Flight Attendent Casually Steps Up and Helps Steer Air Canada Flight Into Heathrow

You know how in the movies there's always some crazy scenario that ends up involving a pilot getting shot or having a heart attack, etc. and then another member of the crew or a passenger (usually Kurt Russell or a svelte Leslie Neilson type) steps up and helps to land the plane under hard-fought, miraculous circumstances?

Well, that's why movies are awesome, because that stuff never happens in real life. Except on an Air Canada flight, where the co-pilot had a nervous breakdown/psychotic meltdown and a flight attendant had to step in and help land that puppy.

The flight attendant was temporarily promoted to the cockpit after the captain of the Air Canada service ordered his colleague to be handcuffed and dragged from his seat.

The flight attendant, a qualified commercial pilot, came forward after the captain asked the 155 passengers and crew if there were any professional pilots onboard.

The unnamed attendant sat in the co-pilot's seat of the Boeing 767-333 jet as the Toronto to Heathrow service was diverted to Ireland's Shannon airport on January 28.

Now, obviously this didn't happen yesterday, but it's my understanding that the news is being revealed via the ongoing investigation by the Irish Air Accident Investigation Unit.

It's kind of amazing that all of this somehow managed to stay totally under the radar until now (I know I would have been flapping my gums about it), but still not nearly as amazing as this scenario actually going down in real life. The lesson, of course, is that Air Canada's service is second only to Ryanair's.

Via Digg