A British Airways captain was sucked partway through a cockpit window that blew out at 24,000 feet but other crew members managed to cling to him while the co-pilot made an emergency landing, the airline said.
The pilot, Tim Lancaster, was hospitalized with serious injuries but expected to survive, authorities said. Police said eight passengers were treated for shock."I could see a body hanging out of the window with two men and a woman hanging on to his legs. They were trying to stop him being sucked out," said passenger Margaret Simmonds.
The incident occurred Sunday as the British-built twin-engine BAEC 111, carrying 81 passengers and six crew members, was en route from Birmingham, England, to Malaga, Spain.
A British Airways spokesman, speaking anonymously in keeping with British custom, said a steward was in the forward galley when he heard a loud bang and saw Lancaster being pulled from his cockpit seat.
But he managed to grab the pilot's legs. A second steward rushed to his assistance "and they held on to him," the spokesman said.
"The window popped and Tim went out like a rag doll," said flight attendant Susan Prinze, who was in the cockpit.
The front-left windshield and the left side window had shattered. Lancaster, who was wearing a seat belt but not a shoulder harness, was pulled from his seat. One of the two stewards who came to Lancaster's aid rushed to his empty seat and strapped himself with both the seat belt and shoulder harness to secure himself.
The two held on to him for nearly 15 minutes as wind at minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit blew into the plane. The co-pilot made an emergency landing at Southampton Airport, 70 miles southwest of London.
The airline spokesman did not know what caused the windshield - one of two in the front of the cockpit - to shatter. It was later found in a field in Didcot, Oxfordshire.
The Civil Aviation Authority was investigating.
"We had been flying for about 20 minutes when there was a huge bang," said passenger Chris Opie. "There seemed to be some smoke immediately after the bang, and suddenly there was sheer panic."
He said the plane immediately began a rapid descent.