A Northern Ireland-born pilot who saved the lives of 400 people by tackling an intruder who seized the controls of his plane has been honoured in an awards ceremony in London.

Captain William Hagan, 53, received a bravery award during the Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation (RADAR) People of the Year Awards in London on Thursday November 1.

Mr Hagan, who is originally from Newcastle in County Down, helped bring a British Airways jet back on course after it almost crashed when the man stormed the cockpit of the Boeing 747, which was six hours into its flight to Nairobi.

Six BA crew and passengers were injured when the passenger, on a flight to Nairobi last December, grabbed the pilot's controls and caused the plane to nose-dive suddenly. Passengers screamed, fearing for their lives, as the jumbo carrying 398 people plunged several thousand feet before the intruder could be restrained.

Mr Hagan and his co-pilot Richard Webb, 35, restrained the man with the help of business class passengers as another co-pilot Phil Watson, 38, regained control of the aircraft. Speaking after the event Captain Hagan said: “It all happened very quickly, my first thought was for the safety of the aircraft and the passengers. Thanks to the quick thinking of my colleagues and the passengers, this incident was brought to a swift conclusion.”

Mike Street, British Airways Director of Customer Service and Operation said: “We are extremely proud of them, our flight and cabin crew are trained to deal with every eventuality, however rare. It was this training and the swift reactions of our crew that brought this situation to a safe and quick resolution.” (AMcE)