This Pilot BROKE the RULES and Saved 418 Lives | Terror Over Athens

[@georgiosgiotopoulos6380]

As a matter of fact during airborne the passengers thought that the captain did a sightseeing tour above Athens. They didn't learn about the incident until landing in Hellinicon Airport. Captain Migadis is a legend in Greece.He passed away in 1996 at the age of 73 y.o.

[@beakwooda.k.aadregallus8788]

What? No one heard/saw the engine blow up????

[@flash001USA]

Now that's funny at least in 2022 that some of the passengers thought that the captain did a sightseeing tour above Athens. I'm sure back in 1978 after some of the passengers realized what had really happened during that flight they probably developed a good case of PTSD and immediately switched over to ocean liners as a way to travel to other countries only to be scared out of their minds by the movie Jaws at which point they chose to stay in the US and keep it simple by just driving to Disneyland for the remainder of their lives to take their vacations.

[@kenricnarbrough8191]

thats hilarious

[@saibalbhowmick9805]

These news are unheard by the majority in this world - that's much more hilarious. I am an Indian an feel it to be ashamed of not aware of the news.

[@nangel1001]

@@beakwooda.k.aadregallus8788 Let me tell you.....I was on the flight....I nearly s#!# myself along with the a lot of the other passengers!!! The engine DID blow out and did a "kickback" and us passengers that were seated on the wing, a few rows before and after, on the side where the engine blew out, noticed the most. Captain Migadis was a God and to date remains a legend indeed!!!!

[@SigTheSauceMan]

In my opinion, this looks like a Sully-level save. A situation in which physics should have surely doomed the flight, yet the pure knowledge, skill, experience, and clear-headedness of the pilot created a miracle. Especially with the "all simulations resulted in failure" bit.

[@braderyoutube1983]

agree. their exp above the manual book itself

[@alipontiac]

Honestly IMO this captain is more skilled than Sully, both great Captains though.

[@ginetterondeau1569]

Bravo pr le sang froid du pilote

[@touristguy87]

just means that the simulations weren't accurate, eh

[@timothyhingham3672]

@@touristguy87 Yes, simulators are intentionally conservative. You wouldn't want somebody to train for a situation thinking they survived when they wouldn't have. Also Sully's simulations never showed they should have 'crashed,". I mean he did crash right. It was the Soux City DC10 that they also couldn't replicate in the simulators.

[@neoxid501]

"All Boeing simulations of the flight resulted in crashes" The captain is a legend

[@MrSnout5]

Shades of Sully here...

[@MrYfrank14]

Guess they need to adjust the sims

[@MrYfrank14]

@@sandyshanks111 - they cant duplicate the incident. They would have to blow up an engine first. Which means admitting it blew up. So, no, the sims were not duplicating the incident

[@GenAvAviation]

absolute animal

[@jennyt7612]

Wonderful skill shown by the Captain - thank goodness for his experience & knowledge

[@Lemonidas75]

As I am a resident of Athens and more specifically Kallithea, and in 1978 I was 4 years old, there's a chance that I owe my life to captain Migadis. Rest in peace sir.

[@michaelmappin4425]

Great comment🎉🎉🎉

[@dimitriskaraplis1631]

Same here from Kallithea, 2 months old!

[@perlips]

Me too! 16

[@theladymorgana8657]

As a Greek I've watched all documentaries about this incident, including the captain's interview about it. The captain was a real legend, unfortunately he passed away. Rest in peace Captain Migadis.

[@jennywowk-jcdmah2144]

Sad...he passed? What happened? 💔

[@jamie123b]

@@jennywowk-jcdmah2144 he died

[@universe-nocopyrightsounds6285]

Rip

[@kennethhacker3014]

Rip sir

[@theladymorgana8657]

​@@jennywowk-jcdmah2144 I think he died of old age 😢

[@IN_THIS_DAY_AND_AGE]

The captain is obviously a better flyer than anyone at Boeing. Not mentioned was that 3 hours later the captain and crew took another aircraft on the flight to NYC.

[@panosanestiou3226]

funny thing is that he did no dumb all the fuel because he wanted to save some hahaha

[@P71ScrewHead]

Boeing trying to blame the pilot n crew to cover their asses on a poorly made airplane is like a meat seller trying to blame the ppl who ate meat that was contaminated at the time it was sold.. Damn assholes..

[@johneyon5257]

@@panosanestiou3226 - a cost conscious pilot who also is keen on aerodynamics - a company's favorite pilot-type

[@robertsandberg2246]

Man, he was a heck of a pilot! I'd want to at least take a day off to settle down, you know, after nearly crashing and dying and everything!

[@DaleSteel]

Captain caused the drama in the first place

[@GrandDuchessT]

As a greek we would always be told of that incident from our parents. it was really a true example of a pilot who knew physics very well. we even heard that when they try to play the same flight route on flight simulators, the plane crashes. I'm so glad a tragedy didn't happen to my country P.S. even the pilot himself admitted that if it weren't for that sudden wind that helped them turn, they would never make it. It was totally fate and a magnificent pilot's work

[@sarahsue4065]

@@loveeveryone8057 luck doesn’t control a plane - it was his knowledge that saved the plane

[@helge.]

@@loveeveryone8057 whenever I read comments like yours I keep wondering how evolution was able to spare some humans. Astonishing! Greetings to the wonderful Greek people from Berlin!

[@phildefer3475]

@@sarahsue4065 Luck not of course: But GOD, who knows...

[@georgekot6377]

@@loveeveryone8057 You my friend are a very miserable person.

[@sprinkle581]

@@loveeveryone8057 If those are your kids in your videos, I genuinely hope they hate you now and that you're alone.

