Kip Powick Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 The pilot of a Continental Airlines flight became ill after takeoff and was later pronounced dead after the plane made an emergency landing Saturday, a company spokeswoman said. The 210 passengers on the flight, which departed from Houston, Texas, were never in danger and the co-pilot landed the plane safely, Continental spokeswoman Macky Osorio said. The airline said only that the pilot suffered a "serious medical problem." Continental believes the pilot died of natural causes, Osorio said. The pilot's name was not released. The flight, bound for Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, took off from Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport and was diverted to McAllen-Miller International Airport. The flight continued to Mexico with a new crew, Osorio said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rattler Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 Latest Update Jan. 20, 2007, 11:48PM Pilot dies after falling ill in cockpit Police say he collapsed at the controls before Houston-Mexico flight was diverted By ANNE MARIE KILDAY and JAMES PINKERTON Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle The pilot of a Continental Airlines flight from Houston to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, became ill during the flight Saturday and died after the plane was diverted to McAllen, the airline announced. "The co-pilot consulted with Continental's operations center and arrangements were made to divert the aircraft to McAllen and to be met by an ambulance," airline spokesman Dave Messing said in an e-mail. " ... Unfortunately, the ill pilot did not survive." Messing said the Newark, N.J.-based pilot is thought to have died of natural causes. Messing declined to identify the pilot but said he had more than 20 years of service. Lt. Paulo Herrera of the McAllen Fire Department said the pilot had a heart attack. Continental Flight 1838, a Boeing 757, departed George Bush Intercontinental Airport at 11:30 a.m. with 210 passengers. It landed in McAllen about 1:30 p.m. A replacement crew flew from Houston to McAllen and the flight took off again about 6 p.m. and landed in Puerto Vallarta at 7:17 p.m. Lt. Scott Luke of the McAllen Police Department, who responded to the airport, said the flight's captain collapsed at the controls while the plane was about 200 miles south of the Texas border. The McAllen Fire Department was notified at 1:21 p.m. about "an inflight medical emergency," Herrera said. "They told us it was for a full arrest," he said. "We waited for the plane to taxi to the jetway, and then we went onboard the plane," Herrera said. "The pilot was on the floor by the door. They had done compressions, CPR on him onboard the aircraft." The pilot was transported to McAllen Medical Center. He was pronounced dead at 1:50 p.m., Luke said. "There were a lot of passengers on the plane," Herrera said. "Some of them, a lot of them, had assisted the co-pilot and flight attendants in trying to help the pilot." Luke said the passengers included a couple of doctors and nurses. "They were pretty upset, losing their friend," Luke said of the crew. He said an autopsy would be conducted today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch Cronin Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 ... Sad to hear... One thing though... ahhh... "and the co-pilot landed the plane safely" Ummm... If'n the captain's a kipper on a cracker, surely the feller who was doin' the flyin' after that was no longer a "co-pilot"... No? I know, something of a silly point, but now that I've tried to split that hair, I'm curious... If it mattered to him to do so, shouldn't he get to log that as PIC time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kip Powick Posted January 21, 2007 Author Share Posted January 21, 2007 It landed in McAllen about 1:30 p.m. The pilot was transported to McAllen Medical Center. He was pronounced dead at 1:50 p.m., Luke said so-o-o-o-o....was the deceased still PIC ?? The Union will probably form a committee to ascertain that fact and if they find in favour of the FO, they'll probably approach the company for monetary compensation for the FO...... The foregoing was posted tongue-in-cheek with no intent to downplay this tragedy which we all hope never happens to another crew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rattler Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 It landed in McAllen about 1:30 p.m. The pilot was transported to McAllen Medical Center. He was pronounced dead at 1:50 p.m., Luke said so-o-o-o-o....was the deceased still PIC ?? The Union will probably form a committee to ascertain that fact and if they find in favour of the FO, they'll probably approach the company for monetary compensation for the FO...... The foregoing was posted tongue-in-cheek with no intent to downplay this tragedy which we all hope never happens to another crew. Sorry but I can not but think this is a very different direction for what you started out as a very serious thread to take..... Old fashioned I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch Cronin Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 Sorry if I offended you (or anyone else) Rattler... it was, after all, me who diverted toward the not so serious direction... I guess I'm a little tired of being so seriously bummed about death. It's a fact of life. Everybody who lives dies... when it happens it's painfull for those we call "loved ones" ...I know that... I've had some very recent experience with it myself as a matter of fact.... and I certainly don't mean to discount that seriously painful side of that... I do, however, think that it's still ok for us all to look at things not so seriously once in a while... such as when wondering if the "co-pilot" is still a "co-pilot" if the captain breathes his last breath while in flight? ...not that it matters.... but y'know...?... speaking of serious matters... when it comes to the notion of death, there's really a whole lot of things that don't matter that we might take seriously another day.