Aviation: report finds Air Canada stewardess helped land plane
The next time you think the trolley dolly is just there for your entertainment and as a personal waitress remember not just that they can delivery babies, do CPR and even operate a defibrilator, but if she's an Air Canada stewardess, she might even hold a commercial airline pilot's licence.
Ireland's Air Accident Investigation Unit says that a Boeing 767 landed at Shannon Airport on 28th January this year.
When the co-pilot had a breakdown en route from Toronto to London, he was carried out of the cockpit and restrained. Although the stewardess was not trained on a 767, her general flying experience was sufficient for her to be able to provide material support to the captain.
The co-pilot had arrived late for the flight, and behaved in an unusual manner - but the pilot took him along anyway. After take off, the copilot's condition deteriorated. He became "rambling and disjointed" and "belligerent and unco-operative."
The Star, an Irish newspaper, reported that passengers said they saw him being carried off the aircraft at Shannon, with hands and feet bound. He was hospitalised in Ireland for almost two weeks before being returned to Canada. The AAIU report says that he was very experienced pilot with almost seven years' experience.
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