user

Submitted

news

view all

Find, view and share videos about news and entertainment from around the Web.
See Videos »

most

COMMENTED

stories

most

RECENT

comments

CHRISSF4529 on US Prepares for Possible Missile Launch
Angelicacd1 on Cher Supports Chaz Bono's Sex Change
Badwidda on City Fines Parking in Own Driveways
anonymous on Continental Pilot Dies During Flight
Atmame77 on Polls Find Unease With Obama Policies

News Alerts

The latest updates sent straight to your inbox.

Get AOL News Alerts »

Continental Pilot Dies During Flight

BY ADAM GOLDMAN

posted: 1 HOUR 9 MINUTES AGO

comments: 463

filed under: National News

Text SizeAAA

NEWARK, N.J. (June 18) - The only inkling passengers had that something was wrong on the Continental Airlines flight over the Atlantic Ocean was when an announcement came over the loudspeaker asking if there was a doctor on board.

Skip over this content

Otherwise, flight attendants continued to serve snacks. Passengers read magazines and watched movies. And the flight kept on its schedule.

But in the cockpit, the 60-year-old captain had died of a suspected heart attack and two co-pilots took over the controls. The 247 passengers aboard did not learn what had happened until the flight from Brussels landed safely Thursday and was met by fire trucks, emergency vehicles and dozens of reporters.

"I was shocked," said Dora Dekeyser of Houston. "Nobody knew anything."

"We weren't panicking. I never thought it was something as serious as this. We were relaxed," said Dekeyser's granddaughter, Stephanie Mallis, 18, of Lansdale, Pa.

After the crew of the Boeing 777 asked if there were any doctors aboard, several passengers approached the cockpit, including a doctor who said the pilot appeared to have suffered a heart attack.

Skip over this content

Download the
AOL News Toolbar

Our new toolbar integrates latest news into your Web browser and installs in seconds. Download It Now

Dr. Julien Struyven, 72, a cardiologist and radiologist from Brussels, examined the pilot in the cockpit and tried to revive him using a defibrillator. But it was too late.

"He was not alive," Struyven said. There was "no chance at all" of saving him.

The dead pilot was based in Newark and had worked for Continental for 32 years, the airline said. His name was not immediately released.

Tom Donaldson, a former leader of the Continental pilots' union who currently flies Boeing 767 jets for the airline, said pilots must pass an extensive physical every six months to remain qualified to fly. The exam includes an electrocardiogram, blood pressure check and a vision test.

For long routes such as trans-Atlantic flights, a third pilot is aboard to permit the captain or first officer to take rest breaks.

Donaldson said there is no specific training on how to react if a crew member becomes incapacitated, but any one of the three pilots is fully qualified to operate the jet.

"Clearly you want another set of eyes watching when you're going down a checklist, but you're capable of flying the airplane yourself," he said. "You can put the gears down, put the flaps down and carry out your other duties by yourself in an emergency."

Skip over this content

Air France pilot Hugues Duval, 29, said his co-pilot training included an exercise in which he had to take off and land without a captain.

"It's not a drama. If the captain is ill or incapacitated, you make sure he isn't blocking any controls or the wheel," Duval said in Le Bourget, France, where he was attending the Paris Air Show.

"After you ask for priority to land, you can also ask in the cabin if there is another pilot on board. In case you need help reading the checklist or taking the radio. I did it in a simulator," said Duval, who flies the Boeing 777 but was at the air show to do stunt flying.

On Thursday's flight, Martha Love of Greenwich, N.J., was sitting in the first row of the plane. She said passengers were not told what was going on.

"No one knew," she said. She only became concerned after the plane landed, when she saw emergency vehicles lined up along the runway.

Simon Shapiro, a passenger from the Brooklyn region of New York City, was also unaware. "I didn't hear anything or see anything," Shapiro said. "I was wondering why there were so many cops."

Passenger Kathleen Ledger, 45, of Bethlehem, Pa., said she learned about what happened when her cell phone rang after landing.

"My husband called me and told me," she said.

She was impressed with the way the flight crew handled themselves and did not think passengers needed to be informed of the death during the flight.

