June 11, 2025 • 58 mins
On April 7, 1994, what began as a routine FedEx cargo flight from Memphis to San Jose became the scene of an unbelievable battle at 19,000 feet. When flight engineer Auburn Calloway launched a brutal hammer attack on the three-man crew, severely injuring all of them, the pilots fought back in the most extraordinary way imaginable—by using their massive DC-10 cargo jet as a weapon. Discover how these gravely wounded men rolled their aircraft almost upside down at over 400 mph, pushed it beyond all design limits, and ultimately saved their own lives through sheer determination and incredible flying skills. This is one of aviation's most remarkable stories of survival against impossible odds.
SOURCES:
• Mayday: Air Disasters episode "Fight for Your Life"
• Official NTSB report on FedEx Flight 705
• Court records from Auburn Calloway's trial
• Interviews with survivors Dave Sanders, Jim Tucker, and Andy Peterson
• "Hijacked: The True Story of the Heroes of Flight 705" by Dave Hirschman
FIND FINAL BOARDING CALL ONLINE:
• Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.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.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
trigger warning for bloodviolence fighting suicide, I
think those are probably allof the warnings that I need to.
This may be the wrong episode for you.
This is gonna be thewrong episode for you.
Picture this a cloudless Aprilafternoon over Tennessee.
Three FedEx pilots are at thecontrols of a massive cargo
(00:21):
jet cruising at 19,000 feet.
None of them notice the fourth mansilently approaching from behind what
follows is perhaps the most extraordinarybattle ever waged in aviation history.
Three Gravely wounded pilots strugglingto subdue their attacker while
(00:43):
simultaneously pushing a 400,000pound aircraft to maneuvers that
it was never designed to perform.
So stow your tray tables, fastenyour seat belts, and prepare for
some extreme turbulence becausethis is final boarding call.
(01:07):
Hello and welcome to Final Boarding Call.
I am your disaster obsessed host Alice.
And I'm Zach.
A little extra reluctant at the moment.
I'm being told how annoying I amtrying to get an episode started.
God forbid, should I wanna have fun.
Girls just wanna have fun.
That's all I want.
Okay.
(01:28):
Well, quick reminder to our listenersplease like rate review wherever
you get your podcasts and subscribe,like rate, review, and subscribe
wherever you get your podcasts.
Amen.
Tell a friend we've been getting some.
Really, tell your nana she's bored.
Oh God.
Poor nana.
(01:49):
This is a dark thing to share with yournana, but maybe your weird neighbor.
We'll take weird neighbors.
Okay, let's talk about some sources.
Obviously she made this up.
The what?
No, I did not make this up.
But this case, this story is so wild.
(02:09):
I don't even know if Icould have made it up.
This is a Mayday Air disasterepisode, fight for Your Life which
was actually the second episode thatI ever watched of air disasters.
And this was the second episodethat I ever wrote for the podcast.
The first one being our pilot episode.
(02:30):
Which is still, to this day, one of myfavorite aviation stories of all time.
But this one is also crazy.
Okay.
Wow.
If they fought for their life, I tendto just fight for my right to party.
Oh, Zach.
Well, you gotta, well, the good news.
(02:51):
I was gonna give you some good news.
Here we are finally out of the 1970s.
I feel like I have told you.
We'll be back.
We'll be back.
Don't worry guys.
We'll be back to the sixtiesand seventies, but today it
is April 7th, 2004, 1994.
Oh God.
But very I think that's still pretty cool.
(03:14):
Yep.
April 7th, 1994.
Zach and I are year old.
I am.
You're almost.
We are in Memphis, Tennesseeat the sprawling FedEx World.
Hub workers are busy sorting packages,loading trucks, and preparing aircraft
(03:34):
for another day of global deliveries.
In the early 1990s, FedEx wasalready a logistical powerhouse
delivering over 2 million packagesdaily to 171 countries worldwide.
That's more packages than I expected.
I mean for 1994.
(03:55):
Yeah.
It didn't even have Amazon yet.
No.
Correct.
What are people shipping?
What?
What's even happening at that time?
Bombs.
Raindrop Drop top.
Oh, Zachary, their Memphisheadquarters operated like a
precision timepiece, a carefullychoreographed ballet of plains trucks.
(04:16):
Workers all moving to the rhythmof tight schedules and guaranteed
delivery times because this is FedExand you pay a shit ton of money
to get your package there on time.
This ain't no USPS or UPS, don't youknow that Brown will just let you down.
Oh my God.
(04:38):
Redacted.
Unless UPS wants to sponsor us.
Yeah.
Redacted among the aircraft.
Waiting on the tarmac That morning isa McDonald Douglas DC 10 30 cargo jet.
Alright.
Zach, we love a good DC 10.
We have covered many a storywith the DC 10, but let's
(05:01):
review this airplane briefly.
It is a massive three engine wide body.
It stands nearly six stories tall, andit stretches 182 feet in length and it
can carry up to 150,000 pounds of cargo.
(05:23):
We are talking yourBetty Crocker Crockpots.
We are talking all of the potpourri,all of the decorative hand towels.
It's 1994.
What else are people?
Was Pop Tubberware, big thing back then.
Mary Kay.
Okay.
150,000 pounds of Mary Kay.
(05:46):
Get your eyelashes up, get 'em upwith registration number N 3 0 6 fe.
It is scheduled for flight 7 0 5from Memphis to San Jose, California.
Loaded primarily withelectronics equipment.
I dunno.
And Maybelline, no, it didn'thave any Maybelline, it was
(06:07):
maybe it's Maybelline, maybe.
Or Mary Kay.
Mary Kay.
Okay.
It is loaded primarilywith electronics equipment.
And computers back then were huge.
So that's only likeprobably 150 computers.
Yeah.
Fair thousand pounds each.
They're massive.
Okay.
(06:28):
Walk with me through theterminal as three pilots make
their way toward this aircraft.
Coffee cups in hand, flightbags slung over their shoulders.
None of them were originallyscheduled to be here today.
The previous crew had gone just one minuteover their eight hour flight limit the day
(06:50):
before, so they had to be replaced by thistrio, and that one minute would change
the lives of all of those people involved.
So for the people that went one,one minute over, they're very lucky
because this is not a flight Iwould want to be on or hear me out.
Oh boy.
Because you gave some information already.
(07:12):
This was going to be justlike the fast and the Furious.
VIN Diesel was here to stealthe electronics, but the other
flight crew that went one minuteover was actually in on the plan.
They were gonna help get allthese electronics out and
now all these other people.
just here to suffer a fate.
I can't wait to tell you this storyanyway, because your version is definitely
(07:33):
more fun than what actually happened.
Okay.
All right.
Here we go.
Captain Family, David and motorcycles.
Family Corona.
Okay.
Okay.
Captain David Sandersleads the group at 49.
He is a seasoned pilot with 20years of FedEx under his belt.
(07:56):
They're paying out good
America.
Fuck yeah.
Okay.
Yes, you're probably right, Zach.
I'm sure he is making decent money.
He's been at FedEx for 20 yearsbefore joining the commercial sector,
Sanders served nine years in theUS Navy during the Vietnam War.
His colleagues know him as a calm,levelheaded aviator who takes his
(08:19):
responsibilities seriously with saltand pepper hair, and the confident
bearing of a man who spent decadesin cockpits Sanders projects.
Quiet.
Authoritan.
I love that.
Yeah, me too.
Walking beside him isFirst Officer James Tucker.
Let me tell you about James Tucker.
He is 42 years old and he'sa 10 year FedEx veteran.
(08:41):
He saw combat in Vietnamserving 12 years in the Navy.
But Tucker wasn't just any military pilot.
He was an elite flight instructor whotrained other pilots in aerial combat
maneuvers in a four fighter jets.
Well, I now know why they said that theywere getting this plane to do things it
was never meant to do because these dudesknew how to dog fight fucking Top Gun.
(09:07):
It is Top gun.
Sure.
I love it.
I am here for it.
You're already rooting for these people.
Okay.
This specialized experience, knowing howto push aircraft to their absolute limits,
what soon proved critically importantin ways no one could have imagined.
Thank you, Zach, for readingout the line that I wrote.
(09:27):
Completing the crew is flightengineer Andrew Peterson.
At 39, Peterson has five yearsat FedEx as flight engineer.
He's gonna monitor all the aircraftsystems from his station behind the
pilots, making sure everything fromfuel flow to hydraulic pressure
remains within normal parameters.
(09:49):
And we now know how important thathydraulic pressure is because we had
a hydraulic pressure leak in our.
Last episode and thensuddenly the flaps don't.
Flaps are good.
Yeah.
All of a sudden flaps are not retracting.
There's retracting happening.
There's not retracting happening.
It's all bad.
Let me explain what a flight engineerdoes because we have now mentioned
(10:10):
flight engineers multiple times.
And I don't think we've ever actuallydiscussed the role of a flight engineer
because this position no longer exists.
Zach, this is a job that youcan't get anymore because it
doesn't exist on modern airplanes.
The flight engineer is essentiallythe aircraft's system manager.
(10:32):
They sit at a panel that iscovered with hundreds of gauges and
switches and warning lights buttons.
Don't press the red button.
Correct?
Unless you're supposed to.
And they are constantly monitoringthe health of engines, electrical
systems, fuel systems, and hydraulics.
(10:53):
They need to know whatall these buttons do.
They need to know how to read everything.
If something happens, they need toknow what it is and how to solve it.
Yeah.
In my opinion, they're like a flightsuperhero because back in the day
where there weren't a ton of automatedsystems and you needed a human to do
this, that's a critically important job.
(11:13):
Okay, so nowadays.
We have computerized systems that handlemost of these tasks automatically,
which is why you do not see flightengineers on newer aircraft, such as
the Boeing 7 37 or the a three 20, whichis what most people fly on nowadays.
So yeah, when you are like boardinga plane and you peek into the
cockpit, now you see two peoplesitting in there and that's it.
(11:37):
So let's go back to the airport.
They're walking, they're hanging out,they're approaching their aircraft.
They notice another FedEx employeewaiting near the boarding stairs.
Auburn Callaway is a 42-year-old flightengineer, and he is hitching a ride
which is known as a deadhead passenger.
Do you love it?
Do you love that?
That's what it's called,a deadhead passenger.
(11:59):
I know that your mother will love it.
I love it.
This episode is dedicated to my momwho's a deadhead in airline terminology.
Deadheading means when an airline employeetravels as a passenger to get to another
location where they are needed for work.
It's totally routine.
Airlines do this thousands of timesdaily to position crew members where they
need to be for their next assignment.
(12:23):
I think this is also referredto as being in the jump seat.
Do you know what I'm, doesthat sound familiar to you?
Being in the jump seat?
Okay.
Maybe not.
I literally keep referring,catch me if you can.
The movie, the Phenomenal moviewith Leonard DiCaprio, but I think
that's what he calls it when he'slike, jumping from flight to flight.
(12:44):
I don't know.
The jump seat is just where all the.
Flight attendants sit.
I so, so, yeah.
Ugh.
Somebody will correct me.
So we've got Callaway, right?
He is going to be the deadheadpassenger for this flight
with his guitar case in hand.
Callaway exchanges friendlyGreetings with the crew.
(13:04):
Does that sound on Brandand?
For deadhead?
He's got a guitar case.
He's Jamen.
He's Jamin man.
I think Deadhead is a dead heading.
They are making a, heading to a differentplace, which is a dead end for them.
They're not flying back, you don't think?
It's based off of the world renownedjam band, the Grateful Dead.
