00:00An engine explodes during takeoff, the water injection system is switched off, and communication
00:07is lost.
00:08Now, this doomed plane faces the imminent threat of crashing into Athens or a hill.
00:14Will the captain be able to defy all odds and save over 400 lives on board?
00:21Stay tuned.
00:26It's two in the afternoon.
00:28A Boeing 747 starts rolling down the runway, picking up speed.
00:33Just as Captain Sifis Migadis lifts the nose of the aircraft, he's surprised by a loud
00:39bang.
00:40He has no idea what's just happened, but he's left with no options.
00:45The fully loaded plane is moving too fast to stop on the short runway space still left.
00:50The airplane begins its risky takeoff, and it's now heading straight for downtown Athens,
00:56which is absolutely crowded on a hot summer evening in August 9th, 1978.
01:03After the loud explosion, a flight attendant in the back takes the intercom and warns
01:07the crew about the catastrophic failure of engine number three located on the right side
01:12of the airplane.
01:14The flight attendant says, I think we're screwed.
01:17And here's an honest, yeah, I know.
01:21The original plan of the Olympic Airways flight 411 was a direct shot from Athens to New York.
01:27But now, this massive 370-ton jumbo jet simply doesn't have enough power to keep going up.
01:35The stress is through the roof.
01:37The flight is fully loaded with 18 crew members and 400 passengers, who are mostly US citizens
01:43returning from their Greek summer vacation.
01:46Little do they know that the pilot still has to face four major problems in a 93-second
01:51period to ensure everyone stays alive.
01:55The first issue has to do with water injection.
01:58You see, this Boeing has four engines.
02:01Engine number three has just exploded, and engine number two is operating with reduced
02:06power after maintenance.
02:08So the pilot needs the remaining engines to give their all to get this plane climbing.
02:13The thing is, pushing the engines to the max creates a ton of heat.
02:18So Captain Migatis asks the onboard flight engineer to double-check if the cooling system
02:23is on, preventing the engines from getting too hot and maintaining a safe temperature.
02:29It's a bit tricky to explain what went wrong at this point.
02:33But experts think that in the heat of the moment, the flight engineer might have gotten
02:37a little mixed up.
02:39Instead of ensuring the water injection is on, he does the opposite and switches the
02:44system off just nine seconds after takeoff.
02:47This mistake further reduces the power in the engines, limiting the plane's ability
02:52to climb by causing a loss of 4,500 pounds of thrust.
02:57So now, the plane finds itself in a seriously bad situation, barely cruising over the rooftops
03:03at below minimum speed.
03:08The second issue with this doomed aircraft involves the landing gear.
03:13The 55-year-old pilot had already had over 30 years of experience when he was assigned
03:18to command this flight.
03:20So he decides to make a bold move by telling his co-pilot to pull up the wheels at 35 feet
03:25above the runway.
03:27This move isn't just risky, it's straight-up against Boeing rules in situations like this.
03:33Pilots usually have to wait until the aircraft gains a bit more altitude to pull up the wheels.
03:39Because popping those landing gear doors open for 15 seconds adds more resistance against
03:44the plane's forward motion.
03:46In other words, it basically slows the plane down.
03:48And that's why the co-pilot hesitates for a second before agreeing to break the rule.
03:54Against all odds, the 411 flight stays in the air, but the problems are far from over.
04:03This leads us to the third issue.
04:05The plane is getting dangerously close to hitting one of the oldest capital cities in
04:09the world, Athens.
04:11The flight started from Ellinikon International Airport.
04:15This was the main airport for the Greek capital for decades, and it was known as one of the
04:19trickiest and riskiest airports in the world.
04:23Picture this.
04:24Two short runways, side by side, squeezed between the Aegean Sea and large mountains.
04:31Even though there were two runways, they mostly used just one.
04:35The one pointing planes straight at the center of Athens.
04:39Because of that, pilots had to make an immediate left turn right after takeoff, changing the
04:44flight path over the sea.
04:46Now you might be wondering, why doesn't Migatis just turn left already?
04:51Well, the speed of the 747 is way lower than it should be at this point.
04:56If he makes a turn, the plane might descend even more, upping the chances of crashing
05:01right into the city.
05:02So the captain decides to keep climbing, following a straight path, while he's figuring
05:07out plan B.
05:08Do you remember that the airport is surrounded by mountains?
05:16Well, this is problem number four.
05:18The pilot knows that in about a mile, the airplane will face a hill that's about 200
05:24feet tall.
05:25As Migatis watches Pawnee Hill getting closer and closer, he decides to give up a few knots
05:31of airspeed to gain the altitude he desperately needs to fly over the hill.
05:36Migatis feels relief when he sees that his risky plan has worked.
05:40The airplane flies over the hill with only 9 feet to spare.
05:44Yet, the relief fades quickly.
05:47He still needs to come up with an emergency landing plan.
05:50Imagine the cockpit eerily silent.
05:53They don't have contact with the tower anymore.
05:57While the two pilots are doing everything they can to keep flight 411 from crashing,
06:01the flight engineer is still focused on fixing the problems with the engines.
06:08The terrain gets lower after the plane flies over Pawnee Hill, so the captain decides to
06:14lower the nose of the plane to trade a bit of altitude for speed.
06:18But nothing happens.
06:19In fact, the airplane's speed just keeps dropping, and they're barely exceeding an
06:23altitude of 200 feet.
06:26The plane is so low that it's even taking down some television antennas.
06:31It's around the height of a 14-story building named the Inter-American Tower.
06:36The airplane gets so close to that building that some flight attendants can actually see
06:41people's faces inside!
06:44A happy ending seems unreal as the plane is approaching a catastrophic collision with
06:49Mount iGalileo, which is over 1,500 feet high.
06:54But suddenly, the engines kick in with more power, and the plane starts picking up speed.
07:03Some specialists believe the acceleration was due to the combination of three things.
07:07The wind shifted, the temperature outside dropped, and the water injection system kicked
07:12back in.
07:13And the good news is that with more power in the engines, the pilot successfully gains
07:18altitude.
07:19By 2.05, Migatis managed to turn left, avoiding a collision with Mount iGalileo.
07:25The plane is heading towards the ocean.
07:28It keeps flying for over 30 minutes to dump fuel.
07:31The idea is to make the aircraft lighter before landing, as it's loaded with 160 tons of
07:37fuel needed for the transatlantic flight.
07:40After that, the captain brings the aircraft back to the same runway from which they took
07:45off, and they land safely at Olenekon Airport.
07:52Everyone on board is safe, not a scratch on them, all thanks to this pilot who bravely
07:57broke the rules to save his crew and passengers.
08:00Now, picture the wild applause on the ground, and Migatis' daughters eagerly waiting for
08:05their father as he exits the plane.
08:08And it's no small feat, this pilot did the unthinkable.
08:12To put it in perspective, every Boeing simulation of this same flight ended in a crash.
08:18Migatis' impressive achievement led Olympic Airways to modify some of its procedures,
08:23and Boeing began to include a review of this case in its training curriculum.
08:28Now, you might be thinking that Migatis was traumatized after this accident and never
08:33wanted to board an aircraft again, but nope!
08:36Remember, we're talking about a real hero!
08:39At 6pm on that same day, Migatis took his seat in the cockpit of a replacement Boeing
08:45747 and flew 400 passengers over the Atlantic to New York.
08:50As for the aircraft, it stuck around with Olympic Airways for a couple of years until
08:54it joined Transworld Airlines in 1985.
08:58This 747 Boeing's career ended in 1997 after 24 years of service.
09:10That's it for today!
09:11So, hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your
09:15friends.
09:16Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!
Comments