Take to the Sky: the Air Disaster Podcast
Join hosts Shelly Price and Stephanie Hubka as they take a weekly look at the facts, details, and surprises behind some of the disasters that occur at 35,000 feet.
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Take to the Sky Episode 150: Japan Air Lines Flight 123
06/01/2023
Take to the Sky Episode 150: Japan Air Lines Flight 123
On August 12, 1985, more than 500 passengers boarded Japan Air Lines Flight 123 for a short flight between Tokyo and Osaka. 12 minutes into the flight, passengers found themselves fearing for their lives as the flight crew fought desperately to save a plane that was suddenly uncontrollable. In this week's episode of Take to the Sky: the Air Disaster Podcast-- our final episode outside of Patreon-- Stephanie shares the story of the deadliest single-aircraft accident in aviation history and the people who are part of a legacy that changed what safe flight means across the world. It's official: this is our last episode! If you're still looking for new episodes, you'll find us exclusively on sharing a new episode and layover episode each month. Thank you for spending the last three years- and 150 Thursdays- with us!
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Take to the Sky Episode 149: The 1977 Tenerife Airport Disaster
05/25/2023
Take to the Sky Episode 149: The 1977 Tenerife Airport Disaster
It was the deadliest disaster of all time – and it never should have happened. In our next-to-final regular episode of Take to the Sky: The Air Disaster Podcast, Shelly walks us through the fateful events of March 27, 1977, that led to two 747 passenger planes, Pan Am 1736 and KLM 4508, being on the same runway at the same time - and how aviation safety was never the same because of this mega disaster.
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Take to the Sky Episode 148: Air Canada Flight 143 - The Gimli Glider
05/18/2023
Take to the Sky Episode 148: Air Canada Flight 143 - The Gimli Glider
July 23, 1983 should have been just another day in the skies for Captain Bob Pearson and First Officer Maurice Quintal, but a series of miscommunications and mechanicals issues caught up with them and their brand-new Boeing 767 once they reached their cruising altitude. In this week's episode of Take to the Sky: The Air Disaster Podcast, we talk about the incredible story of Air Canada Flight 143, a flight crew who found themselves to be uniquely qualified for the most unexpected of issues, and the shocking reasons the plane-- now known as the Gimli Glider-- came to be powerless in the sky. (Only 2 episodes left! Starting in June we'll be exclusively on to share a new episode and layover episode each month.)
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Take to the Sky Episode 147: Air France 4590 and the Story of the Concorde
05/11/2023
Take to the Sky Episode 147: Air France 4590 and the Story of the Concorde
Whenever Concorde took off, it was a mesmerizing spectacle. But on July 25, 2000, when an Air France Concorde took the skies, it did so with flames trailing behind it. Join Shelly for this episode of Take to the Sky: The Air Disaster Podcast where she shares the story of the only deadly Concorde disaster and how it led to the downfall of the entire fleet and spelled the end of supersonic passenger transport. (Only 3 episodes left! Starting in June we'll be exclusively on sharing a new episode and layover episode each month.)
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Take to the Sky Episode 146: 1960 New York Mid-Air Collision
05/04/2023
Take to the Sky Episode 146: 1960 New York Mid-Air Collision
On a quiet December morning in 1960, the streets of New York city turned from festive cheer to chaos when an aviation disaster played out in the skies above. In this week's episode of Take to the Sky: the Air Disaster Podcast, Stephanie shares the story of two planes headed to two different airports and the tragic chain of events that brought them to the same place at the same time. (Only 4 episodes left! Starting in June we'll be exclusively on sharing a new episode and layover episode each month.)
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Take to the Sky Episode 145: Santa Barbara Airlines 518
04/27/2023
Take to the Sky Episode 145: Santa Barbara Airlines 518
Anyone onboard Santa Barbara Airlines Flight 518 on February 21, 2008 would have been taking in the gorgeous views of the Andes as the plane began to climb. But soon, as the mountain tops got closer and closer, some may have started to worry if the plane was flying too low. Join Shelly in this episode of Take to the Sky: The Air Disaster Podcast for our latest episode where we encounter a flight crew who seemed to be lost in the clouds. (Only 5 episodes left! Starting in June we'll be exclusively on sharing a new episode and layover episode each month.)
