RAS AL KHAIMAH // The pilot of a microlight aircraft is being hailed a hero after he steered the plane away from a crowd of families seconds before it crashed, then saved his passenger by shoving him out of the wreckage when there was a danger of it catching fire.
Phil Keating, 60, from Abu Dhabi, is in hospital with a fractured spine following the accident at Al Jazeera Aviation Club.
His passenger, Peter-Christian Pinz, who is visiting from Germany, suffered an eye injury.
The drama happened last Friday, shortly after Mr Keating, an IT manager and a retired wing commander in Britain's Royal Air Force (RAF), had taken his friend, Matthew Cochran, up in the two-seater Ukrainian Aeroprakt A-22.
As he stepped out of the aircraft, Mr Cochran urged Mr Pinz, his father-in-law, to have a go.
As Mr Pinz's flight came to an end, Mr Keating prepared to land, then changed his mind and radioed to say he would make a second approach.
The yellow plane rose for another attempt, but when Mr Keating turned, he knew something was wrong, he later told friends.
His 35 years of RAF experience kicked in, and he steered the plane away from the clubhouse, where members' and visiting families were gathered, towards the soft sand of the desert. The plane crashed on the sand. Had it crashed on the nearby tarmac instead, it is believed that it would have exploded.
With the smell of petrol hanging in the air, Mr Keating feared the plane's wreckage might blow up, he said later.
He unbuckled Mr Pinz's seatbelt and pushed him out. When Mr Keating tried to get out himself, he realised that he was unable to move.
Luckily for Mr Keating, civil defence officers were on the scene in minutes. They got him out of the wreckage and took both men to Saqr Hospital.
Mr Keating is a regular at the club, spending most Fridays flying the plane. Last weekend, he had invited friends for an aerial tour of the desert.
Mr Cochran said: "My family was in town from Germany and he said, 'Let's take the whole family out there'. It was a beautiful clear day. Everything was great. I had been up just 20 minutes before the crash with Phil in the same plane. I told my father-in-law, 'Get up there'.
"I was on the ground playing with my wife and kids and the dog, and the next thing you know we're running out to a crash site.
"Phil knew what was going on. He said, 'The only thought I had was I smelt fuel. I had to get Peter out of one door and get myself out'."
An investigation into the cause of the crash is under way.
"We started our investigation the same day and it will be completed very soon," said Saif al Suwaidi, the director general of the General Civil Aviation Authority.
"We don't have an idea about the cause because it is too early."
Mr Keating's spine was fractured in three places and he has been transferred to the Neuro Spinal Centre in Dubai, where on Monday he had surgery that lasting more than nine hours.
His wife, Lindsey, and grown-up daughter, Holly, have remained at his bedside.
Mr Pinz had reconstructive work on his eye at the Imperial Health Care Institute in Dubai yesterday.
Mr Cochran said: "If you had to have a plane crash with anybody, I believe Phil is the guy you want. The reason he is alive and my father-in-law is alive is because he is such a great pilot."
azacharias@thenational.ae
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Jawan
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Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
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If you go
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct to Nairobi, with fares starting from Dh1,695. The resort can be reached from Nairobi via a 35-minute flight from Wilson Airport or Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, or by road, which takes at least three hours.
The rooms
Rooms at Fairmont Mount Kenya range from Dh1,870 per night for a deluxe room to Dh11,000 per night for the William Holden Cottage.
It’ll be summer in the city as car show tries to move with the times
If 2008 was the year that rocked Detroit, 2019 will be when Motor City gives its annual car extravaganza a revamp that aims to move with the times.
A major change is that this week's North American International Auto Show will be the last to be held in January, after which the event will switch to June.
The new date, organisers said, will allow exhibitors to move vehicles and activities outside the Cobo Center's halls and into other city venues, unencumbered by cold January weather, exemplified this week by snow and ice.
In a market in which trends can easily be outpaced beyond one event, the need to do so was probably exacerbated by the decision of Germany's big three carmakers – BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi – to skip the auto show this year.
The show has long allowed car enthusiasts to sit behind the wheel of the latest models at the start of the calendar year but a more fluid car market in an online world has made sales less seasonal.
Similarly, everyday technology seems to be catching up on those whose job it is to get behind microphones and try and tempt the visiting public into making a purchase.
Although sparkly announcers clasp iPads and outline the technical gadgetry hidden beneath bonnets, people's obsession with their own smartphones often appeared to offer a more tempting distraction.
“It's maddening,” said one such worker at Nissan's stand.
The absence of some pizzazz, as well as top marques, was also noted by patrons.
“It looks like there are a few less cars this year,” one annual attendee said of this year's exhibitors.
“I can't help but think it's easier to stay at home than to brave the snow and come here.”
Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
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The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Constant Variable (CVT)
Power: 141bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: Dh64,500
On sale: Now
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Fitness problems in men's tennis
Andy Murray - hip
Novak Djokovic - elbow
Roger Federer - back
Stan Wawrinka - knee
Kei Nishikori - wrist
Marin Cilic - adductor
TOUR RESULTS AND FIXTURES
June 3: NZ Provincial Barbarians 7 Lions 13
June 7: Blues 22 Lions 16
June 10: Crusaders 3 Lions 12
June 13: Highlanders 23 Lions 22
June 17: Maori All Blacks 10 Lions 32
June 20: Chiefs 6 Lions 34
June 24: New Zealand 30 Lions 15
June 27: Hurricanes 31 Lions 31
July 1: New Zealand 21 Lions 24
July 8: New Zealand v Lions
SQUADS
India
Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur
New Zealand
Kane Williamson (captain), Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Ross Taylor, Tom Latham (wicketkeeper), Henry Nicholls, Ish Sodhi, George Worker, Glenn Phillips, Matt Henry, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Adam Milne, Trent Boult
MATCH INFO
Day 2 at the Gabba
Australia 312-1
Warner 151 not out, Burns 97, Labuschagne 55 not out
Pakistan 240
Shafiq 76, Starc 4-52
MATCH INFO
FA Cup final
Chelsea 1
Hazard (22' pen)
Manchester United 0
Man of the match: Eden Hazard (Chelsea)