Please remain seated
Captain Tim Lancaster was the pilot of British Airways Flight 5390 was a flight from Birmingham Airport in England for Málaga Airport in Spain. After going through the takeoff check list Captain Lancaster got the plane up to about 17,000 feet and leveled off. One of the flight attendants had entered the cabin when the windshield in front of the captain exploded outward and sucked the pilot right out of his seat. Fortunately, the steward was quick enough to realize what was happening and grabbed Tim’s feet and hung on, draping Tim over the cockpit roof as the plane flew on auto pilot.
“He had been sucked out of his seatbelt 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. Everything was being sucked out of the aircraft: even an oxygen bottle that had been bolted down went flying and nearly knocked my head off. I was holding on for grim death, but I could feel myself being sucked out, too.” Steward John Heward rushed in behind me and saw me disappearing, so he grabbed my trouser belt to stop me slipping further, then wrapped the captain’s shoulder strap around me. Luckily, the co-pilot, was still wearing his safety harness from take-off, otherwise he would have gone, too.’
‘I was still holding on to Tim but the pressure made him weigh the equivalent of 500 pounds. My arms were getting colder and colder and I could feel them being pulled out of their sockets. I knew I wouldn’t be able to face his family, handing them a matchbox and saying: This is what is left of your husband.” They held on to Tim while the co-pilot got the plane down low enough to breath regular air. The first officer Atchison put on his oxygen mask and managed to land the plane in 22 minutes. Everyone survived, including Lancaster, 81 passengers and four crew.
“The paramedics had Tim in the cockpit on a stretcher and I went in to see him. I went out onto the front steps and shouted at the others ‘He’s alive!’ and then I cried my eyes out.” Tim Lancaster had frostbite from exposure to the extreme cold and several fractures. Lancaster was exposed to the equivalent of 345 mph winds and 1.5 F (-17 C) temperatures. Ogden also suffered frostbite and had a dislocated shoulder. Within five months Lancaster was flying again and he became a pilot for “EasyJet.”
Funny view outside
Checking in for a flight, I was asked, “Window or Aisle?”
I asked, “Window or you’ll do what?”
This is captain speaking. one good and one bad news:
Good news: we’ve arrived 30 minutes prior to scheduled arrival time.
Bad news: someone stole our arrival gate so we have to wait 30 minutes on the tarmac.
Thanks for flying Delta.
A policeman spots a blond driving a car and knitting at the same time.
He gets her to roll down her window.
“Pull over,” he yells. “No silly,” she yells back, “It’s a scarf.”
Tower: “…and for your information, you were slightly to the left of the centerline on that approach.”
Speedbird: “That is correct; and my First Officer was slightly to the right.”
March 19th Birthdays
1964 – Mary Scheer, 1991 – Maddy Hill, 1996 – Julia Montes, 1988 – Josie Loren
1955 – Bruce Willis, 1988 – Clayton Kershaw, 1959 – Andy Reid, 1848 – Wyatt Earp