh Harbour Cessna 402 crash
"Baby Girl: Better Known as Aaliyah" by Kathy Iandoli (2021)

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com

Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod

Facebook: Final Boarding Call

Credits:

Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

Ewa Wiśnierska the Paraglider - Special Guest Episode

Wed, 10 Sep 2025 02:00:00 -0600

What happens when an ordinary day of paragliding transforms into a battle against one of nature's most violent forces? Join Alice and Zach as they explore the extraordinary survival story of Ewa Wiśnierska, a champion paraglider who was literally sucked into a massive thunderstorm and carried to an altitude higher than Mount Everest. Discover how this elite athlete endured temperatures of minus 50 degrees, oxygen levels too thin to sustain consciousness, and violent hailstorms that should have proven fatal. Learn what happens to the human body when suddenly exposed to conditions more extreme than the "death zone" of high-altitude mountaineering—without specialized equipment or training. Buckle up for an incredible journey into the stratosphere and back.

Sources:

Wikipedia article on Ewa Wiśnierska
"Not Today" podcast, Episode 141: "Straight To The Stratosphere"

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
Facebook: Final Boarding Call

Credits: Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas. This special episode featured guests Lydia Stern and Terren Judson.

Northwest Airlines Flight 255

Wed, 03 Sep 2025 02:00:00 -0600

On August 16, 1987, Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashed just moments after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, killing 154 people and leaving only one survivor—a four-year-old girl who became known as the "miracle child." Discover how an experienced crew's missed checklist, combined with schedule pressure and a disabled warning system, led to one of America's deadliest aviation disasters. Learn about the fundamental safety changes that emerged from this tragedy and why Flight 255 became a watershed moment for aviation checklist procedures worldwide.

SOURCES:

NTSB Accident Report AAR-88/05: "Aircraft Accident Report - Northwest Airlines, Inc., McDonnell Douglas DC-9-82, N312RC, Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Romulus, Michigan, August 16, 1987"
Mayday: Air Disaster - Season 9, Episode 4, titled "Alarming Silence"
NTSB Investigation Database Case DCA87MA046
Aviation Safety Network Database Entry for Northwest Airlines Flight 255
"The Sole Survivor: Cecelia Cichan's Story" - Various news interviews and documentaries
NASA Ames Research Center Checklist Design Studies
FAA Advisory Circulars on Takeoff Warning Systems

FIND FINAL BOARDING CALL ONLINE:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com

Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod

Facebook: Final Boarding Call

CREDITS:

Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

All About the TSA - Part 2

Wed, 27 Aug 2025 02:00:00 -0600

In Part 1, we explored the three terrorist incidents that shaped TSA policy. Now, we examine whether the agency actually works. Join Alice and Zach as they dive into the TSA's shocking 95% failure rate in security tests, the human cost of security theater, and the recent policy changes that have everyone asking: if we can keep our shoes on now, why couldn't we before? After 23 years and over $200 billion, has the TSA made us safer, or just made us feel safer? This episode asks the tough questions about one of America's most controversial federal agencies.

Sources:

"Transportation Security Administration" - Wikipedia
"It Was Shoes On, No Boarding Pass Or ID. But Airport Security Forever Changed On 9/11" - David Schaper, NPR, September 10, 2021
"A Look at How Airport Security Has Evolved Post 9-11" - Diane Gerace, Philadelphia International Airport, June 11, 2021
"DHS to End 'Shoes-Off' Travel Policy" - Department of Homeland Security Press Release, July 8, 2025
"TSA's new airport security: What travelers need to know in 2025" - Doc Louallen, ABC News, July 17, 2025
"Is TSA PreCheck still worth it after security changes?" - Steph Whiteside, NewsNation, July 18, 2025

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
Facebook: Final Boarding Call

Credits: Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

All About the TSA - Part 1

Wed, 20 Aug 2025 02:00:00 -0600

Over two decades after 9/11, the Transportation Security Administration is finally letting us keep our shoes on at airport security. But how did we get here? Join Alice and Zach as they dive deep into the three terrorist incidents that shaped modern airport security: Richard Reid's shoe bomb attempt, the 2006 transatlantic liquid bomb plot, and the underwear bomber. Discover the shocking intelligence failures, the heroic passengers who actually stopped these attacks, and how each incident led to the security measures we know today. This is Part 1 of our examination of America's most controversial federal agency.

