When Things Go Wrong At 35,000 Feet

It is something we think will never happen to us. It is safer to fly now than ever. But is it really? Those of us who work the industry knows there can be sever turbulence which can cause severe injuries. We pray that we see that aircraft back from it’s flight. We worry about the passengers and crew getting to their destination safely. We worry about the children flying alone and no one to cling to in scary moments. We have had some scary moments the last several years involving aviation disasters or near disasters.

Several years ago a woman was partially sucked out of a Southwest Airlines airplane mid flight. There were paramedics onboard, but the woman passed away. Luckily the captain was able to get plane landed without further incident. This is one of the most famous ones, Captain Sulley landing his Airbus 320 with no engines. Everyone says that was difficult and had to be precise. You are partially right, Captain Sulley also has a hang gliders license. He can fly a hang glider so that was like flying one of those to him. Into the Hudson they landed and everyone survived.

July 19,1989, Captain Al Haines and crew are leaving Denver for Philadelphia, stopping in Chicago. Al is flying the United DC-10–10 series aircraft. He has over 29,000 hours of flying time. As they are around 35,000 feet they develop problems with engine number two, which causes them to have no control over the aircraft. There are 285 passenger and 11 crew on board. They check the manual and there is no procedure in the book. The aircraft is controlled…