Flight attendant helps pilot land plane

[Kittyhawk1048]

A flight attendant who has a pilot's license replaced an ill first officer during a landing at O'Hare International Airport, officials said today.
The co-pilot of an American Airlines plane that departed San Francisco on Monday fell sick en route to Chicago, said American spokeswoman Mary Frances Fagan.
"He was unable to continue his duties and he moved to the passenger cabin," Fagan said, adding that the flight's captain checked to see whether any off-duty airline pilots were on board the flight.

A female flight attendant advised the captain that she is a commercial pilot and the captain asked her to sit in the right-hand seat in the cockpit, Fagan said.
"The flight attendant became the first officer on landing," she said. "The cockpit crew did an outstanding job handling the situation."
The flight attendant helped the captain by reading off check list of procedures and she handled other tasks, in addition to providing a second set of eyes in the cockpit, Fagan said.
The plane, a Boeing 767 with 225 passengers and seven crew members on board, arrived at O'Hare at 4:24 p.m. Monday. The landing was normal, officials said.
The condition of the ill first officer was not serious, officials said. He was met on the ground at O'Hare by paramedics and transported to a local hospital, where he was treated and released.
The first officer was based in Chicago. He was resting on Tuesday, officials said.

 

[bgaviator]

Wouldn't this be possibly violating some rules of some kind? How sick do you have to become to where you have to leave the flight deck? Does anyone know at what point this occurred? I would think if it was practical it would have been better to land at the nearest suitable, get the F/O off the plane and go from there.

 

[atpcliff]

No. This did not violate any rules. In an emergency the PIC has the authority to do whatever they think is best for the situation. In the past US airlines have used flight attendents, military pilots, civilian pilots, etc. up front in the cockpit.

Good job!
cliff
LFW

 

[JTrain]

Similar thing happened to Continental in the last year or two, CA had a heart attack and someone who had their Pvt license filled in.

 

[ultrarunner]

Wouldn't this be possibly violating some rules of some kind?....

... No

 

[metrodriver]

A good case of food poisening will do it. I have seen it several times coming out of Africa

 

[N1atEcon]

No. This did not violate any rules. In an emergency the PIC has the authority to do whatever they think is best for the situation. In the past US airlines have used flight attendents, military pilots, civilian pilots, etc. up front in the cockpit.

If he needed help from the back and "declared an emergency" Then he should have landed at the nearest suitable airport. If your over the pacific that would be different, but not flying over the US to land at destination. Outcome was fine, but to waste a bunch of time enroute teaching/coaching her will not be looked upon well. If she was just sitting there to watch for traffic that will be ok but if they landed with her up there (which they did) then that is an emergency. Crew memeber incapacitaion will have to be reported to NTSB. They should have landed ASAP and got him to hospital.

 

[atpcliff]

Hi!

For something like this, you do NOT land as soon as possible. Why crash the plane on a runway that's too short?

You land as soon as practical, and sometimes the destination is the most practical.

Pilot Incapacitation:
FO Incapacitation:
Shannon ATC were informed that the medical emergency was due to a pilot incapacitation (the First Officer) and the flight was now a single pilot (Captain only) flight for descent, approach and landing. Prior to descent, the Commander asked the Incharge Flight Attendant to go the Passenger Information List (PIL) to see if there were any flight crew on board who might be available to assist on the Flight deck for the remainder of the flight. In the event no line pilots were on board, but one of the Cabin attendants held a Commercial Pilot’s Licence, with a Multi-engine Rating, and a non-current Instrument Rating.
The Commander requested that the Flight Attendant occupy the right-hand (First Officers) seatfor the remainder of the flight to assist as necessary. The Flight Attendant provided usefulassistance to the Commander, who remarked in a statement to the Investigation that she was‘not out of place’ while occupying the right-hand seat. As the descent was commenced thePassengers were informed that an early descent was to be made and diversion to Shannon due to a medical emergency. The descent, approach and landing were uneventful.
....
The situation was dealt with in a professional manner, employing the principles of Crew Resource Management (CRM). As such the Commander and Flight Attendants should be commended for their professionalism in the handling of this event.
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:NaqR2rgMc9QJ:www.aaiu.ie/upload/general/11139-0.pdf+flight+crew+incapacitated&hl=en&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESir-D1FMeIjqgBhCUjU9hmjRjv3zIdzznQn5tA1cWRInaVXPeuTwONVXX5zH6tm2-f45EHmHrUEvRldmbN4208faf61Q0MltC2-9rvj92Z2xXyUon_d2zlwhQiw_5NPLGnXV-hu&sig=AHIEtbQmFmMMQ_XivyvOIduV-oOpANJJsQ

Captain Incapacitation:
... lead flight attendant had given the captain a tray of refreshments and was attempting to secure the flight deck door. While slamming the door, the upper pressure relief latch activated, and the upper decompression panel opened, falling forward and down, striking the captain on the head. The captain received a 1-inch cut on his head.

