On March 16, 1962, a military charter flight carrying 93 Army Rangers vanished over the Pacific Ocean during a secret mission to Vietnam. Despite one of the largest searches in aviation history, no trace of the aircraft or its 107 occupants was ever found. Join Alice and Zach as they explore how a mission so classified that soldiers had to leave their wedding rings and dog tags at home became one of aviation's most enduring mysteries—and why, 60 years later, families are still fighting just to prove their loved ones existed.

Sources:

• Civil Aeronautics Board Aircraft Accident Report, File No. 1-0002, April 8, 1963
• "Listing on Vietnam Wall sought for troops killed in 1962 plane crash" - Stars and Stripes, July 24, 2013
• "'He knew something': The 1962 flight of Army Rangers that vanished into thin air" - SFGATE, May 10, 2021
• "60 Years Missing: The Mystery Of Flying Tiger Line Flight 739" - FLYING Magazine, March 16, 2022
• "A New Memorial Is Unveiled for Those Lost on a Missing Vietnam War Transport Plane" - Military.com, May 22, 2021
• Wreaths Across America official documentation and family testimonies
• "The Mystery of Flying Tiger Line flight 739" - The History Guy (YouTube), 2024

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.

On October 1, 2015, the cargo ship SS El Faro steamed directly into the path of Hurricane Joaquin and vanished with all 33 crew members aboard. Join Alice and Zach as they unravel how a routine "milk run" between Jacksonville and Puerto Rico became America's worst maritime disaster in decades. Discover the deadly combination of outdated weather data, corporate pressure, ignored warnings, and mechanical failures that turned a survivable storm into an unsurvivable nightmare. Through audio recovered from three miles beneath the Atlantic, hear the final hours of a crew fighting against impossible odds—and learn how their deaths changed maritime safety forever.

Sources:

• National Transportation Safety Board Marine Accident Report MAR-17/01: "Sinking of US Cargo Vessel SS El Faro, Atlantic Ocean, Northeast of Acklins and Crooked Island, Bahamas, October 1, 2015"
• U.S. Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation Final Report (September 24, 2017)
• NTSB Voyage Data Recorder Audio Transcript (510 pages)
• Into the Raging Sea: Thirty-Three Mariners, One Megastorm, and the Sinking of El Faro by Rachel Slade (HarperCollins, 2018)
• "The Clock is Ticking: Inside El Faro" by William Langewiesche, Vanity Fair (April 2018)
• CBS News 60 Minutes: "Voices of the Lost" (March 5, 2017)
• House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure hearing transcripts (January 30, 2018)
• The Working Waterfront: "'Into the Raging Sea' details human failings that cursed El Faro"

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.

When a mysterious package in the cargo hold of American Airlines Flight 444 suddenly detonates at 30,000 feet, 80 people find themselves trapped in a smoke-filled Boeing 727. Join Alice and Zach as they explore the chilling story of a midair bombing that failed only because of a single ingredient mistake—and the 17-year manhunt it set in motion. Discover how one of the most intensive investigations in FBI history began with a parcel that was supposed to kill everyone on board. Buckle up for a story that changed aviation security forever.

Sources:

• "Unabomber" - FBI Famous Cases
• "Bomb Jolts Jet" - The Washington Post, November 16, 1979
• "A Chronology of the UNABOM Investigation" - Cornell Law School

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.