The Story of Flight 5390 | A Short Documentary | Fascinating Horror
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- Опубликовано: 9 июн 2024
- Once a year, around the holidays, I want to share the story of a disaster that didn't happen - a tragedy that, whether through luck, the bravery of those involved, or simple good planning, was averted. In this story, everyone survives... although it's definitely a close call.
As always, THANK YOU to all my Patreon patrons: you make this channel possible.
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CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Intro
00:40 - Background
01:50 - The Incident
06:56 - The Investigation
MUSIC:
► "Glass Pond" by Public Memory
► "The Plan's Working" by Cooper Cannell
SOURCES:
► "Report on the accident to BAC One-Eleven, G-BJRT over Didcot, Oxfordshire on 10 June 1990" by D F King on behalf of the Department of Transport Air Accidents Investigation Branch, February 1992. Link: assets.publishing.service.gov....
► "Blowout" (Air Crash Investigation Season Two Episode One) directed by Nigel Levy, January 2005. Link: www.imdb.com/title/tt0644754/.
► "31 Years Ago A Pilot Survived 20 Minutes Outside A Flying Jet" by Jake Hardiman, published by Simple Flying, June 2021. Link: simpleflying.com/british-airw....
► "Case Study British Airways Flight 5390" by Eddie, published by Code 7700, July 2016. Link: code7700.com/case_study_briti....
#Documentary #History #TrueStories
The crew's behavior is stuff the legends are made of, such admirable calm and courage.
British fortitude. 👍
Now-a-days the crew would have been too concerned making sure the passengers had their masks properly on
@@MutedGrowl oh stuff it you.
Legends... and yet.. nobody remembers this. I was alive (but young) at the time, and I don't remember it. I suppose the recognition of the hour will have to do.
@@MutedGrowl Agreed. They would have been like only saving the people who have been jabbed.
The Co-pilot is regarded to be exceptionally outstanding during stress. Just imagine the bare to land and a passenger aircraft in a situation no airliner pilot have ever faced or could have possibly imagine would happen. No one told him the captain is going to be sucked out, that he'd be struggling against the freezing wind, lacking in oxygen and barely able to hear anything at 17,300 feet with the captain's feet stuck on the controls causing the plane to nose dive while later having to land an overweight airliner on a short runway in a crowded airspace. Yet he alone brought everyone back alive, simply amazing...
Simply amazing is that you mostly do not make any sense.
Nobody told the captain either, that he was to be sucked out.
@@nedludd7622 It makes perfect sense to me. Perhaps you can only manage short simple statements.
It was not the co-pilot alone. Had the other crew members not managed to get the Captains feet clear of the controls the co-pilot would not have been able to recover from the dive and the plane would have crashed. It was a team effort, and needed everyones effort to be successful.
What does "just imagine the bare" mean
Some facts about what happened afterwards to the aircraft and the crew in the following years:
The aircraft was repaired and returned to service, eventually being sold to Jaro International in 1993. It continued to operate with them until Jaro ceased operations in 2001, the aircraft going on to be scrapped the same year.
Tim Lancaster returned to work after less than five months. He left British Airways in 2003 and flew with EasyJet until he retired from commercial piloting in 2008.
Alastair Atchison left British Airways shortly after the incident and joined Channel Express, remaining there after it was rebranded as Jet2 until he made his last commercial flight on a Boeing 737-33A (registration: G-CELE) from Alicante to Manchester on his 65th birthday on 28 June 2015.
Ah ha 👍🏽😊 thank you mr p. I really did wonder 💭 what happened to everyone. Absolute hero’s
Thanks for the follow up info 👌🏻
What about the engineer who changed the windscreen? Does he work at Mcdonald's now?
Tyvm
@@scottessery100 heroes*
good day, mr e.
I remember seeing a Nat Geo documentary about this flight, and the thing that stood out to me most was that the crew were all totally convinced the captain was dead, but wouldn't let him go because there was a chance his body would get sucked into the engine, which would have doomed the whole plane.
"Thanks for saving my life!"
"Actually, we thought you were already dead and just didn't want your body destroying an engine."
"Oh..."
"Awkward..." >.>
To be fair. Whether it was to save his life or to save EVERYONE’S life. It was still herioc
@@aickavon oh, I totally agree. I just thought it was interesting :)
i cant fathom how unsettling it would be if [i] were in their place. holding on to a (assumed) dead body for seemingly an eternity...
@@inovein imagine the pilot who didn't completely lose conciousness due to his first officer's quick thinking and being able to see the engine knowing if they let him go - that's where he'd end up head first.
"I can see you're only interested in the exceptionally rare!"
*A Fascinating Horror video where everyone turns out fine.*
EDIT: Okay, maybe not fine in the "I'm absolutely fine!" sense, but considering how bad these incidents _usually_ get, it's a lot better than it could have been.
Upvote for that reference. 😀
For a given value of "Fine".
@@TheZetaKai compared to most stories he’s covered, that’s golden..
@@TheZetaKai.
Considering that the captain not only survived being flung out of a plane’s windshield, as well as being subjected to freezing cold winds and intense forces, but would recover and continue flying commercial jets until he retired in 2008…
…I’d say he was just fine!
