Praise for pilot actions after engine falls
By Daily news correspondent
The pilot of the Nationwide Boeing 737, which made an emergency landing at Cape Town International Airport after one of its engines dislodged and crashed to the ground on Wednesday, has been hailed a hero by passengers, who emerged shaken, but uninjured, after the ordeal.
Flight CE723 took off from Cape Town International Airport at 3:50pm on Wednesday and made an emergency landing 40 minutes later, after the right-hand engine dislodged minutes after take-off.
The plane, carrying 106 passengers, was heading for Johannesburg.
Some of the passengers have hailed the pilot a hero after undertaking what they called "one of the smoothest landings, even with one engine".
The Daily News has established that the pilot was Daniel Perry. After realising the craft had lost an engine soon after take-off, Perry ascended and dumped fuel over False Bay before embarking on an emergency landing, said the passengers.
They said Perry had told them to "remain calm" as "everything is under control". A Cape Town businesswoman said: "I was sitting two seats ahead of the wing, right where the engine broke off."
Cape Town International Airport was the scene of another drama last week when an SAA Airbus overshot the main runway. - Daily News Correspondent
This article was originally published on page 1 of Daily News on November 08, 2007