THE wife of the British Airways co-pilot who tackled a maniac trying to crash a jumbo jet said she feared her newborn daughter could have been facing life without her dad.

Mother-of-three Caroline Webb spoke of the heart-stopping moment she realised her husband, Richard, had put his life in jeopardy when he wrestled the passenger to the ground as the plane plunged 10,000 feet.

Mrs Webb said she only realised how serious the terrifying situation had been on the BA flight from Gatwick to Nairobi last Friday when her husband returned to their home in Bottom Lane, Seer Green.

She said: "It did not really hit me until the evening of the disaster what had happened. I had been totally unaware of what had gone on until I heard it on the radio.

"It only really hit me when Rich came home that it could have been much worse. I just looked at my eight-week-old daughter and thought she may never have had the chance to get to know her dad."

She added: "I looked at Katie and thought how awful it would be for the children to have missed out on their dad.

"That really was the moment that brought it all home to me."

Mrs Webb said that British Airways had spoken to her and explained that her husband had been involved in an incident with an "unruly" passenger but she had no idea that his life was under threat.

She said: "I just thought it was someone who had probably had a couple of drinks and was throwing punches, not some madman."

Mr Webb, 35, is now recuperating at the family home after stopping mental patient Paul Mukonyi from grabbing the controls after he stormed the cockpit. It was a battle against time as Mr Webb and colleague Captain William Hagan struggled to get the manic passenger under control as the plane plunged 10,000 ft.

But Mr Webb stayed cool and collected and said he just went onto automatic as he restrained Mukonyi.

He said: "It was one of those things that you just do, you don't even think about it.

"I don't feel scared about going back into the air because it's probably more dangerous driving to work than when I'm flying.

"But one does hope it's a once in a lifetime experience."

Rock star Bryan Ferry was among the 398 passengers on board who looked on in disbelief as Mukonyi made a frenzied attempt to seize the controls to the British Airways Boeing 747 while it was flying at 35,000ft in the air.