Thanks for the laugh!
whilst the co-pilot deserves credit for landing the plane safely on his own, the flight attendants deserve a lot of credit for keeping the pilot from getting pulled out completely
People focus on the cockpit because that's where the decisions are made, but plenty of pilots who've safely landed stricken planes will point to their flight attendants as the people who did the real legwork.
If i’m not mistaken, and if I remember the story from the other videos made about the event, that at that point they thought the pilot was dead already but the co-pilot told them to hold on into him so he won’t fly into the plane and cause more damage.
The steward Nigel especially was a hero. The captain might have gotten sucked out completely and killed (not to mention sucked into an engine, potentially killing everyone) if he hadn't acted so quickly, putting his own life in jeopardy by running right up to the void and grabbing the captain's legs. Unbelievable bravery in that moment!
The plane nosediving so fast would have certainly caused some PTSD in me for awhile as a passenger! I find it a miracle the pilot nosediving from out of the window staring at an engine to die in, yet living and the Co Pilot feeling the weight of the whole situation with all those souls depending on him ... now tell me there's no God.
@@nickie7874 There is no god... just competent humans who did what they had to do to survive.
It still amazes me that not only did the pilot live after getting sucked out, but actually went right back to flying just a few months later.
The first question on my mind after hearing everyone survived was "did either of these guys continue piloting after this?" I don't think anybody would have blamed them for staying firmly on the ground after what they'd been through.
@@amandaf4720 ikr I’d be terrified anytime flying after that incident. I’m guessing he never unlatched his seatbelt while flying again tho
@@amandaf4720 both pilots continued flying! Copilot retired in 2015, captain in 2008 or 2009
It helps that he wasn't conscious to remember the details.
I was like “wow, 11,000 hours of experience, no wonder they landed safely” but no, that guy was a little preoccupied during the landing
a little "winded" by "current" events id say!
😁👍
I can't believe the captain is still alive after all of that. And massive props for the copilot to land the plane without the captain to guide him.
Wouldn't a copilot/pilot be able to control a plane alone, even if the other one can't help them?
The co pilot must have the same flying skills as the captain does,he wouldn't be sat there if he didn't.In some cases the co pilot has more flying hours on that particular aircraft then the captain does.
@@chrisplunkett2814 exactly. Which is why in the business you nowadays don't say "pilot and co-pilot", which would indicate the one handling the controls is the superior or more experienced, but you say "pilot flying and pilot monitoring", meaning the one who is mainly in charge of the controls throughout the flight and who is doing most of the communicating and navigating. Often enough the pilot flying is even the less experienced out of the two, the First Officer, which is totally fine.
A copilot can fly the plane & land it on their own. It is more of a work load alone though. They can't split up the tasks. Mistakes tend to happen under stress. He did an excellent job.
@@rohanlerenard7972 Yes; but not when their feet are pushing against and interfering with the controls.
This story never ceases to amaze me, it’s like one of those 1970s disaster movies where the pilots go through something so ridiculously crazy, and end up coming out alive with a couple scratches.
This crew was absolutely amazing.
I’m positive, and don’t call me Shirley
@@nickoliver3523 🤣🤣🤣 You beat me to it lol
At least they didn’t have fish for dinner 😂
Surely you can’t be serious I am serious and don’t call me Shirley
Airport '75, I think it was. Passenger jet collided with a small aircraft tearing a hole in the cockpit, killing the flight crew and a flight attendant had to fly the plane.
It was also the movie with Linda Blair as a sick girl and Helen Reddy as the nun with a guitar which led to that scene in the movie "Airplane!"
The maintenance guy wasn't entirely at fault, from what I remember of the Mayday episode on this: there was extreme production pressure on the maintenance staff, to get planes in and out as quick as possible. The guy only had one night to get all the work done on that plane.
Yes!!
I agree he wasn’t completely at fault. And the best possible outcome came of the error, as no one was killed and it lead to other planes faulty bolts being caught before it happened again. People are human, they make mistakes. Mistakes happen in every single sector of industry, not just aviation. Medical mistakes happen by some of the most intelligent and decorated practitioners every single day.
PS that co-pilot is a real life hero for his calmness under immense pressure and his handling of this whole situation, had he not been the one in that seat that day the outcome would have very likely been deadly.
As someone who used to work on planes, the deadlines are always it needs to be done yesterday.
@@Bradphil87 the steward Nigel as well. The captain might have gotten sucked out completely if he hadn't acted so quickly, putting his own life in jeopardy.
I have to disagree. Aviation maintenance is always rushed and high pressure. As a maintainer it's your job to make sure you're using the right parts or else shit like this can happen and you could get someone killed. Fuck what your higher ups say, if it means waiting longer to do the job right you gotta be the one to step up for that.
I always love these "crisis averted" videos. Tim Lancaster is an absolute legend for surviving that. And so were the crew for dealing with the situation and landing it.
yeah its like small sliver of hope that the worst can still be averted. BUT ON MAJOR SCALE.
