Not Just British Airways 5390: Did You Know A Sichuan Airlines Jet Also Experienced A Windscreen Blowout?

Twenty-eight years after a British Airways BAC One-Eleven experienced a windscreen blowout, the same thing happened to a Sichuan Airlines Airbus A319. In this article, we will look at both incidents in detail and see if we can find similarities in the two cockpit window blowouts.

On June 10th, 1990, a 19-year-old British Airways BAC One-Eleven 528FL registered as G-BJRT experienced an explosive decompression while the aircraft was flying over Didcot, Oxfordshire. British Airways Flight 5390 was an early morning flight from Birmingham Airport (BHX) to Malaga–Costa del Sol Airport (AGP) in Spain.

Both pilots were highly experienced

In charge of the flight was 42-year-old Captain Timothy Lancaster, assisted by 39-year-old First Officer Alastair Atchison. Both pilots were highly experienced, with Captain Lancaster having logged 11,050 flight hours, including 1,075 hours on the BAC One-Eleven. Meanwhile, First Office Atchison had 7,500 flight hours, of which 1,100 were on the BAC One-Eleven. Besides the two pilots, there were four flight attendants and 81 passengers.

First Officer Alastair Atchison was in charge of the takeoff for the flight to Southern Spain. The flight departed Birmingham Airport at 08:20 local time. Once airborne and climbing, Atchison passed control of the aircraft to Captain Lancaster.

The aircraft suffered a sudden decompression

Now steadily climbing, both pilots released their shoulder harnesses, and Captain Lancaster loosened his lap belt. At 08:33 local time, while climbing past 17,300 feet as the cabin crew prepared to serve breakfast, Flight attendant Nigel Ogden opened the cockpit door and was greeted by a loud bang.

A left windscreen panel on the aircraft’s left side (Captain’s side) had separated from the aircraft, causing an explosive decompression. The incident caused Captain Lancaster to be sucked out of his seat, with the upper part of his body now outside the aircraft. Thinking quickly, Flight attendant Nigel Ogden wrapped his arms around Captain Lancaster’s waist to stop him from being sucked out of the plane.

As per his training, First Officer Atchison took control of the plane and immediately began an emergency descent. Unlike modern airliners, the aircraft was not equipped with oxygen for everyone onboard. Once the plane was down to 11,000 feet, Atchison re-engaged the autopilot and made an emergency distress call to Air Traffic Control (ATC).

However, because of the noise of the outside air rushing into the cockpit, he was unable to hear any response to his mayday. Now exhausted and freezing, Chief Steward John Heward and flight attendant Simon Rogers took over Ogden’s job of keeping the Captain’s lower body inside the aircraft. Despite believing that Lancaster was probably dead, Atchison was worried that if the Captain was sucked out of the plane, he could be ingested into one of its engines or damage the horizontal stabilizer.

The plane made an emergency landing in Southampton

Now able to communicate with ATC, Atchison was told to make an emergency landing at Southampton Airport (SOU). The aircraft landed safely at 08:55 local time, and while Captain Lancaster was still alive, he had suffered frostbite, fractures, and bruising.

An investigation into the incident found that the windscreen panel was replaced 27 hours before the flight, but the wrong size bolts were used. The undersized bolts could not stand the difference in air pressure in the cabin and the outside. Both Lancaster and Atchison later left British Airways and flew for easyJet and Jet2 before retiring.

Sichuan Airlines Flight 8633

On Monday, May 14th, 2018, a seven-year-old Airbus A319-100 suffered a similar incident to the British Airways Flight 5390, but this time, it was the co-pilot who was partially sucked out of the aircraft. Sichuan Airlines Flight 8633 was a regularly scheduled flight from Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport (CKG) to Lhasa Gonggar Airport (LXA) in Tibet.

In charge of the flight was 45-year-old Captain Liu Chuanjian, assisted by First Officer 27-year-old Xu Ruichen. Captain Chuanjian had logged 11,400 flight hours, including 9,200 on the A319, while Xu Ruichen had 2,800 flight hours, of which 1,100 were on the A319.

A radial mesh crack appeared on the right windshield panel

The aircraft took off at 06:27 hours local time. After reaching a cruising altitude of 32,000 feet, Captain Liang Peng, acting as a pilot observer, left the cockpit to sit in the cabin. At 07:07 local time, while over Xiaojin County, Sichuan, both pilots heard a strange noise only to discover a radial mesh crack on the right side windshield panel.

Captain Chuanjian immediately called Air Traffic Control (ATC) to request a descent to a lower altitude and to divert the plane to Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU). After being granted permission, Captain Chuanjian began the descent. As the aircraft was descending, the cracked windshield separated from the aircraft, and the cockpit depressurized.

The co-pilot was partially sucked out of the window

The strong airflow from the sudden decompressing sucked co-pilot Ruichen partially out of the window. Because the aircraft was over the Tanggula Mountains, where some peaks topped over 16,000 feet, Captain Chuanjian could not descend low enough to allow for normal breathing until passing over the mountains.

Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock

While making a distress call to ATC, Captain Chuanjian told ATC that he was making an emergency landing at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU). Knowing that the aircraft’s weight exceeded the aircraft’s maximum landing weight, Captain Chuanjian told the airport that he would be performing an overweight landing. As the aircraft touched down at 07:42 local time, the plane took longer than usual to stop, and by the time it came to a standstill, the tires had burst.

The co-pilot’s injuries were not as bad as the British Airways captain

Unlike the British Airways flight, where half of Captain Lancaster’s body was sucked out of the window, co-pilot Xu Ruichen was only partially out since he had his seatbelt on. Despite not being severely injured, Xu Ruichen suffered facial abrasions, a sprained wrist, and a minor injury to his right eye.

Following an investigation into the incident by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, Airbus, and Sichuan Airlines, the cause was found to be a damaged window seal. In the aftermath of the incident, Captain Liu Chuanjian was hailed as a hero and rewarded with a prize of five million yuan ($728,000).