Loading summary
Podcast Host
This podcast is sponsored by Talkspace. November is Men's Health Awareness Month. So Talkspace wants guys to know that being prepared for life's biggest challenges and opportunities means prioritizing mental health too. Talkspace can help you go beyond fine tuned workouts, supplements and productivity hacks. Talkspace can help you fine tune your inner life so you can succeed in being the best version of yourself in any situation. And with Talkspace, you can get therapy from anywhere and on your time. You can even text your therapist between sessions. If you're depressed, stressed, struggling with a relationship, or just need a little extra one on one support, Talkspace is here for you. Plus, Talkspace takes most insurance and most insured members have a zero dollar copay. Men's Health Awareness Month is the perfect time to reach out to TalkSpace. Now get $80 off your first month with promo code space80 when you go to talkspace.com match with a licensed therapist today at talkspace.com and save $80 with code space80@talkspace.com that's talkspace.com, promo code space80.
Main Host
The bird show. We were talking about this, this flight that I think it was going from San Diego to Minneapolis, right?
Co-Host 1
San Diego to Minneapolis. And then the tower couldn't get in touch with the flight, so they were trying to call the pilots. And there was no contact. No contact. Ends up the pilots overshot the airport by 150 miles. Passengers had no idea what was going on. They turned around, went back to Minneapolis, landed, you know, the passengers, no big deal. They didn't think anything about it until when they arrived at the airport. There's a lot of cops on the scene and everything because people were thinking the worst. And so the pilot said, well, we were actually in an argument over industry policy.
Co-Host 2
Who's going to land the plane? You do it. No, you do it.
Co-Host 1
They were having an argument. So they were distracted enough to where they missed the airport and that's why they did it. But the FAA is actually trying to figure out if they were asleep during the flight.
Main Host
So we started focusing on the sleep part of this whole thing. And I said, do you guys remember we played some audio of a 911 operator once falling asleep on somebody? This one comes from Memphis. This is old.
Narrator
Here's how it began.
Caller 1
I need somebody over here.
Narrator
Lisa called 911 and got a Memphis operator. She told the operator she was robbed at gunpoint earlier that night. And now she hears someone trying to get into her home.
Caller 1
I just heard tapping on my window. I need somebody over Here.
Narrator
Lisa's lifeline then went silen silent. She continued to explain her situation, but the dispatcher did not respond. Not for just 15 seconds or 30 seconds, but for one full minute. Then sounds of snoring.
Pilot Joe
Yes, ma'.
Caller 2 / Bob
Am.
Pilot Joe
What is the. Oh, no.
Caller 3
What is your address?
Narrator
Lisa had already given the dispatcher her address.
Main Host
Dude. Fellow 911 dude.
Caller 2 / Bob
Fellas.
Pilot Joe
Wow.
Main Host
There are a couple of places you're just not allowed to fall asleep, and I think we're talking about two of them this morning.
Co-Host 3 (Joanna)
Flying a plane.
Main Host
Flying a plane at 911.
Co-Host 2
You know what? And didn't Joanna tell us yesterday that your boyfriend fell asleep with his eyes open?
Co-Host 3 (Joanna)
Yes, we were at dinner last week, and he fell asleep with his eyes open at dinner.
Main Host
You ever seen somebody do that?
Co-Host 3 (Joanna)
Yeah, it was really awkward. Like, we were actually having dessert, and all of a sudden, he's kind of, like, staring down at the table, and he goes, what's the score? And mind you, we're in a really nice restaurant. There's no TVs around. And I said, the score to what? And he starts pointing behind him, and he goes, the score. The score. And I said, jason. And he, like, kind of like, you know, like, woke up, and I go, what were you doing? And he goes, I just fell asleep. And I was like, wow. But in his defenses, you.
Co-Host 2
Other places you shouldn't fall asleep while you're having a date. On a date with your girlfriend.
Co-Host 3 (Joanna)
Yeah, and his defense, he did. He was up for, like, 48 hours a day before, like, at work. Were you talking about, like, being a bridesmaid or something like that?
Caller 2 / Bob
Yeah, I know.
Co-Host 3 (Joanna)
I was showing you, like. And then we tried on the periwinkle, but then we think we might go with the taupe instead.
Co-Host 1
What do you think?
Co-Host 3 (Joanna)
Do you think we should have ribbons
Caller 1
in our hair or not?
Co-Host 1
Well, I'm not suggested that you would make him miss dessert. That's. That's foul.
Main Host
You think we could have people that would call up that actually fell asleep during sex? It wasn't not alcohol induced. Not alcohol induced, yes, but.