Sources:

"Transportation Security Administration" - Wikipedia
"Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab" - Wikipedia
"2006 transatlantic aircraft plot" - Wikipedia
"Richard Reid" - Wikipedia
"It Was Shoes On, No Boarding Pass Or ID. But Airport Security Forever Changed On 9/11" - David Schaper, NPR, September 10, 2021
"A Look at How Airport Security Has Evolved Post 9-11" - Diane Gerace, Philadelphia International Airport, June 11, 2021

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
Facebook: Final Boarding Call

Credits: Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

Colgan Air Flight 3407

Wed, 13 Aug 2025 02:00:00 -0600

On February 12, 2009, a routine commuter flight from Newark to Buffalo became a catastrophic lesson in pilot training and aviation safety. When stick shaker stall warnings activated during Colgan Air Flight 3407's approach, the captain's response turned a recoverable situation into an unrecoverable tragedy. Join Alice and Zach as they explore how fatigue, inadequate training, and a fundamental misunderstanding of stall recovery led to the deaths of 50 people—and sparked the most comprehensive aviation safety reforms in decades. This is the story of how one crash changed everything about how we train pilots and regulate regional airlines.

Sources:

NTSB Aircraft Accident Report AAR-10/01, "Loss of Control on Approach, Colgan Air Flight 3407"
"Colgan Air Flight 3407: How a Single Crash Sparked Unprecedented Reform" - Aviation International News
"Crew Errors Led to Fatal Colgan Air Crash" - Defense Daily
Code7700.com Case Study: Colgan Air 3407
Wikipedia article on Colgan Air Flight 3407
Mayday: Air Disasters Season 10, Episode 4 "Dead Tired"

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
Facebook: Final Boarding Call

Credits: Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

OceanGate Titan

Wed, 06 Aug 2025 02:00:00 -0600

When ambition and rule-breaking collide in the deepest parts of the ocean, the consequences can be catastrophic. Join Alice and Zach as they explore the shocking 2023 implosion of OceanGate's Titan submersible, which claimed five lives during an expedition to the Titanic wreckage. Discover how a series of controversial design decisions, regulatory shortcuts, and repeatedly ignored warnings from industry experts led to this modern tragedy, raising profound questions about safety, innovation, and the future of extreme tourism.

Sources:

Documentary: "OceanGate Is Worse Than You Thought" by The Fool
Documentary: "Fatal Flaws: The OceanGate Story" (2024) by 7NEWS Australia

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com

Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod

Facebook: Final Boarding Call Podcast

Credits:

Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

BOAC Flight 911

Wed, 30 Jul 2025 02:30:00 -0600

Join Alice and Zach as they explore the terrifying power of invisible turbulence. On March 5, 1966, BOAC Flight 911, a Boeing 707, disintegrated in mid-air while flying past Mount Fuji in Japan, killing all 124 people on board. Discover how an attempt to give passengers a scenic view of Japan's iconic mountain led the aircraft directly into catastrophic clear-air turbulence—powerful enough to tear the plane apart despite the seemingly calm, blue skies. Learn about the science behind this invisible danger, how the phenomenon of mountain wave turbulence forms, and why this rare but devastating case challenges the common reassurance that "turbulence alone has never caused a plane crash."

