Final Boarding Call

Alice Stern

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. 1D AGO

    TACA Flight 110

    What happens when a brand-new Boeing 737 flies into a hailstorm so violent that both engines die in the same instant, 16,500 feet above the Gulf Coast? Join Alice and Zach as they explore the 1988 emergency landing of TACA Flight 110, where a 29-year-old captain with one eye, a first officer he trusted, and a brand new aircraft were tested in a way no flight simulator had ever prepared a crew for. Discover how a near-miss nine months earlier was waved off as a freak event, why the engines on one of the most reliable jets in the world were vulnerable in a way no one had imagined, and how a 43-ton glider found the only piece of dry ground for miles. This is the rare story where everyone walks away — including the aircraft itself. Sources: "Boeing 737-300 | TACA International Airlines Flight 110, N75356" — Federal Aviation Administration, Lessons Learned from Transport Airplane AccidentsNTSB Brief of Incident FTW88IA109 — National Transportation Safety Board"Nowhere to Land," Mayday: Air Disaster, Season 11 Episode 11 — National Geographic / Cineflix"Interview with Capt. Carlos Dárdano: Hero of TACA 110" — Carlos Dardano Fans, YouTube"This Incredible Pilot: Carlos Dárdano" — Plane & Pilot Magazine"The Miracle on the Levée" — Fear of Landing"¡Misión Cumplida! Se Jubila el Histórico Piloto Salvadoreño Carlos Dárdano" — El Diario de HoyAviation Safety Network — TACA Flight 110 Profile 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.

    53 min

  2. MAY 6

    Malaysia Airlines Flight MH134

    On the night of July 18, 2018, a Malaysia Airlines Airbus A330 pushed back from Brisbane Airport carrying 215 passengers bound for Kuala Lumpur. Within seconds of takeoff, every airspeed display in the cockpit went red — and the crew had no idea how fast they were flying or why. Join Alice and Zach as they unravel a near-disaster that played out in the dark over the Queensland coast, the chain of small failures that put this aircraft in the air, and the very specific Brisbane Airport problem that nobody at Malaysia Airlines had been told about. Buckle up — this one is a wild ride. Sources: ATSB Final Investigation Report AO-2018-053 — Australian Transport Safety Bureau, March 2022"How Did EVERYONE Miss THIS!? | Malaysian Airlines Flight 134" — Mentour Pilot, YouTube"Malaysia Airlines mistakes led to 'serious incident' on packed A330" — Australian Aviation"Pitot covers left on made for tense BUSS ride" — Flight Safety Australia"A350 pitot probe covers left on prior to pushback demonstrates how assumptions, procedural omissions can lead to unsafe conditions" — Australian Transport Safety BureauMalaysia Airlines Flight MH134 — Wikipedia Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online: Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com | Email: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.com | Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod | Facebook: Final Boarding Call | Patreon: patreon.com/finalboardingcall 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.

    45 min

  3. APR 29

    The Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster

    On a cold January morning in 1986, a launch that had been promoted as a celebration of science and education went catastrophically wrong in front of a watching nation. But the real story of this disaster didn't begin on the launch pad. It began six months earlier, in a memo an engineer wrote to his boss. It continued the night before, in a conference room in Utah, where that engineer laid photographs on a table and begged four men not to kill seven people. Join Alice and Zach as they unravel the story of how the warnings were raised, how they were overruled, and what it cost the people who tried to tell the truth. Sources: Report of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident (Rogers Commission Report), Volumes I–V — NASA History Division"Personal Observations on the Reliability of the Shuttle," Appendix F to the Rogers Commission Report — Richard P. FeynmanThe Challenger Launch Decision: Risky Technology, Culture, and Deviance at NASA — Diane Vaughan, University of Chicago PressTruth, Lies, and O-Rings: Inside the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster — Allan J. McDonald with James R. Hansen"Challenger: The Final Voyage" — report by Dr. Joseph P. Kerwin to NASA Administrator, July 28, 1986"Ethical Decisions — Morton Thiokol and the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster" — Roger Boisjoly, MIT lecture, January 1989"The Challenger Disaster: Making it Personal" — paper presented at ASEE Annual ConferenceNASA Challenger STS-51-L crew report and transcript release, 1986"Christa McAuliffe's Lost Lessons" — NASA STEM archive"Former Students Remember Christa McAuliffe" — New Hampshire Public RadioPresident Ronald Reagan, Address to the Nation on the Challenger Disaster, January 28, 1986 — Ronald Reagan Presidential LibraryColumbia Accident Investigation Board Report, Volume I, August 2003 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