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rattler Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 Mitch, not a problem. But...... Being dead matters not at all to the person who is dead ...... however the survivors quite often take it very seriously. My will says what I would like to happen to my remains but it also contains a caveat that no matter what I wanted, my wishes would be academic and those still living would have every right to chose what ever they want when it comes to funeral arrangement etc. cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kip Powick Posted January 22, 2007 Author Share Posted January 22, 2007 Rattler... My will says what I would like to happen to my remains but it also contains a caveat that no matter what I wanted, my wishes would be academic and those still living would have every right to chose what ever they want when it comes to funeral arrangement etc Well I guess this is a personal thing, (Wills) but when I first read your statement I thought...why bother writing down what you want if you then add a caveat for the NOK to do what they want? Save the ink and just say- " re-my remains...whatever". If the NOK respect your last wishes, they will do what you want/have written down, as long as it is within reason. I also have my Will state how/what etc., and would be severly PO'd if I was aware that one of my NOK wanted to do it their way and arbitrarily started changing things. ...But like I said...Wills are pretty personal.. PS ..my posting about the committee etc. in response to Mitch's question....I do have a caveat attached and I know you read it so I don't see anything crass about my comments and the direction the thread took, or is taking and that direction, should not be construed as making light of a families loss. Just my opinion though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homerun Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 I also have my Will state how/what etc., and would be severly PO'd if I was aware that one of my NOK wanted to do it their way and arbitrarily started changing things Kinda hard to be PO'D when you're dead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kip Powick Posted January 22, 2007 Author Share Posted January 22, 2007 Kinda hard to be PO'D when you're dead and would be severly PO'd if I was aware I think I covered that base Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kip Powick Posted January 22, 2007 Author Share Posted January 22, 2007 I'd like to know if the skipper was under 60, and if so, should we be advocating lowering the retirement age of commercial pilots accordingly? Or has that already been discussed in another thread? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lakelad Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 I'd like to know if the skipper was under 60... PPrune's indicating 58yrs and recently upgraded from 777 FO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seeker Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 I'd like to know if the skipper was under 60, and if so, should we be advocating lowering the retirement age of commercial pilots accordingly? Or has that already been discussed in another thread? I think there's been some discussion around here about retirement age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rattler Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 I understand "New Hire" pilots will be tattooed with a "best before date". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rattler Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 Kip, missed the caveat. I don't normally read the small print at the bottom of posts as most of them are the same old signatures. Sorry about that. Re the Will. My position is that I am entitled to tell my survivors what I would like to happen with my remains with the expectation that they would agree but I also think that I should leave an opening for some deviation in the event that they want to deviate from my plan. After all I could care less at that point. As to why I would put my wishes in my will but allow them to deviate ....... it removes the burden from them of having to decide what to do if they wish to follow my suggestion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEFCON Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 This issue should be considered in another light. That is, there is a growing trend globally towards the placement of what I'll call air cadet's into the right seat. The air cadet's are people that lack any true flight experience and are placed directly into the right seat. This tactic is apparently the result of a pilot shortage. So...if the Captain dies and you are a pax...how lucky do you feel? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rattler Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 This issue should be considered in another light. That is, there is a growing trend globally towards the placement of what I'll call air cadet's into the right seat. The air cadet's are people that lack any true flight experience and are placed directly into the right seat. This tactic is apparently the result of a pilot shortage. So...if the Captain dies and you are a pax...how lucky do you feel? I would bet the average passenger has no worries in that regard. I am sure they all saw the movie where the novice pilot is guided in landing the aircraft by the expert on the ground. Sort of like a human remote control. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lakelad Posted January 28, 2007 Share Posted January 28, 2007 'Brown, who has logged 150 hours of flight time since he got his pilot's license 1 1/2 years ago, got the nod over his companion. "When I sat in the right seat, the captain looked at me and asked, 'When was the last time you flew?' '' he said. "I told him last week and he said, 'Good, you're current.' '' Albuquerque Man Helped Co-Pilot Land Continental 757 Jan 26, 2007 - The Albuquerque Journal Albuquerque businessman Stephen W. Brown doesn't consider himself a hero. But when a medical emergency struck down the captain of a nearly full Continental Airlines jet flying to Mexico, Brown climbed out of his passenger seat and into the cockpit. The 47-year-old licensed private pilot, who usually flies a single-engine Cessna, helped land the Boeing 757-300 loaded with 209 other passengers at McAllen-Miller International Airport in McAllen, Texas, on Saturday. The plane had taken off from Houston on a flight to Puerto Vallarta when the co-pilot called for help. Brown responded. "Yes, it was a rush," Brown told the Journal in an e-mail Wednesday from Puerto Vallarta, where he was still on a business vacation. "A combination of sheer excitement and shock kept my heart racing from beginning to end. "I suppose most private pilots daydream about this sort of scenario where assistance is needed on the flight deck," he said. "The sad part, of course, is how I ended up on the flight deck." Follow-up Story 1 Follow-up Story 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conehead Posted January 28, 2007 Share Posted January 28, 2007 Not very nice circumstances, but that must have been a real thrill for that guy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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