British Airways captain 'sucked out of cockpit window' on flight BA5390 as heroic crew member steps in

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A British Airways flight to Malaga had been in the air for less than 20 minutes when disaster struck 34 years ago.Captain Tim Lancaster and co-captain Alistair Atchison set off from Birmingham Airport in flight BA5390 on June 20, 1990, believing everything was as normal.However, after roughly 13 minutes, at 23,000ft, their journey soon turned into a nightmare after two of the six cockpit windows shattered, creating a huge hole in the jetliner, which was travelling at a speed of 400mph, reports the Mirror.Captain Tim Lancaster was hauled from his seat and sucked out of the open window, as his torso and head violently slammed against the plane's exterior.

It was the quick thinking of flight attendant Nigel Ogden in the ensuing moments which managed to save the captain's life and gain him national hero status, during one of the most terrifying events in British aviation history.

Whilst the flight flew over Oxfordshire, Nigel heard an 'enormous explosion' which he believed was a bomb after entering the cockpit to serve tea to the pilots.

However, within seconds, the fast-acting steward found himself holding onto his captain's legs as his body disappeared out the cockpit window.The shocking ordeal happened as a windshield malfunctioned and detached, leaving a massive hole in the aircraft, through which the captain was sucked out, his lower body still inside the plane, reports Coventry Live.Nigel detailed the chilling details to Birmingham Live, saying: "All I could see were his legs," as the captain flapped outside the window "flapping around like a rag doll." The decompression threw the cockpit door off its hinges and almost sent flight attendant Nigel tumbling before he quickly performed a heroic act by grabbing and holding