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Embark on a captivating journey as we unveil amazing stories from the aviation world.
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00:02Have you ever watched an action-packed Hollywood film where an airplane gets a hole in its side
00:07and everyone starts freaking out? Stuff starts flying all over the place and people are barely
00:13staying in their seats. Well, in real life, a small hole in the plane's body isn't going to
00:19cause that much drama. However, I have an incredible story to tell you about a pilot
00:23who actually managed to land a plane with half of its roof missing. Can you believe it?
00:28Make sure your seatbelt is fastened because this one is going to be a wild ride.
00:34On April 28, 1988, a Boeing 737 owned by Aloha Airlines took off from Hilo International Airport
00:43en route to Honolulu. Before this flight, the plane had already flown three short trips from Honolulu
00:49to Hilo, Maui and Kauai. Everything was chill that day and the weather was nice and calm.
00:54It looked like smooth sailing all the way.
00:59The captain of the flight was Robert Shorn Steimer and the co-pilot was Madeline Tompkins.
01:05Both experienced pilots with thousands of flight hours in the Boeing 737. Bright and early that
01:10morning, before taking off from Honolulu, Madeline did the regular pre-flight inspection and said
01:16that everything was good to go. At 11 a.m., they took off from Honolulu and went to Maui,
01:22then Hilo. When they got to Hilo, they didn't leave the cockpit or check the plane from the
01:27outside. It wasn't a requirement, so why bother? At 1.25 p.m., the plane took off for the final
01:34leg
01:34of the round trip, with 95 people on board. 89 passengers, two pilots, three flight attendants,
01:41and an FAA traffic controller who sat in the observer seat in the cockpit. The plane had taken
01:47off like normal and reached its cruising altitude of 24,000 feet without any hiccups. But then,
01:5326 miles from Kahului, things went totally haywire. The pilots heard a loud whooshing sound followed
02:00by a crack, and then a rush of wind that was so loud it was deafening. Turns out, a small
02:07section
02:07of the roof on the left side had come loose, causing the plane to decompress explosively.
02:12And to make matters even worse, the decompression caused a chain reaction that led to a huge chunk
02:18of the plane's roof ripping off completely. That missing part was a massive 18.5 feet long and was
02:25part of the skin that covered the plane from the cockpit all the way back to the four-wing area.
02:29The pilots didn't have a clue what was going on when the disaster struck. The first officer,
02:35who was the one in charge of the plane at that time, suddenly felt her head snap back,
02:39and then she saw a bunch of gray insulation and debris flying around the cockpit like it was a
02:44tornado. Meanwhile, the captain took a look around and was shocked to see that the cockpit door was
02:50nowhere to be seen, and instead of the first-class ceiling, he was staring straight up at the sky.
02:56The plane started to tilt from side to side, making it challenging to keep it under control.
03:02The crew in the cockpit quickly put on their oxygen masks, and the captain took over control
03:07of the plane. He then initiated an emergency descent towards the nearest airport on Maui Island.
03:13Luckily, all the passengers were seated, and most of them had their seatbelts fastened since the
03:19seatbelt sign was still on. Unfortunately, the three flight attendants were caught off guard.
03:25One of them was near the hole and was pulled out of the plane. The other two were thrown to
03:29the
03:29floor, with one of them hitting her head hard and losing consciousness. The third attendant tried to
03:35help the passengers and keep them calm. At the same time, the pilots were desperately trying to let
03:41air traffic control know that they were in trouble. But there were communication problems even between
03:46themselves due to the loud noise and the fact that they were wearing oxygen masks. They had to resort to
03:53hand signals to understand each other. Moreover, they were unsure whether their messages were being
03:58heard by ATC. The plane's controls were not responding properly, which made the captain's job
04:03of flying the plane even harder. The first officer was doing her best to assist the captain and
04:10communicate with the tower. It was only after the plane descended to an altitude of 14,000 feet that the
04:16controller finally received their distress call and immediately started making arrangements for an
04:21emergency landing. The control tower wasn't prepared for a situation like this though. In fact, the tower
04:27had to call 911, just like any other regular person would do in case of an emergency. The problem was
04:34that
04:34the controller didn't understand the severity of the situation, and they didn't realize that the
04:39passengers and crew members would need medical help. This was because the crew had only reported a rapid
04:45decompression and hadn't explained the entire situation in detail.
