Airline Accident Stories

A teen survives a 10,000-foot fall from a disintegrating plane over the Amazon. Her survival depends on a choice made on the forest floor.The Creek That Showed Her Which Way to WalkThis episode recounts the incredible survival story of Juliane Koepcke, the sole survivor of a plane crash over the Peruvian jungle. It explores the unique upbringing that prepared her for an impossible situation and the critical decision that separated her fate from other survivors.Date: December 24, 1971Location: Peruvian jungleAircraft: LANSA Flight 508Passengers: 92Survivor: Juliane Koepcke- Juliane Koepcke, a 17-year-old, was flying with her mother on LANSA Flight 508, delayed for her high school graduation.- Her parents, German zoologists, moved their family to the Amazon rainforest to establish a research station called Panguana.- Juliane spent three years at Panguana, learning the intricacies of the forest, including water flow and plant indicators.- The plane disintegrated in mid-air after being struck by lightning during a severe thunderstorm over the jungle.- Juliane, still strapped to a row of seats, fell 10,000 feet, with the seats' drag and updrafts slowing her descent before she hit the forest canopy.Tired of ads? Listen to this podcast and 200+ more ad-free on OBOMEDIA.Try it free for 7 days, cancel anytime: https://obomedia.com/en/gratis?ref=desc-7276327© 2026 Created by an independent creator of the OBOMEDIA Network. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the property of their respective creator, who is solely responsible for them, and are distributed by the OBOMEDIA Network on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without the creator's prior written permission is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].

A twelve-year-old clings to a fuselage shard in the Indian Ocean at 2 a.m. - do you leave to find shore?You are twelve, clinging to a fuselage shard-do you leave to find shore?In this episode, we hear the nine-hour night a young girl spent alone on the open sea after an airliner struck the water, and how she survived minute by minute in the dark. What does it take to stay alive when the only story you can carry keeps you afloat?Date: June 30, 2009Person: Bahia BakariLocation: Nine miles north of Grande Comore, Indian OceanEvent: Yemenia Flight 626 crashCause: Unstabilized approach; pilot error- A twelve-year-old, with a fractured pelvis and collarbone and burns on her knees, floats holding a piece of fuselage without a life vest.- She believes she fell out of the plane by pressing her forehead too hard against the window and thinks the crash was her fault.- Voices from other survivors call in the dark but gradually go silent as the hours pass and the ocean takes them.- The Comoros had no national rescue vessels and called commercial and private ships; a watchman on Sima Com Two hears a small voice in the debris field.- Dawn finds her still clinging to wreckage nine hours after the collision, fuel in her mouth and no visible shore.Tired of ads? Listen to this podcast and 200+ more ad-free on OBOMEDIA.Try it free for 7 days, cancel anytime: https://obomedia.com/en/gratis?ref=desc-7276327© 2026 Created by an independent creator of the OBOMEDIA Network. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the property of their respective creator, who is solely responsible for them, and are distributed by the OBOMEDIA Network on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without the creator's prior written permission is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].

