It was a true miracle that Tim Lancaster experienced. Something that seems like crude fiction. But it happened: the pilot who flew hanging from the windshield of the plane at 5,000 meters above sea level experienced something incredible.
Extreme survival
He was exposed to a temperature of 17 degrees below zero and a wind that threatened to break him completely. What happened? Britsih Airways flight 5390 took off on the morning of June 10, 1990 from Birmingham to Malaga. It had 6 crew members and 81 passengers. Suddenly, something like a bomb sounded in the cabin. The windshield had burst. Tim, the pilot, was coming out for him. He was fastened to the seat belt, but only his legs were visible.
Flight attendant Nilsen Odgen reacted quickly. “I jumped over the control column and grabbed him around the waist to stop him from leaving completely. “Everything was being sucked out of the plane.” The co-pilot Atchison who took command of the plane and began to ask for help over the radio. “All I can remember is looking at Alistair Atchison, the co-pilot, struggling to control the plane and shouting Mayday! May Day! on the radio,” Ogden said.
The door that separated the pilot’s cabin from the passenger cabin also detached. Captain Lancaster was still half his body outside the plane. Odgen was still holding Captain Lancaster by the belt without knowing if he was alive or dead. If he fell, he could also fall and damage the plane’s wing. It took 22 minutes from the moment the cockpit window had come off until they were able to land.
human failure
It was later discovered that the bolts holding the windshield were defective. Lancaster regained consciousness shortly after arriving at Southtampon General Hospital. He had only a few minor fractures. The crew of British Airways Flight 5390 were recognized by Queen Elizabeth II for the valuable service they provided in the air. The pilot who flew hanging from the windshield received the Polaris Award, the highest award associated with civil aviation.
Five and a half months after the accident he returned to sit in front of the controls of a passenger plane. He retired from British Airways in 2003 and flew with EasyJet until he retired in 2008, a commercial aviation legend.