(13:25):
Nobody thinks it's basedon that other than me.
It's not.
I know.
I know it's not Callaway isn't just anycolleague Catching a ride behind his
professional demeanor lies a complex manfacing personal and professional crisis.
A Stanford University graduateand a former Navy pilot, Callaway
(13:48):
appears successful on paper.
He's divorced with two children whom hestrongly wants to attend college, but
his career at FedEx has become troubled.
Despite being a qualified pilot.
Callaway believes that FedEx hasdiscriminated against him as an African
American by assigning him only as a flightengineer more immediately concerning.
(14:11):
He's facing a disciplinary hearing thenext day for falsifying his flight hours,
and he believes dismissal is inevitable.
In other words, he can,he gonna get fired.
Yeah.
What the crew doesn't know, what theycan't possibly suspect is that the
guitar case that Callaway carriescontains no musical instrument.
(14:33):
Inside are two claw hammers, twoclub hammers, a spear gun and
a knife going after a manatee.
Redact it.
We love the manatees.
Save the manes and Callawaysave the mammaries.
And Callaway has a plan that will turnflight 7 0 5 into an absolute nightmare as
(14:58):
the crew begins their pre-flight checks.
Callaway's plan is already in motion,a plan months in the making and
really chilling in its calculation.
You gotta think thatCallaway is smart, right?
He went to Stanford.
He was a Navy pilot.
This dude is prettyexceptionally intelligent.
(15:19):
And.
If he were to be fired the nextday, which he expects will happen.
Callaway has determined that his family'sfinancial future will be in jeopardy.
He has a life insurance policythrough FedEx that is worth $2.5
million in 1994 money, which is 5.3
million in today's money.
(15:39):
God, that makes my life insurancepolicy look like Trump change.
I know every time we talk about howbig it is, I'm like, that is not
that big of a life insurance policy,
but I love you and it's more than mine.
Yeah.
However, like most insurance policies,it doesn't pay out if you kill yourself.
So true that suicide, I shouldprobably be a little more sensitive
(16:01):
when I talk about suicide.
Unloving yourself unloving.
Correct.
Like most insurance policies, it willnot pay out in case of unli one's self.
I don't wanna get canceled on our12th episode, I would say that this
is a moderate, this is the story,moderately PC podcast, but this isn't
like, you know, Insurance companiesprotect themselves with what is called a
(16:23):
suicide exclusion clause that typicallyprevents payment if the insured person
takes their own life, especially withinthe first two years of the policy.
And this is literally designed to preventpeople from getting gigantic health
insurance policies and then unloving.
Themselves, it makes sense.
So Callaway has devised a meticulouslycrafted plan to crash the plane
(16:49):
in a way that would look like anaccident if his death is ruled
accidental rather than suicide.
His ex-wife, and his children willreceive the full insurance payout.
His weapons were specificallychosen with this in mind.
So rather than using a gun, which wouldleave obvious evidence of an attack, he
(17:10):
brought hammers that could cause bluntforce trauma, similar to what a pilot
might experience in an airplane crash.
So he is only bringing weaponsto use that could be mimicked
if a plane goes down out.
In a violent plane crash, victimsoften suffer head injuries from impact.
So if he killed the crew with thehammer and then he crashes the plane,
(17:33):
the investigators might assume that theinjuries happened from the crash itself.
The spear gun.
Let's talk about that one's questionable.
Let's talk about themotherfucking spear gun here.
So that serves as a backupweapon just in case.
Unlike a firearm, it won't causesudden decompression if fired
(17:53):
inside a pressurized aircraft.
So that's something reallyinteresting to think about.
When there's a breach in an aircraft'sfuselage at high altitude, the pressurized
air inside rushes out violently.
Right?
So this is something that we experiencedin our first episode when the windshield
blew out, and then all of a sudden it waslike hurricane sucking tornado winds.
(18:20):
So.
A bullet hole could cause a verydangerous situation, but a spear
wound wouldn't create the same risk.
That's fair.
It's fascinating to think about.
In the days before the flight, Callawayhad methodically prepared, he transferred
over $54,000 in securities and cashier'schecks to his ex-wife, roughly $114,600.
(18:50):
In today's money, this financialmove is clearly meant to provide
immediate funds for his family whilethey wait for an insurance payout.
He left a note for his ex-wifedescribing the author's apparent despair.
And that is a quote from, mayday airdisasters, which investigators will
later find in the morning of the flight.
(19:14):
He carefully placed his will andtestament on his bed where it would
be easy to find after his death.
Now here's what's interesting.
If he wants this to look like, andI've thought about this because I
thought about this while I was watchingthe documentary, and then I thought
about this again when I was writing.
If he wants this to look like it is nota suicide, it seems odd to leave a note.
(19:38):
Note to have notes, and that isfilled with despair and like a
copy of your will on your bed.
That just feels a littlelike just in case.
But I think all of us, includingthe listeners, are probably like.
And especially for something that'sso well thought out, like he thought
about how to make it look like it is anaccident and compression in the fuselage.
(20:01):
And then he's and alsohere's a suicide note oh boy.
A critical part of Callaway'splan involves disabling the
cockpit voice recorder, the CVR.
Smart.
Yep.
Also, I know this guy is smart.
This device records all conversationsin the cockpit, and if he's going
to attack the crew and make it looklike an accident, it can't be heard.
(20:23):
Amen.
There cannot be evidenceof an assault happening.
Yeah.
When flight engineer Petersonboards the plane that morning
and begins his pre-flight check,he notices something unusual.
The circuit breaker for the CVR hasbeen pulled cutting power to the device.
A circuit breaker is like asafety switch that cuts electrical
(20:45):
power when there's a problem.
It's similar to breakers inyour home's electrical panel.
Right.
You just turn a section off.
Yeah.
Like in our house, if you try tohave something going on the microwave
and also have our laundry machinegoing at the same time, not anymore.
It'll pop a breaker.
(21:07):
I fixed it.
Well we live in a verywonderfully old oldow.
Anyway, it's very similar to that.
So Peterson is obviously veryconfused as to why this happened.
However, he just resets.
Yeah.
He literally just is okay.
(21:28):
And he just resets it.
Okay.
Later.
Later Peterson notices.
I just said later.
Sin I heard you later.
Peterson notices that thebreaker has popped out again.
Once more.
He resets it.
But you guys get this.
(21:49):
They're not popping on their own.
It's actually Callaway doing it.
Bet you didn't see that coming, Zach.
Yeah, not at all.
Okay, so no, it's himtrying to disable the CBR.
As the crew completes theirpre-flight checks, they notice
Callaway's presence in the cockpit.
(22:10):
While it isn't unheard of for a deadheading passenger to be in the cockpit,
it is still considered unusual.
The crew, however, has noreason to suspect hostile intent
because why would you assume?
That a coworker wants to killwould have a bunch of fucking
hammers in his guitar case.
(22:32):
Yeah.
Callaway even makes small talkshowing his guitar case, the case.
Obviously that's holding on thecrazy ass weapons that will soon
turn this routine flight into adesperate struggle for survival.
At approximately 3:00 PM local time,FedEx Flight 7 0 5 is cleared for takeoff
from Memphis International Airportwith Captain Sanders at the control.
(22:53):
The plane climbs normally into theclear spring sky and about 20 minutes
after takeoff, it reaches 18,700 feet.
And that is when AuburnCallaway makes his move.
What you got?
It's about to get fucking nuts in here.
Zach, and I feel this episode is reallygonna speak to you because it's about to
be, I want to be the hero in something.
(23:14):
It's about to be fuckingfight club in this flight.
All right, here we go.
The cockpit of the DC 10 isbathed in afternoon sunlight.
As flight 7 0 5 continues,its climb through 19,000 feet.
Would you be mad if I left your fart in?
No.
About 26 minutes after takeoff, the flightcrew is carrying on a casual conversation,
(23:35):
the kind that happens thousands of timesdaily in cockpits around the world.
Captain Sanders is in his left seat, andfirst Officer Tucker is in the right seat.
And flight engineer Peterson,like we stated before, is where
the flight engineers, yeah.
Where the flight engineers sit behind themand he's monitoring the aircraft system.
(23:56):
This is literally sonormal and just standard.
This phase of flight, the climb isusually a relatively calm period after
the busy work of takeoff where you needto do all the pre-flight checks and
coordinate with air traffic control.
So the aircraft steadily ascendsto its cruising altitude, which is
typically between 30,000 and 40,000feet for a jet like the DC 10.
(24:22):
Unbeknownst to them, Callaway has goneahead and opened it up, pulled out
his hammer, so I pulled out my gun.
Yes.
He pulled out his hammer fromhis guitar case and he is quietly
approaching from behind, so he didn'tjust get out the hammer, he got out.
Every single weapon.
On a cargo aircraft like this in1994, there is no locked cockpit door
(24:47):
because this was pre nine 11, so youcould just open it if you wanted to.
So what opened the door?
Yeah, he did.
What happened next is suddenand absolutely brutal.
Without warning, Callaway entersthe flight deck and attacks
flight engineer Peterson with ahammer striking him in the head.
(25:10):
The blow fractures Peterson's skull andsevers his temporal artery, which is
a major blood vessel that runs alongthe side of the head, near your temple.
For people that don't know andit is important and very bad to
have severed blood immediatelybegins spraying across the cockpit
as Peterson slumps in his seat.
(25:31):
I should have given some sort oflike trigger warning on this episode.
I'm not used to doing that, but I'llinsert it into the beginning of the
episode Before the others can react.
Callaway turns his attack on first.
Officer Tucker and CaptainSanders raining down.
Hammer blows on both men.
He's using a claw hammer now.
(25:54):
Zach, do you know what a claw hammer is?
Yeah it's a regular hammer that mostpeople would picture as a hammer, and it
has two prongs coming off the backside.
Yeah.
And what are the two prongsusually used for if you're not
a psychopath removing nails?
It is.
(26:14):
Or if you are a really good carpenterfor actually evening up boards
before you nail 'em in, you canmake 'em perfectly level that way.
Wow.
Look at my carpenter husband over here.
Correct.
So that is what a clawhammer is typically.
Used for, it's a veryordinary construction tool.
However, if you're smashing it into ahuman, it becomes a devastating weapon.
(26:38):
Is he using claw side or hammer side?
Just trying to getgraphic for our viewers.
Yeah.
I don't I don't know, butI would imagine probably claw
side, it'll do more damage.
It wasn't specified.
I bet.
Because then it would probablyget stuck in the skull.
Yeah, maybe not.
I'll say it was not specified inthe documentary that I watched.
(26:58):
And I think that because theonly witnesses to this are
the pilots are the pilots.
are the pilots.
And it was a surprise attack.
They probably don't know which side.
They just know that they were being.
Violently attacked by a hammer by, mm-hmm.
the violence is extreme.
Both Peterson and Tucker suffer fracturedskulls with blows to Tucker's head
(27:22):
driving shards of bone into his brain.
Tucker is temporarily unable to move orreact, but remarkably, he actually remains
conscious throughout, which is crazy.
Captain Sanders would later report thatduring the beginning of the attack,
he could not discern any emotion fromCallaway, just simply a face and his eyes.
(27:45):
This chilling description speaksreally to the calculated nature
of the assault, like this man had.
Fully exited the emotional chat.
Yeah.
He was just, I have to do this thing.
Yeah.
So I'm gonna do it, when Callawaypauses his hammer attack, Peterson
and Sanders begin to get outof their seats to go after him.
So Callaway leaves the cockpitmomentarily, but he returns with the spear
(28:10):
gun threatening everyone to sit back down.