What a fantastic event. The co-pilot, those crew members who jumped in to help without a second thought, the man who got himself in a seat belt to anchor the human chain holding onto the pilot, and the people in the control tower, all are heroes in my book. The quick thinking and the bravery to attempt something never before done is amazing. With so many things going against success, the co-pilot was willing to attempt a landing at a completely unfamiliar airport, putting his trust in the control tower, he succeeded.
A quote from Doctor Who comes to mind here..."Everybody lives, Rose! Just this once, everybody lives!"
“Are you my mummy?”
@@TheRealNormanBates Oh that episode scared the crap out of me!
@@FallenAngel9979 that one was certainly one of the creepiest ones. Until the end of course, when you find out what's really happening.
As an avgeek, this is one of my absolutely favourite aviation stories. The first officer and the flight attendants were simply amazing, and against all odds everyone survived. Because they believed the captain was dead and because the arms of the guy holding onto him were really frostbit, they actually considered letting go of him, not doing that because he might be sucked into an engine.
Well I'm sure the captain is glad they didn't do that
@@hannahblurp9360 though I think he would've understood if they did, if it had made sure everyone else lived
@@nicoledoubleyou Well, he would have understood just briefly, right before he got sucked into the engine...
Accidentally saving a man's life is just one more amazing aspect of this already-incredible story.
The steward Nigel especially was a hero. The captain might have gotten sucked out completely and killed (not to mention sucked into an engine, potentially killing everyone) if he hadn't acted so quickly, putting his own life in jeopardy by running right up to the void and grabbing the captain's legs. Unbelievable bravery in that moment!
This is just bananas. I can not imagine the freezing, low oxygen tornado happening in that cockpit.
I've been waiting for you to do this one for a long time!! You forgot a few details:
1. The pilot was declared dead initially by paramedics but that was because he was so frozen they couldn't find a pulse. He had to warm up for them to determine he was in fact alive.
2. The person who was responsible for the wrong sized screws faced criminal negligence charges.
3. The pilot and crew remained friends for life because of this incident bringing them together despite having not known each other well before.
He does short documentaries. He doesn't "forget" details, he's simply not going to get all of them in. What his stories do though, is get people to research these events.
Thus the cold weather EMS saying: "They're not dead until they're _warm_ and dead."
The shift manager / maintenance guy didn't face criminal charges I'm almost certain nobody did. There was a wad load of changes, new legislation and an overhaul of general working practice but it wasn't shouldered on any specific person.
@@charlottewebster4233 I thought for sure that maintenance guy would get screwed.
@@kathyjones1576 Every video someone has to say something like this... I roll my eyes each time haha
I wish all communication was as direct and clear as air traffic radio
"Is that the only problem?"
"Negative, the pilot is half sucked out of the plane"
"Roger, that is copied"
💀
😂
I can't imagine how the crew felt when they found out the captain was still alive.
Probably a collective holy shit he's alive!
Yeah. One fact not really stressed in this is they had already believed he was dead, and told air traffic control such. The conversation about letting go or holding onto him was not about saving his life, it was about the fact that his body would go into the engine. So it must have been a huge shock, because there is no way he should have survived that.
Idk if it is true or not but I was told that in the hospital the Captain when he was able to speak asked that crewmember if he had his cup of tea. If that is true that is the most British thing ever. True legend.
Sometimes it's so refreshing to hear a story about people doing their jobs and going above and beyond each other to pull off something this incredible!
The Mayday episode on Flight 5390 is one of my favorites. Definitely an excellent engineering case study. The part where they recreated the interview with the engineer who worked on the plane, especially. He was a competent guy, but he let his work standards slip and he became overconfident.
Plus, I don't think I've ever heard a more chilling ATC message than co-pilot Atchison saying that he believed the captain was dead. I mean, really. How could you think any differently in that moment?
I was thinking the same thing! I loved that episode and I knew as soon as this started what disaster this was.
So true! The odds of living through that are pretty much ZERO.
Yeah the engineer man ...i felt pity for him. He was excellent in his job, but was working on a very tight timeslot and didn't had any help. I mean no one really would believe that a millimeter could make such a big difference...
@@foggyfrogy exactly, it wasn't mentioned here that he was under immense pressure to do the repairs. Not a full excuse, but a factor nonetheless.
I loved that Mayday episode! The steward Nigel especially was a hero. The captain might have gotten sucked out completely and killed (not to mention sucked into an engine, potentially killing everyone) if he hadn't acted so quickly, putting his own life in jeopardy by running right up to the void and grabbing the captain's legs. Unbelievable bravery in that moment!
While I've heard about this incident before, your presentation is what made it unique. And good timing for a story where everyone survives.
I've heard about it before too, not sure what the presentation has to do with it being unique however. How many other stories of pilots being sucked out of cockpits have you heard?
@@matman7691 by presentation, he means the narrator’s calm, cool recitation of the facts; no drama, no hype, just the theme of what a few simple acts can do in a critical moment.
@@Unownshipper by unique, he means unlike anything, one of a kind. I think the copilot landing the plane makes it unique, or the fact that the captain didn't die, that's quite unique. The presentation does nothing but present. And he does so very well in fact, if you like his voice. Regardless, the Wikipedia article is just as thrilling.
