Reeve Aleutian Airways Flight 8

Reeve Aleutian Airways (Subsidiary of US Air) Flight 8 was a flight from Cold Bay, Alaska to Seattle, Washington on 8 June 1983.^[1] Shortly after take off the plane was travelling at 19,000 ft over the Pacific, when a propeller flew off the plane and struck the plane – a Lockheed L-188 Electra, the workhorse of Reeve Aleutian Airways.

When the propeller flew off the plane and struck the plane's fuselage it punctured the hull causing decompression.^[1] The decompression badly damaged the floor of the plane and the complete lack of control of the plane was caused by the buckling of the floor which jammed the flight controls. Both the auto pilot and regular control cables were pinched by the floor. The pilots pushing and pulling on the yoke eventually gave the pilots enough control to land the plane but in order to do this the plane was rerouted to Anchorage, Alaska.

Only auto pilot was working and the pilots had little control of the plane. The plane was rerouted to Anchorage due to longer runways (10,000 ft) and better medical and emergency services.^[1] The pilot missed the first approach due to the plane travelling too fast and went around again and decided to kill the engines upon hitting the runway. By killing the engines the pilots would have no control over the plane since the engines give power to the plane. The plane was safely landed with no injuries and not even a scratch to the plane. The pilot was honored by President Reagan for pulling off this virtually impossible landing.^[2]

References

1. "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
2. "President Salutes Controller, Pilot". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. 21 June 1983. Retrieved 5 May 2016.