Captain Smit Machchhar and others save passengers in aviation crises

Over 1 crore people fly commercial airliners daily, mostly without incident, yet recent alarming events have cast a shadow over aviation. ndtv.com reported that a flydubai co-pilot recently attacked the pilot and attempted to crash an aircraft on a Tuesday, while a separate August incident revealed an Air India pilot operated a Phuket-to-Delhi flight while high on marijuana. Despite such frightening headlines, numerous aviators have displayed remarkable presence of mind in life-or-death scenarios, safeguarding thousands of passengers.

Captain Smit Machchhar Fights Off Co-Pilot to Save 174 Lives

Among recent acts of extreme bravery is Captain Smit Machchhar. He successfully fought off a co-pilot and opened the cockpit door, saving 174 people. Someone who trained with him noted, He Always Has Plan B, Plan C. Incidents like this place him alongside legendary aviators whose life-saving decisions have even been immortalized on film.

Captain Sullenberger Glides US Airways Flight 1549 onto the Hudson River

On January 15, 2009, Captain Chesley ‘Sully’ Sullenberger piloted US Airways Flight 1549 from New York City to Charlotte, North Carolina. Two minutes after take-off, a flock of Canada geese struck the plane, causing complete failure of both engines on the Airbus A320-214. Sullenberger squawked ‘Mayday’ and received advice from LaGuardia Airport Air Traffic Control to return and land on Runway 13. Realizing that wasn’t doable, the former US Air Force fighter fighter asked for other landing options, including in New Jersey, but calculated that the aircraft lacked sufficient altitude and speed to reach it safely.

Seeking to avoid a potential crash over a heavily populated zone, Sullenberger opted to bring the aircraft down in a glide onto the Hudson River. He executed an almost perfect water landing in an Airbus 320, saving all 155 people on board, though some suffered injuries. Tom Hanks portrayed Sullenberger in the 2016 film ‘Sully’, which grossed over $240 million worldwide. Sullenberger was subsequently inducted into the US Aviation Hall of Fame.

Captain Robert Pearson Lands the Gimli Glider Without Fuel

Flight 143 operated by Air Canada departed Montreal bound for Edmonton in Canada on July 23, 1983, utilizing a brand-new Boeing 767. A metric-to-imperial conversion confusion during fuelling caused the aircraft to completely run out of fuel at 41,000 feet. Piloting the heavy 100-tonne aircraft in a glide fell to Captain Robert ‘Bob’ Pearson and First Officer Maurice Quintal as both engines died and cockpit displays went dark. Finding the nearest major airport too far away, one of them remembered a small airstrip in Gimli, Manitoba.

Pearson, an experienced glider pilot, executed an advanced aerodynamic manoeuvre called a ‘sideslip’ to line up and safely deadstick-land on the decommissioned military runway, which was operating as a local go-kart racetrack. All 69 people on board remained safe. This remarkable event inspired the 1995 movie ‘Falling from the Sky: Flight 174’.

Captain Monica Khanna Executes Overweight Landing After Bird Strike in Patna

On June 19, 2022, SpiceJet flight SG-273 took off for Delhi from the Jayprakash Narayan International Airport in Patna. The Boeing 737’s left engine suffered a severe bird strike, damaging blades and causing an engine fire. As flames leapt from the engine and passengers panicked, Captain Monica Khanna and First Officer Balpreet Singh Bhatia remained calm. Captain Khanna executed an ‘overweight landing’ with a full fuel load on one engine, bringing all 191 people safely back to the ground.