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Pilots hailed as heroes over miracle landing

Stricken Cathay plane brought down safely 'on half an engine'
Simon Parry and Anita Lam
Apr 14, 2010

Two Australian pilots have been called heroes after a miracle landing of a stricken Cathay Pacific
(SEHK: 0293) plane with hundreds of passengers on board in Hong Kong yesterday.

Both engines on the Airbus A330-300 malfunctioned on its approach to Chek Lap Kok, the
pilots told a colleague. For at least several seconds of the plane's descent it was flying with
no power in either engine, effectively gliding at high speed towards the airport. 3 of 4

Eight people, mainly Indonesians, suffered An injured passenger is helped after the landing.
cuts and bruises sliding down emergency Photo: Edward Won
chutes after flight CX780 from Surabaya
made the landing shortly before 2pm.
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Shortly after it began its descent, however, the second engine began to cut out inexplicably,
leaving the pair to cope with dips and surges in power and the prospect of the plane
plunging into the sea short of Chek Lap Kok.

Working together, the two pilots somehow managed to half glide, half fly the aircraft towards
the runway in a tense and extraordinary 20 minutes as the power in the right-hand engine
came and went.

The second engine cut out and restarted several times as the two pilots struggled to bring
the aircraft in to land at Chek Lap Kok without lurching off course, the colleague said.

The pilots struggled to control the plane's approach as the dips in power left them flying too
low while surges took them too high as they approached the airport at what the colleague
said was "far in excess of the normal approach speed".

As the plane was making its final, perilous approach over the sea, they managed to get
enough thrust in the right-hand engine to carry it safely to the runway.

Landing at a high speed, the pilots managed to use reverse thrust as well as other braking
devices to bring the plane to a stop, setting the tyres on fire as they did so but bringing the
aircraft to a safe standstill, the colleague said.

Most, if not all, of the injuries were caused by people hurting themselves as they went down
emergency chutes, not during the life-or-death approach to the airport.

"It was an amazing piece of piloting in extremely testing circumstances," the colleague said.
"One engine was shut down completely and the other was going on and off. They effectively
landed the plane on half an engine.

"The passengers who were on that plane should be praying to whatever God they have that
they got down safely after what happened."

3 of 4 14/04/2010 9:09 AM