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:

1. 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
2. "81 Perish as Jet Crashes in Storm Near Elkton, Md." The New York Times, December 9, 1963
3. "Witnesses Tell of Ball of Fire in the Sky." The Philadelphia Inquirer, December 9, 1963
4. "A Night of Fire and Rain: 50 Years Since Flight 214." The Cecil Whig, December 8, 2013
5. FAA Lessons Learned: Pan Am Flight 214 at Elkton, Maryland
6. Historical Society of Cecil County archives

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

1. Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
2. Email: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.com
3. Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
4. 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.

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:

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

FIND FINAL BOARDING CALL ONLINE:

1. Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
2. Email: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.com
3. Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
4. 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.

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:

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

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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:

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

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

1. Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
2. Email: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.com
3. Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
4. 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.

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.

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

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.

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.