"THE NEXT AIRCRAFT WILL CRASH ON LANDING"

THE JET WAS ALMOST OUT OF FUEL. THE PILOTS' ONLY OPTION WAS A MANOEUVRE NO ONE HAD EVER ATTEMPTED.

- John Dyson

The jet thundered down the runway, then lifted into the evening sky over Los Angeles. "That's odd," remarked Captain Tim Barnby, noticing that the wheels seemed to take longer than usual to retract. He scanned the instruments for indications of trouble. There were none: All the wheels were up and locked.

With no problems evident, Virgin Atlantic Flight 024, with 98 passengers and a crew of 16, set a course to London's Heathrow Airport. The flight was uneventful, and 11 hours later the red-and-white Airbus 340 began to descend. Thanks to favourable tail winds, touch-down-at 3:05 p.m. on 5 November, 1997-would be a little early.

Graham and Janice Jones saw their daughter, Claire, 23, grin as she came down the aisle, smart in her flight attendant's uniform. She had invited her parents on a trip to California, and they were now returning home. "Dad," Claire said, "the captain wants to know if you'd like to sit in the cockpit for landing."

"I'd love it!" he replied. Minutes later, Jones slid into a jump seat between Captain Barnby, 39, who was talking to air-traffic control on the radio, and Andrew Morley, 32, who was piloting the plane. The third pilot, Craig Mathieson, 28, who had relieved the others during the night, explained the landing sequence to Jones. "When the landing gear is lowered," he said, "you'll see four green lights on the instrument panel showing the wheels are down and locked."

At 11 kilometres to touchdown, Morley ordered, "Gear down!" There was a clunk as the big doors opened, and a rumble as the wheel struts unfolded into the slipstream. Jones watched three green lights illuminate-and one red. The pilots waited for the red to correct to green. Nothing changed.