Buzz
Although air travel is one of the safest forms of transportation, accidents still happen. When they do—or even when danger looms—most passengers are likely to be terrified. After all, they are thousands of feet above land or sea, trapped inside a vessel with no way to escape, their lives fully in the hands of the crew.
Of course, plane crashes can be catastrophic. Whether passengers or crew members survive or perish, the trauma they endure is unforgettable, especially for those on this list who were sucked out of an airplane.
10. Jennifer Riordan
Picture yourself flying over Philadelphia at an altitude of 32,000 feet (9,753 meters). Suddenly, one of the jet's engines explodes. The window beside you shatters. You are sucked out of the airplane!
Jennifer Riordan experienced this devastating fate aboard Southwest Airlines Flight 1380 on April 17, 2018, as the plane was en route to Dallas. Although she had her seatbelt fastened, she was sucked halfway out of the aircraft. Miraculously, other passengers were able to pull her back inside. A witness to the harrowing event recalled, 'There was blood on the windows… her arms were actually out of the airplane, and her head was out of the airplane.'
Unfortunately, Riordan was critically injured. Efforts to revive her after she suffered cardiac arrest in the aftermath of the incident were unsuccessful. James Garrow, a spokesperson for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, reported that she died from blunt force trauma to her head, neck, and torso.
The explosion was triggered by a crack in the engine, caused by metal fatigue.
9. Timothy Lancaster
On June 10, 1990, British Airways Flight 5390 was flying from Birmingham, England, to Málaga, Spain, when disaster struck aboard the BAC 1-11-500, which was carrying 118 passengers and crew. The aircraft was cruising at 17,300 feet (5,273 meters) over Didcot, Oxfordshire, just before mealtime. Captain Timothy Lancaster and First Officer Alastair Atchison had relaxed and unbuckled their shoulder harnesses. Lancaster also loosened his lap belt.
Soon after, a blast occurred as the aircraft's left windshield cracked. Air pressure dropped dramatically, and the pilot was sucked out of the cockpit up to his waist, with his head and torso exposed to the brutal winds and freezing temperatures. The autopilot was disengaged, and the plane began to plunge. To make matters worse, the cockpit door had collapsed against the throttle controls, jamming them.
As Atchison struggled to regain control of the falling aircraft, flight attendant Nigel Odgen entered the cockpit and grabbed hold of Lancaster's legs. Flight attendants John Heward and Simon Rogers, who relieved Odgen when he grew exhausted, helped free Lancaster's legs from the flight controls that had trapped them, allowing Atchison to safely land the plane.
Lancaster was injured, suffering frostbite, bruises, and fractures to his hands and arms, while Ogden sustained an arm injury and a dislocated shoulder. However, the passengers and crew, including Lancaster, survived the terrifying ordeal. The cause of the near-crash? The bolts securing the windshield were too small, both in diameter and length.
8. Nigel Ogden
Pilot Lancaster wasn’t the only crew member aboard the ill-fated British Airways Flight 5390 to be sucked out of the plane. As he hurried to save Lancaster, grabbing the pilot around the waist, Ogden found himself being pulled from the cabin as well. Thankfully, fellow flight attendant John Heward rushed into the cockpit and grabbed Ogden’s belt, helping both Ogden and Lancaster survive.
It was a close call, Ogden recalled. Though he clung to Lancaster, Ogden felt his arms growing weak. He feared he might 'lose' the pilot, but Lancaster 'ended up bent in a U-shape around the windows,' his face slamming against the glass, with blood flowing from his nose and the side of his head as his arms flailed about.
'Most terrifyingly, his eyes were wide open,' Odgen added. 'I’ll never forget that sight as long as I live.'
7. Clarabelle Lansing
On April 28, 1988, under perfect weather conditions, the roof of the 18-foot-long (5.5-meter) first-class section of Aloha Airlines Flight 243 was torn off. Passengers and a flight attendant were left exposed to the freezing outside air. Captain Robert Schornstheimer and First Officer Madeline Tompkins, who were at the controls of the Boeing 737, had already made three round-trip flights that day from Honolulu to Hilo, Maui, and Kauai. All pre-flight inspections had confirmed the plane’s airworthiness.
As she was about to board, a passenger noticed a crack in the plane's fuselage. However, she didn’t report it, assuming the crew must have already noticed it. When the plane leveled off at 24,000 feet (7,315 meters), an explosion tore through the aircraft, and Tompkins saw insulation floating through the cockpit. Just like the first-class section's roof, the control cabin doors were gone! Though strapped into their seats, the passengers were battered by 300-mile-per-hour (483 km/h) winds, and they had lost access to oxygen after their overhead masks were swept away with the ceiling. Despite desperately hanging on, flight attendant Clarabelle Lansing was sucked out of the plane.
Schornstheimer attempted an emergency landing in Maui. Just as he was nearing the airport, the engine failed. Despite this, he managed to land what was left of the aircraft without causing any further injuries or fatalities. The incident stemmed from a flawed inspection of the airplane. Conducted in the dark, the inspection missed the crack in the fuselage. The whereabouts of Lansing’s body remain a mystery.
6. Elite Troops
A Navy SEAL. An Air Force Commando. An Army Green Beret. These elite U.S. forces were all sucked out of planes when they were hit by unexpected wind gusts. Consequently, some critics point to the victims' T-11 reserve parachutes, worn over their chests and deployed when the main chute fails. As journalist Kyle Remfer notes, 'Critics argue that the parachute’s fabric ripcord is more sensitive to strong winds than the 50-year-old rigs with a metal ripcord that it replaced a decade ago.'