Co-Host 2
And they're gonna be all women.
Main Host
He is just working as hard as he can.
Co-Host 3 (Joanna)
Oh, and she's, like, dead as you
Main Host
wake up, like, three fourths to it.
Co-Host 2
Do we. Are we disqualifying ambient calls?
Main Host
Yeah, no ambient calls.
Co-Host 3 (Joanna)
And no alcohol either.
Main Host
No alcohol. I mean, yeah, it could have been fatigue. You worked late. You just had to get it done, and you woke up in the middle of it. 404. 7. 4. 1. Q100. Does it happen here.
Caller 2 / Bob
Oh, yeah.
Co-Host 3 (Joanna)
No Jen saying nothing.
Main Host
What's the hand signal?
Co-Host 2
Is that the drinking thing?
Pilot Joe
Yeah.
Co-Host 1
This is supposed to be. Or you're going to talk to our listeners?
Main Host
Yeah. This can't be about drinking, though. No ambient. You just flat out fell asleep and
Co-Host 2
you have to be with other people. Or can it. Or can it just happen?
Main Host
Joanna, we will get to your celebrity search here because the phone lines are lit up right now.
Co-Host 3 (Joanna)
Awesome.
Main Host
This may be one of those that we can do for hours, unfortunately.
Co-Host 2
You can thank your boyfriend with narcolepsy for.
Co-Host 3 (Joanna)
I really do think he has narcolepsy, though, because it's not the first. He falls asleep randomly.
Co-Host 1
It's bad at a guy that had narcolepsy.
Main Host
I knew a dude in radio and now he's in Austin.
Podcast Host
That.
Main Host
Yeah, they'd be on the air just talking like this, and all of a sudden somebody else on the show would be talking and they'd take the focus off the guy and you would just hear.
Co-Host 3 (Joanna)
No way. Is it that instant.
Main Host
It was that. It's that quickly.
Co-Host 1
My. So, yeah, the guy. The guy my sister dated, they were out on a date and they stopped at a stoplight, and then the light went green and she looked over and he was slumped in the chair asleep.
Co-Host 3 (Joanna)
Did he wake back up quickly?
Co-Host 1
I think. I think she pulled him. I mean, like, she woke him up. But she. Yeah, she said, I'll drive. But yeah, scary, though, because he stopped what he was doing and just fell asleep.
Co-Host 2
Is Austin the same one with petrified midgets?
Main Host
The other guy on that show?
Co-Host 2
So that's. That's their show. They got one guy who's scared to death of anyone under 5ft tall, and the other one falls asleep randomly.
Main Host
Literally. Yeah. Hey, D. Good morning. You have fallen asleep on somebody during sex.
Pilot Joe
I was not on top.
Main Host
You were not on top?
Co-Host 1
I would hope not either, because that'd be uncomfortable.
Co-Host 3 (Joanna)
Was it boring or you were just tired?
Pilot Joe
Because that.
Co-Host 2
If you were, that means they would have to make a phone call to save themselves. It would be awkward for everyone.
Main Host
So what was it? Just working too late? Didn't you sleep deprived?
Caller 4 (Denisha)
It was.
Pilot Joe
I made a long road trip to go visit a girl, and I was her authority formal, and I flat out fell asleep. It was like maybe the second or third time, and I was like, all right, this isn't keeping me up anymore. I fell asleep, woke up in the middle, threw my hands back on her. Like, I didn't fall asleep. It's kind of like when you catch yourself in your Head nod.
Main Host
And she was looking down at you and you had your eyes closed. And she's like, oh, he is so into this.
Pilot Joe
And then I woke up and I threw my hands back up. Like I was there the whole time.
Caller 4 (Denisha)
It was.
Pilot Joe
But it was bad.
Co-Host 2
It was a good save. As long as you're not one of those people who right when they fall asleep, you have that initial one. Snore. Snore like that. One little in the middle of doing it. Then I think you might be able to pull it off if you wake back up within a few seconds.
Main Host
Good morning, Denisha. You're on Q100.
Caller 4 (Denisha)
Yes. This wasn't with my husband. This was before I got married. We were, you know, having sex and I actually fell asleep. It was a. It was a long day and a half. I worked two jobs and was taking care of my daughter, and he went to school and he worked and I was just really tired and he wanted to, and I just couldn't say how. I didn't want to, you know, So I did. And I don't snore, but I do suck my tongue when I'm asleep. And when I woke up, it was just a really bad day. He. He was really, really upset with me.
Caller 3
We gotta back up asleep because I was sucking my tongue.
Main Host
Yeah, let's. Let's focus on that for a second. You were doing what?
