An off-duty pilot came to the rescue midflight after an Air Transat captain became incapacitated due to an 鈥渦ncontrollable nosebleed鈥.
The off-duty pilot, an Air Transat captain himself, was traveling on an Airbus A330-200 from Toronto Pearson Airport (YYZ) to the Dominican Republic for a family holiday when he was asked to assist with the unusual incident.听
Air Transat told the People that Flight TS186 was flying to Punta Cana International Airport (PUJ) on November 22, 2023, with 299 people on board when a nosebleed meant that the captain was 鈥渦nable to continue his duties鈥.
The off-duty pilot was 鈥渇it and able鈥 to take over the controls and the plane landed at its destination safely.
“It is worth noting that our pilots are expertly trained to deal with situations such as this one and can manage flying our aircraft unassisted. As such, there was absolutely no risk for anyone on this flight and the situation would have been the same had the backup pilot not been on board,鈥 the airline said in a statement to the .听
It is not uncommon for off-duty pilots to be traveling on board flights operated by their airline.
“A flight crew member became incapacitated approximately three hours into the flight. A company qualified pilot who was flying as a passenger replaced the incapacitated flight crew member and the aircraft continued to the intended destination without further incident,鈥 the (TSB) said.听聽
The TSB decided that the incident did not warrant a full investigation, but it will be used for 鈥減ossible future safety analysis鈥.听
