Welcome back to the Black Box Aviation Podcast with Tom & Mike—and this one is special. This episode marks our 1-YEAR ANNIVERSARY, celebrating one full year of conversations about aviation, travel, career paths, and the realities of life in and around the flight deck. Our very first show aired on January 12th, and this episode reflects on how far we’ve come and where the industry is headed.

We open the show talking about what the last year has meant, why these conversations matter, and how listener feedback has shaped the direction of the podcast. From technical deep dives to relatable travel stories, we discuss finding the right balance between education, experience, and accessibility for everyone who loves aviation—or wants to be part of it.

• A classic grocery store pennies story
• Listener feedback from Joe, Ed, and Jamie
• Teasing a future episode on a Guatemalan Air Force Hawker jet seized and flown out of a jungle dirt strip
• Why community engagement is becoming a core part of the show

We dive into the NTSB preliminary findings from the tragic UPS Flight 2976 MD-11 crash during takeoff on November 4th, 2025.
• Structural failures involving the left pylon aft mount lugs
• Maintenance history, inspections, and missed SDI tasks
• Aircraft cycles, total time, and CAMP oversight
• Historical parallels to American Airlines Flight 191 (DC-10)
• What this accident may mean for the entire MD-11 fleet

This segment becomes deeply personal as we discuss the emotional impact of seeing wreckage from an aircraft many of us have flown—and the uncomfortable question: Was this a ticking time bomb?

• High approach speeds and runway performance
• Crosswind technique, wing-down/top-rudder timing
• Pitch control, flare discipline, and bounce risks
• Swept wing inefficiency and aft CG challenges
• Why speed management directly equals runway distance

This is a raw, technical, and honest look at the jet—and what pilots carry with them long after stepping out of the cockpit.

We shift gears into pilot career decisions, flow-through agreements, and mentorship programs—especially within the American Eagle ecosystem (Envoy, Piedmont, PSA).
• What flow-through really means vs. past promises
• How cadet programs work today
• Incentives, mentorship, and the “single interview” model
• Why timing, passion, and realism matter more than ever

We discuss a powerful Flying Magazine article by Martha Lunken, examining the modern “pilot production pipeline,” fast-track promises, six-figure training costs, and whether the industry is confusing speed with readiness.
• Reflections on Colgan Air 3407 and hard lessons learned
• Why experience still matters
• Personal stories flying into Buffalo and the weight of history

We close with a fascinating and controversial chapter in aviation history—Martha Lunken’s FAA certificate revocation after flying under an Ohio bridge.
• Discipline vs. legacy
• Risk, judgment, and reputation
• Can passion ever cross the line?

This episode brings together reflection, tragedy, training, career guidance, and aviation philosophy—a fitting way to mark one full year of the Black Box Aviation Podcast.

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📞 Hotline: (203) 699-6792 (leave your name!)
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Aviation isn’t just a job. It’s a responsibility—and a passion. ✈️

🎉 One Year Anniversary Reflections🗺️ Stories From the Road & Listener Shout-Outs📰 In the News: MD-11 NTSB Preliminary Report🛬 MD-11 Handling, Training, and Reality🧭 Career Paths, Flow-Through Programs & What’s Changed✍️ Pilot Shortage & The Passion of Aviation🛩️ A Twist: Martha Lunken’s Story

Welcome back to the Black Box Aviation Podcast, where Tom, Mike, and special guest Travis dive deep into aviation history, industry news, and the stories that shape the world of flying.

In this episode, we cover two very different but equally fascinating sides of aviation—modern airline consolidation and the brutal realities of World War II bomber operations.

We break down the reported Allegiant–Sun Country merger, what it means for the low-cost leisure market, and why consolidation may be unavoidable for airlines like Spirit and Frontier.
• Leisure airline business models explained
• Why fleet commonality (737 vs Airbus) matters
• Are mergers the only path to survival for ULCCs?
• How politics and regulation affect airline consolidation

The heart of this episode features Travis sharing the remarkable story of his grandfather, a WWII bomber crew member in the legendary 100th Bomb Group — “The Bloody 100th.”
• Discovering an original WWII flight logbook
• Missions flown over Europe in the B-17 Flying Fortress
• The brutal loss rates of daylight bombing missions
• Nine-month pilot training pipelines during wartime
• Pathfinder missions, early radar bombing, and the Norden bombsight
• Survivor’s guilt, crew camaraderie, and the human cost of air combat

We also connect these real stories to the Apple TV+ series Masters of the Air, explaining what the show gets right—and how close it hits to the real experiences of bomber crews flying unescorted over Germany.

