Twenty five seconds is what the co-pilot had this last week in which to make his landing decision on behalf of 152 people on BA38 from Beijing. There can be fewer real time tests of performance than that of making a call in landing a non-responsive aircraft. In the event things went very well relative to what might have turned out. It has to be to the enormous credit of both pilots and the entire cabin crew that passengers generally did not perceive anything to be amiss until they were on the ground. And with an emergency evacuation instigated, were clear of the plane in 3 minutes. BA’s people [1]served their customers brilliantly on this occassion, with remarkable presence of mind. No doubt a rigor of training is in place for eventualities like this, however improbable the possible occurrence. But that should not diminish the gratitude, commendation and admiration now expressed to the plane’s high performance team.