In December 1991, Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) Flight 751 (a McDonnell Douglas MD-81) took off from Stockholm, Sweden. While the plane had been parked overnight, completely clear, invisible ice had frozen onto the tops of the wings. The ground crew missed it during de-icing. As the plane lifted off and the wings flexed, chunks of this hard ice shattered and were sucked directly into the aircraft’s two rear-mounted engines, causing violent compressor stalls. Hearing the engines banging and surging, the captain did exactly what he was trained to do: he pulled back on the throttles to reduce the engine speed and save them. However, a hidden computer system on the aircraft—called Automatic Thrust Restoration (ATR)—secretly overrode the captain. The system was designed to automatically increase engine power if it sensed a loss of thrust during takeoff. Because the pilots were completely unaware this system even existed, they couldn't turn it off. The computer forced the engines to full power, causing them to completely tear themselves apart and fail at just 3,200 feet in the air. In a terrifying display of skill, the pilots—assisted by an off-duty captain who rushed into the cockpit—managed to glide the silent jetliner into a small clearing in a snowy forest. The plane violently crashed and broke into three separate pieces, but miraculously, all 129 people on board survived. Known as the "Miracle at Gottröra," this incredible incident changed aviation forever. It mandated physically touching wings to check for clear ice before takeoff and forced manufacturers to ensure pilots are thoroughly trained on every automated system that could override their manual inputs. ✈️👇 #SAS751 #AirCrashInvestigation #AviationHistory #MiracleAtGottrora #FlightSafety - @aircrashbriefs