A BRITISH Airways pilot was due to be flying into the record books yesterday (Thursday) as the first pilot to land at Heathrow's new Terminal 5. Captain Lynn Barton, who became British Airways' first woman pilot in 1987, has been selected to command BA026 from Hong Kong, which was scheduled to be the first arrival at the airline's new £4.3bn home, landing at 4.50am. The Medstead woman applied to operate the flight last month while she was on holiday in Barbados. "It was my husband's idea to bid for the flight, but the timing meant I had to tear myself off the beach and find a computer so that I could apply through the airline's flight-bidding system. "I never thought I'd be in with a chance of actually getting the flight. I found out when I got back from my holiday and was absolutely thrilled," she said. Lynn, 51, was also the first woman to be sponsored by the airline for her commercial pilot's training at Hamble in Hampshire. In 1996, she became a BA captain. "I never thought of being anything other than a pilot when I was growing up. "I had my very first flying lesson at the age of 16. I was incredibly proud to have been British Airways' first ever woman pilot and now I have another first to my name," she said. Since 1987, the number of female pilots has risen dramatically and there are now 175 females among BA's 3,200 pilots, higher than the national average. T5 was officially opened by the Queen on March 14.