Caller 4 (Denisha)
I'm asleep.
Co-Host 3 (Joanna)
How do you do that? Do you just pucker up?
Caller 4 (Denisha)
No, it's like my tongue comes out and I suck on it like someone would suck their thumb.
Co-Host 1
Oh, my God. That's hilarious.
Co-Host 3 (Joanna)
So your tongue is sticking out. That's hilarious.
Pilot Joe
You know, for never.
Co-Host 2
For a minute, for about a minute and a half. You thought that was way hot.
Caller 2 / Bob
Yeah.
Main Host
He's like, wow, that's a move I've never seen before.
Co-Host 3 (Joanna)
She's really into it.
Caller 4 (Denisha)
I do it and my son does it.
Caller 2 / Bob
Yes.
Pilot Joe
Really?
Co-Host 1
Wow.
Main Host
Thank you for calling. Here is. This is going to turn ugly in a couple of calls here.
Caller 2 / Bob
Oh, no.
Main Host
First we'll stick to this falling asleep during sex. But then we've got an airline pilot that wants to go on the voice disguiser. That said, he has certainly fallen asleep on. On one of his flights before. Here is Mary. She wants to be on the voice disguiser. Hey, Mary.
Caller 2 / Bob
Hi.
Caller 1
How are you?
Co-Host 2
Good.
Main Host
How are you?
Caller 1
I'm good, thanks.
Main Host
You fell asleep during sex or he didn't?
Caller 1
No, no, no, no. This is my husband. Before we were married. He was in grad school and apparently was very tired and I was servicing
Caller 2 / Bob
him
Caller 1
and was in the middle, and I heard him snore.
Co-Host 3 (Joanna)
That's when you call your girlfriends and go, am I doing this right?
Co-Host 1
Yeah.
Caller 1
So that means I wasn't offended, though, because he was, like I said, in the middle of grad school.
Main Host
So anatomy wise, it is certainly possible to still be excited, yet be in a deep state of sleep.
Caller 1
Yes, apparently.
Main Host
Okay, thank you.
Co-Host 1
That's funny.
Main Host
I'm glad she can laugh about it because he certainly can't write about it now.
Pilot Joe
Well, he.
Co-Host 2
He's blocked that completely from his mind. He's got that post traumatic stress thing where it didn't even happen in his world.
Main Host
Okay, so we'll veer away from the sex during sleep or sleep during sex. And we were talking about these pilots, and the hunch here, maybe from the faa, is that these pilots might have fallen asleep during the flight. So they're gonna investigate that.
Co-Host 1
Yeah, that northwest flight from San Diego to Minneapolis.
Main Host
Bob here claims that he is a pilot. Hey, Bob.
Caller 2 / Bob
Hey, Bob. Hey. How's it going, guys?
Main Host
Good. How are you?
Co-Host 2
Hey, Bob.
Co-Host 3 (Joanna)
Hey, Bob.
Co-Host 1
Wait, that's me.
Caller 2 / Bob
I'm Bob. Yeah, I am a pilot, actually, for an airline up in Ohio.
Main Host
Okay. And is this a common occurrence, man, where you guys turn the plane on, you go on autopilot, you guys doze off for a couple minutes?
Caller 2 / Bob
It is. The only real busy part of flying is the takeoff and the landing, which is about the last 20 minutes and the first 20 minutes. So the rest of it is quite boring. We watch DVDs, read books, sleep, whatever you can kind of do to keep going there. The FAA doesn't. Doesn't allow you. Forbid you from sleeping. There's nothing in the rules. So it's kind of an unspoken thing
Main Host
that you do, but you're not supposed to fall asleep during your landing.
Caller 2 / Bob
No, not during the landing. We actually did on the way back from Allentown. We were flying. It was the last flight out. The first flight back. Myself and the captain both, we're talking. And then we quit talking and we woke up. The autopilot locked onto the approach, and we woke up about four miles from the Runway. We both woke up, and we were way off course.
Co-Host 3 (Joanna)
Oh, wow. Do you not have an alarm clock to wake you up?
Caller 2 / Bob
No, no.
Co-Host 2
I can't put an alarm clock in a cockpit.
Co-Host 3 (Joanna)
We can bring one. A stopwatch?
Caller 2 / Bob
Yeah, we should have. The captain started swearing, which is all in the voice recorder. Wayne veered really hard to the right. Because we realized what we had done. Told the passengers we were gonna have to go back around and try it again because there was lots of wind, which there was none.
Co-Host 3 (Joanna)
So when pilots make that announcement, we had to try it again. Are half of them lying about it?