04:51The plane was in a very bad mess, but the captain was doing everything he could to safely land the
04:56plane. As they descended towards the airport, the captain commanded the first officer to lower the
05:01landing gear, but the indicator light didn't turn on. The plane also had an issue with the left engine,
05:06which failed as they approached the runway. Despite these problems, the captain used the reverse thrust
05:12of the working engine to try and land the plane. It was a difficult and dangerous task, but they managed
05:18to land the plane safely on the runway. The passengers and crew members were then evacuated from the plane.
05:24It was a miracle that everyone survived, however 65 people were injured. They had been hit by debris and
05:30pieces of the plane's body that were flying around. Unfortunately, the ground staff wasn't aware of the
05:36severity of the situation and didn't have enough resources to provide immediate medical assistance
05:41to the injured passengers. The first ambulance arrived seven minutes after the plane landed,
05:46which wasn't an ideal scenario. Furthermore, there were only two ambulances on the entire island,
05:52which couldn't accommodate all the injured people. As a result, tour vans were used to transport the
05:58passengers to the hospital. Fortunately, two drivers who were former paramedics provided immediate
06:04first aid to the injured right on the runway. Meanwhile, the airport mechanics and office
06:09staff took the vans to the hospital, which was located three miles away. Despite the chaotic and
06:15stressful circumstances, only eight people suffered severe injuries, but they all later made a full
06:19recovery. The plane was in really bad shape, though, and it was no wonder it couldn't handle the stress of
06:28the decompression incident. Despite its age not being a problem, it had experienced a whole lot
06:33of takeoffs and landings, which took a toll on its integrity. The salty and humid environment it operated
06:39in only added to the damage. You see, planes are designed to withstand a certain number of flight
06:45cycles, and this plane had exceeded that number by a long shot. The majority of its flights were short
06:51domestic ones, which meant it had to take off and land way more times than it was designed for.
06:55This is what ultimately led to the roof coming off during the flight. The poor condition of the
07:00plane meant that it was beyond repair and had to be dismantled right there at the airport.
07:05What's interesting is that in an interview after the accident, one passenger recalled that she had
07:11noticed a crack in the plane's fuselage while she was boarding. She didn't tell the flight crew about it
07:16because she didn't think it was worth it, so they didn't know to check it. It's important to remember
07:22that these types of accidents are very rare nowadays. Major airlines and airports take
07:27numerous steps to ensure safety, and according to Harvard University, the chances of being in an
07:32airplane accident are about 1 in 1.2 million. That's a tiny percentage, and I don't know about
07:38you, but I find that very comforting. And even if something did happen, such as the roof of the plane
07:44coming off, it's reassuring to know that the pilots are trained to handle emergencies and can still land
07:49the plane safely.
07:56Now, here's something scary. You're hanging in the air at an altitude of 30,000 feet. Frightening? Okay,
08:04let me make it better. The altitude is the same, but you're inside a large metal tube of an aircraft.
08:10Your flight is a really long one, and now, six cups of water later, you feel the urge to visit
08:16the
08:16bathroom. But the line is so long. Suddenly, a rather geeky thought bubbles up in your mind.
08:23Hmm, each of these people is going to flush the toilet after using it. But how can a plane carry
08:28so
08:29much water? And, uh, where does all that waste go? Surely, it doesn't get dumped mid-flight upon
08:35pre-selected cities along the way, splattering all over the ground, and... Okay, that's enough.
08:41One pilot has revealed secretly, all the waste goes through special plumbing to the rear of the plane.
08:48There, it's stored in sealed compartments. When the plane arrives at its destination, the ground crew
08:53removes all that waste. On a long-haul flight, toilets can be flushed more than a thousand times,
08:59which creates up to 320 gallons of waste. Now, about that water. Have you ever seen a toilet bowl filled
09:06with water on a plane?
09:08No. That's because on a plane, you use a vacuum toilet. It's not your regular home toilet bowl filled with
09:15water.
09:15When you flush this good old toilet, a siphon drains the bowl, and gravity then carries the water further into
09:22the sewer system.
