Aviation Disasters

Former US Navy Top Gun Kevin Sullivan, captain of the ill-fated Perth-bound QF72, breaks his silence to give a gripping account of how a rogue computer went 'psycho', causing the Airbus A330 he was piloting to pitch down, nose first, towards the Indian Ocean—twice. Unlike other well-publicised near air disasters, the plane carrying 315 passengers and crew was out of control, a g-force of –8 propelling anyone and anything untethered through the cabin roof. It took the extraordinary skill and presence of mind of the veteran Top Gun to wrestle back control of the plane.

In 2010, thousands of feet in the air above Singapore, the 469 passengers aboard QF32 found themselves in a crisis that no one could have anticipated when the A380 in which they were flying suffered a catastrophic explosion. Captain Richard de Crespigny and his crew confronted extraordinary challenges over the next four hours, with only three partially working engines, and a potentially explosive plane facing an imminent emergency landing.