A single-engine plane is over the Atlantic between the Bahamas and the Florida coast when the pilot goes silent at the controls. In the back sits a 39-year-old flooring salesman who has never touched an airplane, a magnetic compass, a friend frozen with fear, and a voice on the radio who wasn't supposed to be working that day. Join Alice and Zach for the story of a routine flight home that becomes one of the most improbable emergencies in modern aviation — and the strangers whose paths collide on a single May afternoon in South Florida.

Sources:

• "'Not today': The twin miracles of Palm Beach" by Joe Sexton - The Sunday Long Read
• "Miracle in the Air: Air Traffic Controllers Guide Passenger to Land Plane Safely" - FAA "The Air Up There" podcast
• "A passenger with no flying experience landed a plane at a Florida airport after the pilot became incapacitated" - CNN
• "'Absolutely incredible': Pilot reacts to passenger with no flight experience landing plane at PBIA" - WPBF
• ATC audio archives from Fort Pierce Tower and Palm Beach International - LiveATC.net
• Aircraft registration record for N333LD - FAA Aircraft Registry
• Surface weather observation for Palm Beach International, May 10, 2022 - Iowa Environmental Mesonet
• "Aortic Dissection" - Cleveland Clinic
• "Aortic Dissection" - American Heart Association

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

• Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
• Email: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.com
• Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
• Facebook: Final Boarding Call

Credits: Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.