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BA038 Crew get BA safety Medal
The Press Association: Crash landing crew honoured
The crew of a British Airways plane that crash-landed at Heathrow Airport has been awarded the airline's highest honour - the BA Safety Medal. The medal has gone to the three flight crew and 13 cabin crew of the 777 which landed short of the runway in January. All 136 passengers survived the crash. Those receiving the medal include Captain Peter Burkill and his co-pilot John Coward, who landed the plane. BA honours pilots, crew for averting disaster 1 hour ago LONDON (AFP) — The crew of a British Airways Boeing 777 jet, which landed short of the runway at London's main Heathrow airport earlier this year, have been rewarded for their skill and courage, the airline said Tuesday. The three pilots and 13 cabin crew on BA flight 38 were given the BA Safety Medal for their professionalism in getting all passengers off without serious injury and averting disaster. The jet, travelling from Beijing with 136 passengers on board, lost power over the suburbs on its approach to the world's busiest international passenger airport on January 17. Eighteen people were treated for minor injuries after the crash, which happened in sight of Prime Minister Gordon Brown's chartered 747 jet that was preparing to head to China and India, and caused major delays at the airport. BA chief executive Willie Walsh said in a statement that the medal had only ever been awarded three times before and was given to mark exceptional achievement. "The crew demonstrated incredible professionalism, first in landing the aircraft safely and then evacuating all the passengers with only a few minor injuries sustained," he said. "The whole of British Airways is extremely proud of them." The pilot, Captain Peter Burkill, said it was a "great privilege" but the crew's training kicked in. |
Congratulations are in order.
Well done to them all! Or am I in a minority of one? |
No I think you are part of a majority here and I would like to join in and say "Very well done crew and congratulations"...Just Great! and I'm really delighted to hear this news :D
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Nope, it's a minority of at least two.
And I suspect many more. |
Finally the crew get some recognition they deserve.:ok:
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Congratulations and well deserved. :ok:
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Well done ladies & gents - you were thrust (or lack of) in the situation with no warning and you did what you were supposed to do, with no fuss or drama, you just did it.
I'm proud to work for the same company as you - hope I could do the same on the day. ATB |
Surprised to see merit rewarded in a straightforward way. Well deserved!
What really stands out is that the flight crew were able to focus and to stay out of each other's way and to act resourcefully - with good effect - in the few seconds available when handed such a stunning mess so close to mother earth. |
It does seem to me surprising that the (deserved) medal has been handed out before the AAIB accident report is released.
One can only assume that the yet to be released report will exonerate the flight crew. So it must be the aeroplane at fault, in some way. |
Hmm. While I indeed hope that is the case and congratulate the crew, knowing BA's PR 'skills' from the past........................:sad:
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BA038 Crew get BA safety medal
Well done indeed to the crew - a reflection of their professionalism that we tend to take for granted.
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No fuss, no histrionics very professional, very impressive.
Total respect. Part of me says I should never touch BA again (T5 ad nauseum), the more rational part of me says that I should - there's no substitute for quality when it really counts. CW |
BA chief executive Willie Walsh said in a statement that the medal had only ever been awarded three times before and was given to mark exceptional achievement. |
Give with one hand, take away with the other.
So, W.W gives his crew that he values so highly a medal, & then gleefully shafts them royally with Open Skies & Columbus.
Marvellous. :rolleyes: Matt. |
The British Airways Safety Medal The Safety Medal has been awarded on three previous occasions. 29 December 2000 Captain Bill Hagan Senior First Officer Phil Watson Senior First Officer Richard Webb The award recognised the heroic actions of the flight crew in their handling of flight BA2069 London Gatwick to Nairobi when a passenger stormed the flight deck and attempted to seize the flight controls of the Boeing 747-400 about five and a half hours into the flight. The flight crew were able to restrain the intruder, regain control of the aircraft and land safely in Nairobi. 19 November 1998 Captain Rick Craft First Officer Rod Young SEO David Bennett Captain Rick Craft, First Officer Rod Young and SEO David Bennet received the Safety Medal after their actions on the BA095 Heathrow to Montreal. The aircraft was on final approach to Montreal when it suffered one of the worst bird strikes in British Airways history. During a go-round the aircraft flew into a flock of geese. The crew had to shut down one of the four engines, suffered a loss of electrical power and had to shut down a second engine during landing. The aircraft landed safely and passengers disembarked normally. When the aircraft was inspected it was found to have suffered extensive damage. 22 October 1995 Captain Tim Steeds Captain Don Gray Robert Smith Bernie Tremain. The crew were undertaking a routine post maintenance test flight of a 737-200. During the flight the aircraft began to make abnormal movements. The flight crew were able to overcome the flight difficulties and landed safely. Their outstanding efforts during and after the flight ensured that the problem was identified and modifications made. GD&L:ok: |
It does seem to me surprising that the (deserved) medal has been handed out before the AAIB accident report is released. Just imagine that at the end of the day the report pinpoints some embarrassing error by the crew (unlikely at this point I would agree)... And frankly I'm not sure they deserve such high marks for doing their job as expected. As far as I can tell neither pilots nor flight crew did anything outside their normal attribution. That's absolutely fine but does it really deserve all this ? Should we make heroes and award medals to competent professionals ?! Quite frankly given the timing of the event the biggest factor of all was sheer luck. |
Just imagine that at the end of the day the report pinpoints some embarrassing error by the crew (unlikely at this point I would agree)... And frankly I'm not sure they deserve such high marks for doing their job as expected. As far as I can tell neither pilots nor flight crew did anything outside their normal attribution. That's absolutely fine but does it really deserve all this ? Should we make heroes and award medals to competent professionals ?! Quite frankly given the timing of the event the biggest factor of all was sheer luck. |
I'm surprised that the crews of Flight 9 (747 volcanic ash cloud encounter over Indonesia) and Flight 5390 (BAC 1-11 cockpit window failure) didn't receive the award. Perhaps their incidents pre-date the introduction of the award?
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L337,
Maybe, but even if they did get the aircraft into the problem situation, they were able to make a good landing (ie. one where everyone could walk away) rather than end up on houses. atakacs, By that logic we can stop handing out VCs, then. Even the Soviets had various Orders of Lenin for going above-and-beyond. The fact that aircraft crash from time to time and people don't manage to get out, indicates that 100% survival is not necessarily guaranteed when the stuff starts hitting the fan. Good on the crew. |
Hmm. While I indeed hope that is the case and congratulate the crew, knowing BA's PR 'skills' from the past........... The flight deck fellows are in a difficult position -- of continuing to be exposed to speculative sniping and critique for however long it is until the final findings are settled. Neither we nor they know what will come out of the process, so the chance remains open that something critical of their actions, directly or by implication, might evolve from the technical mysteries still open. Better to give them timely credit where due - on the obvious fact that all aboard survived, "against odds", some would say, as the direct result of their deliberate actions. Surely the fact of the award will make it somewhat easier for them to carry on with heads high through the long grinding process of post-facto second-thinking and speculation in public and private circles. |
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