A Plane Lost Its Floor But the Captain Saved the Day

Imagine you need to get from Los Angeles to New York. To make it not so painfully long, you choose to take American Airlines Flight 96, with stopovers in Detroit and Buffalo. But several minutes after your plane leaves Detroit, it happens. Seemingly out of the blue - bang! And a part of the aircraft's floor is missing right under your feet!

It happened on June 12, 1972. Captain Bryce McCormick was an aviation veteran with more than 24,000 flight hours under his belt. The co-pilot was also an experienced airman. There were 56 passengers on board the plane and 11 crew members. When the autopilot was turned on and the chief flight attendant went to the galley to make coffee, it happened. She was suddenly brought down to the floor by a powerful explosion...