A pilot for British Airways was sucked out of the cockpit window of his plane after the glass windowpanes shattered, with a member of the cabin crew only able to hold on to him by his ankles until the plane safely landed.
The incident, which occurred on June 20, 1990, was due to the wrong bolts being used to fit the windscreen of the plane.
The aircraft was 13 minutes into its flight from Birmingham to Malaga, at 17,300ft, when two of the cockpit windows shattered.
Cabin crew member Nigel Ogden was in the cockpit at the moment Captain Tim Lancaster was sucked up from his seat and out through the window. The flight attendant 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 Tim’s body as being ‘bent upwards’ and ‘doubled over round the top of the aircraft’, ‘in a U-shape around the windows’.
The force weakened Nigel’s arms and he started 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 over control of the plane and instructed his colleagues not to let go of Tim.
Had they have lost him through the window, the captain would have died, but his body would have caused serious damage to the plane, too.
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 first officer then prepared to make an emergency landing, with his colleagues still holding on to the captain out of the window.
The plane safely landed at Southampton Airport, with Tim being taken 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.
