Plane Lands Safely In N.J. Despite Pilot's Death

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MICHELE NORRIS, host:

Now to a scary story about an airplane flight today - a flight on which the pilot died. Everyone on the Continental Airlines jet landed safely in Newark. Flight 61 was en route to Newark from Brussels when the pilot collapsed. Two other pilots and the crew landed the plane without any trouble.

NPR's Adam Hochberg has that story.

ADAM HOCHBERG: The 244 passengers on the Continental jet didn't even know anything was amiss. But as the Boeing 777 flew over the Atlantic Ocean, the pilot suffered an apparent heart attack. The co-pilot took over the controls and was joined by a third pilot, a reserve pilot, who was onboard the transatlantic flight. The plane proceeded normally to its destination: Newark Liberty International Airport. In the meantime, a cardiologist who happened to be onboard tended to the pilot and used a defibrillator on him. But it was too late. The doctor pronounced the pilot dead while the plane was still in the air.

Continental officials have not yet released the pilot's name, but they say he was 60 years old and had 20 years service with the airline. Passengers told the Associated Press they only began to realize something unusual had happened after they landed in Newark and saw emergency vehicles meeting the plane. Though, the Federal Aviation Administration released news of the pilot's death before the plane landed, passengers say they had no indication anything out of the ordinary happened during flight. One said that the flight attendants even continued serving snacks and drinks during the crisis.

It's not unheard of for commercial pilots to die or become incapacitated in the cockpit. It's happened a handful of times over the last decade. And in each case, the co-pilot has been able to land the plane safely. The last case involving a U.S.-based airline was in 2007, also involving a Continental pilot, who died of a fatal heart attack after taking off from Houston.

Adam Hochberg, NPR News.

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