Wednesday, May 04, 2022

the Pan Am 747 Clipper Belle of the Sea slid off the monsoon soaked runway at Karachi airport (Pakistan) in 1983... this was a 200 to 300 ton problem they were not experienced at solving, but they pulled off the recovery in only 36 hours, and got the airport back to normal ops


The evacuation of the aircraft had its hiccups. The first two doors that the crew tried to open were damaged. The third opened but the slide of the fourth was sucked into an engine which was still running and a couple of other exits also gave them trouble. However, owing to the efficiency of the cabin crew, the evacuation was completed in two minutes using just four exits. They found themselves standing in the mud and rain but none of the 243 passengers and 16 members of the crew sustained injuries.


For two years the Clipper Belle of the Sea remained parked on an apron. Because of the cracks in the fuselage, it was declared beyond economical repair and ultimately sold as junk.

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