The first officer requested and received clearance for an immediate descent and landing at Denver, Colorado. A "deadheading" captain, who was seated in the cabin, assisted the injured captain and then assisted the first officer as the first officer made an uneventful landing at Denver International Airport at 1055 mountain daylight time.
http://www.fss.aero/accident-reports/look.php?report_key=1084

Captain Incapacitation:
"The co-pilot came over on the loud speaker saying if there was a doctor on board and after about 10-15 minutes they asked if there was a pilot on board," Sweeney said.
...
"They asked for a pilot out of the passengers and one guy who flies small planes went out and helped them," he remembered.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1771416/posts

Transport Canada 7.28-Pilot Incapaciation:
Procedure — Should a pilot advise of an incapacitating condition or behave as indicated in the definition of incapacitation (above) the following procedures and considerations apply.
The other pilot shall assume control and ensure that a safe flight profile is maintained.
The autopilot should be engaged.
If available, another crew member should be called to the flight deck.
... if practicable, the incapacitated pilot should be removed from the seat and replaced with another crew member.
http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/civilaviation/standards/commerce-manuals-multicrewsop-chapter7-section28-239.htm
Air France Training:
Air France pilot Hugues Duval, 29, said his co-pilot training included an exercise in which he had to take off and land without a captain.
"It's not a drama. If the captain is ill or incapacitated, you make sure he isn't blocking any controls or the wheel," Duval said in Le Bourget, France, where he was attending the Paris Air Show.
"After you ask for priority to land, you can also ask in the cabin if there is another pilot on board. In case you need help reading the checklist or taking the radio.
http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2009/06/continental_airlines_pilots_di.html

Slightly Off Topic, But Related and Interesting:
FA Incapacitation:
...the captain rang the flight attendant's phone, a passenger picked up and reported, that the sole flight attendant appeared to be "no longer coherent" and completed a number of unusual activities. The captain advised the passenger to guide the flight attendant to a seat and stow the service cart that was blocking the aisle. The captain subsequently alerted ATC of the medical emergency on board. Prior to landing the captain coordinated with a passenger, that all passengers and the flight attendant were seated and buckled in. The airplane landed safely.
http://www.aircrashobserver.com/e107/comment.php?comment.news.507

The Day I Flew For The Airlines-UAL Study:
When we were living in Black Forest, Colorado, I saw a notice in the local newspaper, "Pilots wanted. All levels of experience and ratings." and gave a 1-800 phone number to call. ... The lady who answered the phone said they wanted people with flying experience for a project ... I was told to bring my logbooks and ask for a certain person at the United Training Center at 9:00am.
The lady who met me asked for my logbooks, looked at my licenses and filled out a form of basic information on me. ... We walked down several halls to a door which she opened and we stepped into the cockpit of airliner. She told me, "You are on United Flight 123 from Denver to St. Louis and the entire flight crew has been incapacitated. Would you see what you can do." She closed the door and was gone.
...
We went to his office where he explained that I had been part of a research program to see what the chances were for an average pilot to land an airliner in an emergency. Since roughly three percent of the people in the US had some flying experience, there are five or six pilots on most any flight. He said they had tried to get a cross section of pilots to test.
...
I got a letter a few months later with a breakdown of the pilots tested and how they scored. Out of 112 people tested, 9 had landed successfully with no damage to the airplane. another 12 had landed with damage but no fatalities and it quickly went down hill from there with half of them unable to do anything.
http://www.jimforeman.com/Stories/thedayiflew.htm

cliff
LFW

 

[LearCrj]

If he needed help from the back and "declared an emergency" Then he should have landed at the nearest suitable airport. If your over the pacific that would be different, but not flying over the US to land at destination. Outcome was fine, but to waste a bunch of time enroute teaching/coaching her will not be looked upon well. If she was just sitting there to watch for traffic that will be ok but if they landed with her up there (which they did) then that is an emergency. Crew memeber incapacitaion will have to be reported to NTSB. They should have landed ASAP and got him to hospital.

How do you know ORD was not the nearest suitable airport? The article only said the FO got sick enroute. Could have been 500 miles or 50 miles from ORD.

 

[800Dog]

Wow, so the FA can read a checklist. What talent....