A British Airways pilot was sucked out of the cockpit window while travelling at 17,300 feet in the air, as his cabin crew were forced to hang onto him for dear life.
The Mirror reports that the incident, which occurred on June 20, 1990, happened as wrong bolts were used to fit the windscreens of the cockpit display.
The aircraft was only 13 minutes into its flight from Birmingham to Malaga, when two of the glass panes in the windscreen shattered open.
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Cabin crew member Nigel Ogden was in the cockpit when Captain Tim Lancaster flew out of the window, and managed to grasp the captain’s legs just before he disappeared completely.
Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, Nigel said: “There was an enormous explosion. 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 seat belt and all I could see were his legs.
"I jumped over the control column and grabbed him round his waist to avoid him going out completely.”
Nigel described that Tim's body was 'bent upwards', and ''doubled up over the top of the aircraft'. The force of the air pressure against the plane hurt Nigel's arms, and he began to get frostbite.
Believing he was going to lose his grip of Tim, a second flight attendant, John Heward, arrived at the scene and managed to grab on to Tim’s belt.
Nigel added: "His face was banging against the window with blood coming out of his nose and the side of his head, his arms were flailing and seemed about six feet long.”
Co-pilot Alistair Atchison had taken control of the airplane, and instructed the two flight attendants to keep their grip of Tim.
Alistair first conducted an emergency descent and managed to guide the plane to an altitude where the crew and passengers were able to breathe.
The co-pilot then prepared to make an emergency landing, as his colleagues continued to hold onto the captain flailing outside the window.
The plane descended and landed safely at Southampton Airport, where Tim was rushed to hospital. He survived the ordeal, sustaining a number of fractures and bruising, alongside frostbite.
All passengers on the flight were unharmed.
According to a report by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch, a fitter had used the wrong bolts to secure the windscreen 27 hours before the flight.
The full crew returned to work within weeks of the incident, with Tim flying just five months later. He stayed with BA until 2003.
Nigel was awarded the Queen’s Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air.
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