Stewardess is hero during engine fire

“For half an hour yesterday, while the pilot of an airliner fought to bring his plane down with one engine on fire, a 21-year-old stewardess talked calmly to the 16 passengers,” read the story.

“She told them a storm had forced them to return to Manchester. The Dakota airliner pilot had found that smoke was pouring from the port engine. Meanwhile, stewardess Betty Roberts talked to keep the passengers’ attention from the smoking port engine. ‘I told the passengers that bad weather had made us turn back I knew I had to keep the truth from them in case anyone panicked,’ said Betty.

“As the plane landed safely, fire engines crowded around. Passengers were asked to get out as quickly as possible. ‘We had no idea until then that anything was wrong,’ said one.”