Sources:

Articles and Reports

"What Caused The Crash Of BOAC Flight 911?" - Jake Hardiman, Simple Flying (February 24, 2025)
"BOAC Flight 911" - Wikipedia
"Gravity Waves" - EUMeTrain Meteorological Training Team
[PDF] BOAC, Boeing 707, G-APFE, accident at the foot of Mount Fuji - Official accident report (BAAA-ACRO)
"BOAC Flight 911" - Take to the Sky: The Air Disaster Podcast - Stephanie Hubka and Shelley Price

Videos

"The Mysterious Crash of BOAC Flight 911" - Víctor Vic (YouTube, June 13, 2025)
"BOAC Flight 911 Crash & Aftermath Footage | 5 March 1966 Mount Fuji" - Plane Crash Investigations (YouTube, March 5, 2025)
"Plane Disintegrates Mid-air Over Japan - BOAC Flight 911" - Dark Skies (YouTube, May 28, 2024)
"BOAC Flight 911: The story behind the strangest accident" - History of Aviation (YouTube, June 8, 2025)
"Turbulence So Bad It Broke The Plane (BOAC Flight 911)" - The Flight Channel (YouTube, October 8, 2022)
"BOAC 911 Crash Animation: A Detailed Retelling" - saltot_44 (TikTok, May 15, 2025)

Other Sources

"9568 BOAC Flight 911 Disaster" - PeriscopeFilm Archive Footage
"BOAC Flight 911 Page 1" - Honolulu Star-Bulletin reproduction via Newspapers.com (May 25, 2023)

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
Facebook: Final Boarding Call

Credits:

Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

Boeing 737 MAX Part 2

Wed, 23 Jul 2025 01:00:00 -0600

Five months after Lion Air Flight 610, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashes under nearly identical circumstances, killing 157 more people and forcing the worldwide grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX. Join Alice and Zach as they explore how Ethiopian pilots who knew about MCAS and followed Boeing's procedures still couldn't save their aircraft, revealing the inadequacy of the company's proposed solutions. Plus, learn about Boeing's controversial 2025 settlement that allows the company to avoid criminal prosecution despite what many consider the deadliest corporate crime in U.S. history—and why victims' families are fighting back.

Sources:

U.S. Department of Justice Documents:

"DOJ confirms it has a deal with Boeing to drop prosecution over deadly 737 Max crashes" - NPR, May 23, 2025
"Boeing Reaches Deal with DOJ to Avoid Criminal Prosecution in 737 MAX Case" - Aviation Source News
"Families of 737 MAX crash victims to object to deal allowing Boeing to avoid prosecution" - Reuters

Crash Investigation Reports:

"Aircraft Accident Investigation Report. PT. Lion Airlines Boeing 737 (MAX); PK-LQP" - Indonesian National Transportation Safety Committee, October 25, 2019
"Aircraft Accident Investigation Report B737-MAX 8, ET-AVJ" - Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority, December 23, 2022
"Indonesia report finds fatal Lion Air jet crash due to Boeing, pilots, maintenance" - NBC News

Academic and Legal Analysis:

"Boeing's 737 MAX 8 Disasters" - MIT Sloan case study by John Sterman and James Quinn, May 2, 2023
"Lion Air Flight JT 610 Crash" - Wisner Baum law firm case analysis
Wikipedia entries on Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302

News Coverage:

"5 Years On: Looking Back At The Crash Of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302" - Simple Flying, March 10, 2024

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
Facebook: Final Boarding Call

Credits:

Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

Boeing 737 MAX Part 1

Wed, 16 Jul 2025 01:00:00 -0600

When Boeing learned that American Airlines might choose Airbus over their planes, it triggered a corporate race that would ultimately kill 346 people. Join Alice and Zach as they explore how Boeing's rushed development of the 737 MAX led to fatal design shortcuts, including a hidden software system called MCAS that pilots were never told about. Discover the corporate culture that prioritized speed over safety, the engine placement problem that started it all, and the tragic crash of Lion Air Flight 610—the first warning of a deadly flaw that Boeing chose to downplay rather than fix.

