Atlantic Plunge | Pan Am Flight 115 

Captain Lynch is a Rock Star...returning to the cockpit and stabilizing the plane to land safely, brilliant 👏🏽

They always blame the pilots. If the plane was reported faulty and still flying its Pan ams fault for not taking it out of service for repair. The pilots on this flight did an amazing job by balancing the plane and landing safely. Thank you for posting.

What the captain did here is commonly called a 'critical attitude recovery'. Back in the 70s and 80s when I got my instrument rating and ATP, I practiced a LOT of these. The most common way it to wear a 'hood'. This is a sort of hat that has a very long bill so you can see only the instrument panel even in good weather. The instructor will have you look down so you can't see anything then he will make a bunch of odd turns and changes in attitude resulting in the wings being turned sharply and the nose way up or down. Then he'll tell you to recover. It takes a while to get good at it and you'll get 'rusty' quickly but this captain did exactly as he should have. Obviously, he practiced regularly. Further, he did it without using the artificial horizon (now called the attitude indicator) because the gyro had tumbled. This is much more difficult. The time and effort he put into maintaining his skills paid off.........

By the way, “Atlantic Plunge” was the least popular cocktail offered in the 707’s lounge.

Nice to see a video where the pilots recovered from a near disaster and everyone survived. I'd be interested in seeing more videos of close calls when pilots, ATC or others averted disaster with just seconds remaining -- and any information on what poor passengers felt and experienced (frequent but still bare knuckled flier here).

The passengers must have been screaming their heads off. Imagine all those Gs as the plane was rolling down. Holly crap.

Few things are more iconic in aviation, than a 707 in Pan Am livery.

I’m always so relieved when there’s no crash or injuries at the end. I let out a little cheer each time. These videos are exhausting!

The pilots save the day! Heroes!

"Captain set the throttles to idle" followed shortly by "the plane entered a steep climb" had me absolutely sure this was going to end in a stall & crash. Glad they made it. Sucks the pilot got blamed for "not monitoring the progress of the flight" despite that literally being what he was doing when this happened. WTF? This was clearly a maintenance error all the way around in terms of the auto-pilot malfunctioning twice and not being replaced. Then the autopilot light dimming sounds like a design flaw. I get that it's important for lights to dim in the cockpit in certain conditions, but having any light (let alone on a critical system) capable of being dimmed to the point it no longer visibly illuminates is insane.

I felt so panicked when the instrument lights went black and the artificial horizon was spinning uselessly. No idea how that pilot had the presence of mind to get his bearings and keep flying. I’d be trying not to faint.

Wow this would've been intense. Glad they were able to recover the plane. Seeing incidents like this going as far back as the 50s shows us the kinds of problems aircrafts were having at that time, and makes me realize where we are now :) Thanks for uploading.

I would like to see more close calls or near disasters. These are more uplifting.

This was a very tense video for me. When I saw the altimeter hit 8,500 feet (and still dropping quite quickly), my stomach felt like it had started to crawl up towards my throat. When it hit 6,000 feet I thought, "No, that's the end of it, it's over, they can't possibly recover now". But skilled airmanship resulted in an amazing recovery. Great work Allec, this one really got me going!

Nice save!! The pilots should all have received medals for their heroism.

Nice video as always Alex. Well documented and very clear animations. I like the way the pilots used the stars (the old-fashioned way) to determine which way the plane was rolling.

This video scared the crap out of me. I was relieved when they started climbing. Showing the altitude dropping was the worse.

I just realized that this happened on the same day (February 3, 1959), when Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper were killed in a plane crash. That occurred earlier in the day, after midnight. I'm glad everyone on this flight made it safe.

Everyone on board survives.... The same cannot be said for everyone’s underpants....

"Despite this, the CAB could not determine the actual cause of why the auropilot disengaged." Uhhh. maybe because the Bendix autopilot was a piece of junk? Stop blaming the flight crew every time!

I flew this particular A/C in the 80's for a cargo outfit out of MIA. I do remember reading in the Tech Log NOT to couple the AP with the OMEGA nav system due to a very similar problem. Apparently they never got it worked out.

It was reported that toilet paper became scarce in Gander in February of 1959.

Well done crew and the 707

This video kept me on the edge of my seat.

When the captain commands you to hold him in his seat, you f'ing hold him in his seat.

Sadly, this wouldn't be the end of a serious problem regarding a Boeing 707 and the automatic pilot system. In brief, on March 1, 1962 an American Airlines 707 took off from Idlewild (now JFK) airport in New York bound for Los Angeles (it was their then famous flight # 1). The American Airlines 707 lifted off and a "faulty command" (to the rudder) from the auto-pilot system caused the plane to sharply bank and crash into a swamp just two minutes after take-off - killing all 95 souls aboard. This 1962 accident was the fifth deadly accident involving a 707 and at the time the most deadly. There were several notable people on that flight - including the mother of Linda Eastman, who some years later would marry (Beatle) Paul McCartney. Linda (who passed on in 1998) would later say that she never enjoyed flying given what had happened to her mother (and who could blame her?) Anyway, thanks for the fascinating post and it's great to see some of these stories turn out so well. The pilot of PA #115 luckily had several thousands of feet under his craft and thus had "the space" in which to regain control.

Nice to see a happy ending once in a while😅

Captain to navigator, 'hold my beer', 'i mean my seat'. The Boeing 707/ 121, was a beautiful aircraft. Great job all round. Anything 'Auto', scares the pants off me.

When all else fails, just blame the pilots, and that should make everything all right!

With a title like this, I thought for sureski this plane was doomed!! You tricked me Allec, but in a good way 😃 Great production as always and thank God everyone onboard survived 🙏🏻💜

Pan Am and the 707. Two icons from a bygone era. Both sorely missed.

...a fair few spilled martinis then

Great on Allec!

It's a good thing none of the flight crew chose fish! Otherwise, Ted Stryker would have had to take over.

Another wonderfully done video, Allec.

Another great one, Allec. Thanks!

I watch these with an increasing sense of trepidation, and when they make it at the end it's like a tremendous sigh of relief.

Amazing airmanship skills from captain He should have been rewarded

A new video from Allec. This made my day!

Damn lucky he had sufficient altitude to afford this drop and have room and time to recover.....

I hope these pilots got a recognition award for the tireless hardworking excellent job they did regaining steady control of the plane that saved their lives and the passengers and flight crew that easily could’ve had them all perish. Magnificent job by the pilots

The passengers were lucky to have a pilot that could still fly the plane when the autopilot goes haywire. So many seem to have lost that.

That's a PHEW right there

Pilot noticed the stars. Now that’s proper flying.

I love the 707. I work on them still to this day. You'd be surprised how many are still flying every day. (Not civilian in case you were wondering)

Man I just love your videos. I have seen pretty much all of them by now :D

Your videos are awesome, thank you.

What a "Crowning" of this video with those Exclusive air to air takes/ scenes Allec Joshua Ibay! Thank You.

WOW! Great job by the Captain to remain calm and put the plane back to the wings level position. It's always good to see a successful recovery and everyone survives. Thanks for posting.

I actually felt bad for ghe plane when it was scrapped

My name is Seymore, and I am an Allecoholic.

Wow! The graphics/visuals on this video are excellent. Like touring a vintage plane at OshKosh. Good job, Allec!

Whew! Now I can sleep-this story had a happy ending! Why do I watch before bed and stress myself out? 🤔

Brilliant vid mate

Wow, 1959, 50 years ago, with a four month old 707. Stop blaming the pilots, it's obvious that it's a twitchy autopilot. Captain Lynch saved the day, full marks for his skill when he said, "I nave control." The terror people must have felt when they were looking at the Grim Reaper so close must have been truly horrible.

Thank you for the video. At least no one was injured and all survived. I appreciate the hard work you put into your videos. Very well done, I hardily applaud you!

The beautiful and most talented Susan Oliver was on this flight.She most rembered as Vina from the pilot of Star Trek. As as result of this flight as ultimately became a pilot and flew a same single engine plane from New York to Scotland trying to make her way to Russia in 1967. God be with always Susan!

These videos are amazing, thank you

That was sure a close one....Good save, in spite of whatever mistakes might have been made...

This incident is a new one to me. This is where pilots show why they’re considered so highly. Pulling that jet out of a death-dive must have seemed miraculous! Awesome video Allec...as always. The

Massive, beautiful plane. Great shots of it :)

Great flying and recovery. Good teamwork and ending. Overall, the 707 was a great airplane.

Another great job Allec.

Damn, good plane. Glad it didn’t break apart when it almost rolled on it’s back!

I was certain passengers and crew were doomed. The calm, poise, and skill the captain displayed in the face of near-certain death and calamity is truly astounding. In my book, Captain Lynch is an aviation legend.

Well done Allec! Trust your instruments!!!

didnt expect a happy ending there, and nice music at the end

i like the detail showing the aircrafts difference inside compared to modern planes evolvment

My Aunt was a stewardess for PanAm for about a decade in the early 1960s to early 1970s. That took her all over the world. I lost my dear Aunt in early 2012 at age 79. She truly loved flying (despite the stresses of the job).

The older the incident i am seeing, the more skill full the pilots were..is like the improvement going backward in time..old school 👌🏼

Another great video Alec

Once again you’ve posted very fine work. Thank you

Those passengers went for one hell of a ride.

This is the first time I have heard about this and I am sure the Captain has passed away by now. I truly hope that someone at Pan Am and Boeing has erected a huge recognition monument of the captain for saving everyone on the planes life. It is hard to grasp what he was able to do in such a short length of time in the dark. Awesome Job Captain

Aviate, Navigate, Communicate, executed perfectly here

Another excellent video. relieved to see that the plane made it to the destination safe

Great video, Allev

That was an amazing recovery!!

Watching 2020...Once at the end of May we took a ferry from Bar Harbor Maine to Nova Scotia. Our car was below deck. For about 6 hours the ferry was rolling from starboard to port. My hubs and I were lying on a bench and could see the water each time when the ferry rolled. I refused to return on the ferry. We drove thru Nova Scotia and then back down into Maine. Only saying since I could see how crazy it was on the water. I just cant imagine in a plane. "Everyone survived" gave me the chills as it could have ended terribly.

These videos are totally addictive!

I do recall this incident, after landing and inspection THIS AIRCRAFT now had A FEW DEGREES DIHEDRAL, ON ITS WINGS, which presented no problem, , things can happen really happen quite fast Cheers 🇨🇦🇺🇸

The plane lands safely but stinks to high heaven , excellent crew work

I'm loving the stories were they end up landing & no one dies.

Two ways to look at it: 1) A dry run of the terminators trying to kill all humans. 2) A preview of f'd up autopilots on the 737 MAX.

Well done to the pilots and crew for recovering that scary situation with no loss of life. I felt pretty sickened watching the altitude dropping so quickly

I love those 707s, especially the PanAm ones.

Fantastic post!

Thank you for flying PAN AM... :)

That's a really nice plane for 1959

I honestly thought this plane was going to be a goner. Glad they all made it safely. Great vid.

Great work by the pilots in the end. Can't imagine what it must have been like for the Passengers...

After watching a lot of Allec's great videos, I think it's pretty obvious why Pan Am and Eastern are no longer flying.

GREAT video, Thanks

God bless the crew for keeping their heads together and regaining control....

I can't believe they survived. Amazing. The pilot should've been commended, not blamed.

Why does the end of this video feel like a funeral for the plane 😂

The old refueling stop in Gander, NF. I don’t miss those days. Thank God for fuel efficient aircraft now.

Great story. Glad the plane had a nice, long life.

Wow!!!! Faaaaaarrrrkin wow!!!! Jeez!! This is my third time watching this video and I still get frightened at the sight of the 707 in a nose dive!!

Actress Susan Oliver (best known from one of the Star Trek pilots and as a jail prisoner in an Andy Griffith episode) was on this flight, according to an entertainment channel. The channel says Oliver's efforts to get over the resulting fear of flying prompted her to become a pilot.