Happening now..Continental Pilot dies inflight to Newark..Passenger helping fly plane

[jkwest]

clicky

A Continental Airlines flight from Brussels will be making an emergency landing at Newark Liberty International Airport after the plane's captain died mid-flight Thursday morning, CBS 2 has learned.

Federal Aviation Administration officials say Continental Flight 61, a Boeing 777 with 247 passengers on board, will land at Newark at noon. Newark was the flight's final destination. It left Brussels at 9:45 a.m., and the airline alerted the FAA around 10:30.

Continental officials tell CBS 2 the 61-year-old pilot died of natural causes. His identity has not yet been released, but officials say he worked for the company for 21 years and was based out of Newark.

"The company has been in touch with his family and we extend our deepest sympathies," the airline said in a statement.

Officials say there are two first officers on the flight and a reserve crew as well. One of the first officers is piloting the plane.

Emergency medical service units are on the scene at Newark.

The Boeing 777 is the world's largest twinjet and can carry nearly 400 passengers on it.

[garlad]

oh my god.. died during a flight!! Natural causes?! Surely a heart attack or something?!

[Deadset]

God help those people, what a tragic thing to happen. Hopefully the passenger will land the plane safely.

[Chordata]

I'm starting to like planes less and less.

[FindYourWay]

Originally Posted by Deads3t

Hopefully the passenger will land the plane safely.

Passenger??
There are other "officers" on board to land the plane. I'm sure there is a co-pilot as well.

[Chordata]

Originally Posted by FindYourWay

Passenger??
There are other "officers" on board to land the plane. I'm sure there is a co-pilot as well.

Yeah, it's being landed by two officers.

[jw]

Originally Posted by FindYourWay

Passenger??
There are other "officers" on board to land the plane. I'm sure there is a co-pilot as well.

watch the news, this story is not true. The first officer is piloting it and he has 15+ years experience. They say it will most likely be a routine landing.
Actually it has landed safely

[jkwest]

Originally Posted by FindYourWay

Passenger??
There are other "officers" on board to land the plane. I'm sure there is a co-pilot as well.

Passenger Helping To Fly Continental
Flight 61

A pilot at the controls of Continental Airlines Flight 61 has died during the flight.

Port Authority officials say the plane was en route to Newark Liberty International Airport from Brussels, Belgium.

The flight is scheduled for a noon landing. The airport is covered in fog and rainy conditions that have lead to delays of over 60 minutes on depatures. No arrival delays were reported and the FAA says the plane will receive priority landing status.

The Port Authority says the co-pilot took control of the plane, along with a passenger who is a pilot. Passengers are reportedly not in any immediate danger.

The plane is described as a Boeing 777 but the number of people on board has not been released.

[Anti-SD]

That's horrible.

[FindYourWay]

Originally Posted by jkwest

Passenger Helping To Fly Continental
Flight 61

According to another news source: The airline said the crew on the flight included an additional relief pilot who took the place of the deceased man.

In other news, Hilary Clinton broke her elbow.

[fatediesel]

Originally Posted by Deads3t

God help those people, what a tragic thing to happen. Hopefully the passenger will land the plane safely.

A passenger isn't flying the plane, not sure why the title says passenger helping fly when the article doesn't mention that. The report I heard on the radio made it sound like it should be a pretty normal rest of the flight and there isn't any danger.

[Another_Dude]

Ma'am, I believe I have enough hours logged on MS Flight Sim to get us home safely, and I'm such a badass on Ace Combat 1-5, Zero, and H.A.W.X. that I'll be able to drop a few Migs along the way.

If your Dual Shocks are charged and there are some Cheez-Its in the cockpit I'm ready to do this.

Does this plane have inverted controlls?

[toef]

Originally Posted by Another_Dude

Ma'am, I believe I have enough hours logged on MS Flight Sim to get us home safely, and I'm such a badass on Ace Combat 1-5, Zero, and H.A.W.X. that I'll be able to drop a few Migs along the way.

If your Dual Shocks are charged and there are some Cheez-Its in the cockpit I'm ready to do this.

Does this plane have inverted controlls?

I wonder if the passenger has ever thought about how since he is a pilot, if the plane was ever in an emergency he could come to the rescue.

The news here is saying it was the two co-pilots. I didn't know that they had 3 pilots on a plane, but is that standard for international flights (due to their length)?

Edit: The second co-pilot was technically a "passenger" because he was deadheading.

[Deadset]

Originally Posted by fatediesel

A passenger isn't flying the plane, not sure why the title says passenger helping fly when the article doesn't mention that. The report I heard on the radio made it sound like it should be a pretty normal rest of the flight and there isn't any danger.

yeah i was just going by the title...

good to hear it landed safely!

[DetroitSportsFan]

Wow, I bet the passengers were freaking out. I know I would have....

[Mike53421]

Holy shit, jumping from that relationship thread to here is just another reminder of how small certain "problems" are in comparison to far more serious situations that life can throw your way. Glad to hear they were okay! I'm flying to Chicago this time next week too.

[supersix4]

wait if they have all these flight crew people why is a passanger flying

[fatediesel]

Originally Posted by supersix4

wait if they have all these flight crew people why is a passanger flying

As Toefer mentioned, the "passenger" was a pilot who was deadheading. So technically he was a passenger but he was a pilot.

[supersix4]

Originally Posted by fatediesel

As Toefer mentioned, the "passenger" was a pilot who was deadheading. So technically he was a passenger but he was a pilot.

oh I just thought the people who also rode with the pilot could take over in case that happened.

[Another_Dude]

Originally Posted by supersix4

oh I just thought the people who also rode with the pilot could take over in case that happened.

Depends if they had the chicken or the fish.

(Those in their 30s and over should get this one)