[@that90skid72]

Capt. Migadis was an ex Air Force pilot, which explains how he acted on that day (ie fly by the book except in such dangereous situations).

[@watershed44]

@Enas Agnostos Exactly, only a lot of experience will help you in such situations where the procedures book isn't enough.

[@zackywacky5581]

He and his copilot are heroes...yet some big giants trying to save their asses would not own up their mistakes...just like the incidents of their 737's ...😈😈😈

[@JamezOwnU101]

It said the pilot said all engines shut down though? This must be a typo right? Because no one would claim that, how else would he climb? Unless it meant a brief shutdown of all engines. Even that after takeoff would have been a death sentence. Would've fell from the sky like a brick in 10 seconds had all 4 engines died only 100 some feet after takeoff

[@oofmcgoof6386]

@@JamezOwnU101 it meant an overall reduction of power in all engines and the complete loss of power in engine 3

[@henryposadas3309]

Yes airforce pilots are trained to deal with emergency situations far better than ordinary airline pilots ever do.

[@jayfinkheys3497]

This legend literally had the nerves to think about saving the passengers, avoiding a potential crash in a populated area, using his aerodynamics knowledge to keep the plane airborne, and he didnt even think about ditching, he brought the plane back like nothing happened. What a legend, i'm stunned

[@jamesharris9816]

He captained the next flight out to new york 5 hours later. Chucked the bags and passengers on another 747 and off they went.

[@sailorlac]

He did? Wow! @@jamesharris9816

[@joebostwick5768]

What a great guy!’

[@annalouux8553]

There are many documentaries on this flight this particular documentary does not do it justice. I have watched all of the documentaries on this flight and it's gut-wrenching even though it was for a very short time the captain and a hostesses and other pilots that knew him also spoke. Passengers thought that the captain wanted to show them Athens from above close up view 😅

[@ifrahabi4834]

Same. But I don’t know why they didn’t mention this .

[@luckylass5444]

At age seven I was a passenger on a TWA flight out of JFK to Madrid, heading out to see my grandparents. We lost an engine, the second engine was leaking fuel. The pilots, God bless them, turned us around over the Atlantic and completed a successful emergency landing back at JFK. TWA provided the adults an open bar while we waited for another jet. I remember having to put my head down for landing, oxygen masks were down and the runway was peppered with medical personnel. I am forever grateful to these talented pilots.

[@munastronaut8147]

what flight was this

[@luckylass5444]

@@munastronaut8147 This was in the mid to late 70’s. My father is deceased and my mother is on hospice. I will try to find out.

[@IKI11I]

I’d never fly again

[@TheOmaJohn]

I agree. This is why I'm glad to see the rapid degradation of food security in the Western world. Obesity is a far worse disease than alcoholism and anyone who promotes having food available is supporting obesity. Anyone who appreciates having a drink while waiting for a flight is clearly guilty for all the alcoholism out there. You and me, Siren. We're going to fix this situation if we can just reach a big enough audience.

[@Just_Smile-n2w]

@@TheOmaJohn You “care” about obesity but are happy about food insecurity in the west? Shame on you. Who are you to judge anyone or anything?

[@gary1961]

A standing ovation and a huge round of applause for that Captain. Thousands of people must have ducked for cover in those buildings as the plane roared overhead.

[@laurie3546]

1961 🥹😁

[@hksVideoS]

@@laurie3546 what?????

[@LawnBunny777]

I wish there was video taken by those people

[@davidjoseph7142]

More coffee was spilled that day than any other day in history

[@juliagregory5696]

thankyou captain

[@justincase9463]

A pilot could cure cancer, eliminate world hunger, and save a aircraft from crashing, and still the airlines will throw them under the bus to protect their bottom line.

[@MrYfrank14]

And fire him for curing cancer on company time

[@bingusmctingus4395]

Or firing them over a private medical choice for a disease with a 99.9% survival rate

[@danielfennessy]

Truth

[@Relevance4life]

He almost killed his passengers by not interpreting error code correctly. If he had not shut the water, he won’t need the skill level he’s showing

[@justincase9463]

@@Relevance4life , maybe the engine burning out and the other engines not producing proper thrust at takeoff had something to do with his concentration dealing with the water issue alarm. It’s funny how a “small” detail like that was omitted from the report.

[@ks8452]

My old flight instructor told me one time that speed kills in a motor vehicle, speed saves in an airplane. Never forgot that. Great job by the crew for a successful landing against the odds.

[@rodrigozamo]

In the immortal words of Jeremy Clarkson: speed has never killed anybody. Suddenly becoming stationary, that's what gets you 😂

[@Drcragory]

Holy hell... these Pilots are amazing. Could you imagine gliding through a city? It's not just your passengers. It is everybody on the ground too... hats off

[@laurie3546]

Uhh 😬

[@nineteen-sixty-nine9373]

This pilot must had some balls dipping his nose at such a low altitude to gain speed.Enough respect to this man and the whole crew.

[@istudios225]

And he knew how to increase the speed to the exact degree and then stop, to get the desired result he was aiming for. I commend his steely presence of mind. A lot of flight crew in such situations would have panicked inwardly and made avoidable mistakes.

[@shed66215]

The piece about the simulations after the event all crashing is similar to the the Sioux City DC10 crash - even with the knowledge of what took place, non of the simulations made it to the airport. Training and experience will get you so far but sometimes luck and a sense of knowing that you're doing the 'right thing' is what makes some of these events remarkable in how they ended

[@stonedassassin4229]

Hmm trip . Never really believed in luck but in this situation makes me wonder maybe it really is an existing force

[@TheCasualGamer13]

Reminds me of Japan Air 123. Pilots kept that flightless bird alive for as long as they could. Everyone simulating couldn’t keep it In the air nearly as long as that crew did.

