Fuel Leak….At 35,000 feet!
A flight of around 300 people was saved by one on the ball Staff Sgt. Bartek Bachleda and I think they all owe their lives to this man.
Fuel Leak
Staff Sgt. Bartek Bachleda is a boom operator with the 909th Air Refueling Station based at Kadena Air Base in Japan which is were he was returning to on a flight back from Chicago. Shortly after taking off Bachleda spotted what he believed to be a fuel leak on the plane.
After observing the leak for almost an hour to make sure he was correct before alerting the air flight staff and the captain he decided the pilot needed to be informed immediately. He therefore alerted a flight attendant of the issue however the flight attendant did not appear to be concerned. I understand a flight attendant is probably used to passengers be concerned about nothing but this would of scare the shit out of me.
Anyway back to the subject. Bachleda decided to film the leak and show this to the attendant after informing her who he was. It is reported by the US Air Force that Bachelda said:
"You need to inform the captain before we go oceanic"
Shortly after the captain announced they would have to land and passengers would require to catch a new flight. Which I'm almost certain someone would of complained about as it is Human Nature, but this man has just saved 300 plus lives.
I never hear stories like this on the news it is all doom and gloom about how screwed up everything is. This should of been covered on the news and the quick thinking and observant Staff Sgt. Bartek Bachleda should of been recognised for the lives he says.
Have you say below and let me know if you heard this story anywhere (over than the interwebz) and if you did where?
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