“We Can’t Control the ENGINES!” The Nightmare of Cathay flight 780

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All your videos are great, but the stories that end in "everybody survived amd the pilots later received medals for outstanding airmanship" are by far my favourite. Hearing about competent professionals dealing with these emergencies makes me feel much safer in the air!

I think an incident episode in the reverse of your normal script could be a great way of showing what it feels like to be a pilot dealing with something completely unexpected. Meaning, begin with a description of what the pilot experienced without the context you normally provide. Afterwards, you fill the audience in on what was actually going on as you do so well. It would really serve to highlight how stressful and fast thinking issues are within the cockpit.

I remember on my first flight, I was an unaccompanied minor, flying from Atlanta to Minneapolis. It already started great, because the captain gathered all the unaccompanied minors up before the flight and told us that he wanted us to be safe on the flight, so he wanted us right where all of the crew could monitor and help us out if we needed it, right at the front of the plane. I started having a panic attack because of some very small turbulence, and Austin, the flight attendant sat with me and explained in coherent detail, how the plane was made to withstand quite a bit of jostling around. Maybe he saw the Dr. Who TARDIS backpack stuffed with Percy Jackson books and sketchbooks and figured I was just as autistic as he is, but it really helped calm me down. He basically turned turbulence into a game for me to listen for what was bumping around instead of an absolute terror for me. It absolutely delights me to hear when flight personnel are awarded for their work. Because not all heroes wear capes, but these ones definitely fly.

If there's one thing I've learned from these videos, it's that the difference between a violent crash and a rough landing is almost always going to come down to the skills and decision making of the crew, not the technical problems that they're experiencing.

The crew pretty much performed better than textbook, since the faults they were dealing with weren't even in the manuals. Awesome airmanship!

Watching these videos has made me think about a flight that I was on in the mid-90s. As we were speeding down the runway to take off, the plane was shaking, similar to how a puddle jumper shakes in bad turbulence, and there were a high pitched metallic sound. I was worried because it just wasn't right. As we were about to get airborne (I could feel the beginning of the shift), the pilot slammed on the brakes and announced that there was a warning light on one of the instruments. He wasn't sure if it was serious or not but wanted to get it checked out. We went back to the gate and were there for a couple of hours. Most of the passengers groaned and complained. Some said that they'd never fly that airline again. For all I know, taking off could've been the final slice of Swiss cheese and, by aborting, the pilot stopped a disaster from happening. For his efforts, he got a lot of compaints. Seriously, I'd rather have a pilot who is more concerned about keeping the passengers and crew alive than getting them to their destination on time!

This was some of the best airmanship I've seen. At no point did they make a bad decision or miss a chance to try and solve their problem(s). I hope every crew behaves this way in the face of an incident because they definitely saved everyone with their skill and professionalism. Thanks for posting!

The bravery and skill of the crew is phenomenal. To attempt an approach at that speed was nothing short of heroic, and to actually execute the landing was something miraculous. This was the perfect ending, but not what I was expecting, as I feared for the worst. What an absolutely great episode, and with a happy ending. Thank you!

What impressed me most is how the captain and first officer were able to not just follow their checklists, but think outside of them. That's what I call nerves of steel.

Thank you Petter, because of you I managed to overcome my crippling fear of flying and I just returned safely home to Sydney after a trip to Ireland. Again, thank you

As someone who was a nervous flier every since a colleague died in the Alaska 261 crash, these detailed stories about airplane mishaps where everyone survived because of the technology or pilots and cabin crews just reinforce my new attitude of being able to be relatively calm during a flight.

It always makes me beam when I hear about pilots who handle things this well. They saved 100s of lives.

Production quality on this videos is getting incredibly high. Bravo to all the people involved, great work.

The levels of engineering associated the brakes and wheels on aircraft is seriously under appreciated I feel. Double the landing speed and still stops over 300m from the end of the runway. Impressive.

As a former Air Force mechanic these stories are thrilling and punctuates the dangers pilots and crew face on each flight. When that engine hit the runway I was sure there would be hot brakes!

I flew Cathay Pacific FRA-HKG just a few months later. Best flight I've ever been on. There is a reason Cathay has such a good reputation. On my flight back one year later we were dealing with typhoons, but I felt safe with this airline, knowing how well versed they are with those weather conditions. Big probs for the pilots of this flight out of Indonesia!

The system designs of the fuel truck, fuel pumps and Fuel Metering Unit were fascinating!

"Everyone survived and the crew got medals." I really like it when accident stories conclude with that as a sufficient summary. Fantastic airmanship and superb use of skill and knowledge to take a dangerous situation and have everyone arrive as safely as reasonably achievable. And a well told story, thank you very much for the education and entertainment. Fantastic video as always.

Previously I had never know about fuel contamination but now after only 40 minutes I have learn so much in such a fun way.Keep up the work Peter.