The Secret History of Flight 149

Podcast The Secret History of Flight 149

Imagine boarding a flight thinking you’re heading on holiday, but instead you get taken hostage by Saddam Hussein. It might sound far-fetched, but in August 1990 this really happened to the passengers and crew of BA Flight 149. Journalist Stephen Davis has been reporting on this extraordinary story for the past three decades. This series features the hostages themselves - the men, women and children used as human shields by the Iraqi regime. It also features voices from the world of politics and intelligence agencies who were active during the crisis, to put the human stories in a wider context.  At the heart of the series is a key question - why was the plane allowed to land at all, putting so many lives at risk? Was it a terrible accident, or was there a political objective? Either way, the lives of the human shields themselves have been forever changed, and they are still living with the consequences.   Since launching on February 7th 2022, the series has had over 300,000 downloads (up to the time of writing). Some selected listener reviews include: “This is an incredible piece of journalism…listened to 7 episodes in a day as I was so engrossed”; and “A gripping tale told beautifully and bravely by the victims”.  Ultimately this series aims to give the human shields a platform to tell their story - a story that has been buried over the decades.

  1. ÉPISODE 1

    Flight 149 | Ep 1 | Take-off

    Listen to the whole series ad-free now by subscribing to the Crowd Stories channel on Apple Podcasts. When Flight 149 departed London Heathrow on 1 August 1990, the passengers and crew had no idea of the trauma that lay ahead. A routine stopover in Kuwait turned into a hostage crisis. Hear from the hostages themselves as they recall the horrifying realisation that their holiday had taken a very dark turn. Journalist Stephen Davis delves into what's been dubbed one of the biggest cover ups in modern history. Episode one of nine. Please note this episode contains references to violent sexual assault. British Airways gave us the following statement: "Our hearts go out to all those caught up in this shocking act of war just over 30 years ago, and who had to endure a truly horrendous experience. The records (released by the Government last year) confirmed British Airways was not warned about the invasion." The Foreign Office released a statement in 2021 that said: “On 1 of August the British Embassy in Kuwait told the local British Airways office that while flights on 1 August should be safe, subsequent flights were inadvisable”. It then repeated a previous statement to say: “the Government at the time did not attempt in any way to exploit the flight by any means whatever”. Coming January 2023: The Secret History of The Estonia. A tale of secrets, smuggling and spies and why 852 people died on a ferry. Stephen investigates the mystery behind Europe's worst peacetime shipping disaster since the Titanic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    39 min
  2. ÉPISODE 10

    Flight 149 | Ep 10 | Impact

    Stephen reveals some new details that have come to light since we started making this series, and speaks with someone who was on the ground in Kuwait at the time of the invasion. We also hear from all the human shields we’ve been following, and learn about the personal impact of this horrific ordeal. Additional material across the series courtesy of Getty, Blakeway Productions, The Parliamentary Recording Unit and C-Span. British Airways gave us the following statement: "Our hearts go out to all those caught up in this shocking act of war just over 30 years ago, and who had to endure a truly horrendous experience. The records (released by the Government last year) confirmed British Airways was not warned about the invasion." The Foreign Office released a statement in 2021 that said: “On 1 of August the British Embassy in Kuwait told the local British Airways office that while flights on 1 August should be safe, subsequent flights were inadvisable”. It then repeated a previous statement to say: “the Government at the time did not attempt in any way to exploit the flight by any means whatever”. Coming January 2023: The Secret History of The Estonia. A tale of secrets, smuggling and spies and why 852 people died on a ferry. Stephen investigates the mystery behind Europe's worst peacetime shipping disaster since the Titanic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    37 min

Podcasts avec bonus en cas d’abonnement

  • The Secret History of Antarctica: Death on the Ice. From the team behind The Secret History of Flight 149 and The Secret History of the Estonia, journalist Stephen Davis investigates the mysterious death of a scientist at the South Pole in the year 2000, and interrogates why the investigation failed to uncover the truth. Producer: Anna Staufenberg. Mixing and sound design: Rory Auskerry. Executive producer: Steve Jones. Listen to the whole series straight away and ad-free by subscribing to the Crowd Stories channel on Apple Podcasts. Get them ad-free on Amazon Music.

