Its not landed yet according to this on the sky WWW site, sympathies to the family, especially with a media circus to to decend on them at the worst possible time.
By: Deano - 19th June 2009 at 09:08
An incapacitation of any crew member is an emergency situation. The same for a medical “emergency” with a passenger.
One of the simple reasons being is that as we are not qualified doctors we cannot certify that the person is dead. Declaring an emergency gives you unconditional priority over everything. Can you imagine not declaring an emergency and having to take up the hold for 20 minutes, receiving a convoluted taxi clearance, then finding out if you had actually got on with it the person may have lived?
Also with the crew, if the Capt dies (or F/O) you are now in a single crew environment in a multi-crew aircraft, even if you have a relief F/O in the other seat. I’ve flown left seat in the sim when I did my Chambery training and it’s a weird environment, I had to do a circling approach to land and the biggest thing that breaks down is the instrument scan. Apparently it takes 6-8hrs of flying to get used to the left seat again.
Dean
By: slipperysam - 19th June 2009 at 08:10
Sad news indeed… Its a pity that the media never reports these sorts of things with facts.
One news report i heard said that a “passenger who happened to be on the plane was an offduty captain and he safely landed the aircraft”.
There never seems to be a co-pilot around when you need them!
By: steve rowell - 19th June 2009 at 06:21
Yes, its been confirmed that the Captain passed away mid-flight but cause of death has not yet been confirmed, however, “natural causes” has been speculated as the reason.
The aircraft/flight (CO61 from Brussels, BRU, to Newark, EWR) has now landed; it was given priority landing status at EWR, but it was not at any risk whilst in-flight as there was a reserve Captain was onboard who was able to take over.
Sad news and my thoughts are with family and friends of the deceased Captain.:(
I think it’s a standard practice to carry a supernumerary Captain on long over water flights…even so i’m quite sure the first officer could have handled the situation quite comfortably
By: Bmused55 - 18th June 2009 at 21:44
A colleague, or even close close friend, passing away en-route would be a stressful experience. RIP
Agreed.
Welcome back by the way.
By: nJayM - 18th June 2009 at 21:19
The flight is safely on tera firma and that’s primarily what matters.
From the early reports there were adequate qualified pilots on board (including reserve crew) and declaration of an emergency landing and re-routing was absolutely necessary in the case of the demise of the Captain.
I do hope the media respect the deceased and family of the deceased and try not to speculate unecessarily, and wait until an official statement is ensuing from Continental Airlines.
By: Ren Frew - 18th June 2009 at 19:08
A colleague, or even close close friend, passing away en-route would be a stressful experience. RIP
Yes indeed I can imagine how that must feel Moondance, one of my work colleagues passed away on the job just two weeks ago.
Is it standard procedure to declare an emergency under such circumstances or is it a case of a prioritised approach to the nearest airport or the destination airport ?
By: Moondance - 18th June 2009 at 18:52
Is this an emergency with two qualified pilots at the controls?
A colleague, or even close close friend, passing away en-route would be a stressful experience. RIP
By: Ren Frew - 18th June 2009 at 18:21
BBC News reporting an emergency landing. Is this an emergency with two qualified pilots at the controls?
That’s terribly sad news, these things do happen however and safety procedures are in place obviously. I don’t know what the ’emergency’ protocol is in such circumstances, I’d imagine this was more of a priority landing than an actual emergency, sad as it is…
By: Newforest - 18th June 2009 at 17:46
BBC News reporting an emergency landing. Is this an emergency with two qualified pilots at the controls?
By: cloud_9 - 18th June 2009 at 17:07
Yes, its been confirmed that the Captain passed away mid-flight but cause of death has not yet been confirmed, however, “natural causes” has been speculated as the reason.
The aircraft/flight (CO61 from Brussels, BRU, to Newark, EWR) has now landed; it was given priority landing status at EWR, but it was not at any risk whilst in-flight as there was a reserve Captain was onboard who was able to take over.
Sad news and my thoughts are with family and friends of the deceased Captain.:(
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June 18, 2009 at 4:48 pm