[@stephenp448]

Also the Gimli Glider. Amazing things happen when the chips are down.

[@elizabeth5985]

@@stonedassassin4229 There is that saying about luck being preparation meeting circumstance (I'm paraphrasing and too tired to google it). Basically you're prepared for everything, and then something happens and you handle it because you were prepared and people call it luck. He pulled the landing gear up and also pulled the nose up so they could gain speed. Maybe the was all it took to make everyone survive, and that was just 30 years of flying, meeting a circumstance....luck.

[@RicanStudio]

“Feeling” you are doing the right thing, is what leads to the majority of air craft deaths. Pilots should follow training and trust instruments, unless there is overwhelming incontrovertible evidence. I’m happy about this outcome, but that is an uninformed sentiment.

[@b.t.356]

Now those had to be the most terrifying minutes of hundreds of people's lives. Shout out to the flight crew for making sure that everyone got to the ground alive.

[@Daniel-ye2ej]

actually they thought it was intentional sight-seeing action from the flight crew. no joke

[@theworldwariioldtimeradioc8676]

And people on the ground. I used to live a few miles from O’Hare. I can’t imagine a 747 coming over my house at a few hundred feet.

[@robertsandberg2246]

@@Daniel-ye2ej Yep. Mentor Pilot's vid about this mentions that! Crazy stuff!🤯

[@johneyon5257]

the plane & crew struggled for about 93 seconds total - and were too busy to communicate anything to the passengers

[@RoyalMela]

Passengers never knew there was something wrong. Plane was flying, no shaking, no nothing. Just flying low.

[@muttlee1213]

How blessed are those passengers and folks in buildings and on the ground to have had such a knowledgeable pilot on that plane!

[@hosamhosam9204]

They are not blessed since the plane had issues, if they were blessed everything would have gone normal

[@sitaward3437]

Pulling out safely from near disaster incident, while all simulated similar event doesn't work, is much blessing. It' a push and a test, to what human maximum capability to recover when facing highly stressful event. Blessed this crew that this happens when they're already equipped with high experience and knowledge. They deserve medal and called as heroes!

[@walkie1985]

@@hosamhosam9204 no the OP’s use of blessing is correct here. It’s a very common expression for fortunate outcomes from near disaster.

[@muttlee1213]

@@hosamhosam9204: people being blessed is not just definitive for normal or perfection.

[@skylined5534]

@@hosamhosam9204 They are blessed seeing as with any other pilot the outcome would have likely been catastrophic. You don't know what you're randomly spouting.

[@caroldavis5877]

The Captain kept everyone alive, he deserves a medal.

[@Mohammad_Ali__]

Heros like this pilot definitely need to be promoted significantly. This pilot sure is a genius and I am happier than ever to listen to information like this about having no casualties nor losses both combined.

[@ShalomShalom-d5c]

That pilot had awesome skills, actually all 3 worked cohesively and kept their composure. Hero's.

[@ecclestonsangel]

Everybody lives! Just this once, everybody lives! Mad props to the pilots, who brought everyone home safely!

[@redoktober8164]

I see you quoted an eccleston

[@ecclestonsangel]

@@redoktober8164 🙂

[@NoewerrATall]

I see you are a person of culture. 😊

[@ecclestonsangel]

@@NoewerrATall thank you very much!

[@redoktober8164]

We are all whovians here

[@MrTheochris]

Excellent video !A few interning facts that the pilot himself has mentioned in an interview. The reason he didn't crash was the aerodynamic phenomenon of ground effect which in simple terms means that the aircraft will fly at a lower speed than outside of the ground effect.Ground effect starts to appear at the height above the ground which is equal to the wingspan .Ground effect is more evident at heights of 10% of the wingspan this is where the induced drag is the lowest. The buildings in Athens more or less have the same height and due to this, the aircraft flew (over the rooftops which created the aerodynamic phenomenon of ground effect) below the minimum speed as per Boeing because flying into the ground effect is not part of any data in a simulator or flight test. PS excellent explanation that you mentioned why the landing gear must not be retracted immediately after lift of .The captain broke that rule and saved them all, I am an airline pilot and admire the actions and decisions taken by that captain who had excellent situation awareness and good knowledge of the principles of flight .

[@stefanhoimes]

There's a Greek saying that roughly translates to "We invented everything - including the rules." Which implies that we're also entitled to break them when they're not suitable and not doing so would be completely spitting in the face of our entire ethnicity and ancestors. He did exactly what he was raised (and indoctrinated) to do. A little Greek arrogance saved a lot of lives.

[@MrTheochris]

@@stefanhoimes wrong this is called airmanship and it is legal to deviate from the standard operating procedures if the safety of the flight is compromised.

[@skylined5534]

@@stefanhoimes Cobblers. He was a very accomplished airman with exceptional skills and feel for what was going on. Arrogance has nothing to do with it.

[@gregchris418]

@@stefanhoimes wrong, at 11:08 "light headwind gave the plane some altitude" clearing the mountains by 20 feet. It was divine intervention my friend

[@adotintheshark4848]

He understood ground effect, so he lowered the nose to gain enough airspeed to climb, finally.

[@machupikachu1085]

Excellent video! Who else was stressed out watching this? This is the captain's way of telling Boeing: Everyone has a plan until you get punched in the face. A fantastic job by the flight crew! If this was a disaster, people would talk about it for decades, so let's talk about it for decades because this success deserves to be remembered!

[@RandomVlogsPh]

Well said 👏 ❤

[@johnl1262]

Capt. Migadis`s experience saved so many lives on that day. I used to live in Kallithea and if that plane came down in that area there would have been hundreds more casulties.God rest his soul.

