Travel3 min(s) read
Published 07:17 26 May 2025 GMT
If you have a fear of flying, it may be best to avoid this pilot's terrifying story about the moment he found himself dangling out of an airplane window.
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As reported by The Sun, the incident in question occurred on June 10, 1990 - just 27 minutes after a routine takeoff by British Airways flight 5390, which was traveling from Birmingham in the United Kingdom to Malaga in Spain with 81 passengers onboard.
Despite everything going as it should for the first part of the flight, the crew was faced with a potential disaster just as the plane was traveling over Oxfordshire. While cruising at a height of 23,000 feet, two of the six cockpit windows burst apart due to adverse air pressure effects.
The dramatic change in pressure saw Captain Tim Lancaster ripped from his seat and through one of the broken windows.
Despite the fact that a rush of air had blasted the cockpit door off its hinges, flight attendant Nigel Ogden was able to rush into the cockpit and grab the Lancaster's legs before he was sucked completely out of the plane.
Watch Lancaster and the crew recall the horrifying incident in the video below:
Another cabin crew member, John Heward, also grabbed the captain, and the two men held onto him for dear life while co-pilot Alistair Atchinson grappled with the controls and landed the plane at Southampton Airport - despite never flying to the airport before in his career.
Per News.com.au, Ogden later commented on the frightening experience in an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald, stating: "I whipped round and saw the front windscreen had disappeared and Tim, the pilot, was going out through it. He had been sucked out of his seatbelt and all I could see were his legs."
Ogden continued: "I jumped over the control column and grabbed him round his waist to avoid him going out completely. His shirt had been pulled off his back and his body was bent upwards, doubled over round the top of the aircraft.
"His legs were jammed forward, disconnecting the autopilot, and the flight door was resting on the controls, sending the plane hurtling down at nearly 650 kilometers per hour through some of the most congested skies in the world."
Ogden added: "I was still holding Tim, but my arms were getting weaker, and then he slipped. I thought I was going to lose him, but he ended up bent in a U-shape around the windows."
The crew recalled how Lancaster's face was banging against the window, with blood coming out of his nose and the side of his head. The captain's eyes were also wide open, a sight that Ogden says he'll "never forget".
While communicating with air traffic control, Atchinson recalled believing his co-pilot had surely died as a result of the incident.
Half of Lancaster's body remained outside of the plane for around 20 minutes.
Per News.com.au, Lancaster suffered several fractures and frostbite but lived to fly again. In fact, he continued to fly with BA until 2003, after which, he joined EasyJet for a further five years.
Ogden also left BA and went to work for the Salvation Army.
A report by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch later determined that a fitter had used the wrong bolts to secure the windscreen, which led to the accident.
Additionally, aviation experts told National Geographic that if the crew had let go of the captain's body, it could have struck the wing and caused damage that could have resulted in devastating consequences.
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