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Take to the Sky Episode 144: ExecuFlight 1526
04/20/2023
Take to the Sky Episode 144: ExecuFlight 1526
As seven co-workers prepared for the final leg of a whirlwind business trip, they had no idea that they were about to spend the most dangerous 30 minutes imaginable on a luxury private jet. In this week's episode of Take to the Sky: the Air Disaster podcast, join Stephanie as she shares the shocking events that lead to what the NTSB called a "litany of failures" and the aviation community remembers as a heartbreaking and unnecessary tragedy. Don't miss a single legacy: join our for exclusive air disaster stories, layover episodes, and surprises! Visit our website at for show notes and our merch store!
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Take to the Sky Episode 143: Southern Airways Flight 932 - We Are Marshall
04/13/2023
Take to the Sky Episode 143: Southern Airways Flight 932 - We Are Marshall
When friends and family said their goodbyes and bid farewell to the 75 Marshall University football players, coaches, and fans as they boarded Southern Airways Flight 932, they didn’t know that was the last time they would see them alive. Join Shelly in our latest episode of Take to the Sky: The Air Disaster Podcast for the story of a school and a community that vowed to rebuild in the face of unspeakable loss, and in doing so, inspired documentaries and motion picture film We Are Marshall. Don't miss a single legacy: join our for exclusive air disaster stories, layover episodes, and surprises! Visit our website at for show notes and our merch store!
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Take to the Sky Episode 142: Delta Air Lines Flight 191
04/06/2023
Take to the Sky Episode 142: Delta Air Lines Flight 191
Delta Air Lines Flight 191 should have been a routine trip from Ft. Lauderdale to Dallas Fort Worth, but instead it found a tragic and industry-changing place in aviation history. In this week's episode of Take to the Sky: The Air Disaster Podcast, Stephanie shares some of the incredible ways this flight made flight safer for all of us and how the crew and passengers contributed to its lasting legacy. Don't miss a single legacy: join our for exclusive air disaster stories, layover episodes, and surprises! Visit our website at for show notes and our merch store!
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Take to the Sky Episode 141: LANSA Flight 508 and Sole Survivor Juliane Koepcke
03/30/2023
Take to the Sky Episode 141: LANSA Flight 508 and Sole Survivor Juliane Koepcke
When seventeen-year-old Juliane Koepcke and her mother, Maria, decided to fly back home on Christmas Eve 1971, they never expected just how fateful that decision was. What happened next was so unbelievable, so against all the odds, it would become the source of studies, documentaries, and one amazing autobiography. In this latest episode of Take to the Sky: The Air Disaster Podcast, Shelly tells the amazing sole survivor story of Juliane Koepcke – the girl who fell from the sky – and lived to tell her story. Don't miss a single legacy: join our for exclusive air disaster stories, layover episodes, and surprises! Visit our website at for show notes and our merch store!
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Take to the Sky Episode 140: Varig Flight 254
03/23/2023
Take to the Sky Episode 140: Varig Flight 254
For passengers on the final leg of Varig Flight 254, they couldn't land in Belém, Brazil soon enough; their trip began moments after kickoff for an important football match, and everyone was anxious to know whether Brazil would win and advance to the 1990 World Cup. In this week's episode of Take to the Sky: The Air Disaster Podcast, Stephanie tells the story of why Flight 254 took hours longer than expected, how the plane went unthinkably and unbelievably off course, and how every life onboard was at risk even before the plane taxied to the runway. Don't miss a single legacy: join our for exclusive air disaster stories, layover episodes, and surprises! Visit our website at for show notes and our merch store!
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Take to the Sky Episode 139: Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752
03/16/2023
Take to the Sky Episode 139: Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752
When passengers boarded Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 on the morning of January 8, 2020, they never knew they would be flying through airspace that was on high alert. And when an explosion brings down Flight 752, killing everyone onboard, the international community demands answers. Join Shelly as she explores the complicated Iranian AAIB final report that left multiple international civil aviation agencies – and the victims’ families – begging for more answers. Don't miss a single legacy: join our for exclusive air disaster stories, layover episodes, and surprises! Visit our website at for show notes and our merch store!
