Airplane pilot gets $440,000 as reward for brave maneuver that saved him from crashing head on into another plane

An pilot was hailed a hero for his actions that saved the lives of 429 airplane passengers.

The pilot was flying an Airbus A320 for China Eastern Airlines last month, when he was giving clearance to take off.

The A320, which carried 147 passengers, was taking off from Shanghai for Tianjin.

However, as soon as he began to pick up speed, the pilot noticed an China Eastern Airlines Airbus A330 that had just arrived from Beijing to Shanghai, carrying 266 people, coming towards his plane.

The pilot, who was identified as He Chao, knew that he had to do something quickly in order to avoid a head on collision. Chao accelerate and flew over the other aircraft to avoid the crash by a margin of just 62 feet, officials said.

The airline was so grateful to Chao for avoiding the deadly collision, that they gave him a reward of 3 million yuan (about $440,000) for his heroic action at the Shanghai airport.

The cabin crew was also given a reward of a combined 600,000 yuan, (about $88,500).

According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), the control center and the A330 cabin crew members failed to maintain proper communication. 

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