A Qatar Airways aircraft enroute from Manila to Doha made an emergency landing at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Wednesday, after one of its pilots died mid-air. Reports say the pilot died of a heart attack. But the company did not confirm the cause of death, or if the flight was ever at risk. The British Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) reported 32 occasions in 2009 when pilots were incapacitated during a flight. Although modern passenger aircraft are able to fly themselves during most of a flight, the presence of a co-pilot in the cockpit is essential in case of the captain becoming unwell, or of a particularly dangerous emergency situation

 

 

** Qatar Airways dies in flight /  Aljazzera
** In-flight Pilot Incapacitation / Skybrary Operator’s Guide to Human Factors in       Aviation