HUMBLED: Flight Lieutenant Christopher Gordon
A HELICOPTER pilot, who rescued troops despite coming under heavy fire that caused two engines to be disabled in Afghanistan, has been honoured for his heroics.
Flight Lieutenant Christopher Gordon was given the Distinguished Flying Cross for transporting 30 British and Afghan troops in a Chinook helicopter while being fired at by Taliban soldiers in August 2012.
The 29-year-old from Manchester was the captain of two Chinook helicopters that were taking troops to Helmand Pronvince.
However, as they approached the region, they came under heavy fire and were forced to retreat to Camp Bastion.
The gunfire damaged two of the Chinook?s engines, leaving only one of them still functioning.
This meant that Gordon had to quickly calculate whether the helicopter could take off in addition to the extra weight of the 30 troops.
He was then forced to land three miles away at a height of 15ft, which is a lot lower to that of the usual 50ft flying height.
After receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross, which is the joint-third highest military decoration attainable, he said: "It was very humbling to receive it. It shows all the effort that the aircrew and our engineers work extremely hard to make sure we can get airborne."
Source: http://voice-online.co.uk/article/brave-pilot-recognised-rescuing-troops
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