Passenger lands plane at Dublin airport

[sn26567]

Off-duty pilot hailed a 'hero' after taking over controls of Lufthansa Boeing 747 and helping it land

A German passenger has been hailed a hero after taking over the controls of a plane and helping it land at Dublin airport.

Details have emerged of how the off-duty pilot offered to help the flight crew after the first officer of the Lufthansa Boeing 747 became ill while flying over the Atlantic on Monday.

When the cabin crew announced the plane was being diverted, the passenger asked why and then offered to help, pointing out he was a qualified pilot.

The German national helped bring the plane down safely in an emergency landing at the airport in the Irish capital shortly before 6am.

A Lufthansa spokeswoman said the man who stepped in was fully licensed to operate and fly the 747.

Source: guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 20 November 2012 11.43 GMT

[Acid-drop]

That's fortunate ... but why do we have 2 pilots in those ?

[teddybAIR]

So that in case of emergency 1 pilot can focus on flying the plane (always first priority) while the other focuses on resolving the problem by running through the emergency checklists with minimal strain on the Pilot Flying. So in the event of an incapacitated F/O it is testament of good CRM skills to use all resources that are at your disposal. I mean: why wouldn't you accept the help of a typerated and current passenger? Or stated otherwise: when the copilot leaves his seat due to illness, you no longer operate as a crew of 2 and hence the built-in redundancy is compromised. Allowing a fully qualified passenger in the cockpit restores that redundancy.

I assume that they performed a complete check of the appropriate licences before allowing the passenger on the flight deck?

[Zorba]

I'm no pilot, but in such situation I sure as hell would appreciate ANY pilot next to me, type rated on 747 or not. If you can leave say ATC (which is a basic) or so to him or her, that would reduce the workload already quite a bit.

Besides, don't they have a crew of 3 when flying long haul?

[teddybAIR]

I'm no pilot, but in such situation I sure as hell would appreciate ANY pilot next to me, type rated on 747 or not. If you can leave say ATC (which is a basic) or so to him or her, that would reduce the workload already quite a bit.

I wouldn't. As captain, you are still ultimately accountable for all decisions you make and for everything the plane does. So there are strict limits to who you would allow behind the controls. Do not forget that you are actually allowing someone to take a seat at the controls. Without the proper credentials (ATPL license a the proper and valid typerating, I would be very carefull with that. After all, they are trained to handle a flight when the other crew member is incapacitated.

Having thought it thrue for a few moments: it must still have taken some self-convincing of the captain to alllow someone he does not know behind the control. I'm guessing he didn't make that call on his own and took the decision together with his company after they checked the background of the passenger/pilot by contacting his company. But that's just armchair flying that I'm doing!

[fcw]

A bit dramatic the title isn't it! It was a qualified pilot, be it off duty,but not a normal passenger.

More than probably it was even a company pilot as others would not be allowed at the controls, not even to talk to ATC only.
It would be to easy for terrorists: during the layover poison the food of one pilot and when he becomes incapacitated offer your help as a qualified pilot...

[Yuri166]

My thoughts exactly. He must have been a company pilot.
He was even a German national, so chances are quite big. No other German operator flies 747. And yes, off course he could be flying for a foreign company, but I doubt he would be allowed on the flightdeck in that case. If so, the captain will probably have some explaining to do, allthough so far the company covers his back towards the media.

[andorra-airport]

He was a 767 pilot (captain) for "North American Airlines" (NA).

[Zorba]

Do you have a source for that? The spokeslady said B747.

[galaxy]

He was a 767 pilot (captain) for "North American Airlines" (NA).

That's true , but the man who stepped in was also fully licensed to operate and fly the 747 .

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z2CnzJaJ2p

[Acid-drop]

This is rather scary. We have 2 pilots to be backup of each other and now you tell me there is no way to land a plane if one pilot is missing ?

[teddybAIR]

This is rather scary. We have 2 pilots to be backup of each other and now you tell me there is no way to land a plane if one pilot is missing ?

Where did someone state that?

[JAFflyer]

This is rather scary. We have 2 pilots to be backup of each other and now you tell me there is no way to land a plane if one pilot is missing ?

It is possible, but the workload would be huge. If you can have a helping hand, tuning frequencies, doing ATC, reading checklists, that would help a lot!

[FlightMate]

Think of it as: what would happen if the other pilot gets sick as well. Chances are slim? What if they shared some food before the flight?
Pilot incapacitation = mayday, and immediate landing.

Here, thanks to the extra pilot being available, the flight could carry on wthout too much trouble.

[Tomskii]

Pilots to my knowledge never eat the same out of those reasons. Also pre-flight, during the flight meals are alwasy different for all pilots.

[FlightMate]

Of course, in flight, they get different meals, just for that particular reason.
But before the flight,they might have had breakfast at the hotel.
Or caught the same virus.

[teddybAIR]

My - be it limited - experience is that risks in aviation are reduced to an absolute minimum within practical limits. Unfortunately (or maybe rather fortunately), one cannot control the eating habits of flightcrew at home or at the hotel

[earthman]

Wouldn't a flight from Newark to Frankfurt have a second flight crew on board?

[fcw]

Wouldn't a flight from Newark to Frankfurt have a second flight crew on board?

If there would have been, the relief pilot would have taken the seat of his incapacitated collegue.
Pilots can work up to 12 hours, even by night, so no need for a relief crew.
Under the new EASA rules, these 12 hours can even start after 10hrs of standby at the airport.