Flight longer than eight hours must be staffed with a relief pilot, in addition to the pilot and co-pilot.
On Thursday morning, as the jetliner approached coastal Canada, the pilot’s body was taken from the cockpit to the crew rest area, according to Les Dorr Jr., a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration. Two other pilots — a first officer with 9,800 hours of flying time and an international relief officer with 15,500 hours — assumed the controls of the plane, officials said.
“The crew on this flight included an additional relief pilot, who took the place of the deceased pilot,” Ms. King said. “The flight continued safely with two pilots at the controls.”
Continental Airlines Flight 61 was halfway through its transoceanic flight from Belgium to Newark when a sign of trouble came: A doctor was needed.
A Belgian cardiologist, Dr. Julien Struyven, was one of five doctors to answer a call for aid on Continental Flight 61. He said it appeared the pilot had a heart attack.
Five of the 247 passengers on board, including a Belgian interventional cardiac radiologist, answered the flight crew’s call for help and walked along the cabin’s two aisles toward the cockpit.
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