The Secret History of Flight 149

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. Flight 149 | Ep 1 | Take-off

    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.

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  • The shocking, riveting inside story of one of the biggest cover-ups in US military history. You thought you knew about the Iraq War? Everything you knew is about to change. Forever.  Written and narrated by filmmaker Michael Epstein, Murder in House Two is about what really happened in the Haditha Massacre of November 2005, when 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians – including women and young children – were shot multiple times by a group of US Marines. But it’s about much more, too: about one man’s fight for justice, about how the US government tried to prevent the truth ever getting out, about paranoia and persistence and an unshakeable belief in what is wrong and what is right.

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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.

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