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Pilot Stories: Close Calls

8 episodes 93%4KCC

Inside the cockpit, split-second decisions turn disaster into survival.

Hear pilots recount close calls in their own words, from engine failures and violent weather to runway dangers and sudden emergencies. Each story reveals how experience, judgment, and composure can mean the difference between panic and survival. Sign up to watch a series that rewards curiosity with gripping detail and real-world insight.

Episode guide

8 episodes
1
1727 With Afterburners
A Fedex 727 Pilot recounts the time the Tower thought he had afterburners.
24 min
2
2Rotorwash Crash in Puerto Rico
A pilot shares the sad story of the fatal crash that took the life of his friend when the rotor wash of a helicopter caused the plane they were landing to flip.
26 min
3
3Incredible Bird Strike
A bird hit the canopy, shattering it and rendering the pilot almost blind.
24 min
4
4Three Inches of Ice
How much ice can a plane build up and still fly? You don't want to know.
23 min
5
5Mooney Miracle
The pilot passes out from carbon monoxide and wakes to find the plane crash-landed—and he survived!
39 min
6
6Engine Out Highway Landing
After the engine stops, Cameron Morrison has to land his plane on the highway—with his wife and baby on board!
18 min
7
7Can I See Your Toes?
A female pilot lands in the Middle East and has a close call with a ground worker who has a very strange request.
22 min
8
8Flying Through Lighting
A ferry pilot talks about flying through thunderstorms to deliver the plane across Africa.
23 min
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