Continental Pilot Dies Mid-Flight, Jet Still Lands Safely

"Human error" is typically a strong reason for plane crashes. "Death" doesn't necessarily qualify as "error" of course, but when an airline pilot dies mid-flight, you can reasonably expect that a non-positive fate will become those on the plane. Not so for Continental Airlines passenger Flight 61, which landed successfully even though its pilot, a 61-year-old employee with 32 years of service for the airline, died tragically mid-flight.

The 777 Boeing, which landed in Newark at approximately noon -- while carrying a very terrifying 247 passengers -- had an emergency declared onboard and received special treatment in terms of landing at the airport.

It's a tragic and awful story, of course, because someone died. Death is never, ever cool (with maybe some mild exceptions). But, in a weird way, don't you kind-of/sort-of have to think that if a pilot is going to go out, this is how they want to go?

He died of natural causes according to Continental spokeswoman Kelly Cripe, who stated that, "The flight continued safely with two pilots at the controls," after an onboard relief pilot took over his seat, and that, "No one [onboard] knew ..."

I mean that seriously, too -- he died at like 30,000 feet in the air, doing what he presumably loves, and, yet, the plane still managed to land safely. I'm not saying there's a feel-good story here, people, just that there's the posibility of a silver lining somewhere in this very grey cloud.