Air Canada Flight AC7664 was diverted to Boston on Wednesday after its captain suffered a medical emergency, forcing the first officer to take control of the De Havilland Q400 and land it safely with 61 passengers on board. The captain was later taken to a hospital for medical treatment.
Rodney McDonald was among the passengers, traveling with his wife and two sons, and said the aircraft lurched unexpectedly at the start of the ordeal. He said a flight attendant rushed into the cockpit and dragged one of the pilots into the aisle, where passengers realized the pilot appeared to be having a seizure. McDonald said he and about four other passengers helped restrain the pilot for what he described as a fairly strenuous 40 minutes, while a registered nurse on board helped direct people and assist during the emergency.
That emergency unfolded on a flight operated by PAL Airlines for Air Canada, turning a routine trip from Newark, New Jersey, to Halifax, Nova Scotia, into an unscheduled diversion that ended with emergency responders meeting the aircraft in Boston. Air Canada said it is working to arrange alternate travel for the people on board, who had expected to continue north instead of spending the day dealing with a medical crisis in the cabin.
The restraint of a person who may be experiencing a seizure is where the account becomes harder to reconcile with basic medical guidance. The CDC says people in that situation should not be held down, yet McDonald said passengers were trying to keep the pilot from moving for nearly 40 minutes while the aircraft was being brought under control. What remains unanswered is the exact medical condition that triggered the emergency, but the flight’s safe landing, the captain’s hospital transfer and the scramble to rebook 61 passengers leave no doubt about how abruptly the day changed for everyone aboard.
