Pilot's Window Breaks, Copilot Goes Full Superhero Mode

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mattstaff
Oct 23, 2021 12:00 PM EDT

As far as stories that effectively defy the bounds of what we thought was possible for the human body to withstand, this tale about British Airways flight 5390 is one for the books. It's just the kind of story that involves an unprecedented level of fearless heroism in the face of a truly nightmarish turn of events. One can only imagine what kinds of thoughts must've been racing through that pilot's brain. Also though, the copilot had to have been weathering tidal waves of internal panic. The fact that the pilot comes out of the event alive (with some gnarly sustained injuries/trauma though) is crazy. If you're looking for some more gold from the Tumblr world, check out these resplendent Tumblr gems of random hilarity. 

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  • 01
    Font - dark-haired-hamlet I think about British Airways Flight 5390 a lot dark-haired-hamlet OKAY STRAP IN because this is one of the WILDEST stories in aviation history. BRITISH AI
    via dark-haired-hamlet
  • 02
    Font - In 1990, a British Airways BAC One-Eleven, captained by Tim Lancaster and co- piloted by Alastair Atchison, was cruising at 17,000 feet. Around 15 minutes after take-off, flight attendant Nigel Ogden entered the cockpit to bring the pilots something to drink. One second everything was fine. The next second, the pilot's side window blew out from the force of the pressurized cockpit. Even though he was strapped in, the force of the explosive decompression ripped the captain out of his chair
    via dark-haired-hamlet
  • 03
    Gesture - (Recreation from the show Mayday at the point of decompression) At the same time, the event caused the autopilot to disengage, and the captain's body hitting the flight controls caused the plane to enter into a deep dive. The throttle was set to full power and could not be accessed due to debris, meaning the plane was descending rapidly. The co-pilot, experiencing hypoxia, fought to control the plane's dive while allowing it to continue descending to a level the passengers/crew could b
    via dark-haired-hamlet
  • 04
    Font - Soon, the flight attendant's entire arm was burned from wind shear and frostbite, and his grip began to slip. The other attendants entered the cabin to see what was wrong and took over holding the captain's body. Seeing the blood covering the windows from the captain's severe wind sheer burns and frostbite, the attendants and co-pilot knew he was dead. However, they could not let his body go because it could smash into the wing, horz stabilizer, or engine, and bring the plane down. For 30
    via dark-haired-hamlet
  • 05
    Hood - (Taken same day as the incident) BUT HERE'S THE KICKER: when they reached the ground and evacuated, they realized THE CAPTAIN WAS NOT DEAD. .... ..... ...
    via dark-haired-hamlet
  • 06
    Shirt - He SURVIVED being outside the fuselage of a jet airplane traveling 550mph at 17,000 feet. His only injuries were extensive - but mostly superficial - frostbite and windshear burns, bruising, fractures in his hand, and shock. He has since stated that he remembers the event and was conscious for much of the time he was outside of the fuselage. The only other injury was the flight attendant's frostbitten/windshorn arm. Captain Tim Lancaster returned to flying five months later.
    via dark-haired-hamlet
  • 07
    Shirt - (Captain Tim Lancaster in bed several weeks after the incident, with flight attendant Ogden (+ Ogden's wife) above him and co-pilot Alastair Atchison to the far left, along with the two other flight attendants) Why did this occur? Because the plane had received maintenance the day before, and the maintenance supervisor did not check he was using the correct screws in re-installing the windscreen.
    via dark-haired-hamlet
  • 08
    Font - (Recreation) So yeah: you can apparently survive clinging to the side of a jet airliner traveling 500+mph at 17,000 feet. dark-haired-hamlet Wow! Didn't expect this many likes for an aviation post. Just a note that I was wrong - it was the front pilot's windscreen, not the side- window! I'm used to looking at Boeing windows with different positions :) If y'all want the full story & more analysis of what exactly went wrong, Mayday: Air Investigations did a pretty decent special on the inci
    via dark-haired-hamlet
  • 09
    Rectangle - guardianofreaks The human body will either survive the most insane extremes or die on your shoe laces spaceodyssey2001 Two things that make this story amazing: 1: Tim Lancaster survived this. 2: He returned to his career less than half a year after almost dying from it. This man is a certified legend. spaceodyssey2001 Actually, third thing that I didn't mention that makes this story awesome: The crew all working to save Tim as the co-pilot works to keep the plane from crashing. They'
    via dark-haired-hamlet

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