09:23But this approach won't work on an aircraft, because it's moving. The water would splash out through the whole flight,
09:30especially when the plane is flying through a region of turbulence. But if there's no water, you can't use gravity
09:36or siphon to empty the toilet bowl.
09:38Instead, when you flush, a valve opens in the sewer line, and the vacuum pulls the waste out of the
09:45bowl into a special tank.
09:46And since the vacuum does all the work, there's almost no need for water, or rather bright blue sanitizing liquid
09:53they use in planes.
09:55That's why such a system needs just half a gallon of fluid, or even less, for one flush.
10:00In comparison, a water-saving toilet uses 1.6 gallons, and a regular toilet needs 5 gallons of liquid.
10:08Okay, we've figured out how planes deal with all that waste accumulating during the flight.
10:12But let's imagine another situation, a cracked cockpit windshield. The thing is, such a windshield consists of two panes of
10:21thick glass with a plastic layer for heating in between.
10:24Either of these panes can hold the full pressure if something happens to the other. So even if a windshield
10:30cracks, the airplane remains safe.
10:33This happens very infrequently, but when it does, pilots usually descend to reduce the pressure on the windshield, and if
10:40necessary, change their itinerary.
10:43Okay, now, let's speak about what we can do if there's a dangerous snake in the cockpit.
10:48Now, you might say, I'm making this up, or I saw it in that Samuel L. Jackson movie, but it
10:54was a real situation.
10:55A South African pilot had flown a small plane with four passengers to an altitude of 11,000 feet,
11:02when he noticed something that was, shall we say, by no means supposed to be inside, a cobra slithering under
11:09his seat.
11:10For a second, he was just staring at the reptile.
11:13Then, not wanting to cause panic, the pilot very calmly told his companions about the unticketed stowaway.
11:20The plane had to make an emergency landing.
11:25In this case, the pilot decided to be honest with his passengers.
11:29But sometimes, pilots choose to replace the words that make certain people nervous, like turbulence, with other, much more innocent
11:37expressions.
11:38And if you want to be in the know, pay attention to the following signs.
11:42If a pilot tells the cabin crew to sit down, a patch of bumpy road is ahead.
11:47Another expression you should be on the lookout for is, we're flying through an air pocket.
11:52This air pocket is just another word for the winds jostling your plane from different directions.
11:58But here's the thing, the term air pocket causes way less panic than turbulence.
12:03And there's also the area of weather.
12:06This phrase usually means heavy rain or a thunderstorm, not far from a flying plane.
12:12So, don't be surprised if your captain says, there's an area of weather ahead, we're going to fly around it.
12:18Oh, and since we started on the mysterious language pilots use, here are some more examples.
12:23You can overhear a pilot saying, George is flying the plane.
12:27And no, they don't mean their colleague.
12:29That's how the plane's autopilot system is called.
12:32George is programmed to follow a certain route, taking into consideration the weather conditions, turbulence, and altitude.
12:39Pilots normally use the autopilot after reaching cruising altitude or after flying for more than 10 hours.
12:45That's when they're expected to rest.
12:48Sometimes you may overhear that there's a pilot in the jump seat.
12:52It's not a rare occasion when an off-duty pilot or other flight personnel takes a jump seat when flying
12:58back to their home bags.
12:59Federal Aviation Administration inspectors can also travel in fold-up seats.
13:04Some airlines may even offer jump seats to pilots working for other companies.
13:09Also, if you were wondering, there's no connection between the jump seat and actually jumping out of the plane itself.
13:16Now, if your first flight has arrived late and you're in a mad rush to catch your connecting flight, you're
13:22called a runner.
13:23You might overhear crew members or ground staff saying, runners are on the way.
13:28It means you're waiting for some transfer passengers.
13:31Unfortunately, if a flight has a strict departure time, it may leave without runners.
13:37Now, if you hear a pilot saying, pan, pan, it's not a great sign. Trouble is on the way.
13:42Pilots use this term in their communication with air traffic controllers.
13:47This is the signal which means that something has gone wrong with the flight and the cockpit crew needs immediate
13:53attention.
13:54When other pilots or using the same radio frequency hear this signal, they stop all their communication and let the
14:01pan, pan pilot get their message through.
