In the early 1990s, two Boeing 737s fall out of clear skies moments before landing. One in Colorado Springs. One outside Pittsburgh. In both cases, the crews are experienced professionals flying perfectly maintained aircraft. The engines are running normally at impact. The weather in Pittsburgh isn't even a factor. And the investigators who comb through both crash sites — the best aviation safety analysts in the world — find almost nothing. What follows is the longest crash investigation in aviation history: a decade-long hunt through wreckage, laboratory tests, and dead ends that will demand a third aircraft, one surviving pilot, and one extraordinary experiment before the truth finally gives itself up. One hundred and fifty-seven people died before anyone understood why.

Sources:

1. Mayday: Air Disaster, Season 4, Episode 5, "Hidden Danger"
2. NTSB Aircraft Accident Report AAR-01/01 — United Airlines Flight 585, Amended Final Report, March 27, 2001
3. NTSB Aircraft Accident Report AAR-99/01 — USAir Flight 427
4. NTSB Human Performance Group Chairman's Factual Report — Eastwind Airlines Flight 517 (DCA96IA061)
5. FAA Airworthiness Directive AD 94-01-07
6. FAA Airworthiness Directive AD 99-11-05
7. FAA Airworthiness Directive AD 2002-20-07
8. FAA 737 Flight Controls Engineering Test and Evaluation Board (ETEB) Findings and Recommendations Summary
9. Auralis Skies, "The Day an Airplane Took Control — and No One Survived"
10. The Seattle Times, "Safety at Issue: The 737" investigative series
11. Denver Westword, "Flight Diversions"
12. WTAE Pittsburgh, "Flight 427: Pennsylvania's Deadliest Plane Crash, 30 Years Later"
13. Planesafe.org — Gail Dunham, "Safety – 737 United 585 – Postscript," June 7, 2001
14. AeroTime, "Revisiting the Boeing 737 Rudder Issues of the '90s"
15. Aviation Stack Exchange — Boeing 737 rudder servo valve vulnerability discussion
16. Simple Flying — aircraft component temperature changes in flight
17. NTSB Press Release, September 26, 2024 — urgent safety recommendations on Boeing 737 rudder system
18. Aviation Safety Network — United Airlines Flight 585 accident description
19. Aviation Safety Network — USAir Flight 427 accident description
20. Wikipedia — United Airlines Flight 585
21. Wikipedia — USAir Flight 427
22. Wikipedia — Boeing 737 rudder issues
23. Everything Explained Today — United Airlines Flight 585 pilot biographical details
24. Justapedia — Captain Harold Green
25. Virginia Tech Libraries — USAir Flight 427 passenger list
26. Historical Marker Database (HMDB) — Widefield Community Park memorial marker
27. Find A Grave — Captain Peter Germano
28. Find A Grave — First Officer Charles B. "Chuck" Emmett III

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 February 15, 2019, a routine JetBlue flight from San Juan to Fort Lauderdale gained an unexpected passenger when a mother went into labor at 30,000 feet. With no hospital, no surgical team, and no way to pull over, the crew and a handful of strangers became the only thing standing between a safe delivery and a medical catastrophe. Join Alice and Zach as they explore what happens when a baby decides to arrive six miles above the Caribbean — and discover why delivering at altitude is far more dangerous than most people realize. This is the story of the "medical lottery," the invisible safety net that exists on every flight, and the remarkable coincidence that the plane carrying aviation's newest passenger was already named "Born to Be Blue."

Sources:

1. JetBlue Airways official statement, February 16, 2019
2. "Baby Born Onboard JetBlue Flight" - TravelPulse, February 18, 2019
3. "JetBlue passenger gives birth to baby boy" - Fox News, February 18, 2019
4. "JetBlue Named a Plane 'Born to Be Blue'" - View from the Wing, February 17, 2019
5. FAA Regulations 14 CFR 121.803 and Appendix A (Emergency Medical Kit requirements)
6. Aviation Medical Assistance Act of 1998 (49 USC 44701)
7. MedAire/MedLink ground physician advisory service documentation
8. "How cabin crews deal with medical emergencies onboard an aircraft" - GlobalAir.com (2024)
9. Diana Giraldo interviews re: Frontier Airlines in-flight delivery, 2022
10. Dr. Dale Glenn interviews re: Delta Air Lines cryptic pregnancy delivery, 2021
11. Journal of Travel Medicine study on documented in-flight births (1929-2018)

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 July 1, 2002, two aircraft collided at 36,000 feet over southern Germany, claiming 71 lives—including 45 Russian schoolchildren on what should have been the trip of a lifetime. Discover how a series of seemingly small mistakes—a short-staffed air traffic control center, malfunctioning equipment, and confusion over emergency protocols—created a perfect storm of disaster that could have been prevented at multiple points. Learn about the heartbreaking aftermath that devastated families across two continents and the unimaginable grief that followed one father home from the crash site.

Sources:

1. Mayday: Air Disasters episode "Deadly Crossroads" (Season 4, Episode 7)
2. Official BFU (German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation) Final Report
3. Cockpit Voice Recorder Database (tailstrike.com)
4. Swiss Federal Court rulings on Skyguide liability (2007, 2011)
5. Wikipedia articles on 2002 Überlingen mid-air collision and Vitaly Kaloyev
6. Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives (BAAA)
7. Communicatio Optima aviation safety analysis
8. China Daily court coverage (2007)

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.