AN airline pilot hailed a hero after helping to crash-land a stricken passenger jet at Heathrow Airport is set to be on the unemployment register.

Operations at Heathrow Airport in England are returning to normal after the dramatic crash-landing of flight BA038, the British Airports Authority said.

The heroism of the British Airways crew in Heathrow’s crash-landing drama emerged tonight when it was revealed the pilots had just seconds to get the aircraft down safely.

The captain who commanded the British Airways plane which crash landed at Heathrow spoke today of the teamwork and professionalism of his cockpit and cabin crew.

Pilots’ union Balpa in the UK today described the captain and first officer who averted disaster in the Heathrow crash land drama as “ordinary people who did an extraordinary thing”.