It's Thanksgiving — aviation style. 🦃✈️
On this episode of the Black Box Aviation Podcast, Tom & Mike dive into the emotional, hilarious, and downright chaotic reality of spending the holidays as a pilot.

We cover:
🍽 Childhood Thanksgiving traditions (and the family chaos that came with them)
🌨 New England vs Florida — the wildest Thanksgiving weather events ever recorded
⚠️ The Portland Gale tragedy: the 1898 storm that reshaped New England history
🚢 The grounded Venezuelan freighter and Palm Beach flooding of 1984
🛄 Life on the road during Thanksgiving — loneliness, travel disasters, and unexpected moments of joy
💰 The rookie pilot who thought his $100 steak dinner was company-paid… until payday
🦃 Spotting wild turkeys on layovers and finding makeshift holiday meals across the world
🌴 Thanksgiving in Hawaii — sushi, coconut water, and Chinese food instead of turkey

This episode blends aviation, weather history, travel, comedy, and real pilot life — perfect for anyone who’s flown over the holidays or wondered what it’s really like behind the cockpit door.

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Ladies and gentlemen — welcome aboard another adrenaline-charged episode of the Black Box Aviation Podcast, where aviation gets real.

In today’s episode, Tom and Mike break down the chilling story of Swissair Flight 111, an MD-11 that departed New York for Geneva in September 1998… and never arrived. What began as a routine transatlantic flight quickly turned into one of the deadliest and most defining aviation emergencies in Canadian history.

We walk step-by-step through:
✈️ The mysterious smoke in the cockpit
✈️ The crew’s decision-making under pressure
✈️ The rarely practiced “smoke and fumes” checklist
✈️ The catastrophic role of the in-flight entertainment system
✈️ How this disaster reshaped aviation safety forever

From crew resource management to electrical fire procedures, this episode exposes the unsettling complexity of in-flight emergencies and the razor-thin line between control and chaos at 35,000 feet.

Whether you're a pilot, an aviation enthusiast, or someone fascinated by real cockpit drama, this episode is a must-listen.

📩 Contact the Show:
✉️ theblackbox01@yahoo.com
📱 Instagram / X: @the_black_box01
📞 Hotline: (203) 699-6792 (Leave your name and message!)

📺 Find our YouTube Shorts: The Black Box Aviation Podcast — clips from every episode.

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#AviationPodcast #Swissair111 #MD11 #AirDisaster #PilotLife #AviationHistory #AirCrashInvestigation #AviationEnthusiast #FlightSafety #BlackBoxAviationPodcast

Welcome back to The Black Box Aviation Podcast — where we dive into aviation, travel, and the wild, unbelievable stories from the world of flying that you need and want to know. Hosted by Tom & Mike, two pilots who love airplanes and aren't afraid to get technical.

On March 31st, 1992, a 28-year-old Boeing 707-321C departed Luxembourg carrying 70,000 lbs of freight. What should have been a routine climb turned into one of the most incredible saves in aviation history.

⚠️ At 32,000 feet, the crew encountered severe turbulence and a double bang.
💥 Not one — but two engines detached from the right wing mid-air.
🔥 A fire warning blared.
🛑 Systems failed.
👨‍✈️ Control of the aircraft became almost impossible.

With no engines on one wing, limited flight controls, and an unfamiliar runway ahead, Captain Berglund, First Officer Emery, and Flight Engineer Boone pulled off a textbook demonstration in crew resource management, airmanship, and problem solving under extreme pressure.

They landed the aircraft in flames — and every person on board survived without injury.

We break down:

• The technical factors that caused the catastrophic engine separation

• The exact decision-making that saved the flight

• What investigators discovered about metal fatigue and pylon integrity

• How aviation inspections changed after this accident

If you enjoy the episode, it helps us tremendously if you:
➡️ Rate 5 Stars on Apple, Spotify & Amazon Music
➡️ Leave a review — it boosts the show in search!

✉️ Email: Theblackbox01@yahoo.com
📱 Instagram / X: @the_black_box01
📞 HOTLINE: (203) 699-6792 — leave your name and message for the show!

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✈️ Today’s Episode: Trans-Air-Service Flight 671⭐ Support the Show📩 Contact the Show🎧 Listen now on: