"Dave Doe" wrote in message
. nz...
In article ,
says...

Hi. I need help with some data. Today, the plane carrying our
country's president had to get back to the aiport because a crack
appeared
in a window. This made front page of evening newspapers and stirred up
a heated discussion in local newsgroups.

That said, one of the regulars says a pilot died in a similar
incident in 1998 when a windshield on a 747 fell off and the pilot was
sucked and froze to death. Is it true? I googled a lot and could only
find
links to 'Lost' series websites...

Any mythbusters on site?

It *did* happen - but guess what, the pilot survived (dunno if it was a
747 though).

The co-pilot did a fantastic job of bringing the plane down to below
10,000' (give the guy hangin' out the window (the captain) a chance!) -
and then landed sucessfully. The captain made a full recovery.

I'm sure someone will dig up the reference.


Duncan, You are thinking of:

http://www.planecrashinfo.com/unusual.htm

06/10/1990

British Airways
BAC-111

On a flight from Birmingham, England to Malaga, Spain, at FL 173, a large
section of windshield fell away from the aircraft. The decompression pulled
the captain out from under his seatbelt. Despite trying to hold onto the
yoke, the captain was sucked out into the opening. A steward in the cockpit
was able to grab hold of his legs. Another steward was able to strap himself
into the vacant seat and aid in holding onto the captain's legs. The copilot
wearing full restraints made an emergency landing at Southampton. The
captain remained half way out of the aircraft for 15 minutes and suffered
only frostbite and some fractures. Improper bolts used to replace the
windshield two days earlier resulted in the accident.