Posted on 01/21/2007 9:06:16 PM PST by Paleo Conservative
Steve Sweeney, his wife and a group of friends left Philadelphia early Saturday morning.
They flew to Houston and then boarded their connecting flight en route to Puerto Vallarta.
But while in the air, heading into Mexico, Sweeney said the passengers were issued an alert.
"The co-pilot came over on the loud speaker saying if there was a doctor on board and after about 10-15 minutes they asked if there was a pilot on board," Sweeney said.
Immediately, he knew something was wrong.
"It was scary, my wife got nervous, she was thinking that my daughters wedding is in June and she was like, we're not gonna make it, we're not gonna make the wedding," he recalled.
Dave Davenport from South Carolina added: "It was the first time something like this has ever happened on a flight with (me and my wife)"
Action 4 News contacted Continential Airlines' headquarters.
In a verbal statement they told us a pilot of Flight 1838, "experienced a serious medical problem which required the aircraft to land immediately."
The airplane was diverted to the McAllen-Miller International Airport.
An ambulance arrived and transported the pilot to the McAllen Medical Center but according to Continental officials, the captain died.
The airline assures a Continental co-pilot landed the plane around 1:30 p.m.
But Sweeney has another story.
"They asked for a pilot out of the passengers and one guy who flies small planes went out and helped them," he remembered.
In the end, the plane landed safely and all 210 passengers waited approximately four hours for another crew to arrive and finally fly them to Puerto Vallarta.
The wait, however, wasn't so bad according to some passengers. Continental fed them pizza and soft drinks while they waited.
Davenport says the crew did a great job keeping everyone calm.
"They kept their cool, they knew exactly what they were doing so it kinda settled everyone down after a while."
Instead of asking for an MD on board, they should also see if there are people trained in medical emergencies on board. An experienced nurse or a EMS worker could monitor vital signs and keep a dying person alive or at least give them a better chance than just being monitored by a flight attendant.
That's what I thought; another set of eyes and hands to take care of the mundane stuff for him while he concentrated on flying.
Thanks for getting back to me.
Jan. 21, 2007, 1:29PMPilot dies after falling ill in cockpit
Police say he collapsed at the controls before Houston-Mexico flight was diverted
By ANNE MARIE KILDAY and JAMES PINKERTON
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
The pilot of a Continental Airlines flight from Houston to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, became ill during the flight Saturday and died after the plane was diverted to McAllen, the airline announced.
"The co-pilot consulted with Continental's operations center and arrangements were made to divert the aircraft to McAllen and to be met by an ambulance," airline spokesman Dave Messing said in an e-mail. " ... Unfortunately, the ill pilot did not survive."
Messing said the Newark, N.J.-based pilot is thought to have died of natural causes. Messing declined to identify the pilot but said he had more than 20 years of service.
Lt. Paulo Herrera of the McAllen Fire Department said the pilot had a heart attack.
Continental Flight 1838, a Boeing 757, departed George Bush Intercontinental Airport at 11:30 a.m. with 210 passengers. It landed in McAllen about 1:30 p.m. A replacement crew flew from Houston to McAllen and the flight took off again about 6 p.m. and landed in Puerto Vallarta at 7:17 p.m.
Lt. Scott Luke of the McAllen Police Department, who responded to the airport, said the flight's captain collapsed at the controls while the plane was about 200 miles south of the Texas border.
The McAllen Fire Department was notified at 1:21 p.m. about "an inflight medical emergency," Herrera said.
"They told us it was for a full arrest," he said.
"We waited for the plane to taxi to the jetway, and then we went onboard the plane," Herrera said. "The pilot was on the floor by the door. They had done compressions, CPR on him onboard the aircraft."
The pilot was transported to McAllen Medical Center. He was pronounced dead at 1:50 p.m., Luke said.
"There were a lot of passengers on the plane," Herrera said. "Some of them, a lot of them, had assisted the co-pilot and flight attendants in trying to help the pilot."
Luke said the passengers included a couple of doctors and nurses.
"They were pretty upset, losing their friend," Luke said of the crew. He said an autopsy would be conducted today.
James Pinkerton reported from Harlingen.
SO, if there is no pilot among the passengers when the pilot or copilot becomes incapacitated, it becomes impossible to land the plane?
LOL! - I see you've landed in McAllen too ;o)
You're assuming that both pilots croak at the same time right? If that were to happen then yeah that's basically it. If that happens and there are no other pilots typed on that type, well then good luck. Private pilots like to think they could do it, but it's not gonna happen. Both pilots being incapacitated at the same time has never happened to my knowledge.
I'm talking one pilot left, and none among passengers. Does that put restrictions upon landing the plane, such as only certain airports or can't do it in bad weather etc.
Also, if the workload is too great for a single pilot, is it possible for a single private pilot to land the aircraft with the assistance of a flight attendant or second passenger?
It seems like someone could be told, by radio, how to reduce speed, lower flaps and landing gear and even operation of the thrust reversers if the individual had flying experience.
The alternative to making no attempt, of course, would be death for all aboard.
. . . which raises the obvious question of how rare it is for a stew to have a private pilot's license.And/or, to be given enough of an introduction to the cockpit to be as useful in an emergency as someone off the street who does.
There's an old pilot saying about weather: "Better to be on the ground wishing you were flying than in the air wishing you were on the ground", and i guess the same applies to heart-attacks.......
The small-plane pilot has to do both when flying IFR -- but I guess things happen faster at the higher speeds of airliners.
I'm thinking the nosewheel steering on those is handled by a "tiller" that is only on the captians side of the cockpit.
My cousin is an international flight attendant for a large US airline. If you call her a "stew" to her face, she's liable to rip your arm off and beat you with it.
Over "Macho Grande" ???
"I'll never get over Macho Grande." :)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.