Brit pilot escapes bullet hit while evacuating civilians from Libya
By ANITuesday, March 1, 2011
LONDON - A British Royal Air Force pilot steered his aircraft, carrying 150 civilian passengers, from Libya to safety despite receiving a bullet hit on his helmet.
The brave airman remained calm as the shot came through the cockpit of his C130 and ricocheted off his helmet.
Libyan rebels, who believed the rescue aircraft, one of three RAF Hercules containing SAS soldiers - was a Colonel Gaddafi plane, opened fire at the plane above an air strip south of Benghazi.
Britain’s Ministry of Defence confirmed that one of its C-130 aircraft appeared to have suffered “minor damage consistent with small arms fire.”
One of the bullets bounced off the stunned pilot during Sunday night’s dramatic rescue, The Sun reports.
A military source last night said: “This was a one-in-a-million shot. The pilot is the luckiest man in the world - but remained cool under fire.”
One British oil worker added: “The aircraft took two hits on the right hand side of the fuselage, you just heard ‘bang bang’ as the rounds actually struck.” (ANI)
