Terror Over Africa

Terror over Africa is the astonishing tale about a flight of fear, terror and a horrific near death experience and, in the aftermath, about a drama of subterfuge, deceit and an alleged criminal cover up. The ‘Nairobi Incident’ is an astonishing event of flying’s worst nightmare, and it occurred over Sudan on British Airways’ Flight 2069 on 29 December 2000.

In the early hours, a strong, disturbed young man entered the flight deck of the packed Boeing 747, grabbed the controls from First Officer Phil Watson, the only pilot in the cockpit at the time, and tried to crash the plane with everyone on board. The attacker violently tossed the aircraft about the sky and all the passengers and crew thought they were going to die. At one moment the 747 almost flipped on its back with no chance of recovery and, what would have been the world’s third worst aviation disaster, was avoided by only the narrowest of margins as Captain Hagan who had gone for a break, returned and, with the help of two passengers, managed to wrest the controls from the desperate young man.

The incident was regarded as the biggest aircraft ‘upset’, as it was defined, in aviation history. In the aftermath, the flight upset was initially classified in error as only a serious incident and no accident investigation was undertaken. BA conducted its own investigation and allegedly withheld vital information that would have upgraded the serious incident to an accident. That avoided an accident investigation and a possibly critical report that could have financially damaged BA in settling compensation claims.

In the end, all three accounts of the flight upset, British Airways’ Report, the full Civil Aviation Authority Review, and the abridged Civil Aviation Authority Review, were withheld from the public and everyone suspected it as being the biggest cover-up in aviation history. With lack of evidence and no proof the passengers were unable to act, and no one has been held to account. In 2013, evidence that had remained dormant for many years was finally released and, after much investigation, research and detective work, the cover-up was uncovered, and the true story can at last be told.