When BA was in the news as heroes
Back in the late 90's we were working with British Airways on an engagement programme called Putting People First Again.
One of the stories we recreated on video was that of Captain Eric Moody who flew his BA 747 into a cloud of the deadly debris in South West Asia. All power shut down and he had to glide the plane down from 30,000 feet to try and clear the glass that had formed inside the engines. Through his cool deliberation he managed to get one engine to stutter back into life. During the drama he made this calm announcement to the passengers:
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped. We are doing our damnedest to get it under control. I trust you are not in too much distress. Can the Chief Steward please come to the cockpit."
Because there was no trace of panic in his voice, the crew stayed calm, and the passengers stayed calm in one of the most dramatic near-accidents in aviation history. A hero indeed.
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