This is where one of the mostextraordinary aspects of this story begins
despite having a loud ringing in his ear.
Being unbalanced and dazed from hisbrutal head injury and losing blood
rapidly from his severed artery.
Peterson, who is our flight engineer,grabs the spear gun by the spear
(28:34):
itself between the barbs and thebarrel, which is crazy crops.
Yeah, the sharp angled barbs at thetip of the spear are designed to
prevent it from pulling out easily.
Once it's penetrated a target, I thinkmost people can picture a spear gun.
But Peterson grips the weaponanyway, fighting through what
(28:55):
must be excruciating pain.
Meanwhile, Tucker severely injured,but drawing on his Navy combat flight
training takes control of the aircraft.
So this is the guy who taught atbasically the top gun fighting school.
What he does next isabsolutely unprecedented in
(29:19):
commercial aviation history.
And I want us to keep in mindthe size of this aircraft.
Does he do a barrel roll?
He's about to do some coolass fucking shit, Zach.
Yeah.
This one might be fun for us to justwatch after because in air disasters
they recreate this what the flight does.
I'm gonna do my best to describeit for you and for the people.
(29:41):
oh, you guys, this guy'ssuch a badass balls of steel.
Tucker pulls this enormous planeinto a sudden 15 degree climb.
Throwing Sanders, Peterson and Callawayout of the cockpit and into the galley.
The unexpected G-forces from thismaneuver send the men tumbling backwards
(30:07):
to understand how extreme this is.
Normal climbs in large aircraftare typically two to five degrees.
You still feel thatwhen you're taking off.
Yeah.
Five being like a pretty steep takeoff,15 degree climb is so steep, especially
for an aircraft of this size, andit creates forces similar to what
(30:30):
you'd experience on a rollercoaster.
Heck yeah.
Four to six Gs.
Then to try to throw Callaway offbalance, Tucker puts the plane into
a steep left roll almost on its side.
This rolls the men along the smokecurtain onto the left side of the galley.
The smoke curtain is a barrier thatseparates the cockpit from the cargo
(30:52):
area because this is a cargo plane.
So think of it as this heavycurtain that is designed to
contain smoke in case of fire.
By doing this maneuver, Tuckeris essentially using the plane's
momentum in physics to throw theirattacker off balance and buy some time
somebody's packages were broken.
Yes, but this is so crazy tothink about because Tucker has bone
(31:15):
fragments in his brain, no matterhe's like what he is experiencing,
I'm sure brutal, excruciating pain.
And then also neurological impairment.
And he is still able to do this.
I just think you don't feel pain whenyou're trying to fight for your life.
It's crazy.
(31:35):
The idea of using the plane as a weaponagainst your attacker, that is that
could be the third Top Gun movie.
'cause that is fucking cool.
However, the struggle is far from over.
Eventually Tucker rolls the planealmost upside down at 140 degrees.
(31:57):
Hell yeah.
Hell yes.
To give you a sense of how extremethis is, modern commercial aircraft
are rarely banked beyond 30 degrees.
30 degrees is ooh, we arereally turning and 45 degrees
is used in emergency situations.
Well.
At 140 degrees, the plane is passedvertical, meaning that the wings are
(32:23):
more than perpendicular to the ground.
Oh 180 is upside down.
Yes.
Yes.
This is a jumbo jet.
A six story frigging megalodon airplane.
Yeah.
But how cool are you to be the onlyperson to have flown one upside down
like this guy's my fucking hero.
I love him.
Love Tucker.
(32:44):
Okay.
Obviously it probably goes withoutsaying, but the DC 10 is not designed to
operate within those flying parameters.
What he's doing is wayoutside the user manual.
The structural stress on theairframe during these extreme
maneuvers could very well lead tosome catastrophic failures, such as
(33:06):
the wings or the fuselage literallybreaking apart from the G forces.
So while the, with the plane nearlyinverted, they weren't inverted.
I was inverted.
Oh man.
Callaway, Sanders and Peterson are pinnedto the ceiling by gravitational forces.
(33:27):
During this extreme maneuver, Callawaymanages to wrench his hammer hand
free and hit Sanders in the head.
Again, I know Tucker's response isto put the plane into a steep dive.
This pushes the men backto the smoke curtain.
But now the aircraft itself is indanger at, because it was fine before.
(33:49):
No, but now it's actually really bad.
At a speed of 460 knots, which is around530 miles per hour um, hella fast,
the plane's control surface beginsto flutter so much that they become
unresponsive due to the disrupted airflow.
So the flutter is a dangerous aerodynamicphenomenon where parts of the aircraft
(34:13):
particularly control surfaces such asrudder elevators the things that help
you like steer and control altitude.
They begin to vibraterapidly in the airstream.
Similar to how a flag whipsreally violently in strong wind.
If it is severe enough, flutter canlead to structural failure, literally
(34:36):
tearing an airplane to pieces.
Tucker also begins to sense what'scalled a mock tuck, which is in
effect as the airflow over thewings approaches the speed of sound.
Sick motherfucking top gun right here.
Okay.
This occurs when airflow overparts of the aircraft reach super
(34:58):
sonics speeds, even though theaircraft itself is still subsonic.
Causing the nose to pitchdown uncontrollably.
The DC 10 was never designedto approach these speeds.
It's like trying to drive a familysedan at Formula One Racing speeds.
I'd give it a go.
The throttles are at full power,increasing the speed of the
(35:21):
aircraft to dangerous levels.
Tucker manages to pull back thethrottles to idle, slowing the plane
and pulling it out of the dive.
So that's good.
We are not mock tucking as the DC 10levels off at 5,000 feet, Callaway
manages to hit Sanders again,nearly knocking him unconscious.
(35:43):
Sanders is quickly losing strength,and Peterson is bleeding profusely
from his ruptured temporal arteryand he is going into shock.
So he is in danger right nowof organ failure and death.
Two things that are bad.
Yeah.
They're less than ideal.
Yeah.
They're not great.
In spite of his diminishingstrength, Sanders grabs the handle.
(36:07):
Sanders grabs the hammer out of Callaway'shand and he begins striking back.
Hell yeah.
Hell yeah.
Sanders, this guy's alsoa Navy pilot, like Yeah.
Sounds like all four or more Vietnam.
Yeah, dude.
Saw Nam back in Nam.
Yeah.
Or Nam, however you prefer to say it.
No, he is not about to go out this way.
(36:28):
Not must stay beaten.
The brakes off this dude whenthe plane is completely level.
Tucker Alerts Memphis Center, that'sthe air traffic control facility
responsible for managing aircraftin the region that they're in.
And he informs them about the attack andhe requests a vector back to Memphis.
(36:52):
So vector in aviation terms is simplya direction, direct path right back?
Yes.
Oh my gosh.
Like how did you know that?
I'm a smart cookie.
God damn.
You are.
I love that big brain of yarns.
That's why my head's so big it,Zach does have a large head, but
it's filled with brains and hot air.
(37:14):
Plenty of that.
Plenty of that.
Okay.
So he requests one.
Ambulance two Armed interventionwhich to air traffic control is a
SWAT team, which is pretty every time.
Is there never just a regularlike police type of situation?
I don't know if there's a code forthat, but you have to have some
serious planning to be trying to messwith a plane like that, so, yeah.
(37:38):
Yeah.
He wanted the works.
Yeah.
There's a maniac with a friggingspear gun shoot on site.
Well through sheer determinationand extraordinary courage, the
flight crew eventually succeeds inrestraining and disarming Callaway.
Hell With their attacker momentarily undercontrol, captain Sanders takes control of
(37:59):
the aircraft from first Officer Tucker.
Who by this time is paralyzedon the right side of his body.
And has lost his sense of touchbecause there's bone in his
brain, they can be removed.
Like the fact that these threepeople are doing anything is such a
(38:23):
testament to the human will to survive.
I think it's just really incredible.
You would've blended in and donevery well with this flight crew.
I feel like you guys would've done great.
You now, not you at one years old.
Okay.
Tucker goes back to assistPeterson in restraining Callaway.
so now we have Captain Sanders, whois the one that is in the cockpit.
(38:45):
He is flying the plane.
We have our first officer Petersonand Tucker, who is the badass
that's been flying this plane.
They're now going back torestrain Callaway, thank God,
and kick 'em a couple times.
Woof Sanders communicates with air trafficcontrol preparing for an emergency landing
back at Memphis International Airport.
Meanwhile, the fight withCallaway is not over.
(39:08):
It's not over.
It's fucking nuts.
Oh my God.
Yeah.
He didn't just sit in the cornerand be like, ah, sorry about that.
That didn't work.
My mad.
No.
It he's still fightingevery chance he gets.
But let's talk about Captain Sandersattempting to land this fucking
plane while he is very injured.
(39:31):
Yeah.
He's taken multiple blowsto the head with a hammer.
The situation facing Captain Sanders as heprepares to land is damn near impossible.
Zach, the aircraft is fullyloaded with fuel heavy and a
fuck ton of computer equipment.
Yeah, it's a lot to slow down.
Yes.
(39:51):
Approaching Memphis too fast and too highfor a standard landing at 35,000 pounds
over its maximum designed landing weight.
Which I actually didn't know that aircrafthad until this episode, like when I was
studying this, but yeah, I'm sure theyhave to set up the flight for this much
fuel burn off and make it this weight.
(40:12):
Yes.
Well we had that, I don't remember whatit was, but we talked about dumping fuel.
A flight that had to dump fuel Oh yeah.
To make a landing.
Do you remember that?
It was an early episode.
Yeah.
I can't remember if that was a aviationnews roundup or something else.
But there was a flight that wetalked about where they had to
dump the fuel, and that's becauseof these maximum landing weights.
(40:32):
So they are 35,000 pounds overmaximum landing weight and the DC
10 risks breaking up upon touchdown.
Just the plane's gonna fucking just, yeah.
You can't sit down that gentlywith that much extra weight.
Yes.
To understand why this is sodangerous, think of landing weight,
(40:56):
like the stopping distance of a car.
A heavily loaded truck is gonna need moretime to stop than an empty, teeny car.
Yeah.
And I'm traveling at the samespeed aircraft have maximum landing
weights because the landing gear,the brakes and the aircraft structure
(41:16):
can handle only so much stress.
It really makes sense.
Sanders requests to land on the longerrunway at Memphis, which is 36 L.
And we recently learned what.
It's the left.
The L?
Yes.
The L means the left runway.
When there are parallel runways,Memphis has multiple runways and pilots
(41:39):
identify them by numbers that correspondwith their magnetic compass heading.
I totally forgot about this.
Obviously you gotta think I've written60 episodes, but yes, the runways
correspond to the magnetic compassheading plus LRC for left right center.
(42:00):
Holy shit guys.
So what, they're headinglike 36 degrees north?
Is that what they're saying?
I don't ask me to go into moredetail 'cause I genuinely don't know.
This is blowing my mind becauseI completely forgot about it.
' cause I wrote this many monthsago, but now I'm really excited.
Okay.
All I know is that it's themagnetic compass heading.
(42:21):
I don't even know how to read acompass, but compass headache.
This is the woman that can barelydrive around our own block that
we've lived here for years.
But I can drive real good on a racetrack.
He's gonna need every singlefoot of runway possible.
Because 35 pounds over is bad.
Meanwhile, the cockpit instrumentsare splattered with blood, and Sanders
(42:46):
himself is fighting to stay consciousfrom his own severe head injury.
The plane's ground proximity warningsystem begins blaring warnings.
And we know what that is.
The ground proximity warning system.
