Layover Episodes

Exclusive for Podcrashers: In the dark of the pre-dawn sky on Halloween 1979, Western Air Lines 2605 was about to touchdown on the runway at Mexico City when, suddenly, something unexpected happened that turned a routine landing into an unimaginable … Read More

Exclusive for Podcrashers: Every safe airplane landing is really the story of thousands of people who risked it all to make it possible. In this month’s Patreon-exclusive layover episode of Take to the Sky: the Air Disaster Podcast, Stephanie introduces … Read More

Exclusive for Podcrashers: On May 10, 2022, while passenger Darren Harrison relaxed onboard a single engine Cessna, his worst nightmare came true: the pilot became unconscious and unable to fly. On this exclusive Patreon-only layover episode of Take to the … Read More

Exclusive for Podcrashers: Time and time again, the stories we tell are testaments to the professionalism, training, and experience that flight crews bring to the cockpit. Still, there are situations that call for crew resource management, communication, and instinct that … Read More

Exclusive for Podcrashers: On January 26, 1972, JAT Airways Flight 367 broke up in air and crash landed in a wooded area near the village of Srbská Kamenice in Czechoslovakia (now Czechia), killing 27of the 28 people onboard. While it … Read More

Exclusive for Podcrashers: In the world of aviation, there are few people as well-known as Amelia Earhart– and there are even fewer whose legacies are so inspirational. In this month’s Patreon-exclusive layover episode of Take to the Sky: the Air … Read More

Exclusive for Podcrashers: In episode 143, we covered the crash of Southern Airways Flight 932, the worst-ever US sports air disaster. But on October 2, 1970, just six weeks before this crash, the Wichita State football team had lost 31 … Read More

Exclusive for Podcrashers: There are mysteries throughout aviation, but a staggering 2000 of them stem from the little-known Nevada Triangle. In this month’s Patreon-exclusive layover episode of Take to the Sky: the Air Disaster Podcast, Stephanie tells several stories of … Read More

Exclusive for Podcrashers: It began as a routine surveillance mission on the morning of August 16, 1942, when a Navy L-8 blimp took to the sky to patrol the waters for enemy submarines with two crewmen onboard– and were never … Read More

Exclusive for Podcrashers: Distractions are all around us, but what happens if a flight crew finds themselves succumbing to tasks, conversations, or thoughts that take their minds off the task at hand? In this month’s Patreon-exclusive episode of Take to … Read More

Exclusive for Podcrashers: When Eastern Airlines 212 crashed on September 11, 1974, just short of the runway, 72 people were killed, including 3 members of the Colbert family. Their loss forever changed their remaining family members, including then 10 year … Read More

Exclusive for Podcrashers: There was a lot happening in the skies above in 2022, and no one kept us more informed about what was going on than our listening community! In this month’s Patreon-exclusive layover episode, Stephanie shares some of … Read More

Exclusive for Podcrashers: Not all aviation disasters result in plane crashes; instead, some aviation disasters happen right here on the ground. Join Shelly for this Patreon-exclusive layover episode of Take to the Sky: The Air Disaster Podcast where we explore … Read More

Exclusive for Podcrashers: Ready for a couple of aviation-related ghost stories this Halloween? In this month’s Patreon exclusive layover episode of Take to the Sky: The Air Disaster Podcast, Stephanie shares five stories about haunted crash sites, planes, airports, and … Read More

Exclusive for Podcrashers: In the early morning hours of June 23, 1966, tragedy struck when an unknown assailant attacked United Airlines flight attendants Lisa Wick and Lonnie Trumbull as they slept in their beds, an attack that ultimately left Lonnie … Read More

Exclusive for Podcrashers: The local news plays a huge role in how we stay up-to-date on what is going on in our communities, and TV stations have many methods for bringing us right into the action. In this month’s Patreon-exclusive … Read More

Exclusive for Podcrashers: For the casual traveler, many of us have looked up to the sky and wondered if we have what it takes to fly a plane and land it safely. But could you really do it in an … Read More

Exclusive for Podcrashers: Shortly after takeoff on September 21, 2005, the pilots of JetBlue Airways 292 began receiving messages from the plane’s onboard computer system that the front landing gear had not retracted. Over the next several hours, and as … Read More

