It’s like a nightmare from a horror movie. A plane turns over because the pilot is incapacitated, so the passengers spring into action.
But this actually happened on an Air Canada flight. cnn even published a video The pilot was shown leaving the plane on a stretcher.
“During the flight, the captain suffered a medical issue and was removed from the flight deck in accordance with safety protocols,” the airline said in a statement. CNN. “Pilots are trained to fly and land the aircraft safely without the assistance of another pilot.” according to cnnThe flight was “Air Canada Flight 7664, traveling from Newark Liberty International Airport to Halifax, Nova Scotia.”
The report says the first officer ‘took control’ of the Air Canada plane and passengers jumped into action
(Photo by Mike Campbell/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
according to ABC News“The first officer took control of the aircraft and diverted the flight to Boston, where it landed safely.” This incident happened on June 25, 2026. The network reported that the pilot was hospitalized and undergoing treatment.
Passenger Rodney McDonald said, “The moment the plane turned, I knew something was wrong because it wasn’t turbulence.” ABC News. “It really felt like someone broke control and then it happened again and again. And, you know, every thought goes through your mind, you start praying. My boys started praying right away.”
he told ABC News That a flight attendant pulled a pilot into the aisle. “One of the flight attendants entered the cockpit wildly and moments later, he was pulling one of the pilots out of the cockpit and into the aisle of the airplane,” he reported. ABC News.
according to wcvb tv, The plane managed to land safely in Boston. Massachusetts State Police “said airport officials were notified at approximately 1:37 p.m. that a pilot aboard an Air Canada flight was incapacitated,” that station reported. According to the television station, the plane was carrying 61 passengers and was being operated by PAL Airlines.
The station added: “Massport Fire Rescue and Boston EMS crews can be seen surrounding the aircraft on the runway. The captain was airlifted to Boston for medical treatment.” The station quoted an expert as saying that the co-pilot is qualified to fly the plane himself in such conditions.
The passenger was worried that the pilot was having a seizure.
They believed the pilot was having a seizure, so McDonald and other passengers restrained him ABC News, Which mentions that “those potentially experiencing seizures should never stop because of the risk of further injury.”
The specific nature of the pilot’s medical emergency was not released.
McDonald also told ABC: “Yeah, it was really frightening. I was sitting in the front row, my family was behind them, that’s exactly the way the seats were arranged. And I went back to sit with them and then realized that the pilot was physically out of control, not violently, like it was clear that he was not in control of his faculties and needed to be restrained.”
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