Sources:

U.S. Department of Justice Documents:

"DOJ confirms it has a deal with Boeing to drop prosecution over deadly 737 Max crashes" - NPR, May 23, 2025
"Boeing Reaches Deal with DOJ to Avoid Criminal Prosecution in 737 MAX Case" - Aviation Source News
"Families of 737 MAX crash victims to object to deal allowing Boeing to avoid prosecution" - Reuters

Crash Investigation Reports:

"Aircraft Accident Investigation Report. PT. Lion Airlines Boeing 737 (MAX); PK-LQP" - Indonesian National Transportation Safety Committee, October 25, 201
"Aircraft Accident Investigation Report B737-MAX 8, ET-AVJ" - Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority, December 23, 2022
"Indonesia report finds fatal Lion Air jet crash due to Boeing, pilots, maintenance" - NBC News

Academic and Legal Analysis:

"Boeing's 737 MAX 8 Disasters" - MIT Sloan case study by John Sterman and James Quinn, May 2, 2023
"Lion Air Flight JT 610 Crash" - Wisner Baum law firm case analysis
Wikipedia entries on Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302

News Coverage:

"5 Years On: Looking Back At The Crash Of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302" - Simple Flying, March 10, 2024

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
Facebook: Final Boarding Call

Credits:

Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

The Silver Bridge Disaster

Wed, 09 Jul 2025 05:00:00 -0600

On December 15, 1967, during rush hour traffic, the Silver Bridge spanning the Ohio River between Point Pleasant, West Virginia, and Gallipolis, Ohio, suddenly collapsed in less than a minute, claiming 46 lives. Discover how a microscopic crack just one-tenth of an inch deep in a single eyebar brought down an entire bridge that had stood for nearly four decades. Learn about the innovative but flawed engineering decisions that prioritized cost savings over redundancy, and explore how this disaster forever changed America's approach to infrastructure inspection and maintenance. Plus, delve into the mysterious Mothman sightings that occurred in the months leading up to the collapse and how this legend became intertwined with the tragedy in local folklore.

SOURCES:

Wikipedia entry on the Silver Bridge disaster
National Transportation Safety Board accident report
National Geographic's "The Collapse of West Virginia's Silver Bridge" from their Atlas of Cursed Places series

FIND FINAL BOARDING CALL ONLINE:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
Facebook: Final Boarding Call

CREDITS:

Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

Aviation News Roundup - Q2 2025

Wed, 02 Jul 2025 05:00:00 -0600

Join Alice and Zach for another quarterly roundup of recent aviation incidents and accidents from around the world. In this second quarter edition, they explore seven significant aviation events from April through June 2025, including a devastating air traffic control crisis that paralyzed Newark Airport, a tragic Air India crash that became one of India's deadliest aviation disasters, multiple fatal crashes in California, a helicopter disaster over the Hudson River, Boeing's controversial legal settlement over the 737 MAX crashes, and Pan Am's surprising return to the skies as a luxury travel experience.

SOURCES:

Newark Airport ATC Outages:

"Following Newark Airport Blackouts, Blumenthal Calls on Trump Administration to Step Up and Protect the Flying Public" - Senator Richard Blumenthal's Office
"A Newark Air Traffic Controller on the Moment Systems Went Dark" - NPR
"Newark Airport Air Traffic Controllers Radar Outage Planes" - CNBC
"Air Traffic Control Denver FAA" - The New York Times
"FAA Investigating After Newark Air Traffic Control Suffered Two Second Outage" - Reuters
"Newark Airport Outage Monday" - CNN
"FAA Statements Newark Liberty International Airport" - Federal Aviation Administration

Air India Flight 171 Crash:

"Air India jet crash kills 246 people, with at least 1 passenger surviving: Officials" - ABC News
"LIVE | Air India flight crash in Ahmedabad: 241 people on board dead; one miracle survivor, says police" - The New Indian Express
"Man Who Survived Air India Plane Crash Was Able to Describe the Tragedy from His Hospital Bed" - People Magazine

San Diego Cessna Citation II Crash (Murphy Canyon):

"2025 San Diego Cessna Citation II crash" - Wikipedia
"Cessna 550 Citation Crashes into Murphy Canyon Neighbourhood San Diego May 22 2025" - Ramos Law
"San Diego plane crash" - CNN
"Victims identified in fatal San Diego plane crash" - KPBS
"Music agent Shapiro among six killed Citation crash" - AIN Online
"Jet crashed neighborhood now live dread active flight path" - NBC News