I'm pretty sure we discussedthat in our episode about St.
Martin.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
'cause they were about to hit the water.
(43:08):
Okay.
We talked about it inmore than that though.
Yeah.
We also talked about it in the Everglades.
yeah.
But nobody was there to hear that one.
True.
Okay.
So the automated system is designed toalert pilots when they are descending
too quickly or are too close toterrain, or they're approaching the
ground in an unsafe configuration.
It's like having a computer constantlycalculating whether your descent
(43:32):
path will safely clear all obstacles.
Sanders drawing on his decades.
A flying experience andthank God he has that.
Mm-hmm.
He has to ignore these warnings becausehe knows that what he's doing is
completely outside normal parameters.
Everybody's freaking out.
We'll be fine.
We'll be fine, but it's necessary'cause there's no other fucking option.
(43:53):
Yeah.
When you're in that kind of painand that kinda situation, you
can't circle around and drag again.
Like you get down like dude'sgotta lay on the fucking plane.
Yeah.
Using a series of sharp turns thatfurther test the DC 10 structural
limits, Sanders lines up with the runway.
Every single movement causes pain to shootthrough his injured head, but he maintains
(44:15):
focus on the critical task of landing thisdamaged aircraft with an injured crew.
And a violent attacker on board who'sstill on the loose a little bit.
Yeah.
And he has no idea what'shappening back there.
Yeah.
'cause he is fully focused onflying the plane, so like he
just has to trust that it's fine.
We're getting there.
(44:36):
It's fine.
Against all odds, Sanders executesa safe landing on the runway.
The DC tens tires smoke like crazy.
They screech as they make contactwith the pavement and the aircraft.
Absolutely.
Shutters as reverse threats, thrusts andbrakes are applied to slow its momentum.
(45:00):
So the, that reverse thrust is whenthe engines redirect their exhaust
forward instead of backwards.
And it's that feeling after a planekind of lands where you get sucked.
You're like, whoa.
That moment, the whoa whoa, moment.
Yes.
That's the one.
(45:20):
I don't know how to explain it.
It's just everybody knows it whenyou fly because we've all felt it.
Anyway, Zach, the landing is a success.
The plane is down good.
And like good down, not bad down.
By the time they touch down,Callaway is actually subdued.
And I was sitting here wonderinglike, I know you were so excited.
If this dude got shot by the police,does his life insurance pay out?
(45:44):
Oh boy.
Redacted.
Okay.
I'm just saying his family doesn'tneed to suffer just because he sucks.
That is true.
That is true.
Yeah, we're gonna keep talking abouthim and figure out what happens to him.
Emergency personnel and policerush to the aircraft entering
via the escape slide and ladder.
Inside they find a scene thatis straight out of Dexter.
(46:08):
The interior of the galley and thecockpit is red, covered in blood
equipment, strewn about from thestruggle, and three severely injured
crew members are barely able to stand.
Callaway is arrested.
And along with Peterson, Tucker andSanders he is taken to a nearby hospital.
(46:29):
The extent of the crew'sinjuries is severe.
Are you ready for this?
Break it down.
We haven't heard injuries likethis from our first episode,
so let's do this thing first.
Officer Tucker's skull is fractured on theleft side, causing major control problems
in his right arm and his right leg.
Callaway also dislocated Tucker'sJaw attempted to gouge out one of his
(46:54):
eyes and stabbed him in his right arm.
Luckily, he couldn't feel it.
You asked for commentary.
Okay.
Captain Sanders has suffered severaldeep gashes in his head, and doctors
have to sew his right ear back in place.
Flight engineer Peterson's skullis fractured and his temporal
(47:16):
artery is severed an injurythat absolutely would be fatal.
Without prompt medical attention,the aircraft itself has incurred
$800,000 worth of damage,which is the equivalent of $1.6
million in today's money.
Just an even double, it's worthpausing here to fully appreciate what
(47:38):
these men did, like holy shit balls.
That's crazy.
That's an insane thing.
You wake up for the day, you go to yourjob, all of a sudden there are hammers
smashed into your head, son, a bitch quit.
It's like a gnat at a barbecue.
They were facing an attacker whowas not only physically strong,
but he was really determined tokill them and crash the aircraft.
(48:01):
Like he had everythingto gain from them dying.
Whew.
Okay.
Let's talk about what the fuck happensto Callaway, because this is crazy.
In the aftermath of the attack, Callawaypleaded temporary insanity in his trial.
His defense deem, tried to argue that hesuffered from a psychological breakdown.
(48:24):
However, the evidence ofpremeditation was pretty overwhelming.
Specifically from packingweapons in a guitar case.
Yeah.
To the financial transfers to his ex-wife.
And then the bizarre placementof the will staging.
(48:45):
On August 11th, 1995, Auburn Callawaywas convicted of attempted air piracy.
Ooh, yeah.
That's a fun one.
Yeah.
And interference with flight crew.
I would be mad that he was not alsoconvicted with attempted murder.
However, he was sentencedto two consecutive life
(49:06):
sentences in federal prison.
So same, but different.
I want that to mean something, but.
You remember the timing that I toldmy dad and I talked to you about
that guy that was robbing banksat the company that we worked for.
Yeah.
Literally given over a thousandyears, you're like, that's
much more than two lifetimes.
(49:27):
How is robbing banks more than this?
Well, I don't know if that guy, do youknow if he's ever eligible for parole?
Never.
Okay.
So the same thing happened here.
So he is serving two consecutivelife sentences in federal prison.
And because it's a federal sentence, heis automatically not subject to parole.
(49:49):
So one of my favorite podcasts, loveMurder, which I've told people about
before on this show, but truly so good.
They call this an lwop,life Without Parole.
Oh.
So he got L Whopped, big time.
He will spend the rest of hislife behind bars, and as of
2025, he remains imprisoned atthe United States Penitentiary.
(50:14):
Coleman one in Florida.
I'm sorry, I'm not superfamiliar with penitentiaries.
He got to retire in Floridafor this, but he's in Florida.
Maybe they don't have air conditioning.
Yeah.
Honestly, humid ass fucking jail.
That sounds horrible.
Terrible.
For the crew of flight 7 0 5, theattack did end their flying careers
(50:38):
due to the severity of their injuries.
None of them were ever recertifiedas medically fit to fly commercially.
I could see that.
Yeah.
Especially brain injuries.
A hundred percent.
A hundred percent.
Like lo losing feelingin half of your body.
Yeah.
Bone fragments in your brain.
Like there, there were some extremelysevere injuries involved in this, but
(51:01):
luckily none of them were brand new guysthat they probably got pensioned out.
Lots of money for it.
Well, let's talk about this because,just because you are not medically
certified to fly commercially, oh,they were flying privately, huh?
There are always ways toget back up in the air.
(51:21):
So an aviation pilots must pass regularmedical examinations to maintain their
licenses and their injuries were sosevere that they couldn't meet the
strict medical standards requiredfor commercial flight operations.
First, officer James Tucker suffered themost severe long-term effects, suffered
(51:41):
the most severe long-term effects.
The hammer blows to his skull causedpermanent neurological damage.
He experienced right-sided weakness andhad to relearn how to walk and talk.
And he underwent multiple surgeries torepair his skull using acrylic plates.
And how insane is it that thisbadass motherfucker was able
(52:05):
to do those crazy maneuvers?
Like I just, Tucker is so cool.
I would love to shake his hand.
Despite these challenges, Tucker'sspirit remained unbroken by 2002.
Although he couldn't fly commercially,he had recovered enough to return to
recreational flying in his personalaircraft, which is a comb, los comb
(52:32):
an eight a, which is a small singleengine plane that was much more
manageable with his physical limitations.
On May 26th, 1994, the Airline PilotsAssociation awarded David Sanders,
James Tucker, and Andrew Petersonwith Gold Medal Awards for heroism.
(52:55):
The highest award a, a civilianpilot can receive their actions that
day have been studied in a case.
Nope.
Studied as a case of extraordinaryairmanship and courage
under extreme circumstances.
So what's really cool is that Tucker'sbackground is a navy fighter pilot, right?
(53:17):
Allowed him to execute maneuversthat would normally only be
attempted in fighter jets.
Yeah, really?
You just pictured that anyother crew would've just died.
A hundred percent.
That's exactly it.
Like this crew was suited to handlethis, which is crazy and it's
(53:39):
really shitty that it happened tothem, but man, they are bad asses.
Okay, so get this.
As for the aircraft, let's talkabout the aircraft because she also
went through some crazy trauma.
It was repaired after the incidentand it was returned to service.
I.
In 2008 it was upgraded to an MD 10, whicheliminated the need for a flight engineer,
(54:04):
which I mentioned earlier in the jobs.
Jobs, the AI is coming for you.
Yeah.
The plane continued to serve in the FedExfleet until December 31st, 2022, when it
was retired after 37 years of service.
(54:26):
Wow.
Yeah, and it's currently stored atVictorville Airport in California
where it awaits, scrapping.
If anybody wants to just go and save it.
I don't know what you'd do witha gigantic, now it's a MD 10,
but I think it'd be fucking cool.
No.
What's safe?
This airplane?
No, but.
(54:47):
No, but okay, well, you pictureeven call it 200,000 pounds.
Scrap prices are pretty down low.
We could probably buy it for scrap prices.
I think scrap rightnow is, what are we in?
Are we buying this airplane?
I think scrap right now issomewhere like $18 a ton.
(55:07):
I'm just saying if this thingis as big as they write about,
it's bigger than our house.
We could thrive.
Okay, so let's talk about securitymeasures for airline employees,
because some of you might be out theresaying, how the fuck does somebody
(55:27):
board a plane with a spear gun?
Like how did that happen?
Okay, let me tell you.
Crew members and employees hadpreviously enjoyed relatively
easy access to aircraft.
And this incident really highlightedthe potential risks that security
(55:49):
experts call insider threats,which is dangerous posed by people
who've, who already I'm standing.
It is important to note that incidentswhere you know, people that work
for the airlines are able to getinto the cockpit and somehow sabotage
(56:09):
that's really the word to use.
Yeah.
Sabotage a flight.
Very rare.
Very rare.
Yeah.
But you have to picture thatyou're sending this person
somewhere to face disciplinaryaction when they have full access.
Like you really needto revoke all of those.
Yeah that's true.
In the air disasters documentary that Iwatched, first Officer Tucker reflected on
(56:35):
the experience with remarkable humility.
We were just doing our jobs.
We did what we had to do.
We're here, and it's a very good feeling.
Well, this is gonna get redacted,but they didn't do their jobs.
The packages were late,
and that's a story for today.
If you enjoyed this episode, pleaselike rate, review, and subscribe
(56:59):
wherever you get your podcast.
We're also on the social medias,and so go ahead and join us at Final
Boarding Call POD on Instagram.
And then we have a Facebook discussiongroup, et cetera, et cetera, on Facebook.
Make recommendations.
Tell us about a story that you heard.
Yes, please.
We have a lot of episodes that we aregonna shuffle through at random, but if
(57:22):
something really cool pops up becauseof a recommendation, we will absolutely
give you a shout out when we record it.
Absolutely, Hailey.
I think we'd send you a sticker.
All right.
Zach, did you like this story?
I liked this story.
I actually really thought you would,this one kind of reminded me of you.
I'm a diehard kind of guy.
Yeah.
I love dramatic situations.
(57:42):
This was it.
High stakes.
I I love a good scrap.
Okay.
Yeah.
And this is cool.
This is scrapping with the plane at 140degrees as they say in letter Kenny.
I'd have a scrap.