"They did an incredible job," she said. "I would have done the exact same thing."

In 2007, another Continental pilot died at the controls after becoming ill during a flight from Houston to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. It landed safely with a co-pilot at the controls after being diverted to McAllen, Texas.

Associated Press writers Beth DeFalco in Trenton, N.J., David Koenig in Dallas, and Greg Keller in Paris contributed to this report.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

2009-06-18 11:51:09

GOOD READ?

94 %

6 %

180 votes

Correction: Immigrant Killing-Students story
4 hours ago
Plane with dead pilot lands safely in Newark, NJ
6 hours ago
Parents fuming over airline’s kid-on-plane mix-ups
22 hours ago
Pilot training histories may be required
3 days ago
FAA fines Fla. regional airline for violations
27 days ago

See More Related Articles and Blog Posts

(463)

Sort by:

1 - 10

<< Previous Next 10 >>

Oldwoodencross2

07:37 PMJun 18 2009

Now I will tell you that I HAVE CALL PASTOR PFITZERS HOUSE AGAN and His wife Sarah said He still wasent home but I told her of all the BLASFOMYS here and she told me He would call unto me and also to pray to the LORD that this sinfull behavor is stop in HIS NAME so now all have been WARN of this and also there is the rath of GOD becuase he will have vengase on the wiked just like it have say in the BIBLE since the olden times

AVG RATING:

(0)

REPORT!

sign-in to rate

Foustanela

07:35 PMJun 18 2009

I think Continental Airlines should have a "Redeye and Bags Inspection" for all its Flight Attendants, prior to boarding a return, transatlantic flight! First, most of them should be retired already; I never saw a more how-to-avoid-work-savy group! Second, Continental should find some other system other than the seniority system to staff transatlantic flights! As a group, the flight attendants flying these flights look, and act, burned out! WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT CHANGE YOUR PROCEDURES FOR SELECTING THE PILOTS!!!!!THOSE GUYS ARE GOOD....DARN GOOD!!!!

AVG RATING:

(1)

REPORT!

sign-in to rate

evelyna13a3

07:35 PMJun 18 2009

This is not a story because the passangers cannot sue. I hope the pilot can sue the airline and recoup some of his lost pay.

AVG RATING:

(0)

REPORT!

sign-in to rate

Chattchat4

07:35 PMJun 18 2009

Poppa...No thanks. A five dollar bet isn't worth taking.

AVG RATING:

(0)

REPORT!

sign-in to rate

Pacific707

07:34 PMJun 18 2009

WHOA!!!...How many oldwoodencross(es) are there???...I counted two (2 and 3)*************I hear you. They feel like splinters.

AVG RATING:

(0)

REPORT!

sign-in to rate

Chattchat4

07:33 PMJun 18 2009

This is very supicious. I bet the co-pilot set this up trying to be a hero.

AVG RATING:

(3)

REPORT!

sign-in to rate

Poppa Blue 59

07:33 PMJun 18 2009

BBYRTHYOO...... An Auto-Defibrillator is not magic. It is a tool, and i would bet a moth's pay they used one. The sad fact is that almost 50% of full arrest MI's (heart attacks) are fatal. In fact, we worked a full arrest at 0530 this morning on a 55 year old man. God rest his soul.

AVG RATING:

(0)

REPORT!

sign-in to rate

Red5571

07:33 PMJun 18 2009

Any they want us to fly until we are 65! Wow!

AVG RATING:

(0)

REPORT!

sign-in to rate

Dgt551

07:33 PMJun 18 2009

I'm not sure why the news folks were so hysterical over this--they seemed to be trying to manufacture a disaster. My sympathies and prayers go out to the pilot's family. I travel internationally quite often, and as the article says, those flights have plenty of pilots onboard. This was not a story that required such hysteria on the part of the news channels.

AVG RATING:

(1)

REPORT!

sign-in to rate

mUtTLeYhEnGe

07:33 PMJun 18 2009

Toner King , take off your panties and start acting like a man.

AVG RATING:

(1)

REPORT!

sign-in to rate

1 - 10 of 463