A SKIPTON couple have told of their terror flight in a Boeing 747 which plummeted 900 feet after hitting a pocket of air turbulence.

Richard and Joan Ball told the Herald they thought they were going to die after the plane was flung around in mid air before the engines cut out.

The couple were returning home after spending five weeks with their son, Michael, who lives in Brisbane, Australia.

Ironically, Mr and Mrs Ball should not have been on the plane.

They had taken the step of changing flights because they feared their original long-haul journey would have been too much of an ordeal for their eight-year-old relative, Rebecca, who was travelling with them.

"I thought I was going to die, I did honestly. It was horrific," said Mrs Ball, now safely back at her home in Princes Drive.

Twenty-two passengers were injured when the British Airways flight BA016, travelling at 30,000 feet, was tossed around by turbulance 50 minutes before it was due to land at Singapore for a fuel stop on Wednesday.

Mr and Mrs Ball and Rebecca escaped unhurt, but one steward was thrown with such force that he ended up wedged in the ceiling.

Other passengers were also tossed about the plane and food trolleys were sent hurtling around the cabin.

"The plane started going up and down and then there was this almighty bang. The next minute I went straight up in the air and banged my head on the locker above," said Mrs Ball.

"The engines had cut out and the plane just dropped. We were told later that it had fallen 900 feet!

"It was lucky because the cabin crew were just about to serve food and most of the passengers were sat down, although not everyone had their seat belts on."

She added: "Nobody panicked, everybody kept calm and there was no screaming.

"I think everybody was in shock and nobody really knew what had happened.

"We escaped unhurt but there were people with cuts and bruises and I think one passenger broke her leg."

Mrs Ball said she was later told by pilot, Captain Bill Mullins, that he had never experienced anything like it in his lengthy flying career.

The couple and their travelling companion were offered medical attention before being transferred to another plane which took them to Heathrow, but Mrs Ball admitted to being a little apprehensive on the return flight.

Mr Ball, who is an aeroplane buff, said the ordeal had not put him off flying again.

"There's more danger of being killed while driving," he said.

The flight also hit the headlines this week because it was carrying Prime Minister's daughter Kathryn Blair, who also escaped unscathed.

Experts say the plane hit a pocket of clear air turbulence, which is a rare occurance and can force a plane to fall or lift suddenly.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.