Yep, I love this version better because it's concise, well written and very clear. I compare this to the one from discovery channel's plane crash investigation and how that documentary is 30 minutes long, a lot of unnecessary repetition, adding some suspense music as if it's an action movie and overacting narrator
@@faizalf119 that's exactly why I love Fascinating Horror. It amazes me how much detail he puts into the short documentaries. Obviously, he's not going to tell all in 10 minutes, but he definitely has the knack to use the right details to tell the story. His documentaries lead me to research some of the events he talks about.
This is probably my favorite airline emergency story because the chances of him surviving were essentially zero. The fact that he not only survived but was able to exist normally afterwards without major disability is beyond shocking
Reminds me of Chris Lemons, who was an oil rig maintenance diver whose scuba tubes got severed while he was working deep underwater leaving him without oxygen or any way to find his way back to the ship. The ship was moving but managed to get back to him to retrieve his body, only to find he was still alive over *half an hour* later. The belief is that it's because the limited air he had left had a high enough oxygen content to basically saturate his blood and tissue and he somehow managed to survive using that while unconscious. He was back diving three weeks later.
I remember watching this on the show "Mayday" it's nothing short of a God given Miracal the captain is still alive. I remember watching the interview with him. And he said "Once the plane was landed, I sobbed" and I was just like "Yeah, that seemed like a good time to do that!"
Alastair is one of my personal heroes. Cool-headed under pressure, brave enough to take decisive action, and stoic enough to bring the plane to a runway quickly when he was certain he'd just witnessed his colleague die.
I just hope that co-pilot got a medal, and that the crew got major recognition for what they did.
I believe Alastair received the highest piloting award British Airways has. The rest of the crew members also received awards for outstanding performance.
I hope they all got raises!
I just watched another documentary about this. The co-pilot did get a medal and the flight attendants all got rewards too.
It didn't have anything about pay rises, but I hope they did get them too. They showed incredible amount of calm under pressure.
@@WouldntULikeToKnow. This has nothing to do with money.
Atchison received the Polaris Award, which per wikipedia is "the highest decoration associated with civil aviation, awarded by the International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations (IFALPA) to airline crews in recognition for acts of exceptional airmanship, heroic action or a combination of these two attributes."
I can’t believe that the Captain that was hanging out the wind screen was alive, that is a miracle in itself. I guess he had plenty of time to experience something that most will never ever see. How many people have hung out the window of a jet going 500 mph and survived. A miracle.
He spent most of it fading in and out of consciousness.
The difference between reacting calmly and reacting with panic was definitely at play here. It allowed for those involved to make rational quick decisions rather than acting on impulse. The flight attendants deserve just as much praise for remaining calm and keeping the captain in place allowing the co-pilot to focus only on landing the plane.
This has always been the most amazing flight story to me. There was a documentary of this and I was simply baffled by not only the severe uniqueness of the situation, but the co-pilot's insane endurance and that the pilot didn't die in spite of all that. People are quick to say nothing is ever how it is in real life, but I feel this story gives a thumbs down that statement.
I'm a sucker for disaster stories where no dies ^^"
Me too,this could have been really nasty,👍👍👍😊🤗😊⛄☃️⛄🏴🏴🏴
The Mayday episode of this is on RUclips (Wonder Channel) and is really interesting, getting to see the reenactment!
Sichuan airlines flight 8633 had a very similar incident
@@WilliamDezunchd I haven't heard of that one. Thanks. I'll look it up.
I like this break from the often tragic endings of these disasters, it's good to know not all safety codes were created cause hundreds of people died. Absolutely legendary crew on that flight though damn.
I appreciate you’ve ended the year with a harrowing event that ended in a best case scenario. Terrible to experience for sure, but an amazing story. Once in a great while, things work out, despite the odds.
The crew, in this disaster, were miracle workers acting with complete professionalism and bravery. They all took on positions and worked together to save not only the pilot but everyone on board. These are true heroes persevering in the face of the incredible odds against them. The stewards, who rushed into the cockpit and held onto the pilot regardless of the dangers to their own life, were above commendable. The Co-pilot, maintaining his cool as sound, wind, fighting the controls as he fought to breathe, held on until he was able to control the plane and keep a clear head knowing how important it was to maintain the dive - all decisions he made quickly and on his own. He is exactly the type of person you want in control. This is the type of Horror Incident I am very happy to start the New Year with.
As an engineer, I can truly say that 2.5mm can make the difference between safe and dangerous.
Truly amazing, everyone survived this ordeal.
As a non-engineer watching this video, I agree 😉
So... they guy who installed the windows -was he lazy, an idiot or both?
@@RaptureInRed
Depends. Bit if both perhaps.
It's possible the tech was under pressure to turn the aircraft around asap because time is money.
Also if the tech was working on multiple aircraft rather than specialising on one particular manufacturer.
Then, in this instance, the wrong bolt size wouldn't be immediately obvious.
Why wouldn't the tech have taken the bolts he removed and checked them for spec? That would make sense, especially if there were bolts very similar to it in the shop.
