Published: September 2, 2008

From The Independent:

RAF pilots flown home courtesy of Iron MaidenBruce Dickinson, the singer with heavy metal outfit Iron Maiden, has in the past performed for British troops in Iraq. On Sunday, he did his bit for our boys in Afghanistan.

Dickinson, a qualified pilot for British airline Astraeus, was behind the controls of a Boeing 747 that the Ministry of Defence had chartered to transport a group of RAF pilots back home.

"A lot of them recognised him because they are Maiden fans, but he was there in his professional capacity as a pilot," says an RAF spokesman. "He gave out lots of signatures to the guys."

And from The Mirror:

Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson takes the pilot's seat of a Boeing 757Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson, 50, shocked 106 members of the RAF returning from Afghanistan, when he took control of a Boeing 757 and flew them from Cyprus to RAF Wittering, Cambs, on Sunday.

But don't panic, he's a trained pilot.

Then, look what he did....

Iron Maiden singer rescues stranded UK tourists

Posted Sun Sep 14, 2008 12:48pm AEST
Updated Sun Sep 14, 2008 12:47pm AEST

Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson has flown to the rescue of holiday-makers left stranded abroad after Britain's third largest tour operator collapsed, newspapers have reported.

The heavy metal hero is also a Boeing 757 pilot and flew a specially-chartered Monarch Airlines flight from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt to London Gatwick Airport.

XL Leisure Group went into administration Friday, leaving some 85,000 British tourists stranded abroad.

Since then almost 12,000 people have been brought back as part of an airlift mission conducted by the aviation regulator.

"I was just doing my job. I was called out like a lot of other pilots to help and I was obviously happy to do that," The Mail on Sunday newspaper quoted rocker Dickinson as saying.

"Some of the people on the flight were obviously frustrated by the situation they had found themselves in but everyone was pretty good-natured about it all."

Dickinson, 50, said he was off to the Greek island of Kos next to rescue some more stranded holiday-makers.

The Iron Maiden frontman has been a captain with Astraeus, having worked for the British charter airline for nine years.

Dickinson has also competed in fencing at international level.

- AFP