[@lisaburks2]

That captain deserves an award for his actions and saving all those lives. Probably not alive today but his family should receive an award in his name

[@Gizziiusa]

He and his co-pilot accidently turned off the water injection pumps (gross negligence), and neither noticed nor rectified the problem. Granted, he is to be commended on his ability to keep the plane from crashing. However, he deserves no such award whatsoever.

[@shipmanasmilos]

@@Gizziiusa It was the Flight engineer who did it thinking that he turned it on as I know also the water injection system switches were in the FE panels

[@jwandel]

@@Gizziiusa I agree with you

[@riverwildcat1]

@@Gizziiusa Exactly right. They lied and tried to blame Pratt-Whitney and Boeing.

[@johneyon5257]

@@Gizziiusa - the flight engineer turned of the water pumps - i don't know if the pilots would have known - my one complaint about this video is that it doesn't make it clear - it is left to assume all 3 knew about that happening

[@ΔημητρηςΓεωργακακος]

I was a kid but i still remember the jumbo passing over our heads at extremely low altitude. It damaged the tv antenna on a five stories building!

[@bobboscarato1313]

If I lived in the path of those airplanes shaving the roofs of those 5 story-apartments, I would have moved a long time ago!

[@cindyknudson2715]

Would have been worse if the landing gear were still down.

[@jojoe469]

Why year anyone

[@TheOmaJohn]

@@cindyknudson2715 Assuming the loss of speed from bringing the gear up didn't cause the failure to climb to begin with. Despite quite a bit of evidence in the video that it did precisely that.

[@ImperialDiecast]

This would have gone down in history as one of the worst crashes in Europe, rivaling Tenerife and JAL123 but THANKFULLY the wind and excellent piloting skills saved everyone and so, fewer people remember it. It's sad that people only remember the times pilots werent so lucky.

[@ChrisPBacon-ok7ir]

Don't forget that it was a flight crew error that caused this near catastrophe.

[@gregchris418]

@@ChrisPBacon-ok7ir exactly and his name is nowhere mentioned and probably got a promotion

[@itellyouforfree7238]

@@ChrisPBacon-ok7ir oh for fuck sake! dont even think about comparing this amazing flyer to the drunk russian pilots who let their kids sit in the cockpits.

[@positivity747]

The teneriffe disaster is incomparable in the history of crashes... hope there never will be another like that

[@59Alaskan]

@@ChrisPBacon-ok7ir we can't, you keep reminding us...🙄

[@Coastal23UK]

Should make a Netflix film based on this. Amazing true story !

[@RandomVlogsPh]

I agree. ❤❤❤

[@annalouux8553]

It's gut wrenching you would probably never want to fly again. 😊

[@GeeBee909]

Now THAT's the true meaning of an AIR BOSS !!!!

[@yasminet6355]

Even though I knew everyone survived I still held my breath watching the plane skirt those buildings. Imagine how those passengers felt.

[@panosanestiou3226]

they thought that the pilot was flying low for them to see the city from above. the plane was full of turists

[@hugosboss5269]

@@panosanestiou3226 Yes, maybe they thought he takes the scenic departure route

[@schroedingersdog7965]

Imagine how people in the upper stories of buildings in the flight path felt!

[@elluc1510]

@@schroedingersdog7965 thats scary ...horror...fortunately now the airport is not near the centre of Athens ..

[@GrouRocks]

@@schroedingersdog7965 Probably angry their tv reception was shit that day!

[@carolinehoward180]

I doubt we have this calibre of airmanship in today’s world. Not because pilots don’t have the ability, but because technology has taken away so much of the craft from them. That Captain and flight crew was awesome. What a great upload. 🖤🖤👏👏

[@timothystark4475]

Wow! I am glad to hear that everyone survived! This plane flew extremely low and flew over building only very few feet from obstances!

[@ThundercinemaProductions]

This Captain is a legend. he flew under the minimum speed without crashing and he ended up saving so much lives

[@lizlovsdagmara5525]

Also being low enough to be in ground effect would have helped too.

[@javianjohnson8746]

Man, even thought I KNOW no one died and the plane would eventually make a safe landing, watching that massive 747 fly dangerously close to all of those buildings was absolutely nerve-wracking. Even hearing that the plane ripped off antennas during this makes it amazing that it didn't crash. Flying 200 feet in the air at an impossibly low airspeed...woah.

[@jaydee5447]

Even though an error was made all in all this is straight up great piloting

[@kevsecker3182]

To err is human. Flying like this to save the plane and passengers is heroic.

[@elluc1510]

Not captains fault but the 3rd officer did it

[@gregchris418]

@@elluc1510 exactly he the flight engineer made 3 serious errors if one was corrected none of this would have happened, he should have been fired!

[@wirdy1]

@@gregchris418 the F/E name was 'Tribos' & as far as I can research, he was quietly airbrushed from the history of this incident. Maybe, after nearly killing 400 people, he realised it wasn't the job for him?

[@gregchris418]

@@wirdy1 thanks 🙏 some much for the info. No first name? This f/e rat bastard did a great job protecting his name, even the captain didn't bad mouth him in public. May he rest in peace. For some reason, from my experience, snakes like trivos use that experience to get promoted!

[@cardiffgiant9406]

Amazing that he managed to keep it flying when all simulations couldn't.

[@jwandel]

They didn't have simuations at the time

[@hirisk761]

United does ( or did) the same thing with flight 232. IIRC no one else has come as close as the crew did thar day.

[@_patriik]

The simulations at that time were probably not the best so it could be this kzbin.info/www/bejne/nIWZo2yVrNKHaJI

[@jwandel]

@@_patriik simulations literally did not exist at the time

[@wonders2742]

“It’s not the plane. It’s the pilot.”