The Brewster Buffalo That Outran a Zero and Saved His LifeTwenty-five aircraft lifted off from Midway Atoll on the morning of June 4, 1942, flying slow, outdated Brewster Buffalos and aging Wildcats against a faster, more maneuverable enemy. Fifteen of them never came back. One pilot walked away from that wreckage — and then kept walking away, from a flat-spinning aircraft over Chesapeake Bay, from a jammed ejection seat, from six decades of decisions made in fractions of a second. What happens to a man whose instinct is always to move toward the danger, no matter how many times it very nearly kills him?In this episode, we trace Marion Carl's path from a dairy farm outside Hubbard, Oregon, through the fighter screen at Midway, the skies over Guadalcanal, the test programs at Patuxent River, and decades of Marine Corps command, asking what a lifetime built on moving toward threat ultimately costs the man who lives it.Person: Marion Eugene CarlLocation: Midway Atoll, Guadalcanal, and Naval Air Station Patuxent River, MarylandDate: June 4, 1942Case: the Battle of Midway aerial engagement and the combat and test-flying career that followedStatus: closed — Carl died in 1998; his killer was later sentenced to life without parole- On June 4, 1942, 25 aircraft from VMF-221 launched from Midway to meet an incoming Japanese strike; 15 were destroyed, and Carl was one of ten pilots who returned, having downed one Zero- On August 26, 1942, over Henderson Field, Carl was credited with shooting down Japanese ace Junichi Sasai- Over 16 days at Guadalcanal, Carl destroyed 10 enemy aircraft unassisted and shared credit for an 11th, finishing the war with 18.5 victories- In August 1947, flying the Douglas D-558-I Skystreak, Carl set a world speed record of 650 mph, held for about two and a half months before Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier- On April 1, 1952, Carl survived a flat spin over Chesapeake Bay after his ejection seat's face blind failed, bailing out by hand at 3,000 feet — an incident that led to a revision of accepted spin-recovery procedure- He retired in 1973 with approximately 13,000 flying hours logged- On June 28, 1998, Carl was killed in his home near Roseburg, Oregon; Jesse Fanus was ultimately sentenced to life without parole in 2015Tired of ads? Listen to this podcast and 200+ more ad-free on OBOMEDIA.Try it free for 7 days, cancel anytime: https://obomedia.com/en/gratis?ref=desc-7276327© 2026 Created by an independent creator of the OBOMEDIA Network. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the property of their respective creator, who is solely responsible for them, and are distributed by the OBOMEDIA Network on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without the creator's prior written permission is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].

The concert act that drew boos to hide an escape tunnelA photograph shows a row of men performing inside a prisoner-of-war camp while, beneath their feet, other men dig an escape tunnel — and the audience jeering them is jeering on purpose. Peter Butterworth kept that photograph for the rest of his life, treating a night of engineered public failure as the true start of his career on stage. What does it take for staged rejection to become the foundation of a working actor's life?In this episode, we trace Peter Butterworth's path from a downed Fleet Air Arm pilot inside Stalag Luft III to one of Britain's most familiar comic character actors, asking what a career owes to circumstances that were never meant to produce one.Person: Peter ButterworthLocation: Stalag Luft III, near Sagan, occupied PolandDate: June 21, 1940Case: a booed camp concert act performed to cover the sound of an escape tunnelStatus: died January 1979, aged 63, during a run of Aladdin at the Coventry Theatre- Butterworth was shot down flying with 826 Naval Air Squadron over Texel on June 21, 1940, and taken prisoner- Inside Stalag Luft III he formed a comedy duo with fellow prisoner Talbot Rothwell, performing "The Letter Edged In Black" to draw deliberate boos that covered the sound of tunnel digging- He auditioned for The Wooden Horse (1949), a film dramatizing the escape he had helped conceal by vaulting in the compound, and was rejected for not looking heroic or athletic enough- He joined the Carry On film series in 1965 at age 50, debuting as Doc in Carry On Cowboy, and went on to appear in sixteen entries- He died of a heart attack in a Coventry hotel room in January 1979, hours after performing Widow Twankey in Aladdin, the same month The First Great Train Robbery was in cinemasTired of ads? Listen to this podcast and 200+ more ad-free on OBOMEDIA.Try it free for 7 days, cancel anytime: https://obomedia.com/en/gratis?ref=desc-7276327© 2026 Created by an independent creator of the OBOMEDIA Network. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the property of their respective creator, who is solely responsible for them, and are distributed by the OBOMEDIA Network on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without the creator's prior written permission is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].

