THE wife of Worcester’s hero pilot said she knew from the start her husband was not to blame.

Maria Burkill, married to British Airways captain Peter Burkill who helped successfully crashland a Boeing 777 at Heathrow in January, spoke out after investigators said ice caused the engines to fail.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) report confirms that ice restricted the flow of fuel to the engines, which is why they lost power less than a minute before touchdown.

However, they still do not know how the ice formed.

Mrs Burkill, aged 33, of King Stephen’s Mount, St John’s, Worcester, said: “We knew, probably since 36 hours after the crash, that the crew was not the cause.

“We’ve known for a long time that there was a blockage in the system, but because no debris was found we had our suspicions that it was ice.

“While we’ve known that, it hasn’t been written down in a formal document until now. And that makes a big difference.

“Those two pilots saved all those lives, all the people on board and what could have been under the plane, but you still get people prattling on and suggesting it was the crew’s fault.

“Now, everybody knows that it was something in the system and not human error.”

Mr and Mrs Burkill were not expecting the interim report to be as conclusive.

“Pete said I shouldn’t bother reading it because it would be mostly technical stuff,” said Mrs Burkill.

“Then I read it and realised it was naming ice as the cause. I texted him and said he had better read it too.”

AAIB’s final report into the BA crashlanding will be published at a later date, but has recommended that airlines introduce interim measures for all Boeing 777s to reduce the risk of the problem happening again.

In January, the crew’s swift actions saved 136 passengers plus 16 crew who escaped without serious injury.

Mr Burkill can not comment until that report has been published.