Jet captain praised for using off-duty pilot in emergency

A jumbo jet captain has been praised for asking an off-duty pilot to step in for an emergency landing when his co-pilot fell ill.

The replacement pilot was a passenger on a Lufthansa 747 flying from Newark to Frankfurt last Nov 19 when he covered for a crew member who had suffered dizzy spells, headaches and vomiting. The 35-year-old co-pilot first became ill when the plane was over Newfoundland, but by the time it was halfway across the Atlantic a decision had to be taken to divert to Dublin and get him to hospital.

There were 16 crew and 266 passengers on board the Boeing 747.