BFD and you snipped the copyright info. Plunged a whole 600
feet? My God, that is about like straight and level flight
for a poor pilot.


"JesusLives" wrote in message
. ..
|A packed British Airways jet was just seconds from disaster
| after plummeting out of the sky in a dramatic near miss
over
| America, it has emerged.
|
| BA flight 2166 carrying 175 terrified passengers, three
| pilots and 11 crew plunged 600 feet in a bid to avoid
| collision with another plane above it.
|
| Two passengers and four crew members were injured in the
| dramatic incident which took place at 16,500 feet just 15
| minutes after take off from Tampa in Florida.
|
| US air traffic controllers had just seconds earlier told
the
| BA flight to start ascending from 16,000ft to 20,000ft
when
| the emergency happened.
|
| The emergency collision avoidance system on the Boeing 777
| plane kicked in over the Atlantic Ocean, causing lights to
| flash and an alarm to sound in the cockpit, with the pilot
| hearing the words "descend,descend,descend."
|
| The descent was so sudden that some of the crew members
left
| the floor, went into "freefall" and hit their heads on the
| ceiling of the plane as it plummeted.
|
| Others slammed into the bulkheads. All four crew were
stood
| down from their duties while being treated for bruises on
| board in the Club cabin for the remainder of the flight.
|
| They were met by paramedics when the plane landed at
London
| Gatwick.
|
| Injuries included back pains, bruises and swelling to arms
| and hands,
|
| BA confirmed last night that the near miss is now being
| formally investigated by the US Federal Aviation
Administration.
|
| It said its pilots had acted properly and professionally
but
| had been under the authority of US air traffic controllers
| when the emergency occurred.
|
| Staff were praised for their handling of the emergency.
|
| One eyewitness said: "I was on the Tampa flight. About 15
| minutes into the climb the aircraft suddenly dropped out
of
| the sky."
|
| "Luckily all of other passengers were all still strapped
in.
| But unfortunately the cabin crew were starting to prepare
| for service and were badly injured."
|
| "At least four were so bad that they were unable to
continue
| working."
|
| The eye-witness said: "The captain came on and apologised
| saying that he had to take emergency evasion action to
avoid
| a collision with another aircraft above him."
|
| "There was a paramedic on board who apparently said 'It
will
| be OK to continue but it was touch and go as to whether
they
| return to Tampa."
|
| BA confirmed that one of the forward Club class cabins was
| used as an impromptu sick-bay in which the injured
| stewardesses were treated and allowed to recuperate.
|
| The eyewitness said: "I have been a frequent flyer for
over
| 40 years and it is the scariest thing I have ever
experienced."
|
| "I'm off now to change my underwear."
|
| Another said: "It felt like turbulence in the Club cabin
but
| of course the poor guys and girls at the back got their
| freefall experience."
|
| The stricken BA plane left Tampa, Florida at 6.30pm on
| Tuesday October 10 and landed at Gatwick at 8am on
Wednesday
| October 11th. But details have only today emerged.
|
| A BA spokesman said: "Our pilots were under the control of
| US air traffic controllers when the incident happened."
|
| "They had been asked to ascend from 16,000ft to 20,000ft,
| but then told to hold at 16,500ft. At the same time the
| emergency collision avoidance system - TCAS- told our crew
| to descend. They followed this command."
|
| BA said it did not know the identity of the other plane
| involved in the near miss - or how close - only that it
had
| been above their plane.
|
| Collision avoidance systems are programmed only to operate
| when a collision is likely and the safe space between
| aircraft - whether horizontally or vertically, has been
| compromised.
|
| BA said: "We have filed a report with the US Federal
| Aviation Authority which is investigating."