BA crash inquiry reveals heroics

Some 136 passengers were evacuated after January's crash-landing

An internal British Airways probe into a crash-landing at Heathrow has revealed that the captain and first officer prevented a far worse accident.

It states that both officers tried to keep the plane in the air after it suffered a loss of engine power.

The report also suggests an emergency evacuation alarm was too quiet for some of the cabin crew to hear.

The BA probe into the Boeing 777 crash in January will not be made public, but details have been seen by the BBC.

Flight BA 38 from Beijing was extensively damaged when it touched down on 17 January.

Some 136 passengers and 16 crew were safely evacuated from the plane.

The scene after the Boeing 777 crashed

The report states that the captain, Peter Burkill, changed the angles of the plane's wing flaps in order to reduce the drag on the plane.

This action helped the plane to maintain speed.

And Senior First Officer John Coward pushed the plane's nose towards the ground in order to increase speed before levelling out just before the Boeing crashed on to the grass.

Concerns about the volume of the evacuation alarm are being investigated in the official inquiry into the crash.

Thrust request

An initial report into the crash-landing by the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) found the jet's engines were still running, but failed to respond to demands for increased thrust from the crew, two miles from touchdown.

It said it was then focusing on the plane's fuel supply system.

A final report will be released once a more extensive inquiry has been completed.

One person suffered a broken leg and others received minor injuries during the emergency evacuation.

The plane landed short of the runway but stayed largely intact.