Remembering when BA pilot sucked out of cockpit window was saved by colleagues

Travelling by plane can be nerve-wracking for some people. The feeling of flying rapidly through the air while tens of thousands of feet above the solid ground can make even the hardiest of us feel queasy at some points.

And despite plane crashes being incredibly infrequent, they are a regular source of fear for people who are getting ready to board. Frequent flyers are more likely to feel at ease on an aircraft, as they have been through it so many times.

It would make sense that airline staff feel the most settled when flying, especially pilots as they are literally in control up in the air. But during one routine flight in 1990, a sudden accident put a flight crew – and one pilot in particular – in a terrifying situation, The Mirror reports.

It was June 20 and British Airways were taking passengers from Birmingham to Malaga for their summer holidays. But just 13 minutes into the trip, while the plane was at 17,300ft, disaster struck.

The wrong bolts had been used to fit the cockpit windscreen and two of the windows suddenly shattered. Captain Tim Lancaster was horrifyingly sucked out from his seat and out through the recently-vacated space.

In a moment of serendipity, cabin crew member Nigel Ogden happened to be in the cockpit at that very moment. What happened next, however, was not down to luck – as the quick-thinking flight attendant grabbed the pilot’s legs before he was fully whisked into the sky.

Speaking previously to the Sydney Morning Herald, Nigel said: “There was an enormous explosion. 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. I jumped over the control column and grabbed him round his waist to avoid him going out completely.”

Nigel said that Tim’s body was “bent upwards” and “doubled over round the top of the aircraft… in a U-shape around the windows” while he clung on for his colleague’s dear life.

The sheer force dragging Tim away weakened Nigel’s arms and he began to get frostbite through the open window. Just as he was fearing he was about to lose his grip, fellow flight attendant John Heward arrived on the scene and grabbed a hold of Tim’s belt.

Nigel said: “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.”

Co-pilot Alistair Atchison had taken over control of the plane by this point and ordered his colleagues not to let go of Tim. Had they been unable to keep a firm grip on the captain, he would have died and his body would likely have seriously damaged the plane too – putting everyone on board at risk.

Alistair first conducted an emergency descent and managed to guide the plane to an altitude where the crew and passengers were able to breathe. He then prepared to make an emergency landing, all the while Nigel and John were still clinging onto Tim.

The BA aircraft safely touched down on the tarmac at Southampton Airport, with Tim being rushed to hospital. He survived the terrifying ordeal, though he sustained several fractures, severe bruising, and had developed frostbite.

All passengers on the flight were unharmed. and the full crew returned to work within weeks of the incident. Just five months later, Tim was back in the cockpit – and he stayed with BA until 2003. Nigel was awarded the Queen’s Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air.

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