Following graduation in Aeronautical Engineering I commenced sponsored training to
become a commercial airline pilot in 1970 and started as a co-pilot on the BEA Trident
aircraft from 1971 for a period of 14 years, and finished my career in British Airways after 32
years as a Captain on the Boeing 747 aircraft. The cockpit intrusion occurred less than two
years before my compulsory retirement from BA.
I then flew with Easyjet in Glasgow for a period of 10 years having flown the Boeing 737,
747, 757, and 767 as well as the Airbus A319 in the two careers.
Notes on talk
The incident on BA 2069 occurred in December 2000. In my presentation I describe the
effect of the cockpit intrusion in precise detail, by using the actual data recorded on the
aircraft at the time. You will then understand why the aircraft was nearly lost.
The seriousness of the incident was significantly down-played initially, however 13 years
later I obtained a mountain of previously confidential information through two freedom of
information requests. The paper trail lasted until early 2002, or nearly two years, ending in a
short Parliamentary debate and statement.
Bill Hagan