Black Swan Event: the Captain De Crespigny Story—Pt. 1

His name is Captain Richard De Crespigny.

He flies one of the world’s largest airliners, the Airbus A380, for Qantas Airlines.And on November 4, 2010,he and his crew suffered what is called a “Black Swan event.”

Anengine failure is extremely rare; only 1 out of every 5 pilots will experience an engine failurein their career.

But this was no ordinary “failure.” The Number 2 engine exploded, damagingall but one system and rupturing fuel tanks.

For two grueling hours, Captain De Crespigny and h...