Bryan Ferry, Family Survive Holiday Crash Scare

December 29, 2000 -- British pop star Bryan Ferry was among the 379 passengers of a British Airways 747 that nearly crashed when a crazed man broke into the cockpit on a flight to Kenya today.

Ferry; his wife, Lucy Helmore; and two of their sons were on board the plane for a New Year holiday on the Indian Ocean island of Zanzibar, and were sleeping when the plane started reeling and diving as the suspect grabbed at the cockpit controls.

"I have done a lot of plane flights in my life, but this is the most eventful," Ferry said after taking another flight to the Tanzanian capital Dar es Salaam.

"I was very frightened, but I'm very relieved to be here on dry land." When asked if she thought they were about to die, Helmore simply said, "Yes."

She said she tried to look after her children as the plane went into a dive. "I was trying to keep them calm because they were very frightened."

Ferry, 55, said he was sleeping when the drama began.

"I woke up thinking we were going through some bad turbulence, but I think we were on the third dip when I really thought about what was really happening."

The suspect, a Kenyan man who police believe was mentally disturbed, was apprehended by cabin crew and some of the passengers after a violent struggle.

After regaining control of the plane, the pilot reportedly told passengers, "A very nasty man just tried to kill us all."

The flight landed safely in Nairobi on Friday morning and the suspect was arrested. Four passengers and one crew member were hospitalized with minor injuries.

Ferry's teenage son Isaac said the suspect was tall and strong but that the flight captain managed to fight him off.

"It was suicidal. He was trying to kill everyone," he said. "He was very delirious. He seemed to be speaking to himself."

Bryan Ferry was the founder and leader of British art-rock band Roxy Music, which recorded several influential albums in the '70s, as well as the1976 hit song "Love Is the Drug."

He then made several solo albums, scoring a hit in1988 with "Kiss and Tell." His career faded for a while before he returned last year with the critically acclaimed As Time Goes By.

Reuters contributed to this report.