Air Disasters - The Black Box Files

About Air Disasters - The Black Box Files

Air disasters begin quietly: a sensor reading nobody trusts, a bolt torqued wrong on a night shift, two words misheard between cockpit and tower. This show reconstructs true air disasters from the black box outward, one flight at a time. Each episode rebuilds one flight in full, cinematic detail: the crew and their decisions, the machine and its hidden flaw, the seconds where routine turned into emergency, and the investigation that pieced the truth together from wreckage and data. No host chatting between clips, no panel debating theories. Just one complete story, narrated start to finish, built from cockpit voice recorders, accident reports, and the testimony of investigators. You will fly through air disasters caused by a single frozen instrument, collisions built from a chain of tiny coincidences, and impossible landings that saved hundreds when everything had already failed. Some episodes follow the final minutes second by second; others follow the years-long investigations that changed how the world flies. All of them treat air disasters as what they really are: lessons written at terrible cost, and the reason flying keeps getting safer. If you are drawn to air disasters told with rigor and humanity, this is built for you. New episodes drop regularly, each one a self-contained investigation. Subscribe now so the next of these air disasters lands the moment it goes live.

Publisher

OBOMEDIA ENTERTAINMENT

Category

leisure

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

4 Sept 2026

Latest episode

15 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

81 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   15 Oct 2026

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

   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. 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.

2. 

   14 Oct 2026

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

   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.

3. 

   13 Oct 2026

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

   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. 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.