I was a passenger on Flight 855 and still remember just about every minute of the terror we experienced. I wrote a poem (ballad) about it. It was definitely a life-changing event.

Imagine the emotional roller coaster ride for passengers hearing they need to plan for essentially a crash out in the ocean, seeing the water below them gradually get closer and closer, then one engine starts and they land safely. That would be an incredibly traumatic plane ride! Safe, yes, but i wouldn't be surprised if some/many had nightmares afterward. A life changing event for some I bet. Glad it ended safely, and resulted in better maintenance and inspections.

In spite of this vid, and the aircrafts issues, ya gotta admit, the L-1011 was a great lookin airliner....

The pilots did an awesome job!

I have just discovered these vids. Very well done! As a CAP commander and advocate of all things aviation safety, these will be very useful in lessons for cadets and senior officers.

These magnificent machines are only as good as those who operate and maintain them.

Wow, this one was particularly exciting. I really thought that it was all over. It must have been nice to hear "We'll be landing in Miami instead of crashing into the Atlantic Ocean. Have a nice day."

They were at 4,000ft and I was so happy he got that engine back on and made it back! It’s a miracle!

The flight attendant tells the passengers to prepare for ditching..."you can imagine the heads looking up with "What the F did she say?" expression.

THE LOCKHEED L-1011 TRISTAR WAS AN EXCELLENT PLANE, it's technology and innovation were ahead of it's time. It's landing guidance system were so advanced, Boeing and Airbus didn't have a comparable one untill 1989 and 1990 (respectively). Such a shame Lockheed discontinued civilian/ commercial avaition in order to only focus on military applications. But, Boeing was far bigger, richer and more competitive in the long run.

I met the mechanic that left the o-rings out of the chip detectors. He’s retired now, but he worked up until the end of 2019. A good guy and a good wrench. He just made a mistake that nearly killed 300 people. It’s a great reminder to mechanics like me that perform maintenance every day to be diligent about our work. It only takes one mistake to kill a lot of people.

I haven't seen the flight engineer's station in a very long time! I didn't realize it was so, well, technical!! (I remember the first time I saw all those instruments and gauges on the ceiling of the cockpit/flight deck in a big jet -- I was in awe! Far more complicated than flying my small GA plane!). I love the L-1011 Tristar, she's a beautiful airship!

9:03 "Magnetic" Chip Detector...It's an electronic instrument that attracts ferromagnetic particles (mostly iron chips). It's used in aircraft engine oil chip detection systems. Chip detectors can provide early warning of an impending engine failure and greatly reduce the cost of an engine overhaul. Great video...Thanks!

respect to the pilot 🤗🤗🤗

I was a Turbine engine repairman 68-B10 for several CH-47C, D and E model Chinook helicopters. ALL chip detectors that the military used came with already PRE-INSTALLED packings and o-rings... to prevent this sort of mishap. Civilian airlines should be held to the same standards. Life... according to the military is MORE IMPORTANT THAN PRODUCT OR ECONOMICS!!! Hats off to this outstanding flight crew for SAVING LIVES.

I remember eastern in the early 80's as a kid they really catered to kids they gave out little toy eastern planes coloring books and I remember they gave eastern airlines iron on decals and you actually got a full meal those were the days,

Wow I literally clapped and tears welled up in my eyes when the plane touched down and all passengers disembarked!

that wide turn left is exactly why this is the most perfectly executed reenactment source for aviation content ever, they do not blur any lines, ever or think viewers won't notice something like on most even tv when they recreate something and show a 737 but when cabin shots are shown its a md 80

my favorite plane of all time, I was fortunate to get to fly on the L-1011 out of Miami just before Hurricane Andrew; winds were blowing the plane around like a kite...

A really sharp mechanic, while installing the new chip detectors, just might have realized that without o-rings they might leak - and do something about it. I guess we can't expect that every mechanic is that sharp.

Jeez that was a close call. Bet them passenger seats needed a good scrub after that flight.

Excellent video. Sloppy maintenance. The crew deserved an air medal.

Finally engine 2 got a spotlight, it always the first engine to fail

Superb engine the RB2-11. Three spool design with a lot of built in redundancy. Brilliant airmanship by the flight crew. Captain's decision to shut down and preserve no2 engine was a masterstroke. It goes to show that three and four engined commercial aircraft are safer.

when i found that engine 2 had restarted, I shook my fist and said "YES!" LOL!!!

I really like those tristars sad they’re not around anymore.

Nothing beats a Tristar,,,,,,, so quiet, the flight deck so comfortable.

Good to see an air emergency where everyone lives. Nice vid, Alec. Looking forward to your next one. Had one in Charlotte, NC in 1994 where 37 died, windshear. Maybe that one-? :)

My favourite kind of aviation vid. An emergency situation handled with professionalism and skill and everyone survives.

I love the Lockheed L1011 Tristar

Very well done, not to be lost here is the benefit from the use of the APU which was started to supply power to systems and permitted the repeated attempts at restart of the #2 engine. The APU and the fine job done by the crew saved the day. You couldn't have done this in many airplanes of the day because you could not start the APU in the air.

Damn my heart was racing from all the suspense on this one. Keep up the work, brother!

Great crew work, true heroes and lucky for one engine to start, great work allec!

That must have been the most satisfying Noise the Pilot ever heard in his life when that engine restarted

Wow! didnt expect that! Also, some text with a black outline would be nice for those bright backgrounds... It gets tricky to read sometimes! Love your vids!

Great that I get these older videos recommended

I flew on countless L-1011's as a kid. Loved that aircraft. Best looking out of the tri engined too.

i worked on the l-1011 back in the late 70 80s she was the best thing in the sky still today in my book nothing beat her for safety i just there were still flying today

Superb airmanship to go along with the 3rd world maintenance and supervision. Thank goodness this crew was calm, focused, and prepared. They are a credit to aviators everywhere!

That’s amazing airmanship by all three on the flight deck……old school pilots that never ever gave up, superb stuff! 😎😊

Glad the plane landed safely!!! watching this video though i cant help saying what a beautiful bird the L 10 11 is and I always loved Easterns livery!!!

I always loved the look of the Lockheed Tristar though I've never been fortunate enough to see one, except on _teh interwebz_ of course. What a great recovery from a situation that could've gone, and did go either way.

Human errors are a threat to humanity and must be dealt appropriately. Thank God everyone was safe, Kudos to the captain and his cockpit staff.

These are the results, when you have a FULLY experienced flight crew. Everyone did their jobs, and were able to salvage a plane, that became disabled because of incompetence- by the Maintenance & the FAA. What a brilliant job, reacting to utter stupidity.

What flameout, that was the missing O Rings on the chip detectors one.We used to pull the chip detectors on the RR RB211 on the overnight and at Eastern they would turn them into to stores and get replacements with brand new O Rings already installed. Somebody in stores didn't do the O rings and the guy who got them and put them in didn't notice. All three engines had oil loss.

Superb effort from the pilots! This incident where pilot heroism occurs is mostly overshadowed by ones like these like US Airways 1549 and the Gimli Glider in my opinion. Awesome video!

These are the same mechanics that were on strike half the time I worked for Eastern and I believe assisted in it’s demise.

SPOILER ALERT Fascinating story, well recounted as usual. I was once an L1011 passenger, in the days before jets became cattle cars, and it was the most comfortable flight I ever had. This video shows the plane's extraordinary residence, able to withstand oil loss due to negligent maintenance, then fly safely and land on one engine.

These brave pilots did an amazing job!!

Am I the only one that thinks that whenever work is done on an airplane, that maintenance person should have to fly in that plane, on the very next flight?

I can't stop watching these.

good one Alec. love the tristar. thankful she and all aboard landed safely

Amazing how something as seemingly inconsequential as a rubber O ring is paramount to flight safety. Well done to the flight crew for remaining calm and professional under enormous pressure. Also, well done to the oil deprived RB211 for restarting!

Just now watched this one, EAL 855. Machinist union brought Eastern down, one of the top ever.

