On 9 August 1978, a fully loaded Olympic Airways Boeing 747 came within a breath of wiping out entire city blocks in sou...

On 9 August 1978, a fully loaded Olympic Airways Boeing 747 came within a breath of wiping out entire city blocks in southern Athens, and somehow every single person aboard walked away without serious injury. Flight 411 was a Boeing 747-200 registered SX-OAA and nicknamed "Olympic Zeus," scheduled to fly nonstop from Ellinikon airport to John F. Kennedy in New York. It lifted off shortly after 2pm with 418 people on board, tanks loaded with fuel for an Atlantic crossing, and its weight sitting just below the climb limit for that day's conditions. At the moment of rotation, engine No. 3 failed. That alone put the aircraft in serious trouble. Then, seconds later, the flight engineer shut off the water injection system after misreading a warning light. Water injection sprays water into the engines to boost thrust. Losing it on a jet already struggling to climb was catastrophic. The 747 reached a maximum of roughly 64 metres before it began sinking back toward the city. Over Kallithea and Nea Smyrni, along Andrea Syngrou Avenue, the aircraft was flying at approximately 55 metres and 260 km/h. Residents watched it tear television antennas off apartment rooftops. Some reportedly saw the aircraft pass level with office windows. Passengers had almost no idea what was happening. Many were American tourists who thought the low pass was part of the scenery. The crew lowered the nose to build speed. Once they reached around 170 mph, the flight engineer brought engine power back up. The aircraft slowly climbed, turned toward the sea, dumped fuel, and landed safely back at Ellinikon. All 418 people aboard, passengers and crew, survived without serious injury. It remains one of the most remarkable escapes in aviation history, and Greek aviation records suggest that every Boeing simulation of the event ended in a crash. #OlympicAirways #GreeceHistory #Aviation