Logistics challenges of saving Air India’s diverted 777 in Russia
In the early 1960s, a 707 landing at Heathrow mistook a nearby WW2 airfield for Heathrow(!). How the pilot[1] got the 707 stopped on that short field is a miracle. But the problem was getting it off the ground again, the runway was too short.<p>They stripped everything out of the aircraft - seats, galleys, everything. Then put in just enough gas to hop over the hedges to Heathrow. They barely made it.<p>[1] The pilot was cashiered.