Final Boarding Call

A brand-new Boeing 737 is thirty-four minutes into a routine flight from Jakarta to Singapore when its cockpit voice recorder goes dark — while the aircraft is flying straight and level in clear skies. Minutes later, the flight data recorder follows. Then the plane leaves cruising altitude entirely. Two official investigations examined the same wreckage. They did not agree on what happened, or why. Join Alice and Zach for the story of SilkAir Flight 185.Sources:Final Report: Investigation of Aircraft Accident SilkAir Flight MI 185 — National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC), IndonesiaNTSB Letter to the NTSC Regarding SilkAir Flight 185 — National Transportation Safety Board"Pushed to the Limit" (also broadcast as "Pilot Under Pressure") — Mayday: Air Disasters, Season 12, Episode 4Crash of SilkAir Flight MI 185 — Singapore Infopedia, National Library Board SingaporeSilkAir Flight 185 Case Summary — Wisner Law FirmSilkAir 185: Pilot Suicide? — National Geographic Documentary (2006)Airworthiness Directives; Boeing Model 737 Series Airplanes — FAA, Federal Register (2002)Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.comEmail: [email protected]: @FinalBoardingCallPodFacebook: Final Boarding CallCredits: 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.

A cargo plane climbs out of one of the most dangerous airports on earth, carrying nothing but mail. Somewhere below, armed men are waiting for exactly this kind of target. Join Alice and Zach for the story of the only known case in aviation history where a large airliner lost every hydraulic control system to a missile strike — and the crew found a way to fly it anyway.SourcesAircraft accident record, Airbus A300B4-203F OO-DLL, Baghdad International Airport — Aviation Safety Network"How An A300 Made An Injury-Free Landing After Being Hit By A Missile" by Jake Hardiman and Gaurav Joshi — Simple Flying"Do you remember? A missile attack of a DHL A300 in Baghdad, Iraq" — Aviation24.be"Attack Over Baghdad" — Mayday: Air Disaster, Season 3, Episode 2Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.comEmail: [email protected]: @FinalBoardingCallPodFacebook: Final Boarding CallCredits: 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.

What happens when the safety device meant to save your life becomes the weapon that kills you? Discover how a cost-cutting decision to use explosive chemicals, a 15-year corporate cover-up involving destroyed evidence and manipulated test data, and catastrophic regulatory failures turned millions of ordinary cars into ticking time bombs. Learn why a 17-year-old's "fender bender" became a crime scene, how executives fled to Japan to avoid prosecution, and why—even in 2026—an estimated 10 million of these defective airbags are still on the road. This is the largest and deadliest automotive recall in history, and it's not over yet.SOURCES:Senate Commerce Committee Investigation Reports (2015, 2016) - Takata airbag defect inquiryNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recall database and safety notices"What Caused Takata's Airbag Problems?" - Wharton Business School analysis (February 2016)"Takata's Deadly Airbags" - The New York Times investigative series by Hiroko Tabuchi and Bill Vlasic (2013-2017)Department of Justice criminal case documents and settlement agreements (2017)Internal Takata emails and documents obtained through lawsuitsVictim testimonies and survivor interviewsNHTSA "Do Not Drive" warnings and coordinated remedy program documentationCongressional testimony from whistleblowers Mark Lillie and Bob SchubertFIND FINAL BOARDING CALL ONLINE:Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.comEmail: [email protected]: @FinalBoardingCallPodFacebook: Final Boarding CallCREDITS: 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 a clear evening in the Brazilian Amazon, a routine forty-minute hop between two small airports turns into hours of confusion, radio silence, and a jet with a shrinking fuel supply over some of the most remote rainforest on Earth. Join Alice and Zach for the story of the people aboard Varig Flight 254 — the ones flying it, and the ones who had to save themselves after it went down.SourcesFinal Report on the Accident to Boeing 737-241 PP-VMK — CENIPA"Survivors Airlifted From Brazil Crash Site; Pilot, Teen-Ager Hailed" — Los Angeles Times (wire services)"How Did A Decimal Point Doom Varig Flight 254?" — Mentour Pilot"The Mystery of Flight 254 — 700 Miles Off Their Course" — Mayday: Air DisasterFind FINAL BOARDING CALL online: Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com Email: [email protected] 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.

Seven days after Pan Am Flight 103 came down, forensic scientists confirmed what investigators already suspected: this was a bomb. That answer opened a much harder question. Join Alice and Zach for the reconstruction of a Boeing 747 inside a five-acre shed, the false lead that pointed at the wrong country, a pair of trousers with an order number stamped on them, and the green circuit board half the size of a thumbnail that broke the case open. Plus the few minutes of delay that are the only reason any of that evidence exists — and the trial happening in Washington DC right now. Part two of two.Sources:Aircraft Accident Report 2/90: Report on the accident to Boeing 747-121, N739PA at Lockerbie, Dumfriesshire, Scotland on 21 December 1988 — Air Accidents Investigation Branch, UK Department of TransportAffidavit in Support of a Criminal Complaint, Case 1:20-mj-00252, sworn by Special Agent Rachel F. Otto — Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States District Court for the District of Columbia"Former Senior Libyan Intelligence Officer and Bomb-Maker for the Muamar Qaddafi Regime Charged for the December 21, 1988 Bombing of Pan Am Flight 103" — United States Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs"Judge allows Lockerbie suspect's alleged confession to be used at US trial" — BBC News"Lockerbie bombing accused says he was forced into false confession" — BBC NewsVictims of Pan Am Flight 103 — victim registry and memorial recordsRemembering Pan Am 103 — Syracuse UniversityMayday: Air Disasters, Season 7, Episode 2 — "Lockerbie"Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online: Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.comEmail: [email protected]: @FinalBoardingCallPodFacebook: Final Boarding CallCredits: 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.