It's also not the best design to have the windscreen fastened from the outside rather than the inside. In this case, the bolts were the only thing holding the screen in place. When fitted from the inside, the frame around the windscreen is what holds it in place, and the bolts only keep it from moving out of the frame.
Explosive decompression.
Wow...the literal words every person with a phobia of flying really hopes they never hear/experience mid-flight.
I think the words explosive decompression could also apply to nervous scuba divers as well 😉
@@sarahhirshlee Omg...I could not imagine the terror. Scuba diving terrifies the life out of me
@@potatie_huh SAME! And my irrational fear of sharks and just extremely large fish that can eat ppl in general definitely would not help me in a scuba diving situation.
When it comes to flying my biggest fear is not falling from the sky or explosive decompression, I personally and more afraid of slow cabin decompression.
... And I just realized I'm having a small anxiety attack. Thinking about scuba diving and flying has thrown me into an anxiety attack.
*Breathing in thru my nose out through my mouth*
@@potatie_huh good thing I'm too broke to be going on any exotic Beach vacations anytime soon because I think I would talk myself out of it at this point 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Just another silver lining of poverty... 🤣🤣🤣
The window wasn't screwed in correctly. That shouldn't have happened.
Every time I hear this story, I'm amazed anew that the captain didn't suffer at least a broken back. Especially when landing. One would think the jarring of touching down would have twisted his back harshly. Kudos for what must have been a pretty smooth landing, especially under the circumstances, and that everyone on board was safely on the ground at the end of it.
The BAC One-Eleven, the type of aircraft involved in the incident, was one of the only aircraft to have its windshields fitted from the outside. Most airliners have windshields fitted from the inside to prevent just this kind of failure. The windshield is slightly larger than the opening it is fitted in and cabin pressure acts to seal it tighter instead of blowing it out.
Perfect timing by the way. You're one of my top 3 favourite RUclipsrs. Flew through the Balkans for an hour on flight sim, landed and parked. Closed flight sim, went my room and sat down and your video popped up in my notifications
This is such an amazing story. I think Air Crash Investigations covered this. That's one of my fave shows.
I remember the crew said they thought the pilot was dead but they were worried he would damage the plane if they let go. Thank god they held on!
Yeah, they didn't expect him to be alive and thought they were only holding onto his body. It's a reasonable conclusion though because he survived something no human should have been able to.
A story where all survive. Given the stories normally told here I feared the worst. Well done to the crew for saving lives. Absolute heroes!!
Out of all the aviation incidents and accidents I have studied, this is my absolute favorite one. The degree of competency and calm that Mr. Atcheson showed, in my opinion, is beyond compare. And then there are the actions of the cabin crew. Again keeping their heads, thinking about their passengers, their captain, and their first officer in everything they did. Absolutely excellent actions by the crew ensured no casualties. Bravo.
On a conceptual level, flying as always creeped me out, like a submarine but in the sky, surrounded by nothingness but air, with only a thin layer of metals separating you from suffocating...
'Less than the thickness of a credit card' could still be a huge amount on the diameter of a small bolt. The load capacity difference of a 5mm to a 6mm, or a 6mm to 8mm bolt is huge. Especially when you realise that the actual load bearing part of the thread is at least 1mm smaller than the bolt size. And that's assuming they aren't self tapping into pre drilled holes, which would be even worse.
I was thinking the same. Also, depending on the thread standard they use in aviation bolts of different major diameters can have the same pitch. Meaning the threads would still engage and feel right with a smaller bolt, if you weren't paying attention. There would be quite a bit of wiggle though... you would have to be barely conscious to do 90 of them in a row and not notice there's something wrong.
In this situation the bolt size is critical. Essential even.
As they are load bearing.
As John says.
The incorrect bolts would have too much wiggle room in the holes (play) would clamp the window but not secure the window enough to ensure a 100% seal.
I am sure these bolts would've had nuts on the other side.
Not self tapping due to the load factor.
The ideal tolerance for the correct bolts would've been an interference fit.
The incorrect bolts probably allowed slight movement of the window when in flight allowing air to enter the cabin via the window seal which resulted in sucking/blowing the windows out..
@@stuartd9741 I'm gonna try and be polite here but there's a lot of wrong in what you just posted.
All bolts other than decorative are load bearing to some degree.
The hole being bigger than the bolt wouldn't affect its ability to clamp, unless it was bigger than the head/nut
Self tapping doesn't really relate to load factor. I would be inclined to agree that there is some form of machine thread fastener on the other side, but a nut would suggest there were 2 mechanics involved.
Air wouldn't enter through the window as the cabin would be pressurised. It could leave though. Also I'd imagine that would be noticeable.
Really interesting comment! Looking at my credit card though I reckon it is around 0.5mm, they may have been imperial sizes? You are obviously very knowledgeable, so can I ask you, do you really think that the only cause of the failure was a very slight difference in bolt size? There were 90 of them after all, and the manufacturer of the correct sized bolts would have been allowed some tolerance surely? (Ok, not that much admittedly but you get my drift) I just can't get my head around the fact that such a small discrepancy could have such a catastrophic effect on a modern(ish) plane! Surely that would be a serious design fault?