Oh my goodness gracious.
Alright folks, join us next timewhen we will be exploring another
(58:04):
transportation disaster story.
Until then, remember tostow your tray tables.
Fasten your seat and prepare forthe unexpected because not every
trip reaches its final destination.
Goodbye.
Picture this, please like ratereview wherever you get your podcast.
(58:26):
I hate this game that weplay right at the beginning.
I, if you don't want me to participate,just say that not one of these episodes.
I'm gonna leave the sentenceso people can hear how hard it
is for me to start the episode.
trigger warning for bloodviolence fighting suicide, I
think those are probably allof the warnings that I need to.
This may be the wrong episode for you.
This is gonna be thewrong episode for you.
Picture this a cloudless Aprilafternoon over Tennessee.
Three FedEx pilots are at thecontrols of a massive cargo
(00:21):
jet cruising at 19,000 feet.
None of them notice the fourth mansilently approaching from behind what
follows is perhaps the most extraordinarybattle ever waged in aviation history.
Three Gravely wounded pilots strugglingto subdue their attacker while
(00:43):
simultaneously pushing a 400,000pound aircraft to maneuvers that
it was never designed to perform.
So stow your tray tables, fastenyour seat belts, and prepare for
some extreme turbulence becausethis is final boarding call.
(01:07):
Hello and welcome to Final Boarding Call.
I am your disaster obsessed host Alice.
And I'm Zach.
A little extra reluctant at the moment.
I'm being told how annoying I amtrying to get an episode started.
God forbid, should I wanna have fun.
Girls just wanna have fun.
That's all I want.
Okay.
(01:28):
Well, quick reminder to our listenersplease like rate review wherever
you get your podcasts and subscribe,like rate, review, and subscribe
wherever you get your podcasts.
Amen.
Tell a friend we've been getting some.
Really, tell your nana she's bored.
Oh God.
Poor nana.
(01:49):
This is a dark thing to share with yournana, but maybe your weird neighbor.
We'll take weird neighbors.
Okay, let's talk about some sources.
Obviously she made this up.
The what?
No, I did not make this up.
But this case, this story is so wild.
(02:09):
I don't even know if Icould have made it up.
This is a Mayday Air disasterepisode, fight for Your Life which
was actually the second episode thatI ever watched of air disasters.
And this was the second episodethat I ever wrote for the podcast.
The first one being our pilot episode.
(02:30):
Which is still, to this day, one of myfavorite aviation stories of all time.
But this one is also crazy.
Okay.
Wow.
If they fought for their life, I tendto just fight for my right to party.
Oh, Zach.
Well, you gotta, well, the good news.
(02:51):
I was gonna give you some good news.
Here we are finally out of the 1970s.
I feel like I have told you.
We'll be back.
We'll be back.
Don't worry guys.
We'll be back to the sixtiesand seventies, but today it
is April 7th, 2004, 1994.
Oh God.
But very I think that's still pretty cool.
(03:14):
Yep.
April 7th, 1994.
Zach and I are year old.
I am.
You're almost.
We are in Memphis, Tennesseeat the sprawling FedEx World.
Hub workers are busy sorting packages,loading trucks, and preparing aircraft
(03:34):
for another day of global deliveries.
In the early 1990s, FedEx wasalready a logistical powerhouse
delivering over 2 million packagesdaily to 171 countries worldwide.
That's more packages than I expected.
I mean for 1994.
(03:55):
Yeah.
It didn't even have Amazon yet.
No.
Correct.
What are people shipping?
What?
What's even happening at that time?
Bombs.
Raindrop Drop top.
Oh, Zachary, their Memphisheadquarters operated like a
precision timepiece, a carefullychoreographed ballet of plains trucks.
(04:16):
Workers all moving to the rhythmof tight schedules and guaranteed
delivery times because this is FedExand you pay a shit ton of money
to get your package there on time.
This ain't no USPS or UPS, don't youknow that Brown will just let you down.
Oh my God.
(04:38):
Redacted.
Unless UPS wants to sponsor us.
Yeah.
Redacted among the aircraft.
Waiting on the tarmac That morning isa McDonald Douglas DC 10 30 cargo jet.
Alright.
Zach, we love a good DC 10.
We have covered many a storywith the DC 10, but let's
(05:01):
review this airplane briefly.
It is a massive three engine wide body.
It stands nearly six stories tall, andit stretches 182 feet in length and it
can carry up to 150,000 pounds of cargo.
(05:23):
We are talking yourBetty Crocker Crockpots.
We are talking all of the potpourri,all of the decorative hand towels.
It's 1994.
What else are people?
Was Pop Tubberware, big thing back then.
Mary Kay.
Okay.
150,000 pounds of Mary Kay.
(05:46):
Get your eyelashes up, get 'em upwith registration number N 3 0 6 fe.
It is scheduled for flight 7 0 5from Memphis to San Jose, California.
Loaded primarily withelectronics equipment.
I dunno.
And Maybelline, no, it didn'thave any Maybelline, it was
(06:07):
maybe it's Maybelline, maybe.
Or Mary Kay.
Mary Kay.
Okay.
It is loaded primarilywith electronics equipment.
And computers back then were huge.
So that's only likeprobably 150 computers.
Yeah.
Fair thousand pounds each.
They're massive.
Okay.
(06:28):
Walk with me through theterminal as three pilots make
their way toward this aircraft.
Coffee cups in hand, flightbags slung over their shoulders.
None of them were originallyscheduled to be here today.
The previous crew had gone just one minuteover their eight hour flight limit the day
(06:50):
before, so they had to be replaced by thistrio, and that one minute would change
the lives of all of those people involved.
So for the people that went one,one minute over, they're very lucky
because this is not a flight Iwould want to be on or hear me out.
Oh boy.
Because you gave some information already.
(07:12):
This was going to be justlike the fast and the Furious.
VIN Diesel was here to stealthe electronics, but the other
flight crew that went one minuteover was actually in on the plan.
They were gonna help get allthese electronics out and
now all these other people.
just here to suffer a fate.
I can't wait to tell you this storyanyway, because your version is definitely
(07:33):
more fun than what actually happened.
Okay.
All right.
Here we go.
Captain Family, David and motorcycles.
Family Corona.
Okay.
Okay.
Captain David Sandersleads the group at 49.
He is a seasoned pilot with 20years of FedEx under his belt.
(07:56):
They're paying out good
America.
Fuck yeah.
Okay.
Yes, you're probably right, Zach.
I'm sure he is making decent money.
He's been at FedEx for 20 yearsbefore joining the commercial sector,
Sanders served nine years in theUS Navy during the Vietnam War.
His colleagues know him as a calm,levelheaded aviator who takes his
(08:19):
responsibilities seriously with saltand pepper hair, and the confident
bearing of a man who spent decadesin cockpits Sanders projects.
Quiet.
Authoritan.
I love that.
Yeah, me too.
Walking beside him isFirst Officer James Tucker.
Let me tell you about James Tucker.
He is 42 years old and he'sa 10 year FedEx veteran.
(08:41):
He saw combat in Vietnamserving 12 years in the Navy.
But Tucker wasn't just any military pilot.
He was an elite flight instructor whotrained other pilots in aerial combat
maneuvers in a four fighter jets.
Well, I now know why they said that theywere getting this plane to do things it
was never meant to do because these dudesknew how to dog fight fucking Top Gun.
(09:07):
It is Top gun.
Sure.
I love it.
I am here for it.
You're already rooting for these people.
Okay.
This specialized experience, knowing howto push aircraft to their absolute limits,
what soon proved critically importantin ways no one could have imagined.
Thank you, Zach, for readingout the line that I wrote.
(09:27):
Completing the crew is flightengineer Andrew Peterson.
At 39, Peterson has five yearsat FedEx as flight engineer.
He's gonna monitor all the aircraftsystems from his station behind the
pilots, making sure everything fromfuel flow to hydraulic pressure
remains within normal parameters.
(09:49):
And we now know how important thathydraulic pressure is because we had
a hydraulic pressure leak in our.
Last episode and thensuddenly the flaps don't.
Flaps are good.
Yeah.
All of a sudden flaps are not retracting.
There's retracting happening.
There's not retracting happening.
It's all bad.
Let me explain what a flight engineerdoes because we have now mentioned
(10:10):
flight engineers multiple times.
And I don't think we've ever actuallydiscussed the role of a flight engineer
because this position no longer exists.
Zach, this is a job that youcan't get anymore because it
doesn't exist on modern airplanes.
The flight engineer is essentiallythe aircraft's system manager.
(10:32):
They sit at a panel that iscovered with hundreds of gauges and
switches and warning lights buttons.
Don't press the red button.
Correct?
Unless you're supposed to.
And they are constantly monitoringthe health of engines, electrical
systems, fuel systems, and hydraulics.
(10:53):
They need to know whatall these buttons do.
They need to know how to read everything.
If something happens, they need toknow what it is and how to solve it.
Yeah.
In my opinion, they're like a flightsuperhero because back in the day
where there weren't a ton of automatedsystems and you needed a human to do
this, that's a critically important job.
(11:13):
Okay, so nowadays.
We have computerized systems that handlemost of these tasks automatically,
which is why you do not see flightengineers on newer aircraft, such as
the Boeing 7 37 or the a three 20, whichis what most people fly on nowadays.
So yeah, when you are like boardinga plane and you peek into the
cockpit, now you see two peoplesitting in there and that's it.
(11:37):
So let's go back to the airport.
They're walking, they're hanging out,they're approaching their aircraft.
They notice another FedEx employeewaiting near the boarding stairs.
Auburn Callaway is a 42-year-old flightengineer, and he is hitching a ride
which is known as a deadhead passenger.
Do you love it?
Do you love that?
That's what it's called,a deadhead passenger.
(11:59):
I know that your mother will love it.
I love it.
This episode is dedicated to my momwho's a deadhead in airline terminology.
Deadheading means when an airline employeetravels as a passenger to get to another
location where they are needed for work.
It's totally routine.
Airlines do this thousands of timesdaily to position crew members where they
need to be for their next assignment.
(12:23):
I think this is also referredto as being in the jump seat.
Do you know what I'm, doesthat sound familiar to you?
Being in the jump seat?
Okay.
Maybe not.
I literally keep referring,catch me if you can.
The movie, the Phenomenal moviewith Leonard DiCaprio, but I think
that's what he calls it when he'slike, jumping from flight to flight.
(12:44):
I don't know.
The jump seat is just where all the.
Flight attendants sit.
I so, so, yeah.
Ugh.
Somebody will correct me.
So we've got Callaway, right?
He is going to be the deadheadpassenger for this flight
with his guitar case in hand.
Callaway exchanges friendlyGreetings with the crew.
(13:04):
Does that sound on Brandand?
For deadhead?
He's got a guitar case.
He's Jamen.
He's Jamin man.
I think Deadhead is a dead heading.
They are making a, heading to a differentplace, which is a dead end for them.
They're not flying back, you don't think?
It's based off of the world renownedjam band, the Grateful Dead.
(13:25):
Nobody thinks it's basedon that other than me.
It's not.
I know.
I know it's not Callaway isn't just anycolleague Catching a ride behind his
professional demeanor lies a complex manfacing personal and professional crisis.
A Stanford University graduateand a former Navy pilot, Callaway
(13:48):
appears successful on paper.
He's divorced with two children whom hestrongly wants to attend college, but
his career at FedEx has become troubled.
Despite being a qualified pilot.
Callaway believes that FedEx hasdiscriminated against him as an African
American by assigning him only as a flightengineer more immediately concerning.
