The decompression pulled the captain out of the plane through the broken window, but a flight attendant held onto him.
The crew battled with the winds for 20 minutes until the second pilot, who took over control, landed the plane at the airport.
As reported: Fakta.today
The flight was completely routine. 81 passengers and 6 crew members boarded the British Airways BAC 1-11 aircraft. Flight BA5390 was scheduled from Birmingham to Malaga. The crew was absolutely certain that the plane was fine.
The BAC 1-11 had undergone complete maintenance 27 hours before departure. Among other things, the cockpit windshield had been replaced, but as it turned out later, the technician used smaller screws.
The plane was able to climb to 5.2 kilometres when the screws failed. The captain's side windshield flew out in a second. Captain Tim Lancaster, who didn't even have time to blink, was lifted out of his seat and pulled out of the plane due to the pressure difference.
Flight attendant Nigel Ogden was the first to react. He took the captain by both legs and the control was taken over by the second pilot, Alastair Atchinson.
The flight attendant sat in the pilot's seat, strapped himself in with a safety belt, and held onto the captain as strongly as possible, who was still over the deck.
This photo, taken from another plane, was seen all over the world on the same day:
Within 20 minutes, the plane safely landed at Southampton airport. Lancaster quickly recovered and, to everyone's surprise, doctors found no serious consequences.
Six months later, the pilot returned to work and continued to work until retirement.
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