When a Boeing 767 loses a critical system minutes after takeoff, the experienced crew makes a reasonable decision: continue across the Atlantic and deal with it when they land. After all, they've trained for this exact scenario, and backup systems are designed for situations like this. But as Flight 16 approaches Warsaw with 231 people on board, the backup systems mysteriously fail. Join Alice and Zach as they unravel how a perfect landing became impossible, why experienced pilots missed something hiding in plain sight, and how one captain's extraordinary skill brought everyone home alive from one of aviation's most dramatic belly landings.

Sources:

• "Final report" - State Commission on Aircraft Accidents Investigation (SCAAI), December 18, 2017
• "LOT Polish Airlines Flight 16" - Wikipedia
• "Accident: LOT B763 at Warsaw on Nov 1st 2011, forced gear up landing" - Simon Hradecky, The Aviation Herald
• "Boeing 767 BELLY LANDING! What happened?!" - Mentour Pilot (Petter Hörnfeldt), YouTube
• "Emergency Landing without Landing Gears" - World's Wildest Flights, Season 1 Episode 1

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.

On the Sunday after Thanksgiving 1974, what should have been a routine diversion turned into one of aviation's most consequential disasters. Join Alice and Zach as they explore how TWA Flight 514's crash into Mount Weather, Virginia, exposed a deadly gap in communication between pilots and air traffic controllers—a misunderstanding so fundamental that it had nearly caused another crash just weeks earlier. Discover how confusion over three simple words, "cleared for approach," led to 92 deaths and triggered safety changes that transformed modern aviation. This Thanksgiving, we remember a tragedy that taught the industry an unforgettable lesson about the cost of ambiguity.

Sources:

• National Transportation Safety Board Aircraft Accident Report NTSB-AAR-75-16
• Federal Aviation Administration Lessons Learned: TWA Flight 514
• Air Line Pilots Association: "The Legacy of TWA Flight 514: 50 Years of Reflection and Aviation Safety"
• Check-Six.com: "In a Place that Doesn't Exist - The Crash of TWA Flight 514"
• AOPA: "TWA 514's Legacy" by Peter A. Bedell
• Aviation Safety Network Database
• Bluemont Heritage: TWA Flight 514 Memorial
• ABC 7 News - WJLA: "FULL DOCUMENTARY: TWA Flight 514 airplane crash in Loudoun County, Virginia"
• Green Dot Aviation: "Descent into Disaster! | TWA Flight 514"

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

• Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.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.

On August 12, 1985, Japan Airlines Flight 123 climbed into the evening sky with 524 people aboard, bound for a routine 54-minute flight to Osaka. Twelve minutes later, a thunderous explosion tore through the aircraft, severing all hydraulic controls and leaving the crew fighting to control an uncontrollable jumbo jet using only engine thrust. What followed was 32 minutes of extraordinary airmanship as three pilots battled against impossible odds. Discover how a seven-year-old maintenance error led to the deadliest single-aircraft disaster in aviation history—and how the heroic actions of the crew would later help save lives in future emergencies.

• Mayday: Air Disasters - Season 3, Episode 3, titled "Out Of Control"
• "Japan Airlines Flight 123 | A Short Documentary" - Fascinating Horror
• Japan Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission Official Report
• NTSB Investigation Documents
• Wikipedia - Japan Airlines Flight 123
• Survivor testimonials and witness interviews

• Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
• Email: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.com
• Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
• Facebook: Final Boarding Call

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.