HiddenMysteries: Christianity Today : A Cult of NUTS-Wingnuts-Crazies

{Christians should NOT be allowed to be pilots! IF Jeeezus cums then we don't want pilotless airplanes threatening us sinners!}

Pilot pinned down after 'invoking' God on flight

By Gordon Rayner

Horrified passengers on a Heathrow-bound flight watched as their co-pilot was manhandled from the cockpit after suffering a mental breakdown 30,000ft over the Atlantic.

The first officer began shouting, crying and "invoking God" whilst at the controls of the Air Canada Boeing 767, and was restrained by other crew members and a passenger who was an off-duty member of the Canadian armed forces

He then had his wrists and ankles bound in front of stunned travellers and was handcuffed to a seat whilst flight AC848 from Toronto diverted to Shannon Airport in Ireland for him to be taken off the plane and into a waiting ambulance.

The aircraft was less than an hour from London when the first officer began "acting in a peculiar manner and talking loudly to himself", according to one source.

Sean Finucane, a passenger on the flight, said the co-pilot "just wanted to talk to God", adding: "He was yelling loudly but didn’t sound intoxicated.

"When they tried to put his shoes on later, he swore and threatened people. He was very, very distressed."

One British passenger, writing on the website flyertalk.com, said the co-pilot was pinned down in seat 12A - a window seat in the first row of the economy class section.

"It was quite an experience!," wrote the passenger. "He was being restrained in 12A and the entire mini-cabin could hear the whole thing. Not for delicate ears.

"The soldier and the doctors [who were passengers] were great."

The writer added that the flight crew was "calm and professional throughout."

Strict regulations meant the pilot, who had to fly the aircraft solo, had to wear an oxygen mask for the remainder of the flight.

Air traffic controllers at Shannon, in County Clare on the West Coast of Ireland, had been notified by the captain that his colleague was "unwell" and required medical attention.

The co-pilot was assessed at the scene before being taken to the Acute Psychiatric Unit at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Ennis, where he remains.

The 149 passengers were taken to nearby hotels as the airline arranged for a replacement crew to be flown to Shannon to take the aircraft on to Heathrow, where it landed at 4.15pm on Monday, eight hours behind schedule.

Airport spokesman Eugene Pratt said the pilot requested a "medical diversion" but did not declare an official emergency.

A spokesman for the British Airline Pilots’ Association said: "This is a pretty unique incident and it’s very surprising that a crew member should suffer such an extreme breakdown without any warning signs. All pilots are tested every six months, both physically and psychologically, which should prevent this sort of thing happening."

The spokesman added that all aircraft carried restraining kits and all cabin crew are trained in how to use them.

In 1999 a suicidal co-pilot was blamed for the crash of an EgyptAir flight from New York which came down in the Atlantic with the loss of 217 lives after he was heard on the cockpit voice recorder saying: "I put my faith in God."

Air Canada said in a written statement: "The captain and crew of flight AC848 followed standard operating procedures in light of the co-pilot falling ill.

"The captain elected to divert to Shannon and landed without incident. At no time was safety compromised."

The incident will be investigated by Air Canada and the Air Transportation Safety Board in Canada, with the inquiry likely to focus on whether the crew member had shown previous signs of illness.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk

Christianity Today : A Cult of NUTS-Wingnuts-Crazies

Saturday, February 02 2008 @ 11:42 AM CST