Final Boarding Call

Alice Stern
  • 4.6 (5)
  • TRUE CRIME
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Final Boarding Call dives into the true stories of aviation disasters, survival tales, and near misses that have shaped history. Hosted by Alice, a disaster-obsessed frequent flyer, and her reluctant, homebody husband Zach, each episode explores the history, mechanics, and human decisions behind these harrowing events. Through meticulous research and compelling storytelling, we examine how small oversights and miscommunications can cascade into catastrophe, revealing the fragility of complex systems and celebrating the heroism that emerges in crisis. From ghost planes circling on autopilot to pilots sucked out of windshields at 17,000 feet, we unpack these incidents with equal parts fascination and respect for the lessons they've taught us. So stow your tray tables, fasten your seatbelts, and prepare for turbulence—because not every trip reaches its final destination.

  1. 3H AGO

    Amelia Earhart

    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.comEmail: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.comInstagram: @FinalBoardingCallPodFacebook: 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.

    1h 1m

  2. MAR 4

    United Airlines Flight 585 / USAir Flight 427

    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, 2001NTSB Aircraft Accident Report AAR-99/01 — USAir Flight 427NTSB Human Performance Group Chairman's Factual Report — Eastwind Airlines Flight 517 (DCA96IA061)FAA Airworthiness Directive AD 94-01-07FAA Airworthiness Directive AD 99-11-05FAA Airworthiness Directive AD 2002-20-07FAA 737 Flight Controls Engineering Test and Evaluation Board (ETEB) Findings and Recommendations SummaryAuralis Skies, "The Day an Airplane Took Control — and No One Survived"The Seattle Times, "Safety at Issue: The 737" investigative seriesDenver 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, 2001AeroTime, "Revisiting the Boeing 737 Rudder Issues of the '90s"Aviation Stack Exchange — Boeing 737 rudder servo valve vulnerability discussionSimple Flying — aircraft component temperature changes in flightNTSB Press Release, September 26, 2024 — urgent safety recommendations on Boeing 737 rudder systemAviation Safety Network — United Airlines Flight 585 accident descriptionAviation Safety Network — USAir Flight 427 accident descriptionWikipedia — United Airlines Flight 585Wikipedia — USAir Flight 427Wikipedia — Boeing 737 rudder issuesEverything Explained Today — United Airlines Flight 585 pilot biographical detailsJustapedia — Captain Harold GreenVirginia Tech Libraries — USAir Flight 427 passenger listHistorical Marker Database (HMDB) — Widefield Community Park memorial markerFind A Grave — Captain Peter GermanoFind A Grave — First Officer Charles B. "Chuck" Emmett III Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online: Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.comEmail: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.comInstagram: @FinalBoardingCallPodFacebook: 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.

    41 min

  3. FEB 25

    JetBlue Flight 1954

    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, 2019FAA 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, 2022Dr. Dale Glenn interviews re: Delta Air Lines cryptic pregnancy delivery, 2021Journal of Travel Medicine study on documented in-flight births (1929-2018) Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online: Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.comEmail: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.comInstagram: @FinalBoardingCallPodFacebook: 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.

    51 min

  4. FEB 18

    The Überlingen Mid-Air Collision

    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 ReportCockpit Voice Recorder Database (tailstrike.com)Swiss Federal Court rulings on Skyguide liability (2007, 2011)Wikipedia articles on 2002 Überlingen mid-air collision and Vitaly KaloyevBureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives (BAAA)Communicatio Optima aviation safety analysisChina Daily court coverage (2007) Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online: Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.comEmail: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.comInstagram: @FinalBoardingCallPodFacebook: 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.

    55 min

  5. FEB 11

    The Olympic, Titanic and Brittanic

    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 ReportU.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, UKEncyclopedia 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, LondonWreckSite.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-27Southampton Stories - local historical accounts of White Star Line crew membersThe Old Salt Blog - "Arthur John Priest: The Unsinkable Stoker" and related maritime history articlesBBC History - biographical profiles of Titanic survivorsMaritime Archaeology Trust - White Star Line vessel documentation and crew recordsNational Maritime Museum Collections - Olympic-class ship records and crew manifests Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online: Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.comEmail: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.comInstagram: @FinalBoardingCallPodFacebook: 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.

    1h 6m

  6. FEB 4

    JetBlue Flight 1230

    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 documentsEuropean Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Emergency Airworthiness Directive 2025-0234-EFederal Aviation Administration (FAA) Emergency Airworthiness Directive 2025-24-51Airbus 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, MediumIndia 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 dataFlightRadar24 flight tracking data for JetBlue Flight 1230Reddit r/aviation passenger testimonialsLiveATC audio recordings Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online: Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.comEmail: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.comInstagram: @FinalBoardingCallPodFacebook: 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.

    56 min

  7. JAN 28

    Alaska Airlines Flight 261

    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-02/01FOX 13 Seattle coverage by Tyler Slauson, "Remembering Alaska Airlines Flight 261: 25 years since tragic crash"NTSB investigation transcripts and testimony recordsFederal Aviation Administration Lessons Learned documentation Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online: Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com Email: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.comInstagram: @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.

    53 min

  8. JAN 21

    Pan Am Flight 214

    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, 2013FAA Lessons Learned: Pan Am Flight 214 at Elkton, MarylandHistorical Society of Cecil County archives Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online: Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.comEmail: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.comInstagram: @FinalBoardingCallPodFacebook: 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.

    57 min
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4.6
out of 5
5 Ratings

About

Final Boarding Call dives into the true stories of aviation disasters, survival tales, and near misses that have shaped history. Hosted by Alice, a disaster-obsessed frequent flyer, and her reluctant, homebody husband Zach, each episode explores the history, mechanics, and human decisions behind these harrowing events. Through meticulous research and compelling storytelling, we examine how small oversights and miscommunications can cascade into catastrophe, revealing the fragility of complex systems and celebrating the heroism that emerges in crisis. From ghost planes circling on autopilot to pilots sucked out of windshields at 17,000 feet, we unpack these incidents with equal parts fascination and respect for the lessons they've taught us. So stow your tray tables, fasten your seatbelts, and prepare for turbulence—because not every trip reaches its final destination.

Information

  • Creator
    Alice Stern
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    51
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 Alice Stern
  • Show Website
    Final Boarding Call

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