British Airways Flight 2069

The aircraft involved was a Boeing 747-436,wearing the British Airways Ndebele Martha ethnic livery,[note 1] registration G-BNLM, delivered to British Airways on 28 June 1990.[2]

At around 5 am local time, the cockpit of a British Airways Boeing 747-400 on a scheduled flight from Gatwick to Jomo Kenyatta Airport was stormed by a mentally unstable Kenyan passenger named Paul Mukonyi.[3][4] Attacking First Officer Phil Watson over the controls, Mukonyi grabbed the yoke, and tried to execute a route change. This disconnected the autopilot and resulted in a struggle between himself and Watson; causing the aircraft to climb sharply and stall from 42,000 feet and plunge towards the ground at 30,000 feet per minute.[3][4] 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. Two passengers (Henry Clarke Bynum and Gifford Murrell Shaw, both from Sumter, South Carolina, U.S.[5]) sitting in the upper deck were able to get into the cockpit to assist, despite the extreme manoeuvres, and helped to remove Mukonyi from the yoke and get him out of the cockpit. First Officer Watson was now able to regain control, and return the aircraft to level flight. Afterwards, Captain Hagan made an announcement on the PA to reassure the passengers and the flight continued without further incident. Violent pitch changes during the incident were responsible for minor injuries among four passengers;[4] one of the cabin crew broke her ankle.[3] After landing in Nairobi, Mukonyi was immediately transferred to the authorities.[4] The actions right after the apprehension were recorded on amateur video by the son of English musician Bryan Ferry; both were passengers on the flight.[6] It was later found that Mukonyi was in fear of being followed, and was trying to kill those whom he deemed to be a threat; who in this case were the passengers and crew on the flight.

Captain William Hagan and First Officers Phil Watson and Richard Webb were awarded a Polaris Award in 2001.[7] Hagan was also given the Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation (RADAR) People of the Year award.

A group of 16 American passengers settled a multimillion dollar lawsuit against British Airways.[6] British passengers were offered compensation of £2,000 and a free ticket each.[6] 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; it now flies from Heathrow instead. British Airways has kept the flight number in use, however, although as of March 2020 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 from service and was subsequently stored at Southern California Logistics Airport.