A flight attendant helped land a jet carrying 146 passengers after the co-pilot had an apparent mental breakdown over the Atlantic Ocean, investigators revealed yesterday.
The UK-bound plane made an emergency diversion to Shannon Airport, in Ireland, last January after the Air Canada flight officer began a "rambling and disjointed" conversation, said an official report.
Another attendant suffered wrist injuries as t
he crew forcibly removed the co-pilot from the cockpit controls and restrained him in a seat in the cabin.
The captain of the Boeing 767 from Toronto to Heathrow asked staff to seek out any trained pilots onboard.
One of the female cabin crew came forward saying she had a commercial pilot's licence and was asked to take over in the co-pilot's seat.
The captain praised the attendant to investigators for helping him safely land the plane at Shannon, where the ill flight officer was removed and admitted to the acute psychiatric unit of Ennis Regional Hospital for 11 days. He was later flown home to Canada by an air ambulance for further care, according to the investigation.
The official report into the incident by the Irish Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU) did not explicitly refer to the co-pilot's medical condition.
But it recorded the views of two doctors onboard that he was in a "confused and disorientated state". The captain also reported that his senior colleague became uncharacteristically "belligerent and unco-operative".
One passenger at the time reported seeing the distraught co-pilot yelling for God as he was being restrained.
The AAIU praised the actions of both the captain and crew in diverting to the nearest airport and removing the co-pilot from the controls.
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