dChan - Q Origins Project Archive

FLASHBACK: Incredible and inspiring 1990 account of courage and laser focus - on the part of a British Airways co-pilot and crew under extreme conditions. Captain Tim Lancaster had been sucked out the hole created by the blown-out windshield and the crew refused to let go of him despite assuming he was dead.

How did the crew of British Airways Flt 5390 manage to save the passengers and themselves from a potentially fatal crash after the captain was sucked out of the cockpit?

The video report includes what it describes as a watered down investigative report under pressure from British Airways.

The investigation showed that an engineer had selected new bolts to hold a new windshield in place by matching bolts via visual comparison instead of going to the manual (and he ignored the shop manager who reportedly told him which size was correct, though not stocked). The bolts the engineer chose to use gave out on their first flight, causing the window shield on the pilot’s side to pry loose and fly away. That caused the pressurized air inside the cabin to rush out of the hole, catapulting the unbuckled captain with it. His lower legs caught against the controls, which held his lower body in the cabin long enough for a crew member to grab his legs and hold on to him despite determining that he was dead (beaten against the outside of the plane, deprived of oxygen, and exposed to extreme cold). Another crew member eventually latched onto a seat belt and held on to the crew member who was holding the captain’s legs. Had they let go, the captain’s body could have flown into an engine, damaged a wing, or otherwise caused further catastrophic damage, as the video report explains.

The crew was getting battered by "hurricane like" conditions (by one account below: “600+KMPH of winds at -17 degree Celsius and oxygen deprivation”) within the cockpit but nonetheless worked together, giving the First Officer co-pilot a chance to regain control of the plane. The co-pilot (who did not participate in the story but still flies for British Airways) had never flown that type of plane before and could not hear air traffic control due to the noise in the cabin, was at the helm of an aircraft that was diving through some of the busiest traffic lanes in the world due to the captain's legs jammed against the controls. When the crew finally freed his legs from the controls, the co-pilot was still faced with one challenge after another - including but not limited to the fact that he was not familiar with the airport at which he was directed to land with a plane full of gas, no means of dumping it, and a runway much shorter than the minimum that he preferred under the harrowing circumstances.

’’’Spoiler’’’: ALL, including the captain who had been sucked outside survived despite seemingly insurmountable odds. And ALL flew many more flights before retiring.

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Mayday: Air Disaster - From Season 2, Episode 1, "Blow Out": Within minutes of take off, the crew and passengers aboard British Airways Flight 111 [really Flt 5390], know something is terribly wrong. A loud bang is heard from the cockpit. The windshield has popped off and the captain has been sucked out through the opening. His body is plastered to the side of the plane and the plane is diving quickly. The co-pilot is in a desperate situation, he’s never flown the plane before, the sound of the wind is deafening and he can’t hear the replies from air traffic controllers who are trying to help him gain control of the plane."

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6uyUTQTVSOw (identifies the flight as British Airways ’’’Flt 111’’’ but another video identifies it as British Airways ’’’Flt 5390’’’ – which took place on the ’’’10th of June, 1990’’’, on a ’’’BAC 1-11’’’ aircraft): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGwHWNFdOvg