Captain John Bartels, the hero pilot of QF 30

A Sun Herald report says that the hero pilot who landed a stricken jumbo jet safely says basic training kicked in as soon as an explosion tore a hole in his Qantas plane.

Captain John Bartels told the Sunday Herald Sun he acted almost without thinking to take the emergency action aboard QF30 that saved 365 people.

His proud wife yesterday greeted him with a lingering hug on their Eltham driveway after he pulled up in a taxi.

A tearful and relieved Mandy Bartels agreed with passengers who hailed her husband’s efforts yesterday and said she always knew he would get home safely.

“He’s always been a hero to me, but, honestly, every pilot in Qantas would have done the same thing,” she said.

An exhausted Capt Bartels, 53, said yesterday he had acted almost automatically.

“As soon as we realised this was a decompression, I immediately pulled out my memory checklist,” he said in a statement released to the Sunday Herald Sun.

“There were three of us in the cockpit and we all worked together and focused on doing what we had to do to get the aircraft down safely, which is exactly what we are trained to do.

“I have no doubt that every Qantas captain in the same situation would have had the same result.

“Throughout it all, the cabin crew did a tremendous job of looking after our passengers.”

Capt Bartels will rest this week to recover from the mid-air drama, but his wife said he would return to the skies.

“I’m glad he’s back home, that’s where he needs to be at the moment,” Mrs Bartels said. “He’s just very tired; he’s vegging out.”

Mrs Bartels said she wasn’t scared when she heard the jet’s fuselage had ruptured forcing an emergency landing, because she knew her husband could handle the situation.

The proud wife, who met her husband 25 years ago when they were both in the navy, doesn’t recall their conversation when he phoned home from Manila immediately after the incident.

“I honestly don’t remember what we said to each other – it’s a blur,” she said.

Neither she nor her husband would comment on the incident itself.

Mrs Bartels welled up with emotion when asked how it felt to see her husband after his near-death experience.

Her bottom lip quivered and tears came to her eyes as she said she did not want to discuss the possibility of losing the love of her life.

Mrs Bartels initially tried to dismiss suggestions her husband was a hero.

“John is a very dedicated and professional pilot, but there are many like him in Qantas who would have done the same job yesterday.”  “We are very lucky to have them,” she said.

“He’s very proud of everybody on the flight – passengers, tech crew and the cabin crew – and how everybody handled themselves.”

Capt Bartels had not had an accident in a career spanning more than three decades in the cockpit of navy and commercial planes, she said.

“He’s been flying for 23 years with Qantas and (of that time) he’s had 16 years in command.”

Their son Kim, 21, has coped well with the shock, but the student definitely does not want to be a pilot, Mrs Bartels said.

“Kim is studying computer science at RMIT.”  “He has never had a wish to follow in father’s footsteps,” she said.

The hero of the hour arrived home at 10am to the warm embrace of his wife, who had been fretting on the veranda of their Eltham home, and his mother, Pat.

Qantas has offered the family counselling and support.

A Report by The Mole from the Herald Sun