San Diego Cessna 414 Crash (Point Loma):

"Six were killed when small plane crashed off San Diego coast, FAA" - NBC San Diego
"All 6 victims in plane crash off coast of Point Loma identified" - 10News
"Six killed in plane crash near San Diego" - Aviation A2Z
"Search underway for six passengers after plane crash near Point Loma coast guard leads multi agency rescue efforts" - Hoodline
"Plane crash San Diego ocean Cessna NTSB" - Associated Press

Hudson River Helicopter Crash:

"2025 Hudson River helicopter crash" - Wikipedia
"Hudson River helicopter crash" - CNN
"Hudson River helicopter crash NTSB preliminary report" - CBS News
"Hudson helicopter crash what we know" - CNN International
"Helicopter fatal New York crash lacked flight recorders NTSB says" - Reuters
"Hudson River helicopter crash" - BBC News
"Hudson River helicopter crash" - The New York Times
"Helicopter rotor retrieved Hudson River days after deadly" - ABC News

Boeing 737 MAX Settlement:

"Boeing won't face criminal prosecution over fatal 737 Max crashes" - USA Today
"Boeing Justice Department 737 max plane crashes charges deal" - NPR
"United States v Boeing Company" - U.S. Department of Justice
"Boeing reaches deal with US DOJ to avoid prosecution over 737 max crashes" - Al Jazeera
"Justice Department reaches deal to allow Boeing to avoid prosecution over 737 max crashes" - MPR News
"Boeing 737 max crashes DOJ" - CNBC
"Boeing 737 max crashes" - The New York Times
"Families of Boeing crashes react with grief and anger following DOJ turnabout announcement" - Clifford Law Offices

Pan Am Return:

"Classic airline Pan Am returns to skies with special 12-day transatlantic journey" - Fox Business
"Pan Am Is Back (Sorta)" - Morning Brew
"Pan Am returns to the skies in 2025: Tickets, prices, and seats" - Fortune
"Pan Am Returns: Maiden Trip Review" - The Points Guy
"Pan Am adds second 2025 Tracing the Transatlantic journey" - Luxury Travel Advisor
"Hawaii's Golden Age of Travel Returning with Pan Am" - Beat of Hawaii
"Pan Am Considering Comeback" - Airline Geeks
"Pan Am Returns in 2025 with a Special Flight" - Avioradar

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
Facebook: Final Boarding Call

Credits:

Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

United Airlines Flight 232

Wed, 25 Jun 2025 05:00:00 -0600

On July 19, 1989, United Airlines Flight 232 departed Denver for what should have been a routine flight to Chicago. At 37,000 feet over Iowa, a catastrophic engine failure led to the complete loss of all hydraulic systems - a failure so rare it was considered impossible, with odds calculated at a billion to one. With no flight controls, Captain Al Haynes and his crew faced an unprecedented challenge: how to land a DC-10 using only engine power. When passenger Dennis "Denny" Fitch, a DC-10 training instructor, volunteered to help, the stage was set for one of aviation's greatest demonstrations of teamwork and skill. Discover how their extraordinary crew resource management achieved what experts called "The Impossible Landing" and changed aviation safety forever.

Sources:

Mayday: Air Disasters - Season 11, Episode 13, titled "Impossible Landing"
NTSB Aircraft Accident Report NTSB/AAR-90/06
United Airlines Flight 232 Wikipedia entry
Flight 232: A Story of Disaster and Survival by Laurence Gonzales

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
Facebook: Final Boarding Call

Credits: Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

Victoria Cilliers - A Skydiving Story

Wed, 18 Jun 2025 05:00:00 -0600

What happens when both a main and reserve parachute catastrophically fail during a routine jump? Join Alice and Zach as they explore an unprecedented skydiving disaster where experienced jumper Victoria Cilliers has a 4,000-foot freefall at terminal velocity. This remarkable case stands alone in British skydiving history—never before had dual parachute failures been recorded in over 2.3 million jumps. While most of our episodes examine accidents caused by mechanical failure or human error, this rare case reveals how a deliberate act of sabotage transformed a highly regulated safety system into a death trap. Discover the forensic investigation that revealed the shocking truth behind this aerial disaster and the aviation safety modifications implemented in its aftermath.