Caller 2 / Bob
Yeah, dang it. Usually it's a legitimate reason. Obviously somebody's on the Runway or something's gone wrong, but yeah, there's a couple times where the pilots just flat out botch it.
Main Host
Aren't there like all sorts of alarms that go off in the cockpit when you get down to a certain altitude though, that would wake you up?
Caller 2 / Bob
Yeah, some. I mean, we obviously put the gear down and we were locked onto the approach and then there we go. Just flat out asleep. And past that point there's not a lot left until you get to around 50ft.
Co-Host 3 (Joanna)
I have a question. So if it locks onto that approach and you don't wake up, is it automatically descending?
Caller 2 / Bob
Yes, it is.
Co-Host 1
That's the scary part. The fact that you don't have a manual way to. I mean that it would lock onto it without you manually telling it ready to.
Caller 2 / Bob
It did the autopilot do kind of weird things sometimes? Ours did in this case. Unfortunately, it was off to the side of the approach and then it finally found its way back.
Co-Host 2
Can it land itself if you don't wake up?
Caller 2 / Bob
Yeah, it's pretty hard, but yeah, it will. It's not pretty. It. Certain planes can do more things than others. Our plane can, but it's, it's. In this case, it wasn't set up to do that.
Co-Host 1
It's. It's making me think about past flights.
Co-Host 3 (Joanna)
Yes.
Co-Host 1
You know, because when we went out to LA for American Idol earlier this year, the flight I was on to la, on the approach to la, at some point the plane made this incredible upswing near the airport. And so now I'm thinking about it, I wonder because it's a cross country flight and what was going on.
Main Host
You know, I want to put you on with a pilot. His name is Joe and he isn't believing your story whatsoever.
Caller 2 / Bob
Fair enough.
Main Host
And I hope he's right. Good morning, Joe.
Co-Host 2
No matter what, Burton and Melissa will believe Joe, right?
Caller 3
Hey, Joe, Good morning.
Co-Host 1
Good morning.
Main Host
Bob's still on the voice disguiser if you want to speak directly to him.
Pilot Joe
I have a pretty good feeling. He flies for a regional airline and our regional jets do not land themselves. A, there's not any circumstance where a regional jet will land itself. We have to control the aircraft to the ground on takeoff and landing. B, we always have a thing don't. A briefing that the captains give to the first officers don't let me wake up and catch you sleeping.
Caller 2 / Bob
That is very true. And that, that does, that unfortunately does happen. We were doing high speeds and.
Pilot Joe
But let me, let me give the fly the general public an idea of what we go through on any given day.
Co-Host 2
That's us.
Pilot Joe
We go through 16 hours of work. Sometimes we've been on, we went on duty at six o' clock in the morning and we can be on duty until 10 o' clock at night. Now you throw weather, you throw five, maybe six flights a day and on top of that with no brakes and you know, your body gets fatigued and you know, there are things that the FAA has put in place for us where we can call out fatigue, but a pilot knows that if he does that he's going to disrupt people's travel plans where they're trying to get to and from. So we don't, we don't typically like to do it. And some companies, management will reprimand us for doing that.
Main Host
I gotta tell you, I had zero idea, zero up until this morning that any pilot ever falls asleep in the cockpit. I've seen you guys come out on long flights and take that first class seat or whatever. I had. No, I always assumed that you guys were focused on what was in front of you and the instruments at all times.
Pilot Joe
Well, let me clear this up for you too. We are always in constant contact with air traffic control. We don't stay on one radio frequency for any given flight. Let me give you an example. One day I counted because there's multiple frequency changes with air traffic control from Montreal to Atlanta. We changed controllers 25 times. You have to acknowledge the handoff.
Caller 2 / Bob
Yes, you do. But at the same time, you know as well as I do that accidents do happen. And some of the guys, you catch yourself dozing off because the day is so long.
Co-Host 1
And I think that was the problem with this story in Minneapolis is because they were out of radio contact for so long. So that's why the FAA is investig. If they were, if everybody was asleep. Because I guess like you were saying about being, you know, on radio frequency towers at all times. I think it was an hour that they were out of contact. I believe so. I think that's what caused concern and got their, you know, got everybody's attention.
Pilot Joe
So Joe, you're, let me throw another scenario at you here. Sometimes the controllers mess up and they forget to call us and hand us off and then we get out, out of their radio frequency range because, you know, we can only transmit so far. And then we start scrambling going, hey, we haven't talked to somebody in a while, you need to make. Then we start querying atc or we have communication devices in the aircraft where we can send kind of a text message to our dispatcher and say, hey, we need to find out what frequently frequency we're supposed to be on. And then they'll send that information back to us via another text message.