(14:11):
He's facing a disciplinary hearing thenext day for falsifying his flight hours,
and he believes dismissal is inevitable.
In other words, he can,he gonna get fired.
Yeah.
What the crew doesn't know, what theycan't possibly suspect is that the
guitar case that Callaway carriescontains no musical instrument.
(14:33):
Inside are two claw hammers, twoclub hammers, a spear gun and
a knife going after a manatee.
Redact it.
We love the manatees.
Save the manes and Callawaysave the mammaries.
And Callaway has a plan that will turnflight 7 0 5 into an absolute nightmare as
(14:58):
the crew begins their pre-flight checks.
Callaway's plan is already in motion,a plan months in the making and
really chilling in its calculation.
You gotta think thatCallaway is smart, right?
He went to Stanford.
He was a Navy pilot.
This dude is prettyexceptionally intelligent.
(15:19):
And.
If he were to be fired the nextday, which he expects will happen.
Callaway has determined that his family'sfinancial future will be in jeopardy.
He has a life insurance policythrough FedEx that is worth $2.5
million in 1994 money, which is 5.3
million in today's money.
(15:39):
God, that makes my life insurancepolicy look like Trump change.
I know every time we talk about howbig it is, I'm like, that is not
that big of a life insurance policy,
but I love you and it's more than mine.
Yeah.
However, like most insurance policies,it doesn't pay out if you kill yourself.
So true that suicide, I shouldprobably be a little more sensitive
(16:01):
when I talk about suicide.
Unloving yourself unloving.
Correct.
Like most insurance policies, it willnot pay out in case of unli one's self.
I don't wanna get canceled on our12th episode, I would say that this
is a moderate, this is the story,moderately PC podcast, but this isn't
like, you know, Insurance companiesprotect themselves with what is called a
(16:23):
suicide exclusion clause that typicallyprevents payment if the insured person
takes their own life, especially withinthe first two years of the policy.
And this is literally designed to preventpeople from getting gigantic health
insurance policies and then unloving.
Themselves, it makes sense.
So Callaway has devised a meticulouslycrafted plan to crash the plane
(16:49):
in a way that would look like anaccident if his death is ruled
accidental rather than suicide.
His ex-wife, and his children willreceive the full insurance payout.
His weapons were specificallychosen with this in mind.
So rather than using a gun, which wouldleave obvious evidence of an attack, he
(17:10):
brought hammers that could cause bluntforce trauma, similar to what a pilot
might experience in an airplane crash.
So he is only bringing weaponsto use that could be mimicked
if a plane goes down out.
In a violent plane crash, victimsoften suffer head injuries from impact.
So if he killed the crew with thehammer and then he crashes the plane,
(17:33):
the investigators might assume that theinjuries happened from the crash itself.
The spear gun.
Let's talk about that one's questionable.
Let's talk about themotherfucking spear gun here.
So that serves as a backupweapon just in case.
Unlike a firearm, it won't causesudden decompression if fired
(17:53):
inside a pressurized aircraft.
So that's something reallyinteresting to think about.
When there's a breach in an aircraft'sfuselage at high altitude, the pressurized
air inside rushes out violently.
Right?
So this is something that we experiencedin our first episode when the windshield
blew out, and then all of a sudden it waslike hurricane sucking tornado winds.
(18:20):
So.
A bullet hole could cause a verydangerous situation, but a spear
wound wouldn't create the same risk.
That's fair.
It's fascinating to think about.
In the days before the flight, Callawayhad methodically prepared, he transferred
over $54,000 in securities and cashier'schecks to his ex-wife, roughly $114,600.
(18:50):
In today's money, this financialmove is clearly meant to provide
immediate funds for his family whilethey wait for an insurance payout.
He left a note for his ex-wifedescribing the author's apparent despair.
And that is a quote from, mayday airdisasters, which investigators will
later find in the morning of the flight.
(19:14):
He carefully placed his will andtestament on his bed where it would
be easy to find after his death.
Now here's what's interesting.
If he wants this to look like, andI've thought about this because I
thought about this while I was watchingthe documentary, and then I thought
about this again when I was writing.
If he wants this to look like it is nota suicide, it seems odd to leave a note.
(19:38):
Note to have notes, and that isfilled with despair and like a
copy of your will on your bed.
That just feels a littlelike just in case.
But I think all of us, includingthe listeners, are probably like.
And especially for something that'sso well thought out, like he thought
about how to make it look like it is anaccident and compression in the fuselage.
(20:01):
And then he's and alsohere's a suicide note oh boy.
A critical part of Callaway'splan involves disabling the
cockpit voice recorder, the CVR.
Smart.
Yep.
Also, I know this guy is smart.
This device records all conversationsin the cockpit, and if he's going
to attack the crew and make it looklike an accident, it can't be heard.
(20:23):
Amen.
There cannot be evidenceof an assault happening.
Yeah.
When flight engineer Petersonboards the plane that morning
and begins his pre-flight check,he notices something unusual.
The circuit breaker for the CVR hasbeen pulled cutting power to the device.
A circuit breaker is like asafety switch that cuts electrical
(20:45):
power when there's a problem.
It's similar to breakers inyour home's electrical panel.
Right.
You just turn a section off.
Yeah.
Like in our house, if you try tohave something going on the microwave
and also have our laundry machinegoing at the same time, not anymore.
It'll pop a breaker.
(21:07):
I fixed it.
Well we live in a verywonderfully old oldow.
Anyway, it's very similar to that.
So Peterson is obviously veryconfused as to why this happened.
However, he just resets.
Yeah.
He literally just is okay.
(21:28):
And he just resets it.
Okay.
Later.
Later Peterson notices.
I just said later.
Sin I heard you later.
Peterson notices that thebreaker has popped out again.
Once more.
He resets it.
But you guys get this.
(21:49):
They're not popping on their own.
It's actually Callaway doing it.
Bet you didn't see that coming, Zach.
Yeah, not at all.
Okay, so no, it's himtrying to disable the CBR.
As the crew completes theirpre-flight checks, they notice
Callaway's presence in the cockpit.
(22:10):
While it isn't unheard of for a deadheading passenger to be in the cockpit,
it is still considered unusual.
The crew, however, has noreason to suspect hostile intent
because why would you assume?
That a coworker wants to killwould have a bunch of fucking
hammers in his guitar case.
(22:32):
Yeah.
Callaway even makes small talkshowing his guitar case, the case.
Obviously that's holding on thecrazy ass weapons that will soon
turn this routine flight into adesperate struggle for survival.
At approximately 3:00 PM local time,FedEx Flight 7 0 5 is cleared for takeoff
from Memphis International Airportwith Captain Sanders at the control.
(22:53):
The plane climbs normally into theclear spring sky and about 20 minutes
after takeoff, it reaches 18,700 feet.
And that is when AuburnCallaway makes his move.
What you got?
It's about to get fucking nuts in here.
Zach, and I feel this episode is reallygonna speak to you because it's about to
be, I want to be the hero in something.
(23:14):
It's about to be fuckingfight club in this flight.
All right, here we go.
The cockpit of the DC 10 isbathed in afternoon sunlight.
As flight 7 0 5 continues,its climb through 19,000 feet.
Would you be mad if I left your fart in?
No.
About 26 minutes after takeoff, the flightcrew is carrying on a casual conversation,
(23:35):
the kind that happens thousands of timesdaily in cockpits around the world.
Captain Sanders is in his left seat, andfirst Officer Tucker is in the right seat.
And flight engineer Peterson,like we stated before, is where
the flight engineers, yeah.
Where the flight engineers sit behind themand he's monitoring the aircraft system.
(23:56):
This is literally sonormal and just standard.
This phase of flight, the climb isusually a relatively calm period after
the busy work of takeoff where you needto do all the pre-flight checks and
coordinate with air traffic control.
So the aircraft steadily ascendsto its cruising altitude, which is
typically between 30,000 and 40,000feet for a jet like the DC 10.
(24:22):
Unbeknownst to them, Callaway has goneahead and opened it up, pulled out
his hammer, so I pulled out my gun.
Yes.
He pulled out his hammer fromhis guitar case and he is quietly
approaching from behind, so he didn'tjust get out the hammer, he got out.
Every single weapon.
On a cargo aircraft like this in1994, there is no locked cockpit door
(24:47):
because this was pre nine 11, so youcould just open it if you wanted to.
So what opened the door?
Yeah, he did.
What happened next is suddenand absolutely brutal.
Without warning, Callaway entersthe flight deck and attacks
flight engineer Peterson with ahammer striking him in the head.
(25:10):
The blow fractures Peterson's skull andsevers his temporal artery, which is
a major blood vessel that runs alongthe side of the head, near your temple.
For people that don't know andit is important and very bad to
have severed blood immediatelybegins spraying across the cockpit
as Peterson slumps in his seat.
(25:31):
I should have given some sort oflike trigger warning on this episode.
I'm not used to doing that, but I'llinsert it into the beginning of the
episode Before the others can react.
Callaway turns his attack on first.
Officer Tucker and CaptainSanders raining down.
Hammer blows on both men.
He's using a claw hammer now.
(25:54):
Zach, do you know what a claw hammer is?
Yeah it's a regular hammer that mostpeople would picture as a hammer, and it
has two prongs coming off the backside.
Yeah.
And what are the two prongsusually used for if you're not
a psychopath removing nails?
It is.
(26:14):
Or if you are a really good carpenterfor actually evening up boards
before you nail 'em in, you canmake 'em perfectly level that way.
Wow.
Look at my carpenter husband over here.
Correct.
So that is what a clawhammer is typically.
Used for, it's a veryordinary construction tool.
However, if you're smashing it into ahuman, it becomes a devastating weapon.
(26:38):
Is he using claw side or hammer side?
Just trying to getgraphic for our viewers.
Yeah.
I don't I don't know, butI would imagine probably claw
side, it'll do more damage.
It wasn't specified.
I bet.
Because then it would probablyget stuck in the skull.
Yeah, maybe not.
I'll say it was not specified inthe documentary that I watched.
(26:58):
And I think that because theonly witnesses to this are
the pilots are the pilots.
are the pilots.
And it was a surprise attack.
They probably don't know which side.
They just know that they were being.
Violently attacked by a hammer by, mm-hmm.
the violence is extreme.
Both Peterson and Tucker suffer fracturedskulls with blows to Tucker's head
(27:22):
driving shards of bone into his brain.
Tucker is temporarily unable to move orreact, but remarkably, he actually remains
conscious throughout, which is crazy.
Captain Sanders would later report thatduring the beginning of the attack,
he could not discern any emotion fromCallaway, just simply a face and his eyes.
(27:45):
This chilling description speaksreally to the calculated nature
of the assault, like this man had.
Fully exited the emotional chat.
Yeah.
He was just, I have to do this thing.
Yeah.
So I'm gonna do it, when Callawaypauses his hammer attack, Peterson
and Sanders begin to get outof their seats to go after him.
So Callaway leaves the cockpitmomentarily, but he returns with the spear
(28:10):
gun threatening everyone to sit back down.
This is where one of the mostextraordinary aspects of this story begins
despite having a loud ringing in his ear.
Being unbalanced and dazed from hisbrutal head injury and losing blood
rapidly from his severed artery.
Peterson, who is our flight engineer,grabs the spear gun by the spear
(28:34):
itself between the barbs and thebarrel, which is crazy crops.
Yeah, the sharp angled barbs at thetip of the spear are designed to
prevent it from pulling out easily.
Once it's penetrated a target, I thinkmost people can picture a spear gun.