The Air Force commando disappeared over the ocean in 2019 and was never seen again.
Green Beret Staff Sgt. Brycen Erdody narrowly avoided death in 2012, but his arm was nearly severed. He lost his helmet when a gust of wind sucked him out of an aircraft 1,250 feet (381 meters) above Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He underwent five surgeries after the incident, which also resulted in broken ribs, severe sternum injuries, a torn bicep, and nerve damage from his spine. His injured arm may have to be amputated as it permanently lost 'nerve activity.'
On June 23, 2014, over El Centro, California, Navy SEAL Chief Petty Officer Bradley Cavner tragically lost his life when a wind gust activated his reserve parachute. He collided with the aircraft’s door frame as he was pulled out of the plane.
5. Jumpmaster
A U.S. Army jumpmaster was also sucked out of an airplane while kneeling on the ramp. The exact date and other specifics of the event are unclear. However, a video capturing his sudden departure shows, through the loud roar of wind and the speed of his exit, the immense force that dragged him away when his reserve parachute deployed prematurely. This force resembles the effects of sudden cabin depressurization, regardless of its cause.
4. Juliane Koepcke
In a March 24, 2012, online BBC article, Juliane Koepcke recounted her survival after a plane crash in December 1971. While flying over the Peruvian rainforest with her mother, the plane was struck by lightning. 'The plane went into a nose-dive… it was pitch black, and people were screaming, then the deep roaring of the engines filled [her] head completely.' When the noise ceased, she found herself 'outside the plane… in freefall, strapped to [her] seat bench and hanging head-over-heels,' alone as the treetop canopy spun toward her.
Despite suffering a broken collarbone, severe leg cuts, and a torn ligament, she survived after being ejected from the airplane and falling into the dense rainforest. Six days later, her upper right arm became infested with maggots, which she managed to treat using gasoline she found in a boat along her journey. Eventually, she encountered locals who helped her return 'back to civilization.'
On January 12, she discovered that her mother had also survived the crash, but due to severe injuries, was unable to move and tragically passed away several days later. Koepcke expresses regret, stating, 'I dread to think what her last days were like.'
3. Dozens of Passengers
On May 8, 2003, a Russian Ilyushin 76 was flying over the Democratic Republic of Congo when its rear door suddenly burst open. The sudden depressurization of the cabin sent dozens of Congolese soldiers to their deaths, according to an article in the June 2, 2003, edition of Jet magazine.
Survivors who managed to hold on to the aircraft made it through the ordeal. However, the mystery of how many passengers were aboard and whether the missing individuals had seats or seat belts only complicated efforts to identify the lost. The article explained, 'People in Africa often travel on modified cargo planes with few seats, forcing most passengers to squeeze in with the cargo in the back of the plane.'
The Ilyushin 76 transport jet was en route from Kinshasa to Lubumi, carrying both troops and their families. The aircraft had a history marred by multiple accidents, which resulted in a total of 668 fatalities, as reported in the article.
2. Nine Passengers
On February 24, 1989, Lynoor Birrell found herself thrust into a nightmare while aboard United Airlines Flight 811. Sitting with her husband and four-year-old daughter in the thirteenth row, she was startled by 'a low, growling, grinding noise,' a sound that would forever mark the traumatic event she later recalled.
'I opened my eyes and saw that all the overhead baggage compartments in our section were missing, as well as the overhead movie projectors.' But the worst was yet to come. The twelve seats between Rows 8 and 10 had disappeared, along with the passengers who had occupied them. They had been forcefully sucked out through a gaping hole in the airplane's side.
Investigators later concluded that the breach in the side of the airplane resulted from 'explosive decompression triggered by the loss of a cargo door' mid-flight. The cause of the door’s failure was attributed to damage to its 'locking mechanism' from a previous flight, potentially compounded by a short-circuit that activated the latch actuators. The investigation revealed several missed chances to avert the tragedy, which claimed the lives of the nine passengers aboard the aircraft.
1. First Officer Xu
On May 14, 2018, Captain Liu Chuanjian, with First Officer Xu Ruichen and Captain Liang Peng, took off from a Chinese airport aboard Sichuan Airlines Flight 8633. As the flight progressed, the right windshield suddenly cracked, prompting a diversion to Chengdu. Moments later, the entire windshield shattered, causing the cockpit to rapidly depressurize. During the chaos, Ruichen collided with one of the controls, causing the plane to veer sharply to the right. With the autopilot off, the aircraft quickly began to descend.
Captain Chuanjian managed to regain control of the aircraft by leveling the wings, but external noise rendered communication with the ground impossible. Given the Airbus' inability to dump fuel and the lack of time to burn it off, the captain made the risky decision to land the plane. The aircraft touched down safely, though the tires exploded upon landing.
Apart from two individuals, everyone aboard survived the ordeal without serious injury. The co-pilot was partially sucked out of the cockpit, suffering facial abrasions, a minor eye injury, and a sprained wrist. Flight attendant Zhou Yanwen also sustained a wrist injury. Thankfully, the insulation inside the aircraft protected passengers from frostbite during the descent.
The incident was likely triggered by a damaged windshield seal, which caused a buildup of heat inside the glass, ultimately leading to its rupture.
Chuanjian and his crew were hailed for their bravery, with the captain receiving a reward of five million yuan (equivalent to $737,600 USD).
