The pilot of a passenger plane was partly sucked out of the cabin window onto the nose cone of the jet today after its windshield blew out at 23,000 feet. But he was saved by crew members who clung to his ankles for 15 minutes until the co-pilot landed the plane safely in southern England.

Several of the aircraft's 81 passengers said they watched in horror as crew members frantically wrestled to pull Capt. Timothy Lancaster back into the cockpit. The plane went into a dive, but with half of Mr. Lancaster's body hanging outside the co-pilot flew the aircraft to Southampton Airport, 70 miles southwest of London.

The Civil Aviation Authority immediately announced an investigation into the episode, which police said began 20 minutes into British Airways Flight 5390 from Birmingham, England, to Malaga in Spain.

Captain Lancaster, 41 years old and a pilot for 21 years, was taken to Southampton General Hospital suffering from shock, a fractured elbow, wrist and thumb, and frostbite on one hand. The police said that all the crew members were taken to the hospital and that four passengers were treated for shock. Everyone except the captain was later released.