Happy Father's Day to all the amazing dads and dad figures out there—minus the human trash pile we talk about in this episode! Speaking of Father's Day, Alice got Zach a tandem skydive experience as his gift this year. Let's hope it goes better than Victoria's jump!

Sources:

• Love Murder Podcast - Victoria Cilliers case coverage

• Trial by Podcast - Two-part series on the Victoria Cilliers case

• Court records and trial transcripts

• Documentary footage from Channel 4

• Investigative reports from Wiltshire Police

• British Parachute Association incident reports

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

• Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com

• Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod

• Facebook: Final Boarding Call

Credits:

Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

FedEx Flight 705 Hijacking

Wed, 11 Jun 2025 05:00:00 -0600

On April 7, 1994, what began as a routine FedEx cargo flight from Memphis to San Jose became the scene of an unbelievable battle at 19,000 feet. When flight engineer Auburn Calloway launched a brutal hammer attack on the three-man crew, severely injuring all of them, the pilots fought back in the most extraordinary way imaginable—by using their massive DC-10 cargo jet as a weapon. Discover how these gravely wounded men rolled their aircraft almost upside down at over 400 mph, pushed it beyond all design limits, and ultimately saved their own lives through sheer determination and incredible flying skills. This is one of aviation's most remarkable stories of survival against impossible odds.

SOURCES:

• Mayday: Air Disasters episode "Fight for Your Life"

• Official NTSB report on FedEx Flight 705

• Court records from Auburn Calloway's trial

• Interviews with survivors Dave Sanders, Jim Tucker, and Andy Peterson

• "Hijacked: The True Story of the Heroes of Flight 705" by Dave Hirschman

FIND FINAL BOARDING CALL ONLINE:

• Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com

• Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod

• Facebook: Final Boarding Call

CREDITS:

Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

American Airlines Flight 191

Wed, 04 Jun 2025 05:00:00 -0600

On May 25, 1979, American Airlines Flight 191 lifted off from Chicago's O'Hare Airport only to have its left engine tear completely free from the wing seconds later. In just 31 terrifying seconds, the crippled McDonnell Douglas DC-10 rolled onto its side and plunged to earth, killing all 271 people onboard and 2 more on the ground. Discover how an airline's time-saving maintenance shortcut led to a catastrophic structural failure that changed aviation maintenance practices forever. This harrowing examination of America's deadliest air disaster reveals how a complex chain of design vulnerabilities, maintenance errors, and regulatory oversights culminated in tragedy and permanently altered the public's perception of what was once considered one of the most advanced passenger jets in the world.

Sources:

"What Caused The Crash Of American Airlines Flight 191?" - Simple Flying, by Jake Hardiman & Luke Bodell, updated February 8, 2024
"Aircraft Accident Report: American Airlines, Inc., DC-10-10, N110AA, Chicago-O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, Illinois, May 25, 1979" - National Transportation Safety Board, Report Number AAR-79-17
"American Airlines Flight 191" - Wikipedia article documenting the accident, investigation findings, and aftermath
"Seconds From Disaster: Chicago Plane Crash" - National Geographic documentary, Season 1, Episode 5
"Air Disaster: Catastrophe at O'Hare" - Smithsonian Channel documentary examining the crash and investigation
"Breaking Point" - MSNBC Why Planes Crash series, Season 1, Episode 2
"Fatal Force: The Crash of American Airlines Flight 191" - FAA Lessons Learned document analyzing maintenance failures

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
Facebook: Final Boarding Call

Credits:

Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

West Edmonton Mall Roller Coaster Disaster

Wed, 28 May 2025 05:00:00 -0600

On June 14, 1986, the world's largest indoor triple-loop roller coaster became a death trap when a critical mechanical failure sent four passengers plummeting to the concrete floor below. Join Alice and Zach as they explore how missing bolts and maintenance oversights at West Edmonton Mall's Mindbender led to disaster, claiming three lives and forever changing amusement ride safety standards.

