大象传媒

大象传媒 World Service
Last updated:聽19 may, 2010 - 17:18 GMT

A crash landing

Peter Burkill was the captain of a Boeing 777 which crash landed at London's Heathrow airport in January 2008.

Both engines failed as the plane was making its final descent.

Peter's quick reactions avoided it coming down in a built up area and almost certainly saved the lives of the 136 passengers and 16 crew on board.

In fact, only one of the passengers was seriously injured.

At first Peter was hailed as a hero. He was praised in the official inquiry report and received a safety medal from the airline.

But now he says he's finding it impossible to get work as a pilot, and has been unemployed for a year.

Peter told Matthew Bannister about the day a routine flight from Beijing to London became a life-changing event.

Peter Burkill's new book about his experiences is called Thirty Seconds to Impact and is co-written with his wife Maria.