Talk about being in the right place at the right time.
A pilot who was only on a flight from Toronto to Newfoundland via Air Canada because he was flying from the country’s eastern province as a next gig, had to step in and land a plane when the original first officer became incapacitated. The pilot was known as a deadhead. That is, he was only being relocated from airport to airport to make his next assignment.
The incident happened on June 7 and only now is coming to light.
Canada's Transportation Safety Board did not elaborate on what happened to the first officer to cause him to become incapacitated.
In a statement, Air Canada said: "A deadheading captain assumed the crew member's duties and landed the aircraft without further incident."
There were no appreciable delays on the flight. FlightAware, an online flight tracking service, showed that the flight went from Toronto to Newfoundland in about three hours. The Transportation Safety Board said the incident was treated as a class five or minor occurrence.
Off-duty pilots and flight attendants often travel as deadheads to get to their next assignment. They travel for free, of course, and in an unofficial capacity. Unless something goes wrong. Just last August, a deadhead pilot stepped in and helped land a Jet2 plane in England.
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