Pilot Falls Ill and Dies as Plane Lands
Published at
Medioimages/Photodisc/Thinkstock(PRAGUE) — A Czech CSA jetliner carrying 46 passengers from the Polish capital of Warsaw landed safely in Prague Ruzyne Airport shortly after midday on Wednesday after the flight’s captain fell ill as the plane was landing and was declared dead soon afterwards.
The plane was on approach to the Prague airport when an emergency was reported and the first officer took control of the turbo propeller plane, an ATR-42-500, after the captain “who was 55 years old, was incapacitated due to health problems,” according to Peter Zmolnik, the president of the Czech Association of CSA Transport pilots.
“The captain had almost two decades of service with CSA and was based in Prague,” he added.
Czech CSA spokeswoman Hana Hejskova added, “The safety of the passengers on board of the plane was not threatened because the airline’s pilots are trained to deal with such incidents.”
The flight, OK-777, touched down at 12:02 p.m., a bit later than scheduled.
Doctors in Prague could not help the captain after the plane landed and he was declared dead half an hour later, Hejskova said, adding that the pilot’s family had been notified.
She declined to give the cause of the pilot’s illness or the cause of his death.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio