Episodi

  • The pylon flange cracked during removal - did they reach safety?

    The pylon flange cracked during removal - did they reach safety?
    Oct 15 2026
    An engine and pylon tore free the instant Flight 191 rotated at O'Hare-did the maintenance shortcut and a cracked pylon flange doom everyone aboard?

    The pylon flange cracked during removal - did they reach safety?

    In this episode, we follow the thirty-one seconds after American Airlines Flight 191 lost an engine at rotation and the maintenance decisions that preceded it. The episode traces the chain from a combined engine-pylon removal shortcut in Tulsa to the unnoticed crack that grew over weeks - but did anyone foresee the consequence?

    Date: May 25, 1979
    Flight: American Airlines Flight 191
    Aircraft: McDonnell Douglas DC-10, N110AA
    Maintenance event: Engine and pylon removed together March 29-30, 1979
    Fatalities: 273

    - The airline used a combined engine-and-pylon removal method in Tulsa to save roughly 200 labor hours per aircraft.
    - The combined removal stressed the pylon aft bulkhead flange in ways the procedure wasn’t designed to handle.
    - During the Tulsa work, a forklift-supported engine-pylon assembly shifted and produced an undetected crack in the flange.
    - The cracked flange went unnoticed through inspections and the aircraft flew nearly two months afterward.
    - The left engine and pylon separated at the exact instant of rotation at O'Hare, 15:59, sending the engine onto runway 32R while the airframe continued airborne.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    20 min
  • The Night an MD‑82 Stopped Flying: Surviving Flight 255's Silence

    The Night an MD‑82 Stopped Flying: Surviving Flight 255's Silence
    Oct 14 2026
    A routine MD-82 takes off from Detroit and, moments later, simply stops flying-could a single missed checklist item doom everyone on board?

    The Night an MD‑82 Stopped Flying: Surviving Flight 255's Silence

    In this episode, we follow the moments before and after Northwest Airlines Flight 255’s fatal departure and the puzzling aftermath investigators faced. The episode traces the flight crew’s experience, the airplane’s configuration, and the single routine step that may have mattered most - but did it leave enough warning to stop the crash?

    Person: Captain John R. Maus
    Person: First Officer David J. Dodds
    Date: August 16, 1987
    Location: Detroit Metropolitan Airport, runway 3C
    Aircraft: McDonnell Douglas MD-82, registration N312RC

    - The MD-82 lifted off at 20:44 and was airborne for less than ninety seconds before control was lost.
    - Flight crew together had nearly 29,000 hours of experience and conversed calmly on the cockpit voice recorder in the final minutes.
    - Performance calculations were filed for runways 21L/21R, but the crew was cleared to depart from the shorter runway 3C that night.
    - The aircraft’s takeoff weight of 144,046 pounds was within limits only if the airplane was configured correctly for takeoff.
    - Investigators found the airplane rolled left immediately after liftoff and no obvious mechanical failure or lightning strike explained why it stopped flying.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    18 min
  • The transmitter that stayed in Fairbanks cost them thirty-nine days

    The transmitter that stayed in Fairbanks cost them thirty-nine days
    Oct 13 2026
    A portable emergency locator transmitter sat in a Fairbanks hangar while the Alaskan wilderness swallowed a missing Cessna-did they make it in time?

    The transmitter that stayed in Fairbanks cost them thirty-nine days

    In this episode, we lay out the sequence of events surrounding the October 16, 1972 disappearance of a twin-engine Cessna with four men aboard and the puzzling absence of its emergency locator transmitter. The episode traces who was on the flight, what was known about the device, and why the search never recorded a confirmed emergency signal.

