Autopilot Failure Led to Boeing 747SP's Heart-Stopping 30,000-Foot Plunge

On February 19, 1985, China Airlines Flight 006, a Boeing 747SP, was cruising at 41,000 feet over the Pacific Ocean when its number four engine lost power. The crew focused on restarting it, but as they did, the autopilot held the wings level, hiding the growing asymmetry until it ran out of authority.

The aircraft then rolled hard to the right and dropped its nose, plummeting almost six miles towards the ocean in just two and a half minutes. Passengers and crew were pinned by g-forces that peaked at around 5G, bending the airframe. Captain Min-Yuan Ho had no outside horizon to fly by as the aircraft broke through cloud cover.

The crew finally saw the sky, oriented themselves, and hauled back, tearing parts off the aircraft in the violent pull-out. The captain leveled off at about 9,500 feet, a few thousand feet above the sea. Despite the severe damage, the aircraft diverted to San Francisco and landed safely, with only two serious injuries.