Sources:

Wikipedia: Mindbender (Galaxyland)
Coasterpedia: Mindbender at Galaxyland
History and Headlines: June 14, 1986: A Mind-bending Disaster
CBC News: Survivor of 1986 mall coaster crash wants memorial

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
Facebook: Final Boarding Call

Credits:

Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

Eastern Air Lines Flight 401

Wed, 21 May 2025 05:00:00 -0600

How can a single burnt-out light bulb bring down one of the most advanced aircraft ever built? A state-of-the-art Lockheed L-1011 TriStar jetliner plunges into the Florida Everglades when its experienced crew became fixated on a minor mechanical issue.

Sources:

Mayday: Air Disaster - Season 5, Episode 9, titled "Fatal Distraction"
"What CAUSED the Everglades DISASTER?" by Mentour Pilot
Wikipedia page on Eastern Air Lines Flight 401

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com

Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod

Facebook: Final Boarding Call

Credits:

Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

Japan Airlines Flight 907 and 958

Wed, 14 May 2025 05:00:00 -0600

Two jumbo jets filled with passengers came within seconds and mere feet of colliding over Japan in a high-stakes aerial game of chicken. Join Alice and Zach as they explore the harrowing near-miss that almost became one of aviation's deadliest disasters. On January 31, 2001, a Boeing 747 and McDonnell Douglas DC-10 carrying nearly 700 people found themselves on a collision course when conflicting instructions from air traffic control and automated safety systems created an impossible dilemma for pilots. Discover how split-second decisions averted catastrophe and how this terrifying incident fundamentally changed aviation safety protocols worldwide.

Sources:

SimpleFlying.com article: https://simpleflying.com/japan-airlines-mid-air-incident/
Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_Japan_Airlines_mid-air_incident

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
Facebook: Final Boarding Call discussion group

Credits:

Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

Aeroflot Flight 593

Wed, 07 May 2025 05:00:00 -0600

On March 23, 1994, an Aeroflot Airbus A310 crashed in the Siberian wilderness, killing all 75 people on board. Discover how a pilot's decision to let his children visit the cockpit led to disaster when his 15-year-old son inadvertently disengaged the autopilot. Learn how confusion over the aircraft's sophisticated systems, inadequate training, and a series of misinterpretations prevented the crew from recovering control as the plane entered a fatal spiral. This preventable tragedy forever changed cockpit access policies and highlighted the unforgiving consequences of breaking aviation's fundamental safety rules.

Sources:

Mayday: Air Crash Investigation - Season 3, Episode 10, titled "Kid in the Cockpit"
Official accident investigation reports from the Interstate Aviation Committee
Interviews with aviation safety experts and crash investigators
Wikipedia page on Aeroflot Flight 593

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online: Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod Facebook: Final Boarding Call

Credits: Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

The Tenerife Airport Disaster

Wed, 30 Apr 2025 05:00:00 -0600

On March 27, 1977, on the fog-shrouded runway of Los Rodeos Airport in Tenerife, two Boeing 747 jumbo jets collided during takeoff, claiming 583 lives. Discover how a chain of unlikely events—a terrorist bombing at another airport, deteriorating weather conditions, miscommunications between pilots and air traffic control, and fatal misunderstandings—culminated in catastrophe.

Sources:

Mayday: Air Disasters - Season 16, Episode 3, titled "Disaster at Tenerife"
Wikipedia Page on the Tenerife airport disaster

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com

Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod

Facebook: Final Boarding Call

Credits:

Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

The 1955 Le Mans Disaster

Wed, 23 Apr 2025 05:00:00 -0600

What happens when a celebration of speed and technology transforms into a tragedy of unimaginable proportions? That’s the story of the 1955 Le Mans disaster, where a split-second collision sent a race car hurtling into packed grandstands, claiming 84 lives and injuring over 120 spectators in the deadliest accident in motorsport history.

