fordan

The above link is just how the test must be done for the FAA to accept it if a graded exercise test is needed based on other findings, not a regular part of a flight physical.

If there's an abnormality in the ECG or history of heart disease the FAA wants to see additional testing done (likely not by the Aviation Medical Examiner doing the flight physical) but if there isn't then it's just one ECG after age 35 and then an ECG every 6 months after age 40 as part of the physical visit.

Every Airline Transport Pilot over 40 does a physical every 6 months. If he had bypass surgery as this indicates then he was on a special issuance and would have done at least the graded exercise test you list above. The criteria for issuing the special issuance with a bypass or heart attack is here. He would have had to done the test and brought in all test results, labs, status report from cardiologist, etc, and then a current status report and any labs done at every 6-month physical ongoing.

bkafrick

Source: http://www.syracuse.com/crime/index....incart_m-rpt-1

fotographer

Heard about this yesterday
Can not even think what his family is going through
Best wishes to them

WyomingBound

I am not trying to critical, nor am I familiar with AA/US policies regarding this type situation for safety reasons since there was only one pilot at the time but as a Paramedic I am curious why if he was in fact flying the plane, found to go unresponsive that help was not summoned immediately and he removed from the cockpit so that resuscitative efforts could have begun.

All commercial airliners are equipped with automatic external defibrillators (and flight attendants who are trained in their use) in addition to medical equipment. For someone who has gone into Cardiac Arrest the first 4 to 6 minutes are "make or break time". Good CPR, with assistance from an AED assuming he was in a shock able rhythm may be all it took to revive this individual.

The rumor that a nurse attempted to revive him seems unlikely if no one on the plane knew what was going on until they landed. My assumption if he was attempting to be revived would be that it was done in the floor of the forward galley.

I would love to know more if anyone has credible information.

syrwhizzy

WSYR-TV is reporting this evening it was a heart attack. I'm surprised this isn't on the Syracuse.com / Post Standard newspaper site, they are usually all over these kinds of things, so I would wait to see if we see more details coming from them to confirm if more details were released by the medical examiner's office.

http://www.localsyr.com/news/local-n...a-heart-attack

syrwhizzy

This should not surprise you if you're a SYR regular and follow the airport operations. It's run by a bunch of people who have no idea what they are doing. They spent $50M on an expansion only to reduce the overall throughput of security to some of the longest lines I've seen in the country during peak hours for the general passenger queue... and reduce the amount of breakfast food options for morning flights. Then they blocked the central design feature of the place with two ugly kiosks. That's a multimillion dollar view they botched! I mean at least it looks nicer that it once did, but they really botched a lot of key things they could have done. They know how to plow the snow, but they don't know how to de-ice efficiently. They spent $2.5M and had a huge mess and hassle with the garage the last year and now they want to knock it down. And they gave Delta $500K in incentives to re-add service to MSP just for them to do a switcharoo and reduce the number of overall flights and seats into the market by dropping CVG altogether, JFK and ATL frequency.

In short these people are ill advised and refuse to listen to frequent travelers when you reach out to them. I suggested a frequent traveler advisory board. They seem to not get a lot of things and honestly I don't think these people actually travel much and see how other airports work.

Every now and then they do something good, the new Middle Ages brew pub looks great but now we don't have a sit down place for breakfast. We either need a change in leadership, or perhaps leadership to listen to the people who use the airport and have also seen how hundreds of airports work or don't work and give them ideas.

Botching a rescue attempt doesn't surprise me in the least.

RWPrincess

I went to school about an hour from SYR so that is the nearest major airport. I still fly through a couple times a year. I'm not making excuses for them by any means but I'd imagine this is a very infrequent occurrence for SYR considering it's less than 30 minutes to other major airports. Hopefully they can use this as a learning experience for the future.

I had dinner at Middle Ages Pub back in June. It's pretty decent and has some nice plane spotting opportunities.

And to CVFDChief180, I'm curious as to why they didn't ask if a doctor or other health professional was onboard to assist. I read a FC passenger interview with someone who said he was a doctor and he watched the FA go back and forth to the flight deck with the oxygen tank.

