Air Canada flight swerves mid-air after pilot suffers epileptic seizure; passengers start ‘praying’
An Air Canada flight sparked panic after the captain suffered a medical emergency and began swerving in mid-air. As the plane made an emergency landing in Boston, frightened passengers began to pray, the New York Post reported.The flight is operated by Air Canada’s regional partner PAL Airlines. The flight departed Newark, New Jersey, bound for Halifax, Canada, at 12:39 pm on Wednesday with 61 passengers on board when the incident occurred.Passenger Rodney McDonald said he realized something was seriously wrong when the plane suddenly began to veer off course.“The moment the plane turned, I knew something was wrong because it wasn’t turbulence,” McDonald told ABC News.MacDonald traveled with his wife and two sons. He said the plane continued to move erratically.“The plane started to swerve violently. It really felt like someone had thrown away the controls and then it happened over and over again,” he added.“And, you know, every thought that goes through your mind, you start praying. My kids immediately started praying.”According to McDonald, the captain suffered a seizure shortly after takeoff. As the situation inside the plane escalated, a flight attendant removed the pilot from the cockpit, he said.The father was initially aboard the twin turboprop de Havilland Dash 8-400, away from his family, but later rushed to assist the crew in controlling the pilot.“Yeah, it’s really scary,” McDonald said.“I went back and sat with them and realized that the pilot was physically out of control, not violently, like it was clear he had no control over his abilities and needed to be restrained. [We] We struggled to restrain him, spending 40 minutes holding him down and using as many safety belts as possible to restrain his legs, arms and chest. “Authorities received an emergency alert around 1:40 p.m., and the plane landed safely at Boston’s Logan International Airport shortly before 2 p.m., according to flight tracking data.Audio of the broadcast obtained by ABC News recorded a report saying: “The pilot was incapacitated. The aircraft is flown by a co-pilot. “Air traffic controllers also warned other pilots that Runway 27 would be temporarily unavailable due to the arrival of an emergency aircraft.Air Canada confirmed in a statement that the captain suffered a medical issue during the flight.“During the flight, the captain experienced a medical condition and was removed from the cockpit in accordance with safety protocols,” the airline said.“The first officer took control of the aircraft and diverted the flight to Boston, where it landed safely.”After the plane landed, emergency vehicles surrounded the aircraft and the plane was towed to the gate. After several hours on the ground, the flight took off from Boston at 7:30 p.m. and arrived safely in Halifax just before 9:30 p.m. local time.
