Lee Westwood has close call with private jet cockpit fire
April 6, 2011, 09:47 pm
The number two golfer in the world, Lee Westwood, recently had a close call when the cockpit of his private jet caught fire on Sunday, April 3, according to ESPN.
Westwood was leaving Texas, where he had participated in a PGA event in Houston, with his manager, another golfer and two caddies. The flight had left George H.W. Bush International Airport and was heading towards Augusta, Georgia, for the Masters Golf Tournament, when the fire forced them to return to their place of departure, the source says.
"We were a couple of minutes out of the airport. It was a bit scary. It never looks good when you can smell smoke and you turn 'round and see the pilots have put the masks on," Westwood told the Telegraph in London. "The plane came down in a bit of a nosedive because you obviously have to get down as quick as you can."
Westwood told the source that there was a small fire somewhere near the cockpit and that, upon landing on the runway, three fire engines sped after the aircraft until it stopped, prepared to extinguish the flame.
Spontaneous cockpit fires sometimes occur and can potentially end in a fatal accident. Aviators who have taken out pilot life insurance coverage may have funds to help provide for their families in their absence, in the event that such a tragedy occurs.
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