For the The New Statesman, Kate Mossman tells the story and aftermath of British Airways flight 2069, a near-disaster in that took place over Christmas, 2000. Scant months before 9/11, a student experiencing mental illness stormed the cockpit of the 747 on its way to Nairobi with 400 passengers aboard. His aim? To take down the jet in an apparent suicide attempt.
Bill Hagan felt his head push beyond the pillow and into the headboard. As he came to consciousness, he realised it was not a headboard but the reinforced plastic bulkhead of a plane. At the moment he realised he was on a plane, he remembered that he was the captain of it. His feet were pitched up at 30 degrees in the flight crew’s bunk, at twice the angle of take-off. His first thought was that his two co-pilots had pulled up the aircraft’s nose because of oncoming traffic. When the plane banked sharply to the right, he wondered whether they’d swerved to avoid space debris. For a few seconds the aircraft seemed to level, then rose again, before turning sharply to the left and beginning to fall on its side.
More picks about danger
A Crushing Wave of Snow
Thirty-five years ago this July, an avalanche killed forty-three climbers on a mountain called Lenin Peak. I witnessed the disaster and have lived with the memories ever since.”
Escape from Los Angeles
“Author Katya Apekina writes of evacuating her home during the Palisades and Eaton Fires.”
Emma Carey: The Skydiver Who Survived a 14,000-foot Fall
“Each step that Emma Carey takes is a size six miracle.”
