Take to the Sky Episode 149: The 1977 Tenerife Airport Disaster

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 Patreon sharing a new episode and layover episode each month. Thank you for spending the last three years- and 150 Thursdays- with us!

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.

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 Patreon to share a new episode and layover episode each month.)  

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 Patreon sharing a new episode and layover episode each month.)  

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 Patreon sharing a new episode and layover episode each month.)  

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 Patreon sharing a new episode and layover episode each month.)

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 Patreon for exclusive air disaster stories, layover episodes, and surprises!  Visit our website at taketotheskypodcast.com for show notes and our merch store!  

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 Patreon for exclusive air disaster stories, layover episodes, and surprises! Visit our website at taketotheskypodcast.com for show notes and our merch store!    

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 Patreon for exclusive air disaster stories, layover episodes, and surprises! Visit our website at taketotheskypodcast.com for show notes and our merch store!  

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 Patreon for exclusive air disaster stories, layover episodes, and surprises!  Visit our website at taketotheskypodcast.com for show notes and our merch store!