A single whistle in the dark ocean shouldn’t decide a life, yet that’s exactly how Heidi found her way home. After ditching her aircraft in the Pacific and riding 12‑foot swells under a full moon, she watched search flares sketch the sky while a ship hovered just out of reach—until a launch zeroed in on the smallest, most human signal she had left. The twist? Her rescuers were Soviet sailors who couldn’t speak to the American aircraft overhead, turning a high‑stakes night into a quiet act of Cold War compassion.

We walk through the rescue minute by minute—why timing a single rocket flare mattered, how radios failed across political lines, and how a Russian refrigeration crew treated a stranger with brisk kindness while coordinating a handover to a US vessel. From there, Heidi opens the hangar doors on a life in the airlines: the calculated calm of a 747 bird strike at JFK, fuel dumping and single‑engine procedures, and the redundancies that keep modern aviation remarkably safe. She explains what passengers actually feel versus what the cockpit manages, and why a firm crosswind landing can be the right kind of rough.

For aspiring pilots, Heidi’s core lesson is blunt and lifesaving: know your limitations and honour them. Weather, get‑home pressure, and small compromises can snowball; asking for help early is strength, not failure. For anxious flyers, she offers simple comforts—sit forward, talk to the crew, and remember these aircraft are built to fly safely even when something goes wrong. We close with her new book, Ditching the Sky, her speaking work, and the film project taking shape, all anchored by a story that blends survival, skill, and grace across borders.

If this story moved you, follow and subscribe, leave a quick five‑star review, and share it with someone who loves true survival, aviation, or both. Your support helps us bring more extraordinary voices to your ears.

Heidi’s Book "Ditching the Sky" - https://www.amazon.com/Ditching-Sky-memoir-triumph-against/dp/B0DM73M8CL

"Ditching the Sky" on Audible (narrated by Heidi) - https://www.audible.com/pd/Ditching-the-Sky-Audiobook/B0DPXXKZRB?srsltid=AfmBOopT7XrmdYwbr5HzOxP-7f_DYeW2nANyDaiafPUS_KD89X8mTD9s

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidi-porch-09783a89

Speaker Profile - https://www.aviationspeakers.com/heidi-porch

Send us a text

If you enjoyed this episode, please give us a five-star rating and review, and tell a friend about the show.

WANT TO BE A GUEST? You can submit your own career story through our website at noordinarymonday.com, email us at hello@noordinarymonday.com, or send a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/176029491486798797fb4df61

A single engine, an endless Pacific, and a decision no pilot wants to make. That’s where Heidi Porch found herself eleven hours into a ferry flight to Hawaii when the oil pressure began to fall and the nearest runway was more than a thousand miles away. Heidi has flown everything from gliders to 747s and Gulfstream jets, but nothing demanded more focus than the moment she chose to prepare for a ditching, built a plan that fit her cockpit constraints, and committed to it.

We talk through the building blocks that made her calm under pressure: learning to fly in gliders where you cannot go around, methodically breaking in brand‑new engines on high‑power ferry legs, and practising failures mid‑ocean to cut panic down to size. When the Navy P‑3 and the Coast Guard joined the picture, precise position fixes, smart use of HF radio, and prearranged signals with her wingman created a lifeline of information for family and rescuers. Then the engine quit.

What follows is a survival masterclass: escaping inverted with eyes closed against the burn, flipping a raft mid‑inflation, cutting a lanyard that threatened to shred her only shelter, and refusing to swim for a larger raft drifting the wrong way. She calculates ship speeds, accepts a night alone, and rides swells that build from gentle to threatening. Along the way, we explore the psychology of acceptance, the physics that govern low‑speed water impacts, and the small choices that keep you alive when gear fails and fatigue whispers bad ideas. It’s raw, practical, and unforgettable.

This is part one of Heidi’s story; next week we pick up as darkness falls, weather turns, and an unexpected rescuer appears. If this moved you, follow the show, share it with someone who loves aviation or true survival stories, and leave a quick five‑star review—your support helps us bring more extraordinary voices to your queue.

Episode Links:

Heidi’s Book "Ditching the Sky" - https://www.amazon.com/Ditching-Sky-memoir-triumph-against/dp/B0DM73M8CL

"Ditching the Sky" on Audible (narrated by Heidi) - https://www.audible.com/pd/Ditching-the-Sky-Audiobook/B0DPXXKZRB?srsltid=AfmBOopT7XrmdYwbr5HzOxP-7f_DYeW2nANyDaiafPUS_KD89X8mTD9s

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidi-porch-09783a89

Speaker Profile - https://www.aviationspeakers.com/heidi-porch

Send us a text

If you enjoyed this episode, please give us a five-star rating and review, and tell a friend about the show.

WANT TO BE A GUEST? You can submit your own career story through our website at noordinarymonday.com, email us at hello@noordinarymonday.com, or send a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/176029491486798797fb4df61

A $16 million lottery ticket sits unclaimed. Hours before the deadline, an anonymous figure tries to cash in through a Belize shell company. That’s where we start—with a gamble that reveals one of the boldest insider frauds in US lottery history—and with the leader who decided to fight it in daylight rather than bury it in silence.

I sit down with Terry Rich—entrepreneur, former cable TV pioneer, zoo director, and CEO of the Iowa Lottery—to unpack the case that defined his later career. Terry explains how an insider at a vendor wrote code to narrow random outcomes once a year, why the fraud triad (need, opportunity, rationale) is the real risk model leaders should use, and how a string of small clues—including surveillance audio and a bizarre “two hot dogs” alibi—helped investigators connect jackpots across multiple states. We talk bluntly about industry pressure to keep quiet, why he refused, and how transparency actually increased public trust and sales.

Terry’s story stretches beyond the case. From helping launch MTV and HBO to reinventing a struggling zoo with irreverent ideas like “Scoop on Poop” and adult-only “Zoo Brew” nights, his career is a masterclass in creative problem-solving and operational integrity. He shares practical leadership habits—separating duties, documenting exceptions, inviting diverse voices—and the mindset that turns PR crises into credibility. We also explore the modern content landscape: why a YouTube documentary can outpace traditional channels, and how creators can leverage honest storytelling to build durable audiences.

If you’re curious about how insider fraud really works, how to structure teams to prevent it, and how courage in communication can strengthen a brand, this conversation delivers. Subscribe, leave a quick review, and share this episode with someone who geeks out on true crime, leadership, or the strange places where ethics and entrepreneurship collide. What would you have done at that last-minute claim?

Terry's website - https://terryspeaks.com/

Full Documentary: "Jackpot: America's Biggest Lotto Scam" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGsPAfQzakM

LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/terich

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/TerrySpeaksKeynote/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/tlrrhi/

Send us a text

If you enjoyed this episode, please give us a five-star rating and review, and tell a friend about the show.

WANT TO BE A GUEST? You can submit your own career story through our website at noordinarymonday.com, email us at hello@noordinarymonday.com, or send a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/176029491486798797fb4df61