Boeing 747 Over Athens Rooftops: How Pilot Siphis Magdis Saved 418 Lives On August 9, 1978, Olympic Airways Flight 411 (Athens New York) nearly became the worst air disaster in Greek history. what happened
Immediately after takeoff from Alnico, engine #3 of the Boeing 747-200 Olympic Zeus (SX-OAA) exploded. The rest of the engines lost traction due to an accidental shutdown of the water injection system. The plane, loaded to capacity (418 people + \~160 tons of fuel), began to lose altitude and speed. flying over the edge
Jumbo passed over Kalithea, Nea Smyrni, Paleo Peliro and Alamos at a height of only 50-55 meters, tearing TV antennas from roofs. Residents ran out onto their balconies in terror. The flight attendants saw the faces of the people in the offices. The speed has fallen below the minimum allowed. According to all Boeing calculations, the plane should have crashed by now. The decision of the captain Captain Sipis Migadis (veterans of the battle of Crete) ordered to retract the landing gear - a maneuver that according to the rules is almost suicidal - to reduce resistance. He could not turn: the wing would have hit high-rise buildings. He aimed the plane at Agalo Mountain so that in the event of a fall it would not take people on the ground with it. At 14:05, light airflow + flight engineer corrections gave a few critical meters of altitude. The plane crossed the ridge, Migadis dumped the fuel into the sea and landed the plane back to Eliniko. Everyone is safe. An amazing fact, Boeing engineers later ran dozens of simulations. The result is always the same: disaster. No one could explain how Magdis kept the plane in the air. Except for those who knew his character: that day he flew not with his engines, but with his heart. This is not a Hollywood script. This is a true story that is still taught in aviation today. Athens news plane, Greek news in Russian.