Originally Posted by
Maninthebar
Is there an example of a commercial flight entering and recovering from a spin that you can point me to?
maybe not a spins- but a rotating dive from wiki
February 1959: Pan Am Flight 115, a Pan American World AirwaysBoeing 707, upset and went into a high-speed dive while cruising over the Atlantic at flight level350. Control was not recovered until reaching 6,000 ft. After landing safely at Gander, extensive structural damage was found, but there were only a few minor injuries. The Captain was in the cabin when the autopilotdisconnected without adequate warning to the First Officer, who was distracted with a "howgozit" report form. It wasn't until the first officer felt the stall buffet that he realized they were descending rapidly and about to turn upside down. He was unable to level the wings. Fortunately, the Captain was able to return to the cockpit and strap into his seat while enduring significant G-forces. He took over the controls, leveled the wings and pulled out of the dive.