[@robertzeurunkl8401]

This Captain was a true "airman". His skill in spite of "the rules" saved hundreds of lives!

[@laurie3546]

Hey Rob 😑👋

[@Bruno-tm3xo]

Are you kidding ??? This situation happened because the crew stuffed up shutting the water injection off !!!! This only proves how far from perfect their knowledge of the aircraft systems were. Nothing heroic there, in fact quite the contrary and as far as aerodynamic goes……frankly, you do not need a phd in Astro physics to know that an aircraft stays in the air because of speed. I really would have liked to hear the cvr conversation at this point in the flight. There are plenty of videos where pilots demonstrated amazing skills while facing situations that were not their doing. This one is not one of them

[@robertzeurunkl8401]

@@Bruno-tm3xo WAT?

[@ky7299]

​@@Bruno-tm3xoDude, nobody knows exactly what happened with the water injection system. There are many theories, including one where engine 3 failed because of a damaged water pump that stopped pumping water with the engines at 110% thrust. But even if things happened as the video claims, the mistake was made by the flight engineer, not the captain.

[@michaelvongerard3017]

thousands possibly

[@yannisballas3753]

Actually Migadis ordered the gear up because after the runway there was the Panas hill and he saw that the wheels would touch on the top of the hill. His friend copilot Fiskardos after a moment’s hesitation followed the order. They passed 9 feet above the top of the hill…

[@TheOmaJohn]

This would have been nice to have covered in the video. The video paints an obvious conclusion -- Boeing is horrible and basically tried to kill everyone, and the pilot is a hero. But if you think for yourself on the information provided in the video, its obvious the pilot was directly responsible for two major contributions to the lack of altitude and speed. Raisin the landing gear, and turning off the water injection. Factors not provided in this video, like you mention, provide an idea that the truth doesn't reside anywhere in what we have to watch above.

[@KevinMakesYT]

If the landing gear was out, they would able to cross over the hill by 3 cm- 8.3 cm.

[@davidkeen9623]

Who turned off the water switches?

[@crashbandicoot4everr]

@@davidkeen9623The flight engineer did.

[@maryuline2585]

This is truly an incredible story and this is the kind of pilot you want flying a plane when you're on a plane!!!

[@peepkagirl1]

Kudos to the Captain!!! The investigators and plane manufacturer can say what they want!!! This man prevented what could have been a tragic catastrophic loss of lives - He's a Hero!!! God Bess Him for breaking the rules!!! 🙏❤

[@ioannageor180]

Migadis was in the Greek air force before joining civil aviation. I watched an interview of his... Composure has his face in the dictionaries. He didn't even flinch, such was his concentration

[@Bluefroggy84]

That was harrowing to watch. Congrats to the flight crew.

[@TheCasualGamer13]

Might be one of my favorites from this channel. Literally couldn’t stop watching passing those buildings.

[@davenone7312]

It was harrowing to see that this was all crew error by not understanding a simple water warning. Had they simply kept the water injection system on this would have been a non story!

[@tid418]

@@davenone7312 So said Boeing, but it looks like there is more to the story than that.

[@clarsach29]

This incident, above ALL others, shows the true value and heroism of well-trained flight crew. Had this plane come down in central Athens the death toll could easily have been 1000+.....this is a great video but doesn't really do justice to the bravery and sheer balls of the Captain and his crew in getting this plane down safely.

[@MrsSheffield]

This brought tears to my eyes, God bless the pilot and his crew for saving all those lives… just stunning and beautiful. ❤️

[@erikrhafer6644]

Every simulation of this flight resulted in a crash says something about how friggin great that captain is.

[@that90skid72]

As a kid I used to fly out of that airport approx. once a year. Needless to say I was terrified during each take off, with water on the left hand and a sea of buildings on the right hand side. On Olympic especially, pilots used to perform an abrupt turn to the left right after wheels up, which back then led me to believe that we were about to crash into the sea next to us...needless to say I don't miss too much fying out from there

[@Auskar]

That captain deserves a huge amount of respect.

[@ChrisPBacon-ok7ir]

Not if he's the one who approved shutting off the engine water flow.

[@Auskar]

@@ChrisPBacon-ok7ir He made up for his mistake by saving these lives with his expertise.

[@ChrisPBacon-ok7ir]

@@Auskar , He did indeed do that but as captain he also must take the blame for the mistake of shutting off the water flow.

[@Auskar]

@@ChrisPBacon-ok7ir Yes he must.

[@dutchleussink156]

Absolutely

[@josephj6521]

Apparently it cleared the mountain by 9 feet! 😳 Great piloting.

[@Solurius1]

I worked at Boeing's Southington plant as an inspector, where they built the JT9D engines. There was one young fella, a relative of the production manager, who did sloppy work and I refused to sign off on his shoddy workmanship. After much wrangling, I was fired for not approving his junk. I heard one of the engines blew up in the test chamber, fan blades that weren't properly wire tied.

[@blueskies6475]

David Turnbole, I know! I mostly stopped watching the videos when I gained understanding that many crashes were deliberate!!

[@tid418]

@@blueskies6475 Very few are truly deliberate. Those that are the result of negligence or error are not deliberate, but could have been prevented, most likely.

[@TheOmaJohn]

All the places that have fired me are also evil and negligent and likely causes countless deaths.

[@raultamudo160]

Greeks are among the best pilots in the world. Especially the ones in the Armed Forces. Greetings from Spain

[@laurie3546]

Raul

[@Consrignrant]

And what do you base that on? Stupid comment.

