Pilot Dies at Controls

I must be the most naive person that I know. Every time I boarded a plane, I presumed that if the pilot became ill, or God forbid, die, there were other pilots aboard who could fly the plane safely.

Today, although the pilot of a transatalantic flight had a heart attack in midflight, the copilot and a back-up pilot finished the flight and landed the plane safely at its destination. But, according to the news media, this was an extraordinary event. What was extraordinary about this? This is exactly what we, the airline consumers, expect to happen. I have all the sympathy in the world for the pilot who suffered a fatal heart attack, just as I did when my friend suffered a heart attack mowing his lawn. (His unfortunate death was not carried on all the national news outlets.) Hopefully, the fact that this plane landed safely was not out of the ordinary, or if it was extraordinary, I do not want to be boarding planes whose survival (and that of the passengers) depends on the health of one individual.

If the safe landing of this plane is truly a noteworthy event, the FFA and the airlines should make us aware of this since we have always presumed our lives were NOT in the hands of one woman or man.