Sichuan Airlines makes emergency landing after co-pilot sucked halfway out of cockpit
A Sichuan Airlines aircraft made a safe emergency landing after a windshield suddenly shattered while the plane was en route from the southern city of Chongqing to Lhasa, Tibet on Monday, causing a co-pilot to be sucked halfway out the window.
Passengers interviewed afterwards called the crew “heroes.”
Reuters also reports:
Liu Chuanjian, hailed a hero on social media after having to land the Airbus A319 manually, told the Chengdu Economic Daily his aircraft had just reached a cruising altitude of 32,000 feet when a deafening sound tore through the cockpit.
The cockpit experienced a sudden loss of pressure and drop in temperature and when he looked over, the cockpit’s right windshield was gone.
“There was no warning sign. Suddenly, the windshield just cracked and made a loud bang. The next thing I know, my co-pilot had been sucked halfway out of the window,” he was quoted as saying.
“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.”
There were 119 passengers and 9 crew members onboard. Twenty-seven went to the hospital, but there were no serious injuries.
