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It’s been more than three decades since British Airway’s pilot Tim Lancaster was sucked through the cockpit of his plane and incredibly lived to tell the tale, but the world is still enthralled with his story, which has featured in several documentaries and air crash investigation programmes over the years.

 

The story is one of courage and unerring bravery, and will be sure to captivate and inspire audiences for decades to come.

 

In 1990, Tim’s BA flight from Birmingham to Malaga took off as normal and he and his co-pilot, Alistair Atchinson, settled in for a routine and pleasant trip to Spain. Barely 15 minutes into the journey, while the plane was cruising 17,300 feet over Oxfordshire, the windscreen of the cockpit blew out and Tim was wrenched from his seat and sucked out of the aircraft.

 

Flight attendant Nigel Ogden was just about to step into the cabin when the force of the shattering cockpit window wrenched the door from his hands and he reacted instantly, grabbing his pilot by the legs and holding on for dear life.

 

“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 seat belt and all I could see were his legs,” Nigel explained shortly after the incident.

 

He added: “His shirt had been pulled off his back and his body was bent upwards, doubled over round the top of the aircraft”.

 

Nigel went on to describe the scenes of chaos in the cockpit: “His legs were jammed forward, disconnecting the autopilot, and the flight door was resting on the controls, sending the plane hurtling down at nearly 650 kmh through some of the most congested skies in the world.”

 

At more than 17,000 feet, frostbite began to take its toll and just before Nigel could lose his grip, fellow flight attendant John Heward stepped in and the pair miraculously kept hold.

 

Nigel said: “I thought I was going to lose him, but he ended up bent in a U-shape around the windows.

 

“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 six feet long.

 

“Most terrifyingly, his eyes were wide open. I’ll never forget that sight as long as I live.”

 

With his captain still hanging off the side of the plane, co-pilot Alistair Atchinson manoeuvred an emergency landing at Southampton Airport.

 

Incredibly, Tim suffered only minor injuries during his terrifying ordeal, including some fractures and frostbite. None of the passengers were harmed.

 

The potentially lethal accident was caused when the wrong bolts were used to secure the cockpit windscreen, the Air Accidents Investigations Branch later determined.

 

Captain Lancaster returned to the skies just five months later and Nigel was awarded the Queen’s Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air.

 

 

Images: @davidfarrier / Twitter