[@annalouux8553]

❤❤

[@gaztastic]

You do not believe how lucky those guys are. Why they survived is the ground effect, because when they flew super close to the tops of the buildings, it reduced the drag over the wings, therefore increasing their speed just enough to keep them off stall speed. You could see this sometimes on takeoff, such as if an aircraft takes off late, the aircraft will seem to "float". Amazing video, TFC! Rock on!

[@lizlovsdagmara5525]

Exactly.

[@69k_gold]

Despite having watched all of your videos, this is one of the few videos that portrayed to me how limited the crew is in terms of mobility when they're airborne. The amount of restrictions just to bank left or right is unbelievable

[@D__Lee]

Kudos to the pilots for saving their plane and passengers! When what happened becomes a flight training scenario, you know you overcame some incredible odds to survive.

[@MrSoccerball100]

This a great example of a pilot being able to "fly" the plane unlike a lot of pilots today who rely too much on the plane's technology and autopilot.

[@DevastatorHeels]

Exactly.... Before all the Tech, logging flight time was fine. Now with all the Tech pilots need to log "Stick" time. We now have pilots with thousands of hours of "flight" time, but only a few hours of actual control time. We down to the last of the Sully's and left with the computer taught front seater's with a great view, but not much more than passengers themselves.

[@mikespenceTHEGOATB]

HOMKY! RIGHT! THERE! IS! (NO)! SUBSTITUTE! FOR! (REAL)! AEROPLANE! FLYING! (FLOWN)! BY! A! (REAL)! EXPERIENCED! (PILOT)!

[@philosopher0076]

@@DevastatorHeels Scary times we are in.

[@Tubulce]

@@DevastatorHeels Before all the tech you would die to a microburst without even knowing you're in one. Now you avoid more deaths.

[@DevastatorHeels]

@@Tubulce Even today there are too many commercial pilots that don't recognize a microburst let alone know how to recover from it. We can't even get them to lower the flaps for take off! DH

[@tipoftheicebergicy6448]

Imagine having 418 peoples lives at your hands… truly terrifying. Thank god that pilot was flying that craft. Others may not have been quite as experienced and had the balls to think under that amount of pressure. 🙏🏼

[@fp1912]

Wow, this was absolutely gripping! Amazing piloting... I can't imagine how terrifying that must've been for everyone on board!

[@theworldwariioldtimeradioc8676]

And on the ground.

[@blancabulgrin5560]

Do you think they new? The passengers?

[@fp1912]

@@blancabulgrin5560 They must have! They were way to near the tops of the buildings, I'm sure they saw that. Don't you think?

[@twerk421]

Actually many of the pax were oblivious except the flight attendants and thought it was a sight-seeing tour!

[@skylined5534]

@@twerk421 I call BS on that even though several people have written the same thing in the comments. There's no way they thought it was a sight-seeing tour after an engine exploded.

[@rafanifischer3152]

The Captain and crew showed excellent airmanship. That was one of the most terrifying visuals I've seen on TheFlightChannel. Imagine the passengers looking out the windows and seeing the rooftops so close. The cabin was probably full of praying people. Well done, Captain.

[@laurie3546]

Rafani

[@bennettbt8864]

So awesome to finally see an animation of the story. Definitely one of the best shows of airmenship, alongside United 232, American 95 and Jal 123

[@jrx5759]

Watch the mentour pilot video on this, you would love it

[@sarahalbers5555]

Great comment. Thanks.

[@suspicionbridge]

Also Northwest flight 85

[@WildernessDude2024]

Wow, an amazing demonstration on flying in the critical moments. Hope his flying is taught around the world and his name stay at flight school everywhere. RIP Captain

[@sucran]

A true legend of the captain led to the perfect member of flight crew in this situation, therefore saving 418 lives. What a legend of a man.

[@sureshnishtala2887]

The captains deep knowledge has really worked here...imagine flying just above the building and you dont knwo when it crashes to those buildings ....incridible job by the captain.

[@EIRE55]

Captain Migadis' skills, knowledge, and quick thinking was an incredible achievement that very few pilots could manage. He did the "impossible" and saved everyone's lives. Thank you, Sir!

[@ceejay8545]

Being so close to those buildings had me on the edge of my seat. I can't imagine what those passengers went through.

[@shokaku123]

Some thought it was a planned scenic flight and started to take photos.

[@BillGreenAZ]

Imagine what the pilot felt when he cleared the mountain and realized he could now bank over to the sea and drop fuel to get more elevation.

[@Big_Joe570]

More than a few sealed seats to seats, I'm certain.

[@skylined5534]

@@shokaku123 And they thought the exploding engine was just for dramatic effect? 🙄

[@ChrisPBacon-ok7ir]

@@shokaku123 , No, they just saw an engine explode during take-off.

[@omarhamid3638]

A nail biting but more than satisfactory outcome. Everybody survived is the best news. So glad to watch how the pilot operated so skilfully and knowing the terrain of Athens so well. Well done to him and his team and it’s to their immense credit that it is now studied in training programmes. Thanks for your superb production skills, highly detailed and thoroughly researched as always.

[@istudios225]

I got very emotional watching this, as I was in the exact same crisis. Thank you for giving full credit to the pilot Captain Migardis. His decisions and actions alone saved the 418 souls. Around 1976 or 1977, I was on a Singapore Airlines flight from Singapore to London. The flight was full, so about 400 passengers, or just under that, and 18 crew members. Bahrain was one of the transit stops and it was also a refuelling stop. Departure was around 1am. Just after lift-off, or perhaps just before lift-off, one of the engines exploded with a huge flash which lit up the night sky. I was in the upper deck with all window blinds down and I couldn't and didn't see anything. However, the seat belt sign was on for an unusually long time and was never switched off. Then the captain announced we were turning back to Bahrain airport due to technical issues. Bahrain is surrounded by sea. The next half hour or so was spent flying around dumping fuel. We landed without any incidents, but with fire engines lined up on both sides of the runway. Passengers on the main deck later said they saw a big bright flash from one of the right engines just at take-off. Some said it seemed like we were struggling to climb. It sounds like we had the same problem as this Olympic Airways aircraft. We were on a B747-200B which also had Pratt & Whitney JT9D engines. It was indeed a flagship aircraft for Singapore Airlines and was one of their selling points. The name of the captain, a long-service and very experienced pilot, escapes me now but he was the one who saved our lives.