Thank you to Allec Joshua Ibay for yet another selfless, informative and accurate video that was straight to the point. Unlike some of the other channels out there that make similar types of videos, this did not have a 10 minute boring intro discussing plane specs, how long the plane has been in service, how many flying hours it’s endured, etc. Thank you for realizing what’s important when recreating these events that often end in tragedy. Glad this one had a happy ending however 😃

Great video. Thank you for sharing. No flame - no CO2. Ahead of their time.

I knew someone very well who worked for Eastern. That company was a tight knit community, and you can bet your bottom dollar that the MIF (maintenance induced failure) which caused this near tragedy, spread like wild fire through the company and things changed afterwards pretty quickly! The union was very difficult to work with and there was upward pressure to skirt the way things were done. One of the lead mechanics joked about having to change the pilot seat in the aircraft once it was towed to the hanger. The stories that went on we’re just fabulous and I miss those days so much. And I miss those who worked there. If you people who fly airplanes only knew how many times these words have been said “send it to the gate “when things were not totally right with the aircraft, you would never fly again. I will say the Lockheed L1011 in my opinion is the finest looking passenger jet ever made. The interior was vast, too.

Allec - Check Delta's records around 12-(28,29,30)-1978. Look for TriStar flight W. Palm to Tampa to Atlanta, to Detroit, to Chicago, to Cleveland, to Philadelphia, to N of Atlanta (including about 4 1/2 hours of circling) all on 1 tank of gas, where we ran out of gas, deployed RAT to glide to & land in Atlanta, skidding across AMR apron stopping at AMR ramp & AMR put out tire fires. Flight included waiting 45 min for VIP in Tampa, ice storm across nation, circling Detroit forever, airliner crashed in Detroit right in front w/TriStar missing it's tail by about 20'-30', circling Chicago 1 hr+, circling Cleveland 1 hr+, circling Philly less than hr, after being directed to NYC Captain set course for Atlanta at best economy speed w/lights off, ran outta gas N of Atlanta, ID'd flight to ATC as Delta Glider Flight, deployed RAT, glided to Atlanta, Captain yelled at tower to clear taxiway as using that too, lit at foot, no reverse thrust either so heavy brakes, let off brakes, kidde cornered first cutoff tippy toeing to taxiway, heavy brakes to AMR Concourse, and we had arrived plus not closed airport with only one runway open due to construction. Emer Services out of position after being kicked off taxiway, so AMR ground crews put out tire fires w/potable water. AMR treated Captain like rock star, plus all cockpit crewmen of the other planes filed in all night congratulating him for handiwork, Delta VP fired Captain for using his Pilot-in-Command authority to NOT force us off plane, FAA Official prevented VP from removing anyone on plane, old AMR Captain told our Captain not to worry as he could fly for AMR every day of the week and twice on Sunday, Delta VP/AMR Captain/FAA Official agreed to reconnect elec -allow complimentary AMR Stewardess Crew back in - provide dinner-breakfast-liquor - rehire our Captain - and leave us the hell alone ON THE CONDITION COCKPIT CREW APPEARED TO FAA OFFICE IN TOWER AT 9AM. Done and done. We partied all night glad to be alive. I somehow caught flight to Cincinnati, then I drove Hertz rental for lady & her daughter to Detroit in driving rain. Even though Delta had no empty seats to get us to Detroit, by golly there was our luggage circling the carousel!! If you find the records from this flight from Delta/FAA/NTSB. you might make video. I'm sure it wouldn't be your best, easiest to make, or get the most clicks, but it would be funnier than hell.....just like this flight!!!

I remember that incident, the procedure was to remove the chip detectors which came in a pill bottle and replace them with a new one and put the old one in the same pill bottle and send it to inspection to inspect it to determine what type of metal was on it. The Mechanics screwed up and didn't notice the new ones did not have O-rings installed and simply replaced them which caused oil to slowly leak out of all three engines. EAL re-trained all the Mechanics of how important O-rings are and this flight was very lucky and no one was hurt. I always make sure O-rings are installed on every part I replace that requires it.

Three engines to the rescue. Flew on this model. Great plane. Got a bad rap for a while. Those maintenance guys should do time in jail the way I see it.

this made me happy, thank you.

