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Flight attendant reveals 'most terrifying' thing he saw after pilot was sucked out of plane at 23,000ft

Home> Lifestyle> Travel

Published 16:30 29 May 2024 GMT+1

Flight attendant reveals 'most terrifying' thing he saw after pilot was sucked out of plane at 23,000ft

'I'll never forget that sight as long as I live'

Anish Vij

Anish Vij

A flight attendant has opened up about the 'most terrifying' moment from when his pilot was sucked out of a plane at 23,000ft.

British Airways pilot Tim Lancaster - who was flying from Birmingham to Malaga back in June 1990 - somehow spent 20-long minutes hanging outside of the aircraft, carrying 81 passengers.

New fear unlocked. (X/@mrwtffacts)
New fear unlocked. (X/@mrwtffacts)

Two of the plane's six cockpit windows unexpectedly shattered and the captain was sucked out his seat and out of the plane as it travelled over Oxfordshire, UK.

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Lancaster said he was 'aware of being outside of the airplane, but that really didn't bother me a great deal'.

"What I remember most clearly was the fact that I couldn't breathe because I was facing into the airflow," he said in 2005 documentary Mayday.

He spent the next 20 minutes hanging outside of the plane as crew members desperately clung onto his ankles.

Flight attendant, Nigel Ogden, was able to rush into the cockpit to grab Lancaster's legs, just as he disappeared out of the window.

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Ogden started slipping out of the opening as well, but a second cabin crew member, John Heward, rushed into the cockpit and grabbed him by the belt, before another flight attendant strapped himself into the a pilot's chair and helped hold the chain of people down.

Meanwhile, Lancaster was exposed to the elements on the outside of the plane, holding on for dear life at 23,000ft - while co-pilot Alistair Atchinson took over the controls, shouting 'Mayday! Mayday!' into the radio.

Ogden told the Sydney Morning Herald: "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 seatbelt and all I could see were his legs.

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"I jumped over the control column and grabbed him round his waist to avoid him going out completely.

The pilot was sucked out of a plane at 23,000ft. (X/@mrwtffacts)
The pilot was sucked out of a plane at 23,000ft. (X/@mrwtffacts)

"His shirt had been pulled off his back and his body was bent upwards, doubled over round the top of the aircraft.

"His legs were jammed forward, disconnecting the autopilot, and the flight door was resting on the controls, sending the plane hurtling down at nearly 650kmh through some of the most congested skies in the world."

He continued: "I thought I was going to lose him, but he ended up bent in a U-shape around the windows.

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"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 6 feet long.

"Most terrifyingly, his eyes were wide open. I'll never forget that sight as long as I live."

Amazingly, co-pilot Atchinson managed to get the plane under control, and the aircraft eventually landed at Southampton Airport, where crew were met by the emergency services.

Even more incredibly, Lancaster managed to survive the ordeal, suffering several fractures and frostbite.

Featured Image Credit: X/@mrwtffacts

Topics: Travel, Viral

Anish Vij
Anish Vij

Anish is a Journalist at LADbible Group and is a GG2 Young Journalist of the Year 2025. He has a Master's degree in Multimedia Journalism and a Bachelor's degree in International Business Management. Apart from that, his life revolves around the ‘Four F’s’ - family, friends, football and food. Email: [email protected]

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@Anish_Vij

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