About this episode
Jeff Stanfield and Andy Shaver sit down with retired Air Traffic Controller Mike ‘Ski’ Demboski, who spent 30 years directing the skies at the Fort Worth Center after serving in the U.S. Army. Ski breaks down the recent crashes in Washington, D.C., where a Blackhawk helicopter and an American Airlines flight collided, along with the devastating MedEvac plane crash in Philadelphia. Ski also takes us inside the control room on 9/11, sharing firsthand what it was like to work one of the most chaotic days in aviation history as he highlights the high-stress, split-second decisions that define an air traffic controller’s career.