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In this episode, we’ll examine the crash and death of naval fighter pilot, civilian test pilot and recreational pilot Scott Crossfield – we’ll talk about who he was, what he did and how he died.

On the one hand, this was a surprising crash by a pilot who flew into a thunderstorm. You’re not supposed to do that. On the other hand, this was a crash by one of the most experienced and technologically advanced pilots of the 20th century. Books have been written about the accomplishments of this pilot.

We’ll also talk about the role that air traffic control played in Mr. Crossfield’s crash and how the FAA’s reliance on all pilots to brief themselves on one of the most confusing aspects of flying – the weather – may have contributed to this crash.

Another topic: this pilot was 84 years old – did his age factor into this crash? I’ll make my argument.

We’ll also check in with Captain Michelle, and I’ll introduce you to the FAA’s Self-Briefing policy.

Perhaps you're wondering: If this can happen to somebody like Scott Crossfield, how is any pilot immune?

Listen now for all these answers and more.

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On a pleasant Monday morning in June, 1963, a Douglas DC-7C departed from McCord Air Force Base in Washington state. The plane was loaded with military members of the United States Armed Forces. The destination was Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska. The airliner never reached its destination.

What exactly happened to this airliner remains a mystery. However, several theories hold some elements of reality. Though, like many fantastic or tragic stories with too few answers, there is at least one theory that will keep us on the edge of our seats.

A rescue effort reached the crash site within hours, yet no plane was found and no bodies were found. What was found did little to dispel the most dramatic of those theories, though the small amount of wreckage couldn’t fully support any of the possible outcomes – conspiracy, or otherwise.

This is the mysterious story of Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 293, a civilian commercial airliner contracted by the United States government to transport military service members and their families to their new homes and their new jobs on the front lines of the Cold War. With no real evidence but a small amount of wreckage, several theories have gained strength over the decades. One theory is that the airliner was shot down by a missile fired by a United States Air Force fighter jet.

Most peculiar, is that the U.S. government is prohibited from looking for this plane and those on board. This is not because the whereabouts are unknown, or that the cost would be too high. It is because of one sentence in one regulation, what has become known as the Civilian Charter Loophole.

Join Radar Contact Lost for this special in-depth look at the strange case of Flight 293. We'll visit the Gulf of Alaska, have a lesson in aviation meteorology, and drop in on Washington, DC where the Flight 293 Remembrance Act is in front of Congress today.

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On Tuesday afternoon, May 24, 1988, Transportes Aéreos del Continente Americano (TACA) Flight 110 was painting thunderstorms and rain showers on the cockpit weather radar. The plane was enroute from San Salvador to New Orleans. It was a regularly scheduled flight, and the route across Central America and the Gulf of Mexico was routine. Cruising at about 35,000 feet (or 11,000 meters), no one onboard, not the crew and not the passengers, had any idea of what was about to happen.

Only moments after the plane began its descent into the heavy rain showers and developing thunderstorms below, not one, but both engines flamed-out. TACA Flight 110 was now dead-sticking into heavy rain and thunderstorms. What had been a quiet and relaxing flight, had now become a flight into Hell. One that will likely result in a crash into the Gulf of Mexico, or maybe onto the land, with a loss of all passengers and crew. Except, that didn't happen.

This is the story of TACA Flight 110 – a miraculous, dead-stick landing of a commercial airliner, with the crew fully expecting to land in Lake Pontchartrain next to the City of New Orleans. Instead, the crew spotted a narrow strip of levee, a dirt and grass strip of land barely wider than the plane itself, where they could attempt to land the plane, instead of ditching into the lake.

The remarkable airmanship of the young pilot saved the plane and passengers, but what caused the dual flame-outs and why did the captain seemingly willingly fly into a thunderstorm? Radar Contact Lost examines the weather, the engines of the brand new 737 and celebrates one of the most remarkable emergency landings in aviation history.