Several years a JAL 747 suffered severe structural failure of the rear pressure bulkhead, causing significant loss of control. The pilots managed to keep it in the air for about an hour while they worked out what to do with the situation. Sadly, the aircraft finally crashed with the loss of all but one on board.
I recall that one of the amazing things that came out of reading the ATC transcript of the event, apart of course from the supreme airmanship exhibited by the flightdeck crew, was that during almost all of that horrifying time the Japanese crew spoke to the Japanese ATCers in english. Only right at the end, when all was apparently hopeless, did ATC ask whether the crew would find it easier to start communicating in Japanese.
Truly extraordinary professionalism.