Thursday, June 24, 1982.
British Airways Flight 009. 37,000′ cruising speed. Nighttime. 110 mi SE of Jakarta, Indonesia.
41 yr-old Captain Eric Moody steps off the flight deck to use the lavatory. When he returns? All hell breaks loose.
13:40 UTC — St. Elmo’s fire dances across the windscreen. Blue-violet electric fields ionizing the air. The stench of burning circuits fills the cockpit. Outside Mount Galunggung erupts.
13:42 — UTC — Engines fail. Engine 4 surges. Flames out... A minute later Engine 2. Another thirty seconds? Engine 1 and Engine 3.
In less than two minutes, a 747 carrying 263 souls becomes a powerless glider over the Indian Ocean floating in the darkness of night.
No explosions. No warning lights. Just...silence. Then? Smoke in the cabin. First assumed to be cigarette smoke. Then the odor of sulfur grew thick.
Moody picks up the intercom, “Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped. We are doing our utmost to get them going again. I trust you are not in too much distress.”
Not panicking. No fear. Just calm control.
37,000 ft. The aircraft descends. Glide ratio of 15km:1km. 23 min / 91 nmi glide time.
14 minutes. Controlled freefall. Every second closer to the Indian Ocean.
32 yr-old Senior First Officer Roger Greaves broadcasts a mayday to air traffic control. Interpretation? Engine 4 has failed, no receipt of actual SITREP. The crew squawks the emergency transponder, Jakarta cannot locate the 747 on radar.
O2 masks release. Greaves malfunctions. Passengers pen notes to loved ones.
Moody sets a hard line: if the engines don’t restart by 12,000 feet, they ditch. Odds of survival? Minimal.
13:56 UTC — 13,500 ft. Engine restart procedures engaged. Engine 4 roars back to life. Then Engine 3. Finally Engine 1 then Engine 2.
A new problem emerges. The windscreen is nearly opaque. Volcanic ash sandblasted it.
Moody flies. Eyes on the gauges. Vertical guidance? Inoperative. Greaves monitors lateral calling estimated approach height. A minute strip of untouched window edge guides the descent.
British Airways Flight 009 touches down. 263 walk away because one man refused to let fear take control.
Sometimes greatness is not loud. It’s steady.