Off-duty Air Canada pilot comes to the rescue after captain falls ill during Toronto flight

Pilots flying as passengers have saved multiple flights this year

When the pilot flying a 1,300 mile flight across Canada earlier this month became “incapicitated,” an off-duty Air Canada pilot stepped in and helped land the plane safety, according to officials.

“Another off-duty Air Canada pilot traveling on the aircraft substituted for the first officer so that there were two pilots on the flight deck as usual,” Air Canada told Reuters.

The incident occured on 7 June, on a flight from Toronto to St John’s, in the Atlantic province of Newfoundfoundland.

Officials have not said what incapicitated the original pilot.

Canada’s Transportation Safety Board said a “deadheading” pilot took over the flight, referening to an industry practice where off-dity airline staff travel as passengers.

"A deadheading captain assumed the crew member’s duties and landed the aircraft without further incident,” the TSB told Insider.

Emergency medical personnel met the 125-passenger flight upon arrive, the TSB told Simple Flying.

The agency classifed the 7 June incident as a Class 5 occurrence, meaning it won’t be subject to an in-depth investigation and “has little likelihood of identifying new safety lessons that will advance transportation safety,” CTV reports.

“However, data on Class 5 occurrences are recorded in suitable scope for possible future safety analysis, statistical reporting, or archival purposes,” a spokesperson told the outlet.

Though they are rare, sudden illnesses in the cockpit do sometimes impact flights.

In March, the first officer of an Air Transat A321 flying from Fort de France to Montreal became incapacitated, prompting the second officer to take over.

That same month, an off-duty pilot from a rival airline took oven when the officer of a flight from Las Vegas had stomach pains then fainted.