    Person: Thomas Hale Boggs
    Date: October 16, 1972
    Location: Alaska Range / flight from Anchorage to Juneau
    Event: Disappearance of Cessna 310 with four aboard
    Item: Emergency locator transmitter confirmed left airport in another aircraft

    - The Cessna 310 departed Anchorage at 9:59 AM with pilot Don Jonz, Rep. Nick Begich, aide Russell Brown, and Hale Boggs aboard.
    - No distress call, mayday, or position report was ever transmitted after contact was lost over the Alaska Range.
    - The emergency locator transmitter that should have been on the plane remained in a Fairbanks hangar for thirty-nine days.
    - Search efforts became one of the largest in Alaskan history, involving the U.S. Coast Guard, Navy, Army, and Air Force across mountains and water.
    - Witness testimony noted an object in the pilot’s briefcase that “looked exactly like” the transmitter, raising questions about why no confirmed signal was received.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    22 min
  • Nine Silent Seconds: How Flight 266 Vanished After Takeoff

    Nine Silent Seconds: How Flight 266 Vanished After Takeoff
    Oct 12 2026
    A nearly new Boeing 727 lifts from Los Angeles; two minutes later the cockpit goes dark-did the pilots make it back to instruments in time?

    Nine Silent Seconds: How Flight 266 Vanished After Takeoff

    In this episode, we follow the departure and immediate aftermath of United Air Lines Flight 266 on the night of January 18-19, 1969. The story details the airplane, crew, known mechanical issues, and the nine seconds of cockpit audio that stopped mid-flight-what happened in those minutes?

    Date: January 18-19, 1969
    Flight: United Air Lines Flight 266
    Aircraft: Boeing 727, registration N7434U
    Crew hours on type: more than 4,300 combined hours
    Known issue: Generator number three inoperative; control panel with history of malfunctions

    - The airplane was four months old and had accumulated fewer than 1,100 flight hours when it departed Los Angeles.
    - Captain Leonard Leverson, First Officer Walter Schlemmer, and Flight Engineer Keith Ostrander had logged thousands of hours between them, with Ostrander the least experienced.
    - Generator number three had been out for days; the control panel with repeated failures had been moved between aircraft and was installed on N7434U a month earlier.
    - Technicians applied an approved procedure: a replacement generator was fitted but failed, the faulty control panel repair was deferred, and switches/warning lights were masked with tape before flight.
    - The cockpit voice recorder captured only nine seconds of audio-three pilots saying they could not see where the aircraft was going-before the recorders lost power.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    22 min
  • The snow dune that stopped the fuselage bought them twenty-seven hours

    The snow dune that stopped the fuselage bought them twenty-seven hours
    Oct 11 2026
    A De Havilland Heron slams into a Norwegian peak in a blizzard; a single snow dune may have bought the passengers a chance at survival.

    The snow dune that stopped the fuselage bought them twenty-seven hours

    In this episode, we follow the crash of Braathens SAFE Flight 253 and the first twenty-seven hours after impact when survivors waited in a blizzard. What decisions and conditions shaped their odds, and how did one passenger keep others alive amid the wreckage?

    Date: 7 November 1956
    Aircraft: De Havilland Heron (LN-SUR), Heron 114 Heron Two B
    Route: Trondheim (Værnes) to Oslo (Fornebu)
    Location: Hummelfjell, Røros highlands, 1,350 meters
    Person: Rolf Kirkvaag

    - Flight 253 departed Værnes at 08:30 and crossed Tolga beacon at 09:12 before conditions deteriorated.
    - Icing accumulated on windshield, control surfaces and antenna until the crew were effectively blind and inaudible.
    - Crew elected to turn back toward Trondheim; a sudden downdraft prevented completion of the turn.
    - At 09:50 the aircraft struck the mountain at about 300 km/h, fuselage tore open and engines broke away.
    - A compacted snow dune stopped the wreck on a slope, leaving ten survivors and one dead captain waiting in a storm for rescuers.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    19 min
  • Eighty‑three minutes of delay forced a climb that met Medicine Bow's summit

    Eighty‑three minutes of delay forced a climb that met Medicine Bow's summit
    Oct 10 2026
    Eighty‑three minutes late, a DC‑4 climbs toward Medicine Bow Peak - did the delay force a fatal shortcut across higher ground?

    Eighty‑three minutes of delay forced a climb that met Medicine Bow's summit

    In this episode, we follow United Air Lines Flight 409 from its delayed departure in Denver through its assigned airway toward Salt Lake City and the moment investigators found only two oil stains on a cliff face. The narrative traces the flight plan, the mounting delay, and the gap between assigned altitude and the mountain it struck - what decisions and pressures led the crew into higher terrain?

