In An Instant

MrBallen opens this episode with a chilling premise: four stories that demonstrate how quickly the line between life and death can vanish. These narratives, pulled from his main YouTube channel and remastered for the podcast, delve into the strange, dark, and mysterious. He promises tales of a final cockpit recording, a deadly body of water, a boy's ill-ffated attempt to retrieve a basketball, and a nature photographer's nightmare scenario.

The Final Recording: PSA Flight 182

The first story, "This Is It, Baby," recounts the tragic events of PSA Flight 182 on September 25, 1978. MrBallen sets the scene, describing the Pacific Southwest Airlines Boeing 727, known for its whimsical black button nose and smiley face, reflecting the airline's self-promoting ad campaign as the "world's friendliest airline." Despite this friendly image, the airline was often criticized for being "too friendly," with super low airfares, comedic banter from captains, and flight attendants in miniskirts instructed to "make nice" with male passengers.

On that fateful morning, with clear weather, air traffic control directed Captain McFerran and First Officer Fox to switch from instrument flight rules to visual flight rules for their final descent into San Diego airspace. Visual flight rules mean pilots rely on their eyes to guide the plane, typically used when flying low with clear weather and ground visibility. As Flight 182 descended to 4,000 feet, air traffic control advised them of a Cessna, a small plane, ascending in their direction. Fox confirmed they saw the Cessna, and air traffic control instructed them to "maintain visual separation." MrBallen explains that this meant the burden of maintaining separation fell solely on the flight crew, despite radar-based controllers who could provide vertical and lateral separation criteria. In layman's terms, they were told, "don't lose sight of the Cessna."

Inside the Cessna were flight instructor Martin Kasey and his student, David Boswell, a United States Marine. Air traffic control informed them that PSA 182, directly in front and slightly above them, was descending but had the Cessna in sight. As a result, Kasey and Boswell did not actively look for the jet, assuming the PSA pilots would avoid them. However, back in PSA 182's cockpit, there was confusion. The pilots debated whether the Cessna they were watching, flying lower and to their right, was the same one air traffic control had mentioned. They eventually agreed it was, and informed air traffic control that the Cessna had passed them on the right.

Immediately after this transmission, the black box recorded the pilots trying to convince each other that they had indeed seen the correct Cessna. After a couple of minutes, one pilot expressed doubt, saying, "Boy, I hope that was the right Cessna." According to later testimony from the air traffic controller, he believed Captain McFerran's report and didn't double-check. In reality, the Cessna seen by McFerran and Fox was the wrong one. The real Cessna, with Kasey and Boswell, was still ascending in the direct flight path of PSA 182, now in the jet's blind spot below its nose. They literally couldn't see each other.

At 9:01 AM, air traffic control received an alarm indicating PSA 182 and the Cessna were about to collide. For unknown reasons, the controller only contacted the Cessna, telling them there was traffic in their vicinity but that PSA 182 already saw them, so they were fine. Kasey and Boswell continued to ascend. One minute later, at 9:02 AM, PSA 182 flew directly over the Cessna, striking it with its nose wheel. The Cessna was hooked by the wheel, flipped upside down, and trapped underneath the right wing of the jet. Seconds later, the Cessna split in two. The tail section, containing David Boswell, plummeted to earth. The nose section, with Martin Kasey, stayed trapped for a few seconds before detonating.

Inside PSA 182, the explosion was deafening. McFerran was recorded saying, "Easy, baby, easy, baby," then asked Fox, "What's the damage?" Fox replied, "It's bad, man, we're hit." Despite efforts to keep the plane level, it lurched into an unrecoverable nose dive. McFerran, knowing they were doomed, calmly called air traffic control, saying, "We're going down." Air traffic responded, "Okay, we'll have the equipment ready for you." The black box then recorded a stall warning. As the aircraft streaked at over 300 mph towards the ground, McFerran's last known transmission was, "This is it, baby." Seconds before impact, he gave his final command over the intercom: "Brace yourselves." Just before the black box cut out, someone in the cabin yelled, "I love you, Mom."

At 9:03 AM, PSA 182 slammed nose first into the ground just outside of downtown San Diego in an area called North Park. The resulting explosion of thousands of gallons of jet fuel sent a shockwave registered two miles away. Firefighters rushing towards the rising mushroom cloud of black, oily smoke were deeply disturbed by what they saw. Bodies not destroyed in the explosion were trapped in trees. In total, 144 people were killed: 135 from PSA 182, two from the Cessna, and seven unlucky people on the ground in North Park.

A one-year investigation determined that the flight crew of PSA 182 was primarily responsible. MrBallen highlights the moment picked up on the black box where the pilots were unsure if the Cessna that passed them was the right one. Instead of calling air traffic control for confirmation, they "blew it off."