The Miracle of BA5390 - ThePlaneSpottersCommunity

First Officer Alastair Atchison left BA shortly after. He joined Jet2 and subsequently promoted to captain. Retiring in June 2015, on his 65th birthday, his ... HomeBlog DisplayBlog AircraftDB CountryRegister Reference AirportMovementsAirportsDeliveriesMuseums WhatYouGetGetInTouchGDPRPrivacy Menu HomeBlog—DisplayBlogAircraftDB—CountryRegisterReference—AirportMovements—Airports—Deliveries—MuseumsWhatYouGetGetInTouchGDPRPrivacy LogIn SignUp A+ A A-    Stillworthyofamentionforthe31stAnniversary! At0820localtimeonSunday10June1990,BritishAirwaysBAC1-11registrationG-BJRTtookofffromBirminghamInternational,boundforMalaga.Onboardwere6crewand81passengers.Whilsttheaircraftwasstillclimbing,bothpilotsreleasedtheirshoulderharnesses;thecaptainalsoloosenedhislapbelt.   Approximately15minutesaftertake-off,therewasaloudbangasoneofthecabincrewenteredtheflightdeck.Theleftwindscreenhadseparatedfromthefuselage.CaptainTimLancasterwasforcedoutofhisseatbytherapiddecompression.Propelledhead-first;hiskneesbecametrappedintheflightcontrolswhilsthisupperbodyremainedoutsidetheaircraft. The autopilothaddisengaged,causingtheaircrafttodescendrapidly. Theflightdeckdoor,blowninwardontothecontrolconsole,nowblockedthethrottlecontrol.Thiscausedtheaircrafttogainspeedasitdescended.Papersanddebrisblewintotheflightdeckfromthepassengercabin.StewardNigelOgdenrushedtograbLancaster'sbeltwhilehisothertwocolleaguesJohnHewardandSimonRogerssecuredlooseobjects,reassuredpassengersandinstructedthemtobraceinanticipationofanemergencylanding.Theircolleague,SueGibbinsassistedattheaircraftrear. Theaircraftwasnotequippedwithsufficientoxygenmasksforallthepassengers.FirstOfficerAlastairAitchisonbeganarapidemergencydescent,thenre-engagedtheautopilotandmadeadistresscall.Atfirst,hewasunabletohearAirTrafficControl’sresponseduetowindnoise.WithOgdennowsufferingfromfrostbiteandexhaustion,hiscolleaguestookoverholdingthecaptain’slegs.Onehadstrappedhimselfintotheobserver’sseattomaintainasecurehold.Theyalsomanagedtodislodgehisanklesfromtheflightcontrolsashehadnowmovedfurtheroutside.Believingthecaptainwasdead,FirstOfficerAtchisonissuedinstructionsnottoletgo,fearingfurtherdamagetotheaircraft.Althoughconcernedtherunwaywasnotsuitableforanoverweightaircraft,itlandedsafelyatSouthampton20minutesaftertheincident.Policefoundthewindscreenandmanyofthe90boltsnearCholsey,Oxfordshire.It’sbelievedthatCaptainLancaster’sjacketwasalsofoundbyadogwalkerinthesamearea. Duringtheinvestigation,theAAIBfoundthat84boltswereoftheincorrectsizewhenthewindscreenwasreplaced27hoursearlier.Thepreviousonealsofittedwithincorrectbolts;thereplacementworkdoneonalike-for-likebasis.Noreferencehadbeenmadetomaintenancedocumentation.Staffabsences,failuretocheckworkandpoormanagementpracticesatBABirminghamalsocitedascontributingfactors. FirstOfficerAlastairAtchison,cabincrewSusanGibbinsandNigelOgdenwereawardedthe Queen'sCommendationforValuableServiceintheAir.There’snorecordofwhyJohnHewardandSimonRogersdidnotreceivethesamerecognition. Atchisonwasawardeda1992 PolarisAward forhisabilityandheroism.Amodestman,hedeclinedtoparticipateinensuingdocumentaries.  CaptainTimLancasterreturnedtoworklessthanfivemonthsaftertheincident.HeleftBAin2003,joiningEasyJetthenretiredfromcommercialflyingin2008.FirstOfficerAlastairAtchisonleftBAshortlyafter.HejoinedJet2andsubsequentlypromotedtocaptain.RetiringinJune2015,onhis65thbirthday,hisfinalflightfromAlicantetoManchester.Manymoremediareportsweregeneratedduringthe30thanniversaryin2020.Inoneoftherareinterviewsrecorded,CaptainAtchisoncommented“hewasonlydoinghisjob”.Ononediscussionboard,manycontributorsobserved“heneveropenlytalkedabouttheincident;onlyadmittinghisparticipationwhenaskeddirectly”. TheATCrecordingtranscriptmakesinterestingreading.Whenthebroadcastswereunclear,variousaircraftofferedassistance.UnderthecontrolofLATCCwhentheemergencywasdeclared,PAA34suggestedactingasintermediary.EIN522thenpassedacoupleofmessagesbetweenLATCCandBA5390.Initially,FirstOfficerAtchisonwantedtoheadforGatwick,thenchangedhismindandacceptedSouthampton.Britannia224AconfirmedtoLATCCthatBA5390wastalkingtoSouthampton.Itwasincorrectlyassumedtheonlyproblemwasdepressurisation.Atthispoint,FirstOfficerAtchisonopenlyassumedthecaptainwasdead.Herequestedatwentymilegentleapproach.Nineminutesfromtouchdown,questionswereaskedabouttherunwaylength.Twominuteslaterandemergencyservicesrequested,SouthamptonATCcontinuedtotalktheaircraftdownuntiltheaircraftwasvisualwiththerunway.   InformationcourtesyofWikipedia,HistoricWings,AAIBATCTranscript(Reportref1/1992) Imagescourtesyofbreval.co.in,Hardlandings.com,Admiralcloudberg.com andtoomanyothersourcestomention! Tweet LogIn orSignUp Username Password Forgotyourpassword?/Forgotyourusername?