Pilot ‘saves BA plane seconds from disaster’
01.06.09
Hundreds of passengers narrowly avoided disaster when their Heathrow plane nearly crashed after taking off in South Africa, the Daily Mail reports. The British Airways plane shook violently and did not climb to more than 30ft above the ground as it set off from Johannesburg. The pilot has been praised for his quick actions in keeping the Boeing 747 in the air, saving the lives of the 256 passengers on board.
It is reported that a technical fault caused the plane to go into landing mode so that the flaps that normally make it rise did not work. Travelling at 200mph, the pilot dumped enough fuel for the aircraft to gain height, before returning it to the airport. An investigation is under way as to how the jet came so close to crashing.
A BA spokesman told the newspaper: 'As a precaution BA56 Johannesburg to Heathrow flight on May 11 returned to the airport shortly after take-off due to a suspected technical problem. The Boeing 747 aircraft with 256 passengers on board landed safely and the passengers disembarked as normal into the airport.' Referring to the pilot's quick actions, he added: 'Our crews are trained extensively to deal with all eventualities.'
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