THE STORY
February 13, 2018
Captain Christopher Behnam commanded United Airlines Flight 1175, a Boeing 777 on a routine flight from San Francisco to Honolulu, when a loud bang shook the aircraft. Multiple warning systems fired at once.
The crew soon learned the number two engine had catastrophically failed, taking 80 percent of their thrust with it, 200 miles from land.
What happened over the next 40 minutes wasn’t instinct. It was three decades of discipline meeting the one moment it had all been building toward.
Christopher and his crew worked the emergency by the book and beyond it, brought the crippled aircraft under control, and landed safely in Honolulu.
All 381 people on board made it home
The Air Line Pilots Association later recognized him with the Superior Airmanship Award, a distinction reserved for the rarest kind of skill under the rarest kind of pressure.
But Christopher will tell you the real story isn’t the 40 minutes the engine was out.
It’s everything that came before it. The flight hours. The training. And five disciplines most pilots never touch.
This is a testament to leadership, skill, and resilience
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