'A Natural Reaction'

Reluctant and weary, the airline captain of British Airways Flight 2069 — who saved his plane from what he described as a madman earlier this week — spoke of the ordeal for the first time Saturday, CBS News Correspondent Kimberly Dozier reports.

As he stepped out of the terminal at Heathrow Airport, Capt. William Hagan just wanted to get home to bed.

"I'm awfully tired because I have been unable to sleep. I have tried to sleep but the events have been quite difficult and I would just rather get on," he said, referring to the van he was about to step into.

"I did what I had to do," said Hagan, "I pulled a man from the controls. My co-pilot, who was sitting there, he did what he had to do. He controlled and recovered the aircraft, and he did it very well."

The jumbo jet landed safely in Nairobi after a Kenyan man burst into the cockpit and grabbed the controls from the lone co-pilot. Authorities believe the man, who has been detained, was attempting suicide.

It began when the man broke into the cockpit in mid-flight, said Todd Engstrom, a passenger from Portland, Ore.

"A struggle ensued and one of the flight attendants broke through the door and grabbed the gentleman," Engstrom said.

Some of the passengers too, waded in — one, Clarke Bynum from South Carolina, is being hailed as a hero.

"And I just remember getting up, opening the door, pushing my way in here, and the Kenyan man who was in there — he was strong as an ox," Bynum said. "I just wrapped my arms around him — neck, shoulders, whatever I was able to get a hold of — and just joined in the fight."

The suspect, identified only as a 27-year-old Kenyan, forced the Boeing 747-400 into two violent nose dives, terrifying passengers on the flight from London to Nairobi and injuring five people before he was restrained. The cockpit intruder bit the captain's ear and finger before he was overpowered in a two-minute struggle.

One grateful passenger described Byum, who played basketball for Clemson University, as "the huge American who saved us." His parents were not surprised.

"I think what he did was just a natural reaction that anybody would do," said Henry Bynum, Clarke's father.

Bynum heads home late Saturday, and Hagan and crew are headed for vacation. They say saving almost 400 lives is just part of the job.

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