Continental Airlines captain dies over the Atlantic

by Stevie Smith - Jun 19 2009, 15:30

Passengers aboard a trans-Atlantic flight heading for New Jersey on Thursday were thankful for the presence of not one but two co-pilots after the plane’s serving captain suddenly died behind the controls.

Continental Airlines flight 61, a massive Boeing 777 carrying 247 passengers, landed safely at New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport after the 61-year-old captain reportedly died from a heart attack some three hours into the flight.

“The captain of Continental flight 61, which was en route from Brussels to Newark, died in flight, apparently of natural causes,” outlined an official statement released by Continental.

According to Continental’s statement, the crew complement of flight 61 included “an additional relief pilot,” who promptly joined the co-pilot in the 777’s cockpit and assisted as the plane was brought in to land at its appointed destination.

An Associated Press report outlines that while passengers were not informed of the problem, they did hear an announcement over the cabin intercom requesting that a doctor come to the cockpit.

One of the doctors who responded to the call, Dr. Julien Struyven, later told reporters the captain was already dead when he got to the cockpit and there was nothing that could be done for him.

The unnamed deceased pilot had served with Continental Airlines for more than two decades.

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