The plane is seen missing a cockpit windshield after it landed in Chengdu, China. Photo / Chengdu Business Daily
The plane is seen missing a cockpit windshield after it landed in Chengdu, China. Photo / Chengdu Business Daily
A pilot successfully performed an emergency landing in China yesterday after a cockpit windshield suddenly broke and fell off during the flight.
Passengers were unhurt, but the cockpit's temperature dropped to -40C and a co-pilot was partially sucked out of the plane, the captain said.
He also told Chinese media that the co-pilot was injured after the top half of his body was left dangling in mid-air, the Daily Mail reports.
The captain said his co-pilot was partly "sucked out of the broken windshield". Photo / Chengdu Business Daily
The Sichuan Airlines plane, 3U8633, was scheduled to fly from Chongqing to Lhasa. It departed Chongqing at 6:27am local time and was due to arrive in Lhasa at 9:27:am.
One of the plane's windshields reportedly shattered about one hour into the flight when the Airbus A319 was flying over the city of Chengdu.
Captain Liu Chuanjian told Chengdu Business Daily that the incident caused his co-pilot to be partially sucked out of the window.
According to Xinhua, the captain issued an 'Squawk 7700' emergency code, alerting the air traffic control facilities to the dangerous situation.
Passengers were told to pull on their oxygen masks aboard the flight. Photo / Chengdu Business Daily
The plane was diverted to nearby Shuangliu International Airport in Chengdu. Within 20 minutes at around 7:46am, the captain safely landed the plane at the airport.
Mobile phone footage emerged online showing flight attendants asking passengers to wear oxygen masks and put on safety belts.
Zeng Jun, one of the passengers, told Chengdu Business Daily: "The plane suddenly descended after flying about an hour in the air. It lasted for about five, six seconds.
"There were people screaming, bags dropping from the overhead cabin and lunch boxes scattering along the corridor."
Bags dropped from the overhead cabin and lunch boxes were scattered down the aisle. Photo / Chengdu Business Daily
According to Sichuan Airlines, the co-pilot sustained scratches on the face and minor injuries on the waist; one female passenger also had minor injuries on the waist.
Both were taken to Chengdu No.1 People's Hospital, along with 27 passengers who said they were unwell after the incident.
The airline did not reveal the total number of passengers.
Captain Liu Chuanjian, who said he had flown the route more than 100 times, told Chengdu Business Daily that his co-pilot was saved by a safety belt.
"He had half of his body sucked out the broken windshield at that time due to the sudden change of pressure.
"The cockpit temperature dropped to -40C and most of the controls went faulty."
The pilot managed an emergency landing despite the window being gone. Photo / Chengdu Business Daily
The remaining passengers were told to take another flight at 11:50am to fly to Lhasa Gonggar Airport.
