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Shanghai: The co-pilot of a Sichuan Airlines flight that was forced to make an emergency landing on Monday was "sucked halfway" out of the plane after a cockpit windshield blew out, media reported, citing the aircraft's captain.
Sichuan Airlines Flight 3U8633 left the central Chinese municipality of Chongqing on Monday bound for the Tibetan capital of Lhasa. It made its emergency landing in the south-west city of Chengdu.
The Sichuan Airlines plane was heading for Tibet when its windshield shattered and a co-pilot was partially sucked out of the cockpit.
Photo: Twitter/@ChinaAvReviewLiu Chuanjian, hailed a hero on social media after having to land the Airbus A319 manually, told the Chengdu Economic Daily his aircraft had just reached a cruising altitude of 32,000 feet (9800 metres) when a deafening sound tore through the cockpit.
The cockpit experienced a sudden loss of pressure and drop in temperature and when he looked over, the cockpit's right windshield was gone.
"There was no warning sign. Suddenly, the windshield just cracked and made a loud bang. The next thing I know, my co-pilot had been sucked halfway out of the window," he was quoted as saying.