Thank you Alec! What an awesome job! These are so interesting to me. I am a flight attendant and I am heavily involved with our new hires for in-flight (flight attendants). I go through the group interview with them, and later when we fill enough seats for a new class I go in for part of the week that we teach safety procedures like ditching, evacuation drills, where all of the safety gear is on our equipment, (aircraft) we work on 5 different models of aircraft and each kind has the safety tools, like fire extinguishers, O2 bottles,... in different locations and different numbers of them within each kind of equipment depending on the size. We use case study like this for so much of our teaching. I'm going to recommend to some of the full time instructors to use the simulations you have created instead of the old DVD's and even video cassettes that we have used for years. I don't know if you have done it since this is the first one I have seen, but Florida flight 90 that crashed into the Potomac river in 1982 has always been an incident we study due to the dramatic footage that was taken and aired on live television, but it is difficult to describe exactly HOW and what happened, other than the aircraft iced had iced over again and the ice also covered an important instrument on the outside of the aircraft that the pilots use to tell them when to "roll". Their ground speed was too low and they were too heavy and they stalled too low to recover. I'm sure you know the story, it's a difficult one to explain to new hires though!

I chuckled at the "Whisperliner" painted on the air intake for Engine 2. Have you ever been near a Lockheed L-1011 at takeoff? Hardly a whisper. LOL.

I am really enjoying these videos! Great work making them!

Great story. Well done! Best of all, everyone survives.

One of the greatest stories in aviation.

I worked at Eastern as a young CPA from 1979 to 1981 and I flew many legs on the TriStar, especially MIA to SFO. On Friday's, I would check the seating in 1st class and if available, I would just decide to fly to San Francisco for the weekend and come back on the Red Eye Monday morning. There was nothing more exciting than at takeoff, hearing the full thrust of the Rolls Royce RB211 engines roar.

I was taught that no AMT should ever perform or sign off on work unless they were willing to board that aircraft and/or to have those whom they cared about the most board it after they were done. That said, laymen do not realize how complex aircraft really are, or how easy it is underestimate the importance of attention to detail when it comes to doing mundane tasks like replacing chip detectors. Yeah, it seems incredibly stupid for some one calling themselves a mechanic to fail to replace a few dollars worth of o-rings, but, if the people doing the work were never trained properly, then not noticing the lack of o-rings on replacement chip detectors, or even re-using worn out o-rings on replacement chip detectors is not beyond the realm of possibility. Human nature with all of its frailties is still a force to be reckoned with, even in the field of aviation.

Keep up the great work!! :)

Nice photography, beautiful shot of one of my favorite aircraft right at 3:42! Keep up the good work.

Hats Off to the Pilots Of 855 👏🏻👍🏻 I seriously thought this one will crash 😅

I always loved the look of the Tristar. I just never understood why Lockheed could never be a master at commercial aviation yet a master at making the tools to protect our country and the other marvels they endured. Guess you cant be good at everything. Thanks Allec. Congrats at 200k. XX. FROM KBOS.

An engine restart is very rare on its own, kudos to these pilots for not giving up on the plane!

Flew Eastern many times back in the day. Always liked that airline.

I remember that incident. FWIW, I never heard that they turned around for weather and traffic problems at Nassau. Fortunate to do so and fortunate that they shut #2 down before it was damaged which allowed for the restart.

