The mid-air emergencies, structural failures and split-second decisions that turned routine flights into the stories crew still talk about years later. Read at your own risk — turbulence not included.
On 10 June 1990, the cockpit windscreen on British Airways Flight 5390 — a BAC One-Eleven — blew out during the climb out of Birmingham, partially sucking the captain out of the aircraft. His crew held onto his legs for over 20 minutes as the co-pilot diverted and landed safely at Southampton. The AAIB traced the cause to windscreen retaining bolts that were the wrong size.
Read full report →Cruising at 24,000 feet, a Boeing 737's fuselage tore open above row five, ripping away eighteen feet of cabin roof. Passengers were exposed to open sky while the crew fought to bring the aircraft down safely.
Read Full Report → PDFAn uncontained engine failure on a Boeing 737 sent shrapnel into the fuselage, shattering a cabin window at cruising altitude. The crew executed an emergency descent as passengers held the injured woman beside the window.
Read full report →When a DC-10's tail engine disintegrated and severed all three hydraulic systems, the crew had no rudder, no ailerons, no elevators — only engine thrust to steer a crippled jet toward an airport that was never built to receive it.
Read Full Report → PDFQatar Airways flight QR017 from Doha to Dublin was cruising over Turkey in May 2024 when it hit sudden, severe turbulence with no storm cell in its path. Six passengers and six crew were injured, and the aircraft was met by emergency crews on landing in Dublin.
Read full report →A domestic autopilot malfunction sent an aircraft into a near-vertical dive, tearing off parts of the wing before the crew wrestled it level again just above the ground — a case investigators still cite in crew resource training.
Read Full Report → PDFA jackscrew failure caused a total loss of horizontal stabilizer control, sending an MD-80 into an inverted dive the crew fought to recover from twice before the aircraft was lost — a case that rewrote maintenance inspection rules industry-wide.
Read Full Report → PDFMinutes after Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 left Portland in January 2024, a mid-exit door plug tore off the Boeing 737 MAX 9, triggering explosive decompression. Oxygen masks dropped, a child's shirt was ripped off by the rushing air, and the crew made an emergency return to Portland. Investigators found four bolts meant to secure the plug had never been reinstalled after factory work.
Read full report →Singapore Airlines Flight 321 from London to Singapore dropped from 37,000 to 31,000 feet in about five minutes after hitting severe turbulence over Myanmar in May 2024. A 73-year-old British passenger died, dozens more were injured, and the Boeing 777 diverted to Bangkok — a tragedy that reignited the industry-wide debate over mandatory seatbelt policy.
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