U.S. based American Airlines is the world's largest airline by fleet size and revenue. (Photo : Reuters)
In a rare incident, a pilot of an overnight American Airlines flight, enroute from Phoenix to Boston, died mid-air, forcing the co-pilot to make an emergency landing in Syracuse, New York on early hours of Oct. 5, Monday.
Four hours into the flight, an air traffic controller received a message from someone in the cockpit of Flight 550 that there is a medical emergency and the captain is "incapacitated" and "unresponsive," as heard in the recorded transmission posted on the website LiveATC.net.
It turned out that somewhere en route, the captain fell sick and flight has to be diverted to upstate New York. Minutes later, the passengers were informed the same, after which the flight made a rapid descent and landed safely in Syracuse at 7:13 a.m.
The pilot was declared dead on arrival at the airport. American Airlines is yet to identify the pilot and has remained mum on the exact cause of his death.
"We are incredibly saddened by this event, and we are focused on caring for our pilot's family and colleagues," American Airlines spokesman Ross Feinstein told USA Today. The flight was carrying 147 passengers and five crew members, two pilots and three flight attendants.
Addressing the plane crash hoax, Feinstein confirmed that during the whole ordeal, there was never a question about whether the flight would be able to land safely or not since the captain and first officer are both trained to fly commercial airliners alone.
The flight spent about four hours in Syracuse before continuing to Boston with a replacement crew on board.
