At the time of the accident in 1998 Alec was just approaching his 50th birthday
Alec was a Local Councillor for Rothwell in Leeds City Council
a position he had been continually elected to since 1980 some 18 years earlier
Alec had another role at the time one that he particularly enjoyed, he was a director of his beloved football club Leeds United, the club he had been a lifelong supporter of.
As a councillor Alec made a huge contribution to both Rothwell and Leeds, including as chairman of the housing committee for many years where he oversaw 4,000 council houses being built.
In 2013, Alec was honoured by Leeds City Council as honorary alderman for his outstanding service to the city.
I would like to wish Captain John Hackett a very happy 87th birthday
Please pass sincere thanks to the aircrew for their actions that night. With everything going against us that day, we had one thing that was in our favour our quick thinking pilot and this alone meant our number wasn’t up!
Wishing you many happy returns of the day John, good health and happiness