Catastrophecast.com

In this month's podcast we look at five different incidents that, together, can be known as "Suicide by Airplane". We look at LAM Mozambique Flight 470, Germanwings Flight 9525, PSA Flight 1771, FedEx Flight 705, and The Theft of Horizon Air plane N499QX.

In the 38th podcast from CatastropheCast.com, we discuss the downing of the I35West bridge in Minneapolis in August 2007. The collapse of the I35W bridge took out one of the most popular bridges in Minnesota, and brought nationwide attention to the poor state of our bridges and roads in the United States.

In the 37th podcast from CatastropheCast.com, we delve into the troubled history of the de Havilland Comet, and how the lessons learned from those crashes led to safer airplanes today, led to a better understanding of metal fatigue, and unwittingly gave rise to de Havilland's competitor, Boeing, taking the lead in jet airliners.

In the 36th podcast from CatastropheCast.com, we delve into the last time the world was under the grips of a disease on a massive scale - the Spanish Flu of 1918. In this podcast, we talk about the potential origins, why it's called The Spanish Flu when there was no origin of the virus in Spain, and how one city avoided the second wave of the flu, only to be taken down the the third wave.

In the 35th podcast from CatastropheCast.com, we delve into the most powerful earthquake to rock Japan that has ever been recorded, and the ensuing tsunami and nuclear disaster. Also, I interview Professor Daniel Aldrich who has written a book about survival when it comes to Japan's 3/11 Catastrophes, and the surprising (to me, at least) rates of survival and how people who were more socially connected were better prepared for not just the event, but for survival afterward.

In the 34th podcast from CatastropheCast.com, we look at the worst single-aircraft accident loss of life in aviation history, and the bungled rescue operation that was so bad it cost people their lives.

In the 33rd podcast from CatastropheCast.com, we look at the mid-air collision of a Boeing 727-200 and a Cessna, how some symptoms of the crash linger on in aviation even today, and what changes came about because of the crash, making aviation that much safer.

In the 32nd podcast from CatastropheCast.com, we look at two very different incidents of uncontained engine failures, and how airline travel has gotten safer between the first incident in 1989 and the second incident in 2018.

In the 31st podcast from CatastropheCast.com, we go back to 2005 and delve into the series of events that caused the crash of Helios Airlines flight #522 outside of Athens, Greece, and what has happened since to help this terrible catastrophe from ever happening again.

In the 30th podcast from CatastropheCast.com, we go back in time more than 100 years and discuss the incident that destroyed the city of Halifax while World War I was raging on the other side of the planet, how hard it was to survive, and the heroes that came out of it. And we also touch on two recent Boeing 737MAX crashes, in the hopes of coming to a successful conclusion soon, to make flying safe once again.

In the 29th podcast from CatastropheCast.com, we go into two different incidents that happened ten years and ten miles from each other in San Juan Puerto Rico. The hotel fire has always intrigued me, and the building explosion was a listener request. And remember, Puerto Rico isn't a foreign country, but is rather a territory of the United States. And hopefully, in the near future, the 51st or 52nd state, along with Washington, DC.

The 28th podcast from CatastropheCast.com, focusing on the crash of Eastern Airlines flight 401 into the Florida Everglades on December 29th, 1972, and what came about because of the crash and how it changed aviation forever.

In this podcast, we go through a recap of some incidents, accidents, and catastrophes that happened in 2018, including a couple that were close to home for me.

The 26th podcast from CatastropheCast.com, focusing on the fate of American Airlines flight 587 on November 12th, 2001

The 25th podcast from CatastropheCast.com, focusing on the link between the small town of Minamata Japan from the 1950s, and the sprawling mecca of Mosul, Iraq from the 1970s

The 24th podcast from CatastropheCast that goes over different catastrophes that occurred during 2016, from well known items like Egypt Air flight 804, to lesser known issues like the Tampoco Foils factory explosion in Bangladesh.

The 23rd podcast from CatastropheCast focusing on the tragic events of November 29th, 1979 when Air New Zealand flight 901 crashed into Mt. Erebus on Antarctica and became known as "The loneliest airline crash"

The 22nd podcast from CatastropheCast.com, focusing on the details of the horrendous explosion of a ship in the Texas City harbor in April, 1947

The 21st podcast from CatastrpheCast.com, focusing on Air Canada Flight 797 from June 2nd, 1983 that brought massive safety changes for all airline passengers since.

Today’s podcast is about Eastwind Airlines Flight 517. And while you may have never heard of it, the incident that happened in July, 1996, solved a decade long mystery, and has prevented untold deaths from a deadly defect in the world’s most popular airplane, the Boeing 737.