  • From Kurt Cobain to Whitney Houston, Michael Hutchence and Amy Winehouse, these are their stories - powerful, poignant and raw. This series will change how you feel about them.

  • This brand new pop culture history podcast is nothing like anything you've heard before, and it's everything you need to understand the modern world. Katie Puckrik and Tom Fordyce, an American pop culture buff and a British music lover, have taken the smash-hit song by Billy Joel and turned it into a podcast. Billy lists 120 people, places, and things in 'We Didn't Start The Fire', and Katie and Tom will do an episode on every single one to create the most fascinating, random and original history of the post-war world. Over the next two and a half years, we're going to learn about politics, rock 'n' roll, sport, space, television, the Cold War, guided along the way by historians, eyewitnesses, and mega-fans. Billy started it. We're going to finish it. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @spreadthatfire, email us at fire@crowdnetwork.co.uk, and go to spreadthatfire.com to buy merch.

  • Tanya Reynolds (Sex Education) stars in a dark, near-future science fiction fairytale about a robot who can feel, and the world that attempts to control her. When a robot called Eliza falls in love with Him (Arthur Darvill, Doctor Who), they work together to make her fully sentient. But consciousness doesn’t come without consequences. As Eliza gets caught in a web of both loving and abusive relationships, she has to fight to survive. #OneVoiceRaisesAnother Eliza is a Crowd Network original made in partnership with The Pankhurst Trust / Manchester Women’s Aid. If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse, help is available now. You can call the 24/7 national helpline on 0808 2000 247 and get free confidential advice at https://www.womensaid.org.uk  If you want early episodes and behind the scenes content, subscribe now to the Crowd Stories channel. Full transcripts of all episodes are available on the Crowd website.

  • Is the post-Cold War era over? In this brave new world, nothing is too small, or big, to be digitalised…including acts of war. Russian ransomware attacks almost doubled last year. At this very moment, cybercriminals are crippling schools, supermarkets, dentists, kindergartens, hospitals, oil pipelines - all in the name of money. Katie Puckrik wants to know who, and why. You can listen to the previous series of dot com on this same feed. Series 1 unveils the hidden army of volunteers behind the world's biggest encyclopaedia; and series 2 explores the heat behind the headlines of the US's 5th biggest social media website, Reddit. Dot com is presented by Katie Puckrik, written and produced by Anna Staufenberg, and edited by Crawford Blair.

  • From Heath Ledger to Marilyn Monroe, Chadwick Boseman to James Dean, these are the stories of the stars who will never fade – adored, unforgettable, unique. The inside tales, the scandals, the truth about who they really were.

CROWD STORIES

Ad-free access to stories you need to hear.

4,49 €/mois ou 45,99 €/an après l’essai

À propos

Imagine boarding a flight thinking you’re heading on holiday, but instead you get taken hostage by Saddam Hussein. It might sound far-fetched, but in August 1990 this really happened to the passengers and crew of BA Flight 149. Journalist Stephen Davis has been reporting on this extraordinary story for the past three decades. This series features the hostages themselves - the men, women and children used as human shields by the Iraqi regime. It also features voices from the world of politics and intelligence agencies who were active during the crisis, to put the human stories in a wider context.  At the heart of the series is a key question - why was the plane allowed to land at all, putting so many lives at risk? Was it a terrible accident, or was there a political objective? Either way, the lives of the human shields themselves have been forever changed, and they are still living with the consequences.   Since launching on February 7th 2022, the series has had over 300,000 downloads (up to the time of writing). Some selected listener reviews include: “This is an incredible piece of journalism…listened to 7 episodes in a day as I was so engrossed”; and “A gripping tale told beautifully and bravely by the victims”.  Ultimately this series aims to give the human shields a platform to tell their story - a story that has been buried over the decades.

Pour écouter des épisodes au contenu explicite, connectez‑vous.

Recevez les dernières actualités sur cette émission

Connectez‑vous ou inscrivez‑vous pour suivre des émissions, enregistrer des épisodes et recevoir les dernières actualités.

Choisissez un pays ou une région

Afrique, Moyen‑Orient et Inde

Asie‑Pacifique

Europe

Amérique latine et Caraïbes

États‑Unis et Canada