  4. APR 22

    Trans-Colorado Airlines Flight 2286

    On January 19, 1988, a twin-engine commuter plane descended through an overcast Colorado night toward a mountain valley and struck a ridge twelve miles from the runway at Durango. The pilots were experienced. The aircraft was functioning normally. Investigators found no mechanical failure of any kind. So what brought Trans-Colorado Airlines Flight 2286 down on a routine approach — and why did it take more than a year, a stranger's tip at a hotel in Phoenix, and a second round of toxicology testing to find the answer? Join Alice and Zach for the story of a crash that exposed the people hiding inside America's commuter airline system, and the slow, imperfect reforms that followed. Sources: Aircraft Accident Report NTSB/AAR-89/01: Trans-Colorado Airlines, Inc., Flight 2286 - National Transportation Safety Board"A Sickness and Its Cure: The crash of Trans-Colorado Airlines flight 2286" - Admiral Cloudberg, Medium"Dangerous Approach" - Mayday: Air Disaster, Season 16, Episode 6 - Discovery Channel Canada / National Geographic"A Continental Express commuter plane crashed on a snow-covered ridge in southwestern Colorado" - UPI, January 20, 1988"No mechanical failure found in commuter plane" - UPI, January 22, 1988"Airline crash attributed to cocaine" - UPI, January 31, 1989"Anti-Drug Program for Personnel Engaged in Specified Aviation Activities, Final Rule" (53 FR 47024) - Federal Aviation Administration, November 21, 1988"Pilot Records Improvement Act of 1996" - Federal Aviation Administration"Reinforcement and Rapid Delivery Systems: Understanding Adverse Consequences of Cocaine" - S. Cohen, National Institute on Drug Abuse Monograph 61"The Behavioral Pharmacology of Cocaine in Humans" - M.W. Fishman, National Institute on Drug Abuse Monograph 50 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.

    59 min

  5. APR 15

    Air Astana Flight 1388

    What happens when maintenance technicians reverse a single set of cables, turning a routine ferry flight into a two-hour battle for survival? Join Alice and Zach as they explore the harrowing story of Air Astana Flight 1388, where three pilots found themselves fighting an aircraft that did the exact opposite of what they commanded. With the plane flipping inverted, pulling crushing g-forces, and tearing itself apart in Portuguese skies, the crew faced an impossible challenge: land an aircraft that simply would not obey. Discover how quick thinking, exceptional teamwork, and sheer physical endurance turned what should have been a fatal crash into one of aviation's most remarkable survival stories. SOURCES Official Accident Investigation Report - Gabinete de Prevenção e Investigação de Acidentes com Aeronaves e de Acidentes Ferroviários (GPIAAF), Portugal"Runaway AIRCRAFT! This Aircraft Flew TWO HOURS Without CONTROLS!" - Mentour Pilot YouTube Channel"Air Astana Flight 1388 - Uncontrollable" - Mini Air Crash Investigation YouTube Channel"How to Land a 'Completely Uncontrollable' Passenger Jet" - Alex Davies, WIRED Magazine"How A Maintenance Error Caused Severe Control Issues Onboard Air Astana Flight 1388 In 2018" - Nicole Kylie, Simple FlyingAviation Safety Network Database Entry for Air Astana Flight 1388"Air Astana Out Of Control (KC1833 in 2018)" - Fear of Landing 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.

