Bruce Dickinson , Iron Maiden and commercial pilot, recounted during a performance a moving story about when he had to fly British soldiers home from Afghanistan in 2008.
With the project An Evening With Bruce Dickinson , the musician performed at Uptown Theater in Kansas City, United States, and talked about his autobiography What Does This Button Do? and had a chat session with the audience.
“One of the jobs I had at the airline I worked for was to fly people to military bases,” he said, “We had a plane permanently allocated to the military to take people to places – not to war zones, but to bases. There was one flight in particular, unusual, as we were flying with the Royal Air Force Regiment, transporting soldiers who were serving in Afghanistan back to the UK, and we didn’t take them to a military airfield, but to a civilian one.”
“These soldiers had some problems and lost comrades in battle, but despite everything, they were happy. When we landed, we could already see the wives, children, and families of the soldiers. It was very moving. This was certainly one of the most memorable flights I've ever done,” he concluded. Watch the presentation below.
Dickinson has been flying planes for 30 years, having obtained his license in the 1990s. Along with his work as a commercial pilot, Bruce also flies Iron Maiden's private plane, Ed Force One.
