Visibility had dropped to one-and-a half miles in the smoke haze from the city and ‘it was with some surprise’ that we saw the Salazar Bridge directly ahead and above us! (Because of it’s recent construction it wasn’t on our charts!)
As we could not fly beneath the bridge and we hadn’t got the power to climb over it, we turned away and flew down the estuary in a desperate but unsuccessful attempt to gain height. At this stage the Captain of a Portuguese Boeing 727 belonging to TAP heard on R/T our predicament and offered his assistance. He then closed in, reduced his speed to match our 140kts, and led the way across the outskirts of the city to the airfield.