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Take to the Sky Episode 138: Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 2501 and D.B. Cooper
03/09/2023
Take to the Sky Episode 138: Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 2501 and D.B. Cooper
In aviation, there are few people as well-known as the infamous D.B. Cooper, who has shocked, captivated, and confused investigators and the public since he vanished from the back of a 737 on November 24, 1971. In this week's episode of Take to the Sky: the Air Disaster Podcast, Stephanie tells the story of Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305, which was in the wrong place at the wrong time for six crew members who found themselves in the hands of the world's most successful skyjacker and part of the history of the only unsolved case of air piracy in commercial aviation. Don't miss a single legacy: join our for exclusive air disaster stories, layover episodes, and surprises! Visit our website at for show notes and our merch store!
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Take to the Sky Episode 137: The Überlingen Midair Disaster
03/02/2023
Take to the Sky Episode 137: The Überlingen Midair Disaster
No one could have imagined how a field trip of a lifetime for 54 children could turn into a nightmare within just minutes. But when two planes collided on July 2, 2002, in the night sky over the small town of Überlingen, Germany, the disaster forever changed the families of the lost children and led to the redesign of an important onboard safety system. Join Shelly in this episode of Take to the Sky: The Air Disaster Podcast as she recounts one of the most tragic air disaster stories in aviation history – and how one father’s grief led to an unspeakable act of retribution. Don't miss a single legacy: join our for exclusive air disaster stories, layover episodes, and surprises! Visit our website at for show notes and our merch store!
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Take to the Sky Episode 136: Bhoja Air Flight 213
02/23/2023
Take to the Sky Episode 136: Bhoja Air Flight 213
A threatening storm system and one pilot's drive to touch down at his intended destination created a recipe for disaster on April 20, 2012, when Bhoja Air Flight 213 began its descent into Islamabad Pakistan. In this episode of Take to the Sky: the Air Disaster Podcast, Stephanie shares the many layers to a tragedy that started long before Flight 213 ever left the ground. Don't miss a single legacy: join our for exclusive air disaster stories, layover episodes, and surprises! Visit our website at for show notes and our merch store!
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Take to the Sky Episode 135: Turkish Airlines Flight 1951
02/16/2023
Take to the Sky Episode 135: Turkish Airlines Flight 1951
On February 25, 2009, everything was going according to plan for the flight crew and passengers of Turkish Airlines Flight 1951 - until it wasn't. While descending toward the runway at Schipol Airport, the plane begins falling from the sky. Join Shelly in this episode of Take to the Sky: The Air Disaster Podcast as she explains what happened to a plane that was so close to its destination - and how this single accident was a sentinel event for two crashes that would happen almost 10 years later. Don't miss a single legacy: join our for exclusive air disaster stories, layover episodes, and surprises! Visit our website at for show notes and our merch store!
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Take to the Sky Episode 134: EgyptAir Flight 804
02/09/2023
Take to the Sky Episode 134: EgyptAir Flight 804
In aviation, the most dangerous part of any flight is statistically the first few minutes and the last few minutes, when flight crews have less time to react to problems that may arise. In this week's episode of Take to the Sky: The Air Disaster Podcast, join Stephanie as she tells the story of EgyptAir Flight 804, which encountered a startling issue while flying at its cruising altitude. From the shock of the accident to the investigation's frustrating twists and turns, this story highlights the essential need for all disasters to connect outcomes to lessons in safety. Don't miss a single legacy: join our for exclusive air disaster stories, layover episodes, and surprises! Visit our website at for show notes and our merch store!