But Peterson grips the weaponanyway, fighting through what
(28:55):
must be excruciating pain.
Meanwhile, Tucker severely injured,but drawing on his Navy combat flight
training takes control of the aircraft.
So this is the guy who taught atbasically the top gun fighting school.
What he does next isabsolutely unprecedented in
(29:19):
commercial aviation history.
And I want us to keep in mindthe size of this aircraft.
Does he do a barrel roll?
He's about to do some coolass fucking shit, Zach.
Yeah.
This one might be fun for us to justwatch after because in air disasters
they recreate this what the flight does.
I'm gonna do my best to describeit for you and for the people.
(29:41):
oh, you guys, this guy'ssuch a badass balls of steel.
Tucker pulls this enormous planeinto a sudden 15 degree climb.
Throwing Sanders, Peterson and Callawayout of the cockpit and into the galley.
The unexpected G-forces from thismaneuver send the men tumbling backwards
(30:07):
to understand how extreme this is.
Normal climbs in large aircraftare typically two to five degrees.
You still feel thatwhen you're taking off.
Yeah.
Five being like a pretty steep takeoff,15 degree climb is so steep, especially
for an aircraft of this size, andit creates forces similar to what
(30:30):
you'd experience on a rollercoaster.
Heck yeah.
Four to six Gs.
Then to try to throw Callaway offbalance, Tucker puts the plane into
a steep left roll almost on its side.
This rolls the men along the smokecurtain onto the left side of the galley.
The smoke curtain is a barrier thatseparates the cockpit from the cargo
(30:52):
area because this is a cargo plane.
So think of it as this heavycurtain that is designed to
contain smoke in case of fire.
By doing this maneuver, Tuckeris essentially using the plane's
momentum in physics to throw theirattacker off balance and buy some time
somebody's packages were broken.
Yes, but this is so crazy tothink about because Tucker has bone
(31:15):
fragments in his brain, no matterhe's like what he is experiencing,
I'm sure brutal, excruciating pain.
And then also neurological impairment.
And he is still able to do this.
I just think you don't feel pain whenyou're trying to fight for your life.
It's crazy.
(31:35):
The idea of using the plane as a weaponagainst your attacker, that is that
could be the third Top Gun movie.
'cause that is fucking cool.
However, the struggle is far from over.
Eventually Tucker rolls the planealmost upside down at 140 degrees.
(31:57):
Hell yeah.
Hell yes.
To give you a sense of how extremethis is, modern commercial aircraft
are rarely banked beyond 30 degrees.
30 degrees is ooh, we arereally turning and 45 degrees
is used in emergency situations.
Well.
At 140 degrees, the plane is passedvertical, meaning that the wings are
(32:23):
more than perpendicular to the ground.
Oh 180 is upside down.
Yes.
Yes.
This is a jumbo jet.
A six story frigging megalodon airplane.
Yeah.
But how cool are you to be the onlyperson to have flown one upside down
like this guy's my fucking hero.
I love him.
Love Tucker.
(32:44):
Okay.
Obviously it probably goes withoutsaying, but the DC 10 is not designed to
operate within those flying parameters.
What he's doing is wayoutside the user manual.
The structural stress on theairframe during these extreme
maneuvers could very well lead tosome catastrophic failures, such as
(33:06):
the wings or the fuselage literallybreaking apart from the G forces.
So while the, with the plane nearlyinverted, they weren't inverted.
I was inverted.
Oh man.
Callaway, Sanders and Peterson are pinnedto the ceiling by gravitational forces.
(33:27):
During this extreme maneuver, Callawaymanages to wrench his hammer hand
free and hit Sanders in the head.
Again, I know Tucker's response isto put the plane into a steep dive.
This pushes the men backto the smoke curtain.
But now the aircraft itself is indanger at, because it was fine before.
(33:49):
No, but now it's actually really bad.
At a speed of 460 knots, which is around530 miles per hour um, hella fast,
the plane's control surface beginsto flutter so much that they become
unresponsive due to the disrupted airflow.
So the flutter is a dangerous aerodynamicphenomenon where parts of the aircraft
(34:13):
particularly control surfaces such asrudder elevators the things that help
you like steer and control altitude.
They begin to vibraterapidly in the airstream.
Similar to how a flag whipsreally violently in strong wind.
If it is severe enough, flutter canlead to structural failure, literally
(34:36):
tearing an airplane to pieces.
Tucker also begins to sense what'scalled a mock tuck, which is in
effect as the airflow over thewings approaches the speed of sound.
Sick motherfucking top gun right here.
Okay.
This occurs when airflow overparts of the aircraft reach super
(34:58):
sonics speeds, even though theaircraft itself is still subsonic.
Causing the nose to pitchdown uncontrollably.
The DC 10 was never designedto approach these speeds.
It's like trying to drive a familysedan at Formula One Racing speeds.
I'd give it a go.
The throttles are at full power,increasing the speed of the
(35:21):
aircraft to dangerous levels.
Tucker manages to pull back thethrottles to idle, slowing the plane
and pulling it out of the dive.
So that's good.
We are not mock tucking as the DC 10levels off at 5,000 feet, Callaway
manages to hit Sanders again,nearly knocking him unconscious.
(35:43):
Sanders is quickly losing strength,and Peterson is bleeding profusely
from his ruptured temporal arteryand he is going into shock.
So he is in danger right nowof organ failure and death.
Two things that are bad.
Yeah.
They're less than ideal.
Yeah.
They're not great.
In spite of his diminishingstrength, Sanders grabs the handle.
(36:07):
Sanders grabs the hammer out of Callaway'shand and he begins striking back.
Hell yeah.
Hell yeah.
Sanders, this guy's alsoa Navy pilot, like Yeah.
Sounds like all four or more Vietnam.
Yeah, dude.
Saw Nam back in Nam.
Yeah.
Or Nam, however you prefer to say it.
No, he is not about to go out this way.
(36:28):
Not must stay beaten.
The brakes off this dude whenthe plane is completely level.
Tucker Alerts Memphis Center, that'sthe air traffic control facility
responsible for managing aircraftin the region that they're in.
And he informs them about the attack andhe requests a vector back to Memphis.
(36:52):
So vector in aviation terms is simplya direction, direct path right back?
Yes.
Oh my gosh.
Like how did you know that?
I'm a smart cookie.
God damn.
You are.
I love that big brain of yarns.
That's why my head's so big it,Zach does have a large head, but
it's filled with brains and hot air.
(37:14):
Plenty of that.
Plenty of that.
Okay.
So he requests one.
Ambulance two Armed interventionwhich to air traffic control is a
SWAT team, which is pretty every time.
Is there never just a regularlike police type of situation?
I don't know if there's a code forthat, but you have to have some
serious planning to be trying to messwith a plane like that, so, yeah.
(37:38):
Yeah.
He wanted the works.
Yeah.
There's a maniac with a friggingspear gun shoot on site.
Well through sheer determinationand extraordinary courage, the
flight crew eventually succeeds inrestraining and disarming Callaway.
Hell With their attacker momentarily undercontrol, captain Sanders takes control of
(37:59):
the aircraft from first Officer Tucker.
Who by this time is paralyzedon the right side of his body.
And has lost his sense of touchbecause there's bone in his
brain, they can be removed.
Like the fact that these threepeople are doing anything is such a
(38:23):
testament to the human will to survive.
I think it's just really incredible.
You would've blended in and donevery well with this flight crew.
I feel like you guys would've done great.
You now, not you at one years old.
Okay.
Tucker goes back to assistPeterson in restraining Callaway.
so now we have Captain Sanders, whois the one that is in the cockpit.
(38:45):
He is flying the plane.
We have our first officer Petersonand Tucker, who is the badass
that's been flying this plane.
They're now going back torestrain Callaway, thank God,
and kick 'em a couple times.
Woof Sanders communicates with air trafficcontrol preparing for an emergency landing
back at Memphis International Airport.
Meanwhile, the fight withCallaway is not over.
(39:08):
It's not over.
It's fucking nuts.
Oh my God.
Yeah.
He didn't just sit in the cornerand be like, ah, sorry about that.
That didn't work.
My mad.
No.
It he's still fightingevery chance he gets.
But let's talk about Captain Sandersattempting to land this fucking
plane while he is very injured.
(39:31):
Yeah.
He's taken multiple blowsto the head with a hammer.
The situation facing Captain Sanders as heprepares to land is damn near impossible.
Zach, the aircraft is fullyloaded with fuel heavy and a
fuck ton of computer equipment.
Yeah, it's a lot to slow down.
Yes.
(39:51):
Approaching Memphis too fast and too highfor a standard landing at 35,000 pounds
over its maximum designed landing weight.
Which I actually didn't know that aircrafthad until this episode, like when I was
studying this, but yeah, I'm sure theyhave to set up the flight for this much
fuel burn off and make it this weight.
(40:12):
Yes.
Well we had that, I don't remember whatit was, but we talked about dumping fuel.
A flight that had to dump fuel Oh yeah.
To make a landing.
Do you remember that?
It was an early episode.
Yeah.
I can't remember if that was a aviationnews roundup or something else.
But there was a flight that wetalked about where they had to
dump the fuel, and that's becauseof these maximum landing weights.
(40:32):
So they are 35,000 pounds overmaximum landing weight and the DC
10 risks breaking up upon touchdown.
Just the plane's gonna fucking just, yeah.
You can't sit down that gentlywith that much extra weight.
Yes.
To understand why this is sodangerous, think of landing weight,
(40:56):
like the stopping distance of a car.
A heavily loaded truck is gonna need moretime to stop than an empty, teeny car.
Yeah.
And I'm traveling at the samespeed aircraft have maximum landing
weights because the landing gear,the brakes and the aircraft structure
(41:16):
can handle only so much stress.
It really makes sense.
Sanders requests to land on the longerrunway at Memphis, which is 36 L.
And we recently learned what.
It's the left.
The L?
Yes.
The L means the left runway.
When there are parallel runways,Memphis has multiple runways and pilots
(41:39):
identify them by numbers that correspondwith their magnetic compass heading.
I totally forgot about this.
Obviously you gotta think I've written60 episodes, but yes, the runways
correspond to the magnetic compassheading plus LRC for left right center.
(42:00):
Holy shit guys.
So what, they're headinglike 36 degrees north?
Is that what they're saying?
I don't ask me to go into moredetail 'cause I genuinely don't know.
This is blowing my mind becauseI completely forgot about it.
' cause I wrote this many monthsago, but now I'm really excited.
Okay.
All I know is that it's themagnetic compass heading.
(42:21):
I don't even know how to read acompass, but compass headache.
This is the woman that can barelydrive around our own block that
we've lived here for years.
But I can drive real good on a racetrack.
He's gonna need every singlefoot of runway possible.
Because 35 pounds over is bad.
Meanwhile, the cockpit instrumentsare splattered with blood, and Sanders
(42:46):
himself is fighting to stay consciousfrom his own severe head injury.
The plane's ground proximity warningsystem begins blaring warnings.
And we know what that is.
The ground proximity warning system.
I'm pretty sure we discussedthat in our episode about St.
Martin.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
'cause they were about to hit the water.
(43:08):
Okay.
We talked about it inmore than that though.
Yeah.
We also talked about it in the Everglades.
yeah.
But nobody was there to hear that one.
True.
Okay.
So the automated system is designed toalert pilots when they are descending
too quickly or are too close toterrain, or they're approaching the
ground in an unsafe configuration.
It's like having a computer constantlycalculating whether your descent
(43:32):
path will safely clear all obstacles.
