Co-pilot has lucky escape after mid-air incident

A Chinese co-pilot was sucked half-way out of his plane when its windscreen blew out at 32,000ft.

Captain Liu Chuanjian said the Airbus A319 had been cruising mid-air when the incident happened.

“There was no warning,” he told the Chengdu Economic Daily. “The windshield just cracked and made a loud bang. The next thing I knew, my copilot had been sucked halfway out.”

The co-pilot was wearing a seatbelt and was able to be dragged back into the cockpit, where pressure had dropped and the equipment was failing.

The plane plunged suddenly to 24,000ft before the pilot was able to stabilise the aircraft. Sichuan Airlines 3U8633 was en route from Chongqing in China to Lhasa in Tibet when the incident happened.