A NORTHWICH pilot has been hailed a hero after preventing a terrifying mid-air battle with a deranged passenger from ending in disaster.

First Officer Phil Watson was on board the British Airways BA2069 flight en route from Gatwick to Nairobi in Kenya when a madman burst into the cockpit in the early hours of Friday.

The father-of-two was forced to fight off Kenyan Paul Mukonyi as he tried to seize the flight controls, sending the Boeing 747 carrying 398 passengers into a 10,000ft nosedive.

Mr Watson, 38, then managed to pull the plane out of the dive with just seconds to spare as his colleagues successfully fought to restrain the passenger.

Speaking to the Guardian from his London Road home Mr Watson said, although he feared for his life, there was no time to think about what was happening.

"I thought he was trying to kill me and everyone else," he said.

"He was over 6ft tall and a lot stronger than me, but in that situation time stops and my main priority was to get him off and level the plane."

Yesterday, Tuesday, Mr Watson, who undertakes his next flight this Friday to Los Angeles, was described as a hero by neighbours and Northwich Round Table, of which he is a member.

Mike Street, British Airways director of customer service and operations, also praised Mr Watson's efforts.

"Our crew are trained to deal with every situation, however rare, and it was this training and professionalism that ensured a quick resolution of the incident," he said.