http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25658909-2703,00.html
Flight lands safely in New Jersey after pilot dies June 19, 2009 Pilot dies mid-flight Passengers aboard Continental Airlines Flight 61 say they had no idea the pilot had died, until... The Boeing 777 flight, carrying 247 passengers, was guided down by two co-pilots around midday local time at the New Jersey airport, one of three main airports serving New York City. "The captain of Continental Flight 61, which was en route from Brussels to New York, died on flight apparently of natural causes," the airline said in a statement. "The flight continued safely with two pilots at the controls." Other planes were taken out of the landing queue so the Continental aircraft would have a clear descent into Newark, Federal Aviation Authority spokesman Jim Peters said. One of the passengers said they knew nothing about the emergency until after they had landed, arriving in Newark at the time the flight had been due. "We were not aware of that. They called a doctor saying that there was a medical emergency," one passenger Chris Balchuas told NY1 Television shortly after the landing. A cardiologist who was on board, Julien Struyven, told CNN that he went to help when he heard the announcement and found the pilot was "clinically dead". Asked if passengers had been alerted to the emergency, Mr Peters said: "The attention of the flight crew was on maintaining control of the aircraft." The pilot, aged 61, had worked for the airline for 21 years, Continental said in a statement. Another pilot, who was on board but not on duty, had helped the flight's co-pilot land the plane at the city's second largest airport after John F. Kennedy. New York is also served by La Guardia airport. Although it is rare, airlines have lost pilots in flight before. In January 2007, a Continental flight from Texas to a Mexican vacation spot made an emergency landing after the pilot fell ill. The co-pilot safely landed the plane carrying 210 passengers and the pilot died on the ground. In May 2000, Taiwanese airline China Airlines was forced to turn back shortly after take off when the pilot suffered a heart attack. The co-pilot returned the plane to the airport and the pilot died soon after arriving at a hospital. In March 1997, a Gulf Air Airbus A-320 skidded at Abu Dhabi airport after a pilot had a heart attack right at take-off. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
