AI’s reconstruction of the 1990 incident in which British Airways captain was pulled halfway out of the cockpit
A British Airways captain was nearly pulled out of his aircraft after a cockpit window shattered at 24,000 feet during a flight from England to Spain in June 1990. The incident took place on June 10, 1990, aboard British Airways flight 5390, according to Associated Press’ then report. The BAC-111 aircraft had taken off from Birmingham and was heading to Malaga, Spain, with 81 passengers and six crew members on board. Captain Tim Lancaster, 41, was flying the aircraft with co-pilot Alistair Atchison, 39. The aircraft landed safely at around 9 am, ending an emergency that had put the captain’s life at risk.
As the aircraft lost pressure, the force pulled the pilot’s upper body through the broken window. A British Airways spokesman described the crew’s response to the incident in comments reported by United Press International.
British Airways officials said they did not immediately know why the windscreen had shattered. Two crew members held on to him while the co-pilot took control and prepared for an emergency landing. Meanwhile, Atchison took control of the aircraft and made an emergency call. He turned the plane around and prepared to land at Southampton Airport. The emergency landing allowed the passengers and crew to leave the aircraft safely. However, the incident had left several people shaken. The incident raised questions about what had caused the cockpit window to break during the flight. Civil aviation investigators began examining the aircraft to establish the cause.