JAKARTA - The British Royal Air Force Pilot (RAF) received an award from the kingdom when his action was able to avoid the refugee plane he was driving, avoiding collisions at Afghanistan airport.
Last year, a suicide bomb exploded at Kabul's international airport, Afghanistan before Group Captain Kevin Latchman attempted to get 365 people on board the C-17.
Amid the chaos, Group Captain Latchman made the decision to take off from the pitch-black runway after a power outage, almost hitting a bus that was driving into their path.
On Thursday, he was given the Air Force Cross for leadership and courage by the Prince of Wales, Prince William at Buckingham Palace, London, England.
"Receiving the honor of today is fantastic, it's great to be recognized for something like that and I realize it's a team effort," he told the PA News Agency as quoted by The Independent October 14.
Operasi Pitting adalah operasi militer Inggris untuk mengevakuasi warga negara Inggris dan warga Afghanistan yang memenuhi syarat dari negara itu, di tengah pengambilan Taliban Agustus 2021 lalu.
"Everything about Operation Pitting was the team's effort and I ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time, but did the right thing," he said.
An honour to receive my AFC today at Buckingham Palace from HRH Prince of Wales @KensingtonRoyal. The family had a wonderful day. Just a small part of Op PITTING where @99Sqn, @RAFBrizeNorton, and critical elements from @DefenceOps Jt Force delivered hope to so many refugees. pic.twitter.com/nlALTko4v6
— Gp Capt Kev Latchman (@kevlatchman) October 13, 2022
"It was amazing to see the Prince of Wales today and have a family here, it's amazing, I've never crossed the front gate of Buckingham Palace before and I'll probably never do it again," he said.
"I spoke to the Wales Prince about the incident itself, he was aware of the incident and I spoke to him about my decision-making, what happened," Latchman said.
The Latchman Group captain has made the decision to force the aircraft to fly early.
"What was in my head at the time was actually a clear decision-making process, it was quite impulsive," he said.
"It's pretty clear I can't stop, it's pretty clear I can't reach my speed, so we only have one choice," Latchman said.
While in the air Captain Group Latchman just realized they had avoided a bus that was only 10 feet or 3 meters away from the plane he was flying.
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