Eastern Air Lines Flight 855 took off from Miami International Airport at 08:56 on a flight to Nassau International Airport in the Bahamas carrying 162 passengers and 10 crew.[6] On board was a veteran flight crew, consisting of Captain Richard Boddy (58), Captain Steve Thompson (48) and Flight Engineer Dudley Barnes (44). Captain Boddy had more than 12,000 hours of total flying experience, although he was new to the L-1011, having logged just 13 hours in the aircraft type. On this flight, Captain Thompson served as a supervisory check airman. He had accrued close to 17,000 flight hours throughout his career, with 282 hours in the L-1011. Flight Engineer Barnes had more than 9,000 hours of total flying time, with 2,666 hours clocked in the L-1011 cockpit.[7] At 09:15, while descending through 15,000 feet (4,572 m), the low oil pressure indicator on the TriStar's number 2 engine illuminated.[8] The flight engineer noted that the oil pressure on the #2 engine was fluctuating between 15 and 25 psi; the minimum pressure required for normal engine operation was 30 psi.[9] The captain ordered the flight engineer to shut down the engine. By this time, the plane was about 50 miles (80 km) from Nassau.[9] The crew elected to return to Miami to land. Flight 855 received a clearance back to Miami, as well as instructions to begin a climb to FL200 (20,000 ft, 6,096 m nominal altitude).[8] En route back to Miami, low oil pressure lights for engines #1 and #3 illuminated,[6] and the oil quantity gauges for all three engines read zero.[9] At 09:23, Flight 855 informed Miami ARTCC of the engine gauge readings but stated, "We believe it to be faulty indications since the chance of all three engines having zero oil pressure and zero quantity is almost nil."[9] At 09:28, at an altitude of 16,000 feet (4,877 m), the #3 engine failed. Five minutes later, the #1 engine flamed out while the crew was attempting to restart the #2 engine.[8] Cabin lights went off and flight deck instruments stopped working. The aircraft descended without power from about 13,000 feet (3,962 m) to about 4,000 feet (1,219 m), at a rate of descent of approximately 1,600 feet (488 m) per minute.[9] The crew successfully restarted the #2 engine on the third attempt and executed a one-engine landing at Miami at 09:46.[8][10] After the landing the power from #2 engine was insufficient for the aircraft to taxi; a tug had to be used to tow it to the airport terminal, where the occupants disembarked normally.[10] None of the 172 passengers and crew aboard were injured in the incident.[8] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Air_Lines_Flight_855

The United Flt 97, a 747, had crossfeed failure and almost crashed into Narita with only one engine turning. The crossfeed valve light showed shaft, not valve, position, and in this case the shaft had sheared. Anyway, I am so hoping you can flesh out the whole story... as I was told, after the first engine flameout, the Captain refused help from two Pan Am 747 pilots riding in the back, and also told the FE NOT to use the fuel/dump panel to creatively move fuel around (a Boeing procedure UAL decided NOT to carry in their Flight Manual, but which the two Pan Am pilots were familiar with.) I would love to hear the full telling of this event. All I heard is, the FE used systems knowledge alone to defy the Captains order not to touch anything, (Turn the FE panel lights down as low as they will go. The captain then can't see what you're doing) and got usable fuel sufficient to prevent a ditching using the dump manifold. It’s a great story Allec, I hope you can elaborate on.

Outstanding video. #2 saved everybody.

Gave new meaning to the name "Whisperliner"....

Amazing the crew wasn't criticized!

Thank god for the Pilot restarting and restarting and restarting. Landing in the Atlantic would be much much more dangerous than what Sully Sullenburger went thru on the Hudson. Good job pilots. Good job makin these vids

Great work Allec. My favourite video yet.

well gee that renews my faith in airplane maintenance procedures...strict as the are! think I'll walk!

Good thing he tried to start engine 2 again. This is awesome.

What a great ending. Thanks

Beautiful aircraft!

What a beautiful plane. Great summary and video Allec! PS. It's spelled "surveillance"

The ghost of flight 401 easter airlines

Amen alleluia with prayers from the passengers probably saved their lives. I love a happy ending

yay you still upload its nice to see FSX plane crash movies

The passengers must've been greatly relieved to hear that they did not need to ditch afterall. Prayers answered, surely.

Definitely a miracle those pilots aboard had the skill to get the plan back home without any injuries. I solute them.

I never used to be afraid of flying until a couple of years ago when I started watching plane crash videos. Haven't been on a plane since. Even though it's the 'safest way to go somewhere', you just never know what can or will happen 🤷‍♀️

Passenger cabin must have erupted in applause at touchdown. 💛🙏🏽

Good ‘ol engine #2. 👍🏼

😊 that ev survived as most cases end in tragedy ! 👍👍👍 Mechanics neey to REALLY FOCUS in their duty !

Amazing, big high five!. Hope will never die!.

So fortunate the pilot shut down the #2 early on so it was not destroyed at the same time as the others. That little bit of extra run time they got out of that one got them to the runway

Wow, sounds like it was pure luck that the flight crew managed to restart the one engine. Glad that everyone survived.

IM happy that everyone on board that plane DID survive!!!