Sanders drawing on his decades.
A flying experience andthank God he has that.
Mm-hmm.
He has to ignore these warnings becausehe knows that what he's doing is
completely outside normal parameters.
Everybody's freaking out.
We'll be fine.
We'll be fine, but it's necessary'cause there's no other fucking option.
(43:53):
Yeah.
When you're in that kind of painand that kinda situation, you
can't circle around and drag again.
Like you get down like dude'sgotta lay on the fucking plane.
Yeah.
Using a series of sharp turns thatfurther test the DC 10 structural
limits, Sanders lines up with the runway.
Every single movement causes pain to shootthrough his injured head, but he maintains
(44:15):
focus on the critical task of landing thisdamaged aircraft with an injured crew.
And a violent attacker on board who'sstill on the loose a little bit.
Yeah.
And he has no idea what'shappening back there.
Yeah.
'cause he is fully focused onflying the plane, so like he
just has to trust that it's fine.
We're getting there.
(44:36):
It's fine.
Against all odds, Sanders executesa safe landing on the runway.
The DC tens tires smoke like crazy.
They screech as they make contactwith the pavement and the aircraft.
Absolutely.
Shutters as reverse threats, thrusts andbrakes are applied to slow its momentum.
(45:00):
So the, that reverse thrust is whenthe engines redirect their exhaust
forward instead of backwards.
And it's that feeling after a planekind of lands where you get sucked.
You're like, whoa.
That moment, the whoa whoa, moment.
Yes.
That's the one.
(45:20):
I don't know how to explain it.
It's just everybody knows it whenyou fly because we've all felt it.
Anyway, Zach, the landing is a success.
The plane is down good.
And like good down, not bad down.
By the time they touch down,Callaway is actually subdued.
And I was sitting here wonderinglike, I know you were so excited.
If this dude got shot by the police,does his life insurance pay out?
(45:44):
Oh boy.
Redacted.
Okay.
I'm just saying his family doesn'tneed to suffer just because he sucks.
That is true.
That is true.
Yeah, we're gonna keep talking abouthim and figure out what happens to him.
Emergency personnel and policerush to the aircraft entering
via the escape slide and ladder.
Inside they find a scene thatis straight out of Dexter.
(46:08):
The interior of the galley and thecockpit is red, covered in blood
equipment, strewn about from thestruggle, and three severely injured
crew members are barely able to stand.
Callaway is arrested.
And along with Peterson, Tucker andSanders he is taken to a nearby hospital.
(46:29):
The extent of the crew'sinjuries is severe.
Are you ready for this?
Break it down.
We haven't heard injuries likethis from our first episode,
so let's do this thing first.
Officer Tucker's skull is fractured on theleft side, causing major control problems
in his right arm and his right leg.
Callaway also dislocated Tucker'sJaw attempted to gouge out one of his
(46:54):
eyes and stabbed him in his right arm.
Luckily, he couldn't feel it.
You asked for commentary.
Okay.
Captain Sanders has suffered severaldeep gashes in his head, and doctors
have to sew his right ear back in place.
Flight engineer Peterson's skullis fractured and his temporal
(47:16):
artery is severed an injurythat absolutely would be fatal.
Without prompt medical attention,the aircraft itself has incurred
$800,000 worth of damage,which is the equivalent of $1.6
million in today's money.
Just an even double, it's worthpausing here to fully appreciate what
(47:38):
these men did, like holy shit balls.
That's crazy.
That's an insane thing.
You wake up for the day, you go to yourjob, all of a sudden there are hammers
smashed into your head, son, a bitch quit.
It's like a gnat at a barbecue.
They were facing an attacker whowas not only physically strong,
but he was really determined tokill them and crash the aircraft.
(48:01):
Like he had everythingto gain from them dying.
Whew.
Okay.
Let's talk about what the fuck happensto Callaway, because this is crazy.
In the aftermath of the attack, Callawaypleaded temporary insanity in his trial.
His defense deem, tried to argue that hesuffered from a psychological breakdown.
(48:24):
However, the evidence ofpremeditation was pretty overwhelming.
Specifically from packingweapons in a guitar case.
Yeah.
To the financial transfers to his ex-wife.
And then the bizarre placementof the will staging.
(48:45):
On August 11th, 1995, Auburn Callawaywas convicted of attempted air piracy.
Ooh, yeah.
That's a fun one.
Yeah.
And interference with flight crew.
I would be mad that he was not alsoconvicted with attempted murder.
However, he was sentencedto two consecutive life
(49:06):
sentences in federal prison.
So same, but different.
I want that to mean something, but.
You remember the timing that I toldmy dad and I talked to you about
that guy that was robbing banksat the company that we worked for.
Yeah.
Literally given over a thousandyears, you're like, that's
much more than two lifetimes.
(49:27):
How is robbing banks more than this?
Well, I don't know if that guy, do youknow if he's ever eligible for parole?
Never.
Okay.
So the same thing happened here.
So he is serving two consecutivelife sentences in federal prison.
And because it's a federal sentence, heis automatically not subject to parole.
(49:49):
So one of my favorite podcasts, loveMurder, which I've told people about
before on this show, but truly so good.
They call this an lwop,life Without Parole.
Oh.
So he got L Whopped, big time.
He will spend the rest of hislife behind bars, and as of
2025, he remains imprisoned atthe United States Penitentiary.
(50:14):
Coleman one in Florida.
I'm sorry, I'm not superfamiliar with penitentiaries.
He got to retire in Floridafor this, but he's in Florida.
Maybe they don't have air conditioning.
Yeah.
Honestly, humid ass fucking jail.
That sounds horrible.
Terrible.
For the crew of flight 7 0 5, theattack did end their flying careers
(50:38):
due to the severity of their injuries.
None of them were ever recertifiedas medically fit to fly commercially.
I could see that.
Yeah.
Especially brain injuries.
A hundred percent.
A hundred percent.
Like lo losing feelingin half of your body.
Yeah.
Bone fragments in your brain.
Like there, there were some extremelysevere injuries involved in this, but
(51:01):
luckily none of them were brand new guysthat they probably got pensioned out.
Lots of money for it.
Well, let's talk about this because,just because you are not medically
certified to fly commercially, oh,they were flying privately, huh?
There are always ways toget back up in the air.
(51:21):
So an aviation pilots must pass regularmedical examinations to maintain their
licenses and their injuries were sosevere that they couldn't meet the
strict medical standards requiredfor commercial flight operations.
First, officer James Tucker suffered themost severe long-term effects, suffered
(51:41):
the most severe long-term effects.
The hammer blows to his skull causedpermanent neurological damage.
He experienced right-sided weakness andhad to relearn how to walk and talk.
And he underwent multiple surgeries torepair his skull using acrylic plates.
And how insane is it that thisbadass motherfucker was able
(52:05):
to do those crazy maneuvers?
Like I just, Tucker is so cool.
I would love to shake his hand.
Despite these challenges, Tucker'sspirit remained unbroken by 2002.
Although he couldn't fly commercially,he had recovered enough to return to
recreational flying in his personalaircraft, which is a comb, los comb
(52:32):
an eight a, which is a small singleengine plane that was much more
manageable with his physical limitations.
On May 26th, 1994, the Airline PilotsAssociation awarded David Sanders,
James Tucker, and Andrew Petersonwith Gold Medal Awards for heroism.
(52:55):
The highest award a, a civilianpilot can receive their actions that
day have been studied in a case.
Nope.
Studied as a case of extraordinaryairmanship and courage
under extreme circumstances.
So what's really cool is that Tucker'sbackground is a navy fighter pilot, right?
(53:17):
Allowed him to execute maneuversthat would normally only be
attempted in fighter jets.
Yeah, really?
You just pictured that anyother crew would've just died.
A hundred percent.
That's exactly it.
Like this crew was suited to handlethis, which is crazy and it's
(53:39):
really shitty that it happened tothem, but man, they are bad asses.
Okay, so get this.
As for the aircraft, let's talkabout the aircraft because she also
went through some crazy trauma.
It was repaired after the incidentand it was returned to service.
I.
In 2008 it was upgraded to an MD 10, whicheliminated the need for a flight engineer,
(54:04):
which I mentioned earlier in the jobs.
Jobs, the AI is coming for you.
Yeah.
The plane continued to serve in the FedExfleet until December 31st, 2022, when it
was retired after 37 years of service.
(54:26):
Wow.
Yeah, and it's currently stored atVictorville Airport in California
where it awaits, scrapping.
If anybody wants to just go and save it.
I don't know what you'd do witha gigantic, now it's a MD 10,
but I think it'd be fucking cool.
No.
What's safe?
This airplane?
No, but.
(54:47):
No, but okay, well, you pictureeven call it 200,000 pounds.
Scrap prices are pretty down low.
We could probably buy it for scrap prices.
I think scrap rightnow is, what are we in?
Are we buying this airplane?
I think scrap right now issomewhere like $18 a ton.
(55:07):
I'm just saying if this thingis as big as they write about,
it's bigger than our house.
We could thrive.
Okay, so let's talk about securitymeasures for airline employees,
because some of you might be out theresaying, how the fuck does somebody
(55:27):
board a plane with a spear gun?
Like how did that happen?
Okay, let me tell you.
Crew members and employees hadpreviously enjoyed relatively
easy access to aircraft.
And this incident really highlightedthe potential risks that security
(55:49):
experts call insider threats,which is dangerous posed by people
who've, who already I'm standing.
It is important to note that incidentswhere you know, people that work
for the airlines are able to getinto the cockpit and somehow sabotage
(56:09):
that's really the word to use.
Yeah.
Sabotage a flight.
Very rare.
Very rare.
Yeah.
But you have to picture thatyou're sending this person
somewhere to face disciplinaryaction when they have full access.
Like you really needto revoke all of those.
Yeah that's true.
In the air disasters documentary that Iwatched, first Officer Tucker reflected on
(56:35):
the experience with remarkable humility.
We were just doing our jobs.
We did what we had to do.
We're here, and it's a very good feeling.
Well, this is gonna get redacted,but they didn't do their jobs.
The packages were late,
and that's a story for today.
If you enjoyed this episode, pleaselike rate, review, and subscribe
(56:59):
wherever you get your podcast.
We're also on the social medias,and so go ahead and join us at Final
Boarding Call POD on Instagram.
And then we have a Facebook discussiongroup, et cetera, et cetera, on Facebook.
Make recommendations.
Tell us about a story that you heard.
Yes, please.
We have a lot of episodes that we aregonna shuffle through at random, but if
(57:22):
something really cool pops up becauseof a recommendation, we will absolutely
give you a shout out when we record it.
Absolutely, Hailey.
I think we'd send you a sticker.
All right.
Zach, did you like this story?
I liked this story.
I actually really thought you would,this one kind of reminded me of you.
I'm a diehard kind of guy.
Yeah.
I love dramatic situations.
(57:42):
This was it.
High stakes.
I I love a good scrap.
Okay.
Yeah.
And this is cool.
This is scrapping with the plane at 140degrees as they say in letter Kenny.
I'd have a scrap.
Oh my goodness gracious.
Alright folks, join us next timewhen we will be exploring another
(58:04):
transportation disaster story.
Until then, remember tostow your tray tables.
Fasten your seat and prepare forthe unexpected because not every
trip reaches its final destination.
Goodbye.
Picture this, please like ratereview wherever you get your podcast.
(58:26):
I hate this game that weplay right at the beginning.
I, if you don't want me to participate,just say that not one of these episodes.
I'm gonna leave the sentenceso people can hear how hard it
is for me to start the episode.
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