BA Flight 5390 Accident

danielsexton

danielsexton

Well-Known Member
I hadn't heard of this accident before tonight, I caught a special on National Geographic about it.


Summary: Maintenance replaced a windscreen and used a bolt that was too small; it came out at 27,000 feet and sucked the captain out. The fa's held on his feet for 22 minutes while the f/o landed the plane with no O2. The CAPTAIN SURVIVED!

http://aviation-safety.net/database/1990/900610-1.htm

Amazing story.
 
Wouldn't you have run into explosive decompression (the SCUBA in me comes out) @ that altitude? I checked the link and the text actually says 17K. A little more realistic, but still a very amazing none the less! Thanks for the link!
 
i thought 27k, maybe my error. But yeah it was the explosive decompression that sucked him out the window. On the show his feet got hung on the yoke which held him until the fa's got to him and and also caused the plane to go into a dive. I thought the f/o recovered from the dive at 17k.
 
Read about this once before, it is quite amazing. Wherever I read it said that the pieces of glass fell onto a farm area. Great work by the FO and FA!
 
Regardless of the actual altitude the captain must have made some serious karma bank deposits in the past... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
I remember watchin this little show called "Myth Busters" its on every week I think, They did a show on if it was true if a window broke or something in a plane, would you be sucked out. They did a bunch of tests and stuff and at the end they said its not possible..
 
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They did a bunch of tests and stuff and at the end they said its not possible..

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Oh, well then they must be right..... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
 
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They did a bunch of tests and stuff and at the end they said its not possible..

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Oh, well then they must be right..... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

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Actually.... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
That was different. They were trying to see if explosive decompression would occur if you just shattered a window or something like that.

In this case, the entire windscreen came off. That is something completely different.

Also, people have died due to structural failure. There was an FA on a flight operated by either Aloha or Hawaiian who got sucked out of the plane when the top half ripped off. And a Japanese businessman died when a terrorist tried to blow up a plane over the Pacific.
 
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I remember watchin this little show called "Myth Busters" its on every week I think, They did a show on if it was true if a window broke or something in a plane, would you be sucked out. They did a bunch of tests and stuff and at the end they said its not possible..

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I took a smoke and fumes evac class at the FAA center in OKlahoma City..They showed a video where they had a crash test dummy sitting(unbuckled) in a chair, and the window was broken, it sucked the dummy right out.He came out so quick that it was shown in slow motion. Keep in mind this was a "rapid D". Im sure it was done from a high altitude as well. •!, for the next few flights, unless I was back in the galley makign myself some hot wings, I was sitting in the seat with my harness on.
 
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But yeah it was the explosive decompression that sucked him out the window.

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Nobody gets "sucked' out of a pressurized airplane when you lose a window, they get "blown" out... It is the high pressure air in the cabin that is searching for the low pressure on the outside, if you are in the way, you are going with...
 
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I remember watchin this little show called "Myth Busters" its on every week I think, They did a show on if it was true if a window broke or something in a plane, would you be sucked out. They did a bunch of tests and stuff and at the end they said its not possible..

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I saw that episode. But this actually did happen, they even had the pilot and two of the f/a's on the show. They said that the f/o, whos is still flying for BA, "chose not to particiapte". I remember while watching the myth busters show thinking "I wonder how acurately that can simulate pressure on that old junker plane?" Maybe they should try there experiment again this time at 17,000 feet /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif Great Show, though I always like it when i catch it on. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
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Regardless of the actual altitude the captain must have made some serious karma bank deposits in the past... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

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Probably made some "karma" deposits in his pants at the time.
 
I remember this incident well. Somebody got some pictures of the guy hanging out the window as they were landing. This generated a lot of discussion in cockpits about whether or not our captains could count on junior crew members to hold on to them if they were getting sucked out the window. The consensus was probably not.

Comes to mind the scene in a Fish Called Wanda where Otto is hangin Archie out the window and telling him to: "apologize". Except the request would be to promise to "retire". /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
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