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Take to the Sky Episode 133: The Kobe Bryant Helicopter Crash
02/02/2023
Take to the Sky Episode 133: The Kobe Bryant Helicopter Crash
The morning of Janaury 26, 2020 forever changed the world of sports when the devastating news emerged that basketball legend Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, and seven others had been killed in a helicopter crash. In this week's episode of Take to the Sky: The Air Disaster Podcast, Shelly takes us back through the investigation that uncovered the shocking reasons why the crash happened and the safety recommendations that still haven't been implemented even today. Don't miss a single legacy: join our for exclusive air disaster stories, layover episodes, and surprises! Visit our website at for show notes and our merch store!
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Take to the Sky Episode 132: Carmel Mid-Air Collision
01/26/2023
Take to the Sky Episode 132: Carmel Mid-Air Collision
On December 4, 1965, fear and panic erupted in the skies above Carmel, New York when TWA Flight 42 and Eastern Airlines Flight 853 collided. In this week's episode of Take to the Sky: the Air Disaster Podcast, Stephanie tells the story of two planes with incredible flight crews who shared a single goal: get their planes back to the ground below as safely as possible. Don't miss a single legacy: join our for exclusive air disaster stories, layover episodes, and surprises! Visit our website at for show notes and our merch store!
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Take to the Sky Episode 131: Eastern Airlines Flight 212
01/19/2023
Take to the Sky Episode 131: Eastern Airlines Flight 212
It should have been just another landing. But when the pilots of Eastern Airlines Flight 212 have trouble locating a landmark on their final approach to the airport on September 11, 1974, things suddenly go from routine to disastrous. Join Shelly in this episode of Take to the Sky: The Air Disaster Podcast as she tells the story of how this accident shaped one of the most important cockpit rules in aviation. Don't miss a single legacy: join our for exclusive air disaster stories, layover episodes, and surprises! Visit our website at for show notes and our merch store!
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Take to the Sky Bonus Episode: 2022 Podcast Year in Review
12/29/2022
Take to the Sky Bonus Episode: 2022 Podcast Year in Review
It's hard to believe we're already heading into another calendar year! In this episode of Take to the Sky: the Air Disaster Podcast, Shelly and Stephanie recap another year of telling air disaster stories and learning about their legacies. Wondering which stories were our favorites? We’ll tell you which episodes were the most memorable, made us the saddest, surprised us the most, and have stayed with us long after the episode was over. Let us know if your favorites made it on our list as well!
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Take to the Sky Episode 130: Allegheny Airlines Flight 736
12/15/2022
Take to the Sky Episode 130: Allegheny Airlines Flight 736
41 passengers boarded Allegheny Airlines Flight 736 on a cold and snowy December 24, 1968, and none of them were prepared for the dramatic and life-threatening way their flight would end. In this week's episode of Take to the Sky: the Air Disaster podcast, Stephanie tells the story of how this flight- and another crash with surprising similarities- led to safer flight for all of us. Don't miss a single legacy: join our for exclusive air disaster stories, layover episodes, and surprises! Visit our website at for show notes and our merch store!
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Take to the Sky Episode 129: Continental Express Flight 2574
12/08/2022
Take to the Sky Episode 129: Continental Express Flight 2574
When Continental Express 2574 breaks up in the sky over Eagle Lake, Texas, on September 11, 1991, no one could imagine what brought down the plane. In this latest episode, Shelly walks us through the tragic plight of Flight 2574 and the divisive investigation that uncovered an unexpected point of error – and shed light on systemic problems in aircraft maintenance procedures. Don't miss a single legacy: join our for exclusive air disaster stories, layover episodes, and surprises! Visit our website at for show notes and our merch store!
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Take to the Sky Episode 128: United Airlines Flight 585
12/01/2022
Take to the Sky Episode 128: United Airlines Flight 585
On March 3, 1991, it took just 9 seconds for a flight to change from tranquil to terrifying-- and it took 10 years to know why. In this week's episode of Take to the Sky, the Air Disaster Podcast, Stephanie shares a story that challenged NTSB investigators and defied resolution until two other incidents shed light on what might have gone wrong for United Airlines Flight 585. Don't miss a single legacy: join our for exclusive air disaster stories, layover episodes, and surprises! Visit our website at for show notes and our merch store!
