A HERO British Airways pilot who saved hundreds when all four engines of his 747 stopped has died.
Captain Eric Moody died aged 84 this week, decades after he was responsible for saving 263 people in June 1982.
All four engines of the jumbo jet died mid-air after his plane got into trouble over Jakarta.
Ash had been fired into the atmosphere by Mount Galunggung, found 110km south of the Indonesian capital.
Flight 009, as it was officially named, has now been dubbed the ‘Jakarta Incident’ after it flew through the cloud on its journey between Kuala Lumpur and Perth.
Reports said passengers were in awe of an electrical light storm outside plane, but the engines then glowed white, shot flame, and then died.
At the time, Moody was on his way to the plane’s bathroom but was summoned back to the cockpit.
He told Australian Aviation: “On the way back, I noticed puffs of smoke billowing out of the floor vents and there was an acrid smell or ionised electrical smell.”
Moody got on the intercom and informed passengers there was a “small problem”.
He said: “All four engines have stopped. We are doing our damnedest to get them under control. I trust you are not in too much distress.”
After 12 minutes, the plane flew out of the ash cloud and the engines remarkably restarted.
Moody was able to fly the ‘City of Edinburgh’ to safety and he was eventually given the control column as a memento.
Passenger Arthur Ewen, of Scarborough described the flight in 2012 as “horrific”.
He said: “It still affects me and Shirley today. The cabin was quiet, people were praying. We just hugged and held hands.”
In 2010, he told The Times the experience was: “a bit like negotiating one’s way up a badger’s arse”.
According to AirlineRatings, Moody flew with BA for 32 years, retiring in 1996 with over 17,000 flight hours.