    Flight: United Air Lines Flight 409
    Date: October 6, 1955
    Aircraft: Douglas DC‑4 (registration N30062)
    Location: Medicine Bow Peak, Wyoming
    Passengers and crew: 66 aboard (63 passengers, 3 crew)

    - The flight left Stapleton Airport in Denver already eighty‑three minutes behind schedule after earlier delays on the route.
    - Assigned altitude was 10,000 feet on Victor airways that should have cleared Medicine Bow Peak by about 2,000 feet.
    - Wyoming had no civil radar coverage in 1955; the last expected radio report over Rock River at 08:11 was never received.
    - Search pilots first saw two oil stains fifty to seventy‑five feet below the 12,005‑foot summit, each marking where an engine struck granite.
    - At impact the DC‑4’s nose was pointed upward and airspeed was unusually low, and wreckage spread down three hundred feet into two ravines.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    20 min
  • The forward baggage hold filled itself and doomed the takeoff time

    The forward baggage hold filled itself and doomed the takeoff time
    Oct 9 2026
    A forward baggage hold at Cotonou was packed until the last minute and a weight figure was wrong-did they make it in time?

    The forward baggage hold filled itself and doomed the takeoff time

    In this episode, we lay out the sequence of decisions, paperwork and human errors that preceded the crash of UTA Flight 141 without resolving the final outcome. The narrative follows the aircraft’s recent transfers, the cockpit crew’s roles, and the loading of the forward baggage hold to ask how those pieces aligned on that December day.

    Aircraft: Boeing 727, first flown 1977, 40,452 cycles
    Flight: UTA Flight 141, Conakry-Cotonou-Beirut route
    Date: Christmas Day, 2003
    Declared weight error: 78 tonnes declared; 7.5 tonnes underreported
    Crew: Captain Najib al-Barouni (49), First Officer Ahmad al-Harizi (49), Flight Engineer Miftah (45)

    - The aircraft had changed registrations across three continents within a year and carried a fragmented operational record.
    - The owner, Imad Saba, leased the jet to carriers, creating a chain of custody investigators called hard to trace.
    - The director general of UTA Guinea sat in the cockpit jump seat and earlier argued with the flying first officer about excess baggage.
    - A ground handler at Cotonou with no formal training loaded the forward baggage hold until it was full and did not account for its effect on weight distribution.
    - Departure paperwork listed a takeoff weight that investigators later found to be about 7.5 tonnes lower than the aircraft actually carried.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    22 min
  • The autothrottle retracted the left thrust lever-did they make it?

    The autothrottle retracted the left thrust lever-did they make it?
    Oct 8 2026
    A routine climb above Jakarta turns critical when the autothrottle retracts the left thrust lever midleveling - did they make it in time?

    The autothrottle retracted the left thrust lever-did they make it?

    In this episode, we follow the final minutes of Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 and the maintenance and crew history that led up to them. The episode lays out the sequence of events, personnel records, and maintenance entries that preceded the emergency and asks whether the crew could stop what was unfolding.

    Person: Captain Afwan, 54, 17,904 total hours, 9,023 on the 737
    Person: First Officer Diego Mamahit, 34, 5,107 total hours, 4,957 on the 737
    Date: January 9, 2021
    Aircraft: Boeing 737-500 registration PK-CLC ("Citra"), 26 years old, 62,983 flight hours
    Event: Left thrust lever retracted by autothrottle during level-off at ~11,000 ft

    - The aircraft had been grounded nine months during the COVID-19 pandemic and returned to service December 19, 2020.
    - An autothrottle fault was logged on January 3 and 4; technicians cleaned connectors, replaced a Mach/airspeed indicator, and on January 5 marked the issue "Fixed."
    - Flight 182 pushed back at 14:36, climbed normally, and was leveling off under ATC instruction when the left thrust lever moved without pilot input.
    - The flight crew had extensive experience between them-over 23,000 combined hours-with both pilots holding large 737 time totals and recent training records.
    - What followed after the autothrottle retraction unfolded in less than sixty seconds while controllers and crew were managing a routine short-haul leg across the Java Sea.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    19 min