Exclusive for Podcrashers: Are we alone in this universe? The idea that aliens might be real and UFOs might be out there is fascinating for many of us, and on January 7, 1948, the Kentucky Air National Guard was ordered … Read More

Exclusive for Podcrashers: When 9-year-old Candy Rogers went missing in 1959, no one could ever guess what would end up being her fate – or the fates of some of those who searched for her by helicopter. In this Patreon-exclusive … Read More

Exclusive for Podcrashers: Kara Hultgreen had seemingly limitless aspirations: she wanted to be an astronaut, and she wanted to fly fighter jets. When she became the US Navy’s first female carrier-based fighter pilot, one of those dreams became a reality, … Read More

Exclusive for Podcrashers: After two fatal crashes involving the Boeing 737 MAX, both the public and regulatory agencies worldwide want to know what caused a brand new jet to dive uncontrollably back to earth… twice. In this month’s Patreon-exclusive Layover … Read More

Exclusive for Podcrashers: The call of the open skies can be answered by any of us with the proper training, and in this month’s Patreon-exclusive layover episode of Take to the Sky: the Air Disaster Podcast, Stephanie takes a look … Read More

Exclusive for Podcrashers: On December 5, 1945, five ABM Avenger torpedo bombers known as Naval Flight 19 and manned by 14 servicemen, flew a routine training mission over the Atlantic Ocean – and never were heard from again. In this … Read More

Exclusive for Podcrashers: Can you believe another year is wrapping up? In this Patreon-exclusive Layover Episode of Take to the Sky: the Air Disaster Podcast, Shelly and Stephanie recap a very full year of telling air disaster stories and learning … Read More

Exclusive for Podcrashers: Air disasters come in many different forms, and one type of air disaster that rarely happens is a skydiving accident. But on July 4, 2003, experienced skydiver Stephen Hilder was left falling to his death when his … Read More

Exclusive for Podcrashers: On September 11, 2001, millions of US citizens found themselves grappling with the aftermath of terrorist attacks from within the country’s borders. Around the world, though, thousands of people found themselves stranded far from home when US … Read More

Exclusive for Podcrashers: A little more than three months after the devastating attacks of September 11th, people were trying to find a new sense of normal. And for many people, that “new normal” included getting on an airplane again. But … Read More

Exclusive for Podcrashers: As the Soviet Union entered World War II in 1941, one of their most critical offenses came from the Night Witches. The all-female 588th Night Bomber Regiment was responsible for some of the most daring missions during … Read More

Exclusive for Podcrashers: In this Layover Episode for our Podcrasher community, Shelly recounts how an Iraqi pilot absconded to Israel with a MiG-21 – and forever ripped open the secrets of Soviet fighter capabilities for the West during the now … Read More

Exclusive for Podcrashers: If there is one thing most of us have missed over the last year, it’s travel. When you think of flying, it’s easy to get lost in the magic of it: gliding through the clouds, marveling at … Read More

Exclusive for Podcrashers: In this Layover Episode for our Podcrasher community, Shelly recounts the very little-known story of Aurelia Grigore, the airline stewardess who survived not one but two plane crashes and lived to tell about it. We were seriously … Read More

Exclusive for Podcrashers: We learn something new about safe travel through every episode of Take to the Sky: the Air Disaster Podcast, yet there’s often still one question in the back of our minds: what does it take to survive … Read More

Summary: Accident investigations are almost synonymous with the National Transportation Safety Board, or the NTSB. Recognized around the world as the gold standard in investigations, the NTSB’s diligence and authority have contributed to findings, probable causes, and recommendations that have … Read More

Summary: 2020 was an unforgettable year for many reasons, but for us it’s because we started Take to the Sky: The Air Disaster Podcast! In this Layover Episode, Shelly and Stephanie toast to a year of exploring air disasters and … Read More

Summary: September 11th will live in many people’s memories as the day when devastating terrorist attacks on US soil forever changed air travel. 9/11 also changed and reshaped the lives of many Americans, many of whom are still impacted by … Read More

Summary: We’re so excited to bring you our very first Layover Episode of Take to the Sky: The Air Disaster Podcast! If you think of our new episodes released every Thursday as nonstop flights, Layover Episodes are like connections between … Read More