Continental Airlines flight declares emergency after pilot dies

[xxMATTGxx]

NEWARK, New Jersey (BNO NEWS) -- Continental Airlines flight 61 from Brussels, Belgium to Newark, New Jersey has declared an emergency after the pilot died in-flight, FAA officials tell BNO News.

The aircraft involved is a Boeing 777. "It is reported that the captain of the aircraft passed away," a spokeswoman for the FAA said. She said two first officers are now piloting the aircraft until it will land in Newark. The aircraft has declared an emergency and will receive priority handling at the airport.

The aircraft is expected to land between 11.45 a.m. and noon EDT.

http://adjix.com/esb3


R.I.P to the Captain :(

[Lee]

Oh dear, I hope it lands safely.

[efq]

http://adjix.com/esb3


R.I.P to the Captain :(
R.I.P but how did he die or will we have to wait...?

[xxMATTGxx]

R.I.P but how did he die or will we have to wait...?

Heart attack? Natural causes? Could be anything. I will keep you updated if I find anything about it. :)

[Hecktix]

that's pretty bad.

[efq]

I am watching skynews, Its gonna land at ETA 5pm GMT. Quick on the move how they got Cameras there already.

[Plank]

RIP.

It's lucky that they always have 2 pilots on planes.

[Frank459]

I will keep you updated if I find anything about it. :)
If the news find out anything about it*

RIP to the pilot. Will be intrigued to hear of what caused the pilot to die so suddenly. If he was in an unfit state to be flying an aircraft I dont see how he couldve passed his medical.

[efq]

If the news find out anything about it*

RIP to the pilot. Will be intrigued to hear of what caused the pilot to die so suddenly. If he was in an unfit state to be flying an aircraft I dont see how he couldve passed his medical.
Yeah but like some people have unknown heart problems with no symptoms and just die suddenly. This is one of a football player who is just happy and then collapses and is dead. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwRKwObXEOs

Sure it must be difficult for the co-pilot to land knowing his captain is dead and possibly next to him.

EDIT: Just landed

[xxMATTGxx]

Its landed and taxiing to gate.


RIP to the pilot. Will be intrigued to hear of what caused the pilot to die so suddenly. If he was in an unfit state to be flying an aircraft I dont see how he couldve passed his medical.

Never heard of Natural causes? Plus medical checks are about every 6 months.


Sure it must be difficult for the co-pilot to land knowing his captain is dead and possibly next to him.

Yeah, they would of had to move it so the 2x First Officers can fly the plane. :)

[Wahey]

Wow, that'd be pretty traumatic for the paasengers :\
R.I.P

[efq]

Its landed and taxiing to gate.
God it's so rainy over there, you can't see much.

[Jordy]

Wow, that'd be pretty traumatic for the paasengers :\
R.I.PLuckily they didn't tell the passengers, however they did ask for a Doctor so that would certainly mean something is up. There's no reports of there being a Doctor on-board but that's not to say there wasn't.


Passengers told CNN they were not told of the situation, only that an announcement for a doctor was made during the flight.

[Jordulti]

I saw an article stating the following.
- There was a doctor on board, he prounounced the pilot dead, right away. He did not defibulate the body, seeing as their was no hope.
- The passengers did not know, until they had landed.
- The passengers FAMILIES knew, as the airport reported it.
- Natural causes.
- The copilot just thought he was sleeping at first.

[AlexOC]

Good job the passengers didnt know or else it would be chaos.

And i hope they made sure the families knew that it would be landed safely, and that there was other pilots onboard, or they must of been pretty scared too.

[GommeInc]

Luckily they didn't tell the passengers, however they did ask for a Doctor so that would certainly mean something is up. There's no reports of there being a Doctor on-board but that's not to say there wasn't.
It would of been a scenario similar to Airplane! A doctor was found and no-one got told of anything because they would of panicked, especially when "Oh yes, does anyone know how to fly a plane?" was announced over the sound system :P

It's always a good idea not to announce potentially fatal events, it's why the asteroid that was supposedly heading towards earth was never announced until after it passed, in case panic happened.