You won't believe what happened: there was this plane flying into Athens, right? And it was coming in for a landing when things got real dicey. We're talking "almost crashed" levels of intense. Luckily, the pilots managed to pull off some epic maneuvers and avoid disaster at the last second. Can you imagine the chaos if it had gone down? Thankfully, everyone made it out okay, but dang, talk about a heart-stopping moment! #brightside
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Animation is created by Bright Side.
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Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/
Listen to Bright Side on:
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV
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FunTranscript
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!