The Mustang that stalled his engine and left him behind enemy linesA P-51 pilot bails out over enemy territory, waits at the edge of a German airfield, and — according to the story that followed him for decades — steals a plane off the ground to fly himself home. It's the kind of tale that gets repeated at reunions and printed in books until it hardens into fact. But near the end of his life, standing in front of the men who had served beside him, Bruce Ward Carr said something about that story that changes how you have to read everything else in his file.In this episode, we trace Bruce Ward Carr's documented combat record across three wars against the legend that made him famous, asking what happens when a man's real achievements are overshadowed by a story he made up himself.Person: Bruce Ward CarrLocation: Schweinfurt, GermanyDate: April 2, 1945Case: the stolen-plane escape story attached to his name for decadesStatus: publicly disavowed by Carr himself late in life- Born January 28, 1924, in Union Springs, New York; enlisted in the Army Air Forces on September 3, 1942- On April 2, 1945, near Schweinfurt, Carr led four aircraft against sixty German fighters, personally destroying five and becoming the last American ace-in-a-day of the European Theater- No Missing Air Crew Report, Evasion Report, or unit-history entry exists for the alleged November 2, 1944 bailout and stolen-aircraft incident- At the Air Force Association of America Annual Reunion in San Antonio, Carr told his former unit the escape story was "a bar story that got out of hand"- He flew 172 combat missions in Europe, 57 in Korea, and 286 in Vietnam, earning the Silver Star, the Distinguished Service Cross, a Legion of Merit, and three Distinguished Flying Crosses before dying on April 25, 1998 — the same date as his final aerial victories in 1945 — and being buried at Arlington National CemeteryTired of ads? Listen to this podcast and 200+ more ad-free on OBOMEDIA.Try it free for 7 days, cancel anytime: https://obomedia.com/en/gratis?ref=desc-7276327© 2026 Created by an independent creator of the OBOMEDIA Network. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the property of their respective creator, who is solely responsible for them, and are distributed by the OBOMEDIA Network on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without the creator's prior written permission is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].

The Pilot Who Survived Two Wars — And Chose Danger AgainA wounded British pilot lies in a German field hospital in April 1918 as an orderly arrives at his bedside to deliver the personal compliments of Manfred von Richthofen. He survives, spends eight months in hospitals and prison camps, and comes home. Two decades later, at forty-two, with no one asking him to, he puts on a uniform again — but what role could a man who had already been shot down possibly choose to play the second time around?In this episode, we follow Ronald Adam Hinings Adams from his birth on 31 December 1896 through his service in both world wars and his interwar theatrical career, asking what drove him to keep choosing danger and performance over safety and stability.Person: Ronald Adam Hinings AdamsLocation: Hornchurch aerodrome, EnglandDate: 7 April 1918Case: shot down near villers-bretonneux and later returned to raf service as a fighter controller during the battle of britainStatus: survived both world wars; died 28 march 1979, aged 82- Volunteered for service at seventeen and was commissioned as a temporary second lieutenant, 15th Reserve Battalion, Middlesex Regiment, on 2 December 1914.- Flew as an observer with No. 18 Squadron before qualifying as a pilot and flying Sopwith Camels with No. 44 and No. 73 Squadrons.- Shot down on 7 April 1918 near Villers-Bretonneux, wounded and captured; the shooter is recorded as either Hans Kirschstein or possibly Manfred von Richthofen.- Repatriated to Britain on 17 December 1918 after eight months in hospitals and prison camps.- Managed more than 150 theatre productions at the Embassy Theatre between 1932 and 1939, with thirty transferring to the West End.- Rejoined the RAF in 1939, rose to wing commander, and served as Fighter Controller for the Hornchurch sector during the Battle of Britain, praised by Spitfire test pilot Jeffrey Quill for his "calm, and unhesitating certainty."Tired of ads? Listen to this podcast and 200+ more ad-free on OBOMEDIA.Try it free for 7 days, cancel anytime: https://obomedia.com/en/gratis?ref=desc-7276327© 2026 Created by an independent creator of the OBOMEDIA Network. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the property of their respective creator, who is solely responsible for them, and are distributed by the OBOMEDIA Network on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without the creator's prior written permission is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].