Yep, just made a similar comment. That is a huge difference. That installer should have felt that something was wrong. Those bolts were just going to spin in their sockets with that big of a difference.
What baffles me the most about this story is the absolute, sheer presence of mind of the co-pilot, to think in such an insane situation “we need to dive lower still for more oxygen”. Mind-blowing.
Your last three videos have all been on subjects with which I was previously quite familiar. And yet, you've revealed a surprising detail or two about each. Well done, Sir.
This whole story is harrowing and humbling in almost equal measure. You noted that the pilots hadn't flown together before, which is certainly true. But there's more to it ... The co-pilot was a stranger to the *_entire_* crew, who otherwise all knew each other pretty well. To me, what's hardest to fathom is the wherewithal it required to see one's friend and colleague dangling (probably) lifeless out of the window, knowing that everyone's fate now rested in the unknown skills of some dude you just met a few minutes ago -- and yet not to give up.
Totally agree. The steward Nigel especially was a hero. The captain might have gotten sucked out completely and killed (not to mention sucked into an engine, potentially killing everyone) if he hadn't acted so quickly, putting his own life in jeopardy by running right up to the void and grabbing the captain's legs. Unbelievable bravery in that moment!
These people demonstrated courage under pressure and saved the lives of many 🌹
Hear, hear! Respect.
Being a bit of an aviation fanatic, I've heard of this one a few times. Back in the day when British Airways was a carrier to be proud of! And this crew exemplified it. Looking forward to more of your content in 2022.
One of the most epic survival stories in aviation history. I've heard it before but it can't be told enough times. Everyone involved is an absolute legend.
That was absolutely insane. That copilot and the other staff are absolutely incredible. Truly something to never be forgotten.
Awesome episode with useful conclusions!
As an engineer I do highly recommend checking every detail minimum twice as soon as they're relevant to safety!
A few minutes more WILL save lives!!!
If someone rushes you, make him shut up or get the order to disregard safety measures written down and with his signature. Most of the times this will cause him to shut up.
Good advice but also means you're top of the list when redundancies come around. Speaking from experience, although I did manage to scrap off about a quarter million dollars of poor quality electronics days before I was out the door and tipped off the customer's engineer to look out for more.
@@nlwilson4892 Yes that's a point. Having blood and/or a legal case on your hand is a different quality of problems.
So good on you.
If I remember a different video correctly, a strange feature of the aircraft was that the windows were secured the outside, rather then the inside. This means that in the event of a fastener failure, the pressure inside the plane would push the windows out, vs push them against the frame of the plane, potentially holding them in place for a bit longer. I believe this was changed, and is not common on other aircraft, though I feel I should double check that information.
That is very interesting information!
That is correct. The outside approach was clearly a bad idea.
Yes, you're right! The Mayday episode about it (Also free on RUclips) talked about that.
That's insane, each and every one of that crew better have gotten raises and awards. Legendary
It's incredible that the smallest things can have such massive impacts.
You'd think that after so many accidents in which everything could've been avoided by consulting the plane's manual AND adhering to specs, that it would be an absolute rule to follow guidelines placed by the plane's manufacturer to the T, no matter how insignificant the problem. But, sadly this trend of throwing caution to the wind when dealing with a machine filled with dozens or hundreds of human lives flying through the air seems to go on for a while.
It IS an absolute rule. But people be people
To be fair would you think the plane youre servicing has the wrong bolts holding it together to begin with?
@@TVhyrus Assuming makes an ass out of you and me, or throws the pilot out the window, either one.
What they don't mention is the Parent Company pushing the Techs to get the work done ASAP, every minute the plane is on the ground costs them money. It's the same everywhere in any field, companies preach safety before production quotas but safety doesn't pay the bills unfortunately.
"throwing caution to the wind" .... I'm assuming that wasn't an intentional pun, D Sandoval, but it made me chuckle. So glad the pilot survived.
Great actions by Ogden and Atchison - seizing the legs of the captain, completing a near perfect landing despite the circumstances
Copilot should be given an award. To make split second decisions while under extreme stress and conditions is impressive. I can't imagine how terrified I would be in that situation.
“This incident was the result of a series of tiny errors…”
These words are spoken in all of these videos.
Lucky that they managed to avoid this, an extremely close call.
I remember the Mayday/Air Crash Investigations episode on this. Ogden was still clearly shaken when recalling the event over a decade later, and Atchison didn’t - or perhaps couldn’t - give an interview at all. There’s something about someone deciding to not be mildly inconvenienced, and subsequently being nowhere near the traumatic consequences of their (in)actions…
Yes, it was clear how much it had affected Ogden and Atchison. The captain was unconscious for most of it...ironically, he had the least of the long term ptsd effects, I believe. Ogden and Atchison were absolute heroes.
Nigel Ogden never flew again which is sad but perhaps not surprising. I was a regular traveller through BA's Birmingham "Eurohub" at the time and knew Nigel by sight. He was well liked by the regular passengers. I'm not a nervous flyer but it spooked me when I realised I had flown on the same aircraft with Nigel in the crew about a week before this incident.
I saw the Mayday episode of this and it blew my mind, and continues to blow my mind because it seems impossible that it would have turned out even close to this successful.
