The Flight Club Podcast

Captain Christopher Behnam saved 381 lives on United Flight 1175 when his Boeing 777 suffered catastrophic engine failure over the Pacific - an incident so severe simulators couldn't replicate it without breaking. 
 
From arriving in the U.S. with $200 in his pocket to becoming United's youngest 747 captain at 28, Christopher's story is one of resilience, precision, and the immigrant dream.
 
In this conversation, he walks us through every second of that harrowing 40-minute descent into Honolulu, hand-flying with no autopilot, full asymmetric thrust, and a stall at 242 knots in IMC. He shares the five miracles that allowed him to land safely, the one decision that saved everyone on board: "Today's not the day we're going to die”. And how his father's 18 years of torture in an Iranian prison gave him the strength to refuse to give up.
 
Christopher is now building Flying Lion Aviation Group to train the next generation of aviators with retired airline captains, Top Gun instructors, and Blue Angels, proving once again that impossible is nothing.

Creators and Guests

Host
Jason Middleton
CEO, Silver Air Private Jets

What is The Flight Club Podcast?

Aviators, welcome to Flight Club! Join your host Jason Middleton - a pilot, an aviation entrepreneur, and a huge fan of all the people that make aviation happen. The Flight Club Podcast is all about showcasing the diverse group of people that make up our aviation community, and the extraordinary things they're doing inside and outside of the cockpit. Join us as we explore the people and the stories that connect us as aviators. Welcome to The Flight Club Podcast.