As I mentioned on Monday when discussing the death of Leslie Nielsen, I watched the classic spoof Airplane! this weekend.  I’ve had a few flights in my time, including some very long international flights, but I’ve never had any serious problem while strapped into my seat.  I’ve been blessed with some great flying weather, and some great, skilled pilots.  However, not all air travelers are lucky.  On an Air India flight, the co-pilot adjusting his seat nearly caused a plane to crash after he accidentally hit the control stick.

The plane, an Air India Express 737, was on the way from Dubai to Pune, India, on May 25 when the accident occurred.  The pilot went to use the restroom, only to come running back to the cockpit when he noticed the plane started dropping from 37,000 feet at a staggering 26-degree angle descent.  Not only did he key in his emergency cockpit access code, he got to his seat, pulled the plane out of its dive, and even managed to cover for his partner (as far as the 113 passengers were concerned) by getting on the loudspeaker and saying that the plane “went through an air pocket and that is why there was a rapid descent.”

Some of this is no doubt due to pilot experience.  The pilot, age 39, is a veteran.  The 25-year-old copilot not so much.  At least the two didn’t get into a fist fight like on previous Air India flights.

Tags: Air India, Air India Express 737, pilot error, pilot causes plane to dive after bumping the control stick, pilot mistakes, pilot saves plane from disaster, accidents, near-accidents, Dubai, Pune, India, narrow misses, airplane saved by pilot action, 26-degree descent, pilot hits control stick while adjusting seat

I’ve never had a problem eating food from a gas station.  Just two weeks ago, I ate a couple of hot dogs purchased from a gas station.  They were delicious.  That’s not the first time I’ve eaten gas station food, and I doubt it will be the last.  There’s nothing like a fun food novelty. […]

Commissioner Roger Goodell gathered 32 NFL owners for one big question.  One of the league’s most wanderlust-stricken franchises is looking to move again.  The Oakland-Los Angeles-Oakland Raiders, tired of gutting it out in a run-down stadium, were once again looking for greener pastures.  Only the Miami Dolphins refused to cooperate.  With a vote of 31-1, […]

In 2006, an injury to Dallas Cowboys starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe opened the door for an undrafted free agent by the name of Tony Romo to take the helm of America’s Team and lead the Dallas Cowboys to an early playoff exit.  Bledsoe went from starter to afterthought in a season.  Now, the circle continues […]

For 89 years, Oscars has never had a major mistake.  The last few Oscars might have had a few flubs, but at least they never got the most important category of the night wrong.  Well, that’s now changed, all thanks to OG Bonnie and Clyde legends Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway.  When Faye Dunaway called […]

Tom Brady has been wildly successful, if controversial.  He’s the first quarterback ever to win five Super Bowls and only the second player to do so after Charles Haley.  Unlike Haley, Brady won all his Super Bowls with the same team, the New England Patriots.  The only thing that seems to be able to stop […]

Ben Affleck, no matter what you might think of him, is a talented actor and director.  He’s got the goods, but he’s smart enough to know when he’s in over his head.  All along, since he took on the mantle of Batman, he’s had his eyes on writing, directing, and starring as the Caped Crusader. […]

In May, students for the for-profit American College of Education were running into some problems.  Their access to email accounts and course information was locked down by Google, who had disabled their accounts.  The reason why?  A fired IT worker for the American College of Education locked the school out of their Google cloud account. […]