A pilot is being hailed a hero after he succeeded in saving the lives of 121 passengers and 6 crew members by flying blindly to safely land his severely damaged jet.
Incredible footage has emerged showing the moment Captain Alexander Akopov, who works for the Turkish company, AtlasGlobal, flew completely ‘blind’ to land the plane and its occupants safely to earth after golf ball sized hailstones shattered the windscreen of his jet, thereby making it impossible to see.
In the video, passengers can be seen gripping their seats and screaming in fear as the damaged plane veered towards the ground. The red and white jet can be seen bouncing down the runway as the pilot safely lands the plane. People did not believe he will successfully land the plane and someone behind the camera on the ground can be heard saying: “He won’t do it, he won’t do it.”
However, he did it, successfully landing the plane at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport during a fierce storm in Turkey. The hero captain has been awarded the Ukrainian ‘Order For Courage’.
The captain was given permission to try to land at Ataturk airport – even though it had been closed for other flights due to the atrocious weather.
A full-scale emergency response was on standby, with fire appliances and ambulances waiting for the plane.