Jet Lands Safely Despite Death of Pilot During Flight

When an announcement came over the loudspeaker on a Continental Airlines flight yesterday that a doctor was needed, passengers were certainly wondering what was amiss. But with flight attendants going about their business as though nothing was wrong and the flight seeming to keep its schedule, passengers weren’t too concerned. What they didn’t know was that in the cockpit, the 60-year-old captain had died of an apparent heart attack and the two co-pilots were forced to take the helm. Passengers didn’t learn of the ordeal until after they had landed safely in New Jersey.

The flight ferried 247 passengers from Brussels to the U.S. and was met by fire trucks and other emergency vehicles on the runway, as well as a number of reporters. Said Dora Dekeyser, of Houston, "I was shocked. Nobody knew anything." Dekeyser’s granddaughter, Stephanie Mallis, said "We weren’t panicking. I never thought it was something as serious as this. We were relaxed."

During the flight, and after flight attendants called for a doctor, Julien Struyven, a cardiologist from Brussels, examined the pilot and noted, "He was not alive," adding that there was "no chance at all" to save him. Tom Donaldson, a former leader of the pilots’ union for Continental, noted that all pilots for Continental must pass a physical exam twice each year, including an EKG, blood pressure testing and a vision test. Donaldson also noted that either of the two co-pilots was fully qualified to handle the jet. Noted Donaldson, "Clearly you want another set of eyes watching you when you’re going down a checklist, but you’re capable of flying the airplane yourself. You can put the gears down, put the flaps down and carry out your other duties by yourself in an emergency." Indeed...and it appears that that is exactly what the flight’s co-pilots did.