Air hostess helps land Air Canada plane after co-pilot breaks down
From NEWS.COM.AU:
AN air hostess helped land an Air Canada jet carrying 146 passengers after the co-pilot had an apparent mental breakdown over the Atlantic Ocean.
The plane, bound for Heathrow from Toronto, diverted to Shannon in Ireland after the flight officer began a "rambling and disjointed" conversation, according to a report into the incident last January.
The crew were forced to drag him from the cockpit controls and restrain him in a passenger seat, the Daily Mail reported today.
When the captain of the Boeing 767 (article complete with a picture of an A330!!) asked staff to find any trained pilots onboard, the female cabin crew member came forward and said she had a commercial pilot’s licence.
She then took over in the co-pilot’s seat, the report by the Irish Air Accident Investigation Unit said.
The captain praised the attendant to investigators for helping him safely land the plane at Shannon, where the ill flight officer was taken off the flight.
He was admitted to a psychiatric unit for 11 days, the Mail said.
The report did not reveal the details of the co-pilot’s medical condition but two doctors onboard told investigators he was in a "confused and disorientated state".
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20th November 2008, 02:07 PM
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