USC Alumni Club of London

On the night of June 24, 1982, British Airways Flight 9 was cruising at 37,000 feet over the Indian Ocean when all four engines on its Boeing 747 died, one by one, in under two minutes. Nobody on board knew why. The aircraft was now a 170-ton glider in the middle of the night with 263 people on board. That’s when Captain Eric Moody made what has been called the greatest passenger announcement in aviation history: “Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped. We are doing our damnedest to get them going again. I trust you are not in too much distress.” The 747 glided without power for nearly 15 minutes, dropping toward the mountains of Java. Moody set a decision height — if the engines hadn’t restarted by 12,000 feet, they would ditch in the ocean. At 13,500 feet, engine four came back to life. The others followed. But the crew still couldn’t see. The windscreen had been sandblasted nearly opaque by volcanic ash from the eruption of Mount Galunggung - completely invisible to weather radar. Moody landed the 747 in Jakarta using a tiny clear strip at the edge of the windscreen, flying the approach almost entirely on instruments. Every single person on board survived. It was the first time in history a commercial jet had encountered volcanic ash at altitude. The incident changed aviation forever and is now studied in every pilot training manual in the world. Captain Moody passed away peacefully in March 2024 at the age of 82. His calm under pressure remains the gold standard for every pilot who has followed 😍

The University has reduced scholarships for National Merit Finalists from half tuition to $20,000, Morning, Trojan reported earlier today.