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 recall
• NHTSA ODI Preliminary Evaluation PE22-003 - Internal investigation documentation
• NHTSA Vehicle Owner Questionnaires (VOQ ID 11463132, 11425998, and related complaints)
• Stellantis Part 573 Defect Information Report - Technical breakdown of pressure buildup mechanism
• NHTSA 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 Group
• TFLTruck (The Fast Lane Truck) - Early investigative reporting on 68RFE overheating
• MoparInsiders - Technical history of 68RFE transmission and 2019 valve body redesign
• Ram truck owner forums (HDRams, Turbo Diesel Register) - Near-miss incidents and owner experiences
• Class-action litigation documents (Top Class Actions, Robins Kaplan LLP)

FIND FINAL BOARDING CALL ONLINE:

• Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
• Email: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.com
• 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.

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 [SUL-en-berg-er] 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:

1. Mayday: Air Disasters Season 10, Episode 5: "Hudson River Runway"
2. NTSB Final Report NTSB/AAR-10/03
3. Dave Sanderson's accounts and book "Moments Matter"
4. Ric Elias TED Talk: "3 Things I Learned While My Plane Crashed"
5. Flight attendant testimony from NTSB hearings
6. NY Waterway ferry captain interviews

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

1. Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
2. Email: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.com
3. Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
4. 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.

On September 11, 1974, Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 crashed three miles short of the runway in Charlotte, North Carolina, killing 72 people. The cause wasn't mechanical failure or bad weather — it was a conversation. Discover how cockpit distraction during a routine approach led to one of aviation's most preventable tragedies, and learn about the landmark safety rule that now governs every takeoff and landing worldwide. Among the 72 lives lost were a father and his two sons — a family whose youngest sibling would grow up to become one of America's most recognizable voices and redefine how we talk about grief.

Sources:

1. National Transportation Safety Board: "Aircraft Accident Report: Eastern Air Lines, Inc., Douglas DC-9-31, N8984E, Charlotte, North Carolina, September 11, 1974" (Report No. AAR-75-09, May 23, 1975)
2. Federal Aviation Administration: Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) Part 121.542 and Part 135.100 (The "Sterile Cockpit Rule")
3. Aviation Safety Network: "Accident Description — Eastern Air Lines Flight 212"
4. Janes, Théoden and Fowler, Scott. "9/11/74: The Untold Story of Charlotte's Deadliest Plane Crash" (Multi-part series). The Charlotte Observer, September 2024
5. Janes, Théoden and Fowler, Scott. "'I'm Human,' Said the Co-Pilot: The Fight to Regain His License." The Charlotte Observer, May 21, 2025
6. Fowler, Scott. "Charlotte's Deadliest Plane Crash Has Finally Been Memorialized After 51 Years." The Charlotte Observer, September 10, 2025
7. Sullenberger Aviation Museum: Flight 212 Memorial Dedication Ceremony Records, June 21, 2025
8. Gerard, Philip. "The 1970s: Fatal Distraction." Our State Magazine, August 31, 2021 (includes extensive Colette Watson interview)
9. "The Courage to Fly: Colette Watson's Story." Our State Magazine, 2021
10. Cooper, Anderson. "Stephen Colbert: Grateful for Grief." All There Is Podcast, September 2022
11. Lovell, Joel. "Stephen Colbert on Making The Late Show His Own." GQ, August 17, 2015
12. Schorn, Daniel. "Stephen Colbert On Insincerity." CBS News, April 28, 2006
13. Admiral Cloudberg. "The Rules of the Game: The Crash of Eastern Air Lines Flight 212" (aviation history analysis)
14. SkyBrary. "Sterile Cockpit Compliance." Flight Safety Digest (context on FAA delay and pilot union resistance)
15. NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System. "The Sterile Cockpit" (Directline #4, June 4, 1993)

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

1. Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
2. Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
3. Facebook: Final Boarding Call
4. Email: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.com

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.