UK: Pilot union hails staff who averted Heathrow disaster

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”.

Balpa said the two pilots, captain Peter Burkill and his first officer John Coward, had gone out for “a quiet curry” last night and had no wish to be perceived as heroes and considered the story’s front-page status “embarrassing”.