A miracle on board British Airways Flight 5390
The story began on June 10, 1990, when British Airways Flight 5390 took off from Birmingham, England, in the United Kingdom, heading toward Malaga, Spain, with 81 passengers and four crew members on board. Without any problems, he was flying in the sky normally for 20 minutes. Suddenly, the passengers heard an explosion as a result of the left windshield of the cockpit separating from the plane. To explain the picture further, the situation is as if a person was driving his car and its windshield was damaged. It flew suddenly, with the difference that in the case of that plane, the plane was traveling at a speed of 805 kilometers per hour and at an altitude of seven kilometers above the ground. As a result, the plane's pilot, Captain Timothy Lancaster, was snatched from his seat and sucked through the missing cabin window.
A British Airways plane made an emergency landing in Southampton. Emergency personnel assisted in safely unloading Captain Lancaster and transporting him to hospital. All crew members and four passengers also went to hospital to receive treatment for shock and were later released after being examined at the same time.
To-day Lancaster had a broken elbow, wrist and thumb, and frostbite in one hand, while Nigel Ogden had a dislocated shoulder, also frostbite, and some damage to his left eye, but other than that, he was unhurt and was sent out. Another plane headed to Southampton Airport, where all but seven passengers boarded it to complete their journey to Malaga.
Fortunately, the British Airways accident did not result in any deaths at all, and this fact alone is astonishing, but the credit goes to the crew’s quick reaction and good management to confront this problem, as the company’s official spokesman said. “Anthony Cocklin said that the crew was Excellent. In dealing with this matter, they have nothing but praise for them because they were a wonderful example of vigilance and they are very proud of what they did. Within five months, pilot Nemothy Lancaster was back at work and flying again. Ogden also returned to work and retired in 2001.
A technical report was issued explaining that the cause of the accident was the result of installing the window screen and attaching it with very small and inappropriate screws, which led to its separation during the flight and the plane falling. The explosion was caused by throwing a window, which is what caused this accident.