ziggy29

It seems to me the redundancy aboard is more important than the specific age of the pilot (61 in this case).

mendicantfriar

You could have had your original thought only by possessing a total ignorance of the profession and its demands.

Blumie

You obviously have not seen the data that correlates fatigue with pilot errors. Trust me; on longer flights, you want three pilots.


Whether or not CO has its own standards, the FAA certainly does. There is a special physical examination that pilots must pass on a regular (annual?) basis.

tw747

My condolences to the pilot's family and the pilots friends and co-workers at Continental.

thebigfish

My condolences to the pilot's family. Truly sad. As someone stated earlier, at least he died doing hopefully what he loved.

As for the speculation that it was a heart attack, let's not jump to conclusions. As for the discussion about 60-64 year olds dying of heart disease more than someone who is younger... ok.. what's your point? As you age, of course the incidence goes UP.

I was watching MSNBC report this story as I worked my treadmill for an hour. I had my first and hopefully cardiac incident 18 months ago, so I may be a bit touchy. The reality is you can be in great shape, but a cardiac incident can happen to anyone at anytime. I never ate at a McD's and I still got to join the "club".

In any event, it's all speculation until medical authorities can examine him.

May he rest in peace.

Michael

ECOTONE

unbelievable story - terribly sad.

kudos to the rest of the CO team that was in the air that got the big bird onto the ground safely!

sbm12

All the CO 772s have rest bunks. I have no idea if they'd try to get the pilot into them or use a seat in the open.

ziggy29

I've heard pax reporting that they were not told what was happening. Moving a deceased pilot to a spot outside the cockpit would seem to undermine the desire to prevent a panic.

FlyingHoustonian

It is every 6 months.

(This is different than your regular private pilot [3rd class] exam that is good for 3 years, until you turn 40 at which point it is every 2 years.)

Pax interviews say they were not told during flight;there was just a call for a Doc.

Ciao,
FH

sbm12

Agreed. I was just pointing out that there were "crew rest" seats that are not in the view of the passengers. I don't remember where the access door to the bunks is but I think it is forward in the front galley so with the curtains pulled it would be possible to move someone in there with no pax noticing.

A390

So iahphx's question is answered.

The problem with politicians meddling with healthcare and wanting their own system imposed is that they think they know it all, even if they have good intentions. Suzanne, like any politician, thinks it was a heart attack. Even though I'm not a doctor, it could be many other things. Ruptured aortic aneurysum (like Dr. Michael DeBakey), brain aneurysm (singer Laura Branigan), stroke (several kinds), pulmonary embolism (like the NBC reporter in Iraq), cardiac arrythmias (many kinds), epileptic seizure (like someone I read about in the newspaper who was in his 30's), asthmatic attack. So a layman, like me can name 8 things, and a doctor could probably name 25 things. So lets not let politicians try a massive overhaul when they should be fixing things stepwise to see the effects. Like fixing Medicaid first and, if partly successful, then applying the lessons learned to Medicare or universal health care, not a massive, dangerous, experiment on everyone. (When the Boeing 777 was introduced, the FAA tested it for a year, they did not shove passengers in and use the 777 on a commercial flight as soon as it left the factory).

CApreppie

That is unfortunate for the pilot and his family/friends.

I am glad things turned out fine for everyone on the flight although in a modern 777, having one pilot is absolutely no problem on a routine flight.

I do wonder where they tended to and placed the pilot's body after he became incapacitated.

iahphx

Why would there be a panic? Is there any reason to believe that ONE pilot couldn't land the plane safely?

I know if I was on this flight and they told me that the co-pilot was fine and that they even had another company pilot on board to fly, I wouldn't have the slightest concern for my safety. I would feel sorry for the pilot and his family and think what a freaky incident it was.

ziggy29

I could be wrong, but I'm not sure you are the norm in that regard.

sfogate

I can't answer for this particular flight/situation. In prior flights I have seen passengers placed into a row of coach seats, into a row of First Class seats, in the back galley or any other galley that had enough room of the floor.