Sources:

"1955 Le Mans Disaster: The Deadliest Crash in Motorsport History" by History Engine

Wikipedia page on the 1955 Le Mans disaster

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com

Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod

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Credits:

Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

Helios Airways Flight 522

Wed, 16 Apr 2025 05:00:00 -0600

What happens when a single switch left in the wrong position turns a routine flight into one of aviation's most haunting tragedies? Join Alice and Zach as they explore the mysterious case of a Boeing 737 that continued flying on autopilot through the clear Mediterranean sky while something invisible and deadly was happening inside. Discover the cascade of small errors and misunderstandings that led to this unique disaster, and learn about the aviation safety changes implemented in its aftermath. Buckle up for one of the eeriest aviation mysteries in recent history.

Sources:

Mayday: Air Disaster documentary series, Season 4, Episode 10

Out of Oxygen! The Tragic Story of Helios Airways Flight 522 by Mentour Pilot

Official accident investigation report

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com

Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod

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Credits:

Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

WestJet Flight 2652

Wed, 09 Apr 2025 05:00:00 -0600

Princess Juliana International Airport in Sint Maarten is one of the world's most challenging and famous landing approaches. Discover how a routine landing turned perilous when multiple factors aligned against an experienced flight crew.

Sources:

Transportation Safety Board of Canada investigation report

Christine Negroni's aviation blog

Wikipedia page on WestJet Flight 2652

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com

Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod

Facebook: Final Boarding Call

Credits:

Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

Aviation News Roundup - Q1 2025

Wed, 02 Apr 2025 05:00:00 -0600

Join Alice and Zach for a special quarterly roundup of recent aviation incidents and accidents from around the world. In this premiere edition, they explore five significant aviation events from the first quarter of 2025, including the deadliest U.S. air disaster in nearly 24 years, a medical flight crash in Philadelphia, a weight-related accident in Alaska, a miraculous survival story in Toronto, and an engine fire incident in Denver.

Sources:

PSA Airlines Midair Collision:

"NTSB Issues Chilling Preliminary Report: Years of Helicopter Near-Misses Before American Airlines 5342 Tragedy" - View From The Wing
"NTSB Preliminary Report DCA25MA108" - National Transportation Safety Board

Learjet Crash in Philadelphia:

"Kreindler Aviation Attorneys Monitoring Crash of Learjet 55 Medical Flight into a Busy Metro Area in Philadelphia" - Kreindler & Kreindler LLP
"Jet Rescue Air Ambulance Fatal Crash" - AirMed and Rescue

Bering Air Cessna Caravan Crash:

"NTSB says plane to Nome that crashed, killing 10, was overweight" - Alaska Public Media
"Alaska Plane Crash Was Caused By Being Overweight, Officials Say" - The New York Times

Delta Connection Flight 4819 Crash:

"Preliminary Report Says Right Landing Gear Part Fractured, Folded In Delta Flight 4819 Crash" - Star Tribune
"High Rate of Descent Noted Before Delta Crash" - Airline Geeks

American Airlines Flight 1006:

"How A Colorado Springs Flight Caught Fire In Denver" - Colorado Public Radio
"American Airlines Engine Fire at Denver: What We Know So Far" - Fear of Landing

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com

Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod

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Credits:

Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

British Airways Flight 5390

Wed, 26 Mar 2025 05:00:00 -0600

When the cockpit windscreen of British Airways Flight 5390 suddenly blows out at 17,300 feet, a routine morning flight turns into an unimaginable nightmare. With the captain partially ejected from the aircraft and facing the full force of sub-zero winds, co-pilot Alastair Atchison and the cabin crew find themselves in a desperate race against time. As the plane begins to dive through some of the busiest air lanes in Europe, they must make split-second decisions that will determine the fate of all 87 souls on board.

Sources:

Mayday: Air Crash Investigation documentary series, Season 2, Episode 1, titled "Blow Out"

Official Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) report

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com

Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod

Facebook: Final Boarding Call

Credits:

Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.