Bless them all for their bravery.
Being able to stay calm in such an incredibly bad situation is just mind blowing to me. Atchison is a true hero.
I remember this happening but it is a rare treat to have an incident result in no loss of life. Keep up the good work and a belated Merry Christmas!
This was absolutely fascinating. The quick thinking of the crew saved ALL of those people. God bless them!!!
I hope our Fascinating Horror narrator is feeling well, I noticed a difference in his voice this time around. Sounds like a cold or something! Great information, as always, and presented in succinct detail.
I thought he'd bought a new microphone 🙂.
Thought it was a new commentator at first!
I thought it was someone else. This guy talked faster!
He might have a horror story of his own!
Same! But some characteristics are the same so figured it was a cold or new studio ;)
Remember this incident well on seconds from disaster a brilliant series in which it graphically illustrated the sheer terror and panic caused by the faulty maintenance work on the cockpit. But most of all the ingenuity and pure determination to get the plane safely back on the ground was outstanding.
That really was a great show, it’s a pity one can’t find it on streaming. It’s premise allowed for a wide range of different stories and topics to be explored. Glad to hear it’s fondly remembered.
@@Unownshipper is it a separate show from Mayday?
@@deprofundis3293 It is, but both show's premises are startlingly similar. I think SFD's "claim to fame" was its 3D renders of the disaster moments. If I recall correctly, Mayday just used reenactments by actors, right? Then again, SFD had a bit of those segments too.
I remember watching this episode of Mayday and was absolutely amazed that the pilot managed to survive. Kudos to the crew and the traffic control operator. Such an insane story but luckily it all ended with no deaths.
Not the first time I've referenced this book, but "Humble Pi" (by Matt Parker) went into some depth regarding this incident (long story short: it wasn't ALL Sam's fault).
This story had me crying and laughing at the same time. So unbelievable and incredible that everyone survived!
I remember seeing this on that show 'Mayday' (Air Crash Investigation) - this story always stuck with me. Pretty scary and incredible.
I wonder if they dug further back and discovered how the original set of bolts had been incorrectly fitted.
Unlikely, as at the factory they would only have one model they were working on with bolts etc. coming in labelled parts bins. It is much more likely to happen at the maintenance stage where the stores will have parts for many aircraft and quite probably a stores person put something in the wrong bin because they thought it was equivalent. In a lot of industries stock codes have rather random alphanumeric codes. It might start with a B for bolt (it might not) but the rest doesn't relate to diameter, thread pitch or length as it is generated by a stock person not an engineer. Also, sometimes you'll have the same parts having different numbers because they're from a different supplier or for a different product line. So that increases the chances of parts getting mixed up or someone thinking two different stock codes are equivalent when they're not.
@@nlwilson4892 I work retail and considering how often I have to deal with things being stocked improperly by my coworkers I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case either accidentally or just out of laziness (i.e. “I need to get this stuff out so I’m just gonna put it in this empty spot right here. Don’t care if it doesn’t go there I just wanna get my work done so I can go home”)
@@Boundwithflame23 Mixing up the tins of baked beans with the macaroni cheese doesn't really matter in the great scheme of things though. These are aircraft components though, you would think that more rigorous procedures would be put in place to ensure that such mistakes can't happen.
Doubtful. Whoever did that, intentionally or not, still selected adequate fasteners. And the windows may have been removed and maintained several times, by several people, using that exact same adequate but different selection. It's more likely that there was a terse, company-wide retraining on using exactly the right parts and ONLY the exactly right parts.
@@adde9506 They were adequate until they failed.....
This is an amazing video demonstrating how near misses need to be investigated to prevent bigger disasters, a useful analogy for many areas of working practice.
The most insane fact about that incident is that the captain that was sucked out the cockpit not only survived, but resumed working 5 months after the incident. FIVE months.
Holy crap, that's absolutely incredible - what an amazing story! And not a single death. Those crew members should be knighted.
Im glad they all survived. That had to be immensely terrifying for those poor Pilots. Good job to the Co-Pilot and Stewards, they're the heroes of that day. :)
This was team work tested to the ultimate level. So nice to have a story where everyone survives for once. too. :)
Unbelievably impressive responses from the crew. They saved a lot of lives that day. I hope they were rewarded in some way.
An awful lot of miracles on this flight for sure! Missing traffic and the pilot not being sucked out completely in the initial blast. The captain surviving for that long nearly outside the plane amazing! Not forgetting to mention the miracle that was the co-pilot that flight. For him to maintain his composure in such a dire stressful situation and get that plane landed nearly perfectly on an unfamiliar airfield is outstanding. Well done to all those who got this flight on the ground.
Captain Timothy Lancaster was an amazing 42 years old. You have to be made out of strong stuff to live through that.
42 is not old, if that is what you're insinuating.
It's quite likely that the sudden intense cold is actually what saved him, frostbite not withstanding. I hope we never find out if he was "stronger" than other people in that scenario.
The captain was cool.
@@K1OIK literally cool, in that moment... XD sorry, couldn't help myself!
As a critical care nurse, this really hits home as to the importance of safety checks and following best practices to the letter.
