Pilot Flips Lid in Cockpit

[Twoyboy]

This would have been a fucking scary flight to be on.

A pilot on an international flight has been hauled from the cockpit screaming after he reportedly suffered a nervous breakdown an hour before the plane was scheduled to land.

Horrified passengers watched as an off-duty member of the Canadian armed forces and the crew of the Air Canada 767 — en route from Toronto to London — wrested control of the plane from the crazed pilot, who was screaming about "invoking" the name of God.

The overwrought man was then bound by his wrists and ankles and handcuffed to a seat as the travellers watched on, British newspapers report.




Passenger Sean Finucane told the Daily Mail the pilot repeatedly shouted "I need to talk to you God".

"He was very, very distraught — he was yelling loudly at times," Mr Finucane said.

"When they tried to put his shoes on later he swore and he threatened people. His voice was clear so he didn't sound drunk or anything. He was swearing and very distressed."

Witnesses said the pilot kept talking to himself after he had been subdued.

The incident forced the plane and its 146 passengers to be diverted to Shannon Airport in Ireland.



"The captain advised air traffic control that he was going to divert to Shannon due to a crew member being unwell," Shannon International Airport spokesman Eugene Pratt told Canada's Globe and Mail.


The co-pilot has reportedly been admitted to a hospital in Shannon but no information has yet been released about the nature of his illness.

Could he have shown no symptoms of mental illness and then suddenly this? Or is there a fairly good chance all the signs had been ignored/overlooked?

[The Grim Squeaker]

Passenger Sean Finucane told the Daily Mail the pilot repeatedly shouted "I need to talk to you God".
The co-pilot has reportedly been admitted to a hospital in Shannon but no information has yet been released about the nature of his illness.

His name wouldn't happen to be Joan, would it?

[Broomstick]

Could he have shown no symptoms of mental illness and then suddenly this? Or is there a fairly good chance all the signs had been ignored/overlooked?

The most common reasons pilots lose their medical authorization to fly are cardiac disease... and psychiatric problems.

Most likely this guy was heading for a meltdown but had managed to hide his symptoms until that point. Landing IS the most stressful part of a flight, and for an international flight an hour before touchdown the stress would be rising on whoever was doing the flying. While normally this stress is perceived as exhilarating, to someone on the verge of breakdown I could see it tipping them over the edge.

Gotta remember, pilots tend to be of at least average intelligence, and frequently higher. They have great incentive to hide anything that might be perceived as weakness. This sort of thing is rare... but not unprecedented.