AnthonyGA
20th Nov 2008, 02:35
Apologies if this is old news:
Report: Co-pilot had breakdown, flight attendant helped land jet - CNN.com (http://us.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/11/19/pilot.breakdown.ap/index.html)
Apparently the co-pilot (with 6500 hours of flying time under his belt) became unstable during the flight, to the point that the captain enlisted the help of the crew to forcibly remove him from the aircraft and restrain him.
The captain sought someone aboard who was a pilot, and when no one came forward, one of the flight attendants admitted that she had a commercial ticket but was not current, and she helped fly the airplane.
Unfortunately, the article creates the impression that the aircraft was impossible to fly for just one person, since it mentions that the aircraft declared an emergency without mentioning that this is a procedural requirement more than a true emergency. I'm sure that either pilot could fly and land the aircraft on his own, even though he might be quite a bit busier than usual.
Report: Co-pilot had breakdown, flight attendant helped land jet - CNN.com (http://us.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/11/19/pilot.breakdown.ap/index.html)
Apparently the co-pilot (with 6500 hours of flying time under his belt) became unstable during the flight, to the point that the captain enlisted the help of the crew to forcibly remove him from the aircraft and restrain him.
The captain sought someone aboard who was a pilot, and when no one came forward, one of the flight attendants admitted that she had a commercial ticket but was not current, and she helped fly the airplane.
Unfortunately, the article creates the impression that the aircraft was impossible to fly for just one person, since it mentions that the aircraft declared an emergency without mentioning that this is a procedural requirement more than a true emergency. I'm sure that either pilot could fly and land the aircraft on his own, even though he might be quite a bit busier than usual.