News Item

Co-pilot Had Breakdown, So Stewardess Helped Land Jumbo Jet In Ireland

USA Today: The co-pilot of an Air Canada Boeing 767 had a nervous breakdown midair and had to be restrained and sedated. A female flight attendant (with an expired license for reading airplane instruments) then helped the pilot make an emergency landing in Ireland.

That's what Irish investigators concluded today in their findings about a January incident involving an Air Canada Boeing 767, the AP says.

"The flight attendant provided useful assistance to the commander, who remarked in a statement to the investigation that she was 'not out of place' while occupying the right-hand seat," said the report by the Air Accident Investigation Unit. None of the crew members was identified.

The 58-year-old co-pilot was a licensed veteran with more than 6,500 hours' flying time, about half on board Boeing 767s, and had recently passed a medical examination.

"He was swearing and asking for God and very distressed. He basically said he wanted to talk to God," a passenger told the BBC after the plane landed.

The co-pilot was hospitalized for 11 days in Irish mental wards before being flown by air ambulance back to Canada. His illness was not revealed.

His illness? No big mystery here. The poor fella wanted a pint.