Peter was the Captain of the British Airways flight that lost power to both engines, 2 miles before the runway, and crashed into London Heathrow in January 2008.

Peter had only 35 seconds from becoming aware of the problem to impact and during this time his actions in "moving the flaps" helped give the stricken aircraft enough lift to clear the airports perimeter fence by just over 7 feet, saving all 152 souls on board and many more on the ground.

Main Biography

Peter was accepted to train as a commercial pilot at Prestwick under the British Airways sponsorship scheme in 1987, where he graduated in 1989. He has since flown for British Airways for 20 years flying Lockhead Tristars, DC-10s and Boeing 777s. Peter achieved his command on B777s in 2004 and during his career has accumulated over 13000 flight hours.

Peter captured the worlds attention when the aircraft he was captain of crashed into London Heathrow in January 2008.

With 35 seconds to go before landing he lost all power to both engines of his Boeing 777, he took command of the situation and attempted to diagnose and fix the problem. When he realised he could find no immediate cause of the problem he knew then that the 777 was about to crash and this he envisaged being in the industrial buildings and underground station ahead. He had to do something and drawing on his experiences and instincts he moved the flaps on the wings of the aircraft. This gave him what was needed to bring the aircraft down just within the airport's boundary. All 152 people on board survived.

He gave a press conference in front of 3000 people and the millions watching through the world's live media feeds. Pictures of the stricken aircraft and descriptions of the crash were published in newspapers worldwide ... even getting a double page in the China News, usually only reserved for Chinese dignatories! His cool, calm, professionalism shone out and people warmed to his honesty and compassion.

Peter was born in Chesham, Bucks in 1964 and educated at Dr Challoner's Grammar School, Amersham. He attained a BAHons degree in Business Studies at Portsmouth before working as a minilab sales representative with Kodak UK. He met his wife, Maria, in 2002 and they have 3 young boys. He also has 2 children from a previous marriage.

He recently left British Airways to pursue a speaking role talking of his experience in the crash together with the thoughts, feelings and decisions undertaken during periods of extreme stress, giving his audience immense motivation in their own abilities! Previous training both in sales and his flying career are highlighted by his references to team skills and 'cockpit resource management'. His humour and sensitivity have made him a delight to listen to provoking both laughter and tears. Peter is open and honest about his experience and usually enjoys an informal chat afterwards to answer further questions.

Peter and Maria are currently putting pen to paper and writing a book about their experiences of the crash and subsequent changes that affected them as a family, entitled "Thirty Seconds to Impact", which they hope should be on the book shelves in early 2010.

Peter was well received at a recent International Risk & Human Factors Conference hosted by Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, alongside other speakers such as, Justice Albie Sachs, Tom Henricks (former Nasa Astronaut), Miles Hilton-Barber (blind explorer and adventurer), Gareth Davies (Clinical Director of the London Emergency Helicopter Service), Katie Derham (ITN newscaster) and Jon Snow (journalist and broadcaster).