Final Boarding Call

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 Wikip...

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...

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...

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...

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 C...

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 le...

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 BOA...

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,...

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 b...