[@marcospark2803]

The city view from the passengers' windows should have been absolutely amazing !

[@privatepilot4064]

Man, that story had a very, very high pucker factor! Talk about a close shave! Quite a feat of airmanship!

[@BillGreenAZ]

Gives new meaning to the term "flying by the seat of your pants".

[@skylined5534]

Pucker factor? I took a bite out of the cushions I was sitting on 😂

[@laurie3546]

@@BillGreenAZ 😑👍🏻

[@AlexXimtra]

What the hell, this captain is a complete legend

[@j.k7665]

Thank you captain for saving so many lives including yours!

[@teejayangel6638]

Wow! Much respect to the Captain and f. Officer! Legends! I can't imagine the pressure they were under.

[@stevenchow3459]

A similar incident happened 20 years later. On 28 June 1998, United Airlines Flight 863 almost crashed into a mountain after engine 3 failed on takeoff from San Francisco. The Boeing 747-400 with 307 people onboard cleared the mountain by just 100 feet. And the incident in this video was even closer.

[@Rousseau4469]

It also happened 9 years before this incident to flight 14 from San Francisco to New York when No1 engine exploded. NTSB reported that it was an issue of overheating before takeoff procedures. Of course no one said anything about the rushed timetable to design and produce this engine without extensive tests. Also the engine was prone to windtail winds.

[@laurie3546]

@@Rousseau4469 🧐🤔

[@Barti407]

This one has my heart racing! What an amazingly skilled pilot and his 2 crew members, being able to use all their knowledge while keeping a cool head! Respect ✊

[@PcGamerify]

Hearing that warning messages loop must have stress enducing

[@naknaksdadn572]

In other words, an exploding #3 engine is absolutely normal according to Boeing.

[@MrYfrank14]

If they dont acknowledge it, then when you sue them you have to first prove the plane had 4 engines, that particular engine was on the plane , and it exploded.

[@akdrn3624]

yes, like 737 diving nose down

[@Newberntrains]

@@akdrn3624 or batteries catching fire in your new 787 Let’s not forget loose hardware floating around under the floor etc in the 777x

[@FlexBeanbag]

kzbin.infoBmc9NFfhx74?feature=share

[@dutchleussink156]

No kidding

[@unclelar53]

"No matter what, fly that wing", my instructor said to me many times. I love this channel. It let's me keep my head in the game, even though I had to give up flying a few years ago because the cost pushed me out. The flight crew are heroes, for sure.

[@alexanderbenjamin5348]

Hi how are you Lawrence. Greetings from . Kindly man, Hope you're safe from the covid. Have a good week and stay safe 😄😘 Alex

[@unclelar53]

@@alexanderbenjamin5348 I'm great, thanks. I had covid a year ago Aug. Lasted three days. No biggie, I have had worse colds. Carry on, sir.

[@alexanderbenjamin5348]

@@unclelar53 Well, I'm Alexander, by name. I am originally from apeldoorn Netherlands but I currently live in Brooklyn NY

[@alexanderbenjamin5348]

@@unclelar53 What about you my dear? what's your name and where are you from?

[@alexanderbenjamin5348]

@@unclelar53 Hi Lawrence how are you doing today, and also, how's everything over there?

[@miragelee9754]

This is the definition of defy expectations… Man, This Pilot is no short of a legend.

[@gabe-po9yi]

Remarkable feat of airmanship. Absolute respect.

[@OfficialSamuelC]

A perfect example of an amazing crew and captain using their experience, and excellent CRM. The fact Boeing couldn’t redo what this captain accomplished in dozens of simulations without crashing shows that. Reflecting that if they had followed Boeings guidelines to not retract the gear low, it could’ve been a different outcome, especially if they were already striking antennas on buildings. Any of the gear clipping the top of any building would’ve been enough to ensure it wouldn’t climb anymore and hits one of the next buildings. The best outcome is the gear is torn completely off but even that will affect the altitude of an already low and slow plane that can’t afford to lose any speed or altitude.

[@abhivandan8710]

The pilots are amazing... That situational pressure in real time was much more than any simulator.

[@annalouux8553]

I've seen all documentaries on this flight. It is gut-wrenching when you hear the pilot and the air hostesses speak. The captain mentioned that if it wasn't for that little breeze seconds before crashing on the mountain to lift the plane boom. .. the air hostess said that the passengers didn't realise what was going on they thought the pilot was giving them a close up view of Athens from above lol. On all the interviews the pilot seemed like a very calm and humble man. He mentioned that for Boeing this plane has crushed but they survived against all odds. On a side note on August the 9th 1978 the day this happened, my family and I were visiting family in Greece so we were on the Acropolis hill visiting the Parthenon we saw the plane flying very low and emptying its fuel tanks.

[@kimberlylee1329]

This pilot performed a miraculous landing!! He needs medals for his knowledge and bravery! I can’t believe they threw him under the bus. He saved everyone that day!!

[@thebiggerbyte5991]

Whatever errors were or were not made, the crew saved the plane and everyone on board. How that plane stayed in the air at that weight and that speed is remarkable, and down to them.

[@lizlovsdagmara5525]

They were most likely flying low enough to be in ground effect for the aircraft. Also stalling is more of a function of angle of attack rather than airspeed.

