British Airways Pilot Averted Worse Crash, Study Says
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A British Airways Plc jet that crash- landed at London’s Heathrow airport with 152 people on board in 2008 avoided a more serious accident after the pilot executed a last-minute maneuver to clear antennas fringing the runway.
Captain Peter Burkill altered the flap settings to reduce drag when the Boeing Co. 777 was only 240 feet above the ground, the U.K. Air Accidents Investigation Branch said in a report today. That delayed the impact for 50 meters (164 feet) and the plane came down on a grass apron with no fatalities.