Co-pilots land plane safely after captain dies during trans-Atlantic flight
Passengers on a Continental Airlines flight between Brussels and Newark, N.J., were blissfully unaware that the plane’s 60-year-old pilot had collapsed and died midway through the trip. Crew members handled the
situation brilliantly, calling a Belgian doctor forward in hope of reviving the pilot, then moving the body to a “rest area” for crew members. People on the plane weren’t told what was going on; the few who were aware of the
medical emergency assumed it involved a fellow passenger. Two co-pilots then took over the controls, landing the Boeing 777 slightly ahead of schedule yesterday in foggy, rainy weather. The pilot apparently died of natural causes.