At an altitude of 32,000 feet, a passenger jet over China faced a dreadful emergency and was forced to land. Sichuan Airlines 3U8633 from Chongqing to Lhasa, carrying 128 people had to do an emergency landing.
The windscreen in the cockpit had been ripped out in mid-air during flight. Thankfully, there were no fatalities and the plane landed safely.
Sichuan Airlines Flight 3U8633 an Airbus A319 bound to the Tibetan capital faced a deadly emergency mid-air when the cockpit decompressed and the windscreen was ripped off from the flight. This resulted in the first-officer being half-sucked out of the flight. Thankfully he was secured with a seat-belt. The Captain commented that the cabin temperature fell to minus 40 degrees Celsius. The sudden break of the window caused a pressure breakdown inside the plane. The captain informed Air Traffic Control about their emergency. This happened about 30 minutes after take off.
From Inside The Plane
Several passengers were recording videos on their phones when the incident took place. The cabin temperature fell and crew was seen to be asking the panicking and screaming passengers to calm down, stop recording and wear the oxygen face-masks and safety belts. A passenger testifies that all of a sudden, half hour into the trip, there was confusion and luggage was falling off onto passengers.
The Landing
After issuing an emergency to Air Traffic Control, the plane was swiftly landed and grounded in 20 minutes. It was landed in Chengdu, a city to the south-west. All passengers including crew were safe.
Casualties – None
The co-pilot hung half-way out of the plane due to the depressurizing of the cockpit. He miraculously survived thanks to his seat-belt and only faced minor injuries such as scratches on his face and waist. None of the other passengers or crew were harmed except one female passenger who faced scratches.
Praise For The Pilots
There was much praise for the Captain and First Officer for handling this incident with professional swiftness and much safety. The Captain thanks it to his experience of flying the route over 100 times. The act was seen as brave, timely and heroic.
The carrier issued a statement on social media (Weibo) stating that the accident happened due to ‘mechanical failure’ and an Airbus spokeswoman stated that support will be provided to Sichuan Airlines and CAAC in light of this event. The mystery of the missing Malaysian Airplane MH370 was recently solved as well. Read all about it here.