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Take to the Sky Episode 127: West Caribbean Airways Flight 708
11/17/2022
Take to the Sky Episode 127: West Caribbean Airways Flight 708
When West Caribbean Airways Flight 708 suddenly disappears from radar on August 16, 2005, no one can imagine why an advanced MD-82 aircraft could simply fall out of the sky and crash. And when investigators learn of the pilots’ distress call claiming both engines had flamed out, that only deepens the mystery. Join Shelly for this episode of Take to the Sky: The Air Disaster Podcast where we explore the unnecessary and unexpected sequence of events that led to Venezuela’s deadliest air disaster. Don't miss a single legacy: join our for exclusive air disaster stories, layover episodes, and surprises! Visit our website at for show notes and our merch store!
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Take to the Sky Episode 126: Pan Am Flight 7
11/10/2022
Take to the Sky Episode 126: Pan Am Flight 7
When one of the most luxurious planes in the world missed their scheduled position check, not everyone was worried at first-- but it wasn't not long before the world realized the aircraft wasn't going to make its intended arrival. In this week's episode of Take to the Sky: the Air Disaster Podcast, Stephanie tells the story of Pan Am Flight 7 and the first leg of its round-the-world journey. It's a tale full of surprise, mystery, and sorrow, all of which plague its legacy to this day. Don't miss a single legacy: join our for exclusive air disaster stories, layover episodes, and surprises! Visit our website at for show notes and our merch store!
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Take to the Sky Episode 125: Air Inter Flight 148
11/03/2022
Take to the Sky Episode 125: Air Inter Flight 148
Air Inter Flight 148 disappears from radar on the night of January 20, 1992. Questions immediately form around how a brand-new Airbus A320 could have been lost without warning. But when the plane is found crashed in the Vosges mountains, investigators will scrutinize the airplane design to understand what happened. Join Shelly as she walks through the BEA investigation that would forever change the design of the A320. Don't miss a single legacy: join our for exclusive air disaster stories, layover episodes, and surprises! Visit our website at for show notes and our merch store!
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Take to the Sky Episode 124: Wapiti Aviation Flight 402
10/27/2022
Take to the Sky Episode 124: Wapiti Aviation Flight 402
On an especially dark, cold night, one pilot and nine passengers flew off toward northern Canada with plans to land at a few airports- but their plane didn't land at any of them. In this week's episode of Take to the Sky: the Air Disaster Podcast, Stephanie shares the numerous layers of a complex story that questions what it means to prioritize human safety in air travel. Don't miss a single legacy: join our for exclusive air disaster stories, layover episodes, and surprises! Visit our website at for show notes and our merch store!
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Take to the Sky Episode 123: Ramstein Air Show Disaster
10/20/2022
Take to the Sky Episode 123: Ramstein Air Show Disaster
August 28, 1988 was a beautiful day for watching planes in the sky and on the ground at the Flugtag '88 Air Show held at the US Air Base in Ramstein, Germany. Three hundred thousand spectators couldn't wait to watch Italy's aerobatic team, Fecce Tricolori, and their ten jets fly in a death-defying formation. In our latest episode of Take to the Sky: The Air Disaster Podcast, Shelly recounts how everything suddenly unraveled in the sky at Flugtag '88 and how this air disaster forever changed the way we look at air shows. Don't miss a single legacy: join our for exclusive air disaster stories, layover episodes, and surprises! Visit our website at for show notes and our merch store!
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Take to the Sky Episode 122: 1996 Air Africa Crash
10/13/2022
Take to the Sky Episode 122: 1996 Air Africa Crash
January 8, 1996 was by all accounts a very normal day for the people of Kinshasa in Zaire, now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Normalcy was shattered when the city found itself in the throws of one of the world's most shocking and devastating air disasters. In this week's episode of Take to the Sky: The Air Disaster Podcast, Stephanie takes us through the events that led to a heartbreaking crash that shed light on what safety means-- and doesn't mean-- to the airlines and individuals involved. Don't miss a single legacy: join our for exclusive air disaster stories, layover episodes, and surprises! Visit our website at for show notes and our merch store!
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