Air Disaster Is Averted In Britain
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
LONDON — A British Airways pilot was credited with saving hundreds of lives yesterday after he safely crash-landed a passenger jet at Heathrow airport despite a catastrophic last-minute malfunction.
The Boeing 777 is thought to have suffered engine failure 20 seconds from landing as it was still 400ft from the ground.
Despite the sudden loss of power the captain managed to “glide” the airliner over houses, airport buildings, and a busy road before “belly flopping” it on to grass at 100mph only 50 yards inside the perimeter fence.
One wing was almost ripped away as flight BA038 from Beijing landed 400 yards short of the runway and its rear undercarriage sheared off as it skidded a quarter of a mile to a halt. Terrified passengers told how they were left in darkness as the lights went off and the plane’s emergency oxygen masks dropped down. All 150 people on board — including 14 crew — walked away virtually unscathed.
