# The Engine EXPLODED at 36,000 Feet — Here's How He Saved 381 Lives | Captain Christopher Behnam

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-flight-club-podcast-6869702/the-engine-exploded-at-36-000-feet-here-s-how-he-saved-381-lives-captain-christopher-behnam
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-flight-club-podcast-6869702/the-engine-exploded-at-36-000-feet-here-s-how-he-saved-381-lives-captain-christopher-behnam.md
Podcast: [The Flight Club Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-flight-club-podcast-6869702)
Published: 2026-04-24T19:44:36+00:00
Episode link: https://share.transistor.fm/s/fe3baa9a
Audio file: https://2.gum.fm/op3.dev/e/pdcn.co/e/pscrb.fm/rss/p/pdst.fm/e/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/media.transistor.fm/fe3baa9a/ea488b00.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-flight-club-podcast-6869702/episodes/the-engine-exploded-at-36-000-feet-here-s-how-he-saved-381-lives-captain-christopher-behnam
Duration seconds: 6199

## Resource

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.

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## Transcript

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