The CRUX: True Survival Stories

The Pilot Who Was Sucked Out of His Own Plane at 17,000 Feet | E 166


Listen Later

Get ready for the most unbelievable survival story you've ever heard. Hosts Kaycee McIntosh and Julie Henningsen deliver a jaw-dropping tale that sounds like Hollywood fiction but is 100% real—and it happened at 400 mph, 17,000 feet above ground.

Picture this: June 10th, 1990. British Airways Flight 5390. Thirteen minutes after takeoff, the cockpit windscreen explosively blows out, and Captain Tim Lancaster gets literally sucked halfway out of the aircraft. For 22 agonizing minutes, he's pinned against the fuselage—outside a commercial airliner—while his crew desperately holds onto his legs and fights to land the plane.

This isn't just a survival story—it's a masterclass in:

  • Split-second decision making under impossible pressure
  • How tiny maintenance errors can cascade into life-or-death emergencies
  • The extraordinary power of human resilience and teamwork
  • What happens to the human body at extreme altitude (spoiler: it's not pretty)
  • Why aviation safety procedures exist—and what happens when they fail
  • Kaycee and Julie break down this incredible true story minute-by-minute, from the catastrophic windscreen failure to the heroic actions of First Officer Alistair Atkinson and flight attendant Nigel Ogden. You'll learn about the physics of explosive decompression, the investigation that revealed shocking maintenance failures, and how Captain Lancaster somehow survived conditions that should have killed him in minutes.

    Key Timestamps:

    • 00:00- Case Knives
    • 00:33 - Welcome & Story Introduction
    • 03:32 - Setting the Scene: June 10th, 1990
    • 08:13 - The Explosion: Windscreen Blows Out
    • 15:56 - First Officer Takes Control
    • 20:47 - Emergency Landing at Southampton
    • 23:44 - Captain Lancaster's Miraculous Recovery
    • 26:56 - Investigation: The Maintenance Failures
    • 31:27 - The Science: What Happens to Your Body at Altitude
    • 40:23 - Lessons Learned & Aviation Changes
    • ...more
      View all episodesView all episodes
      Download on the App Store

      The CRUX: True Survival StoriesBy Kaycee McIntosh, Julie Henningsen, Bleav

      • 3.8
      • 3.8
      • 3.8
      • 3.8
      • 3.8

      3.8

      323 ratings


      More shows like The CRUX: True Survival Stories

      View all
      How I Survived by Pacific Podcast Network

      How I Survived

      814 Listeners

      American Scandal by Wondery

      American Scandal

      18,779 Listeners

      I Survived by A&E / PodcastOne

      I Survived

      5,740 Listeners

      Not Today by Not Today

      Not Today

      973 Listeners

      Against The Odds by Wondery

      Against The Odds

      7,610 Listeners

      Get Out Alive by Ashley Bray

      Get Out Alive

      185 Listeners

      Short History Of... by NOISER

      Short History Of...

      2,589 Listeners

      I Was Prey by Animal Planet

      I Was Prey

      172 Listeners

      Detectives Don't Sleep by NOISER

      Detectives Don't Sleep

      447 Listeners

      Real Survival Stories by NOISER

      Real Survival Stories

      1,184 Listeners

      Marooned by Aaron Habel & Jack Luna

      Marooned

      752 Listeners

      Rescue by Sony Music Entertainment

      Rescue

      429 Listeners

      The Spy Who by Wondery

      The Spy Who

      554 Listeners

      D-Day: The Tide Turns by NOISER

      D-Day: The Tide Turns

      280 Listeners

      Extreme by BBC

      Extreme

      102 Listeners