British Airways Flight 2069 was a scheduled passenger flight operated by British Airways between Gatwick, England and Jomo Kenyatta Airport, Nairobi, Kenya. At 05:00 am on 29 December 2000, a mentally ill passenger stormed the cockpit and attempted to hijack the aircraft. The 747 nearly stalled, but the passenger pulled back on the control column putting the 747 into a dive. Captain William Hagan and his crew were able to apprehend the assailant while first officer Phil Watson regained control of the aircraft, quickly bringing the situation under control.
Around 5 am local time, the cockpit of a Boeing 747-400 on a British Airways scheduled flight from Gatwick to Jomo Kenyatta Airport was stormed by a mentally unstable Kenyan passenger named Paul Mukonyi. Attacking First Officer Phil Watson over the controls, Mukonyi grabbed the yoke, and tried to execute a route change, which disconnected the autopilot and resulted in a struggle between him and Watson that caused the aircraft to climb sharply and stall at 42,000 feet and plunge towards the ground at 30,000 feet per minute. As Mukonyi and Watson fought for the controls, the struggle was joined by Captain Hagan, who had gone for a rest break just before the attack. Joining Captain Hagan were two passengers, sitting in the upper deck were able to get into the cockpit despite the extreme maneuvers and assist in pulling Mukonyi from the yoke and getting him out of the cockpit. With Mukonyi out of the cockpit, First Officer Watson quickly took control and leveled the plane. Afterward, Captain Hagan made an announcement on the PA to reassure the passengers and the flight continued without further incident. Violent pitch changes were responsible for minor injuries among four passengers; one of the cabin crew broke her ankle. After landing in Nairobi, Mukonyi was immediately transferred to the authorities. The actions right after the apprehension were recorded on a video camera by the son of the English musician Bryan Ferry; both were passengers on the flight. Mukonyi was in fear of being followed and was trying to kill those whom he deemed to be a threat, i.e. the entire complement of passengers and crew.
Aftermath
Captain William Hagan and First Officers Phil Watson and Richard Webb were awarded a Polaris Awardin 2001. Hagan was also given the Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation People of the Year award. A group of 16 American passengers settled a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against British Airways. British passengers were offered compensation of £2,000 and a free ticket each. The actual compensation package from BA for British passengers included the cash amount of £2,000, free attendance on a "Fear of Flying" course at Birmingham airport, and a free ticket to anywhere in the world on the BA network. In 2013 a small group of British passengers attempted to bring a lawsuit against BA, but a legal case could not be made and their efforts came to nothing. British Airways no longer operates this route anymore, as it now flies from Heathrow instead. British Airways has kept the flight number in use, although as of 2017 it is used for the London-Gatwick – Mauritius route. G-BNLM remained within the British Airways fleet until end of 2013 when it was withdrawn and was subsequently stored at Southern California Logistics Airport.