Always nice to hear a positive story from time to time!
I LOVE a positive story on my birthday!!! Thank goodness for the flight attendant being there! It’s a straight up miracle that nobody was killed! Though I do have to question what the hell the maintenance guy was thinking trying to get the correct size bolt by a simple visual comparison?! SMH…
Happy Birthday, Jessica! As an almost Christmas baby (missed it by 20 minutes), I sympathize with your unfortunate birth day. ✌🏼💖
Creepy... I JUST watched the Mayday episode about this a few days ago! Amazing story.
Also! I appreciate that you put out content this week. Everyone deserves a holiday, but RUclips tends to turn into a desert this week, and it's kind of tough for those of us forced to spend another holiday season away from family. Thank you and have a fantastic New Year!
Hear, hear!! And 🤗🤗🤗 to you @Chocolate Chip! I’ve spent holidays alone and I was thinking it would be horribly lonesome and sad, but I ended up spending it chatting with two people whom I “met” on Facebook. Eleven years later and they are still my friends and we chat pretty regularly! Don’t underestimate the connectivity of the internet! Even if you are an insomniac, there’s always someone awake to chat with. 😉✌🏼💖
Fascinating, yes. Horrifying, yes.
Heartwarming? Absolutely!!!
Thank you for this wonderful story. The happiest of holidays and a healthy 2022 to you and yours!!
scary to think that one persons error could have been the end for all of the passengers and crew. and thats not including the possibility that it could have crashed into a built up area either. that captain is the luckiest man alive. this kind of problem persisted in the early days of pasenger jets, and although the problem was solved, it did not change the way aircraft operators do safety checks and maintenance.
was just watching the "Air safety institute" channel, then this popped up. Perfect timing. 👍
I remember watching the Mayday about this incident, and those holding onto the pilot had to discuss whether it would have been better to let go of the pilot, but decided against due to the possibility of getting sucked into the engine (as you mentioned) as well as potentially causing damage to the rear wings/stabilizer. What a bizarre decision that had to be made under extreme duress, and amazing that the pilot escaped with relatively minor injuries.
sucked to be in such a situation.
Ogden also was getting frostbite in his arms from holding on. I think he suffered some of the worst ptsd from the situation. The captain was unconscious shortly after the decompression, so he actually seemed to be in better shape than the rest of the crew, mentally.
This Co-Pilot is the perfect example of not all heroes wear capes!
My grandfather had been a fitter for BA up until 1987. When this incident happened he was pretty much foaming from the mouth. The wrong bolts were used because some knobhead couldn't be bothered to check he had the right ones. My grandfather wasn't the most popular mechanic on the tarmac but he was happy trading popularity for perfection. Not a single airframe he worked on ever suffered a major failure within 5 years years of him leaving BA. That's what the industry standard should be, nothing short of perfection should do and fuck the bosses, aircraft safety comes before schedules or any demands.
Honestly, this story brought me to tears - the bravery of the crew involved is just astonishing. Thanks for another brilliant upload :)
Once again, I forgot it was Tuesday already. Thank you for...well it sounds really weird to say "thank you for giving me something to look forward to every week," when all of these stories are so sad. But you always present them in such a respectful manner, and so I'm grateful to you!
And just this once, everyone lives!
This channel is awesome! I have been watching you for a while now and wanted to show my appreciation for your quality content. I enjoy how these stories serve as cautionary tales, and especially how safety standards are improved after a disaster... and I love a happy ending every now and then :) Thanks!
This is an amazing documentary about an incident that we were already aware of. The quick-thinking and bravery of the entire crew reflects their professional attitudes. As a former pilot, tears came to my eyes during your telling the story.
The actions of the First Officer make me proud of all that fly.
Thanks for this.
I bet Tim Lancaster is such a man's man, as soon as he recovered he went back to work! I wonder if he got to partner with Alastair Atchinson again. I am sure the bad experience made them win great deal of respect for one another.
lol what does recovering quickly have to do with being gay?
@@Kushufy
If it's to post straw man replies, abstain yourself.
@@nozoto ...what? you called him a man's man
@@Kushufy And clearly you're too ignorant to know what that means.
@@deathproofpony too "ignorant" to know what a word means? strawmanning? why are you using these words in the weirdest ways lol. a lady's man is a man attractive to women, and a man's man is a man attractive to men. it's common sense...
I heard about this incident before from another youtuber, who highlighted 3 incidents but you included more details. Excellent job sir
Over the last two days I have thoroughly enjoyed all of your channel’s content and now I’m ready for this and each new video you produce. Great work!
By far my favorite channel on RUclips! Thank you for all your hard work!
Hi I love your videos and your voice. Listen to these repeatedly when trying to get to sleep as it that calming.
I'm not used to your videos having happy ends like this 😐....
I've been watching a lot of Fascinating Horror videos recently. It's good to see at least one where everyone survives. Kudos to these guys.
I always look forward for a new post from this channel!! As always thankyou for your hard work and time!
Sounds like you've got a bit of a head cold here. Hope you're feeling better now, or soon. It's great to get a video where everything turns out alright despite the intervening disaster. Cheers and Happy New Year!