Sad situation for all involved. My prayers to this crew and the Captain's family.

FWAAA

The flight deck of an A320 is a pretty cramped space, and the first officer's primary obligation is to fly the plane and set it down promptly. Removing a 180-200 pound man from the left seat and into the galley/aisle would have been a difficult task and would have required a crowd on the flight deck to accomplish and would have eaten up time when no lifesaving efforts would have taken place. Unless it's impossible to use the AED on a victim seated upright, I don't see anything wrong with attempting to revive him in place.

Presumably, the flight attendant used the on-board AED.

The flight attendant who attempted to revive the captain happens to be a nurse, so it's not an unlikely rumour.

RWPrincess mentioned a media report that the crew may not have asked if a doctor was on board and that a doctor may have witnessed the activity from the sidelines. If the crew didn't ask if a physician were onboard, that's troubling.

JDiver

The First Officer's primary concern and duty should be flying the aircraft? His primary duty was to the 147 passengers and 5 crew aboard. You weren't on the scene, though an ER nurse was. A thorough investigation must and will be done, and when the facts are known they will be duly published.

Michael Johnston, the Captain, was a 57 year old man with double bypass surgery in 2006 and had been declared fit for duty by competent medical authority and had passed his required biannual medical exam and certification. As I'd imagine under the circumstances, his death was likely catastrophic and sudden. The FO took command of the aircraft and landed safely. My sorrow extends to Mr. Johnston's family, friends and US Airways colleagues.

In flight cockpit airman death is quite rare - 7 commercial airline pilots, one charter pilot in the USA since 1994 (FAA via BBC). Sure makes me glad the European Aviation Safety Agency disagreed with Michael O'Leary (Ryanair CEO) when he sought to fly short haul flights with one pilot in the cockpit.

WyomingBound

Thanks for the update....at least they tried something in the cockpit however you are right, cockpit space is TINY and it would be hard to do much of anything in a cockpit......AED can be used upright but does not have the same effect as no CPR or good adequate airway management can be done at the same time. I also in the post 9/11 era you can't just say "I need 3 strong men to come into the cockpit and get the pilot out" as this creates probably a protocol violation as well as potential safety issues for the rest of the passengers on board.

I have drug many 300 pound people out of cramped bathrooms and bedrooms into an open area where resuscitation efforts could begin. I don't want to armchair quarterback this I am just completely curious.

JDiver

I don't envy what you do, but I honor and respect it.

The nurse / FA was an ER nurse to boot, according to someone who knows.

I'm sure, given the difficult circumstances, they did everything they could do to help their colleague.

GateHold

My take on the AA incident is here:

http://www.askthepilot.com/pilot-dies-in-flight/

Pilots, Copilots, Heroics and Hyperbole. Will the Media Ever Get it Straight?

Not to diminish that unfortunate fate of the AA captain, but my gripe is with journalist's highly misleading use of the terms "pilot" and "copilot." One New York Times' headline was particularly emblematic of the problem.


Patrick Smith


(The poster of this message is the host of the website linked to, above.)

CPRich

"“Co-Pilot Lands Jet in Syracuse After Pilot Dies." is misleading? You refer to yourself as " copilots like me", so if someone like you landed the plane...what am I missing?

In your earlier article on the topic,
This reads pretty much the same as the NYT article, to my untrained eyes.

If I'm jointly/mutually X, how does that imply that I'm not X? It's seems to be the exact opposite.

What would you have preferred the NYT to use instead of "Co-Pilot Lands Jet"?

makfan

In a couple of weeks, this won't be a distinction any more, but this was a US coded flight.

makfan

The problem is with the combination "pilot and copilot." I do prefer captain and first officer. Both are fully qualified pilots, and the more senior one is the captain who has the ultimate authority for the flight (pilot in command). However on many, many flights the first officer is the "pilot flying" for most of the trip.

Many of the news articles made it seem as if the jet were in danger of falling from the sky had it not been for the heroic efforts of this barely capable person in the second seat. It surely was a much harder job to land the plane without the captain helping with checklists, confirming actions and communication, but all pilots are trained for these scenarios.