Sierra Hotel Blog
On February 24, 1989, United Airlines Flight 811 suffered a catastrophic cargo door failure at 22,000 feet over the Pacific, tearing a massive hole in the fuselage and ejecting nine passengers into the night. Captain David Cronin safely returned the crippled 747 to Honolulu on two engines, landing at nearly 200 knots. The crew received the Secretary's Award for Heroism.
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On April 20, 1978, a Soviet Su-15 shot down Korean Air Lines Flight 902 near Murmansk after misidentifying the Boeing 707 as a USAF RC-135 spy plane. Hit by an R-60 missile, the crew managed an emergency landing on frozen Korpiyarvi Lake. All 107 passengers survived. The Soviet Union then invoiced South Korea $100,000 for caretaking expenses.
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On April 7, 1999, a KC-135R Stratotanker at Tinker AFB was catastrophically over-pressurized during a maintenance test after a technician missed a full extra revolution of the pressure gauge needle. The resulting blowout tore a 35-foot hole in the aft fuselage and dropped the tail section to the ground.
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