14:03Tree, five, niner. Nah, it's not some mega secret code.
14:08It's the way pilots pronounce certain numbers in their pilot English.
14:12Tree stands for three, five for five, and niner is used instead of nine.
14:18Such pronunciation helps to avoid radio miscommunications and the confusion caused by similar sounding numbers.
14:25Uh, we're just finishing some paperwork.
14:28If you hear the captain saying this phrase, it doesn't mean you're in for a delay.
14:33Finishing paperwork usually means revisiting the flight itinerary, checking the plane's weight and balance, or even waiting for the ground
14:40staff to prepare the flight's logbook.
14:43The final approach means a bit different things for pilots and flight attendants.
14:47The cabin crew speaks of the final approach when the plane is nearing the final part of the descent.
14:53For pilots, the final approach means that the plane is already aligned with the runway and they don't need to
14:59maneuver or make additional turns.
15:02If a pilot refers to a ferry flight, F-E-R-R-Y, they speak about a situation when an
15:08empty plane with no passengers or cargo on board gets flown from one place to another.
15:13For the cabin crew, it's the time when they can relax.
15:17Ferry flights may happen when there's a technical problem with an airliner and pilots need to bring it back to
15:23its home base.
15:24But even if the flight is full, the crew still has an opportunity to rest.
15:29Some Boeing jets have a place where crew members can relax during their shift.
15:33The door to this safe haven looks like any other cupboard door.
15:38But once you open it, you'll see a narrow staircase leading to a small room with two beds separated by
15:44curtains.
15:45There's also some place for staff to hang their uniforms.
15:48By the way, some pilots say they don't like it when people clap when the plane lands.
15:53They say they aren't doing anything special since it's just their job.
15:58You don't clap for the mail carrier when they deliver your mail, do you?
16:02That's a rhetorical question one of them asks.
16:04You're also not supposed to tip your pilots, even if you really want to, because it's weird, as some of
16:10them admit.
16:11The whole tipping aspect is new in the flying industry.
16:14And while tipping flight attendants is becoming more common, who would have thought?
16:19Giving money to pilots is kind of frowned upon.
16:27Hey there, fellow aviation enthusiasts.
16:29Let's talk about some gnarly weather conditions that pilots should totally avoid.
16:35Trust me, you don't want to mess with these bad boys.
16:39First, we got thunderstorms.
16:41And they're like the bullies of the sky.
16:43They can throw lightning, hail, and crazy winds at your plane.
16:48So, steer clear of them, or risk getting a beatdown.
16:52Thunderstorms are no joke, and you definitely don't want to mess with them.
16:56They can pop up out of nowhere and cause some serious trouble.
17:00We're talking strong winds, heavy rain, lightning, and thunder.
17:04Not exactly a party in the sky.
17:07But wait, it gets worse.
17:09The lightning can mess with your instruments and systems.
17:12And hail can damage your ride.
17:15So, keep an eye on those weather reports and forecasts.
17:18If you see a thunderstorm coming your way, try to fly around it or above it.
17:23And if you can't avoid it, slow down and stay at a safe altitude to minimize turbulence.
17:30Next up, icing.
17:32No, we're not talking about icing on the cake here.
17:35This is when your plane gets frozen over, which is a total bummer because it makes it harder to fly.
17:41So, avoid areas where this might happen.
17:44Or bust out your anti-icing gear.
17:48You know that creepy feeling when you can't see your hand in front of your face?
17:52Yeah, that's what fog does to your visibility.
17:56Don't fly into it unless you want to play hide-and-seek with the runway.
18:00Flying in fog means pilots gotta be extra careful and rely on their instruments to navigate.
18:06They can't just wing it with their eyes like you normally would.
18:10They gotta make sure they follow instrument procedures and stay away from other planes.
18:17Strong winds can be pretty nasty too.
18:20Think of strong winds as the annoying little brother of weather conditions.
18:24They can make your plane bounce around like a ball in a pinball machine.
18:28Avoid them if you can, or learn how to land like a boss with some crosswind skills.
18:35Seriously though, these weather conditions can be dangerous and cause accidents.
18:40So, stay informed and make smart decisions when you're up in the sky.
18:45Happy flying!
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