TUI Airways Flight 296

Edie, the aircraft involved

## Introduction

TUI Airways Flight 296 was a package holiday flight from London Gatwick to Saint Lucia. The flight made a successful emergency landing in A Coruña Airport after an attempted hijacking.

## Pilots

Captain William Cooke and First Officer Colby Barnet conquered the hijackers, and they were awarded for their bravery after the incident.

## The Incident

### The Plan

The flight took of from Gatwick completely uneventfully. At the back of the plane, the hijackers prepared for the attack. They were in one of the furthest back rows, and they had a vacant aisle seat next to them. They had managed to get 4 grenades onto the plane, and extra security precautions were put in place after the incident to not allow grenades on a plane again. They wanted to crash the plane, and kill everyone on-board. They planned to use the grenades to get into the cockpit, and the rest to destroy the plane and kill the passengers. Whilst at it's cruising altitude of 28,000 ft over the Atlantic, the hijackers decide to strike.

### The Attempt

The two got out their seats, and made their way to the front of the plane. Once behind the first class doors, a flight attendent attempts to stop them, but they are pushed out the way. They then throw the first grenade, and it explodes outside the cockpit door. The plastic walls at the front of the section are damaged, but the cockpit door doesn't budge. This is because cockpit doors were made blast-proof since 9/11, and can take a grenade blast. Realising their first attack was unsuccessful, the hijackers throw a second grenade. This one is further away from the door, and injures some of the passengers in first class after it explodes. In the cockpit, Captain Cooke has realised that an attack is taking place. After talking with First Officer Barnet, a former military officer, they come to the conclusion that the hijackers are using grenades. Captain Cooke then comes up with an idea so an extraordinary, that it just might work. He lift's the nose of the plane directly upwards, and it happens that at this moment a 3rd grenade is thrown. The hijackers, thinking it's to get them to move, hold onto the cabin walls. What they don't realise, is that the grenade they just threw is now falling back to them. A hijacker lets go, but it's too late. The grenade explodes, killing both the hijackers and injuring some of the passengers.

### Getting on the Ground

The blast had torn a hole in the ground, and the plane suffered an explosive decompression. The auto-pilot controls were damaged, and so the pilots now had to fly the plane manually. Passengers reported the smell of blood, and some could see the remains of the hijackers. The Captain then diverted the plane to the left, and informed ATC of the issue. They were then allowed to descend to a lower altitude, as passengers could not breathe at such a high altitude. The flight descended to 10,000 ft, and the pilots asked ATC if they could land at A Coruña Airport. They were soon given permission to land, and the entire airport stayed completely still until the flight landed. When they touched down, a child on the flight noted that 'It looked cool when we landed, because I could see the runway beneath me.'

## Aftermath

After touching down, police and new reporters were at the scene. The passengers were evacuated on the runway, and the plane was soon moved off the active area. In a brave move, the maintenance team at TUI annouced they would try and repair the plane. After 9 months in repair, the plane was put back into service on 19th March, 2019.