Co-pilot saved by seatbelt

Praise for ‘hero’ captain who safely landed airliner after cockpit windshield blows out

The plane was shaking so hard I could not read the gauges

THE co-pilot of a Sichuan Airlines flight that was forced to make an emergency landing on Monday was sucked halfway out of the plane after a cockpit windshield blew out. The pilot, who made an emergency landing in southwest China, was hailed as a hero by astonished citizens yesterday.

All 128 people aboard the Airbus A319 of Sichuan Airlines survived – including the co-pilot, whose seatbelt pulled him back into the ruptured cockpit.

Pilot Liu Chuanjian braved the intense cold and blasting wind to slow the airliner from its speed of about 800km/h to land in about 20 minutes.

Chuanjian said the plane had just reached a cruising altitude of 9 800m when there was a deafening sound in the cockpit.

The cockpit experienced a sudden loss of pressure and drop in temperature and when he looked over, its right windshield was gone.

“There was no warning sign. Suddenly, the windshield cracked and made a loud bang,” Chuanjian said.

“The next thing I knew, my co-pilot had been sucked halfway out of the window.

“Everything in the cockpit was floating in the air.

“Most of the equipment malfunctioned and I couldn’t hear the radio.

“The plane was shaking so hard I could not read the gauges.”

The co-pilot, who was wearing a seatbelt, was pulled back inside.

He suffered scratches and a sprained wrist, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said.

One other cabin crew member was also injured in the descent.

The aviation administration said France’s BEA accident investigation agency and Airbus would send staff to China to investigate, according to CAAC News, which is affiliated to the aviation regulator.

Sichuan Airlines Flight 3U8633 left the central Chinese municipality of Chongqing on Monday bound for the Tibetan capital of Lhasa.

It made its emergency landing in the southwest city of Chengdu.

“The crew were serving us breakfast when the aircraft began to shake,” an unnamed passenger told the government-run China News Service.

“We didn’t know what was going on and we panicked. “Then the oxygen masks dropped. “We experienced a few seconds of free fall before it stabilised again.

“I’m still nervous. I don’t dare to take an airplane anymore.

“But I’m also happy I had a narrow escape.” The windshield shattered about half an hour after the plane had taken off, the Chengdu Economic Daily said.

A separate report said the aircraft had accumulated 19 912 flight hours since entering service at Sichuan Airlines in July 2011.

The CAAC also said the windshield was part of the original aircraft and had no previously recorded faults.

Incidents involving cracked windshields do happen on a regular basis due to bird or lightning strikes but ones involving entire windshields coming off are rare.

In 1990, one of the pilots on British Airways Flight 5390 was blown partially out of the cabin window after its windshield blew out at 7 000m.

He survived the incident, which occurred on a BAC-111 jet.