Posted on 01/21/2007 3:02:54 PM PST by radar101
McALLEN, Texas -- The pilot of a Continental Airlines flight became ill after takeoff and was later pronounced dead after the plane made an emergency landing Saturday, a company spokeswoman said. The 210 passengers on the flight, which departed from Houston, were never in danger and the co-pilot landed the plane safely, Continental spokeswoman Macky Osorio said.
The airline said only that the pilot suffered a "serious medical problem." Continental believes the pilot died of natural causes, Osorio said. The pilot's name was not released.
The flight, bound for Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, took off from Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport and was diverted to McAllen-Miller International Airport. The flight continued to Mexico with a new crew, Osorio said.
That is frightening. Thank heaven the copilot had his wits about him.
That's why there's two of 'em on board.
Not particularly surprising, at most airlines the major distinction between captain and first officer is seniority (time on the property), not experience or training. In fact, with the disruptions following 9/11, there are many former captains with thousands of hours of flight time starting their careers over as first officers at other airlines (making breaking in to the industry for the next decade or two next to impossible).
That's why we have co-pilots.
"The airline said only that the pilot suffered a "serious medical problem." Continental believes the pilot died of natural causes..."
This is just weird, the kind of gibberish these "spokespeople" spout. Uh, the guy's dead, yeah, I think that would be a serious medical problem. And they BELIEVE he died of natural causes?? What's the alternative, an in-flight drug overdose or murder?
Did he eat the fish?
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Nothing spectacular or unusual about that. That is exactly the way the system is devised.
Copilots are fully qualified to perform all the duties of command. In fact, if the system works properly, the copilot routinely performs all the functions of the captain.
The system usually works if the Captain is not a control freak.
Bush's fault?
Yeah, I think DEATH qualifies as a "serious medical problem".
"thats right. i had the lasagna."
Guy had a first class medical within the past six months and dropped dead. Meanwhile, the FAA demands that recreational pilots all have medical certificates. The FAA will not discuss the fact that there is zero statistical correlation between having a medical certificate and the incidence of in-flight medical incapacitation. !@#$%^& bureaucrats.
I had a friend who was a surgeon...always in perfect health. During an operation one day, he dropped dead. Cerebral aneurysm.
Was God the co-pilot?
In related news:
Delta Accepting Pilot Applications
ATLANTA, Dec. 20, 2006 – Delta Air Lines today will officially begin accepting applications for new-hire pilots in anticipation of exhausting its pilot furlough list in 2007. Interviews for new Delta first officer positions are scheduled to begin in January.
This is a sad story and must have been tough on the crew.
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