[@asan4628]

Its always good to see the "Everyone survives" in the end

[@Raven_A5]

You don’t understand how relieved I was to find out the plane landed back safely. This 747 fully loaded with fuel was probably close to 900,000 pounds, that huge object crashing into a busy downtown area would’ve easily been worse than 9/11

[@anthonymiller7992]

How relieved you was? The titled said everyone survived because of a rule violation but i never seen what was violated that saved the lives of the crew and passengers. All i seen was the mistake of turning off water flow which caused the problem in the first place

[@tabby73]

@@anthonymiller7992 Watch closely: the rule violation was that he immediately retracted the landing gear otherwise it would have created more drag and also clipped into a building right away. It is against the rules to retract the gear so early however.

[@anthonymiller7992]

@@tabby73 Ah, shit, yea that makes sense! I should have caught that LOL

[@lydia7177]

I'm no flight expert at all, but most of the time when I watch these videos, every time the pilot makes a turn with failing engines it ends very bad...the fact that he knew not to make a turn and to turn the nose down and back up for some speed is epic, big respect

[@sewergal1]

This one gave me goosebumps!. An amazing pilot and great job on presenting this, one of the best channels on you tube.

[@fastindirt]

That captain saved all those souls. Hero in my book.

[@riverwildcat1]

No, the pilots almost caused a holocaust by crashing a fully loaded 747 into a city. See above. They tried to blame Boeing and Pratt-Whitney, but the real truth is known and out there.

[@ATOMICO2000]

from Spain always the best for Greece! long live Greece! long live Spain! long live queen sofia

[@dbnmore]

I appreciate the amount of hardwork you put into these videos. Tried making one myself and it wasn't even close to yours and took weeks.

[@marcdraco2189]

I can do the videos but damn his flying! WOAH! That just makes me...

[@liberty5069]

Maneuvering through skyscrapers and mountains with that kind of problem is sheer genius on the pilot's part. He knew he had to do some things that were totally against the rules to do it.

[@jessiefrye3045]

When EXPERIENCE wins the race. Because all else would have failed. Fantastic Captain! You are a HERO.

[@WayPastCrazy2525]

Absolutely UNBELIEVABLE! Not often a YT video has me on the edge of my seat, but this one certainly did. Well done! And wow, can you imagine how many lives exist now because these 418 people survived?

[@panosanestiou3226]

it would have been like a nuclear explodion in the heart of athens....this captain was a legend...and after 3 hrs he flew to new york haha

[@tomsmith5584]

"Everyone survived." Their underpants, however, didn't.

[@michaelpascual2731]

Definitely a code Brown situation 😂.

[@BFSilenceDogood]

Well played

[@CupwakeRBLX]

Actually most of the passengers thought it was a planned tour. So they were actually taking pictures and being amazed.

[@hung8377]

You make a joke out of that, what a shamed

[@otisthetowndrunk3613]

@@hung8377 LoL 😂

[@pilotactor777]

Great flying. As cool as Sully in the Hudson. Sully had no options. This Captain had many ( and apart from cutting off the water injection) did everything right. Sometimes more options can lead to wrong decisions...thats why I rate this pilot. He was at the limit of " the wrong side of the drag curve for over 2 minutes.. and kept that behemoth aloft. ...LEGEND!!

[@hermisadventures8142]

jesus, the quality of these is beyond. well done. amazing work went into these, bravo, bravo.

[@prokastinatore]

"Everyone survived !"- that's the point! Love it!

[@dianericciardistewart2224]

Wow. . Just wow. . Thank goodness for a VERY experienced flight crew!! Rock stars!! They got the aircraft safely back on the ground using their expertise and knowledge!! Kudos!! The Captain may have broken rules, but he understood the mechanics of the situation and handled it in a most professional manner!! Thanks for an awesome presentation theFC!! 👍✈✈👍

[@JimmyRJump]

I don't have a particularly morbid curiosity, but your videos are so well-done that I started to seek them out to see what they held. Constantly delivering good content, with well-written accompanying to the point text and a great mix of animation that is rendered as accurate as possible with video and/or audio from the presented subject where possible. Well done. Subscribed a few days ago to at least support the channel in the only way I can.

[@grriceman782]

Excellent recreation as usual…I was unaware of this occurrence. Interesting that even in 1978 Boeing was quick to blame the pilots for this near disaster.

[@aleksanderfradkin7955]

Not sure if it's a reason to gloat since this was done for publicity. Any country would be quick to suppress negative publicity back then (Russia still does it now) internally - conclusions were drawn, the engines were under close scrutiny and flight curriculum updated so that other pilots could learn from this.

[@wirdy1]

Boeing were absolutely correct to state that deliberately limiting the performance of the three good engines was a very bad decision that put the aircraft at severe risk.

[@skylined5534]

@@wirdy1 Deliberately? It was a miscommunication and not a desire to limit power. Boeing by this point would have been well aware of the issues regarding the jt9 engines. They're lucky this didn't result in a serious loss of life or they'd have been up to their necks in it.

[@wirdy1]

@@skylined5534Even a barely competent F/E on the 747-200 of that era should've been well aware of the JT9D engine & the implications of shutting off the water injection during a hot climb with only three good engines. There are only two switches on the water injection panel; a guarded on for the valve & a gated one for the pump. Guards & gates on switches are there for good reason.

[@blueskies6475]

@@wirdy1 but yet, we still don't know the flight engines name!!

[@HORMOVAS]

This captain is a COMPLETE LEGEND!! Rest in peace captain Migadis!

[@glen3257]

amazing, on how safe it is to fly with experienced pilots! mad respect.

[@laurie3546]

😑👍🏻