In 1990, British Airways pilot Tim Lancaster faced a life-or-death ordeal when the cockpit windshield shattered at 17,000 feet during a flight from Birmingham to Málaga, Spain. The violent blast sucked him halfway out of the plane, leaving his upper body exposed to the freezing, thin air miles above the ground — while only his legs remained inside the cockpit.
Against all odds, flight attendant Nigel Ogden bravely grabbed Lancaster’s legs and held on for a staggering 20 minutes, battling frostbite and injury to keep him from being pulled out completely. Meanwhile, co-pilot Alastair Atchison kept the aircraft steady, fighting to control the plane and prepare for a desperate emergency landing.