Main Host
So Joe, when you called up this morning, you just wanted everybody to know, don't freak out.
Pilot Joe
I mean, exactly. There's always extenuating circumstances. Just like the guys who landed on the taxiway in Atlanta on Monday morning from Rio de Janeiro. You know, they had a medical emergency on board. I can easily see what happened. Those guys were cleared for a visual approach to the left Runway and then the tower said sidestep to the right at six o' clock in the morning. You know, they're probably under a lot of stress knowing that one of their own is the one that is sick. One of the captains that was on board the aircraft was one of the, was the person that was having the emergency. So they were, you know, have probably had another relief pilot. When you've got a 10 hour flight, you got to have at least three crew members on board because any one person can only be at the controls at eight hours at a time.
Main Host
I think it's implied too. If you're a pilot coming back from Rio de Janeiro, it's okay to doze off a couple times. Vegas also way moist, crucial. Listen, it's the vert show.
Date: May 6, 2026
Main Cast: Bert (Main Host), Joanna (Co-Host 3), other recurring co-hosts; Featured callers and pilots ("Bob," "Joe," Denisha, Mary)
Theme: Exploring real-life stories of people falling asleep at the most inopportune and sometimes hilarious moments, with a blend of listener call-ins, personal anecdotes, and an insider look at how fatigue impacts jobs like piloting and emergency services.
This episode of The Bert Show is an energetic, candid, and laugh-filled discussion centering on instances where people unintentionally doze off in the "wrong" places—from pilots missing their airport to listeners recounting falling asleep during sex. It’s all about balancing humor with a genuine conversation on fatigue, narcolepsy, and the surprising circumstances where sleep overpowers us. The episode also features behind-the-scenes aviation insights from practicing pilots.
Co-Host 1: "Pilots overshot the airport by 150 miles. Passengers had no idea what was going on." (01:09)
Narrator: "Lisa’s lifeline then went silent ... for one full minute. Then sounds of snoring." (02:20–02:43)
Main Host: "There are a couple places you're just not allowed to fall asleep ... and I think we're talking about two of them this morning." (02:55)
Co-Host 3 (Joanna): "He fell asleep with his eyes open at dinner ... and goes, 'what's the score?' ... there's no TVs around." (03:16)
Pilot Joe: "I made a long road trip ... I flat out fell asleep. ... Like when you catch yourself in your head nod." (06:38)
Denisha: "I do suck my tongue when I’m asleep. And when I woke up ... He was really, really upset." (07:34–08:15)
Bob (pilot): "The only real busy part ... is the takeoff and landing, ... the rest of it is quite boring. ... We watch DVDs, read books, sleep ..." (10:47)
"We woke up about four miles from the runway. ... The captain started swearing, which is all on the voice recorder." (11:14)
Pilot Joe: "We go through 16 hours of work ... Throw weather, five, maybe six flights a day, and on top of that with no breaks ... your body gets fatigued." (14:23)
Pilot Joe: "On one flight from Montreal to Atlanta ... we changed controllers 25 times. You have to acknowledge the handoff." (15:28)
"Sometimes the controllers mess up and they forget to call us and hand us off ... we have communication devices in the aircraft." (16:20)
Pilot Joe: "There's always extenuating circumstances ... Just like the guys who landed on the taxiway in Atlanta ... they had a medical emergency on board." (16:55)
"There are a couple places you’re just not allowed to fall asleep, and I think we're talking about two of them this morning."
— Main Host (02:55)
"He goes, 'the score, the score.' And I said, 'Jason.' And he like ... woke up, and I go, 'What were you doing?' And he goes, 'I just fell asleep.'"
— Joanna (03:16)
"I fell asleep, woke up in the middle, threw my hands back on her ... Like I was there the whole time."
— Pilot Joe (06:38)
"I didn't snore, but I do suck my tongue when I'm asleep."
— Denisha (07:34)
"We watch DVDs, read books, sleep, whatever you can kind of do to keep going there. The FAA doesn't ... forbid you from sleeping."
— Bob (10:47)
"We go through 16 hours of work ... add weather ... five, maybe six flights a day ... your body gets fatigued."
— Joe (14:23)
Summary:
This episode takes a lighthearted but honest look at how easily even professionals can succumb to sleep in critical situations, peppered with awkward and funny listener confessions. While primarily about laughs, the show doesn't shy away from exploring real issues like occupational fatigue—making for a rich and memorable listen. For anyone who’s ever wondered whether those stories about pilots napping mid-flight are true, or just wants to hear some truly unique sleep mishaps, this episode delivers in classic Bert Show fashion.