    54 min

  6. APR 8

    China Eastern Airlines Flight 5735

    On March 21, 2022, a Boeing 737 carrying 132 people entered a near-vertical dive over southern China. Forty minutes into a routine one-hour flight, it was gone — no mayday call, no distress signal, no warning of any kind. But then something strange happened: for thirty seconds, the plane climbed back up. Join Alice and Zach as they piece together what the flight recorders revealed, what one government has refused to tell the world, and why the truth behind this disaster has now been officially classified as a matter of national security. SOURCES: "China Eastern Crash Lab Data Suggests Intentional Nosedive" — The Wall Street Journal, Andrew Tangel and Alison Sider"China Eastern Flight 5735: No Evidence of Mechanical Failure in Preliminary Report" — Reuters"Four Years Later: China Eastern Investigators Offer No Answers" — Channel News Asia"China's CAAC Invokes National Security to Keep Crash Investigation Secret" — Wikipedia Reference Archive"The Mysterious Descent of MU5735: What the Black Boxes Really Told the NTSB" — Simple Flying"Pressure on Families: The Non-Disclosure Agreements of China Eastern" — The Kathmandu Post"Boeing 737-800 Safety Records and the Silence of Post-Crash Bulletins" — Boeing Newsroom"China Eastern MU5735 — Was This a Deliberate Crash?" — Mentour Pilot"Black Box Analyzed for Pilots' Actions in China Eastern Airlines Crash" — ABC News, Karson Yiu and Bill Hutchinson"China Eastern Crash May Have Been Intentional" — BBC News"US Officials Say Evidence Suggests Intentional Crash of China Eastern Jet" — CNN, Nectar Gan"China Eastern Airlines Flight 5735 Crashes En Route to Guangzhou" — Flightradar24 Blog, Ian Petchenik"Preliminary Report on China Eastern Airlines Flight MU5735 Accident" — Civil Aviation Administration of China 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

  7. APR 1

    Ram 2500 and 3500 Transmission Fires

    What happens when America's best-selling heavy-duty truck develops a flaw that can turn a routine highway drive into a fireball? Join Alice and Zach as they investigate a design defect that left Ram owners watching their six-figure trucks melt on the roadside—and the three-year gap between the first fires and corporate action. Discover how a 2019 engineering change created an invisible time bomb under the hood, learn about the "geyser effect" that turned transmission fluid into a blowtorch, and find out whether the recall fix actually solved the problem or just redirected it. SOURCES: NHTSA Safety Recall Report 22V-835 (Recall ZA3) - Stellantis transmission fire recallNHTSA ODI Preliminary Evaluation PE22-003 - Internal investigation documentationNHTSA Vehicle Owner Questionnaires (VOQ ID 11463132, 11425998, and related complaints)Stellantis Part 573 Defect Information Report - Technical breakdown of pressure buildup mechanismNHTSA CAIRS (Consumer Assistance Inquiries) - Field reports and warranty claims"Ram 2500 and 3500 Engine Fire Recall: What Owners Should Know" - Lemon Law Help by Knight Law GroupTFLTruck (The Fast Lane Truck) - Early investigative reporting on 68RFE overheatingMoparInsiders - Technical history of 68RFE transmission and 2019 valve body redesignRam truck owner forums (HDRams, Turbo Diesel Register) - Near-miss incidents and owner experiencesClass-action litigation documents (Top Class Actions, Robins Kaplan LLP) 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.

    44 min

  8. MAR 25

    US Airways Flight 1549

    What happens when a flock of birds turns an ordinary winter flight into a 208-second race against physics? Join Alice and Zach as they explore the incredible story of US Airways Flight 1549, where Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger made a split-second decision that saved 155 lives on a freezing January afternoon. But this isn't just a story about one heroic pilot—it's about the ferry captains who arrived in four minutes with skills forged during 9/11, the flight attendant who evacuated passengers with a metal beam through her leg, and the strangers who formed human chains to pull survivors from 41-degree water. Discover how preparation, training, and an extraordinary cast of ordinary people transformed certain disaster into aviation's most celebrated survival story. Sources: Mayday: Air Disasters Season 10, Episode 5: "Hudson River Runway"NTSB Final Report NTSB/AAR-10/03Dave Sanderson's accounts and book "Moments Matter"Ric Elias TED Talk: "3 Things I Learned While My Plane Crashed"Flight attendant testimony from NTSB hearingsNY Waterway ferry captain interviews 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.

    1 hr
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4.1
out of 5
7 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
    60
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 Alice Stern
  • Show Website
    Final Boarding Call

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