The story of the pilot who was hanged from the cockpit of the plane at an altitude of 10,000 meters

About 27 minutes after the flight departed from Birmingham to Malaga, two of the six cabin windows were smashed. The story of this British Airways flight 5390 is an example that miracles do exist.

It was in June 1990 Yes Tim Lancaster took off from Birmingham airport bound for Spain. Alastair Atchison was their co-pilot and they had 81 passengers on board. As the aircraft settled into the climb, the pilots made themselves comfortable and loosened their seat belts.

As the personnel prepared to prepare the catering service, the pilots heard a very loud noise and the fuselage filled with condensation. As if they were immersed in a nightmare from which they could not wake up, the left windshield detached from the fuselage.

Captain Tim Lancaster He was torn from his seat and sucked out of the window at an altitude of over 10,000 meters. The force also blew up the cockpit door, nearly knocking flight attendant Nigel Ogden to the ground.

Atchison couldn’t believe what was going on and the first class passengers were in shock.

Decompression in the cockpit blew up the navigation console, the throttle was locked causing the aircraft to continue to gain speed on the way down. To create even more chaos, the cabin door swung open and paper and debris began to fly through the cabin.

Meanwhile, the captain’s body was still outside, frozen. Flight attendant Nigel Ogden managed to miraculously close Lancaster’s belt, while flight attendants tried to calm passengers, secure loose items and prepare emergency positions.

Atchitson had no choice but to initiate an emergency descent very quickly, to reach an altitude that would provide sufficient oxygen, as the aircraft was not equipped to provide it to everyone on board. He reactivated the autopilot which had been temporarily disabled and issued an emergency call.

The captain had to be saved, who at that time had half his body outside the plane. Ogden suffered from frostbite and was exhausted from the effort to hold Lancaster back. Two assistants came to help him.

At one point everyone thought the captain was dead but the co-pilot ordered the cabin crew not to release his body to the world. I was afraid it would explode and crash into the left engine, in turn causing a fire or engine failure.

In the middle of this terrible odyssey, Atchitson received clearance from air traffic control to land in Southampton (southern England). Squeezing Lancaster’s body tightly, they prepared for the maneuver.

What you might call a real action movie scene, but this time without actors or stunts, British Airways Flight 5390 landed safely and without any seriously injured passengers. Lancaster was immediately taken to hospital to treat him for frostbite and various body fractures. Ogden’s bravery resulted in a dislocated shoulder, a frozen half-face, and frostbite in his left eye.

Subsequent investigations unraveled the mystery: a replacement windshield had been installed 27 hours before the flight. Despite the approval of the watchkeeper, 84 of the 90 windshield retaining bolts were too small, while the other six were too short.

Human error could have cost the lives of both the crew and passengers of this British plane heading for Malaga. What some call fate or luck wanted this event, worthy of a Hollywood movie, to end well. They all survived to tell the story and, of course, Co-pilot Atchenson and the rest of the crew were decorated for their bravery.

Source: The Sun