This episode is a powerful reminder of how aviation evolves—from life-or-death combat missions in WWII to corporate strategy and survival in modern airline operations—and how the people behind the controls are always at the center of the story.

📩 Contact the Show: [email protected]
📞 Hotline: (203) 699-6792 (leave your name!)
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Real pilots. Real stories. Real aviation history. ✈️

🛫 Airline Industry News: Allegiant & Sun Country🪖 Aviation History: A WWII Logbook Comes to Life

Welcome back to the Black Box Aviation Podcast, where Tom and Mike talk aviation, travel, and the real-world experiences flyers and crews deal with every day—covering the things you need and WANT to know about flying.

This episode blends technical aviation insight, travel chaos, and classic road stories, with plenty of humor along the way.

• Heather joins us while navigating a difficult family loss—huge thanks for powering through
• Producer tracks in the studio failed to record
• A strong follow-up discussion on LVTO (Low Visibility Takeoff) and Heather’s technical feedback
• Why technical conversations matter—and how we sometimes lose listeners when things get too deep
• Our commitment to doing a better job bridging technical aviation topics for the entire audience
• Florida iguanas falling out of trees 🦎
• Olive Garden… with no salad dressing 🥗

• Tom’s daughter Anna flying JetBlue to Florida
• Mike’s England recap: MCO–HPN connections and Uber decisions
• A standby return from London that went so badly it cost $10,000 to get home
• Why we’d probably be great (or terrible) running a travel agency
• Mike’s story of getting stuck in Hawaii
• The Terminal 5 waiting game
• Uber to T5 or the TWA Hotel—the real debate

• Reaching out to Delta pilots for insight—surprisingly little clarity
• Flying pets in cargo: what actually happens
• A real-world example of a dog flying Hawaiian Airlines from Boston to Honolulu

• U.S. strikes in Venezuela and the resulting FAA no-fly zone
• Massive airline disruptions
• JetBlue cancellations (CNX 290 flights)
• Combined with winter weather, nearly 4,000 delays by early Saturday morning
• Why every airline was affected

• Managing anxiety during major travel disruptions
• How the family handled the chaos
• Airline support during the disruption
• Would she fly that airline again?
• Loyalty programs and reward considerations
• Choosing a hotel under pressure
• Transportation challenges
• Prepping the family for the next day’s travel
• Seat availability issues and how it worked out
• Full Turks and Caicos resort review

📩 Contact the Show: [email protected]
📞 Hotline: (203) 699-6792 (Leave your name!)
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⭐ Support the Podcast
Please head to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Amazon Music and smash the 5-STAR rating. Reviews help push the show into more searches and bring new listeners into the cockpit.

Real aviation talk. Real travel chaos. No autopilot. ✈️

🎙️ Recap of Last Week’s Technical Mishap🧳 Stories From the Road🐾 Pet Transport Services🌍 Breaking News: Venezuela & Airspace Disruptions🌴 Heather’s Turks & Caicos Travel Story

In this post-Christmas episode of the Black Box Aviation Podcast, Tom and Mike recap the holidays, listener corrections, airline life on the road, and dive deep into recent aviation accidents and industry discussions.

The guys break down listener call-outs and corrections from the Christmas episode, talk airline schedules, training culture, and what it’s really like balancing family life with flying during the holidays. From childhood Christmas nostalgia to international travel prep, nothing is off the table.

The conversation turns serious as Tom and Mike revisit the Greg Biffle Citation 550 crash, analyzing what we currently know from the NTSB preliminary findings, including flight path data, CVR recovery, emergency communications, and potential power or configuration issues. They also compare this tragedy to other notable business jet accidents, including the Thurman Munson Citation crash and the Learjet 60 accident involving Travis Barker.

This episode blends aviation safety analysis, airline culture, personal stories, and industry insight—the exact mix that makes the Black Box Aviation Podcast a must-listen for pilots, aviation professionals, and anyone fascinated by flying.

🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon Music
📩 Contact the show: [email protected]
📞 Listener Hotline: (203) 699-6792 (leave your name!)
📱 Instagram / X: @the_black_box01

aviation podcast, airline pilot podcast, aviation safety, NTSB investigation, business jet crash, citation 550 crash, Greg Biffle crash, holiday travel aviation, airline training, pilot life, flying for airlines, general aviation accidents, aviation news podcast, cockpit culture, airline operations, flight training

Welcome back to the Black Box Aviation Podcast, where Tom and Mike talk aviation, travel, pilot life, and the things you NEED—and WANT—to know about flying, with a special Christmas edition of the show.

This episode blends holiday traditions, aviation culture, travel memories, and real-world news, with plenty of laughs and meaningful moments along the way.

🎶 Holiday Talk & Traditions
• Elvis and Christmas music debates
• Favorite Christmas songs (Bing Crosby, Billy Idol, and a few hard passes 👀)
• Wrapping presents: neat vs messy—and why TSA doesn’t love wrapped gifts
• Traveling as a kid during Christmas
• Classic holiday movies through an aviation lens
– Home Alone aircraft discrepancies
– Die Hard (Is it a Christmas movie? 🎄✈️)
– Airport scenes, travel tips, jet lag, and stretches

😂 Funny Stories
• A superfan encounter at Big Y that ends with a holiday cookie pyramid collapse
• Grocery store chaos, laughter, and small-town moments

📣 Shout-Outs
• Dan and Craig (more Elvis—delivered)
• Jim the contractor in Djibouti
• Dedicated listeners and longtime supporters of the show

🌍 Christmas Stories From the Road
• Tom shares a powerful story about spending Christmas and New Year’s on deployment in Africa
• Life at Camp Lemonnier: plywood bases, crew camaraderie, homesickness, church, ice cream, and base generals serving Christmas dinner
• Watching A Christmas Story overseas and finding holiday meaning far from home

📰 In the News – Aviation Safety
• Citation II (Cessna 550) crash near Charlotte
• Discussion of aircraft performance, accident statistics, and pilot factors
• Broader context on Citation safety history and recent tragic accidents

🔮 Looking Ahead to 2026
• Show anniversary approaching
• Returning guests, meaningful aviation stories, and what’s next for the podcast
• A heartfelt holiday message to listeners

📩 Contact the Show: [email protected]
📞 Hotline: (203) 699-6792 (leave your name!)
📱 Instagram / X: @the_black_box01

⭐ Support the Podcast
Please smash the 5-star rating on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Amazon Music—it helps more aviation fans discover the show.

From all of us at The Black Box, Merry Christmas, safe travels, and clear skies—no matter how or where you celebrate the holidays. 🎅✈️

Welcome back to the Black Box Aviation Podcast, where Tom and Mike break down aviation news, airline operations, pilot life, and the stories you don’t hear anywhere else.

In this episode, we cover a wide range of topics—from critical MD-11 fleet updates to big career news, unexpected travel chaos, and a JetBlue flight that narrowly avoided a military tanker near Venezuela.

✈️ What’s in this episode:

• MD-11 Update – New insight into bearing recommendations, inspection differences between FedEx and UPS fleets, Boeing’s role, FAA certification timelines, and the logistical nightmare of repositioning grounded aircraft across international airspace
• Instructor & Pilot Currency Issues – Simulator waivers, FAA considerations, and operational challenges during extended groundings
• BIG NEWS – Mike is officially heading to the Boeing 777
• 777 Stats Breakdown – Payload, range, GE90 engines, and why the “Big Whamma Jamma” earns its name
• Stories From the Road –
– Blue hydraulic failure discussion
– Golf in Aguadilla
– A 21-hour training commute with lounge hopping, upgrades, delays, and inflight chaos
– Escalator near-disaster and bad-luck travel moments
– TSA comments on a Labubu backpack
– Cutting a finger on a sim flap lever
• JetBlue Close Call – Flight 1112 narrowly avoids a U.S. military tanker flying co-altitude with no transponder near Venezuela
• Listener Shout-Out – Thanks to Michael in Kentucky for supporting the show

🎄 Next week: the Christmas Episode!

📩 Contact the Show: [email protected]
📞 Hotline: (203) 699-6792 (Leave your message!)
📱 Instagram / X: @the_black_box01

⭐ Support the Podcast
Please take a moment to smash that 5-star review on Apple, Spotify, or Amazon — it helps the show reach more aviation fans every week.

Whether you’re a pilot, aviation professional, or just obsessed with flying, this episode delivers real insight from inside the cockpit.

Welcome to the Black Box Aviation Podcast, where Tom and Mike break down the latest in aviation news, airline industry updates, pilot stories, air travel trends, and real-world flying experiences.

This episode is packed with surprises, industry drama, and jaw-dropping aviation stories — including a live FedEx delivery surprise that shows up during the recording!

✈️ What we cover in this episode:

• A surprise gift delivered by FedEx LIVE during the show
• Flying with dogs on seats — a real JetBlue passenger story
• MD-11 cargo aircraft lawsuits and the growing safety concerns
• FAA grounding of MD-11 jets and what it means for cargo airlines
• NTSB investigations and maintenance controversy
• The recent U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds F-16 crash and pilot ejection
• Thoughts on the Netflix aviation documentary “Air Force Elite: Thunderbirds”
• Global Airlines and the push to revive the “Golden Age of Air Travel”
• Deep dive on the Airbus A380 — the world’s largest passenger aircraft
• Delta Air Lines revenue losses tied to government shutdown impacts
• Honest pilot talk about career progression, the Boeing 777, and real-world airline life

Plus, shout-outs to new listeners and swim meet teammates helping grow the show!

⭐ Smash that 5-Star Review on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon to help us grow
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📱 Instagram / X: @the_black_box01
📞 Hotline: (203) 699-6792 (leave your message!)

aviation podcast, airline news, pilot stories, FedEx delivery, MD11 grounding, cargo plane crash, Thunderbirds crash, air travel news, Airbus A380, aviation documentary, flight crew stories, aviation safety, FAA NTSB, airline industry updates, airline careers, cockpit stories, aviation YouTube podcast

Buckle up — this week in aviation has been absolute turbulence.
From major software recalls to a global cargo fleet grounding, winter runway scares, and wild stories from the road, Aviation Chaos Week breaks down everything shaking the industry.

✈️ This Episode Covers:
🔹 Airbus A320 global software recall impacting airlines worldwide — what caused it, who’s hit hardest, and how long disruptions may last
🔹 UPS MD-11 inspection crisis — why the fleet grounding now appears to be months, not weeks, and how cargo operations will be affected
🔹 Delta Connection runway slide-off in Des Moines — how fast winter weather can snowball into an incident
🔹 Stories From the Road — Bananas at Big Y 🤦‍♂️
🔹 Stories From Home — The Garbage Man episode
🔹 How airplanes get their names — from Pan Am Clippers to FedEx’s Purple Eagle aircraft honoring St. Jude patients

We look behind the headlines and share the pilot perspective — what’s real, what’s assumed, and what passengers never hear about.

🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Amazon Music!
📩 Contact the show: [email protected]
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🛫 Help Boost the Podcast
If you enjoy the show, please smash the 5-star rating and leave a review — it massively helps the podcast reach more listeners.

#AviationNews #AirbusRecall #PilotPodcast #AviationPodcast #BlackBoxAviation #AviationChaos #AirlineIndustry #UPSMD11 #WinterOperations

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.

✉️ [email protected]
📱 Instagram / X: @the_black_box01
📞 Hotline: (203) 699-6792 — leave your name & a message!

🎧 Also on Apple & Amazon — and don’t forget to smash the 5-star rating and leave a review! It helps the show reach more aviation fans.

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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:
✉️ [email protected]
📱 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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