Passengers on a Continental Airlines flight between Brussels and Newark, N.J., were blissfully unaware that the plane’s 60-year-old pilot had collapsed and died midway through the trip. Crew members handled the
situation brilliantly, calling a Belgian doctor forward in hope of reviving the pilot, then moving the body to a “rest area” for crew members. People on the plane weren’t told what was going on; the few who were aware of the
medical emergency assumed it involved a fellow passenger. Two co-pilots then took over the controls, landing the Boeing 777 slightly ahead of schedule yesterday in foggy, rainy weather. The pilot apparently died of natural causes.
General
Don't panic, folks, but the pilot's dead
Co-pilots land plane safely after captain dies during trans-Atlantic flight
