Join Alice and Zach as they explore one of aviation's most disturbing tragedies. On March 24, 2015, Germanwings Flight 9525 crashed into the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board when co-pilot Andreas Lubitz deliberately locked the captain out of the cockpit and intentionally flew the plane into a mountainside. This episode examines the fatal flaws in cockpit security procedures implemented after 9/11, the devastating impact of untreated mental illness in safety-critical professions, and the difficult balance between medical privacy and public safety. Discover how this horrifying act of mass murder-suicide forced airlines worldwide to reconsider their protocols and prompted important conversations about pilot mental health monitoring that continue to shape aviation safety today.

Sources:

• "How a Pilot Deliberately Crashed a Passenger Plane" - Air Crash Investigation
• Kreindler & Kreindler LLP - Legal documentation regarding 2016 lawsuit against Airline Training Center Arizona
• Courthouse News - Coverage of families' civil claims and U.S. court proceedings
• The Guardian - Reporting on families' compensation claims and Lufthansa's initial offers (2015)
• Reuters - Coverage of families preparing U.S. lawsuit (2015)
• Time Magazine - Summary of Lufthansa compensation offers and insurance reserves
• AP News / DPA - Reporting on Essen court decision rejecting higher compensation claims (July 1, 2020)
• Aviation Pros / DPA - Coverage of German appeal outcomes (September 2021)
• Aviation24.be / CatalanNews - Spanish Supreme Court increases compensation for select families (May 2023)
• Wikipedia - Germanwings Flight 9525 consolidated timeline and legal proceedings

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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 state-of-the-art commercial airliner simply disappears without a trace? Join Alice and Zach as they investigate the baffling case of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which vanished on March 8, 2014, with 239 people on board. Discover how an ordinary overnight flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing turned into aviation's greatest modern mystery when it deviated from its course, went radio silent, and apparently flew for hours into one of the most remote regions on Earth. Follow the unprecedented international search efforts that spanned years and cost hundreds of millions of dollars, and explore the competing theories about what might have happened on that fateful night above the South China Sea. Plus, hear about the latest developments as the search officially resumed in 2025, offering new hope for answers.

Sources:

• Mayday: Air Disasters - Season 14, Episode 11: "What Happened to Malaysian Flight 370"
• "The Search for MH370 is Back ON! What's changed?!" - Mentour Now! YouTube channel
• Wikipedia: Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
• Australian Transport Safety Bureau Final Report (2017)

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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.

Join Alice and Zach for their quarterly roundup of recent aviation incidents and accidents from around the world. In this Q3 2025 edition, they explore ten significant aviation events from July through early October, including near mid-air collisions with military aircraft, a dramatic engine failure requiring fuel dumping, an airshow near-disaster, violent passenger behavior, wing flap failures, toxic fume concerns, a technology outage that grounded an entire fleet, a major airline's sudden collapse that stranded 1,750 passengers, a ground collision at LaGuardia, and a miraculous roadside emergency landing.

Sources:

SkyWest Flight 3788 Near-Miss with B-52 Bomber:

• "A pilot made sharp turn to avoid a B-52 bomber over North Dakota, then took to the mic to explain" - U.S. News
• "NTSB: B-52 bomber nearly hit Delta flight" - USA Today
• "Delta regional pilot takes evasive action to avoid F-52" - ABC News

Spanish Air Force F-18 Airshow Incident:

• "Flock of birds nearly cause Spanish F-18 to crash on crowded beach during airshow" - Euronews
• "Spanish Hornet's evasive action at Gijon airshow" - Aerotime
• "Spanish F/A-18 Hornet Seen Nearly Crashing Into Surf During Beach Airshow" - The War Zone

United Airlines Flight 108 Engine Failure:

• "United Boeing 787 Suffers Engine Failure, Makes Emergency Landing" - Business Insider
• "United Airlines Flight Makes Emergency Landing After Engine Failure" - NBC News
• "United Airlines Mayday Call Was By The Book" - Forbes

Breeze Airways Unruly Passenger:

• "Breeze Airways flight diverts after unruly passenger breaks free from restraints: Police" - ABC News
• "Breeze Airways unruly passenger; Good Samaritan speaks" - CBS Los Angeles
• "Breeze Airways Flight Diverts Due to Unruly Passenger" - USA Today

Delta Air Lines Boeing 737 Wing Flap Incident:

• "Delta Boeing 737 Suffers Mid-Air Wing Flap Failure, Lands Safely in Austin, FAA Launches Probe" - The Logical Indian
• "FAA investigates after Delta 737 wing flap breaks midflight" - CNN
• "Delta 737's loose landing flap in Austin" - Aerotime

Alaska Airlines IT Outage:

• "Alaska Airlines resumes flights after hardware failure causes system-wide ground stop" - KOMO News
• "Hardware failure, IT outage grounded Alaska Airlines planes" - Government Technology
• "Alaska Airlines requests system-wide ground stop due to IT outage" - CBS News

Delta Air Lines APU Replacement Program:

• "Delta to replace engine parts after passengers, crew suffer brain injuries from toxic fume leaks" - New York Post
• "Delta Replacing Engine Units on A320 Planes" - TipRanks
• "Delta Airlines replaces 100s of engines for frightening reason" - The Street

Play Airlines Shutdown:

• "This Airline Is Shutting Down All Flights, Effective Immediately" - Travel Pirates
• "Iceland's Play Airlines ceases operations, leaves passengers stranded" - AviTrader
• "A Budget Airline in Iceland Shuts Down Suddenly, Leaving Passengers Stranded" - The New York Times

Delta Connection Jets Collision at LaGuardia:

• "2 Delta jets collide on taxiway at LaGuardia Airport, leaving member of cabin crew injured" - People
• "Delta planes collide at LaGuardia Airport" - CBS New York
• "NYC: Delta jets collide at LaGuardia Airport" - New York Post

Colorado Springs Small Plane Crash:

• "Small plane crashes on Powers Boulevard in Colorado Springs" - KOAA
• "Small plane crash landing in Colorado Springs" - CBS Colorado
• "Small plane lands along major Colorado Springs road" - The Gazette

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