Flight crew falling ill on duty
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Flight crew falling ill on duty
Hello
Hope you'll forgive the "what happens if" nature of this question.
I would be interested to know what happens in this (admittedly rare?) situation: you have an aircraft full of passengers; you have made your introductory PA; you have pushed back and started taxiing out the runway. All going well so far. Then, either the First Officer or Captain suddenly feels unwell (e.g. light-headedness/feeling that you're going to faint) and decides he is no longer fit to fly.
I imagine the Captain and First Officer will discuss the situation first. My question is: if you are the captain, what do you say to the passengers in this situation? Is it 'trickier' if you, the captain, are the one who feels unfit to fly?
Thanks,
Nick
Hope you'll forgive the "what happens if" nature of this question.
I would be interested to know what happens in this (admittedly rare?) situation: you have an aircraft full of passengers; you have made your introductory PA; you have pushed back and started taxiing out the runway. All going well so far. Then, either the First Officer or Captain suddenly feels unwell (e.g. light-headedness/feeling that you're going to faint) and decides he is no longer fit to fly.
I imagine the Captain and First Officer will discuss the situation first. My question is: if you are the captain, what do you say to the passengers in this situation? Is it 'trickier' if you, the captain, are the one who feels unfit to fly?
Thanks,
Nick
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Horsham, England, UK. ---o--O--o---
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Don't see the problem.. If either pilot is feeling unwell at that point - You will not be going anywhere but, back to stand! 
Agreed. In this scenario there is no other alternative.
I have been in the aircraft on stand with passengers boarding when I got the call from the hospital to say my wife was going into labour. I don't know what was said to the passengers because I was legging it to the hospital as fast as I could.
I have been in the aircraft on stand with passengers boarding when I got the call from the hospital to say my wife was going into labour. I don't know what was said to the passengers because I was legging it to the hospital as fast as I could.
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Yes, I didn't mean to imply it would be a problem. Just curious to know how it's handled because I think most passengers wouldn't expect to hear that.
Ham Phisted - sounds like a true "just-made-it" situation! It would have been very different if you'd taken off! Imagine a return to base would not have been so easy..
Ham Phisted - sounds like a true "just-made-it" situation! It would have been very different if you'd taken off! Imagine a return to base would not have been so easy..
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I've not yet experienced a true pilot incapacitation (only in the sim). However, I fly a corporate jet and the other day we had exactly your scenario from the hostie as we lined up on the runway. I was pilot flying for that sector, the Captain handed her an envelope (no sick bags to hand) and off we went...
- Check thrust
- Thrust set
*groan*
- 80 knots
*bluerrrrgggghhhhh*
- Check
*bleuuruururgggghhh
- V1 rotate
I never thought that my time as an instructor would have prepared me so well!
The hostie spent the rest of the flight in the forward toilet and the Captain did the cabin service right up 'till we were at 10,000 feet in the descent.
In that case there was no way she was getting off the plane, have you seen the hospitals in China?
- Check thrust
- Thrust set
*groan*
- 80 knots
*bluerrrrgggghhhhh*
- Check
*bleuuruururgggghhh
- V1 rotate
I never thought that my time as an instructor would have prepared me so well!
The hostie spent the rest of the flight in the forward toilet and the Captain did the cabin service right up 'till we were at 10,000 feet in the descent.
In that case there was no way she was getting off the plane, have you seen the hospitals in China?
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It happened to me once, and it is not a lot of fun.
It was a fairly short trip, OKC-MSY-IAH-MCI-OKC*. That morning when I got up I was not feeling 100%, but I wasn't feeling that bad either. I flew the first leg to MSY and started feeling worse, the Co-pilot flew the next leg (we changed seat and legs at this operation) to IAH and I was really, really feeling bad. I told the other guy to just stay in the left seat, I was starting to get too sick to fly. Then I called operations up and told them we were going to stopping in OKC (home base) on our way to MCI and that they needed to have another pilot take over for me.
At first ops wanted me to carry on and not make an additional stop. I told them that they had a choice, we would takeoff and go to OKC where I would be relieved, or I was getting off the airplane right there in Huston and shut the whole damn trip down. They suddenly saw the reasoning behind my idea and agreed to do what I had requested. I had the co-pilot stay in the left seat, had the FE move up to the right seat and I ran the panel.
Now before anybody gets all excited, all three of us in the cockpit were fully rated and qualified captains on the 727, okay. The safest place for me was the FE panel.
After we landed in OKC I drove home and went to bed, that was Friday around 5:00PM. I woke up sometime Saturday for a few hours and then slept until Sunday afternoon. Woke up and felt great. Never did figure out what was wrong with me.
It was a fairly short trip, OKC-MSY-IAH-MCI-OKC*. That morning when I got up I was not feeling 100%, but I wasn't feeling that bad either. I flew the first leg to MSY and started feeling worse, the Co-pilot flew the next leg (we changed seat and legs at this operation) to IAH and I was really, really feeling bad. I told the other guy to just stay in the left seat, I was starting to get too sick to fly. Then I called operations up and told them we were going to stopping in OKC (home base) on our way to MCI and that they needed to have another pilot take over for me.
At first ops wanted me to carry on and not make an additional stop. I told them that they had a choice, we would takeoff and go to OKC where I would be relieved, or I was getting off the airplane right there in Huston and shut the whole damn trip down. They suddenly saw the reasoning behind my idea and agreed to do what I had requested. I had the co-pilot stay in the left seat, had the FE move up to the right seat and I ran the panel.
Now before anybody gets all excited, all three of us in the cockpit were fully rated and qualified captains on the 727, okay. The safest place for me was the FE panel.
After we landed in OKC I drove home and went to bed, that was Friday around 5:00PM. I woke up sometime Saturday for a few hours and then slept until Sunday afternoon. Woke up and felt great. Never did figure out what was wrong with me.
