19 SECONDS from Collision | Easyjet 6074

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On September 15th, 2006, an EasyJet Airbus A319 en route from Alicante in Spain to Bristol in the UK, suffered a dramatic failure over North-West France. The pilots of the aircraft were effectively flying blind, as they tried to understand what had gone wrong. Would they be able to make it to an airport before their situation deteriorated? And what else would go wrong before they could restore function to their plane's systems? This video explores the events of this day, and the important safety lessons which resulted.

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This video was created with reference to publicly available sources:

Special thanks to Steve Uniacke and Hans Bos for their help with the research for this video.

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[DutchDesires]

The thing in this episode that blew my mind is that the runway in Bristol was dry.

[OwlRTA]

this is a crazy story I've never heard about. The electrical failure, the near miss prevented by ATC on gut instinct, the lack of radios, the fear of being shot down if they deviate, and a crew that managed the situation well with their limited Airbus experience. These were great pilots.

[schootzmootz]

These pilots did a tremendous job. Listening to these stories taught me that when things of technical nature go wrong, human nature can make it a hundred times worse. The two men in the cockpit that day did every single thing right, despite the absolutely dire circumstances. Amazing!

[MIXTAB]

Some badass manual flying skills by the first officer ✌️💯🤘

My man hand flew a A319 from 320 onto a short runway with no clearance

Well done gentleman ❤️🤘✌️💯

[TheSlyFox]

These kind of stories really do give you an immense sense of respect for pilots. keeping their absolute cool through such a scary situation. hats off

[concorde__]

I am absolutely astounded that the ATC just stood up and clocked out as this was happening. Incredible

[ellisonketovore]

Your content just keeps getting more exceptional. The graphics are now incredibly lifelike, the attention to detail, such as close-ups of the panel switches, are amazing and now you're even including the correct cabin colours and aircraft model too, including such details as the EasyJet adverts on the seatbacks! Keep up the incredible work!

[colinroyle]

These pilots just couldn't catch a break. They tried everything and each time it didn't work. Incredible decision making in the end by them. Oh, and fantastic video once again

[pinktoothless]

An extra detail from the report:

Bristol ATC first became aware of the emergency traffic inbound at 1110 hrs when they were called by ATC at West Drayton, who advised that EZY6074 was over the south coast of England in a descent, but not in radio contact.

Bristol ATC took action to notify all the responsible authorities to ensure the airport was prepared to accept the emergency aircraft. A full emergency was declared by the airport at 1116 hrs. All air traffic movements at Bristol Airport were suspended as the aircraft approached. When the aircraft was established on final approach, the tower controller broadcasted blind transmissions giving landing clearance and surface wind information.

[crazydariver]

Outstanding commentary and episode.
I was on a flight from LA to Kailua Kona. We abruptly dropped 3000 (so we all found out later on the news) Capt apologized and explained it as an unexpected event. He knew more and didn't want everyone to panic. I was seated at the very aft next to the aft Stew area. If they knew, they showed no emotion either. Although we had been instructed to remain seated and belted, that was about it. An hour later I looked out my window and saw two fighters tailing us. Something was really wrong but the entire crew maintained professionalism and composure. I leaned around the bulkhead and asked. No one answered so I wrote it down on a napkin and threw it at them. They read it and the next directive was for everyone to close the window shades. Plane landed fine in Ohau (wrong island but much larger rescue operations) and everyone on board got a voucher good for two years. I never really found out what happened but I'm sure we had a sudden hydraulic loss and they had to fight that beast in. I thanked the Capt while disembarking and he looked warn out but came out to see if anyone was hurt. He laughed when he saw me in full dress blues (USAF) "Please on your next fight with us Major, don't throw your trash at my crew" Outstanding

[avgeek-and-fashion]

Wow this was INTENSE!! I don't have enough words to describe how glued I was to this story, the graphics, the narration, the suspense, absolutely stellar work!!

[kellyanderson]

Those pilots did a great job. They were calm and didn't panic and everyone lived.

[lolitapop]

That first officer wasn't suffering from hypoxia.. It was a clear panic attack. Poor him, the captain knew this and that is why he said they don't need the masks because he was clearly feeling fine in comparison with his colleague
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(*PS: For all the people below associating panic attacks to lack of courage, or virility, or whatever... let me clarify you something - in the face of a life threatening situation, the first officer body went instinctively into "fight or flight" mode. One of the many physiological reactions associated with it is the intake of extra Oxygen to be used to fight or to run away (flight). Since the first officer could not do any of the 2 because he was too busy sitting down and handflying an entire aircraft, the extra Oxygen went unused for its purpose so he ended up hyperventilating, causing dizziness, ect. which in result turned into a panic attack.
So the panic attack was just a byproduct of the unability to use the extra Oxygen, not necessarily due to lack of courage.
Hope that clarifies 😉 )

[Sam-tqxr]

Hundreds may die but my shift is over so yeah, best of luck everyone… walks away!💀

[thomasmccartney]

I'm surprised nobody has made a Movie about this....This video was exceptional...The narration was Fantastic... Hats off to the Green Dot Aviation

[misterknight]

I have two sons, one graduating this year as a pilot (is also CFI) in hopes of becoming a commercial airline pilot. The other is a sophomore with an ATC major. Watching these channels, and listening to my sons stories (especially the CFI pilot) has given me so much respect for ALL in aviation and he is flying just small airplanes at present. The ATC, the pilots, and the flight attendants are just an amazing team. Good job an telling this story and to all out there in those aircraft, thank you!!!

[sylviaelse]

I find it incredible that it was ever thought acceptable for both radios to be powered from the same bus.

[jayanspaliwal]

Hats off to the captain for excellent airmanship. Even in this tense situation, he didn't lose his mind and handled things cautiously and professionally 🫡🫡


And also, lovely narration, to the point without any added bs 👍🏻

[dotk]

I was totally gripped by the excellent way that you presented this story. Congratulations to the excellent pilots who did a great job of bringing the plane home.

[bv]

Great video! An excellent example of good CRM.

The "clunking" noise when there was a power interruption were the flight deck door strikers that cycle open/closed very quickly. They are loud and you hear it each time you disconnect ground power.