Airliner Circles Overhead To Aid Rescuers

A Cessna now lies at the bottom of the English Channel. The small plane sank Wednesday... but here's the good news: the pilot's Mayday call was picked up by a passing British Airways flight.

The BA crew -- one of whom is a former RAF pilot -- alerted the appropriate rescue agencies, then circled overhead until rescuers arrived on the scene.

According to the London Daily Mail, in his mayday call the Cessna's pilot reported he was low on fuel. He was thought to have been on his way to England from Germany, but ditched six miles off-shore.

After getting the word out to everyone, the crew of the British Airways flight descended to around 3000 ft, giving passengers onboard the Boeing 737 a spectacular view of the rescue.

An RAF Sea King helicopter from Wattisham Airfield in Suffolk and Royal Navy lifeboats converged on the downed German pilot, plucked him from the sea, and whisked him to a hospital in Ipswitch.

The Sea King's rescue crew says finding the downed pilot was a lot easier because of the circling airliner -- and a nearby Russian ship, whose crew had also heard the mayday and was preparing to launch a life raft.

"All this activity made it much easier for the rescue helicopter to spot the pilot in the water, and just shows that when a pilot is in trouble, others will stop to help," said MoD spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Green. "We winched down and picked the pilot up and he was flown to Ipswich Hospital with non life-threatening injuries."

The airline hasn't identified the pilot of the jet that circled